Transcription
Because we're in this series called Apocalypse, how, um, that's how you pronounce it, Apocalypse How? Yeah. And we want to maybe take a new look at the end times. All right, let's take a new look at the book of Revelation. And the purpose of this series is very clear. All right, we want to break off fear of the apocalypse and to break through the pride of the know-it-all. All right, because there's two kinds of people in the church: those who are totally freaked out, and those who are like, selling their book and 88 reasons why Jesus is coming in 1988, and then four blood whatever, and they don't return the money for the book. And so, I just, that's my goal right there, to break off fear of the apocalypse and break through the pride of the know-it-all.
Last week, we talked, I gave you, I submitted to everyone an interpretive model for the book of Revelation. Okay? Because there are four main ones. I don't fully agree with any of them because they all have holes and they'll have to make apologies for themselves. But the one that's actually in the letter itself, the first three verses, actually gives us a methodology, a modality that works all the way through the book. Imagine that. John wrote into the book the key for understanding the book, and it's the first three verses. I talked extensively about this last week, but here's a little recap. Are you ready? I'm going to slow down in a minute, but I got to go fast right now. Here's a recap. Here's part of it. The book of Revelation is the unveiling of Jesus Christ. Okay? It says, "This is the revelation of Jesus Christ." The word revelation is the word for unveiling. That's the word apocalypse, to lift off the veil, to lift off the cover. Okay? So it's the apocalypse of Jesus. It's the unveiling of Jesus Christ. And the biggest clue I can give you is, he's not the one with sight issues. He's not the one veiled. So who is being unveiled? Us, to see him clearly, right? It's the unveiling of Jesus Christ. It's not the unveiling of the Antichrist, the rapture, the end times. No, no. Those three statements are in the book, okay? And it doesn't say anything. It says it's the unveiling of Jesus Christ. Okay? That's what it is.
And then we talked about how it was given to John by an angel. But it says, "He made it known by sending an angel to John." And the word "made it known" is signified, signified, put it in sign form. The book of Revelation is written in sign language. Okay? Like sign language. You know, if you don't understand sign language, you won't get this book. Jesus said, "You know the seasons, you can tell the weather, but you cannot understand the signs of the times." All right? It's written in sign language. Okay?
Also, it's not written to everyone. It's only written to the loving servants of God. We talked about the dual loss, right? Those who have chosen their master as righteousness and choose to serve him, not because they have to, but because they want to. Because you can be saved, but not serving. I did it once for like a day. Yeah. No, much longer than that. Let's try. You're too serious. I got to like, break open the, you know, yeah. You can be saved, going to heaven, but living like he double hockey sticks all the way there. Amen, right? I mean, that you can be sealed for the day of redemption. He does all the salvation stuff. You only receive. You don't work for it. You don't work into it. You work it out with fear and trembling, right? So he saves you. You receive that by faith. And you can be saved, but living like, you know what, all the way to that moment. Are you with me? Yeah. So this is only written to those who are lovingly serving God, the loving servants of God, the doulas. So if you're not a loving servant of God, if you just got your ticket to ride, you know, you just got your ticket to heaven, but you're not serving the Lord, this is illegal reading for you. It's also illegal translating for those, because a whole bunch of non-doulas people trying to tell you what this book means. It's not even written to them. They can't even hear it. Talked about it last week.
Finally, last key in the first three verses is, if you're reading it and it doesn't make you happy, you are reading it wrong. Because it says, "Blessed are those who read aloud the words of this book." The word blessed is happy. Happy are those, not freaked out, not full of anxiety, not stressed out, not worried about, you know, elections and chips. No, happy are those who read this book. I'm, there were a few more happy people this week than last week. It seems like you heard me. All right. I've been getting a lot of testimony, like feedback. People like, "I used to avoid that book. Now I'm like, I'm kind of excited to read it." You know, hey, we're breaking off fear. I like it. Good.
