The 12 Foundations of The New Jerusalem

I want you to turn your Bible here this morning, time gets away, to Revelation chapter one with me one more time. And we're coming to part three in this mini-series. I did say it's an extension of our previous series on foundations, but we're going back to in a mini-series.

We've done part one, part two, now there's part three. If you've missed this, please go back and listen to these two previous messages. But we're dealing with the new Jerusalem here in these messages.

We've called this series searching for a city with foundations. Searching for a city, invisible, internal, yet to come, one we haven't seen, one we haven't touched with our hands, one we haven't entered into. And that city has foundations.

Solid foundations, everything in this world's passing away. Every city is gonna perish. All that you have to do with, it's gonna end one day.

Your marriage will, your work will, your hobbies will, your ambitions will, your Christian ministry will. But there's something that is eternal beyond this world, it's called a city. And we've already dealt with in the two previous messages that Abraham, the father of faith, one who left us an example and footsteps to walk in, he actually searched for this city.

He journeyed throughout his entire life upon earth looking for this city. He wasn't looking for something merely in this lifetime, merely on this earth, merely in Christian ministry. He was looking for a world to come.

He called it a city, a heavenly city. We're gonna read here from Revelation chapter 21. My message this morning, the 12 foundations of the new Jerusalem.

Reading from Revelation chapter 21 and verse nine. And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues and talk with me saying, come hither and I will show thee the bride, the lamb's wife. 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, having the glory of God.

And her light was like unto a stone, most precious, even like a Jasper stone, clear as crystal, and had a wall great and high and had 12 gates and at the gates 12 angels and names written thereon which are the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel, of the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had 12 foundations and this is what I want you to note. The wall of the city had 12 foundations and in them the names of the 12 apostles of the lamb.

And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city and the gates thereof and the wall thereof. And the city layeth four square and the length is as large as the breadth. And he measureth the city with the reed 12,000 furlongs, the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

And he measured the wall thereof 140 and four cubits according to the measure of a man. That is of the angel. And the building of the wall of it was of Jasper and of the city was pure gold like unto clear glass.

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 Caledoni, the fourth an Emerald, the fifth Sardonyx, the sixth Sardius, the seventh Chrysolite, the eighth Beryl, the ninth a Topaz, the 10th Chrysopasis, the 11th a Jacinthe, the 12th an Amnest. And the 12 gates were 12 pearls.

Every several gate was of one pearl and the street of the city was pure gold as it were transparent gold. Can we pray here this morning, asking the Lord that he would give us such a vision that we wouldn't be earthbound this morning in our life, in our walk with God. Father, we, nor God, thank you for the written scriptures inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, written by holy men of old that were moved by your Holy Spirit.

They caught a vision, they caught a glimpse of another world. They were not men that were earthbound. They lived in this world, they served Christ, they proclaimed him, they manifest him, they endured suffering and persecution.

Nor God, they had no abiding place or dwelling place on this earth, for they looked for a city. Thank you for the example of Abraham, who all of his days was searching, not for a national state, not merely for a homeland. Nor God, not merely for an inheritance for his physical seed, but oh God, he looketh for a city whose foundations and builder, Lord God, is you.

Nor God, we thank you, God, that he endured as seeing him that was invisible. He looked for that city and all of the saints of every generation have looked for the same city, the new Jerusalem, the city of God, a heavenly city that cometh down from God, a city that shall endure time. Nor God, a city that shall outlast this old earth and this old heavens.

And nor God, we're asking for you. Nor God, that you'd speak to us, that you'd minister to us as a people in Jesus' mighty name, amen, amen. We've already ministered much about this city.

We are gonna deal with it. Some people only live for this lifetime. Their vision is small.

Their grasp of truth is small. They make decisions only dependent on this lifetime. I've met many in ministry.

I'm convinced they don't believe in the eternal world. They're in ministry, they're preachers. They'll preach the same truths as me, but I'm utterly convinced they don't believe in the judgment seat.

They don't believe in the millennial reign. They don't believe in the world to come. You know why? Their actions, words, and attitudes convince me they cannot believe it.

If you really believe it, it impacts what's here. See, there's those in the church, they grasp for things here. They manipulate, they maneuver.

All they're conscious of is ministry, a reputation, or being noticed, or building something in this earth. I'm fully convinced they haven't seen that city. They can preach about it, talk about it, pray about it, but their lifestyle shows they don't believe in the world to come.

They have no vision of it. How much more sinners that only live for now, what they get, what they grab. They have no awareness of anything apart from their physical life.

And I wanna tell you, if this is all you have, what a miserable person you are. If a Christian who only sees this lifetime is miserable, as the Bible says, how much more a sinner that lives for pride, arrogance, jealousy, ambition, that is unforgiving, all of these things, and they only live for now, for drink, for immorality, for satisfaction, for pleasure, angry at everyone. If all they have is this world, what a tragedy.

If you think this is all life is about, what a great mistake. You know, as we've already dealt with, we read in Hebrews 11, verse 10, speaking about Abraham, for he, looketh for a city which has foundations. I'm looking for a city with a solid foundation, an entire city where I'm gonna abide eternally, where I'm a citizen, where I'm a dweller in that city.

I am looking. I've actually embraced a vision of it, a desire for it, and it's impacted my life. Whose builder and maker is God.

This is not a man-made city. It's not made by man-made ministry. It was not made by the apostles.

It was built by God himself. It was God that began to build this. It says in Hebrews 13, 14, for here have we no continuing city, for we seek one to come.

And in Hebrews chapter 12, 22, it says, for ye are come unto Mount Sinai. Notice it's a mountain. We are come.

