Mike Attwood : The Millennium Reign of Christ Part 3

Transcript

Opening Reading And Big Question

SPEAKER_00 0:01

And we're going to begin reading in verse 36. We'll read down to verse 43 for our opening reading. And we're we're kind of thinking about the question is what will the church be doing in the millennial kingdom? And so it says in verse 36, and as they thus spoke, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit, and he said unto them, Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I, I myself, handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see me have. And when he had thus spoken he showed them his hands and his feet, and while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have you here any meat? And they gave him a piece of broiled fish and of an honeycomb, and he took it and did eat before them. Now this is Jesus risen from the dead, and he's eating. That should encourage us, right? So one of the things we're going to do in the Millennial Kingdom is eat. I was speaking with a brother, a dear brother, love him dearly, and he was of the opinion that during the millennial kingdom we'll be vegetarians. And his thesis was based on the fact that, you know, now that the lion and the wolf and all that are now tamed, we won't be, you know, we won't be eating them. And I said to him that, in my opinion, his view sounded more like purgatory than paradise to me. A thousand years of vegetables. Come on now. I want my brisket, you know. So anyway, I I have come to the conclusion that we will be eating, and that we'll be eating fish and chips in the millennial kingdom. And I have proof that we'll be the chips part, I'm not so sure, but the fish I know. So if you turn with me to the book of Ezekiel, chapter 47, Ezekiel 47. And uh, of course, this is not the only place, but it's a really an amazing chapter, Ezekiel 47. It's talking about a river that will come out of Jerusalem. It always amazes me that most capital cities are built around a water source, usually a river. So if you go to the to Rome, uh the great empire of the ancient world, it it evolved or it grew up around the banks of the Tiber, the river Tiber, and Rome came into existence. Uh you go to Paris, it's the Seine. Go to London, it's the Thames, the River Thames, and almost every major capital city is built on a river, but Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel, right now, has no river. But it will. And this is a description of it, and it's going to come out of the throne of God. And what is interesting is that it's mentioned not just here in chapter 47 of Ezekiel, it's mentioned in Zechariah as well. And in Zechariah, you get kind of additional details, you put it together, you'll find that that river comes out of the out of the temple. It goes down to Jerusalem, and remember the temple will be built north of Jerusalem. It won't be in Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be actually in an area kind of south of the temple complex. But it will come from the temple into Jerusalem, and then when it comes out of Jerusalem, it will split, and half of it will go to the Mediterranean Sea, and half of it will go to the Dead Sea. And this is where we're going to break in here. So we'll look in at verse 8 of chapter 47. And of course, interesting, again, just want to say this. Our dear Amillennial friends will take a passage like this, and they will use it to talk about deeper knowledge of the spirit. First of all, we're just w wading, and then we get deeper and deeper, and so on. They'll tie it in with John 7, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water, and they'll make this wonderful case that denies the literality of the passage. And certainly we want more of the spirit and more experience of the spirit, but that's not what this is talking about. It's talking about a literal river that's going to come out of Jerusalem. The verse 8 says, They said unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country and go down into the desert and go into the sea, which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. So that's the waters of the Dead Sea shall be healed. And it shall come to pass that everything that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the river shall come, shall live, and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither, for they shall be healed, and everything that shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi, even unto Engelaim, and they shall be a place to spread forth nets, their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many, but the miry places thereof and the marshish thereof shall not be healed, they shall be given to salt. Now we'll just talk about that in a moment, but just to say you've got commercial fishing going on, because it's nets, it's not small sport fishing. So obviously we're going to be eating fish. When you look at the Millennial Temple, there are kitchens in it, so that when people bring the peace offering, and of course the peace offering, remember