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The New Jerusalem | Messianic Revelation Teaching | The Revelation | Is the New Jerusalem Heaven?
March 19, 2022

The New Jerusalem | Messianic Revelation Teaching | The Revelation | Is the New Jerusalem Heaven?

Join us as we continue our study of the Book of Revelation. This week we dive into the culmination of John’s vision which is the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is the cosmic portrayal of heaven on earth where God dwells intimately with mankind. Inside, the tree of life blossoms, providing healing and restoration while outside, those who have distanced themselves from citizenship. What can we learn from these chapters and how do they apply to us today?


Transcript: Welcome that helps right shabbat shalom everybody all right uh we are so excited that you’re here today if this is your

first time visiting or if this is your first time watching online gus thank you for joining us here at
founded in truth fellowship uh well the end is near
um we have taken a bit of an exhaustive trip through the letter of revelation
the apocalypse of john and hopefully hopefully it’s been an edifying uh journey i hope so the intent was of
course to hopefully get you to
view the book of revelation through a different lens that uh in the u.s specifically we don’t like to
view it in we typically love to look through the lens of fear and excitement
and like end of the world and everyone’s going to die but there’s heaven so
that’s good too and that’s that’s not at all the intention of the letter when john
wrote it nor the contents in it it was meant to be a letter of resistance
that encouraged believers to solidify their loyalty to jesus as king
and not compromise when faced with the trials of the empire
the worldly empires that would bring against them and it was a letter of encouragement to tell them that despite looking outside
and seeing the world on fire with with with hell um
jesus is in charge yeshua is on the throne he is our king and don’t doubt that
do not doubt that the things that are going on outside are not as they appear
hence the word apocalypses or revelation uh the revealing of what is actually
happening uh in the spiritual realm if you will or or in the heavens um
so yeah so this journey through revelation has taken us through the reality of what took place on the cross
the line of judah um did wasn’t a line at all when john turned and looked it was a lamb slain
blood everywhere standing in victory in the throne room of god this was the scene when yeshua
riffing off of daniel 7 where the son of man has a ridden on the clouds of heaven to the throne room of god to taken his
seat as king over the eternal kingdom and and this is the prophecy of the line of judah right the one who holds the
scepter but here it is a lamb that conquered through shedding its blood
and the lamb calls its conqueror or its followers to overcome like he has to
conquer the lamb opens the scroll judgments are poured out the followers of the lamb
endure throughout this time period and they do it by mimicking yeshua in the way of yeshua
we know in the story there is a climactic battle
and and the believers come and it says that they conquered the dragon they conquer
satan through the blood of the lamb and the word of his testimony and at the end we just kind of reviewed
that satan’s defeated that’s timeline of the story of revelation satan is defeated he’s thrown down with
the rest of the unholy trinity the beast and the false prophet into the lake of fire and now we’re going to jump into
revelation 21 and uh and we’re just gonna dive in so if you return with me to revelation
chapter 21 verse one we’re just gonna dive in because there is so much going on here and what
i love about the apocalyptic genre that john is writing in here reflecting
on his visions it is just explosive it’s explosive i i
mean i can’t imagine what would happen if he would if this was a painting there would be so many vibrant colors so many
different scenes compacted on top of one another uh it’s beautiful and so we’re gonna start in revelation 21 verse one
then i saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more
i also saw the holy city the new jerusalem coming down out of heaven from god prepared like a bride adorned for
her husband then i heard a loud voice from the throne look
god’s dwelling is with humanity and he will live with them they will be his peoples and god himself will be with
them and will be their god he will wipe away every tear from their eyes death will be no more grief crying pain will
be no more because the previous things have passed away then the one seated on the throne said
look i am making all things new he also said right because these words
are faithful and true then he said it is done i am the alpha and omega the
beginning and the end i will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the
water of life the one who overcomes or the one who conquers will inherit these things
and i will be his god and he will be my son but the cowards the faithless the
detestable the murderers the sexually immoral the sorcerers the idolaters and all liars their share will be in the
lake that burns with fire and sulfur which is the second death a lot’s going on there right we go from
new creation with no death no tears to hell you know like just everything from
one end of the spectrum of the other is right here just in these opening verses and so this is the final vision of new
creation um this is how this is like the beginning of the end of john’s entire
letter and you could also say it’s the beginning of the end of the story of the entire bible
reflect on that for a minute this is how the bible ends the entire
story story starting in genesis 1 the entire story through the narrative of israel the entire story of exile and the
promises amidst exile that god promises and then the climactic fulfillment of
those promises found in yeshua and here we are here we go and john looks up and he sees
a new heavens and a new earth there’s no more sea poor fish
octopus has to live in a tree now it and then he sees the city of god the new
jerusalem coming down from heaven so much going on here so first things
first new heavens and new earth the first heaven and earth had passed away
and when we read this um we typically have this image in our mind like we tend to see this phrase and think okay so the
old earth and the sky just got thrown in the trash like we’ve done it done away with it it’s fine it’s
thrown in the trash can and finally god sends a replacement
right he sends a replacement earth and a replacement heaven like we messed this one up so bad
and we just can’t wait for it to be gone and for god to give us a new one like heaven right but but it’s
earth and the bible however tends to not paint that picture
it’s not really what it’s portraying the bible does not teach that salvation
