It's great to worship with you all.
Please turn your Bibles to Revelation chapter 21, verses 9 to 27.
If you don't have a Bible, if you raise your hand, we'd love to bring over a copy to you
that you can have and use.
We're getting close to the end of our sermon series in the book of Revelation.
We're in chapter 21 today, verses 9 to 27.
For those of you who don't know me, my name is Sean.
I'm one of the pastors of Trinity Cambridge Church, and it is my great joy and honor to
preach God's word to you this morning.
Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.
Heavenly Father, we humble our hearts before you and incline our ears to you now.
Speak to us from your inerrant, infallible word, and impress deeply upon our hearts your love
for your church.
And captivate us with the beauty and the glory that will be New Jerusalem, that will be ours
in eternity, so that it shapes our perspectives and our priorities here and now.
Meet with us now in your word.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Please stand and join me as I read out loud Revelation 21, 9 to 27.
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.
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.
It had a great high wall 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.
And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates
and walls.
The city lies four square, its length the same as its width.
And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia.
Its length and width and height are equal.
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.
The foundations of the wall 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, crystallite.
The eighth, beryl.
The ninth, topaz.
The tenth, chrysoprase.
The eleventh, jacinth.
The twelfth, amethyst.
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls.
Each of them, each of the gates made of a single pearl.
And the street of the city was pure gold like transparent glass.
This is God's holy and authoritative word.
You may be seated.
Jesus said in Matthew 6, 19 to 21,
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.
But throw up your treasures in heaven where the moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Jesus teaches us there a very important principle.
He's commanding us, choose your treasure carefully.
Because your heart, the direction of your life, always follow your treasure.
If you treasure climbing the career ladder and being successful and making loads of money,
then that's where your heart, the center of your being, will be preoccupied with.
If you treasure your children above all things,
then all your exerting and spending and warring will orbit around them.
If you treasure the approval and affection of men,
then the bulk of your time and energy and money will be spent around trying to impress other humans.
So choose your treasure carefully.
Make sure that your treasure is in heaven where it will be safe and secure forever rather than here on earth.
And that's what really Revelation 21 and the entire book of Revelation has been about.
It's been portraying to us eternal realities through visual symbols
such as to capture our spiritual imagination.
To tell us, here's something really worth living for.
Here's something really worth treasuring.
Here's something that will never depreciate in value.
A currency that will never expire.
An inheritance that never wears out.
The resurrection life.
The kingdom of God.
A new heaven and a new earth.
The new Jerusalem.
Eternal, unbroken fellowship with the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb.
What we treasure in our hearts, what we love is like a rudder that determines the direction and guides the ship.
Treasure this and your heart will follow.
Treasure this and you will have heavenly perspectives.
Treasure this and then you will have heavenly purposes and heavenly priorities.
And if we don't this morning feel a homesickness for a new heaven and a new earth,
then that may be a warning for us that we are probably not treasuring the things of heaven.
That's the main point of my sermon this morning.
Looking forward to the new Jerusalem in which we will have unhindered fellowship with God.
We should live holy lives and hold on to the testimony of Jesus.
And I'm going to talk about the new Jerusalem in three different facets.
First, it's unassailable in its security.
Second, it is unflawed in its symmetry.
And third, it's unparalleled in its splendor.
First, we can look forward to the new Jerusalem because it will be unassailable in its security.
It says in verse 9,
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.
This might sound familiar to you, and that's no coincidence,
because one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls
came and made a very similar announcement about Babylon the great prostitute earlier in chapter 17, verse 1.
He said there,
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me,
Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters.
So these are parallel introductions of two opposite realities.
And it intentionally draws a contrast between the great prostitute and the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
Remember, they're both depicted as women, and they're both depicted as cities.
And that's how we know these are metaphors and symbols,
because you cannot be a woman and a city at the same time.
The great prostitute is Babylon, the city of man.
And the wife of the Lamb is the holy city, Jerusalem, that comes down out of heaven from God.
Babylon has written on her forehead the name,
Babylon the Great, Mother of Prostitutes and of Earth's Abominations, it said in 17.5.
But the New Jerusalem has the name of God and of the Lamb on her forehead.
In Revelation 21, verse 4.
Babylon the harlot is seated on many waters.
That's a symbol of how she committed adultery with the kings of the earth.
