S1: Good morning and welcome to our Harvest Valor men's podcast.
S1: My name is Mike Jonker. I'm one of the pastors
S1: here at Harvest and have a great privilege of pastoring
S1: our values men's ministry here at Harvest. I'm a husband,
S1: a father, a son, a papa to seven grandkids. Family
S1: is definitely God's gift to us, man. I'm also a carpenter,
S1: a salesman, an ocean lover, a sports lover, and I
S1: love to teach and talk about the Bible. We've had
S1: a great time going through the last book of the
S1: Bible with you, the Book of Revelation, the capstone of
S1: the Bible, and all of the prophecies. It's been wild
S1: because as much as we are in the thick of life,
S1: busy with family and work and so many activities, we
S1: are also in the thick of the last days. Now
S1: why do I say this? Because the Bible says so,
S1: and Jesus himself said so, and not just once, but
S1: many times. I hope these podcasts have been a great
S1: addition for you to Pastor Greg's Sunday messages here at Harvest.
S1: And for you who join us online at Harvest at Home,
S1: you can always find Greg's messages on our website at
S1: Harvest dot org. We hope that you can continue to
S1: join us through the summer as we tackle some of
S1: men related topics and how the Bible addresses them. I
S1: mentioned that I love to teach and talk about the Bible,
S1: and it's true. I look at the Bible in two
S1: distinct ways one as the owner's manual for life. When
S1: I was in my teens, I drove a 1961 VW bus.
S1: It was a beauty, had a blue body and a
S1: white top. I could fit a lot of people in it.
S1: I could throw my surfboards in it. I could sleep
S1: in it. The problem was it was a 1961 VW
S1: bus with at 6500 CC motor and a slex carburetor,
S1: an air cooled and all that and I was always
S1: on the ground working on it. So I bought a
S1: great Volkswagen repair manual called How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive,
S1: a manual of step by step procedures for the complete idiot.
S1: What a title, right? But it was really good. It
S1: had everything I needed to keep my bus alive and running.
S1: It was an owner's manual. And if you guys remember,
S1: Chilton used to make them two for all makes and models. Well,
S1: the Bible is the owner's manual for life in the Bible.
S1: God shows us how to live, how to give, how
S1: to get the most out of our lives. Ephesians Tootin
S1: says we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for
S1: good works that we might walk in them and God
S1: knows every nut and bolt of your life and more.
S1: Every Cotter pin the Bible tells us how to live,
S1: how to be husbands, fathers, workers, how to relate to
S1: our neighbors culture. It's all right in his owner's manual
S1: and that he is given to us. I also look
S1: at the Bible as a love letter. Yes, guys, a
S1: love letter, a love letter from God. Have you ever
S1: wrote or received a love letter? Oh man, good stuff.
S1: But in a love letter, you reveal yourself, your thoughts,
S1: your personality, your emotion, your hopes and dreams and your love, right?
S1: You reveal yourself. That's what God does for us in
S1: the Bible. He reveals himself and his love for you,
S1: your loved ones. It's amazing, really. God has a heart
S1: of gold man and he wants to share it with us.
S1: And the Book of Revelation is this last love letter.
S1: And here we are in the last chapter of the
S1: last book, and it's fantastic. But let me start by
S1: asking you a question. How does knowing the future of
S1: living in paradise or heaven affect your present day living
S1: on Earth? Let me ask that again. How does knowing
S1: the future of living in paradise or heaven affect your
S1: present day living on Earth? You don't have to answer yet.
S1: So let's start in Revelation 22. We'll start in verse one.
S1: Let's start reading and it says, and he showed me
S1: a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal
S1: preceding from the throne of God in the lamb. And
S1: in the middle of the street. And on either side
S1: of the river was the Tree of Life, which bore
S1: 12 fruits each tree yielding its fruit every month, and
S1: the leaves of the tree were for the healing of
S1: the nations. And there was no more curse. But the
S1: throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it,
S1: and his servants shall serve him, and they shall see
S1: his face and his name shall be on their foreheads.
S1: And there shall be no knight. They need no lamp
S1: or nor light for the Sun. For the Lord gives
S1: them light and they shall reign forever and ever. Verse
S1: seven Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who
S1: keeps the words of the prophecy of this book verse
S1: 12 says. And behold, I am coming quickly and my
S1: reward is with me to give to everyone, according to
S1: his work. I am the alpha and the omega, the
S1: beginning and the end, the first and the last. John
S1: is writing about heaven. I have these guidebooks that give
S1: tips on the Hawaiian Islands. Kawai revealed Oahu revealed Maui
S1: revealed their super cool and really helpful. This is heaven revealed.
S1: Soak in this scene. A river coming from the throne
S1: of God and the lamp. We love rivers, right? Fishing, canoeing, skiing,
S1: river mouse, create great sandbars for surfers. But this river
S1: is special. It's not like the Santa Ana river. This
S1: river is spectacular, spectacular and beautiful, kind of like the
S1: Kenai River in Alaska. It's clear as crystal, meaning it's
S1: pure and glassy. You know, rivers typically are part of
S1: the foundation of a society or civilization rivers like the
S1: Nile or the Tigris or the Amazon or our own
S1: in our own nation. We have great rivers like the
S1: Mississippi or the Hudson or the Colorado. In the Garden
S1: of Eden, God created a river with four river heads
S1: that went out from the garden and watered the known
S1: world in Genesis. That tells us their names were Pichon given.
