pQ9LYv08zPQ

Good morning. Please stand. Reading of God's Word. I'll be reading from Matthew six, beginning in verse five. Matthew six, beginning in verse five. When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men.

Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father, who is in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.

So do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then in this way, Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you your transgressions. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do come before you, first of all, confessing that we are indeed sinners and continue to sin even after you have placed your grace and have drawn us by your grace into a loving relationship with you.

And even though we know that we have forgiveness of sins, Father, we do still operate in the flesh at times and sin against you. Forgive us, Father, and we can take great encouragement from these words because we know that you are a forgiving God and you welcome all to come before you to confess their sins and then to come into your presence by the perfect sacrifice of an unblemished Lamb, our Lord, your Son, Jesus Christ.

Father, and it's upon his merits that we have a church here today, on the foundation of his work. Father, that we have access to you. And so we thank you, Father, and we have pardon from you. We thank you, Father. And so, Father, as we come gather this morning, we do pray your kingdom come.

Father, may your kingdom, your will, may your name be hallowed and honored in our life. Father, as we wait the eternal consummation of all things and wait for heaven, Father, we want to. Live in light of heaven now. Father, we want everything in our lives and in our church, corporately and individually.

Father, we want all the affairs of our home and all the affairs of our relationships and all the affairs of us. We want them to reflect your radiance and your glory. For such we will be one day as we step into the eternal kingdom, radiating your glory. We want some of that to be reflected in us now.

We are your people. We have been forgiven. You have put your spirit in us that we may proclaim your goodness, that we may radiate your glory, not because we're anything special, but just because you are so wonderful, awesome, and worthy of praise. Father, your kingdom come. Your will be done here this morning in our service and in our day and in this week for the praise of your great glory.

In Jesus' name we pray. Once again, good morning. Please turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 21. We'll be looking at verses 9 through 21 today. It's kind of a sizable chunk. But by God's grace, we'll make it through it and be better for it. You know, there's two chapters in the Bible at the very beginning that do not have.

Have Satan's influence. And then there are two chapters at the end where Satan's influence is removed. And that's where we are. We're looking at these final two chapters of the book of Revelation, the book of Scripture, the Bible, and we're getting a glimpse of heaven. We're looking at trying to get our minds around what has been revealed about heaven, and it is beyond our ability to grasp.

No question about that. Yet there are things that we can understand that gets our mind around and gives us a glimpse, a vision of heaven. And one of the things about heaven is the glory of God. In fact, Ezekiel ends his book with the word: the name of the city is the Lord is there.

And so that is what we are looking at: this final two chapters, this picture of heaven. And I'll tell you, one of the most important things about you is your understanding of heaven. What comes to your mind when you hear the word heaven? And what we have before us today is John's vision of heaven.

And without any fancy outlines or anything like that, I just want us to walk through and see what John saw. Feel anything else contaminates. The image and the picture and the vision that we have. So, I want to pick up where we've left off. Look at verse 9, and I'll read through verse 21.

Then, one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.

Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal clear jasper. It had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.

There were three gates on the east, and three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates, and its wall.

The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width. And he measured the city with the rod 1,500 miles. Its length and width and height. Are equal. And he measured its wall 72 yards according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.

The material of the wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper, the second, sapphire, the third, Chalcedony, the fourth, emerald, fifth, sardonyx, the sixth, sardis, the seventh, chrysolite, the eighth, beryl, the ninth, topaz, the tenth, chrysophrace, the eleventh, hyacinth, the twelfth, amethyst.

And the twelve gates and the twelve pearls, each one of the gates was a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. So, where we are, after the great judgment that happens at the end of chapter 20, when death and Hades are thrown into the fire, then comes the new heavens and the new earth.

And verse 2, John saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And so, John is now going to be given more insight into. To the holy city. And so an angel guide comes to him.

Look at verse 9. This angel guide is going to show John some of the glories of heaven. And that's why we want to just see what he saw. Look at verse 9. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and came and spoke with me, saying, Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife, and the lamb.

Now, if you turn back to chapter 17 and verse 1, if you'll remember, there were seven bowls of judgment that were poured out upon Babylon the Great. And in chapter 17, verse 1, then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.

And so that angel may be the very same angel, comes again. Now, in chapter 17, he shows him the judgment of the great harlot, the religious system. In chapter 18, he shows the judgment upon the economic system of Babylon the Great. In chapter 19, he shows him the judgment upon Babylon the Great's military.

