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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 81

TITLE: 5 NEW THINGS

TEXT: REVELATION 21:1-4

INTRODUCTION: (1) I WANT TO BEGIN THIS MORNING BY ASKING SOME PROBING QUESTIONS.

* NOW THEY ARE PROBING QUESTIONS FOR YOUR ANSWERS TO THEM WILL REVEAL WHERE YOUR HEART IS TODAY AND MOST LIKELY HOW YOU VIEW LIFE AND LIVE LIFE AND WILL REVEAL PRIORITIES AND BELIEFS THAT DIRECT YOUR LIFE.

** NOW THE QUESTIONS ARE VERY SIMPLE.

*** NO. 1 DO YOU LONG FOR HEAVEN OR BEING IN ETERNITY WITH GOD?

**** NO. 2 DO YOU THINK ABOUT HEAVEN OR THE ETERNAL STATE VERY MUCH?

(2) NO. 3 DO YOU THINK ABOUT HEAVEN AT ALL?

* NO. 4 DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HEAVEN FROM THE BIBLE?

** AND LASTLY NO. 5, WHEN YOU DIE, DO YOU BELIEVE YOU WILL GO TO HEAVEN, AND IF YES, WHY WILL YOU GO TO HEAVEN?

*** NOW I ASK THOSE QUESTIONS FOR WITHOUT HESITATION THERE IS A DECLINING INTEREST IN HEAVEN AMONG PROFESSING CHRISTIANS IN OUR NATION.

**** AND I SAY THAT BECAUSE THERE IS SUCH A PREOCCUPATION WITH MATERIAL THINGS, SUCCESS, COMFORT, RETIREMENT, ENTERTAINMENT AND AMUSEMENT.

(3) AND I DIDN’T SAY THERE WAS ANYTHING WRONG WITH THESE THINGS IF GUIDED BY THE PRINCIPLES OF GOD’S WORD, BUT IT IS WRONG TO BE PREOCCUPIED WITH THESE THINGS.

* AND QUITE FRANKLY MANY OF US ARE PREOCCUPIED WITH THE TEMPORAL OVER THE ETERNAL BECAUSE WE HAVE IT PRETTY GOOD RIGHT NOW.

** AND THERE IS A DANGER AND A TEMPTATION THAT WE BECOME SO COMFORTABLE IN THIS LIFE THAT WE FORGET AND DO NOT FOCUS ON THE FACT THAT WE ARE BUT STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS IN THIS WORLD.

*** I MEAN WE SHOULD SEE OURSELVES, IF WE ARE TRUE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST, AS NOMADS, AS VAGABONDS, AS ALIENS, AS GYPSIES.

**** BUT QUITE THE CONTRARY, FOR SOME OF US, HEAVEN IS VIEWED AS AN UNWELCOME INTRUSION OF OUR TIME, AN INTERRUPTION INTO OUR SCHEDULE, OUR CAREER GOALS, OUR MARRIAGE PLANS, OUR VACATION PLANS, OR EVEN OUR HOLIDAY PLANS.

(4) AND I MUST CONFESS AND BE TRANSPARENT, I HAVE THOUGHT A LOT ABOUT YOUR GRACIOUS GIFT TO BETH AND I FOR OUR 25TH ANNIVERSARY AND GOING TO DISNEY. I AM EXCITED AND THANK YOU AGAIN!

* BUT BOTTOM LINE, WHO DO I WANT TO SEE MORE, MICKEY OR JESUS?

** WHAT AM I PREOCCUPIED WITH MORE, GOING TO THE MAGIC KINGDOM OR THE ETERNAL KINGDOM OF GOD?

*** AND YOU CAN MAKE APPLICATIONS IN YOUR OWN LIFE IF THERE ARE THINGS YOU ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO.

*** AND MY POINT IS, MANY OF US NEED TO BE THINKING MORE ETERNALLY OVER WHAT IS TEMPORAL AND OVER THE GLORY OF HEAVEN AND THE ETERNAL STATE.

**** BELIEVER, OUR CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN, READ PHILIPPIANS 3:20&21.

(5) NOW OUR CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN, BUT THE QUESTION I ASK NOW IS, IS YOUR HEART?

* HAVE WE FIXED OUR ATTENTION ON THINGS ABOVE? AND THAT’S WHY WE HAVE ADMONITIONS TO SET OUR AFFECTIONS ON THINGS ABOVE.

** LET ME GIVE YOU A FEW. JESUS SAID THIS IN MATTHEW 6:19-21 (READ THEM).

*** THEN READ COLOSSIANS 3:1-4, I PETER 1:4, PHILIPPIANS 1:23, LUKE 12:15, II CORINTHIANS 4:17&18, II CORINTHIANS 5:1&2, I JOHN 2:15-17 AND PROVERBS 23:4&5.