In other words, there is an entire world invisible here this morning. We are come unto Mount Sinai. Not Mount Sinai.

It was law. It was Old Testament. It was judgment.

No, we this morning come now presently onto a city that is, or sorry, a mountain that is invisible. It actually calls it Zion, the city of the living God. So we come onto Mount Zion.

What is Mount Zion? What is this Mount? It is a city. He then goes further, calls it the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Notice we come now to this city.

It's not here. It hasn't descended out of heaven. It is in heaven.

This city, this Mount Zion is presently in heaven. It is the city of the living God. Says, as we come onto that city now, spiritually, by faith, it's invisible.

As I serve God, I know heaven is real. I know the throne of God is real. I know God himself is real.

By faith, I approach unto him in prayer, in worship, in desire. I know that God himself dwells in heaven. Spiritually, he is here, not physically.

Physically, his residence is in heaven. But now you have the heavenly Jerusalem, not a physical city, not the earthly Jerusalem. I'm not looking for the earthly Jerusalem.

I'm looking for a heavenly Jerusalem. And listen, what else is there? An innumerable company of angels to the general assembly of the church of the firstborn. Where is that? In heaven right now.

The general assembly of the church of the firstborn, which are written where? In heaven. The names of all the citizens of this city are written in heaven. Unto God, the judge of all.

That's where I'm coming. Unto the spirits of just men made perfect. Every person that died righteous in Christ, born again.

You know what it says? They're made perfect. Where are they now? They're in this city. They're in the new Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of God, the abiding place where angels are innumerable.

They are there now. They're actually preparing to descend with God himself. This is where God dwells.

It then says in the next verse, and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant. Where is he? In this city. Unto the blood of sprinkling.

When I come by faith, I don't only come to Jesus, the mediator of a brand new covenant. I come to his blood. His blood isn't mythical or symbolic.

We come to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel. So you see, this city is real. It is real now.

It's not just a city God is gonna build or God is gonna create. This city is already real. It is in formation.

It is being prepared. Remember what Jesus said? I go to prepare you a place. And he wouldn't have lied about it.

And he says, if I go to prepare a place, I will come and take you to where I am. Every saint that has died in Christ, Christ has come and taken them to that dwelling place. He is preparing an eternal dwelling place for every saint of God.

Do you remember what I said about this city last week? Let me remind you just briefly before I bring you to this message this morning. I said this four square city that is as long as it is broad, as it is high, it's a four square city. It's ginormous.

I said one length of it, one side of this four square city is 1,400 miles. 1,400 miles or 2,200 kilometers. That's the distance from Dublin city in Ireland all the way to Warsaw in Dublin.

That is one side of it or one length of it. This is a ginormous city. And if you measure its length by its breadth, multiplying, you get its measurements squared, which is actually 144 million squared stadia as it reads here.

Or let me put it another way. It is 4.9 million square kilometers. This is an enormous city.

It is ginormous. Remember what I said? It is bigger than Australia. It is bigger than the US, slightly smaller than India.

It is a ginormous city. And as we said, if you think of the height of it, if you had every single level of this, if you only had 12 foot high on each level of this city, you would literally have 600,000 floors. And this entire city has enough room for billions of people to dwell in.

We've got a population of 8 billion. They would get lost in this building, I wanna tell you. And if all the citizens of the world presently lived in this city, they would have miles each to dwell in, in this singular city.

The moon itself, you know what the moon is. You see it at nighttime sometimes. The moon is 2,160 miles in diameter.

The New Jerusalem is 1,400 miles. That means the New Jerusalem is two thirds of the size of the moon, one third smaller than the moon. So when you look at the moon, go out tonight or go out tomorrow, look at the moon.

The moon is 240,000 miles away. And look at the size of it, 240,000 miles away. It's a great distance.

And yet when you look at that moon, do you know what? You see the size of it. It's only slightly bigger than the New Jerusalem. That is how massive that this city is gonna be.

Saints, this isn't imagination. This is more real than the present physical world. We are so bound by our thoughts, our feelings, our five senses, all we know is this.

And yet look at what you call reality. It isn't good, saints of God. We feel emotional distress, depression, discouragement.

We don't see reality. Sometimes we go, what's the point of living? But I wanna tell you, there is a city coming that's eternal who God has built. It is already in preparation.

It is gonna come down from heaven as we said. You see this entire city is shining. It is rich in glory and precious stones.

And my message here is the 12 foundations of the New Jerusalem. Last week, we looked at the 12 names written on the 12 foundations. Now I wanna take you a bit further.

I wanna look at these 12 stones and the material these 12 stones are made of. I'm gonna look at six here this morning or I'll keep you all day. And then we're gonna look at six on Wednesday night.

But I want you to see that the foundations, what this entire city rests upon, 12 foundation stones. This entire massive city only has 12 massive stones. Can you imagine how big these are? Of this mega city, almost reaching to the size of the moon, only has 12 stones.

And each of those 12 stones are a particular precious stone. And each of those precious stones has an individual name of an apostle of the Lamb written on them. And each of those men were like you and me.

They had weaknesses. They failed. They didn't pray when they ought to pray.

Peter denied Jesus three times. Thomas started that Christ had been risen from the dead. And yet their names are written on the very foundation stones of the city for all eternity.

For all eternity, we're gonna see this. I want you to see here. This city is the New Jerusalem.

It is the bride of Christ. It is the people of God. It is you and me.

We are the citizens. This city is who we are. It embodies us.

But I want you to catch a grip as we look at these 12 precious stones. I want you to see how precious you are to God. In Matthew chapter 13, 45, Jesus speaking about the parable.

