In his sermon 'The Beautiful City Here and There,' Scott Brown explores Revelation 21:9-21, reflecting on the imagery of the heavenly city, New Jerusalem, and its significance for Christians. Brown contrasts the city of God with earthly cities, emphasizing the beauty, purity, and divine presence in the heavenly city. He encourages believers to replicate this heavenly beauty in their lives, homes, and churches, suggesting that the church serves as a city within the city, transforming lives and reflecting God's glory. He uses historical examples like Los Angeles, Babel, and Nineveh to illustrate the flawed nature of earthly cities, while highlighting the transformative power of the city of God. Brown argues that the heavenly city serves as a pattern for Christian living, where believers are called to bring heaven down to earth by living according to God's design and being a prophetic voice within the secular city. He concludes by urging the church to be a place of beauty and truth, grounded in the teachings of the apostles and prophets, and to continually strive toward the heavenly ideal.

Let's please open your Bibles to Revelation 21 and find verse 9. Revelation 21 verse 9. This is the inerrant, all-sufficient, sweeter-than-honey Word of God. Revelation 21, 9. We'll read to verse 21.

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 of the children of Israel. Three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

Now the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and on them were the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates and its wall. The city is laid out as a square, its length is as great as its breadth, and he measured the city with the reed. 12, 000 furlongs in length and 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. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was Jasper, the second, Sapphire, the third, Chalcedony, the fourth, Emerald, the fifth, Sardonyx, the sixth, Sardius, the seventh Chrysalite, the eighth Barrel, the ninth Topaz, the tenth Chrysoprase, the eleventh Jacinth, 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.

Would you pray with me? Father, you've given us these remarkable images to equip the saints, to mobilize us, to give us a picture of heaven so that we might know what the picture of our lives on earth should replicate. We are so thankful that you've given us such a direction. We thank you for the greatness of your creation here on earth and in heaven to point us to such beauty, such a glory. Lord, beautify your people.

Equip the saints for the work of the ministry today. Amen. Please be seated. The heart of the message in these verses is really the the unforgettable shining beauty of the city of God, the people of God being built together, the imagery is there that pulls forth so many of the themes of scripture. But you have this beautiful city.

You know, when I lived in California growing up from time to time I'd end up on the hills of the city of Los Angeles and you'd look out across this immeasurable blanket of lights as far as the eye could see. It was so beautiful. And you were looking over millions of glimmering lights, yellow and white and blue, and it was so beautiful. You just wanted to keep staring at it. But I also recognized at that time that there was a heartbreaking element to looking over that city, because that glitz and that glamor was hiding things underneath those lights.

And you know when the sun would come up you'd see more of the reality. And below the glitter would be dust and trash and sewage and deteriorating buildings and dingy walls and broken fences, broken down cars, broken people, estrangement, addiction, homelessness, adultery, theft, violence, suicide, that's what was lying underneath those lights. It looks so brilliant, but, well LA is is one kind of a city, it's the city of man, and in Revelation we have a picture of the city of God, and well, the cities of the world do have their beauty, but they're nothing like the beauty that we will experience in heaven. And they're nothing like the beauty that can be replicated in your heart and in your home and in your church. And that's the encouragement of being a Christian.

It really is a life of replicating the beauty of God in everything. And in many ways, every Christian is already lives in the city of God. We have been raised up with Christ. We set our minds on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. We're taught to pray, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

The kingdom of heaven is meant to come down. In a sense, the church is like a city within a city. It's the city of God right in the midst of the city of man. In the city of God, lives are being transformed, minds are being renewed, and people are being saved, people are being rescued from the dust and the suicide and the tragedies of life in the city of man. And the Lord has made it very clear that he's destroying the works of the devil in the city of God.

He's destroying the works of the devil in this city that exists within the city. John Bunyan writes in his book, The Antichrist and His Ruin, religion that is pure is a hot thing and it usually burns the finger of those who fight against it. And he's talking about the devil, Christ, unraveling the works of the devil in the lives of those who live in the city of God. That's what is so blessed about being in the city of God. The likeness of Jesus Christ is in the city of God in the midst of the the city of man.

