Scripture: Acts 3:18-21, Rev. 21:1-5

Introduction:

Frankly, I don’t know A WHOLE LOT ABOUT HEAVEN, compared to what there is to know and to what God’s children shall experience one day. God has really given “US TINY GLIMPSES,” just enough to TICKLE THE TONGUE’S TASTE BUDS, just enough to “PIECE SOME THINGS TOGETHER.”

Let’s face it, there are some things that God just plain LEAVES A MYSTERY, so that HEAVEN is going to “BE A GLORIOUS SURPRISE!” The Bible puts it in I Cor. 13:12,

“FOR NOW WE SEE THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY, BUT

THEN FACE TO FACE!”

Plus the fact that we’ve gathered our ideas from this place and that testimony and this song – from some well-meaning fella who is plunking his sentiments on a guitar! But, we need to “HEAR” from God, and “BASE OUR HOPE UPON HIS BLESSED WORD!”

Now, I know that most of you KNOW THAT THE Lord speaks in Rev. 21:1-2 about,

“A NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH!”

And when we read the WORD “NEW,” the meaning of that word new is not:
a. Something BRAND NEW, something which HE MADE JUST THE OTHER DAY!
b. Like A BRAND NEW HOUSE, OR A BRAND NEW CAR, OR A BRAND NEW DRESS!

No, No, the meaning of “NEW,”
a. Is really, NEW IN KIND, A NEW KIND OF HEAVEN, A NEW KIND OF EARTH!
b. NEW IN KIND, never before seen, never before imagined, never before dreamed or imagined!
c. Or, as the Bible says in Rev. 21:5,

“BEHOLD I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW!”

THIS THEN IS MY LIMITED AWARENESS, MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE MEANING:
1. ALL OF HEAVEN IS THE GREEK WORD KAINOS, OF A NEW KIND, never before imagined!
2. And, because GOD IS INFINITE, UNLIMITED, and we shall SEE HIM FACE TO FACE:
a. Every SCENE OF GOD, VIEW OF GOD will in HIS GLORY BE NEW.
b. Eternally, we will behold GLORY AFTER GLORY, NEW UNIMAGINABLE.
c. That’s why in Revelation, always, as in Rev. 12:3,

“THEY SING A NEW SONG.”

d. It will always take A NEW SONG, to express THE NEWNESS OF THE GLORY OF GOD EXPERIENCED!

In other words:
a. Heaven WILL NOT BE REPETITIVE, REDUNDANT, nor can it be!
b. Heaven WILL NOT BE SITTING AROUND ON SOME FLUFFY CLOUD, plunking our GUITARS.
c. And, playing THE SAME OLD TUNE OVER AND OVER AGAIN, BUT EVER “NEW” in its GLORY!

NOW, still by way of Introduction:

So often I get this question ABOUT HEAVEN, “Pastor, do you think MY DOG WILL BE IN HEAVEN?” Frankly, I am not all that totally sure about that, though I know that there will be animals in Heaven! But, if you think for ONE MOMENT that heaven will depend UPON WHETHER YOUR LOST ROVER WAS SAVED OR NOT, forget it!

And yet, that’s the kind of question that so often comes about HEAVEN. As if OUR ETERNAL JOY will depend upon whether ROVER MADE IT TO HEAVEN OR NOT! Please, if you’re not sure about ROVER, don’t take him to church to get saved! Lead him in the SINNER’S PRAYER AT HOME, but THAT REALLY WON’T BE THE HEART OF ETERNAL JOY!

And again, people think that heaven will be a place where you walk down ENDLESS STREETS OF GOLD! Where there are ENDLESS CHOIRS, singing ENDLESS SONGS, AND PEOPLE SITTING ENDLESSLY UPON FLUFFY CLOUDS with ENDLESS WHITE ROBES, with ENDLESS LITTLE HARPS plucking and plucking endlessly.

