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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 85

TITLE: WHAT'S MISSING?

TEXT: REVELATION 21:22-27

INTRODUCTION: (1) ABOUT 950 B.C. THE EARTHY CITY OF JERUSALEM REACHED ITS APEX OF POWER AND GLORY.

* SOLOMON, THE WISEST KING IN THE WORLD RULED FROM JERUSALEM AS THE SON OF DAVID.

** THE GLORIOUS TEMPLE STOOD AS A TRIBUTE TO THE GOD OF ISRAEL IN ITS SPLENDOR AND GLