Let's turn to the book of Revelation
chapter 21. Revelation 21. Let's thank the Lord this morning. Our Father, as we call upon You
this morning, we realize somewhat of the the miracle of
your indescribable grace that you'd allow us the privilege
to be able to meet together. What an honor to be able to assemble
ourselves in your presence, to know that by your mercy and grace
you've chosen to meet with us. Blessed we pray, the reading,
the preaching, and the hearing of Your Gospel. Pray for those
in our midst and other places that are hurting, afflicted,
realizing that, Lord, You've chosen to place them exactly
where they are for Your glory, for their good and our good.
These things we ask you for Christ's sake. Amen. Revelation 21, verse 23. This is where we left off last
time. John had beheld the building, the material of
the wall of the holy city. the wall of that city, which
is the glory and the splendor, the holiness of the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself, the wall of that city. It said last time that
the city was pure gold, describing again the city being found. in her husband, the Lord Jesus
Christ, like unto clear glass. The foundations of that city,
describing the attributes, the character of the wall itself,
who is the foundation of that city, Christ Jesus the Lord,
was garnished with all manner of precious stones, here again
setting forth his worthiness, his might, his character. That city had twelve gates which
spoke of the particularness of the door himself, because over
every gate which was a pearl, the pearl of great price, was
written the names of God's elect, the twelve tribes, the apostles. And through the gate there was
a street. Go through that gate and it said
there was a street. That street, we realize, led
to the very throne of God Himself. That street was described as
being transparent glass. We realized that that transparent
glass is that which you look through, that which you see. We realized, gave the illustration
of that transparent glass being like what we would realize as
glasses. I can't see. I try to look and
read these words and if I squint I can see them, I put this transparent
glass on. That's the best illustration
that I can give concerning the meaning of the street himself,
the Lord Jesus Christ who is the way himself. The street of
gold. The Lord said, I am the way.
I'm the road. No man comes to the Father but
by me. Well, in verse 23, this is where we'll pick up this morning.
And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon. to shine in it, for the glory
of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." From this verse we learn first
of the unchangingness of the state of God's people, the holy
city, because of her husband. The reason she doesn't change
is because he doesn't change. She being found in Him, He is
immutable, so therefore she is unchanging." In this life, there
is nothing that is created under the sun that doesn't change. Only God changes. God never changes. I've told
you this illustration, but not illustration, statement, that
Scott made to me. I think every time I relate it,
it helps me in remembering. He said this, anytime that you
ever insinuate that God has ever changed, therein you are. You see, the husband of the bride,
he has always been the husband of the bride. We looked upon
as being under no condemnation. Was there ever a time that we
were ever looked upon? in condemnation, in wrath, answerable
for. Someone says, well, we used to
be under the wrath of God. Really? You explained to me how
him who changes not would ever look upon us in wrath. And remember
what the word wrath means. Answerable for. He who is our
eternal surety. tell me the time that they were
answerable for, if they are in Him who is their surety. The sun in this life rises and
sets. The moon is in a continual state
of new phases. But the Scripture says that we
have an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not
away. In that glorified city, there
is no need, no use of the sun. That's what it says. And the
city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine
in it. Why? There's no change. There
is no change there. There's no need of the sun, neither
of the moon, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb
is the light thereof. The essential glory of God. Remember, we've looked at that.
What is the heart? What is the bottom line? What
is the word that best describes the word we look and see as the
glory? It is to think. That's what it
means. To think the opinion of God. That word also is the word glory. is the Word that sets forth the
best meaning that I can find when you look at the Word to
think or to opinion. It is the way that God manifests
Himself. His glory. The way that God thinks
best to manifest Himself. That is His glory. John 1.14,
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth." The way that God thinks to manifest
Himself is His glory. It was the glory of the Lord
to announce the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. That was His
glory. Scripture says in Luke 2 verse 9, ìAnd lo, the angel
of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round
about them.î It pleased God to manifest the announcement of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The glory, the opinion, the way
in which God manifested Himself was exhibited in the death and
resurrection of Lazarus. I mean, we could just go on and
on and on here, but John 11 verse 4 says, When Jesus heard that,
He said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory
of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. It is God's glory to manifest
Himself in the way that He sees fit. I could say this. It is the glory of God that we're
here this morning proclaiming the gospel. Why? Paul said, I'm
not ashamed of this gospel. This is the power of God and
salvation. This is God's glory, Carl. That God is pleased. It is God's
glory that God has assembled together some people. It is God's
glory. This is the way that God manifests
Himself. God's glory. This whole earth
manifests the glory of God. We try to explain a word like
God's glory. Sit forth. Explain to me the
holiness of God. I can't do that. God's glory. God manifested Himself. He manifested
His glory in the resurrection of the Lord. Romans 6, verse
4, Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism unto death, that
like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of
the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." You
understand? God manifests Himself. That's
His glory. That's His opinion. That's His
thinking. I go back, I think about when
Moses, that's the Scripture that just best sets forth. Moses said,
show me Your glory. And the Lord said, I will be
merciful to whom I'll be merciful. I'll be compassionate. I'll show
compassion. It's God's glory to do as He's
pleased to do. But also when we consider the
glory of God, the manifestation of God, the Scripture sets forth
that God manifests Himself in what the Scripture sets forth
as light. 1 Timothy 6.16, only have immortality,
dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no
man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting."
