Mike Bickle explores the profound beauty of God as revealed in the New Jerusalem, emphasizing that this eternal city is a masterpiece of divine creativity and love. He describes the city as a place of ultimate beauty, adorned like a bride, where God's presence dwells among His people, providing a relational and functional experience that surpasses earthly understanding. Bickle encourages believers to cultivate a longing for this city, highlighting its dimensions, the glory of God illuminating it, and the joy of living in close proximity to Him forever. He emphasizes that the New Jerusalem is not just a physical location but a relational reality where love and beauty abound, inviting believers to deepen their understanding and anticipation of this eternal home.

Thank you, Brandon. Hannah, is there any announcements? No announcements? Okay, go ahead and have a seat and we'll get right started. Right away. Well, twice a year in the fall, I play touch football with IHOPU students. So, I'm going to do it this Sunday afternoon at 4 o'clock. We only have room for 20. 10 on 10, you know, with substitutions. Who is interested in doing that? Raise your hand up high. Because we've got a lot of folks over at the IHOPU worship teams. I don't want to tell them if we have too many here. So, we only have about five or six of you. Okay, 4 o'clock over at Grandview High School. I'm sure you know where that is, about real close to here. 4 o'clock to 6 o'clock, touch football with the old guy. Girls are welcome. Sometimes some of our best players are girls. But anyway, we just have fun. I do it twice a year in the fall during football season. Kind of remind me of my old days in college. That was 40 years ago. My wife says, it's time to move on. I said, no, one more season. Anyway, 4 o'clock this Sunday. Be there if you want to. I just want to say on that note, right now Powder Puff is going on. And I did it for two years. Do you remember? Yeah, it was the QB. And our team won the championship one year and became second the next year. But it's super fun. So, football is for girls too. I don't know. One announcement. So, on GBF, we are doing something called Spiritual Emphasis Weeks. I think you guys have probably heard about it. And it is mandatory for FSM freshmen. But it's voluntary for our upperclassmen. So, I just want to give you a heads up. That is happening this next week. And there will be an email with all the details coming to you tomorrow. So, it's Stephen Beauchamp is the one leading the charge. And it's healing, deliverance, prophecy. It's just practical training for them, for you guys, to grow in the Lord. Excellent. Okay, let's look at Session 8 here. Father, we ask you in the name of Jesus. Lord, by the power of the Holy Spirit that you would touch our hearts. Lord, we ask you even now in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, here in Session 8, we're looking at the beauty of God in the New Jerusalem. Now, this is one of the Lord's greatest masterpieces of beauty and creativity. When I think of his creative skills, of course, we think of the heavens, the sky, and all of space. And we're going to talk about that one of the sessions. Then, secondly, we talk about the earth and it has magnificent dimensions. More than just the obvious visual ones. Then we think of the human body, that's number three. Then we think of, we're not going in order, the heavenly court in Revelation chapter 4 and 5. Then I think of the eternal city, the New Jerusalem. Which is the great complex where all the saints live forever. And the throne of God is there with these massive, gloriously beautiful gardens. And all of this beautiful, I mean the atmosphere beyond anything we could imagine. And that's what we're looking at tonight, the New Jerusalem. Which is really one of the Lord's greatest masterpieces that shows his skill in beauty. But it also shows his commitment to beauty. When I look at this chapter, even though we only get hints as to what this city is all about. But it gives us a sense of the Lord's love for beauty. The Lord's commitment to beauty and his ability to bring it to pass. And so I want to encourage you to look at this chapter and go beyond just the surface. I just want to give you an overview of it tonight. But this is a chapter I've looked at through many different commentaries and many different writers. Just to grasp more of it. It's endless because every phrase is like the title to a book. I mean every phrase has so much behind it. If you want to stare at it and go deep in it. Now we have a book that I'm recommending. It's called Visions Beyond the Veil. How many of you have ever heard of that book? Visions Beyond the Veil. We have it on the Schoology. We have a PDF file. You can download it. It's only about 100 pages. I don't really remember. I've read it many times. But it's over the years. It's about that thick. What it is is in about 1905 or 1910, something like that. The Spirit of God fell on an orphanage in China. And these children had these supernatural encounters. And they saw the New Jerusalem. And the leader of the orphanage, he would take. He was a theologian. He was an American missionary that went over there and really deeply committed to the word. He put children in all the different rooms when they were having these encounters. And he would interview them separately without them giving each other any information. And, of course, they're 6, 7, 8, 10 years old. They didn't know the Bible. And they were giving profound, accurate, biblical information. And they were giving the same information without any communication with each other. And so he called that Visions Beyond the Veil. And I've read it over and over. And I don't know how accurate it is. I believe it's somewhat accurate. But, you know, it's a human telling stories from other humans telling their testimony. But it's a man named H.A. Baker. And Heidi Baker is the downline of that. That's