What is The New Heavens and The New Earth?

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March 6, 2021

This is the first video in the, "What is...?" series. What is the new Heavens and new Earth? Daniel Self will be co-hosting this series.

00:22: Hey, good morning. This is Truth and Love. I'm so thankful that you could join us this morning.
00:27: Thank you for watching the videos. Thank you for your support. There we go.
00:35: It may be on my end. Every time I'm entering into the broadcast this morning, there's some interference and maybe the automatic audio adjusters is going to kick in here in a second.
00:52: So leave me a note in the comments if you hear any background noise or interference.
00:58: So maybe we can make some adjustments. If we can pray for you, let us know that we can pray for you.
01:07: We'll pray at the end. All you have to do is type me. You don't have to let us know what's going on or anything and spread it out publicly.
01:15: Just type me. If you watch the video later, send us a message or write in the comments and we'll see that.
01:21: We'd love to be able to pray for you. We want to start a new series this morning through Truth and Love, which comes from Ephesians chapter four, verse 15, but Paul says, but speaking of the truth and love, we are to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head, even
01:37: Christ. So we want to start a new series called
01:43: What Is, and What Is will be a time where we can look at biblical concepts and ideas that maybe folks and probably us in the past have had difficulty understanding.
02:00: Okay, Tim says it sounds good. Thank you, Tim. I really appreciate that. There it goes.
02:08: All right. Maybe it was just on my end and hopefully that was the case.
02:14: Um, so we want to tackle biblical concepts and ideas.
02:20: Um, if you're a skeptic, if you're struggling with your faith, if you're just a student of God's word and you are, uh, you come across some biblical concepts or ideas or words that you just ask yourself, what is this?
02:34: Um, how do I understand this? We want to try to, to help you know
02:40: God by understanding his word. And, um, we're going to start this series with, um, and it depends on where you are in this, um, in this study, uh, for some, this topic, um, is going to be controversial.
02:59: For some, you may have never heard of this concept before. Um, for some, it may be right up your alley.
03:09: So I'm sure there's going to be folks that this is going to be, um, on different ends of the spectrum.
03:17: Um, so we hope to, uh, be loving. We hope to share the way we're going to share the way we understand
03:24: God to be explaining himself on this topic and issue. But before we get started, um,
03:31: I have a guest who's going to join me in this series called what is to help explain biblical concepts and ideas, brother
03:39: Daniel. And I want to welcome Daniel. And I want to give him just a second to, um, just in general, a general introduction, introducing yourself, letting people know who you are, uh, kind of what area of the
03:52: United States that you're in. And, um, just a little bit more about yourself. All right.
03:58: My name is Dan self. I live in upstate New York, up in the
04:04: Catskill mountains. Um, we've got three, um, three young ones, uh,
04:10: Logan, Judah, Amelia, I'm married to my wife, Rebecca for a little over nine years now.
04:17: Um, I've, uh, spent some time, uh, pastoring in the past, looking to do that again in the future.
04:26: And, uh, in the meantime, I'm just looking to, uh, glorify God by sharing his word and explaining, studying, reading, uh, trying to put together different things to help people understand the
04:37: Bible in a, in a deeper way and help it impact their lives. Absolutely.
04:43: Absolutely. And I was speaking to, to someone yesterday. Um, this is the way
04:50: I explained it. I think this is good to share, uh, because God, God can call us to, to many different, um, avenues of service.
05:03: And, uh, some people say, well, the video ministry is, is a great thing. Some people say, well, um, it's, they may have negative feelings about doing a video ministry, but this is what
05:16: I told somebody yesterday to me, when we do videos, when we have an online presence,
05:22: I see it as laying a gospel track somewhere. You lay a gospel track at a gas station, um, at a store, uh, wherever you may be.
05:34: And, and someone picks it up. You don't know who's going to pick it up. You don't know, um, where they are in their life, um, how they're going to take it.
05:43: Um, but they, someone is going to pick it up and somebody, somebody may throw it away. You know, scroll, walk right past it.
05:51: You never know what's going to happen when somebody walks by sees that gospel track. And to me, the same thing is true with, um, having an online presence.
06:00: We have a desire to glorify God and reach our community and see souls saved through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
06:08: And so doing a video to me is like leaving a gospel tract and we pray that God will, will use it, um, to save souls and edify believers.
06:19: And so that's good. That's going to be our goal and our aim. So I think, thank you, Daniel, for, or for joining me.
06:27: You want me to call you Daniel or Dan? Uh, either one. I go by Dan most of the time, but it doesn't really matter.
06:34: Okay. Wow. I'll try to switch over my, my brain there and call you
06:41: Dan. Um, so what we want to do, we want to tackle the question and it potentially could be more, a more controversial question, um, to start off with, to start our series off with.
06:58: But the question is what is the new heavens and the new earth? And of course that, that concept, that idea is related to eschatology.
07:10: And what's eschatology in things, in times, and every so often it becomes a hot topic.
07:18: Um, it becomes a hot topic when new vaccines come out or, uh, new leadership takes over or something evil happens in the world because of a certain strand of eschatology.
07:35: It comes, eschatology comes, becomes popular and, and it comes up, becomes a hot topic, but we need to understand eschatology from scripture, the way
07:47: God wants us to understand it. And this is just one aspect of eschatology. And we wanted to, you know, start with it this morning, the new heavens and the new earth.
07:57: What is it? So if you have your Bibles, if you want to follow along, we're going to start in second Peter chapter three, and I'm going to read verses, verses nine through 13.
08:08: We're going to spend the bulk of our time in Isaiah 65, but this is where we're going to start out.
08:14: Second Peter chapter three, verses nine through 13. Let me go ahead and read that for us.
08:22: The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.
08:35: And I want to stop right there just for a second. And hopefully I won't push us and push our time too far because I tend to do that.
08:46: But when we're studying eschatology or as we're studying and we're talking about, talking about these biblical concepts and ideas, um,
08:56: Dan and I talked about this yesterday, that we need to have a good understanding of how to interpret the
09:04: Bible, how to study the Bible and, and not, um, have a comprehensive way, uh, have a, an exhaustive way, uh, and not leave anything out when it comes to how to interpret the
09:19: Bible. Uh, one of the main ways, uh, one of the main concepts in, in interpreting and studying the
09:25: Bible is reading it and knowing it and studying it in context. And, and this is a, this could be another video for us, but this is a good place to stop because verse nine is calling us to ask questions.
09:46: And what's the question that is calling us to ask? Excuse me. Well, you have the, you have
09:53: Peter saying there, uh, the Lord is not willing that any perish, but for all to come to repentance.
10:00: So the question, well, some people wouldn't even think it would be a question to ask because it's so obvious, but the question that we should ask is who are the all, who are the any, and then who are the you and what do you do?
10:19: You, you stay in the context. You look at the immediate context. You look at the chapter context, you look at the book context.
10:26: And in this case, you look at the other book that Peter wrote, uh, to help understand who he is addressing in, in this, um, in that particular topic or issue in that verse, the all, the any, the you.
10:42: And the reason I brought that up is because that's the same thing that we need to do when we're looking at end times, when looking at eschatology, we need to study it in context.