Her idolatrous maritime commerce represented by these many waters.
But in stark contrast, the New Jerusalem has only one source of water,
the spring of living water, the river of life that flows from the throne of God and the Lamb
in the new city, the holy city, because she is the faithful one, the faithful bride.
In the end, Revelation 17.16 told us that the prostitute will be made desolate and naked,
but the bride of the Lamb will be clothed in white.
The prostitute is used by men selfishly.
The wife is loved by men selflessly.
He says in Ephesians 5.25,
Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
That's what wives deserve.
Do you want to be a prostitute that is used and abused and discarded?
Or do you want to be the bride, the wife of the Lamb, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
and be cherished by him forever?
If you want that, then hold on to the testimony of Jesus and endure to the end and forsake the idolatrous desires of this world.
Early in Revelation 12, the woman who represented the people of God took shelter in the wilderness,
where she was spiritually protected by God, but physically vulnerable and persecuted by the dragon.
But in a new heaven and a new earth, as we see here, we will no longer be in the wilderness.
It says in verse 10,
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.
We'll be on the mountaintop in eternity.
Throughout scripture, wilderness is the place of journeying.
It's the place of testing.
Think of Israel's journey through the wilderness when they are tested for 40 years,
and finally they arrive in the holy land, in Canaan, Mount Zion, where they worship God in the temple.
Or compare that to Jesus' journey into the wilderness where he is tested and tempted by Satan for 40 days.
And then after that, he begins his ministry and climbs up to give his sermon on the mount.
In scripture, wilderness is the place of not yet.
The mountaintop is the place of finally here.
The mountain is the place of arrival, the place of promise, place of revelation,
the place of God's presence and communion with him.
And that's why Ezekiel 40 verses 1 to 2 prophesied that the end time city and temple
will be set on a very high mountain.
And so the new Jerusalem is on a great high mountain.
And it says in verse 11 that this holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God
has the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
John reported something very similar in his earlier vision of the throne room of God in heaven in Revelation 4.
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.
And before the throne, there was, as it were, a sea of glass like crystal.
The glory of God is resplendent.
It's brilliant.
And on that day, the glory of God will be our glory also.
Know what it says in verse 11.
The new Jerusalem will come down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.
The fact that this new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven from God,
the fact that this new Jerusalem is not built up from the bottom up here on earth,
but whether it comes down from God, shows us that our fellowship with God,
our eternal destiny, is not a human achievement.
It is a gift from God.
And the fact that the glory of the new Jerusalem will not be our own glory,
but the glory of God, it says,
tells us that God's people are those who have humbled themselves before God,
those who do not seek or boast in their own glory,
but rather seek the glory of God alone.
Unlike the city of Babel, remember that?
Genesis 11, which was a monument to human hubris,
built by sinful men who said to themselves,
come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens,
and let us make a name for ourselves.
That was their motivation.
The holy city of Jerusalem, in contrast,
comes down out of heaven from God as a gift.
And it will have the names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel inscribed on the gates,
and the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb written on the foundation.
People who have pledged their allegiance to Jesus,
they're the ones who ultimately get their names inscribed forever.
It's those who deny themselves and take up the cross and follow Jesus.
Those who lose their lives for the sake of Jesus,
who ultimately find it.
Brothers and sisters,
where do you want your name to be remembered and inscribed at the end of the ages?
For whose glory are you living?
Do you want to see your name published in the Fortune magazine's 40 Under 40?
Do you want to see your name engraved in Kendall Square's Entrepreneur Walk of Fame
alongside Bill Gates and Bill Hewlett and Bob Swanson, David Packard,
Mitch Caper and Steve Jobs and Thomas Edison?
Listen, I assure you that all of those names will be forgotten one day.
And only the names that are written in the Lamb's book of life,
only those who belong to the church of Christ,
the people of God,
they will have their names inscribed forever on the 12 gates,
the 12 foundations of the New Jerusalem.
Only they will be remembered forever.
So where is your treasure?
Choose your treasure carefully.
Make sure that your treasure is in the new heaven and the new earth
and not on this earth which is passing away.
And don't miss the radical unity of the people of God.
It says both Jews and Gentiles,
the names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel,
the old covenant people of God are inscribed on the gates,
and the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb,
are written on the 12 foundations
because it says in Ephesians 2, 19 to 20,
that both Jews and Gentiles are fellow citizens
and members of the household of God
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.
