Episode Transcript
I'm so glad you've joined us for countdown. Back to the Future. In fact, this is the last presentation in this series of countdown. We're so glad that you've been able to watch. You may want to watch from the start. If you haven't seen the series or missed some of them, by all means. You know, when my mother passed away and she was lowered into the ground, a friend of mine sang that beautiful song, no More Night. Because there's a better day coming. And we thank God that in the Bible, God pictures that there's a better world to come. So we want to have a look at no More Night, the world tomorrow. Some people were once asked their opinions of heaven. Notice some of the different opinions that people gave about this new world that's coming. When they were asked, one person said, heaven is a state of mind. Well, that sounds very nice, doesn't it? Until you get a call from the police to say that, listen, your child has just been killed on the road. Or it may sound nice until you go to the doctor and says, you have terminal cancer, you need to get your life in order. No, heaven's much more than a state of mind. Of course, it's got to be more than that. And we'll see it is. Someone said, listen, I've already got heaven. You should see my chariot, that's my Lexus. He said, and we have a mansion already, you know, it's got seven rooms and three bathrooms. And our kids are the angels. Well, come on now. You know, they're really, they're really going off the board, aren't they? Our kids are good. We love our kids. But they're not always angels, are they? Another person was asked what he thought about heaven and he said, you're kidding me. You still believe in that pie in the sky stuff? It's not even real, he was saying. And then there was an elderly couple who were asked what they thought about heaven. And this is what they said. They said, we hope there is a heaven because the older we get, the more we long for such a place. So is there a better world that's coming? Is there such a thing as a heaven? Really? Is that for real? What does the Bible say about this? That's where we need to go right now in search of this question. The life in the new world. No More night. Well, Paul wrote the letter to his Hebrew friends called the Book of Hebrews. When he came to the 11th chapter, I want you to notice what Paul wrote about this new world. The Bible says there in Hebrews 11. Talking of the people in the past. In the Old Testament, these all died in faith. Not having received the promises. But having seen them afar off, they were assured of them. They embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things. Declare plainly that they seek a homeland that is a heavenly country. No question. Paul certainly believed in a new world that was coming for God's friends. You know. What about Moses? Paul even talked about Moses. Moses, of course, was in ancient Egypt. Now, Moses was destined to become the next pharaoh. He could have become the next pharaoh as the adopted child of Pharaoh's daughter. That's how he was destined. You know, it's interesting to go to the Cairo museum. And you can see the mummies there. These mummies are laying out on the table. And you can see Pharaoh Thutmose iii. One of the greatest pharaohs. He was hated by Queen Hatshepsut. I should say he hated Queen Hatshepsut because she kept him off the throne, it seems. And he hated her. Chiseled out all her images of her faces. And seems that's what happened. But you go to the Cairo Museum. At least when I was there, in the old museum there they were lying head to head on this table. He's on this side and she's on that side. Head to head. I'm not sure how that would have got back in ancient Egypt when they lived. But there they were. On one occasion they were trying to work out. How do we classify these mummies when we want to export them. When we want to take them out of Egypt. So they couldn't come up with a classification. So at one time they were labeled as dried fish. Imagine it, dried fish. One of these mummified pharaohs. But you know, Moses. Moses made a much better choice than what he could have made. He could have decided, no, I'm going to go along with all this. I'm going to be the next Pharaoh. But notice what the Bible says. By faith, Moses, when he became of age. When he grew up to the an age of accountability. He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. Than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Now, there were certainly plenty of passing pleasures of sin in ancient Egypt. Let me tell you. In the royal court, it was all displayed. It was all on board there. But he chose to turn away from that. Esteeming the reproach of Christ. Greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. And there sure were plenty treasures In Egypt we saw some of them. The treasures of Tutankhamun. And he was a minor king compared to Ramesses the Great or Thutmose ii. No, Moses didn't choose the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward. Now imagine if Moses had made the wrong choice. You may have gone to the Cairo museum and you would have looked at the mummy of Moses and he would have been called dried fish. Because that's how they classified some of the mummies on one occasion, as we said. But Moses is not there. Moses