Heidi Baker's something, something. And I don't know about, you know, great-grandfather or grandfather or something like that. I know that she's related to him, at least by marriage. And so, anyway, Visions Beyond the Veil, I've read it many times over the years. And I just pull it out. I used to read it to my children. When they were, you know, at bedtime. And they just loved it because it's such a scenic view of the New Jerusalem. So I just want to encourage you. It's on the School of G. Take it out and look at it. And I think it's going to really stir your heart. Let's look at paragraph B. John saw the New Jerusalem. John saw the New Jerusalem, verse 1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. Then verse 2, I saw the holy city coming down out of heaven from God. It was prepared as a bride. Now, the city was adorned and made beautiful by the Lord as a bride would be made beautiful for her husband. So this is God's view of the city. This is His commitment. He goes, I beautified this city with the same extravagance and the same attention to detail that a bride would have preparing for her wedding day. That's the Lord's commitment. That's the Lord's description to the beauty that's in this city. It's been adorned in that way. Paragraph D, this city came down out of heaven. It came down to the earth. Now, three times in the book of Revelation, it tells us that this city comes down to the earth. And it comes down at the second coming. And the city is where we will live with resurrected bodies. But the city will be in proximity, close proximity to the Jerusalem on the earth. And we will live in the city, but we'll rule on the earth. And, of course, our ability to travel between the new Jerusalem and any place on the earth would be as fast as angels can right now. And angels can move pretty quickly from the heavenly realm to the earthly realm and around the earth. And so you'll live in the city, but you'll rule on the earth. And the transportation between the two will be very, very fast. Paragraph F, now the city's construction is, we just get little hints of it here, but it highlights the beauty. The point of the construction is you're to see God's commitment and God's extravagance in the beauty. But don't just look at it as an academic exercise. This is literally going to be your home forever. Think of the dream mansion, the dream context. Like, you know, one guy would say, oh, I'd love to be at a place overlooking the sea where it's 60 degrees every day. And it's beautiful and it's sunny, but it rains sometimes. And the perfect context is what we would want. Well, this city has the garden, the atmosphere, the fragrances, the food. The streets are like transparent gold. There's angels. There's music. There's the throne of God, I'm assuming, at the very top, at the pinnacle. I don't know if it's at the top or the middle or whatever in the city. It doesn't quite tell us where. But paragraph F tells us some details about the walls, the foundations, the gates, and the streets. Now, those are only four facets of the city, and there are many, many more facets. There's a river of life. There's the tree of life, which I don't believe is one tree in one location. I believe it's a whole system of that tree is manifest just like the river all through the city. And not that that book, Visions Beyond the Veil, is inspired or infallible, but it really develops that idea in a pretty dramatic way. Paragraph G, the city's dimensions, it's 1,380 miles high. Now, some Bible translations just kind of round it off and they say 1,500 miles. And so sometimes when I'm just in a hurry, I'll say 1,500 miles because that's what some translations say. But technically, if you really get it down to the technical dimensions, it's 1,380 miles. And the city is laid out. Its length, its width, and its height are the same. So some people imagine it as a cube because everything is the same. Some imagine it like a triangle because that would also have the same dimensions of the length, width, and height. And I don't know which one is which. My guess, if I had to guess, I would guess the triangle with the throne at the top. But that doesn't mean I'm right. The walls are over 200 feet thick. So the walls, I'm assuming, go to the top of the city, the whole 1,300 miles. And they're 200 feet thick, which is about 70 yards, just short of a football field thick. And the walls, you can see, we'll look at what the walls are made of because the walls are meant to make a number of different statements, but our study, our focus, is on the beauty of God because everything in the city has the touch of the most amazing, skillful artist imaginable. I mean, think of God is starting with a blank whiteboard, a blank canvas. He can put the walls anywhere. He can have no walls. He can have a tree or no tree, river or no river. He can have streets of gold, not streets of gold. They could be streets of dirt. He could make it any way he wants to. And with all of his creative skill, the very creativity for which he created his heavenly throne, he put, it's his masterpiece, is his heavenly court scene, the throne scene, which is a massive, complex scene. And then the other dimension of his masterpiece is the city itself. I mean, the kings throughout history, they would put almost no, they would go to, I mean, there's no extreme they would not go to in developing their palace and the gardens and the waters and the fountains around their palace. Well, our great king has done the same. And it is an expression of his beauty that I think most believers don't really pay much attention to. I mean, every now and then they think about it. That's kind of cool. I can't wait to get there. But there's more we can get out of studying this city because this city is to be, the reality of it is to be, Hebrews calls it, an anchor in our soul. Knowing that city is real and we've thought about it, and again, I've read so many, anytime