Here We Stand Conference 2024 Session 4 - The State of Glory

>> Well, thank you very much for that

introduction and thank you for the invitation

to come and

be here today. I want to begin by reading a

part of the passage that our brother preached

from this morning, Ezekiel chapter 37, but the

latter part of that passage, if you want

to turn there with me, we'll sort of introduce

our subject in that way. Also, I want to refer

to the 1689 Confession, the chapter on sanct

ification, and then I'll tell you where we're

going.

We're going, God willing, to Revelation

chapter 21, and we're going to talk about the

end

of all these things, the Lord's purpose in all

of these things. We were talking about

Arminianism a little while ago. Some of you

probably met and remember the South African

evangelist, John Wilton. Any of you all ever

meet him? Maybe nobody did. John was president

of the Baptist union of South Africa years ago

, and he was greatly influenced by Errol

Holtz. Some of you know about Errol. Errol was

one of those guys like J.I. Packard was

a lot of them that sat under the ministry of

Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones in London. I remember

Errol telling me that John, he said, "That's

my first guy in South Africa." That's where

Errol was from originally. But anyway, I got

to be good friends with John, had him several

times at our church, and we had a very good

relationship after he moved to the United

States. So one day I said, "John, it must be

really something for you," because he just

moved about preaching in all kinds of churches

. I said, "It must be really something for you

to preach in all these Arminian churches." He

said something really interesting to me.

He said, "Joe," you talk like with the accent.

He said, "Joe!" He said, "You don't understand

."

He said, "It's not the Arminianism." He said,

"If they were consistent Arminians, they

actually

would be better off than what they are." He

said, "These guys I meet don't have any

theology

at all." And that's the problem you see is

that so many people are reared in churches

where they really don't get any kind of

systematic presentation of sound doctrine. I

did when

I was a child. I was grateful to the Lord for

that. I grew up high church Baptist. Any

of you ever heard of landmarkism? That's what

I grew up in. But at least I was taught

doctrine. And I'm very grateful for that. And

it was very helpful to even though I had

to reject some of that as the years went on, I

'm very appreciative for what the Lord. The

Lord just, He has a plan that He's working out

. Look at Ezekiel chapter 37, verse 15,

and following the Word of the Lord came to me,

"Son of man, take a stick and write on

it for Judah and the people of Israel

associated with Him, then take another stick

and write

on it for Joseph the stick of Ephraim and all

the house of Israel associated with Him,

and join them one to another into one stick

that they may become one in your hand." Now

I'm going to skip over, but you know this

passage. Then look at verse 22, "And I will

make them one nation in the land on the

mountains of Israel, and one king shall be

king over

them all, and they shall be no longer two

nations and no longer divided into two

kingdoms;

they shall not defile themselves any more with

their idols, and their detestable things

are with any of their transgressions; but I

will save them from all the backslidings

in which they have sinned, and will cleanse

them; and they shall be my people, and I will

be their God, my servant David shall be king

over them." Now obviously we are not talking

about a passage of Scripture that is to be

interpreted in a literal way in every aspect,

are we? Because we know that the Davidic king

is who, our Lord Jesus Christ. "So my servant

David shall be king over them, and they shall

all have one shepherd; they shall walk in my

rules and be careful to obey my statutes; they

shall dwell in the land that I gave to my

servant Jacob, where your fathers lived; they

and their children and their children's

children

shall dwell there forever. And David my

servant shall be their prince forever; I will

make

a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an

everlasting covenant with them, and I will

set them in their land and multiply them, and

will set my sanctuary in their midst forever

more. My dwelling place shall be with them,

and I will be their God, and they shall be

my people. Then the nations will know that I

am the Lord, or I am Jehovah, who sanctifies

Israel when my sanctuary is in their midst

forever more." So here is a prophecy of a

great future day, a blessing. The heart of it

is that God's people will be what they

are supposed to be, and that the Lord will

dwell among them. So that's the expectation.

