"A Place Called Heaven" | Pastor Steve Gaines

take your bibles and turn with me to revelation chapter 21. we're finally in heaven amen it has taken us a year to get to heaven all right but we are in heaven well we've seen heaven a few times along the way but not like today and i'm so grateful to god for heaven a lot of people say that some people are so heavenly minded they're no earthly good there is enough ignorance in that statement to ignorant up all of america and america doesn't need any more ignorance all right we need some sanity the people that think about heaven the most are the most blessed people and the most helpful people in the world because when you live knowing that this world is not your home you are a spiritual sojourner a pilgrim passing through and all of a sudden the things of this world grow strangely dim in the light of the presence of almighty god throughout heaven when you start thinking about the fact that even if you eat your best and work out five times a week you're still only going to be here about 80 maybe 90 years and the way some of you drive i don't think you're even going to get to that regardless of what you eat all right but whatever if you live to be a hundred compared to eternity that's nothing it's nothing we're talking about forever and ever you'll either be in hell like i talked about last week or in heaven and i personally want to be in heaven don't you not just because i don't want to go to hell although that's that's a good reason but i want to go to heaven because i want to be with jesus for all of eternity so let's talk today about a place called heaven revelation 21 beginning at verse 1 all the way through that chapter and then we'll go five verses into chapter 22 and then next week will be my final sermon in this series it'll be the 35th sermon that i've preached on revelation since the first part of january and it will be from verses 6 to the very end of chapter 22. but today a place called heaven first of all heaven is a new place a brand new place look there in verse 1 in chapter 21 of revelation then i saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth passed away and there's no longer any sea and i saw the holy city new jerusalem coming down out of heaven from god made ready as a bride adorned for her husband now god created the universe god created the heavens and the earth the very first verse of the bible and i tell people if you can't believe the first verse of the bible you can't believe any of the bible the first verse of the bible says this in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth now king david testified to god's creative activity as well in psalm 33 verse 6 and these wonderful words by the word of the lord the heavens were made and by the breath of his mouth all their hosts god just spoke and there was nothing before he spoke and then there was everything in the universe the writer of hebrews testifies to this he said in one of my favorite verses about creation hebrews 11 3 by faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of god there it is again now listen so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible there's no atheistic evolution here there's no big bang theory here there's no gradual mutation of stuff over billions of years and all that mumbo jumbo that nobody can prove god spoke the universe into existence and that was no big miracle for him it's just something he did and the same god who spoke heaven and earth into existence is also going to create a new heaven and a new earth and a new jerusalem it will be brand new forever we'll be in a brand new city and there we will never grow old heaven will be a new place secondly heaven will be a godly place that is it will be a place where god dwells in the hebrew it will be a place where god tabernacles look at verse 3 and i heard a voice from the throne saying behold the tabernacle of god is among men and he will dwell among them and they shall be his people and god himself will be among them three times the tabernacle of god is among men he will dwell among them god himself will be among them why is that such a big deal because heretofore god the father has not been among his people jesus has the holy spirit has but nobody will until that very point see the face of god now jesus has seen the face of god the holy spirit has seen the face of god the father now the holy spirit's just as much god as god the father and jesus is just much as much god as god the father god the holy spirit but no none of us no human being has ever seen the face of god now i know that the bible says that moses saw god but he saw the backside of god he saw the form of god likewise and that was in exodus 33 and likewise in isaiah 6 there was a time where isaiah said i saw the lord seated upon his throne but he didn't see the face of god moses asked to see the face of god he said show me your glory that's the face of god in exodus 33 18 and god said two verses later in exodus 33 20 you cannot you cannot see my face for no man can see me and live so what john said in the prologue the first words of his gospel in john 1 18 no one has ever seen god no one has seen god at any time talking about his face but the unique one that's jesus the only begotten of the father who is of him himself god is near to the father's heart he has revealed god to us we know what god the father is like through jesus christ a few people