A Tour of The New Jerusalem | Revelation 21:9-27 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (10/18/26)

Oh, this is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Let us rejoice and be glad in him today. Let us rejoice and be glad in him. A lot of day it is.

It's the Lord's day. It's the Lord's day. And we get to come and gather as God's people. And with one voice, with one faith, with one lord over all. Maranatha Church...

Bible Church, welcome. Welcome to this Sunday morning service. I hope you've come expecting wonderful things from the Lord this morning. I hope you've come with desiring him above all. And if not, we'll pray for that.

Pray for that even at the beginning of the service. The Lord will focus your mind and your attention and your affections on him. You know, as as we begin our service today, I'd like to read from Psalm 29. And in our day and age, I think one of the deceptions that, Satan uses against the church and against the world really is for us to think of God as just a bigger version, a better version, a stronger version than humanity. When the reality is so far different.

This God that we serve, this God that we sing about this morning is so far beyond us. He is transcendent. He is magnificent. Our words don't even describe. They don't even do him justice for who he is.

He is a great God. He is over all the universe. He is over all time. He is over all eternity. And our brains cannot even fathom his greatness.

Yet at the same time, this God that we serve is personal and imminent. He loves you. Christ died for you, Christian. He died so that you can have reconciliation with God, joy everlasting, and eternal life with him. This is the God that we sing to today.

And Psalm 29, as we begin our service, so we dedicate this service to the Lord. Will you please stand with me for the reading of God's word? The Psalm of David, ascribe to the Lord, oh heavenly beings. Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory do his name.

Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. The voice of the Lord is over the waters. The God of glory thunders. The Lord over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful.

The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. The Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf and Syrian like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.

The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness. The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forest bare. And in his temple, all cry glory. The Lord sits enthroned over the flood.

The Lord sits enthroned as king forever. May the Lord give strength to his people. May the Lord bless his people with peace. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we come into this place with thanksgiving in our hearts.

We come into this place with a song on our lips to you. Because you are lacking in any way, but because our hearts joyfully acknowledge who you are, and we give you utmost praise. There's nothing that compares with you. There's no one that is on the same level as you. Father, we describe to you everything today.

May you have your way in this building today. May you have your way in this service, and may you have your way in the hearts of your people. We ask you to transform our hearts, transform our minds by your word today. May none of us leave here the same way that we came in. May we leave here with a greater love for you, a greater desire to follow after you, a greater joy in obeying your commandments.

Because in your commandments, in obedience, there is blessing and there is fullness of life. Father, thank you. May you have your way. Open our eyes to behold wondrous things in your word. We pray in Jesus name.

Amen. Amen. Church, will you please lift your voice to the Lord? Sing unto the Lord. Describe to the Lord his due today.

My

There's nothing like singing about the love of Christ. It's one thing to sing about our love for him and we should, but to sing of his love for us, it is constant. It is never changing, never ending. It is a patient love. It is a compassionate love.

It is a sacrificial love. Let's thank him for it, shall we? Your love, oh lord, cannot be put into words but it manifested in the flesh, in your son coming into this world and who lived the perfect life on our behalf and died a death that we deserved. Lord, we've come to sing of this love. And if you are willing to give your son, how much more are you willing to give us all things?

Lord, if there's even one of your children in this place who doubts your love for them, use this service to change that, Lord. May we come into fresh contact with divine love in a way that causes us to give you the love that you deserve. Meet us here, Lord, and help us encounter your love again. In Jesus' name we pray, amen and amen. Well, in love, why don't you turn to somebody and welcome them to this Lord's Day service here at Maranatha Bible Church.

Maranatha Bible Church, you are loved and we pray that every time you walk into this place, you encounter the love of Christ through his truth, through his people, through his ordinances. That's our prayer always that people would, in this very loveless world, be showered by the grace of God in this very place. Welcome if this is your first time. A special welcome to you if you call this place home. Welcome home.

We continue to worship in our giving, and so the ushers will help us with that as they always do, and there are different ways that you can give your heart to the Lord in this act of sacrifice, and it's not really sacrifice because everything that we have belongs to him anyway. He gives us the opportunity to just express our gratitude in this way. So thank you for your partnership in this way. We're so glad that God has given us this facility, and we know that, there's a cost to it, and God has been sustaining, what we're able to do here on a weekly basis. And we trust that he'll continue to sustain here, at Maranatha Bible Church all the work that he is doing and we're always, mindful of how he uses all of us here, all of you in here to make that happen.

