- 3 months ago
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:01There's a home that calls to every human heart.
00:04A promise of something better waiting on the other side of this life.
00:09Some call it a great light, others the great beyond.
00:13But for God's children, it's heaven and our forever home.
00:18A place to put down eternal roots, where you'll find life that never fades,
00:24and your every need fulfilled.
00:27Where every tear is wiped away, no more sorrow, no more pain, no more goodbyes.
00:34In their place, peace that flows like the river of life,
00:38and joy running deeper than any earthly current.
00:42All things will be renewed, including your body and strength,
00:47and every one of your steps taking you further into eternity,
00:51to the throne of the one who knows you completely,
00:54and who welcomes you home.
00:57In his presence, you'll be reminded, this is where you belong.
01:04This is the promise of heaven.
01:06The light in heaven doesn't come from fire or electricity.
01:16This light comes straight from God, because God is light,
01:20and the Lamb is the lamp.
01:22His light fills the whole city.
01:25It shines into every home and every heart, and it never, ever fades.
01:29Heaven.
01:32Just thinking about it stirs up questions.
01:35What will the celestial city look like?
01:37Will my loved ones be there?
01:38Will heaven be boring?
01:40And how do I secure my place in eternity?
01:43In The Promise of Heaven, new from Dr. David Jeremiah,
01:46you'll discover what the Bible says about your eternal home,
01:49and how what you believe about heaven today
01:51transforms how you live, worship, and face life's challenges.
01:55Explore 31 exciting reasons to look forward to heaven
01:58through short, easy-to-read chapters that answer your biggest questions,
02:02like, are my loved ones watching me from heaven?
02:05What happens to the souls of the unborn?
02:07How will we look in heaven?
02:08And more.
02:09The Promise of Heaven by Dr. Jeremiah
02:11is yours for a gift of any amount.
02:13Or for a gift of $75 or more,
02:16request The Promise of Heaven set,
02:18which contains Dr. Jeremiah's new book,
02:20his complete teaching series on CD or DVD,
02:23a correlating study guide,
02:24a special interview with Sheila Walsh on DVD,
02:27and the 10 things you may not know about heaven bookmark.
02:30Plus, when you order from Turning Point,
02:32you'll receive two exclusive bonus chapters
02:34written by Dr. Jeremiah.
02:36It's time to get excited about your eternal home.
02:39Request The Promise of Heaven book or set
02:41when you contact Turning Point today.
02:43Thank you for watching Turning Point.
02:47In appreciation of your viewership,
02:49Dr. Jeremiah would like to send you
02:51the 10 things you may not know about heaven bookmark.
02:5410 truths from God's word about your eternal home.
02:57It's yours absolutely free,
02:59just by contacting Turning Point today.
03:01And now, here is Dr. Jeremiah with his message,
03:05The Celestial City.
03:06Our world is filled with great cities.
03:12If you rank cities in the order of land space,
03:16one of our largest cities in the United States
03:19is Juneau, Alaska.
03:21It covers 3,081 square miles,
03:252,593 square miles of land,
03:28and 487 square miles of water.
03:32Juneau is larger than the entire state of Delaware.
03:35If you keep looking in the lower 48 states,
03:40Jacksonville, Florida, covers 841 square miles.
03:43I think they annexed everything they could find.
03:45And the biggest city in the USA
03:47from the standpoint of population, of course,
03:49is the Big Apple, New York City,
03:52boasting a population of nearly 8.5 million people.
03:57While New York is massive,
03:59several cities are significantly bigger.
04:01You know, Tokyo leads the way with 37 million people.
04:06Followed by Delhi with 34 million
04:09and Shanghai with 30 million,
04:11Cairo, San Paolo, Mexico City
04:14each have more than 20 million residents,
04:17proving that megacities span the globe.
04:20They're everywhere.
04:21To give all of this perspective,
04:23the largest city in A.D. 100
04:25was Rome, Italy,
04:28and the population of that largest city
04:30in the whole world was 450,000 people.
04:34Today, more than 150 Chinese cities
04:37have populations of over 1 million people.
04:41The Americas boast about 60 such cities,
04:45Europe about 35,
04:46and Africa close to 100.
