Opening Ceremonies, Part 2

So when John writes here in verse 27, no unclean thing will enter this eternal state. You need to understand that means no unclean thing in us. Selfish impulses are gone.

So imagine it. Every aspect of our inner man will function in divine righteousness. Our minds will be clothed with divine righteousness, learning of God, submitting to God, loving God with singular, undivided affection. We will still be us, only perfected. Because heaven is perfect and you're not, all that is imperfect about you will be removed. Think about the sin and even the sinful urges that you battle every day. All of that will be gone.

You'll never have to deal with sin again. The Apostle John wrote about this in his description of heaven in Revelation 21. He said much more, and Stephen Davey is working through that passage in this series.

Today Stephen concludes a lesson he began yesterday called Opening Ceremonies, here on Wisdom for the Hearts. Jesus Christ on one occasion pulled back the curtains and his glorious light spilled down over Saul of Tarsus who was heading for Damascus to persecute even more Christians. And that ray of light emanating from the resurrected Lord was so brilliant and powerful it knocked him to the ground and it blinded him. And as he gave his testimony in Acts 22, he's relaying it to the audience and he said, I said, who are you Lord? And he said, I heard a voice from heaven saying, I am Jesus the Nazarene. He chooses the most despicable name he'd been given.

That's who I am. Can you imagine the city of glory radiating light with all of its brilliance? It will still have to be mediated for if we saw the fullest expression of all of his glory, we would be struck blind even in our glorified state. But somehow in the new body we're given, we're going to be able to see what we couldn't see now and it will be spectacular. In fact, the eternal city will blaze perpetually with his light.

Did you notice verse 25? For there will be no night there. Perpetual, everlasting glory.

No night there. Even when the earth's rotation carries or turns the city away from the newly created sun, the eternal city will still blaze with light. Now keep in mind and you may have to rethink this in your mind that earth, the solar system, the universe will be recreated.

There will be continuity as we've already learned from scripture between old and new, but the new will be perfected to last forever by the creative handiwork of Christ in this new creation. But you're thinking, now wait a second, we're told there will be no more sun or moon. We'll go back to verse 23 and look a little more carefully. And the city has what? No need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it. For the glory of God is illuminated and its lamp is the lamb. In other words, the glory of God will be uniquely displayed in this glorious city.

There will be no night there. The city of God will be ablaze with the glory of God mediated through the lamb of God. But that doesn't mean that outside the city, throughout the new heavens and new earth, the new universe, that the glory of God will not be uniquely diffused, shuttered so to speak, just as it is now. For in all of his glory he sits upon his throne, even here, so that the new earth, the universe will continue to operate as God created it to do so with the normal cycles and patterns of light and darkness, sunrise and beautiful sunset, evening and morning. Keep in mind by the way that God created the day and night. He created evening and morning. He created, he separated darkness and light before sin entered the world. And after creating all of that, he actually said it was what? It was good.

It's all good, very good in fact. Genesis chapter 1 verse 31, passages such as Psalm 145 or 148 and Daniel chapter 12, the early verses there imply the continuity between the old creation of Genesis 1 and the new creation of Revelation 21, which would include all of the animal kingdom, animals we've never seen before, the sun and the moon, planets and stars and a multitude of other created things that we will enjoy forever. We can barely begin to imagine recreated earth and all its beauty in the seasons displayed with all of their beauty unto the glory of God who created it this way. Let me go back to the Olympics for a moment. In 1908, the Olympic Games were moved from Rome to London because Mount Vesuvius decided to erupt. And for the first time in Olympic history, the opening ceremony included all the athletes marching into a stadium behind their nation's flags. It's quite a sight then, I'm sure.

