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Sunday school from July 21st, 2024
All right, let's pray Lord Jesus again as we open your word. We ask the Holy Spirit to help us to rightly understand what you have revealed through your word. So that we may believe rightly that we may do accordingly.
We ask Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit to grant us the ability To mortify our sinful flesh and daily walk and repentance. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen. All right. So last week in Ezekiel we were taking a look at the portion of Ezekiel 34 related to God speaking against the shepherds of Israel that weren't doing their jobs.
In fact, they were doing the opposite of their job. They were fleecing the sheep taking advantage of them and generally engaging in spiritual abuse which seems to be the normal way in which bad shepherds behave and that we have warnings of similar things in the new and So God says that he's going to seek them out seek out his sheep and he's going to care for them and we have that Good Shepherd imagery that shows up in Good Shepherd Sunday.
We talked about that last week and now we're going to hear something that's going to sound Really really really really really like something that isn't here yet or hasn't arrived yet. But that is coming and you'll know this is a recurring theme when you read the prophets the prophets will Speak in terms of law condemning people for their sin rightly so they will speak words of comfort and peace to the penitent call people to repentance and then God makes these grandiose Promises that you sit there and go when's that gonna happen and it hasn't happened yet.
Is that is the best way I can put it? So here's what it says in Ezekiel 34 25 God says I will make with them a covenant of peace and Banish wild beasts from the land so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.
Oh, look it you can go camping and safety and not have to worry about being eaten by bears. Okay, the bear spray people are going to be out of business in the new earth right and good on it because I always and again, you know, I I saw a graphic like, you know, like what what are the number one killers of humanity?
Do you know what the number one killer of humanity is aside from like disease? It's mosquitoes. And it's like second isn't even close. I mean everyone's scared of like sharks. I mean, there's so few people that get chomped by sharks every year that that you know the chances you're gonna die by shark are very small, but There's a lot of mosquitoes around here, okay, so people dying by mosquitoes.
That's that's a big deal. And then the number of people being eaten by bears or attacked by bears and mauls by bears. It's not zero every year. There's a there's a notable number. It's not zero, but it's not that huge of a number.
Okay, and you know and so I think of those people who you know, who like go that go camping up in, Canada that's where the Canadians are from by the way, and. And you know and you go camping in, Canada.
Not only could you die by a mosquito. You could die by a grizzly bear, you know. They have to carry bear spray and have to make loud noises while they're on their treks and stuff like this because the last Thing you want to do is startle a grizzly bear.
They don't like being startled, you know, and they take very unkindly to that and they get very aggressive. So you'll note that God is talking about a future where there are no wild beasts. Vanishing from that banishing them from the land and I would note the Hebrew word for land here is the word Eretz now.
Here's the question that we should ask ourselves Eretz? Is this talking about the land of Israel or is this talking about Earth. I Think it's talking about the new earth and By the way, that's within it's it's it's proper understanding.
So if I were going to like Genesis 1 Genesis 1. So just a little Hebrew here. So Barashit Barah, so in the beginning Barah he created who created? Well, here's your noun God created and here we have the indicator of the direct object so F so better sheet Barah.
F ha Shemaim. God created the Shemaim, which is the heavens and Vaeth ha Eretz and he created the earth. God created the heavens and the earth. So Eretz can mean land. But I think because we are dealing in this passage with a promise being made about well a banishing of wild beasts.
I Can think of a cross-reference to this. Can you guys think of a cross-reference the banishing of wild beasts? Let's see if I could do that. Okay, right lamb and wolf and things like that. Let me do this.
I mean, let me come here. We'll just do a little search here. We're gonna we're gonna look for I think it's wolf. Hang on a second here wolf and I want all texts and in specific. Oh, here we go. Isaiah 11 see if this sounds familiar.
Isaiah 11. Okay, righteous ranch will reign and that day Lord extend his hand. I'll raise a signal for the nations. Okay, let's see here. Here we go. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb. The leopard shall lie down with the young goat.
