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[0:00] So we will today engage Revelation chapter 22. This will be our February meeting, and unless there is a tremendous amount of discussion and questions that will not permit us to conclude this study, we intend that this present session will wrap up the book of the Revelation that we began approximately two years ago.

[0:22] And you all have a sheet with the 26th translation New Testament on it, and I would remind you that as you look at it, you will see each verse in bold type.

[0:33] That simply indicates that the verse in bold type is the King James Version of the Bible. And then there are other translations, renditions, that follow after that that shed perhaps a slight nuance of meaning a little bit different from the King James.

[0:51] And they have called these from 26 different translations. And here you see, for instance, the Knox Translation and the Lamza Translation, and the NEB is the New American Bible.

[1:03] And in verse 2, the TCNT is the 20th Century New Testament. And later in verse 2, it says, Which bear twelve manner of fruits yielded her fruit every month.

[1:14] And then it says, Bearing twelve crops of fruit, that's RHM. That's the Rhames-Douet version, which remains the official Roman Catholic version of the Bible. So all of these are injected if they will shed any light at all upon the text or provide a variant meaning.

[1:32] Because the value of multiplied texts is if one designation doesn't grab you or communicate with you, another word might very well open up the passage.

[1:45] And I found that to be very helpful. As we engage chapter 22, I want to remind you again that chapter divisions in the Bible are strictly man-made. And very few of them are really beneficial.

[1:59] Many of them are divided in such a way that they break the continuity of thought. And that's most unfortunate because if you were going to study not only the Scriptures, but any kind of writing document, you need to pay very close attention to the context.

[2:17] Context is king. And when you are reading the Bible chapter by chapter and you end with a chapter, very often the continuity, at least mentally and in your concentration, is broken.

[2:30] And we should allow it to flow. Chapter 21 and 22 are no exceptions. If you look carefully at it, you will see that the scene has not changed.

[2:41] Verse 1 is simply introduced with an and, which of course is a conjunction that just continues the thought preceding. What he is describing here, as you turn the page over, you will see all of chapter 21 on this side.

[2:55] And it begins with verse 1 and 2. And 2, John describes the holy city. I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

[3:12] This New Jerusalem we went on to describe is a cube. It is 1,500 miles in length, 1,500 miles in width, 1,500 miles high.

[3:26] It is going to be positioned here on planet Earth. So what we're talking about in the final analysis, the heavenly state and the eternal state is going to be here on the planet.

[3:40] It will be a purged Earth. When John says, I saw a new heavens and a new Earth, he does not mean it is a different sphere or a different planet.

[3:53] He means it is a planet, Earth, that is made differently. It is purged. It is cleansed. It is going to undergo a radical transformation from that which was imposed upon it by the fall of man.

[4:10] And when it is brought into existence, it will be a new heaven and a new Earth. We've described the heavens involved before, and we discovered that there are three.

[4:23] There is the present atmosphere, which is referred to as the firmament. It is the air that we breathe. It is a present heaven. And there is the stellar heaven, where the planets and the stars are.

[4:35] And then there is what the Apostle Paul referred to as the third heaven, to which he said he was caught up into paradise. We believe that this is where the thief went, who died with Christ on the cross, when our Lord told him, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise.

[4:56] We believe that's where that is now. But the new heavens and the new Earth will be a result of this paradise, this heavenly reign brought down to Earth.

[5:08] And it is going to be here on the planet. Now, I know the common conception of heaven and people spending an eternity in heaven is generally thought of as being up.

[5:19] Well, we know that in Acts chapter 1, when our Lord ascended, he ascended up into heaven, and the disciples stood there and watched him disappear bodily right out of their sight.

[5:32] And he went up. But then you have to ask yourself, up from where? Because up from Jerusalem is not the same direction as up from Ohio or up from Beijing, China.

[5:47] Because there you're going out. So up, when the Bible refers to this, it's always, of course, up from Jerusalem. I don't know if you're aware of it or not, but Jerusalem and Israel is God's geographical center of the planet.

[6:04] Perhaps you're not aware of that, but the Bible, I think, refers to it in many ways as describing it as being the very core of God's creation on Earth.

[6:14] And it is, of course, this planet. So, when this eternal state or the millennial reign is begun, it will be here on the Earth.

[6:26] And the reason that heaven and the kingdom of heaven is confused with people going to heaven, that is, in the presence of God, up and out, is because the reality is the kingdom of heaven will be God's kingdom in heaven brought to Earth.

[6:51] It will be the kingdom of heaven. It will be the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of heaven brought to Earth. And this is fulfilled, I think, in what is commonly referred to as the Lord's Prayer, in the prayer for thy kingdom to come.

[7:11] Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. So, this planet is the heaven that you are going to know for eternity.

[7:27] It will not be leaving the planet, going off into the stellar presence of God, third heaven or wherever that is, and dwelling there. The streets of gold and the river of crystal and all the rest of it is going to be here on this Earth.

[7:44] Now, if you ask yourself, well, isn't that shortchanging heaven? Isn't that less than what we expected? No, no, no, no, no.