10:54: And that's kind of the example that Dan and I wanted to show you this morning. So let me continue in verse 10, but the day of the
11:01: Lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth, its works will be burned up.
11:13: Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness looking for and hastening the coming of the day of the
11:24: Lord or of God on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat.
11:34: Verse 13, but according to his promise, we are looking for new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwell.
11:46: Well, if you're a student of God's word and you're reading this, this is the, um, and Daniel, you can make a comment about what we talked about yesterday.
11:57: Um, this is where we, we fall into error when we're, we're studying
12:03: God's word and we just, we just stay with the, the immediate context and we, we don't go out further.
12:11: So what happens here when you, when you stick with just looking at these verses and you don't go outside of these verses, um, it talks about the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat.
12:28: So you have an eschatology out there that teaches everything is going to burn up.
12:36: Right. Am I correct on that day? Yep. Yep.
12:41: Um, they, they, uh, teach that we're waiting to the very last day. And at that, at that time, everything will melt away and then something completely new and different will be built back in its place, uh, created again.
12:53: In the end. Right. And so, but what do we want to do?
12:59: We want to look at the, at the context, not just immediate, but chapter
13:04: Bible and, um, or book and then Bible to, to understand what
13:11: Peter's talking about, what God is talking about. Um, and so we just look up some of these concepts and concepts and words where, you know,
13:18: Peter's telling us the, the elements will be destroyed. He says that twice in verse 10.
13:24: And he says it again in verse 12. Well, what are, what are the elements that he's talking about? Is he talking about the, um, the
13:31: Douglas Wilson says the, uh, the, Oh, I can't even,
13:37: I don't even, I'm not scientific. I wasn't good at science. The what's the, what's the table, the periodic table, periodic table.
13:48: Douglas Wilson says, is it the periodic table? The gold iron, um, all those elements, are those things going to melt away?
13:58: Is that what scripture is talking about? Well, if you just flip over to Galatians chapter four, and you start in verse three, uh,
14:06: Paul says, so also we, while we were children were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.
14:16: But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his son, born of a woman born, born under the law in order that he might redeem those who are under the law.
14:31: Um, they, we, we might receive adoption of sons. And because you are sons,
14:36: God has sent forth the spirit, his son into our hearts, crying out Abba father.
14:42: Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God. However, at that time, when you did not know
14:49: God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods.
14:56: So Paul helps us to understand, uh, the biblical concept of, of elements.
15:04: And what I see also in Galatians chapter four there, um, not only does he speak about the elements, but he helps, um, and, and Dan, you can correct me if I'm wrong.
15:17: Um, he, he speaks of the elements and kind of describes them where you have, he speaks of the, uh,
15:26: Jesus was, was born under the law. And then he, um, what is it?
15:36: He was born under the law that he might redeem those, those who are under the law. So I'm, I'm seeing that as, as part of the elemental things, uh, they, they, they were under the law.
15:47: And so that, that has been burned up and that's part of the elemental things. And then, uh, in verse 12, second
15:57: Peter, chapter three, verse 12, looking for a hastening, the coming of the day of God on account of which the heavens will be destroyed.
16:05: And I remember Dan, you said, I think you were reading in the ESV. And instead of elements, it said heavenly bodies.
16:11: Uh, well here, the heavens will be destroyed. And in Galatians chapter four, it says, uh, in verse eight, however, at that time, when you did not know
16:20: God, you were slaves. Like it was saying earlier, you're enslaved to those by which by nature are no gods.
16:27: So there you have the spiritual realm, the heavens that will be destroyed.
16:34: Those pagan gods, those pagan religions. So you have the law and you have the pagan religions, the elemental things of this world.
16:43: And, uh, my, my version, my Bible actually, um, interprets elemental as possibly rudimentary things, the rudimentary things.
16:54: Yeah. Go ahead. I think that's probably the best way to go with it. It's talking about the base or foundation of the world in which we live.
17:01: How do things work? What is the, the reality behind what we see that, that everything works inside of, um, you know, right now we live in a world that was created by God, but it's fallen into sin.
17:15: So one of the things it's talking about here with the, the elemental things, the, the nature of the way things are now, it's going to be burned up.
17:23: That sin is going to be taken away. Um, other places, uh, you hear the language of, uh, burning where some things will be, uh, burnt off and other things will be purified.
17:34: So those things are not necessarily the, uh, the iron nickel, uh, cobalt, you know, beryllium or whatever else on the periodic table.
17:46: What is the, the base, um, foundational rudimentary things that are, um, that, that make up our world, both spiritual and physical, um, what is the world system in which we live in saying that would be a better way to understand what it means by elemental or, uh, elements or heavenly, heavenly bodies even.
18:16: So this is, um, doing that, practicing that, doing what we just did and practicing that helps us to interpret in other places.
18:29: What is, what is Peter talking about? Well, I need to go to other places in scripture.
18:35: I need to go to other places in the new Testament. I need to go to the old Testament to help me understand what
18:41: Peter's talking about. And so we're going to continue with that thought with that process.
18:48: Um, because the topic this morning is what is the new heavens and the new earth. And, um, I simply wanted to, to bring out those things for, for Dan and I to speak about interpretation so that you can interpret well, so that, you know, how we're getting this interpretation that we're getting and what we're seeing and how we see it.
19:10: Um, we're seeing it from God's word. So the topic is what is the new heavens and the new earth?
19:16: And that we, we get that, um, in verse 13,
19:22: Peter says, but according to his promise, we are looking for a new heavens and new earth within which righteousness dwell.
19:33: Peter's telling us that there's a new heavens and a new earth coming because of a promise.
19:41: Now we know that the scripture speaks of a new heavens and a new earth. And in two different places, besides here, you have revelation 21 and 22 or 2021.
19:54: Uh, one 22, one 22 at the end. But here, Peter is referring to the promise.
20:02: So there was something written down beforehand. And that comes from the old Testament. And that's what you have to do.
20:09: You have to take the cues from where you're reading and follow those cues.
20:16: Peter is telling us there is a promise that was made that there's going to be a new heavens and new earth.
20:21: And that promise was made in Isaiah chapter 65. So what is the new heavens and the new earth?
20:29: Let's continue to answer that question. So if you, if you're following along with us, we're going to flip over to Isaiah chapter 65.
20:39: And I, I felt like, and, uh, hopefully Dan, Dan agreed with me because he's, he's going to walk us through Isaiah chapter 65, but this may be a new concept for someone.
20:52: Um, this may be an old concept, but maybe you see it differently than we do.
20:58: I feel like if we, if we somewhat walk through Isaiah 65 and explain how we see
21:10: God speaking to us through his word, interpreting scripture with scripture, maybe it will help you to understand where, um, this type of interpretation is coming from.
21:19: So Dan, I want to, I want to turn it over to you. Um, we, we went from Peter and we followed his cues and we found where the promise is mentioned of the new heavens and the new earth, which is
21:33: Isaiah chapter 65. And so Dan, he's going to walk us through Isaiah 65.