It's certainly a sight now. I don't know about you, but every time I watch the Olympics, oftentimes I'll watch the opening ceremony until I just can't stand the glorification of evolution anymore and I'll usually turn it off. But I'll watch it enough and I love to see the American athletes coming into the stadium and the United States flag billowing. It just gives me goosebumps. And I also happen to love to see an American athlete winning the gold who is then standing on the highest platform above silver and bronze and in that tradition the national anthem of the gold medalist is played and if you've noticed, it is uniquely the American athletes who stand there most often with tears coursing down their cheeks.

I love my country and I love to see that take place demonstrated to the billions of people who are watching all around the world. What you have next in John's vision is an awesome sight where patriotism for the kingdom of God is now going to overshadow any other. It will now take precedence. Look at verse 24. The nations will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

This is I believe an opening ceremony. This is a procession that will occur at some time at the beginning of the eternal state. In fact, skip down to verse 26 where it says they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. Now there are some who believe that nations will continue from the millennium throughout the eternal state as immortalized humans who live on as nations and ethnic people groups.

I believe the exact opposite is being described here. John is telling us effectively that national identities and patriotism is going to be given in that ceremony to the one who alone deserves all loyalty and all glory and all praise. So you have people from every tongue tribe and nation entering the eternal city as it were in a grand procession becoming uniquely demonstrating that they are now and forever one nation under God. As you know it is the desire of the Olympic tradition to instill and reflect and enhance the brotherhood of all the nations.

It isn't always successful in fact it isn't fully successful is it. But the Olympic flag contains five interconnected rings as you've seen it symbolizing the five continents of our world. They are interconnected to symbolize the friendship of the nations who will demonstrate it by we would hope fair and friendly competition.

The rings are colored blue yellow black green and red and for a reason they're chosen because at least one of those colors appears on every flag of every country in the world. But as hard as the world tries. It cannot reach the unity of nations it has so long desired. And let me just add the barrier to that unity is not a race issue. It isn't a class issue. It isn't a color issue. It isn't an economic problem or a political problem.

It happens to be none of those. It happens to be a spiritual problem and a heart problem. You know we need we need a new heart.

We need a new heart. And for those who've been redeemed and had their hearts cleansed they the church can and should demonstrate this kind of unity regardless of race class color economic standing. It's happening on this campus it's happening in this assembly as believers from a number of countries and races are now worshiping. We're demonstrating and shadow we form what will be perfected in the day of Christ.

Brothers and sisters who live it out. Why is that possible because of our new heart through Christ. We don't do it perfectly.

We will do it finally and fully. But we have even now come to recognize that that Christ in Christ there are not many races trying to get along. We're actually a new race of redeemed. Jesus Christ didn't come to get all the nations act better toward each other. He actually came to gather up a new nation.

He came to find a bride and that bride is going to be made up of every tongue tribe and nation. Right now we're doing it imperfectly. But there in the future heavenly city and in that eternal state our love and fellowship is going to be demonstrated perfectly.

In unity and. And glory. You see this is the final and ultimate fulfillment of who we are as God's redeemed. Peter would say we have yet to fully experience it or I should say live it we will one day we are a chosen race no matter what race you come from. We are a royal priesthood. We are a holy nation. We are a people for God's own possession that we might declare the praises of him who call us out of darkness into a marvelous light for now we are the people of God. So you can just imagine the pageantry of this opening ceremony as people representing every nation come in representing now one nation under God. Can you imagine that procession. A procession into the father's house where there will be equality. No matter what class race economic standing. All equally significant all demonstrating the love and unity of Christ in and through them all coming to glory in their Redeemer Lord.

And so you have here. Kings he mentions the highest strata. To whom everyone bowed. You have you have diplomats representing nations and a diplomat in this pageantry and in this procession is going to walk arm in arm with a dirt farmer. A king is going to walk next to a custodian. As we glory in our sovereign Lord. I study this paragraph I couldn't help but think of one custodian.

I would imagine he'll be so far ahead in the line I might not be able to catch sight of him. He was the custodian who opened the doors for us at East Kerry Middle School. Faithfully.

