Celebrating
Love of JESUS, Hope of Heaven, and Faith in the Word of God.
|
|
Christian Speaker
Celebrating |
|
|
|
      lois@loishetrick.com |
INSIDE THE GATES OF
HEAVEN We are ready now to approach the eternal City of God. And we will be seeing things that are very large and very different, things that are very intricate, detailed and beautiful, and hard to describe. But I will do my best with the Lord's help to describe these things for you, as did St John in Rev. 21 and 22. This City built by God is our Father's House, a very moving sight for the redeemed to behold, not only because of its bright beauty, but because of its emotional effect on those who are sincere about their relationship to Jesus, and who want to be with Him in this, His Father's House. (Many of us have loved ones there whose love beckons us to come Home. It's my eternal Home. I have loved ones, mansions and treasures there, and I would like to stay there, but God has asked me to tell you about it.) St John described the wall of this City as 'great and high,' and because we are near, it appears to reach up out of sight. In the eastern wall, facing us, there are three gates. Each one is surrounded by huge multicolored arches having the appearance of stained glass windows. The twelve foundations are covered with precious stones of twelve different colors -- one color of gem for each foundation. The colors are so arranged that the City appears sometimes to be sitting on a rainbow and sometimes to be surrounded by it. When we talk and sing about the eastern gate, we are referring to the center gate in this eastern wall of the City of God. This gate is important because as God and Jesus sit upon the Throne of Heaven, they face the inside of this eastern gate. It is also through this eastern gate that Jesus will lead the raptured saints into the Holy City to eat from the Tree of Life, to feast at the marriage supper of the Lamb, and to spend eternity ruling and reigning with Him. When the raptured saints come in sight of this magnificent City and that beckoning eastern gate, and when the glorious spiritual reality of our eternal Home dawns upon our glorified sight, we will be so filled with divine ecstasy that we will shout hallelujahs and praises to God like we never knew could come from our innermost being. It will be the heavenly fulfillment of what happened when Jesus rode triumphantly into the earthly city of Jerusalem. On earth He was rejected, but in Heaven we will all be received. St. John said each gate was a pearl and all twelve gates are never shut. A pearl is milk-white and translucent; we can see into a pearl, but we cannot see through it. The heavenly Throne of God and of Jesus has also a bright white semi-transparent appearance like a pearl. The gates are like pearl because they are concentrated white light. We can see into this light but we cannot see through it. We can, however, pass through this gate of pearly light. That's why it is said to be never shut. But it does not stand open as a door on earth stands open. (Jesus on earth passed through closed doors in His glorified body.) After we enter through the gate of pearly white light, we see a huge hallway. With its high vaulted ceilings and wide corridor, it is about 216 feet long, because the wall of this City is 216 feet thick. There are no lighting fixtures here. The light comes from the Throne of God and begins as a very bright white light. Then as this light is diffused through, and reflected from, the gem-like structure of this City, there emerges a rainbow spectrum which is the blending of five major colors: gold, blue, purple, red and green. So we see that the rainbow effect is not only in the twelve foundations, but throughout the entire City, with the first color, gold, being predominant much of the time. The arches to your left and right, shaped like one-third of a circle, or like a rainbow, lead to rooms which on earth would be called business offices. Here the angel who keeps the gate has on record the name, the spiritual status and the works of every saint of God. In this hallway we are greeted by the angel of the gate with a joyful welcome because he knows who we are and because the angels bring only those who are worthy to enter this City. Inside this gate is one of the places where Jesus welcomes His people.
|