Take your Bibles, turn to Revelation chapter 21, Revelation 21. When you go to a new city, the oft activity is to go and look at the architecture, what's around. And that has been common throughout human history for people to investigate the cities that they're in. people they come to the city of Chicago and they go through and we had a group just last week that we had downtown Chicago and of course they see the Sears Tower as you get off the train but then you show them the Board of Trade and that building and the iconic structure that's there and you take them by some of the other buildings and then you get closer to the river and they saw Trump Tower and they were like oh wow you know that's here and you're like well there's a Trump Tower here and there is in almost every city in the United States. But there is a Trump Tower, and then you show them the iconic Tribune building that is there, and the Wrigley Building that's right there along the river, and you kind of go along, and that's what you do when you go to cities. You show them the bridges that cross the river there, and in some cases they're double-decker bridges, and there's actually a road system underneath part of the city of Chicago. And then if you really want to find something neat, then you take a riverboat ride, and you can go up and down the river and see the architecture, and then go out to the lake and You get to see the lock system that is there that allows the river to flow the opposite direction of what it originally flowed, and you can get onto Lake Michigan even though it's at a different height than Navy Pier, and the Ferris wheel would go along with that. And that's just kind of things that people are like, wow, this is neat. And you do that in every city. Some places you go and they're known for their palaces and buildings of lavish ornament that is in the buildings. And I just saw someone who was over in France and some of the videos they were taking there at Versailles. And you go to Versailles and after a while you just get bored of really expensive buildings. You got all these buildings that are small palaces there in the Palace of Versailles. It's not just the Palace of Versailles. There's all sorts of small things that Napoleon lived in and whatever. And after a while, you just kind of get confused at the opulence that's there. But we in the States go to buildings like that. People go to the Biltmore and places like that to see some of these lavish things that people have built. And even when it comes to older cities, you just kind of wander around and try and find some of these hidden places. Remember that when we were in Jerusalem, most of our tour was with a tour guide, but they, I'm not sure it was the smartest idea for half a day, they said, okay, you can go and wander around Jerusalem for a day while we get everything together for you to get to Bethlehem. So we kind of wandered, and there were places that we ended up going in our investigation that we never thought we were supposed to be in. We realized later that we had invaded David's palace, and it wasn't even open, and those type of things. And we had gone some other locations, and you just kind of do this. It's human nature to go to cities and see what's there, building-wise, structure-wise, the neat and unique things that are in each one of the cities that you go to. And it's been a part of human life. And when you think about what the Bible has to say about cities, even people 3,000, 4,000 years ago considered the possibility of living in cities. Think of one individual who we know as Abraham, was originally known as Abram, lived in one of the greatest cities in the world. Say, what was that? It was the city of Ur. And as you read about some of the excavations and what we know about this, this was a incredible city. In the middle of this, there was a pyramid that was there, it was a ziggurat that was designed to worship the moon god that was there, but it was one of the wonders of the world at the time that people would go to. And the libraries that were there and other things that were there, it was an impressive city. And God told Abram that he needed to take his belongings and to get up and to go wherever the Lord told him to go until God said, stop. So you follow the path of Abram as he goes around the Fertile Crescent and he comes into the land of Israel and he kind of goes right through that and goes down to Egypt. And by the time Abram gets to Egypt, there were structures there that people flock to see today. The pyramids were already built. The children of Israel didn't build the pyramids. They were already built some 700 years before the children of Israel were there and in slavery. Abraham would have seen these things, the pyramids that were there. And in the process of being there, he would have seen some of the grand temples that were there, but eventually, as the story goes, he gets booted out of Egypt in God's plan to have him go back to the land of Israel. And for the rest of his life, he lived in a tent, a tabernacle as the scripture describes it. But when you look at the scriptures and it talks about the life of Abram and his wanderings around in faith, there are several statements in his account, the commentary on Abram's life found in Hebrews chapter 11, that Abram wasn't really excited about living in a temporary dwelling like a tent. In fact, he looked for something else. You find in the scripture that he dwelt in tabernacles, verse nine of Hebrews chapter 11, and it goes down, that he and his children and grandchildren died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them, and embraced and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. They understood on earth there wasn't really anything permanent for them, but they were looking, in verse 14, for they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And if truly they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had the opportunity to return. But verse 16 says, but now they desire a better country. That is a heavenly. Wherefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. And you go and you continue this that these is starting in back in verse number 