The Father's House, Part 2

A God of unimaginable extravagance. A God who loves to give and cares enough to remind us of his love. A God of splendor and creativity and colorful detail. A God of security and strength and opulence and lavishness. A God who sacrificed immensely for us and now gives us everything.

Communicates to us that this is a God of grace. If you've been listening to the last several broadcasts, you know that Stephen is taking you on an in-depth study of John's vision of heaven in Revelation 21. The lavish and generous grace that God bestows upon you is not only revealed in his relationship with you, it's also seen in the eternal home that he gives you. Today, Stephen has come to a section of Revelation 21 where God provides a glimpse of what heaven actually looks like. Stay with us as Stephen concludes a lesson he started last time entitled, The Father's House. We have every reason to believe that the redeemed were going to have, as Christ promised, a place in the Father's house, an apartment, a room, as the Lord said. But we're going to be able to leave the city to enjoy the new earth, perhaps travel to distant planets or even galaxies through God's recreated universe where we're going to repeatedly enter through those gates, perhaps for unique experiences of worship, maybe we'll assemble.

In Jonathan Edwards, the Father of the Great Awakening, believed that each local church would have a unique assembly before God the Father, which is kind of an interesting concept. So get along because this may last forever. And you're thinking, oh, I was hoping it wouldn't.

Well, it will, perhaps if Jonathan Edwards is right. There's going to be a unique demonstration. We're going to know each other. We worshiped with each other.

We won't forget. There are going to be seasons, no doubt, of corporate worship, maybe the entire body of redeemed ones. And then we're going to ask it to go on some assigned task or journey or to do something.

We're not told. But if you're interested in a house, you might look at it aerially, that is from above. You might look at it from the air. You're certainly going to inspect it from the curb. You're going to want to know if it has that curb appeal. You want to know what kind of material it's made out of. You're going to want to have an inspector then check out the foundation.

My wife and I bought our first home in Cary and the foundation had slipped and we didn't know it and didn't have it inspected. And that was that's a major, major problem to have. So you're going to want to do that. Well, that's exactly what John is shown next. Look at verse 14. And the wall of the city had 12 foundation stones. And on them, as we've learned, the 12 apostles' names are inscribed. Now, if you look down at verses 19 and 20, you'll see a description of each foundation stone. John writes in verse 19, the foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone.

Now, stop for a moment. You might think from reading that in the English language that what this means is that these stones are decorated with all kinds of gems. The language John is using is actually better understood to mean that each one of these foundation stones was each of them a unique gem. And he's going to give us the list.

The first one he mentions is Jasper. And because he seemed to describe it as crystal clear, even though for us it has a reddish hue, we'll say it's clear. Keep in mind, though, that when you look at these, all we've ever seen are little pieces of these precious stones. A big piece would be about that size. I've never seen a diamond on anybody's finger that big around.

They're usually this big around or this big around with a big setting, right? We see little specks of these gems. These are going to be foundation stones.

You can imagine how massive this will be. In fact, to give you a little bit of an idea, when Herod rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem, we're told by Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, that the foundation stones of that building were 70 feet long, nine feet tall, and eight feet wide. Now just think of a gemstone. Think of a diamond. Think of a topaz, as we're going to see, that large. Just stunning when you consider the fact that the light of God is going to reflect into and around and away from this display of beauty with these absolutely gigantic foundation stones.

Now you might take a pencil out if you're in the habit of writing in your Bible. I think it'll be good because you won't have to look into the cross-references to find out what color we're talking about. I'll give you the color of each gemstone as we go through these. The first is jasper. That's simply a clear stone, according to John's description. The second foundation stone in verse 19 is a sapphire that's deep blue.

Next comes a Greek word pronounced chalcedon, chalcedony. It's a word only found in the New Testament in this text, and we have to depend on some archeologists and some findings and other descriptions to help us understand exactly some of these colors. But this particular gemstone, I have learned, has a greenish blue color. The fourth foundation stone is an emerald. That's deep green. In verse 20, John mentions the sardonyx.

This is going to take a little more room to write if you want to write all the details. This is a white stone with bands of brownish red streaks going around it. A white stone with reddish brown streaks.

