The City of God

Father, it's a lot easier for us to imagine a really bad future than it is for us to imagine

something like heaven.

And it's far easier for us, Father, to long for idols masquerading as heaven, to long

for utopias that we human beings will make or create by our own power.

Father, it's far easier for us to imagine that than it is for us to imagine heaven.

It's hard for us, Father, even to hear what your word has to say about it.

So we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would do a mighty work in our minds and hearts and

wills, in our imagination and in our memories.

We ask, Father, that you would make our minds and hearts and wills, our imaginations and our

memories, that you would make it good soil so that your word will enter in to our mind

and our heart and our will, our imagination, our memories, our longings and our yearnings,

that your word will enter into us as good soil and that we will bear much fruit for your glory.

That, Father, we will have a great desire to see you face to face and to stand in your presence.

Father, fan and flame within us such a desire, such a longing and a yearning.

And this we ask in Jesus' name, your Son and our Savior.

Amen.

Please be seated.

Just apologize in advance for my coughing.

On one hand, I just rejoice to see all the leaves coming out in the trees.

On the other hand, I also have allergies and asthma.

And so it just, I forgot to take my antihistamine this morning, so I'm coughing a little bit from allergies.

It always means that spring is a little bit bittersweet for me, since it brings both allergies and,

I mean, who wouldn't want the weather?

Allergies are worth it to have the weather.

Probably in our culture, I think even amongst young people, John Lennon's song,

Imagine, is very well known.

It begins, imagine there's no heaven.

It's easy if you try.

No hell below us, above us only sky.

And then it goes on and says, you know, maybe one day you'll join us and then the world will be as one.

And I'm not going to take any cheap shots at John Lennon and his song.

But I am just going to comment that I think he's wrong.

I actually think that it's actually very hard to imagine heaven.

Sorry, what's that?

Yeah, I mean, I think it's very easy to imagine that there's no heaven.

That's not actually very hard.

I think it's the easiest thing in the world to imagine there's no heaven.

I think it's hard at all.

It's very easy.

What's actually hard is to imagine heaven.

It's a well-known problem in drama and in novels and in theater that it's far harder to portray a good character than it is to portray a bad character.

In Milton's classic Paradise Lost, the best parts of that poem are where he's describing the devil and hell.

And the weakest part is where he's trying to describe heaven.

And so, in fact, I think it's very easy to imagine there's no heaven.

But it's very hard to get our minds around heaven.

And so, if you find your mind starting to drift this morning, one of the things you can pray is that the words here in the Bible,

which are describing something which ultimately words can't really describe,

and my attempt to bring this word home to you, that somehow or another the Holy Spirit will move and work in minds and hearts and wills in a way,

that bring these words home to your imagination, your heart, and your mind, and your will.

Because I think the words that are described here in Revelation chapter 21 and 22 are hard for us to imagine.

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

And it's easy for our minds to drift.

So, please pray as I go through it.

If you find your mind start to wander, say, oh, yeah, that George said that when that happens, I'm supposed to pray.

And then we'll all get something out of this very, very beautiful and very powerful passage of scripture.

And now, before we sort of look at what it says about heaven, to bring out a bit of a contrast, I'm going to try to tell you two jokes.

I'm actually going to tell you two jokes.

The question will be whether anybody laughs.

I tried it with my family, and these jokes flew like a lead balloon.

All of my kids and my wife just looked at me blankly after I told the first one.

And because I'm a dad, not to be deterred, I told the second one.

And that also flew like a lead balloon.

So, we'll see if this works for any of you.

Okay?

So, here's the joke, the first joke.

And by the way, just in advance, I invented the second joke myself.

I adapted the first joke into a second joke.

And so, the first one I heard from another place, and the second one I developed.

So, the Hindu comes, a Hindu is visiting Ottawa, and they come to one of those hot dog vendors that you see downtown in nice weather, sometimes in bad weather as well.

And she asks, do you have vegetarian hot dogs?

And the vendor says, yes, I do.

And he said, you want one?

And she says, yes.

He says, what do you want on it?

And she says, make me one with everything.

The Hindu, make me one with everything.

You see, if you have to explain it, you have to explain it, it's not a joke, right?

The Hindu, make me one with everything.

I thought it was real.

I thought that was so funny when I read it.