That, my friend, WOULD BORE ME TO DEATH, people sitting around PLUNKING FOREVER HEAVENLY MANDOLINS…Heavenly days! That my friend is NOT THE JOY OF HEAVEN! That cannot be THE NEWNESS OF THE “HEAVENLY NEW.” I mean, EVEN GOLD STREETS become a bit BORING AFTER A THOUSAND YEARS! No, No, we must NOT MEASURE THE JOY AND GLORY OF heaven by things tangible or seen!

I. FIRST ELEMENT OF HEAVEN’S JOY – THE NEW JERUSALEM!

In the picture that is given by John in Rev. 21:2,

“JOHN SEES HEAVEN LIKE A CITY CALLED THE NEW JERUSALEM!”

And notice again, it is all called NEW, the NEW JERUSALEM, same word meaning of an “UNIMAGINED KIND.” It’s called NEW because that’s THE ETERNAL TRUTH ABOUT HEAVEN!

It’s called CITY, because HEAVEN IS MORE URBAN THAN RURAL, populated WITH COUNTLESS SAINTS! It’s called JERUSALEM, because THAT WAS KNOWN AS THE CITY OF GOD AND OF GOD’s people!

But more than that, the “NEW JERUSALEM” is described in terms that we must see:

1. It has the DIMENSIONS OF A CUBE, as we read in Rev. 21:16,

“AND THE CITY LIETH FOUR SQUARE, AND THE LENGTH

IS AS LARGE AS THE BREADTH, AND HE MEASURED THE

CITY WITH THE REED, 12,000 FURLONGS, THE LENGTH,

AND THE BREADTH, AND THE HEIGHT OF

IT ARE EQUAL.”

2. In fact, that means IT IS 1500 MILES/by 1500 miles/by 1500 miles:

-That is a very large cube, but I don’t want to key on the EXACT SIZE OF IT!
-What I want you to REALIZE IS THE EXACT SHAPE OF THE HOLY, HEAVENLY CITY!

3. The ONLY OTHER REALITY IN THE BIBLE IS THE SHAPE OF A CUBE:

-Was found in THE HOLY OF HOLIES, IN THE TABERNACLE, in which was THE ARK OF THE COVENANT!

-Meaning:
a. People, WE ARE NOT JUST GOING TO STAND IN SOME OUTER COURT looking longingly inside.
b. We are GOING TO GO RIGHT INTO THE IMMEDIATE PRESENCE OF GOD’S GLORY!
c. We are GOING TO BE IN THE INNER SANCTUM WITH HIM FOREVER MORE!

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD:
1. And it was so glorious, you just wanted to CAMP THERE, and never stop camping!
2. It was SO WONDERFUL WHEN WE WERE PRAISING GOD MOMENTS AGO:
a. Some of you HAVE LEARNED TO BE SO FREE AND JOYFUL IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD!
b. Like, Peter, James and John, on the Mt. of Transfiguration, it is so good you just WANT TO CAMP THERE.
c. I know, I’ve felt that way many, many times, YOU JUST FLOAT AWAY INTO THE PRESENCE OF GOD!
d. Earth just SEEMS TO VANISH, PROBLEMS just seem to dissolve, they shrink to nothing!
e. There is NO ROOM FOR DOUBTS, FEARS, TROUBLES, because YOU ARE FILLED WITH GOD’S GLORY AND PRESENCE!

YOU SEE, when you GET CAUGHT UP INTO THE THRONE ROOM, THE EARTHLY JUST VANISHES AWAY. Why? Let me help you to UNDERSTAND:
-When we get caught up into the THRONE ROOM, the earthly fades! Why? Vanishes! WHY?
-Because, as Is. 6:1 tells us:

“HIS TRAIN FILLS THE TEMPLE – NO ROOM FOR

THE EARTHLY.”

-There is NO ROOM for anything else BUT HIS PRESENCE!