21:39: Right. And, uh, in the Peter passage, it, it, uh, gives us, uh, uh, an idea, a concept, the heavens and the new earth, and then tells us that there's a promise.
21:50: Um, so what, what we're looking for is for it to, uh, for the promise that was given in the old
21:57: Testament to actually define for us what Peter is talking about. So when we look at it in Isaiah, we have to try to find the context in Isaiah, then bring that context from Isaiah into, uh,
22:09: Peter. So that way we understand that he is referring to this passage in Isaiah and what this passage in Isaiah was talking about.
22:18: So we find the fulfillment of the passage in Isaiah in Peter and even further on in Revelation 21.
22:27: Um, now to put this all into context, let's just start at verse one in chapter 65.
22:33: It says, I permitted myself to be sought by those who did not ask for me. I permitted myself to be found by those who did not seek me.
22:43: I said, here I am. Here I am to a nation which did not call on my name. Right here is talking about the nation of Israel.
22:50: But it says, I have spread out my hands all day long to rebellious people who walk in a way which is not good, following their own thoughts.
22:58: This is brought out in another place in Romans 10, where, um, where Paul is talking about, is actually running through, um, what does it mean to be elect?
23:08: Um, what does it mean to be called the people of God? What happened to the nation of Israel? What's going to happen to the nation of Israel?
23:15: And he references this point, uh, talking about how the nation of Israel as a nation was going to be, uh, put to the side.
23:24: Then he gets into that, uh, or Isaiah does here in this passage that they're going to be put to the side and that what you're going to have is a people who are, um, those who have faith in God, who trust in him and are obedient to his word.
23:40: Um, verse, let's see, verse three in Isaiah 65 says the people who continually provoke me to my face offer sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on bricks.
23:51: He's talking about their unfaithfulness and their idolatry who sit among graves and spend the night in secret places who eat swine's flesh and the broth of unclean meat is in their pots who say, keep to yourself, do not come near me for I'm holier than you.
24:08: Um, they're talking, he's talking about how they break each and every part of the law and then say, don't come close to me.
24:16: I'm God's chosen person. I'm holier than you are because I've, I've called by God's name.
24:21: When the point that God is making is no, you're not because you, while being called, my people are not acting like my people.
24:28: You're breaking my law and you're living in sin. It says these are smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all day.
24:38: Um, I don't know if you've ever been camping, but getting smoke up your nose or, um, get it in your eyes and you just, no matter where you move, it's, it's always right there is that is what it's like for me to see a people who calls themselves my people, but doesn't act like they're my people.
24:56: Uh, behold is written before me. I will not keep silent, but I will repay. I will repay into their bosom, uh, both their iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers together because they have burned incense on the mountain and scorned me on the hills.
25:12: Therefore, I will measure their former work into their bosom. So what's the result of all this?
25:20: He says in verse eight, thus says the Lord, as a new, as the new wine is found in the and one says, do not destroy it for there is benefit in it.
25:30: So I will act on behalf of my servant. I'm not going to destroy everyone from the nation of Israel. I'm going to save part of it.
25:36: There's a remnant. There's some benefit to it. I will bring forth the offspring from Jacob and an heir from my mountains.
25:46: Um, actually I missed some, it was actually really important. So I will act on behalf of my servants in order not to destroy all of them.
25:54: It goes back to what I was saying. He's not going to destroy all of them. He's bringing judgment on the nation, but not on the people of God who are, um, who are, uh, who are being faithful to him.
26:07: Um, I will bring forth offspring from Jacob and an heir of my mountain from Judah.
26:13: Even my chosen one shall inherit it. And my servants will dwell there. Sharon will be a passage or a pasture land for flocks in the
26:22: Valley of Acre, a resting place for herds. For my people who seek me, see there is talking about those who have faith in God, who trust in God, who seek to live after his ways, who understand that they're sinners and they need to do things
26:37: God's way instead of their own way. Um, he goes on, uh, jump down to verse 13.
26:47: Therefore, the Lord God says, behold, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry. You hold my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty.
26:55: You hold my servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame. You hold my servants will shout joyfully with a glad heart, but you will cry out with a heavy heart and you will wail with a broken spirit.
27:09: Those who were of the nation of Israel are not going to receive the blessings of those who are actually
27:16: God's servants. God's servants are the ones who eat nation of Israel will go hungry. God's servants will drink the nation of Israel will go thirsty.
27:26: And here's what he says in verse, uh, 15, you will leave your name for a curse to my chosen ones and the
27:39: Lord God will slay you. But my servants will be called by another name.
27:44: That name for national Israel is going to be put aside.
27:51: He's going to call his servants, his people by a different name. I believe that name to be a church bride, um, is those who are faithful.
28:04: The name changed. He said that the people who are truly his people are those who have faith in God, who trust in him, who believe in what he has said and live accordingly.
28:16: Those people are going to have be called by another name, but they are still going to be his servants.
28:22: So those are the same people, uh, who he was talking about earlier, who were that part of the vine who were still had benefit in it.
28:32: Um, we think that the same, very same language is found in Romans 11, um, which is continuation of, of that quotation that Paul had of this passage in, in Romans 10, where it talks about an olive tree, an olive tree that is, um, speaking of the nation of Israel that has branches broken off, or at least some of the branches broken off and had another wild, uh, olive branch grafted onto it.
29:00: That being Gentiles, the nation of Israel, those national people could be grafted back in, but they'd only be grafted back in if they were to be faithful to God, the trust in him and to, uh, be obedient to his law.
29:16: Now, obviously that, that'll bring us to, uh, uh, to other issues, but we'll get there in just a second.
29:25: If I could just make a comment about that verse, um, when we were looking at it together earlier, this verse is just so powerful.
29:33: It's if, if you take the time to read it slowly, meditate on it, look at it.
29:42: This is a, this is a serious verse. We forgot to say, um,
29:47: I will leave your, leave your name for a curse. This is a serious verse.
29:55: Um, and it also speaks of a, of a transition. And so, and that's the transition that you were speaking of.
30:03: And, you know, if you're reflecting on, on scripture, I'm thinking about, you know, and we discussed this too,
30:12: Hosea, where one of his children was, um, not my people. So God was telling
30:18: Israel, you know, you're going to, at one point you're going to become not my people. And then so many other chapters and verses in the old
30:26: Testament, um, that are fulfilled in the new Testament where God is saying, uh, those who were far off, um, other nations are going to come to me and they're going to come to Jerusalem.
30:40: They're going to come to the temple, which of course is speaking of Jesus and the
30:47: Gentiles. He's going to call the Gentiles. I mean, that language, uh, that imagery is, is scattered all over the old
30:56: Testament and it's fulfilled in the new Testament. And we see it, we see that transition that Isaiah is speaking of here in verse 15, in which you were bringing out, of course, in Romans, but this, this verse right here is just so powerful and it's so key to what we're talking about.
31:14: So apologize for taking some of your time there. No, no, go ahead. Uh, yeah, it's actually a really important to understand because in verse 17, we start to see, um, talk about the new heavens and the new earth.
31:27: So that concept's really important that, um, uh, taking away of the name of one, uh, which you could almost consider an elemental thing, a base thing.