**** NOW CLEARLY, WE ARE TO SET OUR AFFECTIONS, OUR DESIRES, OR WANTS, OUR MINDS, OUR FOCUS ON ETERNAL THINGS THAT LAST.

(6) AND WHAT WE SET OUR AFFECTIONS ON REVEALS WHERE OUR HEARTS ARE AT.

* SO THE GLORY OF HEAVEN, THE GLORY OF THE ETERNAL STATE, A NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH WITH A NEW JERUSALEM SHOULD BE MORE OF OUR FOCUS.

** AND OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, THE FOCUS OF OUR STUDY AS WE FINISH REVELATION 21&22 WILL BE THE ETERNAL STATE AND THE NEW EXCITING THINGS WHICH ARE AHEAD FOR TRUE BELIEVERS, WHAT HENRY MORRIS CALLS: “THE MOST GLORIOUS CHAPTERS OF THE BIBLE.”

*** AND I TRUST OUR STUDY WILL ENHANCE AND ENCOURAGE US AND REFOCUS OUR PRIORITIES AND WHAT WE SHOULD BE LIVING FOR AND WHAT SHOULD PREOCCUPY MORE OF OUR THINKING.

**** AND WITH THAT SAID, TODAY WE EMBARK ON OUR TOUR OF HEAVEN, THE ETERNAL STATE AS WE EXAMINE REVELATION 21:1-4.

(7) AND THE TITLE OF OUR STUDY TODAY IS “5 NEW THINGS.” AND THOSE NEW THINGS WILL BE BROUGHT FORTH IN THE OUTLINE I HAVE COME UP WITH FOR TODAY.

* NO. 1 A NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH, V. 1; NO. 2 A NEW JERUSALEM, V. 2; NO. 3 A NEW NEARNESS, V. 3; AND NO. 4 A NEW ORDER, V. 4.

** AND WITH THAT OUTLINE AS OUR GUIDE FOR OUR STUDY, LOOK AT V. 1 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT, A NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH.

I. A NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH, (READ V. 1)

A. NOW FOLLOWING THE JUDGMENT OF THE GREAT WHITE THRONE IN REVELATION 20:11-15, JOHN’S ATTENTION IS NOW DRAWN TO A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH.

* AND HOW REFRESHING THAT MUST HAVE BEEN FOR JOHN IN GOING FROM THE JUDGMENT OF PEOPLE WITHOUT CHRIST AND BEING CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE AND WATCHING THAT TO SEEING A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH.

** FOR IF YOU RECALL JOHN SAID IN REVELATION 20:11, “I SAW A GREAT WHITE THRONE,” TO “I SAW THE DEAD (THE UNSAVED DEAD) THE GREAT AND THE SMALL STANDING BEFORE THE THRONE,” TO NOW HERE IN REVELATION 21:1, “THEN I SAW A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH.”

*** WHAT A WONDERFUL CHANGE OF SCENERY IN JOHN’S VISIONS OF THINGS TO COME.

**** WITH THE JUDGMENT OF UNSAVED PEOPLE NOW COMPLETE, JOHN IS SHOWN A NEW ERA OPENING WHEREIN EVERYTHING IS NEW, WHAT IS CALLED THE ETERNAL STATE OR THE DAY OF GOD IN II PETER 3:12, ETERNITY FUTURE WITH OUR GREAT GOD.

1. AND NOTE THAT THE PHRASE “A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH” COMES FROM TWO PROPHECIES FOUND IN THE BOOK OF ISAIAH.

* FOR IN ISAIAH 65:17 GOD SAYS: “FOR BEHOLD, I CREATE NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH; AND THE FORMER THINGS WILL NOT BE REMEMBERED OR COME TO MIND.”

** AND THEN IN ISAIAH 66:22 THE LORD GOD DECLARES: “FOR JUST AS THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH WHICH I MAKE WILL ENDURE BEFORE ME,” DECLARES THE LORD, “SO YOUR OFFSPRING AND YOUR NAME WILL ENDURE.”

*** NOW WHAT ISAIAH PROPHESIED ABOUT APPROXIMATELY 700 YEARS BEFORE CHRIST WAS BORN NOW BECOMES A REALITY IN JOHN’S VISION.

**** THERE WILL BE A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH.

2. AND THE GREEK WORD TRANSLATED “NEW” HERE LIT. MEANS FRESH, UNUSED, UNWORN, OF A NEW KIND, UNPRECEDENTED.

* SO NEW IS NOT ONLY NEW IN TIME BUT A FRESH DEPARTURE AND VERY DIFFERENT FROM ALL THAT HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY KNOWN.

