1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:03,920 A reading from the Revelation to John. 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:10,600 Then one of the seven angels who had held the seven bowls filled 3 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:14,600 with the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me. 4 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:20,800 Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. 5 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:26,480 He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great high mountain 6 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:30,560 and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of 7 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:35,320 heaven from God, arrayed with God's glory. 8 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:40,640 Her radiance was like a precious jewel, like a Jasper stone, 9 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:46,120 clear as crystal. The city had a massive high wall 10 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,320 with 12 gates. 12 angels were at the gates. 11 00:00:49,480 --> 00:00:52,800 The names of the 12 tribes of Israel's sons were inscribed on 12 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,600 the gates. There were three gates on the E, 13 00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:00,160 3 gates on the N, 3 gates on the South, and three gates on the 14 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:04,840 West. The city had 12 foundations and 15 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:08,960 the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb were on the 16 00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:15,400 foundations. I did not see a temple in it 17 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:23,360 because the Lord, the God Almighty and the Lamb are its 18 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:28,160 temple. The city does not need the sun 19 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:32,760 or the moon to shine on it because of the glory of God 20 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,560 illuminates it. In its lamp is the Lamb. 21 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:43,200 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the 22 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,960 earth will bring their glory into it. 23 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:52,040 Its gates will never close by day because it will never be 24 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:56,520 night there. They will bring the glory and 25 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:02,320 honor of the nations into it. Nothing unclean will ever enter 26 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:07,560 it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only 27 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:13,400 those written in the Lamb's Book of Life, the word of the Lord. 28 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:19,760 Would you pray with me? Lord, we thank you that these 29 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:22,840 great promises, these great images from the Book of 30 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:25,640 Revelation come straight from your mind and heart. 31 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:28,760 And so now, Lord, we pray that you would align our mind, our 32 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:32,960 heart, our thoughts with yours. And we pray that as you fill us 33 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,280 with your vision, that you would help us walk out that vision. 1 34 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:38,800 loving step at a time. We pray this in the name of the 35 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:40,880 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. 36 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:43,600 Well, please be seated. Great to see you. 37 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:49,040 All. This past August and September, 38 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:53,760 we've been in a sermon series called Sacred Spaces, and we're 39 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:56,560 looking at all of the spaces where heaven and earth 40 00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:01,440 overlapped and people met God and were set apart in a special, 41 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:04,360 unique and powerful way for their calling in this earth. 42 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:07,880 And we've gone from Genesis and now we're we're ending in 43 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:12,480 Revelation. The last sacred space that we 44 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:16,000 find might surprise you. And it's and it's the city 45 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:20,600 that's the final sacred space where people encounter the 46 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:22,720 presence of God. It's a renewed city where God 47 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:26,480 makes all things new. If you're asked yourself this 48 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:30,280 question, do I have to escape the city to find God? 49 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:37,360 Henry was 28 years old, prestigious degree in hand, with 50 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:41,520 a bright career ahead of him. The world was Henry's oyster. 51 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:46,640 But as Henry looked more closely at that oyster and experienced 52 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,600 it, he found that that oyster was kind of filled with grime, 53 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:55,800 and it really turned him off. In 1830s New England, all Henry 54 00:03:55,800 --> 00:04:00,880 saw as he looked around was factory pollution, shallow 55 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:04,920 ambition from the social climbers, widespread slavery 56 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:07,160 which was accepted by polite society. 57 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:11,640 Henry was so turned off he actually built himself a sacred 58 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:19,360 space which was a cabin in the woods by a body of water called 59 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:23,480 Walden Pond. And he found that nature and 60 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:26,680 solitude brought him the sense of of healing and peace. 61 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:31,160 And then he wrote these words, quoting here, What is the great 62 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:35,280 attraction in cities? It is universally admitted that 63 00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:38,040 human beings invariably degenerate there. 