1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,940 Good morning. How are you all doing today? Awesome. Well, we like to start every 2 00:00:06,940 --> 00:00:10,840 Sunday by saying welcome to any of you that are joining us here for the first 3 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:14,400 time, whether you're here in our sanctuary or if you're watching online. 4 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:20,640 Welcome. We're so glad you're here to worship with us here at Hosanna. I am 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:25,360 Pastor Nathan and this morning we are going to be continuing our look into 6 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:30,640 eternity at the end of Revelation in chapter 21 by looking at the new 7 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:35,280 Jerusalem. You know, some of you may be familiar with the fact that there's 8 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:40,120 nicknames for a lot of cities around the world, right? Big cities have nicknames 9 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:44,960 that kind of reflect the aspects of the city or the qualities or the characters 10 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:49,280 of the city. You know, New York, it's called the Big Apple, right? Does anybody know why 11 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:54,560 it's called the Big Apple? No, nobody does except the internet. So I looked it up for 12 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:59,560 you, okay? That was originally a reference to the fact that New York had big-time 13 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:03,560 horse racing venues. That's why it's called the Big Apple. Interesting, right? 14 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:09,200 Chicago is known as the Windy City because, well, it's windy there. All right? 15 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:14,040 Los Angeles, our city is commonly referred to as the City of Angels and 16 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:18,000 that's not really a nickname per se but more of a translation of what Los 17 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:24,200 Angeles means. But Jerusalem, biblically, has a lot of names, nicknames, other 18 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:28,880 ways of referring to the city. It's called the City of God. It's referred to 19 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:35,760 as the City of Peace, the City of David, the City of the Great King. It's referred 20 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:41,640 to as Zion. And Jerusalem is a very special place. It always has been a very 21 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:47,760 special place. It's a beautiful place but it's also a place of great conflict. 22 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:52,820 Jerusalem was a place that Jesus visited seven times during his ministry here on 23 00:01:52,820 --> 00:01:57,600 earth and on one of his visits it tells us in scripture that Jesus wept over 24 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:03,000 the city because he saw its future destruction. And we know historically 25 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:09,160 that that happened just as he foresaw. But Jerusalem, as we know it today, has 26 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:14,280 seen war over 35 times in its history. It's under threat right now with what's 27 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:18,760 going on in the Middle East. Seventeen times Jerusalem has been reduced to 28 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:24,600 ashes. Eighteen times Jerusalem has risen from those ashes. But the city 29 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:30,680 Jerusalem always seems to be on the verge of catastrophe and some war, some 30 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:36,560 difficulty looming on the horizon in one way or another. Biblically, Jerusalem is 31 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:41,080 kind of the geographic center of the earth. You know, when you read through 32 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:45,880 scripture, you'll find that when scripture is referring to the compass 33 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:50,120 points, the north, south, east, and west, Jerusalem is always the center point. It's 34 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:53,840 always the reference point when the Bible makes reference to north, south, 35 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:59,640 east, and west. In Ezekiel 5, God said, I have set this Jerusalem in the center of 36 00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:05,560 the nations with countries all around her. In addition to Jerusalem being 37 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:10,040 somewhat the biblical geographical center of the earth, it's also the 38 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:15,000 center of the earth spiritually. You see, Jerusalem is where Jesus was crucified. 39 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:20,880 So it's the epicenter of salvation. It's the epicenter of all that that we hope 40 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:25,760 for in our faith. It's the only city on the earth where Jesus was crucified. He 41 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,960 wasn't crucified anywhere else. It's the place where the sins of the world were 42 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:36,120 put upon the Son of God. Prophetically, Jerusalem is the center of much 43 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,520 difficulty. As we've been studying through Revelation, we've seen that 44 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:43,560 Jerusalem is the center of a lot of the end times drama that takes place through 45 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:48,000 the tribulation period. It's a place prophetically that deals with a lot of 46 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:52,320 different judgment and things of that nature and conflict. And governments of 47 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:56,160 the world have always had their eye on Jerusalem. They're always watching 48 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:59,800 Jerusalem to see what's going to happen and what's taking place there. And again, 49 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:04,280 the prophet Zechariah said Jerusalem will be a heavy stone for all peoples. 50 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:10,800 But ultimately, ultimately, at the end of all things, in the eternal state to come, 51 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:17,320 Jerusalem will be made anew. Not as a center of geography, not as a center of 52 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:22,800 politics, not as a center of conflict, but it will be the center of glory for 53 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:28,360 everything, for the entire cosmos. It'll be the place where the crowned King of 54 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:32,320 Glory will rule eternity and perfect holiness forever. And it will be a place 55 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:37,080 that God's people dwell with him in his presence permanently. The end of 56 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:41,280 Revelation 21 into Revelation 22 describes this new Jerusalem and its 57 00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:44,440 beauty, its glory, its wonder. And that's what we're going to be talking about 58 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:48,160 today. But first, we're going to spend some time in worship because we want to 59 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:52,800 worship the King of Glory. We want to praise his name because he is due our 60 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:57,120 worship. He is worthy of our worship. Our everything, our entire existence, our 61 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:04,280 life, our purpose is because of him. And so he is worthy of our praise, not just 62 00:05:04,280 --> 00:05:09,200 on Sunday mornings, but all day, every day. But here as we are gathered as his 63 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:14,600 people, this is a special moment that we come together to say, God, you're awesome. 64 00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:20,760 God, you are glorious. And we love you so much. Amen? Father, we thank you so much, 65 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:25,560 God, for who you are. We look forward to just being with you in eternity forever, 66 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,720 God. We can't wait to get to heaven. Lord, we're so blessed at this description 67 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:34,000 you've given us at the end of Revelation, of what the new heaven and the new 68 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,160 earth is going to look at, God. And as we get into this description of New 69 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:42,720 Jerusalem, Lord, this city, this perfect holy city wherein you dwell with your 70 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:47,720 people forever, God, that we would just be encouraged and motivated as we look 71 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,920 forward to what is to come, God. But we wouldn't just be focused on what is to 72 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:56,600 come and forget that we're here still now with a call to share the gospel of 73 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:00,520 Jesus Christ with those that don't know it. And so God, motivate us today, 74 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:04,640 encourage us, God. And then today, Lord, as we celebrate together as the body of 75 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:09,960 Christ in communion and remember what you did for us, Lord, may we be reminded 76 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:14,720 very powerfully at the cost of our entrance into perfection, into heaven, 77 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:18,920 into eternity, Lord, and that we would be eternally grateful for you, not just 78 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:22,920 in words, but in action and in attitude and in our heart, Lord. We love you so 79 