Well in recent weeks we've been
looking at Psalm 74, we see not our signs, we see not our gospel
signs which led on to Ezekiel 34 where God promises that despite
all of the false shepherds that there are Because God says in
Ezekiel 34 that He is against the false shepherds. He says
He will save His flock, despite those false shepherds. God will
save His flock. And then we looked last week
in Ezekiel 37 at how God saves His flock. His dead flock, because
they are, they're like a valley of dead, dry bones. How He gives
them life. And he does it by faithful preaching
and by the work of his Holy Spirit, coming and breathing on those
dead bones to give them life. And even when they come together
and look like real people, there is no life in them. Pray to that
Spirit to come and breathe on them that they might live. His
flock is his elect. the objective of his eternal
purpose in saving them is to take them to be with him, to
take them to eternal glory. Now, as I said when we did the
reading, if you read on from Ezekiel 37 through to the end
of Ezekiel in chapter 48, there's a lot of measuring of the temple. There's a lot of dividing up
the inheritance amongst the people. Remember, it was a prophecy that
was written in the time of the Babylonian captivity. That was
a 70-year captivity. But the promise of God was always,
as in Jeremiah, that at the end of 70 years they would return
to the land. And in Isaiah, God had promised that he would raise
up a ruler, Cyrus, an absolute world ruler who would himself
be moved to send these people back to rebuild the temple in
Jerusalem and to re-establish its walls. And it's all picturing,
as all of the Old Testament accounts and histories and pictures are,
the gospel of God's grace as to how he saves his people from
their sins. He declares accomplished salvation
in the scriptures. So all of this measuring and
dividing up the temple and restoring and the waters flowing out, you
know, that start out shallow and they become so deep their
waters to swim, it's talking about the spirit of God. It's
talking about the blessings of God coming. The ultimate objective
is heaven. This is where we're going. This
is all a picture of restoration, of salvation, and ultimately
of heaven. That's what God has saved his
people for, to take them to be with him in heaven, to take them
into eternity. Now, here we are People, living,
time bound, space bound, you are now in a place where you
weren't two hours ago, we're only in one place and one time
at any one situation. And we talk about heaven, and
we say that heaven is the objective of God's salvation. What will
it be like? What will heaven be like? John
says this, he says, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, by
God's grace, by the salvation that Christ has accomplished,
and it does not yet appear what we shall be. We don't know what
it will be like. We don't know what heaven will
be like. We don't know what it will be
like when we're free of sin. But we know that when he shall
appear, when our Lord Jesus Christ shall come to take his people
to be with him, we shall be like him. For we shall see him as
he is. We shall see him unencumbered
with the flesh and with sin and with the the results of this fall, of
the fall of Adam, to which we're all subject. We shall see him
as he is. What will heaven be like? We
don't know, but we know that he has amazing things in store
for us beloved with the sons of god it doesn't appear what
we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we should
be like him for we shall see him as he is now having said
we don't know the scripture does give us clues but it has to do
it in the form of pictures and of allegories, and of patterns. It has to do it because we're
bound by our limitations of space and time, our physical limitations. Our minds are so bound up with
time and space that we cannot imagine being outside of time
and space. We're trying to understand eternity. We're trying to think what will
it be like to be sinless? What will it be like to be regarded,
to be declared perfect. What will it be like to be glorified
with Christ? Well, we don't know, but the
Scripture does reveal what we need to know. Everything in the
Scripture that is revealed to us is revealed for the purpose
that God has decreed that we need to know these things. That's
why they're there. There's a lot of people who would
prefer that God had never revealed his purpose of election. and
his purpose of reprobation, but he has in the scriptures. Why
has he done it? He's done it for this purpose,
to show us how accomplished is his work of salvation. To show
us that it is not something left to chance, but it is something
that is absolutely accomplished. Everything that he reveals is
for a purpose, and he has revealed things about eternity that we
need to know, and that we need to meditate upon. We're bound
by our physical, sinful, time, space, state, but he has given
us clues. So what can we learn about the
eternal state of God's people? You know, this is what salvation
is for. Salvation is not for here and
now and that's it. It's for eternity. This is what
salvation is for. What can we learn about the eternal
state of God's people? I want you to turn to Revelation
chapters 21 and 22. And I want to show you some things
from here. Look first of all in chapter
21 at verse 9. And there came unto me one of
the seven angels, which had the seven vials full of the seven
last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither. I will
show thee the bride, the lamb's wife. Come hither. I will show
you the bride, the lamb's wife. He's going to show us some things.