So last bit of recap, and I gotta go move into today, here is that I'm not hoping to answer all your questions about the end times. It's not gonna happen. I hope to give you better questions. I'm not hoping to check all your boxes. I want to give you a better box. So today is titled "Better Questions." All right. I'm going to submit to you a better question. Because here's what happens when people approach the book of Revelation or the end times, they usually go in with one type of question. They go in with, "When?" Like, timeline. "When is this going to take place?" Or "When did it take place?" That's one opinion out there, right? "When was the book written?" All that stuff. They want to answer "when." I would, I'm going to submit to you today that that is a lesser question than the one I'm going to give to you. But I'll go on record. I don't mind going on record and saying when I believe this book was written, because it is important, okay, for certain things. All right. But it's not the best question. But I am going to answer. I believe this book was written in the reign of Domitian, which is between 92 and 95 A.D. All right. A lot of people adhere to the earlier dating of the book, 64-68, which is significant only because the temple was destroyed in 70. So a lot of people attribute the book as being written before the destruction of the temple, and that is a fulfillment of the writing of this letter, okay? But I actually believe in a later dating of the book. Not that it actually even changes the way I approach it. And wholeheartedly, in some ways, it does. But I have reason to believe that. And I, I would, I'm telling you that I think this is actually the right reason to think about it. Because a guy named Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, okay, he was John's disciple's disciple, okay? John had a disciple named Polycarp. Say Polycarp, just because it's a fun name. Polycarp, right? Polycarp was awesome. You should read about his martyrdom. That guy was amazing. I'm just gonna tell you quick because it's so cool. They were like, going to burn him at the stake for not denouncing Christ. And they usually nail people to it. I know this is graphic. He said, "Don't you dare bring those nails up here. My love for the Savior will hold me here." He stood in the fire. He said, "I don't need your nails to light it up." Polycarp. Yeah. So John, by the way, they tried to boil John in a pot of oil, and it didn't work. That's why they exiled him to Patmos. They couldn't kill him. Yeah. Oh, and Polycarp, by the way, this is just fun stuff. Like, this is all church history, all right? Polycarp actually didn't die by the flames. The flames didn't kill him. They couldn't. Nothing was happening to him. So they had to put a spear through his side. The flames weren't touching it. It's like, "Don't nail me up here. I'll stand here in the flame." And he's like, "Oh, poor flame. Not working." That guy's disciple was named Irenaeus. Okay? So two disciples later, John, Polycarp, disciple, and Irenaeus. Nobody disagrees. Irenaeus dates the book in the reign of Domitian. It's one of the earliest historical writings of when the book was written. All right? But don't take my word for that. Do your own research. It's not even the highest question we can ask, okay? But I wanted to go on record. By the way, I have friends who are leading churches and doing things that totally disagree with everything I just said, that it was written before, you know, in the time of Nero, all that stuff, and we're still friends. Imagine that. Honor is not agreement. We say it all the time.
So the better question, then, "When?" is "Where?" Where is the book of Revelation taking place? Let me ask it this way: What realm is the book of Revelation taking place in? Is it only one, or are there multiple dimensions in the book of Revelation where the unveiling of Christ takes place? I would submit to you that that is a better question. Namely, because when speaking of eternity, if you have to have time make sense in eternity, no working. All right? It's outside of time. All right? Eternal. The eternal realm is not bound by time. And yet we're having a vision of eternity, of the eternal realm, of the heavenlies, and we're trying to make it fit into time. It's not a useless question, but it's not the best question. Okay? Are you with me? All right.
