The joy of the Lord is a believer’s strength. Saints were never intended to live by the pleasures of this world. They are short-lived and empty. Worldly pleasures rob the born again individual of the Lord’s joy and leave them subject to the passing fancies of this world. The Lord’s joy is not an admixture. It stands alone. It is so superior to life on the natural level that these two are opposites. The person full of the Lord’s joy loses all dependency on the lust for the world. The opposite is also true. The person that runs after the world’s pleasure loses all dependency on the Joy of the Lord.

The Lord’s joy is His supernatural life. It exists on a level of divine dimensions. The moment a repentant sinner is converted by the power of the Blood this joy invades their heart. A light comes on in their entire person that shines unto the brightest day. It’s a new world totally independent of our circumstances. It is just as bright in a cabin as a mansion – in a sick body as well as a healthy body. The light of this joy is so rich in healing that most often the sickness disappears at the entrance of this divine invasion. I have known many new converts, who were divinely healed of a physical malady instantly. The joy of the Lord drove out the destroying enemy.

The Joy of the Lord is a full joy. Jesus said, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (John 15:11). The words "might be full" comes from one Greek word, "made replete," "cram," "level up," or "finish." The Son of God said it a second time. This time He speaks of it with the explicit invitation for you to ask Him for this joy. "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:24). When you are full of His joy, you will be contagious.

Our greatest authority in witnessing has nothing to do with our personality or great use of words to convince people. The joy of the Lord is the manifestations of Him. The Son of God floods our entire being–body, soul, and spirit. It springs up in us like an artesian well. The Lord spoke as He appeared in the Jewish temple. It was the last day of the Feast of Tabernacle, an extremely jubilant time for Israel.

He said, "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified)" (John 7:37-39). There was no effort in the early church to use sociological techniques to persuade men into the House of God. They simply offered them living waters. They were so full of those living waters themselves that the unconverted were persuaded by the multitudes.

Head religion must be passed on to others by argument or clever methods. Heart religion is caught just like we catch a cold. Somebody with the fever must pass it on to others. No wonder John the Baptist spoke of Christ and said, "he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire" (Matthew 3:11). The most profound effect of God’s Spirit in your life is "unspeakable Joy."

As we read of the early church in Acts, we see them "turning their world upside down." They were feared and hated by the religious powers of that day because they were a threat to their systems. There were no clever organizations or methods of advertisement. They were full of Jesus Christ’s resurrected life and it was sheer joy.

Multitudes of men and women living the humdrum life were suddenly challenged with life that had meaning and spiritual satisfaction. Christianity was born in the transformation of a dead religion unto a faith of life and reality. The Joy of the Lord in the life of those early believers and disciples set our faith on a foundation that Satan could not destroy. The Faith of Christ has survived two thousand years because His saints – sometimes few – have never lost their joy. It is our strength.

Joseph R. Chambers

The famous garden that the great Creator created in which He placed Adam and Eve disappeared in Southern Iraq, which was originally called Sumer, approximately four thousand years ago. It is presumed that it was present and protected by the Cherubim of God until the great flood. Men were not allowed in this garden after the fall lest they would eat of the fruit of the Tree of Life in the midst of the garden and then live eternally in their depraved state. "And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life" (Genesis 3:22-24).

If there is a theme in this last chapter of Revelation and last chapter of the Bible it must be the return of this incredible garden near the city of New Jerusalem that is certainly at the center of God’s presence in the new heaven and the new earth. I have found that almost no attention has been given to this incredible truth. The original Garden of Eden had to have been the most magnificent garden ever created. Creating gardens has been a pastime and a joy of the rich and famous for millenniums. It seems to me that this lost centerpiece of human life has left a vacuum in the human family that has never found true satisfaction. This garden was so pristine and perfect that it invited the joy of fellowship between God and His choice creation. Because of its excellent beauty and the deep sense of the divine delight of the Creator, Satan chose it as his location of attack against God and man.

Even as Eve listened to Satan’s lie the River of Life was splashing in the background. When she looked upon the tree of good and evil, she well may have held in her hands the fruit of the Tree of Life. Her deception and then Adam’s deception occurred within the reach of a life so perfect and full that the heart of a pure soul has never understood such foolishness. How could it have happened? The only possible answer is that our Creator gave this man He created absolute right of choice. He wanted love that had the right to choose to love because all other love is not really love. That day in the breathtaking garden, sorrow began that still rushes like a tsunami upon the whole of the human family and the created world. This great closing text reveals the final end of human misery and a total new beginning.

