All right, if you'll take your Bible and turn to Revelation chapter 21. We're going to talk about the New Jerusalem this morning. We'll pick up with verse 9 and read part of our text. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife. and He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. Having the glory of God, her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also, she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and the names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. Three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out as a square. Its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed. Twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. Then he measured its wall. 144 cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The construction of its wall was of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stone. Now verse 21, The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each individual gate was of one pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. You know, in a much beloved scripture, Jesus said, in my Father's house are many mansions, or dwelling places. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, you may be also. Perhaps Jesus was especially thinking of the new Jerusalem when he said, I go to prepare a place for you. is taking place as Jesus is building this wonderful city described in the book of Revelation. And this city will be our eternal home and the capital of the new earth that we'll talk about next Sunday. And you know Hebrews chapter 11 verse 10 says that Abraham waited for the city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God. And so as I preach about this new Jerusalem this morning, I hope that you will long to go there and see it for yourself. Hebrews 13, 14 says, for here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. I don't want anyone to miss going to the New Jerusalem someday. Now some interpret the detailed descriptions of the New Jerusalem symbolically and allegorically, but I believe that God will create the city as described, but it does have symbolic meaning. That's why He creates it the way He does. And I want to bring out this symbolism as we go through the message this morning. Now, when will we inhabit this New Jerusalem? Well, some scholars believe that when Christ returns, He'll set up His kingdom and that we will begin to inhabit the New Jerusalem in heaven at that time. And then at the end of the millennium, the new Jerusalem will come down from heaven and will be placed on earth and we will dwell in that city forever and ever on the new earth. And that may be the case. On the other hand, it may be based on the chronology of revelation that we not inhabit the new Jerusalem until God creates the new heaven and the new earth. But regardless, it is a place and a city that you want to go to. And the fact that this city comes down from God, shows that eternal blessedness is not an achievement of man, but is the gift of God. James says that every good and perfect gift comes from above. You know, man has built some great cities. It all started with Cain. He was the first to build a city. But no city that man has ever built will compare with the city that Jesus Christ is building for us. And so let's look into this text of scripture and see the lessons that God wants us to draw from how he created or will create this city. First of all, the new Jerusalem manifests the glory of God. You know, as I studied this text this week, I was really struck by the emphasis on the fact that this city will manifest the glory of God. You know, God is a God of glory, and so the city that shall be His special habitation will manifest His glory. Never when God came down on Mount Sinai, he manifested his glory. When God dwelt in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle and temple, he manifested his glory. When God came down in the person of Jesus Christ, he manifested the glory of God. And so it is expected that when he takes up his special that he will manifest his glory throughout the city. Notice in verses 10 and 11, it says, he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like jasper stone, clear as crystal. So it will be a glorious, splendid city that will glimmer with the radiance of God like a diamond. No city built by man will compare to this city. And in this description of the New Jerusalem, the glory of God is primarily manifested in the light and beauty and magnificence God like His omnipotent power, His authority, His riches, His wisdom, His creativity, and His holiness. And we see some specific ways that His glory will be manifested in this city. starting with the construction of the city. As we read about the walls, and the foundations, and the gates, and the buildings, and the other constructed things of the city, we see a description of God's glory. It is But last in verse two, this city was described as a bride adorned for her husband. Oh, what a beautiful city this is gonna be. You know, I've performed a lot of weddings in my ministry, and oh, how beautiful every bride is. And this city is going to manifest the glory of the beauty of God. Then in verse 12, we read that the city that John saw had a great and high wall. In verse 17, we read how great and high the wall will be. equivalent to an 18-story building, far higher than any city of John's day. And yet it, that the greatness of the walls manifests the glory of the greatness of God. And then in verses 18 to 19 we read, the construction of this wall was of The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones, including jasper, sapphire, emerald. These stones would display the colors of the rainbow, green and blue and red and gold and purple. Oh, how God must love color. because the foundations of this wall will sparkle with the colors that God has created, manifesting the indescribable beauty of God. And furthermore, both the city and the streets of the city will be of pure gold. May not have thought about it, but the gold is associated with deity. For example, the furnishings of the Tabernacle and Temple were made of gold. When they built the Temple of Jerusalem in Jesus' day, it was overlaid with gold. And when the sun rose over the Mount of Olives and began to shine on the Temple, it would almost blind you. as the glory of the sun radiated from that temple. That's the kind of picture we see here of God's glory manifested in the ridges and the beauty and the light of gold in the city. Then verse 21 says, 12 gates were of 12 pearls. Each individual gate was of one pearl. You know all the other gemstones are made in the earth or from the earth, but the pearl is made by the oyster. And here we Earl was