went to heaven because Jesus raised him to life. The book of Jude tells us that Michael disputed with the dragon Satan over the body of Moses and he was raised to life. How do we know that? Because he was with Jesus on the mount of Transfiguration. It says two men were with Jesus. Elijah, who never died, was taken up to heaven and Moses, who was raised to life. And now there he is in heaven. He's made the heavenly country. Great choice for Moses. Cause he was raised to life and taken to heaven and came down and met with Jesus on the mount of Transfiguration. All right. Now Peter said a similar thing. He sure believed in a new world. I like the way Peter put it. Peter said, nevertheless, we. That's us, he says, according to his promise. He promised this. We look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. None are gonna be never the nasties in that place, says Peter. Righteousness dwells in this place. In fact, Peter went on to say these words. And that he may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive. Remember, Jesus went back to heaven after his resurrection. Whom heaven must receive until the times of restor of all things. Because he's coming to do a restoration. Peter is saying, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. What an amazing thing Peter is saying. He's saying God is going to have a restoration of this planet. It's not always going to be like it is as it is today. Out of control and messed up in so many places. A restoration. We need it, don't we? Remember Adam and Eve, our first parents? They were created perfect. They had no sin. Everything was in harmony. There was no death in the whole of the world at that time. Just perfect harmony. Until that day. Remember when that snake, the first front for Satan, came to Eve and Adam and they sold out. And what happened after that? Disease and depression and death and divorce and all manner of things came into the world. It got so bad The Bible says that God decided we need a restart. You see, the Bible says man's thoughts were continually evil. That's all he could think of, evil and acting evil and doing all the terrible things. So God says, let's have a restart. And so the flood came. For 120 years, Noah pleaded with people to get into the boat, but no one except his own family got into the boat. And the world was destroyed by a flood. Well, after the flood, we were back at it again as a human race. And wickedness increased on the planet in enormous volume until we come down to our day, and what do we see? Oh, we see great tragedy on our planet today, don't we? Terrorists smashing into buildings and thousands of lives lost. Terrorists there in Africa taking a whole bunch of young girls from a school, taking them, dealing in terrible ways with them. Shocking, my friend. A young girl, only about 10 or 11 years of age, she's dying of leukemia. This is the reality of our world. She's not going to have an adult life. She's not even going to get into her teens, hardly. She's going to die of leukemia. Young people just injecting themselves with drugs and all sorts of manner of things that might give them a high for a minute, but they ruin their lives for the rest of their life. This is the reality of our world. You know, there's that young woman, she's a mum, got some kids, she thinks life is going to be grand. She's got it all mapped out until the doctor says, sorry, you have terminal cancer. She's not going to come out of that hospital. Those kids are going to have to grow up without a mum. That's our world. No wonder Peter said we need a restoration of all things. And then think of that young couple. They had a bright future. They thought, wow, marriage, we're now marriage. But after two or three years, it all come unglued when one became unfaithful and it fell apart. That's our world, my friend. We need a restoration. And haven't we seen those haunting images of abject hunger? I remember some years ago, looking at the magazine and there was a haunting picture. There was a vulture there in Africa and a little child next to the vulture who was about ready to die. And the vulture was just waiting. That's our world. I remember seeing that haunting picture from Vietnam with this poor young girl. She's running naked down the street. Her flesh has been burned. It's on fire because a napalm bomb has been dropped. That's our world. We need A restoration of all things. You see, we live in a world of crisis today, a world in decline. The world news, pictures, all those things we've just talked about. No wonder Peter said, man, we need a new world. Our world is getting old and getting worse by the day. We need Eden to be restored. We need what once our first par had. And thank God the Bible gives us some pictures of what that new world is going to be like, what it's going to be like in this new world that God is going to prepare, that God is going to restore to his children. What will life be like in that new world? Let's have a look at what the Bible says about it for a few moments now, eh? You've heard of the explorer Marco Polo? Remember that great explorer from Europe? He went over there to parts of Asia and when he came back, he said, man, you should have seen what I saw over there. I saw lizards so big that they could swallow a man alive. They'd