Amen. All right. I'm over there in Ezekiel 48 and like we've already announced we are finishing the
book of Ezekiel tonight. The last chapter here in the book of Ezekiel and what I'll do tonight is
I'll give you an outline like we've been doing. I'll just give you a quick outline of the chapter
itself then I give you some thoughts in regards to end times prophecy and then one personal
application at the end and hopefully by then the pizza will be here and we can eat. All right. So
let me start by just giving you just kind of an outline of the chapter. I know some of you have
been taking notes and having those outlines. This chapter is again divided into two sections. The
first section would be the division of the land and you see that in the chapter as we read it.
The land is divided to the tribes of Israel. If you notice there Ezekiel 48 one the Bible says
these are the names of the tribes from the north and to the coast of the way of Hethlon as one
goeth to Hamath and he goes on and on but I want you to notice there that he begins to give the
outline of the tribes from the north end to the coast. So he starts at the north and he works his
way down. Now in verses 1 through 8 he talks about the seven northern tribes. All right. The seven
northern tribes he begins in verse 1 with Dan, verse 2, Asher, verse 3, Naphtali, verse 4,
Manasseh, verse 5, Ephraim, verse 6, Reuben and then verse 7 he talks about Judah and then in
verses 9 through 12 he talks about the area that is set aside for the Lord or the district of the
Lord. Notice verse 8 it says and by the border of Judah from the east side into the west shall be
the offerings which he shall offer a five and twenty thousand reeds and breath and in the
length as one of the other parts from the east side into the west side notice it says and the
sanctuary shall be in the midst of it and in verse 10 if you look at verse 10 the last part again it
says the sanctuary of the Lord shall be in the midst thereof. So there's this area that is
designated for the Lord where the temple is where the tabernacle and that's forgot. So he starts off
by telling us about the portion of the land and he tells about the northern tribes he gives us
seven tribes then in the center next to Judah we've got the area that is the portion for the Lord then
in verses 13 through 14 he talks about the area for the Levites where the Levites are gonna live
and of course they're ministering to the Lord in the sanctuary so it makes sense that they'd be
near the sanctuary in verse 13 and 14 he says and over against the border of the priests the
Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length and he goes on and talks about that and
in verse 14 he explains that the land that is set aside for the Levites is not for the Levites
it's for the Lord the Levites will be allowed to live there but it won't be their land because
notice in verse 14 it says and they shall not sell of it neither exchange nor alienate the first
fruits of the land for it is holy unto the Lord so it was not their land to sell to do business
with it was given to them because of their priestly duties then in verses 15 and 20 he
explains the land apportioned to the city so this is just the general land where people can live
where people can do business and he talks about we just read the whole chapter so I won't go
through the whole thing but he talks about the different measurements and how it can be used and
where the different tribes can you know how they can do business all those things then in verses
21 through 22 he talks about a portion for the prince and the prince is of course the leader
there and it talks about his area and where he he's gonna live I just want to point out to you
that at the end of verse 21 again it says and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst
thereof then in verses 23 through 29 and we're going from north to south we're kind of walking
through the land he gives us the last five southern tribes because remember there's 12
tribes of Israel he started at the north and he gave us seven tribes in their land and how they're
gonna be situated then he talks about the fact that there's a land for the Lord the sanctuary
then there's a land for the Levites then there's the land just for people to live in and do
business and to farm or whatever and then he ends by giving us the last five southern tribes
so notice in verse 23 it's Benjamin verse 24 it's Simeon verse 25 is Issachar verse 26
Sebulon verse 27 Gad and that's the first section of this book of this chapter it's just the the
land and the proportion of the land then the second section in this chapter deals with the
city of Jerusalem and it's just kind of describing the city verses 30 through 34 talks about the
gates of the city notice verse 30 and these are the goings out of the city on the north side and
he explains again in verse 31 and the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes
of Israel three gates northward and if you if you read 31 32 33 it's three gates northward three
gates eastward three gates westward three gates southward and then in verse 35 he gives the name
of the city and he's talking about Jerusalem but he hasn't actually used the name of Jerusalem and
