Series: Victorious!
“Desire Heaven Deeply”
Revelation 21-22
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Today, we finish our sermon series Victorious! We complete our study of the book of Revelation. I need to start this message the same way I started the series – giving you the methodology we have been using and will continue to use today to understand this book.
First, we have to remember the style in which this book was written. This is apocalyptic literature. Apocalyptic means an uncovering, an unveiling, a revealing. The book of Revelation pulls back the curtain between the earthly realm and the heavenly. We get to see the intersection of the physical and the spiritual.
Second, we have to recognize the symbols within this book. The book of Revelation is more a series of pictures painted with words than it is the writing style with which we are familiar. It doesn’t follow a chronological order but uses numbers and images in a repetitive form called progressive parallelism.
Third, we have to realize the setting in which this book was written. The original writing was to seven churches in the Roman province of Asia. They were being targeted either by cultural subversion or by sever persecution.
These seven churches of Asia needed their hunger for heaven stirred. That’s why the book of Revelation was written. A few of the churches were conforming to the society around them. They were chasing money, physical pleasures, and the tokens of cultural respectability. They needed a reminder that the things of this world could never truly satisfy.
They needed their sights set on things above, a reminder that all the good things of this world are – to borrow the words of Philip Yancey – simply “rumors of another world.” Every pleasure of this present world is simply a preview of coming attractions. It’s not the main Event. John writes to turn their attention from these shadowlands below to the sunlit lands above.
Of course, some of these churches hadn’t compromised, and therefore were undergoing extreme persecution – hardship upon hardship. When we experience great pain, it can be easy to forget everything else. Eugene Peterson says that if a toothache “can eliminate the awareness of health in every other part of the body,” then think of how much constant harsh mistreatment could have blotted out everything else for these hurting believers.
Whether cultural conformity or sever persecution, the book of Revelation is written to brighten their hope, to rekindle their expectation, to stir their hunger for heaven.. Hopeful anticipation is necessary to their survival.
And it is for us as well. We face the allure of compromising with our culture. We face the abuses of those who believe that the ways of God are worthless. We need our hunger for heaven stirred so that we may remain faithful and so receive the crown of life promised to those who continue to follow Jesus.
There are three huge boulders we have to climb in the Christian life. The first boulder is: I have a Creator. He’s personal and he created me.
The second boulder is: I have a Redeemer. Relationship with the Creator is broken by sin and the message of Scripture is, “Please let me forgive you. Please come into my family.”
The third boulder is: There is life after death. What you are experiencing now is not permanent. It is only temporary. No matter where you go in this world, most belief systems have the idea that there is something beyond the grave. Solomon wrote in Eccl. 3:12 that God has “set eternity in the human heart.”
The message of heaven is not just a message for old people. Eternity is not something to be considered just because you reach a certain age or because you have been diagnosed with a deadly disease. It is a message to be considered because the alternative is more horrible than we could ever imagine.
During some of Jesus’ last words to his followers before his crucifixion, he tells them in Jn. 14:1-3 – “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
Here in Revelation Chapters 21 and 22, we see heaven described in three ways. These descriptions serve to enforce our desire to spend eternity with the One who loved us enough to die for us, the One who had the power to rise from the dead, and the One who promises to return for his followers.
Heaven is described as a City
Rev. 21:1-21 – Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
To some of us, that word “city” rubs us the wrong way. We see the city as being noisy, dirty, dangerous, crime-ridden, polluted.
The idea of city here is a metaphor – a word that paints a picture. Cities are where people congregate and live together. It’s a symbol of community and this particular city symbolizes the community of God. In the ancient world, a walled city was a symbol of safety and security.
This city is called the New Jerusalem. “New” here in the original language refers to “new
in quality (innovation), fresh in development or opportunity – because it’s “not found exactly like this before.” Cities have existed for thousands of years. No city has ever been like this one.
John portrays this city as coming down as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. This depiction is of the Bride of Christ – the church. This description is here as an intentional comparison with the Great Prostitute mentioned earlier in Chapter 17 of Revelation. Rome was the Great Prostitute in the original setting of the writing of this book because she represented the allure of material, cultural, and moral seduction along with severe persecution of those who refused to participate in her ways.
Rev. 17:3-6 – Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. 5 The name written on her forehead was a mystery: Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth. 6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.
What is seen at first sight as beautiful and alluring is actually nothing more than a common street walker – all made up to look attractive but in reality full of disease and danger. She is to be avoided at all costs.
The heavenly city, the New Jerusalem represents the people of God. The twelve gates bear the names of the twelve tribes of Israel – God’s Old Testament people. The twelve foundations bear the names of the church’s twelve apostles –representative of the New Testament people of God. Heaven is where we live forever in the community of believers
It’s such a beautiful place – the gold and precious stones and huge pearls, along with its perfectly symmetrical proportions. But human words can never describe the true beauty of heaven. 1 Cor. 2:9 – [Is. 64:4] “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him.”
