Well, good morning. Welcome again to the Bethany Associate Reform Presbyterian Church as we gather together to worship the Lord our God on this blessed Sabbath morning. And as we get ready to worship God, just a few announcements. First of all, for the Christmas care baskets, our Christmas care basket date is December 1st. Much appreciated your donations of treats and goodies to fill 13 baskets. Volunteers deliver them and that your donation items be placed in the fellowship hall on the morning of Sunday, December 1st before Sunday school and worship. Thank you for your support of this annual Christmas project for our shut-ins, elderly, and those facing health and life challenges. For more information, please contact Ms. Karen Jones, WOC Family Living Chair. Thank you again very much for your help with this ministry. And again, if you have questions, please see Ms. Karen. Also to note of Humor Bulletin, first of all we have the quarterly Zen for the adults. Sabbath school in the morning starting in December. We'll be looking at Galatians and Ephesians. So if you'd like a copy they are down on both pews down here. So please feel free to pick one of those up. Also, other things to take note of is that we'll be taking up the sunshine basket for Miss Katie and for Macy and her family next Sunday. So if you have donations for that, please just put them down in the fellowship hall as needed. Also, a reminder, in two weeks, we will be having our annual Thanksgiving service on Wednesday night, the 27th at 6 p.m. So again, we invite everybody for that as we give thanks to the Lord for his goodness unto us in this past year. Other things to take note of, of course, tonight, we'll be gathering together again at 5.30 for Sunday evening service as we continue to talk about the humanity of Jesus Christ. And of course, Wednesday night we'll be gathering together at 6.30 for our youth meeting as well as prayer meeting. We invite everybody to that. One other thing that I have written down here just as a heads up, the budget has been approved by the elders. And so there are copies down on this lectern down here, so please feel free to grab one. before you leave today. So again, thank you for the deacons and the elders for putting that together. And again, our congregational meeting will be the 15th of December to receive that budget. And of course, we also have received two nominations for the office of deacon. Now we'll be receiving nominations until the 1st of December. of course be praying for those men who have been nominated and again watch over them. So as you look at your bulletin take note of other announcements and let's go ahead and prepare ourselves again to be in the house of the Lord on the Lord's Day with a moment of silent prayer. Yeah. Again, our call to worship this morning, as it does every week, comes from the very word of the living God. And again, our call to worship today comes to us from the 26th chapter of the book of Isaiah. Again, as the prophet testifies to us in this song of salvation, why it is we are to be greatly at peace in the house of the Lord. While we are to remember not only the salvation given unto us by Jesus Christ, but the life promised to us in the work of the Holy Spirit. So again, we hear this morning from Isaiah 26, beginning there at verse 7. Hear the word of the Lord. The way of the just is uprightness, O most upright. You weigh the path of the just. Yes, in the way of your judgments, O Lord, we have waited for you. The desire of our soul is for your name and for the remembrance of you. Amen. And again, how much greater it is to gather together with our brothers and our sisters in Christ as we do this remembrance together. And one of the ways that we show our thanksgiving unto God for the mighty work of his son is gathering together in song and in voice. I invite you to stand as we sing together from the Red Trinity Hymnal, hymn number 447. Christ for the world we sing. Let us stand, let us sing with joy in our hearts. ♪ With the newborn King ♪ ♪ The way of man was lost ♪ ♪ By the sons that are so strong ♪ ♪ He did not have the strength ♪ ♪ The Lord is strong ♪ ♪ Christ, the Lord, our God, we sing ♪ ♪ God, the Lord, our God, we sing ♪ ♪ With the newborn King ♪ Again, at the end of that hymn, we spoke those words, that we belong unto the Lord Jesus, that we belong unto Him in body and in soul, and that we belong unto His And that's why we sing, that's why we worship, because Jesus Christ is ours, and we are his. And so let us come now before the Lord our God and pray. Let us pray. Gracious heavenly Father, you are the great and the almighty one. For there is none who can compare to your glory, your majesty, and your grace to sinners. And so, dear God, as we gather together on this blessed day, as we remember once more the way us in the week that has passed, dear God, as we look forward to the week to come and the years to come, and as we remember the resurrection, but not only that, but we remember the ascension and glory of the second coming of our Savior. Dear God, may all these things warm our heart today. God, may you strengthen us in your spirit, and may you call us unto yourself even more as you strengthen. And to God, we come to you this morning now, saying the words your son taught his disciples to pray, saying together, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. Well, again, as we say those words every week, again, we are called to not lose reminder of the power of what they say. And so as we come now to this 20th chapter of the book of 1 Kings, we are given an opportunity to confess our understanding of what it means that Jesus is our King and that God is our Heavenly Father. As we turn to 1 Kings 20, and as we begin reading there at verse 31. We read of this treaty that evil King Ahab makes with Ben Hadad. Hear the word of the Lord. Then his servants said to him, look, now we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please