A Tale of Four Cities

[0:00] Glory, I'm saved. You can know that this morning.

[0:11] ! You can know that. Glory, I'm saved. I'll tell you a tale of four cities, four cities, four places that have a pull on us today.

[0:23] Three to flee from and one to find. You know, you might be thinking of moving house or location.

[0:34] I want to tell you about some four pieces of real estate. Three to flee from and one to find. First one is Egypt. You have to get out of Egypt.

[0:46] Amen? Get out of Egypt. Now this is not to discriminate if there's any Egyptians here present, but Egypt is not the place to stay, to hang your hat. In Exodus 1.13, you might want to turn there.

[0:59] Exodus 1.13 we see, get out of Egypt. The Bible is very clear that Egypt is not a place to hang around. Exodus 1.13 it says, And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour, and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field.

[1:24] All their service wherein they were made them serve was with rigour. For 400 years, the children of Israel were in Egypt, making bricks, building structures, pyramids, for the Pharaoh.

[1:43] Egypt is a type of the world. Egypt was ruled over by an evil tyrant who held the people in bitter bondage. It meant captivity and death.

[1:56] Likewise, isn't that so of our world? It's under the control, temporarily, of a cruel tyrant. And people are held captive under the world spirit.

[2:12] And it means captivity and death to stay in that state that is the world, that is Egypt. The people are dominated by a cruel slave master.

[2:23] The enemy of our soul is a cruel slave master. And the people that are citizens of this world, they live in captivity, under his control, under his cruel domain.

[2:38] And they are destined for death. Yet for the children of Israel, we know that God took them out of Egypt. Amen? He delivered them by his wondrous works, by the blood shed and applied.

[2:52] As the people applied by faith, the blood of the lamb that was shed, they were sheltered and they were saved. They had safety and they had rescue, deliverance.

[3:05] God intervened and wondrously redeemed them out from Egypt. Amen? The blood of the lamb gave them safety and rescue. Exodus 12, 51, it says, And it came to pass the selfsame day that the Lord did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.

[3:27] What a deliverance it was, the wondrous working of God, that ultimately, eventually, Pharaoh gave in to the call to set my people free, let my people go.

[3:41] And he has set us free. Our Lord Jesus has set us free. He's delivered us from the captivity of the world. And he has brought us out of Egypt, the world, the world's domination, and he's delivered us into the promised land, as it were, by faith.

[4:00] As you are a saved man, a saved woman here, you are taken out of Egypt, the world, and taken into, towards that promised land, Canaan land, a picture of the victorious Christian life.

[4:19] Yet it's kind of sad, strangely, how the children of Israel, rescued from that domination of Egypt, they still hankered after it, through the wilderness wanderings, through the 40-odd years, they hankered after the things of Egypt, still.

[4:36] And can't that be true, even of us today? The world has that drawing effect. Even after they had been delivered from that terrible bondage that the world was, under that slave master of sin, of Satan, the children of Israel, likewise, when delivered from Egypt, they still hankered after it.

[4:56] It still impacted their lives and their thinking. They were still attached to it. And even while, God miraculously supplied manna from heaven. Imagine that.

[5:09] He lays your daily bread on the table, as it were, miraculously providing this manna from heaven in such an astonishing, miraculous way.

[5:21] This heavenly manna that fed them, they still longed for the leeks and the onions and the garlic. I mean, who likes garlic here? You know, there's that sense of it, isn't there?

[5:35] You almost can smell it, you know. You feel like lunch already. You know, you go down to Bunnings and it's almost like you associate the smell of those sizzling onions and the wafting flavour and scents.

[5:49] And you just can't help but succumb to the temptation of the sausage sandwich and the onions. And when you drive past these horrible fast food places and it just kind of wafs into the window, and you get that drawing power of the sizzling food.

[6:11] And this was like that for the children of Israel. They had God's manna, this heavenly supply of heavenly provided bread, miraculously provision from God, and yet they sought after the things of Egypt.

