New Jerusalem(16)
John 13: 32
“if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately.”
Introduction
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
those who are attending the service on the Internet all over the world, and television viewing audiences,
This is the 58th session of Heaven sermon series. I will continue to explain about the biggest castle in the area of the Holy Spirit in New Jerusalem.
In the last session I mostly talked about the main house.
Today, I will talk to you about other buildings and facilities there.
To explain everything there in detail, it will take many hours.
But what you have heard so far about the beauty and happiness of heaven is already enough for you.
The more important thing is that we should accomplish heavenly kingdom in our heart.
It is to make our heart a spiritual heart that has no sin or perishing flesh at all, and that is like heavenly kingdom itself.
This series of Heaven will end with the next session.
If you have some sense of loss about it, I urge you to listen to this message carefully.
It’s because a castle in the area of the Holy Spirit has most of the facilities that you would like to enjoy in heaven.
Main
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the last session, I was talking about the main house of a castle. At either side of this main house are located sanctuaries for worship.
They are a place to worship God for those who visit this castle.
But the worship in heavenly kingdom is quite different from that of this earth.
In heaven, we won’t have specified formalities of worship but just glorify God the Father with new songs.
Then we will have deeper emotions in our heart and we will be filled with thanks and joy.
Other than these sanctuaries, this castle has a building that has exactly same shape with a certain building on earth.
The owner of this castle received great duty of God to build a gigantic and grand sanctuary, and the same kind of sanctuary is also built in New Jerusalem.
The owner of this castle longed to have God’s Temple so much like David in the Old Testament did.
There are many buildings in the world, but there isn’t really any building that shows the dignity and glory of God. He always felt sorry for this fact.
So he had such a great fervor to build a sanctuary that is only for God the Creator.
God the Father accepted this longing heart and explained to him in so much detail the shape, size, decorations, and even interior structures of the sanctuary.
It was just impossible with human thoughts, but he acted only with faith, hope, and love, and finally, the Grand Sanctuary was constructed.
This Grand Sanctuary is not just a building that is splendid and big.
It is the crystalloid of tears of energy of those believers who truly love God.
In order for this sanctuary to be built, the treasures of the world had to be utilized. The heart of the kings of nations had to be moved.
And to do this, the powerful works of God that go beyond human imagination were the most needed.
The owner of this castle overcame such difficult spiritual battles by himself to receive this kind of power.
He believed in God who makes impossible things possible with only goodness, love, and obedience, and prayed continually. As a result, he built this Grand Sanctuary that was acceted by God with so much joy.
God the Father knowing all these facts built a kind of replica of the Grand Sanctuary in the castle of this person, too.
Of course, the Grand Sanctuary in heaven is built with gold and jewels that are more beautiful than materials on earth beyond comparison, though the shape is the same.
When this house owner sees the Grand Sanctuary in his caslte, how emotional he will become!
He will give thanks for the love of God the Father and give all the glory to Him.
In this castle, there is a performaing hall which looks like the Opera House of Sydney.
In the front of this building stretches out a big lake, and it seems the building is floating on the water.
When the water fountains shoot up the water from the lake, those water drops will fall giving out lights like jewels.
The performance hall has a splendid stage decorated with many kinds of jewels and also many seats waiting for audiences.
Here, angels will perform in beautiful costumes.
Those performing angels will dance in transparent and shining dresses like wings of dragonflies. Each of their movements is spotless and beautiful to perfection.
There are also angels that sing and play musical instruments.
They play such beautiful and sweet melodies with sophisticated skills and technics.
But even though the skills of the angels are so good, the aroma from the praising and dancing is very different from that of God’s children.
God’s children have deep love and thanks for God in their heart.
From the heart that was made beautiful through the human cultivation comes out the aroma that can move the Father God.
Those children of God who have the duty of praising God on earth will have many chances to glorify God with their praises in heaven, too.
But according to how prosperous their souls were, the areas of their performances will be different.
If a praise leader goes into New Jerusalem, he/she can perform in this performning hall that look slike the Opera House.
