Gateway Church's Podcast
Heaven - Paradise Found - Part 3
We're going to talk about heaven again this week. Is that okay with you? We're going to talk about it for the next three weeks, and I'm telling you, we're not going to run out of information. The Bible is full of Scripture and details and descriptions about heaven. So turn in your Bible right now to Revelation chapter 21 and 2 Peter chapter 3. Now last week we talked about the intermediate heaven, the heaven that exists today where our loved ones that have died and loved Christ, where they're living right now, I told you about some activity that could possibly be going on there, and I said that this week we're going to talk about the new heaven. Now some of you asked me where we got to phrase intermediate heaven because that term is not really in the Bible, but it is simply a way for us to describe the heaven that exists today to make that different than the heaven that's coming, because there is a new heaven and a new earth that is planned, and the Scripture tells us clearly that it's planned, and so the intermediate heaven is simply a way for us to explain that there is a heaven that exists today, it is paradise, God is there, our loved ones who followed Christ were there, but a new heaven has been planned. So in Revelation chapter 21 there's a description of this, a prophetic description that John gives us in Revelation 21 verse 1. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea, then I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, and I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with him, and they shall be his people, God himself, not a representative, but God himself will be with him and be their God, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Now this scripture is very clear that God's permanent dwelling place will be this new Jerusalem that he'll put his tabernacle there, and that he will make his home there himself, he will come and actually reside there. Remember last week our definition of heaven is simply this, "Wherever God chooses to make his permanent dwelling, that's heaven." Do you agree? Now if he comes to your house and that's his permanent dwelling, I think people are going to start calling that place heaven. He says there's a heaven that he exists in right now, he has his throne there, that's where he lives, however he is going to come to this new Jerusalem, and that's where he's going to set up his home forever and ever, and that will be the new heaven. This is what the Bible is talking about. Now it's not clear if this new Jerusalem will actually be on the new earth, but it does say that it comes down out of heaven toward the new earth, so if it's anything it's in close proximity. I think personally that we're going to have access to the new Jerusalem and the new earth, they're going to be very close together, and it's not going to seem like a long distance to us in heaven. It is very close in proximity to the new earth according to this scripture. So what though, here's a key question that we need to ask, what in the world is going to happen to this earth, because it just said in Revelation 21 that it's going to pass away, and I would kind of like to know more details since I'm living on the old earth. Then you like to know some details about what's actually going to happen to the earth that we're living on. Okay, well I have some details for you in 2 Peter chapter 3, and here's what I want you to know, the old earth and the old heaven will pass away. That's what it says in Revelation, and it again says this in 2 Peter. So let's read it. Now I want to say up front, this is not the most positive part of the message, okay? Stay with me. 2 Peter 3 verse 10, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat, both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. So far not so positive, do you agree? Okay, it gets better. Therefore since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking far and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, these talking to believers, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. He is telling us that this earth, the sinful earth that we exist on today, the one that is cursed, there's a curse upon this ground according to Genesis, it is going to melt and go away." Okay, everyone smiled for a minute, okay. Good news here for believers though, okay? He says that this earth will pass away, now when he says the heavens will pass away, he's not talking about the intermediate heaven, I want to clarify that. We're not going to need a fire department in the intermediate heaven, it's not going to catch on fire. That word heavens is talking about the atmosphere, the sky, the place where the birds fly space, the atmosphere that surrounds the earth, that's what he's talking about in this passage. So not only will the sky and everything, it'll all be new, the atmosphere that we live in will be new. A lot of people believe that when we talk about this new earth in heaven, that the sky and the stars, we will have stars in heaven, it'll be so bright, we won't have a sun, the atmosphere will be a heavenly atmosphere, it won't look exactly the way it looks today. Something new is coming. Here's the important truth, not one home, not one car, not one possession that we have today is going to be eternal, it's all going to go away. There are people who actually dread the thought, believers who actually dread the thought of living in heaven. They told me, I don't know if I'm looking forward to heaven, I know it's better than hell, but I'm not sure I'm looking forward to heaven. This is the reason for this message, this is the reason for this series of messages. I want to get you past that fear, because I tell you why most people or some people don't believe that heaven is such a good place and they're not looking forward to it because all of their treasure is here. And if you don't have an eternal perspective, if you're not living your life to send treasure to heaven as you get older and closer to death, you will not look forward to heaven because all of your treasure is here. It's important to us as believers, if we're going to talk about heaven, we have to talk about what's going to happen to the old earth because that's going to go away, get that wrestling match over with in your life. Everything we do here, I believe we should build houses, I believe we should build businesses. I don't think we should just close up shop and wait on the bus to arrive, we're supposed to be diligent, faithful