let us put sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life. So they wore sackcloth around their waist and put ropes around their heads and came to the king of Israel and said, your servant Ben-Hadad says, please let me live. And he said, is he still alive? He is my brother. And the men were watching closely to see whether any sign of mercy would come from him. And they quickly grasped at the word and said, your brother Ben-Hadad. So he said, go, bring him. And Ben-Hadad came out to him, and he had him come up into the chariot. So Ben-Hadad said to him, the cities which my father took from your father I will restore, and you may set up marketplaces for yourselves in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria. Then Ahab said, I will send you away with this treaty. So he made a treaty with him and sent him away. Now a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor by the word of the Lord, strike me, please. The man refused to strike him. Then he said to him, Behold, you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord. Surely as soon as you depart from me, a lion shall kill you. And as soon as he left him, a lion found him and killed him. And he found another man and said, Strike me, please. So the man struck him, inflicting a wound. And the prophet departed and waited for the king by the road and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes. Now as the king passed by, he went out, he cried out to the king and said, your servant went out in the midst of the battle and there a man came over and brought a man to me and said, guard this man if by any means he is missing. Your life shall be for his life or else you shall pay a talent of silver. Well, your servant was busy here and there. He was gone. And the king of Israel said to him, so shall your judgment be, you yourself have decided it. And he hastened to take the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. Then he said to him, thus says the Lord, because you have let slip out of your hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people. So the king of Israel went to his house, sullen and displeased, and came to Samaria. Amen. Thanks be to God for the reading of His holy and His perfect word. Let us now be seated. Well, I invite the children to come to the lesson today. You can sit on the second row, though. Well, good morning, everybody. How are y'all doing today? Good. Did y'all have a good week? Yeah. Did y'all do anything fun this week? Did you go to school? Yeah. Did you have fun at school, doing your schoolwork? Yeah, it's kind of how it comes here in November, right? It's kind of the excitement of going back to school back in August has kind of worn off and now you're just kind of looking to the Thanksgiving break and then three weeks and then you get Christmas break and then you're in the last half of the year already, right? Y'all looking forward to that? Yeah. Well, you know, one of the things that we're going to talk about this morning is looking forward to stuff. Now, in the sermon text today, Revelation 21, verses 9 through 21, you're going to hear me read about a beautiful city. And the beautiful city is going to have jewels on the walls, the gates are going to have jewels on them. And it's going to be a wonderful thing. Now do you all have jewels on the door frame of your house? No? You don't have any opals or any kind of diamonds or anything on the door frame of your house? No. Have you ever wondered why you don't have all that stuff on there? You can go home and ask mom and dad to put diamonds and stuff on the door. No. Well, you know, when we read about this new Jerusalem and read about this city coming down from heaven that has jewels on it, what are we supposed to think about? Are jewels pretty? Do jewels cost a lot of money? Yeah, now when you think about that, right, why do we not put jewels on our door frames and on our house? They are expensive, right? Yeah, I like the way you think. They are expensive, right? And also, what would happen in a fallen world if we put diamonds on our front door, do you think? Would they stay there real long? No, right? Somebody's probably come to take it, right? So when we hear about the New Jerusalem coming down and has all these jewels on it, one of the lessons we're meant to take from that is that as God is coming down to heaven, or from heaven to earth, those of us on earth, are we going to have to worry about anybody stealing the jewels off the New Jerusalem? No, right? We don't have to worry about anybody stealing the jewels. We're not going to have to worry about the jewels getting broken, right? We don't have to worry anything about it, right? Because when Jesus comes down the second time, there's not going to be any more death. There won't be any more sin. There won't be any more bad stuff all throughout the world. Now, is that something worth looking forward to? Absolutely, right? So when we read stuff like Revelation 21, it's meant to fill us with joy, with thanksgiving, with hope, and one particular word, expectation. You know what the word expectation means? To expect something is to hear about something and be excited about the time that comes. Now, there's something getting ready to happen in about a month and a half. where I'm sure you're expecting something. What happens at the end of December? What's the big holiday? Christmas, right? You know, do you get stuff for Christmas? Yes. Are you excited, waiting on that to happen? Absolutely, right? Well, when we hear about the New Jerusalem, we should be like kids expecting Christmas, right? Because we see the beauty, we see the glory, we see all these wonderful things and we know that we're going to get it. And we're going to get them and we're going to enjoy them forever and we're going to be at peace forever. So again, when you hear about the stuff I'm getting ready to read, that's what I want you to think about. I want you to remember that Jesus, who is our peace, who is our comfort, he's coming once more. And everything's going to be perfect and beautiful and wonderful in those days. Y'all ready to pray? Father, we give thanks again for this testimony, this reminder of those of us who live on this earth, who experience all this bad stuff, who see all this evil. God, we know that it was not meant to be this way, but most especially that you, in the sending of your Son, have begun the process of making all things new, making things the way they were meant to be. And we look forward to the day in which that new Jerusalem comes. And we see the fullness of all of these blessings. And we get to enjoy them forever with Christ. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, again, as we come together this morning, one of the things that we do when we gather to worship, worship is really about expectation. It's about expecting the coming of Jesus Christ. It's about preparing ourselves for the day in which the Lord will return. And so one of the things we do when we come is we sing, and especially as we sing Bible Song 301, one of the things that we are going to say is every day we will bless the Lord. And why do we bless the Lord every day? Because God blesses us every day. So let us stand, let us sing, and let us rejoice in the singing of Bible Psalm 301 from the Green Above. Oh yeah! Amen. Again, as we testify again to the praise we give to the Almighty God who has graciously provided for us the blessings of this life, let us now be seated as we prepare once more to come into His presence and rejoice at the testimony of His truth in the opportunities God provides for us in prayer. the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God who subdued the armies of Sennacherib, and the God who destroyed the enemies of Israel at Jericho, and who brought to bear the judgment due unto their sin to the nation of Israel in the days of the Roman Empire, who destroyed the city of Jerusalem in 87. Under God, as we contemplate even the judgment that is to come in the future, the day upon which the Lord Jesus will come on the white horse with king of kings on his thigh and lay waste to the enemies of the gospel, those who stand in the way of the glory of your name. God, as we are reminded of these judgments and as we consider again afresh the judgment due unto us for our own sins, God, these memories can do no else but humble us in your presence, cause us to take stock even of our own walk with our Savior, to make our calling and our election sure. But to God, we come unto you as those who may be weary, as those who may be heavy laden. God, the mere act of our coming to you is a sign of our faith in You. God, You have given us this time of worship, this time of setting aside the events and activities of this earth. We might again be in Your presence as the elders call us together to worship at 11 a.m. God, this special time that You have provided for Your children to be fed by Your Word, to be strengthened by your Holy Spirit, and to be renewed in all power in the name of your Son. God, as we are reminded not only of the words that are spoken, but the words that we sing in the meditations of our heart. Dear God, you use each of these in their own way to build up grace upon grace. And so dear God, we pray again for their application this morning. that your Holy Spirit would open our eyes to see what we need to see. Whether it be conviction of sin, whether it be the forgiveness of sin, whether it be a word of comfort in a day of distress, or a call to action in this day of evil. Because we know you work in and through all things for your own glory. And we do lay at your feet, again, all of these matters. And to God, we are alone in this earth, but yet we are never alone, because you are always present with your covenant people. And so to God, we raise our Ebenezer this morning. We stake our banner upon the gospel of Jesus Christ. And to God, we pray in your mercy as you do forgive us of our many sins, of our transgressions of your holy law. For God, as you call us under your presence through the clarion call of the Good News, that Jesus Christ is dead for sinners, sinners such as I and you. That Jesus Christ has not only laid down His life for His sheep, but He has raised them up on the third day. For God, the presence of Christ at the right hand of God the Father Almighty is our comfort in life and in death. So to God we pray this morning for a renewal of this in our own souls. For to God we confess that times and lives can be like the days of the wilderness where we question your timing, question your purpose, and even wonder aloud whether or not we were better off in Egypt. To God may it never be so. God, may you challenge us in these things. May you strengthen our resolve to be at peace. But God, there are many voices in our own heads and those even outside who are telling us to doubt your promise. Who are telling us to shade the edges of your truth. Who are telling us to give up the birthright for the poor age. So God, we pray for your protection this morning. We pray that as we sit behind the walls of New Jerusalem, that we might remember the gate by which we were brought in. So God, we do pray in earnestness this morning, that you might again open our eyes to see the bounty of faith, especially dear God, as we look out onto the world around us. As we see the degradation, as we see the wickedness, as we are opening our eyes more and more to notice some of the ways that the evil one is working in and through the elements of this world to draw people away from the good news. God, we pray this morning for the Bethany A.R.P. Church. We pray to God that you would make us a light and a beacon to the good news. When people drive up or down 161, they might look upon the hill and say that that is the house of the Lord. And we pray to our God that you will guide us in that direction. That you will help us