Before I begin to preach, let me just give you the report on the soul winning.
On Thursday at the soul winning that we did in that morning, we had 152 people show up
to go soul winning with 71 people saved.
Well today, we had 183 soul winners show up, and we had 133 people saved.
So yeah, great job everybody, thanks for participating in that.
And so therefore the total of salvation for the conference is over 200 souls saved out
soul winning.
A lot of man hours went into that work.
If we were to add up the two days, you're looking at almost 700 man hours of soul winning
out there to get 200 people saved.
That's the kind of effort and work that it takes to achieve those kind of results.
And so it's important to always keep in mind, though we love Bible prophecy, we need to
have a practical application for these things in our lives, and not to just study Bible
prophecy as a hobby, right?
This stuff is real, and we need to go out and preach the gospel to every creature that
we might rescue people from the wrath to come, amen?
Now I'm going to get into my sermon.
The title of my sermon tonight is The New Earth.
Let's go ahead and start there in Revelation chapter 21.
The Bible reads in verse 1, and I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven
and the first earth were passed away.
I want you to notice that word, passed away, and there was no more sea.
And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared
as a bride adorned for her husband.
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.
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.
Again, I want you to notice that term, the former things are passed away.
And then in verse 5 he says, and he that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things
new, and he said unto me, write, for these words are true and faithful.
Now the first point that I want to make tonight about the new earth is that when it comes
to the new earth, God is not going to make a new one, but he's going to make all things
new.
So we see in verse number 5 he says, I make all things new.
So when it comes to the new earth, this would be like if I said, I'm getting a new kitchen.
It doesn't mean that the old kitchen is going to cease to exist and a brand new kitchen
will be built from scratch, but that rather the kitchen is going to be made new or renewed
or remodeled.
Now when we think of the term passing away, the Bible says many times, heaven and earth
shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away.
That same term is used about us as well, isn't it?
When we talk about people dying, we say that they passed away and a loved one passed away.
And the Bible uses that term as well about people dying, that they passed away.
Well when the Bible says that the earth is going to pass away, that's similar to what
it means when it says that we will pass away.
I'm going to get into that in a little bit, but first of all, let me just prove to you
that this earth that we are on right now is going to be here forever.
Now that might shock you a little bit, but let's look at what the Bible says.
Turn back in your Bible to Ecclesiastes chapter 1, Ecclesiastes chapter number 1, and then
we're going to go to Psalm 104.
Go back to Ecclesiastes chapter 1, I'm going to show you some clear scripture that just
comes right out and tells us that this earth will be here forever.
You say, wait a minute, Pastor Anderson, it's going to pass away.
I'm going to get to what that means, and I'm going to prove this from scripture tonight,
but let's start out by going to Ecclesiastes 1.
Let's just lay down a foundation here that there are several clear scriptures that tell
us that this earth will be here forever.
Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 1 verse 4, the Bible reads, one generation passeth away and
another generation cometh, but the earth abideth forever.
Go if you would to Psalm 104.
Psalm 104, while you're turning there, I'll read for you Psalm 78, 69, the Bible reads,
and he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established forever.
So the Bible says that God has established the earth forever.
One generation passeth away, another generation cometh, but the earth abideth forever.
Look at Psalm 104 verse 4, who maketh his angels spirits, his ministers a flaming fire,
who laid the foundation of the earth that it should not be removed forever.
The foundation of the earth shall not be removed forever, the Bible tells us.
Now if you would go to Psalm 102, you're really close to there.
Look at Psalm 102.
While you're turning to Psalm 102, I'll read for you from Hebrews chapter 1.
The Bible says in Hebrews 1, 10, and thou Lord in the beginning has laid the foundation
of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands.
They shall perish, but thou remainest, and they all shall wax old as does the garment,
and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed.
Notice that wording.
They shall be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
Look down at Psalm 102 verse 25.
Of old thou hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy
hands.
They shall perish, but thou shalt endure.
Now if you stopped reading right there, you'd say, well, the earth is going to perish, right?
But keep reading.
They all of them shall wax old like a garment, as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they
shall be changed.
But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
So just to review what we've seen so far, the Bible tells us, and we've all heard it
a bunch of times, that heaven and earth shall pass away, but God's word shall not pass away.
But on the other hand, we have many scriptures that are clearly telling us that the earth
is going to be here forever, that he founded it to remain forever, that it will abide forever,
even though people will pass away.
So what is it?
Is the earth going to pass away, or is the earth going to be here forever?
Well, the truth of the matter is that the world will be here forever, but just as our
bodies pass away, and then we receive what?
A new body.
But is that new body a brand new creation from scratch, or is it our body changed?
And that's exactly what he said he would do to the earth.
He would change it.
