The New Jerusalem 2-4

Hello Everyone,
Heaven is a place of great riches. Read with me Revelation 21:18:

The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.

Walls=protection.
v. 18 In Bible His-story, walls were all about protection…an un-walled city was vulnerable, an easy target.

And the enemies of earth will be no more…sickness cannot scale those walls, heartache cannot tunnel under…no crime or perversion, nothing to harm, nothing to molest, nothing to injure, nothing to destroy, and so, nothing to fear! No viruses, no disease, no pestilence, and no public enemy #1…death!

We’re all trying to outrun death…that’s why we go to the doctor, health club, eat right, etc. When we were kids, we thought life would never pass us by.

If life was a book then the pages turned sooooooooooo slowly, didn’t they “oh, I wanna be 10 like the big kids/13 and be a teenager, 16 and be able to drive, I want to be 18 and graduate, I want to be 21 and be able to vote, and do other things! [if not saved!]”
But ever since then life has flown by! And we try to outrun death, but eventually it catches us down here, but not “up there!” Death won’t be allowed in!

Gates=provision.

v. 21 Who started the stories about St. Peter standing at the gates of heaven? It’s not Biblical. But each of the 12 gates is guarded by an angel. If every gate is 1 pearl, they are gigantic…and it’s a reminder of God’s provision.

A pearl—how is it created? There’s not much to it, really. If you crush it, you’ll have a handful of powdery lime…the same substance as ordinary chalk. And the value of a pearl is not about how it’s cut, like a diamond…for if you cut a pearl you ruin it.

A pearls value is in the way that it’s made. A pearl is made in the depths of the sea in the heart of a living oyster. Something invades that oysters shell, like a little grain of sand. It begins to cut, irritate, and dig into that soft oyster.

The oyster begins to secrete that white, milky substance…layer after layer, it hardens, and finally you have a perfectly formed, brilliant, round, shiny pearl.The pearl is the oyster’s answer to that which wounded it! The pearl owes its existence to the will of the oyster to “cover” that which hurt it!2 parts in the formation of the pearl: the cutting and the covering…what a wonderful spiritual lesson there is here for us.

For there’s the same 2 basic parts to salvation!

Sin invaded God’s perfect world, and it cut away at the heart of God, but He was willing by His own blood to cover it!Ours was the cutting…God’s was the covering!

Calvary was God’s answer to man’s sin…and as we walk thru those gates we’ll be reminded of this fact!

We cannot enter in of ourselves…we won’t be there because of us, but because of Him, and He made us His pearl of great price!

Streets of gold=praise

v. 21 Gold is a symbol of the glory, honor, and majesty of God. That’s why so much gold was used in the OT temple. Won’t it be great to truly be able to lift up the Lord in the way He deserves without the restraints of this sinful human flesh?

Ill.— An old tongue-tied preacher of years ago, was often criticized for how much he shouted and got happy in Jesus. Somebody asked him why he always praised the Lord so audibly and outwardly. He said, “I just can’t hep it, when my left foot hits the floor it says hallelujah, and when my right foot hits the floor it says, praise the Lord, and so it’s hallelujah, praise the Lord, hallelujah, praise the Lord, everywhere I go!”

And that’s how it will be for us walking down those streets of gold in heaven!So, heaven is a place of riches… and it has been prepared for the redeemed.

All for Jesus
Phil