Epilogue

Thank you, Mrs. Chang, for the beautiful offering of music to God. We're very appreciative of the hard work that goes into the preparation of those pieces and certain that God is well-pleased. Thank you so much for that. Brethren, as we started the story of this year's Feast of Tabernacles, we took the opportunity on the opening day message to explore the conditions, so to speak, which have brought us to this point.

The conditions which have brought us to the point of where we are in the plan of God as we consider the transition of these days from the Feast of Tabernacles to the Eighth Day, the events of the prologue, so to speak, of our story, that which came prologos or came before the return of Jesus Christ. And what we established and what we saw as we went through this message was a pattern throughout human history, that after the creation, it took only approximately 1600 years of human history for God to determine that mankind, save Noah and his family, was a total loss.

1600 years of human history. And as time went on and subsequent generations of people were born and lived as a result of Satan's ongoing presence, ultimately, and the proclivity of man's heart to incline toward evil, that things didn't improve. Things ultimately did not improve. In fact, the story of humanity, if you zoom out and you look at the story of humanity, the story of humanity has largely been one of disobedience and a hardened heart and a blindness to God's way.

And the core issue in the heart of man, really the underlying theme, so to speak, of this prologue of the story has led to systematic oppression, it's led to corruption, and it has led to some of the greatest atrocities in human history.

The numbers don't lie. 1.5 million dead in the Armenian genocide, 1.5 million, 7 million dead in forced famines by Josef Stalin, 300,000 dead in Nanking, 6 million dead in the Holocaust, 2 million as a result of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, 800,000 dead in Rwanda, 200,000 in Bosnia and Herzegovania, and those are just the genocides that are recognized and that have occurred in the 20th century. It does not take into account the millions of dead in the Congo Free State in the late 1800s or one-third of the population of Algeria that were killed in the Algerian conquest.

It doesn't include colonial Namibia or things which happened even closer to home like Wounded Knee and the Trail of Tears. It also doesn't tell the story of the 620,000 casualties of the U.S. Civil War, 16 million casualties of World War I or the 70 to 80 million in World War II. It doesn't even count all the additional armed conflicts, all the poverty, all the oppression that has punctuated human history down until today.

I did some quick math just on those conflicts mentioned. Just the ones I've mentioned resulted in over 115 million people, 115 million people, a little over a third of the current population of the United States who lost their lives in these selected events over the past 200 years of human history alone. Mankind's story has been one of agony and loss. It has been one of pain and suffering and one that has over and over illustrated the need for mankind's heart to change.

A heart that is malleable and a heart that is responsive to God. Now, there have been some shining spots of obedience and righteousness throughout this story. People who knew God's plan, individuals who were afforded an opportunity to be part of this coming kingdom of God as first fruits.

But the vast majority of those who have lived to this point, either through ignorance or ultimately through willful disobedience to God, did not live His way and did not circumcise their hearts. They did not undergo the process that God asks. The story that has been provided to us this week, as we've been here to commemorate and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, is a story about how God is going to work to change this. We've heard about how the kingdoms of man, the kingdoms of this world are going to become the kingdoms of God and of Christ.

We've heard about how Christ is going to rule this earth with righteousness and with justice for a thousand years. The saints that are going to serve as kings and priests alongside Jesus Christ. We've heard about how Satan's influence is going to be removed, how that spirit of war that we have in this world will be removed. Heard about how the earth is going to be healed, incredible abundance that will come from that, and the issues that the world experiences in physical health, environmental health, mental health, all of these things will be healed. What God says is, during this time, all things, will be restored.

All things. And that means all things. It's an incredible promise that we have. God's Word will go out to the world. It will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. His spirit will be poured out upon the people. They will begin to understand through that spirit.

And with the help of that spirit in their lives, they will learn how to live. They will learn how to thrive. Not just live, thrive. And that's incredible, because right now, thriving is in short abundance. Thriving is in short abundance. As the generations continue throughout the millennium, with each subsequent generation, things will improve significantly. As we've heard this week, it will be a challenge to begin with. It's going to be difficult to start as man has gone through such terrible times. But with each subsequent generation, things will improve.

That abundance, that restoration of peace that was described previously, will take place. At the end of the thousand years, Satan will be released for a time. He will have the opportunity to deceive the nations before ultimately being put away forever. The dead will rise in a second, or a general resurrection will be given. An opportunity to live in accordance with God's way before the judgment, all of which are events that we are here to symbolize, in part, on this eighth day. These individuals who never knew God, those who lived and didn't know Christ, they're going to be given the same opportunity to rend their hearts with the help of God's Spirit and to enter into covenant with Him.

Those 115 people we mentioned earlier that died as a result of the sins of their leaders, victims of genocide and massacres and war and human atrocity, they're going to have the same opportunity that has been afforded to each and every one of us. They're going to have the opportunity to be a part of God's family. That is one of the most incredible truths which God has revealed, that no one, no one, will slip through the cracks.

No one is going to slip through the cracks. From the man that we talked about in the prologue, in the first message, rolling himself around on a skateboard on a side street in Nigeria, his limbs gnarled up from polio, to the gentlemen who live underneath the overpasses in the big cities up and down Interstate 5, to the King of England. All who have ever lived, regardless of race, station, wealth, or the period in which they lived, will have the chance and the opportunity to hear the truth and make their choice.

They're not condemned to eternity of torment in hell because they were born too early in human history, or they were born on the wrong continent, or they were born a Buddhist, or they were born a Muslim. They will all have the opportunity to learn God's way and make their choice. They will all be afforded that opportunity. And through this incredible blessing, through this incredible picture that is painted by the events of this day, the ultimate goal of the entire story is fulfilled and it is carried forward into eternity.

Now, as you mentioned in the first message, the word epilogue is made up of two Greek words. It's made up of the word epi, which means in addition to, and logos, which means word or saying. And so the epilogue of a story, the final chapter, so to speak, that is included in that book, is that which is in addition to the word.

It's that which is in addition to the word that the author provided. Well, we consider the plan of God in its entirety. When we think about what it is that we're here today to commemorate, today is the last of the holy days that is contained within that plan. Today is the last of the holy days in that plan. And it represents the culmination of the plan of God. In other words, it represents what everything else has been pointing toward. Everything else that God has been doing has been pointing to the events of this day.

We stand here today on the cusp of this eighth day and when we look off into the distance, we peer into eternity. We peer into something that is hard for the human mind to even comprehend as we look from the events of this day. We understand the physical world is coming to a close. We understand there is a future spiritual realm that is being brought into being. We understand that the kingdom of God will be forevermore.

What is the epilogue to our story from this week? What, in addition to Jesus Christ, in addition to the Logos, is during this time? We examine Scripture. There are two incredible promises that are contained within its passages that are going to be fulfilled at this stage in the kingdom of God. And it is a time which the whole creation has been looking forward to and yearning for.

For millennia. For millennia. We began with the prologue. Let's conclude now today with the epilogue, the final chapter, so to speak, of the story. Would you turn with me, please, to Revelation 21? Revelation 21 will begin there today. Mr. Kinsella went there a little bit earlier this week, which is good. Mr. Kinsella and I trade back and forth on stealing each other's Scriptures back home. It's one of my favorite pastimes. It's one of his as well.

I come into the Holy Day and I just take all of them because I'm on first. No, I don't do that. I try not to. But we do have a little bit of back and forth with it. It's great. Revelation 21. What we see in Revelation 21 is we see immediately on the heels of what's recorded in Revelation 20, immediately on the heels of the description of the events that close out the millennium, ultimately that fulfill and transition into the symbolism and the events of the eighth day. After seeing the resurrection of the remainder of the dead, the rebellion of Gog and Magog, the day of judgment via prophetic vision, what we see the Apostle John write is here in Revelation 21.

Revelation 21 and verse 1 says, Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. We see this chapter of Revelation and the one that follows are some of the only clues that we get in Scripture as to what eternity is going to be like.

We see other places in Scripture throughout the Bible, bits and pieces, promises that God made to His people again and again. But in these two chapters of Revelation, beginning in Revelation 20, 21, and 22, God provides a visual to John that John then records for those down through time. He describes the existence of a coming new heaven and new earth. He goes on to record that the heaven and the earth that we know, the sky that we may have gazed upon while we were here this week, looking up at the stars, the ground upon which we tread, it says, will have passed away at this point in the story.