So, here's the second one.

And she has a Buddhist friend.

And so, the Buddhist friend says, I'd also like a hot dog.

And the vendor says, what would you like on it?

And she says, make me one with nothing.

I invented that one myself.

So, if you tell it to somebody else, you have to give me credit for it.

Either that or blame, okay?

If they don't laugh, you can say, that's my pastor.

He's so lame when it comes to jokes.

Anyway, that's the Hindu, make me one with everything.

And for Buddhists, make me one with nothing.

And so, the Bible is going to portray a very, very different end than Hinduism or Buddhism.

And a very, very different end than Hollywood portrays.

And that common human religion portrays.

And it's found in Revelation chapter 21 and 22.

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

And today, we're just looking at Revelation 21.

So, if you turn in your Bibles with me, we're going to look at this chapter.

And I can't figure out a good hot dog joke description of what the Christian belief is.

Maybe one of you during the sermon, by the end of it, will have a hot dog joke for Christians.

I couldn't figure one out.

But as you already know, I'm not very good at figuring out jokes.

So, here's what it says.

What is it that the Christians understand about the end of all things?

And here's how it begins.

Verse 1 of chapter 21.

Then I saw a new heaven.

Oh, we're in trouble.

I didn't set my stopwatch.

That means I have an extra 10 minutes to preach.

No, just joking.

So, verse 1.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

Just sort of pause there.

We're going to actually spend a bit of time on this verse.

It's not saying that there's not going to be any surfing in heaven.

It's not saying that all of us who want to move to places, all those people who go to Florida in the winter and be by the ocean,

that's actually not preparing yourself for heaven at all.

What it is, if you read all the way through the book of Revelation, I haven't commented on it.

I don't think I've commented on it once.

But every time that the sea is mentioned in the book of Revelation, the sea is a symbol.

And it's a symbol of evil.

And so this is just a continuation of the imagery.

If you take a concordance and you look at it and you look at when the sea is mentioned,

it's always mentioned in connection with the devil.

So it's not being literal here.

It's just a continuation of the imagery.

And so what it's trying to say, verse 1.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

It means that there's no evil whatsoever, no source of evil, that all you have is the new heaven and the new earth with no evil whatsoever.

And here's the first point.

The first point is, I will have a resurrection body.

And I just realized after I sent it to Andrew and before I could text him again, we should get rid of the word to and put in the word and.

And then the sentence actually makes sense, which is a good thing for a sentence to do to make sense.

I will have a resurrection body and dwell in the new heaven and earth that God will make.

I will have a resurrection body and dwell in the new heaven and earth that God will make.

That's what the Bible teaches, that God's desire for every human being that was born, we won't all get there.

Talk about that in a few moments.

But that's what God's desire is.

He is going to make a new heaven and a new earth.

And he will give his people, he will transform us so that we can live in that new heaven and that new earth.

You know, it's very funny.

I've been waiting several weeks to say this because I realized it several weeks ago.

And so now it's my chance.

You know, when I said that, you know, the Hindu hot dog person says, make me one with everything and the Buddhist make me one with nothing.

In both of those systems of thought, basically the end of all things is one version of what Christians believe hell is.

Isn't that sort of shocking?

Because in Christian circles, in Orthodox Christian circles, there's a bit of a debate as to whether after, in a sense, God punishes us in hell, that eventually there's an annihilation that we no longer exist.

And other Christians believe that there's not an annihilation.

And I'm not going to comment on it in the sermons.

That would be a whole, that would be one of those things we'd have to have sort of a couple of Bible studies at.

There's a whole range of texts and complicated things to sort out.

But here's the thing.

If that annihilation view of hell is correct, then that annihilation, which Christians understand as hell, that's exactly what Hindus and Buddhists seek as heaven.

Because to be one with everything is to completely and utterly lose yourself.

You cease existing, right?

Because the famous analogy is it's like a drop of water joining the sea.

And once you put a drop of water into the sea, the drop of water disappears.

It no longer exists.

It's just the sea.

It's just the ocean.

And, you know, so this has to mean that if, in fact, for a Buddhist and a Hindu,

what they long and yearn for is annihilation.

And if the Bible is inviting us not to long for annihilation but to flee annihilation,

and instead to understand that God is going to make a new heaven and earth.

