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Almost Home · Enjoying the Journey

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  In our busy world, family time is frequently neglected.
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  It is vital that we give attention to our families while we
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  can, and it is especially important to give attention
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  to what God says in his word about our homes.
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  For the next few moments, Let's join Scott Pauley as we open the scriptures
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  and find God's message for your family.
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  Over the last many weeks, we have had such a wonderful time walking
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  through the scripture, looking at principles for
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  all of our Christian homes. We've spent some family time And we began our
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  study, if you remember, long ago back in the book of Genesis, the book of
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  beginnings, with first principles. I thought it most appropriate
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  to end this particular series at the end of our Bible. So would you
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  open your Bible with me today to the revelation of Jesus Christ,
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  to Revelation chapter number 21? What a bright spot
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  this is in the book of the Revelation. What a climactic moment.
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  What a culmination of everything that we have looked for and lived
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  for When you come to Revelation 21, we get a
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  glimpse of our eternal home. Friends, we're almost
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  home. I can tell you, as a traveler, those words mean a lot to me.
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  Almost home. The last leg of a journey,
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  the last flight home, the last few miles
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  before I get to my house. I must be honest and
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  tell you, I've gotten more speeding tickets driving home than any other time. Why is
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  that? Because when you're nearing home, you press just a little harder.
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  You just want to get there. You just want to be there. You just want
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  to see your family. Oh dear believer,
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  you're almost home. The Lord is coming and we are going.
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  Our, our eternal home is being prepared. Jesus said in John
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  14 he was going to prepare a place for us and he would come again
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  and receive us unto himself. Well, the fulfillment of
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  that promise Jesus made in John 14 is revealed to
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  us in Revelation 21. Can I read to you about my home?
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  This is where I'm going. Revelation 21: And I saw a new heaven
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  and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away,
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  and there was no more sea. And I, John,
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  saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,
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  prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
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  I understand people say they're going to live forever in heaven, but actually there's going
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  to be a new heaven, there's going to be a new earth, And in fact,
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  we believe that the destination of the church in
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  eternity is revealed in Revelation 21:2 as the New
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  Jerusalem. God is building a new city,
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  a perfect Jerusalem, a New Jerusalem.
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  That's where we get to live forever. As I was looking at Revelation
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  21, this final home, I,
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  I was just struck by the family terms that are
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  woven throughout. For example, a bride adorned
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  for her husband. You come to verse number 7, I'll be his
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  God, he shall be my son. So there,
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  there are these marriage terms, there are these children terms, there are these family
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  terms. Why is that? Because, friend, we're almost home.
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  We're not just going to a different location. We're, we're not just changing states.
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  No, we are literally going to the place that God
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  planned in eternity past where we would dwell with him forever.
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  It's being prepared now, but it's been planned forever.
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  And we are almost home. What do we learn
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  about our eternal home? What does the family
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  of God have to look forward to? Well, one thing that I would
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  point out to you in verse number 1, the Bible says there's no
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  more sea. And you might think, wait a minute, uh,
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  the earth being gone, that's one thing, it's a cursed world, but the sea?
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  Oh, in scripture, the sea is a picture of turbulent times.
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  The upheaval, the undertow, the constant change.
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  In our new home, everything will be settled. Nothing will ever
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  need to change because it will be perfect from the very beginning.
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  We read in verse 3, and I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,
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  behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them,
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  and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be
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  their God. Can I tell you what's going to be great about our eternal home?
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  We'll be with God. It's not a place I'm looking forward to, it's a person.
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  What's going to make it heaven? He is. What's going to
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  make it wonderful? The God whose name is Wonderful.
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  You see, we've come full circle back to where we started. Do you remember
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  God in the book of Genesis walking through the garden in the cool of the
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  day? He wanted to be with Adam and be with Eve and commune with them
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  and hear from them. That's what God has always wanted. And sin disrupted that,
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  self interrupted that. But in the end, God is
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  going to get his way. God's will is going to be done. He's going to
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  be with us and we are going to be with him. We're almost home.
