Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. -James 3:1
Words matter.
We can use words to bless, words to harm, words to boast, words to give instruction, and words to deceive. Through words we can tell a person that we love them, or that we hate them. Through words we can compliment or tear a person down.
When the Prophet Isaiah had a heavenly vision of the throne room of God, and beheld the holiness of God, he said in Isaiah 6:5: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Words were part of the original sin. In the garden, the serpent, twisting God’s words: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
God had never said that. He said they could eat of any tree except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die” (Genesis 3:2-3).
Eve also gets it wrong. God had never said they couldn’t touch the tree. Twisting God’s words. Further provoked into sin by the devil In Genesis 3:4-5, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When Adam and Eve are confronted with their sin, they use words to blame in Genesis 3:12, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
Words matter.
In the first part of James 3, James zeroes in on teachers. He gives a warning to teachers that they will be judged with greater strictness. The reason why carries into verse 2 that we all sin in many ways, but one of the ways common to us all is that we stumble and sin in what we say.
There is danger in bad Biblical teaching. It can lead people astray. It can teach people falsities, because the God who is revealed in scripture is the eternal, immortal, wise God. He’s the King of the universe, the creator of all things, he spoke the universe into being.
There’s not a canvas where we are painting and where we can make something look however we want it to look.
God is God. He has revealed himself in his scripture, his nature, his holiness. And so sound teaching about God matters. Teaching truth about God matters. Understanding God -in terms of how he has revealed himself in the Bible – matters.
And not all churches do that. And not all teachers do that.
Not many should be teachers because teaching necessarily involves words. Teaching about God’s word, teaching about God’s gospel necessarily involves words and language, and in talking, it makes it easy to say things that are untrue.
We can’t be fast and loose with God’s gospel. We can’t make God who we want God to be if that’s not true about how God reveals himself in scripture.
Unbiblical teachings that resort more to our feelings than to truth.
Doesn’t God just want me to be happy? Not at the expense of sin!
Words matter. How we approach the word of God matters. Like the serpent in the garden, twisting the very words of God.
So it is true that there is a warning given to those who teach. And anyone who does teach from the word of God should question his motives, should be humble before God, and prayerful about the text. It should be taken seriously.
We should be careful in our approach to God’s word.
But regardless of if someone is a teacher or not, all of us should still use discernment in listening to what our teachers say. In listening to that which is in accordance with scripture. Of being fed by sound Biblical preaching. And that’s true here, and thats’ true if you ever move to a new community. And that’s true of any teacher who you might watch on tv or who you might podcast. We should be discerning with the Bible teachers we listen to.
After spending a year at Mt. Sinai, the Israelites head back into the desert in Numbers 11.
In the first ten chapters of the Book of Numbers, things are going pretty smoothly for the Israelites. They celebrate the Passover, they dedicate the Tabernacle. We don’t really see any major sin issues. But nearly as soon as the Israelites hit the road, they’ll start complaining, a common theme during the Israelite wanderings.
God had saved, redeemed, and sustained the Israelites. But the Israelites struggled with gratitude to God for all that he had done for them. We don’t have control over the circumstances that we face in life. But we do always have control over how we respond.
We can respond by complaining and grumbling or we can respond in faith and confidence in God. Viktor Frankel was a psychiatrist who endured the horrors of the Holocaust at Auschwitz. After surviving the Holocaust, he wrote a very influential book called “Man’s Search for Meaning.” And part of the thesis of that book is that the most fundamental of human freedoms is the freedom to control how one responds.
Even in difficult situations, even in broken relationships, even in financial hardships, even in the face of sickness, you still have a choice in how you respond.You can despair, you can feel like it’s all pointless and futile. You can get mad at God, question his goodness and love. You can get bitter. You can be cynical, you can become self-centered.
Or you can continue to grow. You can be selfless. You can take the focus solely off of yourself. You can still walk with God in the struggle. In the desert. You can still trust in God when you’re tired and warn down. Our contentment and joy must be found in God.
God is leading all of his people to greater places. And if we lose sight of that on the journey, we can make the mistakes that the Israelites made of losing sight of the goodness of God. Numbers 11:4-6 features the Israelites continuing to complain, while they look back at their time in Egypt (in slavery) longingly.
