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God's Emerging City
In the previous chapter we saw that the gates of God’s city are open continually (Isaiah 60:11). The apostle John confirms Isaiah’s thought.
Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there).
In other words, the invitation for all to enter stands throughout the Church Age.
And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come…
Come! Don’t stay in the dark; enter into the light.
And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.
This verse reveals the direct result of the Spirit and the Bride’s invitation to the nations. The precious souls of men have and will continue to flow into God’s city. We will not end this age as a poverty ridden, beat up old hag. God’s intent is a beautiful, vibrant bride adorned with the wealth of God.
But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
You can come into a church building and be an unclean, abominable liar. But you cannot enter the city of God in that condition. The only way in is to be cleansed by Jesus’ blood. The only citizens of the city are those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. We must be born again to enter through the gates, and participate in His city. Only then will we have a future.
Christians are the only people who have a future; every other lifestyle is but dust. Along this line consider Isaiah’s words concerning the nations’ need to respond appropriately to God’s people.
For the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish, and those nations shall be utterly ruined.
Everyone has the choice to live in either one of two cities – Babylon or the New Jerusalem. Those who choose Babylon, choose destruction. Those who choose the New Jerusalem will enjoy the glory and the presence of God. When Jesus came to Israel, He introduced God’s kingdom to them, and as a nation they rejected it.
... behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.
(Luke 17:21 NASB)
When Jesus said these words, He was speaking to a group of Pharisees. Therefore the translation, “The Kingdom of God is within you” cannot be correct. The Pharisees were not accurately expressing the will of God. Rather, the kingdom was in their midst in the person of Jesus. He was the clearest, most pure expression of God’s kingdom ever demonstrated in all of human history.
You cannot have a more pure manifestation of God than God himself. In Jesus, the will of God was done on Earth as it is in Heaven. For Israel to have rejected such a perfect demonstration of God’s will was to invite upon herself devastating national judgments.
Historically, that destruction came to Israel in A.D. 70 through the Roman armies. The writings of the historian Josephus reveal the almost unbelievable devastation that occurred in those dark days. Yet God was justified in bringing such extreme judgment because of the purity of kingdom revelation that Israel had rejected.
Similarly, the Scriptures reveal that awesome devastating judgments are coming on this planet. The reason God will be justified in bringing these demonstrations of wrath is because prior to those judgments, He intends to bring forth a clear, pure expression of His kingdom.
Men will be humbled as they see the glory of God revealed on Earth. Those who bow the knee to Him will flourish; those who reject His purpose will be ruined and ultimately perish. The Lord intends to bring His kingdom into such clarity that men and nations will not be able to ignore Him (one of those nations of course, being Israel).
Today, we have the opportunity to participate with Him as He lays a foundation for what is to come. Let us not be distracted by lesser issues; let us give ourselves to extending His glorious purpose on Earth. We are involved in a project that cannot fail.
The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious.
Trees often speak of humanity (Isaiah 55:12; 61:3). Different kinds of trees speak of the great variety of people flowing into God’s house. Such great diversity serves to beautify the place of His sanctuary. And since Jesus our Head is in Heaven, God’s house on Earth is the place of His feet. He intends to make the place of His feet glorious. It simply is not appropriate to have a glorious Head in Heaven and a small immature body confused and stumbling on Earth. Therefore, the Lord will continue to unify and strengthen on Earth His glorious body to complete and reveal accurately the mind of Christ, our Head. Indeed, God will not settle for anything less.
Also the sons of those who afflicted you shall come bowing to you, and all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet.
Here is a picture of many who once persecuted God’s people. They will repent of their error and they will come to the light (e.g. similar to Saul of Tarsus).
and they shall call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no one went through you, I will make you an eternal excellence, a joy of many generations. You shall drink the milk of the Gentiles (Hebrew, GOY – the nations), and milk the breast of kings; you shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
Over the years, the Church in various parts of the world has gone through times of rejection, persecution, backsliding, etc. However, a time is coming when the world’s perspective of God’s people will change dramatically. Multitudes who once persecuted believers will repent and turn to the Lord. Many nations will be affected and change their course of direction releasing sustenance even from some of their political leaders to support and nourish the work of God.
Instead of bronze I will bring gold, instead of iron I will bring silver, instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. I will also make your officers peace, and your magistrates righteousness.
This verse pictures a restoration of soundness and divine order to God’s people.
Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, neither wasting nor destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.
There has been much devastation and destruction from internal sources within Christianity. Believers and churches have divided from each other refusing to work together. The world has seen our divisions and considers us irrelevant. “How can they have solutions for us? They cannot even agree among themselves.” But the Lord says, “I am going to bring an end to the devastation and the destruction within your borders.”
Jesus prayed for His people to be increasingly unified with Heaven and with each other before the eyes of the world.
that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
Jesus was not being overly optimistic when He prayed this; He knew His Father’s heart and purpose. It was to impart to the world an increased measure of grace to believe on Him. Such increased grace would be released as the direct consequence of God’s increased revealed oneness with His people as well as among them. Do not be surprised by such a thought; He has increased Heaven’s expression of grace on Earth before.
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.
(Romans 5:20 ESV)
God’s answer to increased sin is increased grace. That is why the work of His Spirit in His Church will succeed. It is why history will witness vast multitudes from the nations turning to Him because of His work of healing and unifying His people. The purpose of God will succeed because Jesus’ prayer will be answered.
The Lord’s love for the world is far greater than we have realized. One indication of our ignorance is the many Christians who are quick to pronounce God’s coming judgments, while failing to weep for the lost and cry out for Him to have mercy on those who do not know Him.
However, the Father has heard His Son’s prayer and is moving to implement His plan to restore and unify His people with Heaven and with each other for the sake of the nations.
It is true that there is coming a great demonstration of God’s wrath upon all who reject Him and His ways. But prior to that day, His character and ways will come into clarity through His people before the eyes of the world. God will be able to point to His Bride and hold all men accountable for the choices they made.
When men reject the pure expression of His heart that shall be revealed in the coming years, God will be justified in bringing devastating judgments. But to be clear, multitudes will see, they will understand the issues of eternity, and they will flow into His house. Our God is indeed awesome.
The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; but the LORD will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory.
Compare the above verse with the apostle John’s vision.
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.
These two parallel prophetic verses say essentially the same thing. If the sun and moon typify natural illumination, and the light and glory of God speak of spiritual light, then God’s people will learn to stop leaning on our own understanding and will learn to live in harmony with the revealed will of God.
Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended. Also your people shall all be righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation. I, the LORD, will hasten it in its time.
When it comes time for God to bring the final expression of His purpose into clear focus before the nations, He will hasten His activity. He will not arise reluctantly in those days. When all has been set in place according to His plan, there will be a quick emerging of His glory. That will not be the time for believers to think about returning to their first love and learning to walk in the Spirit.
Rather, today is the time to prepare for the coming era by seeking His presence and consecrating our lives to His purpose of filling the whole Earth with His glory.
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