31:38: Part of the almost, I've heard somebody put it one time, the scaffolding for what
31:44: God is doing. It's a base, an idea, a, uh, other language would call it a shadow.
31:55: Right, right. Yeah. Verse 16 says, because he who is blessed in the earth will be blessed by the
32:03: God of truth. And he who swears in the earth, uh, will swear by the God of truth because the former troubles are forgotten and because they are hidden from my sight.
32:14: Um, and then I don't know what everyone's Bible looks like, but mine has a little heading in it that says new heavens and new earth.
32:23: And sometimes those things are helpful. They can tell you where you're at and what's coming. But also sometimes it's almost like we'll jump in where it says that heading, we'll kind of forget what just came beforehand.
32:37: So all of this is happening in the context of, um, God putting away a people who have been unfaithful and pulling from them a people who are faithful, who are going to be called by a new name.
32:51: And then he said he, he describes that in the language of new heavens and new earth.
32:56: So what he's talking about here is salvation. He's talking about the salvation of the people who turn to him, who look to him for salvation.
33:04: So what we're looking at is a new heavens and a new earth as a, as a concept, an idea, a description of what
33:12: God is doing in a salvific history or what he's doing as in regards to salvation.
33:19: So in verse 17, we see behold, I create new heavens and a new earth and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.
33:31: Now what's being new here. If you look at verse 15, what's new are, is, is these servants who are faithful being called by a new name.
33:42: What you see that's former is, um, that's going to be put away is those people who are called by his name, but have no actual trust or belief in God.
33:55: They're, they're in name only. So what's going to be brought about in the new heavens and new earth is there's going to be a whole new world system put in place.
34:06: There's going to be, um, faithlessness is going to be put away and faithfulness is going to become greater and greater.
34:16: And this is going to have real world, um, consequences, positive consequences, um, negative, depending on who you are, but we would like to say positive because things are going to be, to be good.
34:32: Uh, look down at verse 18, but be glad and rejoice forever in what
34:38: I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and her people for gladness will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people.
34:51: There will no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying. Now this, this same language is picked up again in, uh, in revelation 21, which we'll, uh, we'll look at, um, in a little bit, but I want to bring up a certain aspect out of verse 20, uh, real quick verse 20 says no longer will there be in it an infant who dies, but a few days or an old man who does not live out his days for the youth will die at the age of 100.
35:24: And the one who does not reach the age of a hundred will be thought accursed. Now what's that saying is that there's going to be an increased longevity of life.
35:36: People are going to live a lot longer. Um, there's going to be peaceful.
35:41: It's going to be better. There'll be less crying, less weeping. Um, and what it says there is that, um, the one who does not reach the age of a hundred will be thought to be accursed, which means that there will be people who die during this time period of the new heavens and the new earth.
36:01: Now, what that means is that we can't just take the idea of the concept of the new heavens and new earth and throw it off into the future after Christ returns the second time.
36:12: But we do want to, as we'll see when we get to Revelation 21, it is leading to that point in time.
36:19: Um, it's pointing to that point in time. What's happening is that we're seeing the work of the spirit applying the redemption of Christ to the world.
36:31: And as that happens, we see a people who are faithful being called out to God. And as those people are called out to God, as there are more
36:41: Christians in the world, there is less sin. As there is less sin, things tend to get better and better longevity of life.
36:51: It goes on. Um, they will build houses and inhabit them.
36:56: They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They will not build in another inhabit. They will not plant another eat means that they're not going to be producing in their land and working and then have another nation come in and take it over.
37:08: There's going to be a time of peace for the lifetime of a tree will be the days of my people.
37:15: And my chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands. Their people are going to live for a long period of time.
37:24: Um, that's the end game of what, or that's the process of what's happening as sin is being removed from the world through the redemption of Christ.
37:37: Let me ask you this question. If we're looking at these verses and we're looking, we're looking at this, um, happening now occurring now, and we're, we're a part of this process though.
37:51: We're not to the fruition of it. We're not to the consummation of it yet. We're, we're in the process of it, but yet we were in it.
37:58: And to me, um, and this is where I want your help and ask the question.
38:05: Um, the Lord is speaking of, um, if someone dies in, in, when he's a hundred, he's going to seem to be young and, um, the, the children, uh, we'll see an infant who lives, but a few days.
38:25: Yeah. There will no longer, that will no longer be. And so I'm, I'm seeing the, the, the idea of the sciences increasing, um, us, us becoming, um, greater scientists, um, our, our knowledge increasing about who we are, about, about what he has made his creation, um, about, uh, not feeling guilty for, for taking care of because obviously
38:54: God cares about his creation. He cares about his, his, um, creatures where he wants to extend their life.
39:02: And, and therefore we shouldn't feel guilty for wanting to take care of, of our bodies because he does.
39:11: And, and we should encourage our children to, to be scientists.
39:18: Um, and then, uh, there's a big, um, uh,
39:23: I've heard quite a few sermons here lately, uh, about encouraging our children, encouraging the next generation to, um, to be politicians to, to get rid of this ideology that we have in there now, that that's corrupt, that is greedy, that is a self -centered, um, but to encourage and say, it's okay to, to be politicians because you can use that office, that political office to, to love your neighbor, to increase his kingdom.
39:59: You can use the sciences to increase his kingdom, to glorify God. And it, it, am
40:05: I going too far in, in pulling that out of, out of here? No, no, no, you're absolutely right.
40:10: Uh, part of the way that I believe this will come about is by being, as you have more people who are obedient to Christ, um, what they'll do is they'll be obedient in all things.
40:22: You remember from the end of Matthew, Matthew 28 verses 18 through 20, um, all authority has been given to Christ in heaven and on earth.
40:34: And he says, go, therefore, or therefore go, because I have all authority, go out and do these things.
40:39: And the things he tells us to do is to disciple the nations. Uh, the first thing we do in discipling the nations is we, we baptize them in the name of the father, son, and the
40:49: Holy spirit, speaking of evangelism, uh, and bringing them into the, that fold of what up here in Isaiah 65 was called my servants, you know, his people that one with, with the new name, but it also says, um, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded.
41:08: So what he's saying there is part of your, the, the job as a Christian is because Christ has authority in heaven and on earth, go and disciple the nations to obey what he has commanded.
41:21: The very first commandment is, uh, you shall have no other gods before me. If that's true, which it is,
41:29: I'm sorry, since that's true. Um, what you, what we need to be thinking about is how do we break down those presuppositions of idolatry in the world?
41:41: How do we remove atheism from the political sphere or from the sciences or from the arts?
41:49: How do we, we, uh, bring the knowledge and the glory of God into every sphere that we have?
41:58: That's going, that's probably going to take some time. Now, God can do whatever he wants to. You can have it done tomorrow.
42:06: But that's, yeah, that's exactly what he's getting at here in the building of the new heavens and the new earth.
42:13: It's all based upon the work of Christ, how his redemption is being applied to the hearts of men and how the hearts of men are being changed and guided by the
42:24: Holy Spirit in order to do different things in the world, to live according to, um, how
42:32: God has called us to be, you know, whatever sphere, uh, education, arts, sciences, politics, um, making bread, uh, building houses, everything that we do.
