A speed has many uses and consequently different names, however, despite the name, form or use it goes by, here on The Advocate we call it by its name, a speed. Welcome to another No Holds Bad edition of your favourite programme on Plus TV Africa, The Advocate. My advocacy today is on the multi-faceted and dynamic issues surrounding migration. In what he calls a thought that could save lives, Amani gives his opinion on waste disposal with a little bit of biology. Should you be monogamous with a chain or just own your own polygyny, comfort breaks down for us. Kumule is going to read out 10 commandments of being a political aspirant and finally, Ajomai talks about better education. Sit back, the panelists are here to present your Sunday dose of provoking thoughts after this break. The many faces of migration. Every year, many Nigerian migrants and refugees make a difficult decision to leave their families behind and embark on dangerous and sometimes treacherous journeys through land and sea. And then the headlines and news captions read as follows. Greece drafts new legislation to speed up migrant deportations. Over 80 migrants found hiding in trucks. About 73 irregular migrants arrested in Turkey. Over 90 irregular migrants rescued in Libya and so on and so forth. The EU Commission seeks faster deportation of migrants. Irregular migration brought me nothing but despair, says an Irraterian migrant. And you find these headlines go on in different forms. Sometimes you see Nigerian migrants return after risking everything for a better life. Or you see thousands of African migrants crying for help from different parts of Africa and having forced to return to their homes after failing. And again, sometimes you see things that we like. Even the animals not even the conditions we live in now. From young children who have actually embarked on this journey and have dreamt of a happy life in Europe. But then for a lot of them, their hopes for a better life has faded. I constantly felt like a guest with no hope. Says a, a migrant who traveled irregularly. Not enough food, bathrooms or healthcare services. Says a Nigerian Returnee from Libya who's warning other Nigerians against irregular migration. And in the words of another migrant, cautioning other Nigerians against embarking on irregular migration to Libya. You say the cost of living is much higher than you can imagine. And thousands of Nigerian irregular migrants who travel through Libya each year with the aim of reaching Europe eventually just may never achieve that goal. It was the toughest journey one could ever have. Says a Nigerian Returnee. Those who go regularly too don't necessarily have a bed of roses.  A hustle to get jobs that citizens may also want. The re-education to fit in. One of the cultures shook. And an alienation from family and a support system. The many faces of migration. But what is migration in itself? Simply put, migration is movement from one place to the other. And it's as old as human beings. It is and it is not a new phenomenon. So why is global migration taking a front burner role today? Maybe because for a country like Nigeria, the push-pull factors are interesting. On one hand, we are dealing with a massive brain drain of competent citizens. Yet on the other hand, we are also seeing an influx of other citizens coming to explore our country and harness its economic value. But the issues that surround migration are multifaceted and dynamic. And while I may have a right to migrate, the question becomes what about the place I'm going to? What value am I bringing there? And is it enough to know that a country has a working system and I want to just get in there? Now, so many Nigerians in the quest for greener pastures have chosen to get Europe by all means and most have opted for the Libya Mediterranean route, hearing stories of victory from yesteryears by the brothers or sisters who have successfully crossed over. However, what many don't hear are the stories of missing relatives or the odious torture stories on the journey. Issues such as the lack of good job opportunities within the country has pushed a lot of people to seek work abroad and the same sense of despondency is discouraging migrants from considering the return to their home countries. In pursuing better jobs and economic opportunities, migrants often end up in situations of trafficking, modern day slavery, and irregular migrant status. Vulnerabilities begin at the earliest stages of migration planning and recruitment in origin countries, including deception and exorbitant free charging. And many people are aware that people from certain countries can't get asylum status regularly due to their country of origin and example be Nigeria. And not many Nigerians do realize that Nigeria is not classified as a country that would grant you the ability to get asylum status. Would we as a people actually live our country if the infrastructure was good? If quality of life is assured and electricity can be had, what of jobs will enable an environment for business and income generation? There may be a glimmer of hope in the myriad of interventions now coming up though through international agencies in collaboration with the federal government. But how soon? How well? And what will really, where will this happen? The question though is, is this enough for a timid population? What more can be done? Or are we all going to run away? To go is hard. To stay is difficult. Which way Nigeria? But as I often say, we move because we must keep hope alive. If you must migrate, adopt safe migration options. So my view is this, migration, whether legal or illegal, is expensive. And I feel at times that some of the people that have attempted to leave this country could have done better with the resources they put together to live than going through that very difficult experience. And I know that especially those that go through Libya, at the end of the day, it's all bad tears for them. And one of the things that I have also found over time is that the stories you hear will only be stories of successes. People will not tell you what they went through, how bad and difficult it was. And I think that also encourages people to want to reach out without doing enough research. Thinking that it's time to leave Nigeria. Let me migrate. Let me live too. Really? I'd never thought about it. I'd never. I'd always been one person that believed, no matter how bad it is, we're going to remain in this country. That had been me. But when I now said I was thinking of what it would take, this is to legally migrate to. Oh, I don't have energy to start entering boats or crossing the Sahara and all that. And I realized you have to do this, you have to do that, try to examine speaking English, that they say I have to write an exam. You know what?  