S1: He did call and Euphrates and heaven is going to
S1: have a river. Sometimes we get the idea that heaven
S1: is unreal. White clouds that come up to our waist
S1: and we all wear white angelic robes and carry harps.
S1: Far from it. I hope there are Levi's in heaven.
S1: But what we see here is more like Eden. There
S1: is a river that flows from the throne of God.
S1: It's the epicenter. What is the most beautiful place you've
S1: been to? Maybe it's kawaii. Maybe it's someplace in New
S1: Zealand or Shasta or Aspen. There's a lot of spectacular places.
S1: Those places are all a glimpse of paradise or heaven,
S1: or the new heaven and the new Earth that God
S1: has planned for us. Earth is a shadow of heaven.
S1: It tells us there's a tree. The Tree of life
S1: and each tree yielding its fruit every month, the leaves
S1: of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Man,
S1: I love fruit. I had to think of 12 types
S1: of fruit. Can you name 12 types of fruit? Let
S1: me try. Let me try alphabetically. There's apples. There's apricots,
S1: there's bananas. There's berries. All kinds of berries, cantaloupe, grape
S1: lemon mango, orange, pear, peach watermelon. I think that's 12.
S1: And I didn't even list tomatoes and kiwi. I think
S1: tomatoes are fruit. But there is fruit in heaven, and
S1: that means, well, that means we're going to be eating in.
S1: Besides the fact there's the marriage supper of the lamb,
S1: which is just a grand wedding reception, there's going to
S1: be eating in heaven. It also tells us that the
S1: leaves are for the healing of the nations. I love
S1: this because there's no centre curse or no sickness, there's
S1: no more cancer, there's no more cerebral palsy, there's no
S1: more muscular dystrophy or multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's or Alzheimer's
S1: or dementia or mental illness or blindness or deafness. The
S1: leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nation. Now,
S1: I don't know, we're all going to be salad eaters,
S1: I guess, have you watched that series alone? They dropped
S1: these supposed survivalists into the wilderness alone and they have
S1: to live off the land and they are eating all
S1: sorts of leafy things like nettles and dandelions and boiling
S1: leaves and a lot of things that we actually see
S1: on a daily basis. But they're edible now. Some aren't
S1: so edible. So you got to be careful with that.
S1: But we all may be vegetarians or herbivores, I'm not sure,
S1: but maybe there's fruit that tastes like an in and
S1: out double double or a grilled steak or Chilean sea bass.
S1: We'll see. But remember, there were two trees in the
S1: Garden of Eden. The Tree of Life and the Tree
S1: of the Knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve
S1: could eat from all the trees in the garden, but
S1: God forbid them from eating from the tree of the
S1: knowledge of good and evil. In fact, he told them
S1: in the day that there would they would eat, that
S1: they would surely die. And men and women have been
S1: dying ever since. What was the deal here? God created
S1: everything perfect. It was good, and because we are created
S1: in the image of God in the sense that we
S1: can make choices. We're not robots. We're not programmed. And
S1: with that choice, Adam and Eve chose to disobey God.
S1: And not to yield to the temptation. And they send
S1: against God. And paradise was loss and sin entered the
S1: world and sickness and death entered the world, you know,
S1: Romans six 23 tells us that the wages of sin
S1: is death because of sin, there is sickness and death.
S1: And in Romans eight verses 20 and 22, it says
S1: that creation was subjected to futility. For we know that
S1: the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together
S1: until now. Not only was man affected by sin, all
S1: creation was affected by sin, but Jesus, who is the
S1: creator and save your promise to make all things new.
S1: And that's worth a hoot. You know what really amazes me?
S1: Maybe more than anything is that God knew it. And
S1: before it ever happened, he had a plan to save
S1: mankind from our own sin. Can you imagine the conversation
S1: before creation? Jesus and his father, dad, they are going
S1: to sin. I know, Son, we're going to need to
S1: step in. Dad, we need to conquer sin and death. Son,
S1: you will have to die for their death. I know
S1: I'm willing. In fact, I will do it with no
S1: remorse or regret knowing that the joy we will have
S1: after it's accomplished. And that's what God did. Hebrews 12
S1: cents for the joy that was set before him, he
S1: endured the cross, despising the shaming and now has sat
S1: down at the right hand of the father. John 3:16,
S1: one of our favorite verses, says for God, so loved
S1: the world that he gave his only begotten son that
S1: whosoever believes in him so not perish but have everlasting life,
S1: there will be no more curse. Adam and Eve were
S1: removed from the garden from Paradise as part of the
S1: curse because of their sin and the fact that sin
S1: was passed on to all of us. It affected everything.
