Uh Do New Jerusalem's amazing physical features in the next life have spiritual implications for our Christian walk in this life? For instance, its saturation with light, honorable residence, God-centered main activities, complete transparency, vast wealth, Christ-built houses, and great authority.
Well, stay with us, listen, and learn. You're listening to Until He Comes, a blend of prophetic and practical biblical studies with Dr. Greg Hennant. Author of the second coming of Christ, His Appearing, His Return, Our Preparation. And now, author and teacher Greg Hinnant.
Welcome to the broadcast, my friend. Today we will conclude our study on New Jerusalem, our dream city. I just want to say that this is my personal quest to reside in this city and I want it to be your personal quest in life. and through you the quest of many others to whom you pass on this knowledge.
Now, today, in our talk and through the series, we have been basing our Our thoughts and our decisions on two biblical principles: 1 Samuel 2:30, those who honor me, I will honor. which says Whatever a man sows, that will he also reap. We have one salvation. But we have different statuses in the kingdom of God. This is what we're teaching.
Yeah. This city will be a city full of light. The light of the world will be its lamp. We're told in Revelation twenty-one. It will be glory light.
the original light, the light that shines from God's very presence That's why the people who came before us called this city simply Glory. It will be saturated with light, so much so that we won't even need lamps in our. Holmes. or buildings. This is amazing.
Never before in human history has there been a city saturated with light. but this one will be. Friends Christians who walk in the darkness of practicing sin will not reside in this city. By the grace of God they may be saved, but they will not live in this city. Do you want to walk in this Christ-lighted city?
Then walk in Christ-light in your city today as you listen to me. The light of God's word, His favor, His guidance and His examination. That word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, said the psalmist in Psalm 119. 105.
So let God's Word illuminate your mind every day, reading the Word, studying the Word, pondering and obeying the Word, saturate your life with the Word of God. Be like the one I call Bible man, in Psalm versus Psalm 1, verses 1. Through three. Who meditates in the Word of God day and night? Follow Paul's instructions to Timothy 2, verse 15.
Study to show yourself approved unto God. Saturate your life with the Word of God. and then God's favor. Lord, lift up the light. of your countenance or favour, your smile.
upon us. Psalm four, verse six. This speaks of Christians who seek Christ. Smile of approval only, not the approval of man. They seek his approval.
and they know he loves faithfulness. They want to seek him. every day. and so they gain his favour in life. Then God's guidance.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Psalm thirty two verse eight. When this light of divine guidance comes into your life and the Holy Spirit shows you what path you should take, my friend, take it, and then you're walking in the light of God's guidance. And then there's the light of his examination.
Christians who walk in the light of his examination practice honest and quick confession of sin. If we walk in the light as he is in the light, said John chapter one, verse seven of his first epistle. We have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. And then John adds, if we confess our sins, and of course that is when we when they occur, He is faithful and just. To forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9.
Now, if we don't confess our sins, we're walking in the darkness of denial. and dishonesty.
So there we have it. Walking near the light, walking in the darkness.
So this will be a light city for Christians who are living light filled lives in this world. The light of the word. The light of God's favorite the light of his guidance. the light of his examination. New Jerusalem's residents will be only the redeemed, they who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, chapter 21, verse 27.
And it seems evident that those residents in this city, and remember what we're talking about here, not everyone will live in the city. All the redeemed will live on the new earth. and visit the city. But we're talking about the Things that are written in the Bible that indicate who will live in this city.
So the residents will be Christian and Jewish overcomers. Chapter 21, verse 7. He that overcomes. Shall inherit all things. and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Also, God's servants will be there. Chapter twenty-two, verse three says. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him. And true worshipers, Jesus said in John 4:23 and 24, the Father seeks such to worship Him, that is, those who worship God in spirit. And in truth, And in the faithful.
Because you see, we see an important principle in Ezekiel chapter 44. The Lord Told Ezekiel that only the Zadokite priests would serve him. In the millennial temperature. Yeah. Because they alone remained faithful to the Lord when Israel fell into idolatry.
So he's rewarding his faithfulness. Faithful priest. with the privilege Of serving him in the millennium, and I believe the millennium is a reflection of the eternal world.