He says, again, the kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant man seeking godly pearls. And this small, brief, two-sentence parable, Jesus is the merchant man. He's the one who buys precious things, precious stones.

It says, he seeketh goodly pearls. Now, it's not precious stones. It's pearls here.

He is seeking them to buy them. He is a businessman. Do you see this here? Christ is this man.

It's a parable. It's a story. But Christ is trying to get you to understand who he is, what the kingdom of God is like.

The kingdom of God is like this businessman or this merchant man seeking godly pearls, very precious pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price, just one, went and sold all that he had and he bought it. Do you realize in this parable, Christ is the merchant man? You are the one pearl. The entire church from all of history, throughout all of the nations, every generation, all people and nations, there is only one pearl called the church.

Or should we go further, the new Jerusalem, the people of God who will dwell with God. You know what he says? When I find that one pearl, I will sell all that I have. I will buy and purchase it.

Sold all that he had and he bought it. Do you know that Jesus, when he died on the cross, do you realize he died for all sinners? He shed his blood for all. He said, all can come.

All may believe. He loved all for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. You know why Jesus died? He died and he said, all may come.

You may believe on me. But do you know why he died? For that one precious stone, for the new Jerusalem. And you know what? Every individual church is a precious stone.

Yes, the entire body of God's people is one pearl. But I wanna tell you, you in this church, oh, with this scripture this morning, you are a pearl of great price. Jesus shed his blood, why? Because you as a church are a pearl of great price.

He loves you. You see, we don't get the worse we are. We see like the 12 apostles, our frailty, our denials, our shortcomings, our scatterings, our falling asleep in the prayer meeting in Gethsemane.

That's all we feel. How can he love me? Why would he die for me? I'm useless in the kingdom of God. No, you are not.

Saints, when you catch a glimpse of the new Jerusalem, of its ecstatic, its unbelievable richness, do you see what you are worth to God? Why would God dwell with such as us? When you begin to look at these 12 stones and each of them is a precious stone, one individual precious stone, each foundation. So we're looking at the foundations. What is this city built on? One stone is a precious stone with the name of an apostle.

It's showing the worth of how this entire city is built. And we're gonna look in these two messages at the 12 precious stones. But I want you to notice something here.

Also in the Old Testament, in Exodus 28, verse 17 to 20, the great high priest in the Old Testament, Aaron, the brother of Moses, had a breastplate. And on that breastplate were 12 stones, 12 precious stones. Eight of them are the same as the new Jerusalem in Revelation 21.

And when you look at the great high priest's breastplate, there are four rows of three. And so you have 12 stones actually upon it. Listen to what it says concerning those 12 stones in verse 21.

And the stones shall be with the name of the children of Israel, 12 according to their names, like the engravings of a signet. Every one with his name shall they be according to the 12 tribes. 12 stones on the high priest.

The high priest represents Jesus. He is our high priest. On the breast, on the chest of the high priest are 12 stones with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel.

The names of these sons on the high priest's garment, on his breastplate. You know why? Because he carries them, he bears them. So in the Old Testament, you see that with the high priest, 12 stones.

You come to the new Jerusalem, you have 12 stones. Listen to this. In Ezekiel 28, verse 13, you see the Garden of Eden.

Ezekiel's prophesying, looking back concerning the Garden of Eden. But he's got a prophecy about one called Lucifer. Remember Lucifer, he fell and became Satan.

But we get a glimpse of Lucifer before he fell. Listen carefully, because you get the same stones. I'm just laying a foundation here.

I want you to think these stones, they're on the high priest's garments. They're on the foundations. Now you find them in Eden.

Listen to what it says. Thou, Lucifer, has been in Eden, the Garden of God. Every precious stone was thy covering.

Do you see, Lucifer was covered in precious stones in the Garden of Eden. Your covering, your garments is covered in precious stones. And then it lists them.

The sword is the topaz, the diamond, the barrel, the youngs, the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, the carbuncle, and gold. The workmanship of thy tablets and of thy pipes. In other words, his body was an instrument, was prepared in the day that thou was created.

Lucifer is one of the most spectacular created beings in all of the Bible. His body is a musical instrument. That's why the devil uses music in our world to affect this generation.

But more than that, he's spectacular. He actually has all these precious stones, even in the Garden of Eden. Saints, there's something in this.

This is why Satan comes as an angel of life, as a deceiver. Then it goes further. Do you see? He has, Satan has the same stones as the high priest, but they're in a different order, and three of them are lacking.

There's only nine stones mentioned here. He's similar to the high priest, but it's Lucifer. He's got all of this grandeur.

And then here's another one, Revelation 17, verse four. It's speaking about the false church, the apostate church. Revelation 17, mystery Babylon.

We're actually told in Revelation 17, this false church has its headquarters in the city of Rome. Remember what John says in Revelation 17. This woman is that city on the seven hills.

It is that city in John's day that rules over the kings of the earth. What city was it? It was Rome. It was the physical city of Rome.

And then in this prophecy of Revelation 17, he begins to prophesy on this city is actually a mystery city. It's a false bride of Christ. And it's gonna put idolatry or the use of statues of worship in all of the world.

It's gonna have a relationship with all of the kings of the world and all of the nations of the world. And it's gonna impact our entire world right up until just before Jesus comes back. But listen to what it says about this woman seated on the seven hills of Rome, verse four.

And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls. Having a golden cup in her hand and full of abomination and filthiness of her fornication. So I just want you to see for a moment the great high priest, Lucifer, mystery Babylon, the new Jerusalem, all these stones keep appearing, different orders, sometimes different stones, but these precious stones are spectacular.

They represent something. They have a meaning. They are spiritual.