Next comes the sardonyx, which is deep red. The seventh foundation stone is the chrysolite. This is a gold colored gemstone, gold colored. The eighth gemstone mentioned is the beryl. It's a word that appears, again, only here in the New Testament, referring, most believe, to a gemstone that was teal, maybe teal, a little toward the blue side. The ninth gemstone is a topaz. That's golden greenish color, golden greenish.

Do you have any more space left? I'll keep going. The tenth is chrysoprase. I hope I'm pronouncing that right.

I had Wikipedia Audio Dictionary help me with these English words and the Greek word is a bit different. Chrysoprase. That's a pale green gemstone. The jessenth is the eleventh.

Again, think of these as gigantic. If Herod's was this big, imagine the city of God. This is the eleventh gigantic foundation stone and this is pale violet. Pale violet. The final foundation stone is the amethyst. This is rich purple. You talk about interior design. Think of it. Don't just read the list and think, well, that's nice. The brilliant light of God's throne and glory is going to pass through these different colored stones.

The whole city is see-through, so to speak, translucent and breathtaking. God is revealing to us that while we know little specks and chips, he's taking these precious gems and he is going to lavishly decorate with beauty and color the eternal home of his beloved, you. This is your house.

Now, another key question you're going to ask about a house is how many square feet it has. That gets a little more complicated, doesn't it? And it's going to get complicated in the text, so you're going to have to hang it with me.

Let me take you carefully through describing something very unusual. Verse 15 tells us that the one, this is the angel, who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod, this reed. We're not even exactly sure how long that is.

We have a guess. And measured the city. The city is laid out as a square and its length is as great as the width. And he measured the city with this rod 1,500 miles. And then he adds its length and width and height are equal.

Now, stop there. Because John writes that the length and width and height are equal, many believe this city, this house is in the form of a cube. I don't believe that's what John is writing. He simply says that the city has the same dimensions in three directions, length, breadth, and height. In other words, it is as long as it is wide and it's as high as it is wide and long. This could be a cube, but it could be a kind of a pyramid-styled structure. We've already studied this, and I particularly believe this view as we expounded on the Father's house that we saw in the Millennial Kingdom, the same structure that landed on the topography that had been altered as Christ reigned on, I believe, the top tier of that pyramid structure during the Millennial Kingdom. There are many expositors who believe that during the Millennial Kingdom, this city, this house is actually floating. It is hovering above Jerusalem, and then it comes down to rest on the new earth. I have problems with that view because the prophets seem to indicate during the Millennial Kingdom that it rests upon the earth. I believe it rests on the earth during the Millennial Kingdom, which means it's going to have to be raised off as earth is destroyed.

It will then descend, only the occupants will be full now. You have the Millennial saints who have to be glorified. They have to be immortalized.

They have to be, in fact, I believe, judged and rewarded according to that which was profitable. Now you have this house descending upon the new earth, only this time it has the entire company of the redeemed. And I believe a pyramid fits perfectly, not only with John's terminology, but what we've seen throughout history in the heart of man whose desire to unseat God's authority going all the way back to Genesis Chapter 10. So today you can travel to Mexico and to China and to Egypt, all the way from the time of Babel's Tower and the origination of the Zodiac in Genesis 10, where a rebellious man has attempted to define and build some kind of structure to epitomize his own glory. And we know the top tier of those ziggurats, those towers, those pyramids were dedicated as temples to the stars of the heavens. Rather than worshiping the Creator, they worshiped creation. Could it be that Adam and Abraham after him were told enough about this city? We're not told what they were told, but we do know that Abraham was looking for this city whose builder and architect was God. Told enough, perhaps, to pass down among the ancients so that those who would rebel against God like Nimrod would try and replicate the coming house of the Father, of God Almighty. There's a little doubt in my mind this is exactly what happened. Now for our study today, whether it's a cube or a pyramid doesn't have much difference, although John now gives us these dimensions.

So now you really got to stay with me, okay? The angel measures the wall one way and then another way in verse 16. They are equal to the height of the city. Now the angel measures it out to be, in the Greek language, 12,000 stadia. Now reading the word stadia is kind of like reading the word cubit.

You immediately go, I don't know how long that is and I need some help. The problem with my translation is they translate stadia into 1,500 miles. We don't even know how long a stadia is.