in our own relationships with brothers and sisters and elsewhere. We might renew and we might recover and that where repentance is necessary, repentance would be born. God, we pray for Bethany. We pray for our needs, both known and unknown. We pray, dear God, that you would continue to strive with us as you have been with us these 227-odd years. God, we know that we stand alone in your might and upon the foundation of your truth, and may it ever be so. God, as we think not only of the needs that we have, but especially of the needs of the Bethany and Clover communities, and Kings Creek, and Blacksburg, and Kings Mountain, and York, and all our surrounding communities. And we pray for opportunities that you provide for us to reach out to the lost, reach out to those in physical need, who are in need of heat, who are in need of clothing, in need of food, To God, may you open our eyes to necessary benevolences. To God, if we are in need of those things, to God, may you move us to not be prideful, but to receive the gift of grace. And to God, as we think again about our communities, to God, we continue to pray for those in authority over us. Continue to pray for the new federal government as we think of those recently elected into state government and to local government. God, we pray that you would be witnessing under their heart. God, that you would be convicting those who are in need of conviction, that you would remind all of them that they will need to give account on the day of judgment for how they ruled your people, both inside and outside the covenant. God, may you awaken them to this reality. To God, we do pray again in the weeks and months and years to come as you watch over our nation, dear God, that you will show mercy where mercy is needed. To God, that you might even in your, if it be your will, to send a great revival upon this nation. A revival of gospel preaching, a revival of gospel believing, a revival of gospel life, that all men may come to know the knowledge of the truth. Now we pray this earnestly this morning for this is the call. God, we trust in your call and the great commission that you've given to your people. God, as we think of those of our number who are in pain this morning, who are dealing with physical ailments of different sorts, we do pray for your great hand to be upon their heart. We pray that you would guide them through this season. that you would provide them with your strength and your love. And God, we continue to pray for those dealing with long-term illness, that again you might comfort them and give them peace. And God, as we continue to worship you this day, as we leave this house and come back this evening, and as we rejoice in the blessings of the Lord's day, may we remember that this first day of the week is a sign and seal of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, both this day and forevermore, in whose name we pray. Amen. And I can't wait to see where your heart is. And I can't wait. ♪ He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope, He's my only hope He is the Lord of all creation. He is the Savior of all creation. He is the Savior of all creation. He is the Lord of all creation. He is the Lord of all creation. ♪ We are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we are one, we Well, the words to which I'd like to draw your attention to this morning comes to us from the 21st chapter of the book of Revelation. And so we're going to be reading verses 9 through 21 this morning. So I invite you to stand for the reading of God's word. You can hear the word of the Lord, Revelation chapter 9, beginning there, or 21. Verse nine, as we begin this morning. Again, Revelation 21, nine. Hear the word of the Lord. 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 12 gates and 12 angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the 12 tribes that shunned 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 12 foundations, and on them were the names of the 12 apostles of the land. 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, 12,000 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 clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundations were jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysoprase, the eleventh jacent, and the twelfth amethyst. 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. Amen. Thanks be to God for the redeeming of us wholly in this perfect world. Let us pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, as you give us these words in this day by your providence, we pray that your hand be upon our hearts as we rejoice in the good news of salvation. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Please be seated. As we come to our sermon this morning, again a couple of things worth noting as we are in the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation is given to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ as a testimony of why we of all people should be rejoicing in this day. When the book of Revelation was written, it did not seem like there was much to rejoice about. It seemed as if the church was as weak as it was ever before. Martyrdom was at its near height. The church was apostatizing, as we hear in the letters that Jesus wrote to the seven churches. And John, the last apostle, was on Patmos, this island that was not a garden spot. Things did not seem great when the book of Revelation was written. in this book is given to Christians of every age to be encouraged, to be reminded, much as we heard in the 65th and 66th chapters of the book of Isaiah, that our eyes deceive us. That we are not to walk by sight, but we are to walk by faith. In Sabbath school this morning we talked a little bit about the example of the King Hezekiah, of the way that Hezekiah saw the evil and wickedness of his age and most especially had seen the evil of his own father and how his faith made him do well as king. And one of the