HEAVEN: OUR FUTURE HOME
“The New Jerusalem”
Scripture: Revelation 21:1
The famous explorer Marco Polo after completing his journeys went back to his home in Venice. When he got back to his home he began to describe some of the things he had seen. But his close friends thought he had gone mad. He told then about black stones that you could actually set on fire and they would provide heat for you. But they could not imagine what he was talking about ...... they had never heard of charcoal. He told them about a piece of cloth that as hard as he tried he could not set it on fire. But they could not imagine what he was talking about ... they had never heard of asbestos. He told them about large animals that were almost 20 feet long; had jaws large enough to swallow a grown man but they could not imagine what he was talking about ….. they had never seen a crocodile. Then he told them of a substance that came spewing out of the ground that if you lit it, it would catch on fire and actually provide light but they could not imagine because they had never heard of crude oil. Years later when Marco Polo was lying on his death bed one of the few men who actually believed him was there and he said tell me all of those stories again. I want to hear them again. But he refused and simply said, it’s all true ... every bit of it. In fact I have not told you ½ of what I saw.
That story reminds me of a passage in John 22:24-25. Listen. John is closing out his gospel and he says …….”This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if every one of them were written down, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written. Apparently the Bible wasn’t written to tell us everything; there are some things that in this lifetime we never seem to understand or figure out. Now that should never stop us from studying to learning as much as possible; Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 2:15 Living Bible “Work hard so God can say to you, “Well done.” Be a good workman, one who does not need to be ashamed when God examines your work. “Know what his Word says and means.” So daily we should be studying to know what his word says and means. There are times when I wish He had told me more about certain things; for instance from the ages of 12 until Jesus was 30 we have nothing. Luke sums it up by telling us “that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.” He grew in every way possible in those 18 years but I want to know more. But we don’t have it. I have questions about so many things in scripture ….. I don’t mean that I doubt it, I just have questions. So I am constantly reminded of three things (1) it is my job to study; the knowledge and wisdom will come from God, (2) I am also reminded that this walk in this life is not a walk of “complete knowledge” but rather it is a walk of faith …. by faith we are saved and (3) one day I will completely understand. I will know as I am known.
In about AD 90, perhaps 95, John the apostle was sent to an island called Patmos. He was the last living apostle. He was sent as punishment to live in isolation because of his witness for Christ. It was while he was there that he was given a vision and he wrote down the book of Revelation, perhaps the most controversial book in scripture. In seminary we were require t read a book written by 3 different Bible scholars offering 3 completely different interpretations. But I believe if John could speak to us today that he would tell us that he has not told us ½ of what he saw. When Paul was caught up into the 3rd heaven he said that he heard inexpressible things; things that man is not permitted to tell. But from all of this, as many opinions and books as I have read on this topic there are at least 3 things that everyone seems to agree on. And I want to share them with you today.
1. Heaven is a perfect place. Listen to how John describes it. Revelation 21:1-4. For most of us when we see something for the first time which was what John was doing ... it’s what Paul was doing as well, we want to be able to describe everything we can possibly remember about it and sometimes after all of that we then share what that place had and also what it didn’t have. We used go to a place regularly that is owned by some friends in Arkansas. It is a cabin/house that sits on Spring River. It’s beautiful but the first time I went there I remember I described it afterwards by what it didn’t have. It doesn’t have a phone. No TV. No radio. No pavement on the road. No AC. But it doesn’t need it. It’s in the Ozark Mountains. It’s a great place to go to get away from it all and we have been many times. Has a huge back porch holding about 10 twin beds screened in and the breeze would blow through and we could hear the water running in the waterfall/spring all night. I often thought “I wonder if heaven is like this.”
This is a bit of the way that John describes heaven. He begins by telling us that there are some things we will not see in heaven and it is these very things that will not be there that make it a perfect place.
A. There will be no more sea. There will be no more separation. Now I mentioned this last week but I want to clarify something I said John is telling us that there will be no sea in heaven but in the very next chapter, chapter 22, he describes the river of life – clear as crystal. Remember John has been exiled to an island and he is separated from the people he loves and the thing that separates him is the sea that surrounds the island. Everywhere that John looks he sees water and it separates him from those he loves. But he says this, in heaven there will be no more separation from those we love who are in Christ. How many of you feel like you are separated today from someone who is in Heaven and you really wish you could see them again?
B. There will be no more tears. Tears are necessary to help us grieve. In a sense they help cleanse the soul. I very often say to families who are experiencing grief/this terrible loss that at that time we deeply need 3 things. 1. Time. We all grieve in different ways so don’t rush it. Don’t ever let people tell you how long to grieve. They are not you. We also need 2. Talk. We need to share with other people. Maybe a support group. Talking about your loved one will help move you through your grief. 3. We need tears. Tears help cleanse the spirit. But in heaven we will won’t need them because we will not ever grieve again. There will be no more hunger, no more hurt feelings; no more arguing, no more abuse. Why? Because Heaven is a perfect place.