10. Abraham had been looking for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. It has been for people of generation upon generation that they realize the transiency of what is here in this life, that structures you live in are temporary and don't last forever, and you have to move and have to go from location to location. And there is a desire in the human soul for something that's permanent, something that will last. and to live there and be a part of that. And what Revelation 21 and 22 gives us is an account of what John is able to see of the location that we're headed towards, where we're going. It's one of the few accounts in the scripture of what heaven is like. And for us this evening, I just want us to kind of go through as John was beginning to see these things and see the description of what we're going to enjoy. And in reading of this, you kind of go, that's not a whole lot of information. But remember that when Peter talks about the things that are inheritance and what we're going to enjoy, these are not things that fade away or become boring. There's gonna be a lot for us to do in glory, exploring the city that God has created and the new creation. See, Revelation 21 starts this way, that John sees a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more seeing. You say, well, why is that necessary? Well, this is the world that we live on is a sin-cursed earth. It has suffered the ravages of our sin and the results of the curse upon it. And so what God does in an instant is that he changes and gets rid of the creation that we're so familiar with and the universe that we're so familiar with. And he creates a new heaven and a new earth. And verse two, you see, John says, I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem. coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Now that statement there was a statement that the culture would understand. Because when you talked about a bride, when they got married, they would wear the best of everything they had. The jewelry, the family would gather this together, the material, the clothing, everything would be the best. I mean, the bride was impressive. You know, today, the bride wears some sort of gown, dress, with a veil, perhaps, and some other things. But it probably doesn't come close to the colorfulness and the brightness and the jewelry that were on some of these brides as they got married back in these ancient cultures. And what John is describing is here you see this city and it is adorned in brightness, in beauty, in things that we would deem by human standards to be expensive and rich. And this city that he sees is prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. When it settles down, he hears a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, The tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away. And what you find in this city, we talked about it last week, there's a whole lot of things in this life that aren't going to be here in this new city. They're banished, they're gone. And that is one of the things that is the glorious thing about heaven, that there are certain things that will not be there. But as John is there, the one that sits upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new. What you're seeing is a new creation, a new heaven. It's new to us. And he said unto me, it is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. And you go, well, what's that? We're gonna get to that. But he's told, anyone that's here is going to be able to drink from this fountain that I'm about to offer. And he, verse seven, that overcometh, it's a conqueror, shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son. But the fearful and unbelieving, the abominable murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers, idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. And so verse number nine, you say, okay, what's here in this heaven? And this is where we start to get the full description of this. There came to me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues and talked with me saying, come hither, I'll show you the bride, the lamb's wife. You know, at times you think, okay, the bride refers to us as the church, but that's not what he's talking about. He's talking about this city. And so verse 10, he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, which okay, that's one thing about creation we're already told that there is a great Mountain that's a part of this. Some of you enjoy mountain climbing. Well, guess what? There are going to be mountains that are a part of the creation of God for you to climb and enjoy. Not with the back-breaking heat that some of you have enjoyed this past summer and some of the wanderings across the West that you have done to go to different locations, but be able to enjoy this fully. But here John is on this great high mountain. He showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. having the glory of God. I mean, this is an impressive city, not just in the fact that it is impressive. There is something supernatural behind the beauty of this, the glory of God, the display of all of His handiwork is seen in this city. And her light was like unto a stone, most precious, like unto a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Admittedly, before I came to this, I had to do a crash course on geology again. Probably better to have Tanya up here talking about some of these stones. But we do have a number of these down the hallway in these different cabinets and the like. And you say, well, what is a jasper stone? Well, a jasper stone, as far as I can tell, is something that is kind of a reddish stone that oftentimes have some iron content to it. So it has some green streaks that go through it and can have multicolors that go through it. But it's kind of a reddish color. And so as you see this, John sees the city, the light that was coming out of this was kind of a reddish light, clear as crystal. It wasn't that the light was a foggy light and that type of thing. It was a clear light coming out. And the city had a wall great and high and had 12 gates. And at the gates were 12 angels. And names written thereon, which are