They are symbolic, but they're also literal and real. And I just want to start giving you them. I have searched commentaries on this, okay? I have searched commentary after commentary, writer after writer, ancient, modern, preachers.

I can find very little on these 12 stones, very, very little. I'm shocked at how little is mentioned about them. So I don't want to be stupid or take this out of context, but I just want to begin because you know what? This is the 12 foundations.

The entire city is built on this. They mean something. And while I can't give you a full explanation of this, I want you to catch a glimpse.

We are searching. We are looking for a city. If you're only looking at this life and world, you're a most miserable person.

Lift up your eyes this morning. We are going to a city, an eternal world. It'll never have an end.

All things are become new. There's a new heaven. And by that, it means that atmospheric heaven.

I'm going to go into this further on another day. I've got several messages. I thought this was going to be three messages.

It's not. There's several. It just keeps going.

There's saints. I want you to understand something of this city. And so let me give you six of the stones here.

And I pray you begin to catch a little glimpse. Maybe the Holy Spirit can enlarge this. I'm just giving you a bit.

But to enlarge your vision, these are solid stones. On the high priest, each stone had a name of a normal man like Benjamin. Can you imagine? One of those tribes written on it.

Their names are over the gates. But here's the foundations. It says in verse 19, and the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones.

The word garnish means adorned or decorated. This city is created by God. See these stones, all these precious stones, where do they come from? Out of the earth.

All of these precious stones we're going to mention, where are they created? In the ground, through volcanoes, through pressure, away from the eyes of men. They don't just grow on the surface. It is under the earth.

It is a product of this earth, this lifetime. Do you know what? Your life is a product of this lifetime to become a precious stone in the house of God. God is actually allowing you to be in the world, in pressure, under temptation.

You experience failure. You experience crisis and emotion. What's God doing? Why are you here for this 70 years, 20 years, 50 years, whatever it is? You know what? God is producing you into something that's going to be a part of an eternal city.

And you know what? Each of these foundation stones are garnished by God. These aren't 12 stones manufactured on the earth. These are actually built and created by God.

These are the original stones from the hand of God. The first stone, I'm going to list them, six stones I'm going to give you here. And it says there, the first foundation stone was jasper.

That's the first stone, jasper. One entire foundation stone made entirely of jasper. It was the 12th or the last stone on the high priest's breastplate.

Remember the breastplate has 12, 12 stones arrayed, all representing a tribe of Israel or 12 men on the high priest. In other words, they represent the government or the fullness of God's people, the authority of God's people. And Jesus Christ recognizes those 12.

But the 12th one, the last one was the jasper stone on the high priest's garment. And then with Lucifer, it is the sixth. But listen about this jasper stone in Revelation chapter four and verse three.

And it says, he that is God, the one seated on the throne, the eternal God, the creator of all things. When you catch a glimpse, see we don't, we don't, we live on this earth. Our eye doesn't see God.

No man can see God and live. We walk by faith. We walk in obedience to the word of God.

We pursue after God in our heart in prayer. But do you know what the Bible says in Revelation four and three? There is one on the throne of heaven. Listen to what it says about him.

He that sat was to look upon like a jasper. He had the appearance God seated on the throne. If you were to catch a glimpse of him, he looks like a jasper stone, a great jasper stone and a sardine stone.

And there was a rainbow about the throne inside like onto an emerald or green. So look at the throne of God. There's a green rainbow.

It's an emerald rainbow. It doesn't have several colors. It doesn't look like ours.

And you know what? It's not half a rainbow. It's a circular, an entire rainbow. Do you know if you're up in a plane, you can catch a glimpse of a rainbow.

It is a complete circle. But you have to look from God's perspective. You have to look from above.

You here only see half a bow. Do you realize half a bow isn't a complete rainbow? All you're seeing is man's side of the rainbow. But from God's perspective, you see a circle when you look down on the earth.

You will do if you're in a plane, you see complete bow around the throne of God. But this one isn't multicolored. It is green.

But we're gonna come to that shortly. I don't wanna run ahead of myself. We're looking at the jasper.

And so we see that God on the throne looks like jasper and sardine. God actually represented here. Then in chapter 21, verse 11, it says, this city has the glory of God.

And her light was like onto a stone, most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. The entire city, the New Jerusalem, has this color of the jasper. It has got the light of the jasper like a precious stone.

The entire city overall has this likeness. God has this likeness. It is the glory of God.

It is the light of God. It gives the appearance of this jasper stone. And it says that it is clear.

That means it shines. It doesn't mean that light shines through it or that you can look through the stone. It means that the stone, the jasper stone, it shines, it glitters, it glistens.

Then in chapter 21, verse 18, it says that it's as clear as gold. Talks about the gold of the city. It's as clear as gold.

Again, it means shining, not transparent, but it is shining, it is reflective. And so in verse 18, the building of the wall of the city was of jasper. The entire city looks like a jasper.

The entire wall is built of a jasper. And the city was of gold, like onto clear glass. This is the first stone I want you to see.

This is literal. This is physical, not symbolic. Stones have been on earth.

They're on the high priest. They're on Lucifer. They're in the Old Testament temple, but they're gonna mark out this city.

And I want you to see this. See the foundations aren't invisible anymore. They're visible.

All foundations in everything are always underground, always invisible. That's what we preach, but not in this city. It comes from heaven.

The foundations, you see it. It's ecstatic colors of precious stones are gonna enlighten the entire city. It is a glorious city.

It is a rich city. And so what is a jasper stone? On earth, in our lifetime, or in history, this is the most common stone of all stones, the jasper stone. Yes, it has the appearance of God, but naturally speaking, what is the color of the jasper? It is usually made up of the natural nature colors.