in the first century saw jesus they saw the son of god god the son but no one besides jesus and the holy spirit has seen the father's face but all of that is going to change one day when he dwells with us when he tabernacles with us we will see him face to face heaven will be a godly place and then heaven will also be an encouraging place how many of you need some encouragement nowadays anybody i know i do well i get it from the lord and verse 4 is one of the most encouraging verses in all of the bible he will wipe away every tear from their eyes are you looking forward to god wiping away all your tears we've got some tears out there don't we just keep living you'll have some tears along the way god's going to wipe them all away there's no more longer any death there will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain the first things the former things have all passed away this world is a sinful therefore a sad depressing place i'll just give you four headlines i just randomly went and just picked up four headlines and these are the first four i picked up i could have had 10 or 20 just like them firefighters struggled to contain kilimanjaro fire in tanzania i've been to tanzania i've been to kilimanjaro that's a big place and it's burning up that's not good news thailand protesters take the streets against again in defiance there's not just rioting in america there's rioting all over the world god's doing something worldwide something's going on nigerian migrant worker burned alive in libya how about that for good news u.s gun sales soar amid pandemic social unrest and election fears i'm going to tell you something there are some places you can't even buy ammunition people are so afraid there's a terrifying fear that's gripping our world this earth has a plethora an abundance of tears and death and mourning and crying and pain everything that's not going to be in heaven it all started with adam and eve in the first sin when they ate the forbidden fruit that single sin ushered in a tsunami of sinfulness and everybody got infected you're talking about a pandemic we're independent we've been in a pandemic sin since adam and eve partook of the forbidden fruit it's called sin a pandemic of sin and everybody has it we're all infected spiritually romans 5 12 when adam sinned sin entered the world adam's sin brought death so death spread to everyone at conception you received the sinful nature at conception not at birth it's conception you have the propensity to do wrong and to be selfish it comes with the package god created a perfect universe sin our sin has tainted all of the universe but in heaven god reverses all of that and in heaven it's an encouraging place every tear is going to be wiped away no more death no more mourning over lost loved ones no more crying no more pain all of that's going to be passed away no more pandemics no more murders no more sorcery no more immortality no more war no more communism socialism abortion atheism satanism secularism lying depression racism drug addictions no more suicide no more starvation no more riots no more political parties praise the living god no more sin no more satan no more hopelessness no more discouragement heaven is going to be the ultimate encouraging place number four heaven will be a promised place god promises him god doesn't break his promise god can't tell a lie if god promises something it's on its way and he promises us a place in heaven verse 5. and he who sits on the throne said behold i am making all things new and he said right and then he assures us of heaven for these words the words about heaven are faithful and true the lord assured john who was receiving the revelation he said this is a hundred percent truth if god tried to tell a lie it gets stuck in his throat he couldn't do it he is a god of truth and he said john i promise you heaven is real it's not a fairy tale it's an absolutely true place i promise you jesus promised us heaven right before he died on the cross the night before he died on the cross in john 14 we read to me the most famous words about heaven in all of history verses one through six don't let your hearts be troubled jesus said i don't think about he's about to die on the cross and he's comforting everybody else don't let your hearts be troubled you believe in god believe also in me in my father's house there are many dwelling places many mansions if it were not so i would have told you for i go to prepare a place for you a place i'm going to prepare a place for you and if i go to prepare a place for you i'll come again and receive you unto myself so that where i am there you may be also and you know the way where i'm going thomas said lord we don't know where you're going so how do we know how to get there how do we know the way he said oh i am the way the truth and the life no one cometh unto the father unless he comes to me i am the way i'm the way to heaven jesus said you want to go to heaven you got to come through me he said heaven is encouraging to the soul let not your heart be troubled you don't have to believe it you have to be troubled you're on your way to heaven and heaven is not only encouraging to the soul but it's erected for the saints i go to prepare a place for you those of you who follow me those of you who have repented of your sins and believed in jesus and not only is it encouraging the soul and erected for the saints but