[6:26] We see that in Numbers 11. It tells Numbers 11 verse 4 how they longed for the leeks and the onions and the garlic. You know, are you hungry yet? Numbers 11 verse 4, it says, and the mixed multitude, it was a kind of conglomeration, this mixture.

[6:43] They fell a lusting. And the children of Israel, they wept again and they said, who shall give us flesh to eat? We want some meat. They say, verse 5, Numbers 11, 5, we remember the fish.

[7:03] What do you like? Butterfish? Paddock. Paddock. Tuna. Thinking of that, what's that freshwater one? I can't think of it, but I can just smell it, you know.

[7:21] You know that, they get it up in the Northern Territory in the rivers. Barramundi. Barramundi with that seasoning, you know, garlic over it and the onions. Oh, can't you just smell it and taste it?

[7:33] Who wants lunch already? You know, we remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely. The cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic.

[7:48] For 40 years, they'd wandered in this wilderness time, yet they still longed after the fish and the garlic and the onions and the cucumbers of Egypt. Perhaps they'd forgotten what Egypt was really like.

[7:59] We can be like that, can't we? As God's own people, as God's saved people, sometimes the world and the things of the world still have that attraction. We still remember the flavour of it, the senses of it.

[8:13] Perhaps they'd forgotten what Egypt meant. It meant slavery. Egypt meant the sting of the taskmaster's whip on their backs. It meant that hard toil, that bitter bondage, the sweating, the frustration, the hunger, the lack and the heaviness of the burdens they carried.

[8:36] Yet Egypt was so deeply rooted in their hearts. And for some, these doubters, when they saw the promised land ahead and they entered in, as it were, to spy out the land, the doubters never entered the land of victory to move across into the land of victory.

[8:59] They died with Egypt in their hearts. They were not able to enter in. They died with Egypt in their hearts. And many who profess to follow the Lord today, likewise, they still have that longing after the world and they're in defeat.

[9:15] They're defeated. Friends, Egypt is a type of the world. In other words, it's a representation, a picture, a little kind of illustration. Egypt still dominates people today.

[9:29] People are dominated by the world, the love of the world. Now, I know Wednesday, on Thursday nights, we've got some Bible study happening and I was really challenged.

[9:40] Our brother David brought a good word talking about this very verse here in 1 John 2 and seeing these three things that are repeatedly shown through the word of God. 1 John 2.15, it says, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.

[9:56] If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world.

[10:11] And the world passeth away and the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. It's telling us of three things there. All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, fleshliness, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the eyes.

[10:29] You know, just the attractions that are all around us and then the pride of life. And that's a reflection of the world, isn't it? All of those things.

[10:40] It's a reflection of Egypt. And some people are dominated by Egypt still. Get out of Egypt! They're dominated by Egypt, the love of the world. They're captivated, defeated, bound.

[10:52] They're not in victory yet. They're not in Canaan's land yet. The Lord allowed only two men to enter in. Two men who had left Egypt as adults, only two of them entered in to that promised land of victory.

[11:06] In Numbers 14.30 it says, Doubtless ye shall not come into the land concerning which I swear to make ye dwell therein, save Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun.

[11:20] Only these two had looked forward in faith instead of looking backward. They didn't hanker for what they had back then in Egypt, in the world, what they'd left behind.

[11:32] They saw Egypt for what it was and so do we. Amen? Brother, sister, see Egypt for what it was, the world, for what it is and want nothing more to do with that, that land.

[11:46] We have to cross over the Jordan and leave the old life behind and enter into the new life of victory in Christ Jesus. Friends today, may we learn to walk in victory, the victory of the Spirit.

[12:00] You can be an overcomer. You can be, individually. The Word tells you that you can. You can leave Egypt behind. You have to let go of that land.

[12:10] Amen? Let go of where you've come from. As it were, let go of the land of Egypt. God has redeemed you, hasn't He? He's brought you out. Are you saved? You've left the world, you've left Egypt behind.

[12:23] It still has that draw. We know you still have those moments, but reject it. Turn your back on Egypt. Turn your back on the world. This world is not my home.