Is it to wash toilet or whatever? I said, let me just stay here. So this is even me talking from the perspective of somebody who thought of Liga migration and see all the Wahala. Then you decide you want to write the camel's back, go through the sandstorms, enter the boot of a car, be cramped. And as you know, he said, the monies that have to go into it, if you had deployed it here, you probably would have started a small industry. There was the story of that woman. She became famous because I think she had been rescued also. She was in Calabar. She had a small business. And she used the fact that she had a small business to go and borrow either 400 or 600K to embark on a trip to Libya to go to Europe. Nobody sent, nobody told her that she had to come back. So she now came back after going through that horror and still was telling us on the news that she now still had the bill, the loan that she had to pay back. She has to pay back. Yes, she tells me to do that. I don't want to sound callous. We should be realistic. But honestly, illegal migration is not the way. I honestly don't feel sorry for them. I'm sorry. If we come back to our country, yes, it's hard, it's difficult and all that. But you know what? It's still our country. And for some funny reason, Nigeria just has this tick about it that all you need is either the right moment, the right place, the right person, the right idea. And for what it is worth, you can actually create something despite all our issues.  So my own advocacy on your behalf is say no to illegal migration. Say no to illegal migration. So for me, it's been maybe because I work in the governance sector and I just look at it like, okay, it's hard to legally migrate. I'm not in nomad, though I'm slim. So I'm not going to go through those horrors. No, thank you. And then I just looked at it. I'm in governance space. In two or three years, my friends will become governors. And in 10 years, my friends will be the president. Ah, is now you want me to drop out? You'll be. I didn't go to the space. Is now you want me to leave? No, because I want to get better. Not like I'm corrupt or anything. Ah, well. You know all we mean. Thank you so much. No, no, no. So looking at it, you ask yourself the real questions. Like she, come from the mention, for you to even go abroad, you're asked to write an exam in English. I'm above 40, write an exam again. For what now? I've written enough, for me, I feel I've written enough exams in my lifetime. I don't want to write one more, not one more. And the fact that I speak English, and I have to write to speak English in another country, that already tells me how the country would look at me when I start working in that country. It just eventually looks like that for me. So I already feel they don't want us here. They don't want us. It is better to sit down here and just work for our country generally. Well, I don't have so much to say on legal migration. I have absolutely no idea about that. But like Comfort said, prior to now I was totally comfortable with Nigeria. I travel almost every summer with my family. I've progressed in the workplace. There's really no need to leave Nigeria. But unfortunately, I'm now on that train of migration. I've actually even closer to it than you would ever imagine. And why? My husband came to me last year about this time and he brought up the subject and I was like, are you kidding? I'm almost a management position in the public sector. I'm a director in my private teaching center. I own my own business.  That's why I want to do that kind of thing. And it made a very solid point that I cannot but agree with him. We have a special son and Nigeria has nothing to offer this boy. And so, yes, the migration so dearly at almost 40 came to my table and I had to write that exam and I aced that exam. There you go, baby. I don't want to say it. He doesn't say it. No, no, no. I am on that path. And right now this week I've been going from places to places saying my goodbyes and telling them that I'm not going on a permanent basis. I'm available to serve. Remember me. Just give me a call. I'm just around the tone. I have to do this for my children. Now, you see, now that brings me to the final part of what I was talking about in my advocacy that what is the solution? We need to find how we're going to get the infrastructure and the system to work because half of us in the, all of us in this room talking right now do not fall into the category of the teaming population who sees as big. But then anyway, we will probably have to continue the conversation of migration over and over and keep thinking of solutions and way forward. But then our money is next after this break.


Thanks very much for coming and I know it was a short notice and not normally done in Brisbane it's just happened to be where I am at the time. The reason for just calling the media conference this morning is just to put out another appeal to the public but in particular on this occasion we have another location where the missing persons Volvo station wagon may have been located. Now as we know at this point the Volvo station wagon was located in Bowdoin Court at Narang last Monday night. The information we have at this stage would suggest that the car probably didn't arrive in Bowdoin Court until Saturday, Saturday the 9th of February and we have reason to believe that the vehicle may at some stage have been in Cops Road, that's K-O-P-S Road at Oxenford which is a road that runs in behind Movie World at Oxenford, it's a sort of a semi-rural fairly isolated area. What we're asking you to do for us today is to put out an appeal to the public for anybody who may have seen the missing persons Volvo which is a 2009 Midnight Blue Volvo XC-90 wagon although it's a Midnight Blue it can appear black. Anybody who saw that vehicle on Cops Road at Oxenford anytime after Wednesday night Wednesday the 6th of February late in the evening through to Saturday the 9th of February. I think the media already have photographs of the vehicle but I do have some other photographs here that I can either let you take photographs of here or I can email them to you if that's preferred. I can also show you, I've got a bit of a map here where I can show you where Cops Road is if that helps at all too. That's the purpose of the conference today, we would just like to get that out there, it's important to us that if anybody saw the vehicle in Cops Road between those times Wednesday night to Saturday we'd like them to call crime stoppers who will contact the local police. Well we have received information from the public, we've received quite a lot of information from the public, it's taken a while obviously to sit through that but we have reason to believe from information received that the vehicle may have been in Cops Road by to the Saturday so