It's not that he's just going to make a new earth.

It's going to be a new heaven and a new earth.

And that he will make us so that we can dwell there at home.

Dwell in earth and heaven.

That's a radically, radically different vision of what's going to happen.

It's the end of the big picture of the Christian story.

So, in a sense, chapter 21 and 22, the last two chapters of the Bible,

they're the true counterpoint to the first two chapters of the Bible,

Genesis chapter 1 and 2.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

And, in fact, even in a few moments when we're going to talk about some of the things

that God's going to do in the new heaven and the new earth,

it'd be very interesting for you later on to go back and read Genesis 3

where evil comes into the world, and you see what happens as evil comes into the world,

pain and tears and sorrow and all of that.

And then you see what's going to happen in the new heaven and the new earth.

It's a specific reversal or overcoming of the fall.

And in the big picture of the Christian story, God makes everything good.

God creates everything, and he makes it good.

And he makes human beings to have a pivotal, central role in the created order.

That human beings, in a sense, are the priests of the created order.

That they alone are made, we alone are made in the image of God, the likeness of God.

That we, in a sense, are to give voice

and a specific type of intimate, personal relationship with God

on behalf of the entire created order.

And that Adam and Eve, who have this, in a sense, representative role

for all human beings who since existed,

that they chose not to be those priests and to be in union with God

and communion with God and fellowship with God,

and they chose to be like God themselves.

They chose to dethrone God in the attempt to be God themselves.

So the big Christian story is that it begins with creation, which is good.

It moves to the fall, which means that now human beings

and all human reality is slightly bent.

That it's no longer the way it was intended to be.

That there's now evil in the world.

That there's now pain in the world.

That there's now death in the world.

And it all comes as a result of Adam and Eve

and their decision to try to be like God's themselves.

And then all of what we know as the Old Testament.

Genesis chapter 4, right to the end of Malachi.

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

That is the period of promise.

It is the period of God revealing to people

what he is going to do to rectify the situation.

It's God making clear to people that they can't rectify it themselves.

To make it clear just how far they've been bent away from God.

And a promise that God is going to send to deliver.

And then we have in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and John,

we have God keeping his promise.

We go from creation to fall to the promises

to God keeping his promise in the person of his son, Jesus Christ,

who the Bible describes as a second Adam.

And Jesus lives amongst us,

suffering the trials and temptations that we suffer only without sin.

But he does all that he experiences these trials and temptations without sinning.

But that isn't what we need.

We ultimately need this sacrifice that only God can make,

where evil is dealt with, and rebellion is dealt with,

and the punishment is dealt with, and the banishment and destruction,

and all of the consequences of evil,

and all of the things that God should really do to make things right,

so that he's both just, and because he's good and loving and merciful,

Jesus takes our place.

He takes the place.

What would unmake us if God did it to us,

Jesus comes and stands in our place,

so that what would unmake us falls on him and unmakes him.

And in that coming and dying upon the cross,

he trades his place for mine.

That's what we receive when we put our faith and trust in Jesus.

Not only him standing in our stead, but him offering us his place instead.

And the big picture of the Christian story is God creates all things good.

Evil comes into the world through human actions.

God then speaks to us as human beings and starts making promises

about how he's going to put all things right,

because only God can put all things right.

And the Gospels are the story of how God comes to put all things right,

and then the rest of the New Testament up until Revelation chapter 21 and 22.

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

I'm simplifying things just slightly.

That's the period of the already not yet.

That's what we live in right now.

The already not yet.

On one hand, as I read in 1 Peter,

I'm a sojourner.

My true home is in heaven.

But I live here right now.

I have the Holy Spirit within me when I put my faith and trust in Jesus

as a type of first fruits.

But I still, that God hasn't created the new heaven and the new earth yet.

So we have creation.

We have fall.

We have the promises.

We have God keeping his promise.

We have the already not yet.

And then at one point in time, which is still in the future for us,

what's described in Revelation chapter 21 and 22,

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

we have God making a new heaven and a new earth,

the end of the story,

which is the beginning of the real story.

It's the end of this story.

And God makes all things new.

He makes a new heaven and a new earth.

And for those who are the followers of Jesus,

the adopted children of God by grace,

the true story, the long story,

the unending story where every day is better than the one before

is just the beginning.