64 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,880 It is a swamp too dismal and dreary even for me. 65 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:48,480 When I leave the towns behind, life becomes gradually more 66 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:55,800 tolerable, if not even glorious. Do we have to escape the city to 67 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,560 find glorious encounters with God? 68 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,080 Henry David Thoreau said. Yes, you do. 69 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:09,840 Was he right? You know, about 30 years ago, I 70 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:12,600 left a home which was surrounded by nature. 71 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:17,600 There was woods in our backyard. We had a pond and a lot of 72 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,600 grass. And when I came to Chicago, I 73 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:26,640 found the city like thrilling, overwhelming, intense. 74 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:29,880 Sometimes it turned me off, sometimes it was exciting, but 75 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:34,800 it wore me out. And I, I found I, I needed some 76 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,520 respites in nature. And actually, I still need 77 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:41,280 respites in nature, but something happened along the 78 00:05:41,280 --> 00:05:44,360 way. I came to love this city. 79 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:48,240 I came to love Chicago. You know, not just the beautiful 80 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:53,960 parts, but also the the quirks and the flaws and the incomplete 81 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:57,680 parts of our city. And actually, I learned to meet 82 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:01,360 God here. And I still, I still meet God 83 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:04,040 here in this city. And over the years, I've 84 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:08,920 wrestled with this question, how do we encounter the God that we 85 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,960 love without abandoning the city that we love? 86 00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:19,480 Can we find sacred space right here, right in the midst of 87 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:23,480 urban Chicago? Now the best place I think to 88 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:28,200 answer that question are the visions written down in the Book 89 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:33,560 of Revelation. The apostle John received this 90 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:38,080 revelation from the Spirit of God when when the world and his 91 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:39,960 life was in a time of great crisis. 92 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:44,240 You see, John was a pastor, but he was exiled from his home. 93 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:48,360 He was imprisoned for his faith on an island, remote island, and 94 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,040 he was actually separated from his church, which he was called 95 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:54,760 the pastor. And what happened is that in 96 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,440 this time of crisis, the living God gave John a vision of the 97 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:02,800 city to come. And that vision was heaven 98 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:08,280 coming down to earth, Not people on earth escaping to heaven, but 99 00:07:08,280 --> 00:07:11,840 actually a very earthy conclusion to heaven, which was 100 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,880 the new city. It was a city filled with 101 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:20,080 beautiful light, filled with the presence of God, a city that was 102 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:25,760 cleansed and scrubbed clean of anything impure, of all abuse, 103 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:30,560 of all greed, of all lies, of all immorality. 104 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:34,840 Everything in the city of man that doesn't belong in the city 105 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:38,640 of God was scrubbed clean, but all the good parts were kept. 106 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:43,600 And by giving John this vision, God was giving him hope. 107 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:47,800 And he was giving him hope not just for his life, but for the 108 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:52,560 city we have. Because it is here, friends, 109 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:57,040 that God is building the city, that he loves the city to come. 110 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,880 And it's given hope to every generation from John's time to 111 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:03,480 our time. It's going to give us hope this 112 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:04,800 morning. So I'm going to explore this 113 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:10,600 together from Revelation 21. And I just want to say, like, if 114 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:14,960 you're here and you find that there's something in you that's 115 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:18,440 a little skeptical as you hear the vision, I want you to know 116 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:22,720 like that skepticism is OK. Like that's it's OK to wrestle 117 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:25,920 with some of these visions. They're not easy to digest all 118 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:27,320 at once. There's a lot of, like, 119 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:29,720 visionary fiber in them, you could say. 120 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:33,240 But give it time, friends. Let it soak in. 121 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:39,960 And you might find that the visions of this book align with 122 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:41,640 the deepest desires of your heart. 123 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:44,760 And if God gave you those desires, is it possible at all 124 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,240 that he sees fit to see them come true? 125 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:52,240 So cynics welcome. Skeptics welcome. 126 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,080 Let's look at this together. The first thing that we're going 127 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,680 to notice from Revelation 21 is that when the city of man leaves 128 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:02,880 us lonely, the city of God adorns us in love. 129 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:10,360 When the city of man leaves us lonely, the city of God adorns 130 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:15,240 us in love. Verse 9 of Revelation 21. 