WEBVTT 00:00:02.219 --> 00:00:05.099 I have to warn you, I'm going to be reading the 00:00:05.099 --> 00:00:08.720 passage little by little during the sermon. So 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:11.480 that's why we're not having a scripture reading 00:00:11.480 --> 00:00:14.939 before the sermon. But we will look at the whole 00:00:14.939 --> 00:00:19.660 passage. So it's Revelation 21, verse 9 through 00:00:19.660 --> 00:00:24.339 chapter 22, verse 5. And this passage describes 00:00:24.339 --> 00:00:29.429 an enormous city. the heavenly Jerusalem that 00:00:29.429 --> 00:00:35.590 descends from heaven. And when we first got to 00:00:35.590 --> 00:00:39.829 Mexico in 2005 and I started teaching at the 00:00:39.829 --> 00:00:44.170 seminary, I did a little math and I came up with 00:00:44.170 --> 00:00:46.450 this image that you're going to see on the screen. 00:00:46.710 --> 00:00:49.850 It represents the dimensions that Revelation 00:00:49.850 --> 00:00:54.460 21 gives of that heavenly Jerusalem. Each side 00:00:54.460 --> 00:00:58.140 is, as you can see there, 2 ,133 kilometers. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:01.619 But for those of you who don't know metric system, 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:05.939 it's about 1 ,400 miles each way, each side. 00:01:06.579 --> 00:01:10.219 But keep in mind that that city was not a square, 00:01:10.359 --> 00:01:13.659 but a cube. And so you have to imagine it going 00:01:13.659 --> 00:01:18.200 up 1 ,400 miles into space. Just for reference, 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:23.859 Mount Everest is 5 .5 miles tall. We're talking 00:01:23.859 --> 00:01:27.359 about 1 ,400 miles. And we're talking about a 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:31.280 massive structure about two -thirds the size 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:35.480 of the moon. The clouds would be at the bottom 00:01:35.480 --> 00:01:38.920 of that square. Now, if I ever took those dimensions 00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:42.200 literally at some point, a little bit of thinking 00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:45.200 helped me realize that that couldn't be the case. 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:53.180 The walls are only 200 feet thick. Only, but 00:01:53.180 --> 00:01:57.280 that's very thick. But for a 1 ,400 mile tall 00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:00.760 wall, that's not enough support. So I concluded 00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:04.219 that this must be a symbolic rather than a literal 00:02:04.219 --> 00:02:07.359 vision of the city where we're going to live 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:11.060 forever. And you know what? I was still wrong. 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:15.800 This vision isn't about a city. It isn't about 00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:20.759 heaven. It isn't even about a place. You say, 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:24.740 wait, what's this? That's a description of us. 00:02:24.860 --> 00:02:27.550 And that's why I entitled the sermon, That's 00:02:27.550 --> 00:02:31.770 us, because it's a vision of the church, of the 00:02:31.770 --> 00:02:35.590 body of Christ, of the people of God. And not 00:02:35.590 --> 00:02:39.250 just the perfect glorified church of the future 00:02:39.250 --> 00:02:42.830 after Christ returns. It's also got features 00:02:42.830 --> 00:02:46.430 of the church as we are now, or as we should 00:02:46.430 --> 00:02:51.050 be even now. The vision mixes up the already 00:02:51.050 --> 00:02:54.430 and the not yet. It's a description of the church 00:02:54.430 --> 00:02:58.349 as it will be at the end and as it is and should 00:02:58.349 --> 00:03:02.490 be now. Now maybe some of you are ready to lynch 00:03:02.490 --> 00:03:07.689 me. This idea of this passage being a city, a 00:03:07.689 --> 00:03:10.650 place that we're going to live is very deeply 00:03:10.650 --> 00:03:13.030 ingrained in our way of thinking. We talk about 00:03:13.030 --> 00:03:15.930 the streets of gold. We talk about the pearly 00:03:15.930 --> 00:03:20.659 gates. But this image is one of several portraits 00:03:20.659 --> 00:03:23.759 of the church placed throughout the book of Revelation 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:27.800 in between the stories of monsters and disasters 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:31.060 and everything else. For example, in chapter 00:03:31.060 --> 00:03:34.139 7, we actually see two portraits of the church. 00:03:34.340 --> 00:03:39.759 The church as the 144 ,000 of the tribes of Israel, 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:43.639 marching tribe by tribe. The church militant, 00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:46.840 the church on earth. And in the same chapter, 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:51.439 we see the great multitude that no one can count, 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:54.740 praising Jesus in heaven. The church in glory. 