[12:35] I'm just a passing through. Amen? Turn your back on the world. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back.

[12:47] Go forward. So get out of the land of Egypt. In other words, get out of that worldly thinking, that worldly mindset.

[12:58] Reject it. Turn away from the world. Love not the world. The things of the world. Number one, get out of Egypt. Second, you have to get out of Sodom.

[13:11] Get out of Sodom. Lot lived in a place he should never have been. Sodom. He'd moved there to live what he thought was going to be the grand good life as he would have pictured it.

[13:25] You know, the real estate pamphlets for Sodom would have been such a wonderful spectacle of this green valley, this place to be.

[13:38] This is the in place of the day, as it were. Sodom. Location, location. Sodom. And he would have thought, this is the good life. I'm going to go to Sodom. I'm going to go to where I can live the high life and everything's going to be laid on and I can kick back.

[13:54] As one preacher put it, first, Lot looked at Sodom. He started to get that. Maybe it was the lust of the eyes. You know, he looked at Sodom.

[14:05] Wow, what a grand place Sodom is. This is the place to be. Everybody who's anybody is in Sodom. Second, he lived near Sodom. He pitched his tent there.

[14:18] Third, he lived in Sodom. He camped out and then he started to make his home there. And fourthly, he ruled over Sodom. He was sat at the gate.

[14:28] He was one of the people of the place. He was part of the furniture. He was part of the running of the show. As it were, he had a place of business, of recognition in Sodom.

[14:42] It can creep up on you. He looked at it. He lived near it. He lived in it. And then he ruled over it.

[14:54] He just, Lot became a Sodomite. He lived at Sodom. Lot made that decision based on his flesh, based on his feelings, based on his human reasonings, his selfish needs.

[15:07] I put to you today, as we saw Egypt could represent the world. Sodom could represent the flesh. It was a fleshly decision. It was a fleshly decision by Lot to move to Sodom.

[15:21] His human reasoning, wow, this is the place to be. I can make it here. I can make it big here in Sodom. But it was a wicked decision. Sodom was a wicked city.

[15:33] A wicked city. Genesis 13, 13, it says, but the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Maybe Lot kind of turned a blind eye to that.

[15:46] Oh, look, people are people and I'm just doing what's right for me and my family. And we can make money here in Sodom. But Sodom was a city marked for destruction, was facing the judgment of God.

[16:04] Now, friends, today we've got a petition here about opposing the legalisation of prostitution in our state, the state of South Australia. The state, what a state we're in.

[16:15] The state of South Australia, that they should even consider to legalise such a clearly sinful, such a sinful thing and to bring that into our land, into our neighbourhood, into our streets, that brothels will be there.

[16:33] Friends, Sodom was a city marked for destruction. And the government of our day, they can call perverted sexual marriages, sexual relationships marriages. They can call perversion marriage.

[16:46] They can redefine it. But they are not recognised by the city of God, by the high court of heaven. They are not recognised as marriage by heaven.

[16:58] Same sex relationships are condemned by God in both the Old and the New Testaments. And friends, if the Bible says it is sin, it is sin. If it was sin 100 years ago, it still is sin today.

[17:12] You can't change what God says in His Word. We can't change the definitions of the Bible. What God says is sin, is sin. That's the end of it. And we need to flee from Sodom, the flesh.

[17:29] For example, the scriptures that are along this theme. For example, 1 Corinthians 6, 18, in part, it says flee fornication. So that which is sinful, sensually sinful, immoral conduct, flee fornication.

[17:47] Sex outside of marriage is sin, it's fornication. The Bible is against it, have nothing to do with it. 1 Corinthians 6, 18, flee fornication. Another one, 1 Corinthians 10, 14, it says flee from idolatry.

[18:03] 2 Timothy 2, 22, it says flee also youthful lusts, lust, flesh. And Luke 3, 7, it says flee from the wrath to come. Now get your running shoes on.

[18:14] Flee, flee, run for your life. Like Joseph ran when he was tempted, he found the way of escape and he got out of there quick smart. Flee from sin.

[18:25] Flee from the flesh. And we must not water down the gospel for this offended generation. It's an offended generation, isn't it? It's like the people take offense.

[18:36] Oh, how dare you criticize my lifestyle? How dare you be against my choice and my will?

[18:46] How dare you question my liberty and my freedom to do what I like? But the Bible says sin is sin and that's the bottom line. We can't water things down.

[18:57] This offended generation that gets offended over the least thing. God sent his angels to get lot out. He got lot out. Now, Sodom should be an example to all of us as to what will become of a wicked society.

[19:13] Its days are numbered. Friends, today, Sodom's days are numbered. Genesis 19, 15, we read, the morning came, the angels hastened lot. Hurry, lot, get out.

[19:26] Arise, take thy wife and thy two daughters which are here, lest they be consumed in the iniquity of the city. Genesis 19, verse 16, and while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand and upon the hand of his wife and upon the hand of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful unto him and they brought him forth and set him without the city.

[19:48] The angels grabbed lot, his wife, his daughters by the hand. Verse 17, and it came to pass when they had brought them forth abroad that he said, escape for thy life, look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain, escape to the mountain lest thou be consumed.

[20:10] Arise, get out, hurry, hasten, escape for thy life. Don't toy with it.

[20:24] Don't linger. The Bible tells us we should be in the world but not of the world. Lot got too attached to Sodom. That's a getting by the hand. Hold him by the hand.

[20:36] I don't know how hard they got a hold of his hand but they had to yank him out of Sodom, as it were. 1 Peter 2. 11, it says, Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.

[20:51] We're strangers here. We're refugees, aren't we? We want to seek the refuge. Amen. We want to seek the refuge and leave that doomed, damned, damnable city of Sodom and flee for refuge.

[21:06] Flee for the refuge. Be a refugee. Amen. I'm saying that. I know the word refugee has connotations but we are refugees, aren't we? We're strangers here.

[21:16] We don't belong to Australia. We are strangers here. We're pilgrims here. We're passing through here for that city to come. Moody put it like this, when the boat is in the water that's good.

[21:28] But when the water is in the boat that's bad. In the world but not of the world. The water should not be in the boat. Get the bucket. Lot hesitated because the water was definitely in the boat.

[21:40] He lingered. It speaks of besetting sin, doesn't it? Besetting sin. Sin that snares and entangles. God had to grab hold of Lot by the hand, take him firmly out and lead him to freedom.

[21:55] Now I put it to you this morning, there's a little of Lot in all of us. I know in me. There's a little of Lot. We've got to recognise Lot as it were. Lot loved Sodom so much that he was nearly destroyed with it.

[22:10] His wife looked back and what does it tell us? Remember Lot's wife. Don't make that mistake. Lot had some of Sodom in him and we saw later he got drunk.

[22:20] Maybe he learnt that in Sodom. And his daughters acted fleshly. We know the results. And there's a consequence to Sodom. The flesh, the glug, glug, glug, Sodom was in Lot and his daughters acted fleshly.

[22:39] What an example Lot was. Perhaps they learnt that from their father because they saw his slackness in Sodom.

[22:50] How we must wake up to Sodom and flee from the wrath to come. Amen. It says in James 4 verse 4, ye adulterers and adulteresses know you not that the friendship of the world is enmity, it's hatred, it's hateful, it's ugly and vile and God hating, it's enmity towards God.

[23:11] Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world of Sodom is the enemy of God. There's a lot of friends of Sodom these days, isn't there? In the churches, friends of Sodom. The Bible says get out of that, don't have anything to do with it, it's hateful towards God.

[23:25] And it tells us, the word tells us that grace teaches us how to live, to live righteously godly in this present world, soberly righteously godly. So friends today, don't make the mistake that Lot made, he got comfortable in Sodom, didn't he?

[23:41] He got comfortable there, he put his roots down, don't look for Sodom, don't look back, don't linger there, get out, run for your life, don't stay in Sodom.