[7:54] And I'll tell you why it is so important to understand that this heaven, the eternal state, is going to be here on the Earth.

[8:07] People tend to be disappointed sometimes when they hear that. But let me remind you of something very, very important. It is this Earth and the inhabitants of it that constituted the focal point of Christ's redemption.

[8:22] This is what he died and paid for. This involves the property rights to the planet that were described way back in Revelation 4 and 5 when we saw the seven-sealed scroll that no one was equipped or qualified to open.

[8:42] And we described that scroll as being the title deed of the Earth and the only one who was capable and qualified to open the scroll and to loose the seals therein was the Lion of the tribe of Judah who is also described as the Lamb.

[8:58] And he is the one who purchased the title deed to the Earth. He did so with his own substitutionary death on that cross. So he not only purchased people, redeemed people, but he redeemed the planet because the planet was subjected to the curse as a result of the fall.

[9:22] And when Adam and Eve fell, all of creation fell with them, including the thorns and the thistles and everything else that we have to contend with. So it is very important to realize that the heaven that we are going to know, even in the eternal state, is that which Christ purchased.

[9:42] And it is here on the planet. But let me add this also. It is going to be as absolutely good as God can make it.

[9:55] How good is that? There will be no disappointment. So let's get into the text. Chapter 22 and verse 1. And he showed me, and we will not go back for context to chapter 21.

[10:11] I think you're with us between these chapters. He showed me a pure river of water of life. Now, I don't know that this is going to be all of the water that is going to be here or not.

[10:24] But we discovered in the earlier chapter, remember, the oceans are going to be done away with. There will not be any Pacific or Atlantic Ocean. There will not be any rivers running throughout the planet.

[10:37] All of those serve a very strategic purpose right now, not only in the current that they produce, but the way they serve mankind. They all provide a very strategic service that God has installed on this planet.

[10:54] But the time is coming when that's all going to be changed. And we noted also that mountain ranges that are so prominent now, including the Himalayas, the Rockies, and all the rest of them, are going to be eliminated.

[11:07] These are all a result of the fall. They are all that which was created through the first cataclysm, we believe, through the Noahic flood. These are all going to be eliminated.

[11:18] And the valleys are going to be eliminated. The Old Testament prophet says, Every mountain, every hill shall be brought low, and every valley shall be exalted.

[11:32] So the earth is going to constitute a plain over the whole sphere, and it will be 100% inhabitable.

[11:43] But in the midst of the habitation of the planet, which will house and accommodate multiplied billions of people, there is going to be situated on it this new Jerusalem that we described in the earlier chapter, which John said he saw come down from God out of heaven.

[12:03] And out of this new Jerusalem, there is a pure river, water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, both of which are situated in the new Jerusalem.

[12:22] In verse 2, In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life. Now, this, so far as we can determine, is the tree of life that was in the garden originally.

[12:40] And they were forbidden to eat of it, lest they live forever. It was separated from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And as a result, when they partook of the tree, they were driven from the garden, and the cherubim were put there with the flaming swords to protect the entrance so that they could not return to it.

[13:00] I do not understand the significance of this, other than to say that it represents the perpetuity of life. It represents life unending, because this is in the eternal state, and there are going to be several no mores that are going to surface throughout this chapter.

[13:20] For instance, there will be no more sea. We saw that in 21.1. There will be no more death in 21.4. There will be no more sorrow or dying in 21.4, or pain in 21.4.

[13:37] There will be no more temple in 21.22. There will be no more sun or moon or night or curse in chapter 22 and verse 3.

[13:50] All of these things are going to be done away with, because they were all commensurate with the fall, and the fall will have been reversed, and these things will no longer be necessary. On the other side of the river was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month.

[14:10] Now, there's only one reason to have a tree that's going to have fruits on it that I can think of, and maybe I'm just thinking too pragmatically, but I do think that God is very pragmatic, and that is, these fruits are going to be produced to be consumed.

[14:30] They're going to be eaten. Who's going to eat them? Well, the subjects thereof. And the water that is there is going to be water to be drunk. And who's going to be drinking it?

[14:42] I think the inhabitants. And this raises the question, of course, will there be eating and drinking in heaven? And the answer certainly seems to be, yes, there will.

[14:54] But will there be a need to do so? I'm not sure. There will be a capability of doing so, but not necessarily a need to do so. You know, our Lord, after the resurrection, we know that he ate broiled fish with the disciples on the Sea of Galilee, and he did so in a glorified, resurrected body.

[15:19] But he was able to eat and drink with them. So, it gives me at least some indication that we will be able to do that. And you know, as well as I do, that eating and drinking is a very legitimate pleasure.

[15:37] It's not only a necessity in order to keep the body alive, but it is an element of enjoyment and an element of fellowship.

[15:47] I mean, the breaking of bread together and people getting together and eating is one of the most common things that humanity engages in.

[15:58] And it seems only fitting to me that it's going to be perpetuated into the eternal state. There are other questions that will arise for that. We'll deal with those a little bit more. And in verse 3, 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.

[16:22] This is remarkable in that we are all subjects of the curse.

