Heaven Explained 6 | The New Jerusalem | Allen Nolan

this is our sixth sermon in the series on the subject of heaven and I realized as I was preparing for the sermon that there is no way that I can cover all of the information that I want to I just don't have enough time to get it all in so I'm debating on whether or not I should teach one more sermon on this subject or just call it quits because I know that when you preach too long on a particular subject it's kind of like beating a dead horse no matter how much time and effort that you put into it you're really not gonna go anywhere and the reason I'm gonna go anywhere is because people have already made up in their minds I'm sick of that I'm bored with that so I'm kind of debating whether or not I'm going to teach on this one more week I probably will but I'm not going to tell you that so you'll come if you're bored but anyways last week we talked about the Millennium which is described in the book of Revelation chapter 20 and if you don't mind let me give you a quick synopsis of chapter 20 and the reason I want to do this is because I want to keep everything in context so let me give you a quick synopsis and verses 1 through 3 and angel bind Satan in a bottomless pit for a thousand years this thousand year period is known as the Millennium now during this period of time Jesus Christ is going to reign and rule on the earth and we're going to reign and rule with him and during the Millennium there will also be a group of people that living on the earth who survived the tribulation and who didn't take the mark of the beast and they are the ones that we are going to be ruling over that group is going to repopulate the earth now this period of time will be the closest thing to heaven on earth without actually being heaven on earth and I say that because the earth is going to revert back to the way it was before the fall in other words the curse that was placed upon the earth is going to removed with the exception of two things and I told you about those two things were last week if you weren't here last week you'll have to listen to the message online in fact during this thousand year period wild animals are going to lose their ferociousness in their venom and they're going to stop being carnivores and go back to being herbivores there'll also be no sickness or disease and every deformity will be healed there'll be no oppression of any kind and will speak the same language and being one accord and not and last but not least will be global economic prosperity in other words no poverty anywhere on this earth now at the end of the millennium Satan is going to be yet be let loose for a brief period of time and during this short period of time he is going to be able to deceive the majority of the people living on the earth and when I say people I'm referring to mortals remember when the rapture occurs our mortality is going to put on immortality and we're going to know even as we're known and as a result of that we cannot be deceived so as we're ruling and reigning with Jesus Christ and Satan is let loose he's let loose for one purpose and one purpose only to deceive those who have not made a decision to follow Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior during this thousand year period of time and what we're going to find out or what we find out as we read the Word of God is that he does deceive the majority of the people and they're going to rebel against Jesus Christ and they're going to march against Jerusalem in order to attack it but before they can attack Jerusalem fire falls down from heaven and consumes them you'll find that in verses 7 through 9 and then Satan is going to be thrown into the lake of fire and the great white throne judgment will begin and at that time everyone whose name is not written in the book of life is going to have to stand before God to be judged for everything that they've ever done while they were here on this earth and then they will be thrown into the lake of fire where there are different degrees of punishment now while the great white throne judgment is going on the old heaven in the old earth will pass away and God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth so as soon as the great white throne judgment concludes the New Jerusalem comes down from God out of heaven and it sits and it rest upon the new earth so you literally have heaven on earth and that's where we come to in chapter 21 which is where I want to be this morning we want to talk about this New Jerusalem where we're going to live for all eternity so turn to the book of Revelation chapter 21 and we're going to start in verse number 10 we're going to skip the first nine verses if don't mind now if you want to hear about the first nine verses just by my commentary on the book of Revelation it's an audio commentary I actually taught through the book of Revelation verse by verse took 70 sermons at about 50 to 55 minutes each so it's pretty in-depth I cover verses 1 through 9 in fact I cover every verse so if you're upset that I'm skipping the first nine verses just get that series if you don't mind but let's pick it up in verse number 10 and he talking about the angel carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and he showed me that great city the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God now I want you to notice that this city is descending out of heaven that phrase out of is translated from the Greek preposition Eck and that's very important because the preposition act denotes the origin of something or in other words the place for something comes from so what this verse is saying is that the New Jerusalem was originally a city in heaven but when the new earth is created this City descends from its original place in heaven to rest upon the earth but right now at this very moment that city is located in heaven or as we're going to find out that city is heaven but I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself so let me ask you a question let's get back on track before this series when you thought of heaven how did you picture it and be