He's shown it to John, and John has written it down. And it's
written to the churches, to God's people. Come hither, and I will
show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And I've called this message,
The Bride, The Lamb's Wife. I could have called it, The City
of God. I could have called it, The New Jerusalem. All of these
things are terms which relate to eternity and to heaven. Do
you have a good hope of eternity? Do you have a good hope? Lots
of people have a hope, but it is a good hope. A good hope is
one which is based upon gospel grace and gospel grace alone.
A good hope is one that is not based on anything that you are
or anything that you do, but entirely based on that which
Christ has done, what he is and has done for his people, on behalf
of his people, in the place of his people, united with his people. He has accomplished these things.
He has finished the work to ensure that all of these things are
accomplished. This is your final destination, if you're in him.
If you're in him, what he's promised in his word is your final destination. This is your final, eternal state
of existence. You know, we exist, we think,
we live, we breathe now, but this is the final, eternal state
of existence of the people of God. What does the Holy Spirit
reveal to us about heaven? In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verses
9 and 10, Paul wrote, as it is written, I have not seen nor
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things
which God has prepared for them that love him. If you just use,
you know, physical senses, if you just use physical emotions,
You're not gonna know what God has prepared, but he says, but
God hath revealed them unto us by his spirit. God has revealed
them to his people by his spirit. And so we look at Revelation
21 and 22, where the Holy Spirit has inspired these words to be
written down for our learning. So I want to look at some pictures,
some pictures, which are not reality, but they're to teach
us things about what this eternal state is like, and what it's
about, and where we're going as the people of God, and what
is our final destiny. And whilst this world may seem
so real and endless now, Paul elsewhere points out that it
is these things which look so solid that are the fleeting passing
things. But the things that you cannot
see with physical eyes, the eternity that's all around us, for as
Paul said to the Athenians, God is not far from every one of
us. The eternity that is all around us, that is the reality. That is the abiding, enduring
reality. The physical things that we see
that seem so solid, are fleeting and passing and moth and rust
will eat them up and they'll decay and they'll be gone you
know like you look at old pieces of engineering from hundreds
of years ago and they they that seemed so abiding and so strong
and so eternal then now are just rusting falling apart heaps where
moth and rust has got to them but these things are eternal
and solid so there are these pictures and this is how God
conveys to us, his people, the things to do with the eternity
which is in store for us. Christ said, I go to prepare
a place for you. In my father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. Let's look at some of these things.
First of all, heaven and the people of God in heaven is likened
to a bride. to a bride. Look at verse 2 of
chapter 21, And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. A city, a holy city, a New Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, but a city that is like a bride. A city that is like a bride,
ready for her wedding to her husband. It's a wedding. Verse
9, come up hither and I will show thee the bride, the lamb's
wife. It's a wedding. Eternity, heaven,
is a wedding. It's a marriage. It's a marriage
of Christ, the manifestation of God to his people, with his
people. It's the consummated union of
Christ and his people. That unbreakable, eternal union
of Christ and his people. I know that drama, especially
soap opera drama, likes to portray weddings as occasions for great
strife and conflict and feuding and all of these unseemly things. But, you know, we all like a
wedding, don't we? A wedding is a joyous, happy
occasion. What's heaven going to be like?