So thank you for that. And as that is taking place, we have some exciting things ahead of us here at this, this ministry. You've been hearing week after week, the last few couple months at least, that we have our Fall Fest for our little children. That's today. And the weather, God has given us wonderful weather, and so we're not meeting inside, we're meeting on the patio above the amphitheater.

So parents with young children, there are crafts and activities and, tables set up for you to be with your children, to to interact with other families. All you have to do is go downstairs to the basement and you look to to the left. You won't miss it. There's that amphitheater, and you have to climb up the steps there, and there's a patio, and you will find our Sunday school teachers waiting for you, ready to serve your children. Just, make your way there after the service today, and we hope you are blessed.

We wanna serve your families well. Besides that, we have, things coming up in the book, not the book. I'm ready to preach, I guess, in the month of November. And so in November, there are a couple of days that we want you to be mindful of. Two things happening on one day on November 14.

We have our Love Life outreach, and so that will be, I believe, the last time Love Life is going out to the city to pray and worship around one of the largest abortion clinics in our state, and we'll be working and partnering with different churches. It's a collective effort, and that will be taking place in the morning. We'll give you more information if you have never been there, leading up to that date just to mark it in your calendars. That will be happening in the morning, and it's always a a marvelous time. It's very moving, especially when it comes to this, date because we will be seeing other churches with us, and, it just...

It's nice to see just an army of the righteous in the city of Chicago making a statement before watching world. So join us for that. Later on in that day, we'll be having our Thanksgiving, anniversary dinner, and there will be registration for that. It's not open yet, but again, just to put it into your calendars, we'll be celebrating what God has been doing here at NBC. It will be our fifth birthday as a church, and so we're looking forward to reflecting on God's faithfulness.

And just where God has brought us in in five years is astounding. It's amazing. I was having a lunch with a brother the other day and he was just... As I was just sharing, updating him with what God has been doing here, he was like, the fact that all of this is taking place in such a short amount of time seems like God is really on the move, and I agree with that. God seems to be on the move and we are riding that wave with, with one another.

So praise God for that. That'll be taking place on the November 14. And the last thing to make mention is our baptism service on the November 29. And So we are getting things ready for that. The date is set.

If you are planning to be baptized, this is the moment. This is your chance to be a part of the first baptism service here at this new facility. And if you do desire to be baptized, please approach any one of the elders and also be mindful that on the November 8, which is on a Sunday, you will also be meeting with one of the pastors to just kinda go over, some things that we need you to be aware of and answer your questions, and that's a group meeting. So all those candidates will be baptized, will be in attendance then. And if you can't, for whatever reason, be there on the eighth.

It's a mandatory meeting, but if there is no way you can make it, please approach one of the pastors, and we'll try to arrange something with you before that official baptism date on the twenty ninth. Be praying for that as we figure things out logistically. There is no baptistry here, but we have a plan. Don't worry. And we're looking forward to seeing how God will use this new place to see one of many, many baptisms.

We pray. Amen. You know, I was reminded this week also that five hundred years ago, 1526, William Tyndale gave the world the first edition of the English New Testament, and he paid a high price for it. William Tyndale was a scholar. He was brilliant.

He was converted from the Roman Catholic faith because he read the Bible for himself and realized that justification was indeed by faith. It was a gift from God. And he believed that the Bible should be understood by the common man. It should be accessible, that God desires for all people to understand his truth. But the problem was the Roman Catholic church believed otherwise, and so it was in Latin, and barely anybody knew what was being said when it was rehearsed, when it was recited.

Even some of the clergymen didn't understand what they were saying. So William Tyndale made it his life mission to get the Bible into the hands of anyone who is willing to receive it. And history tells us that one day he did meet with a clergyman, and this clergyman looked at William Tyndale, understanding what his ambition was, and told him, surprisingly, it is far better for man to be without God's law than without the pope's law. And William Tyndale looked at this man and he said, I defy the pope. And should the Lord give me years to live, I will ensure that the boy pushing the plow will understand the Scriptures better than you.

Well, he was put on Satan's hit list, and he had to flee England, go to Germany, and through providence, he was able with his brilliant mind and ultimately the help of the Holy Spirit, put together the New Testament in English and smuggled Bibles into England. He was captured. He was arrested and he was called to die at the stake. And so while he was ready to be burned for doing what? For giving the Bible to the common man.

He made a prayer, this is very known, Lord, open the king of England's eyes. Those are his last words. And what's amazing is that God answered that prayer because two years later, King Henry the Eighth made a decree, we need an authorized version of the Bible, an English Bible in every church. And that's where the famous King James Bible came from. And close to 90% of the New Testament of the King James Bible benefited from Tyndale's translation.

