[0:01] Well, it's my privilege this morning to preach, and you might think, all right, we're going to continue our sermon series in Genesis, right? Well, we're actually going to Revelation this morning.
[0:15] So you might think, well, wait a minute, what in the world does Revelation have to do with Genesis? You might be surprised how connected they are.
[0:26] So as we've been talking through or working through, reading through the book of Genesis, we've heard several big truths there, one about creation.
[0:38] We've seen the fall, that is, Adam and Eve committing sin in the garden. We've seen the separation, how that they were forced to leave the garden, how that they suffered much more difficulty at tilling the ground and farming and gathering food.
[1:00] We've seen the promise that God has given to send a Messiah through the seed of the woman, that God would raise up a Savior, that God would raise up a Messiah, that God would raise up a snake crusher.
[1:16] And then you might ask the question, where is all this going? What is the end of the equation? Where is all of this pointing? And that is what we'll see this morning.
[1:29] That's why we're looking at the book of Revelation this morning, to see how these two are so similar and where it's all pointing to. We'll be reading this morning out of the book of Revelation.
[1:41] And let me just put a caveat in here, I love the book of Revelation. Love it. And I'll do my best to finish within two hours this morning. Those of you who know me know that I can spend a lot of time, and we've done that in Sunday school, about 14 months worth.
[2:00] But this morning, I'll try to confine myself to a couple of points out of the book of Revelation. But it's dangerous a little bit to jump into a book that's so symbolic.
[2:10] It's hard to understand what these truths really mean without getting the grand scheme of how the book is written. It's a vision that was given to John. And this vision is very symbolic in nature.
[2:23] And I'll do my best to pull out some of that symbolism for us and make it as simple as possible. If we're going to go anywhere in the book of Revelation, it's fairly clear at this end in chapters 21 and part of 22.
[2:36] So in honor of God's word, I'd ask that you'd stand as we open his word together. We ream from chapter, starting in chapter 21 down through verse 5 of chapter 22.
[2:47] If you're able to stand, I would invite you to do so and open your word and read along. As I read, if you would read along silently there. Chapter 21. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
[3:07] And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.
[3:22] He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more.
[3:37] Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore. For the former things have passed away. And he who is seated on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new.
[3:52] And he said, Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
[4:04] To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.
[4:19] But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.
[4:36] 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.
[4:49] 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.
[5:07] It had a great high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed. On the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, on the west three gates.
[5:24] And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls.
[5:37] The city lies four square, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, twelve thousand stadia. Its length with its width and height are equal.
[5:48] He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
[6:01] The foundations of the walls of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysophthous, the eleventh jasper, the twelfth amethyst.
[6:31] And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
[6:42] And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine in it, for the glory of God gives its light.
[6:53] And its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. And its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there.
[7:08] They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
[7:23] Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city.
[7:35] Also on either side of the river, the tree of life, with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him.
[7:53] They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads, and night will be no more. They will need no light or lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
[8:10] Amen. Blessed is the reading of the Word of God. Let's pray. Father, would you open your Word to our hearts this morning? Would you help us to see this grand, beautiful picture of eternity?
[8:27] God, would you bless us this morning, I ask in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. You can have a seat. Amen. So it's my task this morning to relate these two ends of the Scripture.
[8:46] That is, what have we seen in the book of Genesis, and how does it relate to the book of Revelation? How do these things tie together? Why would we leave the series in Genesis, jump all the way to Revelation, and preach a sermon in Revelation?
[9:01] Well, number one, it answers the question, where's all this pointing? What is it all heading towards? And if I was to share it in a word, or in a phrase, I would say it's heading to the wedding supper of the Lamb.
[9:15] You know that all of the plan of God is pointing to that? This beautiful picture of a wedding. And you and I know, even earthly weddings, there's celebration as part of the wedding ceremony.
[9:29] We have no idea the celebration that's going to happen at that wedding supper of the Lamb. But I want you to see this. You know, many people would say, I would certainly be included in this early on in my Christian walk.
[9:43] I would say, you know what we really need? Now that this sin has entered the world, and it's a struggle, everything seems to be a struggle, wouldn't it be great if we were back in the Garden of Eden where everything was right? But you know, there's something even greater than the Garden of Eden.
[9:58] If we listen to the vision of John, and we hear what he says, I would make this claim that there's something greater that awaits us than even the Garden of Eden.
[10:10] Why would I say that? Well, let me share with you some truths that we've heard from Genesis. And I want to share with you some truths that we've just read. From Revelation.
