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Revelation 21:7
1/29/17
Sunday Morning
Rev.21:1 Then 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.
V.2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
V.3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is
among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God
Himself will be among them,
V.4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any
death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have
passed away."
V.5 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."
V.6 Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and
the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without
cost.
V.7 "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be
My son.
V.8 "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."
V.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 here, I will show you the bride, the
wife of the Lamb."
V.10 And he 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,
V.11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of
crystal-clear jasper.
V.12 It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels;
and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons
of Israel.
V.13 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.
V.14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the
twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
V.15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and
its gates and its wall.
V.16 The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he
measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height
are equal.
V.17 And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements,
which are also angelic measurements.
V.18 (NP)
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V.18 The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
V.19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious
stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third,
chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
V.20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl;
the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
V.21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single
pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
V.22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
V.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.
V.24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory
into it.
V.25 In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;
V.26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;
V.27 and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever
come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
1.
2.
3.
4.
This is – our future if you belong to Christ
This is part of what Jesus paid for!
This is HOME
I believe that knowing where you are going causes you to invest in life – give
purpose to life
5. In chapter 21 we have described the light of the New Jerusalem
a. That compared w/ outer darkness of hell!
Review:
V.1 Then 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.
1. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth”
a. God isn’t just going to renovate the heavens & earth – He is going to
totally destroy them & make new
Isa.65:17 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new
earth; And the former things shall not be remembered or
come to mind.
*”Create” is “bara” – to create something out of
Nothing
b. This will be the most fantastic thing you will ever see
i. To watch God speak a new creation into existence
ii. That will literally out of this world!
c. We were not here for the first creation – the angels were & they praised
God for the joy of it all
Job 38:4 (NP)
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Job 38:4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of
the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,
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Who set its measurements, since you know? Or who
stretched the line on it?
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"On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its
cornerstone,
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When the morning stars(?) sang together, And all the sons
of God(angels) shouted for joy?
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"Or who enclosed the sea with doors, When, bursting
forth, it went out from the womb;
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When I made a cloud its garment, And thick darkness its
swaddling band,
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And I placed boundaries on it, And I set a bolt and doors,
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And I said, 'Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And
here shall your proud waves stop'?
d. In the future, if someone ask if you were there you can say, “Yeah, I was
there!”
V.2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
V.3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is
among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God
Himself will be among them,
1. “as a bride”
a. The city isn’t the Bride but is “as a” Bride – like a Bride – symbolism is
clear
2. “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men”
a. In His presence will be found all the heart has ever longed for
V.4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any
death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have
passed away."
1. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes…no more mourning…crying…pain”
a. This is so appealing – no more pain!
b. We can’t envision no sorrow –
V.5 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."
1. “Write, for these words are faithful and true”
a. If people think you are crazy for thinking that way – let ‘em think it!
i. We will see who is right
V.6 (NP)
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V.6 Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and
the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without
cost.
1. “I am the Alpha and the Omega”
a. “Alpha & Omega” are the first & last letters in Greek alphabet
b. Here “alpha” is spelled out and “omega” is just the letter Ω
i. The beginning is finished – but the end hasn’t been completed yet!
2. “I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of…water of life without cost”
a. The invitation is open to all
V.7 "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be
My son.
1. “He who overcomes will inherit these things”
a. The inheritance of the child of God is tremendous
b. After the great Chicago fire of 1871, evangelist Dwight L. Moody went
back to survey the ruins of his house. A friend came by and said to
Moody, “I hear you lost everything.”
“Well,” said Moody, “you understood wrong. I have a good deal more left
than I lost.”
“What do you mean?” the inquisitive friend asked. “I didn’t know you were
that rich.”
Moody then opened his Bible and read to him Revelation 21:7—“He that
overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God.”
V.8 (NP)
c. Peter was wondering about rewards for disciples for living for Christ
Mat.19:27 Then Peter answered and said to Him, "Behold, we have
left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?"
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And Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, that you who have
followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His
glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel.
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"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father
or mother or children or farms for My name's sake, shall receive many
times as much, and shall inherit eternal life.
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" But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.
Rom.8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are
children of God,
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and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,
if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified
with Him.
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For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
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V.8 "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."
1. “But for the cowardly…unbelieving…abominable…murderers…immoral
persons…sorcerers…idolaters…liars”
a. Here is a partial list of those who will not be in the kingdom
i. Here is some more for the list
1 Cor.6:9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall
not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
homosexuals,
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nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
ii. Here are some more
1 Tim.1:9 realizing the fact that law is not made for a
righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious,
for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for
those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers
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and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and
liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to
sound teaching,
b. He makes it clear that those who are those evil people will not inherit the
kingdom of God
Rev.22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, that
they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by
the gates into the city.
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Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral
persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone
who loves and practices lying.
V.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 here, I will show you the bride, the
wife of the Lamb."
1. “I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb”
a. Obviously this is referencing the New Jerusalem as seen in V.2
b. Who is living there?
i. God is there – The Church – O.T. saints – Angels
ii. We believe that b/c Scripture seems to indicate it
Heb.12:22 (NP)
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Heb.12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the
city of the living God(God resides there), the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to myriads of angels,
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to the general assembly(Israel) and church of the firstborn(church) who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the
Judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made
perfect, (all saints)
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and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the
sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.
iii. This is the city that Abraham was looking for
Heb.11:9 By faith he(Abraham) lived as an alien in the land
of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac
and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;
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for he was looking for the city which has (the)foundations,
whose architect and builder is God.
V.10 And he 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,
1. “coming down out of heaven from God”
a. Some say this is all symbolic
i. Sure it is – the Tabernacle was all symbolic too but it was real!
b. After the description of Babylon – now have description of New Jerusalem
– this is “The Tale of Two Cities” –
i. Babylon(man’s work) & New Jerusalem (God’s work)
c. This city is not an earthly – seems to be suspended above the earth
d. The New Jerusalem could be the fulfillment of Jn.14:2
John 14:2 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places;
if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a
place for you.
