The New Jerusalem........Date:4/24/22....................Series: Revelation
Passage: Revelation 21:6-27...............Speaker: Jeff Thompson
John is shown more details of the glorious and eternal future home of all who love the Lord, the New Jerusalem. Well, can you believe it? There are still those who are saying that the Book of Revelation is hard to understand. But Flimflam says we and I apologize is for my language. But you see, the thing is, the word revelation itself means that something has been revealed. And the first words of this book tell us exactly who it is that's being revealed.
It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. And God wanted us to read this book so much that he promised anyone who would take the time to read and respond to it a special blessing. And we find that blessing in Revelation chapter one, verse three, let's claim it together. It says, "Blessed is he (or she) who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near."
But God knew there would still be those who would say, it's just too hard to follow. So, to make it easy to understand, he also included a simple outline. And we find that in Revelation chapter one, verses 19, Jesus gives John three things to write about. Firstly, John, I want you to write the things which you have seen that was the resurrected and glorified Jesus in chapter one. Secondly, John, I want you to write the things which are that a reference to the Church aides which began around 32 AD at the feast of Pentecost, is documented in Acts chapter two and continues up to the present day.
And then lastly, Jesus says, John, I want you to write about the things which will take place after this. After what? After the Church age. Now, when does the Church age come to an end? That happens in Revelation chapter four, verses one, let me read it to you.
John says, after these things, I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard, that was the voice of Jesus in chapter one was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this. And up John goes, serving as a picture of the Church who will be raptured to be with the Lord. And just to make it Crystal clear what's happening, the Lord will take all of chapters four and five to show us the Church with Him in heaven before he begins pouring out his wrath upon the Earth. And when he pours out his wrath, the incredible thing is that verse is like Revelation 6/16 tells us that those on the Earth will know that it's God doing it.
They will identify it as the wrath of the Lamb. And in the Scriptures, the Lamb is who it's Jesus. So chapter one gives us the focus of this amazing book, Jesus Christ. Chapters two and three take us through the Church age up to the present day. The Church goes up in chapter four, verses one, we see her safe and secure with the Lord in heaven for chapters four and five before wrath comes down on the Earth in chapter six.
That wrath continues for seven years across a time period known as the Tribulation, and is documented in chapter six through 19, after which Jesus returns to the Earth with His Saints in the event known as the Second Coming. Jesus will then rule and reign on the Earth for the thousand years known as the Millennial Kingdom, a golden age when the Earth will be restored to an Eden like state and everything wrong with the world will be undone. After those thousand years, our universe will be destroyed and Jesus will create new heavens and a new Earth free from every source of sorrow heaven itself. The city called the New Jerusalem will descend to the new Earth where it will serve as our home for the ages to come.
Abraham believed in God, and he lived his whole life in tents wandering the Promised Land because he was convinced of the reality of the New Jerusalem. Does your life serve as evidence that you believe what Jesus says about heaven? In his word, Jesus said, Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. If you're a believer, make sure your life reflects the reality of heaven. If you've not placed your faith in Jesus, if you're not following Him as your Savior and Lord, I want you to know that he is what you are looking for.
Whether you realize it or not, he is what you are looking for. He is what your soul is crying out for. He's what your life is missing. And today you can have Him. When we pray in just a moment, you can ask Him to come into your life and there'll be some instructions on the end of this video as to next steps that you can take to begin that relationship with God. Make sure you do that if you've never known God for yourself. In Hebrews Eleven, the famous Hall of Faith chapter, it says this regarding the Old Testament Saints. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the Earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. They desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. If you love Jesus, then he has prepared a place for you. More than that, he has prepared an eternity for you, and he has done so for the same reason he lived a perfect life on your behalf, the same reason he suffered and died on your behalf.
And the same reason he rose from the grave and glory on your behalf is because he loves you, because your joy brings Him joy. And he knows there is no greater joy that we can have than knowing Him and being known by Him. So, he has moved heaven and Earth to make it so. Jesus is wonderful. He's wonderful. What more can we say? Let's pray. Would you buy your head and close your eyes? Jesus, thank you that you have gone to prepare a place for us, and you will come again. You will receive us to yourself so that where you are, we may be also. Thank you that our future is better than we could imagine. And Jesus, what we look forward to more than anything is being with you, being with you in the place where we will see you face to face, we will fellowship with you where everything wrong will be made right around you and in you and through you. Thank you that that future is assured for us and Jesus. We ask that the way we live our lives right now reflect that we truly believe and understand what You have revealed to us in Your Word.
May we realign everything in our lives around the reality of heaven and the future You've prepared for us. Lord, help us to live for it, be motivated by it, and be comforted by it. And if there's a change we need to make Holy Spirit, show it to us that we might walk in greater obedience and live for eternity, more profitably, bringing greater joy and glory to the Lord through our earthly lives. We love you. We're so thankful for you. We bless you. It's in Your name we pray. Amen. Hey, thanks for being with us for this study. Before you go, I want to share just a few quick things with you. If you've never given your life to Jesus, then you need to go to Gospelcity. Ca gospel right now you'll find a short video where we share the best news you'll ever hear in your life. It's more important than whatever else you're doing, so go to Gospelcity Caspel right now to learn more about Jesus. If God has blessed you through this message, we'd love to hear about it. Email us at info at gospelcity. Call and let us know how God has impacted your life through His Word.
And on this particular family day, we decided to head down to White Rock. It was low tide, and we practically had the whole beach to ourselves because while it was clear and sunny, it was still a bit windy and cold, but as is generally the case, children don't care. We blinked, and they were all soaking wet from running through the shallow pools of water that had been left behind by the tide. And they were running, as only kids do, for no apparent reason. Kids get this surge of excitement and joy, and they just run. And I was smiling, watching them play. Because if you're a parent, then you know that your kids joy brings you joy. When Caleb was younger, he loved weapons. I mean, he still likes them, but when he was younger, he just could not get enough of weapons. And on this day, he found a stick almost as tall as him, and he decided that it was his lightsaber. And I remember watching him play. He was completely in his own world. He was fighting bad guys, running, spinning around, splashing in water, laughing and smiling and just having the time of his life.
And as I found myself alone for a minute, I was struck by this deep grief, a wave of profound sadness, because Gas Is watched Caleb playing. As I watched his anabash joy, I realized that I didn't know how to be that kind of happy anymore. There was a level of joy that he was experiencing that was beyond my grasp, because he had a measure of innocence that I no longer had. You see, living in this fallen world has weathered me like a coastal rock exposed to the endless pounding of the Ocean's waves. Life just the process of living in the world wears you down, and it steals from you. Children are still fallen beings, obviously, but they're closer to Eden because most of the time they haven't been exposed to very many storms yet. I think that's why there's something so magical about the laughter of children. It's a sound that comes from a place that we don't know how to find anymore. Because life on a fallen Earth has robbed us of the natural optimism that we once enjoyed in eternity. Jesus will declare, Behold, I make all things new. And his statement will include us.
We'll get back what was lost in Eden. We'll get back what was lost before we were even born. We will be new. We've all been shaped by our life experiences in a much deeper way than we realize. What would you be like? Who would you be if they had never made that comment? If that abuse had never taken place? If they hadn't broken your heart? If you hadn't fallen into that addiction? If you hadn't done that thing that you wish every day you could take back, take it a whole lot further? Who would you be if you never felt embarrassment ever or shame ever? If you'd never been criticized? If you'd never experienced disappointment, who would you be? How would you live? How would you laugh? How would you sing? What would you share out loud? How would you love. We will be young again. We will have knowledge and wisdom and understanding, but we will be as free as children who have only ever known. Love and joy and peace will bear no scars of any kind, mental, emotional, spiritual or physical. We'll never worry about the future. We'll never worry about having enough or being enough.
We'll never worry about screwing up because there won't even be a concept in heaven. We won't be able to be self conscious because we'll be so consumed with Jesus that there'll be no room to be consumed with ourselves. Heaven is the hope of all who hope in Christ, and our hope is not misplaced. As we've talked and dreamed about heaven, I want to remind you that Jesus said to John, These words are true and faithful. The question is, do you believe Jesus? I'm not asking if you believe in Jesus. I'm asking if you believe Jesus when he tells you about heaven, because if you do, it's going to be very evident in the way you live your life.
What it says is that whatever happens to those who love him in this life, God will do something good through it. When a loved one dies unnaturally early, when sickness strikes a child, when jobs are lost, when abuse happens, when tragedy strikes, God will pull something good out of all that sorrow, even when it seems hopeless. He'll create a testimony. He'll empower you to Minister to others who have gone through the same thing. He will shake people out of complacency and make them realize the importance of eternity. He will store up treasures in heaven for you. He will humble you and shape your character. He will reveal himself to you in a new way and give you greater understanding. The promise of God is that our hurt and pain is never wasted, and that's a blessing. There is meaning and significance in the trials of a believer. In contrast, the trials of the unbeliever are meaningless. Romans 828 helps me because it reminds me that Revelation 21 four is talking about heaven, not Earth. The place where there is no more pain is heaven, not this earthly life. And this is so important because there are too many churches teaching people lies by leading them to believe that if you love Jesus, then everything will work out great for you in this earthly life.
