¤ ¤ 00:00:01.36\00:00:19.25 Welcome again and thank you for joining us for Eternal Truths 00:00:19.28\00:00:23.25 Matter. Some time ago I was talking to my friend. Now this 00:00:23.28\00:00:26.25 friend was really enamored with sports. He just loved sports. 00:00:26.29\00:00:29.69 And if we would go out to do something together he would 00:00:29.72\00:00:33.73 record the sport game. He would say to me, Mark if you're 00:00:33.76\00:00:37.63 reading the news and you happen to see the score don't tell me 00:00:37.67\00:00:41.94 because I want to be in suspense I want to come down to the last 00:00:41.97\00:00:45.07 moments of the game and I want to discover then who won. Let me 00:00:45.11\00:00:49.21 give you some good news. In the conflict between good and evil. 00:00:49.24\00:00:53.31 We already know the final score. When you take a look at the book 00:00:53.35\00:00:58.25 of Revelation here's the thing. Jesus wins and Satan loses. We 00:00:58.29\00:01:03.63 don't have to have any doubt about who is going to win in 00:01:03.66\00:01:08.00 this final conflict. That's what I'm talking about during this 00:01:08.03\00:01:12.10 program. The Winner in the final conflict. The last few chapters 00:01:12.13\00:01:16.14 of the book of Revelation. Let's pray. 00:01:16.17\00:01:18.27 Father in heaven, thank you so much for Jesus. Thank you so 00:01:18.31\00:01:23.14 much for his love. Thank you so much that as we read Revelation 00:01:23.18\00:01:27.25 we know that we can be on the winning side through Jesus 00:01:27.28\00:01:31.29 Christ our Lord. Amen. 00:01:31.32\00:01:32.92 A number of years ago when my son, Mark Jr., was just a little 00:01:32.95\00:01:39.09 tyke, my wife came home from the barber with him. That was one of 00:01:39.13\00:01:44.53 his early haircuts. My wife Teenie said Mark you need to go 00:01:44.57\00:01:46.94 down and get a haircut. I said but dear my hair is not that 00:01:46.97\00:01:50.84 bad. What do you mean I got to go down and get a haircut. I 00:01:50.87\00:01:52.34 got one a couple weeks ago. She said, But look I just took our 00:01:52.37\00:01:56.81 son to the barber and as I was at the barber, I overheard the 00:01:56.85\00:01:59.68 younger barber saying something like this: There was a man 00:01:59.71\00:02:03.12 sitting in the barber's chair and he was reading the newspaper 00:02:03.15\00:02:06.35 And the man reading the newspaper said to the barber, 00:02:06.39\00:02:09.49 You know you can't read any good news in the newspaper anymore. 00:02:09.52\00:02:12.56 Everything you read there is scary, everything you read there 00:02:12.59\00:02:16.46 you just get so frightened with it. I mean there's war, there's 00:02:16.50\00:02:19.07 conflict, there's natural disasters, there's fires and 00:02:19.10\00:02:21.47 floods all over the place. Robberies. And the barber said 00:02:21.50\00:02:24.64 if you think the newspaper is scary you should read the book 00:02:24.67\00:02:29.14 of Revelation. I tried it for the first time last night. And 00:02:29.18\00:02:31.55 all I could find were beasts and conflict and these evil 00:02:31.58\00:02:36.62 creatures. So he said, I was so scared I could hardly sleep all 00:02:36.65\00:02:41.22 night. So my wife said Mark, you got to go down there. You 00:02:41.26\00:02:43.83 need to talk to that barber about Revelation. So as a 00:02:43.86\00:02:47.93 faithful husband, I went down to the barbershop. Sat there with 00:02:47.96\00:02:52.17 three barbers. Older man came to me and I said, No, no, Thank 00:02:52.20\00:02:55.10 you. I'm waiting for that man over there. Well, do you know 00:02:55.14\00:02:57.77 him? Well no but my wife recommends him. But I'm thinking 00:02:57.81\00:03:01.94 and praying, How can I help this barber to understand the book 00:03:01.98\00:03:03.31 of Revelation. So I got an idea. I picked up a newspaper, sat in 00:03:03.35\00:03:07.75 barber chair. And as I began to read the newspaper I said you 00:03:07.78\00:03:12.45 know sir everything in this newspaper is scary. It is really 00:03:12.49\00:03:16.62 scary. I mean, you look at all that's happening and he kind of 00:03:16.66\00:03:21.36 looked at me and he said, You think the newspaper is scary, 00:03:21.40\00:03:24.23 what about Revelation? I said well maybe you haven't read the 00:03:24.27\00:03:26.20 last few chapters of Revelation. Because there it presents great 00:03:26.23\00:03:30.84 hope. And I said all through Revelation you have the hope 00:03:30.87\00:03:33.24 of Christ Jesus. He said do you know anything about Revelation? 