It says there is no more sea. Whatever that means, whether that's all the oceans, whether it's the Mediterranean Sea, hard to know for sure. Hard to know for certain. What we do know is that there is something new. There's something new, something different that is in place.

John records the vision of the coming of the holy city, New Jerusalem. He describes it as coming down from heaven, prepared as a bride for the bridegroom, the city of God, the dwelling place of the ecclesia of God, the bride of Christ. He continues in what is one of the most hopeful and comforting passages in the entirety of Scripture.

Verse 3 of Revelation 21 says, And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, no more sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain for the former things, that which has come before, that which has been the story of this prologue. The former things have passed away.

Then he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. He said to me, Write, for these things, these words, are true and faithful. We see a description of a time coming in the future, where the tears and the sorrow shed on behalf of what man has done to one another throughout history is finished. And we can know that nothing like that will ever happen again. Nothing like that will ever take place again.

Death is put away. The final enemy is conquered, and eternal life is realized. Verse 6, he continues, He said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all these things. I will be his God, and he shall be my Son. This passage quite literally describes what comes on the tail end of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ and is therefore the epilogue in the classical sense of the word. Contained in this passage is the answer to the earlier question. What is epilogos?

What is in addition to the logos? What is in addition to Jesus Christ at this time in God's plan? And the answer to that question, brethren, is twofold. Number one, in addition to Jesus Christ, God the Father dwells with men. In addition to Jesus Christ, God the Father dwells with men. And number two, in addition to Jesus Christ, there are many brethren. Many brethren. We're going to talk about these as we continue through this message today. Because from the very beginning of creation, from the very beginning of what God had done, God intended for mankind to become like him.

God intended for mankind to become like him. And he had a very specific process for this to occur.

He had a very specific process that was laid out for this to occur. But it was ultimately his intention for man to become spirit beings with all the rights and all the privileges contained therein. Not only did he desire that man would become like him, he desired that man would become his very children, entering into familial relationship with him through adoption into the God family. This wasn't something that was offered to the angels. This was not an opportunity that was offered to the angels. In fact, if you turn over to Hebrews 2, go ahead and leave a bookmark in Revelation 21. We're going to ultimately come back here today. But in Hebrews 2, in verse 5, we can see that God's intent from the beginning was for man to become his children.

Hebrews 2 will begin in verse 5, seeing again something that was not offered to the angels.

Hebrews 2 in verse 5 says, "...for he has not put the world to come, of which we speak this coming kingdom that is on its way in subjection to angels." One testified in a certain place, saying here, quoting David, "...what is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels, physically, at this time, a little lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have set him over the works of your hands, and you have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that, he put all in subjection under him. He left nothing that is not put under him, but now we do not yet see all the things put under him." Verse 9, "...but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone." The world to come, the kingdom of God that we have been called to commemorate this week as we again transition from the Feast of Tabernacles now into the eighth day. The kingdom of God was never intended to be subjected to angels.

It has always been intended that man would rule alongside their elder brother, Jesus Christ.

That was God's purpose and God's plan from the beginning. And through Jesus Christ's sacrifice, through his sufferings, many sons and daughters would be brought to glory. Many sons were to be brought to glory. It goes on in verse 10 of Hebrews 2. Verse 10 of Hebrews 2, ultimately, says, "...for it was fitting for him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings, for both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren." Jesus was the firstborn son of God. He was begotten of the Holy Spirit. He was to be captain of salvation of these many sons, of his own brothers and sisters. Man was intended to be a part of God's family from the very beginning, from the get-go. In fact, scripturally, we can see a series of things that take place that put this into motion. Man was created in the image and the likeness of God. That was purposeful.

We were given dominion over the creation. We were given a responsibility that would eventually extend to the world to come. We were set into a familial structure on this earth. We were given the institution of the family because it reflects the familial structure of the family of God.

There's a father. There's brothers. There's sisters. We have the institution of marriage on this earth so we can understand the love that Christ has for his church. We see the Lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the world to reconcile us to God and to bridge the gap created by our sin. All of these things were prepared for man so that man could be prepared for the eventuality of becoming a part of God's family. But what we see is that it was God's great love for man that brought this whole plan into motion. Let's go to 1 John. 1 John 3 and verse 1. We went here in the Bible talk that we had. We talked a bit about this whole institution of family. 1 John 3. We'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 1. 1 John 3 and verse 1. It says, Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we, brethren, we should be called children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, verse 2. Now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him and that we shall see Him as He is.

