REVELATION 21 ETERNITY BEGINS2011 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Revelation 21 Eternity Begins

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2011.

Well, here in Revelation chapter 21, we're coming to the end of the book of Revelation. We've got one more chapter left after this. And here in chapter 21, we're talking about eternity. We're finishing up the third part of the book of Revelation. If you remember, back in Revelation chapter 1 verse 19, Jesus gives us the outline of the book of Revelation. He says,

He tells John, first of all, to write down the things which he had seen. That's chapter 1, the past things, the vision of Jesus that he had there on the island of Patmos.

And then he tells John to write down the things which are, that is the things of the present in writing the seven letters to seven churches in chapters two and three, he deals with the entire church age from the beginning of the church to the rapture of the church that is yet to take place. And so he deals with and addresses the issues and the things that need to be addressed in the church age there in chapters two and three.

And then the third part of the book of Revelation is the rest of the book, chapters 4 through 22.

And there he tells John to write down the things which will take place after these things. And so these are the yet future events, even as we study them today. And of course, as we study chapter 21 and the beginning of eternity today, we know that this is yet future. We're not yet there. This is not yet heaven. There's some incredible things that God has in store for his followers. And that's what we'll be looking at here in chapter 21.

The rapture of the church.

It's described by Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. And then forever we will be with the Lord from that point on. That's the time that we enter into eternity, even though the events of chapter 21 take place a little bit later.

Well, as the church is out of this world, then the earth is going to go through seven years of tribulation. That's the bulk of what we've been studying in the book of Revelation, chapter 6 through 19. All of the horrendous judgments that will be brought upon the earth in the absence of the church as God pours out His wrath upon this place. And so the seven years of tribulation are going to be quite terrible. But the truth is,

But they will come to an end with the return of Jesus Christ. And this time he comes and he actually sets foot upon the earth. And as he's here, he establishes his kingdom here upon the earth for 1,000 years. And he rules and he reigns upon the earth for that 1,000 year time.

Meanwhile, Satan is bound and he's kept in the bottomless pit for that thousand year period. The earth is renewed and restored. There's long life. There's a transformation to the animal kingdom and that they're not devouring one another or they're not carnivorous anymore, but they'll be eating grass and straw and things like that. And so there's this wonderful transformation that will take place upon the earth as Jesus rules and reigns for a thousand years.

We dealt with that last week in chapter 20.

At the end of that thousand year period, Satan is released for a short time and he leads one final rebellion against God. Of course it fails and that brings upon him the final judgment. It's the great white throne judgment. And there Satan and his demons are cast into the lake of fire. And it says in Revelation 20, 15, that anyone whose name is not written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire at that point. Well,

Well, after that, after that final judgment here in chapter 21, what we find is the new Jerusalem and then the rest of eternity that goes before us.

And so that's what we'll be talking about today. And before we get into that, though, I want to kind of give you a quick overview, as I've done in the past, a quick diagram of the different people that'll be, you know, relating to eternity with God. We're talking about eternity with God today, here in chapter 21. And of course, the question is, you know, how do you get there? How's that going to work? Who's going to be there? And so...

Pulling from some of the things that we've discussed throughout our study of the book of Revelation, we first of all understand that the church is going to be entering into eternity before the tribulation takes place. Again, that's called the rapture of the church.

We will be caught up to be with the Lord. We will not all sleep. We won't all die, but we all will be changed and we will be caught up into the presence of God at some point yet in the future. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, it can happen at any second. So we need to be ready.

And so the church will enter into eternity at the rapture of the church or if we die between now and then and we go to be with the Lord that way. But then the tribulation will begin. And during the tribulation, there will be those who didn't believe in God before. They weren't right with Jesus before. But after the rapture, after the tribulation begins...

They realize that what the Bible says is the truth and they turn and they get right with God and they put their faith in Jesus Christ.

Now during the tribulation, there's going to be many who are martyrs. They turn to believe in Jesus and they are put to death for their faith. We dealt with that a little bit last week and we've talked a lot about it throughout the book of Revelation. And so there will be many who turn to Jesus after the rapture and they will die for their faith.

And so they will enter into eternity with God. We saw that several times in Revelation where the martyrs from the tribulation are there in heaven worshiping God and praising God and being comforted by God.