00:03:55.560 --> 00:03:59.259 In chapter 11, we see the two witnesses who represent 00:03:59.259 --> 00:04:02.800 the mission of the church, the church as persecuted 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:09.319 and then vindicated by God. In chapter 14, the 00:04:09.319 --> 00:04:12.879 144 ,000 appear again, and this time they're 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:16.079 following the lamb wherever he goes, which is... 00:04:16.439 --> 00:04:19.759 Kind of ironic because we normally think of sheep 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:23.240 and lambs following a human shepherd, but in 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:26.720 this case, the people are following the lamb. 00:04:27.259 --> 00:04:31.779 In Revelation 20, we see the passage about the 00:04:31.779 --> 00:04:34.660 millennium. We see the souls of the martyrs come 00:04:34.660 --> 00:04:38.540 to life with Christ and reign with him for a 00:04:38.540 --> 00:04:42.180 thousand years. And in Reformed theology, that 00:04:42.180 --> 00:04:46.449 represents the church. The Christians who deceased 00:04:46.449 --> 00:04:50.069 on earth and they're instantly by Christ's side 00:04:50.069 --> 00:04:53.769 in heaven, in what we call the intermediate state, 00:04:54.050 --> 00:04:56.990 the condition that we're in from the time we 00:04:56.990 --> 00:05:01.230 die until the time that Christ comes again. And 00:05:01.230 --> 00:05:04.310 finally, here in chapter 21, we have this glorious 00:05:04.310 --> 00:05:07.810 description of the church as a giant, beautiful 00:05:07.810 --> 00:05:12.050 city. Maybe some of you still aren't convinced. 00:05:12.810 --> 00:05:15.189 And you think it's a description of the place 00:05:15.189 --> 00:05:17.629 where we'll live. Well, let me prove it to you. 00:05:17.870 --> 00:05:20.810 Because John isn't even subtle about it. He's 00:05:20.810 --> 00:05:24.310 very clear. So let's look then at the first passage, 00:05:24.389 --> 00:05:29.910 Revelation 21, verses 9 to 11. Then came one 00:05:29.910 --> 00:05:34.310 of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full 00:05:34.310 --> 00:05:37.930 of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, 00:05:38.149 --> 00:05:41.269 Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of 00:05:41.269 --> 00:05:43.970 the Lamb. And he carried me away in the spirit 00:05:43.970 --> 00:05:47.350 to a great high mountain and showed me the holy 00:05:47.350 --> 00:05:50.430 city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from 00:05:50.430 --> 00:05:54.089 God, having the glory of God, its radiance like 00:05:54.089 --> 00:05:57.250 a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 00:05:58.470 --> 00:06:01.149 Something similar to what we see in chapter 5. 00:06:01.910 --> 00:06:05.290 In chapter 5, an angel says to John, Hey, I'm 00:06:05.290 --> 00:06:08.610 going to show you the lion of the tribe of Judah. 00:06:08.949 --> 00:06:11.889 And when John turns to look, he doesn't see a 00:06:11.889 --> 00:06:16.529 lion. He sees the lamb that was slain. And in 00:06:16.529 --> 00:06:19.389 the same way, in this chapter, the angel says, 00:06:19.610 --> 00:06:22.250 hey, I'm going to show you the bride, the wife 00:06:22.250 --> 00:06:26.069 of the lamb. And when John turns, he sees not 00:06:26.069 --> 00:06:31.490 a woman or a bride, but a city. Now, if that's 00:06:31.490 --> 00:06:35.029 not enough to convince you, then think about 00:06:35.029 --> 00:06:37.620 the dimensions that we're... or have already 00:06:37.620 --> 00:06:39.980 read some and will read some more throughout 00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:47.939 the sermon. 12 ,000 stadia, 144 cubits, 12 pearls, 00:06:48.259 --> 00:06:52.480 12 foundations, etc. Everything is multiples 00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:57.740 of 12. And why is that? Because it represents 00:06:57.740 --> 00:07:02.560 the people of God. Israel was composed of... 00:07:02.759 --> 00:07:06.879 12 tribes, and the church was led by 12 apostles. 00:07:07.180 --> 00:07:10.339 In the Bible, 12 is the number of the people 00:07:10.339 --> 00:07:15.339 of God. And this vision of the church as a beautiful 00:07:15.339 --> 00:07:18.779 city is meant to encourage us to press on when 00:07:18.779 --> 00:07:21.680 things are hard, to press on toward the goal, 00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:24.939 toward the people that we will become in all 00:07:24.939 --> 00:07:28.379 of our beauty and glory, both individually and 00:07:28.379 --> 00:07:33.029 collectively. So let's read verses 12 to 14. 