{"id":19019,"date":"2020-02-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-02T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/revelation-070-gods-two-great-programs\/"},"modified":"2020-02-02T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-02T06:00:00","slug":"revelation-070-gods-two-great-programs","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/revelation-070-gods-two-great-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"Revelation 070 – God’s Two Great Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[111],"series_event":[490],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19019","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-revelation","series_event-revelation","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Revelation 070 - God's Two Great Programs","sermon_date":"20200202","sermon_month":"2","sermon_year":"2020","sermon_notes":7502,"sermon_slides":7503,"sermon_mp3":7507,"sermon_id":"2220153967581","series_or_event":490,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":111,"chapter_and_verse":"21:9-17","sermon_transcript":"Dr. Andy Woods\n\nGod\u2019s Two Great Programs, Revelation 21:9-17\n\nLesson 70\n\nLet\u2019s take our Bibles and open them to the Book of Revelation, chapter 21 and verse 9.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is the \u201cTwo Great Programs of God,\u201d or maybe better abbreviated \u201cGod\u2019s Two Great Programs.\u201d How\u2019s that?\u00a0 Happy February to everybody. I\u2019m still signing my checks 2019 and they switched the month on me.\u00a0 By the way, did you know today is 02-02-2020?\u00a0 Wow, maybe the rapture will happen today.\u00a0 Maybe the Lord planned it this way.\n\nRevelation 21:9. Continuing to move through of the Book of Revelation, we\u2019re kind of at that section of the book where the tribulation judgments are in the past, the return of Christ is in the past, and now we\u2019re looking at things that will happen after Jesus comes back.\u00a0 We saw the kingdom, Revelation 20:1-10; we saw the Great White Throne Judgment, Revelation 20:11-15.\u00a0 We even saw the destruct-ion of the earth.\u00a0 Did you catch that?\u00a0 Chapter 21:1, and now we\u2019re at the tail end of the Book of Revelation where we\u2019re learning about the new heavens and the new earth, the eternal state in other words.\n\nVerses 1-8, which we completed last week is a description of the new heavens and new earth in general.\u00a0 And here we learn that God has a plan to take the current heavens and earth that exists, destroy it by fire, and replace it with a new order.\u00a0 But then this morning we pick it up at verse 9 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and this section really goes all the way through chapter 22:5, we\u2019ll just barely get started on it this morning but it\u2019s not just about the new heavens and new earth, it\u2019s about the city that\u2019s coming to the earth, the New Jerusalem in which dwells righteousness.\u00a0 Of course, \u00a0that city is our ultimate home, it\u2019s our destination.\u00a0 It\u2019s what we should be looking for.\n\nAbraham, Hebrews 11:10, was looking for a city whose builder and maker is God.\u00a0 [Hebrews 11:10, \u201cfor he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.\u201d]\u00a0 Is that what you\u2019re looking for?\u00a0 I think sometimes we get so wrapped up in the things of this earth that we forget where our ultimate destination is.\n\nSo as we begin to look at this city, the New Jerusalem, here\u2019s our outline that we\u2019re going to be working through, just barely starting it this morning. But notice, if you will, first of all the city has \u00a0four titles.\u00a0 This city that\u2019s coming to the earth doesn\u2019t just have one title, it\u2019s got four.\u00a0 And take a look if you could at Revelation 21:9, it says, \u201cThen one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying,\u201d now if you cross reference that with Revelation 17:1 you\u2019ll see the exact same verbiage describing or previewing the wicked city of Babylon.\u00a0 Revelation 17:1 says, \u201cThen one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, \u201cCome here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.\u201d\n\nAnd so first we had a description of the wicked city, the city of man, the city that is destined for destruction.\u00a0 And one of the things I love about the Bible is it just doesn\u2019t reveal information about the wickedness that\u2019s coming to the earth, it gives you the other side of the story, the glorious city that cannot be shaken on the horizon.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the Book of Revelation, when you read through it is sort of a bittersweet experience.\u00a0 Revelation 10:10, John says, \u201cI took the little book out of the angel\u2019s hand and ate it, and in my mouth, it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.\u201d\u00a0 So yes, there\u2019s these wonderful things that are coming but the earth is going to pass through a lot of problems first.\n\nSo it\u2019s a wonderful thing to study the Book of Revelation yet at the same time it\u2019s sort of an eye opening thing to discover the things that God is going to put the planet through in terms of judgment before we get to that glorious time period.\n\nBut you continue on with verse 9 and you start seeing the two titles, the first two of four, that God has given to this city that\u2019s coming.\u00a0 He says in chapter 21 and verse 9, \u201cCome here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.\u201d\u00a0 Now that should ring a bell because that\u2019s our status in Jesus Christ, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 He is the groom, we are the bride.\u00a0 The day will come in history where we will be married, He will be the husband, we will be the wife.\u00a0 And how fitting it is that we\u2019re going to be put into an environment that fits our identity.\u00a0 We are the bride of Christ soon to become the wife of the Lamb, how fitting it is we would go into a city called the bride and the wife; the bride and the wife are the first two designations or titles of this city that\u2019s coming.\n\nYou know, we really as Christians don\u2019t fit exactly into this world, do we?\u00a0 We seem to be kind of oddly placed, we sort of march to the beat of a different drummer and so many times we\u2019re looking for acceptance in this world.\u00a0 The reality of the situation is we\u2019re never going to find it because our identity is different than the world.