00:03:33.27\00:03:36.38 Well, I know a little bit. You want to study it together? Sure. 00:03:36.41\00:03:41.78 So we began to study it and thank God the barber accepted 00:03:41.82\00:03:45.35 Jesus. We gave him some of my tapes while we were traveling. 00:03:45.39\00:03:47.06 And he was able to listen to them and he was baptized and 00:03:47.09\00:03:50.59 became a faithful Christian. But here's the point. The last few 00:03:50.63\00:03:54.80 chapters of the book of Revelation are really amazing. 00:03:54.83\00:03:58.83 Because they reveal the victory of Christ. Now you remember in 00:03:58.87\00:04:03.14 our previous studies we studied the fact that God has a message 00:04:03.17\00:04:07.64 for humanity at end time. That message is found in the book of 00:04:07.68\00:04:11.01 Revelation, chapter 14. It's a call to worship Christ. It's a 00:04:11.05\00:04:14.12 call to the everlasting gospel. It's a call to worship the 00:04:14.15\00:04:17.25 creator. And then we've read about in Revelation 14:8 about 00:04:17.29\00:04:21.26 this Babylon, this apostate religion that passes around its 00:04:21.29\00:04:25.49 wine cup full of false doctrines We read about that in 00:04:25.53\00:04:28.70 Revelation 17 and in Revelation 18. Now Revelation 19 comes with 00:04:28.73\00:04:36.24 a glorious climax. Revelation 19, 20, 21 and 22 bring all of 00:04:36.27\00:04:40.38 Revelation together and they're the climax of the great 00:04:40.41\00:04:42.91 controversy between good and evil. So we want to see some 00:04:42.94\00:04:45.95 wonderful things in these chapters, some encouraging 00:04:45.98\00:04:48.35 things. So Babylon falls, Christ wins, Satan loses. Revelation 00:04:48.38\00:04:51.75 chapter 19 we're starting there with verse 11: And I saw heaven 00:04:51.79\00:04:56.66 opened...John says I saw this... behold a white horse; the 00:04:56.69\00:05:03.03 symbolism of a general conquering. And he that sat on 00:05:03.06\00:05:06.57 was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness, he judges 00:05:06.60\00:05:10.01 and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, on his 00:05:10.04\00:05:13.51 head were many crowns and he had a name written that no man 00:05:13.54\00:05:16.75 knew, but he himself. He was clothed with a vesture dipped in 00:05:16.78\00:05:20.18 blood; and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies 00:05:20.22\00:05:23.62 which were in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in 00:05:23.65\00:05:26.45 fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth was a sharp 00:05:26.49\00:05:29.62 sword, that he should smite the nations: he should rule them 00:05:29.66\00:05:32.16 with a rod of iron: and treads the winepress of the fierceness 00:05:32.19\00:05:35.73 and the wrath of Almighty God. And on his vesture and on his 00:05:35.76\00:05:40.24 thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords. Here 00:05:40.27\00:05:46.21 is Jesus, here is the triumph of the ages, here is Christ who 00:05:46.24\00:05:51.35 triumphs over the principalities and powers of hell. But let's 00:05:51.38\00:05:54.12 look at these verses phrase by phrase. He says: I saw heaven 00:05:54.15\00:05:59.49 open, behold a white horse. When a Roman general, when a Roman 00:05:59.52\00:06:07.40 general came back from conquering a nation he often 00:06:07.43\00:06:12.23 rode on a white horse with behind him the trophies of 00:06:12.27\00:06:16.37 conquest. They would often bring captives back, they would use 00:06:16.40\00:06:19.57 them as slaves. They would bring bootie back, gold, silvers that 00:06:19.61\00:06:24.05 they had found in those places. So the symbolism of the white 00:06:24.08\00:06:27.78 horse in ancient Rome was very significant because it indicates 00:06:27.82\00:06:31.19 triumph, it indicates purity, it indicates particularly 00:06:31.22\00:06:34.42 victory is what it indicates. Now the one on the