that was the offering where uh God got his portion, the priest got his portion, and then the offerer got his portion. And it was a picture of fellowshipping around the same person who is pictured in the offering. And so again, there's going to be kitchens in the millennial temple so that the peace offering can be offered and enjoyed. And so clearly we're going to be eating lamb, and Grady, you'll you'll like it then. He doesn't like it now because he hasn't had it cooked right, but if he had it cooked right, he'd like it. But he's going to like it, and we're going to be eating fish and chips and lamb chops. Now, how's that? It's going to be wonderful, isn't it? In the Millennial Kingdom. And of course, the reason that the marshes are not going to be healed is you've got to have salt to put on your fish and chips, as well as malt vinegar, just to give it the perfect. So the salt is there too. And so we're going to be eating. Now, why, why, we obviously in a resurrection body, why do you need to eat? Jesus didn't need to eat to survive, right? Because he's in a resurrection body. But food and fellowship always go together. In fact, the idea of fellowship is table fellowship. It's being around the table together. And so, in a sense, there's going to be lots of fellowship in the Millennial Kingdom, and there'll be the enjoyment of food as well. Like God wants us to enjoy. God never does anything boring, right? It's always for our enjoyment, for our good. And so we'll be able to, you know, really sit down and enjoy leisurely meals. We won't have to worry about calories, uh, carbohydrates, or any of those things. We'll just be able to enjoy one another and the Lord and the food that he graciously provides in the millennial kingdom. And I think that's going to be wonderful. And again, our millennial friends, because they're affected by Gnosticism, they see that the things that I'm talking about, they would say, Oh, that's carnality. You know? And again, why is it carnality? But that's how they would see it. So again, we've got to say, but that's what the scripture says. We're going to be enjoying these things, and they will be wonderful. We'll be enjoying the bridegroom. We don't want to miss that. We're going to be there with the bridegroom of our hearts, and we're going to just enjoy him. We're going to enjoy seeing him vindicated in the place of his rejection, exalted in the place where he was humbled in the face of men. What a joy that's going to be, right? And so, and then, like even down to the eating, you think of uh passages in scripture where it talks about Abraham. We're going to sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom. And those that were meant for the kingdom, they're going to be outside. But we're so, oh, what you what are you going to do this afternoon? Actually, I've got a lunch appointment. I'm actually going to go have lunch with Ezekiel. What are you doing tomorrow? Well, actually, John the Baptist. I'm going to go see him. We want to have a chat. I want to I mean, isn't that going to be amazing? We're going to visit with these people and and sit down with them. And we'll we'll get them to tell their story. We've got it from scripture, but it'd be nice to hear it from them. We'll get to enjoy those things. And and uh it's gonna be a great blessing. We're gonna have uncorruptible bodies. That's gonna be amazing, isn't it? I often think that I I've said this many times, that why the rapture is so appealing to me is because we'll be able to love the Lord with an uncning heart. That's gonna be amazing. And and again, we're gonna enjoy that. It's gonna be an amazing thing. So, again, with it with with bodies that are not gonna be getting old or wearing out or corrupting in any way, we're gonna enjoy all of these things. And so, again, that will be our role. What about Israel in the kingdom? Well, Zechariah is very helpful when we think of Israel. Uh, again, we we live in a day where there are certain parts of the cities of our world where to be a Jew, and they often the more orthodox they are, the more obvious they are, is risky because there are people who will attack them just because of who they are. And there's no rationale behind it either, by the way. It's amazing. I remember seeing a documentary years ago about this this village in Russia that was supposed to be the most anti-Semitic place on the earth. And they were asking them, Well, have you is there any Jews live here? And they said, No. Have you ever met a Jew? No. So why do you hate them so much? We don't know. Like there's no rationale. And and I think behind it is Satan. That anti-Semiticism is because Satan hates God, and he hates a nation that has God's name connected with them. Israel, Elohim. Their very existence testifies to the reality of God, and therefore Satan hates them. And so there's this incredible anti-Semiticism that permeates our world, permeating the conservative social media with Mr. uh Tucker Carlson and and what's the lady called? Uh what?