AND ALL THAT IS TRUE HERE ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF GOD:
a. Is going TO BE INFINITELY TRUE THERE, magnified by TRILLIONS OF INFINITIES, and it will be forever!
b. You must KNOW THAT, namely, ALL THAT THERE IS ROOM FOR (and It’s INFINITE) will be THE GLORY OF GOD!

FOOTNOTES?

1. For instance, THIS IS WHAT THAT MEANS:
a. Religion, in the Presence of God, religion, with all of its DEAD, DRY, LITURGICAL FORMS!
b. Religion, ALL FADES INTO OBLIVION, you DON’T CARE ABOUT DENOMINATIONS, CREEDS,
c. It only matters THAT YOU ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD ALMIGHTY!
d. You see:
-Religion belongs ON EARTH, not in heaven! Not going to be any religion up there.
-Religion is MAN’S WAY OF DISTINGUISHING HIMSELF FROM UNBELIEVERS IN THE WORLD.
-But, THE ENTIRE NEW JERUSALEM, filled with people, FILLED WITH THE GLORY OF GOD, removes the NEED FOR RELIGION (and all the acting religious that goes with it).

2. FOR INSTANCE – THIS IS WHAT THAT MEANS?
a. Now you ARE IN THE LIGHT, you know WHO YOU ARE IN JESUS CHRIST PERFECTLY!
b. All THOSE DOUBTS, SHADOWS, WONDERINGS will forever be DISPELLED!
-No more questions as to WHETHER IT’S ALL REAL, DOES JESUS REALLY REIGN, AM I REALLY SAVED!
-None of that in the city where as Rev. 21:23 tells us,

“THE LAMB IS THE LIGHT THEREOF!”

-Now YOU ARE IN THE LIGHT, YOU CAN SEE PERFECTLY, and all of those STUPID SHADOWS THAT WERE IN YOUR HEAD ARE DISPELLED BY THE LIGHT!
-And you LIVE THERE FOREVER, with never ANOTHER FROWN OR DOUBT OR QUESTION AGAIN.
c. There, we will never again have to ask the Lord as the disciples did in Luke 17:5,

“INCREASE OUR FAITH.”

-For there, WE WILL NOT LIVE BY FAITH, BUT FAITH WILL ALL BE TURNED TO SIGHT!
-My, My, My, THAT BLESSES ME MORE THAN I CAN TELL, JUST TO GAZE AND GAZE ON HIM.

3. For instance, THIS IS WHAT THAT MEANS:
-According to Rev. 21:16, we are going TO BE FOREVER IN THE IMMEDIATE PRESENCE OF GOD.

-I don’t know how to explain this exactly:
1. But the FULLNESS OF HEAVENLY JOY will simply BE THIS,

“TO BE WITH THE LORD!”

2. We read in Ps. 16:11,

“IN THE PRESENCE IS FULLNESS OF JOY, AND AT THY

RIGHT HAND ARE PLEASURES FOREVERMORE!”

a. Did you NOTICE, “IN THY PRESENCE IS FULLNESS OF JOY?”
b. The word in THE HEBREW means TO SATIATE, TO SATURATE, TO BE FULL OF JOY!
c. Every part of you, every cell, saturated with pure, unmixed joy!
d. Take your greatest EARTHLY JOY, and multiply it by ZILLIONS. It’s all the Lord’s presence!
e. And, the Bible tells us in Is. 31:11,

“IT WILL BE EVERLASTING JOY!”

f. The Presence of God IS THE SHEER, ETERNAL, UNDIMINISHING, COMPLETE JOY OF OUR LIVES! Now, you’re talking heaven – HALLELUJAH!!

II. THE SECOND ELEMENT OF HEAVEN’S JOY – ETERNAL NEWNESS

You must hear this, and hear it good in A WORLD THAT SUPPOSEDLY OFFERS US JOY & HAPPINESS! We read in Revelation that it is ALWAYS NEW IN HEAVEN!

1. We read in Rev. 14:3, 5:9 that they,

“SING NEW SONGS!”