honest did you truly think that heaven was kind of ethereal and remember what ethereal means it means lacking material substance so when you thought of heaven and you pictured heaven did you think of it as a spiritual place and not a physical place where everything is kind of surreal I think most of us thought that way that's how most of us pictured heaven but the truth is heaven is not like that in fact let me go a little bit deeper according to the Bible heaven is a city and when I say city I mean a real physical city built out of material substances with walls and streets in houses you see somewhere down the line we got the wrong impression of heaven an impression that's not biblical and let me prove that to you turn with me if you the book of Hebrews chapter 11 verse number 10 notice what it says Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations a city designed and built by God now I want you to notice that Abraham perceived heaven to be a City a city designed and built by God a city with eternal foundations in other words a city that would never be destroyed a city that would last for all eternity but just because Abraham imagined Heaven to be a city doesn't mean that heaven is a city so is heaven a city or not well look at Hebrews chapter 11 verse number 16 that let's find out notice what it says but they were looking for a better place a heavenly homeland that is why God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them so abraham was right according to this verse God has prepared a city for those who love him and who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior so heaven is an actual City now this city is God's home it's where he lives in other words it's where his throne is look at Revelation chapter 21 that's where we're going to stay for the majority of the time verses 2 & 3 notice what it says and I saw the holy city the New Jerusalem that's the name of this city coming down from God out of heaven like a bot bride beautifully dressed for her husband I heard a loud shout from the throne saying look God's home has now among his people he will live with them and they will be his people God Himself will be with them now the implication is that God's home is in the city look back at verses 2 and 3 and I want to read this again except this time I want you to notice the connection it's actually much clearer in the original Greek but I'm still going to point out the connection notice what it's saying and I saw the holy city this is a different city than any city you've ever seen it is a holy city the New Jerusalem that's the name of it coming down from God out of heaven that's the origin of it that's where it's located right now and it was like a bribe you we dress for her husband I heard a loud shout from the throne saying look God's home people this city is God's home this city is coming down from God because it's God's city out of heaven it's now among his people he will live with him and they will be his people God Himself will be with them now these verses imply that God lives in the city it's his home it's where his throne is so heaven is both a city and it's God's home just like Jesus said in John chapter 14 verses one through three if you would turn in your Bibles to John chapter 14 verses one through three this is one of the most familiar passages of Scripture but most people don't understand it follow along with me as I read this let not your heart be troubled oh you've already heard this right and where do you normally hear this passage of Scripture read at funerals almost at every funeral the pastor will preach from this and notice what it says let not your heart be troubled do you believe in God believe also in me in my father's house now the word house is translated from the Greek word we cost and it means home this is in my father's home are many mansions now how can God's home have many many mansions well the reason it can have many mansions is because God's home is in this city you say if you ask me where my home is I would say my home is in Tahlequah in fact I probably wouldn't even say Intelli Quine say my home is telecoil and the reason I would say that is because my home is in telecoil but you see this is what it's saying God's throne is in this city so when you ask where God's home is he says the New Jerusalem that's where his home is now let's keep reading he says if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you now that word place is translated from the Greek word Papas and it refers to a physical place place that you can go you can look at you can see you can stand on you can feel in fact our work topography comes from this word topography is a compound word that means it's made up of more than one word in this case it's made up of two words the word tapas which means a physical place and graph au which means to write or to draw so topography is actually a drawing of a physical place showing all the elevations we want to look at the topography of something so what Jesus said is I go to prepare a place for you not an ethereal place a physical place and if I go and prepare a place tapas for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also remember as the Bride of Christ wherever he is that's where we'll be wherever he goes that's where we'll go so Jesus told his bride I'm going to prepare this place for you I'm going to come back for you and when I come back to get you I want you to know that wherever I am that's where you'll always be so here's my point the city that John is describing in the book of Revelation chapter 21 is located in heaven in fact it is heaven in the sense that we in a sense that we think of heaven because it's where we're going when we die or if we're living when the rapture occurs it's where we're going when we're raptured so this is what I want you to see heaven is a real and actual city it's a real physical city it is not ethereal it is made from material substances it has walls and streets and mansions and right now this city is located in the heavenly realm it's in a different dimension a dimension that we cannot see but it is real and it is a