Now go ahead and turn with me to Revelation,

to Revelation chapter 21. We're going to

take a look at a fairly long passage of

Scripture. I'll try not to belabor it too much

, but I

want to make a number of points about what we

find there. But before we do that, let

me just read this. "They who are united to

Christ, effectually called and regenerated,

having a new heart and a new spirit created in

them through the virtue of Christ's death

and resurrection, are also farther sanctified

." Really? And personally, through the same

virtue

by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them, the

dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed

,

and the several lusts thereof are more and

more weakened and mortified, and they more

and more quickened and strengthened in all

saving graces to the practice of all true

holiness, without which no man shall see the

Lord. That's paragraph one of chapter 13

in the 1689 Confession of Sanctification. Par

agraph two says, "This sanctification

is throughout the whole man, yet imperfect in

this life. There abided still some remnants

of corruption in every part, whence arises a

continual and irreconcilable war, the flesh

lusting against the spirit and the spirit

against the flesh." I might be the oldest

person here. I don't know, I'm not sure, but I

'm sure not getting any younger, I can tell

you that. But I know this, that this continues

to be a battle, a battle within me. That's

my experiential testimony about this truth of

the confession of faith here. And then

the third paragraph, "In which war, although

the remaining corruption for a time may much

prevail, yet through the continual supply of

strength, from the sanctifying spirit of

Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome. And

so the saints grow in grace, perfecting

holiness in the fear of God, pressing after an

evangelical life, an evangelical obedience

to all the commands which Christ has said and

King and His Word have prescribed them.

And let's make sure we understand what we mean

by evangelical obedience and evangelical

obedience, perfecting holiness in the fear of

God. Evangelical, what is it? Eugelion

is the word evangelical, what is it? We're

talking about the cross of the Lord Jesus

Christ, aren't we? So we honor the law of God,

we recognize that it is a standard of

righteousness and that the Lord Jesus Christ

did not set it aside, but we also make sure

that we understand that everything is

perfectly brought together and revealed when

He died

that atoning death on the cross of Calvary for

His people. And the self-sacrificing love

of the Lord Jesus Christ becomes our example

for the life that we are called to. That's

why it is evangelical obedience we are seeking

to honor and imitate, emulate the Lord Jesus

Christ in that. So in the passage of Scripture

that I read and in the article of sanct

ification

from the 1689 confession, we have statements

about an expectation of holiness of life that

we are called to. So you know the truth that

we're dealing with what? The sovereignty of

God on one hand and human responsibility on

the other hand, we don't want to forget that,

that we are called to be responsible in our

response to our Savior and that the two things

don't cancel each other out, but obviously it

is God's work and the hope of God finishing

that work in a marvelous way that is our, that

is our trust, that is our expectation.

Everything depends on Him and on His grace and

on His strength. And so I think we could

all say amen to that. But we're talking about

two things. We're talking about individual

sanctification. That's something that you and

I have to be concerned about as individuals

as far as human responsibility is concerned.

But we're also talking about what might be

called corporate sanctification or the sanct

ification of a people, the people of God. What

God is

doing in bringing that people into being by

the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus

Christ, you see, and by the work of the Holy

Spirit. So you're, you're, I don't think I'm

going to preach anything new this afternoon to

you. Nothing that you don't know already

actually, but I want to preach in a celebr

atory way this afternoon. Turn with me to

Revelation

chapter 21. We're going to begin with verse

one and following. I want to talk about where

all this is going and how it's going to work

out in the end. This morning I got ready,

I was getting ready to come here. And I said,

you know, I've got that, I got that new white

shirt there and it has French cuffs. And I

remember this old friend of mine, Harry White,

Harry went to be with the Lord years and years

ago, maybe 50 years ago. And Harry was married

to Peggy and Peggy's daughter was married to a

very wealthy industrialist and they had

to, they had a fancy apartment in New York

City near the United Nations building. And

I happened to be living there one time. And so

they, they came through on their way to

the estate in Spain. Yes, I'm telling you,

this was, you know, I don't know many people

like that, but I've known a few. But anyway,

so, so I went over and visited with them and,

and they were happy to see me. And they said,

we're going to Spain and stay a while. And

they went back, came back eventually. The next

time I saw them was in my hometown of

Laurel, Mississippi. And Harry had brought me

a pair of Spanish made cuff links, you

know, I have never worn those cuff links. And

this morning I thought, you know, I'm

going to find those cuff links and I'm going

to put them on and wear those cuff links today

.