42:46: That's what he's talking about. Whatever I do, do all to the glory of God. Right. And you're fulfilling, um, uh, what was the verse, uh,
42:59: Isaiah 42, just staying in Isaiah, you're fulfilling Isaiah 42, where the
43:05: Holy Spirit comes upon rest upon the Messiah and the Messiah, um, baptizes us in the
43:12: Holy Spirit. He, he leaves so that we can receive the helper, the comfort of the
43:18: Holy Spirit. And therefore, um, he is working through us to fulfill his, his goals in, in bringing justice to the earth.
43:28: And when we are being obedient in whatever that may be making bread, being a scientist, um,
43:39: James White said, folding a bulletin, his latest sermon, we are bringing, uh, justice.
43:46: The Holy Spirit is working through us to bring justice to the earth because where we are, there is obedience.
43:57: Right. And I think one thing that people may hear, uh, they're hearing a lot of, uh, talk of Christians doing things, and they may think that that brings about the change, um, that, that we're talking about seeing in the new heavens and the new earth.
44:14: We have to go back to verse 17. And remember it says, behold, I create God doing this is all
44:21: God's work. And it's all God's work done, accomplished through Jesus Christ and applied by his
44:26: Holy Spirit to the world. Like Paul says, I know that in me, there is nothing good in my flesh, even his spirit and his flesh war against one another because his spirit, which is regenerated, uh, wants to do good.
44:41: It wants to follow the will of God, but there's the aspect of his flesh, which fights against him.
44:47: So what is it that we're going to see, um, is that that spirit is putting down the corruptness of the flesh more and more until, um, well,
45:00: Christ returns and he puts death to death and reigns forever.
45:07: Yeah. That's fantastic. Um, if we, uh, if we look at verse, uh, 23, it says they will not labor in vain.
45:20: This is back in Isaiah 65 or bear children for calamity for they will be offspring of those blessed by the
45:28: Lord and their descendants with them. Um, the, the, the family unit is going to play a large part in what's going on.
45:40: Uh, verse 24, um, it says that this isn't just about, um, ourselves and our own material blessings or making the world a better place for humans.
45:54: This is a redemption of the entire creation, the entire world. Um, so when you think of the, the elemental things or the elements that are being, uh, torn down and renewed, uh, from Peter, think of this, this is defining what tearing down the old and bringing in the new, uh, means, uh, in things that are not human.
46:20: Uh, I will also come to pass, or it will also come to pass that they, that before they call,
46:27: I will answer them while they're still speaking. I will hear speaking of the intermediate, intermediary work of the
46:32: Holy spirit in us and the wolf and the lamb will graze together. Now that doesn't happen.
46:39: Wolves don't run around eating grass. They go around eating sheep, but that was not how
46:44: God was originally creating the world. There was no death in the original creation.
46:51: So one of the things of this world that's going to be pulled away is the, um, the, the animals eating one another being carnivores, which
47:02: I don't know. It doesn't sound that appealing to me. I love steaks, but in order for us to not have a death, it means in order for sins of effects to be rolled back, it means no more death, which means that carnivores, people who eat meat, animals that eat meat won't do so anymore.
47:24: They will, um, eat the same thing as pasture animals as sheeps, sheeps, sheep.
47:31: There's no sheeps. Um, uh, and the lion will eat straw with the ox.
47:38: Again, lions love to eat large pieces of meat, but they're going to be eating straw. And here's another key point.
47:45: Cause this next one, uh, we have to remember what was said back in Genesis. Um, during the curse, this says, uh, and dust will be the serpents food.
47:57: Now, if you remember back in the, at the time of the curse, uh, the serpent who was cursed, was cursed to, uh, crawl on the, the dot on the dirt, on the ground.
48:10: Um, no, no arms, no legs and dust would be as food. We know that from other places in scripture, that that serpent is
48:20: Satan who will one day be thrown into the lake of fire and hell. So if this passage, we're talking about something in the future after the consummation of all things, then the serpent wouldn't be eating dust still, because that is part of his curse.
48:40: Um, so what we see here is that there is, uh, this is something that's taking place now.
48:47: It's a process. Uh, they will do no harm, no evil or harm in all my holy mountain says the
48:54: Lord. And then he talks about the next two verses in verse or chapter 66, uh, the heaven in his throne is, is his throne and the earth is his footstool.
49:09: Where then is the house that you can build for me? This is the thing that God is creating to glorify himself.
49:15: Uh, it's kind of a temple language. What is the thing that we could build
49:23: God that would glorify him that he has the heavens for his throne and the foot, the earth is his footstool.
49:31: There's nothing that we can do. That's why God is creating this. God is renewing all things. And what this is leading to is the, uh, the final return of Christ where death is put down, where everything that was sinful has been removed and all that remains, um, and has been rebuilt is, um, perfect and glorious and sinless, just as God intended it before the fall in the garden of Eden.
50:04: That is, uh, what Isaiah 65 is talking about. I, I believe
50:12: I'm, I'm following along with you. And, um, the, it's my understanding too, as you were speaking of this, this temple language, we're going to see that in revelation 21 and who that, who that is that he's creating or what it is he's creating.
50:30: Oh, well, kind of, okay. Um, that temple language is, is also, uh,
50:40: I would call it more Jerusalem language. Okay. This here is talking about temple language, but the idea from, from revelation 21 is that of Jerusalem.
50:51: Okay. If you look back at it, uh, verse 18, it says, be glad and rejoice forever for behold,
50:57: I create Jerusalem for rejoicing. So what are you saying? He's creating, I'm creating a new heavens and a new earth.
51:04: I'm creating Jerusalem. Right. Um, and then in revelation 21, it actually defines for us what
51:11: Jerusalem is. And it's not a, uh, a large cube that reaches halfway to the moon or whatever it is.
51:22: Uh, well, if we want to go there and you want to wait and do that later, let me, um,
51:28: I want to go to revelation 21 in just one second after I make this comment, because I think it's important to say this, um, you bring up the cube and that that's a part of a certain eschatological theory that certain, you know, many people believe a lot of people hold to it that there's going to be this actual physical new
51:52: Jerusalem that is, has measurements and shaped like a cube, and it's going to come down out of heaven that people hold to that.
52:00: Um, and, and what we were doing and what you were doing is, is kind of showing that as you were going through Isaiah 65, especially there at the end, what you were showing was that, uh, that same eschatological or in times theology, um, that, that holds to that cube.
52:21: That would also hold to a rapture that would also hold to, um, uh, other things.
52:29: It has this, um, has this wrong with their concepts and ideas that they believe that this new
52:37: Jerusalem, this new heaven, the new earth is going to be in a future. And it's going to be more like a, a heavenly state where there there's not going to be, um, all this, um, killing.
52:50: There's not going to be death. There's not going to be harm or tears or suffering. Um, but what you were doing was you were taking
52:56: Isaiah 65, which is speaking of the new heavens and the new earth. And you were showing that, um, the serpent is still eating dust.
53:05: Therefore he's still present. And then you, you were talking about how the, uh, uh, if you die at a hundred, you're going to seem young, but there's still death.