white horse 00:06:34.46\00:06:38.96 was Faithful and True. Jesus is Faithful and True. What he says 00:06:38.99\00:06:42.50 about the end times is true. What he says about his final 00:06:42.53\00:06:45.07 conflict is true. And in righteousness he judges and 00:06:45.10\00:06:48.47 makes war. Many nations don't judge in righteousness but this 00:06:48.50\00:06:52.07 war that Jesus makes is over evil. It is to destroy evil, 00:06:52.11\00:06:55.38 wickedness, sin, and suffering. His eyes were as the flame of 00:06:55.41\00:06:58.91 fire and on his head many crowns He had a name written nobody 00:06:58.95\00:07:01.85 knew but himself. He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. 00:07:01.88\00:07:06.05 Now that is an interesting expression, vesture dipped in 00:07:06.09\00:07:08.62 blood. It could mean two things. One: That Christ comes reminding 00:07:08.66\00:07:12.43 us of the blood of Christ. We're only saved through Jesus' blood. 00:07:12.46\00:07:14.76 There's no other way to be saved His blood was shed to reveal the 00:07:14.80\00:07:19.23 character of God, the goodness of God, the graciousness of God. 00:07:19.27\00:07:21.57 His blood was shed to atone for our sins so that we can live 00:07:21.60\00:07:26.11 righteous lives. But there's another possibility for this 00:07:26.14\00:07:29.01 phrase, vesture dipped in blood. It can be a reminder of all the 00:07:29.04\00:07:32.78 martyrs who have suffered down through the ages and that Christ 00:07:32.81\00:07:35.32 is coming to resurrect them from their graves and they can live 00:07:35.35\00:07:38.45 with him forever. It says that his name's called the Word of 00:07:38.49\00:07:44.39 God. That's why we call this series the Eternal Truths Matter 00:07:44.43\00:07:47.06 series because it's based on the Word of God. But notice what 00:07:47.10\00:07:52.90 it says here down in verse 15: Out of his mouth goes a sharp 00:07:52.93\00:07:56.40 sword. What's the sword? It's the sword of the Spirit, the 00:07:56.44\00:07:58.67 word of God. And it says on his thigh is written King of kings 00:07:58.71\00:08:02.38 and Lord of lords. So one day the whole universe will bow 00:08:02.41\00:08:06.75 before his feet. One day the whole universe will sing his 00:08:06.78\00:08:09.98 praises. One day the whole universe will sing Worthy, 00:08:10.02\00:08:13.25 Worthy is the Lamb. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. 00:08:13.29\00:08:19.59 God's word is going to triumph. God's purposes are going to 00:08:19.63\00:08:23.70 triumph. God's plan is going to triumph. God's people will 00:08:23.73\00:08:27.87 triumph with him. Now Christ comes and as he comes, returns 00:08:27.90\00:08:34.28 to this earth, comes in a cloud of glory. Every eye will see 00:08:34.31\00:08:37.35 him. every ear will hear it. He comes and the righteous dead are 00:08:37.38\00:08:41.48 resurrected to receive their immortal bodies. He comes and 00:08:41.52\00:08:45.49 the righteous living are changed in an instant, in the twinkling 00:08:45.52\00:08:50.29 of an eye and the righteous ascend to heaven with Christ. 00:08:50.33\00:08:53.06 Now what happens at that point? Revelation 20 verses 1 and 2. 00:08:53.09\00:08:58.57 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of 00:08:58.60\00:09:03.81 the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid 00:09:03.84\00:09:07.44 hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, 00:09:07.48\00:09:10.51 and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. Now this 00:09:10.55\00:09:14.45 bottomless pit, what is this all about? The bottomless pit is not 00:09:14.48\00:09:20.89 some subterranean cavern deep within the earth. The term 00:09:20.92\00:09:26.03 bottomless pit comes from an expression in the Greek language 00:09:26.06\00:09:29.60 it's abusos abusa so which means this kind of dark and desolate 00:09:29.63\00:09:34.77 place. So the devil is bound here on earth with a chain, not 00:09:34.80\00:09:40.54 a literal chain, but a chain of circumstances. He's chained in 00:09:40.58\00:09:45.21 the darkness. And imagine it. The devil is here. When Christ 00:09:45.25\00:09:48.22 comes the wicked are destroyed by the brightness of his coming 00:09:48.25\00:09:51.15 