So I got my shirt out. And first of all, I put

the cuff links in. And then I realized

I'd put them in backwards because when I stuck

my, my, my hands through the wrong part of

the cuff link was showing not the pretty part,

but you know, the other part that won't do.

So I took, took it off and I kind of pull my

hand through, forcing it through. And then

I put it, put them in the right way. I thought

, and then I forced my hand back through again.

And the first, the first hand that went in,

you know, I heard something go, and part of

the cuff link went off that way. And part of

it went off this way, you know, and I said,

oh, yeah, that's pretty typical. So, so I

reached into the closet and got my slightly

soil shirt and I put my slightly soil shirt on

, no French cuffs, you know, and I'm here

with you today. Now I don't understand why

things don't go better than that a lot of

times, you know, but Robbie Burns, what is it

about the plans of men, all the plans of

men, gang after clay, they, they all, they all

go crazy, you know, things just don't

work out right somehow. But it's not like that

with our God. It's not like that. Well,

now why, why he brings us through these

experiences, especially silly ones like that

little things

that happen to us like that. But I do believe

that he's working all of that together for

good that has a purpose in it, even though we

may not be able to see it. I do believe

that. But what I want you to celebrate with me

this afternoon is the truth about our eternal

life, the end result of what man's goal is,

the end result of sanctification, the new

order that we have in our Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ. We're told that there is a new

creation

in Christ. Why is it that the, why is it that

the first Christians got together on the Lord

's

day on the first day of the week, one day in

seven, but why is it they got together on

that day instead of the old resurrection, the

old non resurrection day, the old day that

celebrated creation, which was the previous

day. Well, I think that it ought to be pretty

obvious. It's not obvious to a lot of people,

but I think it ought to be obvious that that

was celebrating creation, which was the right

thing to do. But there's what a new creation

in our Lord Jesus Christ now. And so the day

of resurrection is the day that we celebrate

that, the old and the new creation in our Lord

Jesus Christ. So I want you to look with

me at Revelation chapter 21 verse one and

follow. We're going to make several points.

First of all, the new order in Christ Jesus

will mean that the present creation will pass

away. All things will be made new and the

great gulf between God's dwelling place and

ours

will be removed. 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 what's sea? The Mediterranean. I don't

think so. The Atlantic. I don't think so. What

we're talking about is the gulf between

the dwelling place of the Lord and our

dwelling place. So the new heaven and the new

earth,

you know, there's a heretical group. They make

a lot of saying it's all one, you know,

but there is a, there's a truth there that in

that day, heaven and earth, heaven, the

dwelling place of God and earth, the dwelling

place of man will be brought together and

there will be no more division between the two

. There will be a new heaven and a new

earth for the first heaven and the first earth

had passed away and the sea was no more.

Secondly,

the new order in Christ will mean that the

purity of God's work of redemption in his

church will be revealed far all to sea. Look

at verse two. And I saw the holy city, new

Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God

prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

So the picture is the church as a bride, as a

pure and spotless bride, as a bride worthy

of the Lord Jesus Christ, but notice the

mixing of the metaphors. What does he see? I

saw the

holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of

heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned

for her husband. So he sees a city, but he

also sees the city prepared as a bride and

we'll say more about that in just a moment.

But the holy city is the church, obviously,

and the bride is the church, obviously. Then

notice that this new order in Christ will mean

a new closeness to the Lord to God. 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

. Now that's not a new idea by any means. When

the tabernacle was constructed in the

wilderness, you had what three tribes here and

three tribes

here and three tribes here and three tribes

here all looking in to the tabernacle. And the

tabernacle

had, of course, the holy of holies and the

presence of God was understood to be there.

And the point

was that it was God's intention to dwell among

his people in this future day. There will be a

new

and perfect proximity to the Lord, a new clos

eness to the Lord. Again, Ezekiel chapter 37

that we

read a few moments ago reference this. Let's

just turn back there a moment. I want to read

it one

more time. I think it's verse, verse 26, 27.

