In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of focusing on the eternal purposes of God as the only lasting reality in life. He explains that the realization of eternal glory can only be known by those who have faith in Jesus Christ. The preacher also discusses the concept of holiness and how it is necessary for communion with God. He then turns to the book of Revelation to describe the new Jerusalem, the holy city that will descend after the millennium and the great white throne judgment. The preacher concludes by affirming that God's plans will be fulfilled perfectly and on schedule, and encourages the congregation to eagerly anticipate heaven.

Now, let's not mistake this. There are books in the Bible we refer to as the apocalyptic literature. That is, books or certain passages within some books, as within the Gospel of Matthew, that we refer to as apocalyptic literature. They bear upon what is yet to come in the full realization of Christ's coming and His revelation. The book of Daniel is one of those books, and you can study the book of Daniel alongside the book of Revelation. The thing was with Daniel in chapter 12 and verse 4, he was told, Thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the end. So, there is much that was sealed, and it was shut up. It wasn't understood. But when we come to this book of Revelation, in chapter 1 and verse 1, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him. Notice that, the unveiling of things to come, which the Father gave to the Son. What for? To show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass. And He is sent and signified by His angel unto His servant John. Remember that Jesus is always the mediator between man and God. And so, He receives from God the revelation to give to us, and He has made things clear. So, this book is not a closed book. It's not a sealed book like Daniel. It's an open book. And in chapter 5, there is a book referred to as being sealed within and without with seven seals. And that book, the book of redemption, it pertains to the redemption of the earth. And after chapter 5, a lot has to do with the earth. What is going to take place in this world, but then, what God is going to do in restoring things that have been forfeited through man's fall. Now, the work of Christ. Remember in Revelation chapter 5, John was weeping because no one was found worthy to open that book and to loose the seals. And one of the elders said, Don't weep, John. The line of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seals thereof. And so, he turned and saw a lamb as it had been slain, standing. And so, we know that the work of Christ is far more extensive than your salvation and mine. Do you know that everything on earth rests on a mediatorial basis? That is, if it wasn't for Christ, Adam would have perished the very day that he transgressed. And if he had, there would have been no posterity raised. If it had not been for Christ, the seed of the woman who was promised right there in the day of man's failure, God had already in his own eternal plan provided a redeemer, a deliverer. Praise the Lord. As someone has said concerning Christ's redemptive work at Calvary, like a golden chain, it girdles the world, upholds it from destruction and sustains and blesses all the varied and successive generations on its surface. The scriptures everywhere point forward to Christ's apocalypse, His revelation, as the time when first the mystery shall be finished and the long process reach its proper consummation. Everything rests upon the work of Christ. Everything. That's why it's important we understand something of that work of Christ. Now, when we think in terms of what is yet to be accomplished with regards to the earth, and we have read tonight there will be a new heavens and a new earth. We touched upon that last week. This is certainly a fantasy to the unregenerate, but it is reality to us in whom the Spirit of God dwells, because to us revelation and redemption has come. Thank God for that. Now, we've already observed what this book has said about the appearing of the Bride. That's one. And secondly, the abode of the Bride. This is what we are continuing to consider tonight, the abode of the Bride. The Bride and the city, the New Jerusalem, they are identified. Notice that from verses 1 and 2, I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven was passed away. The first earth was passed away and there was no more sea. I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, coming from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Verse 9, there came unto me one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials full of the seven last pigs, and talked me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the Bride, the Lamb's wife. He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and then from that vantage point showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. So the Bride and the city are identified. Let's just recap for a moment, very briefly, the revelation has carried us away beyond the rapture, beyond the marriage supper of the Lamb, beyond the Armageddon, beyond the overthrow of the Antichrist, beyond the millennium, beyond the final doom of Satan, beyond the great white throne, that ultimate judgment of all the wicked which results in that literal conscious internment of all sinners in the lake of fire. We have a revelation that carries us away from all of this to a new heaven and a new earth. But as we said last week, not an entirely different creation, but one, though standing in continuity with the present one, that which is liberated from corruption and from the curse. There is this fiery revelation. I'm