I was just reading yesterday in 1st John 3, when he is revealed we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is and then he says and everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself Just as he is pure so in the cities of the world The cities of man you have the city of God and people are being people are being purified in the city of God in the world You know, I have friends preaching in different cities in the world. This morning, there's a friend of mine in Maine, he's preaching Philippians 221 to work out your own salvation in fear and tribulation. That's what's happening in that city. Another friend in Virginia, he's preaching on the great commandment, loving the Lord your God with all your heart. He's creating the city of God in a city in the city of Chesapeake in Virginia.

There's a city in North Carolina here, one of my brothers is preaching about the unity of the church from Acts 2 42. We covered that earlier in the year. I have a friend in Florida in a city there. He's preaching on first Timothy 3 1 through 7 on the qualifications of an elder because that that church Needs needs to appoint an elder and they need to know what an elder looks like They're creating the city of God in the midst of the city of man. And it's a very beautiful thing.

I have a friend in Texas, he's preaching from Ecclesiastes 9, let your garments be, always be white. And let your head lack no oil, live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your life. He's creating the city of God in the midst of this corrupt city. And I have another friend that I'm praying been praying for over the last 24 hours in New Zealand and he's preaching in John 20, verse 19 through 29, where the Lord greets his disciples. And he says, peace be with you, peace be with you.

Well that's what Jerusalem means, That's what the name Jerusalem means. It's the city of peace. And here in verse 10, we see that the great city, the holy Jerusalem is descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Now Jerusalem, this word is made up of two words, shalom, which means peace, and yeru, which means they will see, they will feel the awe. They will feel the awe, they will see the peace That's what Jerusalem means in Hebrew.

They'll see this sense of wholeness Shalom means wholeness completeness Well, well being peace is all kinds of things wrapped together in one word, shalom. Jerusalem, Jerusalem. The city where you'll stand in awe. You'll see it, You'll feel it in the city of God. Now, the context that we're working with here in Revelation 21, 22 is the most elaborate vision of heaven in the entire Bible.

And what you find here in these chapters is a pulling forward of so many images all throughout the Bible jammed up like a traffic jam in these two chapters in the fulfillment of all things and And an angel has taken John to a high mountain And he says this is what's happening. Let me show you the bride Let me show you the bride everything here is here's the bride and And the bridegroom and this in verse 11 this bride having the glory of God, this bride is a city, is a holy city. And I hope to communicate that the doctrine of heaven is not given to us just to be some kind of intellectual exercise It's not just something to make you awe and gawk about it's it's it's actually it's actually a pattern It's a pattern for earth heaven is a pattern for earth What Christians do is they set their mind on things above so that they bring heaven down? That's really the essence of it That's why Charles Spurgeon said if we don't get to heaven before we die we shall never get there afterwards. So get to heaven.

Get to heaven now. Bring heaven down. That's the whole thrust of this. I reminded again of Richard Sibbes. It was said of him, heaven was in him before he was in heaven that's the Christian life that's your home that's this church that's the city of God living in the midst of this city of man as Spurgeon said that we see the whisperings of heaven's melody born by winds winds from afar and I love that quote from Thomas Brooks in his book Heaven on Earth.

All saints shall enjoy a heaven when they leave this earth. Some saints enjoy heaven while they are here on the earth. That saints might enjoy two heavens. I really pray that's what happens in this church. You know, I pray that these words that are shepherding this church would really guide us to bring heaven down.

That'd be the kind of people that we are in the world. C.S. Lewis said that nature is our first sketch of heaven. Isn't that good? It's so true.

And the truth is that heaven comes down when the church is dominated by the word of God. Heaven comes down when people hunger for the word of God. Heaven comes down when people seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And there's a promise, all these things will be added unto you. All these things of the kingdom will be added unto you.

And I pray that we are a people who open up our Bibles every day and heaven comes down and it comes out of our mouths and it flows out of our hearts and when we gather together it flows out of our lips as we worship together and feast together and do all the things that we do on the Lord's day. So, you know, heaven is a magnet to draw you from earth, but it's also a foretaste. Earth is also a foretaste of heaven. And so, you know, as this church moves along the trend lines of its history, I pray that this church becomes more heavenly minded than ever. More heavenly minded than ever.

We're living in the midst of these corrupt cities, but your city doesn't have to be corrupt. Continually purified. So we need to know a lot about heaven. We don't want to just think of heaven as some ethereal intellectual exercise, some neat place. No, it's something to be brought down, it's something to be applied.

That's why at the beginning of Revelation, blessed are those who obey the words of this prophecy. To obey the words of this prophecy is to look at heaven and bring it on down. So the heavenly city is really the blueprint for the human heart. It's the blueprint for the church. It's the blueprint for the kingdom of God.

God gives us blueprints in Revelation 21 and 22, and it's all beauty. The essence of this entire section is the beauty of God's kingdom. I heard a story of a stone mason. Well, There was a man who lost everything and he was despondent, thinking he should end his life. He's walking down a street and he walks by a massive cathedral that's being constructed and there's a man chipping on some stone and he asked him, and what are you doing?

And he says, I'm shaping this down here so that it'll fit up there. And the man, this man was despondent, but it hit him, that was really the purpose of what was happening to him now he was being shaped down here so that he would fit up there to be prepared for the New Jerusalem so God is shaping this his city in the world and he's doing it in the human heart and in the church. The city is the church. The city is the Christian. The city is the gathered people of God.

That's this city that's here. And so it's very important that we become very, very heavenly minded. Now, you have this word city, and it just doesn't appear out of nowhere Because the word appears all throughout scripture There's a meaning to the city what you know, what is the meaning of the city? I'd like to just give you a very brief Walk through fly over really of a biblical theology of the city. The first city was founded by Cain.

Please open your Bibles to Revelation, or to Genesis 4. Genesis chapter 4. The very first city was founded by Cain. Find verse 16, Genesis 4 16. Here in these opening chapters of the Bible we find the beginnings of the meaning of the city.

Genesis 4, 16. Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden and Cain knew his wife and she conceived and bore Enoch and he built a city and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. This is the beginning of the city of man. Ejected from the garden, turning away from the glory and the beauty of God, man. The first thing that he does is he creates a city, but it's a city of man.

Look at verse 21. You see the creation of culture in the city. His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all who play harp and flute. And also as for Zilla, she also bore tubal cane, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron.

So out of this city comes what you might call culture art and craftsmanship and then Tragically it isn't just that those things are Can reflect the glory of God, but it's also it was also found in brutality in verse 23, for I have killed a man for wounding me, even a young man for hurting me, the Slamak. And this city was named after man. The first city builder was a murderer. The first city was built on the proposition that God should be escaped. This is the meaning of the city of man.

The second city built is built by Nimrod. Turn to Genesis chapter 10 and find verse 8, or find verse, yeah, find verse eight, Genesis 10 verse eight. And here we find another man building cities which spawn other cities. Genesis 10 verse eight, Cush begot Nimrod, he began to be a mighty one on the earth, he was a mighty hunter before the Lord, Therefore it is said, like Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord. Now this phrase before the Lord is critical in understanding.

It actually means against the Lord. It means apart from the Lord. He's built a city in opposition to God. He's trying to create his own city, a city completely apart from God, insulated from God. He's a mighty hunter of before the Lord.

And then in verse 11, from that land, he went to Assyria and built Nineveh. You know that city. From that land, he went and built Nineveh and resin between Nineveh and Calais, which is the principal city. Nimrod appears on the scene here, four generations from the ark. And here you have this prototype of the godless city.

He actually builds two cities. He builds Babel, or Babel, however you wanna pronounce it, and Nineveh. And of course, you know, Babel is the prototype of the godless city. It's the city where they want to make a name for themselves. In the city of man, you want to make something for yourself.

In the city of God, you make something for the glory of God. The people in Babel don't want to be named by God, they want to name themselves. They want their own truth to rule. And Nimrod was a great communicator. He was able to draw and mobilize people to build his city.

He was gathering people to himself. And what you find here in both in both Babel and in Nineveh, you have the rise of the secular state, the brutal, tyrannical, secular state, the unholy city Babylon, unholy all the way through to the end. And yet Babylon will be destroyed. We've already read about that in Revelation 16. Great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

And the city was, Babylon was destroyed. All the great cities of man will come down. So many of them already have. You should never fret about the great cities and the great tyrannical governments because they're going to come down. They always do, because God takes them down.

But man builds unholy cities. And really, you know, frankly, you know, the bloody city, Nineveh, the city of harlots, Babylon, These are cities set apart from God. We have many of these nations and cities in our own time. We have nations like China and Russia. These are the great totalitarian states.