[10:20] I want you to hear a distinction between the two. So I'm just going to take this list. I'm going to go Genesis, Revelation, Genesis, Revelation, Genesis, Revelation.
[10:32] I want you to hear how beautiful it is, this heavenly kingdom that awaits us. You know, Genesis talks about the creation of heaven and earth.
[10:43] You know, Revelation talks about a new heaven and a new earth. Genesis talks about the sun, which is the picture of God's glory, and the moon, which is the reflection of God's glory.
[10:58] But do you know that in the new heaven and new earth, there is not going to be a need for the sun and moon at all? all of us will be in the very presence of God's glory.
[11:10] He will be the light of the place. There was a physical river flowing out of Eden. And in Revelation, we see a spiritual river of life flowing from the very throne of God.
[11:25] You know, God is the source of life, and we see it in this book of Revelation. Man was banished from the garden and from the presence of God. In Revelation, man is invited to enter into the very presence of God.
[11:42] In the book of Genesis, we see a curse that was placed on the land because of sin. We see toil and sorrow affecting all.
[11:54] You know, in the book of Revelation, there's going to be no more curse ever again. No more tears. All things will be redeemed forever. We see Adam and Eve were covered in Genesis, were covered with animal skin.
[12:13] In Revelation, we see the bride covered in fine white linen. A beautiful picture of the righteousness of Christ. In Genesis, we see that a bride was formed for Adam.
[12:28] In Revelation, we see that a bride was prepared for the second Adam for Christ. We see in Genesis that the bride was susceptible to sin.
[12:42] But in Revelation, we see that the bride is free from sin. There will never be any more sin. In the garden, we see that it was accessible by the liar Satan.
[12:56] that he had access into the garden. But in Revelation, we see that the serpent, Satan, the liar, is cast into the lake of fire and he will not have access to the city of God.
[13:18] We see in Genesis that man's dominion ceased and Satan's dominion began. In the book of Revelation, we see Satan's dominion ceases and man's dominion is restored.
[13:38] In Genesis, we see that redemption is promised. but in Revelation, we see that redemption is accomplished.
[13:50] His bride will be with him forever, fully redeemed. All of creation will be fully redeemed. And so if I ask you this question, how would you summarize the whole Bible?
[14:08] Now, we've heard a few sermons in Genesis and I will be able this morning to talk a little more about Revelation. I trust that everything in between you all already know. So, how would you summarize the whole Bible?
[14:22] I'll give you four words. Creation, fall, redemption, restoration. Again, creation, we see it as we've looked at it in the book of Genesis, how God created all of this and it was good until sin entered in the fall.
[14:45] We see the temptation, we see the yielding to temptation, we see the rebellion towards the rule of God doing something he said they should not do, and we see the separation that resulted.
[14:59] So we see creation, we see the fall, and we hear this promise of redemption that he will send a seed, a seed of the woman who will be a snake crusher.
[15:14] He will crush the head of the serpent, Satan. We see all through the Old Testament this pointing towards a Messiah, this coming of the seed of David, this coming of the one who he promised to be the source of our redemption, our Savior, Jesus.
[15:34] And then in Revelation, we see this beautiful picture where it's all heading. It's headed to this restoration where all things will be made right, all sin will be wiped away, all of us will be glorified, those of us who are part of his bride.
[15:54] So if you will turn with me, hopefully your Bible is still open to Revelation, and I want you to see two main points this morning out of these passages.
[16:06] That is just chapter 21 and 22. And the first I want you to see is this. When we talk about this heavenly kingdom, we have this beautiful picture in verse 1 of chapter 21.
[16:21] It says this, there will be a new heaven and a new earth. It will be restored. And I love the beautiful truths that are wound into verse 2.
[16:34] And this is our first point. The point is this, the bride prepared. The bride is prepared. Let me just say this. As we look at this passage, you'll see in verse 2, let me read it.
[16:46] And I saw the holy city in New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride. Let me take a moment to unravel what this means in symbolic language.
[17:00] So when we see this picture that's referred to as a city, we have to understand that even in Isaiah and even in the Psalms, often in the Old Testament as well as in New, there is a symbolic reference of Jerusalem.
[17:17] Here in New Jerusalem, it's referring to the people of God. And so when we see that this city is called a bride, it's just another way of saying that the bride is the church.
[17:30] So we see it here, that is in verse 2, is this holy city, New Jerusalem, prepared as a bride. It's talking about the church.
[17:42] The beautiful picture of the bride of Christ. And I want you to note the bride had to be prepared. You know, in truth, the bride can't prepare herself.
