The Heavenly City

Introduction

Tonight we are continuing our discussion about heaven. last time we were together we talked primarily about the people in heaven. He will wipe away every tear from their eye, he will give to those who thirst without cost, and so on.

Tonight we will talk more about the heavenly city or the new Jerusalem, or the city of God. Not only will we be a new people, we will dwell in a new place.

REVIEW QUESTIONS:

What tears is God going to wipe away from their eyes? Tears from what?

tears from earthly suffering.

What does God promises to give to the one who thirsts?

spiritual satisfaction to the fullest

What are spiritual cowards?

Those who bale out, compromise their faith amidst hardships or temptation

1) The cities Gates and Foundations

Revelation 21:9–14 “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”

“come here I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb”

Some people interpret the new Jerusalem to represent the people of God, some interpret it to represent a heavenly dwelling place, it is best to see it as both. The bride is the church, yet we will dwell in a literal place with God.

The same phrase is used in verse 2 when speaking of the people of God.

The gates and foundations

12 Gates with 12 angels

The names written on them were the names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel

(v 14) 12 foundation stones

The names written on the stones were the twelve apostles

What does this say to us about the new Jerusalem?

It says first that this city will encompass all the people of God. NT, OT, every believer for all time.

It also tells us that the OT and NT are all part of God’s story. Israel was God’s son, whom He chose, called, protected loved.

From Israel came Jesus, who is the Savior of the world. A Savior for both Jews and Gentiles.

The church today was built upon the apostles and the prophets

These were the faithful who labored so that we may receive the benefits of salvation.

They are both equally important to us today.

2) The size of the city

Revelation 21:15–17 “The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall. The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.”

The measurements of the city:

The city is a perfect cube, square on all sides.

1500 miles each way which is a massive cube!

With all the wisdom of God, why does He make the city a perfect square?

It has symbolic meaning: 1 Kings 6:20 “The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the altar with cedar.”

The inner sanctuary was the Holy of Holies within the temple where the ark of God resided which symbolized the presence of God.

All this to say that the new Jerusalem will be the place where God takes up residence permanently with His people.

The size is probably to be taken symbolic.

12,000 stadia: a stadia is about 600’.

That comes out to roughly the size of the US from the northern border to the southern border.

The idea is that it is big enough to hold all of God’s people

3) The materials used to build the city

Revelation 21:18–21 “The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.”

The materials the city is built with

jasper

pure gold

precious stones

pearls

streets of gold

I think all this is to say that it will contain beauty unlike anything we see today.

Many similarities are found in Solomon’s temple except heaven will be so much greater

He overlaid the Holy of holies with pure gold and whenever the priests went in there they ministered upon gold

The people of God will one day walk daily upon gold

Solomon’s temple used precious stones used to adorn the temple

Here a pearly will be used as an entire gate into the city.

Application:

I think that one thing we can take away from this is that God is a God of beauty.

And it is important that we should take the things here that represent God beautiful.

The temple was beautiful

The new Jerusalem is beautiful

Creation is beautiful

Beauty is a great representation of God

It should say something to the people who see it as a representation of God’s house

And I thin k it is a bad thing to let the church house where we gather for worship to look like a dump

Or not fix things inside it.

Or not to do our best with what we have

Now people can definitely go overboard with this. Spending ridiculous amounts of money on buildings instead of ministry.

I think the key is to use moderation.

4) Life in the city

Revelation 21:22–27 “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

I read this and just thought about some differences between our worship services today.

Heart felt worship

Though this is not mentioned specifically, it is implied by Christ being the temple.

I know there is a difference

Here we sing songs to a God that we cannot see, or where we read the words of God in our own voices,

But in heaven we will worship in the very manifest presence of God.

I just wonder how much better our church would be if we learned to worship like God truly was among us (because He is)

Giving glory to God

“for the glory of God has illumined it”

What is glory? It is honor, brilliance, majesty.

And one characteristic of this city is God’s glory will shine brightly.

I wonder how much different our churches would be if we gave the glory to God that was due Him? I do believe the earthly church has become so much about us, our brand, our success, our greatness that God is no where to be found.

Isaiah 42:8 ““I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.”

The absence of sin

“and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it”

I think we drastically underestimate the effects our sin has on the church community.

In the OT the entire camp suffered is sin was left un-dealt with, the same is true today.

Galatians 5:9 “A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.

We must never forget our sin affects the community as a whole. No matter how we try to justify it, it does.