\u00a0 I\u2019ll never exactly fit into this world but I will fit into the environment that\u2019s coming that God has created just for me and just for you.\u00a0 Philippians 3:20 says, \u201cFor our citizenship is\u201d where? \u201cin heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d\u00a0 We\u2019re \u201ceagerly\u201d awaiting that coming city.\n\nAs we continue on with verse 10 we discover two more designations or titles of this coming city.\u00a0 And notice what it says there in verse 10, \u201cAnd he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 So first the city is called Bride, and then it\u2019s called Wife and then it\u2019s called Holy City, and then it\u2019s called Jerusalem. \u00a0\u00a0I don\u2019t know about you but I\u2019m looking forward to a holy city, a city where we don\u2019t have back room deals and scams and trickery and deceit but a city in which dwells righteousness.\n\nAnd did you know that if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ as I speak the name of that city has already been inscribed on you.\u00a0 Revelation 3:12 talks about the various names that have been inscribed on us spiritually the moment we trusted in Christ.\u00a0 One of those names, Revelation 3;12, is the name Jesus says of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven\u201d.\u00a0 [Revelation 3:12, \u201cHe who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.\u201d]\n\nAnd you say, well, why is this city coming down out of heaven?\u00a0 I\u2019m glad you asked, because the rest of verse 10 seems to describe that.\u00a0 It talks there about the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s how the city was described. You might remember back in Revelation 21:2.\u00a0 it\u2019s coming down out of heaven.\u00a0 [Revelation 21:2, \u201cHe who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 And there\u2019s a picture of it, look at that, and it lands right there on the State of Texas, right?\u00a0 [Laughter] The capital of the millennium.\u00a0 No, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s in the Bible!\u00a0 I don\u2019t think Paul was a Texan, by the way, because it says he was content no matter what state he was in.\u00a0 [Laughter]\n\nBut wherever it\u2019s going to exist it\u2019s going to be magnificent.\u00a0 And why is it that this city comes down out of heaven.\u00a0 By the way, I believe that this city is in existence right now because Galatians 4:26 says, \u201cBut the Jerusalem above is free;\u201d \u201cIs\u201d in the Greek is a present tense verb. The city is currently in existence and yet it\u2019s not yet on the earth; it\u2019s not fit to come to the earth because it\u2019s a perfect city. It\u2019s a holy city, and the current heavens and earth are contaminated by sin.\n\nRomans 8:22 says because of Adam\u2019s sin, \u201cFor we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of child\u00adbirth together until now.\u201d \u00a0What a time period that we\u2019re living in where death and disease, even just this last week the untimely and unfortunate death of a basketball hero, Kobe Bryant, and we\u2019re just sort of stunned by this; is this the kind of world that we\u2019re living in where someone that so many people look up to and respect can be taken from us in just a moment?\n\nWe learn here that the world that we\u2019re living in is really not the way God designed it.\u00a0 Adam\u2019s sin corrupted it and the whole creation is groaning and suffering the pains of childbirth unto now, and consequently we are awaiting eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. \u00a0\u201cFor the creation<\/u> was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope [21]\u00a0that the creation<\/u> itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. [22] \u00a0For we know that the whole creation<\/u> groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.\u201d\n\nThe reality of the situation is such a perfect city is not fit for this planet.\u00a0 God has to take this world and destroy it by fire first and replace it with something brand new, something that sin has never contaminated for that city to descend or else you\u2019d have a holy city on an unholy earth because the creation now is in a state of bondage.\n\nIt\u2019s interesting that even in the millennial kingdom itself, the thousand years that we just emerged studying from, that sin continues, it\u2019s restrained, the curse is restrained, death even exists to some extent, there\u2019s death and Satanic activity at the end, rebellion at the end.\u00a0 Many, many verses of the Bible reveal this.\u00a0 Zechariah 14: 16-18 even speaks of a rebellion amongst the earth dwellers during that time period.\u00a0 [Zechariah 14: 16-18, \u201cThen it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. [17] And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. [18] If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall<\/em> on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.\u201d]\n\nBut how different it\u2019s going to be with this heavens and earth dissolved and replaced by a new heavens and a new earth, Revelation 20:11, Revelation 21:1.\u00a0 [Revelation 20:11, \u201cThen I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Revelation 21:1, \u201cThen I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any<\/em> sea.\u201d]\n\nPeople are concerned about global warming and we\u2019re here to tell you that true global warming is coming to planet earth.\u00a0 2 Peter 3:10 says \u201cBut the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.\u201d\u00a0 This world is dissolved and it\u2019s replaced by something new, something that sin has never touched nor contaminated and now with that new environment the city which exists now is ready to descend.\u00a0 And this is what John is seeing here in the Book of Revelation.\n\nAnd we continue on into verse 11 and we learn even more about this coming city.\u00a0 Look at the beginning there of verse 11, \u201cHaving the glory of God, her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.\u201d\u00a0 Notice the beginning of the verse there, verse 11, \u201cthe glory of God.\u201d\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it interesting that humanity begins with the glory of God?\u00a0 The world begins with \u201cthe glory of God.\u201d\u00a0 God said, \u201cLet there be light.\u201d\u00a0 1 Timothy 6:16 tells us that God dwells in unapproachable light.\u00a0 [1 Timothy 6:16, \u201cwho alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be<\/em> honor and eternal dominion! Amen.