What Will Heaven Be Like?

3:14 I titled today's message, What Will Heaven Be Like? One writer has said, Every joy we experience here on earth, including the joy of reunion with family or friends, is only an inkling, only a whisper of the true and unending joy that awaits us. Every spectacular sight we view in this world, whether it be the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, or Lake Victoria, those sites are only pencil sketches of the full, full-color rendition that will be a part of the new heaven and the new earth. Today, we're going to look at the new heaven and the new earth that God has prepared for us as we answer the question, what is heaven like? If you have your Bibles, turn to Revelation chapter 21. Look at verse 1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. The second feature of John's revelation was the center of that new heaven and new earth, and that was a literal city, the new Jerusalem. Look in verses two to four at the characteristics of this new city. John says, 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 it's important to note whenever we talk about heaven in the Bible, we have to determine which heaven God is talking about.

4:59 You say, what do you mean, which heaven? Well, the word heaven is used four specific ways in the Bible. The first heaven is the atmosphere. It's the air we breathe. It's where the birds and the airplanes fly. That's the first heaven. In the Bible, the second heaven is outer space, where the sun, the moons, the planets, the galaxies are. The third heaven in the Bible is where God is right now. It's the residing place of God. It's where you and I and our loved ones go if we're Christians when we die. Where is that third heaven? I had no idea, nor does anyone else. But here's the mistake many Christians make. They think that that third heaven, wherever God is, is going to be our eternal dwelling place. I'm going to be home with the Lord. I'm going to live up there someplace. No, the Bible says that's only a temporary place for us. When we die, we go up wherever God is to be with him. We're aware, we're awake, we're conscious, but that's only a temporary place. The final heaven, the fourth heaven is the new heaven and new earth that have yet to be created. And it's going to be mainly centered right here on this earth. This earth is going to be our final dwelling place. Now that blows most people's minds, the idea that we're not going to be up there, but we're going to be down here.

6:30 But listen carefully to the promises of scripture. The Bible is very clear what our ultimate destination is. In Psalm 37 verse 9, the psalmist says, they that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the what? The earth. Verse 11, but the meek shall inherit the earth. Jesus said it, blessed, Matthew 5, 5, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. God is going to restore this world to the way it was in Eden, to its Edenic state. And we are made to dwell here forever and ever. Notice in verse three, John says, and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is among men and God will dwell among them and they shall be his people and God himself will be among them. John says, I saw this new heaven and new earth coming and I saw the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven to earth. Listen, our ultimate destiny is not for us to go up there somewhere where God is. John says, instead, I saw the tabernacle of God coming down so God could dwell here with men. You and I weren't created for up there.

7:48 We're created for down here. I think of Dr. Criswell's words about that. He said, if I thought I was going to be sentenced to some planet a hundred million miles away that I know nothing about, I couldn't get excited about that. I love this world. I'm created for this world. I love everything about this world, except the sin and the sadness and the tears and the death, and that will be gone forever. And that's exactly what John says in verse four, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall no longer be any death. There shall no longer be any mourning or crying or pain, for the first things will have passed away. That's what John saw. He saw a new heaven and a new earth, and he saw the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven to earth. This city, the new Jerusalem, will be the centerpiece of the new heaven and the new earth.

8:52 Notice the architect of this city. He identifies himself in verse 5 of Revelation 21. And he who sits on the throne said, behold, I am making all things new. And he said, write, for these words are faithful and true. Apparently John was so overwhelmed by what he was seeing, he forgot to keep writing. The Lord says, keep on writing because everything you're seen is faithful and true. Then he said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. Who is it that is the builder of this new city? He said, I am the alpha and omega. That's the same description Jesus used of himself in Revelation 1.8. Alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet, Omega, the last. I'm the beginning and the end. I am all in all. What I want you to see is Jesus Christ, the son of God is the one who designs and builds this new city. You see, when Jesus left this world after his resurrection, he went into heaven and he went back to heaven for two reasons. Right now, Jesus is doing two things for your benefit. First of all, he is praying for you. He is interceding to God, his father on your half and my behalf. Hebrews 7, 25 says he lives to make intercession for us forever. But the only thing he's doing is not praying. He's doing something else as well. He's building a new home for you. Jesus is the architect of this new city called the new Jerusalem. And I guess it's good that he was a carpenter. He knows how to build things. He's just going to come in handy in this new heaven and this new earth. Who are going to be the inhabitants of this city, the new Jerusalem? Let's look and see how God answers that question

