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Well, Stay with us. Listen. and learned. You're listening to Until He Comes, a blend of prophetic and practical biblical studies with Dr. Greg Hinnett, author of The Second Coming of Christ, His Appearing, His Return, Our Preparation.
And now. and teacher Greg Hennett. Welcome to the broadcast. Today we're going to begin our series on New Jerusalem. Dream city.
We're going to be reading Revelation 21 in part of 22. But before doing so, let's look at ourselves in prophetic time. Where are we at this point in Revelation 21, verse 1, in God's prophetic schedule?
Well, the church age has come to a conclusion. the seven year tribulation has come to a conclusion. The 1,000-year reign of Christ on this earth. has come to a conclusion. And even the great white throne judgment has occurred, and all the wicked dead, all those who reject God and His salvation.
Whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life. are now consigned to the lake of fire for Forever and ever. Only the Redeemed survive to this point, and the angels and the Godhead.
So we begin reading here. And immediately we're going to be struck by the impact Of the most amazing thing that has ever happened since creation. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. Oh my goodness, this is what Peter referred to in 2 Peter 3.
Listen to this. The heavens shall Shall pass away with a great noise. I'm reading from verse 10. and the elements shall melt. With Fervent hate.
the earth also, and the works that are in it shall be burnt up. seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved. What manner of persons ought you to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and hastening? unto the coming of the day of God. In which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent hate.
Nevertheless, we, according to his promise now he refers to Isaiah, We look for new heavens. Yeah. in which dwells righteousness or righteousness. Righteousness only.
So Peter and John are on the same page. They're seeing the same End which brings in the eternal beginning. But we must pause for a moment and just think of the import and the significance. of what we've just read. There will be a and amazing.
explosion of this present cosmos with fire that cannot be measured for its intensity and the very elements or the basic units of the material world will be dissolved. Then As John sees in this vision, we too will be in heaven and we will see. An amazing sight. The New Jerusalem. There is one more fact in verse 1 that we need to pay attention to.
There was no more sea. What does he mean? That the new earth will have no water? No, no. It will have.
Gorgeous. Waterways and lakes and rivers and inland seas. Waterfalls. But The new earth unlike this present one, will not be covered. seventy one percent of its surface be covered with water.
So this is an amazing fact. The new earth will be radically different. and apparently the land areas much larger. Also, it has a spiritual significance because this is a figurative statement as well. When the word sea is used in prophetic literature and it does not refer to a specific body of water like the Great Sea or the Salt Sea, It is often symbolic of the unredeemed populace, the mass of humanity that has not come to faith.
So there will be no more seventy one percent of the new earth covered with water, and there will be no more. mass of humanity that has been unredeemed. They have been Removed Only the redeemed survive, And Aijon saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven.
Now this is not the Jerusalem that exists now. It's not the Jerusalem of the millennial reign, which will be a glorious Jerusalem. It will be a preparation for eternity. And there will be many similar elements in the millennium that we find here in the eternal state, but the two are different. And he says, This city is coming out of heaven.
This is not an earthly city planned by founding fathers of any. Nation No, this is a heavenly city. prepared as a bride adorned or decorated for her husband, and he will specify the decorations in this city for us. as we read through. But it is a prepared city.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, or look, a spectacle is before you. The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. And God Himself shall be with them and be their wisdom. God, as I said in the introduction. This has been God's desire from the beginning.
And he has been, in a sense, frustrated. We know God doesn't really get frustrated, but his purpose has been denied by the stubborn sinfulness of man. But now, This statement is telling us of the great climax of redemptive history. The blood of the Lamb has been shed The blood of the Lamb has now provided for an entirely reborn. human race.
And that rice is with God for ever. in the city of his making. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall be any more pain. For the former things are passed away, that is, the former things that are the result and consequence. Of the fall.
They're gone. We cannot imagine the life and world That is like this. But it is coming. No pain, no tears. Maybe you're suffering pain and tears to day.
Grief. or some lab one over some friend Well, you be encouraged because the time is coming where we will not feel pain anymore. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. This is a victory declaration. My God, he is, in a sense, Dancing a Scottish jig.
He is rejoicing at what he has done. All things, he says, I have made new. You know what he's saying? He sang I have a born-again creation. Ready for a born again.
People. This is his moment. Victory. And then John says, Right. For these words, that is, God said to him, write, for these words are true and faithful.
They're dependable. You can count on this happening. This is inspired prophecy, and the omniscience of God has foreseen it, and the omnipotence of God will carry it out. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
He said, I am the God who was in the garden originally with Adam and Eve, and I am now the God who is in this new paradise, Paradesos. in the Greek this Garden of the emperors and the gods. This new place which is fit only for God. and his people. Then he adds.
I will give unto him that is athirst. of the fountain of the water of life, Freely. Oh my goodness. Here's God's Loving call to the world. He said, Listen, this is the world I'm creating for you.
And I will give you of this city and the water of life that flows in it. Freely, that is by grace. You can't pay for it, you can't earn it, but you can receive it if you receive the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus Christ, who hung on the cross for you and I, to bear the penalty of our sins, so that we might receive eternal life. Be born again and be ready to live in this born-again world.