\u201d]\n\nAnd how fitting it is for things to end with the glory of God.\u00a0 In fact, this is a lot of theological verbiage but we are following a particular viewpoint at this church, dispensational theology, what \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0to explain here, which we won\u2019t get into, but you\u2019ll notice there point number three, God\u2019s overall purpose is to bring glory to Himself.\n\nHe continues on and it says God\u2019s ultimate purpose for the ages is to glorify himself.\u00a0 Scripture is not human centered (as though salvation were the principal point) but God centered because His glory is \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0at the center.\u00a0 \u201cThe glory of God is the primary principle,\u201d quoting a little bit here from Charles Ryrie, \u201cThe glory of God is the primary principle that unifies all dispensations,\u201d or ages of time in other words, \u201cthe program of salvation being just one of the means by which God glorifies Himself.\u00a0 Each successive revelation of God\u2019s plan for the ages, as well as His dealing with the elect, non-elect, angels, and nations all manifest His glory.\u201d [Dictionary of Premillennial Theology<\/em>, Charles Ryrie, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0p. 94]\n\nThink of all of the programs God has in creation, creation of the world, creation of the nations, creation of Israel, creation of the church.\u00a0 And then there\u2019s coming the rapture of the church, the restoration of Israel, the judgment of the nations, the judgment of creation.\u00a0 And what is it all about at the end of the day?\u00a0 God is working strategically in history to glorify Himself.\u00a0 That\u2019s His overarching purpose.\u00a0 And if that\u2019s His overarching purpose that\u2019s what God wants to do through my life and your life.\u00a0 So many people go through life struggling concerning why they exist, why they\u2019re here, why they have the gifting that they have, why they\u2019ve had the life experiences that they\u2019ve had, wanting to know how else it fits together and actually it\u2019s not as complicated as people make it out to be.\n\nGod\u2019s purpose for your life is to glorify Himself through you.\u00a0 That\u2019s why you were born; that\u2019s why you were conceived, that\u2019s why you were brought into His world, this world, at a particular time in history.\u00a0 And until we press into that purpose we wander through life with emptiness, confusion, wondering what is it all about.\u00a0 And yet His purpose in everything is glorification and that\u2019s what He wants to do in your life.\n\nI like how the Westminster Confession puts it: \u201cThe chief end of man,\u201d meaning his ultimate purpose, is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.\u00a0 That\u2019s our chief end, that\u2019s our chief purpose, that\u2019s why we exist.\u00a0 And if I\u2019m trying to live my life outside of that purpose, not understanding why I am here then I\u2019ll just stumble and stumble and trip all the way through life.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice that this city, and by the way, Ephesians 3:21 tells us that\u2019s His purpose in the church, to glorify Himself.\u00a0 [Ephesians 3:21, \u201cto Him be<\/em> the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 What is church all about?\u00a0 Why are we here?\u00a0 To put on a bunch of activities?\u00a0 To administer a budget?\u00a0 NO, those are just sub purposes but the chief purpose is to Him be the glory of the church.\u00a0 And so you get along with the Lord and you say Lord, I want You to glorify Your life through my life however you choose to do so.\u00a0 And all of a sudden God says we\u2019re in business, because as long as I\u2019m trying to fit God into my purposes and fit God into my plans I\u2019m missing the whole point of the existence which is God speaking to glorify Himself.\u00a0 God gives us all individual talents and abilities and so many times we use those things for selfish self-serving motives, not fully understanding that God has given us those things so that He might glorify Himself through us. Is that the prayer of your heart?\u00a0 If it is your life will start to make sense; my life will start to make sense because that\u2019s God\u2019s chief purpose.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice as you move into the second part of verse 11 it says, \u201cHer brilliance\u201d the city, \u201cwas like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.\u201d\u00a0 Lots of colors here in Revelation 21 and 22.\u00a0 And that\u2019s my best guess as to what these colors look like; it\u2019s got to be true because we found this on the internet.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 [Laughter] So I think when you see \u201cjasper\u201d it\u2019s probably that upper left box there, but we\u2019ll be referring to this as we go through.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting to me how God is into art and colors and beauty.\u00a0 We think of the colors of the rainbow.\u00a0 Or we think of all of the beauty associated with the tabernacle, the different colors that the priests embroidered their robes with, the high priest and all of the colors involved and you see that in God from cover to cover in God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 And certainly that will continue throughout the ages and the eons of time.\n\nIn fact, it\u2019s interesting to watch people when they struggle with eye sight, maybe they have color blindness, or they\u2019ve got some issue and then you\u2019ve got them on camera, they put something in their eyes or they put the right frames on or the right glasses on and then suddenly they can see things as they\u2019re meant to be seen.\u00a0 And it\u2019s interesting to sort of watch the emotional reaction of them, many of them begin to weep and cry and breakdown.\u00a0 And yet that\u2019s what eternity is like; you\u2019re seeing things the way God designed them; you\u2019re seeing things the way God intended.\n\nAnd we leave verse 11 and now we come to the city\u2019s construction and here we run into a wall, verse 12, gates, verses 12 and 13, and foundations, verse 14.\u00a0 And here is where we begin to discover why we entitled this message The Two Great Programs of God.\u00a0 God has two great programs for revealing the human race.\u00a0 He\u2019s worked through two entities and He\u2019s never going to allow a memory of those two entities from going out of existence.