to Revelation chapter 21. Revelation chapter 21. And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth. For the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And
I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And
I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men. And he will dwell with them,
and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with
them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former
things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne
said, behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, write,
for these words are true and faithful. Heaven, heaven is presented
to us in the scriptures as a place, as a country, and as a city. It's presented to us as a place
when the Lord Jesus Christ said to his disciples, I go to prepare
a place for you. That's in John chapter 14. It's presented to us as a country
when the apostle Paul in Hebrews wrote, but now they desire a
better country that is a heavenly. And then, as we see in this passage
of scripture, heaven is presented to us as a city. I, John, saw
the holy city, new Jerusalem. This morning, I want to speak
to us about heaven, and I want to bring five truths to us about
heaven. I pray the Lord will bless this
to all of us here this morning. First of all, heaven is a city
where God dwells. Think about that. Heaven is a
city where God dwells. Notice in verse three of our
text, we're told the tabernacle of God is with man. The tabernacle of God is with
man. What is that telling us? The
first time the word tabernacle is found in the Bible is found
in Exodus chapter 25 when God was giving Moses the description
of the tabernacle, how it was to be made, and all the furniture
which was to go in it. And you remember there was a
most holy place in that tabernacle called the Holy of Holies, and
in there was the Ark of the Covenant, and over at the mercy seat with
the cherubim attached to it. And when they set up the tabernacle
there in the wilderness, the scripture says, the glory of
the Lord filled the tabernacle. The glory of the Lord. Now, that
is His manifested presence. the glory of the Lord, His manifested
presence. But then we also read in Psalm
99 and verse 1, the Lord reigneth. Now we know that, don't we? The
Lord reigneth. Someone said, what does that
mean? Well, it means exactly what it says, that God is in
control, that God rules and reigns in all of His creation. that
he is sovereign. That word reign is in that word
sovereign, isn't it? The Lord reigneth. Let the people
tremble. People tremble. We know we're
not to be shaken, but it's telling us that this God is so great. The God with whom we have to
do is so great. We should come before his presence
with reverence, with fear. The Lord reigneth, let the people
tremble. Here's my point. He sitteth between
the cherubim. The cherubim, remember they were
fastened on part of the mercy seat facing each other. And that's
where the Lord dwelt in that old dispensation in the tabernacle. The Lord dwelt there. Now, when
we read here in our text, the tabernacle of God is with men,
it means that in this city, which we call heaven, that God dwells
there. And I would just point this out.
Heaven, just like that tabernacle, was a real place. It was a real tent. It was a
real tent that Moses had made according to God's instructions,
a real place where God dwelt. Some people would tell us, well,
heaven, it's not really a place, it's just a state of being. No,
no, heaven is a real place. It is a real, real city. Now the scriptures we know speak
of the third heaven. There are three heavens according
to what we believe the word of God teaches. There are three
heavens. There's the atmospheric heaven where the birds fly and
the planes fly. That's one heaven. That's the
first heaven. But there's a second heaven that
would include all the stars and all the planets and all of God's
created universe. But there's a third heaven. That's
called the Paradise of God by the Apostle Paul. When our Lord
was crucified, we all recognize there were two men crucified
alongside him, and the Lord in mercy saved one of those men.