We don't know, but we know this. It's going to be joyous, like
the most blissfully happy wedding beyond your imagination. It's
happiness. The long engagement has come
to an end. The day of the wedding has actually
come. The betrothal was before time
began, where the people of God, in the election of God, were
betrothed to the Son of God, who covenanted that he would
come and save them from their sins before there was ever a
sin. They were called with his name. At the time of predestination,
Romans 8, at the time of predestination they were called with his name.
They were justified from all eternity in him. They were loved. as Jeremiah says, with an everlasting
love. The love of God for His people
is not something that began the day they chose to accept Him.
That's not what the scripture says. It says He loved them with
an everlasting love, from before the beginning of time, chosen
of God and presented to the Son. Look at Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse
25. where Paul's writing about marriage,
husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church
and gave himself for it, the church. He gave himself. He was the price of redemption
of the church. He gave himself for it. Why?
That he might sanctify, that he might make holy. that he might
set apart for his holy use, that he might cleanse it with the
washing of water by the word, that he might wash it clean,
that he might present it to himself a glorious church. He's prepared
his bride. A glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and
without blemish. That this church, which is composed
of sinners, who in the sight of God, God cannot look upon
sin, God is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and we are sinners,
and we are those dead, dry bones that Ezekiel spoke of last week.
But yet, In what Christ has done, he presents the church to himself,
a glorious church, without any defilement of sin, or any such
thing that it should be holy and without blemish. And he says,
I'm speaking, verse 32, this is a great mystery, but I speak
concerning Christ and the church. It's marriage, it's a wedding,
there's a bride. as a bride. So that's the first
picture that we get here in Revelation 21 and 22. Eternity, what's it
like? We don't know. We won't know
until we see him as he is. We cannot conjure up any kind
of physical reality of what it will be like, but we know this.
An aspect of it is that it's a wedding. There's a bride. It's
a day of happiness. It's a situation of immense happiness,
of consummation. That long engagement has come
to an end. A glorious bride is presented
to her husband. This is what it is for the people
of God. Sinners saved by grace. Sinners who know what they were
and from where they have been plucked. prepared, glorious. Brands plucked from the fire.
They look dirty, uncomely things, but made glorious for the husband. The bride prepared for her husband. And then secondly, it's a city.
It's a city. We saw already in verse two that
it's New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared
as a bride adorned for her husband. A city. a new Jerusalem. The place of God's peace is what
Jerusalem means. You know, that city is still
there in the Middle East today, that city that was built by David,
that city that was the place where the temple was and the
presence of God dwelt. Jerusalem, God's peace, the place
of God's peace. And look at verse 10, he carried
me away in the spirit. This one that showed him the
bride of Christ, carried me away in the spirit to a great and
high mountain, gave him a good view, and showed me that great
city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. God's
place of peace, the great city. It's a vast multitude. A vast
multitude that's particularly poignant when we meet together
on a day like this when there are so few of us here. It's so
different to the appearance of such a little flock. In every
age, in every place, the true church of God always appears
like a little flock. This is why Jesus said to his
followers, fear not, little flock. It is the Father's pleasure to
give you the kingdom. But to what is it all coming? You know, the little ones and
twos here and there, in all ages, in all the purposes of God, add
up to what? A vast multitude that no man
can number. It's not going to be a lonely
place. It's going to be full of everyone that the Father gave
to the Son before the beginning of time. And it's a holy city,
holy Jerusalem. It's made holy by God, by Christ,
in all that he has done. It's made holy It's 2 Corinthians
5, 21. accomplished finally. He who
knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the
righteousness, the holiness of God in him. And that in that
city, look at verse 27, there shall in no wise enter into it
anything that defileth. Neither whatsoever worketh abomination
or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book
of life. We are sinners, And we as we
are now, we must drop this robe of flesh to go there. Nothing
that defileth will enter in. Look at verse 16. This city,
what does it tell us about this city? The city lieth four square,
picture being of a cube, and the length is as large as the
breadth. And he measured the city with the reed, 12,000 furlongs. The length and the breadth and
the height of it are equal. This cube, 12,000 furlongs, oh,
so it is something physical. No, it's a picture. It's a picture. It's just picturing what it is
like. It's perfectly proportioned.