\u00a0 Notice, if you will, verse 12 as we look at the wall of this great city that\u2019s coming.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt had a great and high wall,\u201d well how tall is it?\u00a0 I\u2019m glad\u00a0 you asked because we\u2019re going to get the measurements a little bit later, verses 15, 16 and 17.\u00a0 But notice also the gates, notice what it says there in verse 12, \u201cIt had a great and high wall,\u201d watch this, \u201cwith twelve gates,\u201d and then it goes on and it says, \u201cand it had at the gates twelve angels;\u201d angels at each gate, and of course this reminds of Genesis chapter 3 verse 24, where God stationed an angel, in this case angels, cherubim, outside of Eden to prevent man from re-entering Eden in his fallen state.\n\nGenesis 3:24 says, \u201cSo He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim\u201d that\u2019s angels, \u201cand the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.\u201d God\u2019s stationing angels outside of the gate, in this case Eden, is sort of what He\u2019s doing here with these twelve gates, an angel at each gate.\n\nAnd continuing on with verse 12 notice what it says here, it\u2019s very interesting.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026and names were<\/em> written on them, which are the names<\/em> of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.\u201d\u00a0 This is God\u2019s first great program.\u00a0 God purposed to cycle, to funnel, whatever word you want to use, His blessings to the world through the nation of Israel.\u00a0 This what the calling of Abraham was all about in Genesis 12.\u00a0 God was very clear in Genesis 12:3, \u201cAnd I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.\u201d\u00a0 And then God says, \u201cand in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice that when God blesses He blesses for the purpose of being a blessing.\u00a0 God never blessed Abram and his descendants just for the benefit of Abram and his descendants; He always intended that blessing to spill over to other people.\n\nAnd you may be looking at your life today financially, or talent wise or any number of things, you have some ability to do something that others can\u2019t do and you might be asking yourself, well, why did God give me this ability.\u00a0 Or why did God put me in this financial situation?\u00a0 And always with God it\u2019s never for the intent of just you enjoying that thing or whatever it is, on your own, it\u2019s for the intention of being a blessing for somebody else.\u00a0 God blessed you to be a blessing.\u00a0 And by the way, in life that\u2019s where you\u2019ll be the happiest.\u00a0 How do you spell joy?\u00a0 With these letters, JOY!\u00a0 J, Jesus first, O, Others second, Y, Yourself last.\n\nBecause the Bible says it\u2019s better to give than to receive.\u00a0 We in America think it\u2019s the other way around, it\u2019s get, get, get, receive, receive, receive and yet we\u2019re not happy, so many people are unhappy, they\u2019re unfulfilled because they\u2019re ignoring the priorities of God.\u00a0 And so God blessed Abram for the purpose of being a blessing and that becomes the foundation of the nation of Israel, Genesis 29-30 where now the twelve tribes came into existence through Jacob.\u00a0 There\u2019s come complicated genealogies there but the bottom line is we have Jacob\u2019s dozen, the twelve tribes of Israel, coming into existence for the purpose of being a blessing to others.\u00a0 And we ought to have respect for Israel and the twelve tribes of Israel, and the patriarch Abraham, Isaac and Jacob because this is who God chose to work through.\n\nYou say well why didn\u2019t God use the Egyptians or the Phoenicians or whoever.\u00a0 Ask God, I don\u2019t know, but He made a sovereign decision to work through the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.\u00a0 Now Israel has been cut off from God\u2019s olive tree temporarily because of unbelief.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And God has brought into that olive tree wild branches that really don\u2019t belong.\u00a0 Who do you think those wild branches are?\u00a0 That\u2019s us as members of the church, the predominantly Gentile church.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And the problem with the church over the last two thousand years is she has lost sight of her Jewish heritage and the Apostle Paul predicted this day would come so he corrects the attitude of the unnatural branches (that\u2019s us) towards the natural branches or the Jews who, through unbelief, have been cut out of their own tree.\u00a0 And He says this in Romans 11:18, \u201cdo not\u201d that\u2019s us, \u201cbe arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that<\/em> it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports<\/em> you.\u201d\u00a0 The reality of the situation is we would have absolutely nothing in God today as Gentile Christians in the year 2020 had God not strategically worked through the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.\n\nAnd so we should look at the Jewish people and the nation of Israel in particular with gratitude, not hostility, not animosity, and sadly over the last two thousand years of church history the church has been the exact opposite and it has looked with hostility towards the Jews.\u00a0 Terrible things have been said about the Jews by Christians over the last few thousand years.\u00a0 That goes directly against what Paul says to us, \u201cDo not be arrogant towards the branches.\u201d\u00a0 If God can do the agricultural miracle of taking wild branches that don\u2019t belong and putting them into a tree (that\u2019s us) how hard do you think it is for God to reach out His hand and put back into the same tree the branches that are supposed to be there?\n\nAnd in fact, Romans 11 continuing on with it, that\u2019s exactly what God plans to do.\u00a0 Romans 15:27 says this: \u201cFor if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things.\u201d\u00a0 Paul says watch your attitude very carefully as a Gentile Christian.\u00a0 It\u2019s because of God\u2019s work through them that you have spiritual things and so you ought to have a desire to share with them material things.\u00a0 Of course, the ultimate thing you could share with a Jewish person is the gospel which teaches them the plan of salvation.\u00a0 But God has a whole purpose in mind where the nation of Israel, a nation born in a day, Isaiah 66 says, will get saved in future end time events.