2. It is also a physical place. Too many times when we talk about spiritual things we think in the spiritual realm…..in terms of spiritual things; things we cannot see and as a result it just doesn’t seem real. "While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen." The difficulties of life are turned to eternal blessings "while" we turn our attention upon unseen realities. Many believers waste their afflictions; remember James says not to. Harry Ironside, prayed Lord, never let my trials be wasted on me. But we do waste them when we focus upon "the things which are seen." When we set our minds on ourselves, our circumstances, or rely completely on our own intelligence. Human wisdom. When we approach life this way it will only make us more frustrated ……. and our focus just turns from the eternal to the temporary. And we miss the eternal blessings. To gain eternal benefits from temporary situations, we must look to unseen …… eternal resources, "the things which are not seen are eternal." We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen." The difficulties of life are turned to eternal blessings "while" we turn our attention upon unseen realities. It’s hard but you have to learn to focus in this way. It will build your faith.
So many of us waste our trials. We pray Lord just get me through this instead of Lord saying Lord teach me what you want me to learn. We set our minds on ourselves; our circumstances, or some popular teaching. And when we do that instead of blessings, you know what you get? ……. Frustrations. Instead of eternal blessings. To gain/accrue eternal benefits from earthly situations, we must learn to look to at unseen eternal resources, because "the things which are not seen are eternal." Example. Remember, in order for Thomas to believe that Jesus was alive ….well let me just read the interaction between them. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he replied, "Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails have been, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe." So he did. He put his finger in his side and he looked at this hands. Then, in John 20:28 Thomas replied, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said, “You have seen me and you believe; blessed are those who have not seen, yet they believe.”
Listen heaven is a physical place and He gives us a physical description. Listen. Vv. 10-14. Then John gets even more specific. Look at vv. 15-21. Now because we don’t use words like stadia or cubit let me give this to you in terms we use today. A stadia is the same thing as a furlong ….. does that help? No that is another term we don’t use today. But if you do the math this is 1500 miles. That is the distance across ½ the United States.
V. 17. The walls are described as being about 200 feet thick. So here it is ….. 1500 miles in length (and as wide and high as it is long–so it is like a cube. And the walls around it are 200 feet thick. Now let’s go inside and see what it looks like. But as interested as I am about what the outside looks like….I want to see the inside.
Vv. 18-20. The foundations were decorated with these stones. He names them right away we find out it’s a very colorful place.
? jasper – clear crystal
? sapphire– a blue stone
? chalcedony-a greenish stone
? emerald – green
? sardonyx– onyx
? carnelian – blood red
? chrysolite – yellow quartz
? beryl – green
? topaz – yellow green
? chrysoprase – gold
? jacinth – blue
? amethyst – rich purple
To say the least the number of colors in the world today has changed. As a child if I bought a box of colors there were 8. I looked online this week at one paint company and they had 2778 colors of paint. Let that sink in. They have 233 shades of green. We know what black looks like. Right? Wrong. 105 shades of black. This is the thing– there will be colors we have never seen or even thought of when we get to heaven. Amazing.
Then the 12 gates were 12 pearls. Each gate made of a single pearl. This is why we call them the pearly gates. The great street of the city was of pure gold. So pure it looks like clear glass.
So this gives us an idea ……. a picture. We know it’s a physical place. More beautiful than we could ever imagine. It’s a perfect place. It’s a physical place.
3. Now, two for one. It is a Prepared place and it is a Promised place. Vv. 22-27. Notice how it is prepared.
? There is no temple in the city. There will be no church building. Why? Jesus is the temple.
? there will be no sun or moon. Jesus will provide all the light we need.
? gates will never be closed. But nothing impure will ever come in. It is carefully prepared and it is promised to you and to me.
V. 27. The only ones who will enter are those whose names are written down in the Lamb’s book of life. The Bible tells us that as we come through those gates into our heavenly home we will pass through the 12 gates. And we are told that these gates are made from a single pearl. That gets my mind racing. How large would that pearl have to be to be set in walls that are 200 feet thick? Pearls are formed when a small grain of sand becomes embedded in an oyster and begins to irritate it. Now to soften the irritation the oyster coats the grain of sand with a smooth layer and that’s what is called mother of pearl. Very valuable. And as long as the oyster can feel the irritation it continues to coat the sand with layers of pearl. Let me ask you a question? What kind of irritation ... what kind of pain and suffering would it take to form pearls so large that they would fit into a wall 200 feet thick? Here is what I believe. As we walk through those pearly gates we will be reminded of the great pain ... suffering Jesus experienced on the cross and we will see what it cost Him to throw open those gates for you and for me. When I buy a new book the first thing I do is write my name in it. Because it’s mine. When Jesus paid the price for our sin on Calvary he wrote our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Why? Because we are His. Is your name written there today?