We pass away, don't we, as Christians, but we receive a new body, which is our old body
changed.
Look at 1 Corinthians chapter number 15, and let's start reading in verse number 40.
I'm going to show you how the earth is symbolic of our bodies.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15, 40, there are also celestial bodies.
The word celestial just means heavenly, and bodies terrestrial.
What does terrestrial mean?
Earthly.
So there are heavenly bodies, there are earthly bodies, terrestrial bodies, but the glory
of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
There's one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars, for
one star differth from another star in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
So the Bible tells us that the earthly bodies, which would be the planets, and the heavenly
bodies are like the resurrection, in a sense.
Jump down if you would to verse 51, the famous verse.
Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
What does it mean when it says we shall all be changed?
It means that those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord in the rapture
shall be changed in a moment and a twinkling of an eye.
The Bible says that he 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.
But not only will those of us who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord be
changed, the Bible says we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, meaning that
the dead in Christ shall be changed.
Those who are alive and remain shall be changed.
Every person who has ever lived, who received the Lord Jesus Christ their Savior, every
saved person shall be changed.
Whether alive or dead at the coming of Christ, that body will be changed.
The bodies that are in the graves will be changed into a glorious body.
No matter how rotten and decayed they are, God will change them and bring them up out
of the grave.
And the same thing with those of us who are alive and remain.
On our way up into the clouds, we're going to be changed, right?
Now those people who are dead in the grave, they passed away, didn't they?
But does that mean that their body ceased to exist?
No.
Because that body, we buried it and it's going to be changed.
And it's like a seed that's sown and it grows into a new plant, a new life, but the same
molecules that made up that seed are the molecules that go into that new plant and go into that
new life.
So when God creates the new earth, he's not discarding the old earth to where it ceases
to exist and creating a new one from scratch, but rather he is changing the earth.
The earth shall pass away and shall be changed, the Bible says.
So we've seen the evidence so far.
We saw that first of all, there are multiple scriptures that talk about the earth passing
away.
We related that to a human being that passes away.
The human being receives a new body, which is what?
Their old body changed, renewed, perfect.
And we see that the new earth is the same thing.
It's the old earth changed and made new.
That's why he said, I make all things new.
That's why he said the former things are passed away.
That's why he said the fashion of this world passeth away.
The Bible says the world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he that do it the will
of God abideth forever.
And we've all heard those verses many times, but what we sometimes fail to notice are all
the verses that say the earth's going to be here forever, which are clear, straightforward
verses.
How can they both be true?
Well, it's pretty easy when you compare it to the human body.
It's actually the same thing.
So the verse that I think people would think of as a way to say, well, wait a minute, Pastor
Anderson, I think you're out to lunch on this because the whole earth's going to burn up.
They would take you to 2 Peter 3.
Let's look at 2 Peter 3.
Let's get the context and let's see what it's actually saying.
The Bible says in 2 Peter 3 verse 3, knowing this first, that there shall come in the last
days scoffers walking after their own lust and saying, where is the promise of his coming?
For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of
the creation.
Now let's stop right there and ask ourselves this question.
Did the Apostle Peter believe that Christ was coming back in his lifetime as we're told
so often?
The apostles believed in imminency.
They believed Christ was coming at any moment.
Well, is that what Peter says here?
Because Peter makes it pretty clear here that there's going to come the last days when people
are saying, where is the promise of his coming?
Because a long period of time has gone by.
And not only that, but they'll say, well, since the fathers fell asleep, all things
continue as they were from the beginning of creation.
So what's Peter saying?
When we're all dead, people are going to be saying, where is the second coming of Christ?
Then he says this in verse number 8.
But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand
years and a thousand years as one day, which is implying that it could take as long as
a thousand years.
Or how about two thousand years?
So he's not saying this is for sure going to happen right away.
It's in our lifetime.
It could happen at any moment.
He's actually saying it's going to be a long ways off, and people will start to doubt that
it's ever going to happen.
And this is what we see in the day we live in with all the false alarms, all the predictions
of all the fake date setting.
Hey, it's going to be the year 2000.
It's going to be 2012.
It's going to be 2017.
It's going to be 2018.
It seems like the predictions are coming now on a yearly basis.
They say, well, it's been 70 years since 1947, and you know, this generation shall not pass
away in the budding of the fig tree.
So it's got to be 2017.
And they say, well, yeah, but it didn't really become a nation until 1948.
So let's go with 2018.
And I'm sure there's a bunch of hype about that.
Of course, we don't believe in any of that because we believe the nation of Israel is
a fraud.
Amen?
In 2 Peter 3 here, he says in verse 5, for this they willingly are ignorant of, that
by the word of God, the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and
in the water.
Now, the earth standing out of the water and in the water is a reference to the flood,
but you know what else it pictures is baptism.