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:27,400 much and we thank you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Today we are starting 80 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:33,800 with the, one of the final major sections of Revelation here. It's verse 9 of 81 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:39,040 chapter 21 and it goes all the way down through verse 5 of chapter 22. And so 82 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:44,640 it's a pretty straightforward description of this future city called the New 83 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:50,080 Jerusalem. Now this section is broken up into two parts. And so the first part is 84 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:54,640 really a description of this beautiful city from the outside. That's what we're 85 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,840 going to be talking about today. And then there's a description of this 86 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:01,880 beautiful city from the inside and that's what we'll be talking about in 87 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:07,480 our next study. But at this point in Revelation, we know and understand that 88 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:12,400 the rapture of the church has already happened. Tribulation has come and gone. 89 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:19,000 The millennial kingdom is over. Satan has been permanently cast into the Lake of 90 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:24,560 Fire along with the false prophet and the Antichrist. The final great white 91 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:29,360 throne judgment on those who have rejected Christ throughout all time is 92 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:35,960 done and passed. The first creation is gone, has ceased to exist, has been 93 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:41,800 undone and replaced with a new heavens and a new earth. And now what we have 94 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:46,840 described for us here in the eternal state that we find ourselves at the end 95 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:52,640 of all things is really a major element of eternity. It's a major feature of 96 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:58,960 eternity, if you will. It's the city that comes down out of the transcendent 97 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:05,080 spiritual realm, down to the new earth wherein the redeemed will dwell in God's 98 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:10,080 presence and glory forever, the New Jerusalem. And so read with me in 99 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:16,560 Revelation chapter 21 starting in verse 9. It says, then one of the seven angels 100 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:21,760 who had held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came and spoke 101 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:28,720 with me, come I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb. He then carried me 102 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:33,440 away in the spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city 103 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:40,800 Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. Now as we get into the description 104 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:46,840 of this city, this beautiful city, we have to remember that much like much of 105 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:53,440 Revelation, what we're seeing here is both a literal description that has great 106 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:58,520 symbolic meaning. We have to understand that. I do believe very strongly that 107 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:02,880 this is a literal description of a literal city that will exist in the 108 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:07,680 eternal state. But that doesn't mean that there's not symbolism tied into the 109 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:12,720 elements of this city. And so although there is this literal city here, that 110 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:16,960 doesn't mean we cast off symbolic meaning. But it also doesn't mean that we 111 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:20,880 cast off the fact that it's a literal city and say that it must only be 112 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:27,400 symbolic. And so John opens this section here seeing an angel that he describes 113 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:31,760 in a way that tells us this angel hasn't been seen for at least a thousand years, 114 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:36,160 right? This angel was one of the angels that was pouring out the judgments of 115 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:40,640 God during tribulation period. And so we know that a thousand years at least have 116 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:45,880 passed. And so here this angel shows up, an angel that was familiar to John that 117 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:50,080 he had seen before. And this angel says, I'm gonna show you the bride, the wife of 118 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:56,520 the Lamb. But then he goes on to describe a city. That's a strange way to describe 119 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:02,480 a bride, right? It's a strange way to describe a city. What he is doing here 120 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:08,480 is he is describing the city of God, this holy city of God, in terms of its 121 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:13,600 occupants, all right? The idea of I'm gonna show you the bride, the wife of the 122 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:17,400 Lamb, and then to go on to describe the city is what he's describing here, what 123 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:23,040 he's telling us is that New Jerusalem is a bride city. It's a city that is 124 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:29,280 occupied by the bride of Christ. This is the place that Jesus had prepared for 125 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:35,200 his people to be occupied by his people who we know biblically are the bride of 126 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:40,240 Christ. We see that description throughout scripture many, many times, 127 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:46,320 that the redeemed are called the bride of Christ. One of those examples is in 128 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:50,840 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 2 where Paul was speaking to the church at 129 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:56,920 Corinth and he said, for I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy because I have 130 00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:02,600 promised you in marriage to one husband to present a pure virgin to Christ. And 131 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:05,440 so that's one of those places where we get the idea that the church, the 132 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:10,760 redeemed, are the bride of Christ. There are other places that describe Jesus as 133 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:17,520 the bridegroom. In Revelation 19,7 the saints are specifically called his bride 134 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:22,960 and so I want to point out very clearly in the beginning that the bride is not 135 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:30,040 the city. It's the city being described in the context of its occupants, the 136 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:36,560 bride of Christ. We have to understand and I hope you realize and appreciate 137 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:44,200 that bride, the term bride is one of God's favorite names for you and me. It's 138 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:48,480 one of his favorite names for the redeemed, his church, his people, all the 139 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:55,240 redeemed. When he calls us his bride, it's meant to invoke the idea of the closest 140 00:11:55,240 --> 00:12:01,720 possible relationship that we can experience here on earth. It's one of the 141 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:07,320 closest and most beautiful relationships. In fact, Ephesians chapter 5, it has a 142 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:11,880 lengthy description and it's one I use when I do marriage ceremonies that talks 143 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:16,760 about this symbolism of what marriage here on earth between a man and a woman 144 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:21,760 is meant to symbolize in the relationship that God intends to have 145 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:26,320 with his creation. That there's a closeness and an intimacy there that is 146 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:31,480 meant to be symbolized by marriage. Incidentally, it's why I believe Satan 147 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:36,640 has attacked marriage so aggressively down through the ages, has fought tooth 148 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:41,440 and nail to redefine it because God said marriage is between one man and one 149 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:48,080 woman for life. That's his intent and that whole symbolism that is meant to 150 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:52,160 be a picture of the relationship God wants to have with his people. And so 151 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:56,120 Satan's like, let's redefine it, let's corrupt it, let's change it, let's do 152 00:12:56,120 --> 00:13:00,640 everything we can because it's meant to symbolize this picture, this relationship 153 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:05,840 that God wants to have with you and me. But calling us the bride in Scripture is 154 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:12,320 the idea of closeness and intimacy and connection and unity as God defines it. 155 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:16,120 That's what this marriage concept is, that's what calling us the