Well, it's good to see everybody
this morning. It is. It's a good day. Scripture says this is the day
the Lord made. Rejoice and be glad in it. To
realize that Almighty God has in his infinite wisdom and mercy
and grace has made this day for the accomplishment and for the
unfolding of that which He has eternally purposed to do. I pray that today that He might
be pleased to bless this Word to the salvation of His people.
I pray the Lord saves someone today. I pray that He comfort
His people today and that we might behold Him Let's take our
Bibles and turn to the book of Revelation chapter 21. Revelation
21. Before we begin, let's have a
word of prayer. Our Father, it's so good to be
able to call upon You in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and to know that only in Him Are we able to enter boldly with
confidence into the throne of grace? We ask You this morning
to help us. Lord, we are so prone to wander
in our minds. We're so prone to forget. We're
so prone to think upon those things that are not profitable.
Help us to worship. Help us to see. Help us to behold
Your blessed Son, our Redeemer. We ask You to bless the Word,
our understanding. We ask these things for Christ's
sake. Amen. Revelation 21. I'd like to look
at verses 9 10 and 11. And what we're going to be considering
this morning, this is a vision. John has been given the vision,
the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. While we look at this vision,
we never want to go beyond what is actually revealed in Scripture. We never want to try to make
something say what it doesn't say, but knowing that what is
set forth is the revelation of the Lord Jesus, we pray that
we might see what is truly said. We want to know. I want to know
this morning what's being spoken of because what this is is the
view of the bride in heaven. Now for everyone that Almighty
God has ever loved, in electing and redeeming and quickening
grace. We've got a vital interest in
this. We're on this earth right now
and we're alive physically, alive spiritually for those that God's
regenerated by His grace. And we know some things. But
we see through a glass darkly what we see. This life is vapor. And we're
going to behold Him by sight. I'm going to tell you something. I'm looking at you, Brother Scott,
but I'm telling you, even right now, I don't see even you as
I'll see Him in that day without the presence of sin. I mean,
even now, my vision is blurred. in comparison to what I will
know, what I will see. I want to know what does the
Scripture have to say about the bride in Christ in heaven. This is real. Verse 9, this is
what the angel in the latter part of verse 9 says, Come hither,
I will show thee the bride. The Lamb's wife. Well, the means. What is the means of being shown? The bride. John says in Revelation
21.9, There came unto me one of the seven angels which had
the seven vials full of the seven last plagues. Just flip back and look at Revelation
17.1 just to look at that first verse just to read it. It says,
There came one of the seven angels, which had the seven vows, and
talked with me, saying, Come hither. I will show unto thee
the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters. In both of those Scriptures that
we just read, one of these seven angels was said to possess vials. Now, without going back for the
sake of time, just as a word of remembrance, these vials speak
of God's judgment. Judgment. For or against. As I've said before, you go to
a court of law and a judge makes a judgment. It may be for or
it may be against you, but what it's saying, when it says the
vials, it means this, God is just. When God Almighty makes
judgment, it is based upon that which is right. I'm a just God. Back in Revelation 21 verse 9,
it came unto me, one of the seven angels who had the seven vials
full of the seven last plagues, the seven last plagues, It means
those last and final dealings that Almighty God is going to
have. Revelation 15, verse 1, it speaks
of the last and final dealings that God is going to have in
judgment. Revelation 15, verse 1, I saw
another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having
the seven last plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of
God. This is the last that Almighty
God is going to speak before the final judgment. This
is it. You're going through this life
and I am too. And before the final judgment
of God, before the day of the great white throne judgment,
God Almighty will speak only in this life. The way that a man dies, the
way that a woman dies is the way they're going to spend
eternity in subjection to or in rebellion
to the Lord Jesus Christ. As a man lives, that's the way
he's going to live. As a man dies, that's the way
he's going to die. This is it. Seven last legs. God's Word. This angel that came to me, John
said, and this angel, I'll tell you who this is. Now remember
I said a while ago, I don't want to go beyond what the Scripture
says, but the Scripture sets forth in Revelation 120 who these
angels are. They're preachers. Preachers. how all of the fulfillment of
the book of Revelation comes forth. I do understand that there
are some things that we don't know, but I will tell you this.
This is one of the seven angels, and you go back and you see this,
the seven spirits of the seven angels of the churches. This
is the way God speaks to His people. preachers, messengers. That's what the word means, messengers.