In fact, current research indicates that a stadia is about 607 feet long, which would make the city wall in one direction, not 1,500 miles, but around 1,300 miles. Now there's healthy debate about John's description. One side argues that John is giving the length of each side. Others debate that John is actually giving us a combined total of the sides and height, literally, as it were, how much space this house comprises. In fact, if you look closely at verse 16 again, John doesn't tell us that each side, in my translation, is 1,500 miles. He tells us that the length, width, and height are equal. Notice again that verse. The city is laid out as a square and its length is as great as the width.

Now note this. And he measured the city with the rod 1,500 miles. And its length and width and height are equal. To put it in the words of a mathematician, John is actually, I believe, giving us three dimensions, which means that 1,300 miles refers to a cubed measurement. It's 11 miles times 11 miles times 11 miles, approximately 1,300 miles.

In other words, let me say it this way. The angel is measuring one wall length and it's 11 miles long. He turns a corner and it's 11 miles long. And then he says, by the way, it's that tall as well.

He says the height is the same distance as the length. The total measurement of the city is 12,000 stadia, which is, as we understand it today, right at 1,300 miles. Now, what kind of house would this be? How big would a house be where one wall is 11 miles long and then you turn a corner and you walk another 11 miles and you turn a corner at its base and it's another 11 miles and you finally come around and it's another 11 miles? I thought walking from my office over to the children's building was enough of a walk. This is a walk. And then, by the way, the house, its top tier is 11 miles high.

Just how big is this? Well, for those, by the way, who think that I might be inclined to believe this is the measurement and it's cubed because I have trouble believing it's 1,500 miles in one direction and 1,500 miles high. I don't have a problem believing God can do that. God could do that with one arm tied behind his back.

There's no question about him doing any of this. But let me try to describe to you how big a house is that's 11 miles long, wide, and high. Right now on our planet, there is a tower. It's the tallest tower on the planet. It's a tower in Dubai on the coast of the Arabian Gulf.

You and I have invested money in helping build that tower. It happens to be 2,625 feet tall. It's really tall.

In fact, I got this all online, sent to our communications team. We provided the PowerPoint and I've seen some pictures where you're at the top looking down. This is really tall. The Sears Tower is less than half its height from what I can remember. But this is not anywhere near the height of the Father's house. The tallest mountain in the world.

Let's take a look at that. Mount Everest. It's really tall, 29,000 feet, stretching in its magnificent size into the sky. Still not nearly as magnificent as the Father's city of gold. In fact, if we could compare those three structures, the tallest skyscraper tower there in Dubai is at the bottom right-hand corner of that screen that you can barely see.

It's a little red, looks like a needle. Then you have next to that Mount Everest. And then you have next to that an 11-mile high house.

That's a pretty big house. It's towering. In fact, it reaches up through the atmosphere into the troposphere.

Oh, and by the way, the reason I didn't put the Biltmore on this disk is because you wouldn't be able to see it. Here is the city of God, the Father's house, towering 11 miles into the sky. From what I've read, the atmosphere stretches up about 11 miles.

It's interesting to me. And then the troposphere begins. It's as if God's house rises to the very top level of the atmosphere as if to communicate there is no longer a prince of the power of the air. I now am sovereign. He controls everything.

He's the God of the earth, the air, in fact, even beyond and all of the universe. Now, if you're going to buy a house, you'd want to see an overall picture of it. You'd want to make sure it has curb appeal. You'd want to make sure the materials are well chosen. You'd want to make sure the foundation is secure. You'd be interested in the interior design, colors of the walls. They would either turn you off because you know you'd have to paint six of those rooms or maybe they'd be just fine and you'd think that's exactly what I've looked for all along. But you'd also want to walk up the front sidewalk and you'd want to take a look at the front of the house and you'd want to see the front door.

That's exactly what John will do here. He has, in fact, been shown several front doors. We've already noted there are 12 of them, three gates on each side of the base and the artist has measured them out, three facing you from the screen. Now, John adds one remarkable detail to the front doors of this palace. Note verse 21, and the 12 gates were 12 pearls.

Each one of the gates was a single pearl. Now, back in verse 17, I'm sorry, here comes a little more math, we are given the thickness of the wall, which comes to be around 144 cubits, which is what we're told, translated into English in terms of feet, which I find easier to comprehend. That's about 250 feet thick. Now, remember from this pulpit to that back wall is about 80 feet thick.