Do you understand the book that you carried with you this morning came at a high price? Many people died for this book to be understood by you and me. And I was just so thankful that the Lord brought that to my attention. It's so important to know something of our history as Christians. And as I was preparing to come up here to share that with you, what also came to mind is what Paul told Timothy when he was imprisoned ready to face his own execution.

He says in second Timothy two verse eight, remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead, the offspring of David as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal, but the word of God is not bound. You can imprison his ministers, you can kill his servants, but you cannot stop the word of God. They couldn't stop it in William Tyndale's day. They couldn't stop it in the apostle Paul's day. They they can't stop it today.

God has given his word as a gift to humanity. He has preserved it. He has used men to translate it, and more than ever, we have access to divine revelation. Do not take it for granted. Treasure it.

And more than just appreciate it and know the history of it, eat it. Savor it. Memorize it. Teach it. Sing about it.

And if you ever become cold towards it, I believe one way that you can warm your heart afresh is to remember like William Tyndale, men who have paid a high price for you to have a Bible in your hands. Can we thank God for that? We thank you, Lord, that institutions and governments and kings and even popes have tried to stop the word of God from being read by farmers and construction workers and carpenters and mothers, but you in your goodness, in your sovereignty Brought every mountain and laid it flat, every hindrance and brought it low so that we can have the gift of your voice every day. And Lord, as we've come together now to continue to sing and to hear from your voice, may there be a renewed appreciation of the price that has been paid for us to know your word. We bless you and we celebrate your goodness together as your church.

And, Lord, we we declare anew in your presence that we love thy word. We honor it, we revere it, and help us obey it today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. Let's stand together church.

We are triumphant in Christ Jesus. The word of God is never bound. Father, we thank you for the victory that is in your son. And, Lord, for those who have never tasted of that freedom, we pray now that as we come to your word and unleash every truth that is preserved in it in this designated passage, Lord, may we sense the force of that freedom break into our hearts again. Be magnified in this place, Lord.

Make Christ real to us. Draw us closer to him. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. You may be seated.

If you can please find in your copy of God's word, the book of Revelation, and let's meet together now in chapter 21. Did you know that in all of Scripture, the most extensive detailed feature that is described to us is not about the characteristics of our resurrected bodies. It's not about the different activities that we will engage in, nor is it about the wide range of interactions that we will have with one another and even with heavenly creatures. Surprisingly, the most detailed picture that we are given about the new heaven and the new earth is a sketch of the capital city. That's remarkable, and I believe one reason why the Holy Spirit brings us to that and grants us so much attention describing what will be known as the center of the new world is because He wants to remind us that eternal life will be very real, tangible, and physical.

Again, you heard me say this before, allow me to repeat it. Many people, including Christians, have this idea that the story with the redeemed ends with us becoming disembodied spirits, removed from this planet that will be pummeled by God's judgment as we now abide in some immaterial dimension forever and ever. That is not how the Bible describes your future and mine. And we've seen that already in the beginning of this chapter, and what we're about to be reminded of is that the Lord is not only going to glorify our bodies, He's also going to renew this universe totally and completely. And not only is He going to create a perfect environment for us to live in, but it will also be the habitation in which you and I will dwell with God in it forever and ever.

And we got a glimpse of that together last week, but this prophetic picture becomes even more clear as John by the Spirit now is led to zoom in closer into what He witnessed and allowed us to witness with Him, and that is the New Jerusalem descending from heaven to the new earth. In Revelation chapter 21, for the remainder of this chapter, John takes us on a tour of the capital city of where we will be spending eternal life, and it is rich with detail. It's actually astonishing to see how much is dedicated to it. Look at it here, just a quick glance from verse nine of chapter 21 onward, all of that is devoted to the New Jerusalem. And what the Spirit of God does is gives us the city's dimensions, walls, the description and the measurements of all these architectural designs, the gates, the streets, even its ecosystem.

And so we look at this and we think to ourselves, wow, this is this is marvelous, but what do we take from it? And I wanna let you know that this exhaustive portrait offers more than just a reinforcement that our physical resurrection will be known in a very physical place. That makes sense. Now the New Jerusalem has much more to teach us than that, and we're about to see that together here briefly. But I wanna also say just from a practical standpoint, whenever you come to a passage like this, it can be quite intimidating with numbers and again measurements and dimensions.