There are not two segregated cities in the new Jerusalem.
There's only one new Jerusalem
because there is neither Jew nor Greek
for we are all one in Christ Jesus
because we have one body, one spirit,
just as we are called to the one hope that belongs to our call.
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
which we'll celebrate shortly.
One God and Father of all
who is over all and through all and in all.
Right now, the people of God are plagued
by many kinds of divisions along ethnic lines,
radical, you know, racial lines,
political lines, doctrinal lines,
geographical lines.
And we long for the full expression
of our spiritual unity, which is not yet.
But in the new Jerusalem, we will be perfectly one.
Verse 12 continues the description of the city.
It had a great high wall with 12 gates
and at the gates, 12 angels.
Earlier in verse 10, we were told
that the new Jerusalem sits atop a great high mountain.
And now we are told that on top of that great high mountain,
there's also a great high wall.
As if the mountain itself were in sufficient defense.
And this wall must be exceedingly high
since it's protecting a city
that it says is 12,000 stadia in height,
according to verse 16.
One stadion is about 607 feet.
So that's about 1,400 miles
or 2,200 kilometers in height, this city.
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,
is the world's tallest building
and it stands 2,717 feet.
The new Jerusalem is 7,392,000 feet tall.
As I said earlier, this is a metaphor.
It's figurative and symbolic.
It's conveying, but it is conveying a spiritual reality.
It's supposed to boggle our minds.
If a city is that tall,
then how tall is the great high wall
that's already sitting on a great high mountain
to protect it?
And that's why I think the measurement of the wall
that's given in verse 17, 144 cubits,
is not referring to its height or the length of the wall,
but to the wall's width, to its thickness,
which is how the NIV translates it.
The Great Wall of China at its widest point,
most of it is much narrower than this,
at its widest point is 32 feet thick,
but 144 cubit wall is 216 feet thick.
That's about the width of a professional soccer field.
So it's going to take us a while
to just walk through the gates.
And the point is this,
this is a completely impenetrable fortress.
Not only that, over each of the 12 gates,
there are 12 angels.
The Lord says in Isaiah 62, verse 6,
on your walls, O Jerusalem,
I have set watchmen.
These are guardian angels, heavenly sentinels.
If you have been with us
throughout our sermon series in Revelation,
you know how powerful even just one of these angels are.
Can wipe out vast swaths of creation.
One fell swoop with divine authorization.
And there's 12 at each,
one in each gate guarding over the new Jerusalem.
Not that that's actually necessary.
There's actually no need for a wall at all
because all the enemies of God and his people
have been vanquished already.
And that's why later in verse 25,
that it says that its gates will never be shut
because there is no more danger.
But nonetheless, God shows John a vision
of the new Jerusalem with a great high wall
to impress indelibly upon our minds
this picture of an unassailable,
impregnable fortress and city
in order to convey to us the idea
of the eternal security of the saints.
Imagine what a source of comfort
these walls would have been
for city dwellers in the ancient world.
These walls keep wild beasts out of the city.
These walls keep warring intruders out of the city.
It's why they can sleep at night.
And God is sending to us an unmistakable message
to Christians who are persecuted and sorely oppressed.
As we saw in Jesus' seven letters to the seven churches
in chapters two and three,
the church of Christ in the present world
often has little power.
They must face toil.
They bear up on their suffering for Christ's name's sake.
They experience tribulation and poverty.
They are slandered by Satan and his minions.
They are thrown into prison
and sometimes they even face death.
But with this glorious vision
of the new Jerusalem's great high wall,
Jesus is assuring us,
hold on.
Press on in this life,
even though you are reviled,
slandered, imprisoned, beaten, and killed
for my name's sake.
Because in the new Jerusalem,
you will be untouchable.
You will be invulnerable
and you will be unassailable.
There on the great high mountain,
behind the great high wall,
you will finally be safe.
It's only in the new heaven and a new earth
that we will be safe and secure forever.
Our culture today idolizes safety.
So-called safe spaces are sacrosanct.
They are the holy ground
built on the temple of self
upon which everybody else that approaches
and the churches must remove their sandals.
But when did Jesus ever promise us
safety from discomfort and danger in this life?