I can get a testimony of somebody that's had an encounter, I don't believe everyone's encounters, and I don't believe that even the real ones are infallible, but I love to read heavenly encounters about that city. It's just one of my hobbies, and it just expands my holy imagination. Again, I don't take it all as exact, but it helps me think outside the box and beyond just the simple phrases right here in the text of Revelation 21 and 22. Well, paragraph 8, so my goal in this one is just to push you out there a little bit and to get you curious and hungry about this city. But the first thing I would read is the Scripture itself, and then I would read like that testimony I just told you, the visions behind the veil. But there's quite a few of them out there. I probably have, I don't really know, maybe 50 books in my home library on visions like this of beyond, and some of them contradict each other, but a lot of them have similarities as well. It's a great getaway. It's a great escape. It's better than any movie you'll ever watch, I promise you. It's like, whoa, let's read that again, really. And I like to picture myself right in the middle of this grandeur, and I always picture music and fragrance and light and colors and the feeling of the power of God and the food is amazing and the water is invigorating. I mean, everything we touch inspires and awakens us in love and strengthens us and helps us see the beauty more clearly. Well, I don't want to wait till then to be fascinated by that city. You know, it says in Hebrews 11 that Abraham was looking for a city, and I think he had a vision of the city, Hebrews 11, he saw the city. My assumption is he had an open vision of the city, then he left the Ur of the Chaldeans, which is Iraq today, modern-day southern Iraq, and he went searching for where that city would be located, and he went to the land of Israel. Of course, there was no Israel then, it was just the land. But the Holy Spirit led him to that place, searching for the city, because that's where that city is going to land on the earth one day. But I think he was looking for the city down on the earth. I think he was looking, Lord, that vision you gave me, where is it at? I don't know, maybe he always knew it was only a vision and it was for the age to come. I don't know that, but he was looking and searching for that city. Well, I'm not looking geographically for it, but in my spirit, I'm searching for that city. I'm looking for it, I study it, I think about it. I ask the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, you know everything about that city. I don't know hardly anything about it. Teach me about that city, lead me even to sources that will give me a little bit more insight on that city. So one of my prayers tonight is that the Lord would mark you with an intrigue and more than intrigue, a hunger to know a little bit more about that city, just a little bit more hunger for that city. Okay, paragraph H. Paragraph H. John presents the city in two different ways. First, he gives a relational view of the city. That's the first part of Revelation 21. Then he gives the functional part of the city. So let's look at paragraph H1. In the relational view of the city, he shows how the goal of the city, the point of the city is nearness to God. It's not just to enjoy the city, although that's clearly God wants us to enjoy the city, but it's the place where nearness to God is ultimate in that city because God Himself lives in the city. So John takes a few verses and describes that nearness. Again, very typical of the book of Revelation, just a phrase, a phrase, a phrase, then he moves on. But those phrases are loaded. Don't look at the phrases in the book of Revelation and just say, okay, I think I got it. Those phrases, I like to say that they're like the title of a book. There's so much behind every one of those phrases that the Holy Spirit has in His heart, and there's keys in the Word to each one of those phrases to develop it. Well, paragraph 2. Then after he describes the city relationally, then he describes the city functionally, and the way he describes it is like the Holy of Holies. You know, the Holy of Holies was in the Temple of Solomon, the Holy of Holies. This city is the ultimate Holy of Holies, but it's not only the Holy of Holies, it's the Garden of Eden. So the Garden of Eden and the Holy of Holies that we have a little snapshot of on the earth, their ultimate reality is the city we're going to live in forever and forever. Now when you think about it, the only two places God has ever dwelt on the earth was first the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and secondly the Shekinah glory, the glory of God dwelt in the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Solomon. Those are the only two places on planet earth that God has ever had any kind of long-term dwelling place. Now in the Holy of Holies, you know, think of the temple as, you know, think of the temple complex as bigger than this building. And there's the outer court, you know, there's a whole lot going on. Then there's the inner court, think of it like the size of this room. And it wasn't quite this big, but just kind of get your mind out. Then the Holy of Holies is like that room over there. It's a lot smaller. And then the Holy of Holies in that room is the Ark of the Covenant. Now the Ark of the Covenant is about the size of this pulpit, but it's long. It's not real big. And the, I'm not being real technical on the details here, but I'm just trying to get you to not have it confusing. So that, like that little, you know, about this size wood, it's long. The Ark of the Covenant is in that little room back there. But the glory of God, it's like the Shekinah Glory, like the burning bush of Moses was resting in that room. And the high priest could only go there once a year, and he would see like what the glory that Moses saw on the burning bush. God Himself