\n\nGod has not forgotten the Jewish nations.\u00a0 In fact, God will never forget the Jewish nation.\u00a0 In fact, we learn here in verse 12 that every time you go in and out of the city you\u2019ll see these gates and these gates are named after the twelve tribes and this city lasts forever, and you\u2019ll never lose sight of what God did through the Jewish nation.\u00a0 The reality of the situation is Israel can explain its origin without the church but the church has no similar luxury.\u00a0 The church cannot explain its origin without Israel because when you read the Book of Acts, you learn that Christianity flowed out of, the church flowed out of God\u2019s work through the nation of Israel.\u00a0 And this is why God is never going to allow the memory of Israel to be blotted out of existence; each of these gates is named after the twelve tribes.\n\nWe continue on with verse 13 and this is where we begin to learn that this city that\u2019s coming is sort of going to be laid out like a cube, if you will.\u00a0 It says there that, \u201cThere were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west.\u201d \u00a0[Revelation 21:13]\u00a0 Three sides, we know that there were twelve tribes, according to my old math that means three gates per side, meaning the city itself is going to be laid out like a giant cube.\n\nAnd then it goes on and doesn\u2019t just talk about the gates but it talks about the foundations of the city.\u00a0 Look at what it says there in verse 14, \u201cAnd the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones,\u201d so we have twelve foundation stones underneath this particular city.\u00a0 Now who are these foundation stones named after?\u00a0 This is the second great program of God; here we\u2019re not dealing with Israel any more, we\u2019re dealing with His second work, the church.\u00a0 \u201cAnd the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.\u201d Twelve foundation stones named after each of the twelve apostles.\n\nWhen it became clear that the nation of Israel was going to reject their Messiah nationally Jesus began to describe His program for the coming church because God does not leave the earth without a witness of Himself.\u00a0 God doesn\u2019t say oh no, the nation of Israel is not following the way I want it to follow so as an afterthought I\u2019ll create the church.\u00a0 NO, God always knew the church would come into existence, it just hadn\u2019t been revealed yet.\u00a0 God was not taken off guard but through the nation\u2019s rejection of their own Messiah as recorded in the Gospels He always purposed in mind to raise up the church.\n\nWho is the church?\u00a0 It\u2019s anybody, Jew or Gentile, that\u2019s trusted in the Messiah that Israel rejected.\u00a0 They are part, not of a nation but a new spiritual man, global, worldwide called the church.\u00a0 In fact, God turned lemons into lemonade, because it looked like a terrible tragedy had happened as the nation of Israel rushed Jesus through their own judicial system to get Him turned over to the Romans for execution.\u00a0 And yet God strategically used that terrible event in history to pay the sin debt of the entire world.\u00a0 The flood gates of salvation were open now to every single human being and to get the message out He created on the day of Pentecost a new man called the church, the bride, the body of Christ, a movement of God that has been going on for the last two thousand years.\n\nAnd if anybody has trusted in the very Messiah for personal salvation that Israel rejected they are baptized or automatically by the Spirit of God identified with this new man called the church.\u00a0 Jesus said this: \u201cI also say to you that you are Peter and upon this rock,\u201d now \u201cthis rock\u201d is tricky, it\u2019s Peter\u2019s confession, \u201cupon this rock I will build\u201d future tense, in other words it didn\u2019t exist yet when Jesus made this statement, \u201cand upon this rock I will build My church,\u201d and look at this, \u201cthe gates of Hades shall not overpower it.\u201d\n\nBut Andy, look at all of the problems today in modern day Christendom\u2014yeah, I see them!\u00a0 But I also see this, a promise from God that the gates of Hades will not over power the church.\u00a0 And Jesus made a decision to build the church on the right foundation and that right foundation is the twelve apostles.\u00a0 Ephesians 2:20 says, \u201c\u00a0<\/sup>having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Now the corner stone is the first stone you put into a temple and when you put it in you\u2019re going to organize all of the other parts around that corner stone.\u00a0 Jesus is the corner stone of the church metaphorically speaking.\u00a0 But then the temple metaphorically has to be built on the right foundation and the right foundation is the twelve apostles of the Lamb and thus began the great building project of the church beginning in Acts 2.\u00a0 Israel exits stage left, the church enters stage right and for the last two thousand years God has been at work in an through the church.\u00a0 The church\u2019s assignment is to go into all of the world \u201cand make disciples of all nations.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 28:19, \u201cGo therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.\u201d]\n\nAnd that\u2019s why when Judas committed suicide they got a little nervous, these guys.\u00a0 I mean, now we\u2019ve got eleven instead of twelve.\u00a0 And so you\u2019ll find them finding a replacement in Matthias, Acts 1:15-26, we can\u2019t have eleven, there\u2019s got to be twelve because we\u2019ve got four walls around this city, three foundations on each side, there\u2019s got to be twelve total.\n\n[Acts 1:15-26, \u201cAt this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred twenty persons was there together), and said, [16]\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cBrethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. [17] \u00a0<\/sup>For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.\u201d [18] \u00a0<\/sup>(Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. [19]\u00a0<\/sup>And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)\u00a0 [20] \u00a0<\/sup>\u201cFor it is written in the book of Psalms, \u2018Let \u00a0his homestead \u00a0be \u00a0made \u00a0desolate, And \u00a0let \u00a0no \u00a0one dwell \u00a0in \u00a0it\u2019; and, \u2018Let \u00a0another \u00a0man take \u00a0his \u00a0office.