[17:53] We know that, right? Because we, the church, apart from the shed blood of Christ would have no hope of ever being in the heavenly kingdom. Something has to happen for us to be made right with God, to be placed in relationship with God.
[18:08] And as this text shares, I saw the holy city. What does it mean to be holy? Holy means to be set apart for the purpose of God.
[18:19] Who sets the church apart? God himself does. God sets the church apart as holy. holy. This city is holy, is his.
[18:30] For his purpose. I want you to also, in line with that, see this, as we keep reading in this verse, it says that New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven.
[18:42] This text, this phrase means that it's from God. The source of this redeemed church, this beautifully prepared bride, is God himself.
[18:53] when we see this phrase coming out of heaven, that is a phrase that means that God has done this, that God has prepared this bride.
[19:05] I want you to also notice, if we go back into the previous chapter, we did not read it, but I want you to look at the verse that preceded chapter 21 and it says this.
[19:18] I feel like I need to give you a little context here for us to understand what this verse says. So the context is this, if we were to read the previous chapter, chapter 20, we would see that it's talking about judgment.
[19:31] It's talking about the final judgment, judgment day. And if we read verse 14, it says, then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of the fire, a lake of fire, this is a second death.
[19:43] It's referring to the final judgment when everything that's not of God, that everything that's not a part of the bride, the church, is going to be judged and going to be thrown into the lake of fire.
[19:57] And then verse 15, it says this. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Everyone's name was not written in the book of life.
[20:12] You know, it talks about that too in chapter 21, the last verse. That is verse 27. And I'll read that now because it ties into this concept of this Lamb's book of life.
[20:24] That in this book of life is written the name of every person that's ever been saved. And we see in this holy city, it says, but nothing unclean will ever enter into this holy city, ever.
[20:37] Nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life, they're the only ones that will enter this city. And what does that mean?
[20:51] What is being shared here? This holiness, this what God has done on behalf of his bride, this concept that there is a Lamb's book of life, where all of the names of all the saints that have ever lived are in this book of life.
[21:06] I want you to hear it from Paul. So Paul shares in Ephesians chapter 2, I want you to hear a few verses about the bride of Christ being prepared.
[21:22] So before I read that, I just want to say this, is that we are, that is those of us who are born again, those of us who are Christian, those of us that are in the kingdom, those of us are a part of the bride of Christ, the church.
[21:37] Something has happened in our life. Nicodemus would know it's this, that you must be born again. And it's my prayer that everyone here this morning is born again.
[21:47] If you're not, then this is the need. What I'm about to read in Ephesians chapter 2 is going to reveal that this is what it looks like to be born again, to be saved, to be a part of the bride.
[22:03] Chapter 2 of Ephesians verse 3 says this, we once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and we were by nature children of wrath.
[22:18] Do you identify with that? Do you know a time in your life when you were in rebellion to God, where you were not his child? Where we were in sin, we've looked in Genesis, and we've seen in Adam that the sin of Adam is carried on to everyone in the race.
[22:38] All men are now born in Adam, and they're born with this sin nature, with this propensity to sin, and we are called enemies of God, and by nature we're in opposition to God.
[22:52] We want to build our kingdom, we don't want to honor God's kingdom. We want to be God, we don't want to honor him as God. That's just who we are because we're born in sin, we're born in Adam, we're by nature children of wrath, but God, isn't that a beautiful phrase?
[23:09] Verse 4, Paul says, but God, God intervened into the world, into the situation, on behalf of those that would be a part of the church, those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life, God entered into, and he did this, but God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ.
[23:46] By grace, you have been saved and raised up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us.
[24:05] for by grace you've been saved through faith. Let me just say that again. Apart from the grace of God, we would never enjoy the wedding supper of the Lamb. Apart from the grace of God and salvation, we would never know what it means to be his child.
[24:22] We would be also cast into the lake of fire, apart from the incredible grace of God on our behalf, that we might be saved. God. This is the gift of God.
[24:35] It's not your own doing. It's God's gracious gift that he would allow us to look forward to this beautiful picture that's coming.
[24:46] So again, back to Revelation, this whole phrase, this first point I'm making has three parts. The first point is that the bride is being prepared.
[24:56] Who is doing the preparation? God himself. In what way is he preparing? Well, the first way is salvation. Only those who are saved, only those whose names are written in the book of life, the Lamb's book of life, will enjoy this restored kingdom, this heavenly kingdom.