We also know that there will be other believers who they come to faith in Jesus after the rapture takes place. They're believers in the tribulation period and there will be a few, there will be some, a small number, but they will make it all the way through the tribulation period. And we talked about those last week because it will be those who enter into the millennium.

And they repopulate the earth during the thousand year reign of Christ. And so believers who come to faith after the rapture, but they aren't martyred for their faith or they don't die in the tribulation, they enter into the millennium. And then those who are believers that come through the millennium will then enter into eternity with God at the end of that thousand year reign of Christ. And we talked about that last week.

And so this is the ways that you have. This is the options. If you want to be in heaven, if you want to enter into eternity with God, you either need to be a part of the church, that is, you need to be born again before the rapture takes place, or...

Risky move, but some will try it. You need to get right with God after the rapture takes place, survive the tribulation, or be put to death for your faith during the tribulation period. That's the way to enter into eternity with God.

There are other options though. You can continue to be an unbeliever. And unbelievers go to a place that's called Hades. It's a temporary place of judgment. It's not the final judgment, but it is a place of judgment and it's temporary. And so those who die here,

tomorrow, between now and the rapture, between now and the tribulation period, they go to this place called Hades if they have not turned to Jesus Christ and received Him by faith, the sacrifice that He offered for us for our sin.

But also, during the tribulation, at the end of the tribulation, during the millennium, and at the end of the millennium, there will be unbelievers who die, and they will go to that holding place, that temporary place, which is called Hades. We studied this last week. At the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ, Hades is emptied out, and all of the dead stand before God at the great white throne judgment. And at that time, those who stand before God at the great white throne will be cast into the lake of fire.

And so these are the options. This is the choices that we have. This is kind of an overview of eternity.

You can get right with God and spend eternity with Him, or you can continue to refuse or insist on rebelling against God and spend eternity apart from Him in the lake of fire. And so this is the options, this is the choice, this is the decisions that we have to make. And so the point here that we'll look at here in chapter 21 as well is that eternity has some incredible things in store, but

But what we do right now matters and it determines right now how we live and the choices that we make determine where we will spend eternity. And so these are things that we need to understand. These are things that we need to have clear in our own minds and hearts that we make sure that we will spend eternity with God, that we are prepared and ready for His return because what's at stake is eternity either with God or apart from God.

Well, as we look at chapter 21 this morning, there's four things I'd like to point out to you about eternity from Revelation chapter 21.

The first point this morning in verses 1 through 5 is that eternity begins with all things new. Look at verse 1. It says, So the millennium has come to an end.

The great white throne judgment has taken place. Those who have not believed have been cast into the lake of fire. And now...

Something new is happening. John says, I saw a new heaven and a new earth. He says the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And so there's going to be a dramatic change that takes place. The earth that we know today will be gone. It will disappear. It will flee away at the presence of God, the scripture says.

As well as the heaven. Now, heaven is an interesting thing because there's a couple ideas about what this could be. Because heaven is referred to in the scriptures as the atmosphere, the sky, or what we would consider space. That's called heaven. But then, of course, you have heaven, which is the place where God dwells.

And so there's people on both sides who say, well, this heaven is, you know, just limited to the physical universe. Others say, no, the new heaven will also be, you know, a new place where God dwells. The spiritual heaven will be new as well. And there's no really proof or evidence on either side. It could be either. It could be both. But the point is that it's going to be new.

Now Peter tells us that in 2 Peter 3 that the elements will melt with a fervent heat and that these things are going to be gone. The physical universe is going to be blown away quite literally. And so we do know that this atmosphere and everything will be dissolved. It will be gone. It will burn with a fervent heat and then there will be a new heaven and a new earth that God creates.

The current universe will be gone. He will create a new heaven and a new earth. And in this new earth, there will be no more sea. That is, no more ocean. Now, that's quite difficult for us to imagine. This new earth is going to be very different. Right now, as it is, the earth has about 72% of its surface is water.

We're very familiar with the large oceans and the things that take place there. It's an important part of the Earth's ecosystem. In fact, life on Earth is really dependent upon all of this water and these oceans that are upon the Earth. It's filtering out the pollutants. It's replenishing the oxygen, that kind of thing. Cleaning the air and all those types of things. And so this new Earth is not going to be...

under the curse like the current earth is. And so things are going to be quite different. It's a new heavens and a new earth, but it's not just, you know, a new paint job on something old, but there's something new here. There's something different than what was there before. And that's difficult for us to imagine, but it is going to be the case. Verse 2.