the wicked living. The wicked dead stay in their graves. And 00:09:51.19\00:09:54.72 Satan is here bound on earth for that thousand years. God's 00:09:54.76\00:09:58.86 people are in heaven with him. At the end of the thousand years 00:09:58.89\00:10:01.93 according to the Bible, the Holy City descends. And as it 00:10:01.96\00:10:06.17 descends the rest of the dead that Satan and his evil hosts 00:10:06.20\00:10:09.30 rise up to take that city. They are destroyed by the fires of 00:10:09.34\00:10:15.51 God's presence, sin is destructed, sin is combustible 00:10:15.54\00:10:19.91 material and eventually the earth is made new. That leads us 00:10:19.95\00:10:23.89 to Revelation chapters 21 and 22 where I want to spend most of my 00:10:23.92\00:10:27.99 time with you during this presentation. Revelation 21 John 00:10:28.02\00:10:34.16 says: I saw...John says I saw it...a new heaven and a new 00:10:34.20\00:10:39.30 earth: the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; 00:10:39.33\00:10:42.20 there was no more sea...That's no more separation...I John saw 00:10:42.24\00:10:45.51 the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of 00:10:45.54\00:10:50.05 heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I 00:10:50.08\00:10:53.75 heard a great voice out of heaven saying, saying Behold the 00:10:53.78\00:10:56.12 tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and 00:10:56.15\00:10:59.52 they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, 00:10:59.55\00:11:01.62 and be their God. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; 00:11:01.66\00:11:05.43 there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There'll 00:11:05.46\00:11:08.86 be no more pain: for the former things are passed away. Here 00:11:08.90\00:11:12.73 scripture makes it plain. John says, I saw it. This is no make 00:11:12.77\00:11:16.91 believe. This is not some figment of some human author's 00:11:16.94\00:11:20.28 imagination. This is not some fantasy. John says I saw it. 00:11:20.31\00:11:23.75 I saw the Holy City coming down from God out of heaven. And he 00:11:23.78\00:11:28.98 says there's a voice in heaven that said, there's a great voice 00:11:29.02\00:11:33.15 in heaven. Here's a solemn announcement. Here's a voice 00:11:33.19\00:11:36.42 that goes out to the ends of the earth. God is moving. God is 00:11:36.46\00:11:41.83 moving. Right now our planets encircle the sun. Earth and the 00:11:41.86\00:11:48.87 other planets in our orbit in our universe circles the sun. 00:11:48.90\00:11:51.77 in some great cosmic circle, but we're told that our solar system 00:11:51.81\00:11:56.88 is one of multiple solar systems that are revolving around a 00:11:56.91\00:12:00.38 cosmic center. All of life, everything animate and inanimate 00:12:00.42\00:12:06.35 all of life and all of the material world circles around 00:12:06.39\00:12:12.06 God's throne. God's throne is the cosmic control center of the 00:12:12.09\00:12:16.30 universe. God's throne is the Command Center of the universe. 00:12:16.33\00:12:20.34 And there the destiny of nations is guided by God. There although 00:12:20.37\00:12:26.81 God lets human beings make choices God is guiding and 00:12:26.84\00:12:30.98 superintending and trying to bring about the best of evil 00:12:31.01\00:12:35.95 men's choices. So that's the cosmic control center but this 00:12:35.98\00:12:43.36 announcement said: The great voice out of heaven says behold 00:12:43.39\00:12:46.19 tabernacle of God...that's the dwelling place of God...that is 00:12:46.23\00:12:49.93 with men. He'll dwell with them, they'll be his people. God 00:12:49.96\00:12:52.73 himself shall be with them and be their God. So can you imagine 00:12:52.77\00:12:55.47 the Holy City comes down and here God takes this planet in 00:12:55.50\00:13:00.14 rebellion, this war-torn, famine stricken, polluted earth. He 00:13:00.18\00:13:05.15 remakes it into the spender of Eden and as he does this becomes 00:13:05.18\00:13:11.42 the center of the universe because God's dwelling place is 00:13:11.45\00:13:15.36 here. And he takes this planet in rebellion and he makes it 00:13:15.39\00:13:18.73 over again into something of beauty. If God can do that for 