And the performances done in this place are sometimes live-broadcast to all dwelling places in heavenly kingdom. Therefore, to stand on the stage of this hall just once will be such a great honor.
There is a reason for God the Father to build such a performance hall in this castle. When the owner of this castle was on earth, he organized many performing teams understanding the heart of God who delights in praising.
And he glorified God the Father greatly through beautiful and gracious Christian performing art.
It wasn’t just outward appearances, skills, and techinics. He guided the performers in a spiritual way that they would praise God with true love from the depth of their heart.
He raised many performers who could offer up to God the kind of praises that God could really accept.
For this God the Father has built a beautiful performing hall so that these performers can show their skills as much as they can in this castle.
Brothers and sisters, in this castle, there is an amusement park of enormous size.
It is so big that it cannot be compared even with Disneyland in the United States.
It has many kinds of exciting rides.
For example, there is a train made with crystal, and riding on it we can go around the whole amusement park.
Also, there is a ride that we call ‘Viking Rides’ on earth. A big ship is hanging in the air, and it moves vigorously to the left and right like a pendulum of a clock.
There is also merry-go-round that turns to the bright rhythm and thrilling roller coasters.
Other than these, there are also many other rides that we cannot see on earth.
All these rides are made with gold and jewels. Once the rides begin to move, they give out many layers of bright lights. So, even though you don’t actually ride on them, just being in the amusement park will let you feel the mood of fiesta, and you will be so happy just to be there.
In many places of the amusement parks are flower roads. It’s not like flowers stand on either side of the road, but the road itself is flowers so you walk on them.
In heaven, even though you walk on flowers, they will not break.
Our bodies in heavenly kingdom are perfectly spiritual heavenly body, and it feels like it has weight but at the same time it has no weight.
If somebody walks on this flower road, the flowers will move their petals to give out their fragrance to say the welcome.
When they move their petals, it looks like the flower road has waves.
If we walk on the flower road that is like little waves and smell the pleasant and refreshing fragrance, we feel enraptured as if we were walking in a dream.
These kinds of flower roads of various sizes are present all around the amusement park to add to the joy and fun of the visitors.
This castle also has a zoo of enormous size.
It’s not a zoo where animals are kept in cages.
Like some national parks in Africa, the animals walk around freely on a wide grassy plains.
For your information, the Serengeti National Park of Tanzania, which is supposed to be the biggest in the world, is about 24.4 times bigger than the size of Seoul city.
It is said there are about 350 different species of animals and about 3.5 million large mammals.
And a zoo that is bigger than this is located in the castle of an individual.
Animals in heaven are bigger and more robust looking than animals on earth. Also, except the detestable animals of the Bible, all kinds of animals exist in heaven.
There are also animals that we cannot see on earth.
Animals on earth have much brighter and shinier fur and skin, and their colors are more vivid than animals on earth.
Even carnivores and aggressive animals on earth are very mild in heaven.
For example, lions have the particular characters of lions, but they don’t harm anybody.
But rather, like well-trained dogs, they are very lovely beings to the believers.
Just imagine riding on lions or elephants on the endless plain.
This is not imagination.
This is reality and something you can enjoy in New Jerusalem.
In this castle, there are sports and entertainment facilities other than the amusement park and zoo.
There are golfing course, bowling alley, swimming pool, tennis court, volleyball court, basket ball court and so on.
When on earth, the owner of this castle did not enjoy these sports for the kingdom of God.
He could have taken that kind of enjoyment, but he wanted to save his time to give to God. That is why this kind of reward is given to him.
Let us look into this bowling alley of heavenly kingdom.
The building of this bowling alley itself is in the shape of a bowling pin. Of course, it is built with gold and other jewels.
There are numerous lanes inside. The ball and the pins are also made with gold and jewels.
The ball here is different from that of this earth; you cannot really feel the weight of it.
Just by bowling it slowly it will roll fast and hit the pins.
When the ball hits the pins, such a beautiful sound and brilliant lights come out.
The visitors of this castle can watch the game in small groups.
I really want to spend happy moments here with my beloved church members.
