THE HOLY CITY

THE HOLY CITY

Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

When I was a child, I was easily satisfied with a very brief explanation of what would happen when the Holy City came down from God out of Heaven. I am now convinced that one reason for the brevity of explanation was the fact that people actually knew so little about it they were afraid to say much, for fear of displaying their ignorance. I would have done the same thing. I did, for many years, pass over the subject very lightly.

I am now an old man, not very far from an entry into "that mysterious realm where each shall take his place in the silent halls of death" --(Thanatopsis). I have studied quite extensively on the subject of the Holy City, the City Foursquare, and have made some fascinating discoveries.

The late John Lake helped to steer us into what we now believe to have been the right direction of thought.

Many years ago, in a mid-week Bible Study, Bro. Lake began to tell us about what it meant to be a part of The Holy City, the New Jerusalem. He began to suggest to us that what we have relegated to ANOTHER DISPENSATION is really IN EXISTENCE TODAY in an incomplete form. It is the CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD. It is in the process of being built today, without hands, by the Spirit of God. It is not complete yet.

Our "birthing" into the Church was accomplished by the Spirit of God, and just as we were born naturally with certain inherent characteristics from our parents, we were likewise endowed with certain Spiritual characteristics from the Holy Ghost when we were baptized with the Holy Ghost.

Al Edmondson told us that it was similar to the building of the twelve tribes of Israel. Each son was named for the "manner of begetting", or the situation of events accompanying the begetting. You can read about that in Genesis 29 and 30

In our "Holy City", each type of stone represents a certain type of Christian individual, and a certain purpose of existence in the "City". Each of us is present, in the place where the Lord has designated for us to serve. We still serve imperfectly, however.

Some of us serve as part of the "walls", for protection against the evil designs of the "enemy".

Some serve, today, as "gatekeepers" (Rev 21:12), regulating entry into the Holy City. (Rev 21:27)

Others serve, today, as stones in the "walls", reflecting the beauty of the Lord while protecting.

I have no idea what purpose some of the "lively stones" are for, but I am confident that the Lord knows what each is for, and where they belong. I also am confident that He is able to establish each one WHERE HE HAS DETERMINED they should be.

The dimensions of the city, (Rev 21:16) are such as to make it almost certain that it is NOT A LITERAL CITY, as we would suppose it to be. IT IS A SYMBOLIC DESCRIPTION of something else. I BELIEVE IT TO BE THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD TODAY.

If it were to be a literal city, one corner could be in Los Angeles, another corner near Seattle, a third corner near Minneapolis, and the fourth corner in the deep south of the United States. And, it would reach into the sky as far as one side is long, for it represents a cube.

Speaking of a cube, the Most Holy place (Holy of Holies) of the Tabernacle of Moses was a perfect cube. I believe it represents the 1000 year reign of Peace after the Church is completed.

We have had a tendency to divide the "times" of the Tabernacle into dispensations, but I am not sure we have been correct in doing that. Notice:

On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest started at the Brazen Altar, proceeded to the Laver, and into the Holy Place, where he had certain ceremonies to perform. When those ceremonies were completed, he moved into the Most Holy Place (Holy of Holies) where there was no man-made light. It was the "unapproachable light" over the Mercy Seat, and the High Priest had duties to perform while in the presence of that "light".

The High Priest moved from one "room" into the other, without an interval between the two. When the so-called "Church Age" is finished, we move right into the so-called "Celestial City" aspect of the CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD.

I cannot tell you what changes might take place at the time of the passing of the High Priest from one "room" to the other. That is "in His department", while my "card" only calls for me to "trust, and obey" what He has determined for me to do.

One aspect that has "intrigued" me is the mixture of the TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL, and the TWELVE APOSTLES OF THE LAMB in this "Holy City"--the CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD.

The twelve gates bear the names of the TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL. I am assuming that they are arranged in a similar order (Rev 21:12,13) to where their positions were around the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Num 10). They have their place in the CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD. The ONLY way for Israel to approach God is through Jesus Christ.

And, right here is the place to reiterate that there is still a difference between Israel and Judah. Israel has repented and gone into the fields to work for the Father, while Judah has professed to obey the command of the Father, while rejecting Jesus Christ and continuing to observe a customized version of the Law of Moses. According to the Prophet Jeremiah, Israel was to be re-formed into a different kind of vessel, after having been marred on the wheel. Judah was to be broken and never made whole again.

The twelve foundations bear the names of the TWELVE APOSTLES OF THE LAMB (Rev 21:14). They are representative of Jesus Christ, and the Sacrifice of Calvary.

The Gospel is to "Whosoever will", even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Every tribe, race and tongue is welcome at the feet of Jesus. It is called a "City" because the scriptural definition of a city is "people living under a common cause and rulership".

The "City" of Babylon is scheduled for burning and destruction, while the Lord has prepared for the "people of Faith" a "City that has foundations", THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD.

You and I, friend, are a part of that City, RIGHT NOW, and are "members in particular" (imperfectly) in the work that God has ordained for us to do. But, "when that which is perfect is come"-- only the Lord knows what will be done.

YOUR PLACE IS IMPORTANT. NO ONE ELSE CAN DO WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

HANG IN THERE! BE FAITHFUL. BE DEPENDABLE. BE RESPONSIBLE.

Never let discouragement get the upper hand in your walk with the Lord. God WILL finish the Work He has begun in you. He WILL make you COMPLETE in Him. Trust Him!

Here are the scriptures about the Holy City:

Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Rev 21:11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
Rev 21:12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
Rev 21:13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
Rev 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Rev 21:15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
Rev 21:16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
Rev 21:17 And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
Rev 21:18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
Rev 21:19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;
Rev 21:20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
Rev 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
Rev 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
Rev 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it.
Rev 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
Rev 21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.
Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.