Almighty God raises up a preacher. This is how God speaks. Men can say, well, I can take
the Bible and I can read it and I can, you know, Obviously, I would never say
that someone couldn't pick up a Bible and read it. But as a
general rule, let me ask you this. How many, as a general
rule, will sit down and spend their week in the Scriptures
attempting, praying, asking for a word from God? The Lord in
His infinite wisdom has raised up Preachers. Now that's a miracle
to me. That's a miracle of God's grace
that God would raise up preachers through the foolishness, or what
the world calls foolish, through the foolishness of preaching
to save them to believe. Preachers. John saw in this vision the way
that God spoke. And he said unto him, Come hither. That's what That's what we say. Come here. Listen to what the
Lord has to say. Listen to the Lord Jesus Christ. We beseech you as ambassadors. That's what a preacher is. He's
an ambassador of Christ. An ambassador doesn't come up
with a message. The ambassador delivers a message
from the government or whoever he represents. We're ambassadors
of Christ. And we beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, come hither. Listen. Listen to what Almighty God has
got to say. I've said this before, but it's
such a, well, it's an arresting thought to realize that He's
in our presence. I don't want to speak disrespectfully.
I don't want to say anything is wrong. It just scares me to
think of saying something disrespectful. Come hither. I will show thee
the bride, the Lamb's wife. Let me show you what God has
said concerning His bride. This is my desire this morning.
The reason that it's my desire is because I'm convinced I have
a part in this. I want to know. Soon, I mean,
humanly speaking, you know, knowing how long a life is, humanly speaking,
I'm on the way, getting on the other end of this thing. Many have passed before me. I'm
promised that I'm going to leave this world. I'm going to die. I know that. I want to know. Let me show you the bride. He
carried me, verse 10, away in the Spirit to a great and high
mountain and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending
out of heaven from God. This is what the scripture says
concerning the bride. Well, she's holy Jerusalem. Now, there is a city that's overseas
called Jerusalem. That's a city that has been raised
up by God that is a type It is a picture. Have you ever wondered
why? Why that city? Why Jerusalem? Why not Paris? Why not, you know, Jerusalem
is a city that has been raised up by God to be a picture. Jerusalem means peace. It was distinguished by Almighty
God to be a type of eternal peace, rest. It's a picture. It's a
type. It's a real city. The original name of that city
was called Salem. You know who the king of Salem
was? It was Kessodack. You know Kessodack? Abraham paid homage to Melchizedek, a
picture type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jerusalem, it was there
that the Lord Jesus Christ made salvation to be accomplished. It was outside the laws of Jerusalem. The work of redemption was done.
Jerusalem. That city that is a picture,
a type, that place which the world associates God, worship,
great controversy over that city. I could go on a lot of things
about Jerusalem, New Jerusalem. Holy Jerusalem. That great city. John said, here's the bride. He said, I was carried up on
a great and high mountain. He showed me that great city.
The holy city. The fulfillment of that which
Almighty God had everlastingly set His affection on. She's a
high mountain. Turn to Psalm 48. High mountain. Carried me up to this great high
mountain. Who is the bride? Tell me about her. Psalm 48.
This is the way she is. This is what we shall see. I
mean, this is not speculation. This is not hearsay. This is
not maybe. This is the way it is. Psalm 48, verses 1-3, Great is
the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the
mountain of His holiness, beautiful for situation. The joy of the
whole earth is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city
of the great King. God is known in her palaces for
refuge. Who is the bride? She is a great,
high mountain placed, a city placed on this high mountain,
exalted. Cities all over this world are
going to perish, destroyed. But there is an eternal city
that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Jerusalem. Holy Jerusalem. The glory of this city is not
her own. I tell you, the glory of this
city is the one that inhabits her. I want you to turn back
and look at Revelation 14.1, these scriptures that we've looked
at. Revelation 14.1, I looked and
lo, a lamb stood on the Mount Zion and with him 140,000 and
4,000 having his father's name. written in their foreheads, 144,000.
Symbolic number. All of God's elect with the Father's
name written on their foreheads, in their minds, in their thoughts,
praising Him, the Bride. I'm going to show
you the Bride. John said, this angel carried
me up, showed me that great city, holy Jerusalem, The bride is
here described as being the recipient of God's mercy and ever secure
in His presence. Psalm 125, 1 and 2, They that
trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved,
but abided forever, as the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so
the Lord is round about His people henceforth evermore. Jerusalem. Let me tell you what
else. Here is what I know about the
bride. She is the city. She is the city in heaven inhabited by Almighty
God, exalted, coming out of heaven. Verse 11 says this about her.