bride of 156 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:21,840 Christ is all about. And then you'll remember in Revelation 21 verse 2 after 157 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:26,440 the introduction of the new heaven and the new earth, it said, I also saw the 158 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:32,160 holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God prepared like a 159 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:38,160 bride adorned for her husband. And so we understand that the city is not the 160 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:44,160 bride, the city was adorned like a bride, telling us that the city and the 161 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:48,240 bride connection is a metaphorical connection, it is a symbolic connection, 162 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:53,320 telling us that the splendor of the city, the glory of the city was a reflection of 163 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:59,040 its occupants. And then again in Revelation 21 3, he went on to say, then 164 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:04,840 I heard a loud voice from the throne, look, God's dwelling is with humanity and 165 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:09,280 he will live with them, they will be his peoples and God himself will be with them 166 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:15,160 and will be their God. And so again, this city that is adorned in glory like a 167 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:19,680 bride adorned for her husband, reflecting the glory and the splendor of the 168 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:24,600 occupants, the occupants there who is the humanity that God is dwelling this, 169 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:28,040 dwelling with, the whole picture is this closeness and this intimacy and this 170 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:33,640 connection seen there, that's the point. And where is this connection? Where is 171 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:39,040 this closeness? Where is this intimacy centered in? It's centered in this place 172 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:44,600 called the New Jerusalem. Now, I think it's sad but there are many people, many 173 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:51,760 Christians on the earth today that like to have a long distance relationship with 174 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:56,320 God. They prefer to have a long distance relationship, they like to keep God at a 175 00:14:56,320 --> 00:15:00,920 distance. He's close enough to feel salvation but he's far enough away to not 176 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:06,640 affect your behavior. You know, and there isn't much intimacy at all with God. 177 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:11,680 There's not a whole lot of closeness, right? You know, you haven't read his 178 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:17,720 Bible in months, years, you know. It has a layer of dust on it, you know, you're 179 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:22,040 like, what's going on there? Maybe you come to church and you worship and you 180 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:24,840 hear the word here but then you go right back to your life and you don't really 181 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:30,000 live the faith that you claim to have. There's little if any conversation with 182 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:34,400 him, right? You don't hear from him by reading his word. You don't talk to him in 183 00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:40,560 prayer. Maybe you don't express much worship, you know, or adoration for him 184 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:45,800 and praise and worship and really for some you don't wear your faith outwardly 185 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:53,160 the way a person wears a wedding ring to proclaim to the world, I'm married. Your 186 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:57,840 faith is all hidden and inside and you know, that's not the relationship that God 187 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:03,520 wants to have with us. That's not the relationship that we're going to have 188 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:09,120 with him into eternity. It's quite the opposite, you know, and yeah, it's 189 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:14,920 amazing to me that he calls us his bride at all, right? I mean, especially 190 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:18,880 watching, considering that he's been watching the church for 2,000 years, 191 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:26,480 right? He sees me, he knows my life and he still calls me his bride. I mean, 192 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:31,200 it's just amazing when we think of our weaknesses and our struggles and who we 193 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:36,600 are and yet he goes, yeah, but I still love you. I still call you my bride. He 194 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:41,600 calls us his bride and he will call us his bride into eternity. That's just a 195 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:49,120 beautiful thing. His love for us never waxes, never wanes, but is and will be 196 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:55,720 perpetually at its greatest expression. That's God's love for you. And so when 197 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:59,600 we're looking at this bride city that he's preparing for us, you know, big 198 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:05,240 question for us is are we preparing to be residents of the bride city? Is that 199 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:09,840 how we're living our lives as his people? Are we preparing for that time? Are we 200 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:15,000 preparing for that closeness? Are we preparing to be there with him or are we 201 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:21,680 flirting with the world while holding his hand? You know, and it's a question 202 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:26,320 that every believer has to ask themselves at different times. It's a 203 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:30,680 question that we see in the different parables and stuff, you know, as the 204 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,120 bridesmaids who weren't ready for the coming of the bridegroom and all 205 00:17:34,120 --> 00:17:39,240 this type of stuff, but this place, this city, it tells us here in Revelation that 206 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:43,520 it comes down out of heaven. That phrase, it's coming down or comes down out of 207 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:48,920 heaven is mentioned both in verse 2 and verse 10 of Revelation chapter 21. Now 208 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:52,120 the fact that it says it's coming down out of heaven, that tells us something 209 00:17:52,120 --> 00:17:58,320 very important, that it's not created in that moment. It's being presented in that 210 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:03,280 moment. You understand the difference? That it's not being created there. I 211 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:08,720 believe this New Jerusalem is primarily what Jesus referred to when he said, 212 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:15,040 In my father's house are many mansions. You remember that? John chapter 14 verse 213 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:19,680 two, Jesus said, In my father's house are many rooms. And that's really what that 214 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:24,560 word mansions means. It means rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you 215 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:30,120 that I'm going to prepare a place for you? It sounds like at this point in 216 00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:35,920 Revelation that the father's house that Jesus had been preparing places for us 217 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:41,680 within existed already, and now it was ready and now it is being presented to 218 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:45,960 his people for their permanent habitation with God forever. And so 219 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:51,800 verse 11 back in Revelation 21, it tells us that the city is arrayed with God's 220 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:57,560 glory. Her radiance was like a precious jewel, like a jasper stone clear as 221 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:02,800 crystal. The primary characteristic of the city of God, this New Jerusalem, is 222 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:08,200 that it has the glory of God. That's the primary characteristic. It has the glory 223 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:14,680 of God. That word arrayed there, it means to be dressed or to be decorated in 224 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:21,600 splendid or impressive attire, right? It means that it possesses that which it's 225 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:25,560 going on to describe. So it says arrayed in God's glory. That means the New 226 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:31,920 Jerusalem is dressed in or decorated with. It's characterized by the glory of 227 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:37,720 God. The glory of God permeates this place, as we're gonna see. And this glory, 228 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:43,120 it said, is described, it's the radiance like a precious jewel, like a jasper 229 00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:46,840 stone. So again, when we're studying through Revelation, we often talk about 230 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:51,640 what's literal and what's metaphorical, right? One of the clues, not in a 231 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:57,240 hundred percent of cases, but one of the clues is when it says like a. That means 232 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:01,360 it's given a metaphorical description of something. So its radiance was 233 00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:06,160 like a precious jewel. And then it describes what precious jewel it's like, 234 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:11,040 a jasper stone. Now this word radiance means light radiating from an object 235 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:17,640 that the light is concentrated in. It's the idea of a shining star, right? That 236 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:21,760 the star itself, the light is concentrated within the star and then it 237 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:28,080 radiates out from it. In verse 23 of Revelation 21, it tells us this, the 238 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:32,000 city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it because the glory of God 239 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:38,760 illuminates it and its lamp is the lamb. And then in Revelation 22, 5, it says 240 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:43,320 night will be no more. People will not need the light of a lamp or the light of 241 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:47,200 the sun because the Lord God will give them light and they will reign forever 242 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:52,760 and ever. So the glory of God illuminates this place. There's no moon 243 00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:59,640 reflecting the sun. There's no sun generating light by nuclear reactions. 