Future-Town - Part 2 - Part A

Some people are a little bit put off that heaven will include a city they think it will.

This is heaven, and should have like lots of beach and lots of open spaces and I think that's going to be there on the new earth, but the somehow don't like the idea it is to be this big city. All I can say that is God would disagree because it's going to be there and the obvious point, perhaps, is that heaven is going to be a very social place to be a restored renewed community where we interact with God and we interact with each other popular science magazine get an interesting article on what the cities of the future would be like covering everything from transportation to power to living to business. However, their predictions are the first should've ever been made about where will live on.

In fact, just about 2000 years ago the Bible made its own predictions about the futuristic city. Those of us who follow Christ will one day live in well today, here and correctly Skip weekend edition skip. Isaac continues to examine what the Bible reveals about this remarkable city of the future prefers this update from the connect was Resource at her. The Holy Spirit is mysterious in the Bible.

Jesus even said moves like the wind. Even so, Christians are instructed to know sensitive and his health, counsel and comfort Skip I think reminds us, you can't neglect the Holy Spirit since the Scripture is of the Holy Spirit from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation. Not only is the Bible with the Holy Spirit. You can teach you the Holy Spirit is a divine person who helps us think you need all the help you can get to live your Christian life beyond 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 Lenny called in power discover your spiritual gift. Both resources are our thanks for your gift of $25 or more to help expand this Bible teaching outreach to get online securely connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. If you open your Bibles once again to Revelation chapter 21, Skip Heitzig begins her study today with a story that reveals that heaven is much sweeter than just a few cookies. We may have heard about the elderly gentleman who was on his deathbed he only had days to live, and everybody knew it, including himself.

One afternoon the old guy smelled a familiar aroma was his favorite chocolate chip cookies with assorted gave him a new lease on the last few days of his life. He managed to push himself out of bed, get up, lean himself against the wall work his way to the edge of the room find the railing went down the stairs took a long time, but he made it and he slumped himself toward the threshold of the kitchen and looked in the kitchen and there spread out on newspaper were hundreds of chocolate chip cookies and he thought my in heaven, or is this the last act of kindness from a devoted wife who wants her husband to leave this earth experiencing one last pleasure all those thoughts tumbled through his mind.

His last bit of energy.

He lunged toward the counter crumpled over on his knees, his parched lips parted, he could already tasted in his mouth and that weathered hand reaching forward to grab one cookie and was smacked by a spatula and his wife said stay out of those there for the funeral for her old try just wants one final pleasure in his wife's already carrying him well. We have spent including today, 16 weeks, looking at what happens to a Christian when that Christian dies and is in the presence of the Lord awaits the resurrected body and what the resurrected body will be like and what heaven will be like in all of the different phases of eternity including the millennial kingdom and what will be doing it in all that we have discovered Rado admit it's a whole lot better than a few cookies what God has planned for us.

Well, last time last couple of times and today were looking at that last piece the final installment, which we call the eternal state includes new heaven and new earth and a new city know some people are a little bit put off that heaven will include a city.

They think that while this is heaven. It should have like lots of beach and lots of open spaces. I think that's going to be there on the new earth, but they they somehow don't like the idea that sin to be this big city. All I can say that is God would disagree because it's going to be there and the obvious point, perhaps, is that heaven is going to be a very social place to be a restored renewed community where we interact with God and we interact with each other on a whole new intimate level.

Now I just want to cover this thought again before we dive into it.

Some actually believe that what we read in Revelation 21 and 22 is not physical at all. It's not a real city. It's simply an allegorical presentation in the Bible of the people of God.

Well all I can say to that is it's called a city over and over and over again.

Not only that it's given actual dimension right. It's given color materials, texture, and it's laid out it's measured 1500 miles.

By 1500 miles. By 1500 miles. We saw last time. That means just the base level is 2,250,000 mi.².

That's just the first level you gotta go up 1500 miles. It's a huge city and is able to house every redeemed person who is ever live there.

John gets a personal tour of the city you know in the Bible.

There's only two people in the New Testament that saw a vision of heaven. One was Paul. The other was John. Now Paul didn't help us very much because he says he was taken to the third heaven and it's just so cool I can even tell you about it so well that that doesn't help us. John however was told to write these things down were given this description. Last time we looked at the description of the outside of the city. Now we look at the inside of the city. Today we view it from the inside not the outside.

This is the walk-through today really see it as we go in and we notice what's not there and what is there in who's there and who's not there and what they're doing there.