And then, coming into chapter 20, ultimately, the spirit behind it all. Satan himself is cast into the lake of fire. He shows John a great harlot. And now, this same angel, or certainly one of the seven, comes with the task to say, Now let me also show you the bride.

The same one who shows the harlot, city of the world, is also going to take John and guide him through understanding the bride of Christ. Two different women, very different. And he says what he's going to do. Look back at verse 9: Come here, and I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.

So the angel's objective in this chapter and the one, a little bit of the one that follows, is clear. He wants to make known, he wants to show John the bride, the wife of the Lamb, the bride, also daughter-in-law. It's just as easy to translate it, the daughter-in-law, the wife of the Lamb, bride.

And so that's his objective. And so that's what we're going to start walking through today. Look at verse 10. And what does he see? And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

Takes him to a great high mountain. So we can say something about the new heavens and the new earth. John said there's no sea in it, but guess what there are? High mountains. And so he takes him to a high mountain. And as you go, as we get through this, you'll appreciate what I say maybe a little bit later.

It must be a pretty high mountain. Once you get an understanding of just how big this city is, it's going to take quite a vantage point to see this. So he carries him away in the spirit, raptures him in the spirit to a place where he, to a vantage point, to where he can see and take in certain aspects of the city.

Important to understand that heaven is a place. It is a city. It is a holy community. What is a city? Well, it's a place of interdependent relationships, interconnected social activities, and the eternal supply to meet the needs of its inhabitants. That's what a city is. And John sees this city still.

Notice again, it's coming down. It's still coming down in the process, just like in verse 2, he saw the holy city coming down here again. Still coming down out of heaven. And it is out of, it's out of the character of heaven. And it is from God. State it again, verse 10: it is from God.

It's not of man, not a city built by man. It's not from man. It's not of man. But it is from God. Babylon the Great was a city built by fallen man. That's what we've looked around. That's what we've experienced in this world: a city built by fallen man.

But the problem with fallen man cities is, number one, sin. Saw all that in Babylon the Great, but also limitations. This is a city that doesn't have the limitations of fallen man. It is from God. It is of God. It is of the character of God. It is a gift.

And it is a bridal city. What we're first going to see is the bridal city itself. The city is a gift from God. It's the place where the bride is. Bridal city. We'll come to the flesh and blood bride in a little while. First, we'll be looking at the city itself and the materials of the city.

But notice its distinctive feature. Look at verse 11. Having the glory. Of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal clear jasper. The holy city that he sees coming down out of heaven from God has the glory of God. The glory of God.

You know, when the king of England is in a certain castle, guess what goes up? There's a flag that shows his presence. Same with the queen of England. Tell where the king or queen is there just by the flag. Well, that's in a similar degree what the Shekinah glory of God does.

It signifies His presence. But that is the distinctive element of the holy city. God is there, it possesses the glory of God. The glory of God is on it. The glory of God is in it. The glory of God radiates from it. And that's what the Shekinah glory did in the tabernacle and then in the temple.

You remember in Exodus 40 and verse 34, the cloud covered the tent of the meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 2 Chronicles 7, verse 1, when Solomon had finished praying, fire came from heaven and consumed the bird. Burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

A glory signifying God's unique and personal presence. It comes over the tabernacle, comes over the temple. And then in Ezekiel, Ezekiel is a book that's really all about this glory. And in chapter 11, verse 23, Ezekiel sees the glory beginning to depart from Jerusalem. It has broken covenant, profaned God.

And so God is removing his glory so that the Babylonians will come and sack the city and destroy it. And so the glory of the Lord, Ezekiel says in 11:23, the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain. That's what the glory did.

It came and it stood over the mountain, which is east of the city, and then it leaves. But Ezekiel also in chapter 44 sees the return of that glory to the temple. In Ezekiel 44, 4, he speaks of the glory of the Lord returning and filling the house of the Lord.

And yet, one thing's very clear as we keep reading: there is no temple in the holy city. What Ezekiel saw filling the temple was not what John is seeing here. That millennial temple, glory has come, but now we have a new heavens and a new earth. There is no temple there, God is the temple, but there is the glory of God.

Why? Because God is there. Just like that flag indicates the presence of the monarch, so this glory signifies the presence of Yahweh God. And notice her brilliance. Jerusalem, that has the glory of God and her brilliance. It's her radiance, her sparkle, her brilliance, her splendor, all of that.