Because think about it.
When you get baptized, you're standing out of the water, and then you're in the water.
And this whole world was baptized in water at one point, wasn't it?
It was completely immersed in water.
That's a picture of baptism.
And then someday in the future, this whole world is going to be immersed in fire.
And what that pictures is where John the Baptist said, I baptize you with water, but he that
cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear.
He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
So the earth pictures that because the earth had a water baptism.
And in the future, the earth's going to have a fire baptism, right?
It says in verse 7, but the heavens and the earth which are now by the same word are kept
in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
So he's saying it was once destroyed by water, later it's going to be destroyed by fire.
Look at verse number 10.
This is the key.
The Bible says, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in the which
the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
The earth also and the works that are there in shall be burned up.
Let me ask you this, when does the Bible say that the heavens will pass away and when does
the Bible say that the earth will be burned up?
What day?
The day of the Lord.
And when does the Bible consistently say the day of the Lord will happen?
It talks about the day of the Lord happens after the sun and moon are darkened.
And when the sun and moon are darkened, they say the great day of his wrath has come and
who shall be able to stand?
So the day of the Lord is the day of the rapture and it's the day when God begins to pour out
his wrath on this earth.
So therefore, it would be ridiculous to say that this verse is teaching that the earth
is going to be burned up to the point where it ceases to exist because the earth doesn't
cease to exist on the day of the Lord.
But let me ask you this, does the earth get burned up on the day of the Lord?
Yes, because the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone and
so shall it be also in the day when the son of man should be revealed.
Because a half hour after the rapture takes place, then the seventh seal is opened and
the angel takes coals of fire out of the altar and casts them into the earth.
Then the first trumpet sounds and the first trumpet judgment involves fire raining from
the sky to the point where the Bible says that all green grass on the entire earth is
burned up.
Now in order for a third of the trees to burn up and all the grass to burn up, the whole
world has to be on fire.
And of course, we're talking about the land mass.
Any area that has trees or grass is going to be a forest fire.
It's going to be burning.
So this earth is going to be rained on with fire and brimstone on the day of the Lord.
Now what about the heavens passing away?
Well, what does the Bible tell us about the day of the Lord in Revelation 6?
It says the heaven departed as a scroll when it's rolled together.
So when do the heavens pass away?
On the day of the Lord, just like it says right here.
Not only that, but Job back in the Old Testament, chapter 14, verse 12, said that he would not
rise again until the heavens be no more.
The Bible tells us the heaven departed as a scroll when it's rolled together.
The Bible says here that on the day of the Lord, that heavens shall pass away with a
great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye
to be in all holy conversation that God is?
He's saying, look, the house, the car, the RV, all the things that you lust after are
all going to be burned up.
So what manner of persons ought you to be?
You can't preserve that stuff.
You're not going to go up in the rapture and say, well, hopefully when I get back in the
millennium, I hope that my RV is still there.
Maybe I could put it in a safe place.
I mean, the whole thing's getting torched.
And that's just the first day.
And then God pours out his wrath for years and causes all kinds of other cataclysms and
problems.
Look at the forest fires that just ravaged Northern California.
Look at the forest fires that we had in Arizona a few months ago.
There are going to be forest fires like that all over this planet on the day of the Lord.
That's what the Bible says.
So the Bible says also in verse 12, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day
of God wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat.
Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein
dwelleth righteousness.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found
of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
Now think about this.
What if I said that my car was burned up?
Would that mean that my car was just cremated to the point where it was just gone?
It just turned into dust.
No.
If you saw a car that was burned up, you would expect to find a metal shell of a car that's
just blackened and all the interior has been torched, right?
And many things in this world, if we said they were burned up, they wouldn't necessarily
cease to exist.
They would just be torched on the outside.
And we would still consider that being burned up.
So some people are looking at this and they're putting a definition on burned up that isn't
there, like that it just burns up to the point where it's just gone.
And that's not the case.
Having fire on the surface is burning up.
And so this fits perfectly with the day of the Lord.
It fits perfectly with the description in Revelation chapter 6 about the heavens rolling
away, departing, passing away, and so forth.
So the Bible's consistent with that.
So point number one is that the new earth is not making a new one, but it's the earth
made new.
That's why Jesus said in the same breath as that there's a new heaven and a new earth,
I make all things new, okay?
Now, if you think about it, Christ, after the millennium, delivers up the kingdom unto
the Father, the Bible says.
And in Daniel chapter 7, the Bible tells us that Christ's kingdom is a kingdom that will
never end.
So it makes sense that it's the same kingdom.
It's not a new kingdom or a different kingdom.
The same kingdom that exists on this earth in the millennium is the same kingdom that
Jesus is going to deliver up to the Father after the great white throne in the new heavens
and the new earth.
