If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Revelation chapter 21.

I'm going to start with verse 16.

This is my message.

I want to preach on heaven today.

I think this is a very fitting with everything that's been going on today with all the songs

that have been sung.

I think this is very fitting what the message is going to be about.

I actually taught on this last Sunday night,

and I want to preach on it today,

and I want to teach on it again today.

You know, I really enjoyed this series of lessons

that I did on this.

I did one on Hell, I did a couple on Heaven.

And there's a lot of different places to talk about Heaven

throughout the Old Testament, me throughout the New Testament.

And this is the main place that it talks about here in

Revelations.

And I think this is very fitting with everything that's been going on

today.

And hopefully, the Lord will bless.

And it will speak to your hearts as it spoke to mine.

I really enjoyed these series of lessons that I taught on.

But we're going to start with verse 16 and just a second here.

Let me turn there myself.

Say it again.

Louder. Okay. I'll definitely, louder.

Okay, I'll definitely be louder.

Give me a minute here.

[coughs]

And this passage of Scripture, we will see that God is laying the foundation of heaven

and he's describing what heaven is like and he's talking about how what heaven will be

is talking about what heaven is going to for us as a believer in Christ.

And we see in this passage of Scripture that this is the city of gold.

You know, Ponce daily on when he came here

in this, came here to North America, Central America,

and he was doing his exploration,

or what do you everyone exploring?

He was searching for two things.

One of the things that he was searching for was the lost One of the things that he was searching for

was the lost city of gold,

and he was searching for the fountain of youth.

And you know, after I heard that,

I was like, you know, after I heard that,

I was like, man, he is searching in all the wrong places.

Because here in this passage of scripture,

we're talking about a city of gold,

and we're talking about how we can know that we're going to heaven

in between of all that the fountain of youth if you want to call it that and

You know

This is pastor scripture it of course to give you in the time frame here in this pastor in the scripture

We see that this is right after God destroys the earth and he destroys the heavens as

we know it of today. He destroys it and he creates an a new heaven and a new

earth for us. Then he brings the heaven that we're dwelling and he brings it down

and he lets it hover over the new Jerusalem in on earth. Now how that's going to be

I couldn't tell you what it's going to be, I couldn't tell you what it's going to look like,

I couldn't tell you other than the fact of what I just described. And we know that this heaven

is going to be huge. When I say it's going to be huge, the Bible describes heaven as a four

square city. When it says that it's a four square city, when you go across the

state line of Texas, it says on the sign there a thousand miles to the state

line. Now the four square city, I'm getting

ahead of myself in the message here, The Forestswear City is talking about how big

and how long it is.

It is, what is it, 100?

I'm getting ahead of myself.

In fact, let's go ahead and read it.

I'm getting ahead of myself.

And it says in the city, length, four square,

and the length is the large as the breath.

And he measured the city with a read of 12,000 furlongs and the length and the

breath and the height of the art equal.

And it says there in verse 17 and it says, and he measured the walls thereof.

It were 144 cubices according to the measuring of man and of angel.

And the building of the walls were as jasmin.

and the city was pure gold and on two clear glass and the foundation of the walls of the city were as

garnished with manner of precious stones. I want to stop there for a minute. So we see that this is a city of

a four square city and

of a four square city and 400, what was it, how long was verse 16, it says here in verse 16,

it says that it was 400, the length of it was 12,000 furlongs.

To give you an idea how long 12,000 furlongs is,

that is 1500 miles one way.

It is a square.

Now I've worked in construction, and I've worked in construction all my life and I've seen construction buildings and I've seen how houses are built and you can look down that wall and there's a wave right in the middle of the wall and you know when it says that it is a square city you can take a square and stick it up to it is a square city. You can take a square and stick it up to it and it is a true square.

So we see that it is a 12,000 furlongs. It is 1200 miles this way or 1500 miles this way. It's 1500

miles that way. It's 1500 miles up. And so we see that this is a city that we're going to go to one day if you

know Jesus Christ and yes this is a city that we should long to know Him and

see Him face to face. This is a city that yes it is a true square city to lay it out.