And what John is seeing in this verse 11 is he's just getting an overall picture, overall impression of what this holy city looks like. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal clear jasper. Many think, and I think probably. Rightly, that this is speaking about a diamond.

The Jasper stone here, there's different, could be a green stone, but it could also a crystal clear Jasper, probably speaking about a diamond. And if you understand what a diamond does, it radiates light beautifully. And so, think about a diamond with the highest clarity. That's what he sees radiating.

And that's his first impression. As he sees the city, it radiates his glory, radiates the glory of the very presence of God himself. You know what heaven's about? Heaven is about life in the presence of God, radiating his glory. And every fixture of heaven is geared toward that.

Life in the presence of God, radiating his glory for all eternity. That's what heaven is about. And you're invited. Now, in this reality, we're going to look at this physical description. This reality of God's glory radiating is evident in the physical description, which is what we're going to look at.

This morning. It's also evident in the function of the city, as we will continue to look in the week come. But then it is also evident in the occupants who inhabit the city, the flesh and blood bride herself. We'll come to that in the weeks. But this morning, I just want us to take in.

We want to see what John saw, and we just want to just get this glimpse of heaven. Fill our minds. It is overwhelming, and as I said earlier, we lack words to describe it. We're straining the very limits of what the human mind and human words can even describe.

Happy birthday, Connor. Wasn't it his birthday? And Kyle, your birthday yesterday. Happy birthday. I looked for you earlier, didn't see that's a distraction, I know, but it's good to remember special days and remember people we love and let them know we're praying. So, what I want to look at this morning is the glory of heaven.

We're going to look at the glory of heaven, first of all, seen in the physical description of the city, and that's what we're going to all we're going to look at this. Morning is this how this glory of heaven is seen in just the physical makeup and layout of the city.

So, first, I want to look at its key features. Its key features, as John described, I just want to see what John saw. I want us to see and think about what John saw. Verse 12, it had a great and high wall with 12 gates, and on the gates 12 angels, and the names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.

There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. So, the first thing that he sees, he starts getting his mind around the city and seeing the definition of it: walls, gates, and foundation stones. These are the first things that capture his attention.

Notice the wall, great and high, and in this great and high wall are gates and foundation stones. So, as he takes this in, first he speaks about the gates. Notice there's 12 of them. What are gates? Gates are portals into and out of the city. Notice the first thing he notices: there were 12 gates, and at the gates, 12 angels.

12 angels. I don't, doesn't. Say any more about who these angels are. But we've met some mighty angels, haven't we? In the book of Revelation? An angel that can just take Satan and just cast him down like a ballistic missile without contest. Another angel who can take Satan and bind him and throw him in the pit like a ballistic missile without contest.

Mighty angels, powerful beings. And there they are stationed. Now, it's important to understand that at this time, there isn't need for guards, they have a place of service. God has dealt with sin, and so the walls aren't for protection. There isn't the threat. No need for the guards.

This is not just some adorned fortress. No, there are something very secure. Just the appearance of the city is: okay, this is fixed, it's unmovable, it's secure. The angels, perhaps greeters, whatever they are, they are servants and they have a role there stationed. And what they do is they elevate the Majesty, the security, the sense of holiness, the awesomeness of the city.

These are powerful beings. Notice also what John notices about the gates, and names were written on them, which are the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. Names are written on them. The 12 tribes of Israel. Yeah, God has not forgotten Israel. And those who argue that God has done with Israel fail to properly account for the eternal reminder of them that is inscribed upon the eternal city.

And in fact, it is God's covenant loyalty to them and to the promises he made to them that provide the basis for access for all peoples and all nations to come into his eternal blessings. It is through them the promise was made: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who became Israel.

Think about the city for a moment as we're contrasting. This angel has given us a tour of the harlot, and now the tour, the eternal city. About the city that man built, Babylon. At Babel, what did man set out to do? We're going to build a city according to what we think is right, not according to what God says.

Man set out to build a city, and it culminates in Babylon the Great. God also set out to build a city. In fact, it's out of that area that God calls Abraham, come out of her. And he establishes a covenant with Abraham and says, In you, in your seed, all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

That was his promise. And see, throughout Israel's history, God was at work building something. Even though Israel wasn't always cooperative, God was bringing about his eternal blessing upon all peoples, including Israel, through the promised seed, through whom all the nations would be blessed. Notice another aspect was the location.