00:13:18.76\00:13:21.76 this wicked old earth, he can do it for your life. He can take a 00:13:21.80\00:13:25.60 life that's rebelled against him He can take a life where 00:13:25.63\00:13:29.77 mistakes have been made, sins have been committed and there's 00:13:29.80\00:13:31.77 condemnation and guilt and shame and God can take that life and 00:13:31.81\00:13:37.05 God can make it over again my friend. If he can do it for this 00:13:37.08\00:13:39.71 planet, he can do it for you. And then it talks about the Holy 00:13:39.75\00:13:42.38 City. I do like verse 5 here though and we should pause and 00:13:42.42\00:13:46.05 just take a quick look at that. It says: And he that sat upon 00:13:46.09\00:13:50.19 the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said, 00:13:50.23\00:13:53.40 Write: For these words are true and faithful. He says I make all 00:13:53.43\00:13:56.80 things new. He will do it for the planet and he will do it for 00:13:56.83\00:13:59.77 your life. Whatever valley you're walking through this day 00:13:59.80\00:14:03.77 whatever mountain is before you this day, whatever problems with 00:14:03.81\00:14:09.04 your health, problems with your marriage, your finances, or your 00:14:09.08\00:14:12.11 kids. Jesus says I'll make all things new. Does that mean that 00:14:12.15\00:14:16.25 life is always going to be filled with health and happiness 00:14:16.28\00:14:20.22 and money and prosperity, not at all. But he gives us new 00:14:20.26\00:14:23.83 attitudes, he gives us new strength, he gives us new 00:14:23.86\00:14:27.20 ability to cope. He makes all things new today in our lives. 00:14:27.23\00:14:33.13 That's in 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: If any man is in Christ 00:14:33.17\00:14:35.77 Jesus he's a new creation. So that new creation that Christ 00:14:35.80\00:14:39.47 gives us now is a symbol of the creation that God is going to do 00:14:39.51\00:14:46.72 when he makes this earth new. Now let's look a little bit at 00:14:46.75\00:14:49.55 this. We're going to live with Christ, dwell with him like Adam 00:14:49.58\00:14:52.59 and Eve did in the garden of Eden. But as he talks about that 00:14:52.62\00:14:57.83 Holy City we want to come down to verses 12 and 13. I want to 00:14:57.86\00:15:00.03 look at some things in the city with you. It says in verse 12 of 00:15:00.06\00:15:05.73 Revelation chapter 21: And this city has a great wall, high. It 00:15:05.77\00:15:11.27 has 12 gates, and at the gates 12 angels and the names written 00:15:11.31\00:15:15.88 thereon, are names of the tribes of the children of Israel. On 00:15:15.91\00:15:19.18 the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south 00:15:19.21\00:15:21.68 three gates; and on the west three gates. So let's pick up 00:15:21.72\00:15:25.82 verse 14 too. And the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and 00:15:25.85\00:15:29.62 in them the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. Now how 00:15:29.66\00:15:32.76 many gates were there? Did you get that? How many gates? Twelve 00:15:32.79\00:15:36.56 gates. Now in ancient cities you'd have one gate, maybe two. 00:15:36.60\00:15:40.87 Why one or two? Because if the enemy's going to attack you, you 00:15:40.90\00:15:44.27 don't want 12 gates. You want to protect your city, right? But 00:15:44.31\00:15:50.31 here it says 12 gates. Why? Because God is not trying to 00:15:50.35\00:15:51.95 keep people out, he's trying to get people in. Now three gates 00:15:51.98\00:15:56.15 on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the east, 00:15:56.18\00:15:58.49 three gates on the west. Now in the Bible number is really 00:15:58.52\00:16:01.62 important. Four is a number of kind of universality so you get 00:16:01.66\00:16:05.76 the four sides. He's the universal Christ. Grace is 00:16:05.79\00:16:08.70 universal for all. It's not for one language group, one ethnic 00:16:08.73\00:16:12.13 group or one racial group. It's for all. Seven in the book of 00:16:12.17\00:16:16.10 Revelation is perfection. Six is less than perfection and triple 00:16:16.14\00:16:21.21 six is the apostasy, error. That's the number of the beast 00:16:21.24\00:16:23.88 power. But what about this number