Jesus said in Luke 21, 12,
they will lay their hands on you
and persecute you,
delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons.
Does that sound safe?
Matthew 24, 9,
they will deliver you up to tribulation
and put you to death
and you will be hated by all nations
for my name's sake.
Brothers and sisters,
don't seek your ultimate safety here on earth.
Where is your treasure?
Is it in the new heaven and the new earth
or is it here?
Your body can be harmed here on earth.
Your feelings can be hurt here on earth.
Your life can be taken here on earth.
But in the new heaven and the new earth,
we will be safe and secure forever.
The new Jerusalem will also be unflawed
in its symmetry.
It's, sorry, in symmetry.
Here in verse 15,
an angel of God uses a measuring rod of gold
to measure the city and its gates and walls.
This is an allusion to Ezekiel 40 to 48
where the prophet Ezekiel sees an end time vision
of a glorious new temple
where the glory of God will dwell.
And an angelic being at that point
in Ezekiel 40, verse 3,
takes a measuring rod
and starts to painstakingly measure
every dimension of the new temple.
And the measurements here we see in Revelation 21
are symbolically laden.
It's meaningful.
Verse 16 says that the city lies four square,
its length the same as its width.
And he measured the city with his rod,
12,000 stadia,
its length and width and height are equal.
The meaning of the word four square
is explained in the following clause.
Its length and,
or it's the same as the width,
meaning it's got four equal sides.
It's a square.
And then not only the length and the width,
but it also says that height of the new Jerusalem
are equal, meaning the city is a perfect cube.
And that's significant
because there is no structure in the entire Old Testament
that is shaped as a cube
except for one.
That's the holy of holies,
the most holy place in the tabernacle
and the most holy place in the new temple
and the most holy place prophesied of
in Ezekiel's vision in Ezekiel 41 verse 4.
This allusion to the most holy place
indicates that as the new Jerusalem,
we will enjoy perfect fellowship with God forever.
Remember in the old Jerusalem,
only the high priests could enter the most holy place
and that only once a year
and only after making sacrifice for sin.
But in the new Jerusalem,
we will all be in the most holy place.
In fact, we will ourselves be
the holy of holies upon which God dwells.
And this is why in the glorious passage
that Andrew will preach next week,
he says that there is no temple in the city
for its temple is the Lord God,
the Almighty and the Lamb.
And we will see God's face.
We will no longer have a mediated view of God.
We will have a direct, unmediated vision of God
face to face.
But how can that possibly be?
How can sinners like us face the Almighty God
and still live?
How can we possibly be the holy of holies?
It's not because we're so special.
Hebrews 9 reminds us that
in the old Jerusalem temple,
only the high priest went into the most holy place
and he but once a year
and not without taking blood.
But Christ entered once for all
into the holy places,
not by means of the blood of goats and calves,
but by means of his own blood,
thus securing an eternal redemption.
On the cross,
Jesus made the atoning sacrifice
for our sins once and for all
by offering up himself
as the sacrificial lamb.
And then he was raised from the dead
on the third day
and because of that,
that eternal redemption of Christ
secured for us 2,000 years ago
is what guarantees to us
this eternal future
as the new Jerusalem
and being the holy of holies
indwelled by the Almighty God.
This is why the new Jerusalem
is a perfect cube.
But the dimensions of the city,
it's only 20 cubits in the temple,
but it's enlarged to the nth degree
with this glorious eternal city
of New Jerusalem.
The city measures,
I mentioned,
12,000 stadia in length,
width, and height,
which I mentioned to you
is 1,400 cubic miles.
If you plop down a metropolis
of that size
in the middle of the United States,
it would stretch north to south
from Canada to Mexico
and then from east to west
from the Appalachian Mountains
to the border of California.
That's nearly 2 million square miles,
which is over 4,000 times
the size of New York City.
And that's only the ground floor
because remember,
the height is just as tall
as the width.
So if you use standard measurements
and say that every story
is 14 feet tall
or something like that,
this will be a building
about 528,000 stories tall.
Jesus wasn't joking
when he said in John 14,
in my father's house
are many rooms.
If it were not so,
would I have told you
that I go to prepare
a place for you?
And if I go and prepare
a place for you,
I will come again
and will take you to myself.
That where I am,
you may be also.