it's entered through the savior i am the way not a way the way the truth be life you can't get to heaven unless you go through me that's what jesus said he promised us heaven and jesus never lies heaven will be a promised place and then number five heaven will be a satisfying place look at verse six and he said to them to me it is done i'm the alpha i'm the omega i'm the beginning i'm the end i'll give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost i'm the beginning i'm the end i'm the alpha i'm the omega i'm the a i'm the disease everything that you need in mankind i will satisfy you with that you ever notice how this world is not satisfying you get a new car and somebody bumps it with a buggy at kroger or you drive it for a year and you say you know i really shouldn't have gotten this car i should have got that other car and it's already got 12 000 miles on it man i need to trade this in never satisfied never satisfied well i'll have a hamburger and then somebody brings out a po boy and you you say i got the wrong thing we're always wanting something we don't have you got to be careful you can even do that when you're looking at somebody else and you're not married to them i'll tell you something you better keep your eyes fixed on the lord and on your spouse by the way if that illustration bothers you that illustration is in the tenth commandment about not coveting all right but we covet all the time our house doesn't look right our hair doesn't look right well i've got long hair i guess i'll shorten it well i've got short hair i think i'll make it long well i've got curlier i'm going to straighten it out well i've got straight hair i'm going to curl it we're never satisfied and why is that because god god knows will only be satisfied ultimately in him and in his perfect presence in heaven heaven is a perfectly satisfying place we're going to drink water living water and never thirst again didn't i hear jesus say something about that when he was talking to the woman at the well john chapter 4 verse 14 but whoever drinks of the water that i will give him shall never thirst but the water that i will give him will become in him a well of springing water literally a fountain of water flowing from inside out springing up to eternal life only jesus can give you that only jesus can satisfy you'll never be satisfied in this world you'll always be wanting something else you may have this but you don't have that you're always wanting something else that's why people go out shopping by the way they're not far enough in debt as it is they want to go a little deeper all right just need one more thing and then they give it all away at a garage sale or when they die their kids give it away or throw it away i know you think that your kids are going to save everything you're leaving to them ha that's a greek word for forget it aren't you glad though that what heaven gives us is eternal it's satisfying revelation 7 16 they will hunger and no longer they will thirst no more nor thirst anymore nor will the sun beat down on them nor any heat the world can't satisfy you sin can't satisfy you satan can't satisfy you but jesus will satisfy you and ultimately he will do that in heaven heaven will be a satisfying place it will also be an intimate place we're going to be so in love with god and we will have intimacy like we've never known look at verse 7 he who overcomes will inherit these things i will be his god he will be my son the word overcomes there is a very important word nikao nikao and it means to prevail to conquer to overcome it's a greek word and the greeks actually took a similar word a word that came from nakao the verb and made it into a noun and named one of their fictional goddesses nike how many of you ever heard of nike shoes anybody don't act am i living in america nobody raised their hand how many of you have ever heard of nike shoes all right okay thank you very much this sermon will go a lot quicker if you guys will help me out okay and in greek mythology she was the winged goddess of victory that's why you have the little swish there that's the wing of nike but this word nikao means to prevail to conquer and that's what nike means to to conquer and all who have christ he is the overcomer he is the one who helps us overcome sin and satan and selfishness and we will inherit these things in heaven what things no more tears no more pain no more death no more mourning no more thirst on and on god almighty will be our god we will be his children in the most intimate of all relationships in all of the universe paul tried to speak of this incredible intimacy when we come to know him not only in heaven but even the holy spirit dwelling within us romans 8 verse 16 paul says for his spirit joins with our spirit it's like he marries us he he comes to be with our spirit to affirm that we are children of god and since we are his children we are his heirs we're we're going to receive all the blessings from our heavenly father in fact together with christ that is joint heirs with christ we are heirs of god's glory and if we share his glory we must also share his suffering that's momentarily verse 18. yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to glory the glory he will reveal to us later whatever you're going through now as a christian look at me it's going to be over before you know it and you're going to be in heaven and i'm telling you