00:07:34.509 --> 00:07:38.670 It had a great high wall with 12 gates, and at 00:07:38.670 --> 00:07:41.970 the gates 12 angels. And on the gates the names 00:07:41.970 --> 00:07:45.290 of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed. 00:07:45.529 --> 00:07:48.589 On the east three gates, on the north three gates, 00:07:48.730 --> 00:07:51.490 on the south three gates, and on the west three 00:07:51.490 --> 00:07:55.089 gates. And the wall of the city had 12 foundations, 00:07:55.490 --> 00:07:58.850 and on them were the 12 names of the 12 apostles 00:07:58.850 --> 00:08:04.339 of the Lamb. Now, Roman cities only had gates 00:08:04.339 --> 00:08:08.279 on one side of the city, only one gate of the 00:08:08.279 --> 00:08:10.980 city for obvious security reasons. You need to 00:08:10.980 --> 00:08:13.699 control everything coming in and out of the city. 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:21.160 But this city has 12 gates, three on each side. 00:08:21.379 --> 00:08:25.240 The church receives people from every direction 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:28.939 of the globe, every nation. We'll find out later 00:08:28.939 --> 00:08:32.570 that these gates are open. all the time to receive 00:08:32.570 --> 00:08:35.230 people. There's no need for homeland security 00:08:35.230 --> 00:08:40.250 in this city. We also see the names of the 12 00:08:40.250 --> 00:08:43.570 tribes written on the gates, the names of the 00:08:43.570 --> 00:08:47.830 12 apostles written on the foundations. What 00:08:47.830 --> 00:08:50.690 a beautiful image of the continuity between the 00:08:50.690 --> 00:08:52.870 Old Testament and the New Testament, between 00:08:52.870 --> 00:08:56.929 Israel and the church. There's one... people 00:08:56.929 --> 00:09:00.990 of God, not two. The church is the Israel of 00:09:00.990 --> 00:09:04.610 God, as Paul tells us in Galatians 6. And he 00:09:04.610 --> 00:09:07.629 says in Romans 4 that people who put their faith 00:09:07.629 --> 00:09:11.149 in Jesus are the true children of Abraham, the 00:09:11.149 --> 00:09:14.309 man of faith, because they exercise faith as 00:09:14.309 --> 00:09:18.629 well. Now about those 12 foundations, we can 00:09:18.629 --> 00:09:22.610 note a parallel passage in Ephesians 2. It says 00:09:22.610 --> 00:09:26.830 this, So then, you are no longer strangers and 00:09:26.830 --> 00:09:29.750 aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the 00:09:29.750 --> 00:09:33.389 saints and members of the household of God, built 00:09:33.389 --> 00:09:36.269 on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, 00:09:36.529 --> 00:09:40.269 Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in 00:09:40.269 --> 00:09:43.230 whom the whole structure, being joined together, 00:09:43.509 --> 00:09:47.169 grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him 00:09:47.169 --> 00:09:50.309 you are also being built together into a dwelling 00:09:50.309 --> 00:09:55.440 place for God by the Spirit. The church in that 00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:59.059 chapter of Ephesians is a people made up of Jews 00:09:59.059 --> 00:10:04.399 and Gentiles. Races that formerly despised each 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:09.419 other, formerly opposed each other, but in Christ 00:10:09.419 --> 00:10:13.799 they become one new race, one new nation, one 00:10:13.799 --> 00:10:18.840 new humankind. And people of every color are 00:10:18.840 --> 00:10:22.500 being gathered together like bricks. and fashioned 00:10:22.500 --> 00:10:26.639 into a holy temple. And God's Spirit comes to 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:30.340 live in them, in that temple, and fill it with 00:10:30.340 --> 00:10:33.960 God's glory. Well, we need to keep moving. I 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:37.299 don't need to say too much about verses 15 to 00:10:37.299 --> 00:10:41.200 17, since they give us those astronomical dimensions 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:43.580 that we mentioned at the beginning of the sermon. 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:47.919 But here are the verses. And the one who spoke 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:50.940 with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure 00:10:50.940 --> 00:10:54.139 the city and its gates and walls. The city lies 00:10:54.139 --> 00:10:57.639 four square, its length the same as its width. 00:10:57.940 --> 00:11:01.519 And he measured the city with his rod 12 ,000 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:04.679 stadia, and its length and its width and its 00:11:04.679 --> 00:11:07.960 height are equal. He also measured its wall, 00:11:08.139 --> 00:11:11.919 the thickness of the wall, 144 cubits by human 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:14.879 measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. 