You might think to yourself, what do I do with this? And I wanna encourage you that you and I need to develop the habit to look at something like this and to break it down into smaller portions for us to be able to process it easier and understand it the more you develop that discipline, the more you'll be less intimidated coming to lengthy text like what we're about to see. And so here I am reading over this this week looking at, perhaps natural divisions, are there patterns, are there clear categories that we can set apart together? And one of the main things you would see if you've ever read this and maybe you've missed it, but there is a natural progression to John's vision here about the New Jerusalem. You find him describing it from the outside and the external, and then he is leading us closer into the very city itself to look at some of the features within.

And that observation alone orients us, doesn't it? It gives us a sense of direction, but more than anything, it seems as though John is actually taking us on a tour. We're going on a tour this morning, and we're going to see just the capital city of where you and I will be spending our life with God and with one another. And there are several amenities, there are several features worth noting. We will not cover all of them today of course.

We'll see where we land as we go, but let's look at just some of the things that the Holy Spirit brings to the surface in this vision about the New Jerusalem and what awaits us. The first thing that we have to establish here is in verse nine, and it is the purpose of the New Jerusalem. Let's read it together. Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me saying, 'Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.' Now before we read on here, what do you expect this angel to show John after telling him he is ready to show him the bride, the wife of the Lamb. If I'm a first time reader, here's what I'm expecting.

People. Things that we've seen in Revelation before, an innumerable multitude of the redeemed. But John is not about to see a crowd. We know that the bride speaks about the church, so we are about to see the church, correct? Actually, no.

Not directly at least. After being told, I'm going to show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb, we see what we read here in verse 10 that might be shocking at first. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper clear as crystal. John, I'm gonna show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. Alright.

I've seen something similar before. I've seen the great choir singing the songs of the redeemed. I've seen the people waving palm branches. Am I gonna see it again? And then what does he find?

A city. Now for some, because of this, they would say and they would argue that this city, the holy city, the New Jerusalem, should be interpreted purely symbolically. For the simple reason that the angel says, I'm gonna show you the bride, and he shows them a city. So that city has to be some kind of a metaphor, some kind of an allegory of the church. And that may seem like an open and shut case, but there are a couple of problems.

The main one is if you continue to read in this chapter, those who would see this purely as something that is spiritual and not physical are going to be challenged greatly because of the vast descriptions and details that are provided. It's very, very difficult to say that this is something that is purely immaterial and carries a deeper message. And though there are messages, yes, in this city and for us to consider for our own spiritual walk, look at verse 17 briefly. I find this interesting. He also measured its wall a 144 cubits by human measurement.

I mean, how much more little can you be than that? Real actual measurement, metrics, which is also an angel's measure... Measurement. We can't get into that. What's an angel's measurement?

We'll discuss it perhaps another time. All in all, we have to admit that this is actually speaking about a real city, but we also have to remember that a city can refer to more than just a complex infrastructure. It can actually be speaking about people as well. In fact, generally when you think or speak about a city, it's interconnected with its inhabitants, with its citizens, unless the context suggests otherwise. Let me give you an example of this.

Do you remember how Jesus spoke about Jerusalem when He lamented over her unbelief? This is a good reference to turn to in Luke 13. Listen to Jesus's own language. In Luke 13 verse 34, our Lord says, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, this city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. How often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you are not willing.

Obviously, the Lord is not speaking about the literal city killing prophets. He's speaking about the people that are associated with Jerusalem who have committed those murderous acts. So in the same way, when the angel tells John that he's gonna show him the wife of the lamb, he's referring not merely to the to the city's physical structures and infrastructure, but primarily to those who live in it. The eternal home of the people of God. Hopefully, that's clear because you'd be amazed to know how much there's debate about this.

Here is the bride. Yes, it's a city, but I'm primarily speaking about those who live in this city. But there's even something deeper here for us to consider. For the Holy Spirit to tell us that the city is called the bride speaks about its purpose, the reason why it even exists. It is not only going to be the place where we're going to to live.

This incredibly large and inconceivably beautiful space is designed primarily for us to be hosted to have fellowship with the God who made it. Or else why use intimate language like this, the wife of the lamb, the bride. You know this very well, but we need to be reminded of it. Eternal life is far less about going to a place and far more about being with a person. And sometimes people can get so excited about all these different features about eternal life that they missed the whole point.

It be like getting married and being more excited about living in a house than living with the person in that house. There's some problems there in your marriage if you are more excited about the actual building and the person that you will make a home with in that place. Same thing with heaven. If You're more excited about the place and the person who is calling you to that place, you missed it. And again, we heard this last week, I can never get enough of it.