one of those prized gems of the ancient world and even to this day. And so it manifests once again the beauty of God in his glory. And one time there was a little boy walking with his grandfather under the night sky and they looked up and it seemed like there were a million stars in the heaven. And he pulled on his grandpa's coat and said, If heaven looks this beautiful on the outside, I wonder what it looks like on the inside. Well, we get a picture of it here in the book of Revelation. And so we read that the glory of God is manifested in how the sea was constructed. light of the city. Verse 23 says, The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And so this City never gets dark. The glory of God illuminates the city 24 hours a day. And that's not surprising because 1 John 1-5 says that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. Furthermore, the river of the city will radiate with the glory of God, manifest the glory of God. In chapter 22, verse 1, John says, And He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. That word clear may better be translated bright or shiny. perhaps sparkling, and so that river that flows from the throne of God will sparkle with the glory of God. Have you been to the beach? Maybe as the sun sets, you can see the rays of the sun reflecting off the water, or the rays of the moon reflecting off the water. Well, the glory of God is going to reflect off that That river, clear river that flows from the throne of God. But you know, God's glory will also radiate, I'm sure, from the face of Jesus. Verse 4 says, they shall see His face. The glory of God radiated from the face of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. The glory of God radiated from Jesus as he confronted Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. And surely, the glory of God will radiate from the face of Jesus. In fact, it's said that the Lamb will be the light of that city. And so the New Jerusalem will manifest the glory of God in the ways we've described. And you know, as you think about the glory of God, You should praise God for His glory and His glorious attributes, His glorious words. In fact, Ephesians 1, 12, and 14 mentions the praise of His glory. In the book of Revelation, there are 11 times when the glory of God is manifested and creation or those in heaven are called to respond by giving glory to God. And so, as you see or hear or read of the glory of God, you ought to praise God. Do you do that on a regular basis? That's what we see as a lesson here. But furthermore, we ought to reflect the glory of God in our own lives. 2 Corinthians 3.18 says, But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. He's making a reference to Moses. When he was with God on a mountain, and he came down from that mountain, what did they see? They saw the glory of God on His face. As we behold God's glory, we're transformed into His glory. When people see you, they ought to see the glory of the love of God, the glory of the mercy and grace of God, the glory of the strength of God, the glory of the wisdom of God, the glory of the capabilities of God. When you see someone manifest great talent and great ability, that is simply reflecting the glory of our great God. You need to have a vision of what can happen in your life when you behold the glory of God and the glory of God begins to reflect in your own life. And so the New Jerusalem manifests the glory of God, but secondly, the New Jerusalem shows that salvation comes from God. I want you to go to heaven. I want you to be there with me, but you need to know that The way the city is described, it shows how to get there. First of all, by the sacrifice of God's Son. This is pictured in the gates of the city. Verse 21, 12 gates were 12 pearls. Each individual gate was of one pearl. Now, how does the oyster make a purse? There's some irritation or wound that gets inside that and it starts to surround it with what becomes the pearl. There has to be a wound to create the pearl. And so if we enter the New Jerusalem through those gates of pearl, we will always be reminded that Jesus Christ was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised Oh, yes, the only way you can get to heaven is by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and right here in this description of the New Jerusalem, there are seven references to Jesus as the Lamb of God. There are much more than that in the entire book of Revelation. 27 references. The first is found in Revelation 5, 6. Behold, in the midst stood a lamb as though it had been slain. Listen, you're not gonna earn your way to heaven. The only way you can get to heaven is by the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. My friend, I want you to go to heaven. And I want you to look at the last of verse 27. It says, only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life shall enter that city. You've got to repent of your sins and put your faith in the Lamb of God if you want to go to that city someday. And, you know, if I were able to bring the Lamb's Book of Life down from heaven and set it on the Lord's Supper table, would you be afraid to look to see if your name is there? I hope not. But, you know, you can make sure your name is written in the Book of Life if you'll trust Jesus as your Savior. But, you know, we also know that salvation comes from God as seen in the water of life. There in the New Jerusalem, verse 1, chapter 22, and he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and out of the land. Notice it's called the river of the water of life. You know how long you can live without water? Five days max. You have to have water. It is literally the water of life. And it pictures the truth that Jesus, this water of life, flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb. The only way you can have eternal life is Jesus and faith in Jesus. Furthermore, we also know that This description of the Jerusalem tells us something about receiving that water of life. It says in the last of verse 17, that let him who thirsts come, whoever desires, let him take of the water of life freely. Eternal life is a gift. that you receive freely by God's grace. Furthermore, from the description of the size of the new Jerusalem, surely there is room for you in that city. You know how big this city is? On one side, it's 12,000 furlongs or stadia. That's 1,400 miles. That's like from Maine to Florida. This city is huge, larger than a lot of countries. And it is also described as having that dimension, not only in the depth and the width, but also the height of the city. That would mean that this city has layer after layer after layer of habitation. And based on the density