things that made Hezekiah do well as king is he didn't just believe that God was God. He trusted that God was God and all his actions were born out of a heart which rested and trusted in the Lord God. One of the scenes that we talked about is that the king of Assyria, Sennacherib, who had an army of 180,000 men, were outside the gates of Jerusalem. And as he is sitting outside the gates of Jerusalem, Sennacherib is sending these mocking messages to the king of Judah. Boasting of his power, boasting of his authority, boasting of his wisdom. The prophet Isaiah came to Hezekiah and reminded him who was in charge. And that Hezekiah should not fear in those days because as we see in 2 Kings 19, the angel of the Lord appears. And the angel of the Lord, of course, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, what does he do? He wipes out the entire army of Sennacherib and Sennacherib goes back to his kingdom with his tail between his legs. Or as was prophesied, being led there by the hook in his nose. And what do you think that did for the faith of a man like Hezekiah? Well, it only confirmed what he had already known of the power of God. And so when we read this beautiful testimony in Revelation 21, verses 9 through 21, it serves to only reconfirm for the believer that our God is greater than the gods of the nations. Not only is he greater than the gods of the nations, but he spares no expense in the making of the city where his people will dwell. Think of the extravagance of what we read here, of the bejeweled gates. The gates made out of solid pearl. Now, think about that just from a logistical standpoint for a second. Where do pearls naturally occur? in the mouths of the sea creatures. Now have you ever seen one of those clams so big that he could contain within himself a 12 cubic sized door that you could cut out of a solid piece of pearl. Such a thing is almost too amazing to exist. I know many of you are like me and you like going to the beach. Imagine walking up to Merle Beach and seeing a clam of that size. What would you do? I realize clams can�t move, but I would. I don't think I'd hang around for something that big. Now, as we hear this, again, it's not just the pearls that are of solid nature, but again, the city itself is solidly put together. And when you think about what it must have taken to carve a city out of pure gold that is 144,000 cubits, again, just the scale of this is more than we can comprehend, and that's part of the point. One of the things that keeps us from embracing wholly the faith that's offered to us in Jesus Christ is we do not believe in its bigness, in its power, in what it promises. We are satisfied with little kind of bites when we are offered the whole kit and caboodle as they say. Jesus Christ, the very Son of the Living God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, is yours. He belongs unto you because you belong unto Him, as we sang. And so as you read these verses, again, you are meant to kind of get lost in the details. You're meant to hear all these things and just be awed and amazed at the construction Because remember, what's one of the things that God Almighty has been doing from before the foundation of the world? The Scriptures tell us that God has been making this new heavens, new earth, this new Jerusalem before any of us were even thought of, let alone created. That everything that happens in the Bible from Genesis 1-1 to the end of the book of Revelation is for the purpose that we're reading about. that the glory of God might be shown, and not to everybody. That's part of the point here. We're in the 21st chapter of the book of Revelation. What's happened to all the enemies of God at this point in time? They've all been destroyed. They're now in the lake of fire. They're now out of the opportunity to come into the merciful presence of God. One of the things that we misunderstand sometimes is that hell is not the absence of God. It's the absence of the mercy of God. It's God in His pure justice bearing His wrath down upon the enemies of God. All these things have taken place. We are now in this 21st chapter seeing this bride, this new Jerusalem made for who? Made for His people. They're the only ones who get to see the fullness of this glory. Now think about that in the context of who you are as an individual. Some of y'all may have seen a humorous picture of me standing between the two largest ARPs. And I am recognized every now and then for being one of the smaller ARPs. But again, when we think about ourselves in the size of the world, what do we think? One of the things when you fly is you get a real sense for how small and insignificant things are. But think about who you are in the eyes of the living God. Are you kind of some small insignificant little speck in his plan? Well, of course not. That's one of the things Revelation 21 is causing us or should cause us to consider again about our own place in the kingdom of God. That all these things have been done that we would not receive the condemnation due unto us, but we would receive the fullness of God himself in the reconciliation born at the cross and at the empty tomb. All these things are done that we might experience the fullness of the glory of God and not just for a moment. not just for a little bit, not just for a fleeting second when we first come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Part of the picture that we're meant to think of here again, especially as we remember the book of Revelation given to us as encouragement, is that if God has begun a work in you, what does Paul tell us? He will finish that work. There is no abandonment by the God who made the heavens and the earth. This is the comfort, this is the assurance that we have. Now as we think about those things again, let's go back to the Word for a second and pay attention to some of the details as we open this passage. Again, look with me there at verse 9. In