was there in that little room, and one guy for a brief moment once a year got to go, oh, look at it. And the Garden of Eden, only two human beings ever lived in it when it was in its fullness before they were sent. And the Lord's saying, I've made you a little bit hungry as a human race by that, just the imagination of what that priest, that high priest once a year for a few moments got a short glimpse of the glory. And Adam and Eve walked in the Garden. He says, now here's where it's going. My people, all of you are going to be in that forever in fullness. Now that's the statement not just of the visual beauty of it, but the beauty, the fact that God devised it that way. You know, I like to think of the beautiful mind. You know, there was a movie some years ago called The Beautiful Mind. Well, I tell you who has the beautiful mind. He's our King. He's our Savior Christ Jesus. He's the one that crafted this whole plan. I mean, a city that is a garden, that is a holy of holies, that the Father's throne, the royal court and the throne are in the middle of it. And we're there with mansions and gardens and rivers and, I mean, all kinds of precious jewels in the walls and the foundation stones in the streets. And I go, Lord, this is awesome. I long for that city. I don't want to just get caught up in the drama down here. Who likes me? Who doesn't like me? What door open? What door closed? If I feel good, if I feel bad, if I got more money or less money. You know, there's so much bigger narrative to our life story than those issues. Those issues are real, but they're very temporary. But we're a part of something really big that's really beautiful, that's really glorious because God, again, started with that blank canvas and it was His creativity that made this city. You know, it could have been any way. And I like to ask, why the walls? Why the streets? Why this way? Why these guys' names on the foundations? How come their names are on the walls? What's happening over there? And I could just imagine the Lord smiling saying, Oh, I have reasons for everything. And you're going to love it when you fully grasp the whole storyline. Okay, let's look at paragraph I. The city is called the bride in Revelation chapter 21. Because we're in chapter 21 and 22 here. It's called the bride in verse 9. The city is called the bride and the people are called the bride. And sometimes people will get in a debate and they'll go, The bride's not the city, the bride's the people. And someone goes, No, it says right here, the bride is the city. Well, the city and the bride are so deeply connected with each other that the bride of Christ, the saints, we have the name of the city written on us. And having the name of the city written on us is not talking about a tattoo. It's talking about having, when God says He writes His name on you or He puts the name of the city, it means that He gives you ownership and revelation about the city and how it functions. There is such a deep identity between the people and the city itself that the Scripture gives both of them the name the bride because the city is the city of the bride. Because everything in the city, I have written here in paragraph I here, the food, the water, the light, the color, the fragrances, the music, everything inspires love. I believe every time we eat of the fruits, every time we drink of the water, every time we smell the atmosphere, every time the fragrance, the songs, it renews and awakens us in love. The whole city atmosphere awakens and strengthens love in the redeemed for the Redeemer forever and forever. And so, if someone wants to push you hard and say, no, it's the city, it's not the people, no, it's the people, not the city, say, no, stop, you're both right. It's the city deeply connected to the people and everything in the city inspires love for the people. And it's the glory of the bride. It's her palace. It's her garden. It's her home. It's her place of enjoyment, her place of safety, her place of reward. It's all of those places mixed into one. That's why it's called the bride. It's appropriately named. Talbot, paragraph 2. Well, let's look at the relational description of the city. And this is as beautiful as the external visual. Now, when we think of beauty, we often think of the external visual of beauty. And that is real. And this city is beautiful visually. But the design of the city, the purpose of the city, the love behind the city, the creation of the city, is an act of beauty and an expression of beauty as well. Paragraph A, John starts off by highlighting ten different declarations the Spirit of God makes. And they're all relational declarations. I'm just going to read them off to you here real quick. Verse 3, he said, I heard a loud voice. And we only assume that loud voice is the voice of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit declares, the tabernacle of God is with them, number 1. Number 2, he will dwell with them. Number 3, they shall be his people. Number 4, he shall be with them. Number 5, he will be their God. Verse 4, number 6, they'll wipe away every tear. God himself will wipe away every tear. I mean, that's remarkable that God himself will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Number 7, no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain. These are these declarations at the introduction of the city so that we know that no matter how spectacular the visual of the city, we know that the relational reality of what happens in the city is even more outstanding than the visual beauty of the city itself. So that starts off with these declarations so we know there's a content of beauty that's relational that actually supersedes the others. Let's look at these just real quick. And every one of these phrases, I mean, they could just have a lot of implications. Some of these phrases overlap in meaning with one another, but they all have some distinctive meanings as well