So Henry Ford, the guy who perfected the manufacturing process of the automobile, that guy has a great quote. And he said, "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." And he didn't ask them what they want. He found the real solution. So this might not be what you're looking for in reference to the end times, but it may be what you need. Okay? Just, you're already here. I have a microphone. I won't keep you here all day. Why don't you just try it? Just maybe, just maybe, maybe. So I'd like to submit to you that the book of Revelation speaks of multiple realms. It's the unveiling of Christ in his people via multiple dimensions. I'm going to also go on record here and say, I understand about 27.6% of what I'm about to talk about. Okay? Like, I'm not smart enough to preach what I'm preaching right now. In fact, I'm writing a book about something else. I have a, a friend who's a doctor, a PhD in psychology, and she's telling me, "Oh yeah, that's called this in psychology." And I'm like, "Great. I just got it from the scripture." You know, she's like, "You know, she's like, here's the scientific term for what you're talking about." I'm like, "Awesome. Let's put it in there. Make me look real good." All right. So the best I have for you today is that, like Marvel examples, like the Marvel movies and things like that, about, I don't, I, I don't understand everything I'm about to tell you, but that's okay.
First thing I'm going to say to you, in order for you to under, like, get this in your brain, is that there, did you know there's not one heaven? There's multiple. There are multiple heavens. Psalm 115 verse 16 says, "The heavens are the Lord's heavens, but the earth is given to the children of men." So people say, "I'm going to heaven." I was like, "Which one?" [Music] I pray to pray now. I'm going heaven. I'm like, "Okay, can you point me in the direction?" It's heavens, you know? "The heavens plural declare the glory of God," right? So I don't know how many there are, but there's at least three. Because Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:2, he said, "I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven, whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know. God knows." Okay? And we know from the context later, looking back, Paul is talking about himself here, right? In the third person. So Paul speaks of a third heaven. It stands to reason there's a first and a second. Are you with me so far? Yes. I know my brain has been hurting all weekend talking about this stuff. So it's gonna get worse, or better, however.
So where is the unveiling of Christ taking place? I would submit to you it's taking place in the heavens. And if I look at the book of Revelation, I can clearly see four realms or dimensions of that described. Four realms or four dimensions described in the book of Revelation. We're gonna go through all four today as an overview, and then I'm gonna spend the next few weeks, I think, uh, talking about each one. Okay? So just buckle your seat belts. Here we go. All right.
So here's the first one. The first heaven is the church realm. And that's explained through chapter 1, verse 10 through chapter 3. So the first heaven is the church realm. And if you look in chapter 1, verse 10 through chapter 3, it speaks about this scene realm, the churches. It's written to physical churches in that physical day, okay? But it's, but if you think of the first heaven, I want you to think of this like the heavens you look up to the stars in the sky, the expanse of the universe, right? You're looking into the, what? Heavens, right? We call that the heavens, rightly so. It's actually a biblical concept. One of the words for heaven is singular, and it's first heaven, and speaking of the expanse, the stars in the sky, the galaxies, all that stuff. All right. Amen. Are you with me? So it's far away, but it's also very near, okay? Because it's basically so far away you can't totally see it, or so totally close until so small you can't make it out. All right? If you look in, like, your hand right now, you just see a hand. But if you had a microscope, you could see much more than you could see, you know, the germs in there, all that stuff, which, hashtag, you need those germs. All right? Germs are good for you. All right? Um, anyway, it's just my little PSA for you there. Um, if you got in there, oh, look, there's more gold on my hand. It happened last week too. Whatever. There's gold dust over here. If you look in there with a microscope, yeah, and you're still using your natural eye, right? Right? So it's only unseen because it's hard to make out. Are you with me? It's still the first heaven. It's all the scene realm. You might not perceive it, but it's still the scene realm. Are you okay? Okay. So far away, say "far away," or "really close." Everything that is seen, visible, everything's made of matter, is the first heaven. Okay? And this section, chapter 1:10 through chapter 3, speaks of Christ amidst the church on the earth. He's invisible, but very present, right? How many believe Jesus is in the room? I mean, if we lived that way all day long, because he said, "I'll never leave you nor forsake you." Like, you might act a little different. [Music] If your dad is with you all day long, how do you act? Well, he's called the Abba, he's your Papa, he's Dad, right? You go to do that thing you know it's not right, you just kind of look to your left. Oh yeah, he's still with me. He's still here. Maybe I should. Anyway. All right. This is seen. I'm giving you a couple examples, okay? In this section of scripture, I'm not going to go through it all, but Revelation chapter 1, verse 12 through 13. This is John speaking. He says, "Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me. And