Thank you for selecting this message by Dr. James Hoffman. Dr. Hoffman preaches verse by verse through the entire book of the Bible. From all of us at Living Water of Lapine here in Central Oregon, we hope that it will encourage you and feed you spiritually. And if you would like to leave a message after the sermon, our contact information is found on the sermon page where you found this sermon. Now may God richly bless you as you listen. Well, I am going to introduce our passage in Revelation chapter 21 today by reading an article that was written for Christianity Today magazine by Kay Warren back in May of 2009. Now, I'd like to read the entire article here before you because it is so good and it serves as an excellent introduction to Revelation chapter 21. This is what she wrote back in May of 2009. Heading home to California, a friend and I passed through the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. On the way to the connecting gate, we heard loud patriotic music playing and saw a group, mostly women, wearing colorful hats, cheering, and waving American flags. The troops were coming home, and here was their welcoming committee. Two women encouraged us to grab flags and join in. We were early for our next flight, so we took places in the makeshift greeting line. At first, a few soldiers just dribbled by. We whooped and waved our flags furiously. Then the pace picked up as dozens of men and women in uniform came barreling through. We kept repeating, welcome home, we're glad you're back, we appreciate you. Some soldiers wiped away tears while others displayed huge self-conscious smiles. After 45 minutes, it was time to catch our flight. We hugged the organizers and thanked the vets who had come to honor this generation of soldiers. As we sank into our seats for the flight, we felt humbled by participating in the sweet moment of coming home. It was impossible not to draw the obvious spiritual parallels. These men and women had taken oaths of faithfulness and service. They had fought courageously, lived with deprivation, danger, and disease, and took unbelievable risks. all for the good of our nation. But as great as America is, it's a temporary place. No nation lives forever. As believers in Christ, we are all soldiers in the Lord's army. We too take oaths of fidelity, sacrifice, and service. Our oaths of allegiance are to a kingdom that shall never end. A country where there is never a mistake in leadership, where justice flows down like a river, where poverty, disease, terror, hunger, and greed hold no power. Scripture teaches us about the welcome and the rewards we will receive when our battle on earth is over. Artists, writers, and theologians have all taken stabs at imagining what those moments of heavenly welcome will look like. That afternoon, we were visualizing the very moment when we would step into eternity. As my friend Elizabeth and I looked at each other, the same thought crossed our minds. Through misty eyes, she said, if I get there first, I'll be on your welcoming committee. I'll be jumping up and down screaming, you made it, I'm so proud of you. I laughed and said, oh, you're not going to beat me. I'll be there before you. I'm older. I'll be at the head of the line to greet you. In that moment, heaven was more real than the smell of the stale coffee in our foam cups. What I'm really wondering about is this. Will we be surprised at who gets the biggest welcome? I'm not covening more high fives, but I am dimly aware of something so profound and holy that I can barely put it into words. All of us fight unseen battles every day. Each believer, a secret soldier locked in a battle with forces no one else can see. The bravest among us are not necessarily those who fight with guns or tanks. The bravest person you know might be your husband or wife or neighbor or coworker who goes on living one more day when every bone in his or her body says it's no use. How much could we lighten the load for another just by telling him how brave we think he is? Oh, to be so merciful with fellow soldiers fighting their personal hidden wars Best of all, how much better when we bring undisclosed struggles into community where victories can be celebrated together, great losses mourned together, and where whoops of encouragement can provide even the most weary soldier the courage it takes to keep on keeping on one more day. Well, that's my hope for what Revelation 21 will do in your life this morning. even though we are currently at the height of the Christmas season, a time when everyone is supposed to be filled with a great sense of joy and wonder. I know that there are many who are locked in a battle with forces that no one else can see. Finally, we have come to a portion in our study of Revelation, a time when the ages of probation and testing and judgment are over. These dispensations have run their course, and the grand climax of the book of Revelation, indeed, the climax of God's entire Revelation, all of his purpose in creation is about to be unfolded. The most glorious chapters of the Bible are found in these last two chapters of Revelation, opening up the wonders of the endless ages of eternity and the fruition of all of the great plans of a very loving God. Now, for those of you who are not going through a personal rough spot in your life right now, Let me try to hook your engagement to our passage through a quote by C.S. Lewis. He has written, if you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought the most of the next. Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you will get neither. Revelation 21 is an attempt to have us think most of heaven. And the apostle Paul has also written in Colossians 3, 1 through 4, if then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God, set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. And so right from the very beginning of chapter 21 in the book of Revelation, it immediately places our minds on things above. I invite you now to open with me to Revelation chapter 21, where we have left off in our study through this marvelous book. And verse one, Revelation 21, verse one reads this way. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. Now most writers of the book of Revelation and commentators and such to one degree or another try to spiritualize this great vision of New Jerusalem. what we're gonna be reading about here in Revelation and this new earth. There is no reason at all, however, why we should not accept it literally as it's written for us here in the scripture, as a real place prepared by Christ in the distant heavens and now finally brought with him to the new earth. I say that in part because of what John 14, Verses 2-3 say, In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am you may be also. It is the city for which Abraham looked. In Hebrews 11.10 it says, for he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. It is the city that is being prepared for everyone who has faith in his word and will follow his will. Hebrews 11.16 makes that clear. It says, but as it is, they desire a better country that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared for them a city. That's what we're looking at in Revelation 21 this morning. The earth as we know it will not last forever. But after God's great judgment, he will create a new earth. 2 Peter 3 verses 10 through 13 speak of this. The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be? in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. But according to his promise, we are waiting for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." Well, the scripture clearly teaches that this present order of creation is going to pass away. in order to make room for a new heaven and new earth. The Lord Jesus himself said in Matthew 24 verse 35, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. God also made this promise to Isaiah that he would create a new and eternal earth. In Isaiah 65 verse 17 we read, For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. And then Isaiah 66 verse 22, For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your offspring and your name remain. In addition to the new heavens and the new earth, we'll have No need for the vast amount of the sea, the oceans, the water that this present Earth has as the primary function of the sea is to serve this planet as a filtering system. Ray Steadman explains that, how it works as a filtering system he has written. Over 70% of the surface of our world is covered with saltwater. The average depth of the ocean is 2.3 miles. How does our planet need such a massive covering of saltwater? Answer. to cleanse the earth and make life possible. The earth is bathed in God's great antiseptic solution composed of about 96% water, 3.5% salt, and about 0.5% trace constituents, chlorine, magnesium, calcium, and the like. The salty brine of the ocean purges, cleanses, and preserves our planet, making it fit to live in. Many of the pollutants and wastes we produce get washed out of the soil and into our streams and rivers. Others we deliberately dump into the rivers. The rivers wash these materials to the sea. The antiseptic salinity of the sea absorbs, scrubs, and breaks down these pollutants and wastes. The sun heats the seas, causing only the pure, clean water vapor to float up into the sky, forming clouds, which bring refreshing rain back to the land. continuous cycle of cleansing and renewal. But in the new heaven and the new earth, there will be no more pollution, no more decay, no more need for cleansing, and thus, no more need for a salty sea. A primary characteristic of the new earth, as verse one reveals, is the absence of a sea. This would automatically change the climate, the atmosphere, the lighting conditions. It's impossible for the human mind to comprehend the great transformations that are going to take place in this new creation. The sea in the past has been a barrier, a border for mankind, which in some cases has been good, other cases it's not been very good. However, by the disappearance of the sea, the population of the earth can be increased many times over because of the now expanded land surface. About 71% of the earth's surface is water covered and the oceans hold about 96.5% of the earth's water. Pick up reading with me in verse two now. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Here it is. This is the part that should interest us. I believe that the New Jerusalem is where those of us who are children of God are going to live. This is what Jesus returned to heaven and started preparing for us. The new Jerusalem is that place. The good news is that God is now taking reservations for that city. If you have never committed your life to Christ by faith, you can do so now. And that commitment will constitute your passport. into heaven. I want to quote J. Vernon McGee again, but before I do, I think I should say something. My wife asked me the other day why it is that I quote him so often. You see, she remembers my younger days when I would tell her that I didn't like his radio program very much at all. Before I went to seminary I listened to a lot of radio broadcasters and I still do and I'm in my truck and I'm traveling somewhere. But when McGee drove his Bible bus into New Testament books such as 1st and 2nd Timothy, I felt that he would often add comments that I thought were too much of his own. that he was kind of interjecting into the scripture. And to me, as somebody much younger, when I used to listen to him a lot, it seemed as though he pandered to an older generation. That was my perspective as I was listening to him. I thought he was kind of like those Paul warned Timothy about saying, don't let anybody despise your youth. I kind of felt as one of those youth that, wow, he doesn't like us very much. And as I would listen, he would get off track sometimes and start discussing things I didn't think it's what the human author of scripture really meant when he first pinned it onto parchment. But I still refer to McGee's writings. You probably didn't know this, but he is not my favorite commentator. I quote him a lot, though. He's not heretical by any means. No, he's not. But I read him like I'll eat white fish from the Deschutes River. You know, there are a lot of bones that go to the side of the plate and are later discarded. And yet, as you can tell, I find nourishing thought when I read McGee. Here's one of those thoughts that he has on Revelation 21 verse two. I cannot think of a lovelier description than this. Maid Reddy is a bride adorned for her husband. It has been my privilege in many years of the pastorate to have married several hundred couples. I've never seen an ugly bride. They are always lovely. At the wedding ceremony, after the solos have been sung, the preacher walks in, followed by the bridegroom and the best man. Nobody pays any attention to the bridegroom except his mama. She smiles at him and thinks he's wonderful, but nobody else looks at him. In a minute, here comes the bride-to-be, and I tell you, everybody stands and looks at her. I have never seen an ugly bride. On occasion when I would return from a wedding, which my wife did not attend, she would always ask me, was the bride beautiful? And I would always answer, yes, I've never seen an ugly one. I don't think I'm just a doting old man when I say that. I've seen some brides before they got married or after the wedding, and I've wondered if she were the same girl who had come down the aisle. God gives to them at that time a radiance and a beauty. That is a thrilling moment for the bridegroom to look down the aisle and see the one whom he is going to make his own. She will belong to him. It seems that for that moment, God transforms every girl into a lovely bride. I think the reason he does it is that the new Jerusalem where we are going to live is like the bride adorned for her husband. What a picture we have here. First three. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them as their God." The New Jerusalem will be the dwelling place of God. God wants us to be aware that he is going to be a resident of that city. Now this truth is stated three times either plainly or by implication and then for the fourth time he assures us of his abiding presence with man. Of all the things that God mentions and promises, his presence is of absolute importance. Why? Because wherever God reigns, there is peace, security, and love. Just for a moment, don't dwell on this. But just for a moment, think of the last argument you had with another person. Now for some, it might be just before you walk through those doors. I hope it hasn't been since you walked through those doors into church. But I'm willing to bet that every argument you have ever engaged yourself in all boils down to a threat that you felt over personal peace, or a sense of security, or a sense of being loved. That you argued because you sensed that it wasn't being given to you, the sense of peace, the sense of security, or the sense of being loved by the other person. Another way of saying it, you argued because you felt you were losing some sense of security or significance in the eyes of the other person. Wherever God reigns, there is peace, security, and love. There will be no loss of what we all strive for and argue over in this life. Security and significance. Verses four and five. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the behold, I am making all things new. Also he said, write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. There will be no death. No sorrow, no crying, no pain. What a wonderful truth. No matter what you are going through, right now, it's not the last word. God has written the final chapter. And it's about true fulfillment and eternal joy for those who love him. We don't know as much as we would like to know, but it's enough to know that eternity with God will be more wonderful than we could ever imagine. One of the best ways that John found to describe all that was so positive about heaven was to approach it from the negative. No more tears, no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain. Behold, I am making all things new. Now presumably this means not only that everything will be made new, but also everything will stay new. The entropy law will be repealed. I learned in college that the second law of thermodynamics states there is a natural tendency of any isolated system to degenerate into a disordered state. Things will always move from order toward chaos and never the other direction. Chaos will never move toward orderliness. I think science proved this law through personal observation of my college apartment. Patty and I went back after we were married. One of my old roommates still lived there, and he had shampooed the shag carpet that had covered the floor. I had lived there for three or four years, and I never knew it was a gold carpet. I thought it was brownish green. Oh, it was a shock. Things break down and decay and everything in the universe moves from order to chaos. But in the new heavens and the new earth, this law of our universe no longer exists. Nothing will wear out or decay and no one will age or atrophy anymore. My flooring is going to stay golden. My garage is gonna be just as neat and tidy as Jeff Adams' and also Dave Reeker's garages. I tell ya, I think those are the only two places in the universe that this law of thermodynamics doesn't apply. They're always neat and tidy. And then just in case there's difficulty in imagining a world without these things that are so common in the world today, things that have been brought so so much grief to so many people, he adds this postscript. These words are trustworthy and true. Verse six, and he said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. The announcement, it is done, reminds me of Jesus's announcement as he hung on the cross when he said, it is finished. John 19 30. This declares that God's purpose in history has come to its conclusion by creating a people with whom he will live. Then once again, Christ calls attention to his deity. He says, I am the alpha and the omega. He wants us to understand that he and he alone is all that is necessary to make this reality. In verse five, God told John to write this down. God wanted John to extend an invitation to all the readers who would be reading the book of Revelation, including you and I right here, right now, before it is eternally too late. Reading on. To the thirsty. I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. To the one who conquers, I will have this heritage, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for the murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. which is the second death. At this present time, it is still not too late to receive Jesus as Savior. Any person can call upon the name of Jesus now and receive him as Lord and Savior. Anyone who receives him as Lord and Savior will be numbered among those who are referred to here as the one who conquers. there in verse 7. However, the unrepentant sinner will have his part in the lake of fire. In verse 6, there is the promise of life to the one who conquers. But in verse 8, there remains only the promise of death for those who reject God's provision, Jesus Christ. Now the catalog of sinners in verse eight of those who will be inhabiting hell is vivid and it's most instructive. At the head of the list is the cowardly. Some versions may read fearful. This is primarily a reference to the lack of trusting faith in the Lord. Christ used it in Mark 4.40 when he said, why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? Closely related is the word used in John 14.27, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. And similarly, in 2 Timothy 1 verses 7 and 8 we read, For God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. Those who are more afraid of the disapproval of men than of Christ. are dangerously close to this kind of sin. This kind of fearfulness is very similar to the sin of unbelief itself. The next in the list is not as bad. The others that follow aren't as bad as this first one of unbelief. You see, even murder can be forgiven. through genuine repentance in faith, but not unbelief. There is no salvation for unbelievers and no degree of moral righteousness short of absolute perfection can never offset this. The greatest sin of all is rejecting the infinite love and suffering of Christ for us and his atonement for our sins, being more fearful of man than of God. verses nine and 10. Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me saying, come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. Well, let us consider just a little bit the description of the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, the Lamb's wife. Now, theologians have been confused by this expression, the Holy Jerusalem, the Lamb's wife. How can the New Jerusalem be a city and at the same time be the wife of the Lamb, the Bride of Christ? Now, if we study the passage carefully, there doesn't need to be a lot of difficulty with this. The city and its occupants are one. This chapter of Revelation concerns a literal city of inexpressible beauty. It is the New Jerusalem. The redeemed Church of Christ, the Bride of the Lamb, is to dwell in the New Jerusalem. The city and its inhabitants are one. Now today, we speak the same thing concerning cities. When I mention a certain city, for example, Portland, Oregon, I may mean either or both the material city and its buildings or the inhabitants of Portland. From one point of view, Portland is a city. However, Portland is also a company of people who, like myself at one time, lived there, and many still do. For instance, if I say Portland is a beautiful city, you know that I'm referring to its beautiful location near Mount Hood and situated on the Columbia and the Willamette Rivers and its fine buildings and its gardens and its parks. But if I say, you know, Portland is weird, as in keep Portland weird, or Portland is a wicked city, you know immediately that I am referring to the people of Portland and not to its buildings, streets, and trees. The term Portland may refer either to the city itself or the people who live there. In the same way, God speaks of the New Jerusalem. The term indicates both a literal city and the occupants of that city. It is both the city and the bride, the building and its occupants. And so I really don't have a problem with God calling it both the holy city and the wife of the lamb. New Jerusalem comes down from heaven, but we are not told if it comes all the way to the earth. The city, as far as we know, might be hanging in midair somewhere in outer space, don't know. But these verses and those which follow indicate that the city will be the center of all things. All activity and the glory will revolve about the city. God will be there. It'll be his headquarters. And his universe is theocentric, God-centered. So the new Jerusalem is therefore worthy to merit great beauty and preeminence for eternity. So we read of that now, verses 11 through 14. Having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great high wall with 12 gates, and at the gates, 12 angels, and on the gates, the names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed. On the east, three gates. On the north, three gates. On the south, three gates. And on the west, three gates. And the wall of the city had 12 foundations. On them were the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. The 12 tribes of Israel probably represent all the faithful of the Old Testament and the 12 apostles represent the church. And thus, both believing Gentiles and Jews who have been faithful to God are gonna live together in New Jerusalem. The names of the 12 apostles and the 12 tribes of Israel are inscribed visually and prominently so no one will ever forget that the heritage of the saints of all ages is rooted in them. Verses 15 through 17, more description here. And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. And the city lies four squares in length, the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and its width and its height are equal. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. While he first measures the city proper and finds its length and its width and its height, they're all equal. It appears to be a cube. The city has all the appearance of being a cube. The angel announces that it measures 12,000 stadia, which is about 1,400 miles in each direction. It's hard to imagine anything like it. To help imagine the holy city, it'll be about eight and a half times larger than the state of Texas. Or as one commentator put it, If it were to be superimposed upon the United States, the area would cover all the way from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Atlantic Ocean all the way over to Colorado. And that's only one level. With a city measuring 1,400 miles long, 1,400 miles wide, and 1,400 miles high, there will Well, certainly big multiple levels. It's a large area, folks. Certainly God as creator can never be accused of skimping, withholding, economizing, or doing things that reveal littleness. When you go to the beach, you notice that he's put plenty of sand there, plenty of water in the ocean. He's made many mountains, and he put rocks everywhere. With a lavish hand, he has garnished the heavens with stellar bodies, When God does something, he certainly does it in abundance. And this city bears all the trademarks of its maker, the Lord Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth. He's the one who built this city. Verses 18 through 20. The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth burl, the ninth topaz, the 10th chrysopase, the 11th jocin, and the 12th amnethyst. Now it's time for me to quote Warren Wiersbe. He writes, building foundations are usually underground, but these foundations will not only be visible, but beautifully garnished with precious stones. Each separate foundation will have its own jewel. And the blending of colors will be magnificent as God's light shines through. No one can be dogmatic about the color of these gems, and it really doesn't matter. Jasper, as we have seen, is a clear