[23:54] Again, trying to paint this picture but without losing you here, Egypt represents the world, the love of the world, Sodom represents the flesh, it's that fleshly kind of state, that fleshly leaning, that fleshly attraction, that the things of the flesh, of satisfying the flesh and the fleshliness of that which is sinful had a hold of Sodom and God had to take him out by the hand and likewise it says in 2 Peter 1, 4 tells us of great and precious promises, tells us of being partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust, there's a corruption that's in the world through lust.

[24:37] So friends today, escape from Sodom, get out of Egypt, and get out of Sodom. And then there's a third wicked city, a wicked state to flee from I put to you, get out of Egypt, get out of Sodom and thirdly, get out of Babylon.

[24:53] Wow, there's another place to keep clear of. Get that wide barge pole between you and Egypt, Sodom and thirdly, Babylon. Another wicked city, a wicked place to flee from, don't buy some real estate in Babylon.

[25:07] Wicked Babylon. Revelation 18, 4 it says, and I heard another voice from heaven. Revelation 18, 4, I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, that you receive not of her plagues.

[25:23] Babylon, what does that speak of? Babylon, I put to you that Egypt speaks of the world, Sodom speaks of the flesh, we could say, I could picture it that Babylon speaks of the devil in a way, because Babylon was the devil's city, as it were, the false prophet, the false Christ.

[25:40] Babylon is where they call their home, and Babylon, it speaks of rebellion against God, it speaks of that rebellion. And friends, there's a lot of Babylon around us today, isn't there?

[25:52] There's that commercial Babylon, the United Nations and what it might lead to, the ecumenical interfaith dialogue, there's a lot of the religious kind of side of Babylon going on today.

[26:05] The spirit of Babylon is alive and well, and it's infiltrating churches today, yet the Lord is calling his people out of Babylon, get out of Babylon.

[26:17] The word Babel means confusion, Babylon is associated with that Babel, with Babylon, with confusion. As we saw at Babel, the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11, there was a confusion of languages.

[26:30] Babylon means confusion. God is not the author of confusion, the devil is, amen? Get out of Babylon. Babylon is the closest thing to hell on earth. It's a corrupt, ungodly, wicked system, and I know there's much, you could dig deep on Babylon, do a big whole study on it.

[26:49] I've preached on Babylon before, but Babylon was this place where Judah spent 70 bitter years of bondage and captivity. The people of God had been kept prisoner in Babylon, likewise in exile in captivity in Babylon.

[27:05] And Babylon, it speaks of the devil's captivity, doesn't it? This domain of the devil, he wants to keep you under his thumb.

[27:17] He wants you to stay controlled by him. He doesn't want to lose control of you. And friends, I believe as Christians we still can battle with all of these things, the world, the flesh, and the devil.

[27:30] It's a battle going on, raging on within us. And the devil wants to overpower you, to control you. Babylon we see in the end times it's represented, symbolically it talks about the false prophet, it talks about the harlot riding on the beast, of this confusing mishmash and conglomeration, these false forms of Christianity that might emerge at the end of days.

[27:56] In Revelation 17 from verse 4 we read about Babylon, mystery Babylon. You know, it is still, there's a mysterious aspect to this.

[28:07] It's hard to kind of grab it by your hands and say this is Babylon, but there's this spirit of Babylon as it were that is still, at work, I put to you.

[28:18] In Revelation 17, 4 it tells of a woman arrayed in purple and scarlet colour. Here she is with his scarlet and purple clothes. It says she's decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.

[28:38] She's a harlot. And verse 5, and upon her forehead was a name written mystery Babylon, the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.

[28:49] It's a picture of uncleanness, of spiritual fornication, of unfaithfulness to God. You know, people having it both ways as it were, sitting on the fence, kind of playing around with Babylon as it were, still not letting go of the ties that draws people, the spiritual and mental influences that we're bombarded with.

[29:15] Babylon's all around us today. So friends, we see, I hope I'm getting this across well enough, that we see these places to run from, places to flee from.

[29:30] Get out of Egypt. Don't stay under the domain of the slave master, the world, the things of the world.

