Open your Bibles this morning to the 21st chapter of Revelation, the penultimate chapter here, the last paragraph in this penultimate chapter, beginning in verse number 22. On last week, we looked at the nature and structure of the New Jerusalem. And we saw that the New Jerusalem was actually a picture of believers throughout the ages. And as we saw this picture of believers throughout the ages, we came to understand that this building symbolized that collection, it symbolized that body. But now we move our attention from the structure itself, We move our attention from the way that God calls us together and makes us into this bride of Christ to the activity of the new Jerusalem. And we begin there in verse 22. We read, 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. And so here we see a picture of this activity, the hustle and bustle, if you will, of the New Jerusalem. But again, we have to understand that as we talk about the activity of the New Jerusalem, that we're speaking about it in the context of the New Jerusalem symbolizing the body of Christ, symbolizing the collection of all believers. This is not an actual city shaped like an actual cube. But this is a symbol, and even the shape and dimensions of the city are symbolic, using the number 12, and multiples of the number 12, and the number 1,000, hence 12,000 by 12,000 by 12,000, symbolizing, of course, the people of God. All of the people of God, the people of God in the Old Testament, thereby the names of the 12 tribes. and the people of God in the New Testament. They're by the names of the apostles. All the people of God. And remember, this city is called the Bride of Christ. So it is being contrasted with Babylon the Great that we heard of in chapter 17. We looked at the parallels between chapter 17 and chapter 19. The parallels and the distinctions between Babylon, the prostitute, and Jerusalem, the bride, and how those two are contrasted. And when we looked at that, we understood that because it was the Bride of Christ, and we have all of this language about the Bride of Christ in the New Testament, that that was a statement about believers. And yet now we turn our attention first to some peculiarities about the city, and then to the activities of the city. But we must keep in mind that this is symbolic language. This is symbolic of believers in their eternal state. And when we do this, we understand that there is one thing that overrides it all. And that is the idea that this is a city without a temple. That is significant in multiple ways. The idea that this is a city without a temple. It speaks volumes that this is a city without a temple. First, we look at the scandal of a city without a temple. That first thing he says, and I saw no temple in the city. This is scandalous. I saw no temple in the city. Even unbelieving cities have temples. Cities that don't believe in the one true living God because all cities believe in some God. So wherever you go in the world, you find temples. Wherever you go in the world, you find symbols of what people worship because it is built into the heart of man to worship. Though sinful man does not worship rightly. And so when you go to a Hindu city, you will find a Hindu temple. It will stand as a symbol of what it is that they believe and what it is that they worship. They will use their finest materials in order to use these temples. These temples will be decorated in ways that symbolize their worship. If you go to a Buddhist city, you will find Buddhist temples. If you go to an Islamic city, you will find mosques. If you go to cities that are Jewish, you'll find Jewish temples and synagogues. If you go to cities that are Christian, you'll find Christian churches and cathedrals all over the world. In fact, some of the most magnificent buildings in the world are temples and cathedrals and churches. As a matter of fact, when you go visiting a foreign land, I don't know if you're anything like me, but if I go to a foreign country, one of the things that I want to see is I want to see cathedrals there. I want to see temples. That's just one of the things that you do. If you go to Istanbul, you want to see that great mosque there. If you find yourself in India, near one of the areas of the great temples that you want to see it. If you go to Egypt, you want to see Luxor. If you go to Rome, you want to see St. Peter's. If you go to France, you want to see Notre Dame. They speak volumes. Even the United States has a national cathedral. It's beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous. Some of the most beautiful and important buildings in the world. And in the context of this passage of scripture, we know that the Temple of Temples was in Jerusalem. And that it was grand. And yet, the New Jerusalem has no temple. This is scandalous. Listen to this from Dennis Johnson. Israel's physical sanctuaries served the dual function of providing intimacy with God and insulation from his consuming holiness. God dwelt in the midst of his people, but not every one of his people could demand a face-to-face audience with this holy king of kings, as the Israelites observed with the horror in the destruction of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Numbers 16 and 17. Weak Israel needed the Lord's presence in their midst to protect them from foes, and more importantly, to define their identity as a people. But sinful Israel needed the walls and curtains of the sanctuary to protect them from the Lord, to provide a buffer and heat shield between them and the consuming fire. The temple was important. The temple was a reminder. It was a reminder of the distance between us and God. The temple reminded Israel that there is a God, that He is awesome. It reminded them that they are not like God. Secondly, it was a reminder of the distinction between them and others. Their temple reminded them that they were not like the other nations because the other nations were defined by their temples. What separates us from them? The answers to that question for Israel was, look to the temple. That's what separates us from them. We worship the one true and living God who instructed us to build that temple and all of the things that go on inside it. We are not those who worship at other temples and other places. Temple was also a reminder of the need for forgiveness. Can you imagine the smell of sacrifices being offered and burned around the clock in the temple? The blood that would run off from the temple. It was a constant reminder of the sinfulness of man and his need for forgiveness, his need for atonement with God and yet in this new city there is no temple. Why? Because there is no distance between man and God. The distinction between us and others who's inside the New Jerusalem and who's out There is no need for the reminder of forgiveness. We are forgiven and with the one who has forgiven us. And there is no need of a reminder of a hope that is unrealized because the hope is realized. The temple is also a witness. Listen to this, 1 Kings chapter 10, verses four and five. I love this scene where the queen of Sheba has come to visit Solomon. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of the officials and the attendant of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, the burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her. Literally took her breath away. It was said that when men would come to Jerusalem for the first time and come over the hills and finally be able to see the temple that they would stop and stand and stare in awe. Today on the Temple Mount there is a similar sight. We all know that golden dome with a rock that sits right on the Temple Mount, right next to where Solomon's temple was. And it is still a breathtaking sight. How about the New Testament idea? Johnson continues, Now, John sees an image of the new Jerusalem that speaks of a people so purified, washed so clean, objectively, through justification, and subjectively, through sanctification, through the blood of the Lamb, that they need not fear direct contact with their Lord and Redeemer. This is what Christ does at the cross. We are redeemed, and when our redemption is complete, There is no need for us to have a buffer between us and God. Our communion with Him is complete. In the New Testament, we see that Jesus is the true temple. John 2, 19 to 21. Jesus answered him, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews then said, it has taken 46 years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days? But he was speaking about the temple of his body. Jesus is the true temple. We also see in the New Testament that believers are a new temple. 1 Corinthians 3, 16 to 17. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him for God's temple is holy and you are that temple. 1 Corinthians 6, 19. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? Second Corinthians 6, 16. What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said, I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Then there is the sense in which heaven is the true temple. Hebrews chapter nine, verses 23 and 24. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these, for Christ has entered not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. So why would we need a temple in the New Jerusalem? If Christ, who is the true temple, is there and united with us as his bride, why would we need a temple? If we are there with him, our bodies, the temple of the Holy Spirit, why would we need a temple? And if we are in the heavenly Jerusalem, why would we need a temple? Why would we need to go anywhere? The fact of the matter is we don't. We won't in that instance. Beloved, even when we gather here on the Lord's day, we are reminding ourselves of that day when he will be our temple. There are no sacred places, but places where sacred people gather. Listen to our confession on this. Chapter 22, paragraph six. Neither prayer nor any other part of religious worship is now under the gospel tied unto or made more acceptable by any place in which it is performed or towards which it is directed. But God is to be worshiped everywhere in spirit and in truth. as in private families daily and in secret, each one by himself, so more solemnly in the public assemblies, which are not carelessly nor willfully to be neglected or forsaken when God by his word or providence calleth thereunto." We don't come here because we can't meet God in another place. We come here for the ordinary means of grace. Amen? We're about to leave. I'm leading a tour again starting next week in Israel. And I refuse to call it the holy land because it is not. There is no holy land. There is no holy place on this earth. There are but holy people. And therefore the holy land is wherever we are. I'll never forget the first time walking up to the place where they believe the holy of holies actually stood. It is awe-inspiring. But here's what's awe-inspiring. What's awe-inspiring is not to stand there and think about the blood of bulls and lambs and goats that were offered on that place. But what's awe-inspiring is to think that Christ is the Holy of Holies. That Christ did what those things could not. By the way, that's the only other time we see a cube in the Bible. It's the Holy of Holies. And the New Jerusalem is in the shape of a cube, just like the Holy of Holies. Because we don't need to go anywhere. Secondly, besides the scandal of a city without a temple, there is the consolation of a city without a temple. Next part of the verse. For its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb. For His temple is the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb. So believers enter the perfect unity of the Father and the Son. Notice this, the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb are its temple. The Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb are not two temples. The Lord God, Almighty, and the Lamb are one temple. So here is another testimony to the triune God, another testimony to the deity of Christ. The Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, they are one, and they are the true temple. And we enter into the perfect unity between the Father and the Son. Saints, this is important, that our redemption is a picture of the love relationship between the triune God, that the triune God who has existed eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit actually bring us into their perfect unity. The Spirit of God is this perfect love and perfect unity between the Father and the Son. And so this triune God who exists perfectly as Father, Son, and Spirit, who need absolutely nothing, they did not need anything, and yet the triune God creates the world, creates man, and through redemption brings us into the perfect unity of the Trinity. God makes us one with Him. Just like the Father is one with the Son, who is one with the Spirit, who is one with the Father. They bring us into that perfect communion. Can you wrap your head around that? This is the consummation of our communion with Christ. How can we forget the words in John 14? Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it weren't so, I would have told you, but I go to prepare a place for you. so that where I am you may be also." That's bride and groom language. And here we see a picture of the bride of Christ. This is a consummation of that reality. This is what Jesus is building. So this is the consolation of a city without a temple. We don't need a temple, amen? Because of our oneness with the Lamb and with God the Almighty. Thirdly, there is the beauty of a city without a temple. As I've said before, wherever you go, usually the most beautiful structures you will find are places of worship. You might find structures that are larger, No doubt. I mean, there are countries that compete to have the tallest building in the world. And you stand, buildings so tall that you can't stand next to them and look up at them because you'll fall over backwards. Buildings so tall that you see them no matter where you are in the city. And there is something to be said for that kind of architectural achievement. And yet, those buildings pale in comparison to houses of worship that are made with painstaking precision and with worship. These are usually the most beautiful buildings in a city. So where's the beauty in a city that doesn't have one? Look at verse 23. And the city has no need for sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light. and its lamp is the lamb. Amen. There's the beauty of this city. The glory of God is the beauty of this city. This is the fulfillment of a promise. If you turn over to Isaiah, go to Isaiah chapter 60. Go to Isaiah chapter 60. Start there in verse 19 of Isaiah chapter 60. Listen to the words of this promise. The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light, but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. Amen. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. This is the promise to which John refers here in Revelation 21. There is no doubt that he is talking about this. He is talking about God as a illuminating and purifying light. First of all, we see in this that time has given way to eternity. So all of a sudden, the sun and the moon, which help us mark time, they help us pass time. That's what they're there for. God can give us light, but he gave us the sun and moon to mark time. We don't need them to mark time because we are no longer in time. We're no longer bound by time. We have stepped out of time into eternity. Secondly, we see that sin has given way to righteousness. In the scripture, when we look at light and darkness, we are talking about the idea of sin versus righteousness. God is our light. He is our righteousness. There is only righteousness here, as we'll see in a few moments. So we stepped out of time into eternity. We stepped out of sinfulness into righteousness. And finally, fear has given way to safety. Dark is ominous. We have nothing but light. This is our beauty as a city. What about our glory? There's beauty in a city without a temple, but is there glory in a city without a temple? Look back at our passage. Look at verses 24 through 26. 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." Here's where it's important for us to remember that we're talking about symbolic language. There are a number of reasons that this is important. First, this is important because if we don't realize that we're talking about symbolic language, then some have used this to argue that there will be people coming into heaven in the eternal state. That people will have another chance to walk in through the gates. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. We're talking about those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. You don't get your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life after the eternal state. Secondly, if you've read chapters 19 and 20, you recognize how sinners are dealt with. Thirdly, the idea that there is this wall symbolizes the difference between those who are inside and those who are outside. So we're not seeing that. So the question is, what then are we seeing? First, everything in the city is holy. Everything in the city is holy. Things that are not holy are outside of the city. This is the glory of the city, that everything in the city is holy. Secondly, everyone in the city is holy. Not only everything in the city, but everyone in the city is holy. This is the glory of the city. Thirdly, the glory of the nations and the kings originate with God, and now these nations and these kings bring this glory into the city. Now, we've heard about nations. Think about the contrast. When we were talking about Babylon, Babylon deceived the kings of the nations. The kings were drunk on the blood of martyrs there in Babylon. Now the kings of the nations are bringing their glory into this city. Are we talking about the same kings? No, no, actually we're not because those kings get dealt with and judged by God. But here is the picture. The picture is that heaven is all about the glory of God that God has wrought in and through the people from all over the earth. We don't all look the same. I know, I know, it may come as a shock to you. We don't all look the same. Some of us are darker than others. Some of us are lighter than others. Some of us taller, some of us shorter. Some of us wider. Not as wide. We're different. We come from different places. Some of us have different and unique accents. We eat unique foods. We have unique traditions. All of those things are part of God's common grace. And all of those things