** SO WE HAVE SOMETHING COMPLETELY NEW, A NEW CREATION, UNLIKE THE OLD EARTH AND HEAVENS. SOMETHING FRESH NEVER BEFORE SEEN.

*** AND BY THE WAY, THE WORD HEAVEN IS NOT TALKING ABOUT A NEW HEAVEN WHERE GOD HAS BEEN RULING FROM CALLED THE THIRD HEAVEN OR PARADISE-GOD’S ABODE IN II CORINTHIANS 12:2&3, BUT A NEW SKY, A NEW ATMOSPHERE, A NEW ATMOSPHERIC HEAVEN.

**** FOR CERTAINLY GOD’S ABODE ABOVE THE FIRST HEAVEN-THE SKY, THE ATMOSPHERE, AND ABOVE THE 2’D HEAVEN, THE STARS AND SPACE, GOD’S ABODE, THE 3’D HEAVEN IS NOT TAINTED BY SIN AND DOES NOT NEED TO BE REPLACED, IT’S PERFECT.

3. SO HEAVEN HERE IS THE ATMOSPHERIC HEAVEN, IT WILL BE NEW, LIKE THE NEW EARTH.

* AND THIS IS NOT PLAN B BY GOD, OR A NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH, BUT A PART OF THE PLAN AND PRE-DETERMINED PURPOSE OF GOD.

** A PROCESS THAT HE ORDAINED TO BRING ABOUT IN HIS PURPOSES OF ALLOWING OR ORDAINING SIN IN THE WORLD THAT HE WOULD USE FOR HIS GLORY.

*** BUT NOW, IT’S TIME AS ALL GOD’S ENEMIES AND SIN HAVE BEEN PUT AWAY TO BRING ABOUT THE DESIGNED END THAT GOD HAS BEEN WORKING OUT THROUGHOUT HISTORY.

4. NOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FIRST HEAVEN AND THE FIRST EARTH? WELL, THE ANSWER AT THE MIDDLE PART OF V. 1 IS, THEY “PASSED AWAY.”

* THEY WERE BURNT UP AND DESTROYED AS JESUS SAID IN MATTHEW 24:35 (READ IT).

** BUT THE TEXT THAT GIVES US THE DETAIL ABOUT THE FIRST HEAVEN AND EARTH PASSING AWAY IS IN II PETER 3:10-13, WHICH WE LOOKED AT LAST WEEK, BUT THAT I WANT TO REMIND YOU ABOUT WHERE IT SAYS:

*** II PETER 3:10 – BUT THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL COME LIKE A THIEF, 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.

V. 11 – SINCE ALL THESE THINGS ARE TO BE DESTROYED IN THIS WAY, WHAT SORT OF PEOPLE OUGHT YOU TO BE IN HOLY CONDUCT AND GODLINESS,

V. 12 – LOOKING FOR AND HASTENING THE COMING OF THE DAY OF GOD, BECAUSE OF WHICH THE HEAVENS WILL BE DESTROYED BY BURNING, AND THE ELEMENTS WILL MELT WITH INTENSE HEAT!

V. 13 – BUT ACCORDING TO HIS PROMISE WE ARE LOOKING FOR NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH, IN WHICH RIGHTEOUSNESS DWELLS.

**** NOW THE QUESTION I ASK FROM V. 13 OF II PETER 3 IS, WHAT FOLLOWS THE CATACLYSMIC JUDGMENT OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH?

5. THE ANSWER IS A NEW HEAVEN, A NEW EARTH, IN WHICH WHAT DWELLS? RIGHTEOUSNESS, NO MORE SIN, IT’S PURE, IT’S NOT CURSED.

* SO PETER PROPHESIED ABOUT THE TIME AND JOHN SEES IT.

** A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH, AS THE FIRST HEAVEN AND FIRST EARTH PASS AWAY, DISSOLVE, THEY ARE NO MORE.

*** AND ONE PHYSICAL FEATURE OF THE NEW EARTH IS GIVEN TO US WHICH SHOWS US WHY THERE WILL BE A NEW ATMOSPHERE OR A NEW HEAVEN, “THERE IS NO LONGER ANY SEA.”

**** NOW WHAT A MAJOR CHANGE, FOR PRESENTLY ABOUT 75% OF THE EARTH’S SURFACE IS COVERED BY WATER.

6. WE LIVE IN A WATER BASED WORLD WITH A LARGE PORTION OF OUR BODIES MADE UP OF WATER, ABOUT 90% OF OUR BLOOD AND 65% PERCENT OF OUR BODIES.