[16:33] The earth has been cursed. Satan has been cursed. Man and woman are under the curse. And God protected them by driving them from the garden, lest they eat of the tree of life and live on in that condition.

[16:51] So it is to their advantage that God made the environment of man to accommodate fallen man in the same way that the environment accommodated him before the fall.

[17:10] And the curse is all part of this package. But it is because of the curse that death enters the scene. Death, adversity, losses of all kinds, pain, heartache, sorrow, all of these things are part of our fallenness.

[17:26] And of course, they're all going to be done away with. And we are told in verse 3, verse 4, and they shall see His face and His name shall be in their foreheads.

[17:37] And there shall be no night there and they need no candle. This is perpetual light, but it is a supernatural light. It is the light of the Shekinah, the Shekinah glory that filled the temple when Solomon prayed and dedicated the first temple and the glory of God filled the temple.

[17:59] And you'll recall that when Moses went into the mount to receive the tablets of the law, he came down out of the mount and his face shone.

[18:11] And Moses wasn't even aware of it, but everyone saw it. And it was the glory and the radiance of God that was manifested on his face. The same with our Lord Jesus when He went into the mount of transfiguration and was transfigured before Peter, James, and John.

[18:28] And the description is that His face was white, His raiment was white above the whiteness of the noonday sun, whiter than any fuller soap could whiten any garment on earth.

[18:40] This whiteness, light, brilliance is characteristic of the deity. And it is going to permeate this new Jerusalem in such a way that there will be no electricity there, none needed, no sun to give its light by day or moon by night because there won't be any light there.

[19:01] We are told in 1 John that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. That light is going to permeate this situation.

[19:15] Evidenced in verse 5, No night there, they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.

[19:28] And He said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show unto His servants the things which must shortly be done or shortly come to pass.

[19:48] And that's going to be repeated again over in verse 20 of the same chapter where He says, Surely I come quickly. And we've expounded on that comment a number of times.

[20:00] We find it repeated throughout the Revelation. And the typical interpretation is when He says, I come quickly, we think, well, that's tomorrow or the next day or maybe next week or next month, but quickly.

[20:13] No, no. The Greek conveys the idea that His coming is with great rapidity. And the picture that we get when the Revelation opens and all of these things begin to be described when He says, I come quickly, does not mean, well, if you look at it chronologically, when John said these things, when John saw these visions and recorded them, it was almost 2,000 years ago.

[20:46] 2,000 years have passed and He hasn't returned yet. Would you call that quickly? By any stretch of the imagination. I know we can say a day with the Lord is as 1,000 years and 1,000 years is as a day.

[20:59] But the meaning of the expression is, and this is really important because it's key to understanding the whole book of the Revelation. It does not mean that His coming is very soon in the sense that it's next week or next month or whatever, but it means that when these things unfold, begin to unfold, they will do so with great rapidity and great suddenness.

[21:25] It will be almost staccato like a machine gun. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. These events are going to unfold that quickly. No sooner will the earth recoil from one catastrophe until it will be in the midst of another.

[21:40] And they are going to be one after, that's what's going to characterize the tribulation period. It's going to be very intense and very rapid fire. It will be such that the world has never seen before and will never see again.

[21:53] And John says in verse 8, And I, John, saw these things and heard them. This hearkens all the way back to chapter 1 of the book where he began.

[22:06] And he is caught up on the Lord's day and is told that he is going to be privy to the things that are and the things that are past, the things that are and the things that will be, past, present, and future.

[22:25] John is going to be given an encapsulated view of all of these events that are going to transpire. And he does the best he can from a human standpoint to describe each of them even though he is looking at phenomenal things that defy human description because he has no frame of reference for what he is talking about.

[22:44] And he just describes what he sees in keeping with his own personal frame of reference. And he says, reinforces it in verse 8, I saw these things and heard them.

[22:57] And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. In other words, God is using an angelic being to communicate this content to John, both what he is seeing and what he is hearing.

[23:14] John is so overwhelmed with the scope and the magnitude of what he is witnessing, he just falls on his face prostate before this one who is revealing it to him.

[23:29] And he is immediately rebuked for doing so. In verse 9, the angel said, see thou do it not. And I think John did this just spontaneously.

[23:41] I think John was so awestruck he didn't know what else to do. It just seemed like the only appropriate thing was to just prostrate yourself before this one who was revealing these things.

[23:52] But this one was not the one worthy to be bowed before. He is a created being as well. And he corrects John in that by saying, see thou do it not.

[24:08] For I am thy fellow servant and of thy brethren the prophets and of them which keep the sayings of this book. Worship God.

[24:20] And he said unto me, seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book. Now, there were occasions when they were told to seal up the sayings.

[24:33] Daniel was until the time of the end. But now, John is told don't seal it. In other words, it is to be open and available so you are not to seal the sayings of the book but rather to provide them.

[24:49] For the time is at hand or near. He that is unjust let him be unjust still. And he which is filthy let him be filthy still.

[25:04] And he that is righteous let him be righteous still. And he that is holy let him be holy still. What does all this mean?

[25:15] It means simply this. Whatever state an individual is in when these things transpire he's locked in.