131 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,360 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with 132 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:22,960 the seven last plagues came and spoke with me. 133 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:28,920 Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. 134 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:32,000 I will show you the bride, the wife. 135 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:38,640 Let that sink in for a moment. The angel's about to introduce a 136 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:41,560 city, and he calls the city bride. 137 00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:46,920 He calls the city wife. And not just any wife, the wife 138 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:49,200 of the Lamb. This is Jesus Christ, the 139 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:53,560 ultimate bridegroom, who out of every bride you could ever 140 00:09:53,560 --> 00:09:58,320 choose in all of human history, chooses, chooses this bride to 141 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:03,280 be his forever. She is loved. 142 00:10:03,560 --> 00:10:07,520 She is chosen. As we'll see, she is adorned. 143 00:10:09,680 --> 00:10:14,840 In fact, this Lamb gave his life, He gave everything he had 144 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:18,360 to be married to this bride. And like a bride, she's been 145 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:20,760 prepared. She's been decked out on her 146 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:25,800 wedding day, not by a team of bridesmaids, but by the Almighty 147 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:30,720 God himself. Verse 10 describes then he, this 148 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:35,560 is the Angel carried me, that's John away in the spirit to a 149 00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:39,560 great high mountain. And he showed me the great the 150 00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:43,840 holy city, Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. 151 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:45,720 This is the bride. It's a holy city. 152 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,160 John's up on the highest mountain you can imagine. 153 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,520 And here's this huge, gargantuan city and other parts of 154 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:55,320 Revelation. It's described as 1500 miles 155 00:10:55,320 --> 00:11:00,720 wide and deep and high. And this is a massive, massive, 156 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:06,200 supernaturally large city and it's gorgeous and it's 157 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:08,160 beautiful. There's radiant light coming 158 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:11,400 from this city. Verse 11, It's a raid with God's 159 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:16,720 glory, Her radiance. Her radiance was like a precious 160 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:21,160 jewel, like a Jasper stone, clear as crystal. 161 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:28,480 What a beautiful city. There's the color of a precious 162 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:30,560 stone and yet it's it's translucent. 163 00:11:30,560 --> 00:11:32,560 It's you can see through it comes with light. 164 00:11:32,680 --> 00:11:35,000 Why are stained glass windows so beautiful? 165 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,080 It's because it's the combination of color and light 166 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:43,520 beautifully mixing together. Jasper is most likely that red 167 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:50,240 surrounding Old Saint Patrick. Jasper blazing with light. 168 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:55,280 The city is adorned in a way that only the living God could 169 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:56,640 adorn it. This is breaking our 170 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,480 imaginations, but we're using the stock of the city. 171 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:04,680 We have to find it to find the vision of what God has in store 172 00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:06,480 for everyone who would enter this city. 173 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:11,760 When I went shopping for my wife's engagement ring years 174 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:17,800 ago, I learned about the four CS cut. 175 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:22,440 How well designed is the stone to reflect light? 176 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:26,280 Clarity. How perfectly can you see 177 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:27,880 through it? Are there blemishes or not 178 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:32,280 color? How purely white is the diamond 179 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:37,560 carrots? How big is the rock? 180 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:43,760 And that led, invariably to the fifth. 181 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:49,000 See, cash. How much do you love your 182 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:53,520 fiance? And so I emptied my wallet. 183 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:56,280 I brought the brightest ring I could. 184 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,280 I wanted Laura to know you're worth a huge sacrifice. 185 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:07,480 Do you know that that ring will one day turn to dust? 186 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:13,600 Do you know that all forms of human love will one day turn to 187 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,440 dust? Because it's fleeting, Because 188 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:18,720 it's imperfect, Because it won't last. 189 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:23,720 If we build our self worth on feeling loved by other human 190 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:27,240 beings, they will always disappoint us. 191 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:33,120 Sooner or later the love is going to run out, but God's love 192 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:38,800 for you and for Laura and for me and for all of us will clothe us 193 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:42,400 and adorn us forever in this new city. 194 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:48,320 In her book, Uninvited Living, Loved When You Feel Less Than 195 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:54,720 Left Out and Lonely, author Lisa