The New Jerusalem Pt.1 8-9-2020

HEAVEN - SEEING THE UNSEEN THE NEW JERUSALEM Sunday August 9, 2020 Scripture Reference: Revelation 21-22:6 Intro. A. My scripture for these next few messages is a bit lengthy so let's get right into it. It comes from Revelation 21-22:6. "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, God's home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever." 5 And the one sitting on the throne said, "Look, I am making everything new!" And then he said to me, "Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true." 6 And he also said, "It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega-the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. 7 All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. 8 "But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars-their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." 9 Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls containing the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come with me! I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10 So he took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone-like jasper as clear as crystal. 12 The city wall was broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates. 13 There were three gates on each side-east, north, south, and west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 The angel who talked to me held in his hand a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 When he measured it, he found it was a square, as wide as it was long. In fact, its length and width and height were each 1,400 miles. 17 Then he measured the walls and found them to be 216 feet thick (according to the human standard used by the angel). 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. 19 The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve precious stones: the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were made of pearls-each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass. 22 I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. 24 The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. 25 Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. 26 And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city. 27 Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty-but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life...Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. 3 No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. 4 And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no night there-no need for lamps or sun-for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever. 6 Then the angel said to me, "Everything you have heard and seen is trustworthy and true. The Lord God, who inspires his prophets, has sent his angel to tell his servants what will happen soon." Revelation 21-22:6 (NLT2) B. Today we are beginning a wonderful new chapter in our Heaven series. Today we will begin looking at this place the bible calls The New Jerusalem. I wonder can anyone tell me when the last time was that you heard a message about The New Jerusalem. Unless you hear one online or visiting another church, I know this, you have not one heard one preached here for over 24 years that I have been the pastor. I am so glad to say today that this is about to change. I have been blessed these past weeks to be studying and preparing these messages and I am excited to be able to share them with you now. C. Who can tell me what Jerusalem is and this is not a trick question? It is a city, a city we are all familiar with. It is a city that I had the privilege of visiting back in 2005. I mention this because of the previous messages I shared before my vacation. You may recall that I spoke of the continuity between this world and the world to come. The fact that the Bible speaks of the New Jerusalem and Jerusalem is a city affirms what we learned. Now I will add that this will most certainly be unlike any city we have ever visited, but it is a city none the less. As the bible describes this city it speaks of architecture, walls, streets and other things we are familiar with when we think of cities. I believe this tells us that the New Jerusalem is not a figurative place but a literal place. 1. Remember this, we will be resurrected as physical people. Does it make sense for God to resurrect us as physical people but then place us in a non-physical place? We would be like a fish out of water. Cities are usually considered the centers of commerce, culture, government, arts, sports and more. For us The New Jerusalem will be the center of our lives and so we will probably be spending three maybe even four weeks talking about this wonderful place. Trans. The first thing I want us to explore about The New Jerusalem are the dimensions of this city. Just by the dimensions alone this is truly a city unlike any other we have ever known. I. THE NEW JERUSALEM A. The City's Dimensions. 1. Let's look at V.15-17 again. 15 The angel who talked to me held in his hand a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 When he measured it, he found it was a square, as wide as it was long. In fact, its length and width and height were each 1,400 miles. 17 Then he measured the walls and found them to be 216 feet thick (according to the human standard used by the angel). Now as with so many other things we are told about Heaven there are those who say all these things are symbolic. They are not actual they just have symbolic meaning. The problem with this idea though is that there is nothing other than pure conjecture to suggest this. I am not saying these people are wrong, just that we have nothing to tell us that these dimensions are not literal. 2. Now here is something I discovered that had not occurred to me when it comes to these dimensions. The city is a square and so it faces every direction, north, south, east and west and there are gates on each side. Could this not for us today speak to the availability of this city to all mankind? In this case there certainly can be some symbolism for us today. For me this is an exciting prospect because it means that even now God is using Heaven to express us unlimited grace to all those who will seek Him and call out to Him for salvation. 3. Now another thing to consider about the dimensions of this city is this. If these are not real dimensions, then what is God's purpose in telling us about them? I believe that these dimensions mean that God is wanting us to think about a real place like the cities we now inhabit. 4. Now this is one BIG city. In fact, the dimensions of this city mean that the New Jerusalem would stretch from the Canadian boarder to the Mexican boarder and from the Appalachian Mountains to the boarder of California. That is one BIG city! 5. Now one thing that makes this city different for us is that this is a city with walls. We do not have walled cities in America, but of course Jerusalem was and is a walled city as many of the cities were in biblical times. 6. Have you ever thought about with all the people past and present and in the future, who will come to Christ, will any city be big enough to hold everyone? I will explore this a little bit more in a minute but let me offer this suggestion. Does everyone live in cities now? No some people prefer the country. They will travel to the city for business or pleasure, but they don't necessarily live there. Could not the same be true for the New Jerusalem? 7. Now let's talk about the population of the New Jerusalem. The fact is with these dimensions overcrowding would not be an issue. If these dimensions are real, then the ground floor of the New Jerusalem will be nearly 2 million square miles. It would be 40 time larger that England, but remember, this is just the ground floor. If the city is 1400-mile-high as the bible says, then could there not be different levels of the city? Consider this, if each level were 12 feet high that would mean there could be 600,000 levels! If this were to be the case then as Jesus said, "There is more than enough room in my Father's house. In fact, this city could accommodate Billions not mere Millions. Trans. Let's look at these gates the Bible speaks of. B. What Is The Significance Of The City Gates? 