The sheer scale,
the size of this new Jerusalem
conveys a sense of grandeur
and welcome
and hospitality
because the people of God
in that end,
in the eternity
will be from every nation
and people
and tribe and tongue
will be a numberless multitude
and God's assuring us,
yes, for you,
there is room.
I will dwell with you forever.
But this number
is not meant to be understood
literally,
but figuratively,
like the other numbers
we have seen so far
in the book of Revelation.
The great high wall
of New Jerusalem
is 12 gates
guarded by 12 angels,
has names of 12 tribes
of sons of Israel
as inscribed on it.
It has 12 foundations
which has the 12 names
of the 12 apostles of the Lamb.
12, 12, 12, 12.
Why?
Because 12 is a number
that represents
the people of God.
The 12 tribes of Israel
and the 12 apostles of the Lamb.
That's why the dimensions
of the city
is 12,000 stadia,
12 times 1,000
which represents
the multitude.
This is also why
the thickness of the wall
in verse 17
is 144 cubits
because that's
the square of 12,
12 times 12.
All of these measurements
confirms the symbolism
that the New Jerusalem
is the people of God.
So,
don't imagine yourself
not quite accurate
to say
we're going to be walking
on streets of gold
because you are
the streets of gold,
right?
But that's okay.
We mix metaphors
when we talk about this.
And the bride of the Lamb
is going to be
ravishing in her beauty.
I cannot wait to see
the church
in all her splendor.
Look at verse 18 to 21.
The wall was built
of jasper
while the city
was pure gold
like clear glass.
Even the wall
of the city
is made of jasper
which is reminiscent
of the glory of God
from earlier in verse 11.
The city itself
is made of pure gold.
Imagine a city
of this scale
made entirely of gold.
gold.
It's unfathomable
and supposed to be.
And God is so,
the gold is so pure
that it is described
as being like
clear glass.
Who has ever heard
of a gold
that is clear
like glass?
Gold is an opaque metal.
So,
I'm not sure
what that means
but we need to remember
that John's reporting
a prophetic vision
and the beauty
of New Jerusalem
is so transcendent.
It stretches
his imagination.
It stretches
his knowledge
of the material universe.
It stretches
his vocabulary
so that the only way
he could quite
describe something
that is indescribable
is to mash together
two contradictory things
and say this pure gold
is clear
like glass.
We can't quite imagine
how beautiful
this city will be
and that's precisely
the point.
not only is this city
itself made of pure gold
verse 21 says
the street of the city
was pure gold
like transparent glass.
There are temples
throughout the world
that have been made of gold
not purely of gold
but still made of gold
to a certain extent
but I assure you
there are no streets
in any part of the world
that is made of gold.
None.
Because that's just
a little wasteful.
That's too extravagant.
Streets
we walk on that.
You're going to make that
of gold?
Nobody does that
but in New Jerusalem
even the street
of the city
is of pure gold
which highlights
the no expense
spared luxury
and beauty
and glory
of the city.
Similarly
verse 21
says
the 12 gates
were 12 pearls
each of the gates
made of a single pearl.
Some of you guys
have pearl jewelry
someone wearing pearl
right now?
Pearls are
exceedingly rare
and costly
because they're produced
by these shelled mollusks
takes years
to produce.
That's why
even a small pearl
earring
is so expensive
and the larger
the pearl gets
the harder it is
to produce
the rarer it is
and the more
exponentially expensive
it is.
The largest pearl
in the world
is appropriately
named
the Giga Pearl.
It weighs
61 pounds
and is about
the size
of a cow's head.
It's valued
at about
90 million dollars.
That's nothing.
Remember how big
the wall
of the New Jerusalem
is
and how big
this gate is
and it says
that each gate
is fashioned
out of a single pearl.
Not a whole bunch
of little pearls
glued together
a single pearl
like the statue
of David
Michelangelo's David
is made of a single
pearl block.
Not pearl
sorry marble
that cannot possibly
be pearl
sorry
marble
yeah
and the pearls
are not even
the only jewels
in this city.