Turkhurst says this God's love 196 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:59,560 isn't based on me. It's simply placed on me and 197 00:13:59,560 --> 00:14:02,200 it's that place from which I should live. 198 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:06,440 Loved. God's love isn't based on me. 199 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:10,600 It's placed on me and it's from that place that I live as a 200 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:15,440 loved human being. I was praying for Emmanuel this 201 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:22,320 week and I was actually starting to pray specifically that our 202 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:26,680 community and church would be filled with this love that John 203 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:32,760 is describing right here. I was praying that our community 204 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:36,200 and everyone in it would be filled to the brim and overflow 205 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:41,560 with the love of God, the love of Christ who would give 206 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:46,200 everything for us to join Himself for us in a covenant. 207 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:49,600 And I was praying this specifically because I was aware 208 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:55,720 that many in our congregation simply do not feel loved, do not 209 00:14:55,720 --> 00:15:03,640 feel seen, do not feel included, do not feel selected, do not 210 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:09,360 feel sacrificed for. So if I want you to, if that 211 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:12,600 describes you, you are not alone. 212 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:20,440 It's a terrible experience to feel left out and uninvited and 213 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:27,800 unseen, but it's a very common human default experience in the 214 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:31,120 City of Man. In some ways you could say the 215 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:33,400 City of Man is built on rejection. 216 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:39,360 That's how things get built sometimes, and it's not good. 217 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:45,560 The City of Man is filled with people, but it's often lonely 218 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:48,400 and it moves fast, doesn't it? It moves really fast. 219 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:52,680 It moves at 1.3 or 1.7 speed and it leaves people behind. 220 00:15:56,080 --> 00:16:00,840 What if Emmanuel Anglican became that sacred space where God's 221 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:06,040 love gets placed on everyone who walks through these doors? 222 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:10,680 And then from that place we begin to live as God's beloved 223 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:15,600 and we start to see and delight in the people who are getting 224 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:19,000 left behind and feel lonely and unseen. 225 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:21,560 That was my prayer for us this week. 226 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:26,040 I will continue to pray for you and for us that we would be 227 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:30,560 marked by the love of God from the city to come, invading the 228 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:33,960 city of man right through, right here through us. 229 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:39,120 Now. Love is important, but if danger 230 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:44,480 is like lurking around the corner, it feels really fragile. 231 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:51,240 And that's why John is shown not just a radiant bride, but a 232 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:56,760 fortified, protected city. And this brings us to the second 233 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:00,120 observation of the text, which is that when the city of man 234 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:02,840 shakes us, the city of God will secure us. 235 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:08,160 When the city of man shakes us, the city of God will secure us. 236 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:14,960 Years ago I was on a gang related murder case jury for 237 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:20,839 Cook County and once all of the evidence was presented, the jury 238 00:17:20,839 --> 00:17:24,880 was discussing it and we were getting really close to a series 239 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,200 of guilty verdicts. But there was 1 holdout. 240 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:32,080 And the one holdout was a young dad and he was raising his 241 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:37,760 family near the courthouse where the same gang operated. 242 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:42,400 And this young dad was afraid of retaliation on his family. 243 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:47,920 Now eventually he came around, but he did not come around with 244 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:51,000 his without without. I could see the anguish in his 245 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:55,040 body because he still wanted to protect his family. 246 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:01,600 And so at risk to himself, he he joined in everyone else and said 247 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:08,640 the defendant is guilty. Life in Chicago had left him 248 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:13,400 shaken, left him traumatized. You know, I have to say, 249 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:15,720 sometimes Chicago gets a bad rap. 250 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:20,800 But The thing is, like, Chicago is no different from anywhere 251 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:23,480 else in this world. It's filled with human beings, 252 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:27,880 and human beings are capable of both good and evil and 253 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:31,680 everything in between. But if you've been personally 254 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:35,400 impacted by the evil, whether in Chicago or anywhere else, you 255 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:38,400 know how vulnerable that can leave you feeling. 256 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:42,720 If you've ever been shaken friends by the city of Man or 257 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:48,400 anyone within it, let yourself take in this healing image of 258 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:50,720 the city of God. Verse 12. 