Can you imagine leopards being like? House cats. Without the claws and the teeth. Okay, even house cats they bite and they scratch and things like this. But I mean what our cats going to do in the new earth if they can't if they're not gonna be hunters.
Well, I don't know but it sounds like they're going to be grass eaters right. The wolf will dwell with the lamb. The leopard shall lie down with the young goat. The calf and the lion and the fatted calf together and Here we go again.
A little child shall lead them. Picture of the new earth. The cow and the bear shall graze. Their young shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the nursing child shall play over the whole of the Cobra and all the women said ooh Yuck gross.
Right, my wife doesn't like snakes anyway and the weaned child shall put his hand in the adders den and they shall not hurt or destroy in all of my holy mountain for the earth shall be full of The knowledge of Yahweh as the waters cover the sea.
I'm kind of looking forward to that. All right, has that happened yet? No, okay. So we still have to deal with lions and tigers and bears, oh my so Stuff to deal with them. So you'll know I Legitimately think if you consider the cross references and what's being said here.
This is a picture of the new earth. I will make with them a covenant of peace. I will banish wild beasts from the earth. I think that's the correct Translation of the Hebrew there, but a glass nobody asked me but I'm just asserting and saying I think in the context.
That's what's talking about here so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. There's gonna be camping in the new earth folks camping. Can you believe this? Okay, and I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing.
I will send down the showers in their season and they shall be showers of blessing. It's going to rain in the new earth. Huh and it's not going to be like the the storms that we get nowadays, okay. So here we are in the middle of the summer.
And if you look outside and you see those pop-up thunderstorms, you're going. Oh, oh Okay. Brace yourself. We're gonna get a lot of rain and Potentially wind that'll blow down the trees and destroy things and just a mess.
Well Gone are tornadoes. Gone are Destructive rain showers, the rain showers will come and they will be productive. They will give exactly what the land needs they will not result in flooding and destruction of property and You'll know and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
Oh There's gonna be fruit trees in the new earth and the earth shall yield its increase and they shall be secure in their land. All right and they shall know that I am Yahweh when I break the bars of their yoke and Deliver them from the hand of those who enslave them.
Well, hang on a second here. Are the are the people tribe of Judah in slavery in Babylon? They're not. They're actually free citizens, but they're exiles. But they're able to participate in the government there.
They They just are not free to leave. But they're not Enslaved in Babylon. So who's enslaving them? The devil right exactly. Okay, so no God is delivering us from the hand of those who enslave them. That would be Satan.
They shall no more be a prey to the nations nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely. None shall make them afraid and I will provide for them renowned Plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land and no longer suffer the reproach of the nation's renowned Plantations, huh?
Well, it kind of makes sense if you think about it. Okay, what does Christ go to prepare for us a trailer. Does he go to prepare for us a shack? Small cabin in the woods. What is what is Christ going to prepare a place for us?
What are those again? Mansions. Huh? Oh Great. Lots of lots of square footage that we need to vacuum. Okay, not not thrilled with this. The chores are gonna be terrible. Okay. Hopefully they'll have robots to do that, right?
All that being said if you put a mansion and there's Adjacent agricultural land associated with it. Do you think it's just one acre? I mean one acre around a mansion is a yard, isn't it? It says renowned Plantations, I'm having hope that I'll have something to do in the new earth because again when Jesus shows up I'm totally out of a job.
I just have like there's no. There's no job for pastors in the new earth because everybody learns directly from Christ. Like so, you know, I I've got to find I've got to find a new living and so I you know I might call upon some of you who know how to work land and maybe ask for some lessons when we get there.
You know, what do I do? Right, but renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land and no longer suffer the reproach of the nation's. Hunger is going to be a thing of the past in a world without biting wild beasts.