physical place and one day it's going to descend from heaven to rest upon the new earth that God creates and that will be our permanent location now I want to make sure that we're all on the same page if I say what is heaven you're your correct response should be heaven is a city it's a city that is built and designed by God and when I die I'm going to this city now let me explain something to you that I think most people don't know how many of you have seen the movie heaviness for real did you enjoy it how many of you read the book 90 minutes in heaven how many of you read some type of book that talked about people dying and going to heaven but then they came back to life all right let me explain something they never actually made it to heaven heaven is a city and I'm not saying that what they didn't experience is real I'm just telling you they just met the people that were coming out to greet them but they actually never made it to the city because had they made it to the city they would have never come back there's one person that actually made it that city he didn't know whether he was in his body or not it's found in the book of second Corinthians chapter 12 Paul says that I knew a man 14 years ago and he's talking about himself he said whether he was in his body or out of his body I don't know but he was caught up to the third heaven and he said I heard things the humans cannot express and things that you cannot see that's what Paul was saying and when we hear these stories I want you understand I do believe that they're real I do believe that they met the greeters but I will say this they didn't make it to the city if you make it to that City you're not coming back now in Revelation chapter 21 verses 11 through 21 John describes this city which is called the New Jerusalem and let me break it down for you in verse 11 he gives us a general description of the city and verses 12 through 14 he describes the city's walls gates and foundation and verses 15 through 17 he gives us the measurements of the city and in verses 18 through 21 he describes some of the special features of the city and though John gives us a very good description of the city we need to understand that it's going to far exceed our expectations it doesn't matter how much you study on the subject of heaven I promise you when you get to heaven and you come to this city your jaw is going to drop down you're gonna look at it and you're probably going to fall flat on your face because you didn't realize how great this city is now let's find out what Heaven's going to be like as we quickly go through verses 11 through 21 and we're going to start with verse number 11 but we got to keep it in context we've already read verse number 10 so let me just kind of give you a synopsis of verse 10 as we start reading verse 11 if you remember john's riding he said this angel took me to a high mountain to see this great city descending out of heaven from god and that's where we pick it up in verse number 11 notice what it says having the glory of god and her light was likened to a stone now what it's talking about is talking about this city and the city's light was like unto a stone most precious even like a Jasper stone clear as crystal this city is constructed in such a way that it reflects the glory of God in fact everything in this city is going to reflect the glory of God here's what I want you to do just to make sure that you understand this in verse number 11 I want you to underline the phrase clear as crystal in fact many times we'll say that someone asked you are you clear on that and what do you say crystal crystal clear well I want you to understand they say this city is crystal clear or clear as crystal now let me show you what he's talking about when he says this that phrase is translated from the Greek word Cru stolid so which means to shine like crystal or to sparkle like crystal you see when light hits crystal and is cut just right I want you to understand it can be blinding it sends out a light and I mean it shines it sparkles and that's what he's saying so what John is telling us that heaven has made in such a way that it naturally reflects the glory of God in fact the type of material that this city is made of was specifically chosen because of its ability to do that but it's not the material that we should do in awe it you know when we read what heaven is like and I'm sure when we get there we're just going to be dumbfounded at the beauty of the city but here's the thing that the writer of Revelation wants us to know this is what John wants us to know he wants us to know that we shouldn't be doing and ahhing because the gates are made out of pearls in the streets or goat in fact the cities of gold and the found nations are of different precious stones and it's such a beautiful place he doesn't want us to do an awe over those things what he wants us to do is you and are over what's causing all of these stones and all of these precious items and precious metals to sparkle and shine what is it that makes it sparkle and shine mister the glory of God so you need to keep in mind that the city's brilliance it's simply the result of God's divine presence you see if you have a diamond and that diamond is really a high quality it's going to be the right color it's going to have a good clarity to it in other words there's not going to be inclusions to it but to really make it sparkle and shine it has to be cut just right so that when light hits it it reflects that in almost to the point where it's like ooh that's bright we call that fire but I want you to understand if you took that same diamond and you put it in a place where there's no light then it's not going to sparkle and shine have you ever go into a jury store here's what you noticed all of the high-priced rings that have big costly diamonds in them they'll always have special lighting above it and the reason they do is because they won't shine and sparkle without the light you need to understand something even though this city is a wonderful beautiful city it would not shine or Sparkle without God's presence and that's