Light. Light. I said, I don't know much. I took a few little art classes
in light. That's an amazing thing. You
don't see light. You see the evidence of it. I
can tell you, I can tell kind of how you look and what your
face is and I can tell what that color is because of the way that
light affects. You look at a rainbow and there's
a spectrum of colors. Well, there's something in the
pigment of that pew right there to where the yellow and the blue
is mostly not reflected. And what I see is only what is
reflectible out of that color. That's the reason I see red.
That's why I see that color green, Gary. It's the light. It manifests
what is actually there. The Scripture says the city had
no need of the sun, neither the moon, for the glory of God did
lighten it. In this little frail, mortal
state, no man can bear in its immeasurable brilliance to behold
the glory of God. But the Scripture says His glory
lightens this city. Right now we see through a glass
darkly. But then the Scripture says we
will see Him as He is. Can you imagine? I can't either. 1 John 3, 2, Beloved, now are
we the sons of God. It doth not yet appear what we
shall be. But we know that when He shall
appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."
Paul set forth the account that was associated with the Lord
manifesting Himself. Turn to Acts 22 with me for a
second. Acts 22. This is what Paul said
when the Lord revealed himself on the road to Damascus. Acts
22.6. Acts 22.6. It came to pass that
as I made my journey and was come nigh to Damascus about noon,
suddenly there shone from heaven A great light round about me,
and I fell into the ground. I heard a voice saying unto me,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Here was the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking to Saul of Tarsus, speaking to him as a man, when God Himself
was pleased to reveal Himself to Saul of Tarsus. And I answered,
Who art thou, Lord? He saith unto me, I am Jesus
of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw
indeed the light, and were afraid, but they heard not the voice
of him that spake to me. And I said, What shall I do,
Lord? The Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus,
and there shall be told thee all things which are appointed
for thee to do. And when I could not see for
the glory of that light being led by the hand of them that
were with me, I came into Damascus. Here, in verse 23, back in Revelation
21, we see there is no need of the sun. We need that sun out
there today. We need the sun to see. You take
out that sun, take that sun away, and I am telling you, we are
just not going to be able to see. There is just not going
to be anything. There is no need of the sun,
neither of the moon, to shine it for the glory of God did lighten
it. What is the fullness of that
statement? I don't know. I don't know. I can tell you,
though I see through a glass darkly, I can tell you somewhat
of the manifestation of what God has been pleased to do in
my limited capability. Saul said there was a light.
I saw it, the light, and the light of God's glory, the way
that God was pleased to manifest Himself. to me associated with
light. And the last part of that verse
says, ìAnd the Lamb is the light thereof.î The light Himself is
the Lamb Himself. Godís glory, Godís opinion, Godís
thinking is bound up totally in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ in His manifestation, in His speaking to His people. God, the Scripture says, has
spoken unto us in these last days. How? In His Son. How does God speak? In His Son. In Christ. He speaks one way. In Christ. We have these Scriptures. Who do these Scriptures speak
of? Well, you know. We've read that Scripture so
many times. The Lord on the road to Emmaus,
beginning with Moses. He expounded to them in all the
Scriptures concerning Himself. Christ Himself. The Scripture
says concerning Christ, the Lamb is the light. Turn with me to
Matthew 17 Let's finish up this verse. Matthew
17, verse 2. Matthew 17, verse 2. On that
Mount of Transfiguration, it says, well, let's just read verse
1 and 2. After six days, Jesus taketh
Peter, James, and John, his brother, and bringeth them up to a high
mountain apart and was transfigured. That word transfigured there
means to be manifested into another form. It's the word that we get
metamorphosis from. He was transfigured before them
and His face did shine as the sun and His raiment was white
as the light. Not that the substance of His
body changed. That's not what the word means.
It means not that the state of it but it was manifested in a
glorious form. He was transfigured before them. His face, a human face, radiated. His face did shine. His raiment, as his body did
shine, just glowed like the sun was shining forth. Marks 9.3
says, His raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow, so as
no fuller on earth can white them. He manifested Himself just
for a moment in a cloud covered over. We look at these things, the
glorious manifestation of how God sets forth Himself. And we begin to see somewhat
of what the Scripture sets forth as His glory, the light. In that day, there will be no
sun, no need of the sun, no need of the moon. Why? Because His
glory, the glory of God did lighten it. The glory of God did lighten
it. And who is God's glory? Who is
the manifestation of God's glory? Who is the setting forth? The
Lamb did lighten it. His glory manifested here as
light renders unnecessary in that day all luminaries in the
heaven. Isaiah 24-23 says, ìThen the
moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed when the Lord
of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before
His ancients gloriously. I look at these things. I realize I don't know anything. I know
nothing. I read these glorious truths
and I think Almighty God has allowed me the privilege to just
look at one Scripture that sets forth Him who is indescribably
glorious.