[25:13] And the second aspect is this. I want you to see. Make sure I'm on the right chapter here. Yes. 21 verse 2 says this.
[25:27] It says, I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned. I want to emphasize the word adorned for her husband.
[25:39] This bride will be adorned. Now, you can picture the wedding in this world. You can picture that that is a day that ladies look forward to all their life.
[25:50] The day when they will be wed to a man that they love. And it's the day when they go out and they buy this perfect dress, this beautiful dress. And they spend all day, and I don't know how they can do this, but they spend all day getting their hair done.
[26:05] And they doll up. It's as beautiful as they can be. They get their friends to come over. They enjoy the whole process on this incredible day. But I want us to really dig into this word adorned.
[26:18] What does it mean for the bride of Christ, the church, to be adorned? A woman would get dressed and put on a dress and jewelry and do up her hair and she would be adorned ready for the wedding.
[26:31] What does it look like for the church to be ready? What does it look like to be adorned? Well, I want you to see it. As Paul talks about it, I want you to see it in Colossians chapter three.
[26:45] I'm just going to read it. What does it mean to be adorned? There's this beautiful truth where Paul talks to the church and he says, put off anything that has to do with the world.
[26:58] Put off anything that has to do with Satan. Put off anything that has to do with self. And put on, adorn yourself with, listen to the word of God, as chosen ones of God, holy and beloved, put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with one another.
[27:23] If anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other as the Lord has forgiven you. So you also must forgive and above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony and let the peace of God rule in your hearts to which indeed you are called in one body and be thankful.
[27:44] Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
[27:57] And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. How are we doing, church? Do you hear the beautiful picture of what he's doing in the life of his church to prepare his church for the wedding supper of the Lamb?
[28:18] You know, the word of God talks about Christ and what he did on behalf of the bride. It's such a beautiful picture of what Christ has done.
[28:32] There is a preparation that is happening for the bride right now. And as Christians, we are part of that preparation. What is he doing in the life of the church? What is he doing in your heart?
[28:43] You know what he's doing? He's changing us into the very image of Christ. He's given us a new heart with new desires and he said, seek my kingdom and my righteousness, everything else I'll take care of.
[28:58] You just focus your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith. And listen to what it said Christ did. Christ loved the church and he gave himself up for her.
[29:09] He died. He loved the church in such a great measure that he died for the bride. Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her.
[29:21] There's the word, sanctify. You know the church right now is being sanctified? What does it look like to be prepared? It looks like that God is doing this work in our life that we're more and more and more and more and more like Christ.
[29:37] That we turn away from worldly ways and we turn toward godly ways and we begin to reflect the very image of Christ in our lives. He goes on to say that he might sanctify her having cleansed her.
[29:51] You know we need to be cleansed? Cleansed her by the washing of water and by the word. You know the word of God cleanses us? So that he might present the church to himself in splendor.
[30:04] Man. man. I don't know that we grasp the greatness of what's being done for us. He goes on to say without spot or wrinkle or any such thing that she might be holy and without blemish.
[30:26] You know what he's doing? He is doing a work in the life of the church so that the church will be totally without blemish. You know what that work is called? Sanctification. So we've seen one aspect of a prepared bride that is justification to be saved.
[30:43] We've seen another look another aspect of what it means to be prepared as a bride and that is to be sanctified. That more and more we look like Christ. More and more we live like Christ.
[30:55] More and more we honor God with the way we think, what we say, and what we do. And then thirdly I want you to see this amazing, amazing picture of the bride prepared in chapter 21 of Revelation.
[31:13] Starting in verse 9 it says this, I'm going to skip down to the place that says, come I will show you the bride. So John is seeing a vision, you know what he's seeing? He's seeing a vision of the bride. Who is the bride? The church.
[31:27] I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb, and he carried me away in the Spirit to a great high mountain. You know what that means? Great high mountains? It means you can see everything. You're on this high mountain, it's just great visibility is what it means symbolically.
[31:39] And he showed me the holy city Jerusalem, it's the church coming down out of heaven for God. Listen to this, having the glory of God. You know there's a day coming when you and I are going to be glorified.
[31:51] God. This old sin nature that drives us crazy and causes us to stumble, tempts us all the time, feeds on our flesh that desires and craves to be filled, it's going to be done away with.
[32:07] We're going to receive a brand new body, a glorified body. He's going to make us new. He's going to restore us in such a way that we're going to be glorified.
[32:18] You know that in Revelation he says no sin can come near me because of the great holiness of God. You know that all sin will be taken away. You know that to Moses he said, God show me your glory and what did he say to Moses?