259 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:57,760 The city had a massive high wall with 12 gates. 12 angels were at 260 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:01,080 the gates. The names of the 12 tribes of 261 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:04,520 Israel's sons were inscribed on the gates. 262 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:07,440 Tuck that little detail away in your brain. 263 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:12,120 But for now, let's just notice the security apparatus of the 264 00:19:12,120 --> 00:19:16,560 city, the massive and high wall which serves as a defense 265 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:20,560 against every threat. However, you can't enter the 266 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:23,240 city. There are gates, 3 on each side, 267 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:27,000 12 in total. The gates are there to welcome 268 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,360 in the pilgrims that are coming from the four corners of the 269 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:32,400 earth. They surround the city's 270 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:36,120 perimeter and they never close, according to verse 25. 271 00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:38,080 And they never close because it's never night. 272 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,480 Stationed at each gate is an Angel. 273 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:47,280 There are 12 angels. They are Watchmen keeping guard 274 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:50,960 over the city of God. If you come with evil 275 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:57,200 intentions, the angels will stop you and they will send you away. 276 00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:00,960 You are not allowed in the city of man if you have evil false 277 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:05,520 foul intentions. Anyone who would defile this 278 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,680 ultimate sacred space. With any violence, with any 279 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:11,960 greed, with any sexual immorality, with any idolatry, 280 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:17,040 they are kept out. That being said, remember that 281 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:21,440 curious detail in verse 12? The names of the 12 tribes of 282 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:23,680 Israel's sons were inscribed on the gates. 283 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:26,920 Here's another mystery. Verse 14. 284 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:31,520 The city wall had 12 foundations, and the 12 names of 285 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:34,600 the 12 apostles of the Lamb were the foundations. 286 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:41,880 So if nothing unclean can enter this city, how in the world are 287 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:44,920 the 12 tribes of Israel's sons inscribed on the gates? 288 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:49,080 Do you remember, for those of you who who, like, I don't know, 289 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:54,880 grew up in Sunday school, that those 12 sons, 11 of them, beat 290 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:56,800 up Joseph and sold them into slavery? 291 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:03,000 These guys were scoundrels. Some committed terrible things, 292 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:08,600 terrible sexual acts, murder. Some of them were murderers. 293 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:11,400 They were liars. Some of them worshipped false 294 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:16,960 gods, and so did their sons. Now what about the apostles? 295 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:19,920 Their names are on the foundations of the city. 296 00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:27,200 These guys were egotistical, they were cowardly, and they 297 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:30,200 abandoned the king of the city right before he was going on 298 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:33,720 trial. So let's ask the question, how 299 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:39,160 could this city ever be safe and anything but false and violent 300 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:41,760 if people with that kind of record have their names 301 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:44,720 emblazoned on the gates and foundations? 302 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:54,040 The answer is in verse 27. Who are the people who get into 303 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:58,720 this city? It's the people whose names are 304 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:01,120 written in the Lamb's book of life. 305 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:12,120 The Lamb has a book, and it's a book of life, and it's writing 306 00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:16,160 all the names of the people who are allowed into this city. 307 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:22,520 The Lamb who was slain for the sins of the world and was raised 308 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,560 up standing before the right hand of God and unlocked all the 309 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:29,520 promises of God, has a book and He's writing the names of anyone 310 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:32,720 who will come to them with the sin and the violence that is 311 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:35,160 inside of them. See, what the Lamb does is that 312 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,200 he deals with the dangers out there by dealing with the 313 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,520 dangers in here, which is where they begin, right at the root. 314 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:46,480 He's taken their violent and Stony hearts, and He's replaced 315 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:48,520 them with hearts of grace and truth. 316 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:53,680 He hasn't just made them safe, He's made them saved. 317 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:59,880 They came to Him in repentance. They came to him for life. 318 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:01,560 And so he wrote them in the book. 319 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:03,800 And he can do the same thing for you, my friend. 320 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:10,520 All you have to do is ask. Lord, write me in the book. 321 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:15,640 Write me into your city. Write me into your story of 322 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:19,720 grace. Blot out my sins, save me from 323 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:23,480 myself, put my name down in that book of life. 324 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:30,000 And friends, that book and that city is the most secure place 325 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:35,680 for us to be even now. Saint Paul once wrote this, your 326 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:38,600 life is hidden with Christ in God. 327 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:42,320 He wrote that to people living through tough times, uncertain 328 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:44,600 times, and he said your life is hidden. 329 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:49,200 This word hidden means secured, protected, covered. 330 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:55,080 Isn't that a comfort, friends? Our names are written and our 331 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:57,480 lives are hidden in this city to come. 332 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:00,040 Now think with me about Emmanuel Anglican. 333 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,880 What if our place? What if, What if this church 334 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:07,480 became a place where people who had been shaken by the city came 335 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:10,760 in and felt safe, felt protected, felt covered? 336 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:15,480 You and I were ministering this protective covering of the city 337 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:18,440 to come, this sense in which our lives are hidden with Christ and 338 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:19,800 God. And what if from that place of 339 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:25,840 security, people, people had their names written by faith. 340 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,440 They, they were, they learned to trust in the safety of the King 341 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:31,640 of kings and their names were written in the book of life and 342 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:37,640 they went from safe to secured from, from, from safe to saved. 343 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:46,120 I believe this can happen. I believe this is God's heart. 344 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:51,280 And once we feel safe, friends, our, our hearts begin to ask 345 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:55,600 another question, which is this? Is there anything worth hoping 346 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,040 for? Because if we're honest, the 347 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:01,280 City of Man has a way of burning through our hopes. 348 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:05,120 And this leads us to our final observation from Revelation 21. 349 00:25:05,120 --> 00:25:10,040 When the City of Man burns us out, the City of God blazes with 350 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:13,200 light. When the City of Man burns us 351 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:17,800 out, boy, the City of God blazes with light. 352 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:21,840 You ever been to a dangerous bonfire? 353 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:27,480 There's something compelling about those bonfires. 354 00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:32,800 People are drawn to them. It's interesting, but it burns a 355 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:34,600 little too hot, a little too fast. 356 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:41,080 Too many things get thrown in that it can burn you, but also 357 00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:44,960 it burns out, burns through the fuel too quickly. 358 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:49,360 It's not sustainable. Now the City of Man has a way of 359 00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:56,520 like setting our hopes ablaze. Here we find amazing meaning and 360 00:25:56,600 --> 00:26:00,320 a pursuit of justice and purpose and community and beauty and 361 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:05,840 education and power. And we burn and we burn and we 362 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:07,840 burn and our schedules are filled up, but we have so much 363 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,760 to do. But it's a little too hot and a 364 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:14,960 little too much and a little unstable before it's too late. 365 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:19,200 Our hopes and our dreams turn to ash. 366 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:22,760 Or like, I can't take this anymore. 367 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:24,200 I got to. I have to leave. 368 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:28,040 My hopes are gone, and so is my energy. 369 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:33,320 What I love about John's vision of the city of God is it does 370 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:39,400 not burn us out, but instead it blazes with light, it blazes 371 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:43,280 with glory, it blazes with meaning and purpose, and there's 372 00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:47,800 no diminishing whatsoever. Now the light of the city, the 373 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:50,800 glory of the city, comes directly from the Lamb. 374 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:54,680 Verse 22. I did not see a temple in it. 375 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:57,720 I did not see a temple in it because the Lord, God the 376 00:26:57,720 --> 00:26:59,880 Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 377 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:04,120 Now why? Why do people go to temples? 378 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:06,680 Why do people go to sacred spaces? 379 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:11,960 To meet with God, to find rest and to find purpose, to be 380 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:15,840 refreshed in His beauty and forgiveness and wholeness. 381 00:27:17,360 --> 00:27:20,520 And now what the Lord God is doing is He's providing all of 382 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:22,960 those things, but there's nothing mediating it anymore. 383 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:26,880 There's no need for a mediator. It's directly from God and the 384 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:31,200 Lamb who is God. And they both blaze with light 385 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:36,360 and there's no filter. There's glory everywhere. 