And then we see the charge that we've been given. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies Himself, just as He is pure. Brethren, stop for a moment and consider the magnitude of that statement. Stop for a moment and think about the magnitude of that statement.

The creator of the universe, the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, created things through Jesus Christ, all powerful, all knowing.

That Creator has looked down upon His creation and He has determined that of the 8 billion people currently living on this planet, that He wanted you. He wanted you, very specifically, not that person across town, not that one over there, necessarily, right now in Ashland or Eugene or even Los Angeles, but you and me. Romans 8 talks about how not only are we called, we're called according to His purposes. So not only did He look down upon this earth and select you and me, God did so for a very specific reason. He did so for a very specific reason. God didn't just roll the dice. It wasn't random. It wasn't bingo night, as was mentioned. It wasn't bingo night. He didn't just pull it out and go, oh 62! There he is! Calm down! You were purposefully selected by God to be one of His first fruits. And that is not an opportunity that everyone at this time has been given. That's a big deal, brethren. That's a huge deal. He specifically selected you according to His own purposes, His own will. Brethren, that's our destiny.

This isn't just a church that you decided to attend. It's not just a faith that you fell into.

This is your calling. This is who you are to become. This is who you are to be today. You have been chosen by God now to become like Him. To become like Him. Let's go to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2.

This particular book was written to the pilgrims of the Diaspora. This was written to a group of individuals who at the time of Christ as a result of these diasporas of Israel and Judah. The Jewish people were spread throughout the empire. They were all over the empire. Some commentators have actually gone as far as saying there were more Jews living outside of Jerusalem at this time period than there were inside Jerusalem as a result of this particular dispersion, which could be the case. It's hard to know for sure, but regardless, these individuals were spread all over Asia Minor throughout a number of the cities in that particular area, and many of which Peter had visited in the northern parts of Asia Minor. 1 Peter 2. We're going to go ahead and pick it up in verse 9. Verse 9 of 1 Peter 2. And what we'll see is Peter's words to these particular believers, those who were again spread throughout this particular region at this time.

1 Peter 2 and verse 9 says, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now granted, contextually, he's speaking to the Jews of the dispersion.

But when you take this and look at it from a spiritual standpoint and you consider the calling that God has given us, God picked each and every one of us up out of darkness.

Dear friend once says, shakes us off, gets all the stuff off of us, shakes us off a little bit, and ultimately brings him into this incredible light. And he has offered each and every one of you eternity. Eternity. The spirit body alongside him, alongside his son Jesus Christ. But then we see verse 10. Verse 10, when you take a look at this, looks a little out of place at first glance. Verse 10 looks a little out of place at first glance. It says, But who once were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy?

So Peter makes the point they're a chosen generation. Peter makes the point that God had selected them. They were a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people. But then in verse 10, he uses a set of terms that the Jews at that time would have been very familiar with.

Who once were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy? What's he getting at here? It's the book of Hosea. He's referencing the book of Hosea. For those that are not familiar with this location, go ahead and turn over to Hosea 1 in verse 10. I want to draw this connection because this is an important connection that God gave to Israel and an important aspect as we look at this transition from temporary to permanent.

