Sermon Tone Analysis

Revelation 21:10 (CSB)

10 He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

Revelation 21:22–22:5 (CSB)

22 I did not see a temple in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

25 Its gates will never close by day because it will never be night there.

26 They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

27 Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life.

1 Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the city’s main street.

The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month.

The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations, 3 and there will no longer be any curse.

The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him.

4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

5 Night will be no more; people will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever.

no perfect church- even if you could find one it would not be perfect once we joined it.

Paradise Perfected: The Text In Its Context

Revelation 21:10 (CSB)

10 He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

Like life anywhere- it all starts with connecting with the right church!

AMEN?

Paradise Has The First Perfect Church!

God Directly Leads The Church

Revelation 21:22 (CSB)

22 I did not see a temple in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

John looks, and to his amazement he sees no temple in the city.

To a Jew this is incomprehensible.

The temple was the center of life- both in the city of Jerusalem and the nation.

It would have been shocking to the pagans who heard those words as well.

They didn’t worship the one, true God but the center of their political and social lives were also dominated by the temples in their cities.

In earlier chapters John spoke of the temple in in Heaven.

That was in the old heavens- the place where we go to meet Jesus when we die.

Truly a paradise- but not the final perfection that is the new heaven and new earth.

In Paradise Perfected, the new Jerusalem, there is no need for a temple.

The Tabernacle in Exodus, and the stone temple that followed were simply symbols that pointed us to the truth of a perfected paradise.

They were places people went to envision God.

In the new city of Jerusalem you don’t need to go anywhere to encounter God.

God the Father and Son are impossible to miss.

They are the temple!

Symbol gives way to blessed reality.

The temple represented God’s presence, but believers now have God’s presence.

And we will have it forever.

We will have Him forever.

And just as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are in perfect accord with themselves all believers will be in perfect accord with each other, themselves, and with God!

God’s Peace Permeates The Church

Revelation 21:23–26 (CSB)

23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

25 Its gates will never close by day because it will never be night there.

26 They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

Just as there is no temple- there is no need for a church.

The physical building isn’t important anyway- it is just a place for the people following Jesus to gather.

In New Jerusalem everybody is a believer.

AMEN?

We will finally enjoy peace with God and the peace from God.

Philippians 4:6–7 (CSB)

6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

In the eternal city, we will not only live in God’s presence; we will also live without anything that will threaten or hinder our experience of his presence.

Locked doors are a thing of the past.

The gates are open all the time.

Truthfully it bother me to lock the door of the church, but the reality of a sinful world mandates that we lock the doors when we are not here.

In New Jerusalem we reflect God’s glory, our holiness There will be no temple, no sun or moon, no closed gates, no night, and nothing impure, shameful, or deceitful.

Our experience of God’s presence is limited now by many things (1 Cor.

13:12: “Now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face”).

Then it will be completely perfect, without the limitations of a fallen world, without enemies, and without sin.

Sometimes we just need to be reminded that while our experience of God’s presence is good now, it will be unimaginably great later.

We have a lot to look forward to.

The Entire Congregation Reflects God’s Holiness

Revelation 21:27 (CSB)

27 Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life.

God is warning us to follow Christ in what we say and how we live.

Let our walk match our talk, and both need to match our heart and our mind.

The whole city will be God’s temple with no more division between the sacred and the secular; all will be sacred space.

And the citizens will be wholehearted worshipers of God and the Lamb.

Immorality and deception are specifically named as sins that will prevent one from entering the new Jerusalem.

This passage calls for God’s people to inspect their lives carefully for patterns of sin and challenges them to make radical choices about avoiding sin and following the Spirit.

It is repeated throughout Scripture.

Galatians 5:19–21 (CSB)

19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar.

I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

That is exactly John’s message here.

While holiness may not be fashionable in some circles today, Revelation (and the entire Bible) repeatedly tells us to turn away from sin and to encourage others to do the same.

Overcoming involves holiness!

In our Christian life, we must keep our eyes on Jesus.

Two key messages in Revelation—assurance and warning—serve to keep us walking true, resting in grace, and striving for holiness.

The message of assurance will bring comfort when we struggle with soul-crushing condemnation.

The message of warning will spur us on when we have become complacent.

Paradise Is The Garden Of Eden Perfected

Humanity was created to live in the Garden of Eden- we messed that up.

Jesus provided us the path to redemption.

In Revelations God promises that those who have received and believed in Jesus will live in a perfected Garden.

Hasta La Vista Sin.

You are terminated- We will be back!

The End of Hunger And Thirst

Revelation 22:1–2 (CSB)

1 Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the city’s main street.

The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month.

The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations,

Do you see the imagery of the Garden of Eden?

John, inspired by the Spirit, certainly does.