we're looking to get more support for that, anybody who may have seen it, obviously anybody that was in Cops Road in the early hours of Thursday morning the 7th of February we'd be keen on speaking to those people as well. Well as I say we've had a very good response from the public through crime stoppers, we've had lots of information come in, some of those pieces of information did relate to possible sightings, we continue and we have already run some of those inquiries out but at this stage none have proven fruitful. Look in any investigation of this type we will identify a number of persons of interest very quickly in the investigation and that's normal routine and that's no different in this investigation so we have identified a number of persons of interest and in these early days our time is taken up with basically gathering as much information as we can in pinning down people's movements and obtaining versions so a number of people have been identified and the investigations are still continuing along those lines. Well as I say in investigations like this we identify a number of persons of interest obviously the last person who saw the missing person would be a person of interest to us and the information we have at this stage is that Novus husband was the last person to see her so it goes without saying that he would be a person that we would be interested in. Again that's normal routine inquiries in this type of investigation for the same reason that we had the house under examination for a week. The first week or so of an investigation like this is important to us because that's when we can gather the most information and the most relevant information so obviously we need to do those things early in the piece so examination of the house and the business was just normal routine investigations. There has been some searching by police in that area but there may very well be more. I haven't been out there myself but my understanding is it is a bitumen road but it's in a like a semi rural area there's a lot of vacant areas beside the road and I think if people were to drive down that road and a Volvo station wagon was parked on the side of the road they would notice it and it's probably not what you would expect to see there so again we would make that appeal to any member of the public who was there between the Wednesday night and any time on Saturday who may have seen the vehicle to come forward or anybody that was actually just on cops road in the early hours of the Thursday morning the 7th of February. Well you know the investigation is still although we're now a couple of weeks and since she's been missing it's still in its early stages so anything's possible anything's possible at this point. Yes. Before. Correct. Just recently. Yes. Yes. Well it's always a missing person while she remains missing but you know we obviously look at the worst case scenario and we investigated as if it is the worst case scenario so that's what we're doing and until she's located we'll continue to do that. Well you know look I'd love her to turn up tomorrow and say here I am you know I'm sorry for all the trouble but as time passes I think that's less likely. All right thanks very much. We have we're having ongoing negotiations with Mr Chardon mainly through his solicitors through convenience here. We're not exactly sure when he's going to be back but we expect it'll be in the near future and we look forward to sitting down and having a chat with him.


Revelation 21 beginning at verse 1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And also, there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them. They shall be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain for the former things have passed away. That by itself, that by itself, that verse by itself, if it could just rest and settle in our hearts today, no more crying, no more pain, no more sorrow. Well, as we look at this, I need to begin by pointing out a couple of things. One chapter 21 contains events that are chronologically following the judgment at what was referred to as the great white throne. The great white throne judgment is what was found in chapter 20 verses 11 through 15. This white throne judgment, this great white throne judgment, as we were together last time, I mentioned to you that I should give you a little bit more than I was able to give at the conclusion of our study. So I'll pick up with a few things in chapter 20 verses 11 through 15 and then move on into chapter 21 as it follows again chronologically in sequence. Because what you have in chapter 20 verses 11 through 15 of the Book of Revelation is the final courtroom scene, if you will. You see, after these verses in verses 11 through 15 of chapter 20, after these verses, there will be no more judgment ever. The unsaved people, all of whom have ever lived, will be resurrected and they are going to experience a courtroom trial. Now, unlike today, there will be no debate as to whether they are guilty or as to whether they are innocent. Everyone who is there at the great white throne judgment is completely guilty. And another thing about it is the judge will show no leniency and he will show no sympathy and he will show no mercy. Now, that's very important to understand. They aren't going to be there, in other words, who are standing before the judge. They are not going to be able to plead no contest. They're not going to plead guilty with an explanation. They're not going to be able to defend themselves at all. There is no leniency. There is no mercy. There isn't even sympathy. They are going to be receiving judgment. If anybody's in this room tonight who doesn't know Christ, anybody who doesn't know Christ and you die without Jesus Christ, the Bible teaches you will stand before this judge and this judge isn't going to think you're sweet or cute or that you made a mistake or that you were young or that it just wasn't done right for you. He's not going to think any of that. You're not going to have any protesters, activists, marchers, signs, riots. None of that. None of that's allowed in this courtroom. None of that will take place. This will be a place of solemnity with the King, the judge, God himself. And you need to understand that. You need to see that because that's what's taking place at the great white throne judgment. God is the judge and because God is righteous, God will judge righteously. He will do so impartially. He will do so fairly in some in Psalm 96 verse 13. It says he is coming for he is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness and the people with his truth. Psalm 98 verse nine. He is coming to judge the earth with righteousness. He shall judge the world and the peoples with equity with fairness. In second Timothy chapter four, verse eight, Paul said, finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will give to me on that day and not to me only, but also to all who have loved his appearing. And so there will be no appeal. There will be no retrial. This is the final judgment. Now, Satan has been very successful in convincing people that there will be no such thing as a final judgment. Satan has deceived the world into believing there's nothing to be concerned about, but that's not what the Bible teaches. You see, ultimately, no one at the white throne judgment will have any grounds to complain. Not one is going to be able to stand up and say, you don't understand. Not one is going to be capable of saying you're you're not fair or you're not righteous. Any who would think that they could do that have an exaggerated sense of their own goodness and have reduced God from his greatness. Don't understand what righteousness is and don't understand what true justice is. So to try and argue that, well, that won't happen. If God were truly a loving God, he wouldn't do that is to not understand who God is. The judgment is going to be righteous. It's going to be impartial because these people have been unrepentant. It's called the great white throne judgment because it is great because the throne is the greatest of all thrones. So it's a great white throne. The throne is the greatest of all thrones because it's the seat of God's rule.  It reveals holiness and it reveals the justice that is being dispensed. In the Old Testament book of Daniel in chapter 7, verses 9 and 10, Daniel writes, I watched as thrones are put in place and the ancient one sat down to judge. His clothing was as white as snow. His hair like white as wool.  Millions of angels ministered to him and a hundred million stood to attend him. Then the court began its session and the books were opened. So what you have here is an amazing picture of righteous judgment and the dead great and small are standing before God as these books are opened. So all unbelievers who have ever lived are present, great and small, from the celebrities, you know, the great, to the petty gossips and liars and just ordinary sinners from the great to the small, from those who are known for their immensity of evil, the Hitler's and the Stalin's and the Mao's and the bin Laden's, these monsters from the great, from the ones who are well known for their evil to the petty, to the people who really weren't known for much other than narcissism or that they loved to gossip or they were very selfish. And the Bible says the sea gives up the dead and death and Hades and deliver and death and Hades delivers up the dead in them. So when it speaks of the sea, the sea giving up the dead in verse 13, there are those who would say the sea could speak in a figurative sense of the sea of humanity. There's no reason why that couldn't be an accurate way to see that. But also, there are those who say the sea could also be a reference to a place where those who have died at sea and think of some of the historical tragedies that we have from things like the sinking of the Titanic and the Lysitania and various others, you know, ships that have gone down and lost many people. And usually a picture of somebody lost at sea because the immensity of sea and the depth of it at all, that's usually a picture of something that is hopeless and whoever has been lost in sea will never be found again. And so there are those who would say that the sea could actually be speaking in a literal sense of the sea and all who are lost at sea or lost in any body of water. And so it speaks, though, of these who are coming up.  Death is the temporary abode of the bodies and Hades is the temporary abode of the soul. But both of them will be swallowed up in the permanence of the final judgment. And again, in verse 13, they were judged each one according to his works. Here's something for you. It's kind of serious as in we're going to get into some good news in a minute. I don't want to leave you in sin. I was speaking yesterday to a group of pastors and their wives. I was invited to speak at a pastors conference, County Chapel pastors in one of the counties. I was sharing with them how that as pastors, we need to be careful because people sometimes will look at their pastor as if he's some form of celebrity. Begin to think that the pastor is the most perfect person in the church. I said, you have to be careful with that kind of sentiment because there are those who love you and they may make you feel very special. But you know, and I was sharing the pastors and speak to myself as I speak to them. I said, you know that if they could see what really is in your heart, what you really are, how much you really need the grace of God and the mercy of God. There would be no worship of the pastor in the church because that pastor, we pastors are supposed to be the chief servants in the church, not the celebrities in the church, not the special individuals in the church. We're just a member of the church. We have different gifts and calling different responsibilities and we receive stricter judgment, greater stricter judgment because we handle the word of God. And if I cause one of these little ones who believe in Jesus Christ to stumble, that's a great offense to the Lord. And a man can sin very easily with his tongue. He has to be very careful what he presents to be true or not true. And ultimately what happens, I have to give an account. And I was sharing with them and I said, listen, if they could read our thoughts or even know the thoughts that we could be having even in a day, even in a single day. I said, think about some of the things that you thought about today, the things that enter your heart or memories that you have, things you remember doing. And first thing in the morning, you might be reminded of something evil that you did and that may stay with you the whole day. And it's there and it's not that you're held guilty for it, but you have remembered it.  