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In that millennial state of which the text speaks, Jesus Christ is to be the light thereof, and all its glory is to proceed from Him; and if the text speaketh concerning heaven and the blessedness hereafter, all its light, and blessings, and glory, stream from Him: "The Lamb is the light thereof."

I. THE MILLENNIAL PERIOD. Jesus, in a millennial age, shall be the light and the glory of the city of the new Jerusalem.

1. Observe, then, that Jesus makes the light of the millennium, because His presence will be that which distinguishes that age from the present. That age is to be akin to paradise. It is true we have the presence of Christ in the Church now — "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." We have the promise of His constant indwelling: "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." But still that is vicariously by His Spirit, but soon He is to be personally with us.

2. The presence of Christ it is which will be the means of the peace of the age. In that sense Christ will be the light of it, for He is our peace. It will be through His presence that the lion shall cat straw like an ex, that the leopard shall lie down with the kid.

3. Again, Christ's presence is to that period its special instruction. When He comes, superstition will not need an earnest testimony to confute it — it will hide its head. Idolatry will not need the missionary to preach against it — the idols He shall utterly abolish, and cast them to the moles and bats.

4. Once again, Christ will be the light of that period in the sense of being its glory. Think of the splendour of that time! Oh! to be present and to see Him in His own light, the King of kings, and Lord of lords!

II. THE STATE OF THE GLORIFIED IN HEAVEN ITSELF, "The city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it."

1. The inhabitants of the better world are independent of creature comforts. We have no reason to believe that they daily pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." Their bodies shall dwell in perpetual youth. They shall have no need of raiment; their white robes shall never wear out, neither shall they ever be defiled.

2. While in heaven, it is clear that the glorified are quite independent of creature aid, do not forget that they are entirely dependent for their joy upon Jesus Christ. He is their sole spiritual light. They have nothing else in heaven to give them perfect satisfaction but Himself. The language here used, "the Lamb is the light thereof," may be read in two or three ways. By your patience, let us so read it. In heaven Jesus is the light in the sense of joy, for light is ever in Scripture the emblem of joy. Darkness betokens sorrow, but the rising of the sun indicates the return of holy joy. Christ is the joy of heaven. Another meaning of light in Scripture is knowledge. Ignorance is darkness. Oh! what manifestations of God there will be! Dark dealings of providence which you never understood before will then be seen without the light, of a candle or of the sun. Many doctrines puzzled you; but there all will be simple.

III. THE HEAVENLY MAN'S STATE MAY BE SET FORTH IN THESE WORDS. First, then, even on earth the heavenly man's joy does not depend upon the creature. In a certain sense we can say to-day that "the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it." As we can do without these two most eminent creatures, so we can be happy without other earthly blessings. Our dear friends are very precious to us — we love our wife and children, our parents and our friends, but we do not need them. May God spare them to us I but if they were taken, it does not come to a matter of absolute need, for you know there is many a Christian who has been bereft of all, and he thought, as the props were taken away one after another, that he should die of very grief; but he did not die, his faith surmounted every wave, and he still rejoices in his God. We finish by observing that such a man, however, has great need of Christ — he cannot get on without Christ. We can do without light, without friendship, without life, but we cannot live without our Saviour,

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

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KJV: And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

WEB: I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple.