THE NEW JERUSALEM Part 2
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 18 viewsNotes
Transcript
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
Another striking feature of the city was that its twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl.
No natural pearls could be this big, but God can make pearls as large as He wants.
Therefore, we do not have to doubt the literalness of these materials simply because we cannot explain them in a natural sense.
Thus does the writer seek to describe in human language the magnificent beauty of the glorified Church.
Also the street (lit., broad way) of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
Not glass, but gold of a kind unknown to us on earth.
John is straining the powers of finite language to describe the indescribable. But he does not tarry long with this thought; he moves on to the wonder of God's continual presence in the city.
To glory long in the idea of walking on streets of gold in the next life is to miss the real glory of living in the presence of God. Such an attitude shows a materialistic, not a spiritual, mind.
And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
The river of life (22:1-5). John was shown a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb (1).
The picture is drawn from Ezek. 47: 1-12.
There waters flowed out from the Temple. Here they come from the throne.
And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
Except for the last clause, this verse is a close reflection of
The sun shall be no more thy light by day;
Neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee:
But the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light,
And thy God thy glory.
“The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.”
In the New Testament we have not only the statement, “God is light”
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
But also Jesus’ own words, “I am the light of the world”
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
This bright light radiates all around. We read: And the nations … shall walk in the light of it (24).
This has been partially fulfilled throughout the Christian era, as the Church has been a light to the nations.
Unfortunately in the history of the Church on earth there have been some dark shadows. Not so in the glorified Church, the New Jerusalem.
There all is light. And the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. Verse 26 is practically a repetition of 24b. This prediction has had a partial fulfillment during the Church age.
And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
The gates of this city shall not be shut at all by day ( Isa. 60:11).
Therefore thy gates shall be open continually;
They shall not be shut day nor night;
That men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles,
And that their kings may be brought.
Since there shall be no night there, this means that the gates of the New Jerusalem are always open.
So the doors to the Kingdom are wide open today to those who will enter.
But while the gates are always open, there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever work-eth abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life (27).
And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
In the Septuagint the Greek words for abomination and lie are both used for idols.
There will be no idolatry, material or immaterial, in heaven. God alone will be loved and worshiped.
Only those whose names are in the book of life can enter the New Jerusalem.
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
The river of life (22:1-5).
John was shown a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb
The picture is drawn from Ezek. 47: 1-12
There waters flowed out from the Temple. Here they come from the throne.
On either side of the river, was there the tree of life
(2). In Ezekiel's vision, “at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other” (Ezek. 47:7).
Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.
But here it is the tree of life.
This phrase carries us back to the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:9).
And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
There man sinned and was driven out of paradise, so that he no longer had access to the tree of life (Gen. 3:24).
So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
But in the New Jerusalem the redeemed find it growing in abundance.
This tree bore twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Ezekiel wrote of the trees on the river's bank that they would “bring forth new fruit according to his months … and the leaf thereof for medicine” (Ezek. 47:12).
And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.