244 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:07,720 There's no need for any of that because the lamb of God is there. Who is God 245 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:11,440 shining the glory? He is the source of light and it is just illuminating the 246 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:15,760 entire place permanently. Now it gives us this description, right? Like a 247 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:20,840 jasper. In modern times, for those of you that are into precious stones and 248 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:25,240 that type of thing, it's an opaque whitish yellow stone. That's what a 249 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:30,600 jasper is today. But throughout the ages, the definitions of precious stones have 250 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:37,200 changed. And in John's time, a jasper is referred to a gemstone that was 251 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:41,840 crystal clear, all right? It would be closest to what we would call a diamond 252 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:47,200 today, a clear shining diamond. And so it's describing the glory radiating 253 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:52,960 from the city. This glory that is radiating out from God in this city 254 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:57,920 makes the whole city look like a dazzling diamond. I mean, it's just 255 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:03,480 beautiful, right? It's just the beauty in its purest form is what this city is. 256 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:09,920 Now, did you know that God loves creative beauty? He does. He loves 257 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:14,320 creative beauty. I mean, it's evident as we get further into the description of 258 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:20,160 the city, but think about it. We see it in the first creation, right? The other 259 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:26,040 night, Irene was leaving her house with Gavin and there was just this 260 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:31,800 beautiful sunset that had purples and pinks and runes in it and she just goes, 261 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:35,960 oh, wow, look at the sky, it's so pretty. And we've all seen that, right? 262 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:39,960 Beautiful sunsets, beautiful sunrises. And we just look in the sky and we're 263 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:45,920 like, what? Are you kidding me? How can it be that beautiful? We've seen things 264 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:52,640 like flowers and just stuff that exists in creation that is beautiful, 265 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:57,520 beautiful to behold. Well, in eternity, it's gonna be demonstrated in a way we 266 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:04,720 can only imagine here. Think about when you think of this creation, think God 267 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:10,400 created this creation in six days, right? I believe it was six literal days. 268 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:15,320 God made the heavens and the earth here, the first creation, right? And we see 269 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:19,120 that in the first chapter of Genesis, right? God said, light be and light was. 270 00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:23,360 Then he created the earth and the skies and the waters and the plants and all 271 00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:31,600 the animals and all this stuff. Now, in John 14, Jesus said, I'm going to prepare 272 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:39,600 a place for you. And as of today, that was 2,000 years ago. If God created the 273 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:44,680 beauty that we see here in the sunsets and sunrises and in the sky and the 274 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:50,520 sky, if he did that in six days, imagine what the place he is preparing for you 275 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:55,720 is gonna look like when we get there. And again, we can only imagine because it's 276 00:23:55,720 --> 00:24:01,360 beyond our comprehension. If sunrises and sunsets and the beauty of this place was 277 00:24:01,360 --> 00:24:05,960 accomplished in six days, wow, the New Jerusalem is gonna be amazing. We get a 278 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:10,240 glimpse of that here, but really, you know, what John is describing is what he's 279 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:16,120 seeing from the outside. It's like a huge, dazzling, iridescent, gleaming diamond. 280 00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:22,560 The most precious possible beauty that he can imagine. In verse 12, he goes on 281 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:27,520 to start describing the city. The city had a massive high wall with 12 gates. 282 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:30,880 Twelve angels were at the gates and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel's 283 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:36,360 sons were inscribed on the gates. There were three gates on the east, three gates 284 00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:40,640 on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. The city 285 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:44,200 wall had twelve foundations and the twelve names of the twelve apostles of 286 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:49,400 the Lamb were on the foundations. So again, he's going on to give us greater 287 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:54,680 detail about this city, right? It's a straightforward dimensional description 288 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:59,920 here. It has four sides. There's three gates on each side. Those gates are 289 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:02,800 inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. What's really 290 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:07,480 interesting here is here we are in heaven, right? We're in eternity. We're 291 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:13,880 after everything. And this description of this city is very similar to the camp 292 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:17,560 layout with the tabernacle in the wilderness. You go into the Old Testament, 293 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:20,320 you read about when they were traveling through the wilderness and they would 294 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:24,920 set up the temple, right? The tabernacle where God's presence dwelt. And the 295 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:29,320 layout is very similar. You had three tribes, like these three gates, on each 296 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:33,320 side of the camp in the Old Testament. And again, we know that the Bible tells us 297 00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:39,000 that the tabernacle and the temple were foreshadowings to what was going to be 298 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:44,520 in heaven. And so we see that there's these three tribes representing, and both 299 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:48,760 in the tabernacle and both in the New Jerusalem, the idea here is no matter 300 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:53,880 how you enter the city, you're facing towards God, because he is the center of 301 00:25:53,880 --> 00:26:01,240 it all. Now why the names of the twelve tribes? This is one for people who say 302 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:05,240 Israel doesn't exist in the end and the church has replaced them. I'm like, well 303 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:10,400 then what's the point here? Right? If the church has replaced Israel and Israel 304 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:14,000 doesn't exist in the end time scenario, there certainly seems to be a whole lot 305 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:19,040 of emphasis on the twelve tribes of Israel throughout Revelation. Instead, I 306 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:24,320 think Israel has a major role to play both in tribulation and through the 307 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:29,480 millennium. They are God's chosen people. Everybody else that isn't Jewish, we are 308 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:35,880 grafted into that nation of people. And so we see these twelve tribes here and I 309 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:40,360 believe that they're inscribed on these gates because they're our heritage. The 310 00:26:40,360 --> 00:26:45,560 Jewish people, Israel, the nation of Israel, they were