the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel. On the east, three gates. On the north, three gates. On the south, three gates. On the west, three gates. And the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and in them the names of the 12 apostles. And so he sees this city, and one of the first things that he sees in this city is this incredible gate structure that is there, these three different gates, which had to be pretty impressive because we're gonna talk about the size of the wall that they're in. But with these gates, you have great and high and these angels that are there, much like massive guards. And you think about what would the guard look like for an impressive gate when there's only 12 gates to the city? What would a guard look like? And you have descriptions of the cherubim and the seraphim who are designed to guard the throne of God and the descriptions that are incredible as far as some of these creatures with multi faces and wings and all sorts of different things that just promote strength and glory and power. You can imagine what the guards look like. John doesn't even take much time talking about the angels, but the angel for each gate here must be an impressive individual. The names of the 12 tribes are on this wall. And you say, well, why is that? Well, you have these 12 tribes, and it's a reminder that God had a specific group of people that he worked with. He promised them a city that would last forever, that someone that in that city would rule and reign forever. And it is a reminder of the grace of God because here you have these 12 tribes who were so cantankerous at times and wandered away from God. You have the 10 northern tribes that went off into captivity because they worshiped false gods. And yet when you get to this city, God has their names written right into the foundations, or excuse me, the walls of the city above the gates. 12 gates for the 12 tribes. But then as you talk about the foundation of this wall, you have the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. You have the other group of people that God works with. Who's that? The church. So right in the walls, as you come up to the walls of the city, there's this reminder, here's what God worked with in the Old Testament, and then later on in the New Testament, the nation of Israel and the 12 tribes that are there, but there's also these foundation stones of the 12 apostles and their names are written there. Now the great question comes up, which one of the apostles? Because you had 13 apostles. We'll find out when we get there. I have my opinion, but you had Matthias who was chosen to take the place of Judas, but you also had a one apostle by the name of Paul who came along later. And I tend to think that Paul's name is not in that because you talk about the 12 apostles, Paul talks about him being one is born out of due time. one that was not really with these apostles. And so you have these 12 apostles whose name are written there, etched into the foundation stone of that city. And so you have these gates that are there, the wall that is high, but we've not been given any of the dimensions yet. So when he sees this city, it's quite impressive, but the angel comes to him and says, okay, verse 15, he talked with me that had a golden reed to measure the city and the gates thereof and the wall thereof. And the city lieth four square. Okay, what does that mean? It's a cube. And we'll talk about the importance of it being a cube here in a second. It lieth four square, and the length is as large as the breadth. And he measured the city with a reed, 12,000 furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are all equal. And you say, well, how long is a furlong and 12,000 furlongs? What do we have here? Well, we have a city that's about 1,400 miles in length and width and in height. One did some estimates and said that's 40 times larger than the city of London. It's 10 times larger than the country of Germany and the country of France. If we were to try and get a guesstimate of the size of that city, you could go basically from the Mississippi River to the West Coast and from the border of Mexico to Canada and the United States, and that's the size of the city. There's no city that size. I mean, I thought about the vastness of that and just said, okay, what's 1,400 miles from the city of Chicago? And the closest thing I could come up with was Boise, Idaho. So if you were to drive in a straight line, which no road is ever straight, but if you were to drive in a straight line, it's about 1,400 miles to get to Boise, Idaho. And that's all one city. The width of it, the length of it, and the height of it. And the height of it is the one that really causes people some questions. How do you get a city that is 1,400 miles high? And why must it be a cube? It goes back to, and it is something to be understood, that the dwelling place of God throughout the history of the nation of Israel was a cube. When you talk about the temple and the tabernacle, you had what was known as the holy place, and it was kind of an elongated rectangle, both in the temple and in the tabernacle. But when it came to the holy of holies, the holiest place where God was at, the Ark of the Covenant was at, when you took measurements of it, everything was equal. The height of it, the width of it, the length of it, it was a cube. And this is where God dwelt. And so when you study the tabernacle and the temple, it just simply says this, that these are shadows of things that are in heaven. And to think about this, this is a city that God dwells in. He has his throne in this city. He is there that we have the tabernacle of God, as it said in the first part of Revelation 21, coming down and dwelling amongst men. And it's here on the earth that God has his dwelling place and we can go there and the place that he lives in, that he has built for him to have his throne in is a perfect cube. Now does that mean that it's a big square box? More than likely, probably not. Some have described it that perhaps it's some sort of a pyramid type structure or it could be like a city skyline with what we have. I mean, you look at the city skyline