Near retirement in fact I think he was well past retirement age but they kept him on. As we rented space in that schoolhouse where we began our services. That band room was our sanctuary. That home economics room was our nursery. My wife and others would go and pick the needles out of the carpet in that home economic room and prepare for the babies and we hope no mom would ever find out and so I'm not telling you.

The rest of the rooms including the mechanics shop. Were our Sunday school rooms. We used to give that old custodian. A Christmas gift every year. He seemed grateful to just be serving the church.

Always kind. Even as the church grew grew and more demands were placed upon him. He would come in his work clothes I'd try to get him to come in and he wouldn't.

Didn't feel it would be proper. He would often sit just outside the hallway and listen. He loved Christ. And he loved the church. One Sunday. I'll never forget it between Sunday school and church. I found him in the back mechanics room the shop where I had had gone back there to practice my sermon. Now I practice every Sunday at eight o'clock in the morning.

By eleven I have it down. I talked to him for a while and thanked him again for what he was sacrificing a widower. And he said to me something I'll never forget he said Reverend. Six days out of the week. This place is a school. But on the Lord's day. This place is a church. For the redeemed who loved Christ and his church you talk about a processional.

Talk about joy. So far we've learned from John's description in chapter twenty one that heaven is on earth the father's house descends to the newly created earth. That there is a new creation which will include. Everything God created in Genesis chapter one.

At least that much maybe more. Eternity includes we have already learned earlier in this book glorious music we've read some of the lyrics sung in earlier chapters and includes the father's house of gold and this amazing display of of light reflecting through precious gems. So we have architecture. We have design. We have building.

And we have unity and fellowship among all of God's redeemed. Forever. Now the question would be and I close with this question and answer. Is there any way any of this could get messed up. Is there anything that could ever invade it to ruin it.

Is it possible that something could get in the way. Do we have enough security measures. For this eternal existence you know the last Olympics I learned in my research spent one billion dollars just on security. The city of London preparing for the twenty twelve Olympics. Are planning to spend that and more as they prepare I read. For the greatest number of security risks since World War Two. They're literally preparing as it were for war. They're expecting as many terrorists as athletes. Can anything mess this up.

I mean to make matters more at risk John writes in verse twenty five. Look he says at the very end there the gates will never be closed. What kind of plan is that. The gates will never be closed. If this city were on the planet now there would be people trying to peel some gold off the streets. People siding up to the gates of Pearl a chip some away to get their hands on some of that gem stone.

What about here. Well the very fact that he says the gates will never be closed lets us know. And to his generation it would have been very obvious. It's another way of saying the father's house is entirely safe.

It is without any risk. For a city in the ancient world to have its gates opened meant that there was no threat to attack. But even then it had to depend upon the ability of its scouts and the honesty of its soldiers.

The Great Wall of China which kept invaders out for so long was finally breached as they walked through the open gates because they bribed one of China's generals. So when John writes that the gates are always open it's one of the clearest ways he can communicate to his generation. And for us to understand it that this city is without any threat to its survival. No threat of any sliver of sin ever. Because not only has God on the throne but every inhabitant has been changed. Look at verse 27 and nothing unclean. No one who practices abomination and lying shall ever come into it.

But only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. You see sin and sinners have been dealt with the believers are now confirmed in holiness in their glorified state. The sin nature has been eradicated from our glorified bodies so that John could actually write these startling words. We shall be like him.

We can't even imagine that. First John 3 verse 2. So when John writes here in verse 27 no unclean thing will enter this eternal state.

You need to understand that means no unclean thing in us. In our glorified state will be perfected. We will finally live without any sinful thought or even the possibility of it.

Selfish motive. Selfish impulses are gone. This is what Paul wrote in Romans 8 of the final state of our glorification. Verse 30.

So imagine it. Every aspect of our inner man will function in divine righteousness. Our minds will be clothed with divine righteousness learning of God submitting to God loving God with singular undivided affection.

We will still be us only perfected. In fact we'll have our memories. We won't forget who we were on earth. God evidently intends for us to remember the names of the twelve apostles and what that meant. The names of the twelve sons of Jacob.