2. We read in Rev. 21:1-2 that it’s a

“NEW HEAVEN, NEW EARTH, NEW JERUSALEM!”

Because GOD IS GOD, PERFECTION, INFINITE, UNLIMITED PERFECTION:

1. Heaven will NEVER BE BORING, but rather it will BE ENDLESS VARIETY IN HEAVEN!
2.TREMENDOUS, EXHILARATING, ENDLESS VARIETY, giving RISE TO NEW IDEAS, NEW POSSIBILITIES, NEW RESPONSES, NEW SONGS, NEW ENDEAVORS!
3. HEAVEN, because of THE GLORY OF THE LORD, will BURST FORTH INTO A KALEIDOSCOPE OF THRILLING VARIETY AND INTEREST, and that FOREVER!
4. HEAVEN, because of our GOD will NEVER, EVER HAVE ONE BORING, SAME, STAGNANT, MOMENT!

BUT, HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED ON THE OTHER HAND, that when you are serving the Lord, worshiping the Lord, fellowship with the Lord, it is like EATING POTATO CHIPS! You can never get enough! And amazingly so, every one of them is BETTER THAN THE ONE BEFORE!

Christians sing that because they mean it:

“EVERY DAY WITH JESUS, IS SWEETER THAN THE

DAY BEFORE!”

But, HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED, that SIN ON THE OTHER HAND, AFTER A VERY SHORT WHILE, BECOMES VERY BORING!? Oh, true, the Bible does talk about THE PLEASURES OF SIN FOR A SEASON, (Hebrews 11:25) But really, over the LONG HAUL, SIN IS A DRAG, AND VERY, VERY BORING!

The world promises YOU IT WILL BE VERY EXCITING AND FUN! Maybe some OF YOU HAVEN’T REALLY BEEN INTO SIN like some of us, and PRAISE GOD FOR THAT! But a lot of YOU KNOW exactly WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT, AND WHERE I’M COMING FROM.

EXAMPLES:

1. A JUNKY, DOPE ADDICT, DRUGGY
-He/she will tell YOU THAT A HIGH, IS A HIGH, IS A HIGH, IS A HIGH, IS A HIGH!
-And, you HOPE that the next one WILL BE A LITTLE HIGHER, but it isn’t!
-YOU ONLY GET LOWER & LOWER & NEED MORE AND MORE AND YOU KILL YOURSELF QUICKER AND QUICKER!
-The MOST VARIETY THAT A JUNKY CAN GET:
a. Is TO GET OFF DRUGS FOR A WHILE, GO THROUGH WITHDRAWAL.
b. So THAT HE CAN BRING THE TOLERANCE DOWN LOW, SO HE CAN GET A HIGHER HIGH AGAIN!
c. That’s ABOUT THE MOST VARIETY HE CAN GET, and day in, day out, HIS LIFE A DRAG!

2. Some of YOU HAVE BEEN HIGH ON ALCOHOL:
-There’s NO VARIETY, FULFILLMENT, JOY, IN THE LIFE OF A DRUNK!
-He just goes THROUGH THE SAME OLD STUFF day after day after day! Week after week!
-Year after year, until HIS LIVER ROTS, HIS BRAIN IS PICKLED, AND HE DIES OF BOREDOM! -And PEOPLE:
a. Partaking of WHAT SIN HAS TO OFFER, find themselves doing SAME THINGS OVER AND OVER AND OVER!
b. And, even WHEN THEY TRY TO MAKE IT A VARIETY, still same old junkie with a little different facade!
c. There is nothing new under the sun, or as Solomon said in Prov. 1:2,
­

“VANITY OF VANITIES, SAITH THE PREACHER, VANITY

OF VANITIES, ALL IS VANITY or BORING.”