literally the gateway 311 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:51,720 to faith. They were the gateway to our faith, right? The Messianic Age was 312 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:57,280 promised and predicted to Israel and for Israel. The prophets who spoke of all of 313 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:03,480 this came from Israel. The foundation of the New Testament is the Old Testament 314 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:07,800 and you can't study one without being able to study the other because they're 315 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:14,440 so intertwined. They're not to be separated. Now God had and does have a 316 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:19,200 very unique covenant with Israel specifically, the Jewish people 317 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:23,080 specifically, and I believe that is recognized and honored here in these 318 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:27,480 names being inscribed on these gates. But then right after the gates, he says 319 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:32,160 there's twelve foundations of the city with the names of the twelve apostles. So 320 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:36,480 as much as the names on the gates celebrates and honors the covenant that 321 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:40,280 God had with Israel and the Jewish people, these foundations now celebrates 322 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:45,560 the covenant relationship that God has with the church. The church. Now Ephesians 323 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:50,520 chapter 2, it tells us that the Gentiles were once excluded from the citizenship 324 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:55,280 of Israel, foreigners to the covenants of promise, but it says in Ephesians 2, 325 00:27:55,280 --> 00:28:00,840 but now in Christ, you who were once excluded have now been brought near by 326 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:05,680 the blood of Christ. And it was the blood of the new covenant that opened the door 327 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,440 literally to everybody being a part of this, right? It wasn't just the Jewish 328 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:13,480 people who were supposed to let the world know about, it was the gospel going 329 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:19,480 out to the entire planet to everybody, both Jew and Gentile. And so Ephesians 330 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:24,920 chapter 2, verse 19 and 20 goes on to say this, so then you are no longer 331 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:29,360 foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of 332 00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:35,560 God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ 333 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:42,840 Jesus himself as the cornerstone. And so our Christian faith today, the 334 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:48,560 Christianity that we profess as Christians, is built upon the doctrines 335 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:53,520 and the teaching and the eyewitness accounts of the apostles. Its roots came 336 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:59,400 from Judaism, but then Christianity was built through the teaching of the 337 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:02,880 apostles and that's this foundation we see here in the New Jerusalem. They were 338 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:07,360 the ones who wrote the documents that we have as the Bible, right? The letters 339 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:10,640 that we study, they're the ones that wrote these in the New Testament. They 340 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:14,920 organized the first assemblies of Christian believers, right? Sure, the 341 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:21,880 church started out primarily Jewish, but as it grew, Gentiles were welcomed in. 342 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:27,240 They were among the first martyrs of the faith. So from a human standpoint, the 343 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:34,600 apostles were literally the foundation of Christianity. And so in verse 15, now 344 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:39,320 we go from a kind of broad description of this New Jerusalem to a more detailed 345 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:44,720 description. He says, the one who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod to 346 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:51,680 measure the city, its gates and its wall. The city is laid out in a square. Its 347 00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:56,200 length and width are the same. He measured the city with a with the rod at 348 00:29:56,200 --> 00:30:04,360 12,000 stadia. Its length, width, and height are equal. See, one of the reasons I 349 00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:09,360 believe he's describing a literal city here is because of how specific this 350 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:15,720 description is. I mean, it's very specific and very concise. Now, I've been to 351 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:20,160 Jerusalem twice. I've had the opportunity to go to Israel two different occasions 352 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:24,440 on a trip and a visit there, and these measurements, I will have to say, are 353 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:32,640 very different than the place I've been to, right? This is a huge place, very, 354 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:38,280 very gigantic, right? Now, it tells us that all three dimensions are the same, 355 00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:42,840 right? Its length, width, and height are equal. Now, to understand the size of this 356 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:48,640 thing, we have to understand what a stadia is. Now, a stadia, nobody is exactly sure 357 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:53,800 what the measurement of a stadia is, but the best understanding is it's about 600 358 00:30:53,800 --> 00:31:02,520 feet is what a stadia was. And so, 12,000 stadia is about 1,400 miles, all right? 359 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:11,000 1,400 miles wide, 1,400 miles long, 1,400 miles tall. That's the size of this new 360 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:15,320 Jerusalem. Now, it tells us there in verse 16 that the city is laid out in a 361 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:20,560 square. Its length and its width are the same. Now, that word in the Greek is 362 00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:25,800 tetragonis, and it just simply means four-sided, right? So, it says the city 363 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:30,640 is laid out four-sided. Now, because of that, some people speculate that the city 364 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:35,720 is a cube, right? Length, width, and height are the same, but some people also see 365 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:39,280 that it could be a pyramid shape because it says the city is laid out length and 366 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:42,800 width in a square, but then all it says is that the height of the thing is also 367 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:48,080 1,400 miles. So, it doesn't necessarily say it's a cube. It could be a pyramid 368 00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:53,320 shape, but the idea is that this is a holy place, and the cube shape is 369 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:57,440 reminiscent of the holy place in the tabernacle, meaning this whole city is 370 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:01,160 now the holy place in the presence of God. Now, for reference, just to get an 371 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:05,600 idea of how big this is, 1,400 miles is about the distance from Santa Monica to 372 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:12,200 Houston, Texas. That's 1,400 miles. That would be one side of this city, and so if 373 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:17,520 you went length and width and you did the square miles, it's 2 million square 374 00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:23,160 miles that this city takes up. Now, a mathematician did some math on that, and 375 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:31,880 he said a city of this size, assuming you dedicated just 25% of it to housing and 376 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:36,200 the rest of it to infrastructure, right, streets and public buildings and 377 00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:42,360 government structures and all that, so a city of this size could house 20 billion 378 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:54,040 people with each person having a 75-acre plot. That's a big city. Now, it's possible 379 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:59,000 since we'll be in glorified bodies, and there seems to be indications that our 380 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:03,400 glorified bodies aren't going to be limited in their mobility and their 381 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:07,560 locomotion the way we are now, that it's possible this city might be laid out in 382 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:12,120 three dimensions, right? That's just a speculative idea that, you know, it's not 383 00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:15,480 just going to be one flat plane, but it'll be on the sides, you know, it's just 384 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:19,480 interesting to think about. It doesn't say that per se, but it's something to 385 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:27,640 consider. Now, some use these measurements, 1,400 miles long, 1,400 miles deep, 1,400 386 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:34,600 miles high to say that's proof that this has to be purely a symbolic thing. There 387 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:41,480 is no way this could be describing a literal city because 1,400 miles