NOW THE RABBLE THAT WAS AMONG THEM HAD A STRONG CRAVING. AND THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL ALSO WEPT AGAIN AND SAID, “OH THAT WE HAD MEAT TO EAT! WE REMEMBER THE FISH WE ATE IN EGYPT THAT COST NOTHING, THE CUCUMBERS, THE MELONS, THE LEEKS, THE ONIONS, AND THE GARLIC.6 BUT NOW OUR STRENGTH IS DRIED UP, AND THERE IS NOTHING AT ALL BUT THIS MANNA TO LOOK AT.”
They might be complaining about food. But the underlying issues are so much bigger than the divine meal plan. “Oh when we were in Egypt, the food was so much better!”Verse 20 summarizes the scene well: you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”
’It was wicked and sinful after all that God had done for the people: freeing them, sustaining them, forgiving them when they had fallen into idolatry and sin. And yet they have the audacity to say “Oh Egypt. Those were the good old days.”
Sometimes in life, it can be easy when we’re in a season when things are generally good to go to church, maybe read your Bible sometimes.
But the moment there’s some adversity and challenge, there’s this temptation to want to complain against God.
Just like the Israelites, we have many great blessings from the Lord.Most importantly, the gift of eternal life that God has promised through Jesus Christ. We were slaves to sin. And God redeemed us. God gives his Spirit. God invites us into a relationship to know him. And God is bringing us to a new land too. To a New Heaven, and a New Earth, and a New Jerusalem. But sometimes we have to spend some time in the desert to get to the promised land. How will we respond when we’re there though?
Will we criticize God and forget his goodness? Or will we trust him?
Thanks for reading! Make sure to comment, like, and subscribe!
It’s interesting to me to consider the popular Christian music. It’s almost always easy listening.
I was looking at some of the slogans for popular Christian radio stations.
Perhaps the biggest in America, K-Love, which plays on 440 stations “positive – encouraging.”
The River, which is the Christian radio station in Columbus, “uplifting and encouraging.” Smile FM, which is a popular station in Michigan says “positive hits.” Air1 which plays on 123 stations in 43 states: “positive hits.” Joy FM which is in Florida “helping you find joy.” Way FM “uplifting, upbeat, real.”
There’s no Christian radio stations that advertise as being “convicting and sanctifying.” None advertise as being “sackcloth and ashes.”
Now there’s nothing wrong with being positive, there’s nothing wrong with being encouraged.
But is that the way Christians are always supposed to feel? Our society likes the easy listening message. The American church likes the positive and encouraging message. But we come to the second of the Beatitudes, in the Sermon on the Mount, and it’s: “blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Life verses
I think of popular life verses people pick. Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”
Or Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.”
PROVERBS 3:5-6
TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND DO NOT LEAN ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING. IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, AND HE WILL MAKE STRAIGHT YOUR PATHS.
Positive, encouraging verses.
There are churches where there’s almost this pressure on people to always be smiling, happy, positive.
Because we like a positive, encouraging culture. But what about when you’re not doing well?
Is a church to be another place where a person has to put up a front? Or is it a place where people can be honest?
Now I’m not saying we should be unkind or rude to one another. But sometimes people are hurting. And there’s no virtue in white-knuckling it when you’re struggling.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Church is not a place that’s primary mission is positivity and encouragement. It’s preaching Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2).
And in studying God’s word, the primary goal should not always be the easy listening, K-love, positive and encouraging message.
Because blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
The first of the Beatitudes is “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
And that is for the person who realizes that they are nothing and have nothing to offer God, to warrant favor, to merit grace, to earn heaven. And the blessedness is realizing that the grace of God is your only hope.
The second of the beatitudes flows from the idea of the first. For a person who realizes how small they are before God and their utter need and dependence on God, that in seeing sin, there is blessedness in that.
In the first case, you realize that God is your only hope.
In the second, it’s having a greater sense of the state from which God redeemed you.
Blessed are those who mourn.
That word. “Blessed.” It’s one of those theologized and churchy words. Another way to translate it would be fortunate are those who mourn” or “happy are those who mourn.”
And abundant, supernatural heavenly blessing for those who mourn.
Part of what the beatitudes are doing is showing us that the values of heaven are not the same as the values of this world. In fact, it’s a set of values that are utterly incoherent to our world.