S1: But all that changes when Jesus makes all things new
S1: and unites us with himself. It says there's the throne
S1: of God, and the lamb shall be in it and
S1: they shall see his face and his name shall be
S1: on their foreheads. We will be with the father and
S1: the son, and we will see his face. I remember
S1: being gone for a couple of months on a work
S1: assignment and flying home and getting off the plane to
S1: see my wife, Diane and my daughter's tiff and Taylor.
S1: And it was the most beautiful thing in the world.
S1: When I saw their faces, I was completely enraptured and
S1: overwhelmed guys in Christ. We are going to see faces
S1: we haven't seen in a while, maybe a son, maybe
S1: a daughter, a dad or mom or brother or sister
S1: or grandparents. You won't want to let go. Best of all,
S1: Jesus is going to look you in the eyes and
S1: you are going to have a moment. Well, you'll have
S1: more in a moment. You're going to see Jesus and
S1: you're going to see God. You know, in the Old
S1: Testament that now no one can look at God and
S1: survive too bright to glory. Glorious, too much power. Just
S1: too much. Moses had to turn his back and watch
S1: God's shadow. We will be in our new immortal and
S1: incorruptible bodies that First Corinthians 15 talks about. This is
S1: no dream, guys. You know, Greg was sharing Sunday about
S1: a man who wrote in Glory been paralyzed for 35 years.
S1: And he looked forward to being liberated from that paralysis.
S1: It's amazing. This is it DC or Marvel Comics, guys,
S1: this is marvelous. This is our future reality. We will
S1: have resurrected bodies that will be made for infinity and
S1: beyond its wild. But it also tells us that his
S1: servants will serve him. Adam and Eve tended the garden,
S1: serving the Lord in Paradise, and we will serve him too.
S1: In what way? Well, we'll know we'll be worshipping him,
S1: but maybe we'll be serving in cities or nations. Hey,
S1: maybe we'll be farmers or ranchers, but there's no curse.
S1: So there's no weeds. Only good soil. Maybe we'll be
S1: explorers or builders. We know there's no prison guards or
S1: doctors in heaven, but we will serve him in heaven.
S1: But we can serve him now too. You know, verse
S1: 12 says Behold. Jesus said, Behold, I am coming quickly
S1: and my reward is with me to give everyone. According
S1: to his work. There are heavenly rewards given to believers
S1: who are serving the Lord right now, are you serving
S1: Jesus at home with your wife and kids? Maybe your parents,
S1: are you serving him at work being productive, but also
S1: being a light for Jesus? Everything we do now for
S1: Jesus not only pleases God now and results in blessing now,
S1: but is accounted for eternity. God keeps records that may
S1: be exciting to you or may be a little scary.
S1: It's like turning 65 and realizing you hadn't prepared for retirement.
S1: You don't have time to save or allow compound interest
S1: to go to work for you. God tells us things
S1: to motivate us. We never work for our salvation. That's
S1: a gift. But we are supposed to be working to
S1: bring God glory, knowing that he is coming with his reward.
S1: I was going through some old boxes and I found
S1: a bunch of trophies, you know, Little League Pony League,
S1: high school football, things like that. These awards, they have
S1: no value at all. I enjoyed receiving them, I'm sure,
S1: but they're trash now. A lot of things in our
S1: lives have no lasting value. But what we do now
S1: for Jesus results not only in blessing now, but blessing
S1: for eternity. The little things and the big things. What
S1: are we doing with our time? What are we doing
S1: with our talent? What are we doing with our treasure?
S1: Let me close with this verse, 17 says the spirit
S1: of the bride say come and let him. Who hears
S1: come and let him. Who thirst come in. Whoever desires
S1: let him take the water of life freely. Some of
S1: Jesus first words to his disciples were Come follow me.
S1: Now he closes with this invitation, come let him. Who
S1: thirst come? Let him? Who desires? Let him take the
S1: water of life and drink freely. Maybe you need to
S1: make a decision today to live for Jesus, to live
S1: with heaven in your heart and mind. We're going to
S1: pray in just a minute, and maybe you're not sure
S1: you're even going to heaven, but you can be come
S1: to Jesus right now. He loves you. He died in
S1: a cross for you and defeated sin and death, so
S1: you could come to him by believing and you can
S1: receive him and heaven right now. Would you pray with me?
S1: Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus. Thank you, Jesus
S1: for dying on a cross for my sins. Thank you
S1: for giving me everlasting life. Thank you for the hope
S1: of heaven. I pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.
S1: And if you prayed that prayer, God heard you and
S1: you are now saved and now you have the hope
S1: of heaven. I want to thank you guys for listening
S1: to our podcast. Tune in! This summer, we're going to
S1: have some summer podcast as well and also want to
S1: invite you to our men's prayer breakfast coming up the
S1: first week of June on Saturday. I believe it's the
S1: fifth and it goes from eight to 9:30. We're going
S1: to have a time of prayer, time of worship. We're
S1: going to pray for some very poignant things. So join
S1: us and we're also going to have our famous breakfast burrito.
S1: So look forward to seeing the air. God bless you.
S1: We'll talk to you soon.