This is so heavy. Judgment. Every thought. Every word. And every deed. Every thought. Word and deed. Comes up before the Lord. How could I be not guilty without Jesus? How could I be not guilty without Jesus? There are those who believe that God is going to judge on some kind of scale. My good deeds will outweigh my bad deeds. That can never happen. My thoughts are taken into account. My words are taken into account and not just my actions. Even the secret things. Even the secret things. Psalm 90 verse 8. You have set our iniquities before you. Our secret sins in the light of your countenance. Our secret sins. Ecclesiastes 1214. God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or evil. Now isn't that nice? Thank God. Well, that's just true. Got to tell you the truth, right? Thank God for the blood of Christ. Thank God for the blood of Christ that washes us clean from all sin. If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from some unrighteousness. No, from all unrighteousness. It's the blood. It's the blood of Christ. Because that cleanses me from all these sins. That's why I rejoice in the grace of God. Because I need His mercy. That's why it's just a fact. That's what the Bible teaches. Now according to verses 14 and 15, ultimately all will enter the lake of fire. They will be banished forever in unending sorrow. Now, again in verse 11 of chapter 20, I'll use that as my introduction into chapter 21 now. In verse 11, remember it says, the earth and heaven let away. And what we have is a new heaven verse 21 and a new earth. So the term a new heaven is in reference to the creation of a new universe. And that's what we see in chapter 21. I saw verse 1, a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth that passed away. So this universe, as we now know it, will be destroyed. An entirely new creation will exist. That is the witness in both old and new testaments. Isaiah 65, 17, Old Testament. Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The form of things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. Luke 21, 33. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 2 Peter 3, 10 through 13. The day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise. Everything in them will disappear in fire. The earth and everything on it will be exposed to judgment. Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living. You should look forward to that day. Hurry it along. The day when God will set the heavens on fire and the elements will melt away in flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and the new earth he has promised. A world where everyone is right with God. So the creation of the new heavens and the new earth. That will occur after the millennial reign of Christ, a thousand year reign of Christ and the white throne judgment. Now notice there was no more sea. Three quarters of the earth presently is made up of bodies of water. And our lives depend on water. Our blood is some 90% water. Even our physical flesh is 65% water. So we need water in these physical bodies. But when we have our new bodies, our bodies that have been made to exist in eternity, we don't need the blood because what we have is spiritual life now. So the life is no longer in the blood. The life of the flesh is no longer in the blood. We have spiritual life because we've received glorified bodies. And so heaven is going to have a different approach or the universe is going to be different. In heaven we'll have a different, there will be no more bodies, main bodies of water. There is a river, by the way, mentioned and we'll see that next time we're together in chapter 22. It's one that has what is called the water of life. But outside of that mentioning in chapter 22, it appears that there's no other bodies of water. And so in verse two, John continues and he says, I saw, I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. Now this holy city, new Jerusalem is the capital city. Is what has been called the capital city of the eternal state. It is heaven's capital city is what he's speaking about. It's this new Jerusalem. Now why would there need to be this new city? John saw this holy city, new Jerusalem. Why would there need to be a new one? Well, during the tribulation Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem on earth was spiritually polluted. Remember in Revelation chapter 11 and verse eight, how it says there their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. So Jerusalem is going to have this reputation of being polluted. And so there's going to be a necessity, a new city. So it's new Jerusalem. Now notice again in verse two, new Jerusalem is coming down out of heaven from God. Now she is not mentioned as having just been created. It would seem that new Jerusalem exists all along. In John 14, Jesus makes reference in this way. Verses one through three, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you.   There you may be also. Jesus has already made reference to this and it's undoubted that she has existed through the millennial reign, but she right now is presently separated from the existing universe because of sin. When the new heaven and earth is created, then she's going to descend into a perfect universe and new Jerusalem will serve as the dwelling place of all the redeemed. It's coming down out of heaven is a way for us to know that it has an existence already, a previous existence. Now in verse two, I want you to notice something else prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I am certain we have a number of ladies here who are married, who have been married. I don't know if you're anything like most every woman I've ever met or known, but one of the most important days of your life, your wedding day, one of the most important days of your life is your wedding day. This one lady once said there are two very important days in your life. This one lady once said there are two very important days in your life. She said her wedding day and her burial day. Interesting, but your wedding day. I don't know. I don't know. I've never really asked this for you ladies who got married. Was it exciting? Was it? I don't know. See, see you buy a dress. We rent a tux. That tells you something. We rent the suit and I could go on about that. I'm not going to. I can't roll with that one, but you get a nice dress. You know, the other day, the other day, Marie said, she said she was looking at her dress or wedding dress. I didn't know even though she still had it, but she does just in case. I guess I die. She dresses are beautiful aren't they? They're special aren't they? They cost a whole lot of money. Don't they? They do. And that bride spends an awful lot of time getting ready for her moment that she appears to her husband for the first time done a few weddings and I can tell you that when you go into the bride's room and you see that little bride. She's radiant. She is beautiful. She is so ready. I've done quite a number of weddings. I was going to say funerals, but and that little girl is so ready, so calm. Most of the time. Most of the time. I've only seen one in tears, but that's because her mother and soon to be mother-in-law were stressing her so badly. She started crying. And I walked in and I saw this mother on one side and the other gargoyle on the other and she was crying. She was so upset. They were yelling and getting all weird. And and I saw her and I said to the mamas. I said, you need to leave the room. Well, you need to leave the room. You need to leave now. And they did. And I sat her and I said, baby. You're going to be okay.  