In heaven, we, the people of God will finally be made beautiful and perfect. The Bride will be, according to Eph. 5:27, “a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”
The main idea symbolized by the details of this highly figurative vision of the heavenly city is perfection. While the harlot (Babylon, the wicked city of Rome) has her decadence and vileness exposed and her destiny determined as destruction, the Bride of the Lamb (the city of God, the church) is promised glory and eternality. The harlot is punished forever; the Bride is perfected forever.
In this place, my personal sin nature will be redeemed. Steve Brown tells about a woman who came up to him after a sermon and said, “You know, I’ve heard a lot of preachers say that they are sinners. But you’re the first one I ever believed!”
Trust me when I say that I am a sinner. My autobiography reads like Paul’s in Rom. 7:19 – For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
But in the new heavens and earth, in the holy city, I will be free from all contaminants. The New Jerusalem exact opposite of Babylon. This corrupted and cursed cosmos – this world order - will pass away. With it will pass away all circumstances hindering the unity and fellowship of all believers as one.
When the consummation of the ages comes, when time is no more, the church will have been readied in every respect, and perfectly beautified in every characteristic to be at home with her Husband, God.
Heaven is described as a Temple
Rev. 21:22-27 – 22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
John describes the city as being 12,00 stadia long, high, and wide. That’s around 1,400 miles long, high, and wide. The city is described as being a perfect cube.
In scripture, the only other place that is described as being a perfect cube is the Holy of Holies – the innermost part of the temple where God himself dwelt among the two cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant..
The Holy of Holies had extremely limited access – only the High priest could go in and then, only once a year. There was an intense purification process which this High Priest had to undergo in able to enter the Holy of Holies.
But here, the city itself is the Holy of Holies, and there we constantly live in the presence of God. God’s glory, which the Jews call Shekinah, filled the tabernacle and the temple. God’s glory is now in his church by his Spirit. In the new order, that glory will be full and complete.
As we said earlier, we will be perfected and complete when we’re there. Rev. 21:27 tells us, Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Then we read in Rev. 22:14-15 – 14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”
If when you read the purification process of the High Priest in the Old Testament and you consider it to be complicated, our purification process is simple. Our purification process is the blood of the Lamb.
Rev. 7:13-17 – Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” 14 I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.15 Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’ nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”
There are many reasons we should desire heaven. There are no tears, nor death, no crying, or pain. No cancer, no funerals, divorces, murders, thefts, gossip, broken dreams, unresolved anger, haunting memories or lifetime regrets. But that still isn’t enough.
Nothing impure will be there. There will be no more temptation and no sin. There will be no peer pressure, no competition. But that still isn’t enough.
In comparison to what will not be there, there are plenty of things there that should be attractive. The saints of old will be there. We’ll meet Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Peter, James and John. Spouses will be reunited with one another. Children will be reunited with parents who went on before. Parents will be reunited with children who died before them. Every Christian who mentored us and shared Jesus with us will be there. But as sweet as all of that will be, it’s still not enough.
We’ll have new bodies. There will be no arthritis, no more physical limitations, no more growing old. But it’s still not enough.
We want to go there because Jesus is there. He is the One we have talked about, sung to, read of, and written for. He is waiting with outstretched arms and these words: “Well done good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your reward.”
Heaven is Described as a Garden
Rev. 22:1-6 – Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”
Our word “paradise” comes from a Semitic word that means a “garden or park. God’s creation is beautiful. But along with the beauty of this earth – the mountains, the leaves in the Fall, the flowers in the Spring, the colorful sunsets – we also have mosquitoes, weeds, mudslides, earthquakes, and drought. Sin brought the curse of these things.
Here we find the echoes of Eden – the original creation. There is a close relationship between these verses and the first few chapters of Genesis. In Eden, there was a garden, a river, the tree of life, human rebellion, separation from the garden, a curse pronounced on humans, the serpent, the soil. Rebellion and the curse brought death and separation from God.
But here find that the eternal city is the eternal Eden of the redeemed, there is the river of life, the tree of life, the absence of the curse, and perfect and full fellowship of the redeemed with God. What is lost in Eden is now fully restored; God’s original purpose is achieved.
In John 4, Jesus has an encounter with a Samaritan woman. They meet at the well outside of the city of Sychar. This woman’s life is a mess. Her relationships are convoluted and her lifestyle is detrimental.
Jesus asks her for a drink. When she struggles with his request, he tells her in Jn. 14:10 – “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
Her response is simply this: “You don’t even have a bucket. How are you going to give me water?” Jn. 4:13-14 – Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Living water isn’t stagnant or polluted. It’s refreshing and life-giving. We find this living water in Jesus Christ and we find it for eternity in heaven. Why? Because Jesus is there!
Final Warnings and Encouragement
Rev. 22:7-21 – 7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.” 8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!” 10 Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near. 11 Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.”