unknown 10:58

Candace Owens.

Israel’s Role And Worldwide Antisemitism

Millennial Sacrifices And Keeping Promises

Longevity Makes Death Feel Strange

Nations Worship In Jerusalem Yearly

Children In The Kingdom And Final Revolt

New Creation Or Renewed Earth

The New Jerusalem’s Staggering Size

Nothing Defiles And Many Things End

Final Hope And Closing Prayer

SPEAKER_00 10:59

Candace Owens, yeah. Incredibly anti-Semitic right now. Shockingly so. And that's that's the world we're living in. And it it's not gonna get better until Jesus comes. Prior to that, it's gonna get worse. In fact, it's gonna become so worldwide that they're gonna their very existence is gonna be threatened. But when we see Zechariah 8, verse 23, we say, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, in those days it shall come to pass that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. Now that's gonna be a different world, isn't it? So instead of ten men wanting to get hold of the skirt of one Jew to tear him to shreds, they say, We want to go with you. We know that God is with you. And the nation of Israel are gonna be finally that light to the Gentiles that God ever intended them to be. They're also gonna be uh responsible for the management of the Ezekiel's uh millennial temple, including the offering of millennial sacrifices. Now, this is an important topic because a lot of people would say the weakness of our theological position is that we do not harmonize with the epistle to the Hebrews. Epistle to the Hebrews says, one sacrifice for sins forever, never to be repeated. And so the idea of there coming a time on earth where they will be offering sacrifices again is in their mind a backward step. Okay, and uh so they just think that we're we're crazy for even entertaining such a thought. So what what what is the necessity of having millennial sacrifices? Because again, and again, good men like Harry Ironside, who I really recommend in many, many ways, great practical application. But when he comes to Ezekiel and he talks about he he he spiritualizes it. He he's not consistently literal, he almost is in everything until he gets to Ezekiel, and he can't bring himself to admit that there will be millennial sacrifices. Interesting. Others are like that too. And my point is this if we're gonna be literal, let's be consistently literal wherever it takes us, and let's get our convictions from what the Bible brings us to. Even if it is difficult and uncomfortable, let's follow the text, right? Let's be slaves to the text, not to tradition, but to the text of Scripture. So, so clearly there there will be millennial sacrifices. Now we're left with a dilemma. Well, how does that fit with Hebrews and why? Why do we need them? What's the necessity of these sacrifices? Well, let me just give you some reasons. Look with me to the book of Numbers, please. And this weekend I have to confess, and I was talking to Grady about this, I was in a bit of a dilemma of what to speak on because I wanted to speak on this, but I also wanted to speak on the covenants. And you know what the scripture says, a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. But I figured a way of getting a bit of both in, so that makes me feel a little bit less double-minded. And here's one of the passages that helps me. And it's a covenant that God made with a man called Phinehas. And if you look at Numbers 25 and verse 10, it said, The Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, And the Phinehas, the son of Eliezer, the son of Aaron, the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among you, among them. And I counted not the children of Israel in my consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace, and he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made an atonement for the children of Israel. And we we know the rest of the story. He goes in, there's a an Israelite in his brazenness brings a woman into the very camp of Israel and has in uh relationships with her in the very presence of God, and uh uh the javelin of Phineas puts an end to the he makes a point, a sharp point that what they were doing was wrong, and he rams it through, and of course, God says he was zealous for me. So he promises him that he would be given the covenant of an everlasting priesthood. Now, covenants are very important because when God makes a covenant, he swears with an oath. Okay, so in other words, he's his whole character is now on the line. If he doesn't fulfill this, then God is not trustworthy as an individual. So he has to fulfill this covenant. So in the Millennial Kingdom, we're gonna read about the descendants of Zadok who were gonna be the priests. And if you look at 1 Chronicles 6 and the genealogies of the priests, guess what you're gonna find? That Zadok is a direct descendant of Phineas. So this covenant promise to Phinehas will be fulfilled in the kingdom through the Zadok priesthood, which is a direct line to Phineas. So again, God's keeping his promises. And again, I think part of the reason for the Millennial Kingdom is all the promises that were made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to David, the Davidic covenant, the covenant that was made to Phineas are