Notice in verse 13: there were gates on the east, north, south, and west. Perhaps they're in the all located in the same. Perhaps they're spread equally, or who doesn't say, but access from all directions, exit to all directions. Those are the gates. Now, look back. He also sees, he moves from the gates to the foundation stones.

Look at verse 14. And the wall of the city had 12 foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Foundation stones. Now, when you lay a foundation stone, where is the building setting up on? On the earth. I think there's a good indication right here that these foundation stones indicate that this city is going to be on the earth, not just hovering above the earth, as you'll see in many artistic renditions.

No, foundation stones. They're foundation stones, you can see. And the wall is built upon them. And the foundation stones were the names of the apostles. And so there's a distinction here. There's the apostles, there's the twelve tribes of Israel. They're not one and the same. There's a distinction that God is making.

The city that God builds is also built upon the ministry. Of the apostles, the Christ they professed, the Lamb they pointed to and declared. You see, God is faithful to the promises made to Israel in and through the prophets of the Old Testament, and God is faithful to the promises He made in, to, and through the apostles of the New Testament.

But notice, notice verse 10 that it's from God, but it's a gift. I said in verse 10, but the bridal city is a gift from God to his beloved. Even though you have all of these, just keep in mind, it's from God. It's not from Israel, it's not from the apostles, it is from God, though it depicts and memorializes for eternity God's work through them.

But what an honor to have your name forever. Well, this is the city, Hebrews 11, that Abraham seeks. Abraham seeks a city. And now we're getting a glimpse of that holy city. Well, that's its key features. Now let's keep moving. The glory is also seen in its measurements, its significant measurements.

So look at verse 15. He zoned out, come back. From verse 15, we're going to start measuring this city. Verse 15, the one who spoke with me, that's the angel, he had a golden measuring rod. Now, if someone comes up and has a golden measuring rod, what do they think they're going to do?

They're probably going to go measure something, aren't they? Well, that's what happens. The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city and its wall, its gates, and its wall. Verse 16, the city is laid out as a square. It's not hard to understand.

A square, its length as great as the width. And he measured this city with the rod, or to the rod. 1,500 miles, its length and width and height are equal. Length, width, height. What does that give you a picture of? A cube, doesn't it? Length, height, width. Now, of course, miles aren't written in the text.

That's a measurement we understand. It was the word stadia, stadium. 12. 12,000 of them is what it's talking about. 12,000 stadiums. Take 12,000 Aggie stadiums, Kyle Fields, and you'll get close to about 1,500 miles. Think about this for a second. Make two observations about these measurements of this city.

It's big. It's big. 1,500 miles, that's like pretty much driving from here to San Diego. Or if you want to go to the east, like driving from here to Washington, D.C. That's big. 1,500 miles. Let's just kind of, I want your mind to grasp this for just a second.

That's what about a 1,500, if we have to United States, that's about what a 1,500-mile square looks like. So that's much of the United States. That's pretty big, isn't it? But its length and width and height are equal. So then it goes up 1,500 miles. We're just wanting to look at what, use the language that John's using here.

So when you put it together, like on the old earth, now this is a picture on the old earth, not the new heavens and the new earth, but just if we related that size to the earth we live on now, that's about what it would look like. Pretty tall.

Building, pretty tall wall. Of course, we're going to be in a new heavens and a new earth. So I don't know how it's going to relate, but I imagine there's no sea in the new earth. So we're looking at a very different environmental changes. Just to give you a scale to understand this, the tallest building in the world is in Dubai, and it's about 2,700 feet.

About a half mile, probably. Now, the tallest mountain, Mount Everest, five and a half miles tall, and if you compared that to the tallest building, that's about proportional to what Mount Everest compares to the tallest building in the world. Now, let's think about this eternal cube, this large city.

The holy city is 270 times higher than Mount Everest. You see Mount Everest down here? And that's not to scale. If I put it to scale, you wouldn't be able to even see it. This is probably about 20 times smaller than the cube. Do you get the scale of?

What we're talking about here. It is large. It is large. Now, suppose you built a building ten times higher than Mount Everest over the land area of the whole planet Earth. So think about that. Land area. You can go do the math. Go home, get on Google. Land area of the earth is about 57.5 million square miles.

The cubic volume, the inhabitable volume of the new Jerusalem is 3.4 billion cubic miles. 1,500 times 1,500, 1,500. Do the math. It's big. So if you went out and let's say you took all the land area on planet Earth and you built a building 10 times higher than Mount Everest, you would still have less inhabitable volume than the New Jerusalem.