here's why he hasn't done that because he's actually gonna change the name at the last
verse in the last chapter of Ezekiel he gives us the name of the city verse 35 it was round
about 18,000 measures and the name of the city from that day shall be the Lord is there so the
city will be called the Lord is there and the reason for that is because the Lord will be there
so that's just a rough little outline for you in regards to that chapter but let me just give you
some thoughts because of course as we've been sitting through the book of Ezekiel from 40s and
48 we've been heavily dealing with end times Ezekiel has end times all throughout the book
but the last chapters the last section has been dealing with the temple of the end times and I'm
not going to re-preach everything we've talked about over the last several weeks I'm not going
to give you the theories and all that stuff you know that if you've been tracking with us that
the theory that we've taken in regards to this is that Ezekiel 40 through 48 it has given us a view
of the end times or what the end times would have looked like under the first covenant and and it's
Ezekiel telling the people look this is what God has for you this is what God has planned for you
but if you walk away from it you're gonna miss out on it and we know of course that they did walk
away from it and the first covenant was removed and it wasn't because of a fault in the Covenant
it was because of fault in the people who were following the Covenant now we're in the New
Testament or in the New Covenant and we have an end times as well you can find in the book of
Revelation and here's the thing our end times and their end times is very similar because of the
same God but there are some differences within the Covenant which is why we don't see in the
book of Revelation the sacrifices and the Levitical priests and all those things what I want to do
tonight is I want to give you just a few thoughts in regards to the similarities we do we do see
from Ezekiel 48 and the end times that is going to happen the book of Revelation version the New
Testament version because there are some similarities I think this is interesting I
preached it before so it probably won't be brand new to you but it maybe you can write these things
down the first thing I want you to notice what we can learn from this chapter is that during the
millennial reign of Christ because here's what I believe I believe that Ezekiel 42 48 is end times
under the first covenant or what it would have looked like in the first covenant but it would be
what you and I refer to as the millennial reign of Christ meaning the rapture has already happened
the battle of Armageddon has already been fought the the the not the great white throne the the
judgment seat of Christ has already happened and now Jesus is ruling on this earth so it's not the
new heaven it's not the newer it's this earth but it's under the the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ
he's physically ruling on this earth and we're ruling with him as saints and here's what I want
you to understand during the millennial reign of Christ and we get this from the New Testament which
I will show you but we can see it here in Ezekiel 48 during the millennial reign of Christ the world
will be geographically divided similar to but not exactly like the world is now so let me just say
that again during the millennial reign the world will be geographically divided in a similar fashion
to how it is divided now meaning by nations by continents by nations and those nations are
divided the nation of Israel was divided you had the nation of Israel but then you had the nation
divided into 12 tribes the country we live in the United States of America you've got the USA but
this divided into 50 states during the millennial reign of Christ the world will be geographically
divided similarly to how it is now but not exactly to how it is now and I want to show you this in
the book of Ezekiel and Ezekiel 48 because I don't know if you caught this but when you look at the
description in verses 2 through 8 where he gives us the seven northern tribes and then when he gets
back then he gives us all the other land portions and then in verses 23 to 29 he gives us the last
tribes I want you to notice that he's given us the land and he's telling us where the tribes are
going to be but if you're familiar with the Old Testament and I'm talking about the scriptures
now if you're familiar with the Old Testament writings you'll notice that the land doesn't
match to what the nation of Israel used to have so notice again Ezekiel 48 verse 1 now these are the
names of the tribes from the north so remember he's starting at the north and moving his way
down from the north end to the coast of the way of Heflon as one goeth to Hamath, Hazarina, the
border of Damascus north northward to the coast Hamath for these are his sides and then notice
he says east and west a portion for Dan so he says we're gonna start from the north and work
our way down from east to west you're gonna have Dan and then and then he repeats this again and
again verse 2 and by the border of Dan from east from the east side unto the west side a portion
for Asher and then he says it again from the east side even to the west side a portion for