Isn't that what it's saying to us? It lieth four square, length,
breadth, and height equal. It's perfectly proportioned.
It, as in Ezekiel's measurings of the temple, taking the measuring
rod and measuring, it's perfectly proportioned in the purposes
of God. And what does 12,000 furlongs
got to do with it? Well, we can only speculate,
but here's my speculation. 12,000 is 12 times 10 times 10
times 10. is the numbers of the tribes
of Israel, the sons of Jacob, which picture the people of God,
which picture the Israel of God in every age. 12 of them. It's the whole people of God.
And is it complete? Yes, it's complete, because 10
is the number of completeness. It's 10 times 10 times 10. 12,000. The perfect number of
the people of God. This city accommodates all the
Israel of God. There's not one of them missing
from it. It isn't a sort of a scramble in, otherwise the door will be
shut. Every one of those whom the Father purposed to save before
the beginning of time is there, and will be there. Look at chapter
22, verses 3 and 4. And there shall be no more curse,
but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and
his servants shall serve him. And they shall see his face,
and his name shall be in their foreheads. His name shall be
in their foreheads. They're the elect of God from
before the beginning of time. Here is a city. What's heaven
going to be like? We don't know, but here's a picture.
It's a bride. It's a day of happiness. It's
a wedding. It's a city. It's a perfectly proportioned
city to accommodate all the people of God. And this city has walls. Look at verse 12. It had a great
wall and high. And it had twelve gates, and
at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which
are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. Verse
17. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty
and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is,
of an angel. Verse 18. And the building of
the wall of it was of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like
unto clear glass. Can you not tell already that
we're talking symbolism? We're talking picture language.
We're talking allegory. This isn't something that you
can draw a picture of and say, that's what heaven's going to
look like when you get there. This is just picture language.
This is conveying that which the spirit of God wants us to
know concerning the truth of this eternal state that we are
destined for in heaven. It's walls. It's well defended
by these walls. This is not a place in which
you're under threat from attack, where you can be taken from it,
where you can lose the security of it. This is a secure place.
It's perfectly well defended. You know, a few hundred years
ago, this land, say, around 1,100, 1,100, 1,200, you know, it was not a particularly
safe place to live for most people. There were knights that had their
entourages around them and they had their castles and cities
were prone to easy attack And, you know, even in this land where,
you know, we have the rule of law in these days, but then there
wasn't the rule of law. And people living in an undefended
collection of houses would be overrun and have their things
stolen and no rule of law would give any protection to them and
so what they started to do is you'll see as you go around this
country you see the remains of walls and all around Europe walled
cities and it was for defense it was to protect the people
it was a good place to be people want to escape to the country
these days but then when there wasn't the rule of law people
loved to live in the protection of a city this is the picture
this is heaven it's well defended in Isaiah 60 verse 18 thou shalt
call thy walls salvation. These walls are the unchallengeable
salvation that Christ has accomplished. And they're made of jasper, which
is a clear, durable, hard, strong, impregnable stone, impregnable
to attack. This city is a bride, but it's
a city, and it has walls that are well defended. The people
of God are subject to no threat whatsoever. There is no external
threat can do anything to the people of God in that eternal
state. And they're going to stay forever
unchallenged because it has foundations. Look at verse 14. and the wall
of the city had 12 foundations, and in them the names of the
12 apostles of the Lamb. Look at verses 19 and 20, and
the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with
all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper,
the second sapphire, the third a chalcedony, the fourth an emerald,
the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite,
the eighth, beryl, the ninth, the topaz, the tenth, chrysoprasus,
the eleventh, adjacent, and the twelfth, an amethyst. And the
twelve gates were twelve pearls. These are foundations, and the
foundations of these walls are the apostles. It says these foundations
are the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And each of them is named
with the name of a precious stone, an abiding precious stone. In
Acts chapter 2 and verse 42, we read there of the early church
meeting together in Jerusalem whilst the scribes and the Pharisees
were trying to stamp out this new religion that had come along.