* AND WE NEED WATER TO LIVE AND A LOT OF WATER NOW FOR THE HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE THAT CAUSE WEATHER AND GIVES US RAIN.

** BUT WITHOUT A SEA OR THE OCEANS OF THE WORLD, THERE CAN BE NO HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE, WHICH TELLS US EVERY FEATURE OF LIFE AND CLIMATE BE DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT OR SIMPLY SAID: “NEW.”

*** AND OF COURSE WITH NEW GLORIFIED BODIES WE WILL NOT NEED WATER, NOR WILL WE NEED HYDROLOGICAL CYCLES BECAUSE THE SUN IS NO LONGER A STAR IN THE HEAVEN THAT GIVES LIGHT, FOR THERE IS NO NIGHT AND THE LORD GOD WILL ILLUMINE EVERYTHING, REVELATION 22:1&5.

**** NOW THERE WILL BE WATER IN THE NEW JERUSALEM, FOR IN REVELATION 22:1 IT TALKS ABOUT “A RIVER OF THE WATER OF LIFE, CLEAR AND CRYSTAL, COMING FROM THE THRONE OF GOD.”

7. BUT OBVIOUSLY THIS RIVER WILL BE A DIFFERENT KIND OF RIVER AND WATER WHICH WE’LL TALK ABOUT WHEN WE COME TO REVELATION 22, I CAN’T GIVE YOU ALL THE GOOD STUFF ON ONE SUNDAY.

* BUT KNOW THIS, IN THE NEW HEAVENS AND EARTH, THEY WILL BE RADICALLY DIFFERENT WHICH LEADS US TO ANOTHER NEW THING IN THE ETERNAL STATE, A NEW JERUSALEM, OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, LOOK AT V. 2 PLEASE.

II. A NEW JERUSALEM, (READ V. 2)

A. NOW THE NEXT THING JOHN SEES IN HIS VISION IS THE NEW JERUSALEM.

* AND THERE ARE TWO ADJECTIVES THAT DISTINGUISH THIS JERUSALEM RIGHT FROM THE GET GO FROM THE EARTHLY JERUSALEM.

** NO. 1 JOHN USES THE WORD HOLY TO DESCRIBE IT, HE CALLS IT THE HOLY CITY.

*** AND CERTAINLY THIS DESCRIPTION IS IN CONTRAST TO WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT THE EARTHLY JERUSALEM IN REVELATION 11:8, WHERE IT IS CALLED SODOM, STRESSING IT’S WICKEDNESS.

**** BUT THIS JERUSALEM WILL BE A HOLY CITY, FOR THE HOLY ONE, GOD ALMIGHTY WILL LIVE IN IT AND RULE IT AND THE PEOPLE HE RULES IN IT ARE PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN MADE HOLY BY HIS GRACE.

1. SO IT’S A HOLY CITY, BUT ALSO IT’S A NEW CITY, FOR IT’S ORIGINATION POINT, IT’S SOURCE AND EXISTENCE COMES FROM ABOVE. IT IS TOTALLY NEW AND WAS DESIGNED AND BUILT BY THE CREATOR IN HEAVEN, GOD’S ABODE.

* FOR NOTICE THE PHRASE, “COMING DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN FROM GOD.”

** AND WE SEE THIS SAME PHRASE IN V. 10 OF THIS CHAPTER WHERE IT SAYS: “AND HE CARRIED ME AWAY IN THE SPIRIT TO A GREAT AND HIGH MOUNTAIN, AND SHOWED ME THE HOLY CITY, JERUSALEM, COMING DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN FROM GOD.”

*** AND THEN IN REVELATION 3:12 OUR LORD SAYS TO THE OVERCOMERS (BELIEVERS) IN THE CHURCH AT PHILADELPHIA THESE WORDS: “HE 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.”

**** NOW WHERE DOES THIS CITY COME FROM AGAIN?

2. IT “COMES DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN FROM MY GOD.”

* SO THIS HOLY NEW JERUSALEM IS A HEAVENLY CITY THAT COMES DOWN TO EARTH. IN OTHER WORDS IT WAS CREATED AND PREPARED IN HEAVEN TO COME DOWN TO THE NEW EARTH.