[29:40] Egypt speaks of the world and the control, the mindset, the world view of the world. Secondly, Sodom, the flesh.

[29:52] Lot lingered. Lot's wife looked back. Lot should never have been in Sodom, nor should we. Don't dwell in the domain of the flesh, that you're drawn aside from the spirit.

[30:07] And thirdly, get out of Babylon, this false religious, this mixture that is of Antichrist, ultimately of the enemy of our soul, is Babylon, it's confusion.

[30:19] Get out of that. These are three cities to flee. And I'll put to you there's one city to find, there's a city to find. Here's the good news now. We get out of Egypt, Sodom, Babylon, and we go to Canaan.

[30:32] Canaan. Take the road less travelled. Talking about salvation. God can save your soul. You belong to the Lord, you're filled with his spirit.

[30:45] And Canaan, it speaks to us of God's promises, it speaks to us of heaven to come, it speaks to us of the truths of his word. When we see the pictures of heaven through the word of God, the Lord calls us to go to Canaan, Canaan's land, the promised land, to Zion, the heavenly city, heavenly city of Zion.

[31:06] Ultimately, our new Jerusalem lies just ahead, it's just around the corner. And friends, if you want a great piece of real estate, then go to Jerusalem, amen, the new Jerusalem, the new Jerusalem.

[31:18] The culture of this city, of this kingdom is radically different, it's out of this world. And of Abraham it says that he looked for such a city. In Hebrews 11 verse 10 of Abraham it says, For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

[31:37] You know, God has his culture. It's not western culture. It's not Aussie culture. It's Bible culture. It's heaven's culture.

[31:49] That's what we should seek after. That's our loyalty and our allegiance is to heaven. A culture of godliness, of seeking after God. And our Lord calls us to do his will.

[32:00] He calls us to this promised land, the promised land of Canaan. We saw that they left Egypt, they entered, well headed to Canaan land. And this is where we should set our affection, shouldn't we?

[32:12] Our affection for that city. Flee those three. Find that one. Canaan. Heaven. The heavenly city. The new Jerusalem.

[32:24] The city which God has built. God's eternal kingdom. Are you heaven bound? It's a big question, isn't it? Are you heaven bound? There's no corruption there. Are you ready for that great city?

[32:37] That great city. You know, sometimes when we go talking to people about the Lord, you get this kind of response when they, you know, if you were to die tonight, would you know that you would go to heaven?

[32:51] Would you know that heaven is your home? And some would say, oh, I think so. I really think so. I think so really, really hard. Or, I hope so.

[33:03] I really hope so, please. I hope I'm going to heaven. But the Bible says you can know so. You can know that you know that you know. You can know.

[33:14] This is the record. You can know that you have eternal life. If you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, if you believe on his name, you can be saved.

[33:24] S-A-V-E-D. And what a truth that is. And I was talking to someone just earlier. Some people think, well, I'm being saved. Look, there is that aspect that ultimately the glorification will happen, but you can know saved, S-A-V-E-D, in the present.

[33:40] The present tense. Gloriously saved. Glory, I'm saved. Glory, I'm saved. You can confess that by the authority of God's word. And so you can know that for sure that you're going to heaven if you put your trust in him.

[33:55] That's the only way. The only way. And so let me close shortly with Revelation 21. This description of the city to come. And don't you want to be there?

[34:07] I know someone was saying just before they just want to go already, but no, we've got some work to do, yeah? We've got some work to do, don't we? We know we want to go there. To die is gain, but to live is Christ.

[34:20] To live is Christ. Let's live while we can. Live the life he wants us to live. So Revelation 21. 10. John the revelator says this, he says, and he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and he showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal, had a wall great and high and had twelve gates and at the gates twelve angels and the names written there on which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.

[34:59] Can't you picture it? No you can't. It's just beyond your imagination. Verse 13, on the three gates, the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, on the west three gates, and the wall of the city had twelve foundations and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

[35:17] And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, the gates thereof and the wall thereof, and the city lithe four square, and the length is as large as this bread, and he measured the city with the reed twelve thousand furlongs.