steward with what God has given us on the earth. But it's not going to be eternal, it's stuff, it's going to burn, it's going to go away. And it has to go away because there is a much better place waiting for us. Nothing you can build on the earth is going to compare with the heaven that God has built for you. This reminds me of the story of an older man who was stingy all of his life, never wanted to give his money away, just kind of hoarded it and saved it. And he was on his deathbed and he told his family, "Listen, I am not going to die until you put all of my money and all of my valuables on the roof because when I die, all my way to heaven, I'm going to take them with me." He said, the family says, "We're not going to do that, yes you are, I'm not going to die, I will live forever if you don't do this." So they went outside, put the ladder up on the roof, put all of his money, all of his valuables on the roof, went back down to the house, said their last respects and he passed away. About a few minutes later they walked outside, sure enough, all of his money and all of his valuables were still on the roof. And the wife says, "I knew we should have put it in the basement." Okay, lighten up a little bit, all right. The point is you're not going to take any of it with you. You can send treasure ahead though. And this is why I have found people who have given their lives for the kingdom of God when they get closer to death. There's an excitement, an anticipation about heaven because they've sent treasure ahead. They have something in heaven waiting on them. And I tell you today, would you start sending some stuff ahead and you will start thinking about heaven more. The Bible says where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. If your treasure is in heaven, your heart will be in heaven and your heart will never be captured by the things of this earth. This is important for us to know. Now here's the second thing I want you to hear. The new heavens and the new earth are definite upgrades, definitely, and I'm about to give you a very detailed description of the new heavens and the new earth in Revelation 21. Would you go back there and go to the maps, take a left, you'll run right back in to Revelation 21. Okay? Is that the end of your Bible? Now, no one is certain if heaven will have a lot of cities or a lot of countries, it's a possibility that it will. But we do know that there is one city in particular that will be there and it is spectacular. And I just told you, it's the name of it will be the New Jerusalem. Now I'm going to read a large passage of scripture here and do not check out on me. Okay? Is it okay if we read a lot of the Bible in church? Is that okay? Okay, so stay with me here. We're going to read through this description of the New Jerusalem and it's important that we pay attention to the details that are given to us. Revelation 21 verse 9, "Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me saying, 'Come, I will show you the bride, the lamb's wife.'" Now you notice that when we're talking about heaven, all the wedding imagery that we hear, that's very important. Okay? Let's keep reading. And he says, "And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. And her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also, she had a great and high wall with twelve gates and twelve angels at the gates and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. And three gates on the east, three on the north, three gates on the south, and three on the west." Now a lot of people believe that the fact that there are gates in the New Jerusalem means that there are territories outside of this New Jerusalem that we will get to explore in heaven. If not, there wouldn't be any gates. But the fact that they have gates means that we'll be able to leave this city and see other parts of heaven. So I don't think this is all of heaven, but I think this is going to be the center focus of heaven, okay? The New Heaven. Okay, let's keep reading. Now the wall of the city, this is verse 14, "Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city," in other words, just a measuring stick on steroids, okay, that's all he's talking about. A big gold reed. It's gates in its wall. The city is laid out as a square. Its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed 12,000 furlongs. Listen, that is 1,500 miles, 1,500 miles wide long. It's a perfect square. Every wall is 1,500 miles in length. Are you catching this? A perfect cube. Even the walls are 1,500 miles high. Let's keep reading it. Verse 17, "Did he measured its wall 144 cubits according to the measure of a man that is of an angel. This construction of its wall was a jasper and the city was pure gold like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. And because I can't pronounce six of them, let's get down to verse 21. Verse 21, "The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each individual gate was of one pearl. That is a big pearl. Very impressive pearl. But I want to see the oysters, don't you? That is a big oyster. Let's keep reading. And the street of the city was pure gold like transparent glass. Now again, don't get bogged down in the details, but listen, I'm going to make this simple for you. The walls are 1,500 miles. It is a massive city that rises way into the air. It is 1,500 miles. If this city were placed on the continental United States, it would be from the Appalachian Mountains to the coast of California and from the Canadian border down to the border of Mexico. Is that a big city? Okay. This city, according to this measurement, these measurements, the bottom floor, the ground floor of this city would be 2 million square miles. The city would rise up in the air, 600,000 stories. Think about that sink in just for a minute. Ground floor, 2 million square miles. And the city will rise up in the air, 600,000 stories high. That's a big city. It's the house of God. Did you think it was going to be small? This is God's permanent dwelling place. Here's the truth I want you to catch from this. There's plenty of room in heaven. There's room in heaven for billions of people, billions of people, and they will have many square miles per person available to them. It's not going to be crowded and congested. And I know people have said, "Look, I don't want to live in a city in heaven. Just give me a small shack out on the back. You know what the back porch I've heard, all those things. Listen, you're going to want to be in this city. Every