04:49According to the experts,
04:51the world's urban population will grow
04:54from 4.8 billion in 2025
04:56to 5.7 billion by 2050,
05:00at which time nearly 70% of the world's inhabitants
05:04will be living in cities.
05:08It's not surprising, then,
05:10that God is designing a city
05:13as a part of the ultimate plan for his children.
05:15And the city God is building
05:18will dwarf the cities of today.
05:21Twelve times in Revelation 21 and 22,
05:25the place where God and his people
05:26will live together is called a city.
05:30This is not a figure of speech,
05:32but a reference to an actual physical place.
05:36Since we will be in our physically resurrected bodies,
05:39we will need a physical place in which to live.
05:43And the longing for a future glorious city of God
05:47can be traced all the way back to Abraham.
05:50From the book of Hebrews,
05:52we learn this about the patriarch.
05:54Hebrews 11.10 says,
05:56He waited for the city which has foundations,
06:00whose builder and maker is God.
06:03The Hebrew Christians were told,
06:06but you have come to Mount Zion
06:07and to the city of the living God,
06:11the heavenly Jerusalem,
06:12to an innumerable company of angels.
06:16In the book of Revelation, we read,
06:19He who overcomes,
06:20I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God,
06:23and he shall go out no more.
06:25I will write on him the name of my God
06:28and the name of the city of my God,
06:31the new Jerusalem,
06:32which comes down out of heaven from my God,
06:34and I will write on him my new name.
06:37Many theologians refer to the new Jerusalem
06:42as the crown of the new creation.
06:45It is paradise regained,
06:48a holy and beautiful abode
06:50of which the Garden of Eden
06:52was only an imperfect emblem.
06:55That is exactly what the new Jerusalem is.
06:58It is not heaven itself,
06:59but the incredible capital city of heaven.
07:04Revelation 21-2 says,
07:06Then I, John, saw the holy city,
07:08new Jerusalem,
07:10coming down out of heaven from God,
07:13prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
07:17The Bible says that the apostle John
07:20saw the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.
07:24He didn't say it was being created.
07:26He said it already was prepared,
07:29suggesting that the city is complete and waiting.
07:33Hebrews calls God the architect and builder of this city,
07:37Hebrews 11-10.
07:39And Hebrews 12-22 and 23 describes it
07:42as the heavenly Jerusalem.
07:45Already filled with angels,
07:47the church, God himself,
07:48right now it exists in heaven.
07:50But one day when God creates a new heaven
07:53and a new earth,
07:54this glorious city will descend
07:56and become the eternal home of his people
07:59with his throne at the center of the city.
08:03It is surely this city that our Lord was talking about
08:06when he told his disciples
08:07that if I go and prepare a place for you,
08:09I will come again and receive you unto myself,
08:12that where I am, there you may be also.
08:17Let me just try to wrap our arms around
08:19some of the details of this city.
08:21First of all, the dimensions of it.
08:24Revelation 21, 15 and 16 describes it.
08:28And he who talked with me had a gold reed
08:31to measure the city, its gates and its wall.
08:35The city is laid out as a square.
08:37Its length is as great as its breadth.
08:40And he measured the city with the reed,
08:4212,000 furlongs.
08:44Its length, breadth, and height are equal.
08:46F.W. Borum was a brilliant 20th century pastor
08:50who carefully considered the size
08:53and capacity of the great city.
08:56In one of his writings,
08:57he tells of discussing the city
09:00with a man named Tomas,
09:02who was an Australian engineer
09:04and a member of his church.
09:07Borum shared the dimensions of the celestial city
09:09with Tomas, asking him,
09:11did you ever think about the size
09:12of the city of God
09:14that he has prepared for the future?
09:17Tomas replied,
09:18man, it's amazing.
09:20It's astounding.
09:21It beats everything I ever heard of.
09:24John says that each of the walls of the city
09:26measures 12,000 furlongs.
09:28Now, if you work that out,
09:30it will give you an area
09:31of 2,250,000 square miles.
09:36Did you ever hear the like of that?
09:39London covers an area of 140 square miles,
09:42but this city,
09:44this city four square,
09:45is 15,000 times as big as London.
09:49It is 20 times as big as all New Zealand,
09:52and it's 10 times as big as Germany,
09:5510 times as big as France.