\u2019\u00a0 [21] Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us\u2014 [22] \u00a0<\/sup>beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us\u2014one of these must<\/em> become a witness with us of His resurrection.\u201d [23] \u00a0<\/sup>So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. [24] \u00a0<\/sup>And they prayed and said, \u201cYou, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen [25] \u00a0<\/sup>to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.\u201d [26]\u00a0<\/sup>And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was [<\/sup>i<\/sup><\/a>]<\/sup>added to the eleven apostles.\u201d]\n\nAnd so what you have every time you go in and out of the city and you look at the foundations throughout the eons of time you\u2019re reminded of the church; God\u2019s great building project.\u00a0 And then you actually look at the gates and you see above every gate a name of a tribe inscribed and you\u2019re reminded of Israel.\u00a0 And God here is never allowing the memory of Israel and the church ever to go out of existence because these are His two great programs.\u00a0 It\u2019s fascinating how much effort God has gone to, to maintain this clear distinction.\n\nBack to dispensationalism for a minute; we hold to a literal approach to the Bible.\u00a0 Number 2, what does that yield?\u00a0 It yields an understanding that Israel and the church are distinct.\u00a0 They are complete and total separate programs of God.\u00a0 And God will never allow the memory of either Israel or the church to fade from memory in eternity as these different parts of the city are referring back to those two great programs.\n\nCharles Ryrie, in his Ryrie Study Bible puts it this way: \u201cThough both Jewish saints and Christian saints will inhabit this city the names of the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles are a witness of their continued distinction.\u201d\u00a0 Close quote.\u00a0 I bring this up because there are many, many people that hate what I\u2019m talking about.\u00a0 In fact, some people, the way they conduct themselves online their whole life is guaranteed towards debunking what I\u2019ve just said.\u00a0 And if such people are in fact saved I guarantee you this much, they\u2019re going to be miserable in the eternal state because they won\u2019t even be able to go in and out of the city without thinking about Israel and also with the church.\n\nNow we go on to verses 15-17 and here we learn that this city has specific measurements.\u00a0 Notice if you will verse 15, we have a measuring angel, verse 15, the measurements of the cube, verse 16, the measurements of the wall, verse 17, and notice what it says there in verse 15.\u00a0 [Revelation 21:15-17,\u00a0 \u201cThe one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall.\u201d\u00a0 So now we run into an angel, this angel has \u201ca gold measuring rod\u201d and he\u2019s actually going to measure for us the gates and the wall.\u00a0 And we move away from the measuring angel to the cube itself and look if you will at verse 16, \u201cThe city is laid out as a square,\u201d this is where our cube idea comes from, \u201cas long as it was wide; and he measured the city with the rod, and found it to be one thousand, five hundred miles in length as high as it was long.\u201d\n\nWell how big is this city?\u00a0 There\u2019s a picture of the continental United States of America and this would basically be the size of the city, roughly half or a little over half of the size of the United States of America.\u00a0 And it goes on in verse 17 and it talks about the wall of the city, notice what it says:\u00a0 \u201cAnd he measured its wall, and it was one hundred and forty four cubits thick\u201d watch this now, \u201cby man\u2019s measurements which the angel was using.\u00a0 Now you\u2019ll notice that the measuring that\u2019s used are man\u2019s measurements; the measurements that the angel is using is the same measurements that we use.\n\nAnd I bring this up because a lot of people are saying \u201coh, you know, come on, you can\u2019t take this literally because God a mile can mean one thing or an inch can mean one thing or a\u00a0 yard can be one thing to\u00a0 us it can mean something different.\u00a0 When the Bible says God created the world in six days people say well that\u2019s just days for us, not our days.\u00a0 You mean God has His days and we have our days?\u00a0 That\u2019s not what the Bible says.\u00a0 What the Bible says is the angel is using the measurements of man so that there would be no misunderstanding concerning the exact size of this particular city.\u00a0 So if these measurements are literal (and I think they are), Charles Ryrie puts it this way: \u201cShaped four-square like a cube, the city is 1,380 miles\u201d now if you\u2019re into the metric system that would be 2,220 kilometers) \u201con each face, including height, with a wall 72 yards or (66 meters) thick.\u201d\u00a0 So we\u2019re not just given the size of the walls, we\u2019re given their thickness.\u00a0 \u201cIt has been calculated that even if only 25 percent of this space were used for dwellings, 20 billion people could be accommodated spaciously.\u201d<\/em>\n\nThis is just describing the city, it\u2019s not even describing everybody on planet earth but I look at this and I think that\u2019s good news.\u00a0 That to me means there\u2019s going to be a lot of people saved throughout the eons of time.\u00a0 You know, sometimes we camp so heavily on verses like Luke 18:8, you know, when the Son of Man comes will He find faith on the earth?\u201d\u00a0 [Luke 18:8, \u201cI tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?\u201d]\n\nAnd Jesus, the whole world has gone to hell in a handbasket but you\u2019ve got me, I\u2019m the only one!\u00a0 Kind of like what Elijah said and God told Elijah, relax, there\u2019s seven thousand others that you don\u2019t even know about.\u00a0 And we get this kind of bunker mentality that it\u2019s me against the world and nobody else believes the way I do.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think that\u2019s true; I think it\u2019s going to be stunning to see how many people are saved throughout the ages of time.\u00a0 Why are we going to be so many?\u00a0 Because God has made salvation so simple.\u00a0 And if a person misses salvation they don\u2019t have anybody to blame but themselves because God has done all the work and made it so simple.\u00a0 More on that in just a minute.\n\nYou go through the description of this city and look at these words that are used, the eternal state\u2019s literal nature.