never seen a crocodile in Europe, you see, he said, I saw nuts on trees. They were so big that if they fell out of the tree, they'd kill a man when it fell on his head. They'd never seen a coconut in Europe. So many things he talked about, he said, the half could never be told of what I've seen. Well, it's a bit like that with what God's preparing for his friends. There's no question about it. God tells us in this book. Notice what the Bible says. Paul is writing to his friends in Corinth. I love the words eye has not seen. In other words, you could not imagine what I've seen when God gave me a vision of the new world. I have not seen nor has ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that what for them that love him. You know, we have many fantastic moments in a world that's full of sin, right? We still have many moments. I don't know about you, but I love climbing. I love bushwalk, I love going up into the mountains. We see some amazing things, even though we see some not so good things. For some people, heaven is bushwalking, heaven is hiking, heaven is climbing rocks. For other people, you know, it's marshmallows around a campfire with. It's like young people doing that. That's almost like heaven for some people. They love music so much. When they hear a beautiful symphony orchestra, they think they're in listening to heaven's music. We have many happy moments on this planet for Others, it's, you know, marriage. We just got married. This is like heaven. Many happy moments. What about that couple that got married and now they have their first child? It almost seems like heaven for them. So many happy moments we have on this planet. Moments with people, moments on our own. But God says, I got something that's out of this world. This is good stuff. But God has something far better prepared for his friends. You couldn't even imagine it, says Paul. It's out of this world. Amazing. So what's life going to be like in this new world that God is preparing? Let's have a look at some of the things. Number one, they're for starters, this. There will be eternal peace in God's new world. Now think of that. Think of what the Bible says. Look at the picture that God paints of the new world. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb. Now just push the pause button right there. Right. Wolves usually eat lambs, right? That's what happens in our world today. But the Bible says there's coming a time when the wolf will dwell with the lamb. Cause they're not going to hurt each other. What does he go on to say? And the leopard shall lie down with the kid. Hang on a bit. Leopards usually chase deers and goats and kids and eat them. But not in God's new world. See the picture that God is giving us. And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together. And a little child shall lead them. Can't you picture, as it were. John says. Isaiah says, a little child grabs hold of the big lion's mane. Come here, little pussycat. Big pussycat. Imagine what it's going to be like in God's new world when the animals won't harm and destroy each other. And the Bible goes on. The cow and the bear shall feed their. Shall feed together their young ones, the calf and the young bear cub. They will lie down together. Usually that doesn't happen. And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. That's not something lions do today, is it? Eat straw like a cow. But in God's new world, they're not going to eat other animals. It's going to be a world of peace. You see, none of this is going to take place in God's new world. His last empire. No more war in this last empire. Notice what the Bible says here in the book of Isaiah. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountains. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord. As the waters cover the sea. You see our knowledge of God means we won't want to hurt people, we won't want to attack people, we won't want to do any of those things. Imagine a world, my friends, where there's no crime. Could you believe such a place? Do you know, people today, after they've been held up at gunpoint, they are still traumatized by that sort of an incident. When people are in a plane and it's almost going to crash, they're traumatized for the rest of their life. They won't even want to jump back on a plane, many of them. But in God's new world, there's going to be no, none of that sort of stuff that goes on. I love the way the Bible puts it here again, the Bible says in Isaiah, violence shall no longer be heard in your land. If you're a policeman, you're going to be out of a job in God's new world because there's going to be no violence. No one's going to even steal people's stuff. Violence shall no longer be heard in your land Neither wasting nor destruction within your borders. Imagine a world with no war but you shall call your wall salvation and your gates praise. We lived in New Zealand for some years and we had some friends that came from former Rhodesia, Zimbabwe. Today they had been having a civil war at the time, these people from Zimbabwe to come to New Zealand to migrate there. And they said, you know, the first thing we noticed when we came to New Zealand was there was no ratat of machine guns and bombs going off. It all seemed so peaceful. Well, God has a world where