You know this I forget how big it was if you were to lay it out in the map and flatten it out.

It's several millions of miles big to give you an idea how big the city is.

It's 1,500, 1500 miles wide, 1,500 miles long, long, 1500 miles high.

It's huge.

This is not just some place that is a,

it's not some place that is a small place that we're just

going to live there for eternity with God.

This is an actual place that we represent and we represent and we represent of who Jesus

Christ is and what Jesus Christ is doing four square city.

Not only is it a four square city, but we also see in this passage of Scripture, we see

here in this passage of Scripture, that it's a city of gold, excuse me, it's the city

that has city walls.

Look at verse 17 and 18.

And it says in verse 17 and 18, it says,

"And he measured the walls thereof,

"were 144 cubic's according to the measuring of man and angel.

"To give you an idea how big these city walls are,

"or excuse me, it just says wall.

"So I'm assuming it's just one complete wall all the way around.

To give you an idea how big the city wall is going to be,

it equivalent to a between the 15 to 20 story building.

That's how high the city wall is.

It measures it out.

If you were to measure it out, it measures it out to the torch of the liberty, torch of

liberty to give you a high the city wall is.

What is the picture of us?

Why do we have fences around our houses?

Our our backyards?

We like privacy, we like comfort, we like security,

we like to know that we are going to be secure

in where we live to keep the bad people away.

And this is a picture of how God has put a city wall

all the way around so that we can have security

and knowing that we are going to live with him eternity and forever and ever and ever too.

And here we see that the city walls are huge.

This is not some little bitty place that we're going to spend eternity with him.

This is a place that we're going to spend eternity with Him. This is a place that we're going to live

with Him forever.

And here I think as Christians, we lose sight of what we're going to go to.

We lose sight of what the city is going to be like.

We lose sight of what the city is going to be for us.

And here we see that the city walls

is a place of refuge.

It's a place of security.

It's a place of wanting to go and rest

with him for eternity.

You know, the Bible refers to it in Psalms.

He refers to his Psalms. He says, "The Lord is my

rock. The Lord is my refuge. The Lord is my place of I can go high to." And here we see

that the city is representing the walls representing the rock and the refuge. It is a place

that I can go and rest within free

eternity. And yes, this world has, it takes a toll on us. Yes, this world takes

a way of living. It has a place that it takes away from us. And you know

something I want to be honest with you when we're young? We think that we're

invincible. And we think that we that we can conquer the world and we

have the world at our fingertips when you get old you say, oh me what happened

to me? Where did my life go? I what happened to when I was young? Here we see

that this city that I'm talking about is the city of, it has a city wall so that we can have a place of refuge.

This world has a way of taking the toll on us if we're saved and we know him.

It's a place that we can go and rest.

Knowledge is that a place of going to rest and we can have and we can go and live with

him eternity, but it's also.

We also have, we see that it's a city of pure gold.

And that's also in verse 18.

It says there in verse 18.

It says.

And it says, and the building of the walls of it was of Jasper.

And the city was pure gold.

Look at the last part of that. It says, "Like unto as glass."

I want to stop here for a minute.

What is the most desirable thing that a man could ever have in what?

It's gold.

Why?

Have you ever stopped and wondered that?

You can take and spend it.

You can take and keep it.

You can take it and wear it on jewelry and necklaces and

you can wear it as far as earrings, you can do anything just about with it.

But here we see in this passage of scripture that we're going to a place that is a place

that is a place where I'm going to dwell and the Bible says in John 14 it says that is a place where I'm going to dwell. And the Bible says in John 14, it says that it is a place that I have a mention that

is waiting for me in there.

This mention is not just small place.

It is a mention that it's going to be huge.

You know, there's a place in Astral North Carolina called the Billmorestates.

I don't know if you've ever been there or ever seen pictures of the house.

It is a beautiful house.

And it is a beautiful, the grounds are beautiful as well, upkicked.