It's big. Do the math. It's big enough for all the redeemed of all time with room to spare. You remember when Jesus said in John 14, 2, and John would have heard these words, In my Father's house are many dwelling places. Yeah. If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you.

Another significant feature: number one, it's big. Number two, it matches the proportions of the Holy of Holies. Let me just read to you what the size of the Holy of Holies was. You remember that inner sanctuary, what the Holy of Holies was in 1 Kings 6:20. The inner sanctuary, speaking of the Holy Holy of Holies, was 20 cubics in length, 20 cubics in width, and 20 cubics in height.

Cube, the Holy of Holies. This was the temple. And though it's not expressly stated in Scripture, Jewish tradition recorded that the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle was 10 cubics by 10 cubits by 10 cubits. Historians Philo and Josephus agree. So in the tabernacle, cube, holy of holies, the temple, cube, holy of holies.

Guess what the new Jerusalem is? It's the holy. Of holies come to earth. And there is no temple. There's not another temple within the temple. It is God Himself that is His space, and those in that space are there with Him in that space. So significant measurements. But then in verse 17, He's not done measuring.

He wants to measure this wall. Look at verse 17, and He measured its wall 72 yards according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. 144 cubits. Basically, 72 yards. So let me give you a scale of this. Great wall of China is about seven yards wide. The holy city is about 72 yards.

So much thicker, much wider. But notice this statement: human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. What is the angel trying to communicate to John here? He's trying to give him a sense of the scale of this new city. That's what he's trying to do. And if we cannot relate the measurements, we have no ability to even get a ballpark of the scale.

And so it's, we need some sense of the size of the city to get our minds around this new heavenly city. And so this statement gives us an assurance that we're not just shooting in the dark here, that there is an intention to reveal, and it adequately reveals the scale of this new city.

Well, that's its key features. That's its significant measurements. So if you tuned out, dial back in. We're going to look at the materials, the construction materials. And look at verse 18. We're going to look at the wall first, then the city, then the foundation. So he's going to walk through the construction materials or the primary materials of this city.

Look at verse 18. The material of the wall was jasper. And as I said, that very well could be a diamond. But it's a very clear, clear, beautiful, radiant stone. Notice verse 18: the city, the material of the wall. Wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

And have any of you all ever seen gold so pure that it's transparent? No, this is not something we experience in this creation, is it? No, but we will in the new creation. Something very pure, clear glass, a gold that is clear. Think about what that's going to do.

It's going to radiate some glory, isn't it? Think about what the city is going to do. The wall, like a diamond, that's going to radiate some glory, isn't it? But then he describes the foundation stones. Look in verse 19. The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone.

And the word for adorned here, a literal, it's what it's saying here. It's not just like there's a stone and then there's a bunch of stones on top of it. No, it's a literal reading would be: the foundation of the wall of the city, each stone precious, each stone precious being adorned.

Like the city, it has all these foundation stones, and each one is. Pure, not just surface, but solid stone. Every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper. The second, sapphire, perhaps a bluish color. The third, chalcedony. The fourth, emerald, perhaps a light green. The fifth was sardonyx, maybe a red with some white stripes or parts of it.

Sardonyx, that's the red and white. Sixth, sardis, probably a red. Seventh, chrysolite, probably a yellow gold or a golden yellow. The eighth, beryl, perhaps that's a sea green color. The ninth, topaz, which would be more of a bright yellow. The tenth, chrysophrace, kind of like an apple green.

The eleventh, hyacinth, perhaps a dark blue, some maybe red. And some of these stones may have different colors. The twelfth, amethyst, maybe violet or purple. The significance of these s stones has been, obviously, there's a lot of conversation about what is this, what what are what are what are they signifying?

Some connect them to the zodiac or the reverse of the zodiac, quite impressive. There it seems like the stones all tend to line up with the signs of the zodiac, the special stones. Others connect them to Aaron's breastplate, which is significant. And that works well for eight of them, because eight of them, it works really well for Aaron's breastplate.

And you start thinking about the twelve tribes of Israel inscribed the names as the high priest was to go into the Holy of Holies once a year, bearing these stones and the names in the presence. So a lot can be said for that, and it may very well be what's happening here.

The problem is when they translated the Septuagint, that Hebrew, in 200 B.C., they left out these four of the stones. So it's difficult to be sure. But understand this, that under the old covenant, the tribes of Israel had access to the Holy of Holies once a year based upon the sacrifice of an unblemished lamb.