because the very fact that the Spirit of God declared it so clearly and the phrases in the book of Revelation are so brief. The brevity of the book of Revelation is part of its message because the Lord gives a phrase and then he's done with it. He says, now search out the phrase like, Lord, give me more. He goes, well, there's more in the Bible. And the Holy Spirit knows everything about it. Search it out and talk to him. It was like the brevity of the book of Revelation. It just creates hunger and intrigue. And I got to know more about that phrase. I'm not happy with one phrase. And the Lord says, good, you got a long time. You got your life in this age. You got billions of years. You go on a treasure hunt. You go for it all the way. And so that's what we want to do. First declaration, paragraph B, the tabernacle of God is with us. What is the opening declaration is there's a new order of life for the human family. And this new order of life is that God's throne is on the earth. That's what it's talking about because it's the new Jerusalem coming down to the earth. God always wanted his throne or his tabernacle to be on the earth with Adam and Eve. That's where it was always meant to go. And there was a delay between Adam and Eve and now. But God says, I'm going to get my throne on the earth. And I'm going to be face-to-face with the human race in the natural realm. Because at the second coming, Jesus is going to bring the supernatural dimension of the resurrection down to the earth. So we have the natural and the supernatural joined together. So we'll have physical resurrected bodies. We'll have physical food. We will really have physical existence. But without the physical dimension suspended, but rather enhanced by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. That's where this thing is going. So it starts off. My throne. That's what he means in essence. My tabernacle. My throne and all that's related to it. The whole governmental complex of my person and my heavenly court. I'm coming down. I'm going to be on the earth forever. It's like, wow, that's intense. Then number two, paragraph C. He goes, I'm going to dwell with them. You know, we have records in the Bible where God had temporarily dwelled with his people. We have a few moments in history where God would dwell with his people in a brief way. Like when Solomon's temple was dedicated in 2 Chronicles 5-7. It says, the glory came down so strong none of the priests could even stand. The glory of God was so powerful they couldn't function. It came down on the temple. Of course, that's what was happening as the glory of God was being established in the Holy of Holies. It was a very big moment. But it kind of overwhelmed everybody in the process. But it was the great hour they talked about. Remember that one meeting? My goodness, we blew the trumpets and the glory came down. Everybody went, wow. Well then, we're back to normal now. So it was a temporary manifestation of the Lord. Well, then we have another one that was real special in the upper room. In Acts chapter 2, the day of Pentecost, 120 people. And the Holy Spirit comes like fire and rests on them. It says, 120, they see the Spirit. It's resting on one another. They could actually see it. I could see it on you. You could see it on me. The fire was on them. Well, that lasted a little while. I don't know if it was minutes or hours, but then it was lifted. But the Lord's saying, paragraph C, no, this is going to be permanent. It's going to be full and it's going to be final and permanent. I will dwell with you. Not a temporary meeting where you talk about that one time where the Lord visited. Paragraph D, they shall be His people. He will take full responsibility for abundantly providing, protecting, directing His people in fullness. He goes, you will be mine. I will openly display my ownership over you and take full responsibility for all of your needs and your happiness. That's a big statement. Paragraph E, God Himself will be with them. I think of God walking in the garden with Adam. And Jesus, it says in Revelation 1 and 2, He walked in the midst of the candlesticks, which were the churches. It's the Lord walking in the garden with us, the Lord with His people, in deep interaction with them forever. Paragraph F, it says, He shall be their God. Now in the people, in this kind of encounter with the Lord, in this environment, they will trust Him. They will worship Him. You are our God forever settled. See, there were a few moments in Israel's history where the God of Israel was their God. And they walked it out. They obeyed Him. They trusted Him. They loved Him. Well, this is not going to be a short-term season, you know, a revival season where everybody's on fire for the Lord. But they will be, He shall be their God. They say, You're our God. We're worshiping You fully until the end. We won't back away. What a dynamic statement. Gee, He'll wipe away every tear. But the Scripture says that God Himself will do it. You know, that's hard to imagine exactly what that is, but, you know, because there's a couple billion people, I imagine, in that city. But it's the tender care of the Lord, then there's no more death. Obviously, people won't die, but I think animals won't die. I got a question mark there. I know dog lovers go, Get that question mark off of there. But I guess it's everybody, you know. I mean, all, I guess, it doesn't say it, but it says no more death. So there you have it. Now, this is in the New Jerusalem, okay? This isn't on the Millennial Earth. This is inside the city, because on the Millennial Earth, there still will be death with people with natural bodies, et cetera. But, folks, you'll be living in the city with a resurrected body. Number eight, no more sorrow, no shame, no sting of failure, no pain of past trauma, no more crying, no regret, no sense of loss, no sense of rejection. There'll be no pain. There'll be no physical