Naftali and from the east side unto the west side Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben, Judah and here's what's
interesting when you compare this to the land layouts of the nation of Israel in the Old
Testament it doesn't match and I'll just give you two things that you might be able to recognize
just offhand number one you don't have any land on the other side of Jordan remember with the nation
of Israel you had the two and a half tribes that actually settled on the other side of Jordan and
they had to cross over the men had to cross over to help fight and conquer the land but they
actually settled on the other side in this description no one is settled on the other
side they're all on the main side of the nation of Israel and I want you to notice verse 7 it says
from the east side unto the west side a portion for Judah in this layout the tribe of Judah is in
the northern part of Israel which of course all throughout the Old Testament Judah was in the
southern part of Israel so I want you to notice that in the end times or in the millennial reign
you still have the nation of Israel and you still have the 12 tribes of Israel it's laid out in a
similar fashion to how the world is laid out now or how it has been laid out but it's not exactly
the same way you have the same tribes in the same area of the world but they're kind of shifted
around and that's how the millennial reign is going to be go to Revelation I'm sorry go to
Matthew chapter 19 Matthew 19 in the in the New Testament of course first book in the Bible first
book in the New Testament should be fairly easy to find Matthew 19 and verse 28 Matthew chapter 19
in verse 28 when when the millennial reign happens here's what I believe I believe that this world is
going to look the way it does the land masses are gonna be the way they are and the nations
are generally going to be the same type of nations but they might shift a little bit they
might change a little bit and we see that with the nation of Israel the tribes are all there
but they're just kind of arranged in a different order but they're all going to be there so when
we rule and reign with Christ during the millennial reign we'll be ruling and reigning over this world
probably situated in a similar way to how the world is situated now notice Matthew 19 and verse
28 notice what Jesus said to his apostles and I've showed you this before but he said in Matthew
19 28 and Jesus said unto them verily I say unto you that ye which have followed me in the
regeneration talking about the fact that they got saved and they're following him and with their
lives he says when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory all right so the throne
of Jesus or when Jesus is ruling that'll be the millennial reign of Christ and we'll see this at
the end of the sermon today that that kingdom continues in fact the Bible calls it an everlasting
kingdom but it's not Jesus ruling the entire time because at the end of the millennial reign he
delivers up the kingdom unto his father we'll see that in Ezekiel we'll see that elsewhere in the
New Testament as well but I want you to notice that Jesus tells them hey you that have followed
me in the regeneration when the Son of Man referring to himself shall sit in the throne
of his glory referring to the millennial reign of Christ he says ye also shall sit upon 12
thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel so I want you to notice that we don't really know how the
whole world and the whole landscape is going to be laid out during the millennial reign go to the
book of Revelation Revelation chapter 20 and look at verse 4 here's what we know we know that during
the millennial reign we are going to rule and reign with Christ in fact let me go ahead and
give you the second point and then I'm gonna come back to the the first point the first point was
this during the millennial reign of Christ the world will be geographically divided similar to
but not exactly the way the world is divided now here's point number two during the millennial
reign of Christ we will rule and reign with Christ and you say man sounds good how can I
get in on that it's based on how we served Christ during our lives so your ruling in the millennial
reign will determine excuse me your service today will determine your ruling during the millennial
reign your ruling during the modern reign will be influenced by how you serve the better servant you
were then the greater ruler you'll be you'll say and then some people would ask this question they
say well what if I was a lame Christian and I didn't serve very well well here's the thing
you're going to serve that's not an option you can serve now you can serve now and rule and reign
with Christ later or you can be a bum now and serve later but you're going to serve either way
now I don't know about you but I'd rather rule and reign with Christ then then you know be the janitor
or whatever during the millennial reign right I don't want and if you're a janitor I'm not I'm
not making fun of you it's good work and if you're a garbage man it's a good work but I don't want to
be the garbage man during millennial reign you know I want to do something great with my life
I want to serve God now and have God rule and reign you say well show this to me in the Bible