00:11:15.690 --> 00:11:17.970 Be kind of interesting to know more about the 00:11:17.970 --> 00:11:20.929 measurements, but we can't cover everything. 00:11:21.090 --> 00:11:23.649 We need to just limit ourselves to certain details. 00:11:23.870 --> 00:11:27.389 This is more of a panoramic view of the chapter. 00:11:27.710 --> 00:11:32.169 But one question is worth asking. If the gates 00:11:32.169 --> 00:11:36.850 are on all four sides, welcoming and receiving 00:11:36.850 --> 00:11:40.990 people from every direction, then what purpose 00:11:40.990 --> 00:11:44.909 does it serve to have walls that are that high? 00:11:46.090 --> 00:11:49.330 And the answer is that the emphasis is not on 00:11:49.330 --> 00:11:54.129 the height of the wall for protection. The answer 00:11:54.129 --> 00:11:58.190 is that the church is being compared to the original 00:11:58.190 --> 00:12:02.230 temple in Jerusalem, to the Holy of Holies specifically. 00:12:02.289 --> 00:12:06.110 The Holy of Holies was that inner sanctum of 00:12:06.110 --> 00:12:08.529 the temple. And the measurements in the Pentateuch 00:12:08.529 --> 00:12:13.929 make it a cube. And the city, of course, we saw 00:12:13.929 --> 00:12:18.139 is a perfect cube. And so the emphasis is not 00:12:18.139 --> 00:12:22.399 on protection, but on the fact that we as the 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:26.620 people of God are the holy of holies, where God 00:12:26.620 --> 00:12:30.879 dwells in our midst, the place where God himself 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:37.179 dwells. Verses 18 to 21 say this, The wall was 00:12:37.179 --> 00:12:40.220 built of jasper, and while the city was pure 00:12:40.220 --> 00:12:44.799 gold like clear glass, The foundations of the 00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:47.179 wall of the city were adorned with every kind 00:12:47.179 --> 00:12:51.460 of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, 00:12:51.639 --> 00:12:55.059 the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth 00:12:55.059 --> 00:12:59.440 onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, 00:12:59.559 --> 00:13:02.360 the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth 00:13:02.360 --> 00:13:06.539 chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth 00:13:06.539 --> 00:13:10.639 amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve. pearls 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:13.480 and each of the gates made of a single pearl 00:13:13.480 --> 00:13:16.320 and the street of the city was pure gold like 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:20.240 transparent glass. Now the point of all this 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:25.240 is not to interpret each precious stone, each 00:13:25.240 --> 00:13:30.299 jewel as allegorically as if each one meant a 00:13:30.299 --> 00:13:33.659 different thing. It's more like a cumulative 00:13:33.659 --> 00:13:37.919 effect where we're supposed to be in awe of all 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:41.320 this beauty, all these gorgeous, radiant stones 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:45.320 and jewels together. And the meaning is clear. 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:50.220 That the Lamb, Jesus Christ, looks at his church 00:13:50.220 --> 00:13:55.720 and sees his church as beautiful, as radiant, 00:13:55.980 --> 00:14:01.000 as stunning. The Lamb is smitten by his church, 00:14:01.059 --> 00:14:05.019 his bride. Now there's something here for the 00:14:05.019 --> 00:14:09.139 self -esteem of every individual Christian. God 00:14:09.139 --> 00:14:14.460 loves you, and God considers you beautiful. But 00:14:14.460 --> 00:14:17.279 the main focus is on the church collectively. 00:14:18.179 --> 00:14:22.840 The church is made in the image of God, beautiful. 00:14:23.419 --> 00:14:28.600 The church is following and imitating Jesus to 00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:33.159 the point where they reflect God's glory. And 00:14:33.159 --> 00:14:36.679 the church is washed and purified by the blood 00:14:36.679 --> 00:14:42.600 of the Lamb. The church is beautiful. Yes, I 00:14:42.600 --> 00:14:45.279 know what some of you are thinking. I have my 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:50.480 cynical moments too. The church that squabbles 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:54.100 about everything, not your church, but we as 00:14:54.100 --> 00:14:58.799 a church as a whole, the church filled with vacillating 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:02.200 hypocrites, filled with people who sin and are 00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:07.049 unfaithful, people who resist change. Both individually 00:15:07.049 --> 00:15:10.690 and collectively, we don't deserve to be described 00:15:10.690 --> 00:15:14.629 like a jewel -encrusted cathedral that reaches 00:15:14.629 --> 00:15:20.750 to outer space. We're unworthy. But God loves 00:15:20.750 --> 00:15:26.610 whom he loves. And he's chosen to love us and 00:15:26.610 --> 00:15:31.610 to call us. And those whom he called, he sanctifies 00:15:31.610 --> 00:15:35.840 and he glorifies and makes. Beautiful and radiant. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:40.679 When we think about our sins, maybe it's scary 00:15:40.679 --> 00:15:43.960 sometimes to think that God sees us as we really 00:15:43.960 --> 00:15:48.639 are. But I think we're missing another element 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:52.879 of that picture. God sees us as we really, really 00:15:52.879 --> 00:16:00.220 are. As this beautiful people of God that comes 00:16:00.220 --> 00:16:04.620 out in this vision. Ultimately, theologically, 00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:09.820 we are gorgeous in God's eyes despite the sins 00:16:09.820 --> 00:16:14.240 that we have. The question is whether we will 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:17.539 have the courage to begin looking at ourselves 00:16:17.539 --> 00:16:22.639 as this chapter reveals us in all of our glory. 00:16:24.120 --> 00:16:29.559 We need to move on to verses 22 to 26. It says, 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:32.779 And I saw no temple in the city. for its temple 00:16:32.779 --> 00:16:35.919 is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. And the 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:39.039 city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, 00:16:39.080 --> 00:16:42.100 for the glory of God gives its light, and its 00:16:42.100 --> 00:16:45.820 lamp is the Lamb. By its light the nations will 00:16:45.820 --> 00:16:48.440 walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their 00:16:48.440 --> 00:16:51.620 glory into it, and its gates will never be shut 00:16:51.620 --> 00:16:55.000 by day, and there will be no night there. They 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:58.460 will bring into it the glory and honor of the 00:16:58.460 --> 00:17:03.759 nations. A lot of Jewish literature in the ancient 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:06.980 world before the New Testament stated that when 00:17:06.980 --> 00:17:10.779 the Messiah came, that he would rebuild the temple. 00:17:11.180 --> 00:17:14.359 And so the commentators that I looked at mentioned 00:17:14.359 --> 00:17:18.079 how surprising it is that this description of 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:22.460 the city has no temple whatsoever. But that really 00:17:22.460 --> 00:17:26.720 shouldn't surprise us. The function of the temple 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:30.579 in Jerusalem was to control and limit access 00:17:30.579 --> 00:17:34.500 to God. You might have heard how the different 00:17:34.500 --> 00:17:39.299 patios and courtyards in the temple limited certain 00:17:39.299 --> 00:17:42.819 groups of people. The Gentiles could only get 00:17:42.819 --> 00:17:46.000 to the patio of the Gentiles on the outer rim. 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:49.359 The Jewish women could go a little further to 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:52.200 the court where the women went. The Jewish men 00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:54.619 could get into the inner court there, but they 00:17:54.619 --> 00:17:57.720 couldn't go into the building. The priests could 00:17:57.720 --> 00:18:00.859 go into the building of the temple, but only 00:18:00.859 --> 00:18:04.559 the high priest could go into the Holy of Holies. 00:18:05.259 --> 00:18:09.160 And he could only do that on one day a year. 00:18:10.299 --> 00:18:13.920 But now that Christ has died for us, he broke 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:17.440 down all those barriers and obstacles and gave 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:23.440 us direct access to God. No matter where we are. 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:26.900 no matter what time of day, no matter who we 00:18:26.900 --> 00:18:30.500 are or what our past looks like, we can approach 00:18:30.500 --> 00:18:34.579 the throne of God of great, the throne of grace, 00:18:34.660 --> 00:18:40.500 in prayer. We have VIP access to our Creator 00:18:40.500 --> 00:18:44.359 and Redeemer. And the Lord God Almighty and the 00:18:44.359 --> 00:18:48.480 Lamb are our temple. And there will be no more 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:52.150 darkness or night. In the ancient world, darkness 00:18:52.150 --> 00:18:55.529 was a time for the drunkards, for the sexually 00:18:55.529 --> 00:19:00.490 immoral, for the thieves to break in, for armies 00:19:00.490 --> 00:19:03.390 of other nations to try to sneak up on a city 00:19:03.390 --> 00:19:07.970 and invade it. So there needed to be gates and 