The foundations
of the wall
of the city
are adorned
with every kind
of jewel
it says
in verse 19
and these jewels
are precious
variegated colors
gemstones
that put the
tawdry jewelry
of Babylon
the prostitute
in Revelation 17
4
to shame.
what's most
significant
about the precious
stones listed
here in verses
19 to 20
is that they
match almost
exactly
and probably
meant to
reproduce
the list
of the 12
precious stones
that were set
on the breastplate
of the high priest
who enters
into the most
holy place
to intercede
on behalf
of the people
of God
in Exodus
28
17 to 20.
those 12
gems
on the breastpiece
of the high priest
had the names
of the 12
sons of Israel
inscribed on them
and like us
we have the names
of the 12
sons of Israel
on the gates
inscribed on the gates
and the names
of the apostles
of the Lamb
inscribed on the
foundation
of this new Jerusalem.
Again
driving home
the point
only the
high priest
wore those gems
you'd think
the common Israelites
could dream
of even one
of those gems
but now
in the new Jerusalem
all of us
all of God's people
we have those gems
we're bedecked
with those jewels
for eternity
and those precious stones
function as a
visible representation
of what God
says to his people
in Exodus 19
5
you shall be
my treasured
possession
among all peoples
do you know
saints of God
every single one
of you
do you know
people of God
how precious
you are to him
the new Jerusalem
is not going to be
constructed
with cheap
plywood
and cold steel
and dull
boring concrete
it's going to be
made up of gold
and crystals
and be decked
with all kinds
of jewels
and that
demonstrates
your inestimable
value to God
you are no
reclaimed good
from dumpster
diving
at the end
of the summer
or beginning
of the summer
you're not
used good
purchased from
Facebook marketplace
you are
God's
treasured
possession
Taylor Swift
Beyonce
Lionel Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo
they're all
lowly
plebes
compared to
who you are
in Christ Jesus
do you believe that?
now don't let it
get to your head
you're
we should be
humble
because we are
sinners saved
by the mercy
and grace of God
but at the same
time have
an amazing
confidence
in Christ
you should all
walk out of here
with your heads
held high
the political
elites
the intelligentsia
the wealthy
1%
the Hollywood
stars
have nothing
they have
nothing
on even
the simplest
and the
most humble
believer
in Christ
they have
nothing
on him
or her
they are
the dwelling
place
of God
the bride
and wife
of the
land
in addition
to being
contrasted
with Babylon
the prostitute
this perfected
bride of Christ
is also being
contrasted
with the still
imperfect
bride of Christ
at the beginning
of the book
that we saw
in chapters 2
and 3
I have this
to show
Revelation
began with
a prologue
and then a
vision of
the imperfect
church
and then a
vision of
God's throne
and Christ's
inauguration
of God's
judgment
and then
at the end
of the book
in matching
reverse order
Revelation
ends with
the vision
of God's
throne
and Christ's
consummation
of his
judgment
and a
vision
of the
perfected
church
followed
by an
epilogue
and this
chiastic
structure
intentionally
highlights
a contrast
between
the still
imperfect
church
and the
future
perfect
church
of Christ
remember
what you
saw
in chapters
2 and
3
that some
churches
today
have
abandoned
the love
they had
at first
that some
tolerate
false
teaching
and false
teachers
that some
have soiled
their garments
by practicing
idolatry
and sexual
immorality
that some
churches
have the
reputation
of being
alive
but are
dead
and they're
spiritually
asleep
some churches
are lukewarm
and neither
hot nor cold
they're self
deluded
and wretched
and pitiable
and poor
and blind
and naked
but incredibly
despite all
of that
Jesus addresses
every single
one of those
seven churches
as his
church
that still
has an
angel
representing
them in
heaven
that still
has the
lamp
burning
before
the throne
of God
Jesus
does
rebuke
some of
those
churches
in utter
sincerity