In other words, colors and nature. It can be many different colors, but usually warm bronze, usually circular or diverse. The beauty of the creator, it symbolizes the natural beauty of our creator.

It represents his design. These stones are literally filled with earthly tones. Or when you look at them, if you were to Google them, you would find that they have many colors, many appearances.

And in fact, jasper stones in our world have an abundance of different names. There are thousands of different names for jasper stones. One jasper stone, it is diverse.

In other words, it's multifaceted. It can look different. It appears different.

It has different designs. This actually shows you the creation of our creator. It is a rock composed primarily of quartz.

And it is opaque, meaning that it blocks light. Light doesn't shine through it, but light shines upon it. It can have an iron color or a clay color.

And listen, its markings are beautiful. There are patterns in it, markings in it, formations. It is spotted, circular colors swirling around and patterns within this.

But you see, I'm talking about a massive stone, one of 12 stones that make up the entire city of God. And this is one of them. Its varieties are of color, of pattern, and of its origin.

And all, all are named by thousands of different names. Do you know these jasper stones today, they're common, they're affordable. All through history, pottery has been made of jasper.

Our necklaces, the beads for necklaces, it's all jasper stone. In history, they used to say that the name jasper meant an adder. It was the name of a snake.

They called it the adder. Why? They believed the jasper stone was the cure for a serpent's bite. And if you looked at the name on it in the Old Testament, and we're not gonna do this, but I'm just mentioning this, the name Niftali was on the jasper stone on the priest's garment.

In other words, if you study Niftali, you're gonna find more out about this stone, but we're not going there. Niftali, his name means wrestling. He was the missionary amongst the 12.

This jasper stone literally represents something of the glory and majesty of God. See, this stone of jasper is the glory of God. It shows that God in this world, everything of God is in that city to come.

All the things of nature, all the things of creation, all the things of history of this world have actually been redeemed are in that world. There is a man, an apostle of the Lamb who got redeemed out of this world. He was a man of this world.

A natural man with the marks of this world, but he's been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. He is now a citizen of the new Jerusalem. Since we're going to a city, the second stone is the sapphire.

The second stone is a sapphire. Now rarely does it have different colors. Usually a sapphire is predominantly one color, but it could be gray or black or orange or even colorless, but that's very rare.

The sapphire stone is mainly one stone. It's usually blue, sky blue or deep blue or royal blue. That's the color of the sapphire stone.

There's an entire stone in the new Jerusalem that are the foundations of the bride of Christ. And it is beautiful. In our world, there's a variety of blues when you go looking for sapphires.

It can vary, but it's always dominated by blue, this precious stone. In our world, the richest, most expensive sapphire that was ever found was called the Lugan sapphire. It was found in Sri Lanka.

And listen, it was the size of a chicken egg. It is one of the largest sapphires in our world. Ever found in history.

And it's the size of a chicken egg. Guess how much it sold for? 2.5 million. That's what it costs for a chicken egg.

The size of a sapphire stone. Since that's nothing, that's nothing compared to the new Jerusalem. One foundation that you walk on.

In fact, it's not even what you walk on because the streets are what we walk on. This is the foundation of the city. A big, large foundation city that's so ginormous, it's bigger than entire nations.

It would impact Europe if this one foundation stone came down. And look at the expense, the richness. In this world, one chicken egg sapphire stone, men would sell their souls for.

They would sell everything for this one stone. They would kill for this one stone. But it's nothing.

It's absolutely nothing. Men set themselves, their eyes on things of this world. Now, the color of the sapphire stone, it changes depending whether it's natural light or whether it's man-made artificial light.

So it'll change color so you can tell. Is it natural light, God-given light? Or is it manufactured light? It'll reveal itself. It'll reveal whether the light of God is shining on it.

Now, I'm just about to tell you something about this stone. So listen. So this stone, it's gotta have the light of God where you really see its blue color.

You see it in all of its majesty and spectacularness. But do you know what? Artificial light, it always goes, uh-uh, uh-uh. No, that's man-made light shining on this.

The stone itself says, no, that's false light, not the light of God. It reacts, it changes colors. It's still a sapphire, but the sapphire stone recognizes the light of God and the glory of God.

It is a tough, durable stone. In fact, it hinders engravers, so usually they don't engrave on the sapphire stone because it's so hard, and it's only second to diamonds. Diamonds are one of the hardest stones in our world, but sapphires are second unto it.

In 1902, for the very first time, they manufactured, man manufactured sapphire stones. Until then, they couldn't do it. So now, man manufactures a stone that wasn't created by God or by natural effects in our world.

The name appears in every language of our world. It's remarkable. This is the most common of stone, sapphire, and it's usually called sapphire in every single language.

It's a sapphire, it's a sapphire, it's a sapphire. We know what it is. Listen, in Exodus 24 and 10, talking about when God come down to Mount Sinai, remember Moses was there, and Aaron, and the other elders of Israel, they went up onto the mountain to meet with God, where he's gonna give them the 10 commandments.

Listen to what it says. And they saw the God of Israel, and there was under his feet as it was a paved work. In other words, a pathway on the mount of a sapphire stone, and it were as the body of heaven in his clearness.

The sapphire stone is the sixth stone in the high priest's breastplate, the sixth in Lucifer's adornment. In Job 28 and 16, it says, wisdom is more precious than sapphire. It mentions three stones.

In Lamentations 4 and 7, it talks about the Nazarites of Jerusalem, that the cut of their shape was like a polished sapphire. Their shape, their form, their appearance was like a sapphire. The Nazarites consecrated onto God, men who serve God, who are utterly consecrated, holy, set apart to God.

