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<\/a>U.S. President Ronald Reagan always dreamed of a shining city on a hill. It seemed to give him hope and comfort. He said in his farewell speech to the nation, \u201cI\u2019ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don\u2019t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That how I saw it, and see it still.\u201d<\/p>\nRonald Reagan\u2013the former Hollywood movie star who became president of the greatest nation on earth\u2013was a Christian. He loved to read the Bible, especially the parts that predicted the future of the world, such as its last book\u2013The Revelation. I share his joy. In the last two chapters in that book, its author, John, like Ronald Reagan, also saw a city, not just on a hill but that was a great mountain. It is in Revelation 21.1-26 and 22.1-5, and it reads in the English Standard Version as follows:<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I 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 the throne [of God] saying, \u2018Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he who was seated on the throne said, \u2018Behold, I am making all things new.\u2019 Also he said, \u2018Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.\u2019 And he said to me, \u2018It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThen came one of the seven angels . . . saying, \u2018Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.\u2019 And\u00a0he carried me away in the Spirit to\u00a0a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,\u00a0<\/span>having the glory of God,\u00a0its radiance\u00a0like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.\u00a0<\/span>It had a great, high wall,\u00a0with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed\u2013<\/span>on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.\u00a0<\/span>And the wall of the city had twelve\u00a0foundations, and\u00a0on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cAnd the one who spoke with me\u00a0had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls.\u00a0<\/span>The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia.\u00a0Its length and width and height are equal.\u00a0<\/span>He also measured its wall, 144 cubits\u00a0by\u00a0human measurement, which is also\u00a0an angel\u2019s measurement.\u00a0<\/span>The wall was built of\u00a0jasper, while the city was pure gold,\u00a0clear as glass.\u00a0<\/span>The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. . . . And twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cAnd I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day\u2013and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb\u2019s book of life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
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U.S. President Ronald Reagan always dreamed of a shining city on a hill. It seemed to give him hope and comfort. He said in his farewell speech to the nation, \u201cI\u2019ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don\u2019t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1477,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[327,2660],"tags":[5230,5233],"class_list":["post-12538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-politics","tag-ronald-reagan","tag-shining-city-on-a-hill"],"yoast_head":"\n
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