Heaven is presented as the ultimate destiny of the church, with detailed descriptions drawn from the book of Revelation. The sermon first offers a "preview" of heaven through Revelation chapter 4, depicting a throne, a rainbow symbolizing God's covenant mercy, twenty-four elders representing a completed church, and the seven spirits of God. It then provides a "panoramic view" from Revelation chapter 21, describing the Holy Jerusalem descending from heaven with its secure walls, gates of pearl representing salvation, twelve foundations, and a street of pure gold symbolizing fellowship. The ultimate joy in heaven will be serving God and seeing His face, reigning with Him forever.
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During this past week we have been looking at the truth of the Lord's coming, looking at various aspects of it. And I thought it might be profitable tonight just to bring it to a climax and a head by speaking a little bit about the destiny of the church. I want tonight to speak about heaven. Some say there's not very much in the Bible about it, but actually there are some passages where there's tremendous detail about heaven. All I want to do tonight is to read two great passages, first of all, where we get a preview of heaven, and then secondly, a panoramic view of heaven.
If anybody is going overseas to another country where they have never been, generally they try to find out everything that they possibly can about it. And all the books and all the information they can possibly get, they get it and study it, so that when they finally get there they're absolutely at home they're not strange and i think we should look at what the word of god has to say about the final destiny of the church what the bible has to say about it and there's something very enjoyable about it now again the two passages that we want to look at first of all is a preview of heaven and then secondly a panoramic view and both of them are in the book of revelation Now shall we read the first passage in Revelation chapter four, the book of Revelation chapter four.
And we'll read from the beginning. After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up here. and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat in the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper at the sardiest stone. And there was a rainbow round about the throne in sight like unto an emerald.
And round about the throne were four and twenty thrones. And upon the thrones I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunder-claps and voices. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. and on the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four and twenty living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. Now chapter five.
And I saw on the right hand of him that sat on the throne a scroll, written within and on the back, sealed with seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals? and no man in heaven or in earth, neither unto the earth, was able to open the scroll, neither to look on it. And I went much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the scroll, neither to look on it. One of the elders said unto me, Weep not. Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the scroll and to loosen the seven seals.
and I beheld and lo, in the midst of the throne, and the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb, as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne, and when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of saints. And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the scroll, to open its seals, for Thou was slain, and has redeemed us to God by thy blood, and of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.
And has made us unto our God a kingdom of priests, and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the living creatures, and the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the land that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. And every creature that is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them heard I saying, Blessing and honour and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever. So here we get the foreview of what it's like in heaven. at the beginning of the book of Revelation. I shall turn over please to the end of the book, chapter twenty-one. Revelation chapter twenty-one and verse nine. And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven bulls full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me saying, Come here, I will show thee the bride, the lamb's wife.
and he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the Holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, and her light was like a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal, and had a wall great and high, under twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. On the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, on the west three gates, and the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates of it, and the wall. And the city lieth four squares. and the length is as large as the breadth, and he measured the city with a reed, twelve thousand furlongs, the length and the breadth, and the height of it, are equal." Now down to chapter twenty-two in verse one. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding under the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore twelve kinds of fruit. and yielded her fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nation.
And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servant shall serve him, and they shall see his faith, and his name shall be in their forehead, and there shall be no night there, and beneath no lamp, near the light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light. and they shall reign for ever and ever. And we go out as blessings to the reading of these lovely portions of his word. Now, before we say anything at all about the passage that we have read, let me say that I am not here to dogmatize. I believe in the passage that we have read together we get, first of all, a preview of what it is like in heaven, and then a panoramic view.
And there has been a good many interpretations of what the two passages mean. and I don't have all the answers. But I think that looking at the surface of these tremendous passages, we get a little idea of what it's like when we get over to the other side. Not only did John have a preview of what it's like in heaven, but there are two other men who had before that. You may remember that the first Christian martyr, Stephen, in Acts chapter seven, After he had testified to the leaders of the nation, you remember that they rushed upon him and they executed him by stoning. But just before he died, before the Spirit left the body, we read that he looked up to heaven and saw the heaven open, and full of the Holy Ghost.