Revelation 20 look at verse 4 notice what the Bible says about the millennial reign Revelation
20 verse 4 and I saw thrones and they sat upon them and I saw thrones and they sat upon them
and judgment was given unto them so I want you to notice that when the millennial reign is
described as described as this there are many thrones many thrones because Jesus just told us
in Matthew that the nation of Israel is going to have 12 tribes and the Apostles are going to sit
upon 12 thrones in the nation of Israel he says and I saw thrones and they that sat upon them and
judgment I want you remember that word judgment because in the Bible ruling and judging go hand
in hand and by the way that's how you know you're the boss when you can judge all right when you can
bring judgment he says and I saw thrones and they that sat upon them and judgment was given unto
them and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the
word of God and which had not worshiped the beast neither his image neither had received
his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands and they notice what it says and they lived and
reigned with Christ a thousand years so they sat upon thrones and they judged and then he calls
that living and reigning with Christ a thousand years now you're there in Revelation 20 look at
verse look at Revelation 22 and verse 12 Revelation 22 in verse 12 notice what Jesus says if you've
got a red letter edition Bible these verses are in red letters because these are actually
Jesus speaking in the book of Revelation the Bible says this or Jesus said this and behold I come
quickly and he says he's speaking to us by the way this is not in end times this is the book of
Revelation but the book is wrapping up and now he's speaking to all of us who are reading the
book of Revelation and he says this and behold I come quickly and my reward is with me to give
every man notice according as his work shall be so look you will be rewarded based on how you
worked for God in your life according to the things which were done in your body is what the
Bible says that's how it will be determined how you will rule and reign with Christ go to
Revelation 21 notice verse 14 I want you to notice again the landscape Revelation 21 now in
Revelation 21 let me just tell you we're talking about the new heaven the new earth at this point
so it's not the millennial reign I want you to understand that for context sake but but notice
what it says about the New Jerusalem revelation 21 verse 14 and the wall of the city had 12
foundations and in them the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb because remember that
Jesus told them that they're gonna sit on 12 thrones and judge the 12 tribes of Israel now
here's what's interesting one of those apostles was not even an Israelite he was Simon a Canaanite
the Canaanite he was a Gentile so there's apparently going to be a Gentile sitting upon a
throne of one of the tribes of the nation of Israel during the millennial reign so that'll
kind of explain to you that it's not gonna be exactly like it was during our time or during
the time of history but it's going to be similar and here's what I believe I believe that there
will be in fact let me go ahead and give you point number three go to 1st Corinthians chapter 6
1st Corinthians chapter 6 you got Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Romans 1st Corinthians 1st Corinthians
chapter 6 and let me give you point number three 1st Corinthians 6.1 was this during the millennial
reign the world will be geographically divided similar to but not exactly like the world is now
point number two was during the millennial reign of Christ we will rule and reign with Christ based
on how we serve Christ during our lives and point number three is this during the millennial reign
of Christ there will be a ruling hierarchy for the world filled by the raptured saints so during
the millennial reign of Christ there's going to be a hierarchy of ruling and reigning just like
there is a hierarchy today now let me show it to you from the Bible and I'll explain to you what I
believe about that 1st Corinthians 6 verse 1 now let me just for sake of argument the context in
1st Corinthians 6 is about people not being able to settle their issues within church and the fact
that they need to be able to bring their issues to church and church should be able to settle
issues within believers and believers shouldn't sue each other or take each other to court or
things like that that's the primary application but I want you to notice why he's telling them
they should be able to settle their issues at church 1st Corinthians 6 verse 1 dare any of
you having a matter against another go to law before the unjust and not before the saints so
you say why are you taking your your brother to court before the unjust meaning before the unsaved
and not before the Saints why not do it before believers and he says here's why because you might
ask well why should I bring my problem with my brother you know my my my Christian brother here
to the pastor to the church I'm just gonna sue him and take him to court he says well here's why you
should be able to settle it within church verse 2 do ye not know that the Saints shall judge the