on turning, I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man." Say "in the midst," clothed with a long robe and a golden sash around his chest. Now, that is Jesus. It's speaking of Jesus, okay? It goes on to describe him. But if you jump down to verse 20, Jesus is speaking, and he says, "As for the mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches." Are you with me? Are you following this? John saw lampstands. Jesus said those are churches. You know what he said about you? He said, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill." Right? "Let your light shine before me." We are a lampstand. This is a burning place. If you open the eyes of the spirit, you'd actually see more depth of the first heaven. You'd see Jesus here. Are you with me? And you would see that we are actually akin to a flame. That he is the vine, we are the branches. If you, if really a lampstand is a, is, um, what we think of as like a menorah, okay? The oil goes in the middle only, and then flows to the other six branches. He said, "I am the vine, you are the branches." We are the lampstand. TRP is a lampstand. Are you with me? And so he's speaking about physical churches in that physical day. Jesus was among them. And just as when God or Jesus spoke to his disciples in that day, and it applies to us, he spoke to those churches, and it applies to us, right? Are you with me? But the realm is the more important posture to think on. Where is this happening? In the first heaven. I'll prove to you that that that scene changes in the book, okay? But do you see that? Do you see that Jesus was amidst the churches? He always has been. Are you with me? I know it's like, ha. Okay. So first heaven is the scene realm. Amen. Did you know you're in heaven right now? You live in paradise. If you live in Tampa, Florida, just telling you. All right. You live where people vacation. All right. You're in heaven right now. Are you with me? Okay. And the, the earth is beautiful. The sky is beautiful. Are you with me? So that's the first heaven.
The next one, it jumps straight to the third heaven, okay? And that's chapter four and chapter five, okay? And this is the throne room realm. All right? Now listen, where Jesus is enthroned in the throne room of heaven, one of the heavens, okay? There are no battles going on. All right? Angels and demons are not fighting it out in front of the throne. Are you with me? When he's seated, when he's enthroned, he has full authority. Are you with me? He has the authority. His enemies are being sent as a made a footstool under his feet right now, through us. Amen. But I'm saying, there is a realm, a dimension where there is no strife, where every tear is gone. Are you with me? In fact, this is proven because in chapter five, Jesus, John starts weeping, and one of the elders rebukes him because he's weeping where there are no tears. In chapter five, the elder brother says, "Stop weeping. The Lion of Judah has conquered." He said, "You don't weep here." Yeah. So that is the realm of total authority of our Bridegroom King. Are you following me? Okay.
So Revelation chapter 4, verse 1 through 2 says, "After this I looked." So after all the way through chapter 3, first heaven realm. Chapter 4, beginning chapter 4, he said, "After this I looked. I looked and behold, a door standing open in heaven." Let me just hop over here for a second. That door was open when Jesus was baptized. The heavens were opened. The dove descended. Did you notice that? He said, "I saw a door standing open in heaven." He didn't say, "I saw a door open." "I saw a door standing open." We're not praying for an open heaven. We're receiving from the open heaven. Jesus gave us. The heavens were open. There's nowhere in your Bible says they shut. So praying for an open heaven is kind of silly. There is an open heaven. The door was standing open in heaven. Are you with me? Okay. Maybe let's keep going. "And the first voice you said, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, 'Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.' At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven with one seated on the throne." A throne stood, but he sat. The only time Jesus ever stood in the throne room that we know in our Bibles is when the first martyr gave his life, when Stephen was stoned to death. That's the one time Jesus stood off his throne. He said, "I'm going to stand for that." Absolutely. All the times he's seated on the throne, okay? So do you see the switch? He went from first heaven, churches, earth, church realm, first heaven realm, open door, went through the door into the throne room. Yes. And if you're familiar with the book of Revelation, we're going to go through this later, but he sees the sea of glass, he sees all the living creatures, he sees the 24 elders, he sees the rainbow that actually goes this way, by the way. It's an emerald rainbow emanating from his throne. And it's a full circle because, did you know a rainbow is only a half circle because of the invasion, the, the earth is blocking your view? Yeah. It's only a half rainbow, half promised, because there's still earth there. All right? But this is where there is no obstruction of you. It's always been a full rainbow. In fact, a couple months ago, there was a full rainbow over Tampa Bay. It was floating in the sky. That's what it looks like, except it's not like this, it's like this, and it's coming from him like that. All right? I'm getting ahead of myself. We're gonna talk about that in a couple weeks. The point is, John went into another realm. He didn't see the lampstands, and there's no mention of lampstands in this, in that realm. None of that. He didn't see those things. He saw one enthroned. Are you with me? Yes.