3, LISTEN TO ME:
-You’ve been TO ONE GAMBLING CASINO, you’ve BEEN TO THEM ALL!
-You’ve been TO ONE BAR, you’ve been TO THEM ALL!
-You’ve been TO ONE SKIN FLICK, YOU’VE BEEN TO THEM ALL!
-You’ve been THROUGH ONE AVENUE OF SIN, and all the ROADS SMELL AND LOOK THE SAME! SIN IS THE ULTIMATE BOREDOM/DRAG!

BUT GOD, the infinitely GREAT GOD is infinitely GLORIOUS IN HIS BEING AND THEREFOR HIS DOING:
1. Do you realize GOD DOESN’T MAKE one SNOW FLAKE LIKE THE OTHER. He can’t HELP IT they’re ALL NEW!
2. Do you realize ALL THE PEOPLE HERE THIS MORNING, all 300 or so, HAVE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FINGER PRINTS! So does EVERYONE IN THE WORLD.
3. Look at a MILLION STARS IN SPACE, and YOU’LL FIND THAT NOT ONE IS EXACTLY LIKE THE OTHER!

YOU SEE:
1. GOOD ALWAYS MULTIPLIES, EVIL ALWAYS SUBTRACTS!
2. In HEAVEN, each MOMENT WILL BURST FORTH INTO A KALEIDOSCOPE OF INCREDIBLE JOY FOREVER!
3. And it begins here:
a. Ask the Christian! One moment WITH JESUS in the reality of HIS LOVE, PEACE & JOY!
b. Is WORTH MORE THAN A MILLION HIGHS that the WORLD COULD EVER OFFER!

III. THE THIRD ELEMENT OF HEAVEN’S JOY – NO SORROW OR PAIN

Heaven, the New Jerusalem shall be AN ETERNITY OF TOTAL, FULL, UNMIXED, PURE JOY! And, the emphasis HERE IS ON – TOTAL, PURE, UNADULTERATED, UNMIXED, UNSPOTTED JOY! And the HOLY SPIRIT puts it this way in Rev. 21:4,

“AND GOD SHALL WIPE AWAY ALL TEARS FROM THEIR

EYES… AND THERE SHALL BE NO MORE DEATH,

NEITHER SORROW, NOR CRYING, NEITHER

SHALL THERE BE ANY MORE PAIN …FOR

THE FORMER THINGS ARE

PASSED AWAY.”

NOW, I WANT YOU TO SEE SOMETHING HERE:
1. When it says in Rev. 21:4,

“HE SHALL WIPE AWAY ALL TEARS FROM THEIR EYES.”

2. That thought by itself STANDS ALONE, and is glorious in its EMPHASIS:
a. All the SORROWS OF THE PAST, will totally be done AWAY WITH!
b. Therefore, ALL THE TEARS FROM THOSE SORROWS WILL TOTALLY BE DONE AWAY WITH! God says that HE WILL WIPE THEM ALL AWAY!

3. What that means:
a. Is that ALL THE EARTHLY SORROWS, HURTS, TRAGEDIES, AND TEARFUL EXPERIENCES!
b. All THE MEMORIES OF THOSE THINGS will totally, completely, and eternally BE HEALED BY THE LORD! That is, there will be TOTAL/ETERNAL HEALING OF MEMORIES.
c. I don’t know if ALL MEMORY WILL BE TAKEN AWAY (that may or may not be)!
d. But, if it isn’t, WE SHALL SEE HOW GOD TOOK CONTROL OF IT ALL, TURNED IT TO GOOD!

4. But, BE ASSURED:
a. That NEVER AGAIN shall A HURT IN THIS LIFE give RISE TO LUMPS IN THROATS, or TEARS IN EYES, IN HEAVEN’S PURE JOY!
b. PLUS:

“THE GLORY OF HEAVEN WILL BE SO CONSTANTLY, AND

ETERNALLY AWESOME, THAT NO EARTHLY

SORROWFUL MEMORY COULD EVER

SURFACE AGAIN!”

BUT, MORE THAN THAT:
1. WHEN IT SAYS in Rev. 21:4,

“NO MORE DEATH, NO SORROW, NO CRYING, NO MORE

PAIN, GONE!”