53:19: Well, I think was, was part of the point too. So it, this, this concept of the future new heavens and new earth, where there's none of this stuff happening and, and Satan is completely gone, is foreign to Isaiah 65, because those things are still going on.
53:38: And with that being said, we're, we're, we're pointing out seemingly, seeming contradictions in that type of end times theology.
53:49: There are those who hold onto that, that look at ours and our interpretation and say, well, let me point out some holes in yours.
53:57: And, and one of those holes or contradictions, um, contradictions, um, that, that they say we may have is, okay, you're saying that there's still going to be death, that there's going to be suffering.
54:10: Um, and, and you're pointing it out in Isaiah 65, but in revelation, it says that there, there won't be.
54:22: And so I just want to, um, and there, and there's a progressiveness and that's a key, key to this theology, key to understanding the new heavens and new earth.
54:35: And that's where I want to take us to revelation chapter, um, chapter 21.
54:41: And we're not going to go through the whole chapter, like we just did with Isaiah 65. We're just going to make a few comments about revelation so that we can help those who may have some difficulty understanding where we're coming from, where they see some contradictions in how we interpret.
55:01: Um, we're going to, we're going to kind of explain and, and let you know where we, where we see, um, and where we see what we see and how it harmonizes and comes together.
55:17: So if you, if you're in revelation, chapter 21, starting in verse one, it says, and I saw a new heaven and a new earth and the first heaven and the first earth passed away and there's no longer any sea.
55:30: So John is telling us there's, there's an old heaven, there's an old earth and it's passed away and behold, he sees a new heaven and a new earth.
55:41: And that's, that's what Dan was talking about with these elemental things. Um, the old has passed away and this new has come.
55:51: And that's what John is seeing that old pass away and the new has come. And this is the second place in scripture where we, we read about this new heavens and new earth revelation 21 and 22.
56:06: And then before we get into the bulk of what I was talking about, um,
56:11: Dan had brought about the, the new Jerusalem, the, um, the new, uh,
56:17: I wanted to point out one thing. Um, uh, in chapter 21, it says, uh, then
56:28: I saw a new heaven and a new earth and the first heaven and the first earth passed away. There's no longer any sea.
56:34: I saw the Holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. Um, and if you jump down to verse four, it says that there's a verse for it.
56:46: He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and there will be no longer be any death. There will be no longer any mourning, no crying or pain.
56:54: The first things have passed away. Um, that sounds to be contradictory to what
57:00: I was just saying in Isaiah 65 where it was talking about, um, people living to a hundred and dying and being young.
57:10: Um, but what we need to understand is that the passage in Isaiah was before Christ had come.
57:18: He was saying something that was future, uh, something that was going to be inaugurated at the time of Christ.
57:25: What we're seeing, um, John talk about is, uh, the, the language at verse 17 of chapter 65 of Isaiah says, behold,
57:33: I am creating a new heavens and a new earth. Um, the first verses of revelation say, or revelation 21 say, then
57:44: I saw a new heaven in the new earth for the first heaven and first earth passed away.
57:49: So what we're seeing in these first few verses of revelation 21 is the completion of Isaiah's, uh, description of the new heavens and new earth found in Isaiah 65.
58:02: So while Isaiah's passage is showing that there's going to be death, but improvement because of God calling the people to himself,
58:12: John is seeing the end and saying, look at what Christ is doing throughout time. And here's the end.
58:18: Here's the final bit. And it is when the new heavens and the new earth are done being created and death is that those a hundred year old youngsters aren't going to be dying anymore, right.
58:32: It's going to be perfection. It's going to be the completion of what he's saying. I'm sorry if I got off on a tangent, but no,
58:40: I mean, we, yeah, absolutely. Um, that helped us to stay on topic of, of what we were talking about in Isaiah 65.
58:49: Um, but yeah, I mean, that helps harmonize what we're reading.
58:57: And it shows us that there's a progression and it shows us that we still have in times prophecy to look forward to this.
59:07: This has not the new heavens and the new earth have not come to their full completion yet.
59:13: Yeah. It's in a process. Um, and we're going to further, we're going to further show that this new heavens, new earth is a progression in just a second.
59:27: But just to quickly, uh, point out another thing that you were talking about in Isaiah 65 was, um, the, the new, um, new heaven, new earth, new
59:38: Jerusalem, new temple. And John speaks of that. Um, if you're, if you're in verse two, chapter 21, verse two, and I saw the holy city, new
59:48: Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
59:57: Now it's, it's hard to argue that if you, if you read the rest of the new
01:00:05: Testament, that the bride and husband language is, is not related, is not speaking of the church and Christ is the husband.
01:00:19: Um, and then he further, he further speaks and uses this language in verse nine.
01:00:24: And one of the seven angels who had seven bowls full of the seven last place came and spoke with me saying, come here.
01:00:31: I shall show you the bride, the wife of the lamb and reading in context, studying context.
01:00:41: We know from the rest of scripture, interpreting scripture from scripture, the bride is the church, the assembly, the believers were living stones being built together.
01:00:55: Um, as this new Jerusalem, this new temple and the husband, the groom is
01:01:02: Christ himself. And John explains to us what you were talking about in Isaiah 65.
01:01:10: Any other comments about that? Uh, yeah. If you just read down in verse 10, uh, he says, uh, verse nine, he says,
01:01:16: Hey, look, I'm want you show you, uh, the, the, the wife, the, the bride of the lamb.
01:01:22: And then in verse 10, he carried me away in the, in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me.
01:01:30: So I'm going to show you something. And then he turns around and shows him something. And what is it that he shows him?
01:01:35: He showed me the Holy city, Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. So what we see here is that this new
01:01:44: Jerusalem is the bride of Christ. It is the wife of the lamb, um, which we saw that language, um, the new heavens and the new earth, the, uh, the
01:01:58: Jerusalem being made for his people to, to rejoice back in Isaiah 65. And it all ties together.
01:02:04: And, um, then we see in the rest of the description of the absolute perfection of that, uh, that people, that city, um, as it comes from God.
01:02:17: Um, and I think you're about to lead into temple language if I'm not mistaken,
01:02:22: I'll let you go there. Let me, let me pause for just a second. Are you able to see comments on your screen?
01:02:30: I am not. Okay. Um, maybe we can work on that eventually, but Tim is asking a question.
01:02:40: Would you say that the new heavens and new and new earth are synonyms with the growth of the kingdom of God?
01:02:51: Synonym? Probably not, but they are highly related.
01:03:03: I'm trying to think through that one.
01:03:12: Um, yeah. On the fly. That's a lot of information to put together. There is a lot of similarity.
01:03:18: Um, I'm hesitant to say synonym just cause I hadn't thought of it, but let me roll some thoughts through and maybe that makes it a synonym or not.
01:03:27: I don't know. Okay. The new heavens and the new earth is a, is a concept or an idea of what
01:03:32: God is doing, um, in the world. Uh, it's a concept of him removing sin and creating, um, perfection again.
01:03:43: Uh, first Corinthians uses language of, um, putting all of his enemies under Christ's feet and the death and then delivering the kingdom to the father.