three. It's the number of 00:16:23.91\00:16:28.38 the Godhead, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Then in 00:16:28.42\00:16:30.02 Revelation you have the false trinity, the dragon, the beast 00:16:30.05\00:16:32.85 and the false prophet. So but three gates on the east, three 00:16:32.89\00:16:38.16 gates on the west, three gates on the north, three gates on the 00:16:38.19\00:16:40.90 south. What's that all about? The Father, Son and the Holy 00:16:40.93\00:16:43.57 Spirit so to all those on the east, you can come in. You come 00:16:43.60\00:16:47.34 in. From China, you rush in. From Asia, you rush in. From the 00:16:47.37\00:16:52.34 west all those of you on the west you come in. All you up 00:16:52.37\00:16:57.71 north in the northern hemisphere, you come in All those of you in the south 00:16:57.75\00:17:01.95 you come in. So the gates are open wide. Now incidentally each 00:17:01.98\00:17:06.45 gate is made out of pearl. The Bible says 12 gates, 12 pearls 00:17:06.49\00:17:09.79 The pearl represents Jesus. So Jesus is saying with the Father, 00:17:09.82\00:17:14.70 Son and the Holy Spirit those of you who are lost and discouraged 00:17:14.73\00:17:18.50 and depressed with the sea and those here that are filled with 00:17:18.53\00:17:22.30 guilt, I want you to know that the gates of heaven are wide 00:17:22.34\00:17:25.51 open for you. Now did you notice something about what's above the 00:17:25.54\00:17:28.98 gates? In verse 12 it says that it has a wall high and had 12 00:17:29.01\00:17:34.72 gates and at the gates 12 angels and the names of the 12 tribes 00:17:34.75\00:17:40.99 of Israel. Who were these 12 tribes of Israel. They were 00:17:41.02\00:17:46.09 Reuben and Simeon and Levi. You look at the 12 tribes of Israel 00:17:46.13\00:17:49.70 and they were not any honor guard in your city. They could 00:17:49.73\00:17:54.54 be condemned for murder, adultery, bigamy, robbery, 00:17:54.57\00:18:00.41 thievery. I mean these were pretty wicked people when you 00:18:00.44\00:18:04.58 really look at them. Anger, but wait. They were saved by the 00:18:04.61\00:18:10.69 grace of Christ. What do the names above the gates say to 00:18:10.72\00:18:13.79 you and me. As we approach that city we see the names above the 00:18:13.82\00:18:18.13 gates. Names of common sinners. Names of men and women like you 00:18:18.16\00:18:22.66 and me and they say to us enter into that city. You too can 00:18:22.70\00:18:27.97 enter in. But what about the foundations of the city. Verse 00:18:28.00\00:18:31.24 And the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and on them the 00:18:31.27\00:18:37.51 names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. What does that mean? 00:18:37.55\00:18:41.28 The 12 apostles of the Lamb. Who were these apostles? Peter who 00:18:41.32\00:18:46.05 denied him, Thomas who doubted him, James and John the sons of 00:18:46.09\00:18:50.96 thunder. Wow! They're going to be there? They're going to be 00:18:50.99\00:18:54.96 there. And the reason God gives us 12 gates that are open and 00:18:55.00\00:19:01.47 not shut is to remind you and me that we can enter in. The reason 00:19:01.50\00:19:06.57 he puts the names of the 12 patriarchs above the gate are to 00:19:06.61\00:19:11.35 let us know that those who dwelt in flesh with common humanity 00:19:11.38\00:19:14.52 could enter in and we can enter in. The reason he puts the 00:19:14.55\00:19:18.45 apostles, there is to let us know that men and women of flesh 00:19:18.49\00:19:22.19 and blood have face trial and difficulty and temptation, they 00:19:22.22\00:19:25.26 they could get in. And so we too can get in and live in that city 00:19:25.29\00:19:31.93 with Christ forever and ever and ever and ever. But then we go 00:19:31.97\00:19:37.31 down even further. There's so much beauty in the symbolism of 00:19:37.34\00:19:41.04 this city. So much to encourage us in these symbols that it's 00:19:41.08\00:19:45.11 often to miss. Notice what are the foundations made out of? 00:19:45.15\00:19:50.52 Verse 19, Revelation chapter 21 verse 19: And the foundations 00:19:50.55\00:19:57.36 of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of 00:19:57.39\00:20:00.93 precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the 00:20:00.96\00:20:05.20 second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony, the fourth emerald; 00:20:05.23\00:20:07.97 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh chrysolite; 00:20:08.00\00:20:12.77 the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth chrysoprasus; 00:20:12.81\00:20:16.61 the 11th jacinth, the 12th, amethyst. And the 12 gates were 00:20:16.64\00:20:22.02 12 pearls. What does it mean? These different stones. When you 00:20:22.05\00:20:27.96 think of these 12 different stones, 12 is a number in the 00:20:27.99\00:20:33.70 Bible of completeness. You have the 12 patriarchs of the Old 00:20:33.73\00:20:37.00 Testament reminding us of all of the Old Testament believers. You 00:20:37.03\00:20:41.80 have the 12 apostles reminding us of all of the New Testament 00:20:41.84\00:20:45.17 believers. What about these 12 stones can you think of any 00:20:45.21\00:20:51.18 other place in the Bible that these stones were? That there 00:20:51.21\00:20:56.18 were stones like this. Can you think of any other place? 00:20:56.22\00:20:58.69 Somebody here yeah I can think of that. Weren't these stones on 00:20:58.72\00:21:03.02 the breast plate of the high priest? They were. What did they 00:21:03.06\00:21:06.73 represent on the breastplate of the high priest? Every stone 00:21:06.76\00:21:10.17 represents one of the 12 tribes of Israel, one of God's people. 00:21:10.20\00:21:14.10 And the breastplate indicated that Christ carried us as his 00:21:14.14\00:21:18.87 high priest on his heart. Hebrews the 7th chapter, the 00:21:18.91\00:21:26.98 25th verse says this to us. See these 12 foundation stones 00:21:27.02\00:21:33.05 remind us that Jesus is our high priest. That Jesus carries us on 00:21:33.09\00:21:38.09 his heart. That there's nothing more important to Jesus when we 00:21:38.13\00:21:43.20 through those gates redeemed in the kingdom of God. Hebrews 00:21:43.23\00:21:49.74 chapter 7 verse 25. Wherefore he is able also to save them to 00:21:49.77\00:21:58.41 the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth 00:21:58.45\00:22:02.45 to make intercession for them. Verse 26: For such a high priest 00:22:02.48\00:22:06.35 became one of us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate 00:22:06.39\00:22:10.29 from sinners and made higher than the heavens. Here Jesus, 00:22:10.33\00:22:14.03 our high priest is saving to the uttermost. When you become 00:22:14.06\00:22:17.47 discouraged, when the journey is long, when the mountain is high, 00:22:17.50\00:22:22.00 when the road is rough in your imagination look to a heavenly 00:22:22.04\00:22:27.78 city. In your imagination see the doors of that city open. 00:22:27.81\00:22:31.78 In your imagination of that city see the pearly gates swing wide. 00:22:31.81\00:22:35.88 Hear Jesus beckoning you. Look to the names of gates and hear 00:22:35.92\00:22:41.76 them say you can make it my brother. You can make it my 00:22:41.79\00:22:44.83 sister. Look to the foundations of that city and hear the 00:22:44.86\00:22:49.20 apostles calling you, you can make it. Look to the stones 00:22:49.23\00:22:53.30 there and remember that you are on Jesus' heart, you are on 00:22:53.34\00:22:57.81 Jesus' mind that one day you too can walk through the gates of 00:22:57.84\00:23:00.78 that city. Revelation chapter 22 comes to an amazing climax. 00:23:00.81\00:23:05.38 Revelation 22: Everything lost by sin will be restored. 00:23:05.41\00:23:11.99 Everything defiled by sin will be recaptured Revelation chapter 00:23:12.02\00:23:17.96 verse 1, 2, 3: And he showed me a pure river of water of life, 00:23:17.99\00:23:24.57 clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the 00:23:24.60\00:23:27.90 Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of it 00:23:27.94\00:23:31.54 the tree of life, which bare 12 manner of fruits, and yielded 00:23:31.57\00:23:35.01 her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the 00:23:35.04\00:23:37.28 healing of the nations. There shall be no more curse, but the 00:23:37.31\00:23:43.28 throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall 00:23:43.32\00:23:45.45 serve him: They shall see his face; and his name shall be on 00:23:45.49\00:23:50.39 their foreheads. Let's look at this verse. First the river of 00:23:50.43\00:23:54.80 the water of life. In heaven, no death. In heaven, no disease. 