09:57It is 40 times as big as all of England,
10:00and it's ever so much bigger than India.
10:04Why, it's an enormous continent in itself,
10:06working it out on the basis
10:08of the number of people to the square mile
10:10in the city of London.
10:11The population of the city four square
10:14comes out at 100,000 million,
10:1870 times the present population
10:20of the whole world.
10:23Another writer has compared the city
10:25to the United States,
10:27and although he uses a smaller equation,
10:30for the furlong,
10:31he comes up with these analogies.
10:33If you compared it to the United States,
10:36you would measure from the Atlantic Ocean coastal line,
10:39and westward, it would mean a city
10:41from furthest Maine to furthest Florida,
10:44and from the shore of the Atlantic to Colorado.
10:48And from the United States Pacific Coast eastward,
10:51it would cover the United States
10:53as far east as the Mississippi River,
10:56with a line extending north through Chicago
10:58and continuing on the west coast
11:00to Lake Michigan up through the Canadian border.
11:03Sise is accurate when he describes it this way.
11:06All the cities in the world are mere villages
11:09in comparison with the New Jerusalem.
11:13And remember, it's a city four square.
11:16All four sides are the same length,
11:19and it is not just a city this way,
11:21it is a city that way.
11:22There are layers in this city.
11:24What does the city look like?
11:26How is it described?
11:28Well, first of all, the Bible tells us it's a holy city.
11:32Then I, John, saw the holy city,
11:35New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
11:38prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
11:42The chief characteristic of our holy city,
11:46the New Jerusalem,
11:47the heaven where we will spend eternity,
11:49is it's holy?
11:50And then the Bible talks about the pearly gates.
11:54Also, she had a great and high wall and 12 gates
11:58and 12 angels at the gates
12:00and names written on them,
12:02which are the names of the 12 tribes
12:04of the children of Israel.
12:06And he measured its wall, 144 cubits,
12:09according to the measure of a man,
12:11that is, of an angel.
12:13And the construction of its wall was of jasper,
12:15and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
12:19And the 12 gates were 12 pearls.
12:22Each individual gate was of one pearl.
12:27Now, apparently 12 is the number of symmetry
12:29because here you have 12 gates, 12 angels,
12:3312 tribes, 12 foundations, 12 apostles, 12 pearls,
12:38and 12 different kinds of fruit in the city
12:40called the holy city.
12:43As we look at the 12 gates of pearl,
12:45we see the names of the 12 tribes of Israel inscribed.
12:49This is a reminder to us that heaven will be populated
12:52with people from the Old Testament.
12:55They're really a part of the wall that surrounds the city.
12:58John gives us another striking detail
13:00about the gates of heaven.
13:02Its gate shall not be shut at all by day,
13:06and there shall be no night there.
13:10In heaven, it's an eternal day,
13:13and the gates are never shut
13:14because the city of heaven will be on the new earth
13:18created by God,
13:20and everything around it will be holy.
13:22Nothing unholy will be allowed to enter the city.
13:25Therefore, there will be no need
13:26to protect the city with closed gates.
13:29The gates of heaven will always be open,
13:32and that tells us something important.
13:34Everyone who belongs to Jesus will be welcome inside.
13:38We won't need a special pass.
13:40We won't have to earn our place or prove we're worthy.
13:43The only reason we'll be there
13:45is because of what Jesus did for us on the cross,
13:48and his blood is what opens the gates.
13:51Once we're in, we'll have full access
13:53to everything the city offers because it's our home.
13:57So, there's the holy city and the pearly gates,
13:59and then the foundations of precious stones.
14:03The foundations of the wall of the city
14:05were adorned with all kinds of precious stones.
14:09Jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald,
14:15sardonyx, sardius, chrysalite,
14:18beryl, topaz, chrysoprase,
14:21jacinth, and amethyst.
14:24A building's greatest strength is its foundation,
14:27and the new Jerusalem is not one foundation but 12.
14:31And I understand this to mean that each foundation
14:34is decorated with a different gem,
14:36and these foundations are one upon the other.
14:39So, when you come to the city and see it,
14:41the beauty of the city will be seen
14:44as far as the eye can see.