going to emphasize this again tonight. Let's just take our thoughts on this. Turn to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, verse 19. For the earnest expectation of the creature, better the creation, waited for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope, because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. The whole of creation, says Paul, waits with eager expectation of that coming glory. This is a sheer fact. When we look upon the creation now, it is not fulfilling its function right now. It's not measuring up to that for which it was intended in the primal purposes of God. This creation, this world in which we live, the earth, it pervades with elements of decay. The hymnist has it, change and decay in all around I see. O thou that changest not, abide with me. But the whole of creation pervades with elements of decay, and it is subject to death and to destruction. Everywhere around us is death. We are in spring now. Things are coming to life, but they're going to die again. Cheer up. Now, something, says Paul, happened in the past that caused this condition. It's subjected to this condition, not willingly. Something has happened. And if we think that creation is wonderful, then what was it like before the bondage of corruption? You know, people go away on holiday, come back and say, oh, you know, isn't God's creation, we went to certain Oh, it was marvelous. We think it's wonderful, but in it there is decay and death and corruption. There's pollution. What must it have been like before such bondage as Paul refers to it? You know, we have not seen the world as God made it. What a tragedy. Of course, we have to go back to Genesis. Genesis chapter 3. Let me read from verse 14. The Lord said unto the serpent, because thou has done this, thou art cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field, upon thy belly thou shalt go, and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman, he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow, thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam, he said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow thou shalt eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns, also, and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground, for out of it was thou taken, for thus thou art, and unto thus thou shalt return. That's why, friends, creation is presently as it is. Cursed because of man's sin there in the garden of Eden. But, what does Paul say in Romans 8? There's hope. He'll subject the same in hope, hope, hope. Hallelujah. A hope that's grounded in an awesome promise. It's this promise of the Redeemer, the Deliverer. So, what man has been trying unsuccessfully to achieve in eradicating the earth from this curse, God is going to do it. If only man can, can alter things. But he can't. But God is going to do it. And on the basis, and this is important, on the basis of Christ's mediation and Christ's redemption. As for believers then, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, they shall have a creation in which to live which corresponds to their restored condition. We're going to open up on this in a few moments. First, with regards to the millennium, and then beyond that, there is the new heavens and the new earth. So, we have all the promises of man's final deliverance being proof, positive, that there is going to be this deliverance for the whole of creation. This means two things will take place. First, a regeneration of the earth, which restores certain conditions that are equivalent to what it was in the Garden of Eden. We may refer to them as paradisal conditions, as it was in paradise. And there is going to be a regenerating of the earth to restore it to that condition for the millennial reign of Christ. Will you turn to Matthew 19, verse 28. Jesus said to them, to his disciples, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, mark this now, in the regeneration, now we know that in terms of our own personal spiritual experience, we have known a regeneration, a change of heart. This regeneration here, speaking of a change, is going to take place in the earth. Ye which have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, you shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. He is speaking of the millennium. So, there is a regeneration that is going to take place when Christ comes back to the earth. When there will be, once again, extreme fertility. Areas now that are desert, they will be fertile. There is not going to be famine and plague and all that which has brought such hardship to many nations in various parts of the world. That will be gone. Because there is going to be a regeneration, there is going to be a work of God that is going to bring fertility back to the land, to the earth. And also, of course, animal instincts will be changed. They will no longer be ferocious and venomous. Turn to Isaiah chapter 11. Isaiah chapter 11. We'll read from verse 6. The earlier verses speak of Christ, the rod out from the stem of Jesse, the branch that shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall be upon him. So he'll be fully equipped for his reign upon the earth. What's going to happen? Not only righteousness among men and women, and justice in the earth again, but the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb. He wouldn't find them together tonight. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb. The leopard shall lie down with the kid. And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together. My word, have you seen some of those documentaries about leopards and lions? Wow. When they see anything like a calf or a kid, that's the end. And the little child shall lead them, and the cow and the bear shall feed. The young one shall lie down together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the second child shall play on the hole of the asp. And the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Hallelujah. Turn to chapter 35. Chapter 35. Verses 1 and 2. The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it. The excellency of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God. Now I know there are a lot of people who point to Palestine today and speak of the fertility of the land and things that once were desert have been cultivated. But I tell you what, nothing to be compared with the fulfillment of this. Isaiah 35 is not yet being fulfilled. It's going to be fulfilled when Christ comes back. And when that curse is removed. Hallelujah. Let's go down in that chapter. Verse 9 and 10. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon. It shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransom of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Let me just give you one more Old Testament reference. The prophecy of Amos. Amos chapter 9. Verse 13. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes, him that soweth seed. And the mountain shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. I'll bring again the captivity of my people of Israel. They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and drink the wine thereof. They shall also make gardens and eat the fruit of them. I'll plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God. There's a change coming. The regeneration of the earth. Restoring certain paradisal conditions for the millennial reign of Christ. Now I'm not going to address tonight the changes that are to take place in relation to social and spiritual conditions. There's some remarkable things. But there is a regeneration going to take place for the millennium. But then secondly, there is this renovation of the earth in a fiery purging together with the first heaven, which must take place at the end of the millennium. Because here now in Revelation 21, after the millennium of chapter 20, after the putting down of Satan in the lake of fire, after the great widespread, John says, and I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. We also noted that Peter makes reference to this in 2 Peter 3 verses 10 through to verse 12. The elements melting like with fervent heat and phenomenal things taken as God purges the earth and the heavens. And they'll be ushered in a new order. And what does John go on to reveal? Well standing on the threshold of that eternal day, verse 2, he sees the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for a husband. Now having given some thought to that last week, the descent of the city, I want us tonight to be encouraged to look at the description of the city. Notice in verses 5 through 8, this is Revelation 21, there had been the voice of God. Behold, the one that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new. It's the voice of consummation. For God speaks and says, It is done. It's all over. So we are transported into the eternal day, after the millennium now, after the great white throne judgment, after everything unregenerate, unredeemed has been dealt with. We've got a new heavens and a new earth. And we have descending this new Jerusalem, this holy city. And there is this description. First there was the voice of God, but now in verse 9 and on from there, it's the vision of God. And it's the vision of God, in his glory, filling the city. It's no wonder that in verse 27, will you note, that nothing and no one that defiles can enter there. There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, either whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. In fact, friends, sinners or demons could never stand in the place of God's manifested glory. The only way that you and I will be able to occupy that city and stand the awesome presence of God is because of what Ian mentioned earlier tonight, the grace of God that has brought salvation to us. Hallelujah. But no unclean thing could stand in the presence of infinite holiness. Oh, what magnificence, what brilliance, what beauty. Here now, John is shown the permanent abode of the Lamb and his bride for all eternity. Wow. Can you remember that first place where you lived when you got married? Two rooms, some little shack. Oh, I tell you, after this wedding, what an abode, what a dwelling place, this holy city, New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven. Hallelujah. Let's observe the text. First of all, notice its majesty. Verse 11. Having the glory of God and her light, her radiance, literally, was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Now, will you notice that the first thing that attention is drawn to is the fact of the city reflecting, irradiating God's own infinite glory, a brilliance that defies definition really. He simply says, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It's interesting to observe that the jasper stone is referred to three times here in connection with the city. Here in verse 11, bring to our attention the very environment is like jasper. The glory of God fills the whole place. In verse 18, notice the walls that surround the city, they are of jasper. And then verse 19, the first foundation is of jasper. Looking back in chapter 4 of Revelation and verse 3, John says that when he saw that throne lying outstretched in the heavens, he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a fiery sardius. And does not this betoken something of his blazing holiness? After all, friends, what is the glory of God? I've heard folk talk about