Hello, welcome again to the takeaway. I'm your host, Pastor Harry Barens, and in today's episode, we're going to be looking at Revelation chapter 21, verses 9 to 27. In our last episode, we opened up with God creating a new heaven and earth and making all things new. We discussed that we are to have our eyes set on this time, not as a future event, but as a current reality, as this is how God sees it. We so often get caught up in our current events and forget that all this has already played out from God's perspective. God wants us to see things the way He does, so that we live accordingly to His will. When we understand that we have already obtained the promises and have entered into a relationship with God, we could begin to live as one set free with complete joy and contentment. Everything around us is dissolving away. So what are we doing trying to hold on to it? We need to have our eyes set on Jesus and our future home. In these next verses, we are given a beautiful picture of just that, along with great details of exactly what our home looks like. God could have easily held this back from us, but instead he shared it so that we would know without a doubt what we have to look forward to. This may seem so far away still, but in the context of eternity, it will be but a blink of an eye. Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. Indeed, you have made my days as hand breaths, and my age is as nothing before you. Certainly every man has his best state, is but a vapor. Sila. Starting in verse nine, we read, Then one of the seven angels, who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came to me and talked with me, saying, Come, I will show you the bride, the lamb's wife, and he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. In our last episode, we discussed that the new Jerusalem is not the bride of Christ. We are. We saw in verse 2 that it said, Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband, as a bride, not the bride. This was a description of her beauty and just how breathtaking it will be to see this event. Revelation 19 7 and 8 said, Let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready, and to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Ephesians 5 25 to 27. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her, that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that he might present to her himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. Second Corinthians 11 2. For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy, for I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. Scripture makes it abundantly clear that we are indeed the bride, and the new Jerusalem is our dwelling place that Jesus has prepared for us to live for eternity with him. When John says, Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife, and he carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. What he is showing John is us, the bride in the city, the New Jerusalem. The fact that he says, I will show you the bride, and then takes him to see the city is definitely not an indicator that the city or structure, if you will, is the bride. What he is saying is that the bride dwells in the city. A city is only a city if it is filled with people. If we were if it were empty, it would be nothing more than a structure or empty vessel. But this structure is filled, making it a holy city. Verses eleven to fourteen. Having the glory of God, her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Even into eternity, God has set his people Israel aside as a special people with a special place. They were his workmanship to show his glory. They were and always have been meant to be priests of the Most High God, to glorify him and to be a beacon to all the nations. Because of this, they will forever have a special place in God's holy city. Isaiah 49, 6. Indeed, he says, It is too small a thing that you should be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth. Isaiah 63, chapter 60, verse 3. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightest brightness of your rising. ACTS 13, 44. On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth. In verse 14, we see the foundations have the names of the twelve apostles written on them. In Ephesians 2, verses 19 to 22 it says, Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. The foundations in the Holy City are an eternal testimony to the apostles and their place in God's plan. It should be a reminder to us today that if something isn't built on the foundations of the apostles, then we should have no part in it. There are many today who think they are apostles, but I assure you their names are not on the foundations of the Holy City, and nothing new can be built on their works. Jesus chose twelve and has called them by name. Scripture makes it clear that there were twelve apostles, and that's it. If anyone claims to be one, I would suggest you stay away from that individual, as they are probably teaching something that is not true. Galatians 1, 6 through 9 makes it clear that there is nothing anyone can or should add to Scripture. I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another. But there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. It is so imperative that we avoid false teachings and that we stick only to the scriptures given to us from the apostles. So much so that God has written it into the holy city as a testimony for all eternity. God Himself has told us clearly, right here in Revelation, that there is no other foundation. There are no other apostles, and there is no other gospel than what they preached. If you don't like that, then you will need to take that up with God, as he is the one that etched it into the foundation of his holy city. Moving on to verses 15 to 21. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out as a square, its length is as great as its hand as its breadth. And he measured the city with a reed, twelve thousand furlongs, its length, breadth, and height are equal. Then he measured its wall, one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The construction of its wall was of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third Chalcedony, the fourth, emerald, the fifth, Sardanix, the sixth, Sardis, the seventh, Chrysalite, the eighth, beryl, the ninth Topaz, the tenth, Chrysophras, the eleventh, Jacenth, and the twelfth Amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each individual gate was of one pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. So as we see here, the size of the city will be huge. Twelve thousand furlongs is about fifteen hundred miles, or the distance from Maine to Florida. Then add to the fact that this city is the same distance wide, long, and tall will make it roughly the size of our moon. So I think we can see why God will make have to make a new earth. This one clearly isn't big enough for this city to fit on. So just speculating, the new earth is probably going to be extremely large, maybe along the size of Jupiter. It's anyone's guess. But there will definitely be plenty of room for everyone who ever lived and was found righteous by God to enter into it. What an amazing sight and experience this will be. Eternity is a long time, but we will need all of it to meet all of our brothers and sisters and spend time with them. I'm sure there will be no shortage of things to talk about and do. So many people are worried about losing what they have in this world. But our true home has streets of pure gold for us to walk down. How much more beyond our imagination is waiting for us. In verse 18, it says that it is so pure that it's like clear glass. This represents absolute purity and allows God's light to reflect and shine everywhere without any resistance. His light will shine in such a way that it will seem to come from every direction. There won't even be a shadow to cast an ounce of darkness. God will be the consuming focal point of this great and beautiful city, and we will be dwelling in the midst of it. This picture, more than anything, is beyond our imagination, even with all the description. That's probably why Paul said that it was not lawful to try and explain what he saw or heard. 