** AND BELOVED IT’S DESIGNED AND BUILT BY GOD, AND THAT CITY WAS THE ONE THAT ABRAHAM WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO BY FAITH IN HEBREWS 11:10, FOR IT SAYS:

*** HEBREWS 11:9 – “BY FAITH HE LIVED AS AN ALIEN IN THE LAND OF PROMISE, AS IN A FOREIGN LAND, DWELLING IN TENTS WITH ISAAC AND JACOB, FELLOW HEIRS OF THE SAME PROMISE;

V. 10 – FOR HE WAS LOOKING FOR THE CITY WHICH HAS FOUNDATIONS, WHOSE ARCHITECT AND BUILDER IS GOD.”

**** NOW THIS CITY IS HEAVEN FOR ABRAHAM AND ALL THE PATRIARCHS, IT WAS THE ULTIMATE PROMISE LAND, FOR NOTICE WITH ME WHAT IS SAID ABOUT IT IN HEBREWS 11:13-16.

3. HEBREWS 11:13 – “ALL THESE DIED IN FAITH, WITHOUT RECEIVING THE PROMISES, BUT HAVING SEEN THEM AND HAVING WELCOMED THEM FROM A DISTANCE, AND HAVING CONFESSED THAT THEY WERE STRANGERS AND EXILES ON THE EARTH.

V. 14 – FOR THOSE WHO SAY SUCH THINGS MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THEY ARE SEEKING A COUNTRY OF THEIR OWN.

V. 15 – AND INDEED IF THEY HAD BEEN THINKING OF THAT COUNTRY FROM WHICH THEY WENT OUT, THEY WOULD HAVE HAD OPPORTUNITY TO RETURN.

V. 16 – BUT AS IT IS, THEY DESIRE A BETTER COUNTRY, THAT IS, A HEAVENLY ONE. THEREFORE GOD IS NOT ASHAMED TO BE CALLED THEIR GOD; FOR HE HAS PREPARED A CITY FOR THEM.”

* NOW THIS FUTURE CITY-HEAVEN, A BETTER COUNTRY, THE PROMISED LAND IS ALSO TALKED ABOUT IN HEBREWS 12:22&23 WHERE IT SAYS:

V. 22 – “BUT YOU HAVE COME TO MOUNT ZION AND TO THE CITY OF THE LIVING GOD, THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM, AND TO MYRIADS OF ANGELS,

V. 23 – TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND CHURCH OF THE FIRSTBORN WHO ARE ENROLLED IN HEAVEN, AND TO GOD, THE JUDGE OF ALL, AND TO THE SPIRITS OF THE RIGHTEOUS MADE PERFECT.”

** AND THEN ONE LAST REFERENCE IN HEBREWS, FOR HEBREWS 13:14 SAYS: “FOR HERE WE DO NOT HAVE A LASTING CITY, BUT WE ARE SEEKING THE CITY WHICH IS TO COME.”

**** NOW THE CITY WHICH IS TO COME IS THE NEW JERUSALEM, WHICH COMES DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN FROM GOD.

**** AND THIS CITY IS UTOPIA, IT IS HEAVEN, THE DWELLING PLACE OF BELIEVERS FROM ALL TIME.

4. FOR WHEN GOD CREATES THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH, THE NEW JERUSALEM WILL DESCEND INTO A PERFECT HEAVEN AND EARTH AND WILL SERVE AS THE DWELLING PLACE OF THE SAVED FOR ALL ETERNITY.

* AND IN ESSENCE, THE NEW JERUSALEM IS THE CAPITAL CITY OF HEAVEN.

** AND JOHN IS NOW GIVEN A SIGHT THAT FOR CENTURIES HAS BEEN A MATTER OF FAITH TO BELIEVERS AND WHAT A SIGHT IT IS.

*** FOR JOHN ENDS V. 2 BY SAYING, “MADE READY AS A BRIDE ADORNED FOR HER HUSBAND.”

**** AND THE SPLENDOR AND BEAUTY OF THIS CITY IS REFLECTED IN THE PICTURE OF A RADIANT BRIDE READY FOR HER WEDDING.

5. AND MADE READY OR PREPARED SHOWS WHAT PREPARATION HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE THIS CITY STANDS FORTH IN ALL IT’S SPLENDOR.

* AND DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT JESUS SAID IN JOHN 14:1-3 IN PREPARING HIS DISCIPLES FOR HIS DEATH: (READ JOHN 14:1-3).

** NOW THE WORD PREPARE USED IN VV. 2&3 IS THE SAME VERB TRANSLATED PREPARED OR MADE READY. SO THIS CITY WILL BE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN ANY BRIDE, AS BEAUTIFUL AS OUR BRIDES WERE AND ARE FOR WE THAT ARE HUSBANDS.