the glory, oof, I've got the glory. Oh, dear me, dear me, dear me. The glory of God, friends, is not a shiver down your spine, it's not a feeling, it's not something emotional, it's the awesome, awesome holiness of God. The glory of God is the very nature of God. Exodus 15 and verse 11, who is likened to thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is likened to thee? Glorious in holiness, in holiness. How appropriately then, this is called the holy city. So here it symbolizes the majesty of character. What a wonderful thing. Now this has to do with the bride as well as the city. The majesty of our character as the bride. Holy! What a marvelous thing this is. This is why he has saved us that we might partake of his holiness. The glory of God being made manifest in us, in its perfection. That's why we read in Romans 8 that the whole creation groans, travails in pain, until now waiting for what? The manifestation of the sons of God. The glory of God in his people. A glorious bride, pure, beautiful, hallelujah. But the city is glorious in its character. It's a holy city. But not just the majesty of character, here also symbolized is the majesty of conquest. Because Jasper, it might have been the first stone in the foundation of the new Jerusalem, but it was the last stone in the breastplate of the high priest. Turn to Exodus chapter 28 and verse 20. On the fourth row, these are the rows of stones, the settings there on the breastplate of the high priest. The fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. It's the last stone to grace the high priest's breastplate. Here's something else that we must mention to bring out the significance of this. That in the stone, in that jasper stone, was engraved the name of the tribe it represented. What was that? Naphtali. Naphtali. Meaning wrestled, or wrestling, prevailed. Naphtali. We're having the time to go into the scriptures there in the book of Genesis to read about Naphtali, but Naphtali was the child of sorrow, and of prayer, and of anguish, and yet prophesied to one as one who would be prevailing in conflict. And how appropriate here in this eternal city. The perpetual reminder by this jasper stone. The perpetual reminder that we have come through triumphantly, prevailing in and through our glorious Redeemer, who is to look upon like jasper. He's the fullest fulfillment of all that Naphtali represented. Hallelujah. The one who himself came through in glorious divine prevailment. Not only our Redeemer, but our great High Priest, who bears us up continually in faithful intercession. Just turn back to Genesis for a moment, and chapter 49, and verse 21. It doesn't say much about him, but it says, Naphtali is a hind let loose. He give us goodly words. What a picture this is. A hind let loose. You just mingle these pictures for a moment of the Naphtali in the Old Testament, and here we are in that eternal city. Because as we behold the bride, and as we behold the city, here this mention of jasper is really conveying to us the fact the struggling is all over. The wrestling is past. The bride is free now from every kind of snare and pitfall. And at last, full of divine grace and unsullied beauty. Like that thorn striking the summit. The hind let loose, getting up those craggy slopes, and finally reaches the summit. Oh, hallelujah. The bride has arrived home. This eternal city. Out of the reach of danger, and lifted above every menace of earth. Because friends, that's where our conquering saviour is. And where he has us at last with him. Praise his wonderful name. So, Verse 11 brings to us the majesty of the bride, and the majesty of that city. Majestic in character, and majestic in conquest. We have triumphed. We are the overcomers. Praise the Lord. But more. Verses 12 to 14. We have its means of security. It had a wall great and high, and 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. On the east three gates, and the north three gates, and the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the land. Notice that John makes reference to the wall being great and high. Which had twelve foundations, and then the twelve gates. Three on each of the four sides of the city, and at each one, like a sentinel, stood an angel. In the gates there's engraved the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. And in the foundations, there's engraved the names of the twelve. Notice that the apostles of the lamb. That is the twelve that Jesus chose. Of course there was one that replaced Judas. Judas will not be there. Isn't that tragic? So we have the names of the tribes of Israel in the gates, the names of the twelve apostles of the lamb in the foundations. Now whilst we are going to look at, in another study, the place of Israel in God's ultimate plan, here one observes that Israel and the church are clearly distinguished. Yet both are embraced in God's redeeming grace. The very fact of course that the gates, they are facing the four points of the compass. Three to the south, three to the north, three to the east, three to the west. That impresses how all the tribes of earth are represented there. Coming in to that eternal city from all parts of the earth. God has given us a gospel that finds its appeal in grace and finds its application by faith to men everywhere. Romans 1, 16 and 17, Paul says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God and the salvation to everyone who believes. To the Jew first and also to the Greek, that's the Gentile. For therein, in this gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is, but just shall live by his faith. So from all corners of the earth, they'll be represented there in that great company, occupying that new