what John wants us to know now look at verse 12 in it talking about this city had a wall great in hind and had twelve gates and at the gates twelve angels and names written thereon which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel now the walls surrounding this city are humongous making it one of the more conspicuous features of the city in fact verse number 17 tells us that these walls are 144 cubits high that's about two hundred and sixteen feet or if you're a football fan 72 yards now people that's tall but it's not tall in comparison to how high the city is according to verse number 16 the city is about 1,400 to 1,500 miles high now that's the case and the walls are only 216 feet high then the walls would be way out of proportion in comparison to the height of the city so it could be saying that the walls are 216 feet thick you see Greek is a very precise language if you ever take Greek grammar you'll find that out tenses are not like ours kind of action actually takes precedence over time of action so if you say present tense it's not just telling you it's happening in the present time but it's also denoting the type of action it's continual action so you have much more tenses in Greek it's the same way with the cases it's the same way with voice it's the same way with mood all of these things tell you exactly what that writer is trying to say but just like every language there's always a little bit of a limitation and in this verse that one word that tells you that it's 144 cubits high that word high or tall could also be translated as thick in fact that's how the NIV and the NLT NLT translates verse 17 let me show you how the NLT translates this first it says then he measured the walls and found them to be 216 feet thick but either way whether the walls are 216 feet high or 216 feet thick you need to realize the walls are humongous now in the ancient world walls were essential for protecting a city in a time of war but that's not the purpose of the walls in the city because there are no enemies to defend against so the walls actually have two functions first of all they're symbolic they symbolize the eternal security of the city's inhabitants so they are a constant reminder that the inhabitants are safe and secure in the presence of God we have nothing to worry about because we're in God's presence secondly the walls are meant to reflect the glory of God as I told you earlier everything in this city is designed to reflect the glory of God you see verse number 18 tells us that the walls are made out of Jasper now in John's day Jasper didn't refer to what we would commonly think of Jasper because the most common Jasper is red jasper but in de jasper was always used to refer to the more rare color of jasper which is green and green Jasper's and opaque stone which means that light is reflected on it in other words it sparkles when light hits it so the main purpose of the walls again are to reflect the glory of God in fact here's a picture of green jasper that is what it looks like and when it's really a high quality when you put that under the light it just sparkles and it just shines and that's exactly what these walls are going to do we're also told in verse number 12 that there are twelve gates with an angel at each gate now the twelve angels are not stationed at the gates in order to defend it or to guard the city instead they function as greeters as the righteous people come in think of them as Walmart greeters I've told Lisa if I ever get to the point that I can't preach anymore I'm gonna go get a job a ward I'm gonna be a Walmart greeter all you have to do is talk and I'm a good talker now remember the reason they're there is to greet the righteous people who come in because there's no one to keep out people the millennium is over the great white throne judgment has already happened so there's no one that's unrighteous there's no one that's evil there's no one that's wicked that's gonna try and get into the city now on each gate is the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel which serves as a reminder of the distinctive role that Israel played in the salvation of mankind you see we need to never forget that Jesus Christ was a Jew and it was through the Jews that the Messiah came so our salvation is based upon what the Jews had done for us and had it not been for Israel no one would have ever entered into the gates of heaven so every time that you go in and out of these gates you're going to be reminded of God's promises to Abraham but more specifically what the children of Israel did for us to be able to enter into the gates of heaven now let me just go a little bit further sometimes I get political when I stand behind here but the reason I do is not because I want to give you my opinion it's because I want to show you what God's Word says let me tell you we need to be a defender of Israel they are God's chosen people the church did not replace the twelve tribes of Israel in fact in the Millennium they take to the supreme place of honor their borders are going to be extended from the Euphrates River all the way to the Nile River in Egypt every one of the tribes will have a distinct piece of land and Jesus is going to rule and reign from Jerusalem and right underneath him will be David I want you to understand that Israel will always have a high place of priority in God's kingdom and so on these walls are in these gates you're going to have each one of these so when you enter into the gates maybe you're going to see one where it says Judah you're going to enter into one that says asher one that will say Manasseh one will say Ephraim and we're gonna look back and we're gonna thank God for what he did with the children of Israel who gave us the Word of God but also brought forth our Blessed Messiah Jesus Christ if you're anti-semitic I want you to understand something you're anti God I rarely meet a Jew that I don't think and sometimes they have no idea what I'm talking about but I thank God for the children of Israel now look at verse 13 on the east three gates on the North three gates on the South three