It's a beautiful day. Get back into the spirit of joy and don't allow that to happen. Listen, when a bride makes herself ready, it's a very special moment and she's prepared for her husband. My wife, when she got married, I have one picture that I carry in. I just a month ago made a mistake of washing my clothes with my wallet in my pants. I'm a moneylanderer, I guess, but that picture was in my wallet. Yeah, yeah. So I didn't realize it and I found the wallet in. Oh my goodness. So I took it out and the and it's an old picture. And so it was split and and so I have I don't care it anymore.  You don't get it, you know, but that's the one picture I carry. That's the one picture of me that I carry. It was when she stepped out and I had my first glimpse of her when she walked out of the door and she stood there and I tell every time I do a wedding for young men, I say, when you're bride, when they swing those doors open in the back, I said in everybody stands to greet her. I said, look at her. Look at her because that is going to be one of the most beautiful moments that you will have in your heart for the rest of your life. And I have a picture of my son, Joseph, when he was getting married to Karina, his beautiful little bride and the camera happened to catch his eyes with the tears that were starting to come down. The most beautiful moment when you see your bride and she has made herself. Ready.   They look good. They prepared themselves and that's what it's supposed to be like. You see. And so as this happened again in verse two, she's adorned for her husband. The whole city occupied by all saints of all generations is described as this bride. John Wohlberg, a very, very fine Bible expositor, said what we have here is not the church per se, but a city or dwelling place having the freshness and beauty of a bride adorned for marriage to her husband. Another commentator said every child of God through all the ages whose earthly tabernacle has been dissolved shall be at this time in his heavenly house and thus together will form this heavenly city. It says in verse three and I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God. God is now dwelling among men in the new earth and the new Jerusalem. He is now with them and as we used to say that they are his and he is their theirs in Job 19. This is a beautiful scripture Job 1926 and 27. He said after my skin is destroyed this I know that in my flesh I shall see God whom I shall see for myself my eyes shall behold and not another. How my heart yearns within me and then this beautiful promise God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death nor sorrow nor crying. There shall be no more pain for the former things have passed away. The saints suffered as they followed their God. Many had pain and many had sorrow in their lives and as a loving compassionate tender father God is pictured as wiping away every single tear any father in this room understands that any grandfather can understand that as a father there have been times when my babies were crying and they were heard about something and I would sit next to him and a little tears would be coming down their eyes and I would put my hand on the cheek and I'd wipe away the tears my grandson just a couple days ago my Josiah was hurt about something he got hurt his heart was hurt and I sat with them and he cried and I sat I talked to him I loved him and I wiped his tears I understand the sentiment of the scripture I understand it and my God will do that for us will wipe away every tear no more crying no more pain no more sorrow no more sickness no more disappointment nothing like that it's not welcome in heaven it's not allowed in there it won't be there do you look forward to that oh I do oh I do not as a oh I need to escape this ugly place listen we're we're militant Christians we're in a battle I'm good with that let's win this world for Jesus Christ but one of these days one of these days when we see our Lord can you imagine please try you imagine your God will wipe away every tear every hurt no more sickness no more crippling diseases no more babies dying no more bearing your grandma your grandpa no more bearing your daddy your mama no more loss listen this is one of these scriptures in my life that I really embrace I really do I hope you do too because it makes it all worth it it makes it all worth it and my God will do that my God is compassionate our God is tender and as a compassionate father he wipes away every single tear again there are no regrets there's no remorse there's no sorrow there's no more marriage and family pain no more divorces no more financial struggle no more emotional hurts or sad memories no more cancer strokes accidents no more funerals none of that and God is aware of this one of the real sweet beautiful scriptures that I love is Psalm 568 where the psalmist said you number my wanderings then he said put my tears into your bottle are they not in your book don't forget don't forget and so I'm telling you man this scripture here God will wipe away every tear none of that is welcome there where it's all swallowed up with eternity and joy it says in verse 5 he said on the throne said behold I make all things new and he said to me right for these words are true and faithful he said to me it is done I am the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end I will give of the fountain of of the water of life freely to him with thirst he will overcome shall inherit all things and I will be his God he shall be my son but the cowardly unbelieving abominable murderers sexually immoral sorcerers idolaters all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death now when it says in verse 5 he who sat on the throne said behold I make all things new when he says that it's not saying I'm going to restore everything or rebuild he says I'm going to make this new and it's going to be new in character as well as the sense of that which has recently been made and so there's an incredible drastic change from the way things used to be it's so incredible that John has to be commanded to write and then in verse 6 he said to me it is done I am the Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end Alpha and Omega the first and last letter of the Greek alphabet and the alphabet we're able to store and communicate knowledge to arrange them properly is to communicate all knowledge and so Jesus is the Alpha and Omega he is the supreme and sovereign alphabet is what he is saying because within him are all the treasures of knowledge within Jesus is all knowledge it's like what it says in Colossians 2 verses 2 and 3 my purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding in order that they may know the mystery of God namely Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge he is the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end the first letter of the alphabet as well as the last letter and any word