He said, I see Jesus standing at the right hand of the throne of God. What a tremendous vision he had. a little preview of what it's like in heaven even before he died. He saw Jesus standing, and he called him the Son of Man, standing at the right hand of the throne of God. Why standing? Four times were even the epistle of the Hebrews that when Christ went up, went up to the throne that he sat down. And in that great epistle, the epistle of the Hebrews, at the critical passages in the epistle, We read that the Lord Jesus sat down when he went up to the throne, but here he's standing.
Why do you think he's standing? Oh, I don't want to use my imagination, but it's very likely he stood up to receive his dear servant, the first martyr of the Christian church. They rushed upon him, and they killed him, and we read, just as the Lord, when he was crucified upon the cross, he said, forgive them for they know not what to do. And dear Stephen, before he died, he said exactly the same thing. Now here is a man who had a little preview, a little glimpse into heaven before he actually got there. Do you think it's possible for people to get, for someone to get a vision like that?
I have seen a good many people die. And I firmly believe that sometimes before the cross, the other side, and just those last few minutes, Sometimes the veil is lifted and they get a little glimpse inside before they actually got there. Now the reason I have for saying that is we get here in Holy Scripture a man who did. He got a little preview of what it was like inside, inside heaven itself. And then again, Second Corinthians chapter twelve, the apostle there, he speak about a man in Christ. I believe he's speaking about himself.
And what he's referring to there is an experience that he had about fourteen years prior to that. If we turn over to the historical part of the Acts of the Apostles in Paul's missionary work, you remember outside Lystra that he was stoned and he was left for dead at the roadside. And he said, I know a man in Christ about fourteen years ago how that he was taken up into the third heaven. And he saw some things that are impossible for the human mind to grasp. You know, I believe he's talking about himself. And he's speaking about the third heaven.
I suppose most of us realize when the third heaven is the immediate presence of God. The aerial heaven is the first heaven. And then beyond that is the stellar heavens. That is where the galaxies, where they revolve in the universe. But beyond that is the third heaven. And Paul, he said, this man in Christ was taken up to the third heaven, and he saw and heard impossible things for the human lips, for the human mind to grasp or human lips to utter. He had a little view inside. He never told us what he saw there. He said that what he saw, it was impossible to explain. It was a revelation that God had given to him, and just to keep him in this place, so that he wouldn't be exalted above measure he was given that thorn in the flesh.
So here too is a man who had a little preview of what it's like over on the other side in heaven itself. Many years ago my grandfather died the same age as I am now, and I was there at the time. And that dear old man, we thought he was dying. And he was in a coma, but he opened his eyes. And those of us that were sitting around his bed, he said, The Lord has just spoken to me. And he has told me that he has given me another year, and he has sent me back again. And almost to a day, a year later, the Lord took him home.
I believe that these are reality. And I believe that God can speak to the human heart. And sometimes the veil is lifted. just at that last moment of life. And they get a little glimpse inside. I thought it was happening to me about a year ago. I thought that my time is up. And I thought the Lord was saying, now, you come on home. But instead of that, he said, now just go back for a little while. And he has given me a little respite. You know, it's a lovely thing. When we get to the edge of the unknown, what we have... an experience that we have never had before. That the Lord comes in in his mercy and his kindness and he gives us a little glimpse of what it's like inside the pearly gates.
So these are two experiences that we find in the Word of God and I think it does give us a little glimpse of what can happen to some people just before they leave this world. But then John, he gives us a very delightful detailed description of a preview that he had In the first three chapters of the book of Revelation, we get, first of all, a vision of Christ, walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, and then immediately after that, in chapters two and three, he gives us the Lord, passing judgment on those seven churches that were actually existing at that time when John was writing over in Asia Minor.
These are the things that are. But here in chapter four, is giving us a little glimpse of what will happen when the church age is ended. You can read from chapter four right through to chapter nineteen and twenty in the book of Revelation and the church is never mentioned there. And the terms that are used there shows that God is speaking through John by the Holy Spirit describing what will happen after the church is gone. On this experience that John had, when he was taken up to heaven and got a glimpse of what it's like inside that he describes here, I believe it gives a little picture of what will happen immediately after the rapture.
If Christ were to come tonight, and he may, and take us up into his presence, raptured up into the presence of the Lord, John is giving a little panoramic outline here of what he saw. and I believe it is for our information of what heaven is like. Did you ever notice that in the book of Revelation there are seven positions where you find John, and all of them are important. In chapter one, to get that vision of Christ, one of the most tremendous visions of the risen Christ we find anywhere in Holy Scripture, we read that he was at the feet of Christ. On the place to learn anything about the person of Christ is at his feet.