So we're carrying this same principle over to New Jerusalem. Ezekiel 48, 8 through 11 tells us that. The Zedekite priest will live on a special tract of land near the temple where Christ will be enthroned, enshrined. in the millennium.
So special privileges for the faithful. The residents of New Jerusalem will be overcomers. They will be God's servants who serve Him faithfully, and they will be true worshipers. That's the way to assure your residents in this city, my friend, today, are you overcoming in your test or just succumbing and giving up? Are you serving God or serving yourself?
Are you truly worshiping God in spirit and truth, or are you worshiping Him while you're walking in darkness? and are you faithful to the call of God on your life? Transparency of this city. The city implying all its houses and buildings and even its streets will be made of gold that is so refined and pure it is like transparent glass, clear as crystal, chapter twenty one, verse eleven.
So it's a transparent city. Everyone can see everything about everyone else. For a fallen race accustomed to hiding from others their sinful thoughts, words and actions, this will be a radical change. It will be much less of an adjustment for Christians who have lived transparent lives In this world. Transparent before God, to whom they quickly confess all their sins.
transparent before their Christian friends to whom they quote Confess their faults one to another, end quote, whenever necessary, James 5:16, and transparent before others. They may have wronged. In Matthew 5, 23 and 24, Jesus Requires that we be reconciled to people whom we have wronged before we worship him acceptably.
So New Jerusalem will be the first city in history in which there will be no place to hide wrongdoing and no wrongdoing to hide. Today are you living a transparent life before God? Is everything out in the open between you and Jesus? He knows everything anyway.
So I urge you to begin to live transparently before him. The main activities of this city will be Worship. service. I believe. First will be worship.
We see this. Foreshadowed in Revelation 4 and 5, where John saw the four cherubim, the 24 elders, and the innumerable angels. Repeatedly worshiping and singing doxologies, hymns, and spiritual songs sung in the Spirit to the Lord.
Now the twenty four elders represent us We also see in Revelation fourteen two that there will be harpers harping with their harps.
So there will be a cappella worship and instrumental worship in heaven. We'll also have fixed times of worship there. Isaiah sixty six twenty three says that from one new moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship before me. And in that context, God is speaking of the new heavens and the new earth which He makes.
So Also, those who serve him, they will know that they will be there, because chapter 22, verse 3 says, His servants shall serve him.
So these are the two main activities of this city. Worship The praise And Service. Are you worshiping God every day? Are you serving him faithfully? Then you know you will be in this city, you will live there.
Now, the question arises: will there be time for other pastimes, activities, projects, and pleasures? Of course, thousands of them.
Now, how can I say this? Because the loving, generous, and benevolent nature of God ensures this. His great love cannot be satisfied. unless he satisfies the people he loves. And they are those who are always put satisfying him First, Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm thirty seven, verse four, wrote David. And Jesus taught us, Seek ye first The kingdom of God? and all these things shall be added to you.
So these will be the activities of New Jerusalem. Then it's authority. The number twelve is used prominently in New Jerusalem, very prominently. There will be twelve gates with twelve pearls. The names of twelve tribes will be written on them.
and there'll be twelve angels standing guard. There are twelve foundations to the walls. and the names of twelve apostles written on them. and twelve precious stones encrusting them. and the walls will be one hundred forty four qubits or twelve by twelve qubits.
that translates into two hundred and sixteen feet.
So What does this tell us?
Well, the number twelve speaks of God's power and authority. Indeed, this city's authority will be supreme because it will be the eternal world's capital city, with God's very throne. as its seat of worldwide government. Chapter 22, verse 3 again says, There shall be no more curse, but the throne of God. shall be End it.
God's servants will, as they have during the millennium pre-millionaire. Yeah. Help him reign over this massive new earth, specifically over its nations. And kings. that is mentioned in chapter 21, verses 24 and 26.
So what I'm describing to you is the new creation cosmology. What the cosmos will be like then. There will be nations, there will be kings. And there will be Christians who have lived under God's authority who are granted authority with Him. They will serve as his administrators in this eternal world.
Jesus' parables. Tell us. that his faithful servants will be rewarded with authority over cities and will find their ultimate and complete fulfillment in this eternal dream city. John assures us they shall reign forever and ever. Friends, not every Christian is going to reign in the eternal world.