you won't remember it when you get there it's going to be so overwhelming the intimacy you have with god in heaven is going to be so overwhelming it is an intimate place and everybody is looking for intimacy and the only place you can find it is in jesus christ number seven heaven will be a holy place some people are not going to get in look at chapter 21 verse 8. now stay with me don't get messed up on this verse please stay with me but for the cowardly the unbelieving the abominable murderers and immoral purses and persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death this is a strong word about the holiness of god now what does this text say what does it mean what does it not say what does it not mean does it mean and does it say that if you've ever committed any of these sins one time you don't get in to heaven that is not what it says you know what i know it's not what it says if that was nobody'd be saved everybody go to hell everybody's not going to hell what he's saying is that the lord was saying if any of these sins consistently characterizes your life and you have shown no repentance no desire to be set free if you have struggled with drugs or being a drunkard and you have no desire to repent then yeah that's a sign that you're not on your way to heaven if you tell lies habitually and you don't want to repent you don't care about the truth look at me you're not saved now if occasionally you slip up whether it's drugs or alcohol and and you're fighting it and you're asking the lord to help or if you slip up and you tell a lie or if you mess up some other way and you repent and you say lord i sense by your spirit that i have grieved the holy let me tell you something when god saves you he puts the holy spirit in your body and the minute you sin as a christian guess what you don't have to call hey brother steve did i said you don't have to call me the holy ghost will say whoa stop right here you're not going to talk that way you're not going to act that way you're not going you will know if the lord is in you you will know it's called conviction conviction and if you don't have that it's because the spirit of god's not in you you're not saved if you can sin and just do whatever you want to to people and and be whatever you want to be and just just break the laws of god it doesn't bother you then you need to get saved today you're not a christian that's what this is saying and i want to tell you something i don't care what sin it is adultery fornication murder homosexuality god can pull you out of the mighty clay and set your feet on a rock and save you and change you and put his spirit in you anybody can be forgiven now i want to say this to you we live in a day when some people are saying that eight and ten-year-old children should have the right to decide if they want to transgender look at me eight and ten-year-old children don't even know what they want for lunch they should not be mutilated by somebody that has gone nuts that is ridiculous that's absolutely ridiculous but let me get back to my sermon anybody in this room that struggles with sin can be set free i want to read to you some of my favorite verses now the first two verses kind of strong but praise god the last verse brings it home listen to this first corinthians 6 you need to write this reference down first corinthians 6 verses 9 through 11 especially verse 11. or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of god do not be deceived neither fornicators that's people that cohabit with each other people that engage in sexual activity outside of before they get married fornicators idolaters adulterers people who engage with sexual activity with people they're not married to effeminate homosexuals that's a sin thieves the covetous drunkards revilers swindlers they will not inherit the kingdom of god now look you ready how many of you ready for some good news here comes and such look at verse 11 and such were past tense some of you some of the people at corinth had been adulterers but they're not anymore some of them had been drunkards but they're not anymore some of them had been liars habitual liars but they're not anymore some of them have been homosexuals but they're not anymore but you were some such were some of you but you were washed you were sanctified you were justified in the name of the lord jesus christ and the spirit of our god how many of you are thankful that god can change anybody amen he can change anybody amen heaven is a holy place people who have had their sins forgiven go there and if you're a christian and you sin i'll give you a good verse first john 1 9. if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness oh when you get saved you're on your way to a holy place and then heaven will be a glorious place a glorious place look at verse nine then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me saying come here and i will show you the bride the wife of the lamb i love the way angels just obey god did you notice in that one verse this angel had been god had said i want you to pour out the wrath of god i want you to pour out my wrath on these sinners and he went and did that but now he gets to tell them about the beautiful bride of christ that's coming back they just do whatever they're told look at me let's just be like angels do whatever we're told if it's a heart assignment or a more easy assignment verse 10 and