occurs when god finally throws this world away and gives us a brand new one
no the pursuit has always been that this world creation genesis 1 is where god
seeks to dwell with man here this one man messed it up
and in the end guess what man is going to be resurrected in new physical bodies here on earth
and in more evangelical circles the focus of faith has really become all
about escapism you know that’s really the the point of jesus coming and the point of our faith and the mission of our faith is that
we would become saved so that we could escape this world one day and go to heaven
um and and the reality is is that god what god is really doing in the bible is he’s
not providing us a way for us to escape earth and go to heaven he’s providing a way for him to bring heaven down to earth
and that’s always been the plan um and so
and so yeah what what what i want to to focus on here um being emphasized is when you see new
heaven and new earth i want you to think about creation being resurrected just as paul
talks about in romans 8. he talks about creation being resurrected
the word here uh in greek for new is kainos and it means new
but not in reference to time but in reference to quality newness and quality so when john’s
writing here he used this word new and he says i saw a new heaven and a new earth
again this is the resurrection of everything that had been corrupted
and so instead of in our minds picturing this old earth that’s corrupt and bad and and just can’t wait for it to go
away being thrown and then poof a new one coming imagine the old one fading away in on
itself and being reborn out of itself like a phoenix out of the fires
that old moldy piece of bread imagine that green fuzz being done away
it’s gone the the the hardness of the texture and the bread the density
begins to soften in on itself it begins to puff up you see the steam
coming off of it as if it just came back out of the oven
it is a new loaf it is a new heavens and a new earth quality the quality
the perfected vision of everything that god did in genesis 1 when he created everything so that he
could dwell with mankind has now come to pass it is back it has been renewed
this edenic vision has come to pass and i love the poetic vision of that
because again we think okay it’s just thrown away and we get a new one can’t wait to leave this earth to go get a new one no it’s it’s always been a
working of the same creation that god has been rushing in to rescue and
resurrect just like he’s been rushing in to rescue you so that you would be resurrected as well right it’s all of
creation uh and i love that i love that it’s it’s it’s almost as if there’s a marriage of heaven and earth going on
here and and this is this is it
but we also notice there are some things missing the octopus has a problem there’s no c
anymore in this now revelation is apocalyptic literature
all of it’s symbolic right we’ve established that throughout the whole book um so no c
um what is this trying to say what is john trying to portray here uh well
through throughout this letter believers have had to decide whether they’re going to bear witness
with loyalty to christ as king or compromise into kneeling before the empower of the beast right
and this brings on persecution from the system of the beast even death but they stand boldly
and um and they do not uh move here they they they continue to
endure um and so that’s really the entirety of the scope here of when it’s speaking about
these things and so when you see c well we know in revelation 13 the c is the origin the cosmic origin of evil in
revelation the sea comes up in the old testament narrative the sea is also representation of not only a place of
death but a place of chaos the chaotic waters it’s the place where the mythological monster of chaos leviathan
finds its home and so many scholars believe that when there’s no sea here
it’s referencing back to the old testament narrative that everything that is disorder everything
that is tohu vivohu everything that causes chaos that is against the order
of god dwelling with man is now taken away pretty cool explanation
there it’s awesome i love it there’s another explanation that is neat
too and they could overlap uh and that one is another another realm another set of opinions
is that uh since babylon throughout revelation is depicted as
this city of wealth that has imports trade imports of luxurious things
throughout the sea then this is a cue of the destruction of the economy of babylon they no longer
can trade they no longer can have imports and exports and thrive on their
wealth instead we see another city new jerusalem that comes down out of heaven
and there are no trades that are going on there are no things being imported no everything all of the benefits it has
come from within the life-giving river that comes out of it the tree that bears fruit of healing
and all of it is freely given all of it is freely given and so you have two different opposing types of
economies that’s uh that’s that’s going on here
so yeah i love that that’s so good um we have let’s see so when we have we’ve
got to get through this first section and we’ll get some neat my favorite part part um we have we have john talking about in
reminiscings of this new creation and of course if you’re familiar with prophecies of the old testament the
first verse that you’re going to think of is of course isaiah chapter 65 which makes mention of new creation
happening this is what john is drawing from isaiah chapter 65 verses 16 and 17
verse 17 it says see i will create new heavens and a new earth the former things will not be remembered nor were
they come to mind this is what john is pulling from to conclude his vision and the context of
this chapter in isaiah prophesies about a restored israel in a restored heavens
and earth the old world is filled with weeping and mourning and all of that fades away again like a
phoenix born out of the flames and this new world emerges
with god’s peace and the only thing it contains is joy and gladness is just overwhelmed in this
in this world described in isaiah which of course links to this section of revelation there will never be an infant that dies
old age will no longer be the mascot of death either
the house that you build will be the one that you live in not someone else
now we think okay well what’s that have to do with anything or again this is an exhilarate prophecy it speaks about a
time when israel will no longer be oppressed by enemies of the world there would no longer be exile they will be
able to remain in their land the promised land of god and when they build a house they’ll actually be able to stay in it
and actually be able to give it to their to their offspring which is something that they hadn’t experienced for the longest time here
death and violence will be eliminated in this new heavens and new earth no living creature will live at the expense of