00:19:07.970 --> 00:19:11.990 police and night watchmen. But in this city, 00:19:12.009 --> 00:19:14.769 in the church, we are the light of the world 00:19:14.769 --> 00:19:18.170 penetrating the darkness. We're a city set upon 00:19:18.170 --> 00:19:21.869 a hill where the nations can see us. Revelation 00:19:21.869 --> 00:19:25.730 says that the nations will bring in their glory 00:19:25.730 --> 00:19:29.569 and honor into the city. That is, the nations 00:19:29.569 --> 00:19:32.970 will bring in the souls of all those from each 00:19:32.970 --> 00:19:36.410 nation that are converted, the people who come 00:19:36.410 --> 00:19:39.970 to Christ. And here, my friends, is where I get 00:19:39.970 --> 00:19:43.730 to do two things. One is, as we'll see in a moment, 00:19:43.890 --> 00:19:46.450 I get to smuggle missions into the sermon. Really 00:19:46.450 --> 00:19:48.470 not smuggle because it's already there, right? 00:19:49.670 --> 00:19:52.670 But I also get to do something else. I also get 00:19:52.670 --> 00:19:56.009 to give that final death blow to the idea that 00:19:56.009 --> 00:19:58.789 this chapter is about a place where we will go 00:19:58.789 --> 00:20:03.130 to live someday forever. So let me take that 00:20:03.130 --> 00:20:06.069 on first. For the people who think that this 00:20:06.069 --> 00:20:10.809 passage is about a heavenly city, then these 00:20:10.809 --> 00:20:14.390 verses in particular create a huge problem for 00:20:14.390 --> 00:20:18.910 them. Because how can the nations stream into 00:20:18.910 --> 00:20:21.230 the city and bring their treasures and glory 00:20:21.230 --> 00:20:27.490 and splendor into the city? Because what nations 00:20:27.490 --> 00:20:31.289 are we talking about? This is chapter 21. In 00:20:31.289 --> 00:20:36.190 chapter 19, Christ comes back and destroys all 00:20:36.190 --> 00:20:39.910 of his enemies in the battle of Armageddon. And 00:20:39.910 --> 00:20:44.509 at the end of chapter 20, all humanity is resurrected, 00:20:44.609 --> 00:20:50.970 and Jesus sends the unbelieving, the reprobate, 00:20:51.029 --> 00:20:56.049 to the lake of fire. There's no one left. There's 00:20:56.049 --> 00:20:59.289 no nations left. There's only one nation left, 00:20:59.529 --> 00:21:02.829 the people of God. But we would be in the city, 00:21:02.910 --> 00:21:06.130 right? Because the whole description is supposedly 00:21:06.130 --> 00:21:09.990 the city where we will live. So what nations 00:21:09.990 --> 00:21:13.690 would be outside of the city to be able to bring 00:21:13.690 --> 00:21:19.529 in their treasures? But if you see this chapter, 00:21:19.890 --> 00:21:24.029 this vision, as a vision about the church, the 00:21:24.029 --> 00:21:28.569 church even as it is now, then the picture of 00:21:28.569 --> 00:21:31.390 the nations streaming into the city with their 00:21:31.390 --> 00:21:34.609 treasures becomes intelligible. It's understandable. 00:21:35.049 --> 00:21:39.539 It's a picture of missions. The church is composed 00:21:39.539 --> 00:21:44.119 of people from every tribe and nation and language. 00:21:44.180 --> 00:21:47.160 This is something that the book of Revelation 00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:53.599 repeats a number of times. And we are those who 00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:57.559 have already come in to the city, and we call 00:21:57.559 --> 00:22:01.470 others to come in as well. we send evangelists 00:22:01.470 --> 00:22:04.430 and teachers and relief workers and many more 00:22:04.430 --> 00:22:07.369 to fulfill the Great Commission, both in our 00:22:07.369 --> 00:22:11.690 backyard and to the four corners of the earth. 00:22:12.450 --> 00:22:16.329 And we do that because we're looking forward 00:22:16.329 --> 00:22:19.930 to being part of that great celebration, the 00:22:19.930 --> 00:22:22.970 great multitude that's greater than anyone can 00:22:22.970 --> 00:22:27.490 count, an international... interracial multitude 00:22:27.490 --> 00:22:31.569 worshiping God and the Lamb at the consummation 00:22:31.569 --> 00:22:35.970 of all things. And we want that crowd to be humongous. 00:22:35.990 --> 00:22:39.490 And so we take the gospel everywhere. We want 00:22:39.490 --> 00:22:42.390 our family members, our friends, our co -workers, 00:22:42.630 --> 00:22:45.750 our classmates to be part of that celebration. 