You say, well, what's new about it?
What's new about the new heavens and the new earth?
Well, go to Revelation 21, and we'll see what's new about it.
What's different about it?
Well, there are multiple differences.
One of the big dramatic differences is that there's no more sea.
Right now, if you look at the globe, most of the globe is covered in water.
The vast majority of our earth is covered in water, 70% water, 30% of it is earth.
But in the new earth, that's going to be different.
Yeah, you say, why would God eliminate the oceans?
Why would God say that there's no more sea?
I believe it's because of the fact that it'll provide more space for people to live, more
livable space.
And the reason why that's important is that you have to understand that the new earth
is going to be populated by every saved person who has ever lived in the history of mankind.
And think about all the unborn children who've been aborted, or they've just died of natural
causes in their mother's womb, the miscarriages that happen naturally, infant mortality.
All those souls are eternal lives that will still exist.
So there has to be a lot of room on the new earth for us to enjoy it and to have space
for everybody.
God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
He's got room for everybody.
Whoever wants to be saved, there's room for you.
And if you look at the very size of the new Jerusalem, it's 1,500 miles by 1,500 miles.
So it's big enough for a lot of people to even dwell in that city itself.
It's huge for that reason.
So the Bible says, look down at your Bible there in Revelation 21, and I saw a new heaven
and a new earth.
For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea.
And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God.
Now is it already there?
It's coming down after the white throne in the new heaven and the new earth, prepared
as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with man,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people.
And God himself shall be with them and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be, watch this, no more
death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former
things are passed away, and he that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things
new.
Let's jump over to chapter 22, verse 1.
The Bible reads, and he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, and in the midst of the street of it, and
on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manna of fruits,
and yielded her fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of
the nations, 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.
The second point tonight is that the new earth is a return to the Garden of Eden on a large
scale though, on a global scale, where the whole earth becomes like unto the Garden of
Eden.
Now, what was the Garden of Eden like?
Well, it had the tree of life, where they could eat of the tree of life and live forever.
We see that in the new earth, don't we?
We see the river, just like there were rivers in the Garden of Eden.
We see the trees and the fruits and the perfection of no sin, no sorrow, no death, no pain.
Everything is perfect, no curse.
Now, this is different than the millennium, because in the millennium, there still is
death.
There still is sorrow.
There still is pain.
There still is somewhat of a curse, because remember, the sinner being 100 years old shall
be cursed.
So let me explain the history of our world in this way.
I think this is going to help you to understand this.
Let's say that we give a numeric value to the Garden of Eden, let's give it a value
of zero.
Now, you say, why would we give the Garden of Eden a numeric value of zero?
Because there's zero problems, zero death, zero pain, zero sorrow, right?
So let's call the Garden of Eden zero.
That's ground zero.
That's where we start.
Okay.
After man is kicked out of the Garden of Eden, things change, don't they, on the earth?
Instead of living forever, man lives to be seven, eight, nine hundred years old.
Now, that's not as bad of a situation as we have.
We live on this earth a maximum of 120 years, but really, the average is 70, 80 years.
The Bible talks about man in the Book of Psalms living three score in 10 years or possibly
by strength living 80 years, and the hard, fast limit on man is 120 years, right?
But after they're kicked out of the Garden of Eden, they don't just go straight to a
75, 80, 85-year lifespan, do they?
No, they're living much longer.
So let's give that a value of one, right?
So Garden of Eden is a zero.
Let's give the time between the Garden of Eden and the flood, let's call that a one
because things are worse now.
Now they're going to die.
They're going to have sorrow.
Also during this time, the animals have changed and the people have changed, right?
Now here's the difference.
In the time between the Garden of Eden and the flood, the animals will continue to be
vegetarian as they were in the Garden of Eden, but mankind begins to eat flesh.
You say, how do we know that mankind begins to eat meat right away?
Well, first of all, in the Garden of Eden itself, God is already killing a lamb, making
them coats of skins, doing a sacrifice unto the Lord.
Abel does an animal sacrifice unto the Lord, and the sacrifice in the Old Testament, the
meat is eaten.
That's part of the sacrifice is eating the meat.
How do we know that Abel's full-time job is to be a keeper of the sheep, showing us that
he is eating animal products, he's eating meat, he's taking care of the sheep.
That's his food.
That's his clothing right there, but the animals are still only eating plants.
It's not until after the flood that the animals begin to eat meat, okay?
So let me just review quickly.
Garden of Eden is a zero.
Everybody's living off fruits and vegetables.
Everybody's on the vegan plan, right?
There's no sorrow, no death, no dying, no sin, and you live forever, right?
Everybody got it?
Then we go to the next phase, and it's a one, because you're living to be 900.