Now, the next one is kind of tricky, and I've called it the second heaven. But forgive me, I've heard no one teach this ever before, and I'm trying my best to teach it to you. So this is the best I got, okay? So the second heaven is the next realm of Revelation, and it's really the in-break, in breaking of the kingdom realm from the third to the first. And that's chapter 6 through chapter 20. So it's not all happening in the second heaven, but it's like the second heaven is where the battle is taking place. Are you with me? But it's really the collision of all three heavens, first, second, and third. Are you with me? You guys okay? I know if we think like one, two, three, it's really not like that. It's more like on top of each other, like a diamond. You turn, and there's a different color from the same light. It's like that. But for our sake, let's just not hurt ourselves today. First, second, third. The second is where there's prayers going from the first, that's you, into this, past the second, into the third. And there's assignments coming from the third down through the second into the first. And it's when His "yes" and our "amen" meets, there's breakthrough in the heavens. Okay? And chapter 6 through chapter 20 is that breaking through. So this is the unseen realm of the spirit. The unseen. You will not see it with your physical eye. You have to see it with the eyes of your spirit. Are you with me? Sometimes I want to be as clear as I can right now. Sometimes angels manifest in the first heaven, and you see them with your eyes. But most of the time, and that's happened once to me, by the way, I hid in a stranger's armpit. It was scary. Literally, open eye. I hid. I was at a dinner. I hid in a stranger's armpit. I'm not kidding. You know why it says "Be not afraid"? Because it's all full. Okay? It is. So sometimes that happens. Angels come into the first heaven. Demons, even, sometimes. Like, all that stuff. Okay? But the majority of times, second heaven, this is the breaking through. So the first heaven is really like, you know, you've seen the movie Ant-Man? Anybody seen that movie? Ant-Man? Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Me, girl, awesome. You know how he goes into like, the molecular structure, whatever, the quantum realm? All that is still measurable by matter, and he travels through time, things like that. That's all first heaven. It's the best example I can come up with. All right? Second heaven doesn't do that. It's another dimension entirely that's unseen but all around you. The cloud of witnesses is in the, in one of these realms, cheering us on. I don't actually know where the cloud of witnesses is technically, anyway. So I know this: it says, "Since you are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses." And the word surrounded is the word for clothed. It's a Greek word, clothed. Since we're clothed, I'm clothed with the strength of David. All right? You're standing in the boldness of Joshua, right? You're wearing the obedience of our forefathers, right? Okay. Second heaven is the unseen reality. All right? I have an example for this. Um, and like I said, this is where the angels and the demons kind of do battle. You guys with me? There's no battling in the third heaven. Like, nobody's like, Jesus only has parties going up there. There's no, there's no battles up there, right? All right. There's no Saints and Buccaneers in the third heaven, and thankful for that. And at 4:35 today, I will not be a Saints fan. [Music] Tom Brady's bringing the Super Bowl home to Tampa. That's what's up. All right. So anyway, forgive me. All right. One time, I'm glad I have some agreement. Maybe the third heaven will answer it. So anyway, one time I was at this church in Indiana, and these people were wild, man. They were worshiping from another realm. I'll just tell you that. They