person you meet in this city is going to be nice. Even the church people who make it there are going to be nice. It's going to be free from sin and corruption. There's only no death there, no pollution there, no decay there, no traffic jams there. It's going to be a perfect place with God's tabernacle there. It's where He lives. And it says in the Bible that in heaven, we will get to see His face in the New Jerusalem. You can look God in the face here. Why would you not want to spend all of your time here? Listen, you could explore this city for millions of years and not see all of it and experience all of it. This is not a boring place. This is not, we're not going to float around on clouds eating grapes and listening to really bad heart music. This is a spectacular city. The Bible goes into great detail because He wants you to know when Jesus said I am going away to prepare a room for you, a place for you, and if it were not so, I'd not have told you about it. He was talking about that place. That is His master plan. That's the place He's building for us, for you and I. And it's going to be a spectacular place. It is a definite upgrade to any place that any of us live. Would you agree with that? This is why the earth and the things of this earth are going to seem so trivial to us when we get into heaven. The things that we worry about, the things that we wrestle for, the things that we fight wars over are going to seem so trivial when we get to heaven. It's going to, why did we spend all that effort worrying about that stuff on the earth when this place was waiting for me the entire time? That's what I want you to catch this morning. The new heavens and the new earth are definite upgrades. Here's the third thing. The new heaven and the new earth will be perfect forever. Remember in week one of this series, we said that Genesis is the story of paradise lost. And Revelation is the story of paradise regained. Remember that the way the Bible starts off is a perfect world with perfect people in a perfect place. And God created that for mankind. But the enemy came in and deceived Adam and Eve. And because they believed the deception, because they sinned, the entire garden was corrupted. In fact, God shut it down. It was corrupt. It was ruined. No one's ever been there since. The Bible says he put two angels in front of the interest with flaming swords that no one could pass through. It was ruined. It was corrupt. It was a home that he had built for his people and it was ruined and ravaged by the enemy. But I have good news today. God has a plan to restore his household. And when we read Revelation and we hear about this new earth, this paradise that God's created for us and the new Jerusalem and the new earth, things are going to be different. He has a plan to restore his household. And the plan started with Jesus coming to the earth. That was a part of his overall master plan to begin the redemption process of mankind. He had a plan that stretches all the way through eternity. I'm going to send my son and I'm going to make it so easy for people to believe in me. And then I'm going to create a perfect paradise for them in heaven. And then I'm going to banquish the enemy to the lake of fire forever, ever cast away for mankind. And then I'm going to take billions of people who have believed in my name and I'm going to put them in a perfect paradise. And this time I'm not just going to come for a visit. I'm going to put my home there. I'm going to establish my throne there and I'm going to live with them forever and they'll never, ever, ever be ravaged by the enemy again. That's his plan. And that's a good plan. That's the plan that he has. And let me show this to you in the Bible, okay, Ephesians chapter 1. If you'll turn there, I want to show this scripture to you because it's important that you understand what he's doing, how this is all going to evolve and happen. In Ephesians chapter 1 verse 10 it says, "And this is his plan." Now in the New King James version it says, "The dispensation of the fullness of times." That's a really long way of saying that he has a plan to restore his household. And then he tells us what his plan is to restore his household. At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ, everything in heaven and on earth. The guys listen, I want the men to listen to me for a minute because this relates to me. I think it will relate to you. If you came home and your home had been ransacked, your family kidnapped, your wife, your children, kidnapped, taken away, and everything was missing out of your home. Here's what you would do. You'd call the police, the FBI, all the law enforcement alerts the media because you would do it all out, you would spend all of your money and effort trying to find your family. Let's say a week later the police catch up with the people who robbed your home. The police call you and say, "We have great news. We have great news. We just found your family and they're okay, they're safe." We found a couple of trailer loads full of your stuff. First of all, you'd be thrilled that your family's okay. No question about it, that would be your priority. But then if the police ask you, "Hey, do you want your stuff back to?" Yeah, I want it all back. I want you to bring it all back. I want my family back, but I want them to keep one single thing. Do you understand that the plan for Jesus to come to the earth was no question. His priority for coming to the earth was for people. Billions of people have come to know Christ because he came to the earth and died and then he was resurrected and his resurrection made it possible for billions of people to be redeemed and they have been. But he's not going to let the thief, the enemy, keep one thing. He wants earth back as well. He's going to make a better earth. He wants it all back. He's not letting the enemy have one part of our lives. He wants us and he wants the earth. He's going to take it all back. That's his plan to bring it all under his authority, to create a perfect paradise for you in heaven and never again will the enemy have the ability to come and rob you. But I haven't even better news for you today. This is the good news. When you get to heaven, do you agree that when you get to heaven, it will be impossible for the enemy to rob you of a single thing. Do you agree with that? We agree with that in heaven. I have good news for you today. It's possible right now on the earth. Do you know what the real message of Jesus was when he walked on the