That was their access. Only one could go into the holy space once a year. Bearing the names of the other. Under the new covenant, all people have access through the sacrifice of the unblemished Lamb, the Lamb we read about. And so there is something there: access, testifying to the Lamb that was slain, that innocent, pure Lamb, and his work.

But one thing is clear. These material, one thing they do convey, they convey strength, precious value, and I mean in mind-numbing abundance. And you think about the great harlot. Many of these stones were found in her little jewels, you know. And they made a lot of commerce back and forth with these same materials.

But when you look at what's in the new heavens and the new earth and this new city compared to what was there, I mean, it is just little bitty at all. And isn't that the case? We have so much coming, so much in Christ, and yet we get so wrapped around little things.

But these materials radiate. Glory. You think about God's Shekinah glory in the city. Think about these construction materials. Think about what's happening. No wonder, as we will read, there is no need for the sun or the moon. It is brilliant. I mean, you think about the way a diamond is cut or a gemstone.

How is it cut? It's cut to radiate light. In fact, one of the significant features of a diamond is, or a precious stone, is the way it's cut. They don't absorb light. Nothing in the city is built to absorb light, but to radiate God's glory. Then there's the gates.

Let's just keep moving. Gates, verse 21. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. A singular pearl of that magnitude. Something we can't fathom. It's something not of the first creation, and no, that doesn't demand that there's a clam big enough to make the pearl.

God who can speak these things into existence, can speak, he is the God who can speak matter out of nothing and give it its final form just by the words of his mouth. This is something, these materials are something not of the first creation, but they will be.

It communicates something very valuable. Again, these gates emphasizing beauty, excessive value, radiance. Notice the street, verse 21. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. There seems to be a, it's literally the street of the city, the broad of the city, pure gold, transparent gold as well.

Perhaps all the streets are made of the same gold. But no matter how you understand the materials of the city, it's clear that God has placed a great value upon the tribes of Israel and upon the apostles. Think about the foundations. Think about when I gave my wife a diamond ring.

We spend a lot of money, everything we have at the time to buy a ring. What's more precious to me? The diamond or the one I'm giving it to? Of course, the one I'm giving it to. You think about what God's doing here. He has eternally immortalized these names with the highest, precious kinds of stones.

You see, the truth is that the names, the people, the Are more valuable to God than the materials he uses to honor them throughout eternity. The bride is more precious than all the stones you see in the city. Think about a sports Hall of Fame. When you go in there, what do you expect to see?

Something about the history of sports, some of the trophies, some of the great names, and all of that. Well, think about the same thing here. The great names in salvation's history, human history, access to God in the most intimate way is based upon a promise made to Abraham through Israel and realized in Jesus Christ, the one the apostles proclaimed.

That's a Hall of Fame. But they convey a brilliance, a value, all designed to radiate God's glory. And that's the dwelling place of the bride, flesh and blood bride. That's where she will live. And so you start getting a little bit to know her a little bit by the place she lives.

Now we're out of time, and I'm just going to end it with this thought here. I think it's significant that everything in heaven reflects. The glory of God. Everything in the dwelling place of the bride of Christ reflects the glory of God. That's our eternal home. You are in Christ.

One day, everything, all of the furniture around us, everything, the materials, all will reflect the glory of God. You're invited into that relationship right now with Him. You're invited to live as the bride of Christ now. Shouldn't we endeavor that the physical details, arrangements of our homes, the things on our walls, the things that we let into our home, shouldn't they too all radiate the glory of Christ?

If someone comes onto your property, into your home, shouldn't there be something that radiates and speaks, here lives the bride of Christ. That's our permanent home. That's who we are. Let the knowledge of the glory of heaven so shape us now and the arrangements of where we live.

Matthew prayed, or Jesus said, Pray then, Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Let us endeavor. To radiate him now in everything. Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for this beautiful picture of the eternal, holy city, place where you dwell with your people.

You are the presence, you are the temple, and dwelling with you. Father, as we contemplate these things, may this vision of heaven and the glory of heaven so shape the way we live now. Thank you, Father. The invitation goes out far and wide. There's room at the table for everyone in this room and so, so, so far beyond.

I pray now for every person here today that you would draw them, bring them, that you would give all of us a hunger and thirst for the things of heaven. Let us be done with the lesser living and take up the wonderful privilege of radiating your glory in Christ's name.