freaked me out. All right? If you know me in worship, I'm pretty free. These people freaked me out. Okay? I was like, wince, like ducking, because they were like, whooping so loud. It was like, the small room. It's like, "Oh my gosh, these people are too big for this room." You know? And it's like, they're gonna jump off the walls any second now. Anyway, I preached, and then I had this boldness. I was like, "Everyone here who has sick, who has illness in their body's gonna get healed." And it was crazy. Only two people came up. I'm like, "The rest of y'all are fine." Okay. Maybe I am another dimension. People here. I don't know what's gonna, you know. One time in Honduras, I had a translator. I was like, "I want all the sick people to come up. We're gonna pray for every sick person." And nobody came up. And like, after four attempts with the translator, the translator's like, "Caleb, they walk in healing. Everybody's healed. They don't need you." I'm like, "Oh, here I was, this great, you know, evangelist from the United States coming to heal." I'm like, "The whole church is well." He's like, "All the time. I'm gonna go sit down there now. I need a translator. Translate everything he says into English. I'm gonna sit down." Yeah. Some people are tapping into these other realms in major ways. And these realms affect the first heaven. I'm gonna give you a story. So at that crazy place where two people came forward, both of them got totally healed. But one of them was very specific. Okay? She came forward and she said, "I have pain in my hip." And I was like, "I know. I see the stick sticking out of your hip." And like, I saw in the spirit, a literal like, brown stick in her side. It wasn't there in the natural. I saw it in the spirit. And I didn't know what it meant. I didn't get any insight. None of that. And she's like, "Okay." I'm like, "It hurts right there, right?" She's like, "Yeah." I'm like, "That's where the stick is." I'm looking around. It's crazy. I was seeing into the second heaven. Are you with me? It was, I mean, no microscope, no nothing was gonna get me to see what I was seeing. Are you guys with me? This is the best example I got. We're moving on after this. So I hope you got it. So I just said, "Can I pull the stick out?" This would seem natural to me. "Can I pull the stick out of your side?" She's like, "Yeah." So I just went, "Is it better?" She's like, "Oh my God." [Applause] I'm like, "Whatever, man. Awesome." You know, she's totally healed from me going, "What? What's happening?" I was interacting in the second heaven. I know that in the third heaven is the perfect will of God. There is no tear. There is no sickness. I'm like, "Hmm. I'm supposed to bring heaven to earth. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." And some spiritual thing is attacking her. Second heaven battle. I know what third heaven says about that. Be healed. Boom. First heaven reality came forth. Are you with me? Anytime there's a healing, that's what's going on. Another example I could give you is, there's radio waves all throughout this room. You can't see them, right? There's no way to see them, but they're happening. Like Wi-Fi is in the room. You can't see it, but it's happening. It's affecting the first heaven. Are you with me? Okay. Good.
So chapter 6 through chapter 20, a big old portion of the book, is that going on. First and third heaven breaking through, second heaven. Second heaven, all that stuff. Angels, demons, all that stuff. The releasing of the seals, the horsemen of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, right? The trumpets, the bowls of incense, the plagues, the binding of Satan. All of that is in the second heaven, or is the, all three connecting, clashing together. Are you with me? Okay. Like I said, I understand about 25.2% of what I'm saying to you right now.