[35:32] The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. It's this big cube. Verse 17, And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of man, that is of the angel.

[35:45] And of the building of the city, the wall of it was of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like unsacled glass. Verse 19, And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones.

[35:58] The first, the foundation, was jasper, the second, sapphire, the third, a chalcedony, the fourth, an emerald, the fifth, sardonyx, the sixth, sardius, the seventh, the chrysolite, the eighth, beryl, the ninth, the topaz, the tenth, the chrysopras, the eleventh, the jacinth, and the twelfth, an amphithist.

[36:17] And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, every several gate was of one pearl, and the street of the city was of pure gold, as it were, transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

[36:33] And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb did the light thereof, and the nations of them which are saved, saved, shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it, and the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there, and they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it, and they shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh alive, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

[37:11] Is your name written? You might have written your name in the visitor's book when you came in. You might have written your name on the register of some church or some, you might have signed some card or made some statement, but what matters is your name written in the Lamb's book of life.

[37:32] The Bible says it can be, it can be, your name can be written down, and how? When you put your trust in Him, put your trust in the Lord Jesus, trust in Him.

[37:43] Friends, today, we've got some cities to flee from, we want to train up our children, God helping us to flee, we want to see our loved ones flee, I'm praying for mine, praying for my family, but they'll get out, get out of Egypt, get out of Sodom, get out of Babylon, and go to that city, that heavenly city, know that they're saved, S-A-V-E-D, and friends, for the meantime, it's a journey, it's a pilgrimage, we are saved, our names are written down, but there's a time and a space for the meantime, as we are pilgrims and strangers here and now, a people set free, don't hanker back, don't hanker for Egypt anymore, don't have that, who cares about the nice smelling onions and leeks and garlic, we're set free, we don't want to go back under the devil's domain, as it were, under his hardship and captivity, we've been set free from Egypt, the spirit of Egypt, the pull of Egypt, the gods of Egypt, the gods of the world, sometimes we can still think like an Egyptian, walk like an

[38:58] Egyptian, Egyptian, we can look Egyptian, we don't want to even look Egyptian anymore, do we? We remember how bad Egypt was, we don't want a bar of it, we don't have to make the church fit the culture of Egypt, or Sodom, or Babylon, we want to fit the culture of heaven, don't we?

[39:17] We want to have the laws of heaven in our heart, the love of Jesus in our lives, we're called out, out of Egypt, the world, out of Sodom, the flesh, and out of Babylon, the devil, caught into Canaan, the heavenly kingdom, wow, what a blessing, and friends, I have not seen, nor have the ear heard, nor have the incidents of the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for them that love him, you've been delivered, delivered, set free, let's praise him for it, praise you Lord, Lord we thank you, that you are a mighty God, our mighty Lord, you set Israel free from the bondage of Egypt, yet Lord we see they still had their moments, and likewise we, Lord we see you set Lot and his wife free from Sodom, yet they lingered, they turned back, Lord they looked back, Lord we remember Lot's wife, we don't want to be like her, Lord we see the bondage and corruption of this mystery Babylon, of the end days of confusion, of religious mishmash, and doctrinal and religious confusion, of the devil's domain, and of so many under his control,

[40:28] Lord we know we don't belong to Babylon either, Lord we belong to heaven, we are your people, a heavenly city, a heavenly citizens, saved, ransomed, redeemed, glory bound, Lord help us to live like it, guide us by your spirit's power, help us to walk in the spirit, to walk in the truth of your light, of your word, Lord to be a people set free, and living like it, for your glory and praise, until we ultimately do see your face, and we'll be with you, in eternity forever, Lord, we pray for our loved ones and friends, for any hearing this, who may yet not have trusted you, that they might call on your name, that they might put their trust even now, receive your gift of salvation, to know that you died on the cross for their sin, that they can put their faith and trust in you right now, for time and for eternity, to know they are S-A-V-E-D, Lord, for gloriously, gloriously saved, by your purpose and power, in Jesus' name, Amen.