That's not true. That's not what the Bible teaches, and it's not how your life and my life are going to play out. And when people buy into this type of false teaching, they end up disillusioned with Christianity when their life doesn't play out that way. Hear me on this Church. This is not heaven. This is not heaven. I have walked with many people through times of tragedy. And when they strike, we all naturally want to know why, why? And sometimes we do each other a great disservice by trying to come up with, with baseless explanations. A lot of the time. The explanation is simply that this is a fallen world and this is not heaven. This is not everything as it should be. This is not where wrong things happening is abnormal. This is not heaven yet. And that's why we long for heaven. The bottom will fall out of your life one day, and it'll happen more than once. When I understand the difference between this life and heaven, I won't get mad at God when tragedy strikes my life. I'll remember that Jesus told his disciples, in the world, you will have tribulation.
And guess what? We are still in the world. Write this down. This isn't heaven. Don't expect it to be. This is not heaven. Don't expect it to be. Heaven is where verses four takes place, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain. For the former things have passed away. Now. Verse five, a verses so great and glorious, I cannot find the words to expound upon it sufficiently. Then he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, right, for these words are true and faithful. I like that John is seemingly so overwhelmed by all that he's seeing there. He's sitting there with his mouth open. And God has to say, John right. This verse means the world to me. And I want to tell you about the moment this verse came alive most powerfully in my life. It was early in the fall years ago, and it was one of our family days that we try to take once a week where we do something together as a family.
Rather, our joy should be that we will behold Jesus together. And I really say this because I love you. If you're longing for heaven so that you can be reunited with your loved ones, just be sure that you don't allow your longing to be with them, to exceed your longing to be with the Lord. Because if you do, you've turned that covet one into an idol. And if they love Jesus, that is the last thing they would want you to do with their memory. What a blessing it is that those who love Jesus will be reunited in his presence to enjoy Him together. I don't know how anybody's supposed to read the next verse out loud and keep it together, but I'll try. Verse four, it says, And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. And some will say this verse is pointing out that there must be tears in heaven that God needs to wipe away. And then they'll speculate as to the reason for those tears missed evangelism opportunities, regret over not living more radically for the Lord and storing up more treasure in heaven, things like that.
But that's really not what this verse is saying. This verse is saying that because the former things have passed away, nothing will exist that can cause death, sorrow or tears or crying. Those things all died. They all ceased to exist. They all passed away with the old Earth and old heavens. Write this down. Every source of sorrow is destroyed with the old Earth and old heavens. Every source of sorrow is destroyed with the old Earth and old heavens. Someone I follow on Twitter posted this earlier this week. All the sadness believers feel when leaving dear friends, all the nostalgia for days gone by, that God blessed all the pain that rocks you when death strikes loved ones. All of it is a call from a distant land where you never part, you never mourn, and most of all, you never die. No more sadness, no more disappointment, no more bitterness, no more depression, no more anxiety, no more fear. Our eternity will be sorrow proof. I have some incredible things to share with you on that point, but I need to save them for next week, so please don't miss next Sunday. It will bless you so much.
I promise we won't remember our sins and our failures in heaven. Neither will we remember those who rejected the Lord, something that's both encouraging and sobering. Remember Isaiah 60 517. The Lord said, Behold, I create new heavens and a new Earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. There shall be no more pain for the former. Things have passed away in our earthly lives. There are seemingly endless sources of sorrow that could appear at any given moment. Issues in friendships, marriages and families, addiction, poverty, sickness, death. And on and on the list goes. This will be news to some. But the Bible does not say that everything happens for a reason. If you've been with us for our study through revelation, then you'll know that the Bible teaches that Satan is the God of this age and Jesus has not yet begun to rule the nation. That happens in the Millennium. This is the promise God gives in Scripture. All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. That verse doesn't say that everything happens for a reason, nor does it say that only good things will happen to those who love Jesus.
How did you find out about the Church. I've been here for three years and you've been a blessing for three years. Excuse me, I think I hear my wife calling. In heaven, you will intrinsically know who everybody is. There won't be any awkwardness for people like me. I'll never have someone say, hey, Jeff, only for me to respond, hey, brother, in heaven, we're going to recognize everybody. So make a note of that. In heaven, we will recognize everybody. In fact, I want to suggest to you that we don't really know anyone and we won't really know anyone until we get to heaven.
Maybe there are some Christian brothers and sisters who come to mind when we talk about heaven because you find yourself immediately thinking, how am I going to avoid them for all eternity? It's going to be tough. Listen, they're going to be fully redeemed. Who we really are. Who we were created to be is going to be unlocked in eternity. Our full potential is going to be realized. And when you encounter those people in their fully redeemed States, you'll find yourself thinking, I love this person. They're amazing. And by the way, people will have that experience with you and me as well. You know, nobody wakes up in the morning and thinks to themselves, I wonder how I can alienate everyone who cares about me. Nobody wakes up in the morning and thinks, I wonder how I can drive everyone who interacts with me crazy with my annoying habits and communication style. Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, I wonder how I can make people dislike me by constantly complaining about everything. The more you get to know people, the longer you live, the more you realize that there's always a reason why we are the way we are.
I'm not saying there's always a justification. I'm saying there's always an explanation. There are negative factors that have impacted and shaped our lives. There were or are positive factors that are missing from our lives. But in eternity with Jesus, all that baggage is going to be removed. All the junk is simply going to fall away. And when those who love Jesus are freed from all that, we will become the people Jesus created us to be. We will be our true selves. For the first time in heaven, everyone will be beautiful in every sense of the word. And I promise you won't have to avoid anybody in eternity. There'll be no guilt, no shame, no awkwardness, no weirdos. Just amazing people redeemed and glorified by the Grace of God in heaven, we'll bump into those people who bugged us on Earth, and we'll say, wow, look at what the Lord has done. You're no longer a giant pain in the well, there's no cussing in heaven, but you get the idea. And again, I'm sure people will have the same experience with us. The Apostle Paul wrote about the effect the cross of Christ should have on how we view people now.
And he said, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh, meaning that those who love Jesus are not to view their Christian brothers and sisters based solely on who they are now, but rather who they are in Christ and who they are destined to become in eternity. I wish I were better at doing that, but I know the Holy Spirit is changing me bit by bit, day by day. Take a look at verse three again. Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. I want you to notice that the emphasis is on God being with us and us being with God. We will recognize and know our loved ones in heaven, but our focus will be on Jesus. It's okay to long for heaven so that you can be reunited with loved ones who love the Lord. It's okay. It's a great thing to hope for. But hear me on this, please. It's not okay to long for them more than you long for Jesus. The presence of those loved ones in heaven will be wonderful, but our hope and joy shouldn't be solely based on the fact that we will see them again.
God wants us to know that he will literally be among us. We will see Him, speak with Him, behold Him, hear Him fellowship with Him, worship Him, and serve Him. In John 114, it says, The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of Grace and truth. Obviously that's speaking of Jesus, the phrase dwelt among us is actually the phrase tabernacled among us in the original language, as accessible as Jesus was to his disciples in his earthly Ministry, he will be accessible to us in eternity only he won't be in a human body. He'll be fully glorified. Do you realize the day is coming when even faith will be fulfilled? What I mean by that is that the day is coming when faith won't be necessary because the Lord will be with us in such a tangible way. I don't need to have faith that my teaching notes are in front of me because I'm touching and looking at them right now. That's going to be the nature of our relationship with God in eternity. You need faith for what you cannot fully see yet.
But in eternity, God will be revealed to us to such a degree that even faith will no longer be required because we will see Him and be with Him. The Tabernacle of God is with men. We will know the Lord as he knows us. I love that it says with men because here's what that means. It means even in heaven, even in eternity, we're still ourselves, but we're the fully redeemed version of ourselves. It's my personal belief that in heaven, our God given passions are still intact because they're part of who God made us to be. I don't know anybody who has fulfilled all their passions. Everybody I know deep down wishes they could have devoted more time and energy to their passions or accomplished more around their passions. Or maybe you feel like there's a song, a book, a business, something inside of you that you just can't seem to get out. For nearly all of us, the limitations of time got in the way. The fact that we have to work, we have to raise children, we have to do all the things that come along with life. You know, when you're young, the word potential is exciting.
When you're older, the word potential stings a little bit because it reminds you of all the things you could have done in your life, the things that deep down, you'd love to do that just didn't happen for good, bad, or neutral reasons. Why would God put those desires and ambitions in us if he knew we couldn't fulfill them? I believe it's because in the ages to come, we will. It's part of who we were created to be in the Millennium and the new creation that follows it. I believe all those unfulfilled God given desires are going to be loosed. Time won't be an issue. Resources won't be an issue. Distractions won't be an issue. In fully redeemed reality, God's fully redeemed people will create and design and build in an atmosphere that is somehow stimulating, an electric, yet simultaneously serene and restful. There are desires and dreams that God has built into your spirit so that they can be freed and fulfilled in his presence. In the ages to come in heaven, we will recognize our loved ones who love the Lord. After the death of his infant son, David said, I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.
Not only that, but it seems we will intrinsically know who everybody is. At the Transfiguration, Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, let us make here three Tabernacles. One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Even though Moses and Elijah weren't in their resurrected bodies yet, and even though they had never met them, Peter, James and John recognized them. This brings me great comfort because I am terrible with names and faces, and it is awful being a pastor who wants to make people feel loved and valued but cannot remember names and faces. Great to meet you.
The New Jerusalem is what we refer to today as heaven. It's the city of God. It currently exists, and it's where God is sitting on his throne. It's the city Jesus called his Father's house, the place he told his disciples he is preparing for those who love him. The new Jerusalem is currently isolated from the heavens and the Earth because they are tainted by sin. But in this new creation, there will be no division between the Earth, the heavens, and the new Jerusalem. Heaven will come down and join to the new Earth because this new creation will be as pure and as Holy as heaven itself. Hebrews Twelve declares to believers, you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of Angels, to the General Assembly. And I love this phrase and Church of the first born who are registered in heaven, to God, the judge of all, to the spirits of just men, made perfect, to Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant. We'll get more detail on the New Jerusalem later in this chapter, but for now, just know that this is where we'll live in eternity.