00:23:54.83\00:23:59.93 In heaven, no sickness, no cancer, no heart attacks, no 00:23:59.97\00:24:03.41 diabetes, no high blood pressure no paralysis, no blindness, no 00:24:03.44\00:24:08.81 mute who can't speak, no deaf who cannot hear. The river of 00:24:08.84\00:24:14.25 the water of life represents the life-giving power of God that 00:24:14.28\00:24:19.85 truth flows from God's throne. Notice it says that on either 00:24:19.89\00:24:24.56 side of the river of the tree of life, there are 12 manner of 00:24:24.59\00:24:27.73 fruits. Every month you go up and take some of the fruits of 00:24:27.76\00:24:31.77 the tree of life and new energy flows through our bodies. But 00:24:31.80\00:24:34.70 notice it says the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the 00:24:34.74\00:24:37.01 nations. What does that mean? The healing of the nations. 00:24:37.04\00:24:39.67 There's such conflict between nations today. There's such 00:24:39.71\00:24:43.48 conflict between people and you've got war all over the 00:24:43.51\00:24:46.61 place today. There are problems in the Sudan today. Problems in 00:24:46.65\00:24:50.39 between India and Pakistan. And problems between the Ukraine and 00:24:50.42\00:24:57.73 Russia today. There's war every where today. But yet there'll be 00:24:57.76\00:25:01.43 the healing of the nations. All humanity will come together 00:25:01.46\00:25:05.03 with one common worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. All humanity 00:25:05.07\00:25:09.40 will meet around the throne of God. No barriers between people 00:25:09.44\00:25:13.27 there. No conflicts there. No tension there. No ethnic 00:25:13.31\00:25:17.85 challenges there between peoples that hate one another there. 00:25:17.88\00:25:23.18 Christ is our leader. There Jesus is our peace. There Jesus' 00:25:23.22\00:25:29.66 love fills our hearts and unites all nations are healed and we 00:25:29.69\00:25:34.16 walk through the new earth hand in hand as brothers and sisters 00:25:34.20\00:25:39.17 in Christ of every nation, kindred, tongue and people. 00:25:39.20\00:25:41.97 Notice what it says, there'll be no curse there. The throne of 00:25:42.00\00:25:47.38 God and of the Lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve 00:25:47.41\00:25:51.35 him. Verse 4. They shall see his face. Think of that. Adam and 00:25:51.38\00:25:58.59 Eve walked and talked with God in the Garden of Eden. Adam and 00:25:58.62\00:26:04.73 Eve had unbridled fellowship with God. There was no barrier 00:26:04.76\00:26:10.27 between. Isaiah 59:1 and 2: Your sins have separated between you 00:26:10.30\00:26:14.10 and God. We can't see his face today. It's difficult to hear 00:26:14.14\00:26:19.24 his audible voice today. But yet one day...Revelation 21:4 We 00:26:19.27\00:26:28.18 shall see his face. One day the separation by sin will be over 00:26:28.22\00:26:35.09 One day the barrier between us and him will be gone. One day 00:26:35.12\00:26:43.53 the fellowship that we had as an early race in the Garden of Eden 00:26:43.57\00:26:51.17 will be restored. One day we can live with Christ forever and 00:26:51.21\00:26:58.88 ever and ever. You can make it. You can live in that city. You 00:26:58.91\00:27:05.12 can be with Jesus forever and ever. Let's pray. 00:27:05.15\00:27:09.62 Father in heaven, how thankful we are for the eternal plan of 00:27:09.66\00:27:17.23 salvation. How thankful we are for these last few chapters of 00:27:17.27\00:27:21.50 Revelation. That we are on the winning side. That Christ will 00:27:21.54\00:27:30.41 come as King of kings. That he will come as Lord of lords. That 00:27:30.45\00:27:35.48 we can live with him forever. The gates of that city are wide. 00:27:35.52\00:27:40.42 And we hear you beckoning us to enter in. Thank you, Lord, that 00:27:40.46\00:27:48.56 one day everything lost by sin will be restored and we can live 00:27:48.60\00:27:53.37 with you forever and ever and ever. In Jesus' name Amen. 00:27:53.40\00:27:58.77 ¤ ¤ 00:27:58.81\00:28:26.00