And you know, when he, it was said that, when he built it for his wife,

he said that his wife did not like the house.

Because it did not remind her of New York, but he built the house for it.

It had over 120 some rooms.

You can go toward this house and you only get to see

a third of the house and you know something else?

It not only do you see it, get the third of the house.

It takes you about an hour and a half to walk through it.

And I've thought to myself, well, man,

if man can build something like that and see how beautiful it is,

what is heaven going to be like?"

And here we see in this passage of scripture, that is a place of gold.

Not only is it a place of gold, it's going to be a place that I'm going to have a mansion.

You know something? My mansion is going to be bigger than your mansion.

my mansion is going to be bigger than your mansion. And we see in this pastor's scripture that this place is a city of gold. You know something I

long to go there. I long I I'm so long to see my Savior sitting on the throne of

heaven. I long to see him. and you notice something that takes all the worries

and cares of this world away.

Because we have this city's wall represents a place of refuge, a security.

Now they do we see that it's a city of walls and see the city of, do we see the city of

walls there?

We also see in the, we see in this past year description that it's a place of gold.

It's just like pure gold as glass.

I've never seen gold that transparent,

but according to the scriptures,

that's gonna be almost as glass.

Man, this is gonna be a beautiful place.

And you know, this is something I can call my home.

I am just a pilgrim passing through.

And one day I'm going to see my Savior sitting on the throne

at the right hand of the throne of God.

And not only will I see Him, but I'll see Him at the right hand of the front of God. And not only will I see him, I said to the right hand of the front of God,

but I'll get to see the city walls.

It's a place of refuge.

I'll get to see my mansion that he built for me.

In that past, and we see that. And also I want you to see in this passage of Scripture is that

in verse 20 verse 11 we see that Jesus Christ is the foundation. Look at verse 11. Let's

say hold on a second. I'm getting ahead of myself. Verse 19, excuse me, verse 19. Go with me, verse 19.

And it says, "And the foundation of the walls."

(sighs)

See, hold on a second.

The foundation?

Yeah.

Okay.

"And the foundation of the walls of the city

"were as garnished with all manner of precious stones.

You know, I looked up the word foundation, and I believe in all my heart that the word

foundation it will be Christ.

He will be the foundation of heaven.

And here's why I say that.

Go with me to 1 Corinthians.

And I don't think I'm taking it out of context.

Go with me to 1 Corinthians to 1 Corinthians 3. And verse 10.

Alright, it says there, it says, "According to the grace of God, which is given unto me as

a wise master builder. I, now the word I is referring to Christ, I

have laid a foundation that another build thereon. But let every man take heed how he build

there upon. Look at verse 11, it says, "For another foundation that no man can lay,

then that is laid, which is Christ Jesus." Verse 12, it says, "Now if any man built upon

this foundation, gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, stone, every man's work shall be manifest.

For the day shall declare it,

because it shall be revealed by fire,

and fire shall try every man's work

according to what sort it is."

And we'll want you to understand something here.

We see that the foundation here is referring to Jesus Christ.

And yes, there are 12 different types of foundations in the

by in heaven.

The walls of the foundation, there are 12 different types.

And each foundation represents a different type of stone that is

in the foundation.

In that foundation we see in heaven, we see that this foundation is given here,

and it's talking about how there is no other foundation

that man can lay and he's saying to us,

"Take heed how we build upon that foundation

"and we should be wise as a wise master builder

"because we should understand that that one day

"that the works that we have will be tried by fire.

And yes, they will be tried by fire.

And yes, what has been done with Christ will be left and the things that here on this earth

will be fade away and be burnt.

And yes, we as Christians, we get so much

wound up and so uptight in the things that we have here on this earth because we think

that is it.

And you know something, you know one day those things that we have on this earth will

vitially fade in the vitially, we can't take it to hell with, we can't take it to the

grave with us, will we die?

We were born naked, we will go out of this world naked.

And as we go out of this world, we can't take the wealth

of this world with us, but we can't go to a city that is a city

made out of gold.