In Hosea, God gave Hosea instructions to join himself to a harlot, to name his children very specific prophetic names in order to instruct Israel as to God's judgment upon them. Hosea takes Gomer as his wife. She gives birth to three children. She gives birth to Jezreel, to Loami, and Lo-ruhama. To Loami, Lo-ruhama, and Jezreel. Well, Lo-ruhama means no mercy, and Loami means not my people. Okay, so those words and those names had prophetic meaning. Israel and Judah were once not a people. They were once Loami and had not obtained mercy. Lo-ruhama. In Hosea 1 and verse 10, though, the beauty of the story, and this is why it's so powerful, is that this, just like everything we've talked about in this prologue and just like everything that we're looking as we go into permanence, was temporary. This was temporary because embedded in the story of Israel and Judah and Hosea is the fulfillment of the core theme of this epilogue. Verse 10 of Hosea 1 says, Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured, cannot be numbered. It shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, You are not my people. Loami, You are not my people. There it shall be said to them, You are sons of the living God. Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel should be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. They shall come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel. Say to your brethren, it says in Hosea 2 and verse 1, My people, and say to your sisters, mercy is shown. After describing to Hosea what was going to take place, telling him what names to name his kids, Hosea, or God reveals to Hosea the fulfillment and the ultimate restoration of Israel and Judah. He speaks of a time in which they will number as the sands of the sea, and instead of hearing, You are not my people, instead they would be referenced as the sons of the living God. They would be gathered together and appoint for themselves one head. Hosea 2 and verse 1 says, Great is the day of Jezreel. Jezreel means, May God give seed, or God will sow. God will sow.

It says, Great is the day in which God will sow. Because what God sows, God will also reap.

Their story didn't end with God casting them off. It didn't end with being forgotten or being left in their graves or being punished somehow forever for their disobedience. They will be a people again. They will have mercy shown. They'll be brought up in the resurrection. They'll be given the opportunity to be a part of God's family and not just Israel and Judah. The Gentile nations will be given the same opportunity. Brethren, God has sown a substantial crop.

And a substantial crop requires a substantial harvest. As mentioned in the sermonette this morning, when you consider the totality of people that have lived on this earth, BBC News article from February of 2012 was entitled, Do the Dead Outnumber the Living?

There's a research group that was located in Washington, DC called the Population Reference Group. They estimated at the time, their adjustments have changed as we heard, but they estimated at the time a total human population of 107 billion. I've heard anywhere from 50 billion to 125-30 hard range to actually get dead on, but 15 dead for everyone living if you take 107 billion. 15 dead for everyone living. Brethren, that harvest is coming. That harvest is coming.

The first of the first fruits of that crop have been harvested. He was offered as the wave-sheaf.

The first fruits of that crop now await the harvest. You and I await for the first resurrection.

Following the millennium, the people of Israel and Judah, the remainder of those who have ever lived, the rest of the harvest that is described above will have their opportunity. Christ was the firstborn of many, brethren, many brothers and sisters being grafted into the family of God.

Not just the word, but epilogos, in addition to the first fruits of God's plan. Family of God will number as the sands of the sea. God is not a failure.

The plan that he set into motion to bring mankind into his family will be successful.

Will some of those 107 billion people choose to go the way of Satan and refuse God? Yes.

Yes, they will. Will it be the majority? I don't think so. I don't think so. Because God wins.

That's the story that we're here to commemorate today, is that God wins. Satan does not win.

So, as a result, what we see is all of the addition of these people who have ever lived throughout any age, every history, every nation of the world, their cultures, their languages, again, becoming one under God the Father and our elder brother, Jesus Christ. And what God promises at that time is that we will be his people and that he will be our God. And that is the fulfillment of a thread that is run through the entirety of Scripture. You know, sometimes if we're not looking carefully, we can miss it. We can miss it. And we can miss that it is the absolute theme of the entire story. It's the thread that goes from the very beginning to the very end, that we will be his people and he will be our God. I'm going to give you a couple of scriptures.

I'm not going to turn to them, but Exodus 29 and verse 45, you see this promise. Leviticus 26 and verse 12, Jeremiah 31 and verse 33, Jeremiah 32 and verse 38, Ezekiel 37, 26, and verse 27.

We also see it recorded in Zechariah 8 and verse 8. This theme runs through the entirety of Scripture.

It is what God has been doing because over and over and over again, throughout the pages of our Bibles, God said to his people, I will be your God and you will be my people. And during the epilogue, this promise comes to pass.

