of that. Brother Scott was reading that.
I was looking at those words. Verse 4 said, Our fathers trusted
in thee. They trusted and thou didst deliver
them. Why did God deliver them? Because
they had a substitute. He didn't. Why did God not deliver him?
Because he was made sin. He was made the source. He was made the producing factor. He was made the very heart. He
was made the very being of sin. I don't even know what that is.
I have no idea what sin is. You know why? Because that's
what I am. I don't have any idea. Someone
says, well, it's a transgression of the law. What is that? Just like those foundations we
were talking about a while ago. Oh, I can see through a glass
darkly. I get a glimpse. I can tell you
that the foundation, the first setting forth of his attribute
is that he's holy. What is that? I don't know. Second one is that he's the king,
that he rules all things. And I get up every morning and
doubt that very fact. I question everything that happens
in my life. He's the one that fulfilled all
the laws set forth in the Chalcedony stone. What is that? I don't
know. I'm just an ignorant person.
But I can tell you this, whatever is set forth in those foundation
stones that set forth His attribute, whatever it is, God knows it. And whatever it is, it satisfies
God. For that, I'm thankful, and I
don't even know how to be thankful. Boy, you talk about salvation
by grace. salvations by the grace of God.
And I'm just an ignorant sinner. And realize, I think, just a
little bit more every day how ignorant I really am. Turn back with me to Revelation
21. I pray God says something to
us today. In that first passage a while
ago, I sat down a moment ago after I set forth that passage
of Scripture, I sat down and realized how dumb I really am. I prayed God might teach me something. But
I even got up this morning with a heart to be here by the grace
of God. Scripture says in verse 21, and
the twelve gates were twelve pearls. Every several gate was
of one pearl. And the street of the city was
pure gold as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein.
for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. I know that these twelve gates set forth and speak of the Door
Himself. I know that. Verse 12 of Revelation 21, set forth of these twelve gates,
that names were written thereon which are the names of the twelve
tribes of the children of Israel." I know that Christ is the personal
entrance of every one of God's elect, the twelve tribes of Israel. the names of the twelve apostles
that are written in the foundations of Him who is the chief cornerstone,
means that God Almighty has a people and He knows their name. He knows
them everlastingly. Their names have been written
in the Lamb's Book of Life. Their names are written in heaven
itself. And the Scripture says here,
verse 21, the twelve gates, twelve personal gates that speaks of
one door, twelve gates, twelve apostles, twelve tribes, and
this is what it means. You will enter in by Him who
is your door. He's your door. Margaret, you'll
come in by your door. Your door. Christ Himself is the gate. But these twelve
gates, it says in verse 21, were twelve pearls. Every gate was of one substance,
it says here, a pearl. Every gate was made out of a
pearl. Matthew 13, 45 and 46 says again, ìThe kingdom of heaven
is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who when he had
found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had
and bought it.î Now, I know this. I know that the gate is Christ
Himself. I know that there is no other
entrance into the kingdom of heaven. The Lord said, I am the
door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. But
to what does this parable refer when it says that He went and
sold all that He had and bought it? Obviously I know from the
scriptures that man cannot of himself buy the heavenly gift. Simon the sorcerer found that
out. We found it out by seeing what
Peter says to him. But it says that the kingdom
of heaven is likened to a merchant, man seeking Goodly pearls. Men are seeking goodly pearls,
goodly in their mind. But when by the grace of God
they find one pearl of great price, they go and they sell
all that they had and they buy it. Can a man buy the goodly pearl? Well, Isaiah 55 verse 1 says,
and buy wine and milk without money and without price. You
know, here's the kind of a purchase that we're just not accustomed
to. Here's what I'm used to. I drive up and I need some gas. Price is set. Really not up for
debate. You want some gas? You buy it. You got the money? You don't
have the money, you don't get it. That's the way it is. You
want a loaf of bread, look in your wallet. You've got some
money, you buy it. What is the exchange here? It's
money. Money. Here we're told to buy,
and it does say buy, obtain, purchase, without money. and without price. Now, that
just doesn't compute to us by nature. How much is it? Well,
it doesn't have price on it as far as you're concerned. Yeah,
price is not set as far as you're concerned. And you buy it without
money. We obtain by the grace of God. We obtain by the grace of God.