And so he sees the new heaven and the new earth, and then he sees the holy city, New Jerusalem.

Now this New Jerusalem is, well, it's an important place. When you and I today, as we're talking amongst ourselves and we talk about heaven and we can't wait to get to heaven and, you know, the place where the streets are paved with gold and the pearly gates, all of that type of talk is based upon the description here of the New Jerusalem.

And so when you and I talk about heaven, we're actually referring to this place called the New Jerusalem that John is describing here in chapter 21. And we'll look at a little bit more detail in the description of this place in a moment as he goes on in the passage. But for now, we need to understand that the New Jerusalem is the eternal home for believers. This is where you and I will be in eternity as we are believers in Jesus Christ.

If you remember in Hebrews chapter 11, where you have that hall of faith and all of those people who didn't live for this life, but they were looking for the life to come. There in Hebrews chapter 11, it says that Abraham...

lived by faith, and by faith he dwelt in the land that he dwelt in, as in a foreign country. He dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, and they were heirs of the same promise that Abraham had, and so they lived in the same way. And in verse 10 of Hebrews chapter 11, it says that he, that is Abraham, waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Abraham waited for the city that has foundations, the city that was built and made by God. Abraham's faith was not in this life and he lived the way that he lived because he was believing God for this eternal city that would exist. That's what he was waiting for.

He was waiting for the new Jerusalem. It's a city that has foundations, that is eternal, and that is made and built by God. And it descends here out of heaven. It says, coming down out of heaven from God. And then he describes it as being prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And so this new Jerusalem comes down. It's this city that Abraham and all of those who have come after him have waited for by faith.

And it's prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Hey guys, do you remember your wedding day? Do you remember that time when the bride rounds the corner and there she is at the end of the aisle and how exciting that is and how beautiful she is at that time and it's just a glorious moment.

In a similar way, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven is like that moment. It's like the first time getting the glimpse of the eternal home and the place where God will dwell with us.

Now, this is probably the place that Jesus told us about. You remember in John chapter 14, Jesus tells the disciples, listen, I'm going to prepare a place for you. He says, in my Father's house are many mansions, and I'm going to go prepare a place for you. And if I go prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

He was preparing a place for us to be together with Him. And as we see, that place is New Jerusalem. We'll talk about that as we get to the end of chapter 21. That there's no temple there because God is there. The Lamb is there. Jesus is there. That's where we will be dwelling with Him. This is where we will spend eternity with Him. Verse 3.

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. Verse 4, And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

Here in verses 3 and 4, we have a description about what it's going to be like in the New Jerusalem. And it's going to be, well, it's kind of difficult for us to fully understand, to fully visualize, because we're so used to all we've ever known is a world of sorrow and pain and death.

And sin. But this is going to be a place where none of those things exist. It's going to be awesome. One of the difficult things about teaching about heaven and thinking about heaven is you run out of adjectives, right? It's like superlatives. It's the most incredibly, most awesome, awesomeness, awesome thing you've ever seen. You know, like, it's going to be incredible.

The scriptures put it this way, no eye has seen and no ear has heard what God has in store for those who love Him. And so that's what we have to understand as we're looking at these descriptions, we're just getting a little bit of a taste, but the reality is going to be far better, far greater than we can fully understand.

And so here we find out that the tabernacle of God is with men. Again, God is going to be dwelling with us and eternity is going to be awesome because God is there and because we'll be dwelling with Him. We'll be spending eternity with our Creator and with our Savior, Jesus Christ.

He says, God Himself will be with them and be their God. There's going to be this close intimacy, this close relationship that we have with God in eternity, even better than what we can experience today. But not only that, eternity is going to be awesome because there's going to be no more sorrow. It says that He's going to wipe away the tears from our eyes. There's not going to be sorrow anymore.

Not only that, but there's not going to be death any longer. Not only that, but there's not going to be pain any longer. All of these things are part of this world and this life, and these things are coming to an end. But the eternity that God has in store for us includes no pain, no sorrow, no death. It's going to be awesome, incredible, unimaginable. Verse 5.