he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city jerusalem coming down out of heaven from god having the glory of god her brilliance was like a very costly stone as a stone of crystal clear jasper all the glory that's going to fill heaven it's going to be amazing later on this same chapter in verse 23 we see that the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it for the glory of god is illuminate and the lamp is the lamb unfiltered glory of god my favorite verse perhaps it's one of them anyway in revelation is revelation 4 11 thou art worthy o lord to receive glory thou art worthy o lord to receive glory and honor and power for thou has created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created did you know that all of us according to romans romans 3 23 and romans 6 23 all of us fall short of the glory of god jesus is the glory of god all of us fall short of the goodness of jesus but jesus will give us his glory so that we can go into heaven heaven is a glorious place heaven is also a protected place god's going to have a wall there to protect us from sin and satan and evil look at verse 12 it had a great and high wall with 12 gates and at the gates twelve angels and names were written on them which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of israel there were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west and the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the lamb walls on earth protect us people have fences around their backyard especially if they have a swimming pool it's it's the law you have to you have to have a fence around your back yard if you have a swimming pool because they don't want somebody some child that's in the neighborhood just going over there and falling in and drowning it's to protect is to protect people on the inside and to protect people on the outside on this earth we have walls and in heaven there are walls and apparently they're protecting you can't just anybody go to heaven you got to go through a gate and a wall i mean some people don't go in it's a great wall it's exactly the word he used it's elaborately decorated it's majestic it's magnificent it's a high wall we'll see momentarily in verse 17 that it's 72 yards high almost the length about three quarters of a football field length it's going to be that high it's got three gates on all four sides the city of jerusalem in the old testament the new testament had walls when you go there now you have walls even the new jerusalem is also going to have a wall and it symbolizes the unity of the old and the new testament the gates are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of israel that's jacob's sons and the foundation stones are the like the they're named after the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the lamb so you've got all the redeemed in the old and the new covenant all the redeemed of all the ages coming through these gates to go to heaven because they believe savingly in jesus christ it's a protected place not just anybody goes there number 10 it's an immense place i've had people say how in the world is god going to build something for all of the redeemed of all the ages to live there it would have to be they i've heard people say it would have to be as big as texas i've got news for it's bigger than texas now if you're from texas i know you don't believe it but it is it is look at verse 15 and following the one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and its wall the city is laid out as a square and its length is as great as the width and he measured the city with the rod 1500 miles its length and width and height are equal and he measured its wall 72 yards according to human measurements which are also angelic measurements aren't you glad that angelic measurements are the same as human you won't have to get a new ruler when you go to heaven all right i like country music i like the old country music and i like gospel music so i really like gospel country music if you didn't follow that don't worry i love allen jackson's cd his hymns i've got four copies of it i've got it everywhere i've got any device to play anything and i love to hear him saying i want to stroll over heaven with you some glad day when all troubles and heartaches are vanished away then we'll enjoy the beauty where all things are new i want to stroll over heaven with you you know when i go walking with my wife she's always saying would you hurry up she walks fast how many of you know somebody that walks fast when they're exercising i'm saying why what do you try what race are you trying to win she said i'm trying to get my heart rate up i said what good is that let's just kind of take it easy so when we get to heaven i know we're not going to be married but i'm going to stroll with her and you know what heaven is going to be one long stroll 1500 miles deep wide tall a perfect cube why is it shaped as a cube because in the old testament in the tabernacle the holy of holies inside the holy place was 15 feet by 15 feet by 15 feet it was a perfect symmetrical cube symbolizing the perfection of the presence of god in the temple it was twice that much 30 by 30 by 30 and in heaven it's going to be 150 1500 miles by 1500 miles by 1500 miles a perfect symmetrical cubical place showing that the very presence of a big god resides in heaven and he's got a big family and we're all going to be together and it's