Having the glory of God. What does that mean? Having the
glory of God. Turn with me to Ezekiel 43. Ezekiel
43. Having the glory of God. Ezekiel 43. Verse 1 and 2. You want to know what the glory
of God is? Here it is. Ezekiel 43, 1 and 2, Afterward
he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward
the east. And behold, the glory of God
of Israel came from the way of the east, and His voice was like
a noise of many waters, And the earth shined with His glory. Do you want to know what the
glory of God is? It is His Son. There is the glory
of God. Ezekiel says, Behold the glory
of God, His voice. Tell me, John, about the bride. Tell me the view of the bride. I'll tell you about her. She's
a city. She's holy Jerusalem. Where Almighty God has established
before the foundation of the world, you're going to be my
habitation. You're going to be my city. I'm
going to be with you. You go be with me. This city, the bride herself,
having the glory of God, she has Christ. She has everything. All power given unto the Son. All honor given unto the Son.
All praise All-dominion. Everything in Him. Deserving of all things. And we are joint heirs with Him.
That which He possesses, we possess. That which He inherits. That
which He inherits as the obedient Son. I've got four kids. Whatever I got, earthly speaking,
they're going to get. Why? Because they're my kids. Not one of them ever consulted
with me before they were born. They didn't have anything to
do with their birth. They didn't have anything to do with coming
into my family. They were my kids. And everything
that they shall possess is going to be theirs for one reason. They were my kids. That's it.
That's it. Not one thing that they do to
make themselves more secure as my kids, they're my kids. And
everything that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the obedient
Son, everything that He inherits as the obedient man, The God-Man. Everything that is earned by
Him, that He has by inheritance. What has He earned? I'll tell
you. Let me sum it up with this one
statement, this one Scripture. Almighty God, Triune God. Now here's a mystery. The Father, the Son, and the
Spirit. The fullness of God that dwells
in Him. Buddy, I'll tell you what, you're
talking about a deep thought. All the fullness of the Godhead. The Godhead. When I say the Godhead,
I'm talking about Father, Son, and Spirit. The Godhead. All the fullness of the Godhead
dwells in Him. Almighty God, I'm telling you
what He's earned. What does He possess? He said,
sit. You sit at my right hand till
I make all your enemies your footstool. What does He have? He has all of it. And what does
the bride have? She has the glory of God. She
has Christ. Eye hath not seen, ear hath not
heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man that which God
has prepared for those that love him." The glory of God, the Word made
flesh. John 1.18 says, No man hath seen
God at any time, the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of
the Father. He hath declared Him. I wonder what that means. He's declared who is in the bosom. It seems like I almost understand. But I tell you what, whatever
it means, in the bosom of the Father, the fullness of the Godhead
dwelling in Him, whatever that means, I'll tell you what it
means. That means that whatever He has, I have in Him. Who is she? The bride possesses
Him who possesses her. The bride possesses Him. Turn with me to John. The Gospel
according to John 17.22. John 17.22. Oh, if we could get
a hold of this. This is what makes faith. so marvelously wonderful. The Scriptures never says that
I understand all things, but I believe Him. That which He
says, I believe. For by grace are you saved through
faith. I'm so glad it didn't say, for
by grace are you saved through your complete understanding. Listen to John 17, 22, 23. The
glory which thou gavest me. This is the Lord praying this
great high priesthood prayer. The glory which thou gavest me,
I've given them. That they may be one even as
we are one. I in them. and thou in me, that
they may be perfect in one, that the world may know that thou
hast sent me and hast loved me as thou hast loved me." Who is the bride? She is the
great city of God that He has everlastingly loved, redeemed,
quickened, inhabits. She has the glory of God. And
her light was likened to a stone most precious, even like a jasper
stone clears crystal." Her light. Her light. Her brilliance. You
know what her brilliance is? It's Him. Her light. Turn over to Revelation 21-23.
Just flip the page. And the city had no need of the
sun, neither of the moon, to shine in, for the glory of God
did lighten it. Christ lights it. That's what
the rest of the verse says. And the Lamb is the light thereof.