pain. There'll be no injuries. There'll be no emotional pain. All of these things are gone. So the beauty of the city first starts off in this serene, secure, fully satisfied people that are in a position of adoration and partnership, fully engaged with the Lord and the Lord delighting in His people. That's the beauty of those first nine verses, of those first eight verses. It's laid out there. It's relational in its focus there. Top of page three. Now we're going to look at the, now not the relational term, understanding the city through relational lens, but now looking at the city through a functional lens. And the city is going to function like the Holy of Holies, and it's going to function like the Garden of Eden. Paragraph A, the new Jerusalem will function as an ultimate Holy of Holies, and it will function as a Garden of Eden. Now I mentioned this before. These are the only two places on earth of which God dwelt with His people in any kind of, I wouldn't say permanent, but even a little bit of a consistent way. Now paragraph B, we're going to subdivide it a little bit more. John is seeing the city first from an external view, because it says here in Revelation 22, verse 9, that the angel says, I'm going to show you the bride. This is where the city is called the bride. I'm going to show you the Lamb's wife. But it's more, the bride isn't, again, only the city. It's the city identified in complete union with the people. Because it's in chapter 19, the people, Revelation 19, the people are called the bride, chapter 21. The city is because they go together. And maybe he even saw evidence of the people in the city. I don't know. That would be conjecture. Verse 10, but John says, he was carried away on a high mountain. So he's on a high mountain looking down. He's getting an external view of the city. And through the external view, he describes it like the Holy of Holies. And we'll look at that in just a few moments. Then after that, he has an internal view of the city. And it's the Garden of Eden. He's describing the river. He's describing the tree of life, et cetera. Let's go to paragraph C. Well, he's looking at the city like a Holy of Holies. But it's spectacular. The Holy Jerusalem, verse 10, paragraph C, having the glory of God. Of course, that's the essence of the Holy of Holies. It had the Shekinah glory. Again, like that burning bush of Moses is the picture of the Shekinah glory. But it's not just in a little back room, the Holy of Holies. It's in the city in a glorious way. It says, the city, verse 11, has the glory of God. But it's not just an ethereal, weighty presence of God. But it has light. It's like a precious stone. And he goes on to define it as a jasper stone that's clear as crystal. Now, the ancient jasper stone wasn't a translucent stone like this. But John is saying, this jasper stone, he's defining it here. It's translucent. It's crystal. It's like a diamond. It's radiant. You can see through it. It's reflecting light, and it has colors in it. So the light that was radiating through the whole city had this illumination dimension. And I don't believe it's just all white. Because we're going to look at it in a moment. There's all these different colored stones that the light is reflecting all through the city. And then there's the resurrected bodies, and there's the river, and all the angels, and all the instruments. And oh my goodness, I can't wait. Anyway, let's get back to the class. Okay, paragraph D. Paragraph D. So this city is filled with light like a jasper stone clears crystal. That's paragraph C, now to E. Now the design of the city. The city's design, it has 12 gates. It has high walls. And again, the walls may be the whole 1380 miles. It just says they're real high, and then the city is 1380. So, you know, a lot of folks conclude, well if the city's that high, the walls are that high. But it doesn't actually technically say the walls go to the full extent of the city. But maybe they do. But they're great, and they're high. And maybe they're 1380 miles. And we know that they're 200 feet thick. And there's 12 gates. And at each gate, there's 12 angels. Now these angels, I have no doubt, are spectacularly beautiful beings. I don't have this idea that they're these kind of like angels, you know, that live under the bridge. You know, I got this idea that they're brilliant and well-kept and powerful and choice angels. I mean, there's only 12 gates in the whole city. Imagine 12 gates in the city. And we find out in verse 13 that there's three on the east side, three on the west, three on the north, three on the south. So it's almost 1,500 miles. 1,500 miles. There's only three entrances on that 1,380-mile big space there. So about every 300 or 400 miles is a gate. Then another 300-plus miles is another gate. Then another 300-plus miles is another gate, and then you get to the corner. And then it turns, and then it goes, you know, 1,380 miles the other direction. There's only three gates there as well. And so I imagine these gates are probably massive. I don't imagine they're a gate, you know, where only three people could get through. They're the most massive, glorious, beautiful gates. The color, the structure, the architecture, the art on them, the messaging in them. The angels that are guarding them. I mean, I'm imagining these gates are massive. I mean, I'm just making this up, but maybe it's a gate like a mile wide, you know, not like a few yards. And this massive angel probably has other angels tasked with them because kings from the earth and people from the millennial earth are actually bringing their glory into the city. And there's a checkpoint, so to speak, because nothing defiled can enter the city ever. And there's gates that are guarding the city. I mean, there's angels guarding the city. Well, these gates, you know, just like in great cities today, they name the gates according to honorable people. And the name of a gate