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"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,
and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may
be also.
e. The city appears to be completely separate from heaven
V.11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of
crystal-clear jasper.
V.12 It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels;
and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons
of Israel.
V.13 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.
V.14 (NP)
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V.14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the
twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
V.15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and
its gates and its wall.
V.16 The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he
measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height
are equal.
1. “fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal”
a. I want to start by grasping getting an idea of how big the New Jerusalem
is!
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
It is a cube – how big is it?
If you could set it down on the USA:
The distance North to South from Gulf of Mexico to Canada
Distance East to West from Idaho to Ohio
It is 1500 miles tall
i. Most satellites fly approx. 200 miles above earth – rarely above 400
miles – Hubble space telescope orbiting at 370 miles up
ii. The city is 4 to 8 times higher than most satellites
iii. The New Jerusalem is 2,250,000 mi2
iv. Earth has 57,268,900 square miles of dry ground
v. Mount Everest stands 29,035 feet above sea level the highest point
on earth
vi. The Mariana trench is the lowest place on earth ((36,070 feet)
below sea level) – atmospheric pressure 1000 times sea level on
earth
vii. The distance between Mount Everest & Mariana trench is 12.33
miles
viii. Much of the 12.33 miles is uninhabitable but when calculated w/
the square miles of dry ground on earth it equals 706,125,537
cubic miles
ix. The New Jerusalem is 3,375,000,000 cubic miles
1. New Jerusalem is approx. 59 times larger than total land
mass of earth cubed
x. On the whole earth there are 196.9 million mi² x 12.33 miles =
2,429,010,000 cubic miles
xi. The New Jerusalem is 1.39 times larger than all of earth water &
land combined
xii. The highest point to the lowest point = 65105 ft. or 12.33 miles,
(much of that uninhabitable)
xiii. Now that we have a picture of how big – let’s look at how
awesome! V.11
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V.11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of
crystal-clear jasper.
1. “having the glory of God”
a. You nor I have any idea what it means to have the glory of God present
i. Moses was allowed to see the backside of where God had just been
ii. It caused his face to shine & scared people for a time
iii. Even though Moses had that experience look what happened when
God’s glory filled the Tabernacle
Ex.40:34(the tabernacle completed) Then the cloud covered the
tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the
tabernacle.
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And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting
because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the
LORD filled the tabernacle.
2. “Her brilliance was like… a stone of crystal-clear jasper”
a. Jasper – normally red, yellow, brown, or green opaque
b. This Jasper is clear – light escapes
c. Apparently diamonds were unknown until after Christ
V.12 It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels;
and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons
of Israel.
1. “It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates”
a. There is a huge wall surrounding the city
b. The city will be the focal point of worship thru all eternity
2. “at the gates twelve angels”
a. Notice Saint Peter isn’t the “pearly gate” to let people in!
b. We assume that there are 3 gates on each side
c. I believe the angels are doing the a similar thing that angels did at
entrance into Eden after man sinned – protecting the city
d. Does the city need protecting – No! no more so than God’s holiness
needed protecting – but Cherubim protect His holiness above the mercy
seat
i. Guarding Eden’s entrance was real
ii. Guarding the New Jerusalem will be symbolic
3. “names were written on them…of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel”
a. Notice the names of 12 tribes
b. I thought that there was a type of segregation between O.T. and N.T.
saints – I have come to believe that we will all be together in future
i. I don’t think we lose our identity but together
V.13 (NP)
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V.13 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.
V.14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the
twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
1. “the city had twelve foundation stones…twelve names of the twelve apostles”
a. The Mormons believe that there is a continuous line of apostles
i. Not enough foundation stones for that to be true
b. But the church has argued for 2000 years about who was the 12th apostle
Matthias or Paul – whose name is on the 12th foundation stone?
V.15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and
its gates and its wall.
V.16 The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he
measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height
are equal.
V.17 And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements,
which are also angelic measurements.
1. “he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements”
a. It is 216 feet thick
V.18 The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold , like clear glass.
1. “the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold”
a. We can’t imagine gold that pure
b. We also can’t imagine the look as light is dispersed, refraction &
dispersion take place
V.19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious
stone. The first foundation stone was jasper(clear); the second, sapphire(blue); the third,
chalcedony(blue w/ multi colored stripes); the fourth, emerald(green);
V.20 the fifth, sardonyx(red & white); the sixth, sardius(deep red/dark red); the seventh,
chrysolite(yellow); the eighth, beryl(deep green); the ninth, topaz(yellowish green); the tenth,
chrysoprase(greenish yellow); the eleventh, jacinth(orange-red); the twelfth, amethyst(purpleviolet)
.
1. “The foundation stones of the city wall…adorned…every kind of precious stone”
a. Can you imagine the beauty the way the light will come off that planet?
b. I lived in coal mining town when young – beautiful quarts & galena
V.21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single
pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
1. “the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass”
a. To let the light out
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V.22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its
temple.
V.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.
V.24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory
into it.
1. “The nations will walk by its light”
a. No one quite understands what eternity will look like for mortal man
2. “the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it”
a. It certainly appears that man will be around – doesn’t seem to be going
back to Millennium period
V.25 In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;
1. “there will be no night there”
V.26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;
V.27 and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever
come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
1. “no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it”
2. “only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life”
a. Why would anyone chose darkness & death over this?
Romans 8:15-17 (NASB77)
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For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have
received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, " Abba! Father!"
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The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
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and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we
suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.
1. “if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ”
a. What a future you have in Christ
b. Are you living like a child of God? – or a child of a pauper?