They have the appearance of a sapphire stone. In Ezekiel 1 and chapter 10, we see that the throne of God had the appearance of a sapphire stone. What color is the sapphire stone? Mainly blue, sky blue.

What does it represent? Holiness or heavenliness or the Christian life. You know, every Jew in Israel, they were to have a blue band on their garments. Jesus did, the priest did, every Jew had.

They were to have a blue lining in their garment. You know what? It was meant to represent separation from this world. You know what the sapphire represents? A heavenly life, a life victorious over this world.

It's not earthbound. See, the first stone represents your life, your creation in this world. But this second stone, a massive sapphire stone, it represents the victorious Christian life, the heavenly life, a life that's not of this world, an overcoming life.

It is a remarkable, a remarkable thing within us. This sapphire stone in our world, there's one stone in our world called the Star of India. And that Star of India is remarkable.

You know why? Because it has on both sides of it a star. See, sometimes the sapphire has certain light catching into it, and it can have seven lines going off from a central spot or sometimes 12. So you get a sapphire, blue sapphire stone with this beautiful star appearing that's created by the light.

And so the Star of India has a star on either side. It's utterly unique. It's an amazing star.

And that stone was sold for half a million. It's spectacular. Saints of God, can you imagine the glory of the eternal world to come? We live here.

We look, the things we think are precious, they're not precious. Do you know what's most precious? The heavenly life. It's not living earthbound.

Carnal, sinful, worldly, for the things of this lifetime. There's a victorious. You're going to a city.

You know what this blue sapphire calls you? Live the Christian life for the world to come. Don't live as a worldly man. The third stone is a caldoni.

It's sometimes a greenish color. It can be copper or brass. But most often it's gray or it has a misty color.

This is the only mention of this stone in our entire Bible. The only time. Can you imagine one of only 12 precious stones and it's only mentioned once in our entire Bible? No other time.

It is a stone in our world. But this massive stone that takes up a 12th of the entire foundation of an eternal city only mentioned once. Now in our world presently, it's an abundant stone.

You get it everywhere. You get lots of them. It has great durability.

And in fact, through history, it was used for the blades or the points of tools and of weapons. It was made, it's like a quartz and it has a waxy luster. It's an amazing stone.

What does this stone represent? It's gonna be center stage in the new Jerusalem. It's gonna be dominant. It's gonna be obvious.

You're gonna constantly see it and be aware of this gray, misty stone that's spectacular and has the glory of God. And yet it's only mentioned once. Do you know what I believe it represents? The secret or the hidden life on earth.

Listen to this, Matthew chapter six, verse four. Jesus says three things about this hidden life. Verse four, that your alms, that means given to the poor or given to those in need, that your alms be in secret and that the father which seeth in secret in himself shall reward thee openly.

When, when do you get your reward? 10 years time. Lord, I'm waiting on your reward of me. Any day now, come on Lord.

Why aren't you rewarding me? I'm disappointed. I want it visible. I want everyone to see it.

Do you know what Jesus said? You do your alms in secret. Do you care more about people seeing what you do or are you doing it for God, your father? You see this stone, the chalcedony, I think I've said it three different ways now, forgive me, but you wouldn't do better. In my eyes, I struggled to get the clarity.

I missed letters sometimes, but this is the secret life on earth, but it won't be secret in the world to come. Do you realize everything you've done, every prayer, every good deed, alms given is gonna appear. It's gonna be rewarded by God himself openly for every eye to see.

Why would you live for now? Why would you be annoyed, frustrated, angry because people don't acknowledge or you don't get a reward now? And yet that's human nature. Or what about verse six in Matthew six? It says, but thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou has shut the door, pray to thy father, which is in secret, and thy father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. A hidden life of prayer is going to get rewarded openly.

Saints, this is Jesus speaking and saying, the secret prayer life. Yes, we pray publicly. Yes, unitedly.

Yes, for one another. Yes, with a husband, a wife, a brother, a sister, a friend, whoever it is, I'll pray for you in this church. But do you know what? There's a hidden life of prayer.

If you only pray publicly, you're probably a hypocrite. If you have no prayer, then your vision is small. Have you caught a vision of this city? Do you realize there is a reward for your prayers in heaven? You're only gonna pray in heaven.

You don't pray in the New Jerusalem. You don't pray in the world to come. You get everything, you have everything.

You're enjoying everything, but you don't know. Your life of prayer, a hidden life of prayer. If you see this city, you'll be encouraged to have a hidden life of prayer.

I'm not looking for men to see that. It's good to encourage each other that we pray. I like to hear that you pray at home, but you do it to your heavenly father.

Why do you pray for my heavenly father? Our verse 18, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto our father, which is in secret. And thy father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Three times, almsgiving, prayer, fasting.

Jesus says, my father's gonna reward you. You're gonna be rewarded openly. Everyone is gonna, do you realize you get awarded for fasting? Listen to me, let me say that again.

Do you realize that when you fast secretly at home in your own time and you fast on the God, that fasting gets acknowledged, gets noticed. And Christ says, you are going to, in the world to come, get rewarded for fasting. Who do you do it onto? You do it onto God, the father.

It's amazing, saints. This world to come impacts our life now. The four stone is an emerald.

That is a green stone. Again, this emerald is mentioned in the high priest's breastplate. It also adorns Lucifer in the garden of Eden.

What does green represent in the Bible symbolically or spiritually or now? Emerald, green represents growth, spiritual growth. And actually when you see green, I mean, deep green, garden green, ash green, emerald green, you actually look at completeness, fulfillment, coming to finality. So this emerald green in the New Jerusalem, it talks about spectacular completeness.

You are perfect, you are mature. You have come to fullness. You have grown fully.