*** BUT ALSO NOTICE IN V. 2 THE WORD “ADORNED” OR “BEAUTIFULLY DRESSED” DEPENDING ON WHICH TRANSLATION YOU HAVE.

**** AND THIS WORD FROM WHICH WE GET OUR ENGLISH WORD COSMETICS SHOWS US THE CARE TAKEN IN PREPARING A BRIDE ON HER WEDDING DAY.

***** AND AS A BRIDE PREPARES FOR HER WEDDING DAY WITH HER GOWN AND HAIR DONE BEAUTIFULLY AND LOOKING HER ABSOLUTE BEST, THE CITY IS THE DIAMOND OF HEAVEN, PREPARED BY CHRIST.

6. AND BELOVED THESE WORDS JUST EXPRESS THE BEAUTY AND SPLENDOR OF THE NEW JERUSALEM THAT HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR BELIEVERS.

* AND IN OUR FUTURE STUDIES OF REVELATION DETAILS WILL BE GIVEN ABOUT THEIR CAPITAL CITY OF HEAVEN THAT ARE INCREDIBLE AND SPECTACULAR.

** AND ALL THE BELIEVERS OF ALL TIME WILL DWELL IN THIS BEAUTIFUL CITY.

*** BUT BEYOND THE BEAUTY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, THERE WILL BE SOMETHING AT LEAST TO ME IS MORE INCREDIBLE THAN IT’S BEAUTY AND THAT IS A NEW NEARNESS, WHICH IS OUR THIRD POINT TODAY, LOOK AT V. 3 PLEASE.

III. A NEW NEARNESS, (READ V. 3)

A. NOW FOR THE 21ST TIME IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION JOHN HEARS A LOUD VOICE, WHICH COMMUNICATED AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF GREAT IMPORTANCE.

* AND THIS ANNOUNCEMENT COMES FORM THE THRONE, THE BETTER TRANSLATION RATHER THAN FROM HEAVEN, FOR THE THRONE IS IN THE OLD MANUSCRIPTS.

** BUT FROM THE THRONE THIS LOUD VOICE WHICH IS NOT IDENTIFIED, POSSIBLY AN ANGEL, SAYS: “BEHOLD THE TABERNACLE OF GOD IS AMONG MEN.”

*** AND THE WORD TABERNACLE LIT. MEANS TENT OR DWELLING PLACE. AND IN THE O.T. THE TABERNACLE WAS THE PLACE WHERE GOD’S GLORY DWELT WITH HIS PEOPLE, IT WAS THE PLACE WHERE GOD’S PRESENCE WOULD DESCEND.

**** IN FACT EXODUS 25:8 SAYS IN REFERENCE TO THIS TABERNACLE AND ITS SANCTUARY: “LET THEM CONSTRUCT A SANCTUARY FOR ME, THAT I MAY DWELL AMONG THEM.”

1. NOW IN THE NEW JERUSALEM, GOD IS GOING TO TABERNACLE, DWELL AMONG HIS PEOPLE PERMANENTLY. FOR THE TABERNACLE WAS A MOVABLE TENT, A PLACE OF WORSHIP IN SACRIFICE IN THE WILDERNESS FOR THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. BUT THE DWELLING WILL BE PERMANENT.

* FOR THE NEXT PHRASE IN V. 3 SAYS: “AND HE WILL DWELL AMONG THEM.”

* AND THE GREEK WORD FOR DWELL IS USED IN JOHN 1:14 IN TALKING ABOUT THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST, AND IT SAYS: (READ IT).

** AND BELOVED IN THE GREAT TRUTH OF THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST, GOD DWELT AMONG MEN, GOD CAME TO SAVE PEOPLE AS EMMANUEL-GOD WITH US.

*** AND WHAT A WONDERFUL TRUTH THAT IS FOR ISAIAH 7:14 SAYS: (READ IT).

**** AND ISAIAH 7:14 IS FULFILLED IN MATTHEW 1:23 WHERE IT SAYS: (READ IT).

2. NOW THE PURPOSE OF GOD BECOMING MAN WAS TO SAVE MAN, TO SAVE PEOPLE HIS PEOPLE, HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS-RIGHT? READ MATTHEW 1:21.

* AND BECAUSE THAT PURPOSE WAS PERFECTLY FULFILLED, ONE DAY GOD WILL DWELL PERMANENTLY WITH THE PEOPLE.

** FOR THE REST OF V. 3 SAYS: “AND THEY SHALL BE HIS PEOPLE, AND GOD HIMSELF WILL BE AMONG THEM.”

*** AND WHY ARE THOSE REDEEMED ONES HIS PEOPLE? BECAUSE OF THE ABSOLUTE SUCCESS OF THE CROSS, THE DESIGN OF CHRIST’S DEATH WAS TO SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS.