386 00:27:36,360 --> 00:27:40,760 Verse 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on 387 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:44,600 it because the glory of God illumines it and it's lamp is 388 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:48,680 the Lamb. There's no need friends, there's 389 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:50,560 no need. Can you imagine a city without 390 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:54,000 needs, a need for light or anything else? 391 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,800 There's a sense of overflow and blessing and glory. 392 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:04,040 The nation's verse 24 will walk by its light and the kings of 393 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:05,880 the earth will bring their glory into it. 394 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:08,960 Its gates will never close by day because it will never be 395 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:11,920 night there. They will bring the glory and 396 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:13,800 the honor of the nation's into it. 397 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:16,160 You ever think about this question? 398 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:21,880 What do you do with your trophy case when there's no one else to 399 00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:23,920 show it to? Anyone have a trophy case 400 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:26,840 growing up? Anyone have a like a metals 401 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:30,560 collection growing up? School transcripts that you were 402 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:33,520 really proud of? Boat collection? 403 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:34,800 I don't know. What did you collect? 404 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:40,240 What do you do with it? What do you do with the What do 405 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:44,040 you do with all the accolades? What do you do with all the 406 00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:47,560 Instagram likes? What do you, what do you do with 407 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:51,000 all your, your growing and expansive network on LinkedIn? 408 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:55,920 What do you do with all the stuff we accumulate in this 409 00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:58,400 life? You know, some of the saddest 410 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:02,560 people who burn out in our city are the people who got what they 411 00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:05,840 came for, but they don't know what to do with it. 412 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:12,800 And so their hearts get turned to ash because they're like, The 413 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:15,880 thing is, you can do two things with all the stuff of your life. 414 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:19,680 You can bring all of it to the bonfire of history and watch it 415 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:24,080 burn, or you can bring it to the altar, the ultimate altar of the 416 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:26,920 ultimate sacred space of the ultimate city. 417 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:31,200 And it will blaze with glory in the light of the Son of Man. 418 00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:36,960 That's really kind of what we can choose to do with our lives. 419 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:41,720 And the kings of the earth, the people at the peak of power, 420 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:44,760 what are they doing? They're taking the best of their 421 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:46,960 cultures and the best of their cities and the best of their 422 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:50,840 countries, and they're hauling it all before the King of kings. 423 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:55,040 And they're saying, this is for you and this is for the Father. 424 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:59,480 And it is our joy just to be in this light, to be in this glory. 425 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:03,000 We won't hoard this stuff. We won't let it rot. 426 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:05,680 We won't let moth break in and steal or whatever. 427 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:08,520 We are going to let this give glory to God. 428 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:15,920 Here's another question. What do we do with all of our 429 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:17,640 unanswered questions in this life? 430 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:20,480 What do we do with all of our scars? 431 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:23,640 What do we do with all of the things that didn't go well? 432 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:26,720 What do we do with all the years the locusts have eaten? 433 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:27,840 Have you ever thought about that? 434 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:32,640 It's one thing to bring your success to God, but there's kind 435 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:35,160 of two things that we can do with our suffering too. 436 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:41,560 We can turn in on it and let it define us and, and let it be our 437 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:46,320 ultimate story and, and let it in in some ways like turn to 438 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:53,680 bitterness and curdle. We can let it mean nothing or we 439 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:57,400 can we can do what the Lord God has promised throughout the Book 440 00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:00,040 of Revelation to do, and that is to bring people who have 441 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:03,440 suffered injustice. They can bring that to the table 442 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:06,080 as well. In fact, there's a symbol in 443 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:08,840 Revelation of people who have been killed for their faith, and 444 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:11,040 they're actually taking shelter in God's house. 