The Beauty of Heaven

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A e e e e Isles, beautiful, beautiful sights, or some of the great cities of the world, Rome or Athens. Maybe it's not a place at all, maybe it's a sunrise or a sunset, beautiful, a starlit night or the face of your grandchild for the first time, the face of your child when you look into the beauty of a baby and the creation of God that you hold in your heart and hold in your arms. So many beautiful sights and there are so many good things to see on earth and we're grateful for that, we're grateful God created this earth in beauty and His glory is expressed throughout mountain ranges and majestic seas and magnificent cities and places and of course people that we love.

There are many beautiful things on earth. I heard about a little girl who was talking to her mother one evening and she looked up and seeing the beautiful night and the stars and the moon, she said to her mother, Mommy, if the wrong side of heaven looks so good, what must the right side of heaven look like? Well we want to talk about the right side of heaven, which is the heaven of heaven, the New Jerusalem, the millennial kingdom of God, the eternal state, condition of every believer in Christ and it is a beautiful sight, the most beautiful because anything on earth pales in comparison to what we will see when our eyes see Jesus and the beauty of His presence, when we see the beauty of heaven, yes heaven is a wonderful and beautiful place. The Apostle John wrote it down in these chapters and really throughout the book of Revelation, he was given a glimpse of this glory and God told him to write these things down, to preserve them for generations so that God's people could be encouraged in this and in effect in chapters 21 and 22 of Revelation, it's a kind of virtual tour of the new heavens and the new earth. It's a flyover in one sense because not everything is here of course and when you read the book of Revelation, when you read the passages that we're about to read, they're filled with images and illustrations and metaphors and prophecies and so on and sometimes we're asked, when you read these stories and these scriptures regarding heaven, streets of gold and gates of pearl and majestic diamonds and jewels and all the rest, is that literal or is it just spiritual?

The answer is yes because every image is illustrative of something even more real than we can know or understand. Heaven is beyond our comprehension and beyond our imagination though it should not be beyond our contemplation, we should think about heaven and so John gives us this prophetic word in Revelation 21. Let's read to begin the first several verses at verse 1, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth has passed away and the sea was no more and I saw the holy city, this is the heavenly 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, God Himself, take a breath there, God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, every one of them, personally. He will wipe away your tears 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, that's the Lord Jesus, behold, I'm making all things new and He said write this down for these words are trustworthy and true, yes they are, the beauty of heaven. He is making all things new which means that the heavens and the earth will be renovated for the redeemed and this city, this heavenly and holy city described here will be coming down and this is in the future, the millennial kingdom of God when God will renovate the earth and the heavens and the heavens and the earth will become as one and that's what is known with theologians as the eternal state, your condition eternally with God.

That's what he's talking about here, coming down out of heaven. And he says it's like a beautiful bride, that's verse 2 also in verse 10. Now one of the best sights in my lifetime was to see my young bride Deb coming down the aisle at the First Baptist Church of Mineral Wells, Texas on May 22, 1970 and you know every groom can say that and should say that. And John said when he saw the holy city, the heavenly city coming down, this city was like an adorned bride for the people of God. Of course we are the bride of Christ and we are citizens of this city and members of this family and participants in this beauty, we're there, we're right there and it's real.

Just as a bride comes down without blot, without blemish, beautiful, breathtakingly beautiful, when the heavenly city descends, the new Jerusalem, the new heavens, the new earth is going to be a beautiful and wondrous sight to behold, like a diamond in the sky, dazzling like diamonds and emeralds and rubies, scintillating and glorious. The capital city of heaven is the new Jerusalem and Jerusalem of course is an important, very important city in all of the history of our faith, the history of the Bible and the history of the world. So Jerusalem is important in history, it's important in prophecy.

Even today though it has been decimated many times through the years and there are ruins still everywhere to see, 17 times the city of Jerusalem has been defeated and destroyed, left to rubble and 18 times the city, the people have gotten up again. Because God's hand is upon Israel and the people and this nation. The Bible today, the Bible proclaims that Israel will be and is the geopolitical center of the earth. Ezekiel 5, 5 says, I have set you, Jerusalem, in the midst of the nations. In other words, Jerusalem is the touch point, it's the reference point for the entire earth. We're also told in the prophetic word that Jerusalem will be a stumbling block to the nations and we know that's true. So much crisis and so much division as a result of Jerusalem and people's fight to maintain Jerusalem and power and control in Jerusalem. That's all in the plan of God and ultimately Jesus our Lord and Savior will, just as He ascended from the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, will descend this same Jesus, taken up from you into heaven, will come again in the same way that you've seen Him go. And He will return to Jerusalem and establish His eternal millennial kingdom.