This is the inside of the city is spoken by John. Let's look at it in verse 22 of Revelation 21 and will follow down several verses but I saw no temple in it for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple and the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it for the glory of God illuminated it and the Lamb is its light, and the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day there shall be no night there and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life, and he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore 12 fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations and there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him, they shall see his face and his name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there. They need no lamp nor light of the sun for the Lord God gives them light and they shall reign forever and ever.

So what we have here is the internal view of the eternal city and because John approaches it a bit different than the outside view organa within a notice in closing, and I say in closing because this is really the last study in this series will do a summary explanation next week, but this is really the last of this the end of it.

So I want to give you this morning.

Five conditions that will sum up life in the eternal city, the new Jerusalem heaven, the eternal state. The first condition I want you to notice is what I call proximity now verse 22 John first thing he notices is there's no temple in new Jerusalem, and later on in chapter 22 it says they're going to see his face.

There is a close intimacy and proximity. That means we don't need a temple in heaven. No understand that the ancient peoples.

It was unthinkable to have a great city without temples. Every great city had several temples and even the city of Jerusalem had at its centerpiece, the great temple where God was worshiped and animals were sacrificed.

But the idea here is that you don't need one.

The Lord God is the temple and the Lamb. There the temple so in heaven. You and I will have direct access to God. No need of a holy place.

You don't need a church cathedral, a chapel, a synagogue, a house of worship.

You need special days of worship and there will be separate groups gathering in heaven grumbling to make another heaven widow really like this place like there happens to be on earth I heard about a guy was stranded on a desert island you may have heard this, he was there all alone. And finally, after years he was rescued and the captain of the ship. The rescued and noticed that there were three huts on the island. The captain said no when I thought you were stranded here all alone. The guy said well I was the first hot that's my house that's where I live in the second hot was my church where I went every week Supports the third hot guy so that's the church I used to go to.

None of that in heaven God's presence will literally fill every spot every place in the new heaven and the new earth in the new city that you know it's always been God's desire to be close to his people to be in close proximity to his people before the fall of man, God was seen walking with Adam in the cool of the day in the garden but sin marred that sin ruined that there was a separation between God and man. So the Lord provided a tabernacle where he could be worshiped and then later on a temple where he could be worship, but there was still the distance between God and man in those places you couldn't just barge in. You had to go to a priest who represented God to you. You could walk into the holy of holies there were courts that separated you from God's presence there was a sacrifice. You would have to bring to be worthy, but the Lord Jesus has always anticipated this very time you remember one of his great promises is in my father's house there are many rooms. If it were not so I would've told you I'm going to prepare a place for you and if I go I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

It's always been his desire and Jesus prayed in John 17 these words father. I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am, then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began listening heaven you'll never feel far from God ever again. If you feel that way today. If you feel lonely, you'll never feel that way ever again. You'll be totally satisfied all the time you be in his presence. You see his face prevented a camper retreat or even a worship service where it says so powerful it's almost like you can touch and feel the presence of God. And so it's so utterly cool if you like.

I don't ever want to leave.

That's all heaven could be like all the time. That's why there's no need of the temple because of proximity. The second condition that will be in this eternal city is what I call majesty or glory. God's glory. Look at verse 23 of chapter 21 and the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it for the glory or majesty of God illuminated it in the Lamb is its light, and the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it.

It's gates shall not be shut at all by day notice this parenthetical statement. There shall be no night there that were getting a little bit of insight into what the conditions will be like in this new set up right new universe to have a new earth. New city very different dynamic than what we presently know now receipts on our earth.

Now we depend on cycles of the sun and the moon and alternate conditions of light and darkness, for instance, the moon provides tides for the ocean. It controls the flow of tides in the sea that is an issue here because there's no what is no see verse one of chapter 21 there was no ocean and so there's no need for the moon. There's no need for the sun is never going to be a night there never to be night now just remind you what John saw so far is this city itself is so well lit that when he first thought it was like this gigantic cube 1500 miles.

By 1500 miles.

By 1500 miles descending from heaven toward earth and light was cascading out of it, pouring forth from it. Huge light show dazzling in the way I described the last time. It's like a giant holy of holies coming down toward the earth. I said that because the only place we find a cube where God dwells was in the Old Testament, the holy of holies it was 15 feet wide 15 feet deep and 15 feet tall.

A perfect cube and that's in the tabernacle where the ark was kept. So this new city of Jerusalem is sort of like the holy of holies on steroids. 1500 miles cube coming from heaven toward the earth.