And it was there John was lying at the feet of Christ. And he describes what he saw of the risen glorified Christ, walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. But the second position where you find them here is in chapter four. And here he's in the Spirit. And he's taken up. And he gets a vision inside of what it is like in heaven. That is the second position where we find it. We turn over to chapter thirteen. And there he's by the seaside. And by the seaside he sees two wild beasts, one coming up out of the sea and the other on the land. These are two individuals that will be very, very important in tribulation days.
And the place he's taken to see that is by the seaside. And he sees these two wild beasts. And then he describes what happens after that and the way they behave during tribulation days. Chapter seventeen he's taken to the wilderness. And there in the wilderness he sees that terrible, terrible travesty of the truth. That woman, the harlot, Babel in the Great, the mother of harlots. And in chapter seventeen and eighteen he gets a threefold vision of what is false and counterfeit. Babel in the Great, the mother of harlots.
It's the forced position where we find him in the wilderness. that the final position is taken to a great and high mountain. And from that great and high mountain, he's given that great panoramic vision of the holy city coming down from God out of heaven. But here in the passage that we've read in chapter four, we find him taken up, and there's a trumpet sound and a voice come up hither, a little picture of what will happen when the church is complete, and John representing it, taken up into heaven, And then we get a beautiful description of what he saw. Now there are seven items here. And don't get frightened. I'm not going to take time to go into all of them.
But I would recommend anyone who wants to know what it's like in heaven or what it will be at the rapture. When we're taken up into the presence of God, we get a little outline of it and seven details of what John saw. Now the first thing he saw was a throng. The first voice that I heard was that there was a trumpet talking with me which said, Come up here, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. Immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sargiest stone. So here the first thing that John says is a throne, and that throne is set.
Now there's no description. of the person who's sitting upon the throne. But if you look further down the chapter, we're told that the throne-sitter is the Lord God Almighty. That is a marvelous title of Almighty God. There's no description of him, but we read here that it's like a Jasper or a Sardinus stone. That is the translucent diamond and the Carnelian. The first and the last stones in the high priest breastplate is what he saw. You know, one would love to talk a little bit about that wonderful, wonderful vision that he got of the throne. But the important thing is the throne was set in heaven.
Thank God, in spite of all that's happening in the world today, there's something solid, something absolutely unmovable, and that is that throne of God in His glory. Here it's a throne of government, and God, the Lord God Almighty, is sitting upon a throne. and he described the two stones that characterize them. One, the translucent diamond, speaking, I believe, of God's righteousness, and then the blood-red carnelian, speaking of the precious blood, the twofold characteristics of the one that sits upon the throne. And then number two, he that sat upon was to look like a Jasper and a Sardius stone, and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
Notice here a rainbow. We would need to turn back to the Old Testament to find that rainbow the first time it's mentioned. It is a picture of God's covenanted mercy. But the remarkable thing about the rainbow that is round about the throne that is complete and entire, it is a complete circle. While we have our feet on the ground in this world, All we can see is a segment. All we can see is a fragment. While we're here in this world with our feet on the ground, we will never be able to see a completed rainbow, a completed circle. I have seen a completed circle twice.
But when I saw it, I was in an airplane flying above the clouds. And it's the only time that you will ever see it. Here it's complete and it's right around the throne. surrounding the Thou. You know, as far as we're concerned, in our daily life, it's short-circuited by the earth in which we are. But when we get up to heaven, it's complete and entire. God's covenanted mercy. You know, there are lots of things that we don't understand down here in our life. Many mysterious things, the mystery of suffering, and other mysteries that we don't understand. And sometimes things happen to us and say, Oh Lord, why has this to happen to me?
Do you ever feel like that? Many of God's dear people pass through experiences that it's impossible to describe or to understand. One of the first experiences I had when I went to Africa was a dear lady, a dedicated missionary. That was her first term out there. She was living in a house in a little town not far from the coast in Angola. We have been there to pick up supplies. She came out of the house to pick some flowers in the little garden to put on the table for their supper. And there was a mad dog jumped over the fence and put her in the hands.
