In Revelation chapter 21 John is given a vision of the church in glory, perfected and ultimately beautified through the work of Christ on the cross. She is the bride of Christ, furthermore, the wife of Christ, and this community of the new humanity is also described as the City of God, the New Jerusalem.

Some of the things John initially saw are repeated, for he is taken and shown certain things in greater detail. He narrows the focus on several aspects of this great sight. In the verses of study in our last issue, John was given a view from a distance. He was taken to a high mountain and shown the vastness of this city; its capacity and its overall brilliance, shining with the glory of God.

He saw the overall dimensions as likened unto a great cube, mighty in length, breadth and height. Twelve gates formed the entrance to this city; and all the gates really were the same, one enormous pearl, the pearl of great price. Jesus himself is the way in, and only He. We saw the unity of both Old and New Testament witness, and the people of God in both ages.

Of course we must yet again remind ourselves that this is not a place where believers will go to, as such; but this sight is that corporate entity of Christ’s people. What we read is not so much a description of heaven, but is the description of the believer, and believers, now glorified and perfected.

Now John moves from considering the exterior splendour, of magnificence and capacity, to the interior splendour – and specifically of the activity and character of this city, people, bride.

And first we see...

1. The Immediacy of God – as Object of Worship and Sustainer of His People⤒🔗

V 22, 23←↰⤒🔗

Looking on the inside now, central to this scene is the Lord God and the Lamb. And there are specifically two things which are no longer needed, whose places are taken by the immediate presence of the living God. Those two things are the temple, and the sun.

Now these things are central to everyone’s life while on earth. Man is a religious creature. The fool says in his heart there is no God. Implanted in everyone of us is that desire to reach out for God. Our sinning nature makes us a slave of the god of this world, namely Satan. We may be permitted by him to follow after many false gods, and many idols of our own making. But the bottom line is – Man is religious. He has some temple.

Irreligious, pagan, 21^st century man is a liar to himself. He will quell any thought of there being a God, for he has made himself divine. But every now and then the thought of his own mortality comes home to him and he will search and seek. But it will be in vain until the Lord opens his heart. Nonetheless the natural man seeks a “temple”. It may be that that temple is the pub, or the betting shop. It may be that that temple is his business. But man must have his temple.

In addition he must have the “sun”. How dependent we are upon the sun, and how little is thought of our fragile earth’s dependence upon it. We are beginning to be alerted to the way the sun’s rays affect us, the matter of ozone, and the melting icecaps. We are truly dependent upon the sun for everything. 

Of course the sun is created, not Creator. Some have made the mistake of bowing down to the sun, and stars, believing their life solely dependent upon these created things. You can see why the mistake is made, though it cannot be excused.

So we need a temple, and we need a sun. We need a place of worship. God has provided us with a meeting place; a place where we can “go” to worship. Of course we may worship in our homes, and have our private family worship, but as God sees our needs, he knows we can focus upon him in even greater measure in the company of a group of believes, and has given us a “place” of worship.

Within that place of worship he has given us the ordinances of religion, the scriptures, prayer, praise, apostolic teaching, the sacraments. We are graciously given these for our soul needs as we live in this dark age.

Further, as with all people we need the sustenance of the sun. We thank the Lord that he sends the rain on the just and the unjust, and similarly causes the sun to shine upon us all.

But - and this is a great BUT – returning to John’s vision, and seeing things inside this city, there is no need of Temple, and no need of Sun.

Why? – The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb Provide all such necessary things in an Immediate and Perfect Way←↰⤒🔗

This city, modelled upon the Holy of Holies Cube, (or perhaps we should think the other way around), has no need of a fabricated temple. We do not need to “go” to worship. The time has truly come when we will not worship on this mountain or that, but in Spirit and truth – and perfectly so. In this scene of the glorified saints there is no congregating together once a week, for the congregating will be permanent, and immediate, and the worship of God will be immediate since God himself will be ever present in the midst.

We are thankful to God for the means of grace he has given for our spiritual enrichment. But then there shall be no need of such. We shall stand in the immediate presence of the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb, and our worship will be immediate, unpolluted, and worthy. The glory of God will perfectly emanate from within us; from the very soul of this corporate wife!

In a very immediate way He will be the object of our perfect worship. But also, there will be no need of that secondary light of the sun, for we will be bathed in uncreated, primary light, – our Creator and Sustainer. And in eternity we will still remain dependent upon Him to sustain our very being. This is not pantheism which is being spoken of here. We are not being lost in all this divinity. But we shall enjoy an immediate sustenance of the Light of all lights from the One who said, “Let there be light”.

I don’t know if you have experienced much of pitch darkness. I lived 27 years of my life never having experienced pitch darkness. It was only when I went to Co. Tyrone, that I first experienced pitch darkness. Where we lived there were no street lights and no car lights, down our lane; no lights of any description. If the night was particularly dark with cloud cover you were virtually blind without some form of artificial light like a torch.

Everything we see is a reflection from some form of light. But that light is secondary. It is a given light, a sustained light from the father of lights. And in His light we see light. (Psalm 36:9) How we need to acknowledge his light upon us and ever seek more and more of that enlightened mind. “to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Rom 8:6).