Perhaps none of them more starkly displays the difference in the values of heaven and earth than the second of the beatitudes. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
That’s not the K-love message. That’s not the positive and encouraging message.
And that’s ok.
In fact, I hope you don’t always leave encouraged.
That’s not saying I want you to be discouraged. That’s not to say I want you feeling hopeless. That even when a text hits us hard, that we might rejoice all the more because of the hope that we do have in Christ.
But in studying the Bible, I hope there are times when the weight of God’s word eviscerates you.
There should be times where you’re convicted because of it. Times where you reexamine your life, your heart, your decisions, your motivations because of it.
There should be messages that ring in your heart long after the benediction.
But again, not to be left in total despair, but to be worshipful and rejoicing in the tremendous grace that Jesus gives.
And that might not always be cheery and positive. Because we’re sinful people. And for a thoughtful Christian, sometimes we get hit by stark realities about ourselves and our hearts as we study his word.
Originally published on March 6, 2019
Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe.
This week, Liberty University announced an “independent inquiry” into the university’s former president.
I remember will Bill Hybels resigned from Willow Creek, a megachurch in suburban Chicago in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations. I remember earlier this summer when Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California announced an independent investigation into there former pastor in the wake of massive failures of leadership when he allowed one of his children (who had admitted sexual attraction to minors) to continue working with the youth program.
Liberty will do an independent investigation. But they had let Falwell run roughshod and embarrass the university time and again. Even before last month’s explosive reports about multiple affairs from Falwell’s wife and allegations that Jerry Falwell was very much aware of the affairs, he had done several things which should have led to the university removing him from leadership.
For Falwell, the independent investigation will be “a thorough investigation into all facets of Liberty University operations during Jerry Falwell, Jr.’s tenure as President, including but not limited to financial, real estate, and legal matters.”
Obviously there’s nothing wrong from learning from mistakes. But in the wake of scandals in the evangelical world, the “independent investigation” seems to be the flavor of the month.
The basics of what goes wrong in these situations aren’t great mysteries. You have highly influential leaders who help to raise or maintain the high profile status of a church (or institution). And because of the charisma and skills (and ability to generate revenue) of the leader, they largely go unchecked.
Instead of organizations needing to do independent investigations as damage control, what churches and Christian colleges need to do is to do the right things in the beginning. In other words: have systems to keep leaders accountable
People are sinful. That should never be a surprise. But that’s why Christians need other Christians. Knives sharpening knives. You need leaders who are accountable and where there are honorable people who know them and who know their struggles. You need people who love the leader. But who don’t excuse or look away from, or justify sin. That isn’t love. What you need is people who love the leader enough to where they can speak into difficult situations and point out patterns of sin in the hopes of bringing restoration. And you need it an an environment where those friends can lovingly confront the leader without being punished or harassed for it.
Without that, many more independent investigations will be needed, because the sinfulness of the human heart isn’t going away.
I think about many of the popular evangelical leaders who have fallen from grace in recent years. For at least some of them, I do wonder how different things could have been had they been surrounded by people who cared enough to sometimes say the difficult things.
In 1948, as he was coming to national prominence, Billy Graham and his close ministry associates signed the “Modesto Manifesto” where they had the forethought to hold themselves to a set of standards regarding sexual morality, finances, interactions with local churches, and publicity. Part of what developed from this meeting was the famous “Billy Graham Rule” where Graham would not travel with, eat lone with, or spend time alone with a woman who was not his wife.
Their agreement worked as non of those men was ever legitimately accused of a moral failing.
And certainly the greatest set of standards for Christian leaders is found in the Bible.
Titus 1:6-9 says: if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
1 Timothy 3:1-7 says: The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
While Falwell wasn’t a pastor, nevertheless, those would have been good standards to still demand from the president of America’s largest Christian university.
9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
We’re finishing up our summer series “the Forensics of Faith” this morning.
We’ve spent the last several weeks talking about the work that God does in us.
He gives us new life, he justifies, sanctifies. He adopts us as his sons and daughters. He changes lives.
There are lots of other things we could have talked about.
As Paul says in the beginning of Ephesians, God blesses us with every Spiritual blessing.
We talked last week, about how God completes the work which he does in a believer.