There are massive demonstrations all over the world right now over against these totalitarian states. Some of the biggest protests in the history, of modern history are taking place in Brazil. The streets of Iran are flooded with people that are rebelling against Islamic tyranny. You have farmers protesting in the Netherlands being dragged into prison. You have, you know, in China citizens are monitored 24-7 And there are riots all over the country and the government's trying to squash them.

And you'll always have the city of man until the New Jerusalem. But at the same time, you will also always have the city of God in the hearts of his people and in the churches all over the world. You have Sodom and Gomorrah, the symbol of immorality. You have Egypt, the symbol of persecution and subjugation of the people of God by the demonic tyrants like Pharaoh. And God delivers his people from Pharaoh.

And you know, it's interesting because, you know, God's people have always lived in the midst of these godless cities. Even in Babylon, when the children of Israel were taken to Babylon to be subjugated there, what did God tell his people to do? Don't riot, don't contradict, build houses, dwell in the cities, plant gardens, get married, pray for the city, be a blessing. That's exactly what Daniel did. He was a blessing to Nebuchadnezzar.

You just go ahead and read Daniel. It's amazing, the remarkably helpful spirit of this brother who is in Babylon, serving one of the most brutal rulers probably that ever lived. And so the church, the church is always under divine orders to make its city beautiful in the midst of the cities. Proverbs 11 verse 12 talks about how God's people are a blessing in the city. By the blessing of the upright, the city is exalted.

You know Isaiah and Jeremiah and the other prophets list cities under God's judgment Egypt Tyre, Philistia, Ethiopia and Others you have cities of refuge cities of refuge that God creates for those who commit unintentional sins and need protection. You have the city of David. The city of David is mentioned 45 times in the Old Testament. The city of David is code for Jesus reigns forevermore. Psalm 84 captures it.

How lovely is your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts. My soul longs, yes even faints for the courts of the Lord. Even the sparrow has found a home and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young. In the midst of the city of man, there's always the city of God where you can lay your young and where you can see the loveliness of the kingdom of God. That's the city of David.

But the city of David in Jerusalem, you know, from time to time, became a moral disaster, much like in our own times. We could list the moral disasters of our times. You know what they are, I don't have to list them. The tragedies are so remarkable, what are happening in our own country. Jesus said, woe to you, Carazan, woe to you, Bethsaida, because they just didn't listen.

They saw the miracles, but they just, the city of man is so hard-hearted. And then you have Jerusalem. That's really the focus of this you but you see the progress of the city the city of man in parallel the city of God is also growing Jerusalem was a Canaanite city God Came to renew. It's the place where Melchizedek, the king of Salem, offered offerings to Abraham. That's what happened in Jerusalem.

It's the place where Abraham brought Isaac on the Lord's command to sacrifice him. Mount Moriah, Moriah means the Lord will provide in God's city. He'll always be provided for. It's the place where David purchased Arunas threshing floor to sacrifice to the Lord, to stop the plague, because in the city of God, the plague stops. It runs wild in the city of man, but not in the city of God.

This city is a locality, it's a place, it's a real place. It's a city within a nation, just like the church is a city within a nation. This is a real place, this is a real kingdom. This is a real nation right here. It's physical, it's real, and it's also spiritual.

And it's constantly besieged. Jerusalem was constantly besieged. Jacques Alou, the French theologian, he wrote this about Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a holy city, but she is still a city. She carries man's mark, even her election, even her in her adoption by God.

She never escapes from all the characteristics of the city as is indicated by the accusations constantly aimed at her. Her sins exposed. Her sins are the sins of the other cities. She acts like them and is condemned like them. Jerusalem also became a bloody city many, many times.

It was the place of Burning children. We live in a bloody city. We live in a bloody nation today. Somebody called me the other day and they saw a road sign for Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood equals care.

Planned Parenthood equals blood. So in the city of man there's all these deceptions that are going on. You know Daniel, Daniel prays to divert God's wrath against Jerusalem. Many of the prophets do that and they're constantly calling out the sins of Jerusalem and it's appropriate to do that. The Lord Jesus himself he said, oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her.