has a really important part of the history of a city. But the name of the gates are the 12 sons of Israel. Now, the strange part is those 12 sons of Israel, when you read their life in the book of Genesis, they were not that amazing in their dedication to the Lord. I look at those and go, wow. You know, those guys, a few of those guys had some really rough spots in their character. And so the Lord's even making a statement about his heart and his commitment to his covenant with his people that he would put their names on the gate that would last forever. And the Lord says, that's how serious my covenant is, my covenant with my people. Of course, it starts with Israel. Then it comes through Jesus and on the whole earth is invited into the covenant. But God made the covenant with Abraham and then his, you know, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and then the 12 sons. And the Lord's saying, no, that covenant I made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their 12 boys under Jacob, he goes, that covenant is bigger than their failure. My heart is bigger than their stumbling. And I'm not ashamed to put their name on the gates. I think, Lord, maybe that one guy, maybe not put his name, maybe slip David's name. Well, no, David had a few bad ones too. Let me think. Put, hmm, I mean, Isaiah did good. I mean, we don't see anything negative. Anyway, Lord's not asking my advice. But it's amazing that these guys' names are there. Again, that's a statement about God. Then verse 14, there's the 12 foundation stones because there's foundations to the city. But these foundations are beautiful. They're works of art. And they have, again, messaging in them. And they're not just beautiful visually, but there's beautiful messaging in the way they're laid out, what they look like, and the names of the 12 apostles. And part of it is, the Lord is saying, the new covenant with the apostles, the old covenant with the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 patriarchs, it's one new man. It's one new people. It's old and new together forever as one family. That's one of the statements that he's making. Paragraph E, then the city's laid out as a square. Its length, its height, and its breadth are all the same. And it's 12,000 furlongs, which is the 1,380 miles. And its length and its width and its height are equal. Again, that could be a cube or it could be a triangle. Either way, that description would work. It's hard to know which one for sure, but I'm sure we'll be totally happy either way it goes. Verse 17, then the walls are 216 feet thick. Paragraph D, I mean paragraph 4. Page 4, paragraph F. Now John describes the beauty of the walls, the foundations, the gates, and the street. Again, I just know there's so much below the surface here. I'm not content to read verse 18 and 19 and move on. I want to look at those and say, Holy Spirit, I've searched them out through commentaries, through word studies on these precious stones. What do they mean in history? What value do they have in society? What do they look like? Is there any clues in that way of study to give us insight into this city? But again, we don't have time to go through all of that here. I'm just trying to stir up your hunger for that. Well, the construction of the wall was jasper. The city was pure gold, like transparent or clear glass. One translation says transparent glass. So the walls are like diamond-like, pure, transparent, glass-like gold. I mean there's no such material like that on the earth. John's going, that's the best I can come up with. That's why he's using the word like. He goes, it's like clear glass. It isn't clear glass. We don't have anything down here that this city's like. And as I've read the testimonies of others who's had heavenly experiences, again, I don't believe them all and I don't think they're all 100% accurate and all that, but I'd love to read them. They all have the same thing. Like Paul the Apostle said, he said, I don't have words to describe it. In 2 Corinthians 12, he said, it's beyond, it's unutterable. There's no color like this. There's no sound like that music. There's no fragrance like that fragrance. Nothing on the earth is like it. There's no taste like that taste. And so they always use words like this, comparative words, but not the actual substance because the substance is more grand. Then it gives the 12 different stones. Again, I'd urge you to do a little, even a little word study on them, what they meant in history, what their value, what their color, what their use, and that gives us a little bit of insights. Verse 21, the 12 gates were 12 pearls. Now remember, these gates aren't some little gate that three people get through. This gate, I don't know how big, but there's only 300, three of them over 1,500 miles, so those gates are big and they're spread out. They're like pearls. I mean, that's, I can only imagine what, you know, I'm picturing it. Again, this is completely fabricated. I mean, it's not there in the Scripture, but I'm picturing the gate a mile long and a half mile high, and I just make that up. I don't really know any of it. But don't have some little dinky little gate with a little pearl, you know, at the top of the door or something. Have a big imagination when you look at this. The street was pure gold like transparent glass. Okay, paragraph Roman numeral 5, now he gives an internal view. It's like the Garden of Eden. Let's go down to paragraph C just for the time's sake here. It says the city had no need of the sun. There's a sun over the millennial earth, but there's not a sun inside the city. Why? Because the glory of Jesus illuminates the city. Like that is amazing. I mean, how does this work? Everywhere he goes, it's like out of his being is as bright as the sun. You have to turn away. Like I don't know how it works, but out of the Lamb himself, the city is illuminated in a way that there is no need for the