gates and on the west three gates with three gates on each side there's access from every direction and again this is symbolic it symbolizes that heaven's gates are open to anyone and everyone who accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and it doesn't matter where they come from and doesn't matter if they come from the north the South the east or the west it doesn't matter if they come from China or Africa whether they come from North Korea or from Iran it doesn't matter if they come from Syria and I'm bringing up all of these nations that we tit we had the Tennessee to think of as our enemies but what I want you to understand is when God puts these gates on each four sides there's three on each side they're on the north the South the East and the West is because he wants to let us know that as long as you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you have entrance into the city look at verse 14 and the walls of the city had 12 foundations and in them the names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb now there are some scholars to teach that this New Jerusalem when it comes down to the new earth does not actually descend and set upon the new earth but it's suspended in there but verse number 14 indicates otherwise because I want you to think about this why would you need a foundation if the city is suspended in air you wouldn't need a foundation so verse number 14 indicates that this city is going to rest on the new earth so it won't be suspended on air now according to this verse the walls of the city sit on twelve foundations and each foundation is formed from a solid precious stone look at verses 19 and 20 says in the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stone the first foundation was jasper the second sapphire the third of caledonia the fourth and emerald the fifth sardonyx the sixth sardius the seventh chrysolite the eighth beryl the ninth the topaz the tenth a crystal process the eleventh a jacinth the twelfth and amethyst now we're not told whether or not these stones are placed on top of each other or if they're placed side by side with each stone supporting a portion of the wall what we do know is that on the foundation of every stone is the name of the one of the Twelve Apostles which obviously alludes to the church because Ephesians chapter 2 verse number 20 tells us the church is built on the foundation of the Apostles so on each of the foundation stones is the name of apostle Simon Peter Andrew James his brother John Thomas Philip Bartholomew Matthew so as you're on the outside or even on the inside you look at this foundation you're going to see one of the names of the Apostles and on the gates you're going to see one of the names of the tribes Wow symbolizing that the city encompasses both dispensations both Old Testament and New Testament and that both both Israel of the Old Testament and the Church of the New Testament have their place in the New Jerusalem so in a sense this is emphasizing the unity of the two covenant groups in other words the Old Testament Saints are one group the New Testament Saints are one group but we're all living in this one city think about this your next-door neighbor might be someone who lived during the Old Testament your your next-door neighbor might be Gideon it might be Daniel it might be Moses so I don't think so because most of you not gonna be on the penthouse and I promise you the people that I mentioned they're gonna have true mansions not saying that you won't but I just want you to understand that we are gonna have the ability to go visit with David to go visit with Moses to go visit with Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah named nahum habakkuk zephaniah Zechariah Malachi Isaiah Ezekiel Daniel Jeremiah we're gonna have the ability to go visit them because we're all going to be living in this city now look at verses 15 through 17 this is probably my favorite part of the description of the city says in he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city and the gates thereof in the wall thereof and the city lieth 4 square and the length is as large as the breadth and he measured the city with the reed twelve thousand furlongs the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal Wow it's a perfect cube in fact most people didn't pick this up but if you remember when the temple is built when you're going to the Holy of Holies what is it it's a perfect cube go and study that and he measured the wall thereof a hundred and forty and four cubits according to the measure of a man that is of the angel now we finally get to the measurements of the city which is very important because every person who's ever been saved is going to be living in this city every Old Testament saying every New Testament st. and what what makes you think or what makes you wonder is this is it big enough to hold every person that's been saved think about that all the way from Adam and Eve even though they live before Jesus Christ they were looking forward to the Messiah so these Old Testament Saints those who were looking for the Messiah and had faith in God and if you remember when Jesus Christ games it says that he preached to those in captivity which tells us that when is so descended into hell and when he came back alive he was actually preaching to those in the bosom of Abraham and he took captivity captive in other words he took them to heaven with him but the reason he was able to take them to heaven with him is because they accepted him as the Messiah in the Old Testament they were looking forward to the Messiah we look back at the Messiah who we accept him as our Lord and Savior they were looking forward to him but here's the interesting thing as we've already seen every Old Testament saying every New Testament saying is going to be living in this city now if you think about it that's a lot of people so it does make you wonder is this city big enough to hold that many people so let's look at the size of the city and find out according to verse number 16 the city is about 1,400 miles wide 1,400 miles deep and 1,400 miles wide