2. That gloriously means:

“NO MORE FUNERALS, NO MORE MORTICIANS, NO

MORE MORTUARY NO MORE CASKET.”

3. That gloriously means:

“NO MORE MOURNERS, NO MORE WEEPERS, NO MORE

COMFORTERS, NO MORE LONELINESS.”

4. That gloriously means:

“NO MORE HOSPITALS, NO MORE PAINKILLERS, NO

MORE DOCTORS, NO MORE CHEMO-THERAPY!”

5. That gloriously means:

“DEATH, SORROW, CRYING, PAIN ARE NEVER, EVER

KNOWN AGAIN – PURE, UNMIXED JOY!”

I THINK FOR INSTANCE OF PAIN:
1. Let this be HERALDED THROUGH THE WARDS OF HOSPITALS, and let US DO SO WITH TENDERNESS AND LOVE!
2. Let US BELIEVE IN DIVINE HEALING, BUT NEVER HAVE LESS TENDERNESS FOR HUMAN SUFFERING!
3. PAIN, AN AWFUL WORD:
a. But NEVER again will one have to talk like Job in Job 7:15,

“MY SOUL CHOOSETH STRANGLING AND DEATH,

RATHER THAN LIFE.”

b. NEVER AGAIN will we have to HEAR SOMEONE CRY IN PAIN as we have heard in some instances:

“WHY DO I SUFFER SO, WHY AM I AFFLICTED MORE

THAN THEY ARE?”

c. NEVER AGAIN will THE PAINFUL “WHY?” be asked about anything, for THERE SHALL BE NO MORE PAIN”!

HOWEVER, PAIN IS MORE THAN PHYSICAL:

1. And when Rev. 21:4 says that,

“THERE SHALL BE NO MORE PAIN!”

2. That means HEAVEN SHALL BE PERFECT UNDILUTED LOVE, A UTOPIA OF FELLOWSHIP AND COMMUNION!:
a. No ONE WILL EVER HURT ANOTHER THERE, never again A HURTFUL THOUGHT, WORD, OR DEED!
b. So, there WILL NEVER AGAIN BE TAKING UP OFFENSE, OR EVER AGAIN A CHIP ON SHOULDERS!

3. And, because HEAVEN IS A PERFECT, ETERNAL LOVE FELLOWSHIP:
a. NO MORE NEED FOR “COVER UPS”, “VENEERS”, in case, if someone KNEW OF, they wouldn’t love us!
b. No MORE NEED FOR OSTENTATIOUS POMP, TRYING TO IMPRESS TO BE ACCEPTED, TO BE INCLUDED.
c. No “MORE COUNTRY CLUB” or “WRONG SIDE OF THE TRACKS” DISTINCTIONS AND BALONEY!”
d. WHY?
-Because everyone THERE NOW KNOWS, ONCE THE GLORY HAS BEEN SEEN, NO ONE DESERVES TO BE THERE!
-And yet, God LOVES US PERFECTLY, that’s WHY WE ARE THERE, AND SO WE LOVE EACH OTHER! No one SUPERIOR, INFERIOR, CLASSY OR CRUDE!
-We ARE JUST TOGETHER IN A UTOPIA OF PERFECT LOVE AND FELLOWSHIP!

OH, WHY NOT TRY TO ILLUSTRATE IT:
1. When Ruth and I were dating, “I FELL IN LOVE WITH HER BEFORE SHE FELL IN LOVE WITH ME.”
2. But after a while, she got SANCTIFIED, saw the light, and “FLIPPED OUT OVER ME.”
3. AT THAT TIME:
a. When I FIRST FELT HER LOVE, first HEARD THOSE WORDS, AND KNEW THAT I WAS HER TREASURE! Awesome!
b. But, TAKE THAT REALITY AND MULTIPLY IT BY A MILLION INFINITIES:
-And, that is WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO FEEL FROM GOD, FROM EVERYONE OF COUNTLESS SAINTS!
-It will BE ETERNAL, AND ALWAYS AND FOREVER EVERY MOMENT LIKE FIRST LOVE, ALWAYS “NEW.”
-You will be IMMERSED, SATURATED, WITH LOVE, literally swimming IN AN OCEAN OF PERFECT AGAPE!
4. AND NEVER AGAIN will selfishness, hatred, cause sorrow, pain, or JUST PLAIN WANTING TO DIE —- NEVER EVER AGAIN!
5. And frankly, that IS WHAT WILL BRING THE PURE JOY – IT WILL BE THE UTOPIA OF LOVE AND TOGETHERNESS:

And, that doesn’t start later, that is OURS NOW IN JESUS CHRIST! We read in I John 1:3-4,

“THAT WHICH WE HAVE SEEN AND HEARD DECLARE

WE UNTO YOU, THAT YE ALSO MAY HAVE FELLOWSHIP

WITH US, AND TRULY OUR FELLOWSHIP IS WITH THE

FATHER, AND WITH HIS SON JESUS CHRIST….THESE

THINGS WRITE WE UNTO YOU, THAT

YOUR JOY MAY BE FULL.”

IV. FOURTH ELEMENT OF HEAVEN’S JOY – THE PEARLY GATES

But, how do you get into that heaven, how do you enter that NEW JERUSALEM? And, HOW DO YOU BECOME A PART OF THIS GLORIOUSLY JOYFUL LOVING PEOPLE? We read these words in Rev. 21:21,

“AND THE 12 GATES WERE 12 PEARLS; EVERY SEVERAL

GATE WAS OF ONE PEARL.”

1. I understand that THE HEAVENLY CITY HAS 12 GATES:
a. The number 12 is so very important in the book of Revelation!
b. There were the 12 tribes of Israel, which stand for the O.T. church and believers!
c. There were the 12 apostles, which stand for the New Testament church/believers!

2. But, what in the WORLD ARE THOSE GATES, PEARL GATES:
a. Well, most of us here have heard of “THOSE PEARLY GATES” since childhood!
b. You hear some fella SINGING/PLAYING HIS GUITAR, songs ABOUT THE PEARLY GATES.
c. I JUST WANT GO INSIDE THOSE PEARLY GATES, BUT WHAT IS THAT PEARLY GATE BUSINESS!

Let me help you UNDERSTAND SOMETHING:

1. Of all of the PRECIOUS JEWELS NAMED that are a part of HEAVEN, the NEW JERUSALEM, in Rev. 21 & 22!
2. THE PEARL:
a. Is THE ONLY PRECIOUS STONE THAT IS NOT PRODUCED IN THE EARTH, AS AN EARTHLY ELEMENT!
b. As SO MANY OF THE ELEMENTS ARE PRODUCED BY THE HEAT AND PRESSURE OF MANY YEARS!
c. Rather, it is literally,

“THE ONLY PRECIOUS JEWEL MENTIONED HERE, THAT

IS LITERALLY PRODUCED BY THE DEATH OF

THE ONE WHO MADE IT!”

3. REMEMBER HOW THE PEARL IS MADE:
a. THE OYSTER, takes a PIECE OF COMMON GRIT, SAND INTO ITSELF!
b. And, then THAT OYSTER BEGINS TO SECRETE ITS LIFE SUBSTANCE around THAT GRAIN OF SAND!
c. Until, finally, as THE PEARL IS FORMED, becomes BIGGER AND BIGGER, the OYSTER ACTUALLY KILLS ITSELF!