01:03:55: So it's almost as if, um, the new heavens and the new earth concept is a, is an, is a big picture idea of the redemption of the entire universe, the cosmos, um, from, from the work done by Christ on the cross to the end of the world, while the kingdom of God, which highly related would refer to the, the church, that people who is calling out his servants from Isaiah 65 or his church or the wife of the lamb or the new
01:04:36: Jerusalem. Um, so I think they're, they're similar about,
01:04:42: I would probably say that the kingdom of God concept is an aspect of the new heavens and the new earth.
01:04:49: Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah. And I can, um,
01:04:54: I can see how you say they're, they're related because as he's, he's redeeming both and as, and as the kingdom of God is, is growing, um, that is effectual for the new heavens and the new earth, um, in a beneficial way, right?
01:05:16: The, the new heavens or the, the kingdom of God, as it's being, uh, spread out across the earth, uh, is an aspect of bringing in of the new heavens and the new earth.
01:05:29: Um, I don't know if the kingdom of God would, uh, include the, the wolves not eating sheep or the lions not eating oxen.
01:05:39: But, um, I'd have to give more thought to that, but they're absolutely related. Yeah. Yeah.
01:05:45: Part, part of the same work of God in redeeming all of creation. Yeah. And, and just for clarification for some of that, that may be watching and maybe clarification for me too.
01:05:55: Um, the, the reason why you're saying they're, they're separate is because the kingdom of God, when we say the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of heaven, we're mainly speaking of, um, the redeemed, those people, people whom he has saved, right?
01:06:10: Of the church, right. Of the church. And when we speak of the, the new heavens and the new earth that's included in that, but what's not included in the kingdom of God, that's included in the, in the new heavens, new earth would be also be all of creation material thing, right?
01:06:34: Uh, things that are, that are, uh, running down and wearing out because of, um, the, the ill effects of sin on the world.
01:06:45: Right. Um, when you think of the new heavens and the new earth, you can think of, um, think of it being as the, the holistic idea, the full or the idea of God's redemption of all creation, whereas the kingdom of God, I think is, um, part of that being the redemption of a people for, for God.
01:07:06: But I would, uh, I'll have to think on that more. I don't want to bat myself in the corner, but right now that's, that's where I'm, that's my story.
01:07:19: Gotcha. Well, I'm going to try to wrap things up and we, and we did want to use that, uh, that temple language.
01:07:27: We want to, we want to talk about, um, just another way where scripture is teaching us that, that his new heavens and new earth is, is a process.
01:07:39: And it's not, um, this, this great, um, event that's going to, you know, explode onto the scene, but it's, it's a happening now it's, it's a progression and the
01:07:52: Bible does teach us that. And another place that it teaches that is as we continue in revelation and we go to revelation 22,
01:07:59: I'm just going to read the first part. And the reason I'm going to do that is because we're going to see this same language somewhere else.
01:08:08: Um, revelation 22, starting in verse one. And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal coming from the throne of God of the lamb in the middle of his street.
01:08:22: And on either side of the river was the tree of life bearing 12 kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.
01:08:31: And the leaves of the tree were for healing of the nations. And there shall no longer be any curse and the throne of God and of the lamb shall be in it.
01:08:42: And his bondservant shall serve him and they shall see his face and his name shall be on their forehead.
01:08:51: Um, oh, this is important too. And there shall no longer be any night and they shall not have need of the light of the lamp, nor a light of the sun, because the
01:09:02: Lord shall illumine them. I think that's key and they shall reign forever and ever.
01:09:08: Okay. So we have language here that we need to understand. He, I mean, he's speaking of, um, water of a stream of trees.
01:09:18: We, we read in context. We want to know the immediate context, chapter context, book context.
01:09:25: And we want to know Bible context. We want to know what they would have understood when they read. Is he quoting from the old
01:09:32: Testament? Is he referencing the old Testament? And we think that he is, and we're going to go back to Ezekiel, Ezekiel chapter 47.
01:09:43: And that's where we believe he is. Um, he's referencing, um, or, or this is a fulfillment of what
01:09:50: Ezekiel of Saul, Ezekiel chapter 47, starting in verse one.
01:10:00: And just remember, if you, those of you who are watching with us, remember that language that we read in Revelation 22, verse one of Ezekiel chapter 47.
01:10:12: Then he brought me back to the door of the house and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east for the house faced east.
01:10:23: And the water was flowing down from under from the right side of the house from south of the altar.
01:10:31: And he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by the gate of the faces that faces east and behold, water was trickling from the south side.
01:10:46: When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits and he led me through water, water, reaching the ankles.
01:10:58: And again, he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees.
01:11:04: Again, the, he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water, reaching the loins.
01:11:11: Again, he measured a thousand and it was a river. I could not forward. The water had risen enough to swim in a river that could not be forded.
01:11:23: And he said to me, son of man, have you seen this? Then he brought me back to the bank of the river.
01:11:30: And I think, well, now when verse seven, now when I returned behold on the bank of the river, there were very many trees, there's that language, trees on the one side and the other.
01:11:41: And he said to me, these waters go out toward the Eastern region and go down into the
01:11:46: Arava. And then they go toward the sea, being made to flow into the sea and the waters of the sea become fresh.
01:11:54: And it will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place in the river goes will live.
01:12:01: And there will be very many fish and these waters go there and the others become fresh.
01:12:06: So everything will live where the river goes. Oh, that's wonderful.
01:12:13: Everything will live where the river goes. Wow. And then in verse 12, by the river on its banks, one side or the other will grow all kinds of trees for food.
01:12:24: Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary and their fruit will be food and their leaves for healing.
01:12:38: There's that language from Revelation 21. So what are we seeing besides just this similar language?
01:12:45: Well, Ezekiel is being shown by someone. This individual is showing
01:12:53: Ezekiel about this water that's flowing from underneath the house.
01:13:01: And we see that in Revelation 22. But how does it start out? It starts out as a trickle.
01:13:07: And I tried to pause and emphasize some of these words so that we can remember them, but it starts out as a trickle.
01:13:13: And then he measures out a thousand cubits and they walk out those thousand cubits and there the water is up to his ankles.
01:13:21: He does it again and then it's up to his knees. He does it again, it goes out another thousand cubits and it's up to his waist.
01:13:28: He goes out another thousand cubits. And eventually he gets to a depth of the stream where he can't afford it.
01:13:38: It's enough water to swim in. And this water is producing the water that's increasing, that started out as a trickle that's increasing.
01:13:53: That's why I pointed out in verse nine. So everything will live where the river grows.
01:13:59: So this is living water. What do we know about the living water? The scripture, without turning to all these
01:14:06: Bible verses, the living water is the Holy Spirit. It's the work of God, it's salvation. And it's the gospel.
01:14:16: And what Ezekiel is being shown is that this water is flowing, this living water is flowing from the throne of God and it's living water.
01:14:27: It's the Holy Spirit, it's the gospel. And it starts out as a trickle, just like Dan, give me some of those references about the kingdom and how it starts out small and grows.
01:14:41: Yeah, well, one real quick that has to do with living water. The living water was mentioned in John four.
