The King Invites Us To Reign With Him – Part 1 of 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. After the millennium, heaven literally comes down to earth in the form of the New Jerusalem. This spectacular city will house the redeemed of all the ages. That's what Jesus referred to when he said, in my Father's house are many dwelling places.

From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, if the New Jerusalem comes down to earth, does that mean that heaven will actually be here on our planet? Well Dave, it certainly seems so, and when you remember that the Bible says that all these things are going to be destroyed and then recreated, as 2 Peter would tell us, it will be on a recreated earth, an earth that is totally free of sin and the effects of the fall. All that we know for sure is this, that heaven is going to be bliss. It means that we will be able to see God directly without any sin coming in between. If we could just see what eternity is going to be like, I think that we would live differently.

Well, I want to emphasize that I've written a book entitled The King is Coming, and at the end of this program, I'm going to be giving you information as to how this book can be yours. For now, let us listen carefully as we discuss the future of all believers. Welcome to eternity. This is the last in a series of messages entitled When He Shall Come, events that will surround the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and a future in which all of us shall be involved. If you were with us from the beginning, you know that we suggest that it was best to look at the return of Christ in two stages. First of all, Jesus Christ comes for his church, and then there's the period of the Great Tribulation, the rise of Antichrist, and then Jesus comes in glorious appearing and stands on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem with his people, and then there's a thousand-year reign of Christ called the Millennial Kingdom. At the end of that, Jesus Christ delivers the kingdom to the Father, the Father again appoints the Son to rule and to reign. But also, if you were with us last time, you know that we spoke about that terrifying judgment called the Great White Throne Judgment, when all the dead of all the ages who are unbelievers will be judged personally by God.

Well, today we come to a very happy scene. It's the story of the New Jerusalem. It is the story of eternity, the story of heaven. There are three reasons why I'm preaching this. First of all, to give us some kind of a glimpse into eternity and what heaven will be like. I realize it is very inadequate. In some sense, it's like two infants in a womb talking about what they will be doing once they are born and are 25 years old.

They have no idea. I mean, it's a whole different realm, but we're going to try because the Scriptures invite us to try to understand eternity and our role in it. Secondly, I hope that those of you who are coming today with burdens, you are unemployed, you're going through a time of distress physically, a lot of pain, a lot of heartache, remember that eternity is coming. I want you to be encouraged.

I want you to live with eternity in mind. Last night, I called my mother, as I always do on Saturday evening, and my mother will be 102 years old in about a week's time. And as I have frequently said, and you've probably heard me say at the age of 102, she will tell you that she has no peer pressure, all right?

No peer pressure. But she asked me a question that she asks me every Saturday evening. She says, what are you going to preach on tomorrow morning? I said, mother, I'm going to speak about heaven. And immediately she said, oh, that will be glorious. And then she began to quote a poem in German about the beauty and the glory of heaven.

She's looking forward to heaven, very, very anxious, and actually thinks that God apparently has forgotten her address. So I want you to live for eternity, even before you're 102. Another reason is we're going to discuss who's in and who's out. Not everybody gets to live in the holy city. And this is not my decision. It's not my wisdom. It is God's. And we're going to look at what God's word has to say about it. Now, many years ago, when I was a lot younger, I memorized Revelation chapter 21 and 22. But I did so in the King James version of the Bible.

So when I quote verses from time to time, you may notice a little bit of difference, not a difference in meaning, but maybe a difference in word order in the older version. So I'm going to begin with Revelation 21, which is where you should turn to. And if you're listening by some other means, please find your Bible, Revelation chapter 21, and I'll introduce the first few verses. John said, I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and walk with them and they shall be his people and he shall be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain for the former things have passed away.

What a description. Let's begin right at verse one. I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

You remember what we learned last time? It's during that period between the millennial kingdom and eternity, the new heaven and the new earth that you have the earth being totally destroyed. Theologians debate as to whether the Bible teaches it is going to be obliterated or simply remade by fire. Either way, this is a new heaven and a new earth, a brand new universe that is free from every single taint of sin and curse. And this new Jerusalem that comes down as a bride adorned for her husband, that new Jerusalem is the eternal state of the redeemed. That is heaven.