10:59 in verse seven, he who overcomes will inherit these things and I will be his God and he will be my son. The only people who are going to have a place in this new Jerusalem are those who are overcomers. The term overcomers is used by John to refer to all believers, all true believers in Christ. But notice who will not be a part of the kingdom of God. Don't let anybody tell you that everybody's going to heaven. Everybody is not going to be in heaven. And in verse eight, John explains who's not going to be there. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral 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. Wait a minute, pastor, are you saying if anyone has done any of these things, he can't go to heaven? If that's true, then nobody's going to be in heaven because all of us are guilty of one of these sins, at least, if not in deed and mind and heart. And Jesus says, that's the same thing as committing these sins to want to commit these sins. No, this passage is not saying that if you've ever done one of these things, you can't be saved. Listen to me. I don't care what sin you've committed, how long you've committed it, how deep the stain of your sin. If you have trusted in the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse you, to forgive you, you are saved and secure forever. You have a place in heaven. That is the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no sin you can commit for which you cannot be forgiven. But if you've truly repented of that sin, if you've truly asked for God's forgiveness from that sin, you are not going to go back and regularly practice that sin.

13:01 No one who practices these sins has a place in the kingdom of God. That is what John is saying here. We've looked at the inhabitants of the city. Let's look at the description of the city. Verse 9, then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me saying, come up here and I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb. And John says, the angel 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. Look at verse 11. Having the glory of God, her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal clear jasper. The word translated jasper could be any number of stones. Most people think it's a diamond. And what John is communicating here, and we'll see it over and over again in this chapter, is this city is going to be flooded with light. It's going to be absolutely filled with light. That is the chief characteristic of this new city, the new Jerusalem. Now look at verse 12. And it had a great and high wall. The new Jerusalem is going to have a great and high wall with 12 gates. And at the gates, 12 angels and names were written on them, which are the names of the 12 tribes of the son of Israel. And not only that, look at verse 14. And the wall of the city had 12 foundation stones.

14:39 And on them were the 12 names of the apostles of the lamb. Now look at verse 15. To me, this is the most fascinating part of all of this. The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and its wall. Have you ever worried that heaven's not going to be big enough to accommodate everybody? How could it be big enough to accommodate everybody? Well, maybe not that many people are going to be there. That's one answer. But there's another answer too. This city, which is only a part of the new heaven and new earth, is going to be bigger than we can possibly imagine. The angel has the measuring rod. Look at this verse 16. And the city is laid out as a square and its length is as great as its width. And the angel measured the city with the rod and it's 1500 miles, its length and its width and height are equal. 1500 miles by 1500 miles by 1,500 miles. Now let's forget the height for a moment and just look at the square mileage here, length and width. 1,500 miles times 1,500 miles would mean that this city has a surface area of over 2 million square miles. Now to put that in perspective for you, New York City, that little island of Manhattan that has about 9 million people in it is a puny 305 square miles.

16:10 Here you have a city that is 2 million square miles. That means if you took the New Jerusalem, just the surface of it, and plopped it down in the middle of the United States, its borders would go from Canada to Mexico. Its borders would go from the Appalachian Mountains to California, That is one big city. But remember, it's not just a square. It's a cube. Not only is it 1500 miles by 1500 miles in height, it is also 1500 miles. You know how big that is? The average story on a skyscraper is 12 feet high. That means this city, if it is 1500 miles high, it means it would be over 660,000 stories. Each story having more than 2 million square feet. That blows the mind. Now I know what some of you are thinking. Well, surely he has to be speaking symbolically.