And she went in and told her husband. And immediately he knew that they were in trouble. They went to a little hospital where there was a doctor that hadn't read a book since he graduated. a third-class doctor. And he says, don't get frightened. And he rubbed it with a little piece of alcohol and put a band-aid on it and sent her home. But the husband knew the danger. And he sent a telegram down to South Africa to see if they couldn't get some serum, anti-rabies serum. And there was a young military aviator. His name was John King. And he volunteered to take the serum up to Angola. He was flying solo.
And when he was flying over the Kalahari Desert, something happened to the plane and had to make a forced landing. And he was there for a couple of weeks tinkering with his plane and almost died of thirst and starvation. But finally he was able to get the thing going again, and finally he landed in Angola. But at the time he got there, he was too late. And I'm not going to tell you what happened to that dear lady. But she died. completely out of her senses, how to be tied to the bed, and her husband with a broken heart, standing beside her. You know, I was young at the time, and I said to myself, why has that to happen?
Here was a person completely dedicated, trying to give her life with the spread of the gospel, on this to happen to her. Can you understand it? Softly difficult to understand. All that we can see down here... in God's covenant at mercy is the fragment, the segment. But when we get up there, it will be complete and entire. On two occasions, flying in an airplane above a storm cloud, I was going on one occasion here in the United States from Philadelphia, the Cleveland, and we were flying above a storm cloud, and then there was another cloud above that.
And the cloud above started to rain into the storm cloud and we were flying between the two. And I looked out of the window of the plane and I saw a complete rainbow encircling the plane. And the plane silhouetted on the storm cloud. On another occasion, flying from Liverpool over to Belfast across the Irish Sea, I saw exactly the same thing. You'll see it when you get above the storm cloud. Oh, when we get to heaven, thank God. the rainbow it will be complete and entire. All the difficulties and mysteries of this life will be resolved up there, and we'll be able to see it from God's standpoint.
A rainbow round about the throne in sight like unto an emerald. Round about the throne were four and twenty thrones, and upon the thrones I saw four and twenty elder sitting, clothed in white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold. Here is a lovely picture of a completed priesthood, twenty-four thrones, and on those twenty-four thrones, twenty-four elders sitting on their clothes and their crown. Now, I believe that what we get here is a completed church. In the Old Testament there were twenty-four courses of the priesthood and the high priest, but here we get twenty-four elders and they're sitting upon a throne and they're crowned and they're wearing white garments.
I believe that what we get here is the completed church after the rapture. Beautiful, beautiful picture. I'm not dogmatizing at all about the interpretation of the passage, but that's the way I feel about it. The completed priesthood, a completed church around about the throne and not one is missing. And then the next thing, out of the throne precedes lightnings and thunder claps, thunder and lightnings and voices. Here we get the rumblings of a storm. A storm is about to break. In spite of the rainbow storm cloud, it's there. And I believe that that storm cloud that breaks in the middle of the book of Revelation, onto the seals and the trumpets and the vials, I believe that that storm was about to break on an ungodly world that had rejected God's beloved Son.
And then seven months of fire burning before the throne. which are the seven spurts of God. I believe that this is the menorah, that golden lampstand. So beautiful. In the tabernacle and in the temple, and even today outside the Knesset, over there in the land of Israel, one thing that you'll see if you go over there, outside the House of Parliament, the Knesset, is a menorah, the seven-branch golden candlestick that was a present of the British government. to the government of Israel when they became independent. The seven lumps of fire burning before the throne. And then the sea of glass. Notice not a sea of water, but a sea of glass.
The golden labor, or the brazen labor, here it's made of glass instead of water. You know, when we get up there, we'll leave all of our sin on the flesh and the old man. and the problems and difficulties that confront us down here on account of the old, evil, wicked nature that we all have. We'll be finished with that forever. And as we look into that glass, the sea of glass, representing the labor of the Old Testament, I believe we'll see that reflection of Christ Himself. To me, it's supremely beautiful. And then the four living creatures, the guardians of the throne, representing the angelic hosts, up above in heaven.
These are seven different features that we see in this prelude, in this preview of what heaven is like. Then the next chapter, we see the center of heaven, the center of heaven's glory, the center of heaven's praise is one who's called the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. That is his title in relation to the nation of Israel, redeemed Israel, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. but then he's the lamb freshly slain. And as soon as he appears, and John sees him, it ends up with a song. A beautiful doxology at the end of the chapter.