But the church that met there, what did it do? What were its
marks? It continued in the apostles' doctrine. in fellowship, in breaking
of bread, and of prayers. Its foundation was the apostles'
doctrine. This is the foundation of these
walls of salvation. The walls of this city are salvation. You're in there because of salvation
that Christ has accomplished. And it's the apostles' doctrine
that is the basis of that salvation. And not only that, but What is
this Apostle's Doctrine? It's not the Apostle's Doctrine
as of their right, it's the Apostle's Doctrine in that it is the Doctrine
of Christ. John writes this, he that abideth
in the Doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son. Abiding in the Doctrine of Christ.
This was the Apostle's Doctrine, the Doctrine of Christ. That
Christ is the one foundation of his church. As Isaiah wrote,
you see the Spirit of God in all ages reveals the same thing. Isaiah 28, 16, Behold, I lay
in Zion for a foundation, a stone. He lays a stone there. Turn back
again to Ephesians, this time chapter two and verse 19. Ephesians chapter two and verse
19. Now therefore, Ye are no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household
of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and
the prophets. Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone. These apostles and prophets are
only foundations insomuch that Christ is the chief cornerstone
from which all of their doctrine springs, in whom in Christ all
the building, fitly framed together, groweth into an holy temple in
the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation
of God through the Spirit." He's talking about the here and now
of the church, of believers, being the habitation of God through
the Spirit. But now we go forward and we
look into eternity, and we see that this bride is a city that
has walls and foundations that is the Apostles' doctrine, which
is Christ. Christ is that one foundation.
And then into this city, there are gates. There are gates. Remember,
this is allegory. This is picture language. Each
picture has true significance, but don't expect a literal, physical
replication of what's pictured here. We don't know, as the scripture
has told us, what God has prepared for his people. But the spirit
of God has revealed that which we need to know. Look at verse
12. and this great high wall had
12 gates and at the gates 12 angels and the names written
there on which are the names of the 12 tribes of the children
of Israel these are 12 guarded gates there's an angel there
they're guarded not anybody can come into this but on these twelve
gates are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.
What does that refer to? It refers to the people of God,
the Israel of God, the people that he chose in Christ before
the beginning of time. These twelve guarded gates nobody
can go through but he whose name is written in the Lamb's book
of life this is all the tribes of the children of Israel all
of them not physically not literally for they are not all Israel which
are of Israel but the true Israel of God those chosen in Christ
before the foundation of the world and if you look at verse
21 the 12 gates were 12 pearls you see how the pictures If you
try and interpret them literally, get very very confusing because
one minute the gates with angels there and then the next these
gates are twelve pearls. Every several gate was of one
pearl. Every several gate, all twelve
of them, was in actual fact one pearl. The gates into the city
of God, into eternity, into the eternal bliss of heaven is one
gate in actual fact, it's of one pearl, that one pearl which
Jesus said is of the greatest price. He said in the parables
in Matthew chapter 13 verse 46 he says when one finds that pearl
of greatest price, doesn't matter what else is in your box of jewels,
you can throw all those away, they're worthless. You've got
the one pearl of greatest price. And that one pearl of greatest
price is Christ. who alone is the door of the
sheepfold. He says in John 10, he says he
is the door of the sheep. He says there's no other way
in. Anybody that tries to get in any other way is a thief and
a robber. He is the door of the sheep.