and there are some buildings that reach up over 1,000 feet here in the city of Chicago, and you've got others that are shorter, but you have a skyline and it just kind of seems to be there as part of everything that goes on. And that could very well be what it is. Somebody laughingly said that If you had a generous city where each floor was about 12 feet in height, you would have a building that was 600,000 stories. So that gives us something to kind of look forward to. What does a city that is 1,400 miles by 1,400 miles by 1,400 miles, what does that look like? the buildings that are part of that, the structures that are part of that. How does that work? Well, you've got the creator of the universe that spoke the world into existence by his words. I think he's going to be okay in handling the structure of all those things. But the city is 1,400 miles by 1,400 miles by 1,400 miles. And then verse 17, he measured the wall thereof and 140 and four cubits according to the measure of a man that is of an angel. So here you've got this outer wall that actually has these gates in it. And you say, well, how high is it? It's only, and if you take the measurement and the cubit structure, it's probably about 256 feet in height. That's the wall that is the boundary line for this massive cube with all the buildings inside of it. And you have three gates, north, south, east, and west. And understand, if you've got three gates and a 1,400 mile wall, It's not that the gates are standing right next to each other. It could be several hundred miles before you get to another gate that is open for individuals to leave that city to go out and enjoy the creation that God has made, the new earth that is there. And some have suggested that you have these different regions of the world that these different gates lead to for you to enjoy certain parts of creation. Don't know. But you have this wall that is only 256 feet in height, so the wall is not really blocking your view of seeing everything on the inside, but it's a boundary line. It defines the city itself. And then as you go through, after the measurements are here, John begins to describe, and he goes, okay, what does the wall look like? Well, the building of the wall was of jasper. It's kind of a reddish wall. that is there with the mixture of colors that go along with Jasper. And the city was pure gold likened to clear glass. And you say, how can you have gold that's like pure glass? Well, this is a gold that's the brightest of gold. The kind of gold of the quality that we've never seen before here on earth, but it's pure gold. Even with our culture, when they say you've got pure gold, you probably don't. But this is the purest of gold. And then the foundations of the wall were garnished with all manner of precious stones. And you come to this wall, it does have this reddish stone, but then you get down to the base of it and it has these multicolored stones that are there. And you can go through and look at these different stones. You have jasper, which is a kind of brownish red, brick red kind of color. You have sapphire, which is a blue color that we're familiar with. You have Chalcedony, and you go, what's that kind of color? It's kind of a white or a palish blue color that is a stone that would be a part of this wall. Emerald, okay, emerald is just grass green, like we expect. Sarnax is a color that's more orange and white, kind of a mixture of the two. And you have Sardis, and you go, what's that? Sardis is blood red in its coloring. You have chrysalite, which is basically a green that is more yellow in its coloring. You have that, beryl, and you say, what color is beryl? Well, beryl is a color, well, it's hard to define. It can be multiple different colors, anywhere from emerald green to blue, green, yellow, greenish gold, red, pink. It can be a variety of colors. Topaz, which you kind of think of topaz, it's a color that is sometimes colorless, but it can be yellow, blue, pink, peach, gold, green, and it's specialized versions, but is generally yellowish brown and a pinkish color. Chrysoprasus, you go, what's that? It's a greenish gold colored precious stone. Jacinthe, you go, what's that? It's an orange colored stone, little bit of red tones, but more of an orange stone. And then Amethyst, and you go, what's that color? It's purple. And so as you come to the foundation stones, you just kind of go, this has got a multicolored dimensions to it that would be impressive. When we build buildings, you tend not to mix stones and those type of things because you're concerned about the structure of the building and you really don't do that, but here you've got things that people spend huge amounts of money that are the foundation stones of a wall. And if that's the coloring of the foundation stones, what does everything else look like? We're not told that. But you have this as you go to these 12 gates at the city. They did not indicate this, but in verse 21, the 12 gates, the city there, there is a pearl that is there. Imagine a pearl that is large enough to block a gate and a 256-foot wall. Somebody's jokingly said, I wonder what the mollusk or the clam looks like that made that. But each gate is a pearl, and some have suggested the fact that a pearl is made through the suffering or the irritation that comes to a clam as the sand or something comes in there and it builds this coating that's on this and makes it larger and larger, and it's just a picture of the beauty that comes out of suffering. But here you have these pearls that are there. And they're never going to be moved. You go, why? Because the city gates are never going to be closed, but they're there. Just to impress individuals like us who are so impressed with, well, small pearls that you get. Imagine one that size that's just merely the thing that blocks up the gate of a city. And then as you think about this, it's pretty incredible, the statement as you, John begins to look inside the gates and begins to look at the streets of the city and it's pure gold, as it were, transparent glass. I've thought about that. I kind of laugh about it because no kid goes out and collects asphalt. You know, they aren't