And as we go to the city, it's a city of refuge.

It is a city of place that I desire.

It's a city of place that I'm going to see my Savior's city

in the right hand of the Lord of God.

It's a place that I know that I'm going to call home.

And we see that this place here in this passage of Scripture and we see how the foundation

is laid.

There are 12 different foundation stones that are being placed here in this foundation.

You know I'm so glad that the things of this world will eventually fade. I'm so glad to know that this is not the only thing that I'm looking forward to, the things

that I'm looking forward to is the things that I'm going to see in heaven one day.

And you know something, that is a picture of how we should be as Christians, we get so

wound up and so wrapped up with the things of this world. And you know something, we should not be wound up and so not so wrapped up in the things

of this world.

Bible says here, because it will eventually fade and it will eventually go away, but the

things that will be tried and the things that are manifested before God and the things that are done with Christ will be

stayed in the state before He home. And I want you to see that there is a foundation and that foundation that God is

laid for us as a Christian, we are to take heed and what we put upon that foundation because we can put gold, we can put hay,

we can put stone, precious stones,

we can put all these things upon that foundation.

But if it's a checklist and if it's a thing

that we are to do and it's a thing that we are to say,

if it's a thing that we are to live,

the way we're to live, then it's all in vain.

If it's not done in Christ.

And I want you to see, this is a, there are 12 different stones that are

being laid here in the foundations of heaven.

12 different stones.

And that represents Christ.

And I want you to see as Christians we should be aware of what and how we are to be living

as Christians.

The Bible says that we are to be wise masterbillars.

I'm not telling you to sew all your riches and get to the core. I'm not saying that.

What I am saying, what matters to God is what you're doing with Him.

That's what matters to God.

Not all you will.

Are we being obedient to what God has for us?

Are we being obedient to what God wants out of us? That's what he wants.

Nothing more, nothing less. Because one day we represent Jesus Christ, we represent

that place called heaven, we represent this place called heaven. As we represent that place

called heaven, we become ambassadors for Jesus Christ. And as we are to be ambassadors to Jesus Christ, if we're not

obedient to Him, how does the world look at us?

They laugh in mock at us because we act like they do.

And we need to be set apart and we are to live a holy and just life

before them.

And that's why the Bible says that we're to be wise master builders before Him.

And how He laid the foundations for us, and how He laid, and how He laid those foundations for us,

and what those foundations look like, and how He given us the footing to stand

on and how He gave us the rock that we can call home.

We can, how He gave us a fortress and how He gave us all these things that we call home.

And yet we don't live as though we, that it is a place that we call home. We're too busy.

As Christians, with all the other stuff in our lives, we get too busy, we wrap up in

the things that we're doing.

And we forget about God and we forget about what God has done

for us, and we forget about how, what he has changed

our lives.

And we'll say, we'll just push it off into the back of our

mind and say, oh, I just not a big important thing right

now.

I'll just do it this way.

It's no big deal.

And when it's fine, I'll live this way.

It's no big deal.

Because I know.

I know. know this is the

way I'm supposed to live and I know that I'm supposed to live this way and we

leave God out of this picture and as we see that the foundations it is a

foundation that is laid for us so that we

can have a place to stand.

It is a place of refuge.

It's a place that we can call home.

It's a place that we can have a firm foundation and footing of what we do and what we say

and how we live. And this foundation is a foundation of Christ.

And it is a foundation of Christ.

Then I want you also to see, go with me to Revelation chapter 21, verse 14.

Not only is it a foundation, but also in that same foundation,

there are 12 layers that God is laid out for us here in this foundation of heaven.

It says here in verse 14, it says, go with me to verse 14.

And it says in the walls of this city had 12 foundations and in them the names

of the 12 apostles of the land. You know, I think it's an honor. It would be an

honor for me if I was like one of the apostles

and the knowing that my name was going to be in the foundation.

Knowing my name was going to be in the foundation.

You know, I don't understand why the names are there.