1. The city has four walls on each wall there are three gates. Also, on these gates is written the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. Now city gates were important for those in biblical times for several reasons. a) One and probably most important to people then were that gates were for security. They were put in place to protect the people of the city. You may recall that in the bible when night fell the city gates were closed. Even Disneyland closes its gates at night, but this city will be different. In 21:5 we are told that the gates of this city "Never" close. Now once again for the people who first heard these words, they understood that gates were there to protect the people, but we will not need protection in Heaven so why gates? 1) One reason perhaps is as I mentioned earlier that gates were there to keep people out, but God is wanting everyone to know now while there is still time that Heaven is open to all who would enter through Jesus. Maybe also they are reminder to us that there will be no classes or elitism in Heaven. None of us will have to pear through the gates to try and get a glimpse of Jesus, but instead everyone single one of us no matter who we are or what we had done as equal and unfettered access to God. 2) Gates also remind us of the place where people enter and leave. The fact that this city has walls and gates on ever side suggests that people will be entering and leaving from all directions. b) In biblical times the city gates were where people met to share stories and where news was shared. It could well be that these gates will be a place where important announcements are made to all who enter. Also, gates were meeting points. It could be very possible that we will use them this way. I can easily imagine saying to someone, "Hey let's meet up at the center gates on the eastern wall on such and such a date." Now I will speak in a later message about this issue of time and space in Heaven and whether or not we will use them, but let's just use this as an example for now. 2. Now let me address this issue of these dimensions being figurative or literal. I do believe there is some symbolism in them for us right now for some of the reasons I have already mentioned but let me share one opinion I read that I agree with. Here is what they said, "These descriptions, of course, are not meant to be taken literally. They are vivid poetic metaphors for a reality which is indestructible, gleaming, incalculably precious. . . . If invited for a walk, most of us would prefer a leafy country lane to a street paved with gold. One is natural and instantly appealing; the other seems lifeless and manufactured." The description of the New Jerusalem also describes streets made of gold, but are they literally? For this person the idea of streets made of gold is unnatural but let me ask you this. Have you ever taken an enjoyable walk along an asphalt street or on a concrete sidewalk? I sure have, so what would be unappealing about a walk along a street of gold? On November 22, 1975, (it's important for me to always remember this date) I stood before a group of about 300 people and made a commitment to Sue. I gave her a ring to symbolize that commitment. The ring symbolized the commitment, but it was still a literal ring. The gates and these streets can be both symbolic and literal. I think I have shown that already this morning. Trans. Now before we conclude today, I want to present one more question for us. C. What Will Life Be Like For Us As Citizens Of This City? 1. I will abbreviate this because I will be speaking about this in future messages as well, but part of being in a city means we have certain privileges and responsibilities. The apostle Paul reminded the Philippians that while they were citizens of Rome, they were more importantly citizens of Heaven. Look at his words in Philippians 3:20. "But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior." Philippians 3:20 (NLT2) Now there are two very important words Paul uses here. Notice that he says, "We are" not "we will be". You might recall, but probably not that in an earlier message I said that I used to think that you could be so heavenly minded that you were of no earthly good. I have now come to see that those thoughts were wrong. In fact, I am now of the opposite opinion. I think that if we are not heavenly minded, we are of little earthly good. Paul in just those two words reminds all of us how important it is that we live like citizens of Heaven now, not some time in the future when we die, or the rapture occurs. Now these Philippians would have fully understood Paul's word because they understood what it meant to be citizens of one country but live in another. 2. I would challenge you to consider these things as we live here on the earth now but are also citizens of Heaven. a) First of all, should we not speak like citizens of Heaven while we walk this earth? Frankly it bothers me the way I hear some Christians talk. While we might not be as bad as some when it comes to our use of four-letter words my question is, would we use such language if we were walking the streets of this city today? If not, then why do we feel it is OK to do so now. b) Secondly should we be engaging in pleasures that are more reflective of this world than our lives in Heaven. Now some might like me to do so, but I am not going to get specific here as to what wrong worldly pleasures might be because I have no desire to make this an issue of legalism. I would only offer this; are the things you seek to bring you pleasure things that honor God and would reflect how you might be living in Heaven today? If not, then maybe they need to be examined under the light of God's word and prayer. c) Let me offer just one more. We must worship the God of Heaven not the gods of this world. This was God's first commandment in Exodus 20:3 "You must not have any other god but me." Exodus 20:3 (NLT2) It has been said that the greatest tragedy is this, "Not all of us will live with God eternally, Why? Because many do not live with God now." For too many Jehovah God is like any other god, small "G". He is to be acknowledged and maybe even respected, but not to be served and certainly not to be submitted to. People who live this way are not living as citizens of Heaven because for them Heaven doesn't really exist. Remember that anything that comes between me and God is an idol and an idol is just that, idle. It does nothing and can do nothing for you. Why give your life for something as worthless as that? Conclusion A. Well we have just scratched the surface of this amazing city. I hope you will plan to join us for the messages yet to come. Now remember that eve n if you cannot be here in this sanctuary you can still see these messages on our Facebook page or on the homepage of our web site. Let me close with this. 1. One of the things we know about many biblical cities was that they were often destroyed. Sometimes rebuild and sometimes not. The New Jerusalem will not be your temporary residence. It will be our final and permanent home. Here is what the writer of Hebrews said about this city. "It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. 9 And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith-for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. 10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God." Hebrews 11:8-10 (NLT2) 2. I hope than in the coming weeks you and together will also be looking forward to being in this marvelous city. 2