14:46Revelation 21, 14 says
14:49that the wall of the city
14:51has the names of the 12 apostles written on them.
14:54And regarding this,
14:55John F. Walvoort has a good explanation.
14:58Here, the city recognizes the presence of the apostles
15:01representing the church, the body of Christ,
15:04and the fact that their names are inscribed
15:07upon the foundation symbolically indicates
15:10that the church itself is related to this holy city.
15:14Eternity, men and women,
15:17will be a lasting memorial to the redemption
15:19which was provided by Jesus Christ.
15:23Pass the foundations, walk through the gates,
15:26and you will be impressed with the wonderful plan
15:29that made it possible for you to be there.
15:32Everywhere you look will be reminders
15:34of how you got there in the first place.
15:37Then what about the streets of gold?
15:38Oh, yes, the streets of gold.
15:40Revelation 2, 18 and 21 says,
15:43And the city was pure gold like clear glass,
15:46and the street of the city was pure gold
15:49like transparent glass.
15:52If you have looked at pure gold,
15:54you know that it is not transparent but opaque.
15:58But John described heaven's gold as transparent glass.
16:03The gold of heaven is so pure
16:05that men seem to look into it
16:08and through its clear depths as they walk upon it.
16:11It is finely polished as a mirror,
16:14and therefore it is not so much transparent
16:16as it is translucent.
16:18If you think about this,
16:19don't forget that in our glorified bodies,
16:22our perceptions will be different.
16:25Something might appear to us then
16:27as being both solid and transparent.
16:30All I can tell you is,
16:31you've never walked on any streets
16:33like you're about to walk on when you go to heaven.
16:35The streets will truly be gold,
16:37according to some experts,
16:39transparent gold that you can look all the way through.
16:42And then the Bible tells us
16:44that the Lamb is the light.
16:47Verse 11 and 23,
16:49Her light was like a most precious stone,
16:52like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.
16:54The city had no need of the sun
16:56or of the moon to shine in it,
16:58for the glory of God illuminated it.
17:00The Lamb is its light.
17:02This is a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy
17:05from Isaiah chapter 60, verse 19.
17:09The sun shall no longer be your light by day,
17:12nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you,
17:15but the Lord will be to you an everlasting light,
17:18and your God will be your glory.
17:21Where the light emanates,
17:23where it starts,
17:24is Jesus Christ himself.
17:26He truly is, at that moment,
17:28the light of the world.
17:29Not just spiritually, but physically.
17:33The light in heaven doesn't come from fire or electricity.
17:37There isn't any need for any candles or any bulbs.
17:40It's not the kind of light that burns out
17:42or needs replacing.
17:43This light comes straight from God,
17:46because God is light,
17:48and the Lamb is the lamp.
17:50His light fills the whole city.
17:52It shines into every home and every heart,
17:55and it never, ever fades.
17:57You have the holy city, the pearly gates,
18:00the foundations, the streets of gold,
18:02the Lamb who is the light.
18:03And then the Bible says,
18:04in verse 2 of chapter 22 of Revelation,
18:08there is a tree of life.
18:10In the middle of this street of gold,
18:13and on either side of the river,
18:15was the tree of life,
18:16which bore 12 fruits,
18:18each tree yielding its fruit every month.
18:21The leaves of the tree
18:22were for the healing of the nations.
18:24Now, this is a picture of paradise regained.
18:28The tree of life and the river,
18:30once guarded by the cherubim
18:32with the flaming sword in the Garden of Eden,
18:35now reappears on the pages of Scripture
18:38as part of the heavenly city.
18:40And the description of the tree of life
18:42in Revelation 22
18:43sounds like what was prophesied in the Old Testament.
18:48Here's what Ezekiel said about that.
18:50He said,
18:51So basically,
19:14if I could summarize this whole eating thing,
19:17in heaven,
19:18we will eat for enjoyment,
19:20but not for sustenance.
19:22It says here,
19:24there will be healing in what we eat.
19:26I don't know for sure what that means,
19:28but the word healing
19:29is the word in the New Testament language,
19:32therapeia,
19:33which is the word from which we get therapeutic.
19:36John is saying
19:37that the leaves of the tree of life
19:39promote the enrichment of life.
19:41They are for the pure joy of eating.