not going to be a segregated place every tribe every people every color every language and we'll all going to be praising the lord jesus christ we won't be crowded we won't be congested praise god no bunk beds in heaven amen we're going to have our own place it's going to be immense and then 11 heaven will be a beautiful place look at verses 18 through 21 he exhausts the human language trying to describe the beauty of heaven he said in verse 18 the material of the wall was jasper i've heard all my life about the walls made of jasper a brown yellowish reddish color it can be a cloudy darker color sometimes speckled green orange or black it's almost always multicolored jasper is with unique patterns and the city is pure gold like clear glass heaven is made largely of transparent clear bright gold speaks of its infinite worth of all the heavenly materials and then he talks about the various materials now listen verses 19 and 20. the foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone the first foundation stone was jasper just like the wall the second sapphire the third calcidani the fourth emerald the fifth sardonics the sixth sardius the seventh chrysolite the eighth barrel the ninth topaz the tenth christopher praise the eleventh just sent the twelfth amethyst now why in the world does he mention all those names because those 12 stones are almost exact almost almost exactly comparable and synonymous with the stones that were in the breastplate of the old testament high priest if you read in exodus 28 he wore that breastplate over his ephod and it was embroidered with gold and at least eight of those stones are in that breast plate as well and then notice how beautiful and elaborate heavens gates are verse 21 the 12 gates were 12 pearls each one of the gates was a single pearl how many of you heard of pearly gates before anybody out there surely you have that's where it comes from and the street of the city was pure gold like transparent glass i heard an old preacher one time say he said man gold is going to be so commonplace in heaven that god is going to line the streets with it and if there's a pothole he's going to fill it with gold look at me i don't know if it's figurative or if it's literal i believe it's literal but i believe heaven is going to be one beautiful place and then third number 12 it's going to be an illumined place you're not going to be dark darkness is going to be gone spiritual darkness gone physical darkness gone look at chapter 21 verse 22 and following i saw no temple in it for the lord god the almighty and the lamb are its temple god the father god almighty first john 1 5 god is light john chapter 8 john chapter 10 jesus said i am the light of the world and that's how heaven is going to be lit up by the lord god the almighty and the lamb no temple in it but their light is going to be in heaven verse 23 the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it for the glory of god has illumined it and its lamp is the lamb god the father and jesus the lamb of god the nations will walk by its light the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it never be any darkness in that celestial city and then the gates will be perpetually open look at verse 25 in the daytime and then parenthetically he says for there there will be no more night its gates will never be closed and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it and the bible says that only those who have the light of jesus who have been enlightened through the gospel in jesus christ we'll be in heaven verse 27 nothing unclean no one who practices abomination lying that is nobody's been cleansed by the blood of jesus shall ever come into it but only those whose names are written in the lamb's book of life you can only go to heaven if you're washed clean by his blood the blood of christ you can only go if you have the eternal light of god in you jesus christ i want to ask you have you been cleansed by the blood of jesus what can wash away my sin nothing but the blood of jesus have you been illumined by the light of the lord do you have the light of god burning in you heaven's going to be in a looming place number 13 heaven is going to be a bountiful place now let's go to chapter 22 the last chapter of revelation and the last chapter of the bible look at verses 1 in the first part of verse 2 then he showed me a river of the water of life clear as crystal coming from the throne of god and of the lamb in the middle of his street on either side of the river was the tree of life remember that way back in genesis 2 and 3 the tree of life bearing 12 kinds of fruit yielding its fruit every month the old testament prophet zechariah prophesied this very thing the end of time and he talked about the new heaven and the new earth and the new jerusalem and jesus return in zechariah 14 verses 5 through 9. just look at it on the screen very quickly then the lord my god zechariah said hundreds of years before jesus was even born he said my god will come the lord my god will come and all the holy ones with him in that day there will be no light the luminaries will dwindle for it will be a unique day which is known to the lord neither day nor night but it will come about that at evening time there will be light and in that day living waters will flow out of jerusalem half of them toward the eastern sea you know what see that is the dead sea total salt in it right