So make a note of that. We, the Church, will live in the New Jerusalem. We will live in the new Jerusalem, the city of God, the city of his Saints. And as John looks at this beautiful city filled with people made beautiful by the Lord, he compares what he sees to the moment a bride is revealed to the guests at a wedding. You ladies who are married are beautiful today, but you looked unbelievably beautiful on your wedding day. Many of you husbands remember, as I do, the moment when she walked in the back of the room at your ending and you thought, man, how did I pull this off? How did I trick her into marrying me. You can see that moment in your mind, the way the room gasps when the beauty of the bride is revealed is the way John describes the revealing of the New Jerusalem, full of the Saints of God. Her beauty takes his breath away. We don't know how exactly it happened, but Hebrews tells us that Abraham got a glimpse, a revelation of the New Jerusalem. This is what it says. By faith, he dwelt in the land of promise.
Gas is a foreign country, dwelling, intense with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. Why did he dwell in tents? For he waited for the city, which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Abraham lived to 175 and spent most of those years as one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest, men on Earth. But because of this glimpse of the New Jerusalem, he never built himself a house on the Earth. He could have built a palace. But after seeing what God had in store for him, his attitude became, what's the point? Any home I could build here would be a shack compared to what the Lord has prepared for me in heaven. Verse three, and I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men underline the Tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them underline he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. God Himself will be with them underline that and be their God. Notice that God says twice that he will be with his people. He will dwell with them, and God Himself will be with them.
Heaven, the dwelling place of God, will not be destroyed. Verse. One then tells us what happens next. Now I saw a new heaven and a new Earth underline that for the first heaven and the first Earth had passed away, God will create a brand new Earth and new heavenly realm. Why? Because our universe and the current heavenly realm both have a history of sin. Would you write that down?
It's your first fill in. Both our universe and the current heavenly realm have a history of sin. Our universe is unclean because of Earth's history of sin that traces back to Adam and Eve's rebellion in Eden. The heavenly realm is unclean because it was the location of Lucifer's rebellion, and it's where he has been accusing us before God day and night in the divine counsel. Job 1515 tells us that currently the heavens are not pure in his sight. The Lord intends to give sin and death no place in his new creation. They shall be stricken from the record in every sense of the phrase. Things will not simply be refurbished. For Isaiah tells us that the Lord declares, Behold, I create new heavens and a new Earth, and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. The word used by Isaiah for create is the Hebrew word Bara. It's the same word used in Genesis One one. And it means to create from nothing. It's the phrase ex Nahilo in the Latin. Unlike everything that our minds can conceive of, God does not need raw materials to create. He can create from absolutely nothing.
Whatever raw materials you're thinking of, he created them. God doesn't need to refurbish the heavens and the Earth because he's not limited to working with what already exists. And so once again, he will create a new reality from absolutely nothing. Then we read also, there was no more sea. What, no beaches in the new heaven or on the new Earth? Well, not necessarily. It says no more sea, not no more water. We'll soon learn that there's a river, so we know there's water in this new creation. All this means is that whatever there is instead of the sea is better. Whatever there is doesn't leave sand in your cracks and crevices when you're done swimming in it. Whatever there is doesn't divide people from each other. Whatever there is doesn't sanitize the world's waste as part of the water cycle because there's nothing impure to sanitize in eternity. Whatever there is doesn't pose any type of danger. Whatever is in heaven is better. And hopefully by this point in our study we can all just trust the Lord with the details when it comes to things like this. And remember, those who belong to Jesus will have 10 years to enjoy the best beaches on Earth during the Millennium.
Nobody's going to be missing out on anything. What this sentence is really addressing is what the sea represented in the Hebrew mind. The Jews were not a seafaring people. They didn't spread out across the Middle East by navigating the seas. They viewed seas and oceans as representations of chaos and death, places where dark powers exercised great power. The Jewish man or woman reading the sentence would interpret it as another way of God, saying that in his new creation there will be no more chaos, no more death, no more fear. Additionally, both the Hebrew and surrounding cultures at this time viewed the sea as a place where things are buried, concealed, hidden, and where things disappear, never to be seen again. As we'll see in later verses of this chapter, one of the defining traits of God's new creation is its transparency, literally and figuratively. There will be no secrets in it because there will be no sin and therefore no shame. And shame is the only reason we keep secrets, really, in the new heaven and new Earth, there will be no reason for anyone or anything to ever be hidden. Verse Two Then I John saw the Holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And the kids opened these Christmas cards on Christmas morning and there was just dancing and jumping and screaming and they were going nuts. And it was the best. It was so much fun. I remember when it had been two or three years since we started New Hope and our family hadn't had a vacation for several years. We didn't have any money for a vacation. And so we told our kids to pray because God cannot seem to turn down the prayers of children. So you might want to leverage that if you're a parent of children sometime soon. We had two families from thousands of miles away just send us checks so that we could afford to take our kids on an amazing vacation. Charlene and I planned the whole trip, but we kept the whole thing a secret. I rented an RV. I parked it in front of our house, and then I took the kids out and I took them into it. I didn't tell them anything yet. I just sat them down at the kitchen table in the RV. And then I got to tell them, hey, guys, you know how we've been praying for our family to be able to go on a vacation this summer?
Well, God said yes, and we're going on vacation today. That's right. I waited till the actual day, pulled up the RV and told them, and we're going today. And then I said, not only that, but we're going on vacation for one day. Two days, three days. And I counted all the way up to eleven days, one at a time. And then I told them all the places we were going and the places we were going were just awesome. We went all the way down the West Coast as far as San Francisco almost. It was fantastic. And their eyes just got bigger and their smiles just got bigger and bigger as I revealed all the details of this amazing trip we were going to do that just blessed me as a dad on that deep, deep level. I believe that God cannot wait to surprise us with the wonders of heaven and the ages to come. He can't wait to experience our joy with us. And so I suspect he's saving the best parts for when we get there. I don't know what your expectations of heaven are. They've been a lot of funky and terrible descriptions of what heaven is going to be like.
And I can tell you this with absolute certainty. You will not be transformed into a naked harp playing baby for all eternity. I can tell you that. Here's another terrible description of heaven that I've heard before. It's going to be like a Church service that never ends. And I know some of you are thinking I've already experienced that several times in my life. Jeff, listen, I love Church services and I love our Church, but even I would not want to go to a Church service that never ends. I have never once said to someone, I'm thinking of just switching our Sunday services to 6 hours long because they're just so great. I just never want to leave. I've never said that. I've never had that thought. Even though I love our Church now, why is that? It's because even though I love our Church and I love our Church services, they are not heaven. They are not heaven. So let's find out. What is Heaven? In our previous study, we learned that at the end of the millennial Kingdom, our universe will be destroyed. Jesus told his disciples, Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.
In biblical cosmology, there is a difference between heaven and the heaven leaves, also known as the heavens or the heavenly realm. Heaven is the dwelling place of God. It's where his throne resides. The heavens, the heavenly or the heavenly realm refers to the supernatural dimension that exists between Earth and heaven. It's the realm where Angels and fallen Angels currently wage war, and it's the location of the divine Council where Yahweh meets with Satan as depicted in Job chapter one. It's where he meets with the gods of the nations and the powerful Angels like the watchers mentioned in Daniel four/17, At the end of the millennial Kingdom, our physical universe, the heavenly realm, and even death in Hades will be destroyed.
After those thousand years, our universe will be destroyed, and that's where we pick things up in today's study. And though you may not understand all the details just yet, I can tell you this. If you love Jesus, then the story of your life is going to end with the words and they live happily ever after. The Reality of Heaven The reality of eternity with Jesus has provided hope and motivation to the believer since the advent of the Church on the day of Pentecost. Heaven is where we will see Jesus face to face. Heaven is where those who love him store up treasure. Heaven is where our inheritance awaits. Heaven is where we will receive new bodies free from sin and frailty. Heaven is where our citizenship resides and heaven is the home we were made for. Simply put, if you love Jesus, then your heart yearns for heaven. The Apostle Paul exhausted the Colossians writing, if then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the Earth. The Apostle Peter summed up the longing in the heart of every believer when he wrote, we according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new Earth enrich in which righteousness dwells.
Today's study finds us in chapter 21 of the Book of Revelation, the second last chapter of the book. Can you believe it? I know some of you are like, yes, I can, because I can't even remember a time before we were studying the Book of Revelation. Jeff, it's been that long. Chapters 21 and 22 are a travel brochure for heaven. These final chapters are intended to make our imaginations run wild with thoughts of the Lord and eternity in his presence. And so today we're going to meditate on and we're going to dream about heaven together. The scriptures provide only a few small snippets of information about heaven. There's a lot of mystery and a lot we simply don't know. And I can think of two reasons why that's the case. Firstly, we currently lack the capacity and ability to even fathom all that heaven is going to be. Can you imagine trying to describe a new color to someone if that color had no relationship to any color they had ever seen before. If it wasn't a lighter or darker version of anything that currently exists, it would be impossible. What frame of reference could you use?