Notice in our verse that the source of this light is the father and the son there together glorified very different kind of light visible light. Today, as we know it. Visible light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum is the stuff I used to have to study and the retina of your response to the measurement on the electromagnetic spectrum of somewhere between 390 and and 740 nm in wavelength. That's what her response to, but light as we know it usually has a source of combustion or fuel that burns and needs to be replenished. Whether it's sunlight whether it's a lightbulb but notice here that God Almighty and the Lamb are the source of light. This is from the majesty and the glory of God. It never runs out of God's goodness after 20,000 years. I'm sort of tired of shining now says are to be no night there.

Ponder that for a moment. No night experts tell us that human emotions can become very vulnerable late afternoon and early evening met with everyone that with quite a few people called sundowner syndrome and it is more acute in the elderly.

In fact, in pre-Alzheimer conditions are. They say that certain people can become very agitated and confused and late afternoon and early evening when the sun is setting.

Darkness does something to us.

I have a friend who lost a son recently and when I was with him. He said you know what I dread nighttime. I hate it when it's dark because your thoughts are focused are not distracted by visible things in this world that is shown by light is to be no night there because the glory of God permeates that place.

God's majesty do you remember when Jesus in John 17 prayed that prayer and part of it is where he said. Father, glorify me with the glory that I had with you before the world was that part of her glorify me with the glory I had with you before the world was this is the answer to that prayer. Despite his helpers are some of what the Bible reveals about the new Jerusalem may sound doesn't sound like the kind of place you like to live you can you know all you need is a relationship with Christ dimension will be building waiting for you when Jesus comes to take us home.

Would you like to reserve your place in that remarkable city and give us a call to share with you how you can secure that reservation by giving your life to Christ, we be happy to explain what that means and show you just how you can do that when you call 1-800-922-1888. That's about all the time we have for today but before we go here, Skip and lend you with a few more thoughts Skip today we continue to talk about our home in heaven and it just makes us anticipate it more and more and in heaven, we find out that are most occupation will be fully engrossed in worshiping God that that's what will be doing with a lot of our time, perhaps for some of our listeners and they're not sure that heaven lies in their future.

They may not be a part of this great plan.

How could they become certain of eternity. Well let me answer that by saying that there are certain things that we as believers if some is listening is not sure whether certain things that we as believers know so if you don't know that you will occupy heaven. You need to know as you know, Paul said with great certainty, for we know that when our earthly house. This tent is dissolved.

We have a heavenly home not built with hands, eternal management so if you don't know you. You need to know well and if heaven is a real place, hell is a real place to and Jesus spoke more of how then any entity else yes in the Bible so you want to know not only that heaven is real and you're going there, but that also you are escaping in at the other destination which is how so to do that just so we wouldn't get lost on our way to heaven, God the father sent a local resident of heaven to this earth to show us the way.

In fact, not just to show us away, but to be the way that local resident Jesus who came to this earth said I am the way the truth and the life. So, just so we wouldn't get lost and miss it and think were there so many different ways. He came and did what no one else could do because he is who is he paid the price for our sins so that that is taken off the board. That's all out of the negotiations we escape those eternal consequences. And now we have promised to those who trust in Christ and eternal home.

So it comes down to receiving the gift. That's what it is a gift of eternal life and and if you're listening to this and you're not sure you can be sure right where you're at if you're driving please don't close your eyes, but if you're if you're out there and and you can close your eyes, find that'll help you not get distracted. But you can pray right now. You can ask Jesus to come into your life. So if you mean business with God want you say these words to him, Lord, I know that I'm a sinner.

I'm sorry for my sin.

I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin that he shed his blood for me and that he rose again from the dead. I I'm willing to turn from what I do turn from when I repent of my sin. I turned to you as my Savior and as my Lord, I want to follow you today and every day in Jesus name Amen if you said that if you meant that you're a child of God, and we like to not only congratulate you, but welcome you into God's family. Human contact.

Contact us here would love to send you some literature and help get you plugged into a local church review live. That's the most important step think skipping the other website is everything you need. That's it. connectwithskip.com and get a copy of today's teaching. Just give us a call at 1-800-922-1888 individual CDs are only six dollars plus shipping. Or if you want to order the entire series from the edge of eternity. It's only $39 plus shipping. Find out more over today connectwithskip.com.

We covered a lot of ground already, but we still have more exploring future to come back next year and connect with Skip weekend edition presentation of connection so you guys never changing it ever-changing time