another and this is an important principle because this is what the beast in
revelation or humans in general let’s be honest this is how we thrive this is how we gain
wealth this is how we climb any type of work ladder we view success in triumph as being only
obtained at the expense of others some way or somehow and here in isaiah 65 25 it speaks about
this new heavens and the earth by saying this it talks about a wolf and a lamb we’re familiar with this right the wolf
and the lamb will feed together and the lion will eat straw like an ox and dust will be the serpent’s food they
will neither harm nor destroy on any ho on on all my holy mountains as the lord
the lion in this new world this is how isaiah paints the reality of what god is going
to do one day the lion will be a vegan
why what’s the principle because no one not even animals live at the
expense of others you do not live at the expense or harm
or death of any other living creature in this new kingdom it is eden restored
and so john is referencing these prophecies as fueling this vision in revelation god is doing something now
even though it does not seem like it and he’s going to bring forth a world
that can only be described as having vegan lions in it which speaks volumes
speaks volumes in john’s description he focuses a lot uh also on stuff that isn’t there um again
um you know the sea what is the sea uh we already discussed
that um babylon depended on its luxurious
importation of goods and that type of way of viewing success and
wealth in the world is being taken away and so we have that section we’re going
to jump over to verse 9 and now john is going to see a more detailed vision of this city
that’s falling out of heaven then one of the seven angels who had held the seven bowls
filled with the seven last plagues came and spoke with me says come i will show you the bride
the wife of the lamb he then carried me away in spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the
holy city jerusalem coming down out of heaven from god a raid in god’s glory her radiance was like a precious jewel
like a jasper stone clear as crystal the city had a massive high wall and 12
gates 12 angels were at the 12 gates and the names of the 12 tribes of israel
sons were inscribed on the gates and there were three gates on the east three gates in the north three gates in the
south and three gates on the west the city wall had 12 foundations and 12
names of the 12 apostles of the lamb were on the foundations what number is popping out here about
this new jerusalem 12 right it’s very similar from when we uh we spoke about the 144 000 right and
everything that represented which begs the question is this new jerusalem a what or a who
but right now more importantly so who is the bride of christ
well paul says it’s you in second corinthians 11 in ephesians 5 but john says it’s the city
it’s the city it’s a bunch of bricks adorned like a bride this will be the
wife of the lamb i love that again this is apocalyptic i call it poetic
literature it’s very explosive uh symbolism that’s meant to drive home a much deeper meaning behind it
now this is also a prophecy that’s spoken about in isaiah 62. and in isaiah 62
it begins by describing zion right the holy city of god and it describes her as this you will be a crown of splendor in
the lord’s hand a royal diadem in the hand of your god as a young man marries
a young woman so will your builder marry you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride
so will your god rejoice over you so isaiah 62 we have a reference of jerusalem becoming the bride of god as
well the new jerusalem is described as being 12 000 stadia
with its length height and width all equal it has 12 gates
each of them with the name of a tribe of israel on them and the walls are so tall
this city if if it actually lands on earth what is this like 15 what 100 miles thousand miles tall it’s
in space the city’s in space uh it’s neat
and it has these huge walls huge walls but the gates are fastened open 24 7
never to be shut and john goes on to say that there’s no temple in the city
because god and the lamb are its temple
the entire city has become a type of throne room and only those written in the lamb’s
book of life may enter in so here we have a depiction here in romans chapter 21 verse 25 it speaks
about the the gates never closing it says its gates will never close by day because it will never be night there
isn’t that neat so the depiction is there’s no need for a sun or a moon because
the radiance from the lamb shoots out from the city
and you only close the gates at night right so i guess the gates are just never going to close
that’s the it’s yeah okay thank you yeah it’s kind of neat yeah of course not why would they close right
they will never close the purpose they will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it
nothing unclean will ever enter it nor anyone who does what is detestable or false but only those written in the
lamb’s book of life 24 7 gates why so the nations can bring forth honor and
glory into it isn’t that neat so you have this city
that is labeled israel the gates are always open and the nations are the ones that bring glory
and honor into it it’s a gathering place for all the nations to give glory to the lamb
but let’s see if we can piece all these elements to lover to together because i almost wanted to get
one of those and so most some of you don’t even know what this is the transparency paper
projectors some of us remember those when we were little kids right and and for those of
you who don’t it looked like this robot with this like like crane kind of top and a light and you
never knew how to focus it but it was always it was always shaking when you anyway so you put these transparent
pieces of paper on them and you could tell stories so you’d have one piece of paper that would have like an image of a
dinosaur and it would shoot the image of the dinosaur on the wall and then you could come and like get a picture of
flintstones or something and put it like on top and you’d see both images right because it would be transparent
and that’s exactly what i thought about if all of the details that john’s speaking about the new jerusalem just paper on top of paper on top of overlay
and overlay i love that so creation has evolved and been
resurrected to life in a way that has always been promised to god this city appears and the city is equal
in width and height and length right it’s the perfect cube right with that scifi movie
perfect cube that comes out of heaven and what’s neat is
there’s there’s one other space throughout the story of israel in the
bible that has the same ratio of being equal equal equal equal and it’s found in
first kings chapter 6 verse 19 and it speaks about king solomon when he’s building this glorious temple to yahweh
okay god’s temple and it speaks about him building the holiest of holies and it says this in verse 19.
he prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the lord there
the inner sanctuary was 20 cubits long by 20 cubits wide by 20 cubits high
and he overlaid the inside with pure gold and he also overlaid the altar of cedar
so you have the same ratio found in scripture of the city of jerusalem the new jerusalem
in the holiest of holies the place where god’s presence wasn’t
limited or restricted in its essence it’s where his glory dwelled in exodus 27 and 30 the uh two altars
and since in the outer altar were also square shapes the uh breastplate of the high priest
same thing equal length and height
the city in its measurement mimics the place where god’s true presence dwelled in the temple i love that
the city is twelve thousand stadium about twelve thousand by twelve thousand by twelve thousand and how many gates
twelve twelve tribes twelve foundation stones twelve twelve twelve another layer it’s
adorned with every type of precious stone 12 stones are mentioned kind of like the 12 stones worn by the high
priest that represented who the 12 tribes the the people of god
and the city here is referred to as the bride of the lamb so here we have one city
and we’re going to take a pen and we’re going to put a pin in it and we’re going to turn our focus to
another city i’m going to slide over to revelation chapter 18
and this is speaking of the city of babylon also known as the harlot of revelation
first chapter 18 verse 9 when the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her speaking of the harlot who is the
city of babylon and shared her luxury when they see the smoke of her burning
they will weep and mourn over her terrified at her torment they will stand far off and cry whoa whoa to you great
city you mighty city of babylon in one hour your doom has come the merchants of the earth will weep and
mourn over her because no one buys their cargos anymore cargos of gold and silver
and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet cloth every sort of citron wood and
articles of every kind made of ivory and costly wood bronze iron marble cargos of
cinnamon and spice everything nice of incense and myrrh and frankincense of
wine and olive oil a fine flower and wheat cattle and sheep horses and carriages and human beings sold as
slaves this is the fall of babylon
and this this city is being described here the city of babylon also known as
not the beautiful bride that’s made ready but a
the of babylon the prostitute in revelation 17 she’s described as
being clothed in fine linen purple and scarlet she is also adorned with gold and
precious stones all over pearls and she has a golden cup and she’s made drunk with the blood of
the saints she’s described as the woman the world
wants not the one that god seeks and the description here isn’t simply
clothing it’s not simply jewels it’s the entire economy of the beast
her wealth is what she wears this is why so many of the earth sleep
with her and commit adultery with her it’s all metaphor
and and unfortunately sometimes we get so zealous in how we interpret the bible
and specifically with this one ignorance overflows with this one um so we see that the prostitute of
revelation wears a lot of things lots of jewelry lots of pearls lots of fine just
necklaces all kinds of stuff gold cup with saints blood in it um but we tend to just see like oh okay she’s
wearing scarlet and purple clothing and so what do we do as good google searchers
we go and we search famous people who wear purple and scarlet
you will find queen a queen of england queen elizabeth you will find her
wearing an outfit that she wore one day and someone took a picture that had purple and scarlet in
it i found the woman of revelation
and then you keep searching princess diana also was photographed taking
while she was wearing two colors but we like her so she can’t be it right
it’s just yeah it’s uh it’s crazy how much we want
to take an image that is supposed to represent an entire community not even a community
an entire way of the world and we like to personify it with one person right or we search around and
we’re like oh the cardinals of the catholic church wear red on their outfits
nailed it and it’s like no no um someone someone having a religious
attire that represents the blood of christ does not we
we sometimes need to stop reading scripture as a way to weaponize it and point fingers at other people
um because maybe a more humbling pursuit would be instead of looking at everyone else who wears like a red shirt this way
haley is that purple babylon right instead of taking the
bible and using it as a way to weaponize against other people to make yourself feel more righteous maybe a more humble pursuit would be to
look at the economy that you engage in on a daily basis and evaluate who has really slept with the of
revelation
what is your daily workflow in pursuit of the things that you do every day
how do you get the things that you want in life and what are you willing to do or turn a
blind eye to in order to get those things what are you willing to support and
justify to have the things that you want in life
what would you mourn for in life if it was taken away
because here when babylon is destroyed the merchants mourn
they’re crying because they can no longer profit off of
things like human slavery and act the exploitation of other people
on the earth they mourn because no one is left to buy the most luxurious clothing
the most costly supplies the empire that fueled an economy that orbited things
and possessions and luxury and vanity an empire that was structured in a way
where justice is flexible in the face of luxury
it has been defeated because here babylon is not a person nor
is it an organization it’s a spirit that is held close by the kings and the
people of the earth
yeah not so quick to point fingers now huh
john’s vision here is drawing from very familiar elements found in ezekiel chapter 27 and 28
where where the prophet speaks of tyre this very very very wealthy city north of israel
he speaks as of tyre as being described as dressed in purple and fine linen
the picture of an ungodly economic system personified dressed in luxurious
clothes of trade products ezekiel goes on to give a figurative
vision of an unnamed king of tyre that is driving this entire system in