You've reached your destination. No more journey and no more trials, no more temptation. Since you've already come, we talk in Ireland about the 40 shades of green.

Brother Clinton got it wrong, used to talk about the 39 shades of green. He lost one somewhere, I think he miscounted. But we in Ireland talk about the 40 shades of green.

We talk about Ireland being the emerald isle, an entire island that is emerald, it's green. I love flying into Ireland. All the little patchwork fields all over.

There's no country in the world like Ireland for its greenness, its little fields. There's small fields, all other countries, no other country in the world has such small fields. We do, little tiny fields, all squared off, all little tiny farms.

It's the emerald island. Once when I was in Texas many years ago, it was the midst of the summer, they were my friends that I was staying with, the ground at the back, big cracks this size, deep, deep in their garden, massive cracks everywhere. They had no rain.

I didn't realize that I was there for weeks. But when I got onto that plane, I didn't realize, as I flew into Ireland, I went green, green. I had so missed green.

Now scientists actually tell us that green is good for the eyes. There is something dynamic. Look it up for yourself.

Green actually relaxes you. The color green, don't get stuck in a city. Don't get stuck in Limerick.

You're meant to enjoy the green color. God has created nature, trees, flowers, plants, all these fields, green fields. Green actually has a relaxing impact on you.

No wonder we get stressed and bottled up. We're in a house, man-made house, surrounded by man-made things in a man-made city, surrounded by everything made by man. Why not go and enjoy what's made of God? See how we miss out on these things.

The emerald stone is breakable. It's not strong like the other ones. It's very delicate, very fragile.

And its value is in its transparency. It is transparent. Light shines through it.

It is breakable. It is vulnerable, but it is a thing of spiritual growth. You know, your growth in Christ is very vulnerable.

Some of you think you're not gonna make it. Am I growing? Will I continue to grow? Will I reach the end of my journey? Some of you, you're like an emerald stone. You feel, I'm so vulnerable, I could be broken.

I'm not sure if I'll endure. I hope I don't break up and shatter. But yet, so beautiful.

This spiritual growth is an amazing thing. I looked up about emerald stones. You know what they do? They oil it.

Of all the stones, this is the main thing. They pour oil on the emerald stone. Do you know why? To fill its cracks.

They pour oil. It's a very important part. They pour the oil in, and the oil becomes a part of an emerald stone.

It hides the cracks. It fills the cracks. It makes it beautiful.

That's like the anointing of God, the oil of the Holy Spirit. You're vulnerable. You're growing, but you're very vulnerable.

You're moving. You're changing. You're going to a destination.

Sometimes you wonder if you'll make it. You find these stones all, especially over Columbia and Zambia, as well as all of the world. The biggest emerald in the world is one called a Chippembella.

A Chippembella emerald. The word Chippembella means rhino, and it's from Zambia. That's where they found it.

It's actually in the Guinness Book of Records recorded. It was sold in 2021. Guess for how much? There's an emerald.

Fragile, breakable. Now you're careful. 38 million in 21.

One stone. It's about a baby size. If I was holding it like this, one stone.

That's nothing. That's nothing. Look at the New Jerusalem.

A foundation stone for the city is a massive emerald. It'll never break. The fifth stone, Sardonyx.

It's made up of two words, sard and onyx. Two stones. What's a Sardonyx stone? We're gonna have a massive Sardonyx stone in the New Jerusalem.

But what does it look like on earth? It's made up of two stones. Made up of the sard, which is a brownish red stone, and an onx, which is a white stone. This stone is layered.

White layer, brownish red layer. White layer, brownish red. Like a zebra.

It's got layered lines of stones. One stone, the other stone. It's two stones joined together, united together.

You see where I'm going? At this time, at one time in world history, the Sardonyx was more precious than gold. Worth more, sought after more. But nowadays, it's widely available and it's inexpensive.

But it used to be far more expensive than gold in past days. And so the sard stone, often called sardus as well, is often engraved on, used in jewelry. And then this onyx stone is first mentioned in Genesis chapter two, verse 12.

This white stone in connection with the Garden of Eden. It's also on the high priest's breastplate and adorning Lucifer. So this onyx stone with the sardonyx, what does it represent in the New Jerusalem? I believe it represents unity.

This stone that's forged on earth, that comes out of the earth, out of volcanoes and all of the rest, and the pressure and the turmoil of this world. This precious sardonyx stone represents two different kinds of stone being forged together as one. Listen to what it says in Ephesians four and one.

I therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. We the saints have a walk with God. We are called.

We're called to a heavenly Jerusalem, but look at the calling on us. Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. Walk worthy of it now with all loneliness.

Notice what you need for unity. Are you lowly towards your brother and sister? This is what it takes for unity. You don't have unity unless you have lowliness and meekness with long suffering.

Notice all the traits here. You don't get unity in the body of Christ without this. With long suffering, that means to suffer long, forbearing one another, put up with things.

Some people are not prone to unity. They don't bear with a lot. The Bible says you're to forbear one another.

No, they should be perfect. They shouldn't annoy me. Why do they do that? Put up with them.

Not talking about tolerating sin or blasphemy or immorality. We're not saying that. We're talking about the traits that the 12 apostles of the lamb had.

Remember what Peter said about John? Huh, master, what about him? Never you mind, Peter. You get on with your own life. You know what, Peter? When you're older, you're gonna get taken.

He prophesied how you'd die. You're gonna get taken where you don't wanna go. As an old man, you won't die young.

You'll die old and you'll get taken to your death. Never you mind about John. Huh, what about John? What about the teenager? What about this young guy in the church? Never you mind.