But behaving wild beasts in a place of peace and love and safety where there is no fear. No fear at all. Can you imagine in the new earth? None of us will experience fear. What a great idea. Okay, and hunger is gone.
They will no longer suffer the reproach of the nation's. How do God's people suffer the reproach of the nation's. Well, that would be through the persecution of their faith. They shall know that I am Yahweh their God with them and they and that they the house of Israel are my people.
You sit there go. Well, it's talking about the house of Israel. You're grafted into Israel every one of you is and Christians, right? That they the house of Israel are my people declares the Lord Yahweh and you are my sheep.
Human sheep of my pasture. I love how Ezekiel put that in there sitting there going. Are you saying I'm stupid? Yes, it's your humanly stupid sheep. Okay, but you get the idea here. I am your God declares Lord Yahweh.
So here God's Word clearly takes sheep and explains we're talking in parables metaphors. We're talking about humans, right? All right. Yes, Mike. Yeah. Yeah. It's the it's the restoration of Eden and here's the thing.
We actually pray for it. So when you hear in the liturgy these words as it was in the beginning is now and will be forever. Amen that that is that is a reference to Genesis to the fact that we are in Christ now and We have a foretaste of what's coming and will be forever.
That's that's it's the restoration of Eden and it's it's an Edenic because that a word It's an Edenic create a new creation and here's the thing. You say you ask the question it so are you saying we we haven't bitten into the fruit of you know that we haven't disobeyed.
We don't have sin running through our system. The answer is yes, and here's the here's the where the wisdom of God comes to play in. This you'll note that God doesn't take our sinful flesh and Then make it perfect okay, he's not in the business of Modifying or improving your sinful flesh.
What's he in the business of doing killing it? Okay, we all including this creation pass through death and then are raised to new life in the new earth with your new body. You never sinned ever in that creation sin will know no existence and will have never been known and Fact God in other places in the Prophet says that the former things will not come to mind.
You know because I can tell you this the last thing I want to do is reflect on all of my time here on this Planet because as I reflect on my time here on this planet I become keenly aware that if I got what I deserved I Would be sent to hell multiple times just from last month.
Forget, you know the over the course of a lifetime, you know, I I look at myself and legitimately say man in me. There's like nothing good. The only good I have comes from God. And so that being the case What's being promised here is through death and resurrection a new creation and us being truly restored through resurrection to what God originally made and intended and With the with with one big difference.
The first earth began with two people the new earth begins with the billions who trust in Christ over the last millennium last few millennia and So he's created a kingdom and I think Christians from like day one are gonna fill the earth.
All right. I don't know if big cities are gonna be a thing I have no idea how that's all gonna work. But there's gonna be one major city for sure and that's the new Jerusalem come down from heaven. So, yeah.
There's a lot of media and stories have come out over the years that Depict like what they depict heaven. It's like the story is like the main characters, you know dies and goes to heaven. It turns out everything's perfect and beautiful and there's no like you described.
Yep. But the main characters dissatisfied with it and he's like this is boring. You know, and so there's this shift like You know, like oh who wants heaven? It's just a bunch of floating in the clouds and everything's perfect and you're happy, right?
That's you know, what do you think that is? Is that like it seems like that's kind of ties in with like the original sin of where?
Yeah, that's this isn't good enough. So so the question is, you know in the media you get stories of people who've died and they've experienced perfection. And they get bored with it. Okay, I'll tell you what that is.
That is a competing religious narrative. You have to see it for what it is. Is it competing religious narrative. And I would note that when it comes to people dying and having experiences? There's practically now a competing Bible of People who've had these claims and so what happens is is that somebody dies, you know on the operating room table?
And they see their they see their body they float up. They have a conversation with Jesus and and it turns out everybody makes it to heaven and stuff like this. Right and or or they they have a conversation with their spirit guides.
Who they and they begin discussing, you know, what form they will take in their next reincarnation. And So here's the thing within Christianity you also have that same competing narrative. Remember the boy who went to heaven.