verse 9 it says, Then one of the seven angels, who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came to me and talked to me, saying, Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife. So here we come to see by the word of the angel. Now, it's not just any angel that comes and speaks to John. John kind of helps us out here and reminds us that this is the same angel which had shown up to John at the beginning of the 17th chapter of the book of Revelation and testified to us of the judgment of the harlot. So out of the same mouth, which brought condemnation in the 17th chapter, is now bringing redemption in the 21st chapter. John, who had seen the fullness of the condemnation, is now being able to see the fullness of the redemption. And it's interesting, again, I'm not going to go and read the whole 17th chapter, but if you'd like to do that this afternoon, I encourage you to do that. One of the things that John does in Revelation here with that is that in the 17th chapter we hear about the scarlet woman and the scarlet beast, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and the abominations of the earth. We see the judgment coming down upon them and we are meant to see again that they are symbols of all the nations which have refused to bow the knee to Jesus Christ. They are witnessing again to the judgment that God brings not just upon individuals, but upon whole nations. Again, as the word comes to us in Revelation 21, verse 9, we hear of this seven bowls and the seven last plagues to come to me. And he talks to him, and he tells him, come, I will show you the bride of the Lamb's wife. And as he takes him, he carries him away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the great city of holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. Now, again, the words are important. Because the promise that had been given in the days of Isaiah is that all the nations who believed in the Lord would do what? They would come to Jerusalem. Like the Gentile nations from the four corners of the earth, what would happen? They would come to Jerusalem. And Isaiah is very clear that it's not literally to the sea in the Mediterranean. Because who is Jerusalem in the New Covenant? It's Jesus Christ, right? He is Jerusalem. He is the one people come to. Again, we don't have to leave our home and go somewhere in order to enjoy the presence of God. In the New Covenant, we are told that where two or three are gathered, there I am also. Now in a sense, that's always been true, right? Even in the old covenant, you know, the Holy of Holies was given as a sign of the presence of God with God's people. Now, does that mean that God then wasn't with the prophet when he went to Nineveh? Because he was holed up in the temple in Jerusalem? Of course not. But again, the symbolism there is to remind us that there is a new thing happening in the new covenant. There's a new blessing that has come upon us. And as you go back and as you read the Old Testament, one of the things you will see regularly is that you will see little snippets of this promise and the way that the prophets of old are preparing God's people for the glory of the future. For example, In Ezekiel 28, verse 13, the prophet says, you are in Eden, the garden of God, every precious stone which you're covering, the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald of gold, the workmanship of your timbres and pipes prepared for you on the day you were created. Now, that sounds a lot like what we just read. Ezekiel 28, verse 13. We're also told that in the construction of the temple in 1st Kings 5.17, and the king commanded them to quarry large stones, costly stones, and hewn stones to lay the foundation of the temple. Again, this sign of what was to come was always meant to picture for us the future blessing which we would have in Jesus Christ. Even back in the days of the Garden of Eden, this was the case. Genesis 2, verse 10 through 12, now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and there it parted and became four river heads. The name of the first is Pishon, is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bedillium and the onyx stone are there. All right, again, this testimony to the presence of the gems, of the gold, of all of these things, get pictured to us from the very beginning of the world. And here we are at the end of the world, and what is present? The bdellium, onyx, and gold. in these little tidbits again we're meant to pick up on as we hear the angel speak to John here in Revelation 9-21. So again the other aspect of this worth noting again is that as he's being brought up notice where he's brought in verse 10. John is carried away in the spirit to great and high mountain. Now this is another picture that we see again throughout the scriptures. And Moses was not allowed to go into the promised land. He was not allowed to go into the promised land because of the sin he had committed in the wilderness. But does that mean that he did not get to experience the blessings of the land? Well, of course, the answer is no. Of course he did. Now, how did Moses get to experience blessings of the land if he couldn't go in there? Well, what did God do in Deuteronomy 34? Took him up on a high, holy mountain, and what did God show him? The beauty of the land from the north to the south, from the east to the west. He got a vision of this glory. We see something similar happen in the New Testament with the day in which Jesus brought the disciples up on a high and holy mountain and what did they get to see? They got to see Jesus in all his glory with Elijah and Moses flanking him. This word picture that we see in the scriptures, again, is meant to bring us a reminder that what has the Lord even done this very day for us? One of the things that we need to be reminded of, of worship, is that we ourselves are being brought onto the high and holy mountain. That's what we do on the Lord's Day