So I think that we simply lack the capacity and ability to understand all that heaven is going to be from our current vantage point. The second reason I think the Bible might not have too much to say about heaven is because if you're a parent, then you know or will soon know the special joy of surprising your children with something wonderful. Be it a Christmas or birthday gift or something completely out of the blue, there's not much better than surprising your children with something they love their reaction. Blesses your heart as a mom or dad on a deep level. And in that moment where they are overwhelmed with joy, the cost of that gift does not compare to the joy you feel because their joy is priceless to you. We get that from being made in the image of God, because that's how he feels about you. Do you know what is greater than the suffering Jesus endured on the cross? The joy he experiences when sinners repent and are adopted into his family? God delights in blessing you. He delights in blessing you. I remember the Christmas when our family was living in South Florida, and we got our whole family annual passes to Disney World.
All Things New...............................Date:4/17/22
Series: Revelation
Passage: Revelation 21:1-5................Speaker: Jeff Thompson
Jesus reveals to John His incredible plan to once again create an earth and heavens from nothing, as we look to the Scriptures and dream together about the wonders of Heaven and the ages to come.
Well, can you believe it? We are 21 chapters deep into the Book of Revelation and there are still those who are out there trying to claim that the Book of Revelation is hard to understand. Stand, but bunk, say we for you see the word itself. Revelation means that something has been revealed. And the first words of this amazing book tell us exactly who it is that's being revealed. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. And God wanted us to read this book so much that he promised anyone who would take the time to read and respond to it a special blessing. And we find that in Revelation chapter one, verse three, let's claim it together. It says, Blessed is he or she who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near. But God knew there would still be those who would say, this book is hard to understand. So, to make it simple to understand, he included an easy-to-follow outline. We find that in the Revelation chapter in verse 19, Jesus tells John to write about three different things.
Firstly, he says, "John, write the things which you have seen." That was the resurrected and glorified Jesus in chapter one. Secondly, he says, "John, write about the things which are." That refers to the Church age which began around 32 A.D. and is documented in the Book of Acts. Chapter two, happened on the day of Pentecost, and that Church age has continued up to the present day. And in fact, it's prophesied in chronological order in Revelation chapters two and three. Then finally, Jesus says, John, I want you to write about the things which will take place after this - after the Church age comes to an end. Now, when does that happen? It happens in Revelation chapter four, where John writes this. After these things, I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard, that was the voice of Jesus in chapter one was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this. And up John goes, serving as a picture of the Church who will be raptured to be with the Lord.
Jesus takes all of chapters four and five to make sure we do not miss the fact that the Church is with Him in heaven before he begins pouring out his wrath in chapter six. And as he's pouring out his wrath on the Earth, the Bible makes it clear that those on the Earth will know exactly what is happening. Revelation 616 tells us they will identify the source of their judgment as the wrath of the Lamb. And in the Scriptures, who is the Lamb? It's Jesus. So chapter one introduces the focus of Revelation. Jesus Christ, chapters two and three take us through the Church age up to the present day. The Church goes up in chapter four, verse one. We see her safe and secure with the Lord for chapters four and five before wrath comes down in chapter six. That wrath will continue for seven years. It's a period known as the Tribulation, and it's documented in chapters six through 19, after which Jesus returns to the Earth with his Saints in the event known as the Second Coming. Jesus will then rule and reign on the Earth for 10 years known as the Millennial Kingdom, a golden age when the Earth will be returned to an Eden-like state and everything wrong with the world will be undone.
I'm going to pray for God to do this in us. I'm going to pray that he does it. I want to keep praying throughout the days and weeks and months and years until the Lord carries that he does that kind of miracle in our life. As I begin to pray, I'm going to invite the worship team to come up. I'm going to invite you to bow your heads and pray.
Pray this with me. And as I'm praying for this, and I'm praying for me first, and I'm praying for us as a church, make this prayer your prayer. If this is what you want God to do in your life, take the words and make them your own. So let's pray. Father, we just want to pray the way that Your word models us to pray because it's a perfect way to pray.
Jesus, you told the disciples to ask the Father to hallow his name, for the Father, to set his name apart as holy and as awesome. And so Father, we're asking that you would do that in our lives right now. If we're lukewarm, if we're complacent, if we feel spiritually dead or lazy, lord, we need a fresh touch from you. We need the eyes of our hearts to be enlightened. We need to see the risen Christ with those spiritual eyes of our hearts.
We need to behold you. God. Show us Your beauty. Show us your power your mercy and your forgiveness. Show us Your wisdom.
Show us how you're holding the whole universe together by the Word of Your power. Show us how you're working all things together for good. Show us how you're building your church. Give us vision, give us excitement, Lord, but make these breath on these dead bones and make them come alive. You say in Your Word, Lord, that if we ask the Father for the Holy Spirit, you will give it to us.
So that's what we're asking, Father. Give us the Holy Spirit and cause Him to be given to us continually, over and over and over again, and keep washing over us. Be that living water Jesus that you talked about in John seven. These rivers of living water rushing from within us, flow in us and satisfy us, but flow out of us to touch a lost and broken and dying world and help us to minister to them in Your name. But Lord, that will never happen until you captivate our hearts.
So we pray, Lord, that you would captivate our hearts, hold our hearts, keep our hearts, and not let our hearts go. Don't let us wander after the things in this world that cannot and will not satisfy us. Don't let us wander off into things in this world thinking that they're going to bring us joy and they're only going to destroy and paint and tarnish our life and make us ineffectual for You, Jesus, we need a miracle. So God, would you move Your hand in our hearts and show us Your glory and pray these things, Jesus, in Your name, amen. Amen.
But what's the alternative? To radically obey Jesus? Not obeying him obeying him halfway or halfheartedly. Picking and choosing which commands of Jesus to obey will produce an impotent and boring church. It will be a church that lacks power and life.
That kind of church will not be holy, and nobody will be interested in becoming a part of a church like that. Doing boring church will stave off persecution for a while. It's my opinion that Satan has no interest in persecuting a church that isn't obeying Jesus. If we aren't obeying Jesus, we're already ineffectual in the war against the kingdom of darkness. A boring church is not overcoming the gates of Hades.
Satan doesn't have to fight against a dormant church. So we can be boring and comfortable. And that will keep persecution at bay for a while. Because even if we don't obey Jesus, persecution will come eventually. We will see this pattern play out soon.
In the book of Acts, the early church didn't press the issue of taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. They seemed to be content hanging out in Jerusalem and growing the church there. But then persecution broke out. And when it did, it scattered Christians all over the known world. And with that scattering, the gospel finally spread to where Jesus wanted it to go all along.
So we can obey Jesus or we can disobey Jesus. One will lead to a holy church, the other will lead to a boring church. Either way, know this Jesus is going to build his church. It's going to grow. He just lets us choose what kind of church we're going to be in that building process.
How does a church become a radically obedient church? The answer doesn't involve me making you feel bad for not living a kind of life that invites persecution from a world that hates Christ. Shaming someone into doing something is never the answer. So I'm not going to do that. The answer is this we need to love Jesus more than anything else in this world.
But how can I make you do that? I can't make us love Christ. I can talk about how awesome Jesus is, how beautiful he is, how worthy he is, how good he is, or even how much he loves you. But mere words cannot make a person want to lay down their life for Jesus in each and every situation they face. For that, we need a miracle.
We need the real, tangible, powerful, beautiful presence of Jesus to flood our hearts and our minds. We need to experience the reality of the resurrected Jesus again and again and again. Because if you and I got just a taste of the heavenly glory that's found in Jesus, then and only then would everything in this world that used to grasp our affections begin to become strangely dim in comparison to the glory that's in Jesus. We need Jesus to work a miracle in our hearts. We need revival that takes place in the church.
We need this revelation of Jesus way more than we need the supernatural working of signs and wonders that we read about in verse twelve. And how did those signs and wonders come about? The church prayed for God to do those miracles. And you know what? He did them.
He did those. So that's the answer to how we live the kind of lives God is calling us to live. We pray that God glorifies Himself in us and we keep praying until he does it. And when he answers that prayer, then and only then, the church cannot be stopped. If we behold Jesus as the most amazing reality in all of his existence, then and only then will we lay down our lives in radical obedience to Him.
We will love Him more than anything. And if that happens, there will be nothing boring about the kind of life that church experiences.
The Spirit testifies to us that we are children of God when we suffer for Him. And what does it mean that the Spirit testifies to us, other than Him doing a special kind of supernatural work in us while we suffer or after we suffer, to let us know what it is he's testifying to?
The Spirit is doing something in us in the midst of our suffering. I can imagine the Spirit ministering to the apostles something along the lines of, they did this to Jesus and now they're doing it to you. They are treating you like they treated Him. You are being like Him in this moment, rejoice. And then this is something they would have experienced from the inside by the Spirit, and that would have filled them with joy.
Jesus is in us by way of His Spirit being in us. And when we suffer for his name, he lets us know that he is with us in a tangible way. And there's a supernatural joy for the believer in that experience. So we love Jesus. We should want to experience as much of Him as possible, as much as we possibly can.
That doesn't mean we should seek out persecution, right? If I get to know more of Jesus in suffering for Him, maybe I should just try to get persecuted. We shouldn't walk around telling people, I'm a Christian, now punch me in the face so I can have joy. It doesn't work like that. Probably not a great evangelistic strategy either.
But we won't ever have to seek out persecution. If we are seeking to submit our lives to Jesus, that's because if we give our lives to doing whatever it is he asks us to do, then persecution will find us. Jesus promised it would. We don't have to go around looking for it. The apostles weren't looking for persecution in Acts 5.