Then he who sat on the throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, write for these words are true and faithful. As hard as it is for us to imagine and to understand the eternity that is being described. God says, listen, I want you to know that these words are true and faithful. I want you to know this is the truth. You can count on this.

This is something that will happen. It will take place. This is what it will be like. God says, behold, I make all things new. This is how eternity begins. With all things new. Brand new. Whole new reality. Whole new system that we've never experienced before. And it's going to be great. It's going to be awesome. God is going to be there.

Everything that we know today, the universe that we live in, the body that we live in, the relationship with God that we have, the relationships that we have with one another, all of those things are affected by sin. But as eternity begins, all things are made new. There's no impact of sin any longer. No effects of sin lingering. Some great things in store in the absence of sin, in the presence of perfection and holiness.

Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you that I can be with you, that you can be with me. He's preparing us a place that is incredibly glorious. There's a lot more that we could talk about and think about in regards to heaven, but I would encourage you to spend some time on your own and consider this place that God is preparing for you.

There's a book called The Wonder of Heaven that's available on the book table. If you want to read a little bit more about it, he gives some more insight. Randy Alcorn also does a book on heaven that's really great. Pastor Greg Laurie really recommends it. And he found great comfort and encouragement from it as he was going through the loss of his son. And so I just encourage you to consider this eternal place that God is preparing for us. We only get a glimpse of it

But the glimpse that we see, man, it's going to be amazing. It's going to be awesome and far better even than we can imagine. So the first thing we see here in chapter 21 is that eternity begins with all things new. All the old things are gone. Fresh start. New whole system. New universe. God's going to do a brand new work.

Now as we move on in verses 6 through 8, the second point that we find is that eternity is an inheritance. Look at verse 6, he says, And he said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give the fountain of water of life freely to him who thirsts. Verse 7, He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Here we see that eternity is an inheritance. As John sees this new heaven, the new earth, the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven, God says, it's done. The old things are done. It's the end of one era, the era that we know today, this life, this existence, this earth. But now that's done and now it's the beginning of a new era that is eternity.

He says, I am the Alpha and the Omega. That's the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. He clarifies it a little bit more and says, the beginning and the end. God is the beginning and He is the end. He ends the old. He begins the new. He started the old. He ends the old. He begins the new. It's all about God. He's the one who's in charge. He's the one in control. He's the one who begins and ends. He's the one that is on the throne.

And what he says here at the end is, I will give the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. The old is done. All things have been made new. And now he says, I'm going to let you, I'm going to allow you to live forever. Forever.

I'm going to give you the water of life. God is the only one who can satisfy your thirst for eternity. You and I, we have a thirst for a relationship with God. We have a thirst for God, naturally. That's part of who we are. We also have a thirst for eternity. You and I are eternal beings. We're going to spend eternity somewhere.

And God says, I'm the one who can satisfy that thirst for eternity. What you're thirsting for is relationship with God. And that is found right now, currently, by placing your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and walking in that relationship with Him. But the ultimate fulfillment of that thirst for God that you have is fulfilled in eternity. When God gives you freely of the water of life, He gives it to those who thirst.

And who is able to partake of this water of life? You know, as we talk about eternity, it sounds great, but how do you get there? Well, he tells us in verse 7, it's the one who overcomes that will inherit all things. The one who overcomes what? The one who overcomes this world, this life, this system. The one who overcomes is the one who turns to Jesus. The only way to overcome is by the power of God.

The only way to overcome is through the work of Jesus Christ. As He died upon the cross and He cried out, It is finished. He overcame on our behalf. These are things we dealt with and talked about back in chapters 2 and 3. Because God gives promises in those letters to the churches to those who overcome. Promises of reward and promises of place and things in eternity.

Those who are faithful to Jesus, those who have been born again, overcome this world. They conquer sin and death because Jesus conquered sin and death on our behalf. And so the overcomer, he says, shall inherit all things. Eternity is an inheritance. Now an inheritance is something that is received. And it's something that's received by birthrights.

What God is saying here is you must be born again. The only way for you to enter into eternity with God is for you to be born again. That you would by birthright because you've been born of the Spirit. Because you've turned to Jesus Christ. You're a child of God. Not just in the general sense that He is your Creator. But because you've entered into this relationship with God through Jesus. You've been born again. Jesus talked about that in John chapter 3.