I know that the apostles they lived, they could godly life.

Think it was Peter, was hung upside down and said that he was not worthy to be hung up right side up.

When they crucified him, he said, "I was not worthy to be crucified like Christ." So they hung him upside down.

Thomas was another one.

Paul was beheaded for his faith.

And John was left on the island of Patel's front dead.

They poured hot oil over it. And this is when he wrote

revelations. You know also that we also see in this passage scripture that the 12 tribes of Israel.

The 12 apostles do.

And also these 12 names that are written are going to be

John Paul, Peter, James, all the apostles that are given in the book and the

New Testament. They're going to be found in the twelve layers of the foundation. We see that the 12 apostles, you know, it was an honor.

You know, put yourself in Paul's shoes for a minute.

If he was or James or John, it would have been an honor to know that your name was found in the family.

foundations of heaven. I want you to understand something. This is for

eternity that we're going to be dwelling with him forever. This is a place

that we call home. This is a place that we call this is a place that we know

that we're going to have security and all our needs met.

and all our needs met.

This is a city of gold.

And I want you to see as this place, as we see this passage scripture on fold for us,

we see what is going to be like in heaven and how heaven and how beautiful heaven is going to be.

And I so long to go there. The older I'm getting, the more I realize that this world has nothing to really offer me, that's desirable. But we'll hold on to the things

around us that it like we do. We'll get all bent out of shape when something

doesn't go right and it perturbs in our way of living. You see there needs to be

a spiritual awakening in our lives, and

that spiritual awakening needs to realize that we're a sinner and that we need

him and there should be a stirring in our hearts and lives of what Jesus Christ

has done in our lives and what Jesus Christ wants to do through us.

to do through us. And that story only comes through having a hunger of what Christ and what Christ is doing. And it comes through reading His Word, it comes through praying, He comes through having a devotional time with Him every day. But we'll get all

bent out of shape when we're not, when something happens in our lives that we don't like.

Have you ever stopped to consider maybe God allowed it to happen?

Have you ever stopped to consider, maybe God allowed it to happen to stir your heart

up and to stir your life up to get you to your knowledge heal?

And what he is doing? In our lives, that's why the Bible says that we are to be wise master builders in what

we put upon it.

We represent the city of gold. We represent heaven.

We represent the place that I call home.

Now it is gonna be a beautiful place.

It's gonna be a beautiful place.

Then I want you also to see, not only is it, we see the foundations, there's gonna be 12 stones,

garnished with different types of stones that are gonna be laid in this foundation.

And the 12 tribes of Israel are gonna be also in the name, they going to be engraved in the stones or not 12-tops,

excuse me, the 12 apostles, I'll get it right, are going to be engraved in the stones.

Not only do we see that, but also we see that the city has 12 gates. Look at verse 21. Go with me down to verse 21. It says here.

It says, and the 12 gates were 12 pearls, were several gates, was a one pearl and the streets or the street of the city was pure gold as it were transparent.

It is going to have 12 gates on this place called home.

The 12 gates that is referring there is going to be as pearls. You know I've never seen

a pearl.

never seen a pearl, not bigger than that.

Can you imagine it's going to be a gate?

It doesn't give the description how big the gate is going to be.

Imagine it's going to be a massive gate.

There's going to be 12 of them. Now they will be there be 12, but there will also be, we see in the same passage of scripture,

there's also going to be streets, there's going to be a street of gold.

And that same passage is good, sure. It doesn't say streets.

It just says street.

One.

Now I don't know how that's going to look and what that's going to be like.

Whatever that's going to look like, I don't know if it's going to spiral up.

Or if it's going to be like a switchback, going back and forth like this.

Or if it's just going to be switchback, going back and forth like this, or if it's just gonna be just one street.

I don't know how that's gonna do,

what that's gonna look like.

But it's not only is it gonna be a street of gold,

but it's also going to be as transparent gold.

You're gonna be able to see through it,

and you're gonna be able to see through it and you're going to be able to see the beauty

of it.

