- [Narrator] The heavenly city.
Before I go any further,
allow me to paint a picture for you.
It'll be the most incredible city
that anyone has ever, ever imagined.
This is the city that the Lord was referring to
when he told his disciples, John 14:3:
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again
and receive you unto myself
that where I am there ye may be also.
What is the Lord Jesus up to lately?
He's working on our place.
Some people refer to it as a mansion.
Call it what you will,
but it is a part of God's future for us
that is currently being built.
And when it is finished
and ready to be put into action,
we will learn how it will all come together.
First and foremost,
I'd like to discuss the size of this city with you.
Has anyone ever said to you,
how on earth is heaven ever going to be big enough
for all the Christians from all time to live there?
It's going to have to be a big place.
So let me impress this upon your mind and heart today.
Heaven, the city of God,
will be the most incredible place you've ever heard of.
In Revelation 21:15-16:
And he that talked with me had a golden reed
to measure the city and the gates thereof
and the wall thereof.
And the city lieth four square
and the length is as large as the breadth.
And he measured the city with a reed 12,000 furlongs.
The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
One of the reasons that many people try to spiritualize
and dismiss the city is because of its enormous size.
It is a city that goes above and beyond
what you can imagine.
Now, if you work that out, to give you an idea that each one
of the walls and the cube of it, they're all 1,400 miles,
between 1,400 and 1,500 miles.
And the ground floor square mile
is 2,250,000 square miles on the first level.
Did you ever hear it like that?
London covers an area of 140 square miles.
The city four square is 2,250,000 square miles
on the first floor.
This city is 20 times as big as all of New Zealand.
It's 10 times as big as Germany.
It's 10 times as big as France.
It's 40 times as big as all of England.
It is ever so much bigger than India.
Why, it's an enormous continent all by itself,
and it's even more wonderful still.
Look at this, working it out on the basis of the number
of people to the square mile in the city of London,
the population of the city four square
comes out at 100,000 million,
70 times the present population of the entire globe.
So if Almighty God saves his best for last
and his final creation is this new city,
wouldn't you expect it
to be the most spectacular thing you could imagine?
"How is God going to drop a city like that
out of heaven?" someone asks.
With the same power
that he possessed when he spoke a word
and the world was created,
the same power he possessed when he spoke
and the creation was born.
And if he says in his word that he'll do it, he'll do it.
So let's talk about the inside of the city for a moment.
And I'd like to briefly touch on the things
that John tells us in these two chapters.
First and foremost, it is a holy city.
According to verse two of chapter 21:
Then I, John, saw the holy city.
The chief characteristic
of the city into which we will one day move is it's holy.
It is described as follows
in the Wycliffe Bible commentary:
The holy city will be one in which no lie will be uttered
in 100 million years.
No evil word will ever be spoken.
No shady business deals will ever be discussed.
No unclean picture will ever be seen.
No corruption of life will ever be manifest.
It will be holy because everyone in it will be holy.
You can't get into the holy city unless you are born again
and you've gone to heaven.
Heaven is the place of the holy city.
Not only is it a holy city,
but the Bible says it's a place
where the gates are made out of pearl.
You know, we didn't just make this up. This is not folklore.
This is right from the Bible.
Notice verse 12 to 21 in Revelation chapter 21:
It had a massive and high wall with 12 large gates.
And at the gates were stationed 12 angels.
And on the gates, the names of the 12 tribes
of the sons of Israel were written.
On the east side there were three gates,
on the north, three gates,
on the south, three gates and on the west, three gates,
and the wall of the city had 12 foundation stones.
And on them the 12 names
of the 12 apostles of the Lamb, Christ.
The one who was speaking with me
had a gold measuring rod to measure the city
and its gates and its wall.
The city is laid out as a square.
Its length being the same as its width.
And he measured the city with his rod.
12,000 stadia about 1,400 miles.
Its length and width and height are equal.
He measured its wall also, 144 cubits,
about 200 feet according to man's measurements,
which are also angelic measurements.
The wall was built of jasper
and the city was pure gold, transparent like clear crystal.
The foundation stones of the wall of the city were adorned
with every kind of precious stone.
The first foundation stone was jasper, the second sapphire,
the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,
the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius,
the seventh chrysolite, yellow topaz,
the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz,
the 10th chrysoprase, the 11th jacinth,
the 12th amethyst.
And the 12 gates were 12 pearls.
Each separate gate was of one single pearl,
and the street, broad way of the city, was pure gold,
like transparent crystal.
We read: She had a great and high wall.
The wall was not needed for defense
because there were no more enemies.
But the great and high wall gave the city definition
and shows that some will be excluded from the city.
Only the righteous can enter.
And John sees the entire wall
as a gleaming diamond bracelet.
He says: The construction of the wall was jasper
and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
So if you saw it from afar,
it would just sparkle and shine as it turned around.
And the colors of the city's glory would be so overwhelming
that it would take your breath away.
The city is laid out as a square.
The New Jerusalem has equal length, height, and width,
which indicates that it is either a cube or a pyramid.
If it is a cube,
it would resemble the holy place of the tabernacle,
implying that the entire city is a sacred space.
The size of the New Jerusalem is enormous.
12,000 furlongs equals 1,500 miles,
2,400 kilometers.
This is the same distance from Maine to Florida.
The square footage would approximate the size of the moon.
We read that the construction of its wall was of jasper.
We can gain a brief glimpse of what John saw,
but we can't even begin to see it in fullness
until we see it with our own eyes.
Jasper, sapphire, chalcedony.
The precise identification
of these gemstones in modern terms is difficult,
but the impression is of unending staggering beauty.
We also read of clear glass like transparent glass.
A Bible commentator noted:
The constant mention of transparency indicates
that the city is designed to transmit the glory of God
in the form of light without hindrance.
We'll walk through the pearl gates,
reminded that we're only there
because of the Lord Jesus' suffering and pain,
who paid the wound for us so that we might be redeemed.
So it's a holy city with pearly gates.
And the Bible then tells us
that the city's foundations are made of precious stones.
The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate.
All of these are purely Greek terms
that have been translated into English
to describe all of the colors and hues of the rainbow
that we know today.
And the Bible says that this great four square city
that descends from heaven will be built upon.
And you will see it, a 12 layer foundation
with each layer containing a different beautiful stone,
such as emeralds and diamonds,
as well as all of the other beautiful stones found
throughout the universe.
Each of the foundations will be unique.
As a result, when you see the city's foundation,
you'll be overwhelmed by the beauty
of all of the gemstone foundations
beneath this massive city of God.
Rather than being 12 individual foundations
separated from each other, they're packed upon each other
and you see them all together
in little ripples of gold and precious stones.
The Bible then says it's not only a holy city
with pearly gates and a foundation of precious stones
but it also has streets of gold.
I know that some of you think that's a folklore too.
You hear all about the streets of gold in heaven.
We're gonna walk on streets of gold.
It's an all of the old Negro spirituals.
It's an all of the old gospel songs, the streets of gold.
Are there really streets of gold in heaven?
Is it true that there are streets of gold in heaven?
Look down at verse 18 then again at verse 21
of chapter 21.
"And the construction of its wall was of jasper
and the city was pure gold, like clear glass."
And notice verse 21, "The 12 gates were 12 pearls.
Each individual gate was of one pearl,
and the street of the city was pure gold,
like transparent glass."
I can't imagine it.
Once again, can you imagine seeing the city
as you approach it,
observing the city from a distance, the gold on the outside,
the precious stones on the foundations,
and this lovely sense of light that emanates
from the throne of God out of the city.
This is the New Jerusalem spoken of in the Bible.