bring God glory in a different way. Here's a newsflash, folks. Heaven will not just consist of a string of individuals who are absolutely like one another and no longer have their distinctions and their differences. Any more than a beautiful garden is made up of one kind of plant. Just like you see the beauty and glory of God's created order, in the diversity of plants and animals that he's made, there is also the same thing that brings glory and honor to God through the diversity of people that he's made. See, this is the opposite of racism. Amen? What racism says is what God intended to do is he intended to make all people like me. And all people who are not like me are somehow less than I am. That's what racism says. Racism says I am the epitome and perfect example of what God had in his mind when he made human beings. That's what racism says. This is the opposite of that. See, what the racist believes about heaven is that in heaven, I won't have to deal with other. Everybody there will be like me because everybody who's not like me is part of the imperfection that has crept into creation. This is the opposite of that. This says not everybody is like me and God glorifies himself even in the fact that not everybody is like me. God gains glory through this diversity because there is no single human being, there is no single culture that can capture the beauty and the glory of Almighty God. It takes all of it. And this is a picture, the glory of the nations coming and bringing all of that back to God. The unveiling of this glory is eternal and never ending. It's eternal and never ending. You think you understand it, but you don't. You have no idea how many distinct ways God has brought glory to himself in the creation of man and everything that man does. You have no idea. That means the glory of the city is never ending. The glory of this city will never get old. The glory of this city will never fade. We will never become jaded by the glory of this city. Finally, the citizens of a city without a temple. The citizens of a city without a temple. What does the city not having a temple say about its citizens? Look at verse 27. 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. The people who will enter this city are the kind of people who do not need to be told, look there to the temple and be reminded. Look there to the temple and find forgiveness. Look there to the temple and find wholeness. Look there to the temple and be made right with God. Look there to the temple. The people who enter this city won't need to hear that. because we will be in perfect communion with God. This also speaks to the glorified state. I've mentioned this before, but let me mention it again because this is a question that comes up often. The question that comes up often is how do we stop from just spinning this thing out of control again? We will not be made like Adam. We will be glorified. Adam was not glorified. Adam had the possibility of sinning because he was not glorified. We will be glorified. We will be like God and we will be in perfect communion with God. We will not be like Adam and there will not be a second fall. Nothing unholy will ever enter that city. Never. Here's the other thing. The reason that's true is because the last Adam will complete his work. He who began a good work in you is the one who will see it through to its completion. It will be completed. And when we are in the eternal state, that work will be completed. And Christ is the one who completes this work. And so when he is on the cross and he says it is finished, he introduces us to this already not yet tension. Amen. So there is a sense in which I am already saved. Amen, hallelujah, praise the Lord. But there is also this tension because I am not yet all the way saved. I'm not yet glorified. It hasn't worked its way out completely. One day I'll be glorified. In the past tense, I was saved from the penalty of sin. In the present tense, I am being saved from the power of sin. In the future tense, I will be saved from the very presence of sin. It's coming. It's coming. And I'm reminded of it regularly. I'm reminded of it when I sin. And in that reminder, I go. I go to God. I go to God. But even my communion with God is imperfect. I go to God and I pray and my thoughts wander. Sometimes I go to God and I pray and I have sinful thoughts. Here I am praying to almighty God and a thought that's sinful comes into my head. Don't act like you've never had that happen. But there is coming a day when you won't. When your communion with God will be perfect because you will be perfect. Completely righteous. because of the finished work of Christ. Not because you perfect yourself, but because Christ finishes his work. Saints, we ought to yearn for this. Amen? And when we gather together for worship, we ought to be reminded of this. We ought to have a foretaste of this when we gather together for worship. A foretaste of the beauty of that city and the glory of that city and the citizens of that city. We have a foretaste of that, although imperfect. Why? Because unlike that city, sinful things come through those doors, amen? Unlike that city, we have to be reminded constantly of the truth of Christ's work in us, in spite of ourselves and our sinfulness. Unlike that city, we have to be reminded of our need for continuing to perfect and pursue that communion with God. And yet, as we come together and are reminded, we are not reminded in such a way that we're beaten down and lose hope. We're reminded in such a way that ultimately we say, even so, come Lord Jesus. Because this is good, but it's not good enough. Amen? This is good, but it's not good enough. This is what the cross of Christ is ultimately about. This is why an over-realized eschatology is so dangerous to us. This is why when we believe that we ought to get everything in the here and the now, we're missing something incredibly important. We must have that tension between the already and not yet. And beloved, when you come to a place where you just get sick and tired of the already, go read this and remind yourself of the not yet. But here's the other thing. Recognize that the problem is in here. Here's the difference