He didn't save both of them, but he did have mercy upon one
of them. And he told that man, today thou
shalt be with me in paradise. Paradise or heaven is a real
place. It's a real city. When Paul was giving his own
testimony about his departure, his death, that's the way he
referred to his death. That's a good way to refer to
your death and my death. There's a departure date for
all of us. I remember our friend, Bruce
Crabtree, a pastor in Indiana. He was afraid of flying. For
years, he wouldn't go anywhere to preach if you had to get on
a plane. He just wouldn't do it. But then he told us that
his daughter-in-law took him to the airport there. I guess
in Indianapolis one day, and she just explained everything
about the airport. The screens have the departure
flights and the incoming flights and different gates and everything. And he said, you know, I wasn't
afraid to fly after that, after she explained to me how it works
in the airport. But Paul spoke of his death as
a departure. And he said to depart and to
be with Christ, which is far better. to depart and be with
Christ. Well, where's Christ? Well, Christ
is with the father on the right hand of the excellency or the
power on high. So heaven, first of all, is a
real place. This city is a real place and
it is a city where God dwells. Does that thrill you? Does it? I mean, think about that. to
live in a city where God dwells. That's amazing, isn't it? It ought to be. That's amazing,
to dwell in the same city with God. But that's what the scriptures
teach. The second thing about heaven,
it's a holy city. Not only a city where God dwells,
but it is a holy city. Notice in verse two, John tells
us, and I, John, saw the holy city. Now the word which is translated
holy here is the same word in the title, the Holy Spirit, the
Holy Spirit. Same Greek word is translated
holy here that's in the title that refers to the third person
in the Godhead, God the Holy Spirit. It's the same word that
that demon, that day we're told in, I believe, the Gospel of
Mark, the Lord Jesus went into a synagogue, and there was a
man there possessed with a demon spirit, and that demon spoke
through the man, and he said, we know who thou art, thou holy
one of God. This city is a holy city. It's a pure, the word holy, it
means separate, of course, sanctified or set apart, but it also carries
the meaning of purity. It's a holy city, it's a pure,
pure city. It has to be a pure city because
God dwells there. Look down in verse 27 in this
chapter. There shall in no wise enter
into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination
or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book
of life. See, this is a holy city, a pure
city. Nothing enters here that defileth. Those who enter here are those
whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Now we know
something about the Lamb's Book of Life that is revealed to us
in the scriptures. We know something about what
God, the Lord Jesus Christ, does for those whose names are written
in the Lamb's Book of Life. When I was a young man living
in San Antonio, the church we attended had a rescue mission
downtown. And I went down there several
times, and of course, I didn't know anything. I'll just confess.
But the people there knew less. But I remember, I remember, they
used to sing this song. There was one man, I still remember
his name after all these years. His name was Donald. And he had
come to the rescue mission, living off the streets, and he just
kind of stayed there. I think he became like the cook.
But he could play that piano. Man, he could make those keys
really sound, you know, played by ear, of course. And he loved
to sing that song, there's a new name written down in glory. And it's mine. Oh, yes, it's
mine. Well, Eventually, of course,
we come to see that there's no new names written down in heaven.
The Lamb's Book of Life, the names were written in that book
from before the foundation of the world. And they're the ones
that we're told here in Revelation chapter one, that Jesus loved
and washed from their sins in his own blood. Oh, only the clean,
the undefiled, the pure in heart shall see God. Only they enter
into this city. It's a pure city. It's a holy
city. And chapter 22 and verse 15,
we read this about the city for without her dogs. You say dogs,
why would he tell us that without? In the scripture, dogs sometimes
refer to false teachers. Beware of dogs, the Apostle Paul
wrote to the church at Philippi. False teachers that come with
doctrines that are not found in the word of God. Beware of
dogs. And for without our dogs and
sorcerers, All these people that believe that, you know, the stars,
they read their horoscope, and sorcerers, they've got this black
magic, and they've got the tarot cards, and read your fingers,
the lines in your hands. All of that, people that are
full of witchcraft, all of that denies that God is sovereign,
that God reigns and rules. The stars, do not rule your life,
God does. The sorcerers, those that teach
that and practice that, they're not entering into this city.
It's a holy city. And horror mongers, and murderers,
and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. Now, I didn't just make all that
up, you know that. I didn't ask you to turn there,
but look over into the next chapter, chapter 22, verse 15. For without, you see that? For
without are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and murderers
and idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. You know, Paul
tells us that covetousness is idolatry. There's a lot of ways people
are guilty of idolatry other than bowing down before some
statue. That is idolatry, of course.
We can make an idol out of most anything in our life. Anything
that comes between us and God. That thing, whatever it is, person,
work, House, whatever, may become an idol to us, idolatrous. The fact that heaven is a city
of light enforces the fact that it is a holy, it is a pure city. Notice in that chapter 21 that
we're looking at in verse 23 and verse 25. And the city had
no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it. For
the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light
thereof. Verse 25, and the gates of it
shall not be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there. No night there. One of our Friends who preached
here several years ago has already gone on to be with the Lord,
Brother Rupert Reichenbach, but Brother Mike Reese reminded me
recently that when he was here preaching, he sang that hymn,
No Night There, No Night There. Oh, it's a pure city, city of
light, city of light. There's no darkness there. And
third, It's a city of life. Not only is heaven a city where
God dwells, not only is it a holy city, but it is a city of life. Life. In Hebrews 12 and verse
22, we read, you are come unto Mount Zion and unto the city
of the living God. The living God. That's how he
is distinguished, isn't he, from all these false gods. He's the
living God that we worship. The living, the reigning God,
the ruling God. The living God dwells in this
city. And all of those who enter here
are given eternal life. There's no mortuaries, there's
no funeral homes, there's no cemeteries in this city, nor
close to it. No, it's a city of life. City of life, eternal life. Our Lord said, my sheep hear
my voice, and I know them and they follow me. And I give unto
them eternal life, and they shall never perish." It's a city of
life. Our Lord prayed in his priestly
prayer in John 17, I will, I will. He's speaking to the Father.