19:44Food won't be needed in heaven,
19:45but it will be enjoyed.
19:46It will be therapeutic.
19:48It will give us even a higher sense
19:50of the joy that we have in heaven.
19:54Along with the tree of life,
19:55when you get to this city,
19:57you will see the river of life,
20:00Revelation 22, 1 and 2.
20:01And he showed me a pure river
20:04of water of life,
20:06clear as crystal,
20:08proceeding from the throne of God
20:09and of the Lamb.
20:11And in the middle of its street
20:13and on either side of the river
20:14was the tree of life,
20:16which bore 12 fruits,
20:18each tree yielding its fruit every month.
20:20The leaves of the tree
20:21were for the healing of the nations.
20:24John describes a natural wonder
20:26in the center of New Jerusalem.
20:28He says,
20:29the river of the water of life,
20:32because the city is the center of human life,
20:35water will be a big part of it.
20:37And the source of this powerful stream
20:39is the throne of God,
20:41occupied by the Lamb.
20:43All you will have to do in this great city
20:44is follow the water,
20:46which is flowing down
20:48and you will be led to its source,
20:50the city's centerpiece,
20:52the Lamb's throne.
20:53This is the river the psalmist
20:55was writing about in Psalm 46.
20:58He said,
20:59there is a river whose streams
21:01shall make glad the city of God.
21:05So, that's just some of the description
21:07of the city.
21:08It's holy.
21:09It's entered through pearly gates.
21:11Its foundations are precious stones.
21:14Its streets are out of gold.
21:16It is lit up by the Lamb of God.
21:19It has a tree of life,
21:21which bears fruit,
21:2212 different fruits
21:24for the 12 different months
21:25instead of having one season of fruit.
21:28There are 12 seasons of fruit
21:29and then the river of life.
21:32Now, in the description of the city,
21:35which is given to us
21:36in Revelation 21 and 22,
21:38John is very careful
21:39to give us everything we need to know.
21:42We have the dimensions of the city,
21:44the description to the city,
21:47and thirdly,
21:48the denial to the city.
21:50Here is verse 8 and verse 27.
21:53But the cowardly,
21:55the unbelieving,
21:56the abominable,
21:57the murderers,
21:58the sexually immoral,
22:00the sorcerers,
22:01the idolaters,
22:02and all liars
22:03shall have their part in the lake
22:06which burns with fire and brimstone,
22:08which is the second death.
22:10But there shall be by no means
22:12entering into the city
22:14anything that defiles
22:15or causes an abomination or a lie,
22:18but only those who are written
22:20in the Lamb's book of life.
22:23The Bible says the city four squares
22:25not for everybody.
22:27And you may think,
22:28oh, what a wonderful place
22:29I'm going to go to
22:30and I hope all of you are going to it,
22:32but if you haven't made a reservation,
22:33you don't get to go.
22:35The Bible says you can only go to this city
22:38if you have trusted your life
22:40to Jesus Christ.
22:42Jesus gave his life on Calvary
22:44to forgive sins,
22:46and those are the sins
22:47that separate you from God.
22:49If you don't get forgiveness for your sins,
22:52you can't go to God
22:53and be in his heaven.
22:55He rose from the dead
22:56to give you a resurrection like his.
22:58If you don't accept Christ,
23:00you can't have a resurrection.
23:03He went to heaven
23:05to prepare a place for you,
23:06and the Scripture says he did that
23:08so that where he is,
23:10there you may be also.
23:12Jesus Christ wants you to be with him.
23:15He offers you the opportunity
23:17to make sure you're ready to be with him.
23:20Ladies and gentlemen,
23:21you can come to church
23:22until you're blue in the face
23:23and still miss heaven,
23:25but you must trust Jesus Christ.
23:28It's not enough just to be
23:29a church-going person,
23:31not enough just to be
23:32a relatively good person,
23:34a moral person.
23:35I know many people
23:36who are good moral people,
23:38but they're not Christians.
23:39We will be surprised someday
23:41when we discover
23:43that many of the people
23:44we thought were the best people of all
23:46missed heaven
23:47for one simple reason.
23:49The only way you can go to heaven
23:51is by putting your trust in Jesus Christ.
