Would you join me in the book
of Revelation tonight? Revelation chapter 21, and we'd
like to say a few things about this wall, the wall. I used to be intrigued by certain
science fiction stories that the spaceship was covered with
an invisible force field. and they would shoot at that
spaceship, and the force field would stop, and it just made
that spaceship impregnable. Well, as I read down through
here, that analogy came how that fits the church. That it is invisible,
it is yet strong, it is thick and high, and nothing can get
to the church because of Christ's blood and righteousness. Now
the world may try, and the devils may try, but they cannot get
through this wall. This wall is the person of Christ
and his salvation. And we're going to look at some
verses in the scripture about this. In Revelation chapter 21,
we're gonna go through parts of six verses tonight, maybe,
that deal with this wall. Revelation 21 verse 12, the scripture
shares this. The church, the city, had a great
and high, excuse me, had a wall great and high, had 12 gates,
At the gates, 12 angels, and the names written thereon were
the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel. A wall
great and high. And then if you look at verse
14, it says, and the wall of the city had 12 foundations,
and in them the names of the 12 apostles of the Lord. And verse 17, it says, and he
measured the wall thereof. 144 cubits, according to the measure
of a man, that is, of the angel. and in verse uh... eighteen and
the building of the wall of it was of jasper and the city was
pure gold likened to clear glass and then verse nineteen and twenty
and the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with
all manner of precious stones and then it enumerates several
there and also in verse twenty and we're not going to spend
our time on those Those stones that are mentioned there, we
may in the future, but we do want to look at this that the
foundations of the city were garnished or they are adorned
or there's an ornament about them, this garnishment. All right, going up to verse
12, as we think about this, the wall of the city, the protection
for those in the church and those only depending on Christ's blood
and righteousness. This wall is for protection.
It is invisible. It is around the church, but
it is yet invisible. It is spiritual. It is of God. It's from God. It's by God. And it's his total protection
for his church. There is no area. Now, I've shared
this, but I used to hear, and I don't hear it among any grace
preachers. I've never heard this among grace preachers. that,
you know, it mentions the uniform or the armor that God gives his
people. And you have to be careful that
you don't turn your back to the devil because that's vulnerable.
Well, we never find that in the Bible anywhere that any part
of any of God's people are vulnerable because if it is uncovered, that's
where Christ stands. And since we have the whole armor
of God, that's where Christ stands. That's where Christ covers. So
if there's anything that is unprotected, it's because of Christ's insufficiency
at the cross. Now that's ludicrous. His salvation
is total sufficient. His work on the cross, his ministry
on the cross, his death on the cross was totally sufficient. So there is nothing that is imperfect. There are no chinks in the armor.
There's no places where anything can get through. It is total
protection that God has given his people and it's called a
wall that's great and a wall that is high, a wall that is
massive. Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Zechariah, Zechariah chapter two, Zechariah chapter
two. Let's look at a verse there that
the Lord Jesus, and there's a song that we sing from time to time
that brings this subject up that's mentioned here in the book of
Zechariah, Zechariah chapter two, and here we have that the
Lord himself is a wall of fire Roundabout. He is our protection. Our security is dependent upon
him. It's not by our efforts, but
our security is dependent upon him. He truly is the force that
protects us from all enemies. He took them on. There may be
words said, but he's the protection. Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? He is their protection. He is
their wall, exceedingly high, exceedingly massive. And here
in the book of Zechariah, chapter two and verse five, the scriptures
share this, for I, saith the Lord, will be unto her. a wall of fire round about, and
will be the glory in the midst of her." The protection that
this verse of scripture shares with us in these words. He, the
Lord, is as a wall of fire around the church, and that's representative
here in the book of Revelation chapter 21. There's no place
that there is any opening to the enemy. Now it does mention
that there are 12 gates, but we're going to find out as we
go through there that those 12 gates are representative of that
there is nothing that prevents the access of people when they
trust Christ. All that the Father giveth me
shall come unto me, and he that cometh unto me can go right through
the gate. He that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out,
I will not prevent. And one of the things that we
find with regard to the six cities of refuge, that it was the responsibility
of the elders to keep every passageway open. These 12 gates, three on
each direction, represent to us, they represent that the gospel
is to all. Every kindred nation, people,
and tongue. There's no direction of the compass
that is prevented. The Jews thought it only was
to the east. Only to the east. Only to the
east. That's where we are. That's where the Jews are. But,
Some of them found out and even preached to the north, to the
south, and to the west. And the gospel was to them too.