The animals are still plant-based.
The men are eating meat and sacrificing animals unto the Lord.
Then after the flood, we see a dramatic change again where man stops living to be 900, and
his lifespan begins to dramatically go down until we get to our current lifespan.
After just a few generations, it gets to our lifespan.
It's gradual though.
First you have a guy living 400, then he's living 200, and then you're after just a few
generations down to where we are today.
Now, a lot of people have had some crazy theories about why man stopped living that long.
And I grew up hearing that it was about the canopy of mist.
And I've heard preachers get up and say, you know, it's the sun that's killing us.
And back then, the waters that were up in the sky, the cloud cover and that canopy of
mist, that it actually blocked the sun, and therefore we could live longer.
I've had other people say the oxygen was different, and they were supercharged on oxygen,
or the barometric pressure was different, so humans could just live to be 900.
Here's why that doesn't make any sense, because of the fact that if that were true, people
could just stay in the house and live to be 200 if the sun is the problem.
Or with all the technology we have, don't you think somebody would have built a house
that just has a skylight that only lets the right amount of rays in so you can still get
your vitamin D and not be killed by the sun?
And wouldn't you think somebody could just supercharge their house with oxygen?
I mean, today we have people who sleep in beds that simulate different altitudes.
Athletes will do this, where they want to simulate high altitudes, so they'll go in
a house where the whole house simulates high altitude, even at sea level.
Who's ever heard of that before?
It's out there.
It doesn't make any sense, because no matter what you do, no matter how much sun you get,
no matter how little sun you get, no matter how many times you go to the oxygen bar, have
you seen those oxygen bars at the airport or at the mall where you can suck pure oxygen?
You're still not going to live past 120.
You're not going to live to be 200.
You're not going to live to be 400.
You're not going to live to be 600.
The reason why is because it's genetic.
It is our genetics that make us age, the aging gene.
You can't stop that aging clock, and if you could, people would be stopping it.
Somebody would be stopping it.
No one can.
Why?
Because it's in our DNA to get old and die after a certain amount of time.
That means that God changed mankind's genetics.
He turned off that gene or turned on this gene, and he made man to be able to live much
longer after the flood, right?
He also changed the DNA of the animals, because the animals went from thriving on a vegetable
diet.
Many of them became carnivores, and others became omnivores.
Today, a lion cannot live on a vegan diet.
It must eat meat to survive, whereas before the flood and back in the Garden of Eden,
it could eat plants and survive.
That's a difference in the DNA.
So Garden of Eden is a zero.
Before the flood is a one.
After the flood is a two.
Let's give that a numeric value of two.
That's where we're living today, where our lifespan is only like 70 or 80 years, 120
max.
And we're eating meat.
The animals are ripping each other apart.
I mean, I was just out soul winning today, and we saw this pit bull just ripping a chihuahua
apart.
I mean, it just grabbed a chihuahua and just started ripping it apart.
That's what animals do.
That's what carnivores do out in the wild.
They rip each other apart.
You say, did you intercede?
You know, he that meddleth with strife not belonging to him is like he that taketh a
dog by the ears.
I just drove away.
But the owner came and dealt with it as I was driving away.
Okay, but think about this.
When we go to the millennium, we go back to a one.
Why?
Because the Bible tells in the millennium that man will live very long again.
His days will be like the days of a tree.
If somebody dies at 100, that's considered dying young.
And the Bible says that in the millennium, the lion will eat straw like an ox.
But mankind is still going to eat meat because we have evidence of Jesus in his glorified
state eating fish as his final meal on this earth.
We also have a reference in Zechariah chapter 14 to seething meat in a pot during the millennium.
So therefore, we're going to be back to a one.
And then when we get to the new heaven and the new earth, we're back to a zero.
Why?
When we get to the new heaven and the new earth, it's total Garden of Eden again.
We live forever.
There's no death.
And that means, sorry, Brother Humanez, no carne asada in the new heaven and the new
earth.
Because, you know, once we get there, if there's no death, there can't be any meat eating.
You can't eat a burger without somebody dying, right?
The cow has to die.
You can't eat fish without the fish dying.
And in the new heaven and the new earth, there's going to be no death.
So isn't it interesting how the history of our world goes like this, 0, 1, 2, 1, 0.
Think about that.
That's us coming full circle.
So just as man was kind of eased out of paradise, man's going to be eased back into paradise.
So the millennium is like a transitional period between the way that we live now and the way
it's going to be in the new heaven and the new earth.
It's sort of a halfway in between.
But isn't that interesting how it follows that curve, 0, 1, 2, 1, 0.
Now let me ask you this.
What is it that brought mankind from a 1 to a 2?
The flood, right?
The earth being destroyed with water.
What's going to bring us from a 2 to a 1?