They were just preaching the Gospel. They weren't looking for persecution, but they also didn't shrink from it when it came. And that's why they were filled with joy when it did come. They got to know Jesus in a way that they wouldn't have known Him otherwise. And this isn't natural.
This is supernatural. It's a supernatural joy. Verse 42 every day in the temple and in various houses, they continued teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. We come full circle. We saw the Church gathered in the temple in Solomon's colony all the way back in verse twelve.
And here they are again in verse 42 back in the temple, and they are continuing to teach and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is a church that is unashamed of the name of Jesus, and they are going to lift up his name no matter what it may cost them. So let me ask you this. Now that we finished reading these verses in Acts five, do you come away from ending these thinking to yourself, wow, boring, boring? Not even close, right?
Miracles, holiness, evangelism, jealousy, persecution, supernatural, and joy, all in only 31 verses. How come we don't experience that? What would need to change for us in order for us to begin to experience the kind of life the church is meant to live? Because I'm going to assume you want to experience, like really experience the power of Jesus in a radical way in your life and in his church and in this city and beyond. I'm going to assume that.
So we can ask this question another way what's the remedy for a boring church? And the answer is simple. But simple doesn't necessarily mean easy. If the church isn't going to be boring, it needs to be inconsistent. Radical obedience to Jesus.
Obeying. Everything Jesus has commanded us to do will produce the kind of unboring church we read about in Acts. That was their secret. That was their secret sauce. They obeyed Jesus.
Not really a secret, it's just like the point of Christianity. But obedience to Jesus was what led the church to experience the grace and power of Jesus in their lives. There is nothing awesome about a church that doesn't obey Christ. But here's the catch. Radical obedience to Jesus, as we read about in Acts, will bring persecution into our lives.
But I'll tell you what, you can sympathize with that person on a deeper level if you have walked a mile in their shoes, if you have experienced the prison of addiction firsthand, and with it the feeling of being ostracized from your family and from your community. If you know the powerlessness, if you know the self loathing that comes from that life, then you are able to relate to a person who is in that exact same situation on a much deeper level than someone who has never shared that same experience before.
You can know Jesus by having his spirit in you. You can know Him by reading his words. You can try to imagine what it was like for Him to be treated shamefully. But when you experience the same kind of persecution that he experienced, that enables you to relate to Him in a way that you wouldn't be able to otherwise. And if you already love Jesus, then that experience would only help you to love Him even more.
That would produce joy. Number two, there can be joy connected to suffering for Jesus name because it validates our faith in Him. In the Gospel of John, Jesus promised that his disciples would be treated the same way he was. Jesus said in John 15, verses 20, remember the word I spoke to you. A servant is not greater than his master.
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. If we live the life of Jesus, we will be treated the way Jesus was treated. I think there would he been this sense in the apostles that they were doing the things that Jesus had asked them to do, because this was the response they were receiving for doing it. They were persecuted for telling people the truth about Jesus, just like Jesus was.
I'm being like Him. I'm being treated like he was. I'm doing the things he told me to do, and I'm experiencing the things he said I would. And I think that would produce joy in a follower of Jesus. We have to ask ourselves this question what does it mean if I am a Christian and I have never experienced any hardship connected to my Christianity?
It's a difficult but necessary question to ask. Number three, there can be joy connected to suffering for Jesus's name, because I can experience the presence of Jesus in a special way only through suffering for Him. When a person is persecuted because of Jesus, they don't just get a greater understanding in their minds of what he went through. I believe the Bible teaches that there is a deeper level of experiencing the presence of Jesus in our lives when we suffer for Him. And if you love Jesus and he's the supreme treasure of your life, then having the chance to experience even more of Him in this life is worth any amount of suffering.
The Apostle Paul wrote about this connection between suffering for Jesus and experiencing him. In Philippians, chapter three, verse ten, he says, My goal is to know Him Christ and the power of his resurrection. That's where a lot of people get really excited. I want to know Christ and the power of his victory. But then you keep reading, oh, and I want to know the fellowship of his sufferings.
One of Paul's goals was to know the fellowship of Jesus's suffering. That's an interesting phrase. There's a relationship that's connected to Jesus's suffering that Paul wanted to experience. He wanted to be in that suffering with Jesus and know Jesus in the midst of it. Romans 816 to 17.
Paul goes on to say, that the Spirit Himself testifies together with our Spirit that we are God's children. And if children also heirs of God and covet with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him when we suffer for Jesus in the same way that Jesus Himself suffered, there is for us a particular kind of intimacy that we get to experience with Him. I can know Jesus on a deeper level if I am treated the way he was treated by those who hated Him. The Spirit testifies to us that we are children of God when we suffer for Him.
So they're upset with the apostles because they didn't heed their first warning. But they add something else to the issue they have with the apostles. Issue number two the religious leaders seem to be getting tired of the apostles blaming them for Jesus' death. They say to them in verses 28, you are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood. How disconnected from reality can these religious leaders be?
Don't blame us for Jesus's death? Are you kidding me? These are the very religious leaders who had Jesus killed only weeks before this. They planned it. They orchestrated it.
No one has to make up a story in order to have the blame placed on them. They did it. They're guilty. The apostles respond appropriately to both issues. The religious leaders bring up to the issue of not speaking to people about Jesus.
They reply in verses 29, we must obey God rather than people. The apostles are like, we remember what you said to us, but do you not remember what we said in reply to you back then? Nothing's changed. We are going to continue coveting God even if that means we have to disobey you and obeying God, means that we are going to tell everyone about Jesus. And they go on to reply to the second issue this way.
In verses 30 to 32, the God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had murdered by hanging him on a tree. God exalted this man to his right hand as ruler and Savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him. The apostles are like, we are not trying to make innocent people take the rap for Jesus death. You guys are the ones who killed him.
Stop trying to weasel your way out of that. And as the apostles paint the religious leaders into a corner regarding their role in Jesus'death, they also share a quick but thorough presentation of the Gospel with them yet again. I put the pieces of their Gospel presentation on your outline for you. Verse 33 let's keep going. When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.
Well, that escalated quickly. The religious leaders go from questioning the apostles to flying into a murderous rage against them. But then one of the religious leaders speaks up almost in defense of the apostles. Verse 34 but a pharisee named Gamalo, a teacher of the law who is respected by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered the men to be taken outside for a little while. He said to them, Men of Israel, be careful about what you're about to do to these men.
Some time ago, thudas rose up claiming to be somebody, and a group of about 400 men rallied to him. He was killed, and all of his followers were dispersed and came to nothing. After this man, Judas the Galilean, rose up in the days of the census and attracted the following he also perished, and all his followers were scattered. So in the present case, I tell you, stay away from these men and leave them alone. For if this plan or this work is of human origin, it will fail.
But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even be found fighting against God. They were persuaded by him. Now, at first glance, this sounds like great wisdom. Gamaliel says to the court, if this movement is of human origin, it will fail.
If this movement is of God, it cannot fail, and you will not win, and you might be fighting against God. Sounds like solid advice, but after a little bit of thinking, I don't think this advice is that great. It's lacking in two ways. One, we know that not every manmade scheme fizzles out that quickly. Just think of Nazi Germany, for example.
Would you use your new freedom to obey the call God has on your life in a new and greater way? Would you have gone back into the Temple? Or would you use your newfound freedom to pursue all those things in your life that you always wished you could have done but you couldn't, but now you can. Would you pursue those things even if those things were the things that kept you from obeying God? I'm not God, so I don't know why he brings freedom into people's lives when he does.
But I can't help but wonder if he's using some of the prisons in our lives to teach us to depend on Him. And if he freed us from some of those prisons, I wonder if we would use that new freedom to honor Him or to honor ourselves. Whatever the case may be, I can confidently encourage you to do this in this next villain on your outline. Use whatever freedom God gives you to do his will in your life.
Use whatever freedom God gives you to do his will in your life. Verse 21. Halfway through verse 21, we'll pick up there. When the high priest and those who are with him arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin, the full counsel of the Israelites, and sent orders to the jail to have them brought. But when the servants got there, they did not find them in the jail.
So they returned and reported. We found the jail securely locked with the guards standing in front of the doors. But when we opened them, we found no one inside. As the captain of the temple, police, and the chief priests heard these things, they were baffled about them. Wondering what would come of this.
Someone came and reported to them look, the men you put in jail are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Not much explanation is needed here for these verses. They were baffled by what God had done. The apostles were put in prison and then they were unexplainably not in prison anymore, and they were back in the temple preaching. Verse 26 then the commander went with the servants and brought them in without force because they were afraid the people might stone them.
I could imagine them going to pick up the apostles but trying to keep it hush-hush. Peter, John, can you guys do us a huge favor? A big solid here? Could you come with us? I'm going to take you somewhere.
And the apostles did quietly. They honored the request. The apostles didn't put up a fight. Understand? They could have easily started a riot right here.
They had the crowd on their side. They could have used that to their advantage, but they didn't. There are times that you will need to resist and there are times when you will need to just go with it, even though it's not right. May God grant us the wisdom to know what's required of us in each situation. Verse 27.
After they brought them in, they had them stand before the Sanhedrin. And the high priest asked, didn't we strictly order you not to teach in this name? Look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood. The religious leaders hate Jesus so much that they couldn't even bring themselves to audibly say the name of Jesus out loud. You can see that in verse 28 they say this name and this man's blood.
They hate Jesus so much. And the apostles are given a stern talking to here. The religious leaders bring up two points. Of contention with them. Issue number one according to the court, the apostles weren't supposed to be teaching the people in this name referring to Jesus.