now you you'll float in it if you try to just go out there and sit in it you just sit in it not one fish in it it's going to be filled with fish and life when jesus comes back half of it's going to flow toward the eastern sea the other half will flow toward the western sea that's the mediterranean and it will be in summer it's going to flow in the summer as well in the winter and the lord will be king over all the earth in that day the lord will be the only one in his name the only one crystal clear living water flowing from god's very throne and that water will quench us it will be so bountiful twelve kinds of fruit from the tree of life and not only will they yield once a year or maybe twice a year no every month 12 different kinds of fruit what he's saying there heaven is going to be a bountiful place you say i can't even fathom that well i can't really fathom jesus in the only miracle that's in all four gospels when he takes a little boy's lunch five pieces of bread two little bitty fish and he breaks all of that and he feeds 5 000 men plus their families about 13 14 000 people i can't grasp that but you know what if he can do that on earth what do you think he can do in heaven jesus is not going to run out jesus is jehovah jire the lord our provider he provided for us here he's going to provide for us there oh it's going to be bountiful place and then heaven will be a healing place praise the living god look at the last part of verse 2 in chapter 22 and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations when is this world going to have peace when is there going to be healing among the nations in that new jerusalem in that new heaven and that new earth the tree of life will provide abundant fruit and food it will also provide some sort of healing well-being health we know that there's no death there's no pain we read that back in verse 4 of chapter 21 yet in some way the the tree of life is going to contribute to our eternal existence there's going to be water living water water of heaven never-ending water that will quench your thirst and you're going to have the tree of life is going to be there for the healing of the nations whatever that means no sickness in heaven aren't you glad no cancer no sickness no myasthenia weakness no more sickness we're going to go to a place where we're never going to grow old aren't you praising god no wrinkles in heaven amen amen no flat feet in heaven no bunged up joints in heaven no alzheimer's in heaven a healing place and then last i didn't know what other word to use except heaven is going to be a blessed place it's going to be the op blessed and the sense now look at me opposite of cursed opposite of cursed look at chapter 22 verses 3 through 5 there will no longer be any curse what's he talking about zechariah nails it again back in the old testament chapter 14 verse 11 people will live in it the new jerusalem he's talking about and there will be no longer a curse for jerusalem will dwell in security when adam and eve sinned the curse of sin came upon all mankind i read it to you earlier i'll read it again romans 5 verse 12 when adam's sin sin entered the world adam's sin brought death so death spread to everyone for everyone's sin all of us are under a curse this world is under the curse of sin but when jesus comes back jesus already defeated the curse of sin when he died on the cross paul tells us that in galatians 3 13 but christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law when he was hung on the cross he took upon himself the curse for our very wrongdoing for it is written in the scriptures cursed as everyone who hung on a tree let me tell you look at me real quick i'm almost there look at me jesus a curse was put upon you the moment you were you were in your mother's womb the moment you were conceived you had the curse of sin in you you had the curse in you but jesus christ went to the cross he who knew no sin born of a virgin no sinful nature then he never yielded to temptation so he's the only sinless one ever to live muhammad was sinful but jesus was not buddha was sinful but jesus was not satan is sinful jesus is not jesus though went to the cross and he bore your sin all of us like sheep have gone astray each of us has turned his own way but god laid all of that curse of your sin all the iniquity upon him and he stayed there until it was dark on the hill of calvary and he finally cried out right after he said my god my god why have you forsaken me god forsook his son momentarily so that you and i would not be forsaken eternally in hell and jesus cried out after he bore your curse on that cross he said it is finished paid in full tetelestai the curse is broken and now we can have forgiveness of sin in jesus christ hallelujah verse 3 in the throne of god and the lamb will be in it his bond servants will serve him they will see his face we're going to see his face and his name will be on our foreheads and there will no longer be any night and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun because the lord god will illumine them and we just put we there put your name there where it says they we're going to reign forever and forever and forever and forever and about the time we think we're not going to make it we're going to get some more of those trees those leaves off that tree of life and forever and forever and forever it's a blessed place hell is a cursed place