in looking at this city as a physical place and looking at it as the saints. So here I am as a follower of Christ and I recognize the difficulties. I look at this and I yearn for this and I recognize that I don't have this. But this is actually a city. So the problem is outside of me and the solution is outside of me. The change needs to come outside of me. God needs to do some stuff outside of me if I see this as a physical city. But if I see this city as symbolic of the body of Christ and the bride of Christ, then the change that needs to come is not out there, it's in here. One of those makes me say, Lord, change the environment around me to be the new Jerusalem, because then I will be happy if the environment around me is better. The other perspective says, Lord, change me so that I am more new Jerusalem today than I was yesterday. Because the problem is in here. Problem is not outside of me. The problem is me. Lord, change me. Not, Lord, change the people that I have to look at all the time. Lord, change me. Because I'm the problem. Make me more like Christ. Because that's what I need. Until one day, I am found in perfect communion with him. This leads to a final observation. There are many individuals who want heaven but don't want Jesus. This makes no sense whatsoever. Many individuals who want heaven but don't want the church. This makes no sense whatsoever. Because what is this city all about? Well, number one, this city is all about those believers that you don't want to be around now. And number two, it's about their communion with Christ in eternity. And here's the question. If you don't want communion with Christ now, and you don't want communion with the body of Christ now, what makes you think you're going to heaven? Because whatever it is that you say you want, it's not the heaven found in the Bible. It's something else. The heaven found in the Bible drives you toward other believers, not away from them. It drives you toward the Christ of the scriptures and not away from him. And so the individual who says, I'm spiritual, but not religious, the individual who says, I love Jesus, but not Christians, or the individual who says, I don't really have time for Christ, but I want to go to heaven is a hypocrite and a self-deceived liar. If you do not want Christ, if you do not want the mortification of sin, and if you do not want life with other believers, you are not a Christian and you're not headed toward heaven. And if you got there, you would hate it. Because it's everything that you want no part of now. It's everything you run away from now. And the evidence cannot be reconciled. How can you convince me that he is what you want when what he is building for you is not what you want? How can you convince me that you belong to him? And yet those things that he has created us to yearn for are not the things that you yearn for. How can you convince me that you love God whom you cannot see when you don't love your brother whom you see every day? How can you convince anyone of this? By the way, that's not my question. That's John's question. People who haven't been a member of a church for decades. who swear they're going to spend eternity with the people of God. There are people who have never found another Christian who was good enough for them to be in fellowship with and swear that what they yearn for is an eternity with those very people. How can this be so? I don't believe it can. You see, the New Jerusalem is about communion, fellowship, and intimacy. The New Jerusalem is not about you just getting a corner somewhere and being all by your lonesome and spending the rest of eternity avoiding other people. That's the wrong answer. It is about deep, pure, abiding, unbridled, unbroken communion and fellowship with the saints and the Savior. Do you yearn for that? Do you long for that? Or are you one who just goes through the motions and tries to get away from the rest of us as quickly as you possibly can? are you one who has enough fear of God that you know you need to be here but enough falseness and hypocrisy to keep everybody at arm's length my prayer for you is that you would consider this truth that you would consider this reality, that you would consider it in light of the condition of your own heart, and that you would repent, that you would run to Christ as your only hope, and that you would keep running to Him until that day when there's nowhere else to run. because you're in that city that doesn't have a temple, because God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple, and you are found in Him, and He is found in you, and your communion is complete with Him and with the rest of His bride. That's my prayer for you. And if you don't yearn for that, Would you cry out to Almighty God to expose your sin, to change your heart, to change your desires, to change you? Let's pray. Father, we bow before you. as a hopelessly sinful people who find our hope in Christ, the sinless Lamb of God, who died to redeem a people for you. who rose again on the third day, who was ascended to your right hand, who is forever interceding for us while we are being conformed into his very image. Christ who has saved us, Christ who is saving us, Christ who will save us. Grant by your grace that we would find our joy in him, that in him our joy will be made complete. and grant in the meantime that that would manifest itself in the joy that we find in others who are in him. Lord, we anxiously anticipate that day when there will be no more darkness and all will be light. When there will be no more sin and all will be righteousness. When there will be no more need for temples. Because the temple is the Lamb and God the Almighty. And I thank you that in Christ this is our reality. that he already is the true temple, that we already are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and that this is another already and not yet reality which we embrace and for which we wait. Father, be pleased. Be pleased in the honest and open confessions of our heart. Be pleased with our repentance. Be pleased with our faith. Be pleased with our hope. Be pleased with our worship. In this we ask, In the name of Jesus, who is the Christ, Amen.