Christ's own heart in wanting to be united with us is seen in that same desire of wanting to be with you and me. Let me take you to a very famous passage, but I'm I'm I'm sure some of us have missed the wording that Jesus gives us concerning his ultimate desire when he promised to prepare a place for you and me. Go to John chapter 14. This is worth turning to together. A passage that has brought incredible comfort to believers throughout the ages, But again, sometimes the emphasis is placed on the wrong thing.

John chapter 14, and look at verse one with me. Let now your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms.

If it were not so, would I have not told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. Read verse three again. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to, not the place that I'm preparing for you, to myself, that where I am you may be also. What's the purpose of the place to be with the person?

This is Christ speaking here. What I am creating, what I'm going to usher in for eternity is meant to facilitate our fellowship forever. And this is revealed in many ways in the book of Revelation and even in subtle ways that we can easily miss as well. Let me give you another example of that as you turn back to Revelation 21. Notice how John searches for language to try to describe what he is seeing here as he gets a bird's eye view in the spirit of this new city, of the holy city, of the New Jerusalem.

He says here that it is like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, a precious stone. And you you read that and you think, okay. That's a a beautiful description. But do you remember the last time Jasper is mentioned in the book of Revelation? There's a connection there.

The last time Jasper is mentioned was all the way back in Revelation chapter four. And look at it with me here in verse one. This is when things just got started with the visions that God that God gave John concerning the fate of the world during the tribulation period, but notice how it all begins in Revelation four verse one. After this, I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this. At once, I was in the spirit and behold a throne stood in heaven with one seated on the throne, and he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian.

And around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. So in John's initial experience of being taken up to heaven to behold God sitting on his throne, the first thing that he says about God's appearance, it's like Jasper. And the next time it's mentioned is in the New Jerusalem when the glory of God radiates like a jasper. What's happening here? God is no longer in heaven with a barrier between us, but in the eternal age, he comes down, and that jasper like glory will not be something that only, like, John experienced a privilege of some of the saints to go up and to see, but will be mingling with us.

We have the very atmosphere that we will be in. So in Revelation four, God is in heaven. His appearance is like a jasper. In Revelation chapter 21, God's glory comes to the new earth, and His presence radiates and we get to enjoy it. So don't ever forget that the purpose of the New Jerusalem is to be with the person, is to be with Christ.

As he is preparing that place for us, that is his ultimate desire. As you prepare to go there, we're all headed there. May that always be the thing that you are longing for the most, the purpose. But now we consider the glory, the glory of the New Jerusalem. Look here again at verse 11.

This is the second feature that John highlights, and it's added here in verse 11, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper clear as crystal. So we consider the purpose. Now we look at the glory. This is the first thing that catches John's attention. There's something about the glory of God beaming from this city.

It moved him to pen it. Yes. His spirit led him, but I looked at this and thought to myself, what does that actually mean though? I I confess that probably the most... One of the most difficult concepts to define in Scripture is the glory of God.

How do you define it? I challenge you at lunchtime, sit with somebody and try to figure out a singular definition, a concise definition of the glory of God. Where do you even start? Where do you end? What does it include?

What does it exclude? The reason why defining the glory of God is so challenging is because it has multiple meanings and there are layers of significance to it. But with that in mind, we can confidently say that one of the ways we understand the glory of God throughout scripture is that it speaks of the manifestation, the tangible manifestation of God's presence that reveals his divine attributes in a way that is perceptible, in a way that can be experienced. So let me say it again. The glory of God is often depicted as the manifestation of God's presence in a way that reveals his divine attributes that can be perceived and sensed and registered in our actual faculties.

And we see different degrees of God's glory being known throughout redemptive history. Do we not? In the Old Testament, the glory of God often appeared in the form of a cloud. In the Gospels, the glory of God appears wonderfully in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. But as we come to the New Jerusalem and look at the eternal age, we see something very unique, something that nobody has ever experienced on this side of eternity, and that is the glory of God completely unveiled.

The experience of his divine attributes in a more full way, in a limitless way so to speak, to to such an extent that it actually radiates light. This is something that is astounding because we've never seen anything like it. And here's why it's important. Whenever the glory of God is made known, whenever his presence becomes tangible, whenever you gain a greater revelation of his attributes, our souls experience a satisfaction unlike anything else. If that wasn't true, how do you explain a prayer request like Moses's when he said in Exodus thirty three eighteen, please show me your...

Show me your glory. Show me your glory. That always stunned me about Moses after everything that he experienced. The Red Sea splitting, bread falling from heaven, water gushing from rocks, plagues that destroyed an entire nation. There was still this craving in Moses.