World. Are you thirsty? That's the only thing God asks. Do you desire to know Jesus? Do you desire to live with God forever?
That's the only requirement. He that overcomes will inherit all things.
Now, Psalm thirty-seven says. That the meek shall inherit the earth. But this is much more. This is a new earth, a new heavens that we're going to inherit and enjoy. In first John five, John writes, For who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus.
is the Son of God. Person who believes in Christ is an overcomer. And at the same time, Every Christian is challenged by Christ Himself. In Revelation 2 and 3, to be a master overcomer. to not let any trial or any sin Have the victory over them.
And if they do to not accept defeat and failure as final, but arise with spiritual resilience and overcome that test. For Christ's glory. And so that you can inherit all that God has for you. Then in Varsaiti says But so here we're going to have God's Exclusion statement, if you will, is immigration policy. We're going to identify the people who will not.
be in this glorious city, The fearful The abominable, those who practice things that God says is an abomination to Him. and murderers those who take life. and fornicators, those who have sex outside of marriage, and sorcerers, those who practice magical arts, and idolaters, those who love anything more than God, Those who trust in anything more than God, here's the challenge, my friend. Examine your heart. Do you have any idols?
Say for instance, money or pleasure. Or something else, success in this present life. Don't let anything be your God but God. And he says, all liars, all those who disparage Others slander them. and slay their reputation.
These liars will be In the lake of fire, they will not be in this city that God has prepared. And he says, This is the second death.
So the lake of fire And eternal separation from God is the second death. And from this death, there is no recovery. There is no universal reconciliation. There is no second chance. after one has passed.
Please consider that, friend, for yourself and your loved ones. And Be sure you are interceding for your loved ones and friends, and every other person you come across. that they may come to know the Saviour. and never experienced this second death. And there came to me one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls.
fall of the seven last plagues. He's referring to the bold judgments of Revelation 16. And he talked with thee and said Come here. I will show thee the bride, the lamb's wife.
Now, the bride is specified as the lamb's wife.
Now we put it together. It's a. Heavenly city. It's prepared. It's decorated.
It's the place of the bride, and it belongs to the Lamb. This is the place Jesus has gone to prepare for us. Where He said, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go, I will come again. and receive you unto myself.
So, this is the home of the Bride Church forever and ever and ever. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain. This is significant. And he showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem. And this city is descending out of heaven from God.
Now Why did he refer to this great mountain?
Well, because New Jerusalem will probably, according to the evidence we have, sit on a tremendous mountain, if you will, a mesa, a flat dot mountain, and this amazing, colossal city will sit atop it. Having the glory of God The glory of God is the Shekinah, the same fantastic, divine, supernatural light. that shone when Jesus was transfigured on the mount. And when Paul had Had his encounter with Christ on the Damascus road. The glory of God, the Shekana glory and the kavad, the full heaviness of His intense presence will shine from this city And Jah says her light is like the st uh like a stone most precious or a most rare jewel.
even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.
Now, you know, Jasper in its normal state is opaque. But he says this city looks as if it's a Jasper, it has those colors, red and yellow, and brown, etc. But Yet it's clear He says, clear as crystal.
Now, in his generation, in his time, crystal was not the lead crystal that was developed. about seventeen hundred years later, it was rock quartz crystal. It is always translucent and often transparent.
So, this city.
Well me like a giant diamond. and the glory of God will shine through it flashing different colours. that will be beautiful beyond description. And it had a wall that was great and high, and twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written on the gates, which are the names of twelve tribes on the of the children of Israel.
Now note the repetition and significance of the number twelve. We will discuss that later in our series. But note the angels are there showing indeed the angels survive. And the East Had three gates, and on the north, three gates, on the south, three gates, and the west, three gates.
So, this city is open for visitors, and we'll discuss later who they are. On the wall of the city, There were twelve foundations. And in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Now immediately we've identified this city with the twelve tribes of Israel. And the twelve apostles of the Lamb. What is God saying? This is the eternal home of the redeemed of Israel and of the church. And he that talked with me had a golden reed, a measuring stick, to measure the city and the gates of it and its wall.
And the city lies four square, that is, even in every direction. And the length is as large as the breadth. And he measured the city with the read twelve thousand furlongs or Stadia. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. First of all, let's grasp the dimensions here.
This city is Either f Fourteen hundred or fifteen hundred miles wide, long. And listen, friends. and high This is Amazing. This city is like a cube. We'll talk about it a little bit later, but it's like the holy place.
which was also cubical. Perhaps God is saying This is the new holy place. the eternal holy place.
Now For your information, the reason it is one of those two measurements is because the unit of measurement was the stadion. we would say stayed for short. This was the distance in the original Olympic Games between one of two points that the runners ran between on their sprints. And Um And so today, that length, that distance was 600 feet. And today, that would be the equivalent of 200 yards.
So we really see that everything has changed, but not much has changed. We still have a 200-meter race. as the Greeks did.
So this word stadium Is also the word which we from which we get our our word stadium, where Olympic events. Yeah. other athletic events. Yeah. So now we've been stunned.