And those who have been born again have as their birthright this inheritance that is promised. You cannot work to receive this inheritance. You can't earn it. You can't deserve it. You can only be born into it. Those who are born again have that birthright of this inheritance that is promised.

Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1, verses 3 and 4, he says, Peter says,

Peter says, look, there's an inheritance that's reserved for you who have been begotten again. You've been born again through the living hope that's found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So again, it's by relationship with God through Jesus, by putting our faith in Jesus, receiving His offer of forgiveness, we're born again. And as we are born again, we now have this inheritance that is incorruptible, that is undefiled, that doesn't fade away, that is reserved in heaven for you. Eternity is an inheritance. It's something that God gives to His followers. And it will not fade away.

He says there at the end of verse 7, I will be His God and He shall be my Son. Again, we see the importance and the value of the relationship that we will have with God in eternity. There's going to be this closeness because we are His children. Eternity is going to be awesome because of this relationship with God that we will have.

We see the contrast though in verse 8. It says, Here he gives the contrast. So eternity is an inheritance for those who have been born again, but those who have not been born again...

These are the ones who practice unbelief and abominable things and murders and immorality and sorcery and idolatry and lying and all of the rest. Those who have not been born again are the ones who practice those things. And what they inherit, what they receive is not eternity with God. But he says, they shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire. This is, as we talked about last week, this eternal place of judgment.

It was not meant for mankind. Jesus tells us that it was created for the devil and his angels. But those who refuse to have a relationship with God through Jesus, those who refuse to be born again, they will be cast into the lake of fire. That's their part. That's what they deserve.

They say, God, I want no part of you. I don't want to be with you. I don't want to listen to you. I don't want to spend eternity with you. And so God honors their request. And so their request is separation from God in the lake of fire. He says it's the second death. It's the permanent death. It's not ceasing to exist, as we discussed last week, but it's a place of eternal judgment. And so God is making it very clear here.

What you do in this life really does matter. If you turn to Jesus in repentance, He receives you, He changes you, transforms you, He causes you to be born again, and you don't continue to practice these things that are listed here in verse 8. Sure, we all sin, we all fall short, but that's not your lifestyle any longer. There's a new work that God does.

So if you've been born again, you won't practice those things and your inheritance is eternal life with God. But if you continue to practice these things, it's evidence that you're not His child and you have no part of that eternity with God. Instead, your part is the lake of fire, the second death, the final judgment. And so what we do in this life matters. And you need to know that. As we consider these things of eternity, you need to understand that

There is a standard. Not everybody goes to heaven. Not everybody will experience eternity with God. It's only those who have received what Jesus did for us upon the cross. Those who have walked with God in a relationship with Jesus Christ. And so as we consider these things, I would ask you to consider, will you receive the inheritance? As you look at verse 8, there are those things that you are practicing. Is that the lifestyle that you are living?

Because those things are evidence that you are not born again. Because you continue to live in rebellion against God. And so first we see that eternity begins with all things new. Second, we see that eternity is an inheritance. Point number three this morning, verses 9 through 21. That is that eternity's Jerusalem is glorious.

This new Jerusalem is going to be glorious. Look at verse 9. It says, Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife.

And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

And so here as we go on, John now begins to give a better description, more details about this new Jerusalem that descends out of heaven. One of those angels who had the last seven plagues came to John and says, Hey, I want to show you the Lamb's wife, the bride of Christ. Now throughout the New Testament, the church is referred to as the bride of Christ. Throughout the Old Testament, Israel is referred to as the wife of God.

This is the kind of relationship that God will have with us in eternity. It will be like a marriage, only without sin, without the fallen nature. It will be a perfect marriage, a perfect relationship that God will have with us. We will dwell in the New Jerusalem with God. As incredible as this description of Jerusalem is, and we'll talk briefly about it,

The reality is that eternity is going to be awesome because it will be with God. You know, it wouldn't really matter if it wasn't so glorious. It wouldn't really matter, you know, if it was, well, if it was just a pile of rubble because being with God is really what makes eternity so incredible. But God goes beyond that and also gives us this new Jerusalem, which is where we will be.