He had an understanding that all that I've seen concerning God's manifest presence and His divine attributes being revealed, there is more. Please show me your glory. I've experienced your presence. I know that there's more to your presence. I've seen your holiness.

I've seen your goodness. I've seen your deliverance. I've seen your redemption, but there's more. Show me your glory. Why would Moses ask for that unless, of course, it did something to his innermost part of his being, unless it settled something within him, unless it brought him a delight that nothing else could offer.

And I began to wonder for myself, and I say this not to condemn anybody, but to really challenge you in love. When's the last time I asked for that? Please, Lord, show me your glory. I need to see something of you that I've never seen before. I need a deeper understanding of the things that I'm familiar with.

Show me your glory. So for Moses to crave that and then to read here about the eternal age that it it will radiate the New Jerusalem with the glory of God. Oh, that is something that should attract us about the New Jerusalem. Okay. What about David?

Turn with me to Psalm 17 and look at this request or at least the statement that he makes in Psalm 17 verses 13 through 14. Psalm seventeen thirteen and fourteen. Notice what this man of God says as he's experiencing persecution, and persecution was so familiar to him, so common to his life. Psalm seventeen thirteen, arise, oh Lord, confront him, subdue him, deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, for men by your hand, oh Lord, from men of the world whose portion is in this life. Can you pause here with me for a moment?

Do you recognize one of the characteristics of an unbeliever according to David who is being led by the Holy Spirit in this Psalm? This may startle some of you. One of the marks of somebody who is an unbeliever is that they believe their greatest contentment can only be found in this world. He calls them wicked. The wicked...

Look at the end of verse 14, from men of the world whose portion is in this life. If you think the greatest ecstasies and the greatest bliss and the greatest satisfaction can only be known in this world, David says, you're carnal, you're worldly, wicked. And then he sets a contrast. Notice what he says about himself. In verse 15, As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness.

When I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness. What is he speaking about here? Well, as he's ready to be facing persecution potentially at his own peril, he makes a statement of faith. Even if I should die, that's the best thing that could happen to me. That's what he means here when he says, when I awake.

That's referring to his transition from this life to the next. He likens death to sleep. We find that in the New Testament, don't we? When I awake, I shall be what? Satisfied.

Notice the parallel. Notice He says here, Beholding your face is connected to being satisfied with your likeness. Seeing something of you that I cannot now, only when you grant me the righteousness that gives me the ability to do so, when I get to that point, I will be what? Satisfied. As I behold you, I know a gratification that this life cannot offer.

So there's something here for us to consider about the glory of everlasting life that awaits us. Beauty, which is a very difficult word to describe as well, try to define beauty. Add that to your lunch conversation. Once you settle glory, let's talk about beauty. How do you define beauty?

Well, here's the thing. Beautiful things have a way of awakening in us satisfaction. Right? That as you encounter something that is beautiful, it does something to you on the inside. It creates praise.

It allows you to know some rush of delight. It stabilizes you in many ways, and I'm convinced that there is a component of great beauty when it comes to the glory of God. I mean, think about it this way. If a sunset has a way of keeping us on our feet and staring at the sky uninterruptedly to talk about it, to take pictures of it so that we can show others, What about the Creator himself? If we are surrounded by so much beauty on a daily and nightly basis, what about the one who created it all?

Surely that is connected to his glory. And that's why it's no wonder that when John sees this new Jerusalem from that high mountain by the Spirit, he's doing his best to bring together the right words to to try to describe it. And what does he say? It's like. He keeps saying that.

It's like. It's like. It's like a most rare jewel. Jewels are beautiful, aren't they? God's glory is far greater.

And you and I in that place will marvel at His glory in an unending way. We will be satisfied as we behold Him. We'll be constantly faced with His beauty no matter what direction we turn and it will always fulfill us. After a thousand years go by, ten thousand years after that and a million years, you will never know a moment where your soul feels empty. The glory of the New Jerusalem.

But now John grabs us by the hand as he is being led by this angel and brings us a little closer. He sees it from the high mountain, but then he zooms in and we look at the gates and the foundations of the New Jerusalem. Let's read it together here in verses 12 through 14. After describing the glory of God, having the glory of God, he says this, it had a great high wall, in verse 12, with 12 gates, and at the gates 12 angels, and on the gates the names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed. On the east, three gates, on the north, three gates, on the south, three gates, and on the west, three gates.

And the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and on them were the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. Walls, gates, foundations, those are not uncommon to ancient cities. What does stand out here apart from the angelic security measures are the inscriptions on it. John tells us that with the 12 gates bearing the names of the 12 sons of Israel, as you look down at the foundation, he sees 12 stones that also carry the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. And as we consider this, we might be thinking, what can this possibly be referring to?