crystal. Sapphire is a blue stone. Chalcedony is probably greenish blue. The emerald, of course, is green. Now, Warren Wearsby is not from the Pacific Northwest. He's more from the area Derek and Aubrey have just come from, from Chicago area. But you know what, I can't help but notice that Warren Wearsby seems to be telling us that heaven is colored for Seattle Seahawk fans. Yep. There must be a lot of us going there. If you're a 49er fan, you're out of luck. Because the other place has plenty of red. And probably tan. All right, all right, perhaps I should read the rest of the Wiersbe quote and confess that this is not about American football, because there will be some 49er colors there. He goes on, he says, and the Sardonyx is like our onks, the white stone streaked with brown, though some scholars describe it as red and white. See, God does have forgiveness for 49er fans, apparently. And then he says, sardis is a redstone, sometimes described as blood red, and chrysolite, a yellow quartz, like our modern topaz. Burl is green, and topaz, a yellow green. We're not sure about the chrysoporosus. Some think it's a gold-tinted stone. Others, an apple green color. The jossynth is probably blue, though some claim it was yellow. And the amethyst is a rich purple or blue-red. So the foundations of New Jerusalem are constructed in flashing brilliance and costly gems. On the inside is Jesus. When he was here, he was the light of the world. And he will be the light of the universe at this point as well. Astronomists and astronauts and so forth tell us that in space, the colors are almost entirely gray and black. But wait until you see the New Jerusalem. It's going to light up God's new heavens and new earth like they've never been lighted before. I think it's going to be the most breathtaking sight that you've ever seen. This new Jerusalem is a planet which comes right down out of heaven. Everything is going to revolve around it and light will come from there. The light will shine out in all of these brilliant, beautiful colors from the city. Verses 21 through 26. And the 12 gates were 12 pearls, and of the gates made a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations, but nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. Well, each gate is a single pearl, Indicating the entrance to the city is made only possible through the death of Christ. You see, pearls are produced out of physical suffering. Oysters make pearls by coating a little grain of sand or some other irritant that gets inside its shell. Gates were usually shut at night, but New Jerusalem welcomes all and has no enemies to fear. Now there's no fear of the open gate or darkness at all. I think we are seeing memorial after memorial after memorial as we read this to keep our hearts in worshipful focus. John mentions kings of the earth in these verses. He also mentions nations, and I've read a lot of the commentaries differing understandings about this. And as far as I'm concerned, this may simply be another reminder that John is making about from where all we came. Where did we come from? Heaven's going to be comprised of those from every nation. Some will come from positions of great authority. If we all retain some of these distinctions, I'm not sure. The last verse, I sure am glad that's here. Sure I'm glad, but nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. Thank God for this verse. God will see to it that in no wise, under no circumstance, by any means, will anything enter into the pearly white city to mar, scar, and defile. Nothing abominable shall ever enter there. Revelation 21.8 tells us that all evil, all of the evil ones are in the lake of fire, eternally imprisoned and sealed, never to be released, and the devil is there too. Satan had access to God's throne in the beginning when he was Lucifer, the shining one, Isaiah 14, and at the beginning of the book of Job, he's seen as having entrance into God's presence. But in the pearly white city, there will be no devil, nor in the new earth or the heavenlies. Satan will be in the lake of fire and the eternal prison and damned. We need not worry about the sin tragedy reoccurring. It will not, because God Almighty will have put down evil once for all forever. Satan's head will be crushed, his kingdom destroyed, and his subjects in the Lake of Fire with him. Only those who have their names in the Lamb's Book of Life will be in the pearly white city. If we see ourselves according to the destiny to which God has called us, we'll act accordingly. That's why C.S. Lewis said what he did. If you read history, you will find the Christians who did most for the present world are just those who thought most of the next. Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you will get neither. Revelation 21 summons us to see ourselves as heirs of the future. Even though Revelation emphasizes Jerusalem as a future city, It is being built in the present. The time for adorning ourself with righteous acts is now. God's perfect dwelling will be with us. We'll enjoy the intimacy of the most holy place with him forever. If that is truly a future that you yearn for, then enjoy the intimacy with him now through prayer and through worship ever deepening. Let's pray.