They remind the apostles that they had already given them this warning once before. Verse 28 said, didn't we strictly order you not to teach in this name? We've already told you about this, guys. And they did. Back in Acts 4/18, when Peter and John stood before the same court, they were told not to tell people about Jesus.
They might have been, but the Bible doesn't explicitly say they were. It just as people wanted Peter's shadow to fall on them. And if there was actual healing done by Peter's shadow falling on people, that miracle would be reminiscent of the way a woman was healed when she touched the hem of Jesus garments. Do you remember that story. Luke, chapter eight, verses 43 says this a woman suffering from bleeding for twelve years, who had spent all she had on doctors and yet could not be healed by any, approached from behind and touched the end of his robe.
Instantly her bleeding stopped. The piece of cloth attached to Jesus didn't have any power in it, but it was the faith of the woman in Jesus' power that led her to being healed that would he what's happening here. In verse 15, there was a recognition of the power of God on display in the church in Jerusalem, and people believed they only needed the slightest interaction with that power in order to be healed. Even if it was Peter's shadow, I don't think it mattered what it was. There was faith that God would he them.
Verse 16 in addition, a multitude came together from the town surrounding Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed. Now, at this point in the Book of Acts, the church hasn't made its way to the surrounding towns with the Gospel yet. Instead, the people from these towns were coming to the Church in Jerusalem. The news of the Church was spreading into further areas outside of Jerusalem, but the church hadn't physically made its way to those areas yet. This distinction between going to people versus the people coming to us is important to note because Jesus didn't say to his disciples, "If you build it, they will come."
Jesus didn't give Christians the attraction model of church. He didn't say, do everything I command you, and people will eventually come to you to check the church out. Instead, Jesus commissioned the Church to go to these towns and then to the rest of the world. Matthew 28:19 Jesus said, Go, therefore make disciples of all nations. Go, he said to the nations, and make disciples out of the people you meet when you get there.
Acts 1:8 Jesus says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. How can we be witnesses in the ends of the earth if we don't actually send Christians to the ends of the earth? At the heart of the mission Jesus gave us is the call to go, not a call to wait for people to come to us. We will eventually see the church move out into these areas in upcoming chapters in Acts. And if we are going to be a biblical church today, we must focus on doing the same thing.
We need to focus on going to people who don't have the Gospel so that we can bring it to them. We can't wait for people to come to us. We must go to them. Verse 17 then the high priest rose up. He and all who were with them who belonged to the party of the statueses were filled with jealousy.
The religious leaders were so jealous of the apostles and their ministry. These religious leaders had killed Jesus, and they thought that would have been the end of him and his teaching. It usually is when you kill someone. But then Jesus went ahead and rose from the dead, and that put a little bit of a damper on the religious leaders plans to shut him down. This Jesus movement that they had tried to snuff out unsuccessfully when they killed Jesus was now gaining momentum with each passing day.
And this growing movement wasn't centered on the religious leaders or their doctrine. It was all about Jesus. The crowds weren't excited about what the religious leaders had to say anymore. They were excited about what the apostles were saying about Jesus, and that's what made the religious leaders jealous. We should take a couple of things away from this.
People stay away from the Church today because it seems to be filled with a bunch of anonymous and safaris. The only difference is that today we aren't physically dropping dead because of our hypocrisy. People are not staying away from the church today because of how awesome it is. We have to let this teach us a lesson. Coveting the standard of holiness that we pursue in the church doesn't end up bringing people into the church.
Some Christians believe it will. Some believe that if we lower the bar of what it means to trust Jesus and to actually follow the way he calls us to live our lives, maybe that will make the church more accessible to people, and then maybe more people will come. But as that worked, that approach has unsurprisingly been an abysmal failure. We have lowered the bar for following Jesus so much, and people still don't care about Him or his church. And maybe that's the problem.
Maybe people don't care about the church because we've lowered the bar so much, and now there's no sense of awe or reverence connected to the church anymore. The unbelievers in Acts five stayed away from the church because it was holy and it was awesome. And I wish that was the reason people were staying away from the church today. Verse 14. Believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers, multitudes, both men and women.
Now, this seems to contradict what we just read in verses 13. Verse 13 says that no one dared join the church. But then in verse 14, we read that people ended up joining the church, multitudes of them. So what's going on here? Unbelievers continue to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, the message of his death on the cross for our sins and his resurrection from the dead.
And some of them were getting saved. These people were becoming believers. And when they were saved, the Holy Spirit flooded their life, and the love of God filled their heart. And do you know what the love of God does? The Bible says perfect love casts out fear.
When the love of God fills a person's life, you won't be able to keep that person away from the church. Even if the church is so holy that people were dying in it because of their hypocrisy. When God comes into a life, the love of God will overcome any fear associated with dying. New believers will want as much of God and of his people as they can get. You couldn't keep Christians away from the church back then, even if you tried.
Those who didn't have God kept the church at arm's length because they were afraid. But those who received God were drawn into the fellowship of God's people. The holiness of the church doesn't push believers away. It draws them in verses 15. As a result, they would carry the sick out into the streets and lay them on COTS and nats, so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them.
This is interesting. God was displaying so much of his power in those days that people even wanted Peter's shadow to fall on them so that they would he healed. Did Peter's shadow actually heal people? Or was this a superstitious belief of the people? If you go back and read slowly through verse 15 again, you'll notice that nowhere does it say that people were actually healed by Peter's shadow.
I wonder what would happen if we did more. And then number three, we don't preach Jesus name nearly enough. The miracles that were performed in the Book of Acts accompanied the preaching of the Gospel. The more the Gospel is preached, the more chances we have of seeing God's power connected to it. And in my opinion, one reason we don't see miracles today like they did back then is because we don't preach the Gospel to unbelievers nearly enough to warrant miracles being done.
Verse 13 continue. No one else there join them, but the people spoke well of them. There are two things at play here. The crowds of unbelievers who witnessed what God was doing among the church didn't want to come near the church. But at the same time they also had nothing bad to say about the church either.
Verse 13 says that they only had good things to say about it. So what's going on here? People were staying away from the church, but they didn't stay away from the church because they hated it. Have you ever heard an unbeliever today joke about not wanting to come to church? And the reason that they give you is I can't come to church because as soon as I enter I will just burst into flames.
I hear that one quite a bit and I like it. But that's why people wanted to keep their distance from the church in our text, not the literal flames, but you're going to see where I'm going. They didn't stay away from the church because they hated it or because they thought what the church was doing was dumb. They stayed away from the church because it was holy. God was in the midst of his people and there was a very real sense of awe and reverence connected to what God was doing in and through his church.
And God wasn't playing games with his church. People had just died in this church for lying and hypocrisy. That's what happened to Ananias and safari in the beginning of Acts Five, if you remember that from a couple of weeks ago. And when that news spread. It kept people from treating the church lightly.
Some people back then didn't want to die, and I can appreciate that they didn't want their sinfulness to be exposed in the presence of a holy God and in the midst of a holy people. I don't know about you, but I think we need God to make his church like that again today. Even though the holiness of the church kept some people away from the church back then, we need to regain a pursuit of holiness in the church today in a major way. If the word holiness freaks you out at all, let me remind you that holiness is not legalism. It is not hypocrisy, we are better than you are attitude.
Holiness is a byproduct of lives being touched by and transformed by a holy God. Our sins that at one time made us unholy have been removed, and now the holy God lives in us and amongst us. The presence of the holy living God dwells among us, and we want to live lives that honor Him. We want to live lives that are free from sin. A total and complete freedom from the presence of sin cannot be perfectly achieved in this life, but it is something that we can and should strive towards.
Holiness, says God, I want every single aspect of my life to honor you. I want my life to be free from the stains of sin. Do you know what you get if a bunch of individual Christians start to live a life like that? You get a holy church. I wish people stayed away from the church today for this reason, because we're holy.
Sadly, that's not the case, is it? People stay away from the church today because they think the church is a joke and completely unnecessary. People stay away from the church today because they can't be bothered with it. People stay away from the church today because they believe it has no power to actually do anything of any significance in their lives. One of the first reasons unbelievers give for not liking the church is that it's filled with hypocrites.
Acts, chapter 14, verse eleven says, when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted, saying in the licorice language, the gods have come down to us in human form.
Barnabas, they called Zeus and Paul Hermes because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the town, brought bulls and wreaths to the gates because he intended with the crowds, to offer sacrifice. See, some people thought the apostles were like superheroes when they saw the miracles that they did. But we know the apostles are not the source of the power that is being displayed through them. They are just regular people like you and me.
They are natural people who have a supernatural God working his power through them. Keep a place here in verse twelve, look back a few verses two, acts four, verses 29 to 30, and we can see the connection between God's power and the power that was displayed through the apostles. In verse twelve of our text, it says that the signs and wonders were being done through the hands of the apostles. And if you like underlining things in your Bible, underline that phrase, through the hands of the apostles. Back in Acts four, the church gathered after Peter and John were released from being interrogated by the religious leaders for healing a layman.
And when they gathered together, the church prayed. Listen to what they prayed for. Acts four, verse 29. And now, Lord, consider their threats and grant your servants may speak your word with all boldness while you stretch out your hand for healing. And signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.
So underline those two in verse 30, your hand whose hand? The Lord's hand. The church prayed for God to move his hand among them by way of doing signs and wonders. God, your hand can make signs and wonders happen, they prayed. So please do that while we continue to preach your gospel.