gonna be fulfilled through Christ, the new covenant person, making these all possible. And so the covenants are gonna be find fulfillment in that time frame. So that's one reason. Now there's another reason too. I'd like you to look with me to the book of Isaiah now, chapter 65. Isaiah 65 and verse 20. It says, There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days, for the child shall die and hundred years old, but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed. Now think about that. The child that dies an hundred years old. So the thought would be this if somebody dies and they're just a hundred, they'd say, Oh, they were nothing but a kid. It's like we're going back to the patriarchal ages. Okay. And so now there's a sister, she's 91. She doesn't look a day over 60, but she's 91, right? But like we we would we wouldn't think she's a kid. Although we become more childlike when we get old, more dependent, I suppose. But this is the idea that we're gonna have these long ages. Now, as a result of these long ages, the point is that death is a rarity in the Millennial Kingdom. And so if you're living 560 years into the kingdom, and somebody's talking about the death of Christ, people might be inclined to say, Oh, what do you mean, death? I've never seen that. I I I don't know what you're talking about. Isn't that amazing? And and and these graphic sacrifices will show them what the Lord Jesus went through in a memorial way. You know, we look back to Calvary, they're also going to be looking back, but they're gonna be looking back at a concept that's a very strange concept to them, but these sacrifices will help them understand the significance of the death of Christ, and it will be important to them. And it is interesting that when death is a rarity, it does become shocking. I've often told this story, but when we we grew up without TV in our home when we got married, we didn't have a television. Part of the reason was that um I'm the kind of person I grew up in a home where it was on all the time, and so if there was a TV in this room now, even though I'm trying to preach, I'll be looking at it the whole time. Even though it might be the most incredible drivel you could imagine, I can't keep my eyes off it. It just is that's why if I go to a restaurant and there's televisions, if I can I sit with my back to it because I'm there to talk to somebody and enjoy fellowship, and if the TV's on, I'll be glued. Right? So we didn't we thought if we want to keep marriage, communication and marriage are important. If we have a TV, I'll never talk to my wife. We better, we better not get one. So we didn't get one. So we went to some, we were at somebody else's house, and I think my son James, I don't know whether he's four or four years old, maybe something like that, he'd never seen the TV. And all of a sudden there was a cowboy show on the program, and an old-fashioned one, and somebody got shot, and James just began to wail because he'd never seen death before. And it was such a shock to the poor little lad's system. And we had to really calm him down because he'd never seen it, oblivious to it. Our world, we we're death out. We have seen we see death on computer games, we see death on, you know, it's hardly a show on television that somebody's gonna get killed. It's like everywhere. And we become we almost become dulled to it in our senses. We don't realize the significance of it. In the Millennial Kingdom, it will be such a rarity that if you want to see what death is like, you'll have to go to Jerusalem and witness the sacrifices. And then you'll say, Oh, that's what Jesus went through on Calvary. It'll give you an understanding. So it'll be essential for those reasons. But Israel certainly they will have this uh preeminent role looking after the temple. And again, the the Gentiles will come up to the temple. Look at Zechariah chapter 14. One of the things when I was I did this uh study on Ezekiel, I did 72 messages on the book of Ezekiel. So a bit longer than this weekend to do that. But as I was going through Ezekiel and did these messages, one of the things that impressed me is that when you look at the temple and the details of it, what you find is that bearing in mind that the whole world is going to come up for the Feast of Tabernacles, God built in traffic regulations so that if you come into the Temple through one gate, you have to leave through the opposite gate. If you come in from that gate, you've got to go from the opposite gate because imagine the chaos when the whole world is filing through the temple. If suddenly somebody turns around and decides to go back the way they were it's God has got it all worked out, even down to traffic regulations. So there's no question that this is going to happen. And in Zechariah 14, you'll notice in verse 16 it says, It shall come to pass that everyone that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the king, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be that whoso will not come up of the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the king, the Lord of hosts, even upon him of them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up and come not, that have no rain, there shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. There shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. So again, it several things come out of this. First of all, all the nations are going to come. If they refuse to come, there will be consequences, because remember, Christ is going to reign and rule with a rod of iron. And so any any disobedience will immediately be a punishment. And when he says to Egypt, the plagues, even the very mention of the plagues and Egypt in the same sentence ought to wake them up. Don't they know anything about the Bible's history? Well, we better get our act together because we don't want to be ruined like we were before, and they're gonna they're gonna come and comply. Which leads us to another point that we want to make, and it's a very important point, and that is this. When we think of the millennial kingdom, will people have children? And of course, let's be honest, those that are resurrected, right? There's no marriage or giving in marriage, we'll be like the angels in heaven. Okay, so don't worry, no children for us. We're our our child raising days are done and behind us, okay. We won't have to worry about that. Some of us are saying, hallelujah, praise the Lord. We enjoyed every minute of it while we had it, but we're also glad to have emptiness syndrome as well. Anyway, we're not gonna do in that, but the people that go into the millennial kingdom in their physical bodies are gonna have children, and we just saw there's gonna be great longevity. I I believe that there'll be the conditions will be perfect, and like nobody will say that no point, I can't I can't afford two children because there's an abundance, so there'll be big families, lots of children. But just like today, when we have children, although them being born into a Christian home certainly enhances their possibility of getting saved, it doesn't guarantee it. Right? I mean, there's a sanctifying effect of growing up in a Christian home. Even if there's just one spouse, a believer, and the other one isn't, they're sanctified by the believing one. So they're under the sound of the gospel. That's the point. That they're they're getting more light, more possibility than if they didn't. So that's a good thing. Praise God for that. But there's no guarantees. And we all know people called prodigals who grew up under the sound of the gospel and said, It's not for me, and they walked away. Heartbreaking. And we pray for them that it's not the end of the story, but nevertheless, they're prodigals. In the millennium, it will be very difficult to be a prodigal because Jesus is ruling with a rod of iron. And so you can't outwardly rebel because all outward rebellion will be crushed instantly. And so, if you can't outwardly rebel, what's the alternative? Well, you can inwardly rebel, even though outwardly look you look like it's you're you're there. And we've all seen that. You know, I remember when my kids were little, you'd tell them to sit down, and they would be sitting down because there were consequences for not sitting down, but they were standing up on the inside. Right? And have you ever done that where you've complied, but in your heart, you're just not there. You're in rebellion. So they'll do that and they'll be good at it. But the problem is that being around Jerusalem would be the riskiest place in the whole world to be. Because remember, his eyes are like a flame of fire. And so if he happens to be walking down the street that day and you happen to see him, he'll see right through that you're a phony. So I believe that anybody who's like that is going to get as far away from Jerusalem as they possibly can. Right? The further away from that place where he is, because anybody who is a prodigal wants to get away from light. Stop reading their Bible, stop attending meetings, stop praying, choose friends that are not believers. We're doing everything we can to get rid of to get away from light, because because light bothers us, because we want darkness, and so they're going to get as far away as they can. So when the devil is released after that thousand years, you remember it says he goes to the four corners of the earth. Well, the earth is a is a sphere, they're not corners, but the idea is as far away from Jerusalem as he possibly can be. And so he will go to those places and he will gather, and this is amazing, isn't it? This is Christ on earth in his undoubted, unresplendent glory, the the greatest evidence anybody could ever want that Jesus is who he claimed to be. And yet there are rebels who, at the slightest provocation, when they're challenged, let's go and take the city, are gonna say, Let's do it. Let's get rid of God forever. Isn't that incredible? And we said, you know, the millennium is necessary because it shows that that man is incurably evil under every circumstance. And so there's gonna be this great rebellion, and as the as the multitudes as the sand on the seashore, amazing. Masses of people at the end of the millennium are gonna join in this. But it's just gonna be like Sodom and Gomorrah. God's gonna rain down fire and brimstone before they even get to the heavenly city. It's all done. Amazing. So there will be lots of children. That's that