earth? I have come so that the kingdom of heaven can come to the earth right now. Do you know this? This is something that most believers do not know, that you can live right now with the benefits of heaven while you're on the earth. Did you know that? Did you know that there are some benefits of heaven that you can have right now on the earth? Let me tell you what those benefits are, joy, peace, healing, hope. You think all those things are in heaven? Is there any sickness in heaven? Is there any despair in heaven? Is there any sorrow in heaven? Is it possible then that Jesus died 2,000 years ago so that in the meantime, between now and heaven, between now and eternity, in the span of our lives, is it possible that the kingdom of heaven could come to the earth and we could enjoy some benefits of heaven right now. This is how I pray for the sick. Lord Jesus, I thank you that there is no sickness in heaven. And I ask you right now in Jesus name, would you let the kingdom of heaven come upon this person so that they will not be robbed of their health another moment? I think a lot of times as believers we let the enemy rob us of things and we don't ask for it back. He robs us of our peace so we let him have it. He robs us of our joy so we let him have it. He robs us of our health so we just let him have it. All this week I've been on the phone with people, it seems like this week especially. I've been on the phone with people, talking with people, meeting with people who have been robbed of the enemy, had things robbed from them, taken from them, stolen from them. Now the Lord was showing me that it's not impossible, that's not the life He created for us. He never promised that our life would be without trouble, He never promised that. He just says there are some benefits I died to give you that you could have right now, you don't have to wait for heaven to get some things back. I'm just tired of being robbed of things that I can get back. And why don't we ask for them back? Do you agree that you can have joy on the earth? Do you agree that you can have peace on the earth? Do you agree that your bodies can be healed while you're on the earth? Do you agree that no matter what your circumstances are that you can have hope while you're on the earth? Then why do we let the enemy rob those things from us and keep them and not ask for them back? That's heaven on earth, that's what we've been designed to live with. Your circumstances may not change, you may be going through a terrible time and God may not change those circumstances but He can sure give you joy, He can sure give you peace and He sure wants to heal your body. I want you to think right now, and I think there are many of you this afternoon, you know of something in your life that you've been robbed of, the enemy has robbed you and I think today the Lord wants to give it back to you, that you have to ask for it, you have to take it back. Now, you can wait to heaven if you want, you can wait until you get to heaven, but that could be a several years from now. In the meantime, I'm going to take it back now, heaven is a given for me, I have to fight for the earth. Once I get to heaven, the battle's finished, the enemy is defeated. Right now, I'm going to fight, do you understand what I'm saying? Do you feel, do you understand that you're in a battle and do you understand that Jesus has already beat him up for you? I'm going to weigh all of his authority, all you literally have to do is ask for it back. If my small son, he's eight years old, was on the playground and someone took something from him and I saw it, and I walked over to the other eight-year-old that had taken something from him, all Abraham has to do at that point is to ask for it back, because Dad's there now. All Abraham has to do is say, "That's my dad standing here," and give it back. He may not have been very brave until I walked up, but he gets very brave when I walk up. God standing next to you right now, now look at the enemy and ask for it back. Can you bow your head with me? I want you to ask for something back. What's been taken from you? What's been stolen from you? What is it that you once had that has now gone? What is it that God gave you one time and now it's gone and it was taken from you? Can you ask for it back right now? The Lord Jesus is standing next to you with his foot on the throat of the enemy. Can you get that picture in your mind? The Lord Jesus is standing next to you with his foot on the throat of the enemy, pending to the ground, and all you have to do right now is to say, "I want that back," and you'll get it back. That's heaven on earth. Lord Jesus, thank you so much that your foot is on the throat of the enemy. Lord, we ask for it back today. We take back the very thing that has been stolen from us. We take back our joy, we take back our peace, we take back the hope that we were supposed to live with on the earth, we take back the healing that you died to give us, that you suffered stripes to give us, we take it back today. It is ours because you gave it to us, you bought it for us, and you gave it to us. Lord thank you for heaven, we turn our thoughts today toward heaven. We thank you that in heaven the battle will be completely finished over, that we'll never have to strive against the enemy, but Lord, we thank you that in the meantime that our fight against the enemy has been made as easy as possible because of your death, your burial and your resurrection and your complete authority over him and all of his demonic horde. Now just a minute I want to ask you to stand and when I ask you to stand I want to ask the ultra ministry team to come forward. I'm asking you today, we're not trying to sign you up for something down here, we don't get you down here and try to sign you up for something, we're simply wanting to pray with you and agree with you. And if you've been robbed of something today, we want to pray, we want to agree with you that whatever's been taken from you will be given back, and if you're sick today please don't leave here with something going on in your body that we can pray with you and help with you, we want to pray for people to be healed today, people have been healed in every service so far, we want healing to happen today, that's something that God's already given you. Take it back today, ask for it back, so you stand right now and we stand, I want our ultra ministry team to come forward and if you need prayer for anything in your life you step right out right now with