Yes, I will make a covenant of peace with them

. It shall

be an everlasting covenant with them and I

will set them in their land and multiply them

and will

set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.

This is an eternal reality forevermore. My

dwelling

place shall be with them and I will be their

God and they shall be my people. So this is

the end

result of all of this expected by Ezekiel so

long ago. Notice also in verse four that this

new order

in Christ will mean perfection of life with

God. He will wipe away every tear from their

eyes and

death shall be no more and neither shall there

be mourning or crying or pain anymore for the

former

things have passed away. The Lord has been so

good to me in my life. I marvel at the things

that He

has done for me, the places that He allowed me

to visit, the places that He allowed me to

live.

I've lived in Southeast Asia for a year. I've

taught pastors in places like Nizhny Novgorod

and

Russia. When I was a young man, I was a

musician. I've stood on the stage of the Pal

achio de Bellas

Artes in Mexico City singing with the Mexican

National Orchestra. I've had all kinds of

experiences

that were really interesting experiences. The

Lord gave me a wife who was just remarkable in

that

all the years of our marriage people look at

me. I think they think I'm not telling the

truth when

I say this but we never had a fight. Didn't

mean we agreed on everything but we never had

a fight

in all those years of marriage. It was

glorious. I have two beautiful daughters. I

love their

husbands. I love my sons-in-law. They're

marvelous Christian guys and my grandchildren

and I could

just go on and on talking about them, you know

, how we get when we get to be a certain age.

We

begin to think in that way and talk in that

way but there's some things I don't understand

. After

33 years of marriage my wife Janice got pan

creatic cancer and the last four months of her

life I fed

her, you know, with the intravenous thing, you

know, I learned how to do that, you know, and

you

say Lord why ever you've been so good to me

but there are some things that we will only

understand

the rationale, the Lord's reasoning one day

and that day is going to come. It will come.

He will

wipe away every tear from their eyes and death

shall be no more. Several years ago, you know,

it was just all that I'm okay, you're okay

stuff, the pop psychology and all of that and

one of

the things was to embrace death is just this

really wonderful end of life, you know. Listen

,

I don't you believe it. The last enemy that

shall be destroyed is what? Death. The last

enemy that

shall be destroyed is death. I hate it. I don

't like it at all but I tell you this, the Lord

God

is going to deal with it one day and death

shall be no more. Neither shall there be

mourning or

crying or pain anymore for former things have

passed away. Then notice that this new order

in

Christ will come about by the good pleasure of

the King himself, verse 5, and he who was

noticed

seated on the throne. We're talking about the

fulfillment of that expectation of the Davidic

King and he who was seated on the throne, the

one who is ruling and reigning in

righteousness. He's

the one who speaks and he says, "Behold, I am

making all things new." Now he did that by the

shedding

of his blood on Calvary and it was confirmed

by his resurrection from the dead. But one day

we're going to see the working out of that as

well. "Behold, I am making all things new."

Also he

said, "Write this down for these words are

trustworthy and true." Then look at verse 6,

"This new order in Christ is the fruit for us.

It's the fruit of the gospel of God's grace."

And

he said to me, "It is done. I'm the Alpha and

the Omega, the beginning and the end, to the

thirsty I

will give from the spring of the water of life

. I will give. I will give. It is a giving. It

is

grace to the thirsty I will give from the

spring of the water of life." How? Without

payment. Without

payment. It's a wonderful old song that

repeats that strain over and over again.

Without payment.

Without payment. Come to Jesus Christ and buy.

You know, you don't need money. Without money.

Come

to Jesus Christ and buy. Then look at verse 7,

"This new order in Christ will belong to those

who overcome by God wrought faith." Verse 7, "

The one who conquers 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

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." So this new order in Christ is

the fruit

of the gospel, of the grace of our Lord, and

we conquer because we have that heritage. But

there

are those, there are those that will not

experience that at all. The new order belongs

only to those

who overcome by God wrought faith. This is

love for God to obey His commands and His

commands are

not burdensome. "For everyone born of God over

comes the world." This is the victory that has

overcome

the world, even our faith. But where did that

come from? It's the gift of God. This, who is

this

that overcomes the world? Only he who believes

that Jesus is the Son of God. Then look at

verse 9

with me, "This new order in Christ will reveal

the future splendor and blessing of God's

people."