world and if the world shall be judged by you are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters
is what he's saying he's saying there's coming a kingdom one day the millennial reign of the Lord
Jesus Christ and you are going to be ruling and reigning and judgment remember judgment was given
unto them he says do you not know that the Saints shall judge the world and if the world shall be
judged by you are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters then he says in verse 3 no
ye not that we shall judge angels so even during this millennial reign who are we gonna be judging
we're gonna be judging the world which because during the millennial reign of Christ there will
be people there that are that are not in their glorified bodies mortal men that are being born
and living we're going to judge them but then we're also going to have angels working for us
right and and getting us coffee or whatever but there probably won't be Starbucks in the millennial
reign of Christ but you know something good that's not so liberal and you know they'll be getting us
coffee or whatever they'll be working he says no you're not that we shall judge angels how much
more things that pertain to this life so during the millennial reign there will be a hierarchy
now sometimes people get confused by this and let me just kind of explain because I've been asked
this a couple of times and I want to make sure that that you understand and again I'll say it
one last time in the book of Ezekiel we see through a glass darkly all right we don't understand
everything how it's all gonna play out in the end times the secret things belong unto the Lord our
God we understand that but here's what I believe I believe that during the millennial reign there
will be positions of ruling like there are now and there'll be a hierarchy for example in the
United States of America you don't have one guy ruling the entire country alone you do have one
guy ruling the country his name is the president of the United States right but underneath that
president you've got 50 areas of this country 50 states that all have leaders to they're called
governors right and then in those states you've got cities divided and counties divided and you've
got mayors and you've got county clerks or whatever you've got all this leadership structure I
believe the end times will be the same now God doesn't tell us how it's all gonna play out but
we do know this from prophecy about the nation of Israel that during the millennial reign of Christ
in the nation of Israel in that part of the world that we call Israel today that area is gonna be
divided into 12 tribes kind of like it was in the Old Testament but not exactly like it was in the
Old Testament and we know this for whatever it's worth we know that the 12 apostles are going to
be the 12 governors sitting on 12 thrones ruling the 12 tribes we also know this from end times
prophecy that David King David remember David who slew Goliath he's going to reign over the entire
nation of Israel and people say well how how's that well just the same way that we've got a
president that rules the whole country and then we've got 50 governors that rule in the different
states you're gonna have David ruling the nation of Israel but underneath him you'll have the 12
apostles ruling the 12 tribes of Israel and people ask well where does where does Jesus come into
this because I thought Jesus was gonna be ruling Jerusalem well Jesus is gonna be ruling the whole
world he's gonna be the king of the whole world from Jerusalem just like we've got the White
House sitting in the middle of a state but it's not part of that state right we've got the White
House in Virginia and that state still has its own governor with its own system and then we've
got the president ruling the whole country Jesus is going to be ruling and reigning from Jerusalem
the entire world but David I believe we have specific prophecies of David ruling Jerusalem
ruling from Jerusalem he'll be ruling the nation of Israel but the nation of Israel will be divided
into 12 tribes that will be ruled by the 12 apostles and I'm sure that within those tribes
there'll be leadership structures and that's what will play in right because Simon the Canaanite
who was one of the apostles not even an Israelite he's gonna get to rule one of those tribes so we
will be put into positions of authority based on how we serve here's what I believe I believe that
in the United States of America there's probably gonna be 50 thrones you know it's probably gonna
be one guy ruling the whole country and 50 thrones if we use Israel as an example it'll
probably be very similar now let me answer this because you know people say well what
about Babylon I thought Babylon's gonna be destroyed never gonna be inhabited the United
States of America is Babylon but Babylon is a city and I I believe that the city of Babylon
will be destroyed and that will not be inhabited and whatever that city is if it's New York or Los
Angeles or whatever but I think the US is still gonna be here as far as you know it'll be changed
just like Israel will be changed but it'll be similar to that and it'll be divided and we will
be given portions to rule and reign with Christ and the higher up the ladder you go you the better