Did you ever notice that there are fourteen doxologies in the book of Revelation? It's full of song, of praise to God for all that he has done for his beloved people. Now, at the beginning of the book of Revelation here, we get the preview. And then turning over to the end of the book, here we get the panoramic view of what it will be like in the coming day when Christ returns and we are at home, at home with the Lord. Now this lovely picture that we get at the end of the book of Revelation, I'm not going to dramatize about it at all. There are many, many things about it that personally I don't understand.
a number of questions could be asked. This holy city coming down from God out of heaven, first of all, is it millennial or is it eternal? If you were to look at the different commentaries, there's some commentaries, outstanding teachers of the word, they're quite sure that this holy city coming down from God out of heaven is a picture of millennial days. It's described here as a super-satellite. that comes down from God out of heaven and it is the home of the saints. And they say that it is millennial. And then there are other teachers who would say that it is a picture of the eternal state.
If anybody would ask me, as far as I'm concerned, I believe it's full. I believe that this holy city that John sees from the mountain top, coming down from God out of heaven, I believe, first of all, is a picture of the home of the saints during the millennium. It will be like a super satellite that will come down from God out of heaven and will be suspended over the earth. There will be an earthly Jerusalem, but here is the heavenly Jerusalem. And there will be intercommunication between the two, described so beautifully in the last few verses of the first chapter of the Gospel according to John.
So we're not dogmatizing. But I personally believe it, first of all, is millennium. But after the millennial is passed, I believe it will return to God. And it will be lifted up again while the earth and the heavens pass away. And then after that tremendous scene, the final great scene in the Bible, when the heavens and the earth pass away, it comes down again. And it will be eternal. It will be the eternal habitation. of the people of God. It's in three parts. First of all, we read about the city.
And then second, we read about the park or the paradise, the Eden above. And then we read about a river of water, a river of life. Beautiful, beautiful picture. That heavenly, heavenly paradise on the heavenly city. And also the river. that river of the water of life. There are three parts to it. I just want to mention just one or two items connected with it. And I think possibly it may be figurative. Again, that's a question that has been asked. The description we get here, is it figurative or is it literal? Well, I'm not dogmatizing about that.
It's only when we get there that we'll be able to realize whether the description here is a literal description or whether it is figurative of something that our minds are not able to grasp. But the first thing that John sees is a wall, a wall surrounding the city on a smid of Jasper. And by the way, Jasper, I believe, is the translucent diamond. Mr. F.W. Grant, in his commentary on the Book of Revelation, he's quite sure that that is what is represented by the Jasper, the translucent diamond. And this wall surrounding the city, it's made of that very, very hard material. Absolutely impossible to bore through it.
What does the wall represent? I believe the wall represents security. Oh, that wall surrounding the city, no one be able to bore through it. No one be able to climb over the top of it. But it speaks of the eternal security of the people of God, the wall. But then the wall... is penetrated by twelve different gates. On each side, east and west and north and south of the city, there are three gates, and we're told that each gate is a single pearl. Now there's a very great difference between a diamond and a pearl. A diamond has to be polished, but a pear is absolutely perfect and complete from the time that is taken from the depths of the sea.
And I believe it's a lovely picture of what we find in Matthew chapter thirteen about that pearl of great Christ, the pearl. I have seen men fishing for pearls or going down to the depths of the sea in some parts of the waters around Africa and also in Australia. It's a very, very perilous work to do that brought on little boats And they go to the side of the ship or the boat with a little basket tied to their belt. And they always carry a knife. And they go down to the sea bottom. They're able to hold their breath for some considerable time.
And they generally have a nose peg on their nose. And they go down there and they're able to remain there for a considerable time. And it's a dangerous business. They have to combat sharks and barracuda and those other monsters of the deep. But they pick up the mollusk, the oyster, and they put it in the basket, and then they come up and throw it onto the boat. And after a long day of perilous work, they get up on the deck of the little boat, and they take their knife and they open it. Open those mollusk. Some of them, nothing there. But suddenly there come that beautiful, beautiful jewel. That pearl, that pearl of great price.