[25:27] there is no avoiding it and there is no escaping it and there is no changing it. He is fixed in a position that is unalterable.

[25:42] If it is one of holiness that's what it will maintain in perpetuity. If it is one of filthiness that's what will be maintained in perpetuity.

[25:53] If it is one who is unjust that's the way he's going to remain throughout the eternal state. There will be no redress. There will be no reprieve.

[26:03] There will be no correction. There will be no adjustment. There will be no change. It is permanent. And that is pretty awesome to consider.

[26:15] Locked in to whatever. And behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be.

[26:29] You know, this is a beautiful concept and it's reflected in a number of the parables that our Lord gave. How that unto whom much is given of him shall much be required and those to whom not much is given not much is consequently required.

[26:45] And this is a beautiful thing because what it does is it puts absolutely everybody on the same plane. And we need not engage in any kind of a competition with someone else because you do not have to measure up to what anybody else does or doesn't do.

[27:11] All you have to measure up to is the potential that God has given you. Not the potential he's given someone else. And to each of us a certain gift or talent is given and no one is responsible for what someone else does with theirs.

[27:30] But we are all responsible for what we do with ours. And that's a beautiful thing because that's God's way of equalizing. You talk about an equal opportunity employer.

[27:42] That's precisely what sense. Because he puts each individual in control of their own reward, their own activity, their own consequence, result, etc.

[27:59] It's a beautiful thing when you stop to think about it. And it's very much personal and very much tailor-made so that no two are exactly alike. And yet God knows every smidgen of what he gave us with which to operate.

[28:14] And that's the basis on which we will be accountable. My reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega.

[28:24] We saw this at the outset of the letter too. And these are simply the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. Alpha and Omega. And if we were doing it in English we would say I am A to Z.

[28:44] Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city.

[29:00] The commandments of course reflect our degree of obedience or disobedience to the Lord. And this is something that you need to think about in connection with the subject of faith.

[29:13] And that is what is the purpose of faith? What is the objective behind faith?

[29:25] We know that we are justified by faith. But why? And why does it work that way? And what exactly does that mean? Why someone has said if God if believing is so important to God why hasn't he made himself revealed in such a way that no one would be able to deny his existence or his power.

[29:54] And the time is coming when he's going to do that. But if he did that now he would have to eliminate a very important principle. And what is that principle? That's the principle of faith. Faith requires us to believe something without complete evidence.

[30:11] Understand that? Now it doesn't mean that we believe without evidence because true faith is not built on a lack of evidence. True faith is built on good and sufficient evidence but not full evidence.

[30:28] So we need this thing called faith which is our willingness because it's an act of the will. It is our willingness to believe God for what we do not know experientially based upon what we do know experientially.

[30:48] I told someone one time when they asked me if I believe everything in the Bible and I said yes and they said you believe the things that you don't even understand and I said of course how can you do that?

[31:01] I said well I believe the things in the Bible that I don't understand because of what I do understand. and they lead me to take those things that I don't understand by faith because of what I do understand.

[31:17] And I think that is nothing more than growing in faith and growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ. And as we live the Christian life we should be able and willing to trust God for more and more where we demand fewer and fewer answers.

[31:36] and to me that's faith that God intended that is referred to as the obedience of faith.

[31:50] Paul refers to that in Romans 1 and he closes Romans with it to bring the Gentiles to the obedience of faith. And obedience simply involves doing what God wants done.

[32:03] if you love me keep my commandments. And when James writes about Abraham offering Isaac upon the altar and through his works his faith was made obvious and then James uses this peculiar expression that I think is just absolutely beautiful.

[32:28] He says so you see then that in his works his faith was perfected. And what that means is faith is supposed to do something.

[32:45] Faith is supposed to work. Someone said are we saved by faith without works or are we saved by faith and works?

[32:56] The answer is we are saved by faith that works. And if it doesn't work it isn't the real faith. This is what James says if a man sees a brother or sister is destitute and naked and daily food and you say to them depart in peace be you warmed and filled can that kind of faith save him is that the way saving faith operates?

[33:21] No no it isn't. Saving faith does something. Saving faith obeys. And commandments. It's an act of obedience which is generated by the will.

[33:34] But if the faith is not there that's that which enables us to do the work. And people try they reverse this you know they want to put the works first and it's a cart and a horse thing and they invariably get it turned around.