00:22:46.410 --> 00:22:50.769 We don't want to leave anyone out, unfortunately, 00:22:50.869 --> 00:22:54.029 unless they want to be left out. And that's where 00:22:54.029 --> 00:22:59.180 verse 27 comes in. But nothing unclean will ever 00:22:59.180 --> 00:23:02.740 enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable 00:23:02.740 --> 00:23:06.119 or false, but only those who are written in the 00:23:06.119 --> 00:23:10.720 Lamb's book of life. And this repeats the idea 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:15.460 of verses 7 and 8. The one who conquers will 00:23:15.460 --> 00:23:18.519 have this heritage, and I will be his God, and 00:23:18.519 --> 00:23:22.029 he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the 00:23:22.029 --> 00:23:25.289 faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, 00:23:25.289 --> 00:23:28.730 the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and 00:23:28.730 --> 00:23:31.430 all liars, their portion will be in the lake 00:23:31.430 --> 00:23:34.410 that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the 00:23:34.410 --> 00:23:39.710 second death. Sadly, there are people who will 00:23:39.710 --> 00:23:44.289 not respond favorably to the gospel. They'll 00:23:44.289 --> 00:23:48.099 cling to shameless lives. And their fate is the 00:23:48.099 --> 00:23:51.759 fate that each one of us deserves, but that Christ 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:56.759 took our sentence away for us. By the grace of 00:23:56.759 --> 00:24:00.559 God, God has written down our names in his book. 00:24:02.240 --> 00:24:06.180 We finish our tour of Revelation 21 and 22 with 00:24:06.180 --> 00:24:10.799 the first five verses of chapter 22. Then the 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:13.980 angel showed me the river of the water of life. 00:24:14.509 --> 00:24:17.670 bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of 00:24:17.670 --> 00:24:20.329 God and of the Lamb through the middle of the 00:24:20.329 --> 00:24:23.509 street of the city. Also on either side of the 00:24:23.509 --> 00:24:25.990 river the tree of life, with its twelve kinds 00:24:25.990 --> 00:24:29.029 of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The 00:24:29.029 --> 00:24:31.109 leaves of the tree were for the healing of the 00:24:31.109 --> 00:24:34.690 nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, 00:24:34.829 --> 00:24:37.970 but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be 00:24:37.970 --> 00:24:41.029 in it, and his servants will worship him. They 00:24:41.029 --> 00:24:43.890 will see his face, and his name will be on their 00:24:43.890 --> 00:24:47.970 foreheads, and night will be no more. They will 00:24:47.970 --> 00:24:51.309 need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God 00:24:51.309 --> 00:24:54.230 will be their light, and they will reign forever 00:24:54.230 --> 00:24:58.630 and ever. We can't look at every detail, but 00:24:58.630 --> 00:25:02.349 I should mention that these verses portray the 00:25:02.349 --> 00:25:07.700 church as a new Eden, a new Garden of Eden. We 00:25:07.700 --> 00:25:11.059 see a river and a garden just as we see in Eden. 00:25:11.400 --> 00:25:14.400 We see the tree of life that had been in Eden 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:18.079 in Genesis. We see the saints beholding the face 00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:21.700 of God just as Adam and Eve had communion and 00:25:21.700 --> 00:25:26.140 could see the face of God. And we see the long 00:25:26.140 --> 00:25:30.160 -awaited undoing of the curse from Genesis 3. 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:34.779 Nothing more will be accursed. One missiologist 00:25:34.779 --> 00:25:38.960 puts it this way. that the Bible began in a garden 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:43.779 but ends in a city. And we can add this, that 00:25:43.779 --> 00:25:47.420 the city fulfills the goals of that original 00:25:47.420 --> 00:25:51.559 garden. The church, to the extent that we love 00:25:51.559 --> 00:25:56.220 and obey our Lord, fulfills the original goal 00:25:56.220 --> 00:26:01.680 of Genesis 1, of a kingdom of human beings reigning 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:07.559 over creation in communion with God. Now in conclusion, 00:26:07.700 --> 00:26:10.720 let's think about some applications. There are 00:26:10.720 --> 00:26:14.140 many ways in which we can integrate this passage 00:26:14.140 --> 00:26:18.880 into our lives. The main application would be 00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:23.519 to reorient and rehabilitate our cynical view 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:27.380 of the church. The church has gotten a lot of 00:26:27.380 --> 00:26:29.720 bad press, especially in the last few years. 