What does this actually convey in terms of its message? Well, you have to remember here very importantly the last part of verse 14. The 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. So when you gather all of this information together, a powerful message begins to emerge. The 12 sons of Israel represent the totality of the Old Testament people of God.

The 12 apostles of the Lamb speak and represent the New Testament church. And every person on both sides of the cross will be united in perfect fellowship together solely because of the sacrifice of the lamb of God. Only redemption that came through the blood of the Lamb will bring all of those from the old and all of those in the new as one person, one family, one unit, one community forever and ever because of the blood of the Lamb. I mean, this is such a powerful thought. Even the sons of Jacob required atonement from the Lamb of God to have eternal life.

And so even in the New Jerusalem, we're going to see something of the continuity, the the seamless story of God's redemption from old to new, the sons of Israel, the apostles bringing about this culmination, God dwelling with all of us for eternity. Oh, there's so much more to be said here. I think that there is a clear hint even in the book of Revelation of a distinction between Israel and the church. There's no confusion. I believe there's even something to be said about how and why the gates are given to the sons of Israel while the foundations are memorialized by the apostles.

For the sake of time, we won't get into those things. Instead, I want us to consider here briefly the function or at least the position of these gates. Notice again where they are stationed. You have three of them on the East, three of them here on the North, three on the South, and three on the West. As we're going to see next week that this city is shaped as a perfect cube, and on every side there's equal entrance into it.

Now the first thing that should come to mind is the arrangement of the tribes of Israel around the tabernacle when they journey through the wilderness. You can find that in Numbers chapter two. But there's even something deeper here. Here you have these gates. From any side you can find your way in, and I believe there's something so marvelous for us to apply today as we look further into what John sees.

Let me give you an example. Look down here at verse 24 of Revelation 21. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. The nations speak of Gentiles. So there's even this picture.

The Holy Spirit wants us to see that in this new heaven and new earth, you're gonna have people from everywhere there. Here's what we can say about this. The gates facing every direction alongside this vision that John has of the nations walking into it, speaks about God's saving grace extending to people from every corner of the earth. No matter where you come from, you have the invitation to come in. No matter your background, no matter your upbringing, no matter your distance, do you see that this city invites you?

Do you see that there is a way in? Now that's not to say that there are multiple ways into eternal life. It is a wonderfully wide invitation. At the same time, we read later on that only those whose names are found in the book of life can have access. And as we are, again, tasting heaven together, and we're realizing something of its purpose, something about its glory, and even now how the gates and the foundations speak to God's longing for those from all places to be joined.

Here's my prayer. We can get so excited about splicing and looking at these different things and trying to demystify them. We're getting very close to the end of the book of Revelation. My prayer is that if there's anybody who has been listening, they're not saved, that before we we end this book, you would be saved. This is real.

This city is more real than the city of Chicago. These gates and these walls and these foundations are more real in this splendid place. And God wants you to be there. Young person, I wonder today growing up with a mom and dad who love Christ, if you really love Christ. Has he become real to you yet?

Have you ever experienced his glory in the person of Jesus Christ? Has Jesus become real to you? Let me say this again, young and old, if you have never come to the point in your walk with Christ where you have asked the Lord, Show me your glory, it could be because you've never really experienced it. All your Christianity is is a creed. It's this logical, reasonable, historical understanding of a belief in the true God?

That's all great. But is there a longing in your heart to say, God, this flesh is hindering me from seeing your glory, And I'm grateful for this life, and I wanna honor you in this life, but like Moses, show me your glory. Make yourself as real as possible to me on this side of eternity so that I can know some kind of sustaining mercy to endure all of these traps and all of these temptations. That's where the Lord wants to bring you. That's what he wants to do to your heart.

I could tell you this with absolute confidence that if you ask that, the Lord is willing to give that. Moses said, Please show me your glory. And the Lord said, You can't see my face and live. We're about to find out in the end of the book of Revelation that we will all be able to see his face and we're all going to live. But he does give him what he can give him, and he begins to chant his his attributes.

And Moses is so moved by it. If there's any takeaway from this, let it be two part. One, if you if you don't know the Lord, you're gonna meet him one day, and you can meet him and receive an embrace from him or you can meet him as your judge. And God has commanded his people in his church to preach messages like this to prepare your soul to meet with your maker. But also believer, I I pray that these last few weeks and these next studies coming up will make you long more and more for your permanent abode, and that you would want it for the right reason.