going home and going, oh, hey, look, I got some asphalt. This is wonderful. Let's put it up on the shelf. Kind of go, that would be kind of strange. No kid's going to do that because it's the stuff you walk on and you drive on. It's really not all that impressive. Well, think about the things that we're going to be walking on. It's pure gold. and how much people give their life to follow and pursue gold and this life and the wealth that it represents. And when we get to heaven, it's gonna be what we wipe our feet on. You go, that's opulent, that is opulent, to think that streets will be made of gold. John continues this, he said, I saw no temple therein for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. They're inside this cube structure. The temple, the Holy of Holies is there for God to dwell in. So it's there. The city had no need of sun, neither moon to shine in it for the glory of God to lighten it. The Lamb is the light thereof. The nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it. Kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it. The gates of it shall not be shut all by day, and there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it, and there shall no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they that are written in the Lamb's book of life. You know, some would question the fact, what does this mean that you have kings bringing honor and glory into this? And it's just a picture of the fact that when we get to heaven, there are gonna be people from every tribe and nation and people. You know, you go to some societies and you can tell, oh, I'm in this country by just looking at the people and the nationalities there. Or I'm in this country, or I'm in this country. But when you get to heaven, it's going to be a true melting pot. Every tongue, nation, people, and tribes will be represented there, and they're going to bring their glory. And you go, what does it mean? What are they going to have to impress God with that they have that God doesn't have? And it's not that. They're going to be coming in and presenting the glory of God that worked in them to save them. They're bringing the honor and glory to God. They're bringing forth praise. They're bringing forth glory to God. And the magnificent courses that will go on of people of different nations and tribes as they come and bring their praise to God in different people groups. And so as you're in the city, you're going to find all sorts of different countries and people lines represented. Every tribe, every nation, every tongue will have representatives in this city. It's gonna be a diverse culture there of people that are there. But then John goes on and he describes once he's inside these gates, he's talked about the walls outside and he's measured this cube and everything and then he sees the pearly gate here and then he goes in the city and the city has this translucent street made of gold. He gets inside the city and sees the people that are inhabitants there. In chapter 22 and verse one, he then sees this. The angel leads him and shows him a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. And in the midst of the street of it, on either side of the river was there the tree of life, which bear all manner of fruits and yielded her fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of nations. And there was no more curse, but the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him, and they shall see His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads. I mean, what you have here is what we commonly go to in our cities. I mean, think about some of the collection points in our cities that we have today, and it's these green spaces. places where people can go and enjoy the trees that are there and enjoy the green grass and enjoy either a fountain or a lake or a pond or a river that's there, and they go there. Well, in heaven, this is what you have. There's a river that flows out of the throne of God that is of crystal clear content. And God says this about people that are inhabitants there. They get to drink of this. You go, it's just water. I'm guessing it's a whole lot more of high quality than water as far as it's taste. That it has the ability to bring enjoyment. And it flows from the throne of God, this one who gives life. Here's this water source that is there coming and coming from where the throne is at that people can drink from. And it's not only that, the plants along the side are enjoying the health of it. And you have something that is there that hasn't been in the scripture since the book of Genesis. You know, what's that? The tree of life. The tree of life is there, and you say, well, how is it on both sides of the river? Well, someone suggested the fact that there's more than one tree of life, that it's multiplied out. But this is a special kind of tree because it's got the ability to bring forth 12 different kinds of fruit. Not just one fruit, it's got the ability to bring multiple types of fruit and people can eat of this. And this is the promise that you find in the book of Revelation to certain of the churches that they are going to be able to eat of the tree of life and this is there for the feeding of the nations. And so one of the things that you're going to enjoy in heaven is eating. And it's going to be some of these fruits and some of these vegetables that seem to perhaps be there as part of the diet. And you say, is it, am I going to be able to eat in heaven? I'll simply give you this understanding. Remember when Jesus rose from the dead and he came through the door that was there, that was locked and closed, and then he asks for what? He asks for food. And he's able to eat it. Part of the enjoyment of heaven for us is eating. Now I remember one occasion when I was in Bible class and I was going through the book of Revelation and a young lady raised her hand and I thought, oh wow, she raised her hand and she's asking a question. She's got the boldness to ask this and she doesn't normally ask questions in the middle of Bible class. Wow, what is she going to ask here? You know what her question was? Pastor Bettry, is there bacon in heaven? I said, I don't think