Right. There's a term that we use in apologetic circles regarding books that you know regarding claims of people who've been to heaven. We call it heavenly tourism. Okay, and here's the issue is that the revelation that these people are bringing back from their near-death experiences?
Contradicts the Word of God and. So the question is Not did they have a near-death experience? Of course they did. Okay, you can't deny it. They can provide the medical proof that that's the case. The question is what's the source of?
The religious information that they're bringing back with them from these experiences. And I would note that the source is not Christ because Christ is not going to contradict his word. So I Don't care if my mom dies and comes back from the grave and tells me all these things that are contrary to scripture.
I would rebuke my mother and send her away. Paul says it this way even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to a different gospel than the one already preached let him be damned and. So the idea here is is that is that so many people in our culture right now that the relit the the cash value of Spirituality is based upon your experience.
So, how do I know I'm following the right religion bull because it makes me feel good. Really that that's what that's that's the thing of this. Oh, well, the thing that proves that your religion is true is that people have changed lives.
You are familiar that Cassius Clay who became Muhammad Ali. I mean He was a horrible person when he was Cassius Clay and he became a far more moral and respectable person once he embraced Islam and became Muhammad Ali.
Are we to say that because he had a change and went from being a horrible person as a young man to being a mature Muslim and and Was moral that Islam is true. No. Absolutely, not. And you'll note that you don't even need you don't even need an organized religion.
All you need is Alcoholics Anonymous. Alcoholics Anonymous can help you experience behavioral change. That's not the proof that something is true. The proof that Christianity is true is not your changed life or the experiences that you have the proof that Christianity is true.
Is Christ raising himself from the grave on the third day after he was crucified? That being the case. It doesn't matter what anybody else's experiences are. In fact, you'll note that competing cult Religions that claim to be Christian.
They are full of experiences. Mormonism. For instance you guys familiar with Mormonism. Mormonism claims that our God and his name is Elohim was once a God man who became a god by obedience to his God and You ask a Mormon.
How do I know? How can I know that the Book of Mormon is true? They say you need to ask Heavenly Father to give you a burning in the bosom a testimony of its truthfulness and. And and and then once you have that burning in the bosom, you'll know that the Book of Mormon is true.
Just take some pepsin it'll go away, you know when I have a burning in my bosom usually I need to take an antacid. But you know, I remember I think I've told the story before but when I was my first year at Concordia, Irvine Barb and I were living in Azusa and I was I was doing a lot of road travel then I had classes in Irvine.
I had you come home and work in Pomona at focus on the family and then you know. We had two kids by that time you know Joshua and Christina was just an infant and you know, so I'm doing my first year work at Concordia, Irvine taking Greek and apologetics and all this kind of stuff and the Mormons show up at our door at our apartment in Azusa and I'm like like an idiot I let them in and and they talked me into Reading the Book of Mormon.
It's like I'm supposed to read this on top of all this other stuff that I'm doing. Yeah, well, you know, okay. All right, I'll read it. But I'm gonna need like a month or a little bit more than that to pull it off.
Because I got all this other reading I have to do and so I slogged through the Book of Mormon. Oh my goodness that thing will cure insomnia. Okay, are you struggling to go to sleep put the Book of Mormon on it'll put you to sleep in five seconds.
You know and immediately and immediately and immediately and immediately and you know, anyway so reading the Book of Mormon read it and so the Mormon missionaries came back after I informed that I had finished reading it and They came in they sat down and the first thing out of one of the you know elders mouths.
How is it that a 19 year old man is is it considered an elder in Mormonism? That just makes no sense. So the the elder spoke to me and he said So, um when you read the Book of Mormon, how did it make you feel?
I Said I'm glad you asked because it was the weirdest thing every time I would open up the Book of Mormon. It was like the lights in the room got dimmer and I could feel a chill in the room like evil had just entered the Room and he says you're not reading it, right?