was the the answer to that question. And and again, many of them will believe and will follow, and we praise God for that, but there will be a lot that will rebel, and of course, it will the necessity of the last rebellion was to prove that. So that's that's the millennium. That's the 12 questions on the millennium, believe it or not. Now we're just gonna spend a few minutes. If you'll if you'll you still you still with me? You want to because we can do this tomorrow if you want to do it. I don't mind either way. You want to go? Keep going. Okay, we'll do a little bit of uh the questions about the new heavens and the new earth. And so we're gonna go to Revelation 21 now and 22. These are the chapters that deal with it. And one of the first questions that people ask is will it be a completely new creation or the old creation purged and restored? That's a great question. And I have to say, if you'd have asked me that question a year ago, I would say it would be completely new. Now I'm wobbling, strongly wobbling on that view and thinking that it's going to be the old creation that's purged and renewed. So let's look at the evidence one way or another. So when we look at uh chapter 21 and verse 1, I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. So that seems to support the view that it's the old one's completely gone, right? And it seems pretty compelling. And then let's look at 2 Peter 3. Keep your finger in Revelation 21, because we're gonna come back there. But I want you to go to 2 Peter 3, which is a key passage in understanding this section. So 2 Peter 3. And we're gonna look at verse 10. So he says, for that's 1 Peter. 2 Peter 3, here we are. Verse 10, he says, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. Let me just pause there and say something about the day of the Lord. It's interesting that Paul, when he speaks about the day of the Lord, speaks about the beginning of the day of the Lord. And when Peter speaks about it, he speaks about the end. They're both speaking about the same day, which is the day of God directly intervening in the affairs of men. Paul talks about the beginning when everybody's going to say peace and safety, sudden destruction will come upon them. That's the day of the Lord at the beginning. Here we're talking about the very end of the day of the Lord. So it's the end of the thousand-year reign, basically. So he says here, the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, the works that are therein shall be burned up. So again, it seems fairly compelling that the first viewpoint that I said that it's going to be a completely new creation, and the old creation just completely destroyed. So that would be the the the I'd say the majority viewpoint. However, in 2 Peter as well, he he's comparing, as it were, the judgment of the old world. And so in verse 6 he says, whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished. And that's interesting, isn't it? So is this world still the same world that occurred after the flood as before the flood? Still the same world, isn't it? It's not identical because it was water, as it were, cleansed it of all the wickedness. But it's still the same real estate. And how do we know that? Well, there's evidence of it. There's evidence of the flood everywhere you look, right? Also, if they're correct about what they've found on Ararat or that that area, there's evidence of the ark, even. So it would seem that we're on the same same earth, even though the world uh that then was perished. So could it be because Peter is saying that the world is now reserved unto fire? The same world is reserved unto fire, that the fire is gonna purify this world just like the water purified the flood, and then we go to the new heaven and the new earth, but it's still the same piece of real estate. And the reason why I think that view is correct is that if he has to destroy this world and start again, the devil won. But the devil didn't win. He's gonna purge this world with fire like he did once with water, and then this new heaven and new earth is gonna continue, which is gonna be based on the old world. Now, again, this is not an area where I'm gonna break fellowship with you if you take the other view, okay? I may be wrong, you may be wrong, but it just seems when I look at 2 Peter more closely and see particularly the idea of the flood, and he says the world that then was perished, and yet it we know it's the same world. It just means that God cleansed it. So that's uh that's number one. Number two question about this new heavens and the new earth is what are the dimensions of the new Jerusalem which comes down from God? And so again, Revelation 21, verse 15. Now we get these dimensions, and it's quite staggering. He taught with me how to golden reed to measure the city and the gates thereof and the wall thereof. The city lieth four square, so it's a cube, and the length is as large as the breadth, and they measured the city with the reed, 12,000 furlongs, the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. So the city's exact dimensions are measured by an angel and reported to be 12,000 furlongs, the equivalent of 1,400 miles, or 1,500 miles, depending on who you read, total, or 2,200 kilometers