That's what this is talking about. Revelation 21, 10 speaks of the great city of our God and what a city it is, it's a community of God's people. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, the beauty of heaven. Even in life's heaviest moments, the promise of heaven holds out an encouraging hope for you today. And when you understand what your future with God will be like, the burdens of the present feel lighter. That's what Pastor Graham's book, Heaven, is all about.

And it's why we want to get a copy into your hands today. Heaven is our thanks for your gift to help share the truth of the gospel to more people around the world. So call now to request your copy of Heaven when you give. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627.

You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is JackGraham.org. Now let's get back to today's message, the beauty of heaven. We live in a sin-sick world, an ugly and broken world. I've already said there are many beautiful things on earth that we enjoy. I love living here.

I'm grateful for the beauty. We see the good in people. We see good neighbors being good neighbors to others all around, whether it is a crisis, a natural disaster. We see people rallying. We see a lot of goodness, don't we?

And we can celebrate that. But we also know that there's a tremendous amount of ugliness and brokenness in our world. There's so much of it. Our world is filled not with beauty, but with brokenness. And that's because of the thing called the curse of sin. Because of sin, sin has shattered the human condition.

And our world is in trouble because of sin and there's so much of this darkness in the world. In 1971, John Lennon wrote a song well known about the future and he spoke of a utopian world in this song. He pled for a place that would be beautiful and lovely, he called it Imagine.

And in it he crooned a world without religion, no God, no heaven, no hell, but just a perfect world in perfect peace, void of religious strife and human division and all the rest. Imagine. Imagine there's no heaven. Imagine there's no hell. He wanted something more, something better.

And yet on December the 8th, 1980, John Lennon was gunned down in New York near his apartment in Manhattan by an assassin. And he was a direct hit to the ugliness and the darkness of a world that has gone astray. There's no world without God.

There's no future without Him. Everything in this present condition of life is marred and scarred and charred by sin. The world is broken, filled with broken dreams, broken hearts, broken promises, broken marriages, broken families, broken communities, broken bodies, broken hopes and the rubble we see it everywhere. The ruins are everywhere. Now verse 12 begins the description of this heavenly city. Verse 11, we need to note that, it says, having the glory of God, its radiance, like a most rare jewel like Jasper, clear as crystal. So imagine in your mind this crystal city, this celestial city, and it had a great high wall and the wall of the city, verse 14, had 12 foundations. And verse 15, and the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold and measuring the city and its gates and its walls.

And so verse 16 is worth noting. The city lies four square, in other words it's a cube, it's a crystal cube. Its length is the same as its width and he measured the city by his rod 12,000 stadia, its length and its width and its heights are equal and he measured its wall 144 cubits by human measurement which is also an angel's measurement.

Angels have their own measurements I guess, but they're similar to human measurements. But here is this city and the size of it is astronomically large. Here's the geometry of this thing, 1500 miles, that's the distance described here, in every direction and the measurement is of a cube. Now according to the scholars, therefore, when you add it up, the square miles of the cube is 2,250,000.

That's just on the ground. That doesn't consider the width and the height and it's estimated that approximately 30 billion people have lived on earth since its creation, 30 billion, give or take a billion or two. So that would mean that there is plenty of room in heaven if all 30 billion went to heaven and we know not everyone goes to heaven. There would be over 200 miles per person of living space and that's just in the heavenly city. Remember, this is just the capital city. We'll have all of the universe, the heavens to explore and this is the capital city but there is plenty of room.

The point is, there's plenty of room for the family of God to include everyone who follows Jesus. There means — that means there's a place and a space for you, reserved in heaven for you who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's magnificent to me, the wall was built of jasper and the city was pure gold like glass. We see, I've heard about a city with many colors and the God who painted the wings of a butterfly, who blended the colors of the rainbow, who is the light of the city and reflecting His radiance, these gorgeous gems, is describing just how beautiful this place is going to be where we're going to spend eternity.

Even the streets, we're told, are made of gold. Verse 21, and the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl. This is the reference to the pearly gates. They're really not pearly, plural, they're pearl gates, one pearl. And you know how a pearl is made, right?

An oyster is irritated, the creature inside the shell is irritated by some sand or debris and as a result, the creature secretes a fluid which surrounds the irritation, the pain and the hurt and it becomes a pearl. So a pearl is birthed in pain. And to me, that always signifies the fact that the entrance to heaven remind us forever of the price that was paid at the cross. The pain of the cross, the suffering of the cross, and the same hands, nail scarred hands that open the gates of grace will open to us the gates of glory.

