Sermon Tone Analysis

The Blessings of Heaven - Part 2

Revelation 21:9-22:5

Our text highlights several features of God’s glorious place, the capital city of Heaven called Holy Jerusalem.

Introduction -

The story is told of a little city girl was in the country for the first time and saw the night sky.

She said:

“Oh, mother, if heaven is so beautiful on the wrong side, what must it be like on the right side!”

(Tan, P. L. (1996).

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 545).

Bible Communications, Inc.)

(Picture Slide) That little girl was profoundly on to something!

Last week we began discussing the blessings of Heaven from the Apostle John’s divinely inspired pen in Revelation 21 as he saw the Capital City, the Holy City, New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven.

(Slides) Review the blessings of Heaven from week 1.

1.

The blessing of God’s glorious presence - 21:1-3

2. The blessing of God’s glorious provision - 21:4

3. The blessing of God’s glorious promises - 21:5-7

4. The blessing of God’s glorious protection - 21:8

Today we’ll look at the 5th blessing of Heaven...

(Slide) 5.

The blessing of God’s glorious place - 21:9-22:5 (We’ll work through the text as we go)

John was given a view of the right side of Heaven to record for us.

The blessings he described in 21:1-8 deal more spiritual blessings and promises from God.

(Slide)The blessings we’re going to see today are more related to the physical structure of Heaven and the Capital City, vs. 2 calls the Holy City, the New Jerusalem.

There are several features of God’s glorious place to look at today.

Her pinnacle position - 9-10

Verses 9 through 27 now undertake the description of the beauty of the new Jerusalem itself.

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls of the last plagues approaches and invites John to accompany him on a journey to observe the bride, the wife of the Lamb.

Here the metaphor of both bride and wife is employed in the text.

This is a continuation of the description begun in 21:1, interrupted only by the limitation of v. 8. Vs. 10 clearly identifies the city as the same Holy City from vs. 2, New Jerusalem.

In order to have the clear perspective, John, by means of the Spirit, is carried to a mountain great and high; and he sees the holy city New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

When the dimensions of the holy city are provided, it becomes apparent why John had to be transported to a high mountain in order to get a panoramic view of the whole.

The angel carried John in the Spirit to the most lofty place possible to view the City, suspended there in space in her pinnacle position.

We also see the feature of...

Her precious glory - vs. 11

The most distinguishing characteristic of the capital city of eternity is that it is the throne of the eternal, almighty One, and therefore had the glory of God in it.

That glory will reach its fullest expression there (John 17:24); it will be unlimited and unconfined, flashing from that city throughout the re-created universe.

The glory of God is the sum total of His attributes (cf.

Ex. 33:18–19) and is manifested as blazing light.

Describing the effect of God’s glory radiating from the new Jerusalem, John notes that her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.

Phōstēr (brilliance) refers to something from which light radiates.

Her protected portals - vs. 12-13

Human language is inadequate to fully describe the unimaginable magnificence of the believers’ indescribable eternal home.

The truth about the heavenly city that it is more than is described, but not less and not different from what is described.

It is a material creation, yet so unique as to be unimaginable to us.

The words of John provide all the detail we have been given by God to excite our hope & encourage us to think about our future.

It has specific dimensions; it has limits; it can be entered and left through its twelve gates.

At those gates twelve angels were stationed, to protect & attend to God’s glory and to serve His people (cf.

Heb.

1:14).

The gates had names … written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel, celebrating for all eternity God’s covenant relationship with Israel, the people of the promises, the covenants, the Scriptures, and the Messiah.

They were arranged symmetrically; 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.

That arrangement is reminiscent of the way the twelve tribes camped around the tabernacle (Num.

2), and of the allotment of the tribal lands around the millennial temple (Ezek.

48).

Her profound stability - vs. 14

The massive wall of the city was anchored by twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Those stones commemorate God’s covenant relationship with the church, of which the apostles are the foundation.

Eph.

2:20 tells us: “Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,”

At the top of each gate was the name of one of the tribes of Israel; at the bottom of each gate was the name of one of the apostles.

Thus, the layout of the city’s gates pictures God’s favor on all His redeemed people, both those under the old covenant, and those under the new covenant.

Her prodigious size - vs. 15-17

Then a curious thing occurred.

The angel who spoke with John had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall.

(Picture slide)

How Big is the Capital City of Heaven, the New Jerusalem?

The English word in the NKJV there is furlongs which is about 220 yards or 660 feet.

Other translations use the Greek term Stadia which is about 607 feet.

You have to do a little calculating and conversion since there are 5280 feet in a mile or 1760 yards in a mile.

If you use the furlong measurement, Heaven is about a 1500 mile cube.

If you go with the Stadia measurement, Heaven described as a cube between 1400 miles high x 1400 miles long x 1400 miles wide – (Rev.21:16)

Just using the 1400 mile measurement, that equates to the staggering figure of 2 billion 744 million cubic miles!

1400-1500 miles is nearly the distance from New York City to Denver Colorado & from Ontario Canada to Miami Florida just in linear miles.

Keep in mind we’re just talking about the city, the New Jerusalem, not the whole size of God’s Heaven.

Our limited minds typically think in terms of flat, linear distance, or a square, length x width.

We don’t think in cubic dimensions, length x width x height.

As big as Los Angeles is, it’s only 502 square miles in the city limits.

Los Angeles county is about 4753 square miles.

Most of us have been to Dallas-Fort Worth, the whole Metroplex is about 9286 square miles.

Metro Houston is about 9,444 square miles.

While everything may be bigger in Texas, it doesn’t compare to the New Jerusalem!

New Jerusalem - just the square foot print, 1400 miles long x 1400 miles wide, is 1,960,000 square miles.

I’m not including the vertical height because our cities are not measured as a cube, just in square miles.

When you consider the New Jerusalem is a cube at least 1400 miles long, wide & high, the city itself is bigger than anything you and I can comprehend!

Our glorified bodies will have no problem moving from one level to another in the New Jerusalem and you’ll have plenty of personal space!

A cubit is about 18 inches, measured from the tip of your fingers to your elbow.

She has a 216 foot thick wall surrounding the city – not for protection, but for beauty.

(Rev.21:17)

Her precious construction - vs. 18-21

The wall around the city is made of Jasper Gemstone.

Then John records 12 foundational gem stones in the construction.

(Slides)

1. Jasper – a multicolored stone known for its strength.

2. Sapphire – The blue sister of ruby, the 2nd hardest gemstone after a diamond.

3. Chalcedony – a brilliant translucent quartz of a single color.

4. Emerald – a brilliant green gem unique in color from all other gems and very precious.

5. Sardonyx – related to the chalcedony family of gems.

6. Sardius – Typically red or orange.

7. Chrysolyte – Now known as Peridot – a beautiful olive green gem.

8. Beryl – Not well known generally, in pure form is colorless but impurities give its varied colors.

9. Topaz – Considered an important gemstone for its hardness and refractive qualities.

10.

Chrysoprase – The most valuable gem of the chalcedony group.