So he describes this Jerusalem. He says he was taken away on this great and high mountain. He sees Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God.

So this is not, you know, God makes a work party and he gets a bunch of people and they build this there on the earth. No, it descends. He creates it. He fashions it. It descends out of heaven and rests there upon the earth. That's where the city comes from. And here it is established. And he describes it as this incredible glory. There's this brilliant light that's coming forth from within and around this city. He

He says,

Some of them are what we think of today under the same names, but many of these stones that are mentioned, we really don't know for sure what he's referring to as far as what color they were or if it's stones and gems that we actually have today.

The Jasper stone that we know today is not clear as crystal like he's describing here. And so there's some discussion that you could have or some questions, some things you could consider about what color these are and things like that. But I think as we look at these things, the point of this description is not so much that you have the exact color.

but that you understand the brilliance and the beauty of what's being described here in this light that is emanating, these colors that are going forth through this city and as a part of the foundation and the building materials of the city. You know, we use as building blocks, you know, like two by fours and cinder blocks and things like that, cement and concrete.

The things that will be the building blocks of eternity are things that, well, they would be real costly for us to use today to build with. Could you imagine, you know, building something out of rubies or diamonds or, you know, some type of gem that would be, you know, it would be extremely costly and it wouldn't probably be very stable. But in eternity, things are going to be different. So there's going to be this brilliance, this beauty, this light,

that is going forth in this place. Now as we continue to read this description here in chapter 21, you need to understand this is a real place.

Sometimes people talk about chapter 21 and they refer to, you know, this new Jerusalem and it's kind of just all spiritual. It's not a real place. It doesn't really exist, they say. But look at how John is describing. He's describing the colors. He's giving the specific features, describing the dimensions, measurements are taken. He's describing an actual place that will exist, a real place.

He's not just using figurative language for some type of experience that will be in eternity. No, this is a real place that God has prepared. And we see a little bit more about it in verse 12. It says, Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates and twelve angels at the gates and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.

Three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. So this city has a great and high wall around it, and there's 12 gates to pass through the wall into the city. Three on each side, three on the north, three on the south, three on the west, three on the east. On each of these gates, one of the names of the tribes of Israel are written.

And so we understand here that Israel is going to be part of this new Jerusalem, this eternal plan that God has, is including the Old Testament saints, those after Jesus, those who are of Jewish descent, who have received Jesus as their Messiah and turned to Him. They will be part of this new Jerusalem, this eternity that we're looking at here in chapter 21. Now what's interesting about Gates is,

is what they're used for. Gates are used to enter in and to exit out, right? Now, we'll see this at the end of the chapter as well. There's some entering in and there's some exiting out that takes place. Beyond that, we really don't know

What else is involved in eternity? We have little hints, we have little glimmers here and there, but we don't have a full description about, okay, so, you know, when you exit out the gate, this is what you'll find, or this is what you might be doing, or this is what might be going on. There's still much more that we don't know, still much more that God will reveal when we get there.

But the thing I think is interesting about this is there's going to be stuff to do and there's going to be places to go and there's going to be people to see. In Matthew chapter 8 verse 11, Jesus says that many will come from the east and from the west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

You know, we always have that idea, that conversation, you know, who are those people that you want to talk to or you want to meet when you get to heaven? That's not just talk. That's a reality. Jesus says, look, people are going to come from all over to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Eternity is going to be awesome because we're with God.

But he adds on to that, we get to hang out with Abraham. We get to hang out with Noah. We get to hang out with Jesus. We get to hang out with those who have gone before us. It's going to be really incredible. There's going to be many reunions that take place. Those of our loved ones who have gone ahead of us or will come after us. We're going to be reunited together there in eternity. So there's going to be stuff to do. There's going to be things going on. There's going to be meaning. There's going to be purpose.

It's hard for us to imagine and to fully understand, but it is going to exist. Verse 14, Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. So this wall has twelve gates, but it also has twelve foundations. The twelve gates has the names of the tribes of Israel. The twelve foundations have the names of the twelve apostles. Verse 14,

And so again, we understand this new Jerusalem is the home. Well, it's where we will be. It's where Israel will be. It's where the believers in Jesus Christ will spend eternity. The church is going to be part of this new Jerusalem. Verse 15, And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates and its wall. The city is laid out as a square, its length as great as its breadth.