[33:51] So faith is supposed to do something and what it's supposed to do is make a difference in your life in the way you think in the way you behave in the way you act and that is reflected in the commandments Jesus said if you love me keep my commandments an act of obedience is key to this and they may enter in through the gates into the city for without our dogs now you pet lovers will be delighted to know these are not the four legged variety these are humans why would humans be described as dogs well the apostle Paul describes them as dogs in Philippians too and he uses the term that is characteristic of the mangy cur hostile dog that runs in a pack that is attacking and that is vicious there are people who can be like that and they are characterized in scripture as dogs and as

[35:04] I said these are not canines these are human beings for without our dogs that is without the holy city without our dogs and sorcerers now this is a fascinating word the word in the Greek is pharmakoi p h a r m a k o i pharmakoi and if you see a similarity with a word that you're familiar with you're right it's pharmacy and the word pharmakoi means the makers the sellers and the users of potions and elixirs and mixes this is nothing but an old biblical word for drug pushers users sellers etc and what is it that is so devastating about drugs and the use of drugs we all know the negative effect that it has on people but why do they use them why does anybody turn to drugs or to narcotics think about a little bit we call these many times we call these mood altering drugs people take drugs and they are told to take a trip they are spaced out where are they what are they experiencing why do people who take drugs take them why do they take them for the effect for the way it makes them feel or what it allows them to experience but here's the point what they are experiencing and what they are feeling is not real it's illusionary it's real to them but it isn't real to reality it is escapism into another area it is drugs these are the tools of weak people who will not or cannot face reality in the real world so they create temporarily another world in which they will be happier or more fulfilled it is an escape to this never never land that is not in keeping with reality and this is one great reason why

[37:57] God hates this because the God of scripture is a God of the real not the God of the imaginary or the illusionary he is a God of reality God wants you and me to live in the real world facing real issues on a day to day basis we are not privileged to escape it and create another world of our own through something that you put into your body that affects your mind and this is precisely what these people are doing I came across an article matter of fact this was in our local newspaper this morning Mexican army finds 15 tons 30 thousand pounds of pure methamphetamine having a street value what did they say here historic seizure of 15 tons of pure methamphetamines in western

[39:20] Mexico equal to half of all meth seizures worldwide in 2009 feeds growing speculation that the country could become a world platform for meth production not just a supplier to the United States and for how long has drugs been a counterculture a subculture in the United States for a long time I mean you can talk to any judge or any law enforcement authority and they will be very eager to tell you that we could virtually depopulate our jails and prisons if it weren't for drugs and alcohol and actually alcohol is a drug too but it is the result of all of these people attempting to create another reality that they always experience is very temporal and then of course there's the crash and the come down and then the seeking for another high and we all know about home break-ins and robberies and muggings and thefts and things that people are engaging in just to feed a drug habit just for ten dollars worth of cocaine or whatever and this is epidemic but let me tell you something folks it's going to get a lot worse it's bad now but it's going to get a lot worse this thing is going to just permeate our culture in a way that we can't even imagine as bad as it is now it's going to get worse the hall could have supplied 13 million doses worth over 4 billion that's with a

[41:13] B 4 billion dollars on US streets and they bring this stuff in here and sell it on street corners with abandonment and there are so many pushers and so many crack houses and so many this and so many that law enforcement cannot begin to keep up with them so what is coming and I'm not a prophet nor the son of a prophet but I think this is coming down the road I don't know how soon but there likely is going to be a legalization of these things and the rationale will be that the problem is so enormous we just can't possibly police it any longer or keep up with it our prisons are already filled to overflowing we have no choice but to legalize these things and when you do that then Katie bar the door because it will be reduced to a drug culture the likes of which we've never seen so these are the sorcerers it's rendered this way here this is the pharmakeia the sources these are not people that sit around with pointed hats like

[42:22] Merlin the magician stirring a cauldron and cackling like a witch these sorcerers are drug addicts drug pushers drug manufacturers and so on and whoremongers a whoremonger is simply a man who is chasing multiple sexual experiences and is willing to pay for it it's an interesting word the monger means one who proliferates and you know they're fishmongers a fishmonger is a guy that has a fish market and he sells fish and a whoremonger is somebody who is always ready to fight at the drop of a hat but a whoremonger is pretty much self explanatory and murderers these are people who value no one's life and it does not mean that there are not going to be any murderers in heaven or it doesn't mean that there are not going to be any drug users in heaven or in this city but the idea is conveyed that those whose lives are characterized by these things

[43:37] I mean if we're going to go strictly on there's going to be no murderers there then you immediately have to leave David out you know David the king he won't be there neither will Saul of Tarsus he won't be there either because he too persecuted the church and he murdered Christians and so on but the meaning the expression here the dogs the sorcerers whoremongers murderers idolaters these are people whose lives are characterized by these elements this is the story of their life this is what they are and they of course are going to be excluded as well as whosoever loves and makes a lie that is people who are habitual and proverbial liars I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches I am the root and the offspring of David that's a beautiful expression you know when a plant grows the first part of the plant that is growing the origin of the plant is the root it's that underground part that absorbs the moisture and the nutrients from the soil that produces the livelihood for that which is above the ground so it starts in the root and

[45:06] Christ is both the root and the offspring of David that means he was before David but at the time John wrote this David had been dead and buried for a thousand years and yet Christ says he is the root of David how can that be it is so in the same sense that he said before Abraham was I am John 8 58 he predates Abraham and they looked at him quizzically and said why this is ridiculous you aren't even 50 years old and you saw Abraham what are you talking about and Jesus said before Abraham was I am so here Christ is positioning himself on the other side of David historically before David was but he is also acknowledging that he is on this side of David he is both the root before David and he is the offspring after