city, that new Jerusalem. And here we have its means of security, the wall and the gates. Then notice in verses 15 to 17, its measurements. He that talketh with me hath a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And the city lieth four square, and the length is as large as the breadth. And he measured the city with the reed twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, and a hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man that is of the angel. So we have the measurements. Now John, we said, has had a general view. He's been taken to a vantage point and has just looked down upon it all. Or he's looking up and he sees it come down. But he has this vantage point where he sees, has a general view of the city. But now he gives attention to certain dimensions. And will you note first that the new Jerusalem exceeds by far Israel's earthly capital today. There's no comparison between the new Jerusalem and the old one. Mark this, it rests upon a base 1,500 miles by 1,500 miles. That's a base of 2,250,000 square miles. Now it's difficult for us to take that in, except that this one city is half the size of North America. It's one city. Do you know the largest city territorially is in the Southern Hemisphere? The city of the Blue Mountains, Katoomba. Now I lived there. You can drive around it in a day, in less. I think you've got about 2,000 square miles. That's the largest city in the Southern Hemisphere, territorially, not population-wise. Oh, you've got Tokyo and you've got Sydney and you've got Hong Kong and you've got other great cities with millions upon millions of people. But territory in terms of the size, the city of the Blue Mountains, the largest in the world. I was on radio one morning. I was educated. But look, the largest city, a base of 2,000 square miles, and that is mainly bush. But here, a city on a base of 2,250,000 square miles. And it's then described intriguingly being of like height. The height is as great as the length and the breadth. So not only is it 1,500 miles long and 1,500 miles wide, it's 1,500 miles high. Now we can't take that in really. Some see this as a cube, because it says it lies four square. They see it as a cube. I have problems with that. And I personally see this as pyramidical. So at its highest point, it is 1,500 miles high. So don't see this as a cube, but as a pyramid. And here's the marvellous thing, with terrace after terrace after terrace, rising higher and higher to the pinnacle where the throne of God and of the Lamb is. Because something else interests me, and I'll come to it shortly, but it's about the street. Do you know there's only one street? It's not, we're told, the streets of glory. No, the Bible doesn't talk about streets. Street. One street. And I was thinking about this as I met him, and I thought, well, if it's one street, it must be one that just keeps on going. Up and up and up and up and up. I want to say that there's plenty of room there. Wow, there's plenty of room. If you take all the people who have died in human history, with all the people alive today, even if there's 40 billion, I tell you, plenty of room up there. Plenty of room up there. But only the redeemed shall walk there. Incredible, incredible city. The walls, now this seems to be out of proportion, the walls are only 216 feet high. So this city, the walls around it, only 216 feet high. Somewhat insignificant, maybe out of proportion with the height of the city, and yet they signify two things. Those walls that it speaks of, embracing its occupants in an eternal security. They're just symbolic there. Secondly, it does have limits, though there will be the opportunity for its residents to visit the new world. That's why there's gates to go out and come back in and say hello to the angel. We'll talk about, you see, the city is coming down, coming down, out from God. We're going to look at this because it talks about later in the chapter, the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of the kings of the earth to bring their glory and honour into it. And it does appear, and I haven't the opportunity tonight of dealing with it, I will next week, because from verse 9 onwards, the first eight verses take us on into the eternal age. But just like in the book of Revelation, you know, sometimes you're going on and then you're just retracing steps and seeing things being repeated. And here it is, it seems as though from verse 9, it's showing us something of that millennial age. But we'll talk more about that later. Here is its nations, incredible city. But look at the materials! My word! Verse 18, down to verse 21. The building of the wall of it was jasper, the city was pure gold. Hey, the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. The foundations of the walls, the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones, jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, sardius, crystallite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprisus, jacinth, amethyst, twelve of them. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, mark this, every several gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, the street was pure gold. Thousands of miles of it, pure gold, as it were, transparent glass. Now what John reveals about this God-built city is incredible, of the wealth and the splendor, properly indescribable. The walls were of jasper, the street of pure gold, the foundations all manner of precious stones, and each gate, each gate, these massive gates, one solid pearl! No oyster could produce one of those. It must have been God. Now can any of us tonight truly envisage the extreme beauty of this celestial city? It displays an extravaganza of the rarest colors. I've been having a look at these stones, I don't mean looking at the stones, but reading up about these kinds of stones. So you have the dark green opaque jasper, the azure blue sapphire, the bluish white pottery gray chalcedony, the green emerald, the flinty stone sardonyx, the fiery blood red sardius, the yellowish green or goldish chrysolite, the aquamarine green beryl. Topaz might either be yellow or perhaps even pale green. I was interested in the chrysoperasus, apple green, but the word chrysoperasus means the green of the leek. A bit of Wales is there. Oh no, no, no, it's all heavenly, it's not earthly. The violet jacinth, the purple violet amethyst. This, this, this is the city, and this is the bride. Talk about beauty, it's breathtaking. We can't, we can't, we can't visualize it. Don't try to. Accept that for what is simply being said, this is the city of God that's come down from God out of heaven. And it is, it describes both the bride and the city itself, a real bride and a real city. Now we've already commented on the jasper, what about the gates of pearl? Now remember the parable of Jesus, the pearl of great price, where he found this pearl, sold all they had in order to be able to purchase it. And we know how forceful an analogy that is of the redemption of the church as one considers the formation of the pearl, its beauty that's born out of suffering. I'm sure that you are acquainted with how a pearl is formed there in the oyster, where just that little particle of, of grit, a little grain of sand has, has entered the living tissue of the oyster and it causes an irritation and it begins to bleed. It's called the nacre or the mother of pearl. And what happens is that this which is, is, is coming out from the oyster forms around that, that irritating particle and it keeps on building on it until that irritating little particle of sand or whatever it might be is completely covered. And what do you have? You have this majestic, this beautiful pearl, a beautiful precious stone. In effect, the oyster gives its life for the pearl. And, and the parable of Jesus is an incredible parable. But here, the gates of the city, each one is of one pearl. So that in that eternal city, France, there is the eternal reminder that we have life out of death. It'll always be before us that this beautifully adorned bride has received her intrinsic glory through the one who gave himself for her, covered that foreign body, covered that sin, completely dealt with it. And instead of something ugly and dreadful, there's something beautiful. The bride adorned for her husband. There's only one means of access to the city and to the throne. It's the sacrifice of the land. Hallelujah. See, to get up this golden street to the throne of God, you've got to come in through the pearl gate. There's only one way of getting into communion with him who sits upon the throne. It's through the one who loved us and gave himself for us. So what it means simply is that the immense atoning work of Christ will only be truly appreciated when we are in glory. It's a massive gate. It's a massive pearl. Because, friends, there has been a massive sacrifice to deal with a massive evil. Hallelujah. And he has brought us by his grace to himself. Oh, hallelujah. Here's the material. But hold on a minute. There's the gold. This street of gold. Ever symbolic of deities we know. And as we have said, it's one street, one street. So from the entrance gate right up to the eternal throne, it's all God. It's all God. You know, friends, we must never lose sight of this. Nothing of human glory, nothing of human achievement is seen here at all. Everything from our coming in to our relationship with God, everything is of God. There's nothing of man in salvation at all. It's all of God. Your faith, your repentance is only what God gave you, gifted you with it. Incredible. You know, Abraham found it difficult to find a dwelling place on earth. He preferred the life of a pilgrim. And he was content to wait until such a day dawned when he would step into this city. He looked for a city, it says in Hebrews 11, a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And I want to say to my friends, cities don't bother me. Houses and land don't bother me. Material things don't bother me. I'm only a pilgrim. I'm waiting to step in to that city, Foursquare. I want to tread that street of gold. And I don't think there'll be any nervous energy expended in getting up close to Him. It'll be wonderful when we are with Him. Let me conclude tonight by just mentioning four things quickly. One, the only lasting reality in life is that which bears upon the eternal purposes of God. Nothing else counts. So get your sights on the things that really matter. Secondly, the realization of such eternal glory is known only by those who by faith have trusted in the Lamb. There's no other way to know the blessedness of this eternal city. Thirdly, since holiness alone befits that day of consummation, then it alone, holiness alone, befits this day of communion. How are we now going to come and present ourselves before God? We can only do so if there's clean hands and a pure heart. And finally, whatever be the opinions of men, and their rebellions, and their unbelief, their scorn, whatever God has decreed, He is going to bring to pass powerfully, perfectly. And I want to say, friends, He's on schedule. Praise the Lord. There's no strikes in glory to hamper the completion of the city. When He is ready, just according to His plan, all be finished. We'll be with Him. Hallelujah. Who's then looking for heaven? Praise the Lord. God is so good. Let's stand in this presence, shall we? Hallelujah.