there's going to be no more war. Do you know, that's all some people have known in their life. Go to Sudan, go to places in South America, go to places where all they've known is terrorists and bombs. Go to parts of Israel, go to Gaza. Right now none of this is going to be taking place, not in God's new world, no way. The last empire is a place with no violence. Can you imagine a place where there's no more abuse? Some of you may have been abused, perhaps sexually, by a father, a grandfather, an uncle, a brother. That happens tragically. It ruins lives, it gives scars to people. Imagine no abuse, not only sexual abuse, but verbal abuse. You know, that's what all that some people know when they come home from work or come home from school, all they're going to get is a rant and ray from a parent who's out of control. None. And more of that, no abuse in God's better world. God has something better planned for us. You know, in God's new world, there's going to be eternal health. Now think of that for a moment. Eternal health. Because the Bible says these things. Number one, it says, the inhabitant will not say, I am sick. No sickness in God's new world. You mums and dads know about that. How many times have your children come to you and said, mummy, I got a stomachache, Mummy, my head hurts. You know the game. Well, it's not a game, is it? It's the real thing. But in that world, no sickness. Sorry if you're a nurse or a doctor, but you're gonna be out of a job too. Because there's gonna be no one sick in God's better world that he's preparing for his people. What a wonderful place that God has prepared for those who love him. In God's new world, there's going to be no blindness. The eyes of the blind shall be opened. The Bible says, imagine what it must be like. There are many people. Maybe they're in your family, maybe some friends. Maybe they go to your school. They've never seen a sunset. And oh, do we see some marvelous sunset. Nobody can paint the sky like God, I'm telling you. Can they? I've been to the Pacific Islands. See a sunset out there. Incredible. You go to the desert. Magnificent sunsets that you can see. Some people have never seen that. They've never looked into the pretty face of a lady. Never seen that. Never watched the waves breaking on the shore. Never seen that. Always living in darkness. But imagine when Jesus comes, the first thing they're going to see is the face of Jesus, the one who's restored their sight. No wonder the Bible says even so. Come, Lord Jesus. No blindness in heaven. Not in that new world that God is preparing for those who love him. The Bible goes on to say, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. No deafness in heaven. No one who can't hear those magic words, I love you. Do you know there are many people have never heard those words, I love you. There are some people, many people in this world. They've never heard the beautiful call of a magpie or the cackling of a kookaburra. They've never heard the beautiful babbling of a stream rushing over the rocks. They have never heard beautiful music coming from a symphony. They've never heard anything. They live in a world of silence. Imagine what it's going to be like on their day when Jesus comes. And the first voice they heard here is the voice of Jesus. Well done, my good and faithful servant. What a tremendous thing God is for those who love him. The Bible says the lame shall leap like a deer. In other words, no disabilities, no, no physical disabilities in heaven. Nobody with a bun leg or a bung arm, no quadriplegics, no paraplegics. In God's new world. God is going to make it all new. I was sharing this presentation in Palmerston north one day in New Zealand and there's a lady up the back of the room there, she's in her wheelchair and when she heard this, she cried out, hallelujah. I won't have to be in this thing anymore. And it's true, my friend. The lame will leap like a deer. You've seen the deers in Africa. They bound. Or maybe like a kangaroo. God's friends are going to be able to walk and use their limbs again. The Bible says the tongue of the dumb will sing. Imagine living in a world where you can't express your emotions because you can't speak. But in that new world that's coming, there'll be no speech impediments. I'm glad for that. I don't know about you, but sometimes I sing with other people and if they can't keep a tune, it's a painful thing, right? I'm glad when God sets up heaven that they'll be able to keep a tune. That's not the sort of impediment we're talking about, but thank God one day those who can't speak, they will sing like Gabriel. They will just have a new experience when Jesus comes the second time. I love the way the Bible puts all this together. The Bible says there for our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour. Jesus is in heaven, but he's coming back. In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body. We're going to have bodies like Jesus according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. You know, when Jesus was here, he was raised from the dead, remember? But he was the same Jesus. They could see him. They knew who he was. And that's what's going to happen. When Jesus gives us new bodies, people will recognize who we are. But we'll look much smarter than