During the epilogue, this promise comes to pass because God the Father will dwell with men. Let's go back to Revelation 21. Back to Revelation 21. So we begin to conclude here. Revelation 21. This is the part in the flight where the stewardesses say or the flight attendants say, please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts, restore your tables to the upright and locked positions. We are beginning our descent into Klamath Falls. That is where we are at the moment in our flight. Revelation 21, if you would turn over there, please. We're going to pick it up in verse 9 of Revelation 21. Revelation 21 in verse 9 says, 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, will show you the lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain. He showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. It says her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone clear as crystal. Also, verse 12, 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. He who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates and its wall. Verse 16, notice this description, 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. When's the last time you measured with a furlong? Yeah, probably never, right? 12,000 furlongs, its length, its breadth, and its height are equal. It says, then he measured its wall, 144 cubits, according to the measure of man, that is, of an angel. The word that's used here for this measurement, this word that has been translated into furlong, is the Greek word stadia. It's the Greek word stadia, which is the equivalent, at least roughly so, of a furlong, which is about one eighth of a Roman mile. Okay, one eighth of a Roman mile. So what we see in Revelation 21 is that is what has been declared to John is that its length, its height, and its breadth is 12,000 stadia, which is approximately 1,381 miles.

1,381 miles. For a better perspective, just to give you a little perspective, from Calamith Falls, Oregon, where we are sitting, to where Mr. and Mrs. Redline are from, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is 1,380.91 miles as the crow flies. So we'll just round up to 1,381 miles.

The New Jerusalem is 12,000 stadia. It is 1,381 miles wide, 1,381 miles long, and 1,381 miles high.

That's incredible to think about a city that stretches from here to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and that extends 1,381 miles into the sky. For reference on that, the Carmen line, which is the recognized beginning of what we'll call space, is 62 miles above the Earth's surface.

So the New Jerusalem, as described to John and as John has written for us, would ultimately be firmly into space with our current heavens. Of course, the heavens will have changed, right? New Jerusalem, New Heavens, New Earth. But in fact, the upper limits of the city would be above the lower limit of medium Earth orbit satellites that orbit at 1,200 miles above Earth. This is an incredible city that we see described. The description of this city is incredible. The beauty that's in it, the gold, the precious stones, the pearls, it's hard to fathom. Honestly, it's hard for our minds to even process. What is it going to look like? One thing I can assure you, it's going to be the most beautiful thing that you've ever laid eyes on. It is going to be the most beautiful thing you've ever seen, and it has to be so. It has to be so. Because within it is going to reside God the Father and His glory. God the Father and His glory will reside in this city. Verse 22. Okay, verse 22, it continues. I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. The nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and their honor into it.

Its gates shall not be shut at all by day, there shall be no night there. They shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it, but they shall by no means enter into it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. The light of the city is that of the glory of God. There's no need for sun or moon, there's no night. God's glory, the radiating light of His presence, illuminates the entirety of the city. I did the math for you. That's all 2,633,789,341 cubic miles of it. God's glory illuminates.

At long last the Father dwells with men. He whom Christ came to reveal, He whom was intricately involved in the execution of His plan for the beginning, He who called the shots, provided Christ with His marching orders while He was here on this earth, the God of all comfort, mercy, peace, and love, the one who loved the world so much that He gave His Son for you and for me. Finally, He will dwell on this earth. The earth will become the center of the universe.

It will be the dwelling place of God Himself, the location of His throne and of His government.

He will be surrounded by family. He will be surrounded by an innumerable multitude of God beings that He has desired and planned for since time began. The story of man has been one of ups and downs, twists and turns, difficulty, of agony, and of trial. Whoever threw that story, as we've looked at this prologue and as we've looked at this story we've painted this week and we look off into the future, there's a thread of a promise that has been present since the very beginning. God has said, I will be His God and they shall be my people. And finally, brethren, in the epilogue of the story, that promise is realized in its fullness.

It's easy to look at the epilogue of a story as it's ending.

The entirety of the story has been told. It's complete. There's nothing more to say.

But we are dealing firmly in the realm of eternity in this epilogue.

We're dealing in the realm of eternity. And so, in that sense, yes, it's an ending.

But it's also a beginning. It's also the closing of chapter of the story and the start of something else. What exactly? I don't know for certain. I don't know for certain. We know from Scripture that of the increase of God's government, there will be no end. We know that we are kings and priests or a kingdom of priests, depending on how you want to translate that. We know the New Jerusalem contains the Bride of Christ. Beyond that, it's hard to declare with 100% certainty.

But brethren, I can't wait to find out. I can't wait to find out. What I can tell you with absolute certainty is that God the Father, Jesus Christ and His saints, His very sons and daughters, live happily ever after.