445 00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:13,480 They're taking shelter and they're asking him for justice, 446 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:16,240 and he promises him that they will give it. 447 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:19,800 And the city of the king is going to include the 448 00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:23,240 marginalized and the former slaves and people with suffering 449 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:25,280 and people with tears. And he's going to turn all that 450 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:28,440 tears into triumph. And he's going to build a 451 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:32,280 community of like the formerly weak and the formerly powerful 452 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,640 and everyone who's got any kind of trophy or anyone who's got 453 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:37,840 any kind of scar. And he's going to bring all of 454 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:42,000 it together, not into a quickly burning out bonfire, but to but 455 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:45,880 to a city that blazes with light forever, where all the questions 456 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:50,200 will be answered, where all the stories will come together in 457 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:51,920 the most satisfying way possible. 458 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:58,920 This is the city that we were made for, my friends, where all 459 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:02,560 is made right. If you knew that your future 460 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:06,000 would blaze with light, what hope would that give you in the 461 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:10,120 city of man? What hope would it give you even 462 00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:13,880 if the things that secured you before begin to crumble before 463 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:18,720 your very eyes? Something happened in the year 464 00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:23,840 410 AD that no one thought was possible, which is that the 465 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:28,600 Roman Empire got sacked by invaders and fell. 466 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:33,160 And people asked this, They had an existential crisis. 467 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:36,560 They said if Rome could fall, what hope do we have? 468 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:40,920 And also they look for someone to blame. 469 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:42,560 And they started blaming Christians. 470 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:48,840 So this is where a pastor named Agustin, now known as St. 471 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:54,080 Agustin, looked at the Book of Revelation and looked at the 472 00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:58,840 Bible and he made this argument. There's a there's a city to 473 00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:03,400 come, which is the city of God. And if you become citizens of 474 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:06,240 that city to come, it will make you the best citizens of the 475 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:08,520 city, city that we have right now. 476 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:12,040 It will let you do what Jeremiah has asked us to do, which is to 477 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:14,920 seek the welfare of the city where we have been placed. 478 00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:22,880 This week I heard about a remarkable way someone decided 479 00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:27,480 to do this. Olivier Messian was a French 480 00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:31,960 composer and he was captured in World War 2, and he was actually 481 00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:35,920 held in a prisoner of war camp in Germany. 482 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:43,600 And it was perhaps one of the bleakest action experiences that 483 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:45,480 anyone has had in the city of Man. 484 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:49,320 They were cold. They were, they were like on the 485 00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:54,720 they were like starving. They were packed and overcrowded 486 00:33:54,720 --> 00:34:00,320 in this, in this place. But Olivier had something that 487 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:03,480 he held onto, which was actually the vision of the Book of 488 00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:06,440 Revelation. And he held onto that vision 489 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:11,280 with all of his heart. And with that hope, he composed 490 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:14,480 a piece. He he drew upon his musical 491 00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:19,760 skills and giftings and training and he composed a piece called 492 00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:25,440 Quartet for the End of Time. And he built it around 493 00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:28,320 instruments that he could find in the prisoner of war camp. 494 00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:34,600 An old piano which had keys that stuck together, and a cello with 495 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:40,600 only three strings left and an old clarinet and an outer tune 496 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:44,760 violin. And he gathered the musicians 497 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:50,159 and they practiced it. And in January of 1941, in the 498 00:34:50,159 --> 00:34:57,000 freezing German cold, Olivier and his prisoner musicians got 499 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:00,640 their instruments ready, and the guards and their fellow inmates 500 00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:04,520 huddled around them, also shivering, and there was a 501 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:09,760 hushed quiet. And they began to play one of 502 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:17,200 the most haunting, moving pieces of music ever written in the 503 00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:23,160 20th century that captured both the bleakness of the city of Man 504 00:35:23,720 --> 00:35:29,200 and the hope of the city of God. Messian later said. 505 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:33,560 This Never was I listened to with such attention and 506 00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:39,240 understanding in the bleakest moment. 507 00:35:39,240 --> 00:35:46,200 Friends of the 20th century, the sacred translucent beauty of the 508 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:50,200 city of God, shown with a radiance from another world. 509 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:54,920 Do we have to escape the city to find God? 510 00:35:55,480 --> 00:36:00,920 Thoreau said yes, you do, but God says no, you don't. 511 00:36:01,720 --> 00:36:06,160 He has prepared us a city to come, and he is building it 512 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:09,840 right here in the city. We have, in the name of the 513 00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:11,760 Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.