Why? Because they haven't lived under Christ's authority here.
So he cannot reward them with authority in the millennium or this eternal world.
So, this suggests that if we submit to his supreme authority, And to his delegated authorities in life, government and other authorities in our lives. and serve God faithfully in this life under those authorities, then we will share His authority in the eternal world. New Jerusalem will be inhabited by people who live under God's authority and serve in His authority. Every time you pray in Jesus' name, you're exercising the authority He granted you. The wealth of this city will be Immense beyond description.
The city was made of pure gold, as pure as glass. The city's main street. Was pure gold, transparent as glass, John says in Revelation twenty-two, eighteen through twenty-one. This reveals its wealth will be immeasurable and twofold. replete with spiritual and material wealth.
No city in history. has long had both because material rich is very soon usurped. and spoiled Spiritual riches, but not here. Not here. New Jerusalem's vast material wealth, its buildings and homes of refined crystal clear gold.
and even the main street paved with gall reflects the vast spiritual wealth accumulated by its residents. in this life. proven faith Wide knowledge of God. Biblical wisdom, spiritual insight, fullness of the Holy Spirit, discernment and prophecy, friends. These things constitute God's gold.
So it will be an eternally wealthy city. inhabited by the eternally rich. Jesus is telling you today, while I'm speaking to you, He is saying unto you, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire. that you may be rich. Revelation 3, verse 18.
which means more to you, friend, This world's temporal wealth or New Jerusalems Eternal, well, think about it. Think about it. If you want to live in this city, Then seek the wealth of God every day, ardently. The purified gold and sparkling gems of New Jerusalem also sends us this message. God's overcomers are his.
His gold and his jewels. Of the utterly devoted Jewish remnant of Judah, God said this: They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day. when I shall make up my jewels and I will spare them. Then the holiness. of this city.
Three times God's immigration policy, that is Revelation 21:8, 27, and 22.15, declares that no one practicing sin will reside. in this city.
Now historically The larger cities have become the The more filthy and immoral and unsanitary they've become. But not this city. This city will be different. Though huge, it's holy. thoroughly set apart for God, And his delight thoroughly clean, it's pure gold streets and pure river of water of life.
21 of Revelation verses 18 and 21, and chapter 22, 1. These reflect the purity of its citizens. Pure gold paves the streets. And Yeah. pure river of life.
This reflects their Redeemer, And their love of purity and cleanliness and order. Do you want to be here, friend, in this city? Then Let me urge you, walk in holiness, because without holiness no man will see the Lord. That is Hebrews 12, verse 14. and walking cleanliness, which John Wesley said is next.
to godliness.
Well, this concludes our series on New Jerusalem, our dream city. I hope that these talks will stir in your soul a desire to for you to quest to reside in this city, because as we've said throughout the study, some will live in the city, others out. You want to know that you're going to live in this awesome light saturated city.
So, I urge you to walk worthy of the name of Jesus. I will speak with you again next week, my friend. God bless you. This month, for a gift of any amount, we are offering one of Dr. Hinnant's three devotionals, Water from the Rock, which offers 122 spiritually rich biblical messages designed to refresh your heart, strengthen you in your daily trials, and help satisfy and increase your thirst.
For more of Jesus. For a gift of $60 or more, we'll send you the complete four-volume Hinnant 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. You may give your gift today by visiting the donation page at greghinnantministries.org or sending your checks to Greg Hinnant Ministries, P.O. Box 788. High Point, North Carolina, 27260, or by calling 336-882-1645.
And now it's time for some Q ⁇ A. A friend in Georgia asks Where is the line between our faith Why do some people receive healing? and others do not. Before answering, I acknowledge God heals divinely and also through medical science. but the two are very different.
Medical science is neither the gift of miracles nor gift of healing that Paul listed in 1 Corinthians twelve verses nine and ten. It is a human science practised by all peoples, redeemed and unredeemed, Regardless of their religious or non religious beliefs, and regardless of their morality or immorality. The gifts of healing and miracles, however, are not natural human gifts, but divine love gifts given by Christ to His bride, the Church. Not advanced skills. Taught in human schools.
but exclusively the operations of the Holy Spirit. Not practiced by non-believers, but only by gifted, spirit-filled Christians. Demonstrations of not scientific knowledge, But the Holy Spirit's divine power alone. And practiced not in secular society, but exclusively in the church. And I'm a lad that that the gifts of healing and miracles are evidences of Christ's continuing compassion, whereas medical science may or may not be administered by a compassionate doctor.
