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 Sermon > Revelation Lectures |
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Title |
Revelation Lectures(91) - Revelation Lectures (91) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Revelation 21:21-24 |
Date |
2009-02-27 |
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Scripture
Revelation 21:21-24
[21] And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
[22] I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
[23] And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
[24] The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
In the last lecture, we took a look at the 12 foundation stones and 12 pearl gates in New Jerusalem.
I told you that these jewels along with pearl and pure gold have their own spiritual meanings.
For example, when someone's house is decorated with sardius, sardius is not chosen only because it's light and its color is beautiful.
It is chosen to present the heart of the owner who accomplished the sardius-like heart during cultivation on earth.
So, the fact that the house is decorated with sardius becomes great comfort and glory to the owner.
It is not only the jewels that have such meanings.
Even the smallest flower or leaf of heaven has meaning of its own that is delicately embedded by God.
Heaven contains the outcomes of the days that we had lived with all our hearts, minds, words, and deeds while on this earth.
And New Jerusalem becomes the evidence that God has gained His desired perfect fruit through Human Cultivation.
The 12 foundation stones are the evidences to prove that the hearts of God's children who enter the city are as beautiful as the jewels.
The pearl gates, in the same manner, prove that the children who pass through the gates accomplished patience like the pearl.
The size and the decorations of each house show how the owner loved God and by what kind of faith the person gave glory to God.
Since heaven is made according to justice like this, the days we live there become more meaningful and touching.
Now, Revelation 21:21 says, "The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass."
Even on this earth, there are many different streets.
There are asphalt-paved streets, stone-paved or grass-covered streets, or bare-ground streets.
New Jerusalem also has various kinds of streets.
There are jewel-paved roads, and flower-covered streets which look like a comfortable carpet.
However, the basic material that is used to make a street in New Jerusalem is pure gold.
The fact that the street is like transparent glass also shows the heart of those who enter New Jerusalem.
It means that those whose hearts are pure, clean, and sanctified can walk the streets.
To the extent people accomplish clean and pure hearts they can advance to the higher levels of heaven.
I also told you that the 'pure gold' of which the street is made spiritually means 'hope.'
You come to fight the good fight of faith every moment you live on earth.
Those who have hope for New Jerusalem can win every fight thanks to the hope, no matter what kind of challenge they come across.
In this way, only when you accomplish such a clean and pure heart with hope only for heaven, can you enter New Jerusalem.
And only those who walked the way of life on earth can walk the street of pure gold in New Jerusalem.
John 14:6 says, "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."
Jesus is the truth itself and the word of God. He became flesh and came to the earth. He became the way of life for us.
Only when people accept Jesus Christ as their savior and change based upon the word of God, can they walk the way of life.
When they go to heaven and walk the street of pure gold, they will remember their life's path on earth,
Whenever they walk the street of pure gold, their hearts are touched and they think, "Since I had hope for true things and walked the righteous path, I can walk this street."
Revelation 21:22 says, "I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple."
The thing that Apostle John was most curious about when he entered the city of New Jerusalem was the Temple of God.
He looked for the Temple of God and expected to see how beautiful the Temple of God would be since the city wall itself was so magnificent and beautiful.
To his surprise, the Temple of God was nowhere to be found.
It may be difficult for people to understand.
When people are cultivated in this fleshly world, they go to the temple of God to meet with God.
Of course, God is omnipresent, and thus He not only stays in a temple building but He is also anywhere and everywhere in the world.
1 Corinthians 3:16 says, "Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"
It means that God as the Holy Spirit is in God's children who accept the Lord, and thus our heart becomes the temple.
Even though the Holy Spirit is in our heart and God is anywhere in the world, people of flesh need a temple that can be seen and touched.
They want to set apart a separate place as a temple where God stays in order to meet with the invisible God.
That's why, the Old Testament says that God placed the Ark of God in the tabernacle or the temple, and made the people worship God and give sacrifices.
However, after Jesus completed the Law with love, the temple of God of the Old Testament was destroyed by the Gentiles.
The Temple where the Ark of God was located was the shadow, and Jesus Christ is that which is real.
Just as John 2:21 says, "But He was speaking of the temple of His body," the body of Jesus Christ is the temple.
Since the word of God itself and its true form, Jesus, came to the earth, God allowed the temple, the shadow, to be destroyed.
Because the Jews don't understand this fact, they still pray at the Wailing Wall for the Temple of the Old Testament.
By the way, even after Jesus Christ completed the Law, people still need a temple that they can touch.
People come to the temple, a church, and listen to the word of God, meet with God, and experience His works.
But we don't need to set aside a place to feel God in Heaven.
In New Jerusalem, we will be able to see the real body of God, and we can also meet with the Lamb, Jesus Christ.
No matter where we may go in Heaven, it is full of the glory of God.
The heart of God the Father and the Lord embrace the whole space of Heaven.
That's why we don't need a separate place for a temple, and it says "the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple."