you know. I won't have this balding head. I won't need these glasses. We won't need those things. We'll have new body parts. We'll be like Jesus. I like that thought, you know, because when Jesus was raised from the dead, you remember the disciples was in the upper room and suddenly Jesus appeared. I wonder if it means we'll be able to walk through walls. That'd be cool, wouldn't it? Well, I don't know. Just imagining. But we're going to have new bodies, like the body of Jesus Christ himself. New, like Christ. What a day. What a world. Why would we not want to give God everything so we can be part of this forever world, an eternal quality of life. The Bible says that's what God's going to give us. Look at the way God spoke to John on the island of Patmos. What did he say? And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Imagine a world where there's no tears, there's no brokenness, there's no sorrow and sadness. And the Bible says there shall be no more death. Imagine never having to go to a funeral, never having to say goodbye to a loved one. If you're a funeral director, you're going to be out of a job for sure. Because there's no death in God's new world. Nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain. What a day that will be. Some of you have to take painkillers, right? Because you suffer so much from pain. Not in this world. For the former things have passed away. They've gone and they've gone forever. No wonder John, on the last page of the Bible he said even so, come Lord Jesus can hardly wait for this new world that God is going to give to his people. But not just a new, eternal quality life. We're going to have eternal beauty. The Bible says these words in the book of Isaiah, magnificent words. The desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. Imagine that. I lived in Western Australia and a couple of times we've traveled across. A few times across the Nullarbor plains. I can imagine this turning into a. What? A rose garden. What? It's like the tulips there in Holland. God is going to make a pristine, beautiful world where the deserts become flower gardens. Things are changed, things are different. They're not what they once were. The best is yet to come. These are the promises of God's word, you see. And I like this thought. John says there's going to be eternal creativity in that new world. How does the Bible put it? It puts it this way. They shall build houses and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Now in Bible times, that was about the pinnacle, you know, build Your own house and live in it without somebody coming along and smashing it down as I'm army moves in. Or have your own vineyard and eat the fruit without someone taking it over. That's sort of like the pinnacle. Imagine if the Bible was written in our day. There are so many creative things we're going to do. Do you like flight? I do. I enjoy flying. Always enjoy flying. Imagine flying to one of those zillions of planets, those zillions of other worlds that God has. Flying with Jesus, not in a plane. I don't know how God's going to do it, but the Bible clearly says that we're going to leave this earth and we're going to go to heaven. That's a good journey. I'm looking forward to an experience like that. Fly like the birds. For centuries, human beings have wanted to fly like the birds, right? They jumped off buildings with wings strapped to their arms and flapped their arms with these sort of wings. But they. They crashed. And many a cranium was cracked, wasn't it, back in those days, until they learned how to fly. No, there's many creative things. Some of you, you enjoy looking out in space at the stars and the galaxies. I sure like that. Imagine being able to understand how the worlds were formed and created by Jesus himself. How did you put those rings around Saturn? How did you make that sun? How is it that it brings us all that heat? Can you explain it to us? And so Jesus talks about how the atom is split and so on. Imagine learning from the creator of the cosmos. A marvelous experience. I've always enjoyed biochemistry. I have a degree in biochemistry and I love working. Looking at how the cells work, how the chemicals work among themselves. What an experience being able to understand how it is that. That, you know, your muscles are formed and how is it the muscles work with all their fibers. How is it that so many things happen in the body? Imagine the creative experiences that we're going to have. Some of you love music, don't you? Well, let me tell you, it's going to be great when you get to God's new world, you're going to sing like Gabriel. I like playing the trumpet. That's a great idea. I'd love to play the trumpet a lot better than I play it now. Imagine what it's going to be like, the creative experiences of making music. I was just talking to a friend and he was showing what he can do with AI with music. Unbelievable. It's not even a real orchestra, but he can make it sound like one. Just Using AI. Well, AI is nothing compared to what God's going to do. As we make melody, as we make music together. What a day is coming in this world. And then God says there's going to be eternal joy. Not just great eternal creativity. Plenty things to do. Couldn't even imagine it all. But he says we're going to have