And you know this is a place that I'm going to call home.

I'm going to see him sitting at the right hand and be fronting God.

And I'm going to see him.

I'm going to see that is when my faith will become sight. I'll be able to look on him and

I'll be able to see where the nail pierced hands. I'll be able to see the nail pierced feet. I'll be

able to see where they took that side and ran that spear into the side and I'll also be able to see his back. Were they with him 39 times? And all the scars that he took just from me.

That's when my faith will become sight. The moment I stepped into heaven, I breathed the breath

of fresh air. In the moment I see him face to face. I will see him and I know where my faith will become

sight and I will say, "How the Louie praise God." And I'll be able to see him sitting

at the right hand of Throne God. I'll be able to sing a song that the angels cannot sing.

What a savior. What a savior.

He is.

Not only will I be able to...

Not only will I see it's a city of gold, not only there's going to be streets of gold,

not only there will be there... 12 city of gold. Not only there's going to be streets of gold, not only there will be there, there's 12 gates of pearls.

Not only is there going to be mansions in heaven,

but also I will be able to see all that.

Then also I want you to see.

In the same passage of Scripture

go with me to verse 23 to 25.

It says here in this passage that the city needs no sign.

Look at verse 21 or 23.

It says, "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it. For the glory of God did light it,

and the Lamb is the light thereof.

Verse 24 says, "And the nations of them,

which are saved shall walk in, and the light of it,

and the kings of the earth, do bring their glory and honor unto it.

You know in Genesis chapter 1 it says in the beginning God created the heavens and earth

and earth was out form and void and darkness upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and God said, "Let there be light." And there was light. And the Bible says that there was

light. God created life for Himself on day one. And that same light that he created for himself is also the same

light that Jesus said that he was going, he came into this world and he said, "I am that

light." It's also the same light that I have put my faith in.

and trust in Jesus Christ and you know something that's also the same light that lighted him.

And you know something as we see in this passage scripture that same light that he's talking

about is the light that we are to go and tell the lost about Jesus Christ and what Jesus

Christ has done for them. But yet we get

so been out of shape when we don't feel like that it's not going the way we

want it to go. And we are so been out of shape when we don't like it.

Oh, we need a stirring of the Holy Ghost revival in our hearts and lives today.

And we needed to move and we needed to stir us up and realize that we're a sinner and

that we need Him and more than ever now and ever before. And we need to be moved by His presence,

as He moves us.

And we see that Nali does a son,

that there is no light, there is light in heaven,

and that there will be no night.

And the Bible says that there is,

there is no night, and that there's be no night and the Bible says that there is, there

is no night and that there's no need for the sun and moon. Those things will pass away

because God said that He is light. And we see that in heaven this is a place that we're

going to live and then we're going to dwell with him for eternity.

And you know, I have a hard time putting my understanding and my grasp of what is going to really be like a

how for eternity. And how eternity is going to be, what eternity is really going to be like. Man was never meant to die. Man chose to disobey God.

And when he chose to disobey God, that's when man died. When he disobey God. We were meant to live forever with Him.

And here we're going to live forever. You have ever stopped and wondered why man is trying to

cure the age?

Because man has never meant to die.

Man wants to live forever.

man wants to live forever. And the curse that God placed upon man is the curse that adept and held. And yes, there is an afterlife. And yes, there is an

afterlife. And what that afterlife looks like.

If you know Jesus Christ,

you're going to spend eternity with Him.

If you don't, you're going to spend eternity in hell.

There is no end between with God.

You can't live a good life.

You can't live a right way of living. In order to go to heaven. You

have to put your faith in trust in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. And call

upon Him for Him to save you. It's that simple and And is that easy that a three-year-old child can understand?

And I want you to see that, yes, we serve a God that has created heaven for us, and we serve a God that this city that we're going to go dwell with him forever, it's a city of

gold. It's a place that we can call home. Some may call it paradise.

Some may call it heaven. But I just call it home.

Transcribed by https://soundwise.ai