This city is cubicle. The height of it really just piques the curiosity We don't know exactly why it's this high. Perhaps there's multiple levels of living. We will be in immortal bodies. Jesus had a supernatural body.
He could pass through a wall. He could appear. He could disappear. I know one prophetic teacher that said perhaps we'll be able to travel freely through space. without having some vehicle to take us.
We don't know. That's just speculation. But we do know it's a massive city, unlike any city in the history of the world. And he measured the wall of it in 144 cubits. According to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
Now, this wall is surprisingly small. Only two hundred and sixteen feet. Why? Perhaps because God wants His glory. which will indwell this city, to shine through Every building and house and ship.
shine over these walls. to illuminate the entire new earth. And the building of the wall was of jasper, And the city was pure gold like clear glass.
So the city was made of gold that had been refined so much that it appeared to be clear glass.
Now glass was not developed in its clear state in the first century. It was used it was developed in colors and used for mosaics. But Glass would have referred to, again, Rock quartz. Crystal. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones.
The first foundation was jasper, the second, sapphire, the third, chalcedony, and the fourth, emerald, the fifth, sardonyx, the sixth, sardias, the seventh, chrysolite, the eighth, beryl, the ninth, topaz, the tenth, chrysoprasis, the eleventh, jacinth, and the twelfth, amethyst.
Now these twelve stones remind us of the twelve stones on the breastplate of the High Priest of Israel. And perhaps God is saying my people are like precious gemstones.
So these gems were encrusted or rather the foundation was encrusted with these gemstones.
So as the glory shined through them, they would sparkle like a diamond with many facets and create a great spectacle.
Now We're going to break off the reading at this point. And we'll return and finish this reading in our next Uh podcast. And we will then get into the specifics of this amazing city. What we have already read thus far in this brief expository reading is just simply is simply beyond imagination. No fiction writer, no science fiction writer has ever thought of anything even approaching The glory, the grandeur, the majesty, and the immensity of this city of God.
So, Be sure to be with us in the next episode, and we will go forward discussing New Jerusalem, our dream city. This month, for a gift of any amount, we are offering Dr. Hinnant's book, Walking in His Ways, which describes 24 spiritual disciplines of a New Testament disciple of Christ, whether a new convert, Or an experienced Christian, this book will speak to you in a timely way. For a gift of $60 or more, we'll send you the complete four-volume hidden end times prophecy collection: The Second Coming of Christ, The Tribulation Story. Revelation Notes, a verse-by-verse commentary on Revelation.
And the Day of the Lord Commentary, which interprets all Old Testament prophecies and foreshadowings of the end times. And if you are a Logos Bible Software user, you may purchase The Second Coming of Christ, The Day of the Lord Commentary, and Revelation Notes from the Logos Online Bookstore.
Now, again, Dr. Hinnett. And now it's time for some QA. Mike from Meben, North Carolina, asks: if a pastor commits adultery, Can he continue being the lead pastor after repentance, Mike? The pastoral epistles, specifically 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.
require that pastors be faithful to their wives, Respectable or moral, and not worthy of public reproach. When a pastor fails morally, we must ask. Is he repentant or not? And what is the nature of the adultery? If he is engaged in a long standing affair impenitently for years and is discovered, such as the sad Ravi Zacharias situation.
he should be removed from all further pastoral ministry. Though, if repentant, he may be forgiven and restored into fellowship. If the affair was brief, and especially voluntarily broken off, and the pastor's broken and contrite. and willing to make things right. He should be forgiven by all, since Christ commands We forgive all who repent.
and received back into fellowship. Galatians 6.1 commends If a man be overtaken in a trespass, You who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. considering yourself lest you also be tempted. But restoration to office is another matter. Most churches require one year suspension.
Though not stated specifically in Scripture, this certainly seems reasonable. But some Christians may not wish to follow his leadership. and thus will seek another pastor. A biblical example of pastoral restoration David. who committed not only adultery, but murder.
yet after genuine deep brokenness, read Psalm thirty two and fifty one, he was restored as king and pastor of Israel. Why? Romans states: God's callings and gifts are without repentance.
So if God continues to use a restored pastor, we may continue to follow his leadership safely. We must not hold his past sins against him just as we would not wish our past sins held against us. We are, after all, a community of redeemed sinners being transformed into Christ's truthful and compassionate Image. If a fallen pastor is not repentant, and he rejects the elders' call for repentance, he should immediately be removed from office. If the elders refuse to do so, the congregation should leave.
And seek godly leadership elsewhere. Because at that point, the entire church is violating God's word. We are so glad that you tuned in to the broadcast today.
Next week, we will continue our study of end times prophecy, specifically what Revelation 21 and 22 tell us about New Jerusalem, our dream city. I am so eager to share with you. More of the wonders and joys that await us in the eternal world. If this message has blessed you, tell your friends and please consider helping us stay on the air by sending your tax-deductible donation to Greg Hennett Ministries. Also, remember, you may download the Until He Comes podcast from your preferred podcast app.
May you walk closely with Christ and trust and obey Him in your daily tests of faith and patience until He Comes. This is the Truth Network. Yeah.