saying in
Revelation 3
19
those whom
I love
I reprove
and discipline
so be
zealous
and repent
but Jesus
never speaks
derisively
or dismissively
about his
church
why
because he
knows two
things that
we often
forget
he knows
the church's
true identity
that the
church is the
bride
the wife
of the
lamb
and because
two he
knows the
church's
eternal
destiny
Jesus knows
and sees
what she
will be
in the
new
Jerusalem
and will
do well
to keep
these two
realities in
view also
non-Christians
of course
do this
sometimes
but sadly
sometimes
even
Christians
speak in
a demeaning
and dismissive
manner about
the church
of Christ
well it's
because of
hypocritical
Christians
there are
countries
in a
downward
spiral
well it's
the church's
failure of
witness
is to
blame
for the
cultural
decadence
and the
spiritual
degeneracy
all around
us
homosexuals
hate
God
because
of the
church
because
of Christians
if only
the church
would be
the church
then the
world
wouldn't
be
such
a
mess
maybe
there's
a
kernel
of
truth
in
some
of
these
things
but
sometimes
people
make it
sound
like
the
church
is
the
root
of
all
of
the
world's
ills
and
evils
well that's
news
to the
book
of
Revelation
have
you
heard
of
the
great
red
dragon
the
beast
the
false
prophet
and
Babylon
the
great
prostitute
these
are
real
and they
are at
large
in the
world
yes the
church
is
imperfect
I'll be
the
first
person
to
admit
that
and
yes
we are
hospitable
for
sinners
but let's
not forget
that the
church
of
Christ
is
also
the
bride
and
the
wife
of
the
lamb
people
say
things
about
Jesus
wife
to
my
face
that
they
will
never
dare
to
say
about
my
wife
Hannah
and
trust me
Jesus
is a
lot
more
awesome
a lot
more
to be
feared
yes
we must
at times
speak
as a
prophetic
witness
against
the
sins
of the
church
but
when we
do
we
must
do
so
with
profound
humility
and out
of love
not out
of pride
and
immaturity
Jeff
Eorg
who is
the
president
of
gateway
seminary
begins
his
book
the
character
of
leadership
this
way
he
says
quote
in
my
20s
I
was
determined
to
change
the
world
in
my
30s
I
tried
to
reform
the
church
in
my
early
40s
I
discovered
I
was
the
problem
the
church
is
imperfect
yes
why
because
you
and
because
I
am
a
part
of
it
but
even
still
it
is
the
bride
the
wife
of
the
lamb
of
God
so
let
us
treat
her
and
let
us
speak
to
her
and
speak
of
her
with
the
dignity
that
she
deserves
and
secondly
let
us
not
forget
the
church's
eternal
destiny
yes
we're
beset
with
sin
and
sore
oppressed
here
and
now
but
our
eternal
destiny
is
the
new
Jerusalem
made
of
pure
gold
like
jewels
there's
a
fairy
tale
that
I
enjoyed
reading
as a
child
I
didn't
have
that
many
books
growing up
so I
read
this one
over and
over again
it's called
The Ugly
Duckling
have you guys
read that
before
I think
Disney made
a movie
of it
or something
it was
written by
Danish
poet
Hans
Christian
Andersen
in the
19th
century
mama
duck
lays
eggs
and
keeps
them
warm
so
that
they
hatch
and
then
they
all
hatch
except
for
one
which
takes
some
extra
work
it's
an
unusual
looking
egg
and
when
that
egg
hatches
the
duckling
that
comes
out
is
not
like
the
others
he
says
in
the
book
yet
my
goodness
how
different
this
one
looked
he
was
much
larger
than
the
others
he
was
not
yellow
but
dark
gray
all
over
and
after
he
stepped
out
of
his
egg
he
walked
with
a
funny
wobble
one
of
the
yellow
ducklings
pointed
what's
that
he
can't
be
one
of
us
I've
never
seen
such
an
ugly
duckling
said
another
and
this
last
duckling
this
ugly
duckling
doesn't
belong
to
the
brood
and
is
driven
from
place
to
place
suffering
much
verbal
and
physical
abuse
wherever
he
goes
and
when
he
is
swimming
on
a
lake
one
day
as
the
loner
he
is
a
flock
of
swans
come
and
descend
upon
that
lake
and
frolic
around
him
and
by
then
he
is
used
to
being
bullied
and
pushed
around
and
so
he
says
he
anticipates
what
they
will
say
and
he
says
oh
don't
worry
I'm
leaving
I
won't
make
any
trouble
for
you
but
as
he
puts
his
head
down
and
starts
to
swim
away
from
the
flock
of
swans
he
sees
a
beautiful
