No Place Like It – The Great Hope Of The Saints
Revelation 21:10-21 NIV
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west.
14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia[a] in length, and as wide and high as it is long.
17 The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits[b] thick.[c] 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.
19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.[d]
21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
Philippians 3:20 New International Version
20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
1 Peter 2:11-12 New International Version
Living Godly Lives in a Pagan Society
11 Dear friends,
I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which
wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that,
though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify
God on the day he visits us.
1 John 2:15-17 New International Version
On Not Loving the World
15 Do not
love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for
the Father[a] is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father
but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does
the will of God lives forever.
Exodus 28:17-20 New International Version
17 Then mount four rows of precious stones on it. The first row shall be carnelian, chrysolite and beryl; 18 the second row shall be turquoise, lapis lazuli and emerald; 19 the third row shall be jacinth, agate and amethyst; 20 the fourth row shall be topaz, onyx and jasper.[a] Mount them in gold filigree settings.