There is another reason there is no temple in New Jerusalem is because there is no need for sin offering.
In the Old Testament days, it was very important to go to the temple of God and give the sin offerings.
However, those who enter New Jerusalem are the ones who resemble the heart of God and accomplish the perfect goodness.
They don't need to be bound to the law, and they don't need the procedure of atonement.
Therefore, the fact that there is no need for the temple in New Jerusalem tells you that the heart of those who enter New Jerusalem is not a heart that needs atonement, but it is the heart that is full of the truth.
The same applies to those who go to other dwelling places of Heaven other than New Jerusalem.
Even though they were not completely sanctified on earth, they take only the heart of truth to heaven, and thus they have no need to be forgiven.
By the way, is here anyone who remembers the message about the Grand Sanctuary in the past, and become curious about it in Heaven?
I told you that once we build the Grand Sanctuary and give great glory to God, the Grand Sanctuary will also be built in heaven.
And thus you may say, "You just said there is no temple in New Jerusalem, then what is this Grand Sanctuary?"
Please do not misunderstand.
The purpose of the Grand Sanctuary in New Jerusalem is not because we need a place to worship in Heaven.
Well, you may come to the Grand Sanctuary and participate in a worship service there.
However, conducting worship services is not a sole purpose of the Grand Sanctuary. The Grand Sanctuary in Heaven is built as a kind of a monument.
It is the replica building in memory of the Grand Sanctuary through which great glory was given to God on earth.
In the same manner, the replicas of the Sea of Galilee and Golgotha of the days Jesus ministry are also built in heaven.
By the way, for your reference, the church where we offer worship services is not a mere building, but a place where God dwells.
It is a sacred place in the name of the Lord.
Therefore, if you have faith, you will come to church in the neatest personal appearance and with a reverent heart.
You come to church with the same heart that you come before God.
Therefore, inside the sanctuary, there should be only the deeds of giving glory to God such as a word of God, prayer, praise, and testimony.
You should not speak of worldly things, joke, or act vulgarly in any way.
You should not conduct worldly business, either.
Parents should watch for their children so that their children will not speak evil words or do evil acts inside the temple.
You should watch for your language and deeds all the more in a sanctuary, and you should also remember that other attached buildings such as a church restaurant are also the temple of God.
If you don't value the sanctuary and act improperly in it, it is to act rudely before God, and you may come under the accusations of the enemy devil and Satan.
Now, Revelation 21:23 says, "And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb."
Dear brothers and sisters.
God placed the sun and the moon with the earth because they are necessary for human cultivation.
There is day and there is night on earth, and the light and darkness appear in turn.
Through this relativity, God allows people to understand good and evil, and the spirit and the flesh.
Since God is the Creator, He clearly knows about good and evil, and the flesh and the spirit.
He Himself is goodness without the slightest bit of evil, yet He clearly knows the attributes of evil. Even though He is the perfect spirit, He knows the attributes of the flesh that changes and decays.
However, the creatures, human beings, cannot understand evil and the flesh without experiencing them for themselves.
They understand the importance of health after they become sick.
They can give thanks for the good fortune from the bottom of their hearts only after they suffer from suffering and poverty.
Likewise, people can understand how good the spirit is only after they experience the flesh.
Only after they go through evil, can they realize how truly good goodness is.
The life in the Garden of Eden, where Adam had never experience evil, was incomplete.
Since he didn't know pain or misfortune, he couldn't feel happiness no matter how good his living environment was.
And thus, God placed the tree of knowledge of good and evil so that Adam could experience relativity.
Adam was a living spirit when he ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and when he ate of it was changed into the flesh, and began to be cultivated.
He experienced the sufferings that were due to sin, and the fleshly things which would decay.
He came to realize how good it is to live in God, and how precious God's love and grace are.
However, if your experience just ends in just experiencing the flesh, it's of no use.
Once you realize how useless the flesh is, you should be able to cast off sin and evil and return to the spirit.
If you can't, you will continue to stay in the flesh, and eventually fall into the eternal death, in other words, the fire of Hell.
However, people cannot get away from the darkness by themselves.
Since God already knew this, He had prepared the way of salvation.
It was to prepare His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and to send Him to the earth at the appointed time.
Those who believe the Lord and live in the Light will live forever in Heaven in the space of the Light.
There is no darkness in heaven at all, and there is no need for the sun, the moon, and stars.
That's because the light of God's glory is filling all of Heaven.
Revelation 21:23 says, "for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb."
It says the Lamb, Jesus Christ becomes the lamp of glory of God.
It means that the glory of God is revealed through Jesus Christ.
When things humanly impossible become possible by the power of God, it becomes glory to God.
In the beginning when there was nothing at all, God created everything with His word.
Then, John 1:3 says, "All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."
It means God created all things through Jesus Christ.
When God created a man, He was with the Lord. He also accomplished human cultivation and the providence of salvation with the Lord.
Most of all, it was Jesus who came in flesh to this earth and opened the way of salvation for us.
