Future-Town - Part 1 - Part A

Aren't you glad that our salvation and therefore heaven is by God's grace, not by having to answer a question or spell a word or do a work but we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb, without spot or blemish getting into heaven and getting others to have an audit be our primary goal in life.

After all, it's forever were talking about somewhere new to good idea to know about the place you're moving to the best place to live today on connect with Skip Heitzig Skip usually exciting glimpse of the future city you live in after Christ returns.

Today's program Skip his wife when sure about some special resource to help center your life on God's work with and I'm an author but my wife a tremendous job and she's written some great books women's Bible studies as well as a book about reload love in a book about holy moments and I would recommend that you go there to get those back Skip if you want to hear more. Please stay tuned after the teaching. Now we want to tell you about a great resource that will help you become the difference maker God created you to be. I've enjoyed watching the growth in the ministry of my friend Levi Lesko this month's connect with Skip resource. Take back your life new book by Levi Lesko usually bided tell you about it, it's all around this idea. Taking back your life at the 40 day interactive journey thinking right so you can live right. As can be really powerful and special. I think some people to have this bellies in hardcover, which just makes me happy because I never had a booklist hardcover but has a ribbon so you really keep track of your progress through these 40 days. It would be an incredible gift to someone who is looking to grow in their faith or for any of us you want to maybe conduit and oil change for your heart check up on on your wellness know where you're at it all deal with internal difficulties and help you deal better with external circumstances that are challenging as we explore how we can get to the very best version of ourselves that we are meant to be. Get the book. Take back your life with a donation of $35 to connect with skip: 1-800-922-1888. Online it connectwithskip.com this hardcover book by Levi Lesko will help you take back your life. It's a 40 day interactive journey to thinking right so you can live right wanting hundred 92 1888 Revelation chapter 20 1X starts today study was a woman who died after a long illness and she died in she went before the pearly gates of heaven is waiting for Peter course for Peter got there, she peeked her head in and saw how beautiful was by the time Peter got very she said wow, this place is really fabulous. How do I get in Peter's that we have to spell a word she said okay what word Peter said spell the word love.

She thought she said okay. LOVE welcome Peter said you are admitted into heaven, so she gets there she loves it. She spent six months there and one day Peter found her and said, look, I'm good to be out for the day. Could you just take my position just for the day at these gates, so she was watching the gates of heaven.

One day, and her husband arrived at the heavenly city and she turns the honey was surprised to see you.

Have you been and he said all I been doing pretty well since you died. I married the beautiful young nurse who took care of you while you were ill.

Then I won the lottery and I sold our little house that you and I lived in about a huge mansion.

My wife and I traveled all around the world. We were on vacation and I went waterskiing today. I fell the ski hit my head and here I am, and he said how do I get in.

She said well you have to spell one word okay, what's the word she said Czechoslovakia, aren't you glad that our salvation and therefore heaven is by God's grace, not by having to answer a question or spell a word or do a work but we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb, without spot or blemish getting into heaven and getting others into heaven ought to be our primary goal in life. After all, it's forever were talking about and that's where Revelation chapter 21 comes in Revelation chapter 21. There is a shift in dimension we leave time altogether and we shift into the eternal dimension in verse six God who sits on the throne says it is done that immediately takes her mind back to Jesus on the cross who said it is finished. This is after all of redemptive history is over and God can now say it's done everything I wanted to accomplish is over, including the salvation of souls, including the judgment of the world, including the consignment of Satan and those who committed evil with them, including the kingdom given to Israel for a thousand years. It's all accomplished. Time has run its course.

The seven year block called the tribulation is passed the thousand year kingdom past time.

Designations like DC or ADD are all gone. This is the eternal state. I remember being in school and the teachers would talk about time is almost linear fact, when we talked about people's lives. We would draw a line on the chalkboard and little dots would represent periods in their life. So here's the line and then you have the 1st.that's birth next.could be the persons marriage 3rd.kids forethought bankruptcy 5th.death.

That's the life and if you wanted to depict eternity. I suppose you just have the line go on and on and on as if it is just time after time after time when perhaps the best way to think about eternity is remove the line altogether were dealing with an entirely different dimension.

Think about our bodies are different at this point the environment is different.

There's no sound is no moon.

There is no see there's no sorrow does note death. There's no pain. Everything is new. That's why in verse five. Again, he said, behold I make all things new. So just keep this in mind at this point everything we know about this present life is gone. It's new heaven and new earth and new Jerusalem.

This is forever. This is eternal. So what will this eternity now be like.

What will this new city of Jerusalem be like chapter 21 we would say in real estate terms is the walk-through. This is the walk-through to the new city of Jerusalem. He begins by giving us the elevation an outside view and he proceeds to an inside view which will get to next week. Today we just want to get some of the outside view the splendor. The magnificence of our future home. Now God is long desired for the city is always been his plan from the beginning he says in Hebrews that Abraham long before a city who that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. In this is that city okay so as we go through a keep this in mind.