**** AND GOD BY GRACE EFFECTIVELY AND EFFECTUALLY SAVES EVERY PERSON CHRIST DIED FOR AND EVERY ONE OF THEM WILL BE IN THE NEW JERUSALEM.

3. AND GOD WILL BE AMONG HIS PEOPLE. BELOVED, GOD WITH US HERE WILL REACH IT’S OPTIMUM AND ULTIMATE MEANING! GOD’S SHEKINAH, HIS PRESENCE, HIS GLORY ARE THERE FOREVER.

* GOD WILL LITERALLY BE AMONG HIS PEOPLE FOREVER. AND YES HE IS WITH EVERY BELIEVER NOW IN THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, BUT HE WILL PHYSICALLY AND PERMANENTLY BE WITH US IN THE NEW JERUSALEM.

** AND THIS IS A NEW NEARNESS, WHICH LEADS TO A FINAL BLESSING IN OUR STUDY TODAY, A NEW ORDER. LOOK AT V. 4 PLEASE.

IV. A NEW ORDER, (READ V. 4)

A. NOW THERE IS A NEW ORDER IN THE NEW JERUSALEM IN THE IN THE NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH, FOR AT THE END OF V. 4 IT SAYS: “THE FIRST THINGS HAVE PASSED AWAY” OR THE FORMER THINGS HAVE PASSED AWAY AND THE NIV SAYS HERE: “FOR THE OLD ORDER OF THINGS HAVE PASSED AWAY.”

* AND THAT TRANSLATION GIVES US THE GIST OF THE MEANING HERE. FOR THE OLD ORDER OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE RELATED TO THE PAIN OF SIN IS GONE FOREVER.

** BELOVED ALL OF SIN’S EFFECTS ARE DONE AWAY WITH, THERE IS A NEW ORDER OF LIFE THAT WILL NO LONGER HAVE TEARS.

*** FOR GOD HIMSELF WILL WIPE AWAY EVERY TEAR FROM OUR EYES. HE WILL GET OUT HIS HEAVENLY HANDKERCHIEF AND WIPE AWAY EVERYONE OF THEM.

**** AND THIS CAN MEAN EITHER THAT THERE ARE NO TEARS EVERY IN HEAVEN, THAT WE HAVE A RETROSPECTIVE LOOK AT THE OLD ORDER OF LIFE WHICH IS FILLED WITH TEARS AT TIMES, TEARS SHED IN OUR LIVES.

1. BUT WE HAVE A NEW ORDER IN HEAVEN WITH NO MORE TEARS, THERE’S NOTHING TO CRY ABOUT.

* OR IT COULD MEAN, AND I’M CERTAINLY NOT BEING DOGMATIC, THAT AFTER THE GREAT WHITE THRONE, WE WILL HAVE TEARS FROM SEEING LOVED ONES WHO DID NOT KNOW CHRIST CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE.

** AND GOD WHO IS WITH US, WIPES EVERY ONE OF THEM AWAY IN A TENDER WAY AND REMOVES THAT IMAGE FROM OUR MINDS FOR ALL ETERNITY.

*** FOR CERTAINLY THINKING ABOUT LOVED ONES IN ETERNAL FIRE WOULD BRING CONTINUAL TEARS. AND CHRONOLOGICALLY REVELATION 21 FOLLOWS THE GREAT WHITE THRONE, SO THAT’S A POSSIBILITY.

**** BUT REGARDLESS, THE CLEAR TRUTH IS NO MORE TEARS. AND THOUGH GOD IN SOME SENSE BOTTLES OUR TEARS IN HIS COMPASSION NOW, PSALM 56:8, THERE WILL BE NO MORE IN THIS PERFECT PLACE.

2. AND REASONS ARE GIVEN FOR NO MORE TEARS, THERE IS NO MORE DEATH.

* MEANING NO MORE FUNERALS, NO MORE GRAVESIDES, NO MORE CASKETS, NO MORE CALLING HOURS, FOR DEATH LEADS TO MOURNING OR SORROW THE NEXT WORLD IN V. 4.

** FOR THE GRIEF THAT PRODUCES SORROW AND MOURNING ARE GONE AND CRYING FROM THAT IS GONE.

*** AND CRYING HERE GOES BEYOND TEARS, IT’S THE OUTCRY, THE VOICE OF TEARS, IT’S THE WAIL OF LOSING SOMEONE-BUT NO MORE CRYING IN HEAVEN.