John wasn't sinning. He's got rough edges. Well, I call fire down on the Samaritans who won't accept the gospel.

Do you see the attitudes here? You need certain attitudes, forbearing, loneliness, meekness, long-suffering, another in love. You wanna know what love looks like? It looks like this. You wanna know if I love you? I forbear.

Oh, I love you. I just get frustrated with you. I don't wanna be around you.

That's not love. Don't tell me you love. Oh, I love.

It's just I've got no time. I've got no meekness, no loneliness, taken a low place with my brother and sister. That's not love.

Then listen to what he says. Endeavoring to keep the unity, not make the unity, keep of the spirit and the bond of peace. There is one body, one spirit.

You're called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of us all, who's above all and through all and in you all. Since we're going to a city, a unified city. Sixth and last day, I'm gonna finish.

The sixth stone is the Sardius. What color is it? Fiery red or a deeper dark red. It's a tough stone, a jagged looking stone, a rough stone.

Many people believe the Sardius is actually the Ruby, what we call a red Ruby. It was the first stone in the breastplate of the high priest. It was the first stone mentioned in Adorn and Lucifer in the garden of Eden.

But it's not the sixth stone in the new Jerusalem that we deal with here. This is a red Ruby stone that's going to be one of the major foundation stones. Since all these 12 stones affect your Christian life now and affect the church now and affect you and I now, those stones have a meaning because the city we're going to, this is the foundation of what it's built on.

Could you imagine these 12 stones? We ignore them here. We sidestep them here. How can you ignore these things we're dealing with and you think you're going to a city where this is the foundation? This is what it's all built on.

If you don't believe in unity, if you don't believe in doing and laboring secretly unto the Lord, how can you think you're going to that city? We are going to a city marked by this and our lives should be marked. And so this Ruby stone, this red stone says in Proverbs 3.15, she that has wisdom is more precious than rubies. And all the things that thou desire are to be compared unto her.

The Ruby stone talks about something precious to be desired. You ought to be desiring the stone. There's something of this stone you ought to be looking for.

Says in Proverbs 8 and 11, wisdom is better than rubies. Wisdom, what is the wisdom of God? You know what to do, when to do it, when to speak, when to hold your tongue, how to act, what attitude to hold. Are you a deliberate person or you just react emotionally? You get so screwed up, you just respond.

That's not wisdom, you don't have any wisdom. You might think you've got intelligence, knowledge. Knowledge isn't wisdom.

All you have is facts that don't affect when you speak, what you do. You're not wise. A wise man actually holds himself and is very deliberate, very careful, very slow, very controlled.

That's what wisdom is. Wisdom is better than rubies. And things that may be desired are not to be compared unto her.

It says in Proverbs 31 and 10, concerning the woman, who can find a virtuous woman? Women, you are temperified by the stone. Who can find a virtuous woman? A victorious woman, a courageous woman, a woman who's a fighter in the church of God. Who can find a woman with integrity, morality, uprightness, shame-facedness? That's what we're called to be.

Who can find her? In other words, a virtuous woman in this world is rare. And it says, for her price is more and far above rubies. A virtuous woman in this world is far richer than rubies.

There are men, businessmen, go looking for rubies. There are women in this world, buy rubies. They manipulate their husband to buy them rubies.

They beg their husband, buy me some rubies. But do you know what? A virtuous woman, a godly woman is far greater than rubies in this world. She has got character, she's got integrity.

She is described in Proverbs 31. You wanna see what that city is like, the New Jerusalem. She's like this woman on a massive scale.

Proverbs 31 tells you something about the foundation of this city. And in Lamentation four and seven, it says concerning the Nazarites, those men in the city of God who are consecrated, separated, who deny themselves, listen to what it says. They are more ruddy in body than rubies.

They are more red in their bodies, in their appearance than rubies. Men, you ought to give the appearance of these rubies. This ruby, this red, this ruddiness ought to mark you men.

You ought to be disciplined, consecrated, separated in this world. Like the woman, your worth ought to be more than rubies. Men and women in this church are worth our value.

You know why? We're going to another world. You're here for a short time. People who only live for this world, you're cheap.

I've met cheap women. Oh, they were stunningly beautiful. And ladies, can I tell you something? You can be very attractive, very beautiful, and I'm not attracted to you.

And men aren't attracted to you. Beauty doesn't attract. You can have actual beauty, outward beauty, and it will not attract a man.

They'll say, yes, you're attractive. Being attractive's different than being attracted to someone. And just because they're attractive doesn't mean I'm attracted to them.

But you know what Proverbs 31 says? Says a woman that fears God, that's real beauty, to fear God. And I want to tell you, these things are to be sought. Will you stand with me here? Lord Jesus, praise you, our God.

Oh, we bless you. Father, we pray right now. Lord God, each one of us in this room, Lord God, open up this vision as we go meeting and meeting over these weeks.

Father, just show us this city. Lord God, we don't want to be earthbound, merely seeking after the things of this world. We don't want to be cheap, oh God, in this world.

We don't want to be worthless, oh God. Those like everybody else of most of this generation and this city of Limerick, Lord God, who are cheap, who search after sin, who live for this world, who live for the now, who live for their own pleasure. But oh God, we want to be like ruddy Nazarites.

Lord God, we want to be like that virtuous woman of Proverbs 31. Lord God, we want to have this mark of ruddiness on our life. These six stones that we've looked at, we want them to adorn our lives now.

We are looking for a city to be a citizen. Lord God, we are looking entrance. We're looking to be a dweller, eternally satisfied, enjoying all the blessings of eternity.

My God, we're asking of you this morning. My God, show us this eternal city, a literal city, a physical city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God this morning and on that day in Jesus' name. Amen.