The purpose of that place as Jesus says he's preparing it is so that we would be with him. The glory of that place will so satisfy you, and you should you should want measures of it until it is fully experienced between now and then. And even the gates of this place speak about the Lord's desire for people from all nations to to be a part of it. Lord, we thank you for this time together in your word, and we know that there is yet so much more to explore, but for this time we pray that we would clutch onto the hope of heaven with a tighter grip. Only your Holy Spirit can convict a person who doesn't know you, and we pray that you would do that work in this very room, and only you can unveil something of yourself to those who belong to you where we can begin to long for your glory like Moses did.

So if our faith has become stale, if we felt like we've arrived, if we've convinced ourselves that there's no more things to see, no more truths to experience, And we all leave here with that yearning in a real way that would sustain us this week and that would project our devotion to you in that direction. Show me your glory. We We thank you Lord for this time and we praise you together now. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Amen. So I shared this story before. Forgive me you heard it, but I know there are people here who haven't heard this. It's amazing how the Lord can use life experiences as illustrations for things that you know in his word. And I recall when I used to travel more to speak, more at youth groups, Some of those flights were helpful.

Some of those flights were very difficult. I've never flown business, except one time. I haven't since, and it was because the the sweet lady at the gate says, would you like to to fly business? And let me think about it. No.

I said, of course. Yes. Why not? And so it was six in the morning flying from Michigan to Chicago, and this is my first time ever experiencing this, and again, it was my last time ever experiencing it. First thing I noticed was those seats.

Oh, for these legs of mine, the room, it was just... I was happy with that. And then in that short flight, the lady came and she, she asked me if I wanted something warm to drink and I said, sure. And she didn't bring me one of those styrofoam cups, she brought me a glass mug, and I thought, I've never seen one of these things before on a plane. And she brought a little basket with all these treats, what am I getting at?

In that one hour ish flight, I didn't think for one second what it was like in economy and what they were doing behind that little veil. I was very content where I was. I actually wish the flight lasted a little longer. You know, when you and I go to that place, you're not gonna think for a moment what's going on here on earth. You're gonna be so consumed, so enthralled, so spellbound.

Where are your loved ones today? They're not thinking about what's happening here. I can guarantee you that. It's too marvelous. And the main attraction are not the little amenities, are not the little comforts, it's Christ, Christ himself ever before them, walking with them, receiving their worship, hearing from his own mouth, Christ.

We're a different breed of people as Christians. We're pilgrims. We're exiles. We shouldn't be as bothered by the things that bother the people on this planet. We shouldn't be so easily irked.

We shouldn't be so bound by the material things. Enjoy it, see it as expressions of God's gift in this life, but, oh, let your heart yearn for that day. Realize what's to come. I have a feeling, I can't say this on the basis of scripture, but I just wonder if thirty seconds into eternity, we will be so disappointed with how we acted on earth. I would have sacrificed more.

I would have been much more gracious. I would have been much more patient in my sufferings. This is worth it. This is what was waiting for me the whole time. Believe it now.

Believe it now. I don't like that saying, don't be so heavenly minded that you're no earthly good. The more heavenly minded you are, the more earthly good you will have. Believe that. The greatest men and women of God throughout history carried the fragrance of heaven on them because they know how to pray like what Moses prayed, show me your glory.

Show me your glory. And the Lord does, and they leave their room and they leave their devotional time with a with a sense of glow on their face. Not physically, not literally, but there's something of a blessing that rests on such people. And that's what my desire is for this this book of Revelation to do to us as we come to a close in it very shortly, that we would carry that fragrance, and that people would know that we're a heavenly minded people. Lord, we thank you for this time as a family together in this space and we thank you that you've reminded us yet again about our future home and we think of those who have gone before us, who have confessed Christ and all that they are soaking in while we are here doing our best to catch a glimpse of it.

We ask, father, may we continually set our minds on things above as Colossians commands us to do throughout our week and all our endeavors and all our responsibilities, may we keep one eye on what's before us and one eye on Christ in that world. We honor you today, Lord, and give us a taste of that kind of fellowship even now as we spend time together. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen and amen. Before you're before you're dismissed here, just a couple announcements.

The Fall Fest is going to be inside since the wind is, picking up and we want the the kids not to be too cold. There's gonna be snacks downstairs if you go, but those snacks are just for the kids, so resist resist temptation. However, if there is tea and coffee that's served in the prayer room, you'll know where that room is so you can join us for that. May the Lord Jesus Christ ever be before you as you walk out this week together. If he tarries, we'll be back here again to look at the rest of Revelation 21.

God bless you. Have a wonderful week.