The wall of the Father's house is 250 feet thick. So you can imagine the size of those foundation stones that, by the way, you can see because it's all translucent and all of the light is sparkling everywhere. And John then tells us, in those gates there at the wall, which is 250 feet thick, you have hinged at each gate a single pearl matching then the thickness of the wall, which then allows us to figure out something just as staggering as a city that stretches a house stretching 11 miles high, these gates. Based on the language here and the width of the wall, each pearl then would have a diameter of 250 feet. Now, at this point in time, I'm needing help, and so I call the smartest mathematician that I know in the county, and she does some figuring for me, and she attends church here and was very kind to me, and she helped me understand what size pearl this would be if it had a diameter of 250 feet.

So that you don't fall asleep on me, let me explain it to you this way. We're sitting in an auditorium right now where we have about 1,400 seats where we can pack that many people into one service. If we have to, we can stretch it all out and we can get about 1,400 in all around the corners. If we decided to take a crane and grab onto one of those pearls and drop it into this auditorium, we'd have a problem because it would not fit, that one single pearl would not fit in this auditorium. As a matter of fact, what we have to do is we have to get in our cars in order to understand this and travel to the RBC Center. The RBC Center is where the hurricanes play hockey and where NC State tries to play basketball, okay? Now if we had a crane and we got a hold of one of those pearls, back with me now, okay?

Back with me, I just wanted to wake you up. All right, now that place seats 19,000 people, and we decided we'd drop one of those pearls, but we still have a problem because we need an auditorium, an arena that seats 37,000 people. We need two RBC Centers expanded, and then you could drop one pearl into that structure. Now that's a front door.

That's a house. Can you imagine? This is what John is seeing, but I ask this question, why pearls? Why not diamonds? Why not another one of these gems? Why not a gemstone we haven't mentioned? Why a pearl? I think there's significance to this, that pearls would be the gateway into the capital city of heaven. You know, all of the precious gems that we've cataloged today, the pearl is the only what we call precious gem mentioned here in this text, which is formed by living flesh. The little oyster receives an irritation like a cell phone, and it takes that cell phone, it takes that grain of sand, and it layers over it and over it again and again until it builds a little pearl. That pearl speaks of beauty born out of pain. You might say that a pearl is the answer of the oyster to that which injured it.

Now think with me about this. Heaven, isn't it, is God's answer to the suffering of Christ. John Phillips wrote it this way, a wonderful British expositor. He said, as the believers come and go through the gates of glory, they will be forever reminded that access to God's home is only because of Calvary. Think of the size of these gates. What gigantic suffering is symbolized by those gates of pearl. Throughout the endless ages, we shall be reminded by those pearly gates of the immensity of the sufferings of Christ. Those pearls hung eternally at the access roots to glory will remind us forever of one who hung upon a tree and whose answer to those who injured him, his answer to all who've sinned against him is to invite them to share his home forever.

That a wonderful thought. So what is our tour of this house thus far reveal to us about God? Well, what speaks from these vistas of our eternal home tells us that our God is a God of light and resplendent glory.

That our God is a God who appreciates ceremony and wealth and royalty. He's a God of accessibility and openness. A God who measures carefully and designs thoroughly. A God who demonstrates truth with sentimental value. A God who doesn't forget names. A God of unimaginable extravagance. A God who loves to give and cares enough to remind us of his love. A God of splendor and creativity and colorful detail. A God of security and strength and opulence and lavishness. A God who sacrificed immensely for us and now gives us everything. And above all, it communicates to us that this is a God of grace. Grace.

It's because of Jesus Christ. These gates are going to be open for us. It is because of grace that we're going to be able to enter into the Father's house that we, this is our house. This is our place. We enter and we will one day, the celestial city of God.

That was Stephen Davey and a message from Revelation 21 that he called the Father's house. I hope that looking at what God has in store for you has encouraged you today. If it has, we would sure like to hear about it.

We'd enjoy interacting with you. If you have a comment, a question, or would just like more information, you can send us an email if you address it to info at wisdom online dot org. You might find it interesting to go online and look at what other people have asked and read Stephen's answers. It might be that someone had the same question you have, but anytime you have a question regarding the Bible or the Christian faith, send that question to info at wisdom online dot org. Once Stephen has answered it, we'll add it to the collection.

Of course, you can also use that email address if you have a question or a comment about our ministry as well. I hope we hear from you today and I hope you'll be back next time for more wisdom for the heart. I'll see you next time. I'll see you next time.