if you're a kilometer person, in length, width, and height. Now think about this. So it's a metropolis the size of the middle of the United States. It would stretch from Canada to Mexico and from the Appalachian Mountains to the California border. And that's like just on the ground, but it goes as high as it goes across, you know, so all the dimensions being equal, being a cube. And so a city of 1,400 miles height, and so we don't have to worry about overcrowding in heaven. You know when the Lord says in my father's house are many mansions, if it was not so I would have told you. Well, how's that gonna work? Well, if if the the ground level of the city would be nearly two million square miles, forty times bigger than England, fifteen thousand times bigger than London, ten times as big as France or Germany, and larger than India. And that's just the ground level. Give the dimensions as a cube, if the city consisted of different levels, we don't know this, but if each story were a generous 12-foot high, the city would have over 600,000 stories if they're on different levels. There would be, some have worked out, the possibility of 3.3 billion mansions of of considerable size, and there's still be room. You know, when when the Lord says, I will have my house filled, compel them to come in. He's telling us there's lots of room. Lots of room. And so again, what what a staggering size of this city. Now, why does God put such emphasis when we come to the new heavens of the new earth, to the thought that he's nothing will enter in to defile it? Again, if you look at 21 verse 17 27, it says this there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. I want to suggest to you that part of the thought here is this. Wouldn't it be a terrible thing if you're in that new heavens and new earth, and at the back of your mind you're thinking, well, you know, the Garden of Eden was pretty good until something came in that spoiled it all. And God is assuring us that once he has restored everything to how he intended it to be, when we're in this new heavens and new earth, wherein dwells righteousness, there's no possibility of the snake ever getting in again. Or any such thing. Nothing will enter in to defile or make a lie. And so we will be able to enjoy it without the threat of this ever being jeopardized again. And that's going to make it pretty good, isn't it? No room for the snake here. I'm sorry, he's done. And that's going to be a tremendous blessing, or anything such like. Now, there are seven noticeable things in their absence as well in this chapter, which is kind of uh staggering to us, and and some of us maybe struggle. No more sea. If you grew up by the ocean, it's kind of like I like the sea. I mean, I I get to preach in Spanish wells usually once a year, and you can stand in the middle of the road and see the ocean on both sides. And I like going down there. That's a nice assignment, right? Because I like the ocean. But to many people, the sea is an evidence of separation. Back in the days of the Irish potato famine, when people got on coffin ships to come to the U.S., when you wave bye to your loved ones at the shore, you knew you were never seeing them again. Sea speaks of separate, there'll be no more separation. Like this weekend it'll be over and we'll be saying goodbye. Today will be over, some of us will be saying goodbye. But we'll never be able to say goodbye again. No more separation. So that no more sea, that's that's going to be a good thing. No more death. 21 verse 4. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death. Neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things have passed away. A whole bunch of things there, right? No more death, no more mourning, no more weeping, no more pain, no more curse. Amazing. Chapter 22, verse 3 tells us that there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it, and his servant shall serve him. So no evidence of the curse anymore. No more night, verse 25. There shall be no more 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. So no more night. And again, we won't we won't be sleep depraved. You know, we've got resurrection bodies. We're not gonna, we're not gonna, we don't need to recharge our batteries. We've got ever-ready batteries in us forever. So the new conditions will never ever be threatened again by Satan. A lot of people ask the question, will we see God? And it's kind of interesting that it it seems to say, again, 22 verse 3 and 4, 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, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. So whose face is it we're gonna see? Is it the Lamb or is it God, or is it both? Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5 8. I think we'll see God. We shall see him. Why does the tree of life bring healing to the nations? Revelation 21, verse 4. Because we're everybody there is gonna have new bodies, everybody's gonna be resurrected. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. Former things have passed away. And I'm reading the wrong reference here. Twenty-two. Oh yeah. Yeah, twenty-two. Here we go. Verse one and two. He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceed out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, and in the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, there was the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded a fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. So certainly we know that all tears are wiped away. We know that we're in this perfect environment, there's no more curse, all the rest of it. So, what's the idea of the healing of the nations? So I want to suggest to you it's just it's not the fact that we're gonna have wounds or any of those things. Warfare's ended, no need for combating sickness, no more death, no more pain. So the healing perhaps is a reference to the perpetual blessing of the new heaven and the new earth. Never again will the world be plagued by physical disorders or spiritual malaise or corruption, no, no warfare, no strife, no conflict. God will heal all that ails his creation, no more curse. And so it's going to be a place of blessedness. And and maybe a symbol of that is that we'll have the tree of the tree of life. We can just go and eat whenever we want. And and it just proves it's it's all healed. We're done. It's all over. The healing has taken place. Just evidence that a token, if you like, of the blessing, the blessed situation that we'll find ourselves in. Perfect communion, perfect environment. And so, again, evidence that we'll have free access to the tree of life means that it's all healed, really. Who are gonna be there? Well, 2127, it says, There'll be no wise enter in that the defiles neither whatsoever worketh abomination or makes a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. That's who's gonna be there. Good to have your name in that book. And then so that would be every person in history who trusted personally in the Lamb of God. And of course, that would be all the Old Testament saints. They look forward to the Lamb. It'll be us, we believed in the Lamb. It'll be those that looked on him whom they pierced, the Jews at the end of the tribulation period. It is everybody who's trusted in Christ. Christ. And so no corrupting old nature anymore. That's gonna be good too. That can affect us. Also, we also big question that people ask is, will there be time in eternity? Is that a good question? And it's in a sense it's based on a scripture where it says, and time shall be no more. But when you read that scripture in the context, it's really saying delay, there'll be no more delay. It's not saying there won't be any time, because even after that statement, you've got a thousand years. Well, how do you count a thousand years but by time? But I think even in eternity, there'll be time. Because people say, well, God is outside of time, there won't be any time. Well, here's my little bit of dilemma. It says, in the midst of the street of it, this is 22 2, on either side of the river was the tree of life, which have twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month. That's in the new heavens and the new earth. And this tree somehow has built into it a time factor that every month it yields new fruit. So at least the tree of life is on a clock and has a time frame, which would seem to indicate that everything else will as well. So there'll still be time. So you'll still need your Fitbit or your watch or whatever, even in eternity. So it there'll be time. So that's that's our questions. What's it gonna be like in our future eternal dwellings? And so we're done. Time shall be no more of this session today. Let's just bow and pray and and thank the Lord. Father, we want to thank you most of all that we can say that our names are in that book. Because there was a day when we realized that we were hell-deserving sinners, and we could only hope that in the Lamb of God who shed his precious blood so that our sins might be forgiven. And we're thankful for that day because it opens to us a whole new world. And we're thankful for the glorious future that we can look forward to. Not only of being in your presence the minute that we pass from this life, whether it's by rapture or whether it's by death, we'll be absent from the body, we'll be present with the Lord, with a new body, actually, if we're raptured instantaneously. And we're thankful for that blessed hope we have. But we're thankful too that that's not the end of the story. We have a thousand years to see Christ vindicated on this planet and to share with him in his glory for that thousand years. And then we'll go with him into the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwells righteousness. And we thank you for this new Jerusalem, which will be our eternal, final earth, eternal dwelling, that we'll be able to live in that on the earth and be able to see the nation streaming to it and visiting that marvelous place. So, Lord, we just thank you for what's ahead for us. Help us to be thrilled by the things we've considered. And as we've said earlier, to live today in the light of that day. Lord, we want to be gripped by these things. We want to be those that are recognized that we are training for reigning, and how we live today does affect how we will serve you in eternity. So we look to you to be faithful stewards of all that you give to us in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks. Amen.