And today, as we wind this series down, we talk about where this all leads.
Heaven.
Introduction
In Randy Alcorn’s wonderful book, Heaven, he tells a story of an English minister who was asked by a colleague what he expected after death. The man replied: “Well, if it comes to that, I suppose I shall enter into eternal bliss, but I really wish you wouldn’t bring up such depressing subjects.”
Our views of heaven are too lowly.
In life, things often times leave us disappointed.
A movie looks hilarious in the previews….and then you see the movie and realize every funny scene was basically shown in the preview.
People rave about a restaurant, and you think it’s just ok.
We vote for a politician who we think will fix things, and they disappoint.
And there are other examples.
Perhaps that’s part of the reason why our views of heaven are too low. Because of earth. We live in a fallen world where there is sin and hurt and where things are never quite right.
And maybe because of that, and because of sin, because of what we hear about and see in the world, because of the experiences we have. Maybe because of something in our own life where we still question where God was at, we have a view of heaven like HEAVEN could be just one more place to disappoint.
Like heaven could be overrated. Like we could find it underwhelming.
With all of the confusion about heaven, there should be no confusion about this: heaven is going to be perfectly awesome!
It is not going to disappoint. You’ll never be there and feel like it didn’t live up to all of the hype.
Heaven will never be boring. Your worst day on heaven will be better than the greatest day of your life. How do I know that? Because we have a good God who made heaven.
It is my prayer today that the hope of heaven can stir our love for God.
Ultimately our home is the New Heaven and the New Earth, and within those, God has his holy city, the New Jerusalem, which is the subject of our passage this morning.
The main point of this text today is that heaven is going to be perfectly awesome.
And in this passage, we see that through the appearance of heaven and the perfection of heaven.
First thing I want to talk about, the look of heaven.
John is given a vision.
Now he is not actually in the New Jerusalem:
Verses 10-11:
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
He carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem.
In verse 11, John says that this city had “the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal.”
So this vision of the city coming down is a spectacular site to behold.
The Glory of God.
Think of glory almost like weight, or mass, the heaviness of God’s awe-inspiring glory.
Something else to consider. In the Book of Revelation, in the previous chapter, it talks about the presence of God in heaven and it says that from his presence, earth and sky fled away. God is massively glorious.
And John begins to describe the city more specifically
In verses 12-14, ghe city is described as having a great wall with 12 gates. There are 12 gates inscribed with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. In verse 14, John mentions twelve foundations with the names of the 12 apostles. This is showing completion in God’s divine plan. There are three gates on each side of the city. This shows the openness through which the people of God are permitted to enter the city. Later in the chapter, it talks of how the gates never close.
The reason why they never close is because the enemies of God have been vanquished and defeated. There is no danger in this city.
As the vision continues, John sees the angel who is showing him this vision, measuring the New Jerusalem
Verses 16-17:
The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement.
The angel measuring the city alludes back to Zechariah 2:2. The measuring of the city is showing the exactness of God’s plans and his completion. The city is 12,000 stadia. A stadia is roughly 600-640 feet.
So 12,000 stadia would be about 1,500 miles.
So this city is massive.
1,500 miles could take you to any place in the eastern United States. 1,500 to the south, you’d be in Mexico. 1,500 miles to the west, you could make it as far as Las Vegas.
So it’s a very large place.
Verse 16 says “Its length and width and height are equal.”
So the city is shaped like a big cube.
Then the angel measures the wall of the city. 144 cubits, which would mean that the wall is over 200 feet high.
Now 200 feet for a wall is pretty small for a city that’s 1,500 miles high!
But again, we must remember that the purpose of the wall is not protection. It’s for boundaries.
The New Jerusalem is within the New Heaven and the New Earth.
Also the wall serves to radiate and reflect back the glory of God.
19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
It is undoubtedly a spectacular site to behold. Standing at this great, high wall, and looking from side to side and as far as you can see, you could drive for hours and hours and hours and not come to the end of it, a wall and the foundations of it are these spectacular stones.
We have a lot of stereotypes about heaven.
We do tend to have the cartoon view with harps on clouds in white robes.
We aren’t going to be standing on clouds. It’s a new earth. And we are going to live there eternally. We will be resurrected bodily, which is talked about in chapter 20. So we aren’t going to be spirits or ghosts.