rate of modern cities, someone has calculated that this city could hold 100 billion people. That's a lot of people. And by the way, I think there are going to be more than just Baptists there. Oh yeah, this is a big city. There's room for you in this city if you will only believe. In fact, you will all be redeemed of all the ages. The apostles are mentioned, the sons of Israel are mentioned. There's room for you, friend. But you know, there's something else in this city. There's the Tree of Life, verse 2. In the middle of its tree and on either side of the river was the Tree of Life. Verse 7 says the Tree of Life was in the midst of the paradise of God. The fact that it's in the midst shows its prominence and its proximity to the throne of God. The Tree of Life. is a picture of the eternal life that God will give us. Adam and Eve sinned and lost access to the tree of life, but Jesus Christ is the one that restores the tree of life that we may live forever and ever and ever. By the way, there's another tree from which light flowed. 1 Peter 2.24 says that in his own body on the tree. Talking about the cross. So if you want to be saved and enter that new Jerusalem, you got to trust in Jesus. You battle that cross for your sins. And so the new Jerusalem will manifest the glory of God. The new Jerusalem shows the way of salvation and eternal life. In Matthew this morning, the new Jerusalem will be a paradise. A wonderful paradise, you don't want to miss it. And there are four reasons why this is the case. First of all, because God rules there. In chapter 22, verses 1 and 3, we read about the throne of God, which no doubt is centrally located in that city, because God rules that city. It will be a paradise because God's in charge. and his authority will be unchallenged. And by the way, if you want a taste of heaven on earth, let me tell you how to have it. Make Jesus the Lord of your life and obey Him, and you'll have a taste of heaven on earth in your own life. Jesus taught us to pray, Matthew 6, 10. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It will also be a paradise because all evil and harm will be banished from that place. In chapter 21, verse 2, John calls this city a holy city. Holy means separate, separate from wickedness and sin. It'll all be banished. Verse 12 says that the city had a great and high wall with 12 gates and 12 angels In fact, verse 27 says, but there shall by no means enter in anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie. Back at verse 8, see what other kinds of sinners will not be there, the cowardly, unbelieving, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, and idolaters. The devil won't be there. The mobs and other gangs will not be there. Drug dealers, pimps, and prostitutes will not be there, except for the ones that have been saved and transformed of the blood of Jesus Christ. Not only will such unbelievers not enter the New Jerusalem, but chapter 20, verse 15 says that they will be cast into the lake of fire. So this city will provide the ultimate security from all sin and harm. What a wonderful paradise it will be. But it will also be paradise because our eternal well-being is assured. In chapter 22, verse 2, it says, in the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore 12 fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree work for the healing of the nations. I actually picture six trees on each side of the river. And it says the leaves are for the healing of the nations. And that word healing is a Greek word from which we get our English word therapy or therapeutic from. And here it probably means for the health of the nations. Once you enter into this city, there will be no more cities. There will be no hospitals. There will be no doctor's offices. Finally will be fulfilled the prophecy of Revelation 21-4. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. In the new Jerusalem, God's redemption from the effects of sin will be complete. Aren't you looking forward to the day when there'll be no more sickness, no more death, no more pain, back pain, and all other kinds of pain? It'll all be gone. The leaves are for the healing of the nation. Then finally, it will be a paradise because of the holy pleasure we will experience. Verse 2 says, in the middle of its tree and on either side of the river was a tree of life which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. Now one of the natural pleasures of life is eating fruit. given us so many different fruits to eat and they're wonderful. We enjoy eating, it gives us pleasure. And it fits the symbol of paradise, like the Garden of Eden. And there'll be a variety of fruit in a constant supply. And I have no problem taking this scripture literally, but the symbolism is fulfilled in Psalm 16, 11. In your presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Furthermore, if you look back to verse 1, it will be a pleasure to enjoy that pure river of water and of life as clear as crystal. The river of life not only pictures salvation, but it also pictures the pleasures of this paradise called the New Jerusalem. Psalm 36, eight says, you give them drink from the river of your pleasure. The psalmist also wrote of a river whose streams make glad the city of God. You know, most of us enjoy taking vacations at the ocean or the river or the lake. Well, in the new Jerusalem, there'll be a beautiful, clear flowing river. We can sit by the banks of that river and enjoy the paradise of God. I've tried to describe how beautiful and magnificent and marvelous this city is going to be. You don't want to miss it. And we heard this morning that the way to get into that city is through the gates of Pearl. which pictures the suffering of Jesus, who died as a lamb of God on that cross that you might be saved. He loved you that much to make a place for you in heaven. And if your name isn't written in that Lamb's Book of Life, why don't you repent of your sins and trust Jesus, and he'll put your name in that book this very day. Most of us are Christians here today, I assume, and we have loved ones and friends that are in that land, Book of Life. We need to pray for them, and we need to witness to them, at least invite them to church, that they too may be in that wonderful city. Now with me in prayer. Heavenly Father, I thank you that you have prepared a place for us. a wonderful place that manifests your glory, that shows the way of salvation, a paradise that awaits us. And I pray that your Holy Spirit will convict anyone here today that doesn't yet know Jesus, that today will be the day they turn to Christ and believe in Christ. Help us to be witnesses for you in these coming days. We ask this of Jesus.