Divine healing is available to us through Jesus' atonement. He died on the cross for our sins. But additionally, he was brutally scourged specifically for our healing. Isaiah 53, verses 4 and 5, looking forward to the cross, declare. Surely he He has mourn our griefs, literally, infirmities, diseases.
And carried or carried away. are sorrows, literally pains. and with his stripes We are healed. After noting Jesus healed all that were sick, In one of his meetings. Matthew in Matthew eight, sixteen and seventeen declares, by the perfect interpretation of the Holy Spirit, that is the Bible interpreting the Bible, that this was a sample fulfillment of Isaiah's text.
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah, saying, He himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. Since Hebrews thirteen eight tells us Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever, And the early church practiced divine healing throughout the book of Acts. And it is also taught in the epistles, for instance, James chapter five, verses fourteen through sixteen. Many Christians believe divine healing is still available to us today. But others do not.
If Christians do not believe Jesus still heals us today, obviously, they will not receive divine healing.
Some Christians who do believe Jesus still heals us today. may sometimes not receive healing for various reasons. For instance, God may be testing and increasing their enduring faith. Just as Jesus taught in Luke 18, One through eight. Or he may permit their condition to even worsen, so Christ will receive greater honor when they are ultimately healed.
as in the case of Lazarus in John eleven. Or their sickness may be a corrective punishment For persisting sin. as Paul warned the church in 1 Corinthians 11, verse thirty. And they have not yet confessed and repented, as James five, verse sixteen requires. Or because the elders who are praying for the sick themselves doubt or disbelieve that Christ will heal them.
Remember, it's the prayer of faith that saves or heals the sick, not the prayer of doubt or disbelief. That is according to James 5, 14. Or God may be purifying them from unrealized inward sin, and And demonstrating to Satan in the world that his true servants serve him. even in inexplicable sufferings. as was the case with Job, who in the depths of his suffering expressed his faith, when he said that though he slay me yet I will trust in him.
Or it may be their time to pass has come. Elisha, for instance, who healed many others, himself died of sickness. for this very reason. It was his time to go. In all these scenarios, God remains sovereign.
were supreme in authority and control. Over our will, deciding who will be healed. When And how? But this does not mean that we should not pray about our health issues. We should ask for what we desire within the known will of God.
Jesus taught us this by example. You know, he frequently asked supplicants like blind Bartimaeus what they desired. What do you want me to do for you? he said in Mark ten, fifty one. He also taught this by promise.
In Mark eleven, twenty four, Jesus taught whatever things you desire When you pray, believe that you receive them. and you shall have them. In John fourteen, fourteen, he taught If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. In John fifteen, seven, he taught if you abide in me and my words abide in you, You shall ask what you will. and it shall be done unto you.
After we ask for healing for ourselves or others, If for any reason in his infinite love, which always works for our good and to conform us to Christ's image, Romans eight, twenty eight and twenty nine, or in his unerring Wisdom He delays or even denies our petition for reasons such as those I just mentioned. we should fully accept his sovereign decision. and continue to submissively trust him. Love him. and serve him.
Why? Because he is worthy of this at all times, whether we are healthy or sick. In Psalm thirty four, verse one, David said, I will bless the Lord at all times His praise shall continually be in my mouth. To learn more about Christ's continuing compassionate healing ministry through his church, I highly recommend doctor Craig S. Keener's amazing book, Miracles.
Email us your biblical questions today online at info at greghennettministries.org or call us at 336-882-1645 or send your letters to Greg Hennett Ministries P.O. Box 788, High Point, North Carolina, 27260. We are so glad you tuned into the broadcast. In our next episode, we will begin a new series of devotional teachings taken from my three devotionals, Not by Bread Alone, Sweeter Than Honey, and Water from the Rock. These messages will strengthen your faith, stoke your devotional fire, and stir inspired obedience to Christ.
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.
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