The earth being destroyed by fire.
What is it that brought us from a 0 to a 1?
The introduction of sin into the world.
Sin entered into the world.
And what's going to bring us from a 1 to a 0?
Sin being removed from this earth.
The final victory over sin.
So can't you see how perfect God's plan is for this earth where He takes us from the
Garden of Eden and it gets worse and then worse and then worse.
It climaxes with God pouring out His wrath on this earth and then there's a slow return
to paradise genetically for both man and beast.
Now if you would flip over to Isaiah chapter 65.
Isaiah chapter 65.
Point number one of the sermon was that God's not going to make a new one with the new earth.
He's going to make all things new.
The world will pass away but it will be resurrected just like our body is resurrected.
Point number two is that the new earth will be like a return to the Garden of Eden on
a large scale for the whole world.
Now here's the scripture in Isaiah 65 about the lion eating straw.
It says the wolf and the lamb shall feed together.
By the way it's always said that for those Mandela effectors out there.
It says the wolf and the lamb shall feed together and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock
and dust shall be the serpent's meat.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain sayeth the Lord.
Now the Bible is pretty clear here that carnivorous beasts like lions are one day going to eat
a vegetarian diet.
Now in order for that to happen their bodies are going to have to change, aren't they?
Flip over to 1 Timothy chapter 4 if you would.
Their bodies are going to have to change.
I mean if you fed them plants now they'll die.
Now they'll chew up grass but it goes right through their body.
They don't have the enzymes to digest it.
They must live off meat today, right?
Now people will come along that are these kind of hardcore vegans or militant vegans.
And let me just say right now I'm not against vegetarians or vegans.
I don't have a problem with people who choose to eat a vegetarian or vegan diet.
We have people in our church that are vegetarians and I'm okay with that but you know what I
find?
There is a group of people out there that are militant vegans where this has become
a religion to them and it is something that they want to push on other people and it is
something that they try to make into a Bible doctrine.
Now if somebody says hey I'm eating a vegetarian diet for this and that, the health reason
or this and that, lactose intolerancy, that's one thing.
And it's one thing if someone says well this is how I'm choosing to eat and they think
it's good or whatever.
You know that's one thing but we see some militant vegans today trying to cram this
down everybody's throat and it has become a religion unto them.
And if you don't believe me just go on the comments of my recent sermon that I did where
I was being nice to the vegetarians, I was being nice to the vegans and they come on
there use blankety blank you eat.
And they're just breathing out all kinds of hatred and threatenings.
Now let me tell you, the vegan philosophy that is an animal worshiping type philosophy
that commands to abstain from meats, not just saying oh well I don't eat meat but the one
that tells you not to eat meat and the one that tells you that the Bible teaches you
not to eat meat, the Bible calls that a doctrine of devils.
Now look if you would at 1 Timothy chapter 4 and I'm going to explain to you why it calls
this a doctrine of devils because a lot of people will say well after all we're all going
to end up vegan in the new earth and I agree with that.
We are all going to end up vegan in the new earth and to say well back in the Garden of
Eden they were vegan, amen.
But let me tell you why this is a doctrine of devils.
First of all let me just show you what the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter number 4 it
explains this.
Let me turn there myself.
Now the spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the
faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy,
having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry and commanding to
abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which
believe and know the truth.
For every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving
for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
Pray for your food, amen.
If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things thou shalt be a good minister
of Jesus Christ, nourished, a little play on words there, nourished up in the words
of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained but refused profane and old
wives fables and exercised thyself rather unto godliness.
Exercise yourself unto godliness.
Don't worry about abstaining from meat and if somebody commands us to abstain from meats
the Bible says that's a doctrine of devils because every creature of God is good and
nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving and if we're going to say well
what God really intends as his perfect will is that we don't eat any meat then what you're
saying is Jesus is not in the perfect will of God since Jesus ate beef, Jesus ate lamb
and Jesus ate fish.
So are we better than him?
We're better than Jesus.
We're smarter than him.
We're more enlightened to him.
That's pretty blasphemous but I'll tell you why it's a doctrine of devils because what
vegan radical types will tell you when they try to use the Bible to tell you you need
to be a vegan the scripture they'll turn to is Genesis 1 about the Garden of Eden and
say well see this is how we're supposed to be eating but hold on a second that's back
when the lion was eating grass.
So it would be just as silly to say well God intends lions to be eating grass right now
as to say that I'm supposed to be eating a plant-based diet only right now.
It's just as silly because we're not in that stage for man or beast and just as silly say
well God's original intent was for us to be vegan.
Well that was his original intent for the lion to be vegan but is that his intent for
the lion right now?