eternal joy. Look what the Bible says. And the ransomed of the Lord, those who accepted the redeeming blood of Jesus, the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion, the new Jerusalem. With singing, with everlasting joy on their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Imagine living in a world where nobody's sad. You know, our world's not like that by a long shot, isn't it? This is how life goes today. Oh, we're happy today. We're on cloud nine. Cause we just got married. But we're sad now cause dad just died. Ah, but we're happy now. Cause we've just had our first child. But we're sad now. Cause junior failed his exams into medical school. But now we're happy because why? We've just got a new house. But now we're sad because my hubby lost his job. Isn't that how life goes today? Joys and sorrows, joys and sorrows, joys and sorrows. Tragically, for some people there's not too much joy. But in that new world that's coming, everlasting joy. Never a moment of sadness and sorrow. Who would not want to be in God's forever last empire? My friend, when God is preparing so many wonderful things for his children for eternity. And then there is an eternity of Sabbaths in God's new world. Not eternal Sabbath, but an eternity of Sabbath. There's going to be many Sabbaths going on into eternity every week. Sabbaths are going to go on. Sabbath's a high day. Notice what the Bible says. For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your descendants and your name. For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, and says the Lord, so shall your descendants and your name remain. And notice what he says next. And it shall come to pass that from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the Lord. What a day that's going to be. You won't have to listen to Webster give a presentation like this. You'll be able to listen to Jesus. You'll Be able to listen to the Father give the sermon on Sabbath. Morning. Morning. What an experience. You won't only just have to listen to the choir. You'll be able to be in the choir. You'll be able to be one of the musicians making that music to the praise and the glory of the God who loved us so much that he not only made us, but he redeemed us. What a day. What a time it's going to be in God's forever kingdom when we have an eternity of Sabbaths. Imagine the potluck lunches that are going to be there in heaven. Cause the Bible says there's going to be feasting. No question about it. There's the marriage supper of the Lamb to start with. But imagine the potluck lunches, the banquets on Sabbath. The table you can imagine it's going to be miles, kilometers long. You can almost imagine you need some mangoes. So you call out Moses, pass the mangoes, and down comes the mangoes for you. Moses says, hey, I need some of those bananas. And down the long kilometers of table, Moses gets the bananas. You know what I mean? Tremendous time of fellowship. Imagine being able to speak in heaven to Paul. Say, Paul, what was it like when you were in that dungeon? What was it like when you were in that mammothine prison there in Rome? Or maybe talking to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Hey, how did it get on in that? What was it like? Did you feel warm? What was it like in that? What was it like? I mean, imagine the stories we're going to share in that world that's coming. Imagine sitting down with Jesus and saying, jesus, how come you were willing to drink that bitter cup? And as he takes your hand, he's going to say, because I love you. You're special to me. I would have given. I gave everything because of my love for you. What a Sabbath it's going to be. You won't want Sabbath to finish. You won't want the sun to go down in heaven's special Sabbath times. What a world it's going to be. I can hardly wait, my friend. Hardly wait. And then the Bible says we're going to first of all live in the heavenly world because Jesus promised it. Remember the last night before he died? The Bible says he said to his followers, let not your hearts be troubled. Stop worrying. Don't be anxious. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, you then believe in me too. Believe also in me. And then he went to say what he wants them to believe. In. In my Father's house are many mansions. As we said in the previous presentation. It means rooms. Rooms in the Father's house. I don't know about you, but imagine living in a big house where we're all living together and. And there's Jesus room and there's the Father's room. I don't know how it's going to be, but there's Moses, there's Abraham, there's Paul, there's Esther. Ah, there's Mary, the mother of Jesus. Imagine living in the house together. There'll be mansion rooms, of course, but we're going to live in the Father's house together. If it were not so, I would have told you. I'm not pulling the wool over your eyes, said Jesus. I'm telling you what's a fact of life. I'm going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and I prepare a place for you, I will come again. Why? I will come again and receive you to myself. Why? So that where I am, there you may be also. Can you believe it? Jesus wants the likes of you and me to live with him forever. That's just so amazing. I mean, I'm not proud of some of the things that