you serve God than the higher up the ladder you go look you've got to be a David who wrote you
know most of the book of Psalms and who did all these great things to rule over the entire nation
of Israel so you know it's based on how you serve God here's all I'm hoping I'm hoping I get to rule
somewhere around Sacramento you know like if I could just do Sacramento I'd be happy you know
rule and reign in Sacramento then I could be the mayor tweeting you know against the other guy or
whatever but you know what I'm saying is this the millennial reign is gonna be this world and it's
gonna even be laid out similarly to this world but probably different the nation of Israel was
different the US will be different you know New York will be missing or LA will be missing or
whatever but it's going we're going to rule there'll be a hierarchy and we're gonna rule
and reign with Christ for that thousand years now at the end of the thousand years go to go
I think you're in 1st Corinthians go to 1st Corinthians 15 I think you're still in 1st
Corinthians at the end of the millennial reign or after the millennial reign Jesus will deliver up
the kingdom to God the Father now actually keep your place there in 1st Corinthians 15 we're
gonna come right back to it go back to Ezekiel 48 let me just show this to you from Ezekiel in
Ezekiel 48 in verse 35 the Bible says this and it was round about 18,000 measures and the name
of the city from that day shall be the Lord is there all right so the city is gonna be called
the Lord is there because of the fact that the Lord is there so the question is this when will
God and and we're talking about God the Father and we know that Jesus was God obviously but
that's God incarnate that's Jesus in his body he'll rule and reign from in his body here on
earth for a thousand years but when will God dwell with man the God that is invisible that
God is not the God that is not seen 1st Corinthians 15 look at verse 23 1st Corinthians 15 23 and of
course there's only one God we believe in the Trinity that there is one God that exists in
three persons so we're talking about the person of the Father 1st Corinthians 15 verse 23 but
every man in his own order and we talked about this last week when we talked about the order
of the resurrection but every man in his own order Christ the firstfruits afterwards they
that are Christ at his coming so we have Christ who was the first resurrection and of course
that's referring to the first resurrection in a glorified body because there was other
resurrections before Christ but all those died again so we have Christ the firstfruits then
afterwards say that our Christ that is coming those are all that are raptured and again the
rapture is referred to as the coming of Christ then in verse 24 it says then cometh the end and
of course we're talking about the end of the millennial reign we talked about the third
rapture what we would call the gleanings where they are not the rapture but the resurrection
where they where they raise up those that believed and died during the millennial reign and and then
even those that did not believe are resurrected for the great white throne but I want you to know
verse 24 then come at the end when he talking about Jesus shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God and again we believe in one God that exists in three persons so you say well the
son is God who's he delivering the kingdom up to notice and make sure to tell us he will deliver up
the kingdom to God even the father when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power
so at the end of the millennial reign that kingdom will continue on it's an everlasting
kingdom but the son is going to deliver up the kingdom to God even the father now notice what
he says in verse 28 first Corinthians 15 28 and when all things shall be subdued unto him and when
all things shall be subdued unto him then shall the son referring to Jesus also himself notice
what it says be subject unto him unto who the father that put all things under him that God
may be all in all and again this this this proves the oneness theory if that's something you're
interested in learning about but here the Bible tells us that God the son is going to deliver the
kingdom up to God the father and then after the millennial reign God the son will actually be in
subject the Bible says that he himself also himself be subject unto him God the father and
put all things under him that God may be all in all so at the end of the millennial reign so for
a thousand years Jesus King Jesus and his glorified body and his physical human body will rule and
reign and we will rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years at the end of the millennial
reign and I'm not going to refreeze this we've learned all about this in Ezekiel we have the
Battle of Gog and Magog we've got the great white throne everyone is brought back in their bodies
those that are on not saved are thrown into the lake of fire and we have all the final
resurrections and anyone who's still alive that believe will eat of the tree of life and live
forever and we have all that deal we talked about that last week and then Jesus will deliver the
kingdom to God what does that mean revelation 21 look at verse 3 last book in the New Testament