And this is the heart of what I wanted to say

to you this afternoon. "First of all, there

will be an

intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus

Christ." Verse 9, "Then came one of the seven

angels who

had the seven bowls full of the seven last pl

agues and spoke to me saying, 'Come, I will

show you the

bride, the wife of the lamb.'" So the church

is described as the bride of Christ. Can there

be

a more intimate relationship in human terms

than that? I think not. And that's the point

that the Lord is making. Israel of old was

supposed to be Jehovah's bride. She fell so

many times.

We are the bride of Christ, and God is working

out things in us, even though it seems like at

times that we'll never get to that point,

either individually or corporately, even

though it seems

that we'll never get to that point. We are

promised in the Word of God that we can see

the bride in

all of her purity, in all of her spotlessness,

in what the Lord purposes for her to become.

"I will show you the bride." So he's going to

see, he's going to see a symbolic

representation

of the bride of Christ, the wife of the lamb.

And what he sees is a city. Look at verse 10.

First of all, we'll share the glory of God.

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. Having the

glory of God, it's radiance like a most rare

jewel, like a Jasper clear as crystal. Coming

down out

of heaven, this is an act of God's grace,

having the glory of God, and it's radiance

like a most

rare jewel. And the first one that's mentioned

is the Jasper clear as crystal.

What this is about is our sharing the glory of

the Lord and becoming the glory of the Lord.

John chapter one, John tells us that the word

was made flesh and dwelt among us.

And what did we see? We beheld his what? Glory

, glory as of the only begotten of the Father,

full of what? Grace and truth. Here is the

glory of God revealed. And that takes us back

to the cross

again. But he says, I want you to see the

bride, the wife of the lamb. And what he sees

is the holy city Jerusalem. You see how the

metaphors are mixed, coming down out of heaven

from God, having the glory of God. The

foundation of this church will be clearly seen

in that day

in retrospect as the word of God to his

prophets and apostles down through the ages.

Look at verse

12. 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 and on them were the 12 names

of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. Let's say they

had

12 foundations. When I was being reared in

Baptist high churches, and I mentioned it a

little while

ago when I was being reared in that, one of

the very important things was, you know, you

understand

the Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation of the

church. It's not Peter, it's the Lord Jesus

Christ.

And let's make sure we don't ever say that it

's Peter or give anybody the idea that it might

be.

And I mentioned I was teaching pastors in

Russia one time in a place called Nizhny Nov

gorod. And

there was a medical doctor, was one of the

pastors that was there. And I said that the

church,

I said that there is a sense in which the

church is founded on Peter. I'm going to get

their attention.

I was preaching through a translator. But you

know, I wanted to get their attention. I said,

there's a sense in which the church was

founded on Peter. And I got a rise out of this

guy. I mean,

he came up, he said, "Nyet," he said, "Nyet in

Russia." And you know, that won't do at all. I

said,

be patient with me, my brother. Ephesians

chapter two, talking about Jew and Gentile. So

then you're

no longer strangers and aliens, but you're

fellow citizens who are the saints and members

of the

household of God built on the foundation of

what? The apostles. I said, not Peter alone.

It's all of

them. You see, it's all of them built on the

foundation of the apostles and prophets.

Christ,

Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom

the whole structure being joined together

grows into

a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also

are being built together into a dwelling place

for God

by the Spirit. So the foundation of the church

will be seen clearly as, as what it actually

is,

whatever, whatever true church there is, that

comes from what? The Word of God, the

preaching

of the Word of God and the believing of the

Word of God. Notice also that we will be an

enormous

sanctuary of God, the true holy of holies,

verse 15 and following. And the one who spoke

with me

had a measuring rod of gold to measure the

city and its gates and walls. The city lies

four square.

Now that's not Amy Simple McPherson. Anybody

here know who Amy Simple McPherson was?