tall 388 00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:47,240 would put the top of the city way out into outer space. You see, there's this 389 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:51,800 thing called the Karman Line. The Karman Line is considered the imaginary 390 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:58,840 boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space, right? The Karman Line is 62 391 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:06,760 miles up. That's quite a bit short from 1,400 miles up, right? Like, for example, 392 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:12,200 somebody did a scale image of this that I have on the screen here. That's the size 393 00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:15,960 of the city to scale to our current Earth globe, all right? You'll see it's 394 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:21,000 covering up most of the United States, and it goes quite far into the sky, all 395 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:26,600 right? And some people go, see, that's impossible. No way the city could be 396 00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:33,400 literal. That's impossible. It can't be that big, to which I submit this. Why do 397 00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:39,000 we assume the new Earth is going to be the same size as the old one? There is no 398 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:45,720 indication that they're the same size, or that the exact physics of this creation 399 00:34:45,720 --> 00:34:53,400 are going to operate in exactly the same way in the new creation. You see, we have 400 00:34:53,400 --> 00:35:01,240 a habit of limiting God by our own understandings, and God is unlimited, 401 00:35:01,240 --> 00:35:10,520 right? What did he say? He said, what's impossible for you is possible for God. 402 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:14,440 Can God make a city that goes 1,400 miles up from the surface of the Earth into 403 00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:20,920 space and have it work perfectly fine? Absolutely. He's God. Like, if you're 404 00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:24,200 going to go, he can't do that, then you've created a God in your own image 405 00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:29,960 who's not really God, is he? And so we see this really interesting picture, and 406 00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:35,080 let's go on in this description because it gets more interesting. Verse 17, then 407 00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:40,200 he measured its wall, 144 cubits according to human measurement, which the 408 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:45,960 angel used. The building material of its wall was jasper, and the city was pure 409 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:52,520 gold, clear as glass. And so there's a wall around this city that is 144 cubits. 410 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:59,080 That one we do know specifically. It comes out to be 216 feet, okay? That's 411 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:03,960 this wall. Now, it doesn't say whether 216 feet is the height of the wall or the 412 00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:07,720 width of the wall. It doesn't mention that there. And the reason I bring that 413 00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:12,360 up is because if that's the height of the wall, well, you know, 216 feet is not a 414 00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:16,760 very impressive wall considering the city is 1,400 miles tall, right? Kind of 415 00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:22,200 a little dinky wall. It's more like baseboard around the city at that point. 416 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:26,600 But then again, it's not a wall needed for defense because there's no enemies 417 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:31,960 anymore, right? There's nobody attacking. There's nothing like that there. And so 418 00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:35,080 nobody knows for sure. I think it's the width of the wall, but, you know, that's 419 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:37,880 just a conjecture on my part. But we don't know for sure. But there's a wall 420 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:42,200 around it that has a measurement of 216 feet. Now, what it does tell us is that 421 00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:46,520 this wall was made of jasper. Now, this is the same word as before, right? But 422 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:53,880 you'll notice it doesn't say like jasper. It says jasper. So the indication here is 423 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:59,000 that this wall is actually made of jasper. And jasper of the ancient times, 424 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:04,840 meaning this wall is made of this clear diamond-like transparent material. Then 425 00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:12,120 he says the city was pure gold, clear as glass, all right? Now, the word pure and 426 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:18,200 the word clear are the exact same Greek word, all right? Why it's rendered pure in 427 00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:22,120 one place and clear as other, I'm not entirely sure, right? It may have to do 428 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:25,240 with the first time it's referring to gold and the second time it's referring 429 00:37:25,240 --> 00:37:28,920 to glass. It's kind of weird to say pure glass, right, when you're trying to 430 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:32,600 indicate something. But the word in the Greek means free from adulterating 431 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:39,720 matter, clean, pure, without blemish or impurity. What it's meaning is that as a 432 00:37:39,720 --> 00:37:47,320 pure material, all right, the more expensive glass in ancient times had less 433 00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:52,600 debris in the material, right? It didn't have stuff in the material. It wasn't 434 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:58,280 blemished or scratched or foggy. The more expensive glass was pure. Now, 435 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:03,000 interestingly enough, absolutely clear glass, clear glass like we understand it 436 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:07,880 today, was invented in the Roman Empire during the first century. Before that, it 437 00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:13,080 was foggy, right? But in the Roman Empire in the first century, they invented 438 00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:17,960 clear glass. But the idea here of pure gold and clear glass is that the city 439 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:24,680 was made of a highly valuable material. That's the first indication here. Now, 440 00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:28,600 others see a reference to clarity, though. They go, no, it's referring to a 441 00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:33,400 clarity because if you jump down to verse 21, it tells us that the main street of 442 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:39,640 the city was pure gold, same word, but then it says transparent as glass. Now, 443 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:43,240 that word transparent in the Greek is a different word than pure and clear, right? 444 00:38:43,240 --> 00:38:46,200 It's a different word altogether. But guess what the word transparent means in 445 00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:52,040 the Greek? Transparent. It means you could see through it, okay? You could see 446 00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:56,600 through this thing. And so this can be a clue that here in verse 18 when it says 447 00:38:56,600 --> 00:39:00,760 pure gold, clear as glass, that is not just only referring to it's a highly 448 00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:04,520 valuable material, but also that you can see through it. It's a reference to its 449 00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:13,000 clarity. Here's the problem. Gold as we know it is not see-through. It isn't. Gold 450 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:18,120 as we understand it today is not see-through. But John is recording what 451 00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:22,120 he is observing in the words of his language, right? He is writing down what 452 00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:28,840 he observes and apparently he sees what he's seeing. He recognizes it as gold 453 00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:32,680 because he calls it pure gold, but he wants to make sure that we know it has 454 00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:37,480 this special property, that it is clear as glass, that it is transparent. And so 455 00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:42,440 for those who have a problem with, but gold isn't transparent, this can't be a 456 00:39:42,440 --> 00:39:53,240 literal description. Again, I submit to you, new heaven, new earth, God almighty. 