And in that story,

I will have a resurrection body

and dwell in the new heaven and earth

that God will make.

Now, you know, if you have a story,

if you understand that the end of all things is annihilation,

then why should you care for this creation right now?

If at the end of all things is going to be annihilation,

why should you care for other people

who will only be annihilated

if they end up managing their karma,

they will only end up being annihilated?

Why care for things?

Now, I'm not saying that there's no caring for things

in cultures dominated by Hinduism and Buddhism.

I would say it's because we're ultimately made in the image of God

and there's this, in a sense,

residual memory in each person

that, in fact,

that there's this different story

which we were made for,

that creation isn't a prison

for our souls or our spirits,

that the created order is not a prison.

The created order is not a punishment for us.

There is, on one hand,

the story of Hinduism and Buddhism

is that the created order is a type of punishment for us,

but there's this part of us

that knows that that's not true.

And so you see tended gardens

and you see good things that happen.

But for us as Christians,

this idea that God created us

to have bodies and to be in a relationship with him

and that when the story is all over

that there will be new heaven and a new earth,

then of course we should care for people.

And of course we should care for this created order.

And you and I might know

that we'll never make this world perfect.

In fact, if there's one thing that comes from this story

is that the modern habit of organizing ethics

and right and wrong around some type of utopian future,

and that's a very, very powerful,

you know, just the whole,

anytime somebody says that something's progressive,

it means that they believe

there's some type of utopian future

that human beings are going to make

that we're moving forward towards.

And Christians are to rid utopia

from their minds completely and utterly.

It's one of the most important things

for discipleship today

and to form a Christian mind today

is to completely and utterly rid our mind

of any form of man-made,

woman-made, human-made utopia.

Because we understand that God is going to do this.

But it doesn't mean that we don't care for things.

We care for things even more

because creation matters to God.

It was made by God

and the end of all things

will not be annihilation,

but it will be a new heaven

and a new earth that God makes

and that God's adopted children by grace

will dwell in forever.

I can't get my glasses back on.

I was at a...

It's funny.

One of the things that can unite some churches

is what they say that's wrong.

I was at a United Church funeral a few years ago

and the minister said

that the person who had died

had become an angel.

It was just about a year after

I'd been at a Roman Catholic church

and the priest said

that the person who had died

had become an angel.

And it's very, very common

to hear people talk.

It's a bit surprising to hear a minister

or a priest say

that a person who dies

has become an angel,

but it's a very common type of idea.

And so if we do try to imagine heaven,

it's trying to imagine

what it's like to be an angel,

a disembodied spirit

with wings,

well, without wings,

but a disembodied spirit.

And on the other hand,

many of us,

when we try to imagine heaven,

we sort of are greatly influenced

by Hollywood.

One of my favorite movies

is Gladiator.

I know that it's almost completely

and utterly wrong

about everything that it says

about the Roman world,

but apart from that,

it's a very, very compelling movie

as long as you don't think

you've learned anything at all

about Rome from watching the movie.

Just remember that.

I learned nothing about Rome

from this movie.

It's a good movie.

And of course,

at the end of that movie,

it's not a spoiler alert,

you know,

you see the fellow

and it's of course in a,

the fields look beautiful

and the light filter is very nice

and it's a,

and there's a bit of a wind

and everything is blowing

and he gets reunited

with his wife

and his son,

the hero of the movie

and that's heaven.

And so,

most of us in Canada,

when we do try to imagine heaven,

what we imagine

is either becoming like spirits

or we imagine

some type of future like that

without God present.

But we see that the Bible

is asking us to imagine

something which is very,

very, very, very different.

Like already,

this is quite different

than how most people

try to envision heaven,

but,

but,

but the next part

is even more stunningly different.

Verses two and three.

Actually,

we'll start at verse one again.

Then I saw a new heaven

and a new earth

for the first heaven

and the first earth

had passed away

and the sea was no more.

Verse two,

and I 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 the throne saying,

behold,

the dwelling place of God

is with man.

He will dwell with them

and they will be his people

and God himself

will be with them

as their God.

Notice that again.

Remember I said

we had to rid our minds

of all sense of utopia

that human beings

are going to be able

to try to create

some type of perfect society.

Heaven here,

verse two,

I saw the holy city,

New Jerusalem,

coming down out of heaven

from God.

