Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #30 of Revelation chapter 21 and we are going to read Revelation 21:17-18:

And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty 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 the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

We have seen in verse after verse how God relates the city to the spiritual construction of every person He has saved out of the world.  He continues to make these same connections.  We know the “wall” identifies with salvation.  The “144 cubits” relate to the fullness of the believers.  In other words, this is the completed wall made up of all the individuals whose names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  They have all been found and God’s salvation program is finished.  It was a great success and everyone that God had determined to save did become saved and are now a part of that holy city and, in this picture, they are part of the wall.

It says it was measured “according to the measure of a man” and this “man” was one of the seven angels.  It is the Lord Jesus Christ and the wall is measured by the measure of Christ, the Messenger of the Covenant. 

Then it says in Revelation 21:18:

And the building of the wall of it was of jasper…

Here, God is using the word “building,” but it is not the usual Greek word for “building.”  This word is Strong’s #1739 and it is only translated as “building” in this verse.  There are two words that are usually used, Strong’s #3216 and #3219, and they are found in a few other places in the New Testament.  This word is a compound word that means “in people.”  The two words that are translated as “building” literally means “in people,” so we can see the wall points to salvation and that is what we have been seeing in these verses – the wall is made up of people God saved.  By using the word God has chosen to use in verse 18, God is indicating that it is not a wall made of brick and mortar, but is made of people. 

Then it says, “And the building of the wall of it was of jasper,” and the word “jasper” is a word we saw earlier in this chapter.  It said in Revelation 21:10-11:

… 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;

Our verse is similar in Revelation 21:18:

And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

Back in verse 11 we saw that the “precious stone” was Jesus and that is why the city possesses the glory of God; Christ is the glory of God.  When we searched out the words “stone” and “precious,” it pointed to Christ and so did the “jasper stone.”  It identifies with God.  Go back to Revelation 4:2-3:

And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

The only one that is seated on the throne in heaven is God.  The elect can be seated there in Christ, but God is the only that is upon that throne.  The one that sat upon the throne “was to look upon like a jasper…stone,” and that means the jasper relates to Eternal God, the Lord Jesus Christ.  The wall of people are living stones said to be of “jasper” or “of Christ.”  The entire city and its whole construction is of Christ, no matter what part we look at, whether we look at the temple, the city and its dimensions, the gates or the wall.  It is always “of Christ” because salvation is of the Lord and we are saved by the faith of Christ, not our own faith.  So the glory and the honor and the praise always go to the Lord.  He is the builder and maker of the heavenly city Jerusalem.  God is reminding us of that when He says, “And the building of the wall of it was of jasper.”  It is portrayed as an image of a jasper stone, but God is really saying that it is made by Christ and of Christ and has everything to do with Him.

Then it says in Revelation 21:18

… and the city was pure gold…

God relates “gold” to the true believers.  It says in Lamentations 4:1-2:

How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!

God relates “gold” to true believers and they were located in the churches.  When God gave up the churches and the churches came under the wrath of God, it was as if the “gold” became dim and changed and the stones of the sanctuary were poured out.  Remember the language of the New Testament where it said, “Not one stone shall be left upon another,” and that pointed to judgment on the corporate church because they were never pure gold, but since they professed to be true believers, God can speak of them as “gold.” 

Then speaking of Zion (which is Jerusalem), God says in Lamentations 4:2:

The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!

The important thing we are looking at is the likeness or comparison to “gold.” 

It also says in 1Peter 1:6-7:

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Here, God relates the trial of faith for the believers to the trying of gold by fire and that is what we have seen in a few verses because “gold and silver” can typify true believers.  As God was speaking of a building, He said in 1Corinthians 3:9-10:

For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

All through history, the Gospel has been a “construction project.”  As the Gospel was handed down from generation to generation of believers and the true believers declared the Gospel, we were building the city or building the house of God.  It goes on to say in 1Corinthians 3:11:

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

You cannot build the house, the city or the temple until you lay the foundation and the only foundation is Jesus Christ.  He is the Rock.  He is the precious stone.  He is the foundation upon which we can build.  Some people claim that Christ paid for sins in 33AD, but then what about Abel?  Was he built upon nothing?  Then there was Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and David and all the saints of the Old Testament that lived and died before Christ went to the cross, which means these believers were built upon “nothing.”  But that is not true.  First God laid the foundation and He began to build His house from the very beginning.  That is why the Gospel was available and the “blood” was available, for without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.  First the Testator has to die and then the testament goes into effect and become available for the heirs which are all those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  Well, we do not want to get off on that subject right now, but the foundation was laid when the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world.  Then it goes on to say in 1Corinthinans 3:12:

Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

There are all kinds of material that are built upon Christ; all kinds of gospels have gone forth into the world and all kinds of people have made profession of knowing Christ: “I am a Christian,” they will say.  “I am a Catholic Christian.  I am a Baptist Christian.  I am a Pentecostal Christian.”  Yet, we know that God is finished with the churches and He has bundled them as tares.  The end of the church age came in 1988 and God gave them time to get out.  Those that refused to hearken gave evidence that they were the tares and when May 21, 2011 came, all within the corporate churches were bundled as tares for the spiritual fire that began at that point and continues to burn today. 

The “wood, hay, stubble” is burning, but there were also people outside of the churches, so God designed a severe testing program that will very likely last 1,600 days in duration.  The “1,600 days” breaks down to “40 x 40” because God has left His elect people living on the earth to go through the fire which will serve to “try” them.  It is the trial of their faith.  Do they have just a profession or is it the work of Christ?  Saving faith is always Christ’s faith, so did Christ grant them His faith in dying for them?    It says in the Book of James that a man may say he has faith, but faith is seen by “works” and they are not the works of the individual, but the work of Christ.  It was the work of Christ from the foundation of the world and then faith is granted to the individuals that God has chosen in Him.

It goes on to say in 1Corinthians 3:13:

Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

Notice it says “the day” shall declare it.  It is Judgment Day that will declare it and the fire will reveal it as it tries “every man’s work of what sort it is.”  If people just have a profession of faith, it is just “words,” but their hearts have not changed because they have not been born again.  They still have a desperately wicked heart and “the day” will reveal that their faith was not saving faith.  Saving faith is only Christ’s faith.  Jesus will protect, preserve and keep His elect because they have the true faith of salvation because He did the work on their behalf.  They will not burn, but they will continue to the end: “He that shall endure to the end shall be saved.”  They will make it through the fire and they will go through that likely 1,600 days of severe testing and come to the end of Judgment Day and the end of the world.  They will be found to be “pure gold.”  God will bring every one of His elect that are living on the earth to that last day.

Actually, the elect still have one area of impurity and that is their “flesh” or physical bodies.  As long as they are part of this world, they cannot be “pure gold,” so the last thing to go will be their physical bodies.  They will receive their resurrected spiritual bodies and at that point they are “pure gold.”  The holy city, new Jerusalem, will have all the elect present in body and soul, without any impurities.  There is no more sin of any kind.  That is what is in view in our verse in Revelation 21:18:

…and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

When we get together in our next Bible study, we will look at that final statement, “like unto clear glass,” and will see what that represents spiritually.