So let me read you a, um, an example. Revelation 14, verse 14 through 16. It says, "Then I looked, this is John speaking, then I looked and behold a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand." All right. If Jesus is seated, where is it? What realm are we looking into? Third. That's right. Seated and enthroned, sitting down, right? He's standing, he's walking amongst the lame, sins, first heaven. He's seated in the third, right? So this is a vision of the third heaven. He's seated in the third, right? On a white cloud, with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Jesus does not have a literal sickle in his hand, okay? You know that's what is used to reap a harvest, right? To break up the, the wheat and all the stuff. So that's, this is a symbol. It's sign language. Let me remind you. Are you with me? Okay. And then it says, "Another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, 'Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come.'" Now, this was written hundreds of years ago. "The hour to reap has come." Jesus said in John chapter 4, "The harvest is ready." Don't even pray for the harvest. We shouldn't pray for an open heaven. Shouldn't pray for a harvest. Should thank God for the open heaven and pray for laborers to be sent out into the harvest field, right? So, "Pick up your, put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe." So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. Third heaven, first heaven. You see him breaking through, bypassing, or breaking through the second heaven. This is the third heaven affecting the first heaven. Are you with me? Okay. I know it's, again, we're looking to answer the question "where," right? If we're talking about "when," then Jesus started swinging that sickle, and he'd start, he swings it like this. If it's "when," it was hundreds of years ago, and it looks like this, "Behold, it is happening soon." That's not how you swing a sickle, man. It's that's how you reap. Jesus knows a little bit about sowing and reaping. He's not swinging it wrong. Are you with me? Again, "when" is a lesser question. We're talking about realities outside of time. "Where" is the better question. Amen.
Finally, the fourth. Oh Lord, I have to finish right now. The fourth one is the new heaven and the new earth. All right? This is the "all things new" realm. This is chapter 21 through chapter 22. And that brings us all the way to the end of the book. All right? So this is where it talks about the new Jerusalem, Eden restored, talks, you know, all that beautiful stuff. The bride coming out of heaven. All that. Revelation chapter 21, verse 1 through 2 says, "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." Now, this has to be sign language because where is the first heaven on the earth? The first heaven and the first earth. What does the earth have? Seas, bodies of water. So if the first heaven passes away, and it's only literal, and it's talking about all the things we see, then why mention the earth and the sea? Because they're pictures. What are you made of? Dirt and water. [Music] So he goes on to say, "And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." So which one is it? Johnny boy? Is it a city? Is it a bride on our wedding day? What's happening here? It's sign language. You know what Jesus called you? He called you a city on a hill. Who is the bride of Christ? We are the church, as a collective, is the bride. You're a son or a daughter, but we are the bride. That's how it works. So the bride coming out of heaven, the holy city, the new Jerusalem, is a bride who's made herself ready. It's the fullness of the maturity of the stature of Christ seen on the earth. And that's when all things will be made new. [Music] That is when Jesus will return in bodily form, which I believe, by the way, he's coming again. Just the way he went is the way he shall return. He took a body with him. He's bringing a body back. But you know where he is? He's in a totally different dimension right now. He's like Doctor Strange opened one of them circles and he stepped through. You know, all I got is Marvel movies. I'm sorry. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, he's in another world, another heaven, with his physical body. Amen. They know better than you do what I'm saying. [Music]
So I need GG to come up and help me in this. But do you see the four? Let's put those four back up. The four. If you, this is my submission to you, that if you read the book of Revelation with a "where" concept, a "where" question, and you understand it's written in sign language, the whole book starts to make a lot of sense, and you can, you don't have to make apologies for anything. It's amazing. Let me, let me just recap that. The book of Revelation is the unveiling of Jesus Christ. It's given to John in sign language by an angel. It's only written to the loving servants of God. If it doesn't make you happy when you read it, you're reading it wrong. And the better question is, "Where is it taking place?" The unveiling of Christ in his people. Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you." It's the unveiling of Jesus Christ and you coming out of you. Come on. The sons and daughters of God need to be made manifest. That's what all creation is groaning for. Romans chapter 8. Groaning for all of the sons and daughters to be made manifest. The word manifest is apocalypsed. Okay? I said it last week. It's just really fun to say, so I'm gonna say it again. We're living in the last days. The last days of you being a jerk. The last days of you being impatient. The last days of you being stubborn and jealous and mean and cruel. Those days are ending. We are in the end times. But the good news doesn't end in the end times. It's multiple dimensions. And the kingdom of God is breaking into the kingdoms of the earth. Amen.
Thank you for listening to this message from The Resting Place Tampa. Our hope is you feel honored, empowered, and full of faith because of everything you hear. For more great resources like this, go to [Music] trptampa.com.