Now just think about this earth….
There’s a lot to it.
Imagine if money were no object, you had the time, you could travel everywhere on earth you wanted to go to?
Think about how much there is to explore?
Who here likes earth? Who here has things that you like? Or maybe it’s not even places you’ve been to personally but that you’ve heard of or that you’d like to see? I think of some of the great artworks in Europe. Amazing beaches, different architectural achievements. Spectacular rainforests.
I think about when I lived in Minnesota. Beautiful state. When I first moved there, before I met Kari, on my days off, I’d just drive around, sometimes to different parts of the state and take
pictures.
And that’s just one part of one state in one country.
There are lots of spectacularly beautiful places in our world.
So heaven isn’t going to be standing on clouds: it’s a new heaven and a new earth.
The image of heaven in cartoons and movies is that we’ll all be playing harps.
First of all, they are other instruments mentioned in Revelation in visions of heaven!
I think the harp has become the stereotype because it does have a heavenly sound.
But yes, there will be music. Music is a good thing.
And there will be food. We won’t eat because we need food to sustain us but for the sake of enjoying a meal.
Heaven is going to be awesome.
You might secretly fear the idea of heaven because you find yourself thinking “is it just going to be like a worship service for the rest of eternity?” Your sermons only last like a half hour and even THOSE push me to the brink. How am I going to deal with this forever?!
I think part of the answer to that question relates to what you consider worship…
For you, is worship just something you push through on a Sunday morning? Something that you just put up with?
Or do you have an entire life that is worshipful? Does your devotion to God influence your daily routine? How you raise your kids? How you love your spouse? Turning to God in prayer? When you enjoy a good meal or see a beautiful sunset, is that to the glory of God?
In short, do you live a lifestyle that revolves around a love for God?
Or do you compartmentalize? “I’ll go to church for an hour, for the church box…but for other things I do, those are for me?”
Yes there is worship in heaven!
It’s the presence of God.
In heaven, it’ll be a better and truer form of worship.
Have you ever been praying or studying the Bible….and then you think “I forgot to get milk….
Then you get back to praying….
I need to check what the weather is going to be like today…
Then you get back to praying….
How is it already almost September?!
And just one distraction after another? Or you feel like you’re battling just to keep focused?
In heaven, you won’t be dealing with the stresses of life: missed appointments, issues with finances, family stresses, health concerns.
Heaven. Will. Be. Awesome.
Because God is awesome. God is good and heaven is the place that he has made for his people.
And there are things about heaven we can’t even imagine.
How are you living right now? Are you someone who’s basically a moralist? You’re a good person. Good things should happen to you because you’re a good person. And yeah, God’s ok. And if there’s something good for following him, I’ll have that? But in reality, you’re pretty lukewarm to loving God?
Or do you love God? Do you have a desire to know him?
Ultimately we can have a taste of that now. But to just know that it doesn’t compare with the reality that it will be to actually be in heaven in the presence of a holy God.
In the Great Divorce, CS Lewis says:
the Blessed will say ‘We have never lived anywhere except in Heaven,’: and the Lost, ‘We were always in Hell.’ And both will speak truly.”
I’m not saying this to be cynical or snarky. But if you dread the idea of worshipping God in heaven, I think you might need to develop a greater love for worshipping him on earth.
But no. Heaven will not be a church service for all eternity. It’s a new heaven and a new earth.
Other images that the Bible uses: it’s a great feast!
Who doesn’t love a great feast?!
Great conversations and laughter. Music, not just from harps!
The Bible compares heaven to a wedding.
Now in America, we go pretty over the top with weddings. But there are other cultures that take it further than we do.
And in the first century world in which this book was written, wedding celebrations could last for a week.
Wonderful times of joy and laughter.
Heaven. Will be perfectly awesome.
A wedding, a feast.
It’s not “come, join us at the jury duty selection pool of the Lord..”
There will be wonderful company in heaven. You’ll be able to see Jesus. The Lord who took the penalty for our sins. You’ll be able to see him face to face.
And you’ll be you. And you’ll know who these people are.
Now in the movie Men and Black, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are federal agents who deal with people who have seen aliens. And when they question a person who has seen an alien, they pull out a device that looks like a pen, and it erases their memory.