All who would enter heaven, all who would enter the new Jerusalem,
the heavenly Jerusalem, must know that Christ alone is the
door. What did he say to them? When
he said, you know the way, and they said, how can we know the
way? And he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man
comes to the Father but by me. He alone is the door, the gate. There are 12 gates, speaking
of the 12 tribes of Israel, speaking of the whole people of God, elect
of God before the beginning of time, called out under the preaching
of the gospel now. But these twelve gates, which
are pearls, in actual fact, every one of them was one pearl, one
and the same pearl, which is Christ, who is the door of the
sheepfold. And all who would enter into
heaven must know this, that Christ is the door, the way, the truth,
the life, by whom we come to God. Then this is a city of light. It's a city of light. In the
scriptures, so often, The mind of the fallen man is pictured
as darkness. Of darkness. You know, we need
darkness to go to sleep. And it's great that God created
it so that the Earth spins on its axis and we have day and
night so that we can sleep. It's part of the biological rhythms
that we need. But I think we all think, if
you're alert and trying to find something, there is nothing more
frustrating than darkness. You need a light. You need something
to see by. You need a torch to shine. You
need light to shine in. How different is the weak light
of artificial light with the blazing of the sun as we see
it on a morning like this? The glorious light, there's just
nothing quite like it. It is so white, it is so perfect,
streaming in. We need light to see by, and
spiritually we need light. Where are we going to get light?
Look at verse 11 of chapter 21. having the glory of God. This
city has the glory of God. And her light, there's light
in this city, was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper
stone, clear as crystal. You know how stones, valuable
precious stones, sparkle in the light. Look at verse 23. The
city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon. Those astronomical
bodies that God created at the beginning of time to provide
us with light and to provide us with regularity and order
in the things that we do, and did it in such a way that is
absolutely remarkable, isn't it? Have you ever noticed this?
People put so much to chance, but did you know that the size
of the disk of the moon from where we are on the earth is
more or less exactly the same size as the size of the disk
of the sun and that's why eclipses work that's why total eclipses
of the sun work now what's the chance of that happening just
by chance? unless God made it that way.
When he said, he created the sun to rule the day and the moon
to rule the night. But this city doesn't need any
of those physical things. It doesn't need the sun or the
moon to shine in it. Why not? For the glory of God
did lighten it. See, there's not going to be
physical light as we know it. The glory of God did lighten
it. And the lamb. The lamb. God the sun. the second person
of the Trinity. The lamb is the light of it. I saw a lamb again and again
throughout Revelation. John saw a lamb as it had been
slain. The lamb slain from the foundation
of the world is the light of it. He is light. He is the light
of life. In him is light and no darkness
at all. In the Lord Jesus Christ, in
what he reveals of God, and the nations of them which are saved
shall walk in the light of it." The nations of them that are
saved, the whole Israel of God, shall walk in the light of that
light, that light, which is the Lamb who is the light of it.
God is the light of eternity. Paul writes to the Corinthians,
2 Corinthians 4 verse 3, but if our gospel be hid, as it is,
look around us today, All around us, people living around here,
the gospel's hid. Listen to the worship on the
Sunday morning church service on the radio as I did this morning.
The light is hid. The gospel's hid. There's no
light in them. There is no truth in them. They've
got all of their liturgies and all of their posh singing and
all of their elaborate cathedrals and all of their forms of language,
but there is no light in them. There's no gospel in them. The
gospel's hid. It's hid to them that are lost.
in whom the God of this world, Satan, hath blinded the minds,
blindness, darkness, blindness, of them which believe not, lest
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of
God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus'
sake, for God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
When in Genesis 1 he said, let there be light, and there was
light, and God saw the light, that it was good. God who commanded
that light to shine out of darkness physically in this physical universe
hath shined in our hearts in our hearts spiritually, to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Christ is the light of God. He is the revelation of God. The Lamb is the light of it,
the light of heaven. Our Lord Jesus Christ, it says
of Him in John 1.18, No man has seen God at any time, but the
only begotten Son in the bosom of the Father. He has declared
Him. Isaiah chapter 60, verses 1, 3 and 19 and 20, Arise, shine,
for thy light is come. The glory of the Lord is risen
upon thee. The Gentiles shall come to thy
light, kings to the brightness of thy rising. The sun shall
be no more thy light by day. Speaking of heaven now in Isaiah
in the Old Testament neither for brightness shall the moon
give light unto thee but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting
light and thy glory and thy God thy glory thy son shall no more
go down neither shall thy moon withdraw itself for the Lord
shall be thine everlasting light and the days of thy mourning
shall be ended let's move on quickly it's temple verse 22
I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the
Lamb are the temple of it." Elsewhere in the New Testament, the church
and believers, as we read in Ephesians 2, are the temple of
God. You are the temple of the living
God. You're built up into a holy temple, a habitation of God.