Would you ever say that to God? Not hardly. No. We say, not my
will, but thy will be done. But because he is God, he said,
I will, Father, that they whom thou hast given me be with me
where I am, that they may behold my glory. It's a city of life. There's no pain. We read that
there's no sickness. There's no death. There's no
sorrow there. I want to read Before I go to
the next point about the city, I want to read you a letter that
was written by John Eldridge. He was a pastor in the 1700s
in England, and he wrote this letter to a friend of his, a
pastor friend whose wife had passed away. Dear brother, I have been informed
of the loss of your dear wife. She has now put off mortality
and has become immortal. Can this grieve you? Oh, that
I was where she now is, safe landed on that peaceful shore
where pilgrims meet to part no more. She was once a mourning
sinner in this poor wilderness, but she is now a glorified saint
in Zion. The Lord has become her everlasting
light and the days of her mourning are ended. Does this trouble
you? She was once afflicted with bodily
pains and weakness, encompassed with cares and harassed with
a crowd of anxious and needless fears. She has now arrived at
her father's house and he has wiped away all tears from her
eyes. He has freed her in a moment
from all her pains, from all her cares, from all her fears,
and from all her needs. And shall this distress you?
You have not lost your wife. She's only gone ahead of you
for a short time. She has left her earthly husband
to go home to her heavenly father. She expects your arrival there
soon. to join the hallelujahs for redeeming
love. Are you still weeping? Shame
upon you, brother. Are you weeping because your
wife can weep no more? Are you weeping because she is
eternally happy and holy? Are you weeping because she is
joined to that assembly where all are kings and priests? Are
you weeping because she is daily feasted with heavenly manna in
her father's kingdom? Are you weeping because she is
now where you desire to be eternally? Are you weeping because she is
singing sweet anthems to her God and your God? Oh, shameful
weeping. Jesus has fetched your bride
triumphantly home to his kingdom to draw your soul more ardently
thither. You know, we do weep, and Paul
tells us that, doesn't he? But not as others, which have
no hope. We're not weeping for the person that we loved and
have worshiped with, and we know they had a good interest in Christ
and trusted the Lord. We're not weeping for them. When
we weep, we're actually weeping for ourselves, aren't we? Because
we miss them. We love them and we miss them.
But heaven is a place where there'll be no more weeping, no tears,
no death, no crying, no sickness. It's a city of life, life. Fourth, heaven is a city where
all is new. Notice that in verse five of
our text. Heaven is a city where all is
new. The Lord said, behold, I make
all things new. Think about that. A city where
everything is new. And it's always new. It's always
new. It's eternally new. First of all, We shall have a
new body, a new body. This old body that we've lived
in for however many years the Lord allows us in this world,
we'll bury it, but we'll receive a new body. And we're told that
the Lord Jesus will change this vile body. this vile body, this
body of our humiliation. That's a way that might be translated. He'll change this body of our
humiliation, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. He said, I make all things new.
We're gonna have a new body. And John tells us in his first
letter, it doth not yet appear what we shall be, But we know
that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is. We'll be like him, a new body,
a new body. It's going to be this same body,
but it's going to be a resurrected body. We believe in the resurrection
of the dead, don't we? That's what the scriptures teach.
And you have to believe in an all-powerful God to believe in
the resurrection of the dead, don't you? I mean, some of God's
saints we've read about in Europe back in the days of the Reformation,
just for translating the scriptures into the common language, they
were first of all killed and buried, and then their bodies
were unearthed and burned. take the ashes and throw them
into the river and the ashes go out to sea in the river. How
in the world is that body going to be raised? God's going to
do it. It's going to be a new body.