Webster's done, but Jesus loves me. He forgives me. He transforms us. He wants to live with us, wants us to live with Him. That's why he's going back to the Father's house to prepare a place for us. Your name's on one of those doors. I can almost see it. Bill, Jesse, Sally. Don't miss out, my friend. Don't break the heart of Jesus by not accepting this tremendous offer. And it's free. We just have to come as we are. It's the only way we can come. The moment a son or a daughter accepts Jesus, that moment they begin the life eternal. And when Jesus comes, he'll take them home. Don't miss out, my friend. Too good to miss on what God is preparing. But where does the Father live? Because Jesus says, I'm going to take you to my Father's house. Where does the Father live? Well, remember, every time we say the Lord's Prayer, we point out where the Father lives. Our Father who is in heaven. Jesus is going to pick us up and take us to the heavenly home, he says, and we're going to live there for 1,000 years. The Bible says, imagine it. A thousand years in heaven. The Bible says, the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection, blessed and Holy is he, I should say, who has part in the first resurrection, the resurrection of life. Remember over such the second death has no power. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him for how long? A thousand years. A thousand years in our Heavenly Father's house, living in God's great family house. What a picture that Jesus has given to us here. But after the thousand years, after those years in heaven are over, we're going to come down to this world because Jesus promised us. He said, listen, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit what this earth. Not some other planet, not some other world that he's going to make, but this earth remade, fixed up, so to speak. Now, John tells us that, that at the end of the thousand years. We saw it in a previous presentation. That's when the heavenly city comes down with God's people. After the thousand years. Notice what the Bible says. I, John, I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. You should read the last two chapters of the Bible. This city is massive. It's like. It's like 600 or 5 or 600 kilometers this way and 5 or 600 kilometers that way. And it slowly descends down from heaven down to this planet. Because this is going to be the new Jerusalem on planet Earth. The new Jerusalem. And you should see when you go to those chapters, what it's like. I tell you, it's out of this world. Number one, it's got 12 gates of pearl. The Bible says these words, the 12 gates, three on each side. The 12 gates were 12 pearls. That's a very big oyster, right? Imagine one gate, one pearl, enormous value. People will pay hundreds, scores of dollars just for a single round pearl, like a marble. But these, each gate is a pearl. Amazing. The foundations of the city will be gemstones. You notice what the Bible says. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. And it gives you a list of all the different kinds of stones. I tell you what, it's worth billions of dollars because there are slabs of this going this way, one on top of another. The 12 foundations, gemstones, different things like amethyst and so on. I was up in Kununurra, Northwest Australia once, running a series like this. And I went to visit someone in their home and they showed me a tremendous amethyst. It was about so big and it was cut down and you could see magnificent green color, purple colors in some of these stones, gemstones. Jesus is Going to make his city with these beautiful things for his people. The streets are going to be gold according to the Bible. Notice how the Bible puts it. And the street of the city, that's the New Jerusalem, was pure gold, like transparent glass. What a thing that is. Transparent glass, but it's gold. Why would we want to just walk on streets of bitumen just for this world? Just for 60 or 70 years at best. And when we get older, we don't have so much good health, our body starts to break down. Why just have this world when we can have all of this and walk on streets of gold? Not just bitumen streets, you know, no wonder Jesus said to that man who said, you know, I'm going to build bigger barns. I'm going to do this and that. And he said, oh, you fool. What would a man give in exchange for his own soul? Why would we want to miss out on eternity for a few miserable years here? Now, I know it can be okay. It can be pretty good for some, but for many people it's a miserable time. Go to Africa, go to the streets of some of the streets in India. They don't have a good quality life. Many people. But God says, in this new world, I'm making a big beautiful city. Now why is God going to make such an amazing place with all of this lavish expenditure? I'll tell you why. It's because it's for people. It's for his redeemed people. He loves them so much. He's the husband and he's gonna prepare a real flash place for them to live with him. Cause of his love. He owns the universe, remember, he's going to restore it all one day. What a tremendous God. I heard a loud voice from heaven, John says, saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, with people. And he will dwell with them. And they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God. What