No, no. The city lies four square. It's length

the same as its width and he measured the city

with

his rod, 12,000. It's length and width and

height or equal. What's that? Go back to the

Tabernacle

in the wilderness. There was a little room

there and it was a perfect cube, wasn't it?

When they

built the temple, there was a room there and

it was a perfect cube. Now we see the bride of

Christ,

the bride of Christ, the holy city is what? It

's that sanctum sanctorum, the whole thing is

the

holy of holies. We become the holy of holies

indwelt by whom the Lord God, you see, for all

eternity,

for all eternity, the city lies four square.

Then look at verse 17. We will be beyond the

reach of any enemy with God as our fortress. I

have a lady in church. She's one of my church

's

members, has been for years, very artistic. It

's the paint, all you know. And when I preach

on this

passage, she just, she doesn't like it. She

says, no, no, no, she wants to take it

literally. You

know, this is a description, a literal

description of heaven. She wants, because she

wants all these

things like the various jewels, you know, and

all of that. But we need to get beyond that

and understand

what's being, what's being taught us here. He

measured the wall 144 cubits by human

measurement,

which is also an angels measurement. All that

saying is 144 cubits, that's, that's a lot.

And,

but the 12,000 staja and the 144 cubits, 12,

000, 12 times 100 times a thousand, you know,

the multiples

of 12, the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12

apostles of the Lamb, we're talking about the

body of Christ,

we're talking about the church. And then the

144 cubits, again, 12 times 12, but it's

simply saying

that the wall, it was the wall in the ancient

cities that protected that city. It's not like

that

today. We've got airplanes that fly over, you

know, but back in those days, that wall was

very, very

important. And what we're being told is that

the Lord is our security. And this very thick

representation of the wall is saying that,

that nothing, nothing can harm us. Nothing can

get to

us at all. We're beyond the reach of any enemy

with God as our fortress. And we see how God

regards his church as precious to him. It is

so very clearly seen here. Look at the way it

's

described in verse 18 and following. 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 Ony

x,

the sixth Carnelian, the seventh Chrysalite.

The eighth Barrel, the ninth Topaz, the tenth

Chrysaphore, the eleventh Jascent, the twelfth

Amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve

pearls.

Each of the gates made of a single pearl in

the street of the city was pure gold, like

transparent

glass. We're talking about emblems of precious

jewels and, and purity as the gold is

described as

being like transparent glass. We're talking

about perfection here, perfection. So what do

we say?

We're saying that, that the Lord found me

filthy, undone. The Lord found me and I needed

a cleansing.

The Lord removed my sins from me as far as the

east is from the west and he's,

that's a sanctifying process that's going on,

but one day, one day it's going to be

glorious because we're going to see what the

Lord has done. He will bring us

to moral spiritual perfection in that day. And

also I think there's a great picture here

of how precious we are to the Lord because

these precious jewels are used to do that as

well.

And then this new order in Christ will have

God alone as its object of worship with

nothing to

distract from his glory, not even a holy place

of worship. Verse 22, "And I saw no temple in

the city,

for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty

and the Lamb." No temple in the city. Now I've

already

said that not only are we a temple of the Lord

, Peter talks about that, doesn't he? In 1

Peter,

we are God's temple that he's constructing,

that he's building, not of sticks and stones.

But even more than that, there is a sense, the

metaphor is fluid, there is a sense in which

we are not just the temple, we are the very

essence of the temple, the holy of holies,

in the temple, you see. We've already seen

that. But then he says, I don't see any temple

there.

Well, of course not, because the Lord Himself

is there. We are the holy of holies, the Lord

is

there, you see. Its temple is the Lord God the

Almighty and the Lamb. So then look at verse

23 and following, "This new order in Christ

will mean that people of every tribe and

nation

will walk according to the truth of Christ and

will bring tribute only to their eternal king

."