The Creator is going to move in with His redeemed family, the total curse will have been eliminated and we will actually see the Father face-to-face. While the city of New Jerusalem will be the most magnificent creation of all eternity, the earth will have been recreated into the paradise of perfect bliss. It will be a worldwide garden and nothing of disease, weeds, undergrowth, or destroying insects will be present to mar the beauty. If you can imagine the city of New Jerusalem set within and upon this garden-like world and the beauty of both united to welcome all of His and the Lamb’s family, you are beginning to get the vision. We will be so identified with Him that His family appearance will be written upon each countenance.

The saints of God cannot imagine what awaits His chosen family. This garden will never fade and its blooms will never die. (This Salty Saints is excerpted from my book, The Masterpiece.)

Joseph R. Chambers

The city is a foursquare city. The width is exactly the same on all four sides and the height is equal. Twelve thousand furlongs is fifteen hundred miles. To imagine a city that is fifteen hundred miles square and fifteen hundred miles high that is surrounded by jasper walls is breathtaking. The highest mountain in the world is less than six miles high (Mount Everest – 29,035 feet) and the highest in America is less than four miles high (Mount McKinley – 20,320 feet). We are speaking of a city so massive that our minds can only imagine its grandeur. The city of New Jerusalem is 7,920,000 feet high compared to Mount Everest at 29,035 feet. This comparison makes Mount Everest appear to be nothing but a molehill.

The total wealth of this entire earth does not hold a light to the wealth of this new city. The gold that has been mined and minted during human history is minute compared to the gold in this city. It would not be enough to pave the streets of one level of this city and this will be a city of twelve foundations or levels. Each level will be one hundred and twenty-five miles high or 657,700 feet, over twenty-two times higher than Mount Everest. The height of the walls on each level is 144 cubits or approximately 226 feet. These walls are not provided to keep the glorified saints in or out. Nothing is more beautiful than the present massive stone walls of present day Jerusalem. These stone walls have a golden hue appearance as they are beautifully lit at night or in the sunshine. But, the walls of New Jerusalem will be primarily wrought of jasper stone. Jasper is a dark green semi-translucent to opaque form of semi-precious chalcedony. Its beauty is rare. It is readily acceptable to a fine polish and has the physical properties of those of quartz. No one would think of building city walls out of jasper in our present world. The expense would be totally prohibitive to the richest person but certainly not to our Father. The entire walled structure of this city, all twelve levels, will be jasper and pure gold. It appears that the outside formation of these walls is jasper, with the interior of the walls being pure gold.

The foundations at each level are one hundred and forty-four cubits, which is approximately 226 feet high. These foundations are then garnished with twelve manners of precious stones. The first foundation is garnished with jasper on jasper. We can certainly expect that the garnishing jasper will be of a different shade as the jasper wall, which comprises the wall’s structure. There are different colors of jasper depending on the location where it is mined. The second level will be garnished with sapphire stones. The color of a pure sapphire is sky blue; using it to garnish the jasper will be extraordinary. The third level will be chalcedony, which can be any color of the rainbow from pale blue to yellow, brown, or gray. The fourth level will be garnished with emeralds. The finest emeralds are more valuable than diamonds; they are magnificent gems of the most beautiful green color.

The stone used to garnish the fifth foundation is sardonyx or onyx. This stone varies in color; it may be translucent or opaque and is often striped. The sixth stone used for garnishment is sardius, possibly the red variety that is highly polishable and extremely beautiful. The seventh level is garnished with chrysolite, which is a form of topaz of Tarshish. The garnishment of the eighth level is beryl, which is actually colorless, but reflects a great variety of colors depending on foreign substances it contains. It is indeed a precious stone. The ninth garnishing stone on the ninth level of this city is topaz, which is called by some, the "gem of the setting sun." Sometimes, it is said to be the color of gold or peach. The tenth level is chrysoprasus, which is called the apple and is a light green variety of agate. It is a very rare stone.

The eleventh foundation of this magnificent city is jacinth. The jacinth is a red variety of zircon, which is found in square prisms of different shades. The last of the twelve levels is garnished with amethyst. This is a royal purple and a fitting crown for the city. Imagine the crown of this city of transparent purple quartz that is decorating the jasper translucent walls with the gold within reflecting throughout the foursquare city.

Beautify all of this with gates of pearl, each gate one pearl carved into form to be twelve matching gates into the city. Each gate will be fifteen hundred miles high. Glowing through each gate will be streets of pure gold. It is hard to imagine the beauty of a solid pearl gate set on the walls of this city. This city reflects the creative masterpiece of a Groom full of love for His eternal Bride.