They prayed for God's hand to move in Acts 4/30. And we see God's hand move here in Acts 5/12. This was a specific answer to prayer, god's hand moving through the hands of the apostles. So go ahead and write this down on your outline. It's the first filling.
God works his power through his people and through their prayers. God works his power through his people and through their prayers. I wonder what God might do through us if we prayed God-sized prayers. Let's keep praying and we're going to find out. Now, I believe that God still performs miracles today.
I believe the bible says he does. And now if that's true, then why don't we see signs and wonders being performed in the church today like they were back in the Book of Acts? Here are three quick reasons. Number one, miracles served a special function in Jesus's ministry and in the apostle's ministry. One of the main purposes of miracles was to validate the person and work of Jesus and then to authenticate the eyewitness accounts of Jesus's disciples.
Miracles gave people a very good reason to believe the words that came out of the mouth of Jesus and came out of the mouth of his apostles. Number two, we don't pray for miracles that much in the Book of James. We are taught that sometimes we don't have because we don't ask. The early church prayed for miracles and then God did miracles. And I wonder why we don't pray for miracles today.
But if that's all an unbeliever ever saw us doing, do you understand why they would draw the conclusions about the church that they do? If that's all that following Jesus boils down to, then yeah, that would be boring. Unbelievers though, aren't the only ones who think the church is boring. There are many believers who think the church is boring too. Let's just be honest.
I know some of you really love the church as I do, and God is doing some amazing things in your life through and through your life right now in the life of the church. But if that's you, I think you are a part of the minority. It seems to me that most Christians are indifferent when it comes to the church. Most treat participation in the church as optional. Most don't get excited about church.
And why do you think that is? Can I suggest to you that if we take an honest assessment of the way we experience church today when we compare it to the way the early church experienced daily life following Jesus, I think we would draw the same conclusions? Church is boring today by comparison, but it shouldn't be. And if it is boring by comparison, then we have to ask if there are things in our church experience that need to be adjusted or changed so that we can position ourselves to experience the kind of life that Jesus died for us to have. A kind of life that captures the attention of people both inside and outside the church.
I don't think anybody, Christian or nonchristian, would label the church as boring. If they saw a church that was functioning like the church was in the Book of Acts, boring would be the last word they would use to describe that church. And that's why I've titled this message church shouldn't be Boring. So let's jump into our text and we'll take a peek at what the early church looked like. Acts in verse twelve says this many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the Apostles.
They were all together in Solomon's colonnade. At this point in time, the church is still in the very early stages of its existence and the church is still growing every single day. At this point in the Book of Acts, there are most likely tens of thousands of Christians in Jerusalem. The church is meeting on the temple grounds in an area called Solomon's Colonnade, which was an area of the temple that was outside uncovered, and it was large enough for the growing church to gather there. Verse twelve says that the apostles are performing many signs and wonders.
Miraculous power has marked the church since its beginning back in chapter two, and we see this miraculous power continued to be put on display here, three chapters later. Now, you may already know this. What I'm going to say will serve as a reminder to some of you. But the apostles aren't superhumans. They're not mutants or Marvel superheroes like the Avengers, even though supernatural power is being put on display through them.
But you wouldn't be alone if you ever thought they were like superheroes because of the power they exercised. Some people back then saw the miracles that they did, and they concluded that the only explanation for it was that they were mythological Greek gods who came down to earth. In Acts 14, Paul healed a man who couldn't walk. Listen to how the crowds responded.
Church Shouldn’t Be Boring......................Date:9/4/22
Series: Acts...Speaker: BJ Chursinoff
Why are so many people uninterested in the Church today? Why do unbelievers stay away? Why do a lot of believers seem indifferent? What if part of the reason is that much of the time, the Church is boring? But what if people experienced the Church today as it is recorded for us in the Book of Acts? “Boring” would be the last word you would use to describe the Church back then! And I think that this “un-boring” expression of the Church is what everyone in our world needs. And it’s the way that the Church should be. In this message, we'll take a peek at what the Early Church looked like and wrestle with what would need to happen for us to experience that same kind of life in our churches today.
If you have your Bible with you, and I hope you do, please open it up to the Book of Acts. We're going to be in chapter five tonight looking at verses twelve through 42. It's a lot of verses to cover in one message, so you're going to want to have your Bible open so that you can follow along with me. If you don't have a Bible and you would like one, just raise your hand and David will come by and he will put one into your hands. And if you don't own a Bible, please accept this one as a gift from us to you.
The title of today's message church shouldn't be boring. And I've given it this name for two reasons. One, we're going to encounter a lot of interesting topics in today's study. We're going to touch on things like miracles, holiness, jealousy, persecution, and supernatural joy. These are all topics that could easily warrant their very own dedicated message.
And if they had their own message, it would be easy to title that message holiness or Joy or persecution. But because we're tackling all of them in one message, I had to find a way to wrap all these ideas into one big idea. And that's the first reason I titled this message the way I did. Because none of these topics are boring. All of these topics will be or should be experienced in the life of the church.
Now, the second reason I titled this message the way that I have is that I want us to think about this claim and I want us to wrestle with it because I believe that a lot of people don't think this statement is true or possible. A lot of people, most people, I would venture to say, think that the church is boring, unbelievers, definitely think the church is boring and irrelevant. That's the spiritual climate of the culture that we live in today. But why do you think they think that about the church? The answer is not that difficult.
It's because when they see the church, they see a boring church. If you think about it, what reason does our expression of the local church give them for thinking about the church any other way? If you put yourselves in the shoes of an unbeliever and you look at the Christians in our city, in our church, or any other church for that matter, what do you think they see? They would see a group of people that get together once a week for a religious gathering, and they might see us meet together another time during the week for a Bible study. Now, don't get me wrong, those are incredible parts of the Christian life, parts that I love and hold dear.
God is not short of cash. I think the Lord is in the process of sanctifying a group of believers here into trustworthy. Servants, disciples who are all in on obeying Jesus, are radically generous with what they have, be it a little or a lot of people of prayer, people of the word, people who love to verses one another in Jesus name. God is not asking us, any of us, to take the step that's 20 steps ahead. He's not saying, Well, I want you to figure out how you're going to pay for that.
He's not asking us. He's asking us to take the step that is right in front of us, all of us. And so if your next step is starting to give in a way that honors God, do it. Do it and watch what the Lord does.
Let me read it again. Connected to giving. Paul tells the Corinthians, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, for your sake, he became poor so that by his poverty you might become rich. This is why God loves a cheerful giver because it is hypocritical to be a reluctant giver and to be a Christian.
Every Christian has benefited from the radical generosity of God, the generosity of a father who gave his only begotten Son for us, the generosity of Jesus who gave his life for us. And we're counting dollars and cents while serving that kind of God.
This is why God loves a cheerful giver because when we're not cheerful givers, he looks at us and says, do you get it? Like, do you get it how much you've benefited from my generosity? And now when I call you to be generous, your response is, I don't know if I can do that. Might be too much.
Paul says, you know the Lord, so you know what the grace of giving looks like. And then he says, and in this matter, I am giving advice because it is profitable for you, who began last year, not only to do something but also to want to do it. He says you're storing up treasure in heaven when you do this. This isn't like a write-off or just an aimless loss. It's profitable for you when you excel in the grace of giving.
And then Paul says, now also finish the task. So that just as there was an eager desire, there may also be a completion according to what you have. That's Paul saying, plan to give. Plan to give. When the Lord stirs your heart and gives you the grace to give, follow through by making a plan.
And he closes with for if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what a person has not according to what he does not have. In other words, if you're led by the Spirit, if you have a cheerful heart and a desire to give, you're giving what the Lord has called you to do. He is blessed by your giving. Period. He's blessed by your giving.
We're called to give cheerfully because we love our church, we love our brothers and sisters, we love our elders, we love to be used by the Lord, we love to honor God, and we love to store up treasure in heaven. If you're doing that, praise God. Well done. Continue in the grace of giving. If you're not doing that, ask the Lord to change your heart.
Ask Him to give you the grace that you need. And then make a plan. Make a plan. Ask the Lord what he wants you to give and then give it. Write a check the same day of the month, every two weeks, every one week, whatever it is.
Make a plan to follow through on the desire to give and understand that it's going to involve faith. It's going to involve faith. It's going to be inconvenient, it's going to be sacrificial. But when you get nervous and fearful, remember God's promise to you if you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, he'll make sure all your needs are met.
It's not my promise. That's God's promise. If we all give as the Lord is calling us to, the needs of our church will be met. I guarantee it. But I also believe that God loves to give resources to believers in churches who are cheerful, faithful givers.
Because I think the Lord is looking for faithful servants to trust with more. There is much that the Lord is putting on the hearts of BJ and me and other people in the church. There's a lot of stuff we believe the Lord is going to call us to do in the future. We want to build recovery houses to help people, men, and women, build a life centered on Jesus. Not just get off drugs, but build a life, a life on Jesus.
We want to plant churches one day. We want to help families foster and adopt. We'd love to have a building where we can just meet whenever we want. And those things might seem like they're a million miles away and millions of dollars away, but they're not. Because I don't even believe the biggest obstacles are financial.
When I arrive, I will send you with letters you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem. If it is suitable for me to go as well, they'll travel with me. Here's what Paul is telling the Corinthians to do. He says, discern what the Lord would have you give to this special offering. Make a plan, and on the first day of each week, set that money aside.
The amount of money that God will call you to give will be proportionate to how much money you have but be led by the Spirit. And then when I arrive to collect the special offering, just come and bring it to the church and give it to me. We're not going to have a special service, Paul says. I'm not going to show you a video of believers starving in Jerusalem set to sad music. Just ask the Lord what he wants you to give and then obey.