\u00a0 1. \u201ccity,\u201d \u201cJerusalem,\u201d (21:2). \u00a0\u00a02. \u201cgold,\u201d jasper,\u201d \u201cglass\u201d \u201cwall\u201d (21:18) \u00a03.\u00a0 \u201csquare miles,\u201d( 21:16) \u00a04. \u201chigh\u201d (21:12) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a05. \u201cseventy-two yards,\u201d (21:17) 6. \u201cgates\u201d (21:12)\u00a0 \u00a07. \u201cpearls,\u201d (21:21). \u00a08. \u201ctribes,\u201d (21:12) \u00a0\u00a09. \u201cfoundations,\u201d \u201capostles,\u201d (21\u201d14); 10. \u201cstreet\u201d (21:21); 11. \u201criver\u201d (22:1); 12. \u201ctree of life (22:2); 13. \u201cfruit,\u201d \u201cmonth,\u201d \u201cnations,\u201d \u201cleaves.\u201d\n\nAnd if those terms were used anywhere else in the Bible everybody would take it literally.\u00a0 But for some reason, when these exact same terms are used here people say it\u2019s not literal.\u00a0 I\u2019m here to tell you that dispensationalism, which is the belief that we\u2019re following, thrives on a consistent literal approach.\u00a0 We take the Bible wherever we can at face value; we don\u2019t just do it in the Gospels, we don\u2019t just do it in Romans, we even do it in Genesis 1-11.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we are not promoters here of Darwinism, \u201cfrom the goo to the zoo to you over millions of years,\u201d because that\u2019s not found through a literal approach or understanding of the Bible. And we take it that way at the end of the Bible.\u00a0 So, fifteen hundred miles square cube--what does it mean?\u00a0 It means a fifteen-hundred-mile square cube. That is what it means.\u00a0 But you would be shocked at the number of people that will just dismiss that.\n\nHere are a few quotes compiled by Paul Lee Tan; Paul Lee Tan is a literalist but he\u2019s compiled some quotes of people and commentaries that just refuse to take this text for what it says.\u00a0 One commentator commenting on these verses, Sweet, said: \u201cSuch dimensions defy imagination and are permissible only in the language of symbolism.\u201d\u00a0 Barnes wrote some very good books called Barnes\u2019 Notes on the Bible<\/em>,\u00a0 he says: \u201cOf course, this must preclude all idea of there being such a city literally in Palestine\u2026\u201d he\u2019s got the name wrong but that\u2019s another discernment, \u201c this cannot be understood literally; and the very idea of a literal fulfillment of this shows the absurdity of that method of interpretation\u2026this cannot be taken literally; and an attempt to explain all of this literally would show that that method of interpreting the Apocalypse is impracticable.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0[Paul Lee Tann Cited in, The Interpretation of Prophecy<\/em> (Winona Lake, IN: BMH, 1974), 285-86]\u00a0\u00a0 This is what passes today from modern day scholarship.\n\nAnother commentator [Grant: ] \u00a0says \u201cno clearer proof\u2026that all is figurative. Such a height is simply out of harmony with the constitution of our world.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Excuse me Mr. Professor, Mr. commentator, can I ask a question?\u00a0 We\u2019re not talking about our world anymore; maybe you can make some argument that doesn\u2019t fit in our world, we aren\u2019t even talking about our world any more, we\u2019re talking about the new heavens and new earth in which dwells righteousness.\u00a0 Lorraine Boettner, we were just talking about Lorraine Boettner a little earlier, says, \u201cNeither the shape nor the dimensions of the city can be taken with mathematical exactness, as if it were a gigantic apartment house.\u201d\u00a0 [Paul Lee Tan, Cited in, The Interpretation of Prophecy<\/em> (Winona Lake, IN: BMH, 1974), 285-86.]\n\nHere\u2019s the bottom line, folks. God means what He says and says what He means.\u00a0 In fact, He\u2019s even used the measurements of man to get the point across, whether we comprehend it or not, understand it or not, whether I can fit it into my particular preconceived idea, God means to be understood and He has for us coming in the future descending this eternal city, which is a 1500 by 1500 by 1500-mile cube, I\u2019m looking forward to it.\n\nAnother person says, \u201cViewed literally, one thousand three hundred eighty square miles high is viewed as sufficient reason not to take these images as fully literal.\u201d\u00a0 The preceding discussion serves to warn against a hyper literal approach to apocalyptic literature.\u201d\n\nLet me tell you something about these guys quotes, they know how to call names, they just five you the name hyper literal oh my goodness, what a terrible thing to be called therefore I\u2019m not going to fit in with modern day scholarship.\u00a0 Well, you know what?\u00a0 You\u2019re in pretty good company there because Jesus sure didn\u2019t fit in with the religious crowd of His day either, because He was a literalist, even in the Garden of Eden He was a literalist when He made reference to early Genesis and everybody else wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 This particular scholar goes so far as to say there couldn\u2019t be streets of gold because of the absence of oysters large enough to produce such pearls, and the absence of sufficient gold to pave such a city.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have enough gold in the world to make streets of gold.\u00a0 We do not have oysters large enough to make the pearls on each gate.\n\nWell, let me ask you a question.\u00a0 When was that ever a problem with an ex nihilo<\/em> God?\u00a0 God is not dependent upon the limitations of this world for His future creation; He just speaks and things come into existence.\u00a0 I\u2019m reminded of what the Bible says, \u201cIs there anything too hard for the LORD?\u201d\u00a0 And I think a lot of times God gives us these measurements to test us.\u00a0 Do you really believe Me or not?\u00a0 Not that your salvation depends on it, you trust in Christ and Christ alone for salvation.\u00a0 But do you believe I can make a world like this?\u00a0\u00a0 No God, I don\u2019t think it could happen, and God says okay, I\u2019ll give you eternity to rethink that as you keep going in and out of that city.\u00a0 May God help us to take things at His Word!\n\nI like this quote from David Cooper, \u201cWhen the plain sense<\/u> of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal<\/u> meaning unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths, indicate clearly otherwise.\u201d\u00a0 [The World\u2019s Greatest Library Graphically Illustrated<\/em> (Los Angeles: Biblical Research Society, 1970), 11.]