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  And then in verse 4, it says, and God shall wipe away all tears from
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  their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying,
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  neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.
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  Look at what won't be there. Oh, it's gonna be glorious. You talk about
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  doing a house cleaning at your house and getting all the junk out. Well,
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  friend, these things will never even be allowed in to start with. Look at God's
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  list: no tears, no death, no sorrow,
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  no crying, no pain. I don't know about you, that sounds
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  like a place I'd like to live for eternity. Almost home.
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  Verse 5 says, and he that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all
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  things new. And he said unto me, write, for these words are true
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  and faithful. Faithful. Did you hear the expression all things
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  new? Ever walk into a brand new house, no one's ever lived in it?
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  Ever walk into a room, it's all perfect and no one has ever
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  soiled it? God says that's what your eternal home is going to look like.
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  It's going to be that way when you get there, and it's going to be
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  that way for eternity. You're almost home. In verse 6,
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  he said unto me, it is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and
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  the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the
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  water of life freely. Do you see how in our new home there'll
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  be perfect sufficiency, every need supplied, no lack of anything?
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  Whatever you need, God says, because you've taken of the living water,
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  you'll have it all. Because you have the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and
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  the end, you have our all-sufficient Christ.
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  It's interesting here to see the sea is gone, the tears
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  are gone, But the fountain of water of life is still flowing freely.
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  Praise God for that. And then in verse 7, he that overcometh
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  shall inherit all things, and I will be his God,
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  and he shall be my son. Do you see the inheritance
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  in that home? I spoke with a friend recently who had received
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  a certain type of inheritance, and it was unexpected, and it
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  was a great blessing, and it became a blessing to others. But might I simply
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  say to you Now that this is an inheritance that we are expecting— oh,
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  we have no idea what it's going to be like. It'll exceed all expectation.
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  But it is going to be the greatest blessing of all just to be with
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  God, just to be in that perfect family relationship
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  with God our Father, with the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior,
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  with the Holy Spirit who's been our companion all along, and with all of
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  God's children, all the family of God. Through all the
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  ages of time. Yes, we're almost home.
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  Now, why is this important at the end of our study on the family?
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  If you remember when we started and introduced the series, we said that there are
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  3 homes everybody needs. Everybody needs a Christian
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  home. We've talked a great deal about that. Everyone needs
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  a church home. We talked about that in our last study. But it all begins
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  with this: everyone needs a heavenly home. It was
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  an old song that talked about the family circle not being broken
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  in heaven. I wonder, is your family circle complete today? Will it
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  be complete in heaven? Do you know Christ as your Savior?
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  If you don't know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, I want to tell you,
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  it doesn't matter who your family is here. You need to be in the family
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  of God. It doesn't matter who your daddy is here. You need
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  God as your heavenly Father. Would you come today by faith
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  and say, Lord Jesus, be merciful to me, a sinner. Forgive me
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  and save me now. Bring me into the family of
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  God. Friend, if you'll do that by faith, the Bible
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  says you can be born again. And to be born again is to be placed
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  in the perfect family, the family that's almost home.
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  We're nearing home. We're headed to heaven. We want you to
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  go with us. And then if you do know the Lord as your Savior,
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  could I challenge you at the end of this study to make your greatest goal
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  that all of your family's in the ark of safety, that all of your family
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  knows Jesus, that all of your family is ready
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  to spend eternity in our heavenly home together. We are
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  almost home. May God help every family member
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  to live like it today.
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  For more resources for your marriage and family, visit us at
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  etj.bible and click on the Take the Next
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  Step link, where you'll find many Bible resources that will strengthen
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  your marriage and equip you to raise your children in the ways
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  of the Lord. We highly recommend Scott's book,
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  New Testament Marriage. In it, you'll discover timeless biblical
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  principles from the husband and wife team Aquila and Priscilla,
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  and these principles are very applicable to your marriage
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  today. From all of us at Enjoying the Journey,
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  thanks for listening today. And until next time,
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  we pray that you will enjoy the journey.