should be fairly easy to find revelation 21 and look at verse 3 revelation 21 3 and I heard a
great voice out of heaven saying behold the tabernacle of God is with men now if you remember
we learned earlier in Ezekiel that in the new heaven there is no temple there is no physical
temple building there is no physical tabernacle because the Bible says that God and the Lamb is
that temple so notice because remember and if you think about it it makes sense because what was it
that the tabernacle represented on this earth what was it that the temple represented on this earth
it represented the presence of God the Ark of the Covenant if you remember represented the presence
of God the tabernacle was set up so that they would bring sacrifices to the tabernacle they
were bringing sacrifices to God the priest would work on the outside or the outer court and the
outer section of the tabernacle but once a year the high priest would enter into the most holy
place or the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was why because that represented God that
was a picture of God the whole tabernacle picture is a picture of God dwelling amongst his people
and then later that tabernacle was turned into a physical temple building but it had the same thing
a Holy of Holies with the Ark of the Covenant and it represented the presence of God so in the new
heaven in New Jerusalem when it's all said and done there'll be no temple there'll be no
tabernacle there'll be no Ark of the Covenant to represent the presence of God because God will be
that temple because God will be with us notice again verse 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 see even through the
millennial reign you and I will not see the invisible God or be with him we'll have God the
Son the Lord Jesus Christ ruling and reigning but the difference between the millennial reign and
eternity at once the millennial reign is done we're done ruling on this earth this earth is
done it'll be transformed into the new heaven the new earth new Jerusalem comes down and then God
the Father will come down and the Bible says God himself shall be with them and be their God and I
want you to notice that's what Ezekiel is alluding to when he finishes he's talking about the
millennial reign Kingdom Ezekiel 48 but he's telling us that at the end of that at the end
of that here's how it ends Ezekiel 48 verse 35 it was round about 18,000 measures and the name
of the city from that day shall be the Lord is there because that's how it ends and that that's
what we have to look forward to even after the millennial reign what do we have to look forward
to to being able to dwell with God and God himself the Bible says shall be with them and
be their God now let me finish with just one personal application before we're done from
Ezekiel 48 once you notice and the reason that I kept talking about the tabernacle and the temple
representing the presence of God it's important for you to understand that so you can understand
why it was important where that tabernacle was placed and he's equal 48 in verse 8 I want you
to notice at the end of verse 8 the Bible says this and the sanctuary which represents the
presence of God right shall be in the midst of it so it tells us that in the midst of the nation is
a sanctuary that represents the presence of God so the presence of God is in the midst of everything
that's going on this is said again in verse 10 notice the last part of verse 10 and the sanctuary
of the Lord shall be in the midst thereof this is repeated again in verse 21 look at the last part
of verse 21 and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof it's very important for
God and even in the Old Testament in the Old Testament writings when the land was given out
the sanctuary was supposed to be the people when they were in the wilderness when they were
traveling they're supposed to be surrounding the sanctuary because God was supposed to be
in the midst of them go to Colossians chapter 3 Colossians chapter 3 if you kept your place
in 1st Corinthians you've got 1st 2nd Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians
Colossians chapter 3 let me just finish with this personal application in the Old Testament
and the Old Testament writings in the Old Testament story stories were told that the
nation was supposed to organize itself where the tabernacle or the temple would be in the
midst of the people and then even Ezekiel tells us that in the new in the end times even under
the Old Covenant that God or the tabernacle would be in the midst of the people and here's what we
can learn from that even now we as New Testament believers we don't have a temple we don't have a
sacred building this building I don't know if you've noticed is not a very sacred all right
next to the welfare office is not super separated you know just holy to the Lord but this building
is not where we worship God you know what your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost you are and
and by the way this isn't this building is not a church I tried to never call this building the
church I refer to this place as the building as the church building as the church house you say
why because that's what it does it houses the church because you know what the church is it's