[46:09] David so he is both the root and the offspring and the bright and morning star 20th century New Testament says the bright star of the morning of course this is a figure that indicates the origin of the first one being there in the morning and the spirit and the bride say come and let him that hearth say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely this is the last invitation that is extended in the scriptures and it appeals to the human will for I testify unto every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book and I personally think that he is talking about this particular book that he is recording under direction of

[47:13] Christ himself which means he's talking of course about the revelation of Jesus Christ this last book of the Bible that is the prophecy of this book if any man shall add unto these things God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book and my thinking that's pretty much incomprehensible that's a pretty solemn oath that is given he which testifies these things and that of course is the risen

[48:18] Christ says surely I come quickly and there's that expression again that we have already defined even so John adds even so come Lord Jesus the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all amen that's the conclusion of the book and we've got a couple of minutes left so feel free to inject any questions or comments that you may have anyone Shelley I have no idea yeah I've struggled over that myself I do not understand here is the picture that we get and this is as this is as accurately as I'm able to draw it and realizing that my description may very well be flawed because I certainly can't claim any kind of real inspiration or insight on this but here we're going to be on this orb this planet approximately 25,000 miles in circumference that is going to be renovated purged devoid of oceans and no need for we need the oceans now we really need them and the rivers and they are graciously provided by

[49:49] God in a fallen world but the time is coming when they're going to be done away and a 1500 mile width length and height is going to be utilized for the new Jerusalem and it has been described as having the 12 gates all around it three on each of the four sides and so on and the pearls and everything but that is just the new Jerusalem on the earth it's going to encompass a small percentage of all the earth where exactly this is going to be I don't know but my guess is probably the Holy Land probably centered there in the Holy Land and yet this is going to leave all the rest of the earth and all the rest of the earth is going to be inhabited by people they are not going to be unbelievers they are obviously going to be believers because now we're talking about the eternal state we're not talking about the millennial reign the millennial reign is over and done with it was concluded in an earlier chapter of

[50:54] Revelation when when Satan engaged in his last rebellion after the thousand years he was confined to the bottomless pit after the thousand years he is released and he goes out to deceive the nations once more and he succeeds in recruiting a lot of people because during the millennial reign there have been a thousand years for people in non glorified bodies but bodies just like you and I have now they are going to be living multiplying and reproducing and they are going to be responsible for a huge number of people who are going to be born during that thousand year reign they are those at least some of them whom Satan is going to deceive when he is released and then they will be dealt with summarily that is in Revelation 19 or Revelation 20 and they will be dealt with with one final act of divine judgment it will not be a prolonged war like the campaign of

[51:58] Armageddon or anything and then then the new heavens and the new earth will be created and that is where we have chapter 21 and 22 so all of the rest of the earth besides the new Jerusalem is going to be populated who is going to populate it who what will be the description of these people I'm not completely sure but they are those referred to as the nations and they are found in verse 2 the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations that's a very good question because what do they need to be healed from with there being no curse and no disease and no death it may mean and this is just a I don't know this is just a random thought it may mean that this is for the perpetuity of their health or maintaining of their health

[53:00] I don't know but there is going to be eating and drinking without the necessity to do so maybe that means that there is just going to be a pleasurable thing and that invokes other questions if there is going to be eating and drinking with glorified bodies there is going to be a marriage supper of the lamb I don't think at the marriage supper of the lamb we're going to sit there and look at each other I think there are going to be things to eat what will be on the menu I have no idea but I am satisfied that it will be the best that God can make it now here's another question my mind just there is going to be eating and drinking in this eternal state is there going to be digestion and elimination are there going to be are there going to be porty pots in heaven are there going to be latrines in heaven restrooms tell us

[54:21] Richard I have several questions about that I want to ask is your meaning here about topics or books of the bible or about topics in other words what comes to my mind is heaven all these things have to do with what heaven is going to be like wonderful to have an in depth study about heaven what the bible says about heaven will there be animals there will there be work all those kinds of things yeah well these are very good questions about but I wonder I never heard a message okay well it's interesting that you bring that up and that we're discussing it now because we're engaged now in a video series that was produced by Randy Alcorn who wrote probably one of the most definitive things on heaven that I've ever seen very well written book and we're doing an eight part video series that he is conducting on this very subject and he's dealing with these issues that you're talking about we who pardon me we who at grace at grace bible church in the morning and you know we're in

[55:41] I think we're starting the third of eight sessions and I'd be glad to make the dvd available to you when we're concluded with it I think you'd find it fascinating and I would recommend Randy Alcorn's book on the subject of heaven it's the best that I've seen and your questions are very legitimate yeah and you know I think there are going to be animals in heaven and animals in the millennial reign they're surely going to be in the millennial reign because the wolf is going to lie down with the lamb and the only way we can make a wolf lie down with a lamb today is you have to keep supplying lambs that's that's part of our fallenness but I think the time is coming when because you see animals were part of the original creation and they suffered in the fall because when man fell as the federal head of all creation he was in charge everything that was under his authority fell with him and when