Heaven isn’t like that. We aren’t going to become robots in heaven. We will still be ourselves. There are heavenly visions of different Biblical figures. They’re themselves. The point of making unique humans was not so that we could all become exactly the same.
There will be work in heaven. Work is something which exists in the Bible before the fall. Work is good. It won’t be drudgery. It won’t be “I have to do that shift in heaven today.”
But heaven is not an eternal stay at a retirement community.
For Biblical reasons, I believe there will be animals in heaven.
Isaiah 65:25 points to the future time of restoration and the peace that will exist with animals.
The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.
You’ll be able to walk through vast fields, and hear the mighty roar of a lion, but there will be nothing to fear.
Perhaps even pets….at least dogs.
No cats.
Animals existed before the fall and were part of God’s good and perfect creation.
This is because the restoration is not just of humanity. God is restoring the physical world: it’s a new Heaven, a new Earth, a New Jerusalem. He’s restoring people, and he’s restoring animals. The book of Romans says that the whole creation is groaning. Sin effects everything.
But there will be no sin in the New Jerusalem. A perfect place.
Heaven should be a source of joy.
And the point of the new earth is not for God to make a place that’s WORSE than where we currently live.
But even for Christians, there’s this constant temptation to think that this life is the pinnacle of our existence.
It isn’t.
We’ll have greater perspective in heaven. We’ll continue to learn and marvel at the eternal glory and goodness of God in heaven.
In the presence of the Lord.
I remember at my former church in Minnesota. Someone had passed away and I remember the pastor saying on Sunday “I can promise you that she’s a much better theologian than I am right now.”
Marveling at the face of God.
You’ll still be you in heaven. There are places in the New Testament where people like Peter see Old Testament figures. They’re still them. You’re still you in heaven.
You don’t become an angel. That’s not a Biblical idea.
You don’t become a divine figure.
You’ll be you, but in the presence of God, you will be so sanctified that you’ll be you without sin.
It is a perfect place.
Revelation 21:4
It will be a place where God will
wipe away every tear from their eyes, anddeath shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
For the things that have been struggles. For the things where we’ve suffered, in heaven, somehow, some way, they will be made right. Perhaps heaven will be so glorious that we just won’t care.
Or perhaps we’ll have a different perspective and see how all things really did work together for our good.
I think we get glimpses of that right now.
Some of us have experienced things that we wouldn’t wish on anyone.
But we know that without them, we wouldn’t be who we are today.
Verses 22-23, John says he saw no temple in the city.
That fact is immensely important and I’m going to unpack that in a moment.
He does give the reason why in the second half of verse 22:the reason why he saw no temple in the city was because the city’s “temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.”
Not only that, but the city has no need for sun or moon to shine, for the glory of God gives it light and its lamp is the lamb.
So God’s glory illuminates the New Jerusalem. Keep in mind, we’re not talking about a crawl space that God is lighting. Maybe 1500 miles doesn’t sound like much to you….I mean you could drive that in a couple days….but we’re talking 1500 miles by 1500 miles by 1500 miles…that 1500 cubed…that’s over 3.3 BILLION cubic miles.
It’s a perfect cube.
Again, this last part of the chapter talks about how the New Jerusalem doesn’t need a temple.
The significance of that can get lost on us if we aren’t thoughtful.
I talk a lot about temple themes in the Bible.
And that theme comes to its Biblical culmination in this passage.
What’s a temple?
In its most basic form, the temple is the place where God meets with his people.
Just like how I think we oftentimes have a wrong view of heaven, especially if we picture it to be boring, I think we can have a low view of the Temple.
Again, the presence of the Lord with his people.
All throughout the Bible, including to the present day, there is this theme of temple.
I want to list a few things:
The Garden
The Tabernacle
The Temple
Jesus
The Church
The New Jerusalem
Maybe the connection between these six places isn’t obvious, but they all represent the presence of God.
In the Garden, Adam and Eve live in the presence of God in a perfect place.
Because of sin, they were cast out.
But God remained faithful.
He chose a man, Abraham to be the father of many nations, and the patriarch of God’s chosen people.
From Abraham, came Isaac who fathered Jacob who fathered 12 sons who represent the 12 tribes of Israel.