When my father died two years ago, and when any one of us die right now, we do not yet go there because we need our resurrected bodies and the events that we've been talking about need to take place. And then we will be in that new Jerusalem that is coming down from God out of heaven as a bride. This bride, very, very beautiful.

You know, James Vernon McGee was an old Southern preacher that you sometimes still hear on the radio, even though he passed away many years ago. But he used to say, you know, I believe that God does a miracle, he said, because every bride is beautiful on her wedding day. Well, miracle or not, this bride certainly is full of bling, adorned for her husband, the new Jerusalem, sparkling, beautiful, scintillating beyond our imagination. Now before we ask the question of who is occupied in this building, who lives in the new Jerusalem, before we do that, let me isolate for you some things that aren't going to be there, and this is going to be very joyful for those of you who are suffering. You'll notice it says in verse 4, is it not that God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes? Actually, the Greek text says it like our translation says it, that God will wipe away every tear, as if to emphasize every single bit of sorrow, every issue that causes you concern. And then the text also says he will wipe those tears out of your eyes, as if God is getting at the very heart of what it is that troubled you here on earth, so that you can put it away forever. It's not as if God necessarily takes a handkerchief and wipes our tears.

He gives us understanding. He takes away all causes for sorrow, so that whether it is because of the regrets that we have had, or may it be because some people aren't in heaven that we hoped would be there, either way the sorrow is gone and it is gone forever. Furthermore, no death the Bible says. If you're a choir director, there is a possibility that you can continue your vocation in heaven.

If you're a funeral director, you're going to have to be retrofitted for something brand new. The whole idea there is no sorrow, no parting, no goodbyes. And then it says no crying, no mourning, no grief. And finally, for those of you who live with chronic pain, you ought to underline this in your Bible, and there will not be any more pain for the former things are passed away.

Anybody happy because of that? No more pain. Well all that by way of introduction. Now let's get right down to the issue. Who dwells in the holy city? The new Jerusalem. Well the answer of course is God and his people.

I quoted it a moment ago. Behold the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself shall be their God.

Wow. You'll notice that the older translations say that the tabernacle of God is with man, and here we have the dwelling place. Well either translation is good. The word actually is tabernacle because that's where God dwelt in the Old Testament times, you see. And so what the writer is really saying is that the tabernacle of God, the very dwelling place of God, now is with people.

Now to understand that, let's keep in mind that in Old Testament times, you recall it, don't you? God set up a whole structure by which people could come to him. There was what was known as the tabernacle.

There was an outer court. There was the holy place where priests could freely go, but then behind that there was the holy of holies, where the priest could go only on one day a year, the day of atonement. God was trying to signify to people that he was fixing a way by which he could connect with people who are sinners without himself being contaminated. That is the big storyline of the Bible. How does God dwell with people when they are sinners and he himself not be affected by their sin? So God says even though I exist everywhere, I'm going to be localized in the holy of holies.

That's where my glory is going to be seen. Now that tabernacle of God is now with men. That holy place, the holy of holies, was a cube. In a moment we're going to be finding out that the city of Jerusalem is a cube, a much bigger cube. Why the connection? The connection is simply this, that we are going to be dwelling in the holy of holies throughout all eternity in the very presence of God with no fear of being contaminated by sin because we will be holy and totally free of all sin forever. Anybody like that? If you don't like your sin, you'd have clapped.

If you like it, you might not have clapped for that one. Now, imagine the presence of God directly. You see, that's why it says here that there is no temple in it.

I'm in verse 22. For the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it and the Lamb is its lamp. Just imagine for a moment, folks.

Think it through. This will be our first experience with uncreated light. You see, it has no need of the sun or of the moon because after all, God is now the light and that light is uncreated. That's part of who God is. And here we will be in light and the scriptures make it clear, no need of the sun or of the moon. All direct, immediate access to God with no barrier in between, no need for a mediator.