there's bacon in heaven because there is no sacrificing of any animals ever again. I think the Lord changes your taste and you're not going to miss the fact that you don't have bacon anymore. You're gonna be enjoying food on a level you've never tasted before, of a quality that you've never had, and part of heaven is just enjoying food without the curse of sin. Food that's incredible to all. I will throw this in, though it's not recorded in here. I have gotten asked questions about this. Are there animals in heaven? You're gonna make up an answer here. Okay, what do individuals coming out of heaven with the Lord at the second coming, what are they riding? They're riding horses. And there's a question here that we're not told, is there animals in heaven? There's at least horses. And you go, okay, so God kind of makes a new heaven and a new earth and a new creation, and it may be filled with animal life for us to be able to enjoy animal life without the curse of sin. So that's something else to think about, even though that's not here recorded in the book of John. It is earlier on in the book of John in Revelation chapter 19 that describes this. But all of these things are there. And you see in verse number six that this individual that is there with John that takes him on this tour of heaven for him to visibly see what's going on, this angel says unto him, these sayings are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. This is where you're headed. And you go, that's not a whole lot of information. I'd like more about what heaven looks like. Just those details, you're trying to go, not piecing this together. It seems that this is pretty incredible. Yeah, it is. And I think if the Lord continued on, we would be at a point where we couldn't handle what is there unless we had a new resurrected body, which is what we're going to have to experience all the glories of heaven. We're going to be able to experience God because we no longer have the sin that separates us from our God. We can enjoy being in his presence and the glory of everything that he's created in its complete and utter magnificence. And so this is the city we're headed to. And we're going to be there for millions of years. And you're never going to grow bored of this city. You're never going to grow and wish that there was something else. No, the delights of what the city has there, besides the fact that God is there, and just being with him, will be impressive enough. but to be in this city and just see a few of these things that are just described, but we don't even know, how do you get a city that's 1,400 miles high? What's that like? And what is it going to be like to have a creation where I can go anywhere in that creation and enjoy it without the curse of sin? You know, we get a little bit of a foretaste in this life when we do a little bit of travel and we go to some different cities and we do some investigating, and then we take those trips out to parks and places like that and enjoy the creation that we have. We get a little bit of foretaste of what heaven is like. And it is a glorious place. And I thought about this this afternoon as I was considering this. This is a wonderful place to be at with the people that are there and the individual that's the center of this. Why would I want the alternative? Why would I want something else? And as I said, the devil is one who wants you to think that heaven is a boring place. Okay, that all you're doing when you get to heaven is sitting on a cloud and you've got this crown that's on your head and you've got the white robe and you're playing your harp and that's all you're doing. No, it's an opportunity, it's a new garden of Eden for us to enjoy, a new paradise for us to enjoy, like what God made originally for Adam and Eve to enjoy, a perfect place. that has a city that's completely safe, but then a creation for us to wander through and enjoy and just be a part of that. day in and day out, though there is no day in and day out when it comes to heaven, because we're going to have the energy to enjoy it all the time. We're not gonna have to take a rest break because we're tired and we took too many steps. No, we'll be able to enjoy it fully with a new body. And so next week, we're gonna talk about the fact of what our new body is like. Now that's the question, what am I going to be like? And there are some answers to that in the scripture. What am I physically going to be like? I've been in the location where I'm at, I'm going to, we've gotten all of that, but what am I going to be like? Well, you're gonna be incredible also because you're gonna be reflecting the image of Jesus Christ in a way that you've never reflected him before. So something to look forward to. So as you wander and go through our cities and think, oh, I wish these things were fixed, and oh, this is not very good, and oh, okay, that's pretty incredible, but you're going to a city whose builder and maker is God, whose foundations are eternal, and you'll never be dissatisfied with it. Look forward to getting to heaven. Lord, we thank you. So the song says heaven is a wonderful place filled with glory and grace. We look forward to that and not just because of the city. More importantly, we'll spend years and years communicating with you, other saints of God that you did a great work in. But we'll also enjoy just being in a creation where your handiwork is displayed both in a city and in the creation of nature. Lord, we look forward to that, and as we go through the drudgery of a week and the difficulties that go on, may we, like Abraham and the patriarchs, have in our heart a desire for a city whose builder and maker is God, that we would live our life like that, looking forward. as we are strangers and pilgrims here. So we love you, Lord. We thank you for what you've given to us. Salvation would be enough, but to have a place like this forever to be a part of, far beyond the grace that we're deserving of. So we love you, Lord. Thank you for first loving us and sending your Son. We look forward to seeing you someday in the place of your creation and full of your glory. And we praise you in the name of the Son, Amen.