Future-Town - Part 1 - Part A

About our bodies are different at this point the environment is different. There's no Saunders no moon.

There is no see there's no sorrow. There's no death there is 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.

New heaven and new earth and new Jerusalem, before you move somewhere new. It's usually a good idea to try and get an idea of what that place is life you want to learn what the town is like what kind of schools that haven't where the best areas of town. The level of course how the Wi-Fi situation walked to the hearing correctly Skip weekend edition Skip Heitzigs.

It is going to help his kibitzing cut his scouting report about the future city will live in after Christ.

Now before we get started today.

This much resource looks into the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is mysterious in the Bible. Jesus even said moves like the wind, so Christians are instructed to know and be sensitive to and his health Council and comfort as skip, I think reminds us, you can't neglect the Holy Spirit since the Scripture is the Holy Spirit from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation. Not only is the Bible full of the Holy Spirit you candy to the Holy Spirit is a divine person who helps us think you need all the help you can get to live your Christian life Jan I'm we need help discover the Holy Spirit is pastor Skip DVD study expound Holy Spirit and for a limited time you can also get a copy of millennia. I think the booklet called empower discover your spiritual gifts. Both resources are our thanks for your gift of $25 or more to help expand this vital teaching outreach to get online securely connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888 over your vibrational Revelation chapter 21 as Skip Heitzigs against cities that he started.

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 toward do a work 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 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 our 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, I could be the person's 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 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 it.

Our bodies are different at this point the environment is different.

There's no Saunders no moon. There's no see there's no sorrow. There's no 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.

This is always been his plan from the beginning it 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 it to chapter 21 and first of all, go back to verse two from a mother principally were going 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 this city, it's never going to outgrow its infrastructure. It's perfectly planned because it is prepared is 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 this. He said in my father's house there are many mansions.

I am 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 people. It goes by the name new Jerusalem, but it has a couple of nicknames that 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 will the Jewish new Jerusalem is called in verse two 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 Israel. It was so breathtaking.

I do 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 of viewing it. She just wept different reactions but breathtaking reactions.

Nathan was just a little kid. He sought and he said he had 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 who 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 looked 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 that 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. So is the 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 he said 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 I kinda thought 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're knocking at the end of the same pressure and part of your internal dimension will be a city will 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 about CP 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 the covered verse nine then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked 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 of this cities that it's pure brilliant bright beautiful breathtaking graceful and the description that he sees it's 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 because Metco 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.

The groom is typically very nervous and rubbed his hand over 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 in the night. I'm off 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 standing 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 due to 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 off 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 popping 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 Skip Skip I said yes I said what you just asked me to marry you and I said yes I will marry you and I 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 is in flaky, he's absolutely sure he certain you're the bride for him and he knows all about you and you still want you that's beautiful. That's love is my question. Do you have a personal close relationship with your groom to be like a bride-to-be should have all ask it in another way, are you flirting with the world. Are you going out on Jesus. Is there something in your life that needs to be eradicated, removed, cut out, you need to return to your first love.

That first love of the spousal so I think this meaning here of the bride is simply to say in this city future town. Your love with Jesus and for Jesus will be real fresh and absolutely complete best description bride adorned for her husband. Although is not quite the same as looking up a city on Google Earth. The Bible does give us a pretty good idea what heaven and future city will live in has in store for just a reminder there's only one way to get to this delightful place and that's through Jesus Christ our many highways leading into the city only remember Road, so if you'd like heaven to be your future destination you have to come through Jesus. What you call us if you'd like to ask him to do that numbers toll-free 1-800-922-1888, or just click on the new God link@connectwithskip.com and remember, you can order a copy of today's teaching for just six dollars plus shipping or the entire from the edge of eternity series for only $39 plus shipping both available when you call 1-800-922-1884 online and connectwithskip.com will continue to explore the details of our future town of residence. Next time you hear it correctly Skip weekend division of presentation of connections so connecting you guys ever changing true and ever-changing time