Judah isn't going to go up and say I wonder who Judah is when he sees the engraving of his name. Jacob is still Jacob. Peter is still Peter.

We will be us only perfected which means there are going to be a lot of changes right. And for those who are married Susan and Tom will remember. Stephen and Marcia will remember. Jeff and Gwen will remember. Nancy and Leo will remember. Larry and Linda will remember.

You'll remember but you won't be married anymore. Nobody say Amen. And Jesus cleared that up when he said when he preached that we're going to be like angels in this regard neither married nor given in marriage. But we will still remember whenever we see each other whenever we see members of our family those who've trusted Christ believing children there will be a greater a more unique pure love for one another than ever before. Just as Jesus Christ remembered and loved his disciples after he was resurrected. So we will love our brothers and sisters in Christ after we are glorified with unique love. And we will also learn in heaven. We will not become omniscient so we're going to learn the names of other followers of Christ.

And hear their story. We will uniquely remember the fact that we celebrated his atoning work in this assembly. I used to go to church with you. We used to celebrate together the goodness of God. We studied the Bible together.

We served together. We're going to rejoice with what we've come through. And where we now are.

And who. We now are. And all of it without sin. Why because we will be made holy. One author wrote it this way listen our perspectives will be perfected and our consciences will be free from all guilt. Even though we remember our perfected. Memory and mind will appreciate the atoning work of Christ and that will only grow throughout eternity. We will forever enjoy living and serving with unrestricted freedom for the glory and pleasure of God as God originally designed and created us to live. And so then unlike the first creation this new creation will not have the potential of another Lucifer.

No potential for that. Everyone is confirmed forever either in unholyness or holiness. There will never be any threat or possibility of us slipping up in sin. In fact he refers back to the lamb. He refers back to the atoning work of Christ. And he says the inhabitants of this processional those who are entering to give glory to God or those redeemed whose names are written in the lamb's book of life. So just as God began his revelation of the eternal state at the beginning of Chapter 21 by telling us what would not be there you remember the no mores no more death no more mourning no more crying no more pain.

Chapter 21 ends the same way. No more sinful things including sin in us. No more sinners abomination workers no more lying. This is the city of God and sinners will have been dealt with forever except and left out except for those sinners who've come to the cross of Christ and have found in this lamb the atoning sufficient work for forgiveness and justification. And so one author wrote and with this I come to the end heaven is known for what it does not include and think of what that will mean. No funeral homes no hospitals no abortion clinics no divorce courts brothels or bankruptcy courts no psychiatric wards or drug rehab centers no child abuse rape or missing children no racial tension prejudice or drive by shootings no misunderstandings no injustice no depression no hurt feelings no emptiness or worry no physical pain either no accidents no heart monitors no doctors no nurses no vegetables.

Okay I added that one. No rust no false teachers no hurricanes no bad habits. We will never need to confess sin ever again. We will not need to apologize ever again. We will not need to resist Satan ever again and we will never have to resist temptation never ever again.

Amen. So in this final paragraph in Chapter 21 John informs us the heavenly city will be without any iniquity. Our own lives will be without any impurity and our worship will be without any interruption. What a promise what an opening ceremony for those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

This lesson is called Opening Ceremonies. Steven has one more message to go in this current series and we'll bring you that on our next broadcast. Between now and then I want you to consider how your life would be impacted if you set aside one year to study God's Word, grow in discipleship, take a trip and do some study in Israel and earn your master's degree in theological studies all in one year. The seminary that Steven leads offers a special program called Shepherd's Institute.

You or someone you know can experience all that I just described. This unique one-year program offers a life-changing opportunity no matter your vocation. Steven and the world-class faculty are eager to invest in you. Learn more at our website. Visit wisdomonline.org. On the bottom of the page is a link to Shepherd's Seminary and then join us next time for more Wisdom for the Heart. you