[56:48] Christ died he died not only for the sins of man he paid a redemptive price for everything that was lost and that includes the animal kingdom and the vegetable kingdom and everything he bought and paid for this globe and everything on it and he redeemed it with his own blood and it's hard for me to believe that what he bought and purchased is somehow going to be omitted or left out but I think it's going to be all included as part of the package in a wonderful glorified state but perhaps even even better than that and about the idea of food and I don't know I may be completely off base here because when I start thinking about these things as I said my mind goes amok sometimes but when we eat food when we eat and drink our bodies engage in an absolutely miraculous process that we don't even think about called digestion and assimilation and the nutrients in the food that we eat goes to provide and maintain blood and bones and tissue and all of that that we are so dependent upon and that which your body cannot use or assimilate it excretes it eliminates and we do this through the waste process and

[58:35] I think it is largely because and again I can't speak with any kind of authority on this but it's just one of those things I wonder about what what if our body a glorified body was working in such a fashion that with food being what it's supposed to be not filled full of chemicals preservatives and all kinds of stuff but under these conditions maybe maybe our bodies would utilize 100% of the nutrients in that food so that there is no elimination and there is no waste that's just a thought that's true yeah he did he did eat fish and he did so with a glorified body and I I think that you know that may very well

[59:39] I'll tell you what we're in for a lot of surprises the more I study these things the more I'm convinced that despite the fact that sometimes man thinks he is so smart we really don't know very much at all I think I think if we really understood our ignorance we'd be embarrassed by it that's true that's that's definitely true the world is is too much with us and someone says well you can you know if you're not careful you can be so heavenly minded that you're no earthly good and I don't know that I've ever met anybody like that now I've met a lot of Christians who are so earthly minded that they're no heavenly good I've met a number of those and I've lived there myself in times past so I know what I'm talking about but you're right you know we spend all kinds of time and effort and money and planning and everything if you're going to take a trip to Scotland boy you're going to map out everything you're going to know where you're supposed to be when on

[60:42] Thursday and who you're going to meet where and what this tour is going to include and how much it's going to cost you've got all the details you've got everything got it all wrapped up sewed up you're only going to be gone a couple of weeks but how much planning and preparation do we give to where we're going from which there is no return sobering isn't it Dottie no they are without well I think no I don't think it's simply saying all these people are going to be outside the gates I think it's just another way of saying these people aren't going to be there period they're not going to be there it isn't that they're all going to be outside the gate clamoring to get in or looking in and saying I wish I were there I don't think that's the case at all it's just another way of saying they're not going to be present they are gone Marvis

[61:42] I have some questions regarding food and so forth it wasn't until after the flood that God told Noah to kill and eat the animals so something must have happened in the flood to the food provided that made it not be able to sustain us properly and I'm assuming it had to do with protein because that's the big thing that you get from me so I'm just kind of curious as to what actually happened and is there some sort of food that grew then that doesn't grow now just things you're going to mind I'm not sure if you've got any light on that no afraid I don't you've got a mind that runs amok too I can tell and I have another question because do I have it right that what you're saying is the earth is going to be flat again well not flat but I mean no mountains and valleys and so forth and if there's no oceans and rivers right and I think we can also conclude no deserts everything is going to be habitable and arable okay what about sharks and dolphins and whales and those things well it would appear that that the vicious factor the predator factor will no longer

[63:13] I I don't know I don't know you can take it up with headquarters when it happens I don't know I don't know if God's going to have a suggestion box or not but I somehow think he's probably not open to suggestions you may well be right I read the book but it's been I don't know probably a couple of years ago and I just don't recall that I have great respect for Randy Alcorn and he's done us a wonderful service in the book that he's written I heartily recommend it but I think the text says there will be no more sea no more you know I think that's exactly what it means yes you had a comment question where would we be and who's going to live in

[64:13] Jerusalem I think we'll be all in the new Jerusalem or we will be ruling and reigning Matthew 25 24 and 25 makes it quite clear in the expressions that our Lord gives that faithfulness in this life is going to be rewarded and I can't imagine and the expression is reigning over five cities or reigning over ten cities I don't know what that means other than some kind of administrative function there is going to be government there is going to be productivity there is going to be allotment there is going to be assignment and all of this in the eternal state is going to be active and involved you are not going to be sitting around strumming on a harp and you are not going to be lobbying for a 40 day work week things are going to be so incredibly different but it is all going to be right it is all going to be what it is supposed to be it is all going to be as good as God can make it and that is the ultimate

[65:30] I think that is the meaning rather than the idea of sitting down and writing something and trying to tack it on to the book I don't think that is the meaning I think it means that anyone who depreciates these things by denying them by denying the reality of them I have no idea I cannot I cannot presume to be their judge all I know is the judge of all the earth will do right and pure pure justice is really difficult for man to come by because and the reason that justice is that justice so escapes us is because we have such a limited perspective and field of knowledge think of how many people who have been acquitted or found guilty would have had a reverse finding if only all of the facts had been known but God knows all of the facts and that's why his justice will be pure and absolute not lacking in anything because God is not only able to read the what he's able to read the why and he knows and examines everything and and God

[67:05] God has to act in pure justice toward those who reject his grace if you turn your back on the grace of God there's nothing left for you but justice and justice means exactly what you deserve grace means you get what you don't deserve it's a plus well it will just be a place of habitation that that escapes anything that we can contemplate I have an article here from this is from the pen of Dr.