[32:33] No man can see my glory and live because of your sin. Do you know in Revelation it says we're going to be able to see him face to face? You know why? Because our sin is taken away. We've been glorified. We individually and we as a body that is the church will be totally glorified.
[32:49] We will be with him in such a way that it was meant the way that God meant it to be with no sin, no enemy, no sin nature, no crying, no tears.
[33:01] We will be in the very presence of God. We'll see him face to face. We'll enjoy the fellowship fully. You know we've tasted it now. Individually if y'all experience those moments when you know you're in the presence of God.
[33:24] It's like to be in the presence of a holy God is powerful. Do you know we will eternally be in the presence of God?
[33:35] We will experience the fellowship that we know momentarily now. This concept of abiding with him, this concept of fellowship, this close relationship, closer than any other relationship, right?
[33:48] We will be married to Christ. And the beautiful picture here is the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.
[34:04] It's radiance like a most rare jewel. You know when I was younger, I grew up in inland South Carolina, but we had a little camper at the beach in Myrtle Beach.
[34:19] And I tell you, I was on that beach looking for shark's teeth like you can't imagine. I had a little glass thing in my camper. We had a camper at the campground. I had every summer I would try to fill that thing up.
[34:31] And over time I did, I filled it up. They were so tiny you couldn't hardly see them. I was always looking for that big one, you know, the one you can make a necklace out of. Or when I would go to one of the stores in downtown Myrtle Beach, they had megalodon teeth and they were bigger in my hand.
[34:45] I'm like, that's what I want. Never did find it. But I was always looking for it. When I was in college, I was a geologist. And the thing that I really loved about being a geologist was the gems.
[34:55] I love the gemstones. I love all the crystals. I just, I don't know why in me I always wanted to find the big, important, beautiful crystal that would, I could just stare at and wonder.
[35:07] And I know we, as a guy, as a geologist up in the mountains of North Carolina, I found emeralds, I found rubies, I found sapphires, I found gold, I found some of these things.
[35:20] But it was always fun for me to go searching for it. I found kyanite. Y'all probably don't know what that means. But that is something that ended up in the trophy case at Furman. I didn't even think it was all that impressive, but they did.
[35:32] My point is that there's just something in me that wants to find this incredible rare jewel. Went to Arkansas and looked for crystals, quartz crystals. That long, that long, that long.
[35:43] They had them sitting there. They were literally, you couldn't put your arms around, just beautiful crystal clear look right through them. It always amazed me. But listen to this. That we, the church, will have radiance.
[35:55] We will shine. If you take a diamond and put it in the light, what happens? Light goes everywhere and it's amazing. You can do that with an emerald and it does the same thing. It throws green light everywhere.
[36:07] It's just beautiful. And he likens the church, the bride, glorified to this most rare jewel. It's the most rare. It means there's no more rare jewel.
[36:18] There's nothing more beautiful than that. You found it. In a sense. I found what I was always looking for, but this far exceeds it all.
[36:31] Like a most rare jewel, it shines off the glory of God. Why? Because the church has been glorified. You know, we don't know what it's like to be glorified.
[36:43] We can't imagine not having the temptations and not having the constant battle against sin. You know, there's a day coming we'll enjoy that fellowship with Him, a beautiful fellowship.
[36:58] So the bride prepared and secondly, eternity entered. Do you know that as a church, as believers, that one day we will enter heaven and we will enjoy this incredible love-filled relationship that's far beyond even our wildest imagination?
[37:18] You remember what Christ said when He was on the cross? He's about to die and He says, God, God, why have you forsaken me? What was He saying?
[37:30] Why have you turned your back on me? Why do I not have fellowship with you now? You know, He didn't say it about the beating. He didn't say it about any of the difficult physical aspects.
[37:41] He did say, if this can pass, take it from me, but I'm willing to walk this road for the sake of the prize that's on the other end and that prize is the bride, the church.
[37:53] But Christ lost fellowship with God because He took on the sins of the world. it's the most precious thing He ever had. He lost it. Do you know we're getting it as a gift? This fellowship that the Father and Son and Holy Spirit have shared from eternity past that He's allowing us to enter into the beautiful fellowship that we'll enjoy in the heavenly kingdom.
[38:14] Chapter 22. You know, the symbol is this, the picture of the symbol is like this throne room of God and flowing out of the throne room is life.
[38:27] You know that there is no life apart from God. He spoke life into existence and you and I would not have life except for God that He's given it to us. And in heaven we will have life abundantly, far more abundant than we can imagine.