ezekiel 28 and some of you are very familiar with this section of scriptures this poem here
ezekiel 28 11 through 19 it describes this unnamed king of tyre and this king
is influencing this type of economy that seeks to produce wealth at the expense
of others that sells the idea of money and jewels as only the only form of
success that someone can actually have and that this economy also exploits
weaker people groups through violence to obtain it when ezekiel has this vision
he intentionally blends it with elements of eden and adam and mankind making it
again this beautiful formulated vision and we’re going to read it here in ezekiel chapter 28 we’re going to start
at verse 11. i’m not sure if i put all the slides in but we’ll just read it all the way through real quick the word of the lord came to me son of
man take up a lament concerning the king of tyre and say to him this is what the sovereign lord says
you were sealed of perfection you were in eden the garden of god every precious
stone adorned you all of these stones your settings and mountings were made of gold on that day
you were created they were prepared you were the anointed
as the guardian cherub for so i ordained you you were on the holy mountain of god and
you walked between the fiery stones you were blameless in your ways from the day that you were created to wickedness was
found in you through your widespread trade you were filled with violence and you
sinned so i drove you in disgrace from the mount of god and i expelled you guardian cherub from among the fiery
stones your heart became proud on account of your beauty and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor so
i threw you to the earth i made a spectacle of all before kings
by your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuary so i made a fire come out from you and it
consumed you and i reduced you to ashes on the ground and the sight of all who were watching all the nations who knew
you are appalled at you you have come to a horrible end and will be no more
it’s speaking of humanity by using the story of the fall of adam and slightly transforming it a bit to
illustrate what it looks like when fallen mankind feels its strongest but is destined to
fail fall because of it many of you have read this chapter
and someone has told you it speaks of satan and there’s not a that is one opinion
it seems more likely it’s speaking of the first priest in the cosmic garden of god uh at the
beginning of the bible which was of course adam here it’s a little bit different telling you have this mountain of god this
temple presence where this guardian or cherub is walking between the fires of stone ministering to the lord
but and then again there’s an overlay here of the trading and the wickedness
and the dishonesty that’s going on and it’s all portrayed as the king of tyre
which surrounds the chapters before it in here it’s really neat what ezekiel did here
but yeah it’s an overlay of the fall of adam adam means mankind so here we have kind of a twist in the story this is the
human story of the things that were ordained to do but that we would rather pursue
wickedness and face the consequences than to maintain our righteous charge in the
mountain of god and john uses this imagery
in revelation to describe the harlot of babylon or babylon itself
and so on one side we have the pen over here we have the new jerusalem
new jerusalem portrayed as a bride and as a temple and
the place where god’s spirit dwells and representing the people of god 12 12
12 12 12. and on this side you have the city of babylon portrayed as this
corrupt harlot and the question is
when john’s pulling all these elements together which one do you align yourself with
and of course all of us are like oh a new jerusalem of course but again
again the picture of the king of tyre the picture of
the system that clothes itself in linen and purple and scarlet jewels
doesn’t this look attractive babylon says come to bed with me i will give you what you want
do we align ourselves with the new jerusalem which represents the people the righteous people of god
which is only allowed to enter in if you have pure hearts it has an environment of justice
righteousness but it’s only for those who are loyal to the lamb there’s no darkness no corrupt
things no liars that say they’re loyal to yeshua but are not
no sexually important no sexually impure no no sexually immoral
and no sorcerers are allowed in here as well
sorcerers you guys know about that word sorcery in revelation
we’re going to get off an exit ramp so we know this word sorcery in revelation if we look at it it’s the
word pharmakia pharmakia josh didn’t look at me sideways i think i pronounced it correctly pharmakia it’s pharmakia right
and and here people who practice pharmakia are not allowed to enter the new jerusalem
in revelation 18 23 it says the harlot deceives all the
nations with her sorcery her pharmakia um
and just a heads up this is how not to interpret the bible okay the prostitute will deceive many
with pharmakia and pharmakia is where we get
a word that didn’t exist for long in the future but it’s where we get our word pharmacy
therefore if you take an advil
you will never enter the gates of the city of god where the lamb is in fact
you will be thrown into the lake of fire that’s what it says
those who practice pharmakia taking pharmaceuticals
modern medicine will go to hell
did you get that tetanus shot as a kid hell type one diabetic needing that insulin
hell you no no you should have taken that cinnamon doterra oil instead
they’re on bogo right now if you want to join my downline
you’ve been treated for cancer going to hell antibiotic for that for that cold or whatever you
had you are a partaker of sorcery guys we can be better than this
because i have heard and i’ve been taught that this is what revelation is speaking
about this is the context of sorcery we can be better than that
the world rejects christianity because they hate god no i don’t think so i think the world rejects christianity because they hate us
and they hate us not for the right reasons
the greek word for power that is constantly translated in the new testament is dunamis
dunamas it’s an awesome dunamas i refer my greek scholar over here
dunamas power great power i think we have some verses here we’re going to look at luke chapter 6 verse 19 right