01:14:50: We was talking to the woman at the well. If you would've asked me, I'd have given you living water. So this living water that he's talking about coming from under the threshold or from the throne is that living water that was trickling to that woman at the well.
01:15:05: Starting small, as you said, such as the parable of the mustard seed that he gives.
01:15:11: The mustard seed is the smallest of the seeds, but you plant it and grows into a huge tree where the birds come and make nests in the branches or the parable of the yeast that gets into a little bit of, a little bit of yeast gets into the dough until it spreads and spreads until the entire thing is leavened.
01:15:35: Or if we look back to Daniel, the book of Daniel, it says that there's a small pebble that hit
01:15:42: Nebuchadnezzar's statue that represented the world kingdoms. A little pebble hit the stone or hit the statue, the statue crumbles, and then the statue grows and grows and grows, or not the statue, the pebble grows, grows until it's a large mountain that fills the entire earth.
01:16:00: Yeah. Then you take that language of water from the temple and it's not really related, but it strikes in my mind, there's two places.
01:16:12: In, I believe it's Isaiah two and Habakkuk two, it says, the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas.
01:16:21: And I ask people when I tell them that, you know, how much of the sea is wet? And they say, well, all of it.
01:16:27: And I'm like, well, there you go. That's how much the knowledge of the glory of the Lord is gonna cover the sea. That's right.
01:16:33: Or is gonna cover the earth. Everywhere that it's wet, everywhere that the river goes, there's gonna be life.
01:16:40: Amen. Because this is the work of God. It's not the work of men. That's right. So God does something when he's acting, when his water gets into an area, it can't help but spring up life.
01:16:54: That's right. That's right. And we can harmonize other scriptures. I mean, you have the prophecy from Isaiah that speaks of the
01:17:01: Messiah. He's going to be a shoot from the stump of Jesse, a branch from the root of Jesse.
01:17:10: So it's gonna start out small. And then the Messiah is also described in Micah as a fig tree that you can rest under.
01:17:21: And you have the mustard seed, that's the smallest in the garden, but it grows into this largest of the garden where the birds can come rest.
01:17:34: So this language is all over scripture. And it shows us that it's related to one another because like John in Revelation references here
01:17:47: Ezekiel and the story of Ezekiel and a living water that's flowing from underneath the threshold or the temple or the throne.
01:17:55: And we understand from scripture what the living water is. We learn all these things by studying scripture and harmonizing scripture.
01:18:06: And then what we really wanted to show you guys is that what is shown to Ezekiel is that this new heavens and the new earth, this kingdom of God, all this is a progressive thing that God is doing.
01:18:23: It starts out as a trickle. And as it goes out, it increases.
01:18:30: And Ezekiel says, until it is so large, you could swim in it. And this living water in verse nine that he speaks of, so everything will live where the river goes.
01:18:42: So there's life, that's what this is all about. It's God bringing back, redeeming and bringing life to his people and to his creation.
01:18:54: And I think Dan, that's where you wanted us to eventually make our way to. And we do that if go back to where we started in 2
01:19:04: Peter chapter three, the very first verse that we read, the
01:19:10: Lord is not slow about his promise as some counsel on us, but is patient.
01:19:16: If this was an immediate thing, there wouldn't be any patience involved. But some people wanna put a gap and say that's called patience.
01:19:25: But I don't think that's what scripture teaches. But anyway, he's patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.
01:19:36: God is a God of mercy and grace and love and compassion and salvation.
01:19:43: And we read in John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that everyone believing in him should not perish, should have eternal life.
01:19:53: So this is not some magical thing that happens. This is about God's story of redemption.
01:20:05: Right, one thing that just occurred to me in 2
01:20:12: Peter three, up beforehand in verse eight, says, do not let this one fact escape you.
01:20:25: That with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise as some counsel on us, but is patient towards you.
01:20:37: You think of that language from Ezekiel, the little trickle of water, the ankles, the knees, and you have somebody come to you.
01:20:48: Well, I thought this was supposed to be great. You can't float a ship in ankle deep water.
01:20:56: Maybe it's a, we now have more professing Christians in the world than were people alive at the time of Christ.
01:21:04: And it's still, people say, well, you can't call this world redeemed. You can't say that it's
01:21:10: Christianized. You can't float a ship in that much water. Well, no, you can't.
01:21:15: But look down there. Yeah. Down there, there's so much that if you try to go swimming, you're gonna drown.
01:21:22: That's right. And you can definitely float a ship around in that. Yeah, absolutely, yep.
01:21:30: It just shows the confirmation of scripture that it's a progression. Look where we were, look where we are.
01:21:37: And John 21, 22 says, look where we're going. Yep. And we want you to be, we want you to join us in being good
01:21:47: Bible readers, Bible students, good Bible interpreters. Thank you for joining us.
01:21:52: Thank you for partnering with us. We love and want to continue to lock arms in reaching our community for Jesus Christ.
01:22:02: If you don't know him as your Lord and Savior, we would plead with you to repent of your sins and put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, to be a part of his kingdom, to be a part of that ship, to be a part of this living water that's bringing life to the nations.
01:22:23: There's a positive thing that's going on. We can put on our glasses and look around and see everything negative in the world, or we can put on our biblical glasses and we can see
01:22:34: God working. We can see his kingdom growing and moving. And you can be a part of that.
01:22:40: And you can, the scripture tells us that everything you do, and I think we spoke with this earlier, everything you do, do as unto the
01:22:48: Lord. And you are bringing justice. You are obeying God and you are bringing justice to the world.
01:22:54: And we want you to be a part of that. So repent of your sins, put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
01:23:01: If you're already a believer, we hope that you were edified, we hope that you were encouraged and we hope that you will continue to join us as we reach our community.
01:23:11: Let me pray and we'll wrap things up. Father, we thank you so much for your word.
01:23:16: Thank you for illuminating us as you said you would in Revelation 22, that there's no more darkness, there's no more night and there's no more need for a son because you illuminate us.
01:23:32: And we're thankful for you and thankful for using us and saving us.
01:23:39: We pray Father and ask and hope that you were glorified in our time together.
01:23:45: We pray for those who are seeking, who are searching, who are skeptics, we pray that you would be saving souls and opening their eyes and that you would use this time to encourage believers as we spend time with our community.
01:24:09: Father, again, we thank you for your compassion, your grace and your mercy and we seek to glorify you, to honor you and praise and worship you.
01:24:18: In Jesus name we pray, amen. I look forward to the other videos that we're gonna do.
01:24:24: Thank you for spending time with me this morning. Any last thoughts that you wanna share?
01:24:32: Now I was looking over verse 17 in Revelation 22. It says, the spirit and the bride say, come.
01:24:38: Let the one who hears say, come and let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who wishes to take the water of life without cost.
01:24:47: Just like you said, God is amazing. Christ has died on the cross for the sins of men and he offers that water freely to anyone who will receive it.
01:25:02: Amen. All right, I'm gonna end the broadcast. I'm gonna close the studio.
01:25:07: So remember that Jesus is king. Let's continue to go live in that victory and let's go out together and share the good news of the gospel.