Well it's not his intent for me either right now and it wasn't his intent for Jesus Christ
because Jesus said I do always those things which please the Father and he ate meat with
the best of them but you say but why is it a doctrine of devils?
I'll tell you why the Bible gives it that condemnation because they'll say this well
eating meat was only the result of sin.
Eating meat was only the result of the fall and they're right about that because before
sin and before the fall there was no meat eating.
So here's what they're saying.
Don't miss this.
What they're saying is we can reverse the effects of sin without Jesus Christ.
Without Jesus.
We don't need Jesus Christ.
We don't need the second coming of Christ.
We don't need the millennial reign of Christ.
We don't need a new heaven and a new earth.
You know what?
We are going to return to paradise right now.
We'll take care of our own sin problem and it's all based on vegan food.
We'll go back to paradise on our own.
What we need to do is we need to get on God's program and not worry about some bodily exercise
of what food goes into our body.
What we need to worry about is exercising ourself unto godliness, fighting the spiritual
battle, doing what's right, eating the meat that God has given us to the nourishment of
our bodies.
Yes, eat the plants.
Yes, eat the meat.
Eat all the food that God has provided for us to strengthen and to nourish us.
Eat whatever is put in front of us asking no question for conscience sake.
Whatever meat is put on our plate we thank God for it.
We eat it and we go out and serve Him and you know what?
We leave it to Him to bring back paradise.
We leave it to Him to heal this earth.
We leave it to Him to bring us back to a level one and a level zero of suffering and you
know what?
That stuff all comes in its time and I know that there are vegans who are born again Christians
but I'll tell you this right now, there's a militant faction of vegans that literally
hate the Lord Jesus.
Just go look on the comments of my video recently.
You know what they say?
God's barbaric.
God's evil.
He slaughtered all.
The Bible's an evil book.
Look at all those animal sacrifices.
Look at all the slaughter.
God's evil.
Look, it's a God-hating attitude with a lot of them and I'm not saying all of them but
with a lot of them and then they say, hey, that's the result of sin.
We'll fix it.
We'll fix it down at Whole Foods.
We'll fix it with Trader Joe's.
We'll fix it at Sprouts.
No, no, no.
You better fix it with the blood of Christ.
The Lamb of God.
But number three, I'll say this, the new earth will be our home for all eternity.
So number one, we see the new earth is the earth made new, not a completely different
earth or a creation from scratch, okay?
Number two, we see that the new earth will be like a return to the Garden of Eden on
a large scale.
The whole planet will be like a Garden of Eden where we will eat the fruit of the tree,
no more barbecues of meat, sorry guys.
You got a thousand years to get that out of your system and then we're going to go back
to a perfect harmony and if you think to yourself, man, I wish I would have been there in the
Garden of Eden when it was so perfect, everything was so peaceful and idyllic and there was
no sin or any kind of problem, we're going to get to experience that in due time.
We will experience that.
But at this time, there's a spiritual battle going on.
Don't get too peaceful yet because we're still in a spiritual fight today.
And someday we will get to enjoy peace on earth in God's timing in the millennium and
even more so in the new earth.
But number three, the new earth will be our home for all eternity.
Now sometimes we'll make flippant statements like, hey, we're going to spend eternity in
heaven.
That's not really true though.
Now when we die as believers, we go straight to heaven because the Bible says to be absent
from the body is to be present with the Lord.
Paul said, I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better.
But if we're alive and remain under the coming of the Lord, we're only going to be in heaven
for a little less than three and a half years because the Bible says in Revelation 7, when
the rapture takes place and everybody's caught up to be with the Lord in heaven, it tells
us that those people that came out of great tribulation and washed their robes and made
them white in the blood of the lamb, that they will follow the lamb whithersoever he
goeth.
And when he returns to this earth in Revelation 19, that whole multitude's coming with him
on white horses.
And so we as the saints, we'll be up in heaven for a few years and then we come back onto
this earth to rule and reign with him in the millennium on this earth.
Now people who died as Christians a thousand years ago, they've been in heaven for the
last thousand years.
And so those people will have a longer stint in heaven than the people who make it all
the way to the end, right?
They're only going to be there for three years.
So some people are there for thousands of years.
Some people are there for a little less than three and a half years.
But eventually we come here for the millennium, right?
But then after the millennium, we have the great white throne judgment.
And after that great white throne judgment, we're back on this earth, but it's a totally
new earth where there's no sea, renewed earth that is.
And when we're on this earth, the Bible talks about the new Jerusalem coming down from God
out of heaven, and it talks about how the lamb is going to be the light thereof, and
talks about how God himself is going to be the temple thereof, and how God the Father
will even be reigning and ruling amongst us.
And so we will be on this earth.
The Lord will be on this earth.
This is where we're going to be.
I don't believe we're going to be going back and forth to heaven.