And the way in which a man buys is by faith. And that faith is
not of yourself. It's the gift of Almighty God. How is it that a man buys? God gives him an understanding
of his need. God Himself teaches a man his
need of Christ. And he buys without money and
without price within my ability. If there was a price that I could
figure, I could put an estimation on it. What's it worth? Well,
here's what it's worth. This is without price. There
ain't no price to this. This is immeasurable. This is
indescribable. Buy it without. Who is it that
wants to buy? Oh, every one that thirsteth. Only those in the day of His
power are truly thirsty for righteousness. Thirsty. You know why men are
not sitting and listening to hear one more time, tell me one
more time how God has put away my guilt. Tell me, as Brother
Scott just read a moment ago, how the Lord Jesus Christ was
made the very Source, was made, produced, was made sin, the hamartia,
the inward producing being that is manifested in acts of transgression. Tell me one more time how He
was made sin, how God Almighty made Him what I am. Not merely my transgressions, I'm telling you, God won't look
on iniquity. Why did God forsake him? He was
made sin. Why did God not deliver him?
He was made sin. That's why. Tell me one more
time, a man that's thirsty for righteousness, that's who buys. Without money, without price,
what are we commanded to do? Come ye to the waters. I looked at that word literally.
It's the water. Come to the water. Come by faith
to the fountain Himself who has been opened, the smitten rock
of God Almighty from which and through which flows the water
of life. Who's commanded to come? You
that have no money. What do you got? I don't have
anything. How are you going to buy? I don't have anything to buy
with. That's that empty hand, as God's mentioned, I've heard
so many times. That empty handedness. God will
take that nothing and make something. I have nothing by which to buy. He that hath no money, I am just
a spiritual bankrupt. And you that believe, realize
that in yourself you are too. Come ye, buy and eat. Come ye, buy wine and milk without
money, without price. Proverbs 23, 23 says, Buy, that
is, obtain. Buy the truth. Oh, I tell you,
only a believer can perceive something of the grace of God.
An unbeliever thinks that he really can buy it. Buy his free
will, buy his faithfulness, buy his giving, buy his attendance,
you know. Buy the truth and sell it not. That is, cleave to it. Also, wisdom. instruction, understanding. Buy spiritually without money. You know, when we cheerfully
relinquish the thoughts of ourselves, our worth, our ability, our self-righteousness
is what it is to buy by faith. Paul said in Philippians 3, 8,
He reckoned all things to be lost and dung that he might win. That is, gain Christ. Buy without
money. The twelve gates, the Scripture
says here, were twelve pearls. Pearls, great price. Buy. Buy. And the street, it says,
of the city was pure gold, as it were, transparent glass. Now,
I've heard this all my life, to have the streets of gold. I mean, it was always spoken
of as just a street. It was just a street, a street
of pure gold. Why? Well, people say, we won't
be walking on concrete anymore. We won't be walking on that carpet
right there. We'll be walking on pure gold. Almost saying it
in such a way, Carl, like it was just no big deal. There's one street in this city. That's what it says. The street
of the city was pure gold. This street, obviously, based
upon the wording of this scripture, appears from the gates, who is
the Lord Himself, the door Himself. But where does this street lead? Well, in Psalm 46, verses 4 and
5, it says, There is a river, the streams thereof shall make
glad the city of God. the holy place of the tabernacle
of the Most High." It says, God, in speaking of that city, is
in the midst. That word midst means the center.
God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall
help her in that right early. The street. God Himself is in
the midst of the city, and where He is, There is the throne of
God, the royalty. But to whom does this street
refer? The street of this city, pure
gold. This street is the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself. He is the street. The glory and
purpose of that street is revealed in John 14, verse 6. He says,
I am the way. I looked up the word, the way.