The gospel or nothing prevents the chiefest of sinners from
entering in when God, the Holy Spirit, God the Father, God the
Son applies their gospel and their salvation to them. Nothing
prevents the chiefest of sinners from entering in. All right,
so this wall, it's great and high, it's massive, and it is
the Lord God Almighty surrounding his people around the church.
Turn with me as we head back to the book of, well, let's back
up just a little bit, the book of Isaiah, would you? Isaiah
chapter 26. Isaiah 26, the best commentary
on the book of Revelation is the Bible. It has a lot to say
about this wall and what it is and how it is promoted. And it
truly is the Lord, his glory, his salvation, even as it's mentioned
here in Isaiah chapter 26 and verse one, it shares with us
here, this wall, this great massive wall, that surrounds the church
is spoken of throughout the Old Testament, typified in the walls
around the cities in Israel. And here we have it applied to
the city, the church, the church of the living God, this church.
Isaiah chapter 26, verse one, it says, and in that day shall
this song be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. Salvation will God appoint for
walls and for bulwarks. to Jerusalem, which is below. Jerusalem, which sits there.
It had a stone wall around. It was massive. And it was pretty
high. And it took the Romans a long
time to finally breach those walls in AD 70. It was strong. But the wall that God's talking
about is not a physical wall. And this wall is impregnable. It cannot be overcome. It doesn't
matter how high they throw the dirt up against it. No one that's
in the church will ever be taken out. Here, as it says, in that
day, we have a strong city. Salvation will God appoint for
walls and bulwarks. It's his deliverance. And then
if you go just a little further in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah
chapter 60, again, this wall is mentioned. The walls of salvation
are mentioned. And that's truly what we find
here is it's God's salvation. Nothing protects the people of
God like the grace of God, the glory of God, the sovereignty
of God, the mercy of God, the love of God. All of his characteristics
and attributes are truly the protection, this wall for the
church, summed up in this word, his salvation. God gives himself
when he saves his people. He gives us the privilege, opens
our heart, and settles him down inside of us in a miraculous
way. All right, Isaiah chapter 60
and verse 18, the scripture says, violent shall no more be heard
in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders. That sounds
pretty good, but this is spiritual. We've read that in Isaiah chapter
11. That lion's gonna lay down. That bear will lay down. No more violence, no more wasting,
no more destruction within thy borders, but they shall call
thy wall salvation and thy gates praise. The wall of the city
is God's salvation in every characteristic and attribute. It's just not
a single entity. When God saves, he saves by himself
and all of himself. That wall is all of God's self
on the behalf of his people. And then Jonah said there, salvation
is of the Lord. This great salvation is the salvation
that God gives. It is great. It is high. It is
protective. The best protection for the church
is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are called on, and
our teacher there has brought up, there is much to be said
in the book of Corinthians. And one of the issues that they
seem to have had is they just accepted anybody in. And Paul
says, boy, you have to be careful here. You have to be careful. Now, people have said to me,
here, I'd like to be baptized. You know what I've told them?
Just sit and listen. Just sit and listen. I'd like
to be a member of your church. Just sit and listen. Just sit
and listen. I'm not overly excited about
having people become members. God makes people members. God
adds. Adds by salvation, adds by interest
in being in a body. It's not me, it's God, and when
God does it, it's happy. It's pleasing. And nobody can
say, well, the preacher talked me into joining that church.
Lord willing, they'll never hear that out of me. That's not my
business. My business is to have people
sit and listen and let God move. That's his business. And he will
do it to whom he will do it to. And whom he won't do it to, they'll
just sit and listen or leave, one. And that's just the way
it is. All right, there in Revelation
chapter 21 and verse 14, it said that the wall of the city had
12 foundations, which are the 12 apostles. Now, in 1 Corinthians
chapter 3 and verse 11, it says this. Well, let's just turn over
there and read that. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse
11. Brother Mike has just gone over this in his study. But this
is so true. How can 12 be equal to 1? How can 12 foundations be equal
to 1 foundation? Well, let's read this. 1 Corinthians
3, verse 11. Now, I call this the law of Christ.
I wrote that in my Bible. You want a law? Here's the law
of Christ. Acts 4.12 is another law of Christ. There's none other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
That's the law of Christ. Here's another one. For other
foundation can no man lay than it is laid which is Jesus Christ.