[38:41] Notice what's flowing out of the throne. It's a river of water, a living water, this water that gives life. And if we look at these verses, the water of life, the tree of life, the fruit that comes from the tree, the healing that is a part of that whole process, the picture is this, is that life comes from God and we will enjoy it in full.
[39:03] The fullest element of life we will enjoy in the heavenly kingdom here. Notice it says there will no longer be anything accursed.
[39:16] We look back up and we can see the same thing in chapter 21 is there will be no night there, they will, sorry, where am I? No, there it is, 27.
[39:31] Nothing unclean will ever enter into it. No longer anything accursed. Everything will be purified. Everything will be redeemed and restored by his power.
[39:43] I love the beautiful picture. It says we will see him face to face. Have you ever pondered that? Have you ever put yourself in the shoes of Moses in the cleft of that rock if you ever so desperately wanted to see the glory of God?
[40:00] I think the more we read scripture, you know what happens? We have a desire to see the glory of God. And we see it in the pages of scripture, but if you ever wanted to see, if you ever wanted him just to be right here and just to see him face to face and talk to him, I know we can talk to him now.
[40:17] I'm not trying to say, but there's just this longing for more. Do you all know it? Do you all feel it? Do you sense it? Do you want more? Well, it's coming. It's coming. We'll be able to experience perfect fellowship.
[40:28] We'll be able to stand in his presence. That's why it says there's no need for the temple. What was the temple to the life of the church or the life of the Israelites, the life of God's people?
[40:40] What was the church? It was, I mean the temple, it was a way to shield the glory of God so they wouldn't be consumed. So he said, build the tabernacle like this. Make sure there's heavy curtains in there all the way around and make sure there's more curtains all the way around and then my glory will enter in and when his glory entered in and it spilled out from the bottom, what did the people do?
[41:01] Because of the great holiness of God, they back up and yet it's shielded. Moses goes up and he sees the stardust of the glory of God go by and he comes down off the mountain and what's happening is glowing because of the greatness of God's glory.
[41:19] You know, there's no temple needed in this heavenly kingdom because we will be able to be in the presence of very God because there's no more sin. We will experience his glory and we will celebrate.
[41:30] You know what we'll do? We'll do what the angels did. In chapter 19, if we go back, it talks a little bit about the wedding feast. I want you to hear it and then we'll close our time with the beauty of what's getting ready to happen.
[41:45] And this is the, in verse 4 of chapter 19, it talks about the, what's coming, the wedding supper of the Lamb. You know, all of the message of Genesis, the promise of a Savior, the sanctification of his people, the building of his church is all pointing to this ultimate conclusion, the wedding supper of the Lamb.
[42:09] Listen to the beauty. Listen how the angels long for it. the cherubim and seraphim, they long for this moment because God is worthy of this worship.
[42:21] This type of worship is what we're made for. This is what we're redeemed for so that we can worship in spirit and truth along with all the host of heaven.
[42:32] Listen, and the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne saying, Amen. Hallelujah. And from the throne came a voice saying, Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.
[42:48] Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters, like the sound of mighty peals of thunder crying out, Hallelujah.
[42:59] Hallelujah. For the Lord, our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come and the bride has made herself ready.
[43:11] And it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure. Praise be to Jesus that we are called by his name, that we're sons and daughters of the King, that we're part of the bride of Christ, that our names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
[43:28] Let's pray. Father, get stirred up. just thinking about the wonders of your kingdom, the incredible nature of being in your presence.
[43:46] I mean, Mary is in the presence of Jesus and she just doesn't have to say a word, just enjoy it. I can't matter. I can't imagine how much more incredible it's going to be to see you face to face and experience your presence and the utter awe and the incredible worship that will spill out of us because you're worthy.
[44:04] God, as you sanctify us in this life, help us to live for you and not for self. Help us to adorn ourselves with the beautiful picture of your fruit in our life.
[44:18] Lord, would you do a work in us? We can't sanctify ourselves. God, you have to sanctify us and God, we ask you to do it. We ask you to pour fruit into our life.
[44:28] God, I know we have to choose you and I just pray that you give each of us a desire to choose you and to live for you and live for your kingdom. God, help us to always have your kingdom in view, God.
[44:42] Give us this unquenchable longing for your presence and the fullness of your glory. God, I pray that you would fill us with song and worship. Father, you would give us endurance as we run this race.
[44:56] God, we await the incredible wedding feasts that we get to enjoy because of your gift to us. God, we praise you this day in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Amen.