YOU KNOW WHAT THIS SAYS TO ME:
1. THESE GATES, the very entry into THAT HEAVENLY CITY, AS PRECIOUS AS THEY ARE!
2. They are ONLY PRECIOUS, because THEY REPRESENT THE LIFE/DEATH of Someone TO MAKE THE ENTRY WAY.
3. YOU WILL:
a. NOT GET INTO THAT HEAVENLY CITY!
b. Unless you PASS BY FAITH THROUGH THE MOST PRECIOUS GATES IN ALL THE WORLD!
c. Gates that were formed THROUGH JESUS GIVING HIS LIFE BLOOD AT CALVARY!
d. And as THE BLOOD OF JESUS OOZED out of His body, every DROP OPENED THE GATES OF GLORY FOR ME, AND GAVE ME A MILLION ETERNITIES OF JOY WITH MY FATHER!

ANYONE, I mean ANYONE:
1. WHO IS GOING TO COME into this city, will COME BY THE DEATH, BURIAL, AND THE  RESURRECTION of Christ!
2. Or, FRANKLY, they WILL NOT COME IN AT ALL!
a. John 14:6 Jesus said,

“I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, THE LIFE, NO MAN

COMETH UNTO THE FATHER BUT BY ME.”

b. In Acts 4:12 we read about the name of Jesus Christ,

“FOR THERE IS NONE OTHER UNDER HEAVEN, GIVEN

AMONG MEN, WHEREBY WE MUST BE SAVED.”

CONCLUSION:

Finally this morning when “YOU COME THROUGH THE GATES”, what will it be like? Well, we read this in Rev. 21:18,

“AND THE BUILDING OF THE WALL OF IT (the heavenly

city) WAS OF JASPER.”

What does that mean?:
1. JASPER, IS BEAUTIFUL, SCINTILLATINGLY CLEAR, DIAMOND LIKE, SPARKLING JASPER!
2. The last time we saw “JASPER” in Revelation, was in Rev. 4:2.
-It is the VERY PERSON/PRESENCE OF Jesus SITTING UPON THE THRONE OF HEAVEN! -HE APPEARS THERE LIKE JASPER, and all around THE PERSON OF Jesus, THE THRONE OF GOD!
-THERE WAS AN AURA OF GLORY that SPARKLED LIKE A DIAMOND – AWESOME!

NOW WE SEE:
1. The gates of pearl!
2. Set IN WALLS OF JASPER, and when WE WALK THROUGH THOSE GATES OF PEARL!
3. We are IMMEDIATELY SURROUNDED BY JASPER WALLS, the scintillating glory of God all around us!
-Glowing, sparkling, flashing with the brilliance of the glory of God!
-And, we WILL HAVE GLORIFIED FACULTIES TO TAKE IT ALL IN, AND THRILL FOREVER TO IT ALL!
-The walls are THE GLORIES OF GOD, THAT SCINTILLATING, BEAUTIFUL LIGHT!

Again and again:
1. I HAVE HEARD OF, TALKED TO PERSONALLY THOSE WHO LOVE JESUS WITH ALL THEIR HEART
2. And they were in THE PROCESS OF PASSING ON THROUGH THE GATES:
a. And they SAW THAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO GO ON ARE SURROUNDED BY THAT GLORY OF GOD!
b. And, we should NOT EVER WISH THEM BACK:
-And the longer you live, the MORE YOU’RE GOING TO SEE LOVED ONES PASS INTO HIS GLORY!
-And the more that happens, the MORE TREASURES YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE ON THE OTHER SIDE.

3. So NOW I ASK YOU:
a. What are you clinging to? What are YOU HANGING ON TO?
b. Are you clinging on to that which is earthly, or ARE YOU SETTING YOUR SIGHTS ON THE GLORY ABOVE?
c. Are you HANGING ON TO YOUR STOCKS, BONDS, JOBS, SECURITIES, relationships which are beyond?
d. Or, the TREASURES WHERE JESUS IS, SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER!
e. Are YOUR ROOTS SO DEEP IN THE WORLD, THAT YOU NEED THE AXE AT THE ROOT OF THE TREE?
f. Or, is the glory of God that awaits you called you away heavenward. And all that matters is SEEING JESUS ONE DAY! Hearing Him say,

“WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT, ENTER

INTO THE JOY OF THE LORD!” Amen!