The Israelites were originally held in captivity in Egypt. After God had miraculously freed them, and while the Israelites were wandering in the desert, God gave them instructions for the tabernacle. The tabernacle was a tent structure that the Israelites were to travel with and it was a symbol for God’s presence with his people.
Exodus 40:34-35
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
Once the Israelites entered the Promised Land, the plan was for them to build a permeant temple which would be a place to represent God dwelling with his people.
This happened during the reign of Solomon
And we see the presence of the Lord filling his temple in 1 Kings 8:10-11:
And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.
In both places, when the presence of the Lord comes into the temple, people can’t even stand in it because the presence is so glorious.
And in the Old Testament, the Temple is hugely important. Building the temple, the people corrupting the temple. God allowing the Israelites to be conquered and the destruction of the temple. The Israelis being released by the Persians for the purpose of rebuilding the temple.
But ultimately, God points forward to an even greater Temple, an even greater example of his presence with his people.
Jesus.
At the beginning of John 1, where it’s talking about Jesus, it says “the word became flesh and dwelled among us.”
And if you remember from last fall, that word for dwelled, it literally means “he tabernacled” among us. He “pitched a tent” among us. The presence of God on earth.
In John 2, Jesus says to the Pharisees:
“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
They mock Jesus because that seems so absurd but they miss the point that he’s referring to himself as the temple.
He is the temple.
After Jesus died and rose and ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit is poured out on all believers
In Acts 2, this is dramatically described:
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
By the way, the pouring out of the Spirit of God is also pointed to in the Old Testament.
The church is the body of Christ. The believers in the gospel are given the Holy Spirit and we are the temple.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
When I talk about the Church, I mean the Universal Church, not just a church. It’s all churches that are faithful to God’s gospel. It’s not that the church is important in itself. It’s not that we’re so great. It’s that God has given his Spirit to his followers and it is through the Holy Spirit that we are made holy and equipped with Spiritual gifts for the sake of building up God’s church.
But still his points forward to a greater Temple, the New Jerusalem
It’s a return to the original temple, the garden.
The temple matters because the Temple is God’s presence with his people. It’s the relationship which was tarnished in the garden. The presence of God, it’s what Jesus came to bring.
And while we enjoy fellowship now, and while we should not discount that, it is still merely a shadow of the true fellowship, of being back with God in the new temple that he will build, the new heaven and the new earth.
And then here finally in Revelation 21, the New Jerusalem.
The Temple, which has been a constant theme throughout the Bible, we see the return to the temple, the presence of the Lord.
The text says that there is no need for the sun or the moon in this temple.
Because God is the light and Jesus is the lamp of the new temple. Notice the glorious and powerful moment it is when the presence of God fills the tabernacle, when it fills the temple. The rushing wind when God’s Spirit fills the believers. The enormity of the glory of God in the Bible.
And to be in that presence.
Perhaps you’ve stood by a water fall and you hear the water, and you see it. And if it’s a big water fall, as the countless gallons of water rush down, you feel it in your chest.
The presence of God will never disappoint.
Pondering his glory and holiness and goodness, is something from which we will never tire of in his presence. Because he is infinitely glorious and wonderful. God’s presence is so holy and so full of life and vibrance that it is overwhelming.
Heaven is a perfect place.
The final verse of the chapter again drives home the character of heaven
27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Nothing unclean will ever into it.
Sin cast us out of the garden.
With the tabernacle and the temple, within those rooms, there was an inner sanctuary where only the high priest could go once a year to make a sacrifice on behalf of the people. One person, one time a year. And there were purification rituals that the person went through before entering because approaching God’s Most Holy Place was so sacred.
The dimensions of the Most Holy Place, of the Holy of Holies were equal in terms of height, depth, and width…no coincidence in the New Jerusalem that that Most Holy Place is also a perfect cube.
And to enter requires holiness.
And that’s a holiness we cannot earn.
Because we cannot make ourselves holy. We cannot make ourselves pure.
We are enabled to enter because of the blood of the lamb. He accepts us freely but we have to accept him.
Heaven isn’t where a person should want to go because it’s better than hell. It’s where we want to go because it’s the abode of the Lord God Almighty.
It’s a place whose light is the Lord God, the Almighty, and who’s lamp is the land.