I Remember the look on his face, you know. What's funny is is that sometimes people ask? Do you did you really say the things you said that in you asked my wife? She'll tell you I did exactly that and so I said well, it seems like you're he says you're supposed to have a burning in Your bosom that's supposed to assure you that it's true.
I said well, yeah, I didn't have that I had something the opposite of that I said, I guess my my experience in your experience cancelled each other out. I guess we'll have to look at the evidence all right, and so we steered the conversation in the direction of looking for the Archaeological evidence to support the claims of a book called the the book I Abraham which is in their doctrine and covenants which is a complete forgery and.
And I actually was able to contact an Egyptologist at the University of California, Irvine I had I had found an article from a Mormon book that had reproduced Photographs of the original document that Joseph Smith had used for the book of Abraham they had found it in a library in New York and and So I had an Egyptologist ready to offer a translation on what this thing was and when I showed it to it when I showed Him the Xerox copies.
He said this is the book of the dead. This is not the book of Abraham. You know, this is this is this is a papyri that oftentimes gets buried with mummies in Egypt and we we were getting ready to meet with these Mormon missionaries to have a conversation about the actual evidence that I had from this Egyptologist and lo and behold their bishop got involved and sent them to sent them to Arizona.
We never got to meet with him again, but we had we had met with him for several weeks. But that was that was that was an interesting thing. So coming back to it then Hannah this really what you're dealing with when with these people these new death experiences and people's Religious claims based upon their experiences.
You have to see it as a competing narrative to the Bible and it may and here's the thing What a human being experiences when they are dying. We know this Biologically that once you get to a particular point in the death process death is not an instant death is actually a process that once you get far enough down the line in the process of death all of your synapses in your brain fire off all at once and.
And when people there's like a common thing where people talk about the fact that their whole life flashed before them in an instant. That would make sense and that actually chemically biologically makes sense.
So somebody in the middle of the death process You can't trust What they're saying is going to have any lucidity because their brain isn't functioning correctly in the in the death process the brain has very predictable things that it does as it as it's offloading stuff and Starving for oxygen and things like this.
So I wouldn't trust anybody's vision of what they've seen in the afterlife. In a near-death experience is any more than I would trust a drunk who you know. Who's was doing magic mushrooms and told me about how they had coffee with puff the magic dragon.
Okay, it might be as real as real gets within the you know Within the chemistry of the brain and all these kinds of things, but it doesn't represent the sound Sound theology of Scripture and I would note this that the that in Scripture.
We do not have any examples of those who have died and been raised to life. Giving accounts of what it is. They experienced in heaven. Okay. So for instance Lazarus after Christ raised him from the dead was not given a book deal By Zondervan and he didn't make the rounds going and telling everybody what it was like to be dead.
In fact the you'll note the gospel is noticeably silent about what he experienced. Noticeably silent the Apostle Paul who had a true Ecstasis an ecstatic experience by the way, if you ever when you hear the word ecstasis, that's a Greek word.
From so from from the Greek word ecstatic stasis. It means to stand outside of oneself. Okay is is so Paul has a true ecstatic experience recorded in 2nd Corinthians and he Went to the third heaven, which is the abode of God and he says whether in the body or out of the body I don't know.
Yeah, and he reiterates that whether in the body or out of the body, I don't know. Right, but then what he does say is is that he saw things that men are not permitted to speak Here. In fact, let's take a look at that text.
This might be a preview of our ask a pastor Bible study get your questions and now by the way. Because this is I'd love this little bunny trail that we're on Second Corinthians, I think it's gonna be 11, but I'm doing this from memory.
Paul and Paul's Apostles. Yes. Here we go. All right, so Paul here is dealing with the so-called Super Apostles. What a stupid name for a title for yourself. Okay, I I'm not a pastor. I'm a super pastor.
Superpostle or Demon Slayer, they're both the same. You know use that office meme. I they're both the same photo, you know. All right, so Paul goes on Paul in 2nd Corinthians 12. Listen to what he says says if I must go on boasting though.
