Lara and I have been planning our vacation for over a year. Next weekend we are going to be at the Michigan Speedway for a Nextel Cup race. This will mark our twentieth failed attempt for Lara to get Dale Earnhardt, Jr’s autograph! We’ve been to Kansas, Indianapolis, Chicago, Missouri, and Michigan trying to get him to stop long enough to sign his name. But hey, we might get a picture of the back of his head as he slips between trailers and buildings to avoid signing autographs. (Note to reader- Jon showed a picture of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. taken through a wire fence as Earnhardt was running from the camera.) You just never know!
Anyway, next weekend between one hundred and one hundred fifty thousand people will be converging on the Michigan Speedway for this race. It's like the population of the city of Springfield showing up all at once. The speedway is located along a two-lane highway. There is no interstate. The closest city with hotels is Jackson, Michigan. The second closest city is Ann Arbor.
Now, Jackson is just fifteen miles from the race track. We’ve never been able to stay that close before. But last year Lara got on line, found a hotel in Jackson, and secured it with our credit card. I cannot tell you how delighted we were to get an e-mail saying "guaranteed" reservation! Any time you can cut your travel time to the track down by half, all the better. There is nothing worse than following a dilapidated Partridge family style NASCAR decorated bus down a winding two-lane highway, breathing its exhaust fumes for thirty miles, with no ability to pass. (Note to reader- a photo of this bus was shown to the congregation.)
A NASCAR race is kind of like a taste of heaven on earth. First, there are the great multitudes from every tribe, tongue, and southern state. They are a sight to behold. Then there is the thunderous, hair-raising roar of fifty cars revving their engines. The horsepower is enough to humble even the most depraved fan. And there is always prayer. The race doesn’t begin without prayer! It is a deeply spiritual experience.
But just this week, one week before our arrival, we got an e-mail from the hotel telling us that our "guaranteed" room is no longer available. We talked to the general manager, the regional manager, and customer service. We’ve even been talking to corporate headquarters. You don’t mess with Lara’s NASCAR plans! Needless to say, we’ve had to make other plans for the week.
Unlike our hotel reservations, we can trust that we have a reserved place in heaven.
In John 14:1 (NIV) Jesus says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled." Now, I tried telling Lara this verse, but it wasn’t quite enough. She really wants to see Dale Earnhardt, Jr. But there is more in these verses. In John 14:1-4 (NIV) Jesus says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." And in John 14:6-7 (NIV) Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
The message for every Christian here this morning is that we have guaranteed reservations! As we speak, Jesus is making preparations for our arrival. There are plenty of rooms available. And Jesus is going to personally come back and he is going to take us to the place he is preparing for us. This is God’s guarantee to us.
The perfect accommodations.
Whenever we go on vacation, we always like to see what kind of place we’ll be staying at. In Revelation 21we catch a glimpse of the perfect accommodations that Christ has prepared for those who trust in Christ. Friends, these are the most profound words in all scripture. In Revelation 21:1-21 (NIV) John says, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.' "
"He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.' He said to me; 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.' "
"One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, 'Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.' And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb."
"The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man’s measurement, which the angel was using. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass."
I remember once having the opportunity to stay at a Ritz Carlton hotel. The church takes really good care of me! I'm just kidding! Everything about the hotel was immaculate and perfect, except the thirty dollars a day to use internet. But the bed, the view, the staff, the food, and the meeting rooms were all perfect. Not a detail was missed.
A few weeks ago, I read about a billionaire in India who is building the largest home in the world for his wife and three kids. The house is a skyscraper sixty stories high. His home will have six hundred live-in staff members. It will be finished sometime in 2008.
It is really impossible for us to conceptualize the greatness of the place that Christ is preparing for those who love him. It is indescribable. The apostle John is grasping for words as he describes the new heaven and the new earth, the city of God. What we know is that heaven will be a place where the power of sin and death is broken. It will be a place of utter perfection and beauty. It will be the home of righteousness.
The central attraction.
As remarkable as our accommodations in heaven may be, we will hardly notice them. Why not? Because the central attraction in heaven won’t be gold or silver. It will be Jesus Christ.
When we go to a NASCAR race we enjoy the hotel, but that is not why we are there. We love the rush of cars roaring down the speedway. We enjoy the restaurants, visiting Cabellas, and sitting down for strawberry shortcake at Big Boys restaurant. We enjoy one another’s company. But that is not why we are going to the Michigan speedway. We go to the Michigan Speedway because of Dale Junior! All those things we do up there, Lara does just to appease me while I take a backseat to her favorite driver.
We may be tempted to focus on the accommodations of heaven. We may think of the joy we’ll have being united with loved ones who have trusted Christ for salvation. But the real reward will be seeing Christ himself, face to face. In Genesis 15:1 (NIV) God told Abraham, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." I wonder what reward you have been seeking in heaven?
Now listen to what John says in Revelation 21:22-28 (NIV). "I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life."
And John continues in Revelation 22:1-5 (NIV), "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever."
How can I guarantee my reservation?
If you are like me when you read Revelation 21 and Revelation 22 you are asking yourself one question. The accommodations will be unspeakable. The central attraction will be Jesus Christ himself, the Lord of all the universe. You are probably wanting to know, "How can I guarantee my reservation?" The answer to this question is found in the final verses of Revelation 22. John continues in Revelation 22:6-7 (NIV), "The angel said to me, 'These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.' Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.' " Friends, this means that we must show true repentance for our sins and that we must be obedient to God's commands. Repentance. Obedience. Blessed are those who repent and obey.
Revelation 22:8-11 (NIV) continues, "I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, 'Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!' Then he told me, 'Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.' "
And in Revelation 22:12-15 (NIV) John tells us that baptism and God's forgiveness are the keys to have a guaranteed reservation. "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Blessed are those who wash their robes (those who are baptized and forgiven), that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." Baptism. Forgiveness.
In Revelation 22:16-17 (NIV) Jesus says that there is hope for us. He says "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star. The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life." With these words, Jesus gives hope to whoever wishes to accept the hope offered in Christ.
And some final words of warning finish Jesus' revelation to John. Revelation 22:18-21 (NIV) says, " 'I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen.' Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen."
You may think it is complicated to guarantee your reservation. It’s not. Our place has already been guaranteed for us through Christ. You just have to trust in Christ. John 3:16 (NIV) says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."