the whole crowd was trying to touch him this is speaking of jesus of yeshua because power came out of him
and healed them all right the woman with the issue of blood she reached with her faith and hope and
grabbed the hem of his garment and it says that he felt power go out from before him and something about that he
turned and said who touched me he knew someone touched him right dunamas is kind of the root it’s where
we get the word dynamite from so let’s apply this same hermeneutic
please do you know why yeshua knew someone touched him
because she blew up
the whole crowd was trying to touch him because dynamite came out from him provide healing from all second
corinthians 10 verse 4 since the weapons of our warfare are not of flesh but are powerful
through god for the demolition of strongholds it fits
therefore it has to be the proper no it’s not talking about dynamite
no sorcery and revelation is not talking about advil or life-saving medicine or even medicine that you don’t think is life-saving has nothing to do with that
in the septuagint the greek old testament the bible which is the bible the churches in asia
minor would have been reading in in nahum chapter 3 verse 4 it speaks
about assyria and it says all because of the many harlotries of the harlot the charming
one the mistress of sorceries pharmakia who sells nations by her horror trees
and families by her sorceries this is a prophecy about assyria
and it’s using the same word here and we know that ancient assyria
was not trying to attack israel by attempting to vaccinate them
it’s they weren’t trying to give them cholesterol medicine when they invaded
israel isaiah 47 speaks of the fall of babylon
of of judgment for and it receives judgment for its sorcery
exodus chapter 7 verse 11 says the sorcerers of egypt imitated the plague of god using secret
arts guess what greek word that is in the septuagint they turned rivers into blood with
pepto-mismo i’m beating a dead horse but
i feel like i need to we need to be very careful
when we choose to handle the words of god this library inspired by the holy spirit
of the living god and when we force ourselves onto it
and we twist it and we ravage it
it’s never a good witness never
and it’s usually for the sole reason to try to make us look like self-appointed prophets
kamala harris wore purple dress at the inauguration gotta be babylon
we don’t want to take medicine or don’t agree with it it’s in revelation
we make stuff up and it’s embarrassing but it’s also very
dangerous because this letter of warning and resistance of the works of satan
is one that starts in our heart not by finding symbolism and pointing at
that or this or that or she wore this dress and it’s a certain color and now no it’s one that starts in our heart it’s one that starts with repentance
inside it starts with evaluating whether or not we truly stand as an ambassador of the
king who sits on the throne and if we’re all just going to sum it up
as being about tylenol then who are we truly an ambassador for
when we misuse the letter that’s supposed to cause repentance to the world
there are two cities the city of god the bride and the harlot
love this revelation 19 7 speaking about the rejoicing that’s happening because
the bride of the lamb is being revealed this is two chapters before talking about the new jerusalem
and it says this for the wedding of the lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready fine linen bright and clean were given to her and then john
puts a footnote he says fine lemon stands for the righteous acts of god’s holy people
fine linen so in previous weeks what type of clothing do we get if we
overcome in the name of the lamb what color white oh look the bride gets white clothing
too so we have the bride here representing the saints and then the city represents
the 12 tribes or the people of god which makes up all nations all tongues all tribes all people lured to the lamb
just like the 144 000 it’s described as the bride of christ it’s depicted as the temple guys the new jerusalem i would suggest
represents you it represents the people of god
hopefully anyway it represents the believers who refuse to compromise
or those who don’t trick ourselves into thinking they can
in the form of self-righteous holiness peter understood this he understood this concept about
you and i making up the dwelling place of god’s spirit and first peter 2 5. you
also like living stones are built up into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood offering
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to god through jesus christ so we have peter and then we have paul in 2 corinthians 11
at the church looking at the churches and reading the churches
and telling them that they are the place that makes up the dwelling place for god because god dwells among
man you are the temple collectively representing the 12 tribes you are the
place that god rules the world through you are the bride and you also have paul looking into
these same people and telling them in second corinthians 5 17 he says this about new creation he says therefore if
anyone is in christ the new creation has come the old has gone the new is here all this is from god who reconciled us
to himself through christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that god was reconciling the world to himself not
counting people’s sins against them and he has committed to us the message of reconciliation
so we have isaiah 65 speaking about this prophecy that’s going to come in the future where god is going to do something grand and the resurrection
will come to all creation and then you have john in this portrayal of the end of the age when god is in all
in all and all and he says hey guys the new heavens and the earth will be rebirthed as this
place that it was always meant to be with god dwelling with man but here comes paul
not skipping a beat saying guys if you’re in christ new creation has come the old is gone
the new is here which one is it
which one is it i would dare say i would dare say that paul here ii
corinthians paul was not encouraging people to simply wait on new creation to come
paul seemed convinced that new creation had already been inaugurated with the life death and resurrection of jesus
christ and if you have been raised to life in yeshua