There is nothing to be gained by it. I will go on to visions and to revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven and here we go. Whether in the body or out of the body, I don't know.
That's the thing Paul had a legitimate experience. And here's the thing We know from 1st Corinthians 15 when Paul learned of the gospel. He didn't learn it from a human being. He did not learn the gospel from Peter.
He didn't learn it from John. Definitely didn't have a conversation with Bartholomew or any of the other lesser Apostles. He learned the gospel through a direct revelation of Jesus Christ. So Similar to what we see with Isaiah in the in the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord high and lifted up and the row the train of his robe filled the temple, right?
So there's Isaiah mining his own business doing what he does as a priest and all of a sudden the scene Changes and now he's in the real temple of God. He sees the throne of Christ. Okay, similar thing with Paul.
So Paul's here. I don't know how this worked. I don't know why I was. I was in the body or out of the body. I don't know. God knows He says so I know that this man and at this point he can't even refer to himself in the first person.
Okay, have you all ever heard Kat Kerr talk about how she oh, you know, she goes to heaven like every other day. I think she has a flat there, you know, and but anyway says I know this man. He was caught up into paradise whether in the body or out of the body.
I don't know. God knows and This guy listen to this he heard things that cannot be told and Which man may not utter? So everyone coming back from these near-death experiences and just blabbing on blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
I hear Charlie Brown's teacher wah-wah wah-wah wah-wah wah-wah wah-wah wah-wah, right and Other people hear it go. Oh, we need to stop believing the Bible. This is the truth. No, this is just this is just hot air and it might even be demonic right so whether in the body out of the body I don't know and he heard things that cannot be told which man may not utter.
And notice he doesn't say which a man may not utter. He says which man may not utter which means that those who've been to the real third heaven. You know why they don't talk about it. They're not allowed to.
Okay, so on behalf of this man, I will boast but on my own behalf I will not boast except for my weaknesses, though. If I should wish to boast I would not be a fool. I would be speaking the truth but I refrain from it so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me and You're gonna note here that Paul having truly visited the third heaven.
Has he given you any of the details of it? Nope, not a single one. That's noticeable and in fact, here's the thing. Because he was given the privilege of seeing the third heaven Christ decided I'm going to have to keep your head from blowing up.
So so to keep me from becoming conceited. Because of the surpassing greatness of the Revelations. Well, why don't you tell us what they were Paul? I'm not allowed. Okay, a thorn was given me in the flesh a messenger from Satan to harass me to keep from me from becoming conceited and We don't know what that thorn in the flesh was.
There is speculation and that's all it is that maybe he had some kind of a physical ailment. We know from other epistles that Paul seemed to struggle with raging eye infections. Which is kind of a weird thing, but we don't know if that was his if his thorn in the flesh.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this that it should leave me. But he said to me my grace is sufficient for you and my powers made perfect in weakness. Tell that to Kenneth Copeland anyway. Boy, he's looking terrible by the way.
You know. He's one of those people I think is legitimately possessed by a demon and I think the meat suits falling apart. But that's a whole other story, I mean look and he just had Emergency appendicitis had his appendix taken out.
Yeah. He's not making it to 120. I'm just saying yeah. So you're gonna note here Paul who legitimately had a vision of the third heaven. What was he able to tell us about it? Nothing. And then you think well, what about John?
What about John? I would note that John was given permission to say the things that he was that he saw and you'll note that the things that John reveals in the book of Revelation. They're as clear as mud.
Okay. Because the things that he saw they're all encoded encoded in apocalyptic Symbols and in order to understand what it means you gotta you're gonna have to spend some time with other biblical texts and kind of.
Work it all out, right? So Anyway, I think what that that's as far as I can go today. So I've got to head over to Emmanuel. But all right, good question. So, all right, peace your brothers and sisters Lord willing.
We will see you next time.