Just do that. No drama, no manipulation. Just be led by the Spirit. When he writes his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul is still coveting money for the believers in Jerusalem because they're still going through it. He writes to the church in Corinth, we want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace that was given to the churches of Macedonia during a severe trial brought about by affliction, their abundant joy, and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
I can testify that according to their ability, and even beyond the ability of their own accord, they begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints. And not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us by God's will. So the believers in Macedonia were going through their own afflictions that had placed them in extreme poverty. So Paul wasn't even planning on asking them to give to the Jerusalem believers.
But when the believers in Macedonia heard about what was happening in Jerusalem, they approached Paul and begged for the privilege to give financially. You see, God stirred up so much grace in their hearts that they continued to meet the needs of their own church as they should have. And then above and beyond that gave with wild generosity to Paul's fund for the believers in Jerusalem. And here's what I can tell you. You better believe their heavenly Father took care of their practical needs after he called them to do that.
And then Paul writes, so we urged Titus that just as he had begun, so he should also complete among you this act of grace. This made Paul tell Titus to go and tell the Corinthian believers, guys, this is what's going on in Macedonia. They're demonstrating radical love, grace, and generosity. You guys need to step it up. And Paul writes to them now, as you excel in everything, in faith, speech, knowledge, and in all diligence and in your love for us, excel also in this act of grace.
The act of grace he's talking about is the act of giving. He says, Guys, you're doing a good job Corinthians, in faith, in speech, and growing in your knowledge of the Lord and being diligent. You've improved. You're now taking care of your elders; you're taking care of us. Now go even further.
See what the Lord wants to do through you here. And then Paul says, I'm not saying this as a command. Rather, by means of the diligence of others, I'm testing the genuineness of your love. Paul says this isn't a command, but this does tell us something about your love for God and your love for his people. And then Paul says - underline this... I didn't tell you where it was. I'm sorry. It's in 2 Corinthians 8. Paul has this incredible line. He says for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, for your sake, he became poor so that by his poverty you might become rich.
Am I doing things his way? This is true of marriage, parenting, family, money, work, everything. Number one question to ask yourself before we act like it's a mystery, go to the word, am I doing things God's way in this area of my life? I'll tell you from my own experience in my own life to an embarrassing degree, I find that I'm not doing things God's way when I find myself in those situations and there's a correction that I need to make to get in alignment with the Lord. Take a look at one Corinthians, chapter nine, verse seven.
We're going to hang out here for the last part of the message. I shared this verse last week. Paul told the Corinthians each person should do as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver and God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work. Now, anybody who reads that and says, this is great because I hate giving and the Bible frees me from doing so, hallelujah, is like the person who says, great, we're not under the law, so I'm not going to give anything. Both are missing the point entirely.
Paul's point is that believers should want to give and should derive joy from giving. Elders shouldn't have to worry about trying to wrestle money from their brothers and sisters by pleading with them just to cover the bills of the church or to have enough money to feed their families. Churches shouldn't have to share emotional testimonies that pull at the heartstrings just to get believers to give. We shouldn't have to talk about giving on a regular basis. It should just happen.
It should be the habit practice and custom of every believer. Churches only talk about giving and tithing on a regular basis because the overwhelming majority of believers are not cheerful givers. They're reluctant. That's the truth. And if they don't, they won't give and churches won't be able to financially survive.
Believers should be cheerful givers because they love their church, they love their brothers and sisters, they love the Lord, they love their elders, they're excited to be used by God, they're excited to store up treasure in heaven and they're excited to honor God. And if none of that makes you want to give, Paul still has good news for you. He says, God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work. That's Paul saying, the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God is able to change even your stingy and ungrateful heart so that you become a cheerful giver. That's what Paul is saying.
The Corinthian Church went through the process of allowing the Holy Spirit in God's word to change them and grow them into people who gave cheerfully in faith and sacrificially. There were some years around the middle of the first century when a terrible famine affected the church in Jerusalem. People were starving, and Paul felt an obligation to help. So he raised money from the churches that he had planted to buy food and get that food to the believers of the Jerusalem Church. This was a special offering above and beyond the regular giving of believers.
Paul believed, and so did these other churches, that every other church was indebted to the Jerusalem Church because the Jerusalem Church was the father of all other churches. It was the OG. It was the church literally founded on the apostles. In his first letter to the Corinthians, in One Corinthians 16, Paul writes to them about the collection for the saints. Do the same as I instructed the Galatian churches, on the first day of the week, each of you is to set something aside and save in keeping with how he is prospering so that no collections will need to be made when I come.
And he goes on in Matthew Chapter six, to say therefore in other words, for this reason, guys, I tell you, don't worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing? Consider the birds of the sky. They don't sow or reap or gather in barns. Yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.
Aren't you worth more than they? Can any of you add one moment to his lifespan by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow. They don't labor or spin thread.
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. If that's how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and throws it into the furnace tomorrow, won't he do much more for you? You of little faith? So don't worry what will we eat? Or what will we drink or what will we wear?
For the Gentiles, the unbelievers eagerly seek all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have to worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. The second offer Jesus makes is that if we prioritize living for Him and his kingdom, he'll make sure we have whatever we need.
Do you get why that's such an incredible offer? Because when we put them together, we get this offer live for me and my kingdom, and you'll store up treasure in heaven. But Lord, if I do that, how are my needs going to be met in the meantime? If you do that, I'll personally make sure that your needs are met. That's a far better offer than Malachi Chapter Three even though we're not under the law, we are still under the law of sowing and reaping.
Paul told the stingy Corinthians that he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. If your practical needs aren't being met, you need to honestly ask yourself am I seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness? Because if you're not, God doesn't promise to meet all of your needs. It's a conditional promise. Do you see that?
It's a conditional promise. It's not, you can do whatever you want and I'll meet your needs. It's seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then I'll meet all of your needs. Sometimes the church is called to step in and meet practical needs, as we saw two weeks ago with the abandoned widows in One Timothy chapter five. But the church is not called to step in and meet the practical needs of believers who are not seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. So if your practical needs aren't being met and you're not honoring God with your finances, you're not putting them first. You're not being led by the Spirit in your giving. Don't ask for prayer about your practical needs. Don't do it.
God has told you in his word what you need to do. Don't come and ask for prayer as though you want a second opinion. God has been clear you need to put Him first, be led by the Spirit, and give in a God-honoring way. When we refuse to do things God's way, we can't complain. When we don't experience his provision or his blessings.
Let me say that again. When we refuse to do things God's way, we can't complain when we don't experience his provision or his blessings. This is a mega rule for the Christian life. In any area of our lives, if there's struggle or difficulty, the first question to ask is, am I putting God first? Am I honoring Him in this area of my life?
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What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
The New Jerusalem........Date:4/24/22....................Series: RevelationPassage: Revelation 21:6-27...............Speaker: Jeff Thompson
John is shown more details of the glorious and eternal future home of all who love the Lord, the New Jerusalem.
Well, can you believe it? There are still those who are saying that the Book of Revelation is hard to understand. But Flimflam says we and I apologize is for my language. But you see, the thing is, the word revelation itself means that something has been revealed. And the first words of this book tell us exactly who it is that's being revealed.
It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. And God wanted us to read this book so much that he promised anyone who would take the time to read and respond to it a special blessing. And we find that blessing in Revelation chapter one, verse three, let's claim it together. It says, "Blessed is he (or she) who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near."
But God knew there would still be those who would say, it's just too hard to follow. So, to make it easy to understand, he also included a simple outline. And we find that in Revelation chapter one, verses 19, Jesus gives John three things to write about. Firstly, John, I want you to write the things which you have seen that was the resurrected and glorified Jesus in chapter one. Secondly, John, I want you to write the things which are that a reference to the Church aides which began around 32 AD at the feast of Pentecost, is documented in Acts chapter two and continues up to the present day.
And then lastly, Jesus says, John, I want you to write about the things which will take place after this. After what? After the Church age. Now, when does the Church age come to an end? That happens in Revelation chapter four, verses one, let me read it to you.
John says, after these things, I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard, that was the voice of Jesus in chapter one was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this. And up John goes, serving as a picture of the Church who will be raptured to be with the Lord. And just to make it Crystal clear what's happening, the Lord will take all of chapters four and five to show us the Church with Him in heaven before he begins pouring out his wrath upon the Earth. And when he pours out his wrath, the incredible thing is that verse is like Revelation 6/16 tells us that those on the Earth will know that it's God doing it.
They will identify it as the wrath of the Lamb. And in the Scriptures, the Lamb is who it's Jesus. So chapter one gives us the focus of this amazing book, Jesus Christ. Chapters two and three take us through the Church age up to the present day. The Church goes up in chapter four, verses one, we see her safe and secure with the Lord in heaven for chapters four and five before wrath comes down on the Earth in chapter six.
That wrath continues for seven years across a time period known as the Tribulation, and is documented in chapter six through 19, after which Jesus returns to the Earth with His Saints in the event known as the Second Coming. Jesus will then rule and reign on the Earth for the thousand years known as the Millennial Kingdom, a golden age when the Earth will be restored to an Eden like state and everything wrong with the world will be undone. After those thousand years, our universe will be destroyed and Jesus will create new heavens and a new Earth free from every source of sorrow heaven itself. The city called the New Jerusalem will descend to the new Earth where it will serve as our home for the ages to come.