you are looking at the world differently you see everything and everyone through the lens of what took place on the cross
you are viewing the world through the lenses of new creation heaven has crashed into earth
and here paul is actually quoting isaiah 65 the same verse that john is quoting
new creation the former things are gone yeah but paul’s not saying the new is
actually here no it’s exactly what he says the newest come the new is here
matt are you saying that there won’t be a final day when the actualization of new creation happens in the end of the
ages no i’m not saying that at all i’m convinced it will
but yeshua resurrected first but there will be a final culmination of
the resurrection with all of us new creation has been inaugurated now
through yeshua it is here but it is still yet to come
and i think there will be a culmination of all of the promises of god i believe yeshua will literally return
here i believe there will be a literal resurrection of all of you or hopefully
you and i believe there will be a literal fulfillment of the type of world
that the scriptures promise will come but here’s the thing okay everybody
heard that people are going to mishear me i believe all of that is going to come
but here’s the thing this is not what paul was excited about when he was writing to corinth
he was not excited about the future new creation that’s coming one day and one day everything’s going to be great and one day the world will be filled with
joy one day no he’s not excited at all about that when he’s writing this section
and there are some of you here today that want so badly for some future utopia to come which i believe it will
but listen there are some of you here today that are so focused on some future divine
utopia to come that you ignore the joy and the hope and the power of what christ did for you now
you don’t have to wait for new creation to experience it now
some of you are waiting until you die to experience eternal life
no i don’t believe it starts when you die i believe it starts when you’re raised to life in the spirit of god i believe it starts now and it transcends
death it starts now in the hope of yeshua
you don’t have to wait on the resurrection from death to life you could
you colossians 3 chapter 1. here we go since you have been raised to new life
in christ resurrection language set your sights and the realities of heaven the facts of what is actually going on right
now where christ sits in the place of honor at god’s right hand guess who’s king and ruling and reigning right now
and that’s the reality think about the things of heaven not the things of earth for you died to
this life and your real life is hidden with christ in god and when christ who is your life is revealed to the whole
world you will share in his glory paul is not denying that there will be a
fullness of physical resurrection in the future but what he’s trying to encourage people with in the world that they live in
right now is that a type and shadow of that resurrection has already taken place in your relationship with christ when
you have died to this world and risen again in a new life some of us are walking through life
unsatisfied with the lifestyle of babylon but we endure it because we don’t think that the spirit the life the
vitality and the power of yeshua is available to us right now
and if that’s you today if that’s you today i have some great news for you
great news for you you do have access
to the things of heaven right now
do you know why because you know the reality of who sits
on the throne just like paul just said which means you have something called hope
do you have hope today some of you do some of you say you do
but as believers that is the very thing that drives everything in our life
is the hope of the promises of god that we have obtained a foretaste of
that is what drives us in everything that we do in our life or at least it’s supposed to
hope is no small thing hope equips you with the confidence to walk out of these
doors today not as someone who’s trapped in babylon but as a citizen of the new jerusalem
the new jerusalem world darkness never enters the new jerusalem where the lamb walks
the new jerusalem where the presence of the eternal god makes its dwelling place
i believe the city of god is literally coming some which way or another
but i believe we bear witness of it as a reality that is accessible now
if that is our hope how is us living our everyday lives reflecting that
and paul’s whole thing about realizing not that you are a new creation that’s
not what he says in his letter to corinth although that’s cool you’re a new creation no it says that if you are in
christ new creation doesn’t say you blanket statement if you’re in christ
bam the new creation new creation
if you are in christ then all you see is the fact that he reigns and new creation exists
even if the world does not see it or recognize it but this should also affect how you act
it also affects what you do when you go outside it also puts something that we don’t
like it also puts responsibility on you if you claim to be a follower of yeshua
it’s a responsibility now to be an ambassador of the kingdom that the world doesn’t see of the kingdom that’s not here yet but it is
the kingdom of god see even though
it’s painted in such a way i like to think of course the future
reality of the new jerusalem is absolutely literal but again here’s the thing
when john was writing this letter the letter of revelation to the churches of asia minor inside the empire
they actualized its existence in their communities
they mimicked what they hoped for what they knew was coming
the new jerusalem we know it’s coming are you mimicking that the place that is
always shining light where no liars that said that they
followed christ but didn’t are exhibited no bad things
well gates are always open to bring in the nations and all of it is birthed because of the
defeat of the dragon and the beast through the blood of the lamb
this is th this is the great reversal
instead of humans building up a city up to heaven god brings the city down to earth
but the cowards the faithless the detestable the murderers the sexual immoral the sorcerers the idolaters and
all liars their share will be in the lake of fire with sulfur which is the second death