There's no other secure foundation. There's no foundation for the
church but Christ. How do we get 12 to be one? Well,
turn with me to Matthew chapter 16. Every one of those disciples
and the 12. And we're going to have to exclude
one and add the other one to get the 12. Judas didn't know
this. Judas didn't believe this. Judas
didn't have this. He did not have, he did not know
this confession of faith in Matthew chapter 16. And I want to begin
reading with verse 15. Matthew 16 and verse 15. How
can 12 be one? Every one of those 12 apostles,
when it was once completed, and then Paul was added to it, but
we also find there was an apostle Barnabas. But there was 12 that
the Lord chose, and one of them was the devil. And on Acts chapter
1, that one was taken care of. It was prophesied in the book
of the Psalms, one is going to have to have someone else take
his place. And we find out in Acts chapter 1 that that was
done. There was another man added. Well, someone came to him, he
says, well, his name is never again mentioned in the book of
Acts. You'll find a whole bunch of people who were not mentioned
that were of the disciples, not mentioned, but they were called
the Twelve. And I'm just going to be foolish
enough to believe that when it meant twelve, it also included
Matthias, because he was selected by the Lord to fulfill the position
of Judas. All right. Notice here in Matthew
chapter 16, and in verse 15, the scriptures share this. Matthew
16, verse 15, And he said unto them, But whom say ye that I
am? And Simon Peter answered and
said unto him, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now
every one of those disciples confessed that confession. 12
could equal one. Every one of them said, the foundation
is Jesus Christ. That was their confession. That
was their gospel. That was their message. Jesus
Christ is the son of God. His death, burial, and resurrection
is the gospel. And they preached it and declared
it, and 12 were one. We are only going to preach one
foundation. But everybody that has ever been
called on to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ will
declare the same thing. There is no other foundation
but Christ. And every member of this body
will declare exactly the same thing. So 12 apostles equals
one declaration of the foundation. Peter said, thou art the Christ,
the son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood
did not reveal it unto thee. In other words, you didn't get
this on your own. You didn't come to this conclusion
on your own. This is what God gave you. But my Father which is in heaven,
and I say unto thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will
build my church. On this confession, the foundation
is Christ. The confession, the apostles.
The church is built on this foundation, this confession, that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God, and it is only granted to have that in
our heart by God the Father. Nothing else will ever reveal
that truth to us, that thou art the Christ, the son of the living
God. Going back again to the book of Isaiah chapter 28, when
we talk about the foundations of this, the wall of the city
had 12 foundations, which are the 12 apostles. They had one
confession, one gospel. It's interesting that they went
out two by two. They went out with 70. You know
what? They all preached exactly the
same message. And it wasn't because they were
dummies, and it wasn't because that's what they got somewhere.
It's because that's what the Holy Spirit reveals to us. There
is one gospel. There's one Christ, there's one
Lord, one faith, one baptism. There is only one. There is one
way. It's a narrow way. That's what
the Lord said. And this is the confession of
the apostles, and this is that Christ is the foundation. Isaiah
chapter 28. Verse 16, Isaiah chapter 28 and
verse 16, we find here that is prophesied, mentioned in the
Old Testament, the promise of God. Isaiah chapter 28, verse
16, it says, therefore, thus saith the Lord God, behold, I
lay in Zion a foundation, a stone. I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not be
ashamed or make haste. This foundation stone, this cornerstone
is the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a tried stone for the foundation
of the world. Didn't enter into the heart of
man to do this. It entered into the heart of God to do this on
the behalf of man. Precious cornerstone, a sure
foundation. This is a sure foundation, and
the wall is a sure wall. It is impregnable. It is eternal. It lasts forever. It is the word
of God as it is declared, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What will prevent, what will prevent the church of the living
God from falling? The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ and every characteristic and every attribute of God as
it's declared in there. And then on this subject of the
foundations, turn with me to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians
chapter 2 and verse 20. What a, what a statement. Now,
if I can just get out of my mind, this is not a real wall. This is a, for lack of better
words, this is a force field. Invisible. Around everyone and
around the church as a whole. God protects every individual
believer. And God protects his church.
You know why? He gave, shed his blood for it. It is significant. It is not
just a little bitty thing. It is significant. Paul wrote
to the, or left this word with the Ephesian elders to feed the
church of God, which God had given, shed his blood for. This is so valuable. All right,
Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 20, it says here, Ephesians 2.20,
and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. Verse 19,
now therefore we are no more strangers and foreigners, but
fellow citizens with the saints of the household of God and are
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus
Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. Walk around the
city, you're not going to have 12 different gospels. Walk around
the city, you're not going to have 12 different interests.