And he measured the city with the reed, 12,000 furlongs, its length, breadth, and height are equal."

12,000 furlongs. How far is that? How big is this city? He measures it out. On each side, it's 12,000 furlongs. It's a square, or some think of it more as a pyramid, but I believe that it's a cube as a reference to the Holy of Holies that existed in the temple. And so it's 12,000 long, it's 12,000 wide, and it's 12,000 high. Now a furlong...

is about 625 feet. It was a Roman measurement in the Greek actually, it's stadia, and it's about an eighth of a mile. And so 12,000 furlongs, when you do the math, equals 1,420 miles. Now picture this for just a moment. Here's a map of the United States. Now if you start in Los Angeles and go east for 1,400 miles, you hit Dallas.

Starting from Los Angeles, if you go north 1,400 miles, you hit Vancouver. So the city is going to be about that size.

the New Jerusalem that descends out of heaven. This is huge. This is not, you know, Corona. It's not Norco. It's not, you know, Riverside or even Los Angeles. This is a massive city. There's been lots of calculations and, you know, if there were so many people in New Jerusalem, in heaven, you know, and, you know, let's say there's 20 billion people and, you know, each, every person would have, you know, a couple square miles of space, you know, that kind of thing. Who knows,

If those are, you know, valuable calculations or not. But the point is, it's going to be massive. This is going to be an incredible city that will come down out of heaven. So this is pretty impressive. But don't forget, as long as it is and as wide as it is, it's also the same height. So take this, make it three-dimensional, add 1,400 miles height to this city.

Now, the highest altitude that, you know, manned aircraft will fly is about 70 miles. That's pretty high up there. But this is 1,400 miles. This city is going to be massive. It's really beyond our ability to comprehend. But this is the place. Remember Jesus said, I'm going to prepare a place for you. This is the place that he is preparing for us. Verse 17 says,

Then he measured its wall, 144 cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The construction of its wall was of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

So he describes the wall a little bit more. It's 144 cubits high. That's about 215 feet high. Again, he describes the jasper, which as we know it today is a reddish color. And then he also describes gold, but gold like clear like glass, so pure gold. Verse 19.

The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the fifth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysophase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.

Now, what does all that mean? Well, here's one artist's rendition. So there's all these different colors. Now, again, we don't know exactly which colors correspond to which in every case with absolute certainty. But the idea again here is there's going to be this brilliance of beauty and light. There's going to be this color. It's going to be magnificent. And then verse 21 says,

The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each individual gate was of one pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold like transparent glass. So again, the building blocks...

of this eternal city that God will create are going to be things that are, you know, extremely valuable, extremely precious. Now, of course, money and cost and those types of things will not really be meaningful there in eternity. But the point here is it's going to be beautiful. It's going to be brilliant. It's going to be absolutely amazing. And so the new Jerusalem, eternity's Jerusalem is going to be glorious. That's the third point that we see.

Finally, point number four, eternity is with God. Verse 22, but I saw no temple in it for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The temple on earth was a place for man to meet with God. God says, I'm going to dwell here in the temple. You want to come to worship me? You can come to the temple. You want to come and meet with me? You can come to the temple.

It was a place for man to meet with God. But in eternity, that will not be needed because God will be there. And so we will be with God and we will be in his presence. He will be with us. The temple is not necessary any longer. Also, the sun is no longer necessary. Verse 23, the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it.

And so the glory of God is going to illuminate this city. No need for the sun, no need for the sun to go down, no more sunrises, no more sunsets there in the city of the New Jerusalem. The glory of God is going to illuminate it continually. There's going to be brilliant light again and color. It's going to be beautiful. Verse 24,

And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day, there shall be no night there, and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.

Now here verses 24 through 26 has raised a lot of questions because it talks about the nations of those who are saved and the kings and they're coming and they're going. And so it's brought up a lot of questions. Who are these nations? Who are these kings? What is this talking about? There's basically two possibilities here.