Likewise, we were created through the Lord, and we can walk the way of salvation and enter Heaven thanks to the Lord.
Moreover, so that we could receive answers according to our faith, it was Jesus Christ, our Lord, who broke the wall of sin that was blocking us from reaching God.
That's why we give thanks and glory in the name of the Lord when we give thanks and glory to God.
Likewise, without Jesus Christ, there is no salvation, no response from God, no blessings for us, and we cannot give any glory to God.
That's why the scripture says, "The lamp that illuminates the Glory of God is the Lamb, Jesus Christ."
Revelation 21:24 says, "The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it."
Here, 'the nations' refer not to Heaven, but the nations of this earth.
In Heaven, nations or races have no relevance.
Once saved through Jesus Christ, they are all children of God no matter which country or nation they are from, and no matter what their ethnicity.
When all of those who are saved from all over the world enter Heaven, they will walk by the light of God's glory.
Among them, 'the kings of the earth' refer to those who are in spiritually leading positions during human cultivation.
Now, does the leading position refer to such an important position as a pastor, elder, and senior deaconess?
It's not necessarily so.
Fleshly titles are not important, but you should have spiritual qualifications.
Jesus says in Matthew 18:18, "Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."
People may understand this, and they think that they will become great in Heaven if they are assigned to an important position.
Of course, if you are given an important position and become faithful to your position, you may become great in Heaven as well.
However, even if you are given an important position on this earth, it doesn't mean you are always acknowledged before God.
When you bind on earth, you should bind according to the truth, and then it can be bound in heaven.
For example, when someone receives laying on of hands as an elder, if he is properly qualified to receive the title, the Lord also lays His hand on him.
When seen with spiritual eyes, as he is sealed with the laying on of hands, the hand of the Lord is also laid on him.
However, in the case of an improper man, the Lord doesn't lay his hand on him.
Therefore, no matter how important a title you are given, if your heart is far from sanctification, and if you don't have proper qualifications, you cannot enjoy the glory of being great in heaven.
You will rather feel much more shamed because your spiritual ranking is lower even though the title on earth was high.
That's why James 3:1 says, "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment."
However, those who have cultivated their hearts to be as beautiful as the 12 foundation stones, even when they don't try to become leaders, they can be recognized as a leader by others.
They will also be recognized by God as honorable men and the kings of the earth.
Such honorable people don't come empty-handed before God, but with sincere offerings.
When an emperor of a great empire celebrated his birthday, feudal lords prepare precious offerings and came before the emperor.
To become a pleasure to the emperor they came with the best products of their country or hard- to-find treasures.
The offering that the kings of the earth give to God to please Him is 'glory.'
The scripture says, "the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it."
While they are cultivated on earth, they give glory to God by faith.
All their deeds of giving glory become their own offerings to God.
For example, Daniel chose to be thrown into the den of lions in order not to commit a sin of stopping prayer.
However, God protected him and he survived the den of lions without a single scratch on him.
On the other hand, those who wrongfully accused Daniel to kill him were crushed to bones by the hungry lions.
The king saw it and signed a decree to make his people give glory to God.
This testimony of giving great glory to God becomes Daniel's offering to God.
Of course, there must have been more situations in which Daniel gave glory to God in his life.
When you bring these testimonies of giving glory to God before Him, God becomes pleased and praises you before the citizens of Heaven.
Then, the all of the citizens of heaven together become pleased and praise you who gave such great glory to God.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Though we may live an eternal life in Heaven, no matter how much time passes by, we don't forget the days when we were cultivated on earth.
It is because all the materials that make up heaven are the outcomes and souvenirs from the days of cultivation.
When you pass the pearl gate, you will think what kind of years of patience you went through to enter into Heaven. When you walk the street of pure gold, you will think of the kind of faith and the way of life you walked.
It is the same with every blade of grass and each flower in your house as well as the building materials, decorations, and furnishings.
The deeds of the owners will be revealed through sculptures, art work, pictures and even the wallpaper.
Since your life course as a Christian is embedded in many parts of Heaven, how could you forget the days of cultivation?
As more days go by, your emotion and thanks for overcoming the days of cultivation well will be even greater.
And whenever you come before God, you will receive praise and honor for the testimonies through which you gave glory to God, and it will make you even happier.
What kind of glory are you going to bring before God in the future?
Are you preparing well for the offerings made to God, thinking "I've kept my faith, and given glory to God in my life"?
You don't need to be a speaker of a mega-sized handkerchief prayer meeting to give glory to God.
You don't need to be a chairman of Grand Sanctuary Construction Committee.
God takes pleasure from the glory that you bring before God whether it is great or small.
I urge you not to waste the time you've been given do your best every day.
I hope you will quickly accomplish sanctification, and be faithful to your given duties so that every moment of your life time can be accepted by God as precious offering.
May God call you, "My good and faithful son or daughter" and praise you so that you may come and stay close to the throne of God, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
[Amen] |
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