Walk around the city, you're not going to have 12 different
things going on. It is going to be for the glory
of God. It is going to be the gospel
declared in its purity and simplicity. It is going to be the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as Peter confessed, and all
of the other disciples would do exactly the same thing, thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. John said to his
disciples, behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin
of the world. He had the opportunity of getting
a pretty strong gathering, but he pointed his disciples to Christ. And that's what the disciples
do. They point them to Christ. He is the foundation. And the
message is the same in every age by everyone that knows the
Lord Jesus Christ. They're not gonna have multiple
gospels and multiple interpretations. The Holy Spirit leads the church
into all truth, not various truths. All right,
in verse 17, it says, there in Revelation 21, it says, he measured
the wall thereof, and it was 144 cubits. Now, a cubit is from here to
here, if we're going to use that, and 144 of them is not very big. What's the meaning? This, 144
cubits. I noticed in here as I went through,
there's 12 gates, 12 angels, 12 tribes, 12 apostles, and 12
foundations. This 144 cubits shares with us
the perfect state of the church. It is absolutely in a perfect
state. 144 is the square of 12, and
12 is used six times. It's just telling us, it's not
the size, it's telling us the manner. It's not the largeness,
it's telling us the perfection of the church. That it is absolutely,
there is a perfect state of the church. Jude writes it this way,
without spot, without blemish. The perfect state of the church.
This dimension shares with us that. The gates share with us
in any direction the gospel is the same. Come, come by this
gospel, come by no other. Come by this narrow way, come
by no other. And every speaker speaks the
same thing. But there's not just one in one direction for one
group of people or for one genealogy. It is opened up, as Revelation
shares with us, out of every kindred, nation, people, and
tongue. God's gonna call his people.
Now, we may sit back years ago and say probably the most unlikely
people God's ever gonna call are those people down in New
Guinea. They eat each other. And then to find out that God's
been working there and there's a whole bunch of people that
love the same gospel only in another language. But they would
say this, salvation is of the Lord. Every confession of faith by
every believer sums it up just like that. Whatever you want
to call it, I was saved by his blood and by his righteousness.
And nothing else will do. In verse 18, it tells us that
this wall, the wall of it, the stone that was used to build
it, is of jasper. Now, John Gill said this, this
jasper speaks of the impregnableness, duration, brightness, and glory
of salvation by Christ, jasper being very hard, durable, and
bright. That word jasper, that stone
jasper, lends itself to what this wall is to the church. It is impregnable. It is durable. It is bright. There's a glory about it. Everything
that that stone carries with it, that we, that gymnologists
look for in it, are what is a blessing to God's people when they find
out what God has for them in their wall. It is durable. It endures forever. Salvation
is not short term. Salvation. I just love insurance
policies. We'll insure you until you're
65. Life insurance. Well, that doesn't
seem like a good program to me. Well, when you get to be 65,
we're going to have to jack the rates up by 10. That doesn't
sound too good either. You know, all the plans that
people have, the benefits go down as the older you get. Well,
with God's purpose of grace, the benefits stay the same from
end to end. Everybody's going to get their
penny. And I'm not talking about the smallest. Everybody gets
treated the same by the Lord Jesus Christ when it comes to
His grace, His salvation, His glory. There is no minor members. There is no smaller members. Everyone, and it's by the grace
of God that we get to do anything, get to serve Him at all, get
to love Him at all. Everyone is going to hear in
that day, if they know Christ, Christ knows them, they're going
to hear this, welcome thou good and faithful servant. And humanly
speaking, we say, oh, I'm a whole lot more faithful than that guy.
And he's going to hear the same thing. Amen. If he's Christ,
took the same blood, took the same righteousness, took the
same grace, took everything the same, and he is going to say,
welcome, thou good and faithful servant. And we don't know what
God did in their heart. All right, look here with me,
Hebrews chapter seven, Hebrews chapter seven. As we think about
this wall of Jasper, speaks of the duration, the durability,
the brightness, the impregnability of this wonderful structure that
God has that is invisible and is spiritual. And it just stands. God protects his people. The
darts may come, but they just bink, boink off of that great
protective shield that God has established by his son in the
gospel that he has declared in himself. All right, here in the
book of Hebrews chapter 7, Hebrews chapter 7 verse 25, Hebrews chapter
7 verse 25, wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost. that come unto God by him. That's
what this Jasper's talking about. This salvation is to the uttermost,
to the very end, and to the end of the end. It will not change. The plan doesn't change with
age, doesn't give over. That's one reason that I have
difficulty with Old and New Testament, because it's the same purpose
of grace to those in the Old Testament. They're not saved
by some other manner. This is durability. It is God's salvation from beginning
to end. And everybody will confess Christ
the same. There, as it says in Hebrews
chapter 7 and verse 25, wherefore he is able also to save them
to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth
to make intercession for them. How can it be durable? He ever liveth. to make intercession
for him. It's on his basis that this is
a long enduring purpose of grace, eternity to eternity. And back
up a couple of chapters, chapter five, chapter five and verse
nine, here in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter five. Verse 8,
it says, Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the
things which he suffered, and being made perfect, he became
the author of eternal salvation unto all of them that obey him.
