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The entire King James Bible is written FOR us, but it is not all written TO us!
We learn from the "For" and study Paul's writings to apply the 'TO!"
Sunday Sermon Notes
April 27, 2008

Heaven

Part VI
More former things Will Be passed away
No more ...
tears, sorrow, crying, pain, old Jerusalem, curses,
night, candle, light of the sun,
adding or taking away from God's words.

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Revelation 21:1-5; 9-27; 22:3-6

• Some of these things are 'gone' after the tribulation and some not until after the new heaven and new earth.
• We also must remember that much of 21,22 are not really related to us as we will not be the normal 'participants' anyway.
• I John 3:2 - Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
• Philippians 3:21 - Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
• Daniel 12:3 - And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

And even at all we can read, we still:

• Isaiah 64:4 - For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.

Let's NOT be like most folks today:

• Romans 1:23 - And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

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• Note - Tabernacle of God
• God will be "with" them!
• Revelation 21:3 - And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
• Acts 17 - God is not in a temple today - He is IN us!
• Old Testament Temple / Tabernacle, etc.
• God was WITH them...
• Today - Paul's Dispensation of Grace
• God is IN Us
• Romans 8:9-11 - But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
• I Corinthians 3:9 - For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
• II Corinthians 6:16 - And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
• Ephesians 2:21,22 - In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
• Ephesians 3:17 - That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
• After new heaven and a new earth
• God will be "with" them!
• Revelation 21:3 - And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
• Revelation 7:15: Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

No More Tears, sorrow, crying, pain:

• 21:4 - And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
• 7:17 -  For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
• Paul knew tears, as do we, for now!
• II Timothy 1:4 - Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;
• Acts 20:19 - Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:
• Acts 20:31 - Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
• II Corinthians 2:4 - For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.
• II Corinthians 12:15 - And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.

No more hunger, thirst or sunlight or heat!

• Revelation 7:16,17 - They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

No more Old Jerusalem

• Revelation 21:2,9-27
• Isaiah 65:17-25
• Old Jerusalem

• The world's three great monotheistic faiths -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam -- all consider Jerusalem a holy city, with major events in each of their histories being linked to the city.
• For Judaism, uniquely, it is the city itself that is holy, representing the hope and meaning of Jewish existence and continuity.
• For Christians and Muslims, by contrast, Jerusalem is a city that contains holy sites, hallowed by sacred events.
Judaism
• No other city has played such a predominant role in the history, culture, religion, and consciousness of a people as Jerusalem has in the life of the Jews. Throughout centuries of exile, Jerusalem has remained alive in the hearts of Jews everywhere as the spiritual center of their lives.
• They never ceased to mourn the ancient destruction of the city. Fast days marking the destruction of the first and second temples, and of the city itself, are an integral part of the Jewish calendar.
• Jerusalem is even remembered at all Jewish weddings. At the conclusion of the wedding ceremony, the groom breaks a glass to commemorate the destruction of the Temple -- even at this most joyous of occasions. It was also customary for the groom to put ashes on his head, the jewelry of the bride to be incomplete, and an empty space to be left at the feast to remind the guests of mourning Jerusalem. Indeed, the restoration of Jerusalem as the national and religious capital of the Jews is an oft- repeated theme. "Next year in Jerusalem" is a Jewish motif that permeates all religious observances. This sentiment found its most succinct expression in the words of the Psalmist: "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning," (Psalms 137:5).
Christianity
• For Christians, Jerusalem is the witness of their faith. Some of the central events in the life of Jesus, culminating in the crucifixion and the resurrection, occurred here.
• In an effort to achieve control over these sites, the Christian powers entered Jerusalem in the 4th century.
• They remained until the Arab conquest three centuries later, and again returned at the end of the 11th century with the advent of the Crusades.
• Today, the Christian community in Jerusalem may be divided into four basic categories: Orthodox, Monophysite (An adherent of the doctrine that in the person of Jesus there was but a single, divine nature. Coptic and Syrian Christians profess this doctrine.), Catholic, and Protestant. In total, some 15 ancient churches (and another 20 denominational groups) are active in the city.
Islam
• The Koran relates that, one night, the prophet Muhammad was miraculously transported from Mecca to Jerusalem -- from where he made his ascent to heaven.
• The events of this nocturnal journey have been further embellished by legends, including those concerning Muhammad's winged mount Al-Buraq.
• Accordingly, Islam is linked to the pre-existing tradition of holiness ascribed to Jerusalem by Judaism and Christianity, having integrated this legacy into its own religious constellation.
• But for Islam, Jerusalem has never been regarded as sacred as Mecca and Medina.
• The Temple Mount, with the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque -- built in the 7th century, soon after the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem and referred to as the center of the universe -- is only considered by Muslims to be the third most important site in Islam after the Ka'aba in Mecca (in whose direction all Muslims - even those in Jerusalem - pray) and the Mosque of Muhammad in Medina.
The Palestinian Claim to Jerusalem
• Similarly, the claim to make Jerusalem (or at least its eastern part) capital of a Palestinian state is unfounded. Palestinian leaders often call for Jerusalem (or "Arab Jerusalem") to be "restored" to the Palestinian people, but there is no legal basis for this claim. Ishmael hasn't given up yet!

No more curse!

• Revelation 22:3 - And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
• Genesis 3:14-19
• Don't forget this curse, too!
• Genesis 9:24-27
• God will most definitely clean up music!

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