Michael Wilcock speaks of a “total interpenetration between man and his God – the light in the city, the city in the light. Now we must be careful not to misunderstand this”. It is not man becoming divine; but we do need our minds stretched to see the immediacy, what Wilcock calls, the interpenetration, of city and light. Is this not the full married union of Christ and his Bride?

2. The Internationality of this City←⤒🔗

V 24, 26←↰⤒🔗

This has been the promise of the scriptures right through from the beginning. Jer 3:17,

At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honour the Name of the Lord.

The Olympic Games have recently been constantly on our screens. The opening ceremony and procession is always worth watching. The various competing nations, clothed in national costume, march past the assembled crowds. In these verses we have a march past.

What a wonderful sight is before us in Revelation 21, of the internationality of the people of God. Remember that this was first written for first century Judea and what is brought into view is the sight of all those nations surrounding Israel who have been her enemy, now coming, as brethren redeemed. And John sees wondrous new nations – unknown to that time. This march past would have some national names unknown to John.

When I ministered in Cambridge I often commented on how each Sunday we had a measure of heaven upon earth. We showed this internationality. What a march past we had. Ireland! England! Scotland! Wales! – and Switzerland and Holland. Add USA, Australia and South Africa. Continue with Nigeria, and Kenya, and Korea, and Persia! What a thrilling sight for us all in Cambridge. But what greater sight for old John who saw this international community and yet who knew nothing of these unknown, undiscovered lands and nations. Consider, and worship!

3. The Security of this City←⤒🔗

V 25←↰⤒🔗

Enjoying immediate uncreated light, there is obviously no night there. But what else does this mean? We also have the picture of open gates. Some have argued from a liberal position that this means that all will be welcomed, even after the Judgment. The gates are open, and so all may enter in. However we must remember that this is not a place but a community of the new humanity, and the only way into this community is through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That entrance is only possible in these days of grace in which we now live.

These are days of God’s favour; days which we must make the most of for Jesus has spoken clearly in parable form that when the Bridegroom returns the door is shut! There is no second chance. This scene in Revelation does not present us with a continuance of grace of entry after Judgement. The unbeliever has already been dealt with and sent to the lake of burning sulphur.

So what does this mean then? The open gates speak of a secure and blessed peace. The cities of old would close their gates at night. This would be for the protection of the city’s inhabitants. Watchman would be placed on the walls for there was always the fear of attack.

Jesus has called us in this life to watch and pray. We are to be alert and keep on praying for all the saints. We are in the midst of a holy war; a battle for our souls. The battle has already been fought and won on Calvary but the enemy has not given in. In this life there will be times of satanic attack; times of darkness.

But in this revelation to John the enemy is beyond harming us. In this scene there is no night, no more darkness, no more pain or suffering or sorrow. It is done. It is finished. We have nothing to fear from the enemy. Thus the gates are open wide, for it is eternal day!

But there is another point we can make concerning the fact of there being no more night. When night comes we rest. Our bodies need that sleep. When Jesus told the disciples to watch and pray they could not, for it was past midnight and going into the early hours of the morning.

So we live not only in a body of death, but we live with weak flesh. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. We may be tired even as we endeavour to engage our souls in spiritual things. We may experience spiritual lethargy. But then, there is no night, and no need of such nightly rest. Our Sabbath rest is active worship and our glorified bodies and souls will experience no weakness or tiredness in this glorious day.

When we are having a wonderful day out in glorious sunshine there may be a desire for it to go on and on. What a wonderful day is ahead of us and it will go on and on.

4. The Purity of this City←⤒🔗

V 27←↰⤒🔗

This stands as a warning as well as a comfort. It is a warning to all who remain in their sins. Nothing impure will ever enter it. The invitation is clear, and the blessing that accompanies it. We must come to the Lord Jesus Christ, this lamb, that was slain, who receives all the honour and praise, and we must come to him, for washing in his blood; to be cleansed – that is the fruit of his work.

In so coming to him, and being washed by him, we gain a right – a right to be a child of God, to have access to the tree of life, and entrance to this city through that precious pearl the Lord Jesus. Nothing less than perfect purity will do. Nothing less that seamless robe of His Righteousness will do.

But then we rejoice in his grace that just as he made coverings for our first parents, so for those he has predestined from all eternity, he has already inscribed in the Lamb’s Book of Life. We rest in that unbroken chain of divine purpose and wisdom, that those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his son – and so be perfectly pure and eligible for glory. Those he predestined he also called and does so even now in these days of grace, calling sinners to repentance and faith in the finished work of Christ. Those he called he also justified, and brings that divine peace to the heart as we stand in the grace of Christ. Those he justified he also glorified and by gracious revelation unto John we have the vision of just that before us in this passage.

Is your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life? I cannot see your heart. Your name on a church membership roll is no guarantee. Nothing but the blood of Christ can provide a sufficient covering. Have you come to him for that? Are you trusting him for that? Has he given to you even now that inner witness of the spirit testifying with our spirits that we are sons of God. Has he given you that guarantee, that sealing of the spirit?

Let us look to his grace for our gifted purity. Let us rejoice in our present and future security. Let us wonder at the glorious universality of the kingdom of God. And let us long for that glorious day of immediate and perfect worship of our gracious God.