How often I wanted to gather you together, your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. And of course, Jerusalem was destroyed more than once by God. Once by God. Destroyed, rebuilt, destroyed, rebuilt, but everlastingly rebuilt in the hearts of the people of God. And the church is the New Jerusalem.

And we learn that in many places, but in Hebrews 12, we learn that when you come to Christ, you come to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem. Hebrews 12, 22, but you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect. Jesus, to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better, that speaks better things than that of Abel. You know in the midst of the the great cities of the world, we have this blessing to have a city. Isaiah said, we have a strong city because It's governed by God and his word and his spirit.

And it resides in the hearts of his people. And there is a real invasion of heaven in the church of Jesus. Now I wanna give you five marks of this new Jerusalem, beginning in verse 12. There's so much to say here, but let's at least try to gather some of it up. First of all, it's a protected city.

You can see this on your outline, verses 12 and 13. She had a great and high wall with 12 gates. And so gates, by the way, are mentioned eight times in these verses. The gates, we learn, are open for every tongue and tribe and nation. The gates are pictures of God's inviting.

Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden. The gates are open. You know, gates keep out undesirable things, but here, here in heaven, the gates wide open because there are no undesirable things in this city. And what you find here is that, in heaven in the New Jerusalem, Jerusalem disappears into a people. Jerusalem is people.

It's the church in this imagery that's here. And you notice the numbers. There are 12, 12 gates, 12 names, 12 tribes. Everything here is multiples that end up in the number 12. You see this throughout Revelation.

And this is the gathered church, this is the totality of the church. You know, the multiples of 12 that bring us to 144, 000, this is the totality of the church you know the multiples of 12 that bring us to 144, 000 this is the totality of the church that's who's in heaven myriads and myriads are there a lot of people in heaven? I think there's a lot of people in heaven. It's a very, very big place. The walls and the gates illustrate her safety, says Dennis Johnson.

He says it's a symbol of the city's complete security. Never again will she be trodden underfoot by the Gentiles. You know when you when you see a gate what do you see? When you see a wall what do you see? We'll see with new eyes.

These are forte's, these are pointers to help us to see what's ahead. These are these are high walls, 1500 feet, 1500 miles 1500 miles high. The satellites that you see are only about 350 miles above the Earth's surface. These walls and gates go very, very high. It's a city with solid foundations, verse 14.

Now the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Now, we know that Abraham waited for a city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God. And these foundations really are telling us of the solid foundation that the church is built on. It's not built upon man. It is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself, being the chief cornerstone, that's Ephesians 2.20, in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

And the church is the place where the people of God are built into a dwelling place of God. That's what makes the city of God on earth so important. It's the dwelling place of God. God dwells in his church on earth and in heaven. You don't have to wait to get to heaven to have some heaven on earth because you are a dwelling place of God today.

How important it is to stir up your mind in the things of God. You are a dwelling place of God in the world. The church is the most important institution on the planet. The foundations are named after the 12 apostles because it's the apostles that brought the word of God. It's the word of God that the church stands on its foundation.

Third, it's a measured city. It's a measured city, verse 15. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its walls. Now, throughout scripture, you'll find the temple getting measured. You see it in the prophets, you see it in the Pentateuch.

The temple is carefully measured. The measurements really bear witness to its design by God. It's God's design. In the city of God, Man does not design. Man takes the design and he fulfills it.

In the church, men do not design. God designs on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets and measured according to the proper measurements. Now notice it's measured by a golden reed. And the measurement is man's measurement to give us something we can understand. I just think it's a metaphor to say, look, it's the way you measure things.

It's a thing that is so wide and so high and so deep. In the Bible, in these metaphors, we're given things that we can understand, things that we can relate to, to understand spiritual matters. And so we're given the measurement of a man or the measurement of an angel. This is a planned city. There's no remodeling in the heavenly Jerusalem.

He is the very best designer. All of his designs are perfect. And when any person or church departs from the design, then it doesn't go well. Fourth, It's a massive symmetrical city. Verse 16, 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 city and height are equal. So this is a very big city. 1, 500 miles. 1, 500 miles high, 1, 500 miles to the north, the south, and the east, and the west.

If you have different translations, you'll have, like in the ESV, stadia. It really captures the multiplier here. These are multipliers of 12. The whole city is like that, 12 gates, 12 stones, 12 apostles, 12 patriarchs, 1200 furlongs. This is a city that would stretch from Jerusalem to Spain, from Wilmington to Colorado.