Indescribably wonderful. Streets of gold, word here is translucent gold, see through gold. Yes, heaven is going to be an enriching and elevating place. So many things beautiful about heaven and of course, He is the God of wonders who is making it. He is the Lamb who is the light of the city, no more night. And John, when it comes to describing the heavenly city, what he is seeing there, it's interesting that he tells us some things that are not there and in some ways, it's easier to describe heaven by what is not there than what is there. And he says, what is not there, verse 4, no more tears, no more terrors of death, no more crying, pain, suffering.

Why? No more sin. Had there been no sin, there would have been no suffering.

Had there been no suffering, there would have been no death and this is the place where death has died. The risen Lamb of God reigns, radiates from the throne of God and it is His beauty that attracts us. It is His glory that draws us in.

And yes, we will see His beautiful face. And when you get down to it, it won't be streets of gold or gates of pearl or translucent crystal cities that will be the main attraction for us in heaven, but it will be the beautiful face of Jesus. Some of the great preachers of yesteryear brought sermons regarding the beauty of God.

We need more sermons like that. The beauty of God. The beauty of Jesus. And one glimpse of His dear face, all sorrows will erase when we see Christ. Done a lot of funeral services in my time, seen a lot of tears, a lot of broken hearts. People bury their loved ones and have their hearts with them. But in heaven, there will be no funeral processions down the streets of gold. There will be no more sad goodbyes, no more tears staining our cheeks because we will live in the perfect bliss and beauty and blessedness of Jesus. We will see His face.

I wish I could describe it for you better. Dr. R.G. Lee, Robert G. Lee, the preacher of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee was one of the greatest preachers of a generation. He was a magnificent orator type.

And boy, he could paint a picture. I got to hear him preach when he was 92 years of age. And even then, I mean, he just, he would get up and say things like, and the moon was blossoming like a yellow junkwell in the garden of the stars.

Now if I said something like that today, you would laugh me off the platform. But you know, that was that era in that generation and he was so descriptive and his vocabulary was truly extensive and it came time to die and Dr. Rogers, Adrian Rogers, his pastor who succeeded him at Bellevue, many of you know Dr. Adrian Rogers, also now in heaven, went to see him. I believe the story is he took Billy Graham with him and they went to see Dr. Lee on his deathbed and Lee drew them up close and said, let me tell you something, I never did it justice.

I never did it justice. Now if anybody did the descriptions of heaven justice, it would have been Lee. But he said it's more beautiful than you can imagine. A few days later, his faith turned to sight and he saw it all. And so would you if you believe and trust in Jesus. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, the beauty of heaven. No matter what struggles you're facing today, you have hope in the promises awaiting you in heaven. And God calls you to share that hope with others today. That's why we want to encourage and inspire you today by sending you Pastor Graham's book Heaven. This exciting book takes you straight to scripture to help you see all that awaits you in the life to come and how it impacts your life today.

You'll find hope for today and courage to share that hope with others. So don't wait to request your copy. Heaven is our special thanks for your gift to help boldly proclaim God's word through PowerPoint. So request your copy when you call today. Call 1-800-795-4627, that's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is JackGraham.org. Pastor what is your PowerPoint for today? Life today runs 100 miles a minute, it's Mach 5. And from the moment we wake up and the moment we finally put our heads on the pillow there are so many things, thousands of things maybe that are vying for your attention. But it's in the midst of all the stress and all the hustle and the hurry of life that we need to seek God's peace and God's grace and the promise of God's word and wisdom. And that's why I want you to spend time with the Lord every day growing in your faith, developing as a disciple and follower of Jesus. And the word of God in your life will help you develop spiritual muscle and strengthen you as you live the Christian life. This is the reason I want to really encourage you to get my daily email devotion PowerPoint today. We take God's word, a specific point of it and a promise in God's word and we deliver it with an application every single day. So many write to me or let me know how much the daily devotional means to them.

And so I believe it will be something that would add blessing and strength to your life, help you manage the problems and the stresses and the stresses of life. PowerPoint today will help you get the most and the best out of your life as you walk with Christ every day. So here's all you need to do to get the daily devotion PowerPoint today. Visit Jack Graham.org, Jack Graham.org and sign up for PowerPoint today.

That's Jack Graham.org. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's book, Heaven as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627.

That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. Join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can get a glimpse of God's awesome glory. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.