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega ,the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” 17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
The first warning is that heaven is better than you think, but it is sooner than you think.
Rev. 22:7 – “Behold, I am coming soon.” 22:10 – “”The time is near.”22:20 – “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Satan’s lie is that you have plenty of time. Yet, every one of us can share a testimony of someone who died suddenly and before old age ever got close.
When I was senior in high school, there was a young man in our class who was an excellent baseball player, an excellent musician, and an outstanding scholar. He scored a perfect score on his ACT. His whole life was ahead of him. But just 3 weeks before our graduation, we were all at the funeral home. He died in a flash flood.
We are not guaranteed time. We could die sooner than we think or Jesus could return sooner than we think. Don’t take that bet.
The second warning is: don’t change the message. Don’t tamper with the message of the book Revelation by diminishing it or adding to it.
This is a long-standing principle regarding Scripture. Paul writes in Gal. 1:6-8 – I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!
The encouragement is that in the end, if we remain faithful to Christ, we are victorious! I love the story about a father who noticed that the light was still on in the bedroom of his son who was in his early teens long after he was supposed to be asleep. As the dad got closer to the door, he could hear his son repeating one phrase: “You’re going to get! Oh, are you gonna get it!” The dad opened the bedroom door to find his son reading a book. When he asked his son why he kept repeating, “You’re going to get it.” The son replied, “Dad, the villain in this book has done some horrible things. I couldn’t stand it so I turned to the back of the book and read how the good guy defeated the bad. Now as I read the rest of the story and I get all upset at the work of the bad guy, I think of the ending and I say, “You’re going to get it! Oh, you’re really going to get it.”
That’s what Revelation means to the followers of Jesus. We have now read the back of the book and we know that whatever the devil and this world throws at us, WE WIN!
Because of man’s rebellion in Eden, God cursed (sentence to eternal destruction) all creation-including man. To be banished forever from the presence (face) of God is eternal destruction. But here is the good news: the Son of God became man and suffered the curse of God for all creation
Gal. 6:13 – Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a [tree].” 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
The Lamb, whose every word and deed when he was on the earth came to pass, whose resurrection from the dead confirms his every promise, is the One who attests the certainty of this Revelation.
The message of the prophets is that nothing in this world or in any other world can thwart the program of God to offer redemption to mankind. The Messiah would come to earth, the kingdom of God would be established forever, and no human being or human kingdom would stop this program-not even the most “beastly” that might be envisioned.
The last Word from Christ is a promise. He is coming soon! That elicits a prayer from John who represents all who are loving Christ’s imminent appearing – “Even so, Come, Lord Jesus!”
The benediction, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints” exudes hope for sinful, penitent men. The long struggle which began in Eden is shown to be resolved. Satan’s pseudo claim to sovereignty is exposed for what it is - a lie. He will be cast into eternal hell along with all who believed his lie and joined his rebellion against the true Sovereign, Jesus Christ.
God and the Lamb are on the throne. They are coming soon to take all who have faithfully worshiped them to eternal joy in the new kingdom of God. These who are to dwell in God’s presence forever do so by the grace of God which provided the atoning death of His Son to wash away their sin. They have trusted all to Him!
Close
Who has a nice car or truck. Raise your hands. I will trade you this Snickers bar for the title to your vehicle. Any takers? Who lives in a nice house? Raise your hands. I will trade you this apple for the deed to your house. Any takers?
Why do we continue to trade what is important for what fulfills our immediate desires. Many of us are like Esau and we are trading our inheritance for a bowl of soup.
Remember that we said earlier that Revelation keeps reminding us: if we’ll just stay faithful in the middle of the story, we’ll be victorious in the end. How do we remain faithful? Our journey through Revelation has taught us to see Christ in all of his power, to stay connected to our imperfect church, to lose ourselves in worship, to trust patiently in the midst of suffering to witness courageously, see evil’s disguises, keep ourselves pure and wait expectantly for God’s perfect salvation..
But most of all, Revelation has taught us to hope. It has taught us to fix our hearts on heaven – God’s eternal kingdom. A day is coming when our work will be done. Our long and difficult labor in the fields will cease. The last trumpet will sound and time shall be no more. When we reach that Celestial City, we’ll be home.
Jesus will greet us with a big smile saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” He will invite us in for a meal – the wedding banquet of the Lamb, with people gathered from every tongue and tribe and nation. We shall be secure in his love, and that moment will never end.
(This series is developed from a variety of resources. The primary resource is “Victorious – A Devotional Study of Revelation” by Matt Proctor. Other resources include “Revelation for Everyone’ by N.T. Wright, “Breaking the Code” by Bruce Metzger, “The Book of Revelation – An Introduction and Commentary” by Homer Hailey, “Worthy is the lamb” by Ray Summers, and “Reversed Thunder” by Eugene Peterson.)