Is this the literal size? Well, we'll find out. You know, this is definitely figurative language. The numbers are figurative in Revelation. All of them are figurative.

Seven, four, 12, three, 104. All of these are figurative numbers. And I think these numbers are designed to make an impression upon us. This is a big city. Gregory Beale says that this is about the size of the Hellenistic world.

It's a huge, You know, the meaning of the 144 cubits, says Richard Phillips, is that the wall encompasses the entirety of God's elect from all times. I mean, This is really, really high, 1, 500 miles high. Commercial airlines fly about 6.8 miles high. This city is 214 times higher than a commercial airliner. I mean, human beings can't breathe after five miles.

So this is high. Is it literal or not? I, it's huge. You know, the highest structures of their day were the pyramids, you know, about 500 feet tall. So this is 1, 500 miles.

And it's four square. It's four square. And it's wide and it's tall. Now the only place in the measurements of the temple where something is a cube is in the inner sanctuary. It's where God dwells.

You know, You have all these other measurements in the temple, but none of them are cubes until you get to the holy place, the place where God's presence is. So The essence of this city is that God is there. It's the city of God, and his presence fills every crack of it. And the whole city is full of his glory. And that's the beauty of the city and you know it's just a remarkable city who knows what it'll be like to really experience it.

Fifth it's a beautiful city it's a beautiful city I think that's the heart of the message here. It's a beautiful city. Verse 18, the construction of its wall was of jasper and the city was of pure gold like clear glass. Well, it's like nothing that you've seen before. It's a little bit like what you've seen before, but it's gold like you've never seen before, but it's gold.

And it's, you know, this is really a picture of the refined church. The church is this gold. The city is gold. The city is composed of precious jewels. Because the city is the people.

And I think that the city is gold and the streets are gold because the Saints are gold they've been refined in fire just like Peter tells us. You're being refined in the world and then that refinement reaches its completion in heaven. And You living stones are beautiful, more beautiful than ever, and your gold is purer than you can imagine. You know, all of these elements represent the people of God. And I think we should be saying, you know, as a church, Lord, make me your radiant.

Lord, purify my heart. Purify everything in my home. Purify everything in my church. Be pure. Be refined.

Bring heaven down now. You don't have to wait to be refined. Well, I wanna make a few applications here. I think there are many applications that we could make. I think one that is clear is the church, the city of God exists in the midst of the city of man.

The church is always under tension, living in the city of man. The church is always being pushed and challenged and lured. But the church is designed to continually have a prophetic voice in the world to actually to not not not just to display the beauties of God but but also to declare the sins of the nations This is our this is our Work as salt and light in the world. The church stands to show the alternative of the naturalism and the moral revolutionaries that are about in the world. We're very concerned about our culture and maintaining the morality of God and the culture, the functionality of the family in the church and in the world.

You know, just last week, the president of Hungary, Orbán, he gave a very stirring speech. He said, we shall protect our families. We shall not let gender activists go into our schools. In Hungary, a father will be a man, a mother, a woman, and our children shall be left alone. He said, we stand for peace and security in Hungary, and we shall not accept economic measures that would ruin Hungarian families.

The church has a prophetic voice in the world and that's why we should always be praying for our civil magistrates and vote for the very best ones. It's so critical that we do that. It's critical that we stand as a witness against the chief sins of the state. I was reading Jeremiah the other day, and Jeremiah in several places lists the sins of the state, and he's proclaiming these sins to the king. And I thought, you know, what are the sins of our state?

Some of them are so obvious. The murder and the celebration of the murder of millions of unborn children. The immorality of our time, the promotion and the celebration of the LGBTQ movement, the child abuse, the calling evil good and good evil. The lawlessness of the world looking the other way when crimes are committed. The racism, the rising racism in a way that you never thought of it before.

Imposing preferential treatment everywhere in the industry and courts based on skin color. Critical race theory, the perversion of justice. The tyrants are everywhere, and they always will be, and they always have been as well, but the church still exists as an insulated community, as a prophetic voice in the world. The idolatry of our world, the Sabbath breaking of our world. You know, this year Christmas Day falls on Sunday.