\n\nIn other words, unless there\u2019s something very obvious in the text telling you not to take it literally, take it literally.\u00a0 You say well do you have kind of a dumbed-down version of Cooper\u2019s statement.\u00a0 Yes, I\u2019m glad you asked. \u201cWhen the plain sense makes good sense seek no other sense lest you end up with\u201d what? \u201cnonsense!\u201d\u00a0 [Laughter]\n\nI like this statement here, \u201cHe (or she) who spiritualizes\u2026\u201d do you know what I mean by spiritualizing?\u00a0 Spiritualizing is the practice that you find all the way back to Justin in the fourth century and even preceding him that the language of the test really doesn\u2019t mean what it says; what you have to do is you have to incorporate the higher spiritual meaning, which means if I follow that practice I can never lose my job.\u00a0 That\u2019s what it means, because I\u2019m the only one that knows what the higher spiritual meaning is. And now you\u2019re all dependent on me to get the higher spiritual meaning.\n\nPeople do this all the time. They see the four rivers in Eden--the Pishon, the Gihon, the Euphrates, and the Tigris--and they say, well you don\u2019t really\u2026 You poor, you POOR hyper-literal, na\u00efve fundament\u00adalist, you don\u2019t really believe those are four rivers do you?\u00a0 No, no, those just represent the four parts of the human soul.\u00a0 And if you graduated from the right school and were under the right teaching you would under\u00adstand its entire meaning.\u00a0 The reality is the four rivers in Eden mean what?\u00a0 There are four rivers in Eden!\u00a0 And if you don\u2019t follow this practice they call you the worst name they can possibly call you, the \u201cF\u201d word, Fundamentalist.\u00a0 That\u2019s the absolute worst thing to be called in this culture is a fundamentalist.\n\nI haven\u2019t announced this but I\u2019m flying this afternoon, don\u2019t worry I\u2019ll be back in time for Wednesday night Bible study, and I\u2019m praying to the Lord that the pilot of the plane is a fundamentalist [Laughter] who takes the gap gauge literally and the compass literally, and the tires are with the right amount, I hope he takes numbers literally. I hope he doesn\u2019t say well north really means \u2026\u00a0 whatever.\n\nSo the reality of the situation is he or she whose spiritualizes tells spiritual lies.\u00a0\u00a0 There\u2019s a lot of sermons going on in churches where you listen to it and you say great sermon, wrong passage.\u00a0 It gives you sort of a liver quiver of the day and it makes you feel good but you\u2019re looking at the passage and you\u2019re saying that\u2019s not what the passage says, because you\u2019re under a teacher that is practicing not a literal approach from Genesis to Revelation.\u00a0 You\u2019re under someone that is spiritualizing.\n\nNow I\u2019m having so much fun up here I\u2019m going to miss my plane so we\u2019re going to stop at this point, because if I just keep going then I\u2019m going to have to ask them to spiritualize and let me on the plane.\u00a0 [Laughter] But the reality of the situation as we celebrated this morning communion and basically that\u2019s all about the fact that Jesus did everything in our place.\u00a0 Salvation, if you learn nothing else this morning, is a free gift.\u00a0 The Bible says we can drink without cost; God is not asking people to crawl on a bed of nails to receive salvation.\u00a0 He\u2019s simply asking people through volition, through their own free will as the Spirit puts them under conviction to trust in what Jesus has done.\u00a0 That\u2019s why heaven is so big.\u00a0 That\u2019s why this city is so big.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the tax gatherers and the prostitutes were entering and yet the Pharisees through their works and traditions were not entering.\n\nAnd so our exhortation to folks here at Sugar Land Bible Church is Jesus has done it all; if you\u2019re here today and you\u2019re unclear about your salvation, if you\u2019re listening online and you\u2019re unclear about your salvation, now\u2019s the time to clear it up, to leave here with absolute assuredly that if you were to die today that if you were to die today your soul would go directly into the presence of the Lord because you have believed or trusted in what Jesus has done.\u00a0 It\u2019s not something you have to raise a hand to do, join a church to do, walk an aisle to do.\u00a0 It\u2019s not something you have to fill out a card to do.\n\nIt\u2019s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord where the Spirit convicts you and you respond to\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 it by receiving by way of faith what Jesus has done.\u00a0 It\u2019s just that simple, because the Bible says \u201cwithout\u201d what? \u201cfaith\u201d it is what? \u201cimpossible to please God.\u201d\u00a0 How as Abraham saved all the way back in Genesis 15?\u00a0 Abram believed God and it was credited to him for righteousness.\u201d\u00a0 [Romans 4:3]\n\nWell wait a minute, didn\u2019t he have to go under the Law of Moses?\u00a0 NO, the Law of Moses wouldn\u2019t exist for another six centuries.\u00a0 Well wait a minute, didn\u2019t he have to get circumcised?\u00a0 No, circumcision doesn\u2019t come about until a few chapters later.\u00a0 So, Abram, who became Abraham is our role model for how we are saved.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we are called Abraham\u2019s sons, sons of Abraham.\u00a0 So, God reveals Himself to you through the gospel, you understand it, you understand what Jesus did and you say well I\u2019m going to trust in it.\u00a0 You\u2019re not believing that, you\u2019re believing in a person.\u00a0 You\u2019re trusting in Him and Him alone for salvation.\u00a0 And that\u2019s something you can do right now without any show of hands, just in the privacy of your own heart trust in Jesus and be saved throughout all eternity.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something you need more explanation I won\u2019t be here afterwards to talk to you about it but I\u2019m sure there\u2019s people sitting next to you that would love to talk to you.\n\nShall we pray.\u00a0 Father, we\u2019re grateful for Your truth, Your Word, and help us to have the boldness and the courage to just take you at face value and we have a marvelous future in store for us.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026. Amen!","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t