I used to say, I used to say this new order in

Christ will mean that every race and tribe

and nation will walk according to the truth of

Christ. I got to thinking about it one day

and I said, you know, now maybe you can think

of a passage, but I cannot really think of a

passage

in holy Scripture that says anything about

different races. The human race,

that's what we all are, you see. But there are

different nationalities, ethnicities,

there are tribes and so on and so forth. But

it seems to me that Scripture really

emphasizes our

unity as the race that our God is creating,

particularly in salvation, that we are a new

nation, a nation of His own calling and His

own purpose. So, but at any rate, this new

order in

Christ will mean that people of every tribe

and nation will walk according to the truth of

Christ

and will bring tribute only to the Lord. Again

, in verse 23, "And the city has no need of sun

or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God

gives its light, it light, and the lamp is the

lamp.

By its light will the nations walk, and the

kings of the earth will bring their glory

into it. 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." Well, that's different from the popular

understanding that there's only one and Saint

Peter is on it and he's got a lot of, you know

,

that won't wash, will it? That won't wash at

all, no. It says, "its gates will never be

shut by day,

and there will be no night there. They will

bring into it the glory and honor of the

nations,

and the kings of the earth will bring their

glory into it." What does that mean? What does

that mean?

Does it mean that King Charles over there in

England is going to show up and he's going to

look at all I brought? I don't think so. I don

't think so. So who are these kings? Who are

these kings?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we rule and we

reign with Him, don't we? You see, we rule and

we

reign with Him. And then verse 27, "This new

order in Christ will exclude all those whose

names are

not written in the Lamb's book of life, 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 then let's go just a bit into chapter 22

as well. "This new order in Christ

will mean the restoration of paradise and the

removal of the curse. Then the angel showed

me the river of the water of life bright as

crystal, flowing from the throne of God and

of the Lamb through the middle of the street

of the city. Also on either side of the river,

the tree of life with its twelve kinds of

fruit yielding its fruit each month.

The leaves of the tree were for the healing of

the nations. No longer will there be

anything accursed, but the throne of God and

of the Lamb will be in it and His servants

will

worship Him." Remember the old catechetical

answer, the Westminster short of catechism,

the what is the chief end of man, the what is

the chief end of man, I think it is,

"to glorify God and to what enjoy Him forever

worship Him." And then verses four and five,

this new order in Christ will mean that we

will look upon the Lord in all of His glory

without fear forever and forever. They will

see His face. I remember when I was a boy,

there was an elderly man in our church and he

loved to sing an old hymn. I'm not even sure

it's in the hymnals now, but it was called "

face to face with Christ my Savior." Face to

face and

he wanted to sing that, you know. He was

longing for the time when he would actually be

in the very

presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the

Lord Jesus Christ who has revealed God to us.

It's the Lord Jesus Christ who is our perfect

revelation of the Father. It is the Lord Jesus

Christ who has brought salvation by His at

oning death on the tree and one day we will see

Him

face to face without fear of being wiped away

by the righteous judgment of God. They will

see His

face and His name will be on their foreheads,

a sign of position again, and night will be no

more.

They will need no light of lamp or sun, for

the Lord God will be their light and they will

reign

forever and ever. So all these things we have,

we expect to have in our Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ.

Remember the words of Peter? Do not overlook

this one fact, beloved,

that with the Lord one day is as a thousand

years and a thousand years is one day. The

Lord

is not slow to fulfill His promises, some

count slowness, but is patient toward you,

not wishing that any should perish, but that

all should reach repentance, but 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. So what's our responsibility now?

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 I don't, I believe it's the

word of God, I don't know exactly what

the Holy Spirit meant through Peter here,

waiting for and hastening the coming of the

day of God.

Waiting for and hastening the coming has

something to do with our leading lives that

are a testimony

to Christ, coming the 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 new heavens and a new earth in which

righteousness dwells us down. Let's pray,

Father,

thank You so much, Lord, for these great

truths from Your Word. Lord God,

we still have so much of sin, Lord, clinging

to us.

But we can see that promise so far. No more

temptation, no more death, no more sorrow,

but no more struggle, no more temptation to

see You face to face.

Lord God, may we live our lives day to day in

a way that's consistent with that great hope,

for we pray it in Christ Jesus' name. Amen.

Lord God, may we live our lives day to day in

a way that's consistent with that great hope,

for we pray it in Christ Jesus' name. Amen.

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