Churches will cancel their worship services to celebrate Christmas. And which actually God requires his people to worship on the Lord's day. You know, God destroyed Jerusalem because they wouldn't celebrate the Sabbath for 490 years. That's why Nebuchadnezzar came. They were Sabbath breakers.

You can read that in Jeremiah. But the prophets are constantly naming the sins of the nations. You know, we had, yesterday we had a financial intelligence conference here. Why? Because in the midst, in the city of God, There ought to be the people of God doing the things that God has commanded and we were trying to communicate particularly to young people in this church The doctrine of money and work and how to and how to actually obey The commands of God and it was a financial conference and it was it was I was so thankful for everything that happened at that conference but I was thinking afterwards you know you have you have a you have people today are saying oh young people are so unfortunate there because they they'll never be able to buy a house, they'll never be able to do what their parents have done.

To that I say, well, of course they won't because they spend 10 hours a week playing video games, they spend another 10 hours a week playing their sports, They spend another 10 hours a week playing their sports. They spend another 10 hours a week surfing the internet, and young boys particularly are not trained to work. They don't do productive things. They're sidelined in this culture, and it's tragic. And in this church, I pray, you know, we as elders will work that that does not happen in this church you know I'm we're here to chastise every man that's allowing his children to waste too much time really and we will not stop because it's tragic and it does it creates a weak generation It creates people that can't make families.

It creates people that don't know how to spend their time in a responsible, God-honoring way. We live in a world where almost everybody is wasting thousands of hours, thousands and thousands of hours a year. It's easy to count it up. So we wanna create a culture in this church where the young men and young women are working productively. And thankfully we have, I'm just gonna call them older young men in this church who took up the challenge and they were like they did work and they're way ahead of their peers and I'm really thankful for it but now you little boys you four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen boys okay here's the deal I'm gonna be all over your case.

You're gonna need to be a worker. You're gonna need to be a producer. Set aside the silly things. Help your dad, help your mom, make money, work early. I mean, we live in a wicked and perverse generation that emasculates men and makes makes men into women women into men and The church is here to create the kingdom the city of God The heavenly city is our is our pattern and we bring heaven down.

Now, Also, I think that you should look at this city, and you should say, I'll be fine someday. I'll be fine someday. The struggle that we have with sin will be over. All the imperfections that run through our minds every day about ourselves, you'll be fine. You're gonna be fine.

Because there will be nothing that contradicts beauty and goodness in this city. And so, give it all you got now, but recognize, as we all fall short, We'll be fine someday. We'll be fine. Your spouse will be fine. If your child is a believer, your child will be fine someday.

You know, we're a lot like little children learning how to walk. Isn't it wonderful when a child takes his first steps? I mean, the whole family just explodes with joy. You know, the most feeble Frankensteinish steps are just celebrated, you know. And no, you know, the slightest victory is just, you know, full, you know, with assurances and clapping.

The child is not blamed for its imperfection Because growth is ahead. And that's the way it is in the New Jerusalem. You'll be okay. You'll be okay. The Lord's Supper is here to prove it.

We'll be there in a minute. Because heaven is the way it is, you can in this world be chronically refreshed. Chronically refreshed. The world is full of people who are chronically sick, but in the church, in the city of God, you can be chronically refreshed by God. Not stuck, not chronically Disconfitted Not crushed not forsaken But shaped Not abandoned not sidelined But heaven coming down Fix your eyes on Jesus the author and the perfector of your faith Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth.

Well, everybody's building a city. We always should be careful with what we build. But God is building a city and he has given us his church in which to build it. And my prayer is we look at the city of God and the city of man that the city in your heart, the city in your home, the city in this church is a beautiful city. We're here to build for beauty, for the things that God says are beautiful.

And I pray that God binds us together to be a church like that. So the word of God has shepherded his people according to his beauty, and it's not the beauty of man. Would you pray with me? Lord, we thank you that you have given us such strong consolation, that You have given us a strong city that's founded on truth, on the apostles and prophets and on Jesus Christ, the cornerstone himself, an unshakable cornerstone, a cornerstone that will never be moved for all eternity. We have a strong city, and now Lord, glorify yourself in your city here today.

But we thank you for your mercy toward us by pulling us out of the city of man, out of the dingy, dusty, suicidal city, and into this great city of heaven that we can experience every day. Pray that that's true for all of us. Amen.