Here's the thing.

I'm going to word it

in these ways.

If you could put it up

on the screen.

I will live,

here's,

here's what heaven is.

Here's what you can pray

you have a longing for.

And I put it in terms of I

so that if you write it

down in your notes,

it's not we,

it's not you,

it's not they,

it's I.

I will live in the city

where I am a neighbor,

where I have a neighbor,

and where everyone

has God

as their neighbor.

That's heaven.

That's heaven.

The city.

Now next week

we're going to look

at the second image.

A few weeks ago

I talked about the image

of the bride

and the feast.

And next Sunday

we'll look at

Revelation 22

which has the image

of the Garden of Eden.

A Garden of Eden.

It's an image

of a garden.

But for now

all of chapter 21

in fact

what's going to happen

is that there's going

to be a few more talk

a little bit about

what it's like

to be in that city

and verses 9

to the end of the chapter

is just a description

of the city.

And I'm not going

to go through

and well maybe

I will read it

in a moment

but here's the

fundamental image.

This is a spectacular,

spectacularly important image.

Right?

So if the modern

Canadian type of image

is that somehow

or another

when you die

you become an angel

well if you're going

to become an angel

when you die

why should you really

care about what

goes on in the city?

Why should you care

about what goes

on in the world?

If you're just going

to become an angel

when you die

like why should you

care about your neighbors?

And if all that happens

is when you die

you go to be with

the people whom you like

hopefully they've picked

you to be in heaven

with them by the way.

That's an intellectual problem

that people have

never talked about.

You know?

What if it happens

that you die

and it's like going

to a party

where everybody

when they talk to you

they're looking

for somebody better

to talk to?

We wouldn't think

that was heaven

would we?