2 Corinthians 12, 3 to 4. And I know such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know. God knows how he was called up into paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. When Paul was given his revelation, it was for him. But when John was given the revelation, it was for us. What a special gift that was for John. But as we have read, it was an extremely overwhelming experience for him. The reality is that we just can't grasp heaven in these bodies. We will need to see it with our own eyes and hear it with our own ears to even begin to comprehend. Now moving on to verses 22 to 27. But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light, and the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day. There shall be no night there, and they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter into it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. In verse 22, we see that there is no temple in the city. Throughout history, temples have been built as a holy place where God dwelled, or at least where we were to act holy. But here there is no temple, because everything and everyone is holy. The whole thing is the temple, not just a location within or nearby. We will be in the presence of the most holy God, and we ourselves will be holy just as he intended us to be, so that we can be in constant fellowship with him. In verse 23, the sun and the moon are no longer needed, as the light coming from God is sufficient to light everything up in the city. Now it doesn't say that there will be no sun or moon, just that it's not needed for the city. They may very well be needed for the rest of the new earth, but in the city there will never be any darkness, because where God dwells, there is no darkness at all. First John 1 5. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaimed to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. In verse 24 and 25, we see the kings of nations coming and entering. There's some debate on what's going on here, as it seems there will still be nations with leaders established around the world. That may very well be the case. Or this could be the leaders who have entered into eternity and are just coming and going to explore the new earth. We really don't have the information needed to describe exactly what is happening here. What we can take away from this is that the gates are always open because there is no war or enemy to attack. Those who dwell inside and out have the freedom to come and go as they please as often as they want. This probably just points to the fact that there will be much to do and explore in the new earth. It will all bring pleasure to God, and indeed it is his pleasure to give his children a place to roam, explore, and create as they please. This was his intention when he created the first heavens and earth and said, Let us make man in our own image. We were created to imagine, invent, wander, explore, and discover all that God has to offer, and not only will we be able to do all that, but it will be in all purity, with absolutely no sin to corrupt any of it. In verse 27 it says, But there shall be by no means enter in it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie. This is not to say that there will be any lies or anything that defiles available to even attempt to enter. It's a statement that there won't be any knowledge or thought of any lie, defilement, or abomination. It just won't exist, and we won't even give it a second thought. This whole chapter points to God's purity and that we need to be pure to be in his presence. That is the work that he is doing in us and wants to do in others. Our job currently is to lead as many people to Jesus as possible, share our testimony, and proclaim the good news to the whole world. That is the only reason God has left us in these mortal bodies, not to indulge ourselves, but to live for him. We will be made pure when we die or he comes. But until then, we need to live just as he did when he walked this earth. Second Timothy 2 4. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. Let's live to please our Father, as each lost soul we proclaim the truth to may very well be a brother or sister that we will spend eternity with. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word and revelation, and that you would give us this beautiful picture of our future home with you. I ask, Father, that you will help us to live in such a way that we embrace these truths, that we are the bride of Christ, and that you are making us holy so that we may enter into your presence. Help us to fully embrace and believe what your word says so that it changes us at the very core of our being. It is our desire to live in a life glorifying and pleasing to you. Father, we love you and we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. I want to thank you for joining us today, and I hope this message helped you take a step closer in your relationship with Jesus and that you have a better understanding for just how much God loves you and wants you to know Him. In our next episode, we're going to be moving on to chapter 22 and reading the closing words from John and our Lord. We will see that he leaves us with a warning and a promise, as it's his desire that we receive the promise and not the judgment. His encouragement is to remind us that he is coming quickly and that we are not to lose faith while we walk through this world. He has showed us the end for both those who enter into promise and those who rejected him, so that we don't lose focus on what really matters. This life is but a blink of an eye, and our hearts, minds, and spirits should be focused on eternity and not this life, so that we enter into our best lives just as he promises. Romans 14, 7 and 9. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end, Christ died and rose and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. Now, before we go, I want to encourage you to visit us at thetaway. On our website, you can find out more about us and sign up to receive emails to get notifications on new episodes and ministry updates. This also makes it easy to share our podcasts and allows you to use it as a resource to help others. On our site, you can easily send us a message, a word of encouragement, questions, or comments. We would love to hear from you and encourage you to send us a message soon. God bless, and we'll see you next time on the Takeaway.