You know, a pearl. is the answer to a wounded sigh. And it's a beautiful, beautiful picture of salvation that we find in Matthew chapter thirteen. And I think that the gates of the city, it speaks of salvation and the wonderful work of Christ and the work that he did. He sold all that he had to buy that pearl. And each gate is made of a single pearl. The wall, security. The gate, salvation. Oh, thank God the gate is open wide, north, south, east, and west. Fifty-odd years ago I heard Mr.
Harold Sinjin speaking on the four gates of the city. I'll never forget the way that he applied it. And he spoke about four points of the compass and four parts of the world. and they give a little outline of what happened in the East and in the West and in the North and the South. And we were all absolutely thrilled and captivated by the wonderful description he gave of the Gospel of God's grace on the four gates, the four sides of the city, on the twelve gates open under the peril representing the salvation that God has provided for guilty sinners. So here we get first of all the wall and secondly the gates.
And then the third thing that we get here is foundations. Now foundations speak of stability and there are twelve foundations and they're composed of very agated stones. I thank God for the great foundation on which we stand. One would love to look at some passages of the Word of God that speaks of the foundations, the foundations of our faith. But this city and the walls of the city have twelve foundations, each one a different color, each one a different jewel, all representing that stability of the foundation on which we stand for time and for eternity.
And then there's the street of the city, and believe that that street is made of pure gold like transparent glass. Did you ever see transparent gold? Well, generally the gold that we see, it's not transparent. And the reason for that is it's mixed with alloy, because it's so soft. But I understand that a jeweler or a person whose hand experience on that, if you put gold with the alloy, put it in a crucible, and bring it to a certain temperature, when it is completely dissolved, you find that the dross, it comes to the top. And when that dross is taken off, You can actually see the bottom of the crucible when it's absolutely pure, pure gold without any alloy.
Now the street of the city, I believe, would represent fellowship and sociability. If there's one thing that I'm looking forward to, when I tread the golden street, I'm looking for the different homes all on Main Street in that city, and I'm looking for some people that I've known and loved long ago. and I want to go in and knock the door and just go in and sit down and have a little talk with them. You know, I'm looking forward to many, many of God's dear saints that we have known and loved in years gone by. And I believe that that street of pure gold, that is what we will tread on that day. It will represent sociability and fellowship and affection of God's dear people when we arrive there today.
in that city that has foundations whose builder and maker is God. So these are four outstanding things. There are other things here that we don't have time to talk about tonight. But when we look at it, what a wonderful thrill it gives us that these things that are difficult to explain, almost impossible to expand. Yet one day there will be a reality. And when we arrive there, to be perfectly at home and see the Lord Himself. and also those that we have known and loved in our little lifetime down here. And there's a number of things about the occupation of those that are there. I just want to read the passage because our time is about gone.
But this is what it says. The occupation of those that are in heaven. There shall be no more curses, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servant shall serve him. Now that word for service there, it means a priestly service. It's a particular word that's used here, and it means not just slavery, but it is priestly service. His servant shall serve him, and they shall see his face. We've been thinking of singing some beautiful hymns at the commencement of this meeting. You know, while the songs were being sung, I could feel the goosebumps coming out on my back.
I could feel the tingles going up and down my spine when those beautiful songs were being sung. They shall see his face. In the book of Isaiah chapter fifty-two, we read that that face was more mired than any man, and it's far more than the sons of men. The mired face, they spat on that face, they plucked the hair from that face, but read that his face did shine as the sun, not the transfiguration. And when we get up there, one of the greatest joys and delight, they shall see his face.
I wonder what it was like. Just to see that one, all that he suffered for you and for me, and to see his face, and to be in his presence, and his name shall be in their foreheads. That is a perfect witness, a stamp and a seal. upon every true believer in the presence of the Lord. And then there shall be no light there, and there need no light of the sun. For the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever." Now that apparently is the eternal state. And they shall reign forever and ever. There are so many things here that it's impossible to describe.
But I think that the highlight of the whole passage is, They shall see His face. Nor what a joy it will be to be with Him and just to get down at His face and thank Him for all that He has done for us. Now, just in closing, there are three passages or three words in the last chapter of the Bible. I just want to mention, and sit down. Three times over, we get this expression, Behold, I come quickly. Behold, I come quickly. Surely, I come quickly. And I want you to notice the context where we find them. The first one is, Behold, I come quickly.
Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book. Leap for the word. The coming of Christ.