that communicates the righteousness of goodness of God is found in him he is that he's a summation of that and the origin of that he says I will give up the fountain of the water of life really to him who thirsts so here's a phrase for you that I like heaven belongs to the thirsty speaking of thirst excuse me it belongs to those who have a need of spiritual quenching you remember remember in John 4 13 and 14 Jesus said everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again but whoever drinks the water that I give him will never thirst indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life see when you got saved when you gave your heart to Christ when Jesus became your Lord and your Savior when you washed you cleansed you of all your sin when he filled you with his Holy Spirit when you awakened you to the fact that your name is written in the Lamb's book of life when you began to hear the promises that he was going to return and take you to be with him that where he is there you will be also when you started embracing those things and you started seeing those things did you say to yourself I wonder what Buddha has to say what's Mohammed got to say on the subject now Jesus is the first and the last the Alpha and the Omega he gives living water and the others can't they can't give me life you see Buddha and Mohammed are dead but Jesus is alive and so Jesus is able to give me that which he possesses in him is the life John said in this life is the light of men so Jesus Christ gives us life you see and he gives us this water to drink but if you're thirsty you come to the water and so when I came to my my thirst was quenched it says in verse 7 he who overcomes shall inherit all things I'll be his God he shall be my son so the one who overcomes is the one who has exercised saving faith in Jesus and that one inherits everything but now notice verse 8 cowardly unbelieving abominable murderers sexually immoral sorcerers idolaters these are the what is called the principal characteristics of an unsaved person what's interesting is how he began when he refers to the cowardly now why would he refer to the cowardly in a list of all of these things because I could be referring to the fact that this person refused to acknowledge who Jesus Christ is there are those and you have probably met him you may know one or two maybe more who have been afraid to acknowledge Jesus in front of friends and family they don't want to confess them before man kind of keep it to themselves well that's an interesting thing because he's saying the cowardly refused to acknowledge who Jesus is and Jesus made a strong statement once he said he said if you confess me before men I also will confess you before my father was in heaven but if you deny me before men I also will deny you before my father was in heaven so there's an acknowledgement confession of reception of belief and openness if there was anything that is the earmark of the Jesus movement anything there are several things that are earmarks but one of them is we were very open with our faith we didn't hide it under a bushel we spoke about it openly and that way we were able to win our parents to Christ my family to Christ my friends to Christ because we were taught share it you see I learned a long time ago that the most selfish person on earth is the one who goes to heaven alone what we do is we share our faith and we openly acknowledge Jesus Christ and when you speak into these other things unbelieving etc no genuine Christian can be categorized by those sins now in verses 9 and 10 continuing and you're thinking are you going to make it to verse 27 yes I do my best one of the seven angels who had the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me saying come I will show you the bride the lambs wife and carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the great city the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God and so John sees the beautiful city and he sees it as gorgeous as the most beautiful bride in verse 11 having the glory of God and her light was like a most precious stone like a jasper stone as clear as crystal and so he gives a general description of its beauty and its character is characterized as having the glory of God and and he begins to share something else notice he says in verse 12 she had great in high wall with 12 gates 12 angels at the gates names written on them which are the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel three gates on the east three gates on the north three gates on the south three gates on the west now the wall of the city had 12 foundations on them were the names of the 12 apostles of the lamb he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city its gates and its wall the city is laid out as a square its length is as great as its breath and he measured the city with the reed 12,000 furlongs its its length breadth and height are equal he measured its wall 144 cubits according to the measure of a man that is of an angel the construction of its wall was of jasper the city was pure gold like clear glass the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones the first foundation was jasper the second sapphire the third chalcedony the fourth emerald the fifth sardinix the sixth sardius the seventh chrysalite the eighth barrel the ninth topaz the tenth chrysopraise the eleventh jasinth the 12th amethyst and the 12 gates were 12 pearls each individual gate was one pearl the street of the city was pure gold like transparent glass but I saw no temple in it for the lord god almighty and the lamb are its temple the city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it for the glory of god illuminated it the lamb is its light the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it its gates shall be shut shall not be shut at all by day there shall be no night there they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it but there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie but only those who are written in the lamb's book of life interestingly the stones pictured here are beautiful and we'll look at them briefly of course but here's the key for you they don't produce the light they only reflect it I always keep that in mind because when the scripture says let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and in glorify your father was in heaven Matthew 516 when the scripture speaks about our light shining and all of that remember it's a reflected light that that light doesn't originate with you you can go to a jewelry store I've been taking captive to one or two in my time and and you know what the jewelry do they normally will take whatever the diamond if you will and to put it on a black or a dark velvet and they put it there on that for you then sometimes they'll shine a light on it why why did they