here’s the thing guys here’s the thing
these things do not belong in the kingdom of god these things
in your life bar you from ever entering the place of the new jerusalem according to john
these things separate you from the presence of god and the presence of the lamb
these are the vices of the empire of the beast
liars the cowards and faithless ones those who have committed to yeshua but fear man
more than god so they compromise detestable abominations
guys get those things out of your life sexually immoral fornicators
the word here is possibly culturally linked back to temple prostitution but also carries a type of idolatry to
lust sexual desire or exploitation of people through objectifying them
objectifying images of god to be sex objects
to use for your own desire these people
do not enter through the gates of the new jerusalem where the presence of the lamb is
sorcerers in egypt and in babylon according to scripture sorcery was used
to advise the king on how to lead the empire sorcery was an imperial term
political divination if you will idolatry out of worship
i don’t worship any idols what do you give your life to then what pursuits do you have in your
life where is your worship focused
i don’t know i come here once a week raise my hands a little bit do you guys know how to identify
where your worship or or where you’re worth ship what you give worth to do you know how to identify that where you put
your resources time money energy that’s that’s how you identify what the the most meaningful things in life are
um which is usa where your treasure is your heart will be also where is your money
that’s where your focus is that’s where your loyalty is that’s where the things are that you give
everything to where does your time go where does your energy go towards
maybe it’s maybe it’s not an idol but it’s a pretty good indicator of a direction
these are the vices of the empire that are opposed to god’s kingdom they cannot coexist inside the city of
god nor the kingdom of god why not because they’re opposed to the very reign of the king
they are cast into the lake of fire along with the ones they serve the beast
the false prophet and the devil himself
so guys i don’t know where you’re at today
but we know a new jerusalem is coming we know the culmination of the realities
and the promises of god and yeshua will fully overtake the world one day
but we’ll called to live it out now if we’re in christ we have the lenses of
new creation on and so every person we see we don’t see someone who is an enemy
trying to kill us who hates us we see a person enslaved with sin and so we have mercy and so we show grace and so we
forgive because we know what the reality is because we lived in it when we look outside and we see hurting
and pain we don’t disregard it oh well you know what all this world’s gonna be thrown away one day and and then you new
new creation will come no no we know the reality but what are we doing to mimic and
reflect the hope that we have in the coming reality now every person we see we see through the
lenses of what took place in the cross every situation that we see we see through the lenses of what took place on
the cross every moment that we walk now we have been resurrected innocence according to
paul and we are experiencing and living in a type of new creation because of the hope that has now been instilled in us we get
a sample of it now and we have the power and authority to give a sample of it to others
or we don’t and we just say we do and we become a liar
we have hope we have the assurance and we have yeshua the river of life runs out of the city
of god and the tree of life bears fruit for healing of all nations are you living out that hope
you can enter in you can enter in to where the lamb is
the gates are open the gates are open
the lamb calls you from within come to me
but the darkness has to stay outside the things we give our energy to and the
vices we get locked into have to stay outside if we’re ever going to experience that
and so truly which city
which city one the world wants to tell you is good
one is good and above itself because this is where the lamb is so please stand as we conclude services
worship team you guys can come up we always conclude services with worship
and guys if you need prayer today we have a prayer team that will be on either side of the stage
um they are here as a resource they’re here if you need prayer for something
if you would like to if you would like to to lay something down here today and leave it here today
you can see them they will pray with you they will lift you up between the father if you’re going through a circumstance today in your life that you would just
like prayer and encouragement someone to petition alongside you before the throne
room of heaven i invite you come up for prayer avina malcano our father our king father
we thank you for this time where we meet with you on this day of rest so that we can
reinforce the rest that we have in your son yeshua the lamb the king
mother i ask that the spirit that you say is within us will give us power
will vitalize us and will allow us to see the world through the lenses of new creation through the lenses of the new
jerusalem that is coming but that yeshua demonstrated could be here as well
make us the ambassadors of your kingdom so when we love others people feel the love of
yeshua through us we thank you father for your mercy and grace and we ask that we would become
vessels of it yeshua’s name we pray amen [Music]
[Music]
oh [Music]
[Music]
oh
[Music]
hear o israel the lord is our god the lord is one blessed is the name of this glorious
kingdom for all eternity and may the god of patience and encouragement gradually grant you to be
like-minded with one another in the manner of the messiah so that together with one voice
as one body you glorify the god and father of our lord yeshua the messiah
shabbat shalom be blessed thank you i’m matthew vandrels and i hope you enjoyed this
message founder and truth exists to build a community that bears the image of god and lives the redeemed life only
yeshua gives if this message impacted you or if this ministry has been a blessing to you we invite you to take
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shalom
you
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