I hate going

to a party

where I know nobody

I get stuck

with somebody

and I can tell

they think

they're stuck

with me

and they don't

want to talk

to me

even for an instant

because their eyes

are going like this

all over the room

hoping they say

oh there's Fred

good to see you Bill

they say to me

because they don't

even remember my name

and you know

so people never think

that you know

when we die

we go to be

with our loved ones

and they don't realize

that their loved ones

are hoping

we won't be with them

when they die

okay

that's a

maybe we should send

some letters

to the National Post

to the Ottawa Citizen

to ask them

to try to reflect

on that problem

in terms of

the modern Canadian

view of heaven

so but you know what

so if the modern view

of heaven

is either angels

or we're just going

to be with people

we like

why should we bother

with neighbors

why should we bother

with the city

but heaven

is pictured

as the city

this is really important

for modern Canadians

and modern North Americans

because so many

Christians

flee to the suburbs

with the hope

that they don't really

have to be part

of the city

so many church slides

in worship services

are pictures

of nature

as if real living

is getting away

from people

and real living

is getting away

from the city

but in the book

of Revelation

when it pictures

the new heaven

and the new earth

and it pictures

where I'm going

to dwell

with my resurrected body

it pictures

a city

and it pictures

a city

where I have

neighbors

and it pictures

a city

where I can't move

into a neighborhood

without having God

as my neighbor

everybody who lives

there has a neighbor

and everybody

has one of their

neighbors

is God

and we dwell there

with God

as our God

and we enjoy it

I mean I don't even

have to

can you see

this is revolutionary

in terms of how

we should view

our city

not that Ottawa

is heaven

far from it

but the city

matters

to God

cities matter

to God

and you know

to understand

that in heaven

I'm going to have

neighbors

and I'm going

to be a neighbor

like all this week

and it sort of

struck me

I was trying to

think how to

put down

this you know

God will dwell

with us

and all that

and it struck

me

neighbors

I mean I think

I'm an alright

neighbor

I live in the

suburbs

because that's

where I can

afford to own

a house

and I live

in one of those

suburbs

where you hardly

know your

neighbors

you know

and

but this

means that

I mean this

means on a city

level that we

should have a heart

for our city

which is part of

our vision statement

and it's an

important thing

for us to figure

out how to be

great neighbors

on one level

it's training

for heaven

and even

apart from

this level

of what it

means for the

city

it's part of

the reason

why normal

Christian life

once we give

our lives to

Jesus

there should be

a drive

that we have

within us

to connect

with other

Christians

and to grow

with other

Christians

and to meet

with Jesus

in the presence

of his people

and that that

should be a

drive of us

that's why

we have

small groups

that's why

we have

prayer meetings

that's why

we have

ministries

and that's

why it's

appropriate

for us

to try to

figure out

ways to

connect

because it's

all connected

to this

in a small

way with

this image

of heaven

as a city

where I

will be a

neighbor

and I

will have

a neighbor

I will have

neighbors

that's probably

what I should

say

I will have

neighbors

and where

everyone has

God as

their neighbor

that's what

the book

of Revelation

is teaching

us

I'll say a

few more

things about

how's my

time

we have

time

let's look

at some

of the ways

just briefly

how the city

is described

you jump

down to

verse 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

and I

talked about

this image

of the bride

of Christ

it's a

corporate image

it's a

lot of us

as Christians

when we think

of our

relationship

with Jesus

it's a

private

relationship

but the

image here

of heaven

is a

corporate

relationship

and it's

to try to

bring home

to us

that there's

this

corporate

sense

and it's

really important

if I sing

to Jesus

as if he's

sort of my

boyfriend

that's like

a weird

thing for a

guy to sing

about

Jesus

you're my

boyfriend

that's weird

okay

but if we're

to understand

ourselves

that I'm

part of

as together

all who

are part

of Jesus

that we're

the bride

of Christ

that's this

corporate image

which it's

calling us

to

it's why

at different

times I've

described that

we enter

the Jesus

way one

by one

because I

can't

God doesn't

have grandchildren

right

we all

individually

have to

make a

decision

for Jesus

we enter

the Jesus

way one

by one

but we

walk the

Jesus

way with

Jesus

and others

and that's

what the

Christian faith

is

we enter it

one by

one but

we walk

the Jesus

way with

Jesus

and with

others

anyway we

talked about

the bride a

few weeks

ago

verse 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

having the

glory of God

its radiance

like a most

rare jewel

and then it

describes the

different gates

in the apostles

and it's

really showing

here how

there's two

testaments

but one

Bible

two

testaments

but one

Bible

and God

only has

one people

and up

until the

time of

Jesus

the primary

way to

describe the

people of

God

was the

nation of

Israel

and now

it's those

who are in

Jesus

which both

includes

Israel

and those

who are from

pagan backgrounds

like myself

down to

verse 15

the one

who spoke

with me

had a

measuring

rod of

gold

to measure

the city

and its

gates

and its

walls

the city

lies four

square

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

and just

what

12,000

stadia