heaven is a blessed place so where are you going you going to heaven are you going to hell well i i don't believe in all that i didn't ask you what you believe in i ask you where you're going because you're going to one of those two whether you believe it or not because jesus says so not because steve says so does it matter what i say the bible says so god says so it's heaven or hell for everybody in this room for everybody outside this room for people that believe that people don't believe it's heaven or hell so where are you going to be a thousand years from today where are you going to be well i'm just going to be i'm just going to be out there just bury me out there i'm not talking about your body it's not about your soul and spirit what does it matter if you gain the whole world but you forfeit your soul jesus said that don't you want to be in heaven there's only one way i know that's not popular but there's only one way to heaven that's through jesus christ are you going i dreamed i had gone to that city that city where never comes nigh and i saw through the mansions of glory i saw the fair angels of light a gaze for long years of rapture on the face of my savior so true i sang with the seraphim holy in the dream i searched heaven for you can i sing you another song good well i've heard of a land that is wondrously fair they say that its splendor is far beyond compare in that place that's called heaven my soul longs to be if jesus is there it will be heaven for me [Music] if walls there are jasper if the streets there are not gold if every mansion would crumble and if folks still growled still i'll see everything that i'm longing to see or if jesus is there it will be heaven for me heaven for me it will be heaven for me oh jesus will be what makes it heaven for me all his beauty all of its wonders i'm longing to see and if jesus is there or if jesus is there if jesus is there it will be heaven for me amen amen amen let's pray together our father i pray that everybody in this room is on their way to heaven i pray dear lord that we will have abundant life here because of jesus but i also pray that we'll have everlasting life on the other side of this life with your hips bowed you know it'd be bad to go to hell it'd be bad to go to hell from a bar it'd be bad to go to hell from a bunch of atheists sitting around talking but i want to tell you something it'd really be bad to go to hell from a baptist church where you've heard the gospel and where you've heard how to not only miss hell but to go to heaven and you've heard it you know what to do and now it's up to you will you repent will you trust in jesus put your faith in him that he died on the cross for your sins and he rose from the dead to give you eternal life will you believe that today and then will you just surrender your life to him that's really what it means to receive christ just to give your life to him and res just surrender some of y'all are holding on hard man you you want to do it your way i've been there done that but not anymore i surrendered a long time ago yield to him today and receive him as lord and savior and he will save you call upon his name he'll save you i presided over a wedding yesterday and just like a preacher can lead people in their wedding vows i'd like to lead you in a prayer to commit your life to christ now just mouthing words doesn't save you i told that young couple yesterday just saying some words these vows that doesn't really mean anything if you don't mean it what you're saying but i want to say this to you if you mean what you're saying it does mean something so if you'd like to repent of your sins believe in jesus and receive him right now not just so that you can go to heaven you will go to heaven not just so you can miss hell you will miss hell but so that when you wake up tomorrow if the lord gives you another day you'll really live you'll really live if that's what you want would you pray with me even now just pray something like this talk to the lord and just say dear lord jesus i want to be saved oh lord i believe you're the only savior i want to walk with you through the rest of my life and then when i die i want you to take me to a place called heaven that we've read about today lord i want to be there i want to be there with you for all of eternity and lord i repent of my sin i i can't promise you that i'll never sin again but i can say that i don't want to i repent of it i don't want it i turn to you i don't want to be a rebel i surrender my life to you i repent and lord i believe you died on the cross and when you died on that cross you paid my sin debt i believe that and i believe you rose from the dead i don't believe you're dead i believe you're alive you're not like muhammad you're not like buddha they're dead you're alive and i believe that you will save me now as i call upon you save me lord jesus right now wash me from all my sins and help me to live for you forever and lord i don't have to feel a thing i receive it by faith thank you in jesus name amen

Channel: Bellevue Baptist Church

Views: 2,846

Rating: 4.9285712 out of 5

Keywords: a place called heaven, end times sermons, book of revelation, Pastor Steve Gaines, Steve Gains, Revelation sermons, Bellevue Baptist Church, Bellevue Church, Bellvue, Bellevue Memphis

Id: F5HGZ76P6Jk

Length: 56min 48sec (3408 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 19 2020