The first possibility is that it's referring to nations and kings that we don't really understand yet. That perhaps there's going to be nations and kings in eternity that are separate from, you know, those who are resurrected, those who are born again, those who are in the New Jerusalem, that on earth, that perhaps there's nations and kings and we don't fully understand that yet and no other reference is really made to that. That's a possibility. The other possibility, which I

Makes a little bit more sense for me is that this is just a reference to the Gentiles who are saved. The phrase there, the nations, in the Greek it's the same that's translated throughout the New Testament about a hundred times as the Gentiles.

Now, as you know, Gentiles are anybody who are not Jews. And so it could just be referring to those Gentiles who are saved, who come and go, who are part of eternity, and they bring the glory of God into the city. They glorify and they honor God by eternity and by what they're doing in eternity. And so that seems to make more sense to me, most sense to me. But you can wrestle with that and consider that. Finally, verse 27 says,

But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. And so eternity, there's going to be a lot of things that are beyond our ability to understand right now. There's going to be more than we could ever imagine, more than we could ever think about. It's not possible for us to really grasp what eternity holds for us.

It's going to be beautiful. It's going to be brilliant. It's going to be glorious. But there is something that is easily possible for us to grasp right now. And that is the way into eternity. It's easy for us to understand. It's easy for us to grasp and to know how to enter into eternity. He says there in verse 27, By no means will there be any that enters into it that defiles us,

or that causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And as we consider the subject of eternity, we could talk about the glory, we could imagine all of the possibilities, but it comes down to the question, it comes down to the point, are you written in the Lamb's Book of Life?

Because you can imagine, you can speculate, you can daydream all you want about heaven. If you're not written in the Lamb's book of life, you will never be there. You will never make it. The only way to enter into eternity with God is by being written in the Lamb's book of life. That is, by being born again, receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Eternity is going to be incredible. It's going to begin with all things new. It's an inheritance for those who have been born again. It's going to be glorious. You're going to be in the presence of God. But in order for that to happen, you must be written in the Lamb's Book of Life. This morning is the first Sunday of the month. And as we do on the first Sunday of the month, we are going to partake of communion together. And what an incredible opportunity for us today.

to ensure, for us to reflect and ask the question or answer the question for ourselves, am I written in the Lamb's Book of Life? Communion is about remembrance. Jesus gave us communion. He said, do this often in remembrance of me. He gave us the bread. He says, look, this represents my body which is broken for you. This represents that you can't do it on your own. That my body is broken for your sake only.

That the bondage of sin is broken. That the bondage to death is broken because of my body being broken upon the cross. And he gave us the cup. He says, look, this is representative. This is a reminder of my blood which is shed. That your sins are forgiven because I shed my blood. This is the way that our names are written in the Lamb's book of life. By us receiving the body that was broken and the blood that was shed.

By us receiving what Jesus Christ accomplished for us upon the cross. You cannot work your way to heaven. You cannot do enough good deeds. You cannot do enough good things. And you don't have to wait until then to find out if you will enter in. We can have surety, confidence today that we will enter into eternity with God. By receiving what Jesus Christ did for us upon the cross. Jesus says, those who come to me I will not cast out.

Now as we come to Jesus, it needs to be with repentance. Going back to verse 8, if we practice those things, we will not inherit the kingdom of God. If we practice those things, it's evidence that we've not turned to Jesus. We've not been born again. We might be religious. We might come to church, but we don't have the new nature, the new transformation that takes place when we're born again. The ushers are going to make ready. The worship team is going to come up and they're going to lead us in a song and

As they lead us in worship, the ushers are going to hand out the bread and the cup. Hold both portions. We'll partake together at the end. But as we worship the Lord together, I would ask you to consider, is your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life? Are you right with God? Are you walking in a relationship with God? Is it evidenced by how you're living your life? By the things that you're involved in?

This is a great opportunity. As we partake of communion together, let it be you saying to God, yes, I receive your sacrifice for me. I receive your gift of life. I turn from my sin and I will follow you. I want my name to be written in the Lamb's book of life. So if you've never been born again, this is a great opportunity for you. I encourage you to partake together with us. Turn to Jesus this morning. Repent of sin and call out to Him.

He will give you new life. For those of you, if you're a believer here this morning, that's a great opportunity as well to remember. Jesus said, do this often and remember me. We need to hold fast to Jesus Christ as we look forward to the eternity that he has in store for us. And so let's worship the Lord together again. Hold both portions and we'll partake together at the end of the song.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.