It's going to be a glorified body, but it's going to be the
same body in which we have served the Lord in this world. The same
body. It's not going to be a creation,
it's going to be a resurrection. Number two, here's something,
I've got four things here that I thought of about, he said,
I make all things new. We're going to have a new body.
Number two, we're going to have a new memory. Does that mean anything to you?
It does to me. There's some things in my life I know God won't remember, but
I remember. I'm going to have a new memory. To me, that's a great blessing.
Now, I thought about that in Luke 16, when the Lord spoke
to what That rich man who died and went to hell, what he experienced,
Abraham said, remember the lost, the lost, those who die and go
to hell, they're going to keep their memory. They are. Remember thou in thy lifetime
had your good things, and that's going to be part of hell. It
really is. It's going to be a great part
of the suffering of men, lost men, the memory, the opportunities
they had to hear the gospel, to read the word of God, to seek
the Lord while he might be found. That's going to be part of the
hell that men are going to experience in hell. But in heaven, We're
not going to have that old memory. We're going to have a new memory,
a new memory. He said, I make all things new. I like what someone said. They
visited John Newton, the old ship captain that wrote that
hymn after the Lord saved him, Amazing Grace. I think it was that politician
Pitt, William Pitt, went to see him, I believe it was. John Newton
was an old man and his memory was fading and he told this man,
he said, I remember two things. Yeah, what's that? I remember
that I'm a great sinner. And number two, I remember that
Christ is a great savior. That's a good memory there, isn't
it? I'm a great sinner, but he, I remember this, he's a great
savior. The third thing, we shall have
a new occupation. We've been learning, we've been
practicing all through our days since the Lord saved us. Since
we've been converted, we've been practicing, but we haven't done
it very well. What is it? Well, it's serving
the Lord, serving the Lord Jesus Christ with all our heart and
all our soul and all our being. In Revelation 7 and verse 15,
we read, therefore, are they before the throne of God and
serve him day and night in his temple. Gonna have a new occupation. It's not that we haven't been
serving him here, but we're going to be serving him there in a
much greater way, a more faithful way. A more holy way, if I could
say that. And number four, we shall sing
a new song. Revelation five and verse nine.
We've certainly been singing this song for a while, those
of us who've been saved. They sang a new song saying,
thou art worthy for thou was slain and has redeemed us to
God by thy blood out of every kindred, tongue and people and
nation. We've been singing that song,
that hymn, but this song is ever new. It never gets old. We sing that hymn, sometimes
tell me the old, old story of Jesus and his love. We never
get tired of hearing that, do we? The old, old story. Never get tired of singing this
hymn that gives all the praise and glory. of our salvation to
him, never grows old, saved by the blood of the crucified one. And the fifth thing about this
city, it's a great city. Did you know the word city, what
the original meaning is? I looked this up. It's fullness. That's what the word city means.
It means fullness, throng. And heaven, it's not going to
be a ghost town. It's going to be a city that's
full. It's full of the redeemed. You
know, John described it in Revelation 7 like this, lo, a great multitude
which no man can number of all nations and kindred and people
and tongues stood before the throne and before the Lamb. I want to say this in closing. It's unlike other cities in the
sense that Houston, let's just take Houston, we've got interstates
coming into this city from the south and from the north and
from the east and from the west. And I mean, and besides these
interstates, these highways, state highways and We've got
all kinds of ways into this city, don't we? Not so this city. There's only one way in. And Jesus Christ, he is that
way. There's no other way. He said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto
the Father That's what we're talking about here. No man cometh
unto the Father but by me. There's one way to this city,
and Christ is that way. Are you in that way? I pray if
you're not, you would seek Him even today. You'd look to Him.
Trust in Him as your Savior, as your Lord. Be in the way. be in the way. Several years ago, I preached
a funeral over in West Houston. There was a number of people
there that I didn't know, but I remember what one lady said
to me after the service. She said, I love to go to a funeral, and the preacher
quote that verse, John 14, 6. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. And no man cometh unto the Father
but by me. She said, most of the funerals
I go to, they don't ever say that. They just act like everybody's
in the way to heaven. Everybody's going to heaven.
No. Only God's redeemed, chosen people, those who trust in him,
are going to live eternally in this beautiful, heavenly city.
A city where God lives, a holy city, a city full of life. Yes. May the Lord bless his word.