Do you know what it means? The road. I am the road. I am the means. I am the route. I am the way, the truth and the
light. No man cometh unto the Father
but by That word by there means the channel. No man comes to
the Father but by Me. You know, we foolishly think,
well, once we get inside the gate, oh, we're there. We can't
even get to the Father if we were in the city without the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is the street of pure gold. Here's the reason why The Scripture
says in verse 18 of the city, that she is of pure gold, like
unto clear glass. Christ is her way of righteousness. Christ is her root to the Father. She is pure gold, for He, the
street, the way, the root, is pure gold. He is her righteousness. Without Him, He said, you can
do nothing. Do you think that will change
in eternity? No. This street that's pure gold,
the Scripture says, was, as it were, transparent
glass. I read that and I thought, transparent
glass. It was as transparent glass. That means to shine through or
to behold through. It was transparent glass. The
street was pure gold as it were, transparent glass. We know that it is through the
Lord Jesus Christ that now, right now, we have the Father revealed
to us. Job said, and we've read this
recently, Job 19.26, And though after my skin worms destroy this
body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. I know that we shall see
Him that is, the Lord of glory upon his throne, and worship
him who is worthy. Turn back to Revelation 7, 9-12. Revelation 7, verse 9-12, After
this I beheld in low a great multitude, which no man could
number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood
before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white
robes and palms in their hands. So I know that in that city,
I know that's where the throne of God is. I know it is. It says
it is. And cried with a loud voice saying,
Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne and unto the
Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne and the
elders, the four beasts, and fell before the throne and their
faces and worshiped God saying, Amen. Blessing and glory and
wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be under
our God forever and ever. So I know they're going to see
Him. Job says, I'll see Him in my flesh, in my freshness. I'm going to see God. I know
I'll see God. I know I'll see Him. How am I going to see Him? How am I going to see Him? I tell you how you're going to
see Him. You're going to see Him through the transparent glass. That word, or those two words,
means to behold through. Transparent glass. It means to
behold through. Let me give you a very simple,
but I think understandable illustration. Okay, if I tried to read, I can
probably read one of those. Maybe if my arm is a little longer,
I can probably read one of those scriptures. Oh, I see. Let me put my glasses
on. Now I can see. See what I mean? This street is pure gold, and
it is the transparent glass through which I see God. How shall we see Him? Well, I'll
tell you this. We'll be led right into His presence
by the street that's gold. The golden street. The way Himself. The Lord Jesus Christ who is
the means, who is the road, who is the root. And not only is
that street pure gold, it's as it were transparent glass. The Scripture says in verse 21,
ìAnd I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and
the Lamb are the temple of it.î The temple means the sanctuary,
the inner place. In this world, Believers are
the temple, the dwelling place of God Himself. 1 Corinthians 3.16, Paul says,
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of
God dwelleth in you? The temple, the dwelling place
of God where God has set His throne. We are dealing with something
here that is so far above our understanding. But this is a
fact. He dwells in His people and we
dwell in Him. Can you explain that? I can't
either. But I know it's so. But here
in verse 22, we find the fullness of the blessing that we dwell
in Him. Here is the city. John said, I saw this city. Here
was the wall, the measurement of that wall, the wall that we
looked at in Isaiah 60 that says that the wall is salvation. That is why Satan could not get
to Job. Why? Because you have hedged
him about. Why can Satan not get to God's
people now? God is their wall. He's their
protection. This is what it's made out of.
These precious stones are setting forth of His attributes. This
is how big it is. It's 144 cubits, the measure,
the mother of God's measurement for security and hope and peace
and comfort. Look at this city. She's pure
gold. Why? Because she's in Him. He's her righteousness. How do
you get in there? Through the gates. It's the pearl
of great price inside. There's a street. That street's
pure gold. Gold tried in the fire. There's
a throne that's in the midst of that city. Scripture says back in chapter
7 that we'll fall down before Him. Job said, I'll see Him.
I'll see Him in my flesh. I'm going to see Him. How am
I going to see Him? Well, Revelation 21, 22 says
we'll see Him, be brought to Him by the way Himself, the road
that is pure gold. We'll see Him because that road
is the transparent glass. That is, to behold through, to
look through. In that day, we shall have and
behold the manifestation and the realization of the presence
of Almighty God. What will we do? I know this,
there's going to be uninterrupted worship. Now let me tell you
how sad that thought is. I know it's a fact that there
will be uninterrupted worship. and they shall worship the Lamb
forever and forever. Because of the presence of sin,
we cannot even begin to enter into the indescribable blessing
of eternal worship. Where there is no sin, wherein
dwells righteousness, we cannot possibly enter What will we be
doing? We will worship Him forever.
We shall behold Him forever. And our poor, puny mind does
not even begin to even grasp the blessing of that statement,
where those that have died without Christ will be under the judgment
of Almighty God forever. God's people will worship him
forever. The entire city is the temple
of God. The Lord God Almighty and the
Lamb are the temple of it. May God be pleased to teach us
something of the glory of His Word and to say, as the saints
said, you are worthy. You are worthy. I realize more
and more, the closer I get to the end of this book, and I've
said before, I look and I can, the place we are right now, I
can look and I can see the last verse, just open up your Bible
and there it is. It's like a dear and precious
friend that we've been blessed to have the privilege to visit
with and to have something taught us. As I look toward this end,
I realize, I think more and more, Lord, You're worthy. I think
I do. I pray I do. I pray God teach
us something of the worthiness of who He is. Teach me something
of Yourself. Gary, why don't you come in?