The glory of God. The Lord Jesus Himself. He said,
I'm the light of the world. He that fathers me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. He that does
not walk in darkness has the illumination of God's glory. He has me. He that doesn't walk
in darkness has me. That's what he said. The illumination of God's glory
to redeem and eternally preserve all that the Father has given.
Tell me about the bride. She is a high and exalted city
of God's choosing, set on a high mountain, Mount Zion, descending
out of heaven. She has Christ, and her light
is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And let me tell you about her
light, the Lord Jesus. He is even like a jasper stone,
clear as crystal. I don't know what to say about
a jasper stone, but I can tell you the rest of that verse right
there describes that jasper stone clear as crystal. Her light, her husband, her redeemer,
her surety, her high priest, her advocate, her friend, clear
as crystal. Isaiah 28, 16 says about that
jasper stone right there, the Lord Jesus. A stone laid in Zion for a foundation. A tried stone. That is, a tested
and proven. Or you talk about one that was
proven by God. Jesus of Nazareth. A man. Approved. Tried. Tested. Shown to be a precious
stone. Cornerstone. Psalm 118.22 says,
The stone which the builders refused has become the headstone
of the corner. Clear as crystal. Precious. Almighty God looked upon Him. My Redeemer. My Substitute. He who came to this world, made flesh, Made under the law. Subject to. And this was the father's answer
concerning him. This is my beloved son, whom
I'm well pleased. Clear as crystal. Not one flaw. Not one crack. Not one deviation. Well pleased. Precious. A stone most precious. Oh, I
think about the preciousness of His birth conceived by the Holy Ghost. Jesus saith unto them concerning His obedience, My
meat is due the will of Him that sent Me and to finish His work. I was reading something the other
day by one of the old writers, Robert
Hawker. Hawker wrote concerning his life,
you know the thing I noticed about so many of these old writers
is that toward the end of their life, when they start writing
back on how they're reminiscent And they start relating how things
were when the Lord began to teach them something of themselves. And he was talking about when
the Lord began to deal with him. Regeneration. You never find
him talking about, you know, June 27th and, you know, 4.30
in the afternoon and stuff like that. He begins to talk and he
says it was Like that Scripture when the Lord is going to heal
a man's eyes. And the Lord asked him, he said,
what do you see? And he said, I see men as trees
walking. And the Lord touched him again. And he saw perfectly clear. That
Scripture says this, the Lord calls the sight of darkness.
But we see through eyes that are dim. We see in part. We know. But Hawker made this
statement concerning this very thing of obedience. The Lord
said, My meat, My desire, My hunger is to do the will of Him
that sent Me. Hawker said concerning himself,
he said, I found myself, he said, as the Lord dealt with me. He
said, I started finding myself desiring the things of God. He said, when I never desired
them before. And he said, I saw the frailty
of my flesh. He said, I would begin to pray. He said, I truly want to pray. And he said, as I would pray,
I could have my eyes open He said, I'd see things that distracted
me. He said, so I tried to close
my eyes. And he said, the eyes of my old nature still would
look on things that I wish I didn't look at. He said, grieve me. He said, but those things, by
the grace of God, never completely drew my heart away. He said,
by God's grace, I still desire to seek after Him, long after
Him, hunger after Him. And he said, by the mercy and
grace of God, He's kept me till today, still hungry. You know, that's the way a believer
talks. That's the way a believer talks. Always seeing, always
beholding the frailty of this flesh, but never, never, never,
able to get away from hungering after Christ. Though they see
it, they see that depravity. They know it. But by God's grace,
they're kept. And He keeps them. They want to follow after Him.
They want to see Him. Show me the bride. Here she is. That city, holy
Jerusalem. possessing Christ, her light,
the Lord Jesus, like a stone, most precious, a Jasper stone,
clear as crystal. She says to herself, I don't see as I ought, but by
the grace of God, I see Him. By the grace of God, I want Him. I long for, look forward to that
day in which I shall behold Him face to face, see Him as He is. And the Scripture says, and how
can this be but by the grace of God Almighty, I'll be like
Him and inhabit eternity. with Him without the presence
of sin. Show me the Bride. Lord willing,
over the next few weeks, the rest of this chapter deals with
the Bride. May God Almighty bless this Word
to our heart. And may we find comfort and peace
in beholding Him who is altogether our hope, for Christ's sake.
Amen. We'll take a break.