But here, in this city, in this eternity, There is no temple. Why? There is no special place
where you go for the presence of God. Because why? God is the
temple of it. And he's everywhere. He fills
it. God is its temple. It all speaks of God's people
dwelling eternally in the immediate, direct presence of God. Can you imagine it? Can you imagine? We who are sinners made fit for
the immediate presence of God. You can't imagine it. Eye has
not seen, ear has not heard, neither has it entered into the
heart of man. What's prepared for us? But God, by his spirit,
shows us what we need to know. It has a street, verse 21. The
12 gates were 12 pearls. Every several gate was one pearl.
And the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent
glass. You would think being a city
it would have many streets. London has many, many, many streets,
but this has one street. What's he speaking of? Literally?
No. This one street is the one way,
the one truth of gospel grace. There's only one. There's one
and only one truth of electing particular, sovereign, effectual,
accomplished grace. There's not several tolerable,
allowable variants of it. You know, we can differ in various
aspects of practice. We can. We can differ in how
often we have the Lord's table and still be friends and brethren
in the gospel of grace. We can even differ as we were
looking earlier in 1 Corinthians 11 about whether the women should
wear hats in church or not. We can differ about those things
because they're secondary and there are cultural aspects to
them. But we cannot tolerate any variation of this one street
that's there in heaven, which is the one way of truth and of
grace and of eternal life of the gospel of God's grace. Just
like we couldn't tolerate any variation in the uniqueness of
our currency. We have a currency in this country
which we trust. But if we were to suddenly allow
all sorts of forgeries to be floating around looking like
our currency, you'd completely lose your confidence in the system.
There is one street in this city. Let's move on. I know time's
gone. It's river. Chapter 22, verse
1. He showed me a pure river of the water of life, clear as
crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Psalm 46 verse 4 says, there is a river, the streams whereof
shall make glad the city of God. This is life flowing from the
throne of God. The river of life is Christ,
who brings that life to his people eternally. It was pictured in
Ezekiel 47 that we read earlier, those waters flowing out, life
from the throne of God. And then finally, chapter 22
verses 2 and 3, its central tree in the midst of the street of
it and on either side of the river was there the tree of life
which bear twelve manner of fruits and yielded her fruit every month
and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations
and there shall be no more curse but the throne of God and of
the land shall be in it and his servants shall serve him. This
tree represents the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. This tree,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. He, our Lord Jesus
Christ, bore the sins of his people in his own body on the
tree. The tree is the cross. It represents
the tree that was such a curse. This cursed tree is made for
the people of God, the elect of God, a tree of life. Because
there in time, Our Savior redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us by hanging on that curse of tree.
And this tree, which is the cross of Christ, I'm not talking about
a physical cross of wood, I'm talking about what was accomplished
there, it bears regular fruit. It accomplishes God's purpose
of salvation. It bears regular fruit. He sends
his word forth as he says in Isaiah 55 verse 11, and his word
won't return to him void. Its leaves are gospel doctrines
that heal the nations. healing for the nations. John
chapter 3, lifting up the serpent in the wilderness, Jesus says
there he has to be lifted up like that serpent, like that
cursed thing, like that thing which was such a symbol of death
and it became such a symbol of life. For whoever looked by faith
lived and the serpents didn't kill them. It's for the healing
of the nations. Are we any nearer after this
little excursion to understanding eternity, not in this fallen
flesh. But, as it's written, I hath
not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
But God has revealed them to us by his Spirit. We know Something
of the passing nature of this life and of the eternal permanence
of heavenly bliss reserved for those that Christ has redeemed.
That's what scripture reveals to us about heaven. The reason,
the purpose for God's salvation.