and I'm being conservative now let me explain how I got those numbers the King James Version gives the city's measurements in furlongs how many of you measure things in furlongs did you measure when you were laying at your house the house and furlongs probably not now what is the length of a furlong well there's a little bit of discrepancy on how long the furlong is some say that a furlong is an eighth of a mile that means it's 660 feet others say that a furlong is 600 feet but we know that it's one or the other but either way it's somewhere between 1,400 miles and 1,500 miles it can't be any less than 1,400 miles and it can't be any more than 1,500 miles but you need to understand this city is a perfect cube so it's 14 to 1500 miles wide it's 1,400 to 1,500 miles deep it's 1,400 to 1,500 miles hot now to give you an example of how big this city is I want you to look at this picture on the screen this is a visual example of a scaled model now when you're looking at that if you notice that is the United States of America that it's sitting on now if you were able to look at this a little bit better you would find out that the city of heaven is approximately half the size of the United States of America and I say approximately because it's actually a little bit more it's in between 1/2 to 2/3 or yeah 2/3 of the size basically it would stretch from the borders of Canada all the way down to Mexico and from the Pacific Ocean to the Great Lakes now just in case you don't think that's very big consider that it's 1400 to 1500 miles high now people our atmosphere is only 7 miles high when you're seeing these planes in the sky look at that chant way up there it's probably only six to seven miles in the sky our atmosphere is only seven miles high this city is 1400 to 1500 miles high 200 times the length of our atmosphere higher than our atmosphere so how many stories is this city have well live each story was 20 foot tall and it was 1,400 miles high and I'm being conservative you've had you would have three hundred and sixty nine thousand six hundred stories with each story 1,400 miles wide 1,400 miles deep and 20 foot tall that's why Jesus said that there is more than enough room in my father's house in John chapter 14 verse number 2 now if you're a mathematical person let me throw a number out at you if you don't mind grant Osburn says that the city has a volume of 3 billion 375 million cubic miles not cubic feet cubic miles more than large enough to hold all of the saints down through the ages all of the saints from every tribe language people and nations in fact let me give you some more numbers because I really want you to understand this if each floor was 30 foot tall instead of 20 foot tall and 1500 miles high rather than 1,400 miles high you would have two hundred and sixty four thousand floors each floor would be 15 thousandths or 1,500 square miles or 627 billion two hundred and sixty-four million square feet and that's on each floor now if each person in heaven was given one square acre to live in for their home you could fit 14 million four hundred thousand people per floor for a total of three trillion 801 billion 600 million people let me say that again three trillion 801 billion 600 million people now scientists estimate that only a hundred and six billion people have been born since the dawn of the human race and those are not Christian Scientists those are secular scientists and the reason I make that distinction is because if you're a Christian Scientist and you believe the Bible literally you know that Adam and Eve were created sometime around the year 4004 BC man has only been on this earth for about 6,000 years in fact we're getting very close to the end of the sixth cosmic day actually cosmic week when we go into the millennium we start the seventh cosmic week but here's what's interesting about this we believe that man is only been on this earth for six thousand years the secular scientists don't believe that they believe the dawn of the human race started in the year 50,000 BC 50,000 BC so secular scientists believe that man first appeared on this earth at 50,000 BC and taking those numbers they calculate that only a hundred and six billion people have been born since then we only believe 6000 they believe fifty two thousand years and they still say only a hundred and six billion people have been born on this planet 106 now people heaven can hold three trillion 801 billion 600 million people so you have more than enough room for mansions and parks and theaters and a Riverwalk and athletic stadiums and museums and malls and restaurants and any and everything that you would like to have in the city of your dreams now look at verse number 18 and the building of the wall of it was of Jasper and the city was pure gold like into clear glass the city as well as the streets are made of pure gold that's why we always hear people talk about the streets of God you know if I would have asked you before we started this series what's heaven like some would say well have streets of gold and it has pearly gates I mean if you always said dad it's got streets of gold and pearly gates we're gonna find out why we say that but this is one of the verses where we get this but this gold that is talking about is is nothing like anything we've ever seen before because people go does not transparent but that's what this verse is saying and so is verse 21 look at the last part of verse number 21 it says in the street of the city was pure gold as it were transparent glass so this pure gold is unlike anything that we've ever seen it's so pure it's transparent now why would God want the city in the streets to be made of go so pure that is transparent print as transparent as glass well I'll tell you why it's because gold is traditionally the most valuable metal and on this planet but it won't allow the glory of God to shine through it so God is going to do something supernatural God is going to make the gold so pure that it's actually as transparent as glass just so that his glory can shine through it now what's interesting is this is written in such a way in