did we read? God will dwell with us. God will live with us. And poor John said he saw even more than that. There shall be no more curse in this new city, this new world, but the throne of God. And the Lamb will be in it. And his servants shall serve him. They shall see his face and his name shall be on their foreheads. Don't miss that, my friend. Did you see this world, this planet, this world which crucified the Son of God because of the sin of every person. All of us were responsible for causing Christ's death because of our sin. He took the lot of it. And this world is going to become the center of the universe. God, the Father and the son are going to live on this planet that has been a planet in rebellion. What a God, what a savior. How can this be? And how can you and I be there? How can you and I be part of this forever last empire where there's no sickness, no death, and there's all these amazing things and this world becomes our home where God comes and lives with us on this planet. It's amazing when you think of God's love that he should choose this place that's putting his own son to death. Let me share with you how we can be there. The story goes that there was a man who had been in prison for some years. And finally he came out of jail. And when he got out of jail, he caught a bus. Before he'd caught the bus, before he got out of jail, he'd sent a message to his family. And he tells the other people on the bus what the message was. So there he is on the bus traveling to his home. And he says, because the students on that bus gathered around him and they got talking to each other and they wanted to know where he was going. He said, well, this is what's happened. I've been in jail for the last few years and now I'm going home. But I wrote to my family and I said to them, family, I'm coming out of jail on such and such a date if you want me to come home. Because I know you're embarrassed because what I've done. They were ashamed of the fact that he'd been in prison. If you don't want me to come home, that's okay. But if you want me to come home, just tie a yellow ribbon on the fence post. Cause I know the bus is going to pass that way. And if I see the yellow ribbon on the fence post, I'll know that you want me to come home. So the kids, they were all excited. As the bus continued on its journey and got closer and closer to this man's town, they got more excited. They wanted to see what had happened. They wanted to see was there a yellow ribbon on the. On the fence post. So the bus had to go via his street. And as it turned the corner and it came down the street, they saw all the trees covered in yellow. Yellow everywhere. Yellow everywhere. Clearly they wanted the husband, the father, to come home. The kids cheered. Of course, you know, my friends, God has covered your street yellow. He wants you to come home. He wants you to be part of his forever empire. He's got yellow everywhere for you. Cause he loves you. He wants you to be part of this thing that's going to last forever. And all you and I need to do is like that old thief on the cross, like that demoniac full of demons. We just have to say, lord, I need Jesus. I need Christ. I want this Jesus to take my life. Lord, I want to follow you. I want to be your follower. I want to give you my life. The moment we come to Christ and we mean it and we say, lord Jesus, I don't have the willpower. But you have the power to control my will. Lord, I don't. I don't feel that I'm worthy. No, you're not worthy. But I make you worthy because I died for you in my sight. You're worth everything. You're worthy because I love you. Come, be part of my forever kingdom. You know, my friends, the King is coming soon. Jesus is about to return. We are almost home. We've seen many indicators that this world is running out of time. We've seen those three beasts and what they're up to. We've seen what God is up to and how he's transforming lives, calling people to Himself. We've seen the various signs and Jesus is saying to us, I'm coming soon. I want you in my forever home. Won't you give your life to Jesus? Won't you say yes to him in all those areas he's talking about to you about? Let's bow together in prayer. Oh Father, we want to thank youk for this great home that yout're preparing for your children. Because youe love us, Lord. Today, those who are watching, those who are listening right now, if they've not yet made a full commitment to Jesus right now, may they put their life in the hand of Jesus. You love them, Lord, you have a place, you have their name on it there in your great heavenly mansion home, Lord, may they say yes to you right now in Jesus wonderful name. Amen. Well, we're so glad that you were with us in this last countdown Back to the Future presentation. If you want to watch the series again, well, you know what to do. Just go to 3 ABN and they'll be able to direct you where you can watch the series again or invite someone else to watch the series. This will help you in your journey with God. If we don't, you don't see me again. I'll look for you in that better land. Because Jesus said, I've got a home for all of you. I want to be there. And I'm sure you want to be there, too. Make that commitment every day for Jesus. Every day. God bless you.