Let us go to the golfing course now. It is covered with golden and soft lawn.
We can see something interesting here. When the ball is rolling the golden lawn will automatically lie down. The lawn lies down just like dominos, and this creates a scene like golden waves rolling.
In New Jerusalem even plants know the mind of the people who are playing the game and act according to it.
Furthermore, after you take a shot, a piece of cloud will automatically come below your feet and wait.
As you step on it, it will move you to the next spot. How exciting this kind of game will be!
There are also waterparks that have many waterplay areas. Even those who don’t know how to swim on earth can naturally swim in heaven.
Also, after you finish swimming or waterplay, the water drops will roll down from your body like dew drops. You will never get wet. So, you can even swim with your clothes on whenever you want.
Brothers and sisters, this castle has many kinds of cultural facilities.
It’s like a resort complex in heavenly kingdom.
Many believers in New Jerusalem will always visit this place and enjoy themselves staying there.
So, the Father God has prepared a special place exclusively for the owner of this castle.
God has built something like a summer house on a hillside where the view is great.
Actually, there are several other summer houses in other places, too.
This is personal house and not anybody can enter it. It’s a place for the owner of this castle to have rest alone the best way possible.
But in very special cases, he may invite some people. He can use this house to meet with prophets like Elijah, Enoch, Abraham, and Moses.
One of the personal summer houses is made with crystal.
The whole building it made with crystal, and it gives out such brilliant lights. But even though it is made with crystal, the inside cannot be seen at all from the outside.
Also, at the top of this crystal summer house is an observation platform.
There is a golden chair there, and he can see the whole castle at a glance sitting there.
He can see even very far places going beyond the spaces. The owner of this castle will sit here and feel happy watching the believers enjoy themselves visiting his castle.
There is a special promenade made for this owner. It is named ‘road of contemplation’.
On either side of this road of contemplation are tall trees that look like they are covering the sky. There is just some singing of birds from a distance, and it is so quiet as if the time has stopped.
As he takes each step on the road of contemplation, peace comes up from the bottom of his heart, and he is reminded of the things on earth.
He may want to see the sun, the moon, and the stars that he used to see on earth. Then, a something like a layer of video screen will be put up above him, and the sun, moon, and the stars will appear there.
The whole heaven is surrounded with the light of glory of God. So, we don’t need the shining of the sun, the moon, or the stars like on earth. But for a time like this when he thinks of things on earth, od has prepared these things
There is another special place to commemorate the things and events on this earth. It is a big village called the hill of reminiscence.
This is a place that has gathered all the life steps of the castle owner on this earth.
There are things like the house in which he was born; the village in which he was raised; the school he went to; the places where he lived during the times of trials; the memorial place where he met God first, and the sanctuaries that he opened after being called as a servant of God. All these are arranged in chronological order.
Of course, materials of some buildings are different from those of earth, but the things on earth are duplicated as they were, so we can feel the steps of his life vividly. Other than this, there is another special place in this castle, and I will talk to you about it in the next session.
Also, I will explain to you about the first banquet that will be held in heavenly kingdom to end this sermon about heaven.
I hope you will prepare yourself during this week like you are invited to this first banquet in heavenly kingdom.
Conclusion
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today, I briefly introduced to you various buildings and facilities in the biggest caslte in the area of the Holy Spirit.
Other than the things that I introduced to you today, there are so many other buildings and special places in this castle, and I cannot just explain everything.
But just the things you have heard so far will let you know how great God-given rewards will be in heavenly kingdom. But you should remember there is nothing that you can gain for free.
God the Father gives us even just one piece of jewel or just one tree according to justice as our reward.
God gives to us according to what we have done, sown, and worked on this earth.
Some will receive pressed down, shaken together, and running over. Some others will receive 30 times more. Still others will receive 60 or 100 times more, or even more than that.
God the Father has set the rules of justice, but we can make our own choices as to how much reward we will receive.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you wise believers will utilize this justice of God who is very accurate and faithful, so that you can receive 30, 60, or 100 times more than what you sow.
[Amen]