00:26:30.920 --> 00:26:33.319 And oftentimes we get a little cynical about 00:26:33.319 --> 00:26:35.759 the church. And it's true that the church fails 00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:40.180 in so many ways. We can be hypocritical. We can 00:26:40.180 --> 00:26:43.720 be mediocre and boring. We can be passive. We 00:26:43.720 --> 00:26:47.859 can be out of date. We can be out of touch. But 00:26:47.859 --> 00:26:53.799 Jesus Christ loves his church as his bride. Jesus 00:26:53.799 --> 00:26:59.630 told John that to him, his church, we... are 00:26:59.630 --> 00:27:04.529 like a glorious international metropolis filled 00:27:04.529 --> 00:27:08.390 with light, reaching space, and adorned with 00:27:08.390 --> 00:27:14.210 precious jewels. And so how can we then contemplate 00:27:14.210 --> 00:27:21.069 this passage and this vision to be able to reorient 00:27:21.069 --> 00:27:25.769 our ways of thinking and speaking and feeling 00:27:25.769 --> 00:27:30.599 about the church? On a more individual level, 00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:33.759 as I mentioned, we can use this chapter to bolster 00:27:33.759 --> 00:27:37.640 our individual self -esteem because we are part 00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:41.460 of that radiant church. God looks at you with 00:27:41.460 --> 00:27:46.519 love and longing. Yes, you're a sinner. Yes, 00:27:46.579 --> 00:27:50.059 you're far from perfect. But this does not negate 00:27:50.059 --> 00:27:55.579 the love that God feels for you. And so how can 00:27:55.579 --> 00:28:00.180 this truth uphold and strengthen and fortify 00:28:00.180 --> 00:28:05.359 you just as it upheld and fortified that small 00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:10.059 persecuted and beleaguered house churches in 00:28:10.059 --> 00:28:15.019 the first century another application so important 00:28:15.019 --> 00:28:19.200 would be to overcome whatever racism that still 00:28:19.200 --> 00:28:24.380 has a foothold in our lives the church reaches 00:28:24.380 --> 00:28:27.380 out in missions to people of all races and all 00:28:27.380 --> 00:28:31.559 nations and all cultures. In Ephesians 2, we 00:28:31.559 --> 00:28:35.599 saw how the church has overcome the barrier between 00:28:35.599 --> 00:28:38.359 the Jews and the Gentiles. How much more, then, 00:28:38.420 --> 00:28:41.319 should it be overcoming the barriers between 00:28:41.319 --> 00:28:46.299 us Gentiles? And the city that we saw in this 00:28:46.299 --> 00:28:49.519 chapter has its gates open in every direction 00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:56.480 24 -7. Our neighbors and all the nations are 00:28:56.480 --> 00:29:00.539 invited to come in. What kind of welcome will 00:29:00.539 --> 00:29:05.339 they receive in our churches, in our homes and 00:29:05.339 --> 00:29:09.740 families? Will they receive a warm welcome or 00:29:09.740 --> 00:29:13.579 are we still erecting barriers to discourage 00:29:13.579 --> 00:29:17.640 certain races and classes of people from being 00:29:17.640 --> 00:29:21.670 in our midst? And then connected to that point, 00:29:21.789 --> 00:29:24.049 of course you knew that the final application 00:29:24.049 --> 00:29:28.150 was going to be missions, right? Local evangelism, 00:29:28.210 --> 00:29:31.609 prayer for missions, prayer for missionaries, 00:29:31.650 --> 00:29:36.250 support of missions. These are all things that 00:29:36.250 --> 00:29:39.490 this passage calls us to. And of course, Blanca 00:29:39.490 --> 00:29:42.410 and I can attest to your faithfulness in praying 00:29:42.410 --> 00:29:46.009 for us and supporting us over these last 20 years. 00:29:46.769 --> 00:29:52.490 And we trust. That each of you is also reaching 00:29:52.490 --> 00:29:58.430 out in some way in this context as well. And 00:29:58.430 --> 00:30:02.009 so our prayer is that the building project that 00:30:02.009 --> 00:30:05.009 you guys are working on might be accompanied 00:30:05.009 --> 00:30:09.049 by an even bigger building project of building 00:30:09.049 --> 00:30:12.569 each other up in the gospel in order to be able 00:30:12.569 --> 00:30:16.009 to witness faithfully to the people around you. 00:30:17.340 --> 00:30:22.460 Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, you are 00:30:22.460 --> 00:30:28.160 the bride of the Lamb. May you be adorned for 00:30:28.160 --> 00:30:31.519 your wedding day with every beautiful jewel as 00:30:31.519 --> 00:30:35.319 you purify yourselves and are purified by God 00:30:35.319 --> 00:30:39.259 of every kind of evil. May you shine with the 00:30:39.259 --> 00:30:44.329 very light and glory of God. May you be built 00:30:44.329 --> 00:30:48.049 on the sure foundation of the words and teachings 00:30:48.049 --> 00:30:52.089 of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. May 00:30:52.089 --> 00:30:55.730 your gates always be open to welcome and receive 00:30:55.730 --> 00:30:58.769 people from the north, south, east, and west. 00:30:59.089 --> 00:31:03.630 May your gates be open and may you bear fruit, 00:31:03.750 --> 00:31:07.410 the fruit of the Spirit for the healing of the 00:31:07.410 --> 00:31:11.049 nations. And may the one who sits on the throne 00:31:11.609 --> 00:31:17.089 And the Lamb that was slain, be your temple. 00:31:17.230 --> 00:31:22.349 May they be your temple, filling you with their 00:31:22.349 --> 00:31:25.950 presence by the power of the Holy Spirit now 00:31:25.950 --> 00:31:31.250 and forever. And all God's people said, let's 00:31:31.250 --> 00:31:31.390 pray.