[67:46] Henry Morris I know many of you are familiar with him he's he with John Whitcomb authored the Genesis Flood which by the way just had its 50th anniversary and this book was probably more responsible than anything else for a resurgence in creationism and it provided a takeoff kind of launching pad if you will for Ken Ham and answers in Genesis people and other like ministries Dr.

[68:19] Henry Morris he's with the Lord now but he's published several books in addition to the Genesis flood but that was his first one and by trade and profession Dr.

[68:33] Morris was a hydraulic engineer PhD hydraulic engineer and he taught for several years at Virginia Polytechnic Institute a committed devout believer in the scriptures he's authored a number of books and let me just share this with you I don't want to I'm already over on my time but we got started late remember so but if you feel need if you need to leave because you've had an appointment please excuse yourself and go ahead and leave but I'll just take a couple of minutes and read this about the holy city he says it should it should also be remembered that the new bodies of the resurrected saints will be like those of angels now we're not going to be angels but they'll be like those of angels no longer limited by gravitational or electromagnetic forces as at present so we know that with these bodies we've got to have space and time to occupy or we can't exist but in a glorified body it will be a body fashioned like under

[69:37] Christ's body which with the principle of molecular displacement he could pass through solid objects we just can't conceive of something like that but it says thus it will be as easy for the inhabitants to travel vertically as horizontally in the new Jerusalem consequently the streets quote unquote of the city verse 21 may well include vertical passageways as well as horizontal avenues and the blocks quote unquote could be real cubical blocks instead of square areas between streets as in a present day earthly city this kind of geometry makes it easier to understand how all of the redeemed of all ages could be domiciled in a single city although there is no way to know precisely how many people will be there one can make at least an order of magnitude estimate it can be calculated that the total number of people who have lived between

[70:38] Adam's time and our time is about 40 billion that's with a B then assuming that a similar number will be born during the millennium now you've got a thousand year period with people creating procreating and their descendants procreating over a thousand years you're going to get a bunch of people allowing another 20 billion for those who died before or soon after birth it is reasonable that is during the millennium not during the eternal state it is reasonable that about 100 billion men women and children will be members of the human race past present or future assume also that 20% of these will be saved including those who die in infancy this is obviously only a guess but the Lord Jesus did make it plain that the large majority will never be saved that's that passage in

[71:39] Matthew 7 that says broad is the way wide is the gate that leads to destruction many there be that go therein narrow is the gate the way that leads to life eternal and few there be that find it relatively speaking if this figure is used then the new Jerusalem would have to accommodate 20 billion residents also assume that 25% of the city is used for the mansions quote unquote of these inhabitants based on John 14 2 with the rest allocated to streets parks public buildings etc then the average space assigned to each person would be approximately 1 30th of a cubic mile this would correspond to a cubical block with about 75 acres on each face obviously there is adequate room in the holy city for all who will be there another way of measuring the size would be that the average length or width or height of each person's block would be a little over a third of a mile in each direction some no doubt would have larger amounts some smaller but this would be about the average size these numbers just absolutely blow us away but

[72:56] I read a statistic not too long ago that was a rebuke to those who think that everybody should be paring down and having fewer babies because the earth is in danger of being overpopulated and we can't sustain the population and we can't feed them and blah blah blah and on and on it goes you know and the observation was made that you could take all of the people that United States of America and put them all what would that be 260 70 million people put them all in Jacksonville County Florida and they would be no more crowded than the present population of Newark New Jersey so we haven't filled up the place we haven't even come close the overpopulation of the earth is pure myth if there are people that are not being fed there are thousands of people who are starving but

[74:03] I assure you this is not due to the inability of the earth to sustain itself through what could be produced this is political this is political and manipulative and human brutality that is responsible for the starving thousands of people it's not the earth's inability to produce other thoughts or comments and we'll have to dismiss no I didn't say that I don't know exactly what role angels will have but I don't know exactly what role they have now other than to be ministers to those who shall be heirs of salvation and I don't know in what exactly what capacity it really does it's mind boggling and the age issue comes up too people wonder well what's a little preemie delivered a couple months early and dies is this baby going to be a baby for his whole life and us old geezers that are tottering around using canes and all the rest of it is that how old we're going to be throughout eternity well we really don't have good definitive answers to that but just let me assure you of this when I say it will be and you will be as good as God can make it that means picture yourself with no room for improvement that's the way it's going to be and I don't know a whole lot about heaven but I can promise you a couple of things one nobody's going to be bored you're not going to sit around ho hum there's nothing to do

[75:42]  I'm bored and nobody is going to be disappointed nobody's going to look around and say is this it is this it is this all there is gee I was hoping for more it's going to be mind boggling and I think the thing that is going to make the eternal state more incredible than anything else is that God is continually going to be revealing to us more and more about himself and he being the infinite God is going to keep your mind and heart so completely occupied you won't have room for anything else it will be absolutely amazing as