the Greek that it indicates that the transparency of the gold is linked to its purity in other words the reason this gold is transparent is because it's so pure but it also indicates something else it indicates that we can never have gold like that in the city because we can't make it that pure look at verses 22 and 23 and I saw no temple temple therein for the Lord God Almighty and the lamb are the temple of it 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 now why is there no temple in this city well the reason there's no temple is because God is going to dwell among us without any barriers in other words there won't be a veil to separate us from the presence of God so we'll be in the presence of God forever in fact the city itself is the temple of God and because there's nothing to veil the presence of God there won't be any need for light because God's presence is going to emit constant light remember God is light so the Sun and the moon won't need to shine in the city because the glory of God will illuminate the city and give us all the light that we need now here's where I wanted to get this is kind of cool it's kind of neat most of us never think of this during the millennium there is a good chance that we're going to be living in heaven and working on earth do you hear what I said during the Millennium we're taking a step back not talking about the new earth we're talking about during the Millennium during the Millennium there's a good chance that we're going to be living in heaven and working on earth you see in our resurrected bodies we're going to have the ability to teleport ourselves now does everyone know what the word teleport means if you're taking notes I want you to write this down teleport means to be transported across space and distance instantly how many of your Star Trek fans you need what teleport meant didn't you you have the ability to be transported across space and distance instantly now the Bible talks about this a good example about this is with Philip turn with me if you would to Acts chapter 8 verses 38 through 40 and I'll show you what I'm talking about this is the story of Philip in the book of Acts says he ordered the carriage to stop and they went down into the water and Philip baptized him when they came up out of the water the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away now this word snatched is translated from the Greek word hor pad so where we get the doctrine of the rapture if you remember in the book of first Thessalonians chapter 4 it tells us about the rapture and it says there we're going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air that phrase caught up is the Greek word hor pad so here it says that Phillip was snatched away but let's keep reading the eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing meanwhile Philip found himself a people you ought to read this in the Greek because what this means is Phillip was snatched up as soon as the baptism occurred and he was teleported farther north at the town of Azaz he preached the good news there in every town along the way until he came to Caesarea you see most people don't realize this but when we're rapture we're actually being teleported we are instantly traveling through distance and space boom were there so there are a lot of scholars who believe that the Saints are going to live in heaven and work on the earth reigning and really with Jesus during the Millennium we'll just teleport to earth just like people who commute to work but here's what I want you to understand we just got through measuring the city and I'm telling you that it's 14 to 1500 miles wide I also told you is 14 to 1500 miles deep and it's 14 to 1500 miles high it's a perfect tube now it's the size roughly from the Pacific Ocean all the way to the end of the Great Lakes so you go all the way here so let's just go over to Arkansas if you wanted to fly from Arkansas all the way to San Francisco how long would it take you to fly there two and a half hours three but here's what's interesting this city is so big and if you wanted to go and visit someone like Moses who's on the penthouse it's up the top are you gonna have to take two and a half to three hours to get there you are going to be a trip you'll have the ability to teleport yourself just like Philip was teleported just like all these people are going to be raptured and teleported you want to know why Jesus could not be there and then instantly in his resurrected body he was in the middle of this room even the doors and the windows were locked and it was like booop and then they talked with him and all of a sudden he's gone how does that happen he's teleported when Paul was caught up to the third heaven how did he get there teleported our bodies are going to have that ability to do that let me tell you something all the things that we think up in science fiction and we look at and we go hey that's not real you know where all that creativity comes from you know where people get that idea right here this book was written by so many different authors and they each tell a different story but these stories weave in together when you begin to read it it tells one complete unifying story and that story as God has prepared a place for us and when we die that's where we're going so if I was to ask you when you die where do you go you would say I go to that city and when you die and you go to that city it's gonna be jaw-dropping

Channel: Cornerstone Fellowship

Views: 6,127

Rating: 4.8896551 out of 5

Keywords: what does the bible say about heaven, heaven in the bible, heaven bible study, answers about heaven, heaven description, What Will Heaven Be Like According to the Bible (Part 3) with Pastor Allen Nolan, what will heaven be like according to the bible, what will heaven be like, what is heaven like according to the bible, the book of revelation explained, the book of revelation explained bible study, the book of revelation in the bible summary, revelation, rapture, tribulation, heaven

Id: Fl7nm6NIrXA

Length: 45min 49sec (2749 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 15 2018