There's no evidence of that.
We're just going to be living on this earth.
That's where we end up.
And let me give you some scriptures about us inheriting the earth and being on this
earth forever.
You don't have to turn to these, but Psalm 25, 13 says,
His soul shall dwell at ease, and His seed shall inherit the earth.
Psalm 37, 9, For evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall
inherit the earth.
Psalm 37, 11, But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the
abundance of peace.
Psalm 37, 22, For such as be blessed of Him shall inherit the earth, and they that be
cursed of Him shall be cut off.
And of course the famous Matthew 5, 5, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Let's go to Revelation 21.
Last place we'll turn is Revelation.
Go to Revelation 21.
Look at verse 22.
And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of
it.
And the city had no need of the sun.
Let me just point out right there.
The Bible does not say that the sun has ceased to exist.
The Bible does not say that the moon has ceased to exist.
And the Bible does not say that they have no need of the sun on the other side of the
planet.
It says, And the city had no need of the sun.
You see that?
That's where the Lord is.
That's where the Lamb is.
The Lamb is the light thereof.
Neither of the moon to shine in it, see that implies that it's there, but they don't need
it.
Why?
Because it's so bright in that city.
Sometimes you have all the lights turned on, and it's so lit up, you don't even notice
whether the sun's up or down.
Sort of like when we see the moon in the daytime, sometimes we don't even notice that the moon's
even there.
Why?
Because the sun is so bright, we don't even need the moon.
But at night, when that moon comes up, how many of you have ever been camping where you're
laying outside sleeping, and you're fast asleep, and all of a sudden you wake up at two or
three in the morning, and you don't know why you woke up, and you realize because your
whole tent is lit up with the moon.
Because when you're out in a remote place, and it's super dark, and the moon rises, it'll
light up the whole campsite.
It almost feels like daytime.
I know sometimes I go running at night on the nights when it's a full moon.
When I'm going to go running at night, I always check the moon phase.
I just type it in the computer.
Because if the moon's going to be out of full moon, you don't need a flashlight.
You can go trail running at night, and the moon just lights it up.
So that's what this is like.
They don't need the sun.
The sun's there.
Now on the other side of the planet, you're probably still going to need the sun and the
moon, but the city, notice, the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine
in it.
For the glory of God did lighten it, the city, and the lamb is the light thereof.
And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it.
So where are all the nations of the saved going to be?
They're going to be walking on this earth in the light of this great city.
It says the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it.
And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day, for there should be no night there.
And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.
And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh
abomination or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the lamb's book of life.
Look at Revelation 22, 14.
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life
and may enter in through the gates into the city.
So when the Bible wants to talk about people who've really kept God's commandments and
earned rewards, he says that they have right to the tree of life and they can enter through
the gates into the city, so they have a privileged rank where they can enter through the gates
into the city.
But it doesn't say anything, well, the really special ones are going to be up in heaven.
Does it say anything like that?
No.
What does he say?
Everybody who's saved is on the earth.
Right?
The glorious place to be is just being near Jesus, being near the throne, being near that
city, entering in through the gate.
That's the blessed place of privilege.
But everybody's on this earth.
That's pretty clear when you study this.
So let me just give you a timeline, just a skeleton timeline of the end times.
We've already talked a lot in this conference about the early stages, and that's the most
important part.
That's what we should focus on, where we talk about how it goes tribulation, right, then
the rapture, then the wrath of God, but now let's take our timeline further than that.
After the wrath of God, we have the battle of Armageddon.
After the battle of Armageddon, we have the millennium.
After the millennium, we have the battle of Gog and Magog.
After the battle of Gog and Magog, we have the great white throne judgment.
After that great white throne judgment, we have the new heaven and the new earth.
Revelation 20 covers the millennium.
Revelation 20 covers Gog and Magog.
Revelation 20 covers the great white throne, and then Revelation 21 and 22 covers the new
heaven and the new earth.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, and we thank you for all of the teachings
that we've heard in this conference, Lord, and all the biblical truths.
I pray that you'd bless the services tomorrow as well, Lord, at Sunday morning at Faithful
Word Baptist Church when Brother Dave Berzins preaches, and Sunday night when Pastor Wesley
Tomlinson preaches, and also, Lord, bless me as I'm preaching up at Word of Truth Baptist
in Prescott Valley, Lord.
Bless our time tomorrow, and Lord, I just pray that every person who came to this conference
would get what they came here for.
I pray that they would go home filled, not starved of doctrine and starved of scripture,
but I pray that they would go home with a belly full of the strong meat of the word,
that they might digest the great spiritual truths that they've heard this week, Lord,
and I just pray that you would bring us all to a more perfect knowledge of your word,
that we might be better servants of yours, Lord.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.