23:54He is the way,
23:55the truth,
23:56and the life,
23:57and no one comes to the Father
23:58except through him.
23:59So, I hope your only view of heaven
24:06isn't my very inadequate description of it.
24:10I hope you get to be there
24:11and see it for all its beauty and glory,
24:14and if you have put your trust in Jesus Christ,
24:16I know I'll bump into you
24:18along the golden streets
24:19sometime in the future,
24:21and we will enjoy heaven forever.
24:23Amen?
24:23Amen.
24:24Amen.
24:24Amen.
24:31Thank you for watching Turning Point.
24:33When you give a gift of any amount
24:34in support of this program,
24:36Dr. Jeremiah will send you
24:37his new book,
24:39The Promise of Heaven.
24:40Inside, you'll find biblical answers
24:42to your biggest questions about heaven
24:43and 31 reasons to get excited
24:46about your eternal home.
24:48Or, in appreciation of your gift
24:50of $75 or more,
24:51Dr. Jeremiah will send you
24:53The Promise of Heaven set,
24:55which contains his new book,
24:56his complete teaching series
24:57on CD or DVD,
24:59a correlating study guide,
25:00a special interview
25:01with Sheila Walsh on DVD,
25:03and the 10 things you may not know
25:05about heaven bookmark.
25:06Thank you for your support
25:08of this program.
25:09Order The Promise of Heaven resources
25:11from Turning Point today.
25:18If you have never taken the step
25:20to believe in Jesus Christ,
25:21as your Lord and Savior,
25:23you can do that today.
25:25If you will allow us,
25:26Dr. Jeremiah would like to send you
25:28two resources that will help you.
25:30The first is a booklet called
25:31Your Greatest Turning Point,
25:33which will help you
25:34as you begin your relationship
25:35with Christ.
25:36And the second is
25:37our monthly devotional magazine,
25:39Turning Points,
25:40to give you encouragement
25:41and inspiration throughout the year.
25:43These resources are yours,
25:45completely free,
25:46when you contact Turning Point today.
25:47If you enjoyed today's message,
25:51watch the entire
25:53The Promise of Heaven series
25:54on Turning Point Plus.
25:56Start streaming this series today,
25:58along with more than 1,200 messages
26:00from Dr. Jeremiah's
26:01four decades of broadcast ministry.
26:03On Turning Point Plus,
26:05you'll find Dr. Jeremiah's
26:06Bible-strong teaching,
26:07original programming,
26:09plus special collections
26:10and playlists,
26:11all on demand
26:12and on any screen.
26:13Visit turningpointplus.org
26:15to get started today.
26:20Next time on Turning Point.
26:22Worship music doesn't play for you,
26:25it plays through you.
26:27And when you listen to it
26:28and you realize that it's about
26:29the great God we serve
26:30and His plan for us,
26:32somehow the things of earth
26:33grow strangely dim
26:35in the light of His glory and grace.
26:38Thank you for being with us today.
26:41Join Dr. Jeremiah next time
26:42for his message,
26:44Heavenly Worship.
26:44Here on Turning Point.
26:53I don't think I've ever spent
26:56two hours like this in my life.
27:00Until then,
27:02our hearts should go on singing.
27:06Until then,
27:07with joy,
27:08we carry on.
27:11How blessed we are
27:12to look forward to the day
27:14when God calls us home.
27:16Join David Jeremiah
27:17as masterfully performed music
27:19and the power of God's Word
27:21come together
27:22in A Glimpse of Heaven,
27:24a stirring concert
27:25filmed live
27:26at the Music Center's
27:27Walt Disney Concert Hall
27:29in Los Angeles,
27:30hosted by David Jeremiah
27:32and Sheila Walsh,
27:34with performances by
27:35Jordan Smith,
27:36Jordan Smith,
27:36Veritas,
27:40Charles Billingsley,
27:47Charles Billingsley,
27:47Tyranda Green,
27:54and more,
28:01all accompanied by
28:03a world-class symphony choir
28:04and orchestra.
28:06Experience a moving celebration
28:08of our heavenly home
28:10as David Jeremiah
28:11and Turning Point Ministries
28:13present
28:14A Glimpse of Heaven.
28:16A Glimpse of Heaven
28:29A Glimpse of Heaven
Be the first to comment