17:17 We're not to take that literally, are we? Look at verse 17. And the angel measured its walls 72 yards, which probably refers to the thickness, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. That drives a stake in the idea this is symbolic. John is saying the angels use the same measurements that human beings do. This is one big city. Now look at verse 18. The material of the wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold like clear glass. And the foundation stones of the city were adorned with every kind of precious stone. And then you find a listing of all of those stones, names that we cannot pronounce. But what they communicate to us is heaven is going to be a spectrum of beautiful colors. It's going to be more gorgeous, more beautiful than anything you can possibly imagine. John says, I saw a new heaven, a new earth. I saw a new city, the new Jerusalem. There's one final thing he talks about a new relationship with God. Look at verse 22. And I saw there was no temple in the city for the Lord God, the almighty and the lamb or its temple. There'll be no church buildings.

18:36 There'll be no temples in the old Testament. The temple earlier, the tabernacle was a place to offer sacrifices to reconcile man to God that will no longer be needed. Man will be in perfect relationship with God. And look at verse 23. And 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. The nations will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it in the daytime for there will be no night there. Its gates will never be closed and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it and nothing unclean. No one who practices abomination and lying shall ever come into the city, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. There'll be no night there. We love that song. Our choir sings no more night. That's the new Jerusalem that God has planned for us. You know, of all of the characteristics of this new city, of the new heaven and new earth, I think perhaps the one that hits home for most of us is that promise in verse four. And there shall no longer be any death. There shall no longer be any mourning or crying or pain for the first things will have passed away.

20:04 you know when I was younger I did a lot of funeral services with Dr. Criswell and I remember so well when he would talk about this verse he would say the promise there shall no longer be any death what would that promise mean to somebody who had never stood over the open grave of their husband or wife or one of their children what would that promise mean There shall no longer be any mourning. What would that mean to somebody who never had to say goodbye for the person they loved most in this world? There shall no longer be any tears. What would that mean for somebody who had never suffered a tremendous hurt in their life?

20:57 There shall no longer be any pain. what could that promise possibly mean to somebody whose shoulders had not buckled under the pressure of the heartache of this world every problem we have in this life every problem you're facing today will only increase your appreciation of that new heaven and that new earth one day You know, it's interesting. The Bible never belittles or diminishes the reality of the suffering you may be experiencing right now. But the Bible adds one word to it, temporary. What you're experiencing now is not your eternal future. The Bible says one day, God's going to wipe it all away. There'll be no longer any death or mourning or crying or pain. for the first things have passed away. You know, one of the mistakes we make when we think about eternity is we separate eternity from our existence here on earth. We think that when we die and when we go to either heaven or hell, somehow we magically become other people.

22:12 No, when we die, it's not somebody else who goes to heaven or hell. It is we who go to heaven or hell. Heaven or hell is just a continuum of the life we begin living here on earth. Randy Alcorn says it well when he says, earth leads directly into heaven, just as it leads directly into hell. Life here on earth is a running start into one place or the other. heaven and hell are both retroactive to earth the best of earth is a glimpse of heaven the worst part of earth is a glimpse of hell earth is the in-between world touched both by heaven and hell affording a choice for us between the two I hope this picture of your eternal destiny motivates you to follow Jesus Christ with all your heart.

23:13 Earlier, you heard me mention a booklet I've written for you. And because the deadline for making your request is today, I'm suggesting that you get in touch with us right away to ask for a copy of The Major Characters of the End Times. This is a full-color resource that identifies 15 prominent characters in biblical prophecy, and each one plays a role in the end times drama. And there's no cost or obligation when you follow the simple instructions at ptv.org. Let me conclude today by sharing an uplifting comment from one of your fellow listeners. Karen said to me, Pastor, while flipping through stations, there was a moment that I heard you say something that made me stop and listen. I realized even though I was saved, I was not walking with he who saved me. That day while listening to you, I rededicated my life to Jesus. Isn't that great?

24:07 Thanks for sharing your story, Karen. And to those who give financially to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, I hope you receive Karen's comments as affirmation that your contributions are making a difference. We couldn't possibly provide Pathway to Victory without friends like you. Thanks so much. Here's David with all the details.