was the

length

of the

Roman

Empire

that's

what 12,000

stadia

was

the length

of the

Roman Empire

give or take

a few

stadia

and so

this city

is the

length

of the

Roman Empire

at the time

John was

writing

and its

depth

is bigger

than the

Roman Empire

because the

Roman Empire

was wider

than it was

long

and its

height

is the

height

of the

Roman Empire

he's

imagining

the cube

and

it's really

hard for us

it's hard

for even

ministers

like me

I mean

on one

level

it's probably

easier

for me

to use

images

to talk

to you

folks

from the

walking

dead

than it

is

from the

book

of

Leviticus

I'm not

trying to

insult you

but probably

most of us

have spent

more time

watching the

walking

dead

over the

last

couple

of years

than we

have

studying

the

book

of

Leviticus

if not

the

walking

dead

some other

type of

thing

from

television

but

basically

what

John

is

describing

here

what

the

angel

is

describing

here

is

a

perfect

cube

and

in

the

covenant

was

and

where

the

Jewish

people

understood

God

to

dwell

was

a

perfect

cube

and

so

it's

describing

here

even

the

things

of

the

crystals

and

everything

like

that

it's

describing

that

in a

sense

the

city

which

is

now

as

big

as

wide

as

the

Roman

Empire

and

the

same

height

as

it

is

and

depth

it's

describing

the

holy

of

holies

and

that's

where

we

live

in

the

holy

of

the

jewels

and

the

walls

they

all

exist

to

show

the

glory

and

the

light

and

the

movement

and

to

magnify

the

glory

of

God

and

that

is

where

you

and

I

will

dwell

with

a

resurrected

body

I

actually

watch

The Walking

Dead

which is

a bit

of a

stretch

for me

because

I

don't

like

scary

movies

which

is

why

other

than

sort

of

like

The Walking

Dead

and

the

occasional

zombie

thing

which

I

don't

really

find

that

scary

by

the

way

I

don't

know

why

I

have

to

show

all

the

blood

spritting

out

but

maybe

it's

because

when I

was a

kid

I

had

two

things

two

very

clear

memories

of

things

that

terrified

me

when I

was

a

child

I

know

the

original

Wizard

of

Oz

movie

you

know

that

old

one

yeah

yeah

I

that

up

I

had

nightmares

for

weeks

I

remember

at the

time

I

think

I

screamed

when

the

flying

monkey

show

up

in

the

Wizard

of

Oz

I

look

at it

now

and I

think

gosh

is

that

cheesy

and

corny

looking

but

as

a

kid

watching

it

I

had

nightmares

for

weeks

and

in

the

Christmas

carol

the

old

one

you

know

with

Alistair

Sims

and

I

had

nightmares

for

weeks

after

I

watched

that

as

a

kid

with

my

parents

and

I

remember

just

seeing

the

dark

terrified

of

the

ghosts

but

the

book

of

Revelation

the

book

of

Revelation

is

a

little

bit

like

a

Christmas

carol

it's

even

though

he's

telling us

all about

heaven

and

everything

like

that

there's

going

to be

an

opportunity

for

us

to

repent

and

sort

of

a

little

bit

like

you

know

the

story

of

the

Christmas

carol

is

that

after

he's

had

the

dreams

he

wakes

up

and

he

discovers

that

they

were

just

dreams

and

that

Christmas

is

just

happening

right

now

and

he

has

a

chance

for

new

life

and

repentance

and

that's

what

the

whole

book

of

Revelation

is

like

that

even

this

chapter

and

next

there's

going

to

be

an

opportunity

for us

to

realize

that

it

hasn't

happened

yet

and

we

can

heed

the

warnings

and

believe

the

promises

and

that

God

can

do

a

new

thing

in

our

lives

but

let's

go

back

to

the

verse

four

he

will

wipe

away

every

tear

from

their

eyes

and

death

shall

be

no

more

neither

shall

there

be

mourning

nor

crying

nor

pain

anymore

for

the

former

things

have

passed

away

and

he

who

was

seated

on

the

throne

said

behold

I

am

making

all

things

new

also

he

said

write

this

down

for

these

words

are

trustworthy

and

true

and

he

said

to

me

it

is

done

I

am

the

alpha

and

the

cowardly

the

faithless

the

detestable

as

for

murderers

the

sexually

immoral

sorcerers

idolaters

and

all

liars

their

portion

will

be

in

the

lake

that

burns

with

fire

and

sulfur

which

is

the

second

death

if

you're

a

guest

here

I

talked

about

the

lake

of

fire

last

week

I'm

not

going

to

talk

about

it

again

you

can

go

back

and

listen

to

it

online

here's

the

first

thing

the

first

thing

is

that

God

takes

a

scattered

incomplete

finite

fallen

slave

and

makes

me

fit

to

dwell

with

him

that

God

takes

a

scattered

incomplete

finite

fallen

slave

and

makes

me

fit

to

dwell

with

him

you

see

the

Bible

portrays

that

any

type

of

rebellion

against

God

rather

than

us

actually

becoming

like

God

in

our

rebellion

all

we

do

is

become

slaves

of

different

things

we

become

slaves

of

lies

we

become

slaves

of

idols

we

become

slaves

of

and

idols

are

things

which

we

serve

love

obey

trust

and

hope

in

so

if

we

if

we're

serving

loving

obeying

trusting

hoping

in

money

in

a

sense

we

become

a

slave

to

money

money

starts

to

run

us

we

want

more

and more

and

when

we

don't

and

then

when

something

frustrates

us

in

our

desire

to

get

money

we

become

angry

and

we

become

depressed

and

we

don't

even

realize

that

we're

now

serving

it

we

serve

sex

we

serve

lies

we

serve

ideologies

we

serve

all

sorts

of

things

and

by

serving

them

we

become

slaves

and

the

picture

of

heaven

here

that

we

see

is

us

in

our

resurrected

bodies

God

takes

me

and

I'm

scattered

because

my

betrayal

of

what

I

am

there