He became the author of eternal salvation. This jasper, the material
that this wall is made of, declares that this is an eternal wall,
declares that this is a durable wall, that nothing shall cause
it to decay. The other day, I was thinking
about a project that Mike and I were on down in Dufur. After that project was over,
he handed me a check. It was a little more than I expected.
And I said, what's this about? He says, well, we worked under
some real serious, possibly harmful conditions. We jacked up a house
and took the foundation out of one side. And it wasn't until
just the other day I realized how dangerous a place that was.
We had a house standing over us with a foundation out from
under it. And we could not find a place where that foundation
would hold up anything. It was just You drill it, it'd
just crumble, go to pieces. They didn't use enough cement,
and they used two bigger rocks. And finally we had to just quit.
Couldn't go any further. Nothing to build with. I'm so
thankful that what most people say about God's salvation, that
you can lose it, is not true. It will tell them, take the drill
marks. It will take the test. It will take, you know what? It will even take the sin of
his people after they've been saved. His salvation is all enduring. And though we sin, and knowing
we will sin, he still has a structure that will endure to the end.
It's durable, long-suffering, fadeth not away. continues to
protect his people for time and eternity. Going back one more
time to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter, excuse me, Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 45. Isaiah chapter
45. We find out about this jasper
wall. The wall of it was jasper. That's
the material that it was made of. Now the foundations are 12
different stones. The wall is of jasper. It's the
part that most people are going to notice. What is so important
about your lover is what the daughters of Jerusalem ask. We'll
go down through that list. He's tall, dark. chest and arms and thighs and
feet are just so grand. He will stand the test. He will save his people. And
besides that, he's altogether lovely. And that's what the church
says about Christ. And in that is the enduring salvation
that God has for his people. All right, Isaiah chapter 45
and verse 7. 17. Isaiah chapter 45 and verse 17. But Israel shall be saved in
the Lord. That's pretty qualifying. Israel, spiritual Israel. Remember
over there in Romans, not all Israel is of Israel, but Israel
shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. Ye
shall not be ashamed or confounded, world without end. Israel shall
be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. So we
have a great, high, massive wall The wall of this great city,
this wall is surrounded by the Lord, salvation of the Lord,
the gospel of the Lord, thou art the Christ, the son of the
living God, and it is declared here as to be with Jasper, So
enduring, so long enduring, so impregnable, so bright, so glorious
is this great salvation. And then it tells us here that
the foundations of the wall of the city, in verse 19 and 20,
the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished. Garnished. They are, there's an ornament,
there's a garnishment, there's an adornment. How would you put
that today? What's the garnishment that we
give? What do we say? Well, I'm just going to have
to read two verses in the New Testament. One is in the book
of 1 Corinthians again, and one is in the book of Galatians.
So let's stop by 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter
1. This is the garnishment. This is the adornment. This is
the ornament. This foundation is garnished
with these 12 stones and it's summed up this way. That, according
as it is written, he that glorieth, letting glory in the Lord. Boy, if we're going to have an
ornament, a garnishment as we go out, an ornament to remind
us, an ornament to just keep it in front of us. This is one
of them. Heed it, Gloria. Let him glory
in the Lord. And then Galatians 6.14. This is just kind of summing
it up. Galatians chapter 6 and verse
14, this great wall, this high wall, this massive wall, this
wall with 12 foundations, 12 preachers preaching exactly the
same thing about the Lord Jesus Christ, the gospel. And this
wall of Jasper, it's so massive, so durable, so bright, so impregnable. It's just a gem among gems. Here in the book of Galatians
chapter 6, we read this. Galatians chapter 6 and verse
14, another ornament that we can just have. You want
an ornament? Put Jonah's words, salvations
of the Lord. Want another ornament? He that
glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Another one, Galatians
chapter 6 and verse 14, for all the laws, oh, oh, no, chapter
6 and verse 14, but God forbid that I should glory save in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified
unto me and I unto the world. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. What ornaments
on this foundation? They all redound to the glory
of God and you'll never find a verse of scripture or a statement
in any of these foundations that say, I am what I am by my own
work. That's excluded. I am what I
am by the grace of God. God will get the glory every
time as we walk around this city and We will find ourselves sinners
saved by grace. Every time we walk around the
city, sinners saved by grace. It's his salvation, saving sinners
by his blood and by his righteousness for eternity. That's this wall. All right, the wall of God, the
salvation of God, the glory of God, this wall, it is a great
and high and massive wall. And we've just talked about a
one inch piece of it. The rest of the Bible is spending
its entire message. Christ is the issue.