you and it's me when we gather together with a congregation we make up the church when we leave
here and no one is here there's not a church it's just a building it's just a building that we use
to meet together with but you know even as New Testament believers with no sacred buildings or
temples or tabernacles nowhere we have to go and travel to and give sacrifices everything in our
lives here's the point everything are our lives should be surrounded or should be surrounding God
God the tabernacle was in the midst of the people because God wanted to make it clear that he was
supposed to be right in the middle of everything and you know what in my life and in your life God
should be in the middle of everything God should dwell in the midst are you there in Colossians
three look at verse four and we can prove this from from lots of passages we could look at
passages that tell you to love the Lord God with all your heart with all your soul with
all your might and obviously we could look at a lot of places but I just love how Colossians
three four just the first part of the verse I just love how it's worded it says when Christ
okay so the context is not necessarily about the next phrase it's about when Christ and he's gonna
tell us something but he just adds this and I love it he says when Christ and then he says this
who is our life shall appear and he goes on to say then shall ye also appear with him in glory
and here's what he's saying he's saying he's saying that Christ should be our life that God
should be in the midst of everything we are and everything we do that's why we don't believe in
a Sunday morning Christianity around here and most most Christians you know they're just kind
of Christians for an hour and a half on Sunday morning and then Sunday afternoon it's just
normal life Mondays more normal life Tuesdays normal life Wednesdays normal life Thursdays
normal life Fridays normal life Saturdays normal life what I mean by normal life it's your life
Sunday afternoon it's whatever I want Mondays whatever I want Tuesdays however I want some of
you might live like that now and then oh it's Sunday morning it's God's time or even Sunday
night it's God's time or even Wednesday night I came to Wednesday night Bible study pastor this
is God's time no you know what every day is God's time Monday belongs to God and Tuesday belongs to
God it's Christ who is our life every day we had to wake up and say God you are in the midst and
in the center and I am all about you this is what I am this is who I am this is what I'm about it's
God now when you live that way when you live that way people will say you're in a cult they'll say
you're a zealot they'll say you're a fanatic they'll say but here's the thing God should be
in the midst of everything we do God should be in the midst of everything we are that's why I think
your social life ought to surround itself around the things of God you know your friends ought to
come from those who love and follow the Lord why because it's Christ not who is part of our lives
but it's Christ who is our life and we see that there in Ezekiel 48 when he says hey make sure
the sanctuary it's in the midst it's in the middle it's it's everything revolves around God and that's
the difference between a Christian that that is attempting to live their life with I will love
the Lord thy God with all my heart with all my soul with all my might because when you live your
life that way when you live your life saying everything I am everything I have everything
that is involved in my life is going to be surrounded by God then you wake up every day
asking God what would you like me to do it's Monday there's no church what would you like me
to do oh you want me to read the Bible okay I'll read the Bible I'm gonna pray I'll pray you want
me to put off the old man and walk in the new man you want me to be filled in the spirit I got
to go to work but I can do work with still serving and loving and being completely loyal to you God
because it's Christ it's Christ now who's part of our life but who is our life and and here's all
you need to know is you will spend all of eternity with God in the midst of his people so you might
as well get used to it might as well just start living for God walking with God making him the
emphasis of your life let's bow our head and have a word of prayer Heavenly Father thank you Lord
for the book of Ezekiel thank you for allowing us to be able to study this book 48 weeks and it was
difficult at times it wasn't easy sometimes it was easier other times but Lord we know that all
scriptures given by inspiration of God and it's all been profitable for us and Lord I pray that
you would help us just as we as we continue to move on and we study other books Lord I pray that
you'd help us to remember what we've learned from Ezekiel that when we as Christians would just read
to the book of Ezekiel would remember things that we learned that we were taught and Lord we pray
that you would just bless us and help us as we begin a new book soon and begin to just take
another book of the Bible and begin to dissect it and go verse by verse chapter by chapter and Lord
help us always to keep you in the midst of our lives in the matchless name of Christ we pray amen