**** AND FINALLY, NO MORE PAIN. AND BECAUSE OF SIN WE HAVE MENTAL PAIN AND HURT AND BECAUSE OF SIN IN GENERAL AND DETERIORATING CORRUPTIBLE BODIES WE HAVE PHYSICAL PAIN, AND EVEN PAIN FROM LOSING SOMEONE IN THIS CONTEXT.

3. AND BELOVED, NO MORE PAIN FROM ANYTHING IN HEAVEN-PHYSICALLY, EMOTIONALLY OR IN ANY WAY.

* NO MORE PAIN PILLS, NO MORE IBUPROFEN, NO MORE TYLENOL, NO MORE VICODIN, NO MORE MORPHINE, NOR MORE NEED FOR THESE THINGS, FOR THERE IS A NEW ORDER. WOW!

IN WRAP UP: (1) BELIEVER, WHAT A DAY THAT WILL BE, A GLORIOUS DAY. NO MORE TEARS, NO MORE DEATH, NOR MORE MOURNING, NOR MORE CRYING, NO MORE PAIN!

* AND ON TOP OF THAT THE TABERNACLE OF GOD IS AMONG HIS PEOPLE AND WE WILL BE HIS PEOPLE.

** NOW THAT’S ENOUGH, BUT THERE IS MORE TO COME IN TALKING ABOUT THE BEAUTY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM.

*** AND IN APPLICATION, IF YOU’RE WEARY AND WORE DOWN TODAY, DRINK THIS TRUTH IN, BE ENCOURAGED.

**** IF YOU’RE GRIEVING OR IN PAIN, DRINK THESE TRUTHS IN, A NEW ORDER, A NEW WAY OF LIFE IS COMING.

(2) GALATIANS 6:9 SAYS: (READ IT).

* AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS MAY WE THINK MORE ABOUT THESE THINGS AND LONG FOR HEAVEN.

** MAY WE SET OUR AFFECTIONS ON THINGS ABOVE, MAY WE LAY UP TREASURE IN HEAVEN, MAY WE GROAN IN GLORY.

*** AND MAY WE SET THAT HOPE BEFORE US CONTINUALLY.

**** AND MAY WE LIVE WITH THE GLOW OF HEAVEN’S GLORY HERE IN THE NASTY NOW AND NOW.

(3) AND AS WE WALK WITH OUR SAVIOR, MAY THERE BE SWEET FELLOWSHIP NOW THAT GIVES US A TASTE OF HEAVEN.

* FOR OUR LORD IS WITH US NOW AND PROMISES TO NEVER LEAVE US. AND MAY WE LOVE HIM AND HIS PEOPLE AND THE LOST AND KNOW THE JOY OF OBEDIENCE THAT GIVES US A FORETASTE OF GLORY DIVINE.

** AND MAY THAT FORETASTE WET OUR WHISTLES FOR THE LONGING AND JOY OF HEAVEN.

*** FANNY CROSBY WHO WAS BLIND WROTE THESE WORDS:

**** WHEN MY LIFE WORK IS ENDED, AND I CROSS THE SWELLING TIDE, WHEN THE BRIGHT AND GLORIOUS MORNING I SHALL SEE, I SHALL KNOW MY REDEEMER WHEN I REACH THE OTHER SIDE, AND HIS SMILE WILL BE THE FIRST TO WELCOME ME…

(4) THRU THE GATES OF THE CITY IN A ROBE OF SPOTLESS WHITE, HE WILL LEAD ME WHERE NO TEARS WILL EVER FALL; IN THE GLAD SONG OF AGES I SHALL MINGLE WITH DELIGHT BUT I LONG TO MEET MY SAVIOR FIRST OF ALL.

* BELOVED, ONE DAY OUR FAITH WILL BE SIGHT. BUT UNTIL THEN MAY WE BE FOUND FAITHFUL FILLED WITH HOPE. (LET’S PRAY)

V. 1 – THEN 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 SEA.

V. 2 – AND I SAW THE HOLY CITY, NEW

JERUSALEM, COMING DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN

FROM GOD, MADE READY AS A BRIDE ADORNED

FOR HER HUSBAND.

V. 3 – AND I HEARD A LOUD VOICE FROM THE

THRONE, SAYING, “BEHOLD, THE TABERNACLE OF

GOD IS AMONG MEN, AND HE WILL DWELL

AMONG THEM, AND THEY SHALL BE HIS PEOPLE,

AND GOD HIMSELF WILL BE AMONG THEM.

V. 4 – AND HE WILL WIPE AWAY EVERY TEAR

FROM THEIR EYES; AND THERE WILL NO LONGER

BE ANY DEATH; THERE WILL NO LONGER BE

ANY MOURNING, OR CRYING, OR PAIN; THE

FIRST THINGS HAVE PASSED AWAY.