Architecturally, this is very different than any town you have ever seen. This is so modern. This is beyond modern. This is future town. This is the new Jerusalem. What I like you to do is open your Bible, your party arty have at the chapter 21 and first of all, go back to verse two for a moment the principal he were to look at verses 9 to 21.

Let's consider the making of this city as it says, then I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared, that's the word I want you to notice it's prepared and over in verse 10, it's descending out of heaven so obviously thought has gone into the city planning has gone into the city. It's never good to outgrow its infrastructure. It's perfectly planned because it is prepared, something we know about God is always prepared is never haphazard when he first created this present universe wasn't haphazard. There were definite sequential days of creative activity where this came into view and this came into being, etc. and Jesus promised to this he said in my father's house there are many mansions. I'm going to prepare a place for you. So this is the place prepared some people because of this word and because it descends out of heaven. Sort of like a gift for God is saying here. Some believe that this has been prepared during the millennial kingdom. Those thousand years on the earth, and there's a whole study we could even delve often to their but it's pure conjecture. We don't know if God instantly makes it or if it's prepared over a thousand years, but here it comes to the new earth.

It is prepared. Just like hell, is prepared by God, for whom the devil and his angels. Matthew 2541 so the new Jerusalem is prepared for all of God saved it goes by the name new Jerusalem, but it has a couple of nicknames you know a lot of cities have nicknames. New York is called the Big Apple Chicago the Windy City Los Angeles, the city of Angels Santa Fe the city different aptly named. These are nicknames belligerent new Jerusalem is called in verse to the holy city in verse 10, the great city in verse 11 having the glory of God. I remember the first time I was in my 20s when I saw the old Jerusalem, the one that is there now in his room. It was so breathtaking. I know how to describe it except I had the feeling that I belong there.

I had the feeling that I'd be back there again a few years later I married Lenny and I brought her there and she looked at Jerusalem. Her first time reviewing and she just wept different reactions but breathtaking reactions. Nathan was just a little kid he saw and he said Jerusalem like our second home ha and there's all sorts of mystique can opinion and literature written about Jerusalem. There always has been in the Jewish Talmud, the ancient sages used to say, God gave 10 measures of beauty to the whole world.

Nine of them were taken by Jerusalem and one was dispensed through the rest of the world.

They went on to say, 10 measures of knowledge was given to the whole world. Jerusalem took nine of them and one was given to the rest of the world, but they also say 10 measures of suffering has been given to the world and Jerusalem is taken nine and the rest of the world is taken that one, but the sages used to say of Jerusalem. He knew breeze. The very air of Jerusalem will become a wiser person you know I keep going back. I wanted to rub off.

It truly is. Though amazing and wondrous to stand on the Mount of olives East of Jerusalem to stand there and look just to take it all in to look over the city with the Temple Mount and to think about its history and to imagine its future because Jerusalem has such a focal point in the Bible want to consider this. Jerusalem is the geographic center of the earth, biblically met Hermione is a text in Ezekiel chapter 5 verse five God says this is Jerusalem, I have set her in the midst or the middle of the nations and countries all around her right in the middle of your to look at a map to discover that Jerusalem in Israel is located on a land bridge that connects Europe and Africa and Asia, North in the Bible is north of Jerusalem when it speaks about South in the Bible.

It's always south of Jerusalem East and West. That same reference point source that geographic center of the earth, biblically, but it's more than that. It's that salvation center of the earth, spiritually there's no other place on earth where the salvation of souls has been purchased, except just outside the gates of the city of Jerusalem at a place called Golgotha member the little conversation Jesus had with the woman at the well of Samaria. She's arguing about places and she says you know we we worship in this mountain, but you Jews say Jerusalem is the place where we ought to worship Jesus said is that you don't even know what you worship. We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews is the salvation center of the earth. Spiritual third Jerusalem is the storm center of the earth prophetically.

The Bible predicts a time in the book of Zechariah to predict the time when all of the nations of the earth will gather together against Jerusalem and world leaders know this. They know that the hotspot to look at is the Middle East, especially what goes on in the city of Jerusalem before Jerusalem is the glory center of the earth ultimately Jesus Christ will come back for a thousand years, he will occupy the city and rule from the city and he will fulfill Isaiah chapter 2, the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. But all that will take place and has taken place in the past and in the future, up through the millennial kingdom now were dealing with a whole new creation yet called Jerusalem.

This is new Jerusalem. This is eternal Jerusalem it's a city out the fact that it's a city tells us something about our eternity tells us that in our eternity were going to be very social. Some of you go. I like the idea being in a city identified having to be like I have like 52,000 acres. All the myself and tell everybody else the bug off, keep in mind are to be in a redeemed body you think very differently than you do now you recommended the same pressure and part of your eternal dimension will be a city be very very social and have all the advantages all the culture. 11. None of the disadvantages of modern cities to be no pollution, no garbage, no crime, no sirens, no traffic accidents. No one driving while they're talking on cell phones or putting makeup on and if you seen a lot of gutsy people do a lot of things while they should be Drive now consider with me the meaning of the city.