morning. We come onto the high and holy mountain and what are we shown? Again, the same thing that John has shown. We are reminded, we are witness to the great and glorious work of Jesus Christ. We are reminded of the city laid out in gold. We are reminded of all the fullness of the goodness of our God. That's what we do on the Lord's Day morning. That's why God has set apart the Lord's Day as a day of rest. part of the fulfillment of the Fourth Commandment in the New Covenant is that this Sabbath day, which comes around once a week, is provided for us to come up on the high holy mountain, out of the valleys, out of the cities, out of all of the trials and tribulations of this life, and be at rest in the high holy mountain, behind the gates, behind the walls, where we experience Jesus Christ in a way that we don't experience Him in other times during the week. Just because the old covenant ceremonies have ceased doesn't mean that the call to come out has ceased. That's one of the reasons why it's faulty to think and to say to people that you can worship God in the fields on Sunday morning. That you can worship God in the forest on Sunday morning. That you can worship God out and about wherever you might be on Sunday morning. Again, what does Hebrews 10 tell us? That we are to gather together and not neglect the day of gathering. And why is that? Because again, the nature of the Christian faith is not individual. Again, we have been brought out and gathered into a new family in the presence and promise of God. And can you say to be part of a family if you're never with the family? Can you say that you're part of the family if you never partake of the feasts offered in the house of the Father? It's kind of hard to testify. Because again, one of the messages that we're meant to see here, again, is about the nature of our true home. Again, we've got to be careful sometimes when we talk about our true home because there's a lot of false teachers out there who will tell you that the earth doesn't matter. I think you don't need to be worried about politics. You don't need to be worried about, you know, things going on in this world. Because why? Because our citizenship is in heaven. Now is our citizenship in heaven? Yes. That's what Philippians 3.26 says. But that doesn't mean we are to abandon this earth and only focus upon the heavens. You see, one of the things we do in the Lord's Day morning in the context of Revelation 21, 9 through 21, is that we receive our marching orders from the king. We receive our marching orders to go out onto the unbelieving world and ensure that there's more people coming into the kingdom next week than there was the week before. See, God gives us this call, not that we would sit around and wait for others to do it, but that we might be not only encouraged, but that we might be motivated in hearing of the glory of the future is to come, and want everybody we know to have the same experience. To know the same Lord, to know the same forgiveness, to know the same salvation, to know the same redemption. Because again, why is Jesus Christ doing all of these things? He's not doing these things so He can have them for Himself. He's not doing all these things so that He might alone receive the glory of God, though He does receive them. Remember in John 17, what does He say? He does all these things that those whom you have given Me might also know the Father as I know you. He came on this earth that He might call His sheep unto Himself. Again, in Romans 10, it makes it clear that the way that ordinarily is accomplished is through the preaching of the Word, through the proclamation of the truth of Jesus Christ. And so reading a verse like this, reading a passage like this, is not meant to confuse us. It's not meant to be, boy, you know, Revelation's hard to understand, so I'm just going to, like, ignore that part of the Bible. Every part of the book of Revelation again is given to us that we might be encouraged. Though we might be reminded again of the promise that was given Isaiah 54, for example, where it says, all your children should be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established. You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you. Indeed, they shall surely assemble, but not because of me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake. Behold, I have created the blacksmith, who blows the coals in the fire, who brings forth an instrument for his work, and I have created the spoiler to destroy. No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from me, says the Lord." Again, we hear that promise of Isaiah 54, and we see it fulfilled in Revelation 21, 9 through 21. Because again, what are we? We are brought into the gates, right? We're brought into the walls of the city. We're brought into the place of peace and of comfort in Jesus Christ. And so, can any enemy destroy the gates made of pearl? Can any enemy of God overthrow the walls of the New Jerusalem? And the answer, of course, is no. There is no enemy who can destroy us because we are safe in the arms of our Savior. We are safe in the house that God has made with our hands. We are safe in this city made of gold. And so when we seek refuge in the Lord, what is our assurance? It is that no weapon can harm us. But our assurance is that Satan himself could not drag us away from the safety of the house of our God. Now, of course, that comes with the caveat, if you want to put it that way, that where do we need to be if we want to be safe? We need to be in the house of the Lord. We need to be in the family of God. We need to be behind the walls. One of the things about the historic nature of the flood of Noah is that not everybody got to be on the Ark. Now, God, in his mercy, what did he have Noah do for the time he was building the Ark? Did he keep that secret to himself that a great judgment was coming? Did he build his boat when people came up to him and he