do that for contrast and because it doesn't produce its own internal light it only reflects it and so so that's what you and I do we only reflect the light of God we don't generate it because the true light is Jesus himself we need to keep that in mind because sometimes we try to be Jesus ourselves and in fact we're not we're like the moon and he's the sun and we simply reflect what he is that's how that works and it comes from within because he generates it from within by the power of his holy spirit but as we look at that Jesus being the light we need to remember according to verse 23 really the precious stone simply reflect his glory now I'll give you very briefly and you'll be surprised at how quickly I can do this because it really won't take that much time I'm just going to give you some basic information what we have here in verses 12 through 14 is a great high wall that though that wall somebody says why is heaven a gated community well it is really a picture of exclusion it speaks concerning how that that we have entered in under the protective interests of God and that you have to have a relationship with Lord to even be there it speaks of 12 gates and 12 angels it could be a picture of an honor guard if you will it also reveals to us the nation of Israel but it also contains representation of the church in verses 15 through 17 it speaks concerning the measurements and the measurements as I was looking at this and I'll be honest with you I won't go into great detail with you about this but there are different figures that some have given from from anywhere from 1500 miles in terms of measurement to 1377 miles just depends on what you consider a stadia or a furlong to be some consider a furlong to be 600 feet others 608 feet and it can get kind of complicated so I basically gone with the distance being around 1377 miles and the walls are either being described as of their thickness or their height if it's describing their height their height of the walls that it's spoken of here 216 feet if it's speaking concerning the thickness that's 216 feet thick but it doesn't say whether it's the height or the thickness is simply just describing the immensity of it it's more than likely it looks like it's in a cubic form in a cube form because it states its length its breadth and its height and it's all equal there are no details other than it's the place of the redeemed all the redeemed throughout all the ages and that's where we're gonna live it descends from heaven and more likely rests on earth but again that's not even clearly stated in verses 18 through 21 it speaks concerning the 12 stones the Jasper that's a completely clear diamond like stone a sapphire it's like a diamond it's blue chalcedony is an agate sky blue with stripes and other colors the emerald is green sardinics is red and white psidias is it's an orange or a red quartz a chrysalite is a transparent gold or yellow barrel is greenish yellow or blue topaz is yellow green and it's transparent crescent chrysalis is another shade of green kind of like an apple but you know if you don't know what color apple I'm talking about it's green jathons is is red violet maybe even a shining blue an amethyst is a clear quartz crystal and the colors range from purple a light purple to a very intense purple what you have here though it's just a simple picture that is overwhelming in in beauty that's what you have here it's overwhelming in its beauty and the walls have gates of a huge pearl and the streets are pure gold and transparent that should help me next time I get all weird about gold because God says you know yeah gold that's cool I use it for pavement now we'll close verse 22 I saw no temple in it for the Lord God Almighty and the lamb are its temple no longer is there a structure necessary because the true temple was with his people and believers now have access to sacred fellowship with God verses 23 and 24 city has no need of sun or the moon to shine the glory of God illumines it God is the source of light in the city God is like the scriptures as in him there is no darkness at all and Jesus speaks of himself as the light of the world and they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it and one last thing and then we'll close verse 27 there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles causes an abomination or a lie but only those who are written in the lambs book of life I want everybody I would love everybody to come to faith in Jesus Christ I would love every one of my relatives and friends and neighbors and all I would love them to be able to be there with us guys realistically speaking I know that not everybody will but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't pray and that doesn't mean that we shouldn't talk to them and it doesn't mean that we shouldn't seek the Lord for opportunity to share the gospel share our testimony invite them to church one last thought and then we'll close with prayer you may have somebody in your life that you think or somebody you know that you think is so far gone that they can't get saved I was at a Christian concert I was 23 years old seated in front of me at this Christian concert was a motorcycle gangster he was he was about 664 probably 280 pounds his arms were as big as hams I remember that and he was wearing his colors and the sleeves were cut so his hairy back and arms were hanging out big old sausages and he was so big and I'm not exaggerating I really couldn't see the stage he was so big I was trying to look around him and his hair was real long and bushy but I didn't tell him anything I just listened but I kept looking at this guy I remember I just I just kept looking at him and then here comes this guy he was a lead singer and preacher from a group called JC and the power outlet they were a hard rock Christian band JC and the power company and and this guy he got up there and he started preaching with all the confidence and all the certainty and he's just a young guy and he's starting to give an invitation and I was leaning back looking at the Hulk and I and I said this guy can't get saved he is beyond salvation I remember thinking that he's beyond salvation when all of a sudden he stands up at the invitation now I think he's mad I think he's going to walk out I don't know what he's doing but I remember distinctly his big old arms as he started wiping tears out of his eyes he was wiping his eyes like this and he stumbled out of the out of the pews out of the chairs and he walked up and he stood in the front he was in the center he was the whole front row and I'm not I'm not teasing and when I say this the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and I've never forgotten this he said this I can save anyone I've never forgotten that I can save anyone can he did he save you he can save anyone