Notice this description verse two prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. What a description covert verse nine then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me in contact with me saying come, I will show you the bride the lamb's wife and he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. Strange way to describe a town as a bride. John is describing something visually. Keep in mind John is is just seeing this in writing down what he sees in this vision what he sees in the cities that it's pure brilliant bright beautiful breathtaking graceful and the description that he sees is like a bride like a bride.

Notice the word adorned in verse two. It's the Greek word because Metco what word we get from Cozumel cosmetics it means to beautify or to make attractive John is saying to me just tell you some.

This town is decked out, and when that city comes from the sky. It's like all of your attention is drawn like a bride. I've done lots of weddings now. I love doing weddings because I was still people have the best seat in the house. I get to see the faces of people as the bride comes in for this out. What usually works. First of all, everybody's attention is drawn to the platform as I come out with the groom's grooms typically very nervous and rub his hand little bit sweaty shaky and then the bride is announced as a change of music everybody rises, turns backwards, and that bride beautifully bedecked comes down the center aisle and everybody looks at her and I I'm often looking at the groom was going cool is only one wedding that I remember where the bride did you get the center of attention. And that's because as soon as the groom saw the bride.

He fainted. Now all of the attention was directed at the groom we got the guy back up. He looked at her again. He fainted the second time so the rest of the wedding. What a scene he was seated while his bride was very aptly handing next to his side. This is John's description visually. The city is breathtaking. Also, I would say this is a description metaphorically hear me in the Bible. The closest relation on earth is a marriage relationship where people really get to know one another in the most intimate way and so very often. Paul included would describe the relationship of God's people. The church is a bride and bridegroom. Second Corinthians 11 verse two, he writes, for I am jealous for you with godly jealousy, for I have betrothed you or engage do you do one husband, that I might present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

I think a few weeks back, we told you that there's three different phases to the old Jewish weddings. First was the betrothal, the last of the year. It was the engagement process at the end of that year at some point, though they did know exactly when the groom would show up at the bride's house unexpectedly make his announcement and take her from her house to his house which brought us to the third phase that was the wedding ceremony and then the marriage feast. Right now we as the church is God's people are in phase 1, were spoken for, were engaged at the moment of our conversion were engaged to Jesus Christ and we are waiting for him to literally sweep us off our feet at any moment and something called the rapture of the church where he'll take us to heaven to his kingdom. So this is the courtship phase were getting to know him. Now I will be honest with you my own courtship was not the model you want to follow. I dated my wife for a couple months would really sure about the relationship I mean I was Joe single I just was a mess and I flicked out of the relationship and really communicate adequately with her.

I distorted and caller disorder walked out the face of the map, left wondering and after a couple years went by, the relationship was kindled up again and I asked her to marry me and even that didn't go very well. I was like that Mr. romantic. I remember when I asked her to marry me.

I was talking really weird like you know life is many roads and there's green lights and red lights you know if he should turn right or left and she's thinking what on earth is he telling me and then she discovered. I think he's about to asked me to marry now.

I never remember plopping the question honestly. She said I did, but I do remember asking the question what I do remember is kind of an interruption. She said I said yes I said what you just asked me to marry you and I said yes I will marry you. This I remember I said now wait a minute. This is a huge decision we have to talk about this when I was so flaky. I guess I'm bringing myself up as the negative example to say Jesus Christ isn't flaking. He's absolutely sure he's certain you're the bride for him and he knows all about you still want that Skip the message from the series from eternity. Now, let's head into the studio with Skip as they share about some exciting resources you center your life on God's word get everything we know anything about what kind of look like because God has revealed it growing in the knowledge of the Bible is a natural part of growing as a believer can you tell us about some biblical resources. We offer that our listeners can dig into today. While I am a page of of resources that are in front of me and so I can go through all of them, but let me just start with the website connectwithskip.com if you if you have access to computer go to that website because you can download and listen to over 3500 full-length messages that unpacked the Bible verse by verse their free to you who who listen if you want to spend time you can download them. We also have other online resources studies this and I'm an author but my wife is a tremendous author and she's written some great books women's Bible studies as well as a book about reload love and a book about holy moments and I would recommend that you go there to get those also. We have a devotions called the you version devotional are you version is the great Bible lapped were privileged to be on that platform. We have one on unforgiveness. We have an empower one blended that you've done devotional that overview spiritual gifts and how to discover yours something to just stop with that because there's a whole bunch of resources.

Let me just tell you about the website connectwithskip.com and go to you version download those depots. Thank you, Skip in line yet excited to share how to use the support from friends like you to connect other states weren't listen to this letter. One person test it. I cannot begin to say how much I've learned from listening to Skip's expository explanations of Scripture. I'm legally blind commentary and now I feel like a whole new world to me make stories like this when possible to connect more people to concentrate to reach even more people by clicking connectwithskip.com/help reach more people with password connect.com/donate or call 800 9288, 1900 9288 again tomorrow Skip shares just how special Skip presentation of connection communication through ever-changing time