sun. Verse 24, the nations, they'll walk in its light. So the light in that city will be seen on the earth, although the earth will still have a natural sun and moon and those kinds of things. But there will be a light emanating out of the city that will impact. I don't know how far it will reach, but I have no doubt it will be far reaching. When it says the saved will walk in its light, it means it's moral, spiritual truth and light. But I have no doubt that it means it's actual light spills over from the city, creating a tremendous illumination all around. And then the kings of the earth, they bring the glory of their nation. They bring offerings. You know, there's 200 nations in the earth approximately. And I don't know how many nations will be in the earth when the Lord returns, because I'm sure the number will be higher or lower. It will shift some. But the kings will bring the glory of their nation into the city and offer it to the Lamb of God as an offering. Now, He will use it to be a blessing in the way He wants. I mean, He doesn't need another, you know, a chest of gold or anything or another ring or another plaque. But He'll take that and undoubtedly distribute it in ways that will benefit the earth in a way that other nations, they'll bring the glory, the wealth of those nations and in statements of their achievement and progress. They'll bring it in and offer it to Him. Verse 25, the gates will never be closed. So 24-7, night and day. He says there's no night there. So if you're going to do the night watch, you've got to do it now in this age because there is no night watch. But, you know, I'm being a little tongue-in-cheek there, but when the glory of God is fully present, there's no need for a night watch. The night watch is because the glory of God isn't fully present. That's why we need the night watch. But verse 26, He says it again, that the kings, they'll bring the glory, they'll bring the achievements, the resource, the wealth, offer it to the Lamb, and the Lamb will distribute it in where it has need. And we have no insight on that. We just know He's real smart and He's real kind and He knows what He's doing. Verse 27, there's nothing defiling can get in that city. So He protects that city because there still is some defilement in the millennial earth. Paragraph D, John highlights life inside the city. People are empowered by drinking the water and eating the tree of life. I think this river will be all through the city. I don't think it's one stream that a couple billion people all go to that one stream, that one part of the city. My assumption, it's spread out all over the city, that river is, and that tree of life isn't one tree with 12 branches, but it's all over, the root system is all over the city. That's my assumption. It bears 12 types of fruit, each tree yielding fruit every month. Probably, I'm guessing, thousands of types of diversity of every one of those fruits. I have some stats on this, but I'm forgetting them, so I'll just kind of make it up. There's like 800 types of bananas and 900 types of apples. I did a study on that. The number of types of fruits and vegetables, you can't imagine the numbers, how many. So when I look at this, don't imagine there's, well, we got 100 billion years and 12 types. We got either apples, peaches, or bananas. We got a billion years to go, gee whiz. No, don't think that way. There's so much diversity, and everything he does is diversity and goodness and abundance and extravagance. So don't think you got to choose between apples, bananas, and pears for 12 for a couple billion years. The leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations. I believe that the kings of the earth bring the leaves of the trees back to their nation, and they incorporate it into the agricultural, the soil, the atmosphere. They get it into the mix of what's happening in their nation, and it actually brings healing to the agriculture, to the environment. So my guess is they bring the leaves with them, and it integrates. They have many different ways to combine it with what's going on in those nations, and it heals nations in many, many ways. That's a big subject for another day. Paragraph E, we'll end with this. The throne of God and the throne of the Lamb are in the New Jerusalem, but the throne of the Lamb is in the Millennial Jerusalem. So people say, well, which is it? Is the throne in the New Jerusalem or the Millennial? I believe it's one throne in a vast governmental complex. That's why I call it the mountain city house, the mountain throne temple house of the Lord. It's the mountain of the Lord. It's the house of the Lord. It's the temple of the Lord. It's the throne of the Lord. It's one vast governmental complex in the New Jerusalem on the Millennial Earth, vast and glorious, with one glorious king over all of it, and he's the one who died for you. Verse 4, you'll see his face. You'll see the face of the Father. Forever the Father is coming down to the earth. And verse 5, there shall be no night there and no lamp, because the Lord will give them light, and it says, he ends the description, but the people that are in the city, so John sees the people just a little bit here, a little glimpse of the people, they will reign forever, meaning out of the overflow of the light, the splendor, the glory, the food, the water, the closest to God, out of that empowerment and that strength, they reign and they, in partnership with Jesus, they bring his rule to all the earth. So that's his beautiful plan in his beautiful garden city for his beautiful people, and that's where we're going, and I can't wait to get there, but I'm not going to speed it up. Okay, amen and amen. Let me pray for you. Father, I ask you for the spirit of glory, Lord, just to touch us. God, I ask you for the spirit of glory to rest upon us. In the name of Jesus, release the spirit of glory on our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.