swan
that
is
following
him
and
he
why
is
this
swan
following
me
so
closely
but
then
he
notices
that
every
time
he
moves
this
swan's
movement
reflects
his
own
movements
and
then
he
comes
to
the
realization
oh
I've
never
been
a
duck
I'm
a
swan
a
beautiful
swan
and
he's
welcome
to
the
flock
and
then
he
soars
and
flies
away
with
the
rest
of
his
family
and
if
those
bullying
animals
knew
what
this
ugly
duckling
was
they
would
not
have
treated
him
that
way
my
brothers
and
sisters
the
church
of
Christ
is
no
ugly
duckling
your
majestic
swan
that
has
not
yet
fully
spread
out
its
wings
to
fly
so
choose
your
treasure
carefully
our
eternal
destiny
is
the
new
Jerusalem
in
a
new
heaven
and
a
new
earth
when
the
United
Nations
the
World
Trade
Organization
and
the
World
Bank
are
no
more
when
Harvard
and
MIT
and
Oxford
are
no
more
when
Apple
Microsoft
and
Amazon
and
Alphabet
and
NVIDIA
are
no
more
when
China
and
the
United
States
of
America
are
no
more
the
church
of
Christ
the
new
Jerusalem
will
stand
forever
that's
why
the
church
is
the
most
important
institution
in
the
world
comparing
the
significance
of
the
United
States
of
America
to
the
significance
of
the
church
is
like
comparing
a
sand
castle
that
a
two
year
old
made
that's
about
to
be
wiped
out
by
the
next
incoming
wave
to
the
great
pyramids
of
Giza
that's
been
standing
for
4,500
years
in a
sermon
on
2 Corinthians
8
5
which
talks
about
how
the
Macedonian
Christians
gave
themselves
first
to
the
Lord
and
then
in
extension
by
the
will
of
God
to
the
church
to
us
19th
century
English
pastor
Charles
Spurgeon
talks
about
the
importance
of
giving
oneself
to
the
body
of
Christ
that
giving
yourself
to
the
body
of
Christ
necessarily
follows
giving
yourself
to
Christ
who
is
the
head
of
the
church
because
how
can
you
be
joined
to
the
head
when
you
are
not
joined
to
the
body
and
he
talks
about
how
he
basically
had to
kind of
force
himself
into
church
membership
when he
first
became
a
Christian
by
pestering
the
minister
who
was
kind
of
slow
to
act
five
times
he
writes
about it
this
way
I
remember
the
difficulty
that I
had
when I
was
converted
and
wished
to
join
the
Christian
church
in
the
place
where
I
lived
I
called
upon
the
minister
four
successive
days
before
I
could
see
him
I'm
still
waiting
for the
day
when
someone
will
come
to
me
begging
to
become
a
church
member
like
this
is
four
successive
days
before
I
could
see
him
each
time
there
was
some
obstacle
in
the
way
of
an
interview
and
as
I
could
not
see
him
at
all
I
wrote
and
told
him
that
I
would
go
down
to
the
church
meeting
and
propose
myself
as
a
member
he
looked
upon
me
as
a
strange
character
but
I
meant
what
I
said
for
I
felt
that
I
could
not
be
happy
without
fellowship
with
the
people
of
God
I
wanted
to
be
wherever
they
were
and
if
anybody
ridiculed
them
I
wish
to
be
ridiculed
with
them
and
if
people
had
an
ugly
name
for
them
I
wanted
to
be
called
by
that
ugly
name
for
I
felt
that
unless
I
suffered
with
Christ
in
his
humiliation
I
could
not
expect
to
reign
with
him
in
his
glory
beloved
friends
give
yourselves
first
to
God
and
afterwards
to
his
church
as
these
people
did
cheerfully
and
promptly
can
you
identify
what
Charles
Spurgeon
is
talking
about
here
why
does
he
feel
this
way
because
they
are
the
adopted
brothers
and
sisters
in
the
family
of
God
washed
by
the
blood
of
the
lamb
born
again
by
the
spirit
of
God
because
you
guys
are
my
fellow
citizens
and
comrades
in
this
kingdom
of
God
because
you
are
the
excellent
ones
in
whom
is
all
my
delight
as
Psalm
16
3
says
because
you
know
the
God
I
know
because
you
love
the
God
I
love
because
you
serve
the
God
that
I
serve
that's
why
I want
to be
associated
with you
before
I'm
associated
with
anyone
else
in the
whole
world
and
that's
why
we
do
membership
that's
why
new
member
induction
Sunday
like
today
is
a
special
day
we
have
10
new
member
10
new
Christian
brothers
and
sisters
who are
eager to
join
our
local
church
why
because
they
want
to
be
a
part
of
this
the
new
Jerusalem