said, That's a hobby, right? I'm bored and I felt like I was going to make a buck. What does God have Noah do in those days? He used to go to every single human being alive and tell them what? That judgment is coming. Flee from the wrath of God. And what is God making? He's making an ark that his people might be safe from the day of judgment. Well again, who is the Lord Jesus Christ but the ark itself? And what does the Lord Jesus Christ do but call all men unto himself? Does He not call all men to come to repentance of sin? Does He not call all men to gather around His kingdom that they might know the forgiveness of sins? And again, are we to only preach that gospel to something? Are we to preach that gospel only to the elect? Well, no. Because I don't know who those people are. The Lord does, but I don't. The Scriptures tell us over and over again that we are to freely offer the Gospel to sinners. The last time I checked, that's everybody. And part of the reception of the forgiveness of sins is recognizing, first of all, that we are sinners. Because He has not come to call the righteous, but those who are in need of a physician, those who are sick. And so the beauty of this city, the beauty of this new Jerusalem, again, is part of the enticement of God for sinners to come unto Him. See my glory in comparison to the glory of the nations? Who are the nations in comparison to the one who made the heavens and the earth? That's part of the promise that Isaiah gives to Hezekiah in his prophecy. That's part of the promise that God gives to Job in Job 38. Where were you Job? When I laid out the heavens and the earth. When I laid out these things. When I laid out the world. When I formed the fish of the sea. When I fed Leviathan. When I did all these things. And again, that is a challenge to each and every one of us. Because where were you? We often take that in a negative way. But God doesn't necessarily mean it in a negative way. Yes, you weren't there. Yes, you weren't consulting God. Yes, all those things are true. But the reminder is that you were in the heart of the Father even in those days. When Genesis 1-1 speaks of the beginning of the earth, we are reminded that we were in the heart of God. He made all these things that we might enjoy them forever. Of course, Adam messed that all up for everybody by listening to the voice of the serpent, by breaking the covenant. But again, God has not forsaken nor has He forgotten the reason why He made all these things. which is why He has sent His Son to lay down His life for us. That we might not be under the thumb of His judgment, but that we might be held in the arms of His salvation. This is the beauty of this city. Again, this is the glory of this city. Again, this is the joy of our spirit, of our heart, day by day, that we not only live in the New Jerusalem, even this moment, Because again, we have to remember that these words are not given as barren testimonies of something that's going to happen in the future. Is it going to happen in the future? Absolutely. Again, these words are given to us so we might be reminded that where does Jesus dwell even in this very moment? He dwells on the right hand of God the Father Almighty, but he dwells here as well. left you to wait. He has already come in His power and His glory, and that's why we preach, because we believe that He's already here. We believe that He can change the heart of even the most wicked sinner, of the most evil man who's ever existed. That the power of the Gospel in the Word preached is not in the man preaching it, but it is in the promise that it testifies to. That Jesus Christ is the Savior. that He is the Redeemer, that He alone is able to bring men into this beautiful kingdom, into this Mount Zion, this city of the living God, this heavenly Jerusalem, that we might again see all the beauties of the heavens and the earth. We might know the inside of the city, not just its beauty on the outside. We might know this day and forevermore that we belong to this great King. That we are His by faith alone. That we have been justified by His Word and His righteousness. And that we have been made new creatures in Him and we've been given new eyes to see. That we might see this new Jerusalem. And we might rest and trust in the author of this new Jerusalem. And that we might for every day of our life be reminded of the great promise of Ephesians 2.19. Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. This is our hope each and every day as we face difficulties and trials and all nature of things that God has given us a city in which to dwell. A city that is full of our brothers and sisters that we might bear one another's burdens, we might rejoice with one another, and we might look together to the new Jerusalem. adorned with these jewels, which is our home forever and ever in Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. Let us now stand as we come and as we sing our closing Bible song, Bible song 313, verses 1 and 1, 2, 3. Again, let us stand, sing together, Bible song 313. Oh, I pray I am a giant, and I am strong. I can never fall. For you and I are one. You and I are one. You and I are one. You and I are one. You and I are one. You and I are one. You and I are one. I can't take my eyes off of you Praise Jesus. Give thanks unto the glory of his name. And as we close our worship this morning and as we enjoy this day that God has made, let us give thanks in every way for his grace unto us. May we enjoy this day, may we enjoy it together in the presence of our Savior. But again, if you have need to speak unto me or the elders, we are here to help in any way that we can. And our benediction today comes from the 11th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, beginning there at verse 28. You can hear the word of the Lord. Come to me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart. And you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Amen. you