457 00:39:53,240 --> 00:40:02,880 Can God make gold that is transparent? Yes, he can. Do we understand how now? No. But 458 00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:08,400 God created everything. So I have no problem. My faith has no problem going, 459 00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:12,440 this doesn't make sense here in my limited human understanding, consigned 460 00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:15,960 and constrained to this physical creation that exists now, but God says 461 00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:20,200 something that is just absolutely beyond my ability to comprehend. Is it 462 00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:27,720 true? I can't say it's not true because then I'm limiting God. So the radiating 463 00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:33,200 glory of God will travel through this transparent city, its transparent walls, 464 00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:38,760 it'll shine forth into all eternity forever. And I believe the repeated 465 00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:43,040 mention of this clarity, this clearness, this transparency indicates that 466 00:40:43,040 --> 00:40:47,080 the New Jerusalem, this city, is designed to transmit the glory of God 467 00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:53,680 without hindrance. That's the point here. You know, up until this point, every 468 00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:57,920 other location that has ever housed God's glory, it's been constrained 469 00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:02,160 somehow, it's been covered somehow, right? We've mentioned many times, you know, 470 00:41:02,160 --> 00:41:06,040 when Moses said, God, let me see your glory, and God's like, no way, bro, it'll 471 00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:09,520 burn you up, right? You're just gonna be able to see the afterglow because his 472 00:41:09,520 --> 00:41:14,720 unrestrained glory, his perfect glory is just too much for this 473 00:41:14,720 --> 00:41:19,240 creation to hold. And so it was inside the Holy of Holies, it was inside the 474 00:41:19,240 --> 00:41:23,520 temple, it was constrained. And then for us as humans, we have the Holy 475 00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:27,840 Spirit, God himself dwelling within us, but it's still veiled by our flesh in 476 00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:33,600 that sense. But one day, one day it'll be shining without hindrance, without 477 00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:38,920 limitation. And so verse 19, it says, the foundations of the city wall were 478 00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:44,200 adorned with every kind of jewel. The first foundation is jasper, the second is 479 00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:52,440 sapphire, the third is chal...that one. The fourth one is emerald, the fifth one is 480 00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:58,040 sardonyx, the sixth is carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth barrel, the 481 00:41:58,040 --> 00:42:02,800 ninth topaz, the tenth chrysophase, and the eleventh jacquenth, and the twelfth 482 00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:07,600 amethyst. Now I tried to be like, okay, what's the idea here, right? You 483 00:42:07,600 --> 00:42:11,200 know, is there some type of meaning into these words, and you know, there 484 00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:16,160 are specific gems here, and I really couldn't find anything that was like, oh, 485 00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:20,360 here's the great symbolic meaning of this, right? The only other example we 486 00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:23,320 have of these types of gems being laid out is the breastplate of the high 487 00:42:23,320 --> 00:42:26,480 priest. But if you go read about the breastplate of the high priest, they're 488 00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:32,520 different gems. So there's not an exact correlation here. But it does tell us 489 00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:37,600 that these are the foundations of the wall, right, not the city. And so, I mean, 490 00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:40,960 quite simply here, I believe that these precious stones that John has seen here 491 00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:45,200 is just simply another demonstration of the great value of what God has for his 492 00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:49,480 people. I just kind of think it's that simple, right? It's of incredible value, 493 00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:55,720 incredible value here. And so, verse 21, it says, the twelve gates are twelve 494 00:42:55,720 --> 00:43:01,600 pearls. Each individual gate was made of a single pearl. The main street of the 495 00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:07,800 city was pure gold, transparent as glass. And so, the end of verse 21 is where he 496 00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:11,440 starts to transition to describing the inside of the city. And that's what we'll 497 00:43:11,440 --> 00:43:15,960 talk about next time. But looking at these twelve gates, these twelve pearls, 498 00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:20,280 considering the dimensions of the city and the dimensions of the wall, these have 499 00:43:20,280 --> 00:43:25,640 to be some pretty massive pearls, right? Pretty huge pearls. Now, I don't 500 00:43:25,640 --> 00:43:31,400 necessarily think these pearls came from giant oysters, right? They were created 501 00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:36,480 by God's hand, you know, prepared as he prepared this city. But it is interesting. 502 00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:40,680 It's an interesting detail that the gates to the city are pearls, right? Twelve of 503 00:43:40,680 --> 00:43:46,800 them, three on each side, as we talked about. What we know about pearls, and you 504 00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:51,960 may not know this, but a pearl, out of all the precious stones that exist in the 505 00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:59,080 world today, pearls are the only one formed through flesh. They're the only 506 00:43:59,080 --> 00:44:03,920 precious gem formed by living flesh. That can't be said of any other gemstone 507 00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:08,880 that exists. And you guys might know the process, right? You have an oyster and an 508 00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:13,920 irritant, a piece of sand gets into the oyster, into the flesh, and it irritates 509 00:44:13,920 --> 00:44:18,680 the oyster. And so what the oyster starts to do is sending out these 510 00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:24,040 secretions, right, to cover the irritant. And it just keeps covering the irritant 511 00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:28,400 over and over and over to smooth it out, to make it less irritating. And as this 512 00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:33,440 stuff spreads over the irritant, covering it layer by layer, eventually 513 00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:39,120 what you have is a pearl, a beautiful smooth pearl, right? And so in that 514 00:44:39,120 --> 00:44:45,200 picture, that which was an irritant, that which caused irritation in the flesh, 515 00:44:45,200 --> 00:44:52,280 that which was causing suffering, if you will, becomes something 516 00:44:52,280 --> 00:45:01,400 valuable and beautiful. So the pearl, the pearl is the answer of the oyster to the 517 00:45:01,400 --> 00:45:09,920 irritation, right? So in a sense, these gates in this city, this 518 00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:16,440 whole city, this New Jerusalem is God's answer to fallen humanity's crucifixion 519 00:45:16,440 --> 00:45:26,400 of His Son. The irritation that sin is and was in our lives. The Old Covenant, he 520 00:45:26,400 --> 00:45:31,840 said, I covered your sin, right, but it wasn't permanent. In the New Covenant, he 521 00:45:31,840 --> 00:45:36,200 came along, Jesus died on the cross, and he said, I've washed you clean of sin, 522 00:45:36,200 --> 00:45:42,160 right? But in both of those pictures, what we see is God lavishing beauty upon 523 00:45:42,160 --> 00:45:50,560 us in spite of our sin, right? We come to Him as sinful, broken people. We come to 524 00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:54,680 Him as irritating people, right? I know we've all said it, if I was God, I'd 525 00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:58,680 strike everybody down with a lightning bolt, right? I'm glad I'm not God because 526 00:45:58,680 --> 00:46:04,040 God is infinitely patient, right? But sin, it's irritating, it causes friction, it 527 00:46:04,040 --> 00:46:11,400 causes all kinds of problem, problem in our lives, and yet God covered it in the 528 00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:16,280 First Covenant. And then in the New Covenant, he washed it away. He deals with 529 00:46:16,280 --> 00:46:20,120 that thing that causes the greatest irritation, the greatest problems in all 530 00:46:20,120 --> 00:46:25,000 of creation. And so those gates, those pearl gates, I think will forever be a 531 00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:30,440 reminder of how God took our sinful lives and made them into something 532 00:46:30,440 --> 00:46:36,960 beautiful. That every single time we enter the gates of this city, we pass by 533 00:46:36,960 --> 00:46:44,560 the reminder that God took our sin, dealt with it, and then made us something 534 00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:50,720 beautiful, made us something able to enter into His presence. It's just this 535 00:46:50,720 --> 00:46:58,680 picture of just amazing suffering that Jesus, that what He went through, the long 536 00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:03,920 suffering with our old sinful ways, be in that picture that the only way to get 537 00:47:03,920 --> 00:47:08,800 into the presence of God was through the suffering of the Lamb. What He did to 538 00:47:08,800 --> 00:47:12,440 make us beautiful, that's the only reason we have entrance to God's presence. 539 00:47:12,440 --> 00:47:16,840 That's the only reason we have admission into this city, and it's a testimony that 540 00:47:16,840 --> 00:47:23,080 will speak for all eternity. Our sin bruised Him, our transgressions wounded 541 00:47:23,080 --> 00:47:27,280 Him, and because He took our place and because He suffered for our sin, our 542 00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:32,520 broken lives are made anew through our faith in Him, through our trust in Him. Our 543 00:47:32,520 --> 00:47:37,720 broken lives are made into something beautiful, allowing us entrance into His 544 00:47:37,720 --> 00:47:44,320 presence. And that's really what communion is all about, right? When we 545 00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:49,360 partake of communion as the church, it's a time where we come together to focus, 546 00:47:49,360 --> 00:47:55,800 to remember what He did for us on the cross. That's what we do in communion. 547 00:47:55,800 --> 00:48:01,920 Communion is where we remember the cost of our admission to heaven. We remember 548 00:48:01,920 --> 00:48:07,280 the price paid for our ticket, if you will, the great cost of our place in the 549 00:48:07,280 --> 00:48:13,000 New Jerusalem forever. We remember what He did to transform the great irritation 550 00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:18,560 of our sin into the beautiful pearl of salvation. And that's why we do this 551 00:48:18,560 --> 00:48:22,000 every month, to remember. And so, everybody in the room here, you should 552 00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:26,040 have gotten one of these communion cups as you came in today. If you did not get 553 00:48:26,040 --> 00:48:31,400 one, please raise your hand. One of our elders will get one for you. So I think 554 00:48:31,400 --> 00:48:34,960 we got everybody covered. Awesome. If you're at home watching online, please 555 00:48:34,960 --> 00:48:40,880 get your communion emblems ready as we partake of communion together. Now, the 556 00:48:40,880 --> 00:48:46,640 cups you have in the room, there's two plastic tabs on the top. There's a very, 557 00:48:46,640 --> 00:48:51,560 very thin one and a thick one. If you pull back the very thin one first, it'll 558 00:48:51,560 --> 00:48:57,760 reveal the cracker here at the top of the cup. You know, we read in the Gospels 559 00:48:57,760 --> 00:49:03,760 that when Jesus took the bread, it tells us that He took the bread, He gave thanks, 560 00:49:03,760 --> 00:49:09,960 and He broke it. And He said to His disciples, this is my body, which is for 561 00:49:09,960 --> 00:49:18,040 you. Do this in remembrance of me. And the reason we do this, we observe this, 562 00:49:18,040 --> 00:49:24,320 we call it an ordinance of the church, is because the point was to never forget 563 00:49:24,320 --> 00:49:29,680 the cost of securing our eternal future, to never forget the great cost paid to 564 00:49:29,680 --> 00:49:35,040 forgive you and me of our sin, the great cost paid that God would be able to see 565 00:49:35,040 --> 00:49:42,000 us spotless and blameless. And it was an incredible cost. And the reason we do 566 00:49:42,000 --> 00:49:46,200 this bread, and it's a certain type of bread without leaven, is because Jesus' 567 00:49:46,200 --> 00:49:51,160 body is represented by this bread. The fact that it's without leaven represents 568 00:49:51,160 --> 00:49:55,200 the fact that Jesus was the perfect atonement, right? The sacrifice laid on 569 00:49:55,200 --> 00:49:58,600 the altar couldn't be a sacrifice full of sin, couldn't be a sacrifice with any 570 00:49:58,600 --> 00:50:04,480 sin, it had to be perfect. And so leaven is a picture in Scripture of puffing up, 571 00:50:04,480 --> 00:50:07,960 right? Because that's what it does to bread, it puffs it up. And so bread 572 00:50:07,960 --> 00:50:12,760 without leaven, bread that's not puffed up, is a picture of that sinless body, 573 00:50:12,760 --> 00:50:19,840 that body of Christ that was without sin, that was given for you. And we remember 574 00:50:19,840 --> 00:50:25,440 in communion that He was the only one that could do that. He was the only one 575 00:50:25,440 --> 00:50:28,920 that could die for us and be the atonement for our sins because He was the 576 00:50:28,920 --> 00:50:37,560 only sinless one ever. You and I were sinful creatures. You and I, we sin 577 00:50:37,560 --> 00:50:44,840 every day. And hopefully we understand that we are forgiven for all of it. And 578 00:50:44,840 --> 00:50:49,880 that's one of the reasons why we do this, to remember. We know that He died so that 579 00:50:49,880 --> 00:50:54,520 we can move forward, so that we could live a life free from the fear of the 580 00:50:54,520 --> 00:51:00,160 condemnation, free from the sense of He's gonna get us. He said, look, I 581 00:51:00,160 --> 00:51:06,920 paid the price, I washed you clean, I gave my body on the altar so you can move 582 00:51:06,920 --> 00:51:10,840 forward and live a life just to honor me and to glorify me and to do what I'm 583 00:51:10,840 --> 00:51:14,920 calling you to do. To live a life that is looking forward to the heaven that 584 00:51:14,920 --> 00:51:20,000 awaits us, the New Jerusalem that awaits us. To live a life that says I'm so 585 00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:24,000 looking forward to that, that I'm preparing for that. And I'm trying to be 586 00:51:24,000 --> 00:51:28,280 who God's calling me to be in this life through the power of the Holy Spirit. To 587 00:51:28,280 --> 00:51:31,560 understand that the New Jerusalem and the heaven that awaits us is as much as 588 00:51:31,560 --> 00:51:38,520 part of the free gift as our salvation is. That is, we'll be there walking through 589 00:51:38,520 --> 00:51:46,400 those pearly gates. We'll always remember the price. To remember that we didn't 590 00:51:46,400 --> 00:51:55,200 earn it on our own because we couldn't, but that He paid the price for us. It was 591 00:51:55,200 --> 00:52:00,720 His sacrifice. It was the Lamb that was slain that unlocked the gates, that 592 00:52:00,720 --> 00:52:04,360 granted us entrance and made possible restored fellowship with our Creator now 593 00:52:04,360 --> 00:52:10,280 and into eternity. And so as we remember and partake of this, that represents His 594 00:52:10,280 --> 00:52:14,640 body given for us, we remember that the power, the sting of death, the eternal 595 00:52:14,640 --> 00:52:20,840 separation from the love of God, that was sin and all that. It was defeated by His 596 00:52:20,840 --> 00:52:27,320 death on the cross. Let us never forget that because that is the very victory we 597 00:52:27,320 --> 00:52:32,360 have to live in now and the hope we have to look forward to. Let's partake 598 00:52:32,360 --> 00:52:58,720 together. There's in the room the bigger tab that's on your cup. Just very 599 00:52:58,720 --> 00:53:05,040 carefully peel that back. It'll reveal the juice here. You know the Gospels 600 00:53:05,040 --> 00:53:11,200 tells us that when Jesus took the cup, He then sent to His disciples, this is the 601 00:53:11,200 --> 00:53:19,680 new covenant in my blood. Do this in remembrance of me. And what He wanted us 602 00:53:19,680 --> 00:53:24,920 to remember is that it is finished. That's what He said on the cross. It is 603 00:53:24,920 --> 00:53:34,160 finished. The price has been paid. The penalty wiped clean. And if you put your 604 00:53:34,160 --> 00:53:37,560 faith in Him and if you've put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and 605 00:53:37,560 --> 00:53:44,200 Savior, your penalty is paid. There is therefore now no condemnation because you 606 00:53:44,200 --> 00:53:53,600 are in Christ Jesus. The blood that He shed means we're clean. Placing your 607 00:53:53,600 --> 00:53:57,560 faith in Christ, yielding your life to Him, it means no longer having to atone 608 00:53:57,560 --> 00:54:04,720 for your own sin. Those without Christ, those who perish without Christ, those 609 00:54:04,720 --> 00:54:10,200 who end up in the lake of fire will spend eternity trying to atone for their 610 00:54:10,200 --> 00:54:19,240 own sin. And the sad truth of that is it'll never be enough. But the perfect 611 00:54:19,240 --> 00:54:26,200 sinless blood of Jesus Christ that was shed for you and me did the job. 612 00:54:26,200 --> 00:54:32,120 Accomplished what we cannot accomplish and we're not just covered. Our sin is 613 00:54:32,120 --> 00:54:36,040 not just covered up temporarily but we are fully and finally and completely 614 00:54:36,040 --> 00:54:42,080 washed by His shed blood. That is an ultimate victory. That is an ultimate 615 00:54:42,080 --> 00:54:46,200 freedom that we have here and now. It means you're free to pursue living for 616 00:54:46,200 --> 00:54:51,920 Him without fear of being condemned for stumbling in sin. It means that when the 617 00:54:51,920 --> 00:54:58,120 moment when you sin you can immediately go, God I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. 618 00:54:58,120 --> 00:55:04,360 And He goes, I already did. Let's get up. Let's keep moving. Let's not wallow in sin. 619 00:55:04,360 --> 00:55:08,880 Let's move past it. It means that the justice of God is fully satisfied and 620 00:55:08,880 --> 00:55:15,280 when He looks at you, He sees a spotless, blameless, blemish-free son or daughter 621 00:55:15,280 --> 00:55:21,320 that He loves with an unending love. A love we get to experience a little bit 622 00:55:21,320 --> 00:55:24,480 here and now and I don't think we'll fully understand till we're in His presence 623 00:55:24,480 --> 00:55:29,480 but man I can't wait to be there. I can't wait to experience the full expression 624 00:55:29,480 --> 00:55:35,480 of all that that means. But here and now we get to live as a son or a daughter 625 00:55:35,480 --> 00:55:42,160 knowing that He's preparing a place for us. Knowing that He can't wait to spend 626 00:55:42,160 --> 00:55:49,280 eternity with you because He loves you so much. And so we remember and the idea 627 00:55:49,280 --> 00:55:54,040 here is to never forget that because of your faith in Jesus Christ and what He 628 00:55:54,040 --> 00:55:58,040 did for you by dying on the cross, there is no longer any veil between you and 629 00:55:58,040 --> 00:56:06,040 Him. There is now no barrier of separation. There is nothing between you 630 00:56:06,040 --> 00:56:13,560 and Him. You are being sanctified. You have been justified and one day because 631 00:56:13,560 --> 00:56:21,880 of what He did for you, you'll be fully glorified by and for His glory forever. 632 00:56:21,880 --> 00:56:38,440 That's what we remember when we partake of this. Let's partake together. Father, we 633 00:56:38,440 --> 00:56:45,480 are so grateful that you sent your Son to this earth to die for us. Jesus Christ, 634 00:56:45,480 --> 00:56:51,400 we are so grateful that you went to the cross obediently and willingly to pay 635 00:56:51,400 --> 00:56:59,400 the price for our sin forever. And Jesus, we are grateful that you then ascended to 636 00:56:59,400 --> 00:57:03,600 the right hand of the Father and sent the Comforter to dwell within us, to 637 00:57:03,600 --> 00:57:14,520 teach us, to guide us, to counsel us. God, we trust your plan. We trust your ways. 638 00:57:14,520 --> 00:57:24,160 We trust your purpose, although we may not understand. We thank you. And God, as 639 00:57:24,160 --> 00:57:29,280 people who know you today, that have put their faith in you for their salvation, 640 00:57:29,280 --> 00:57:35,840 trusting in nothing else but your shed blood, we hold on to with great 641 00:57:35,840 --> 00:57:41,240 enthusiasm the hope of heaven. Looking forward to that day when we are with you 642 00:57:41,240 --> 00:57:48,760 in the presence of your glory forever, in the beauty of the New Jerusalem, 643 00:57:50,200 --> 00:57:59,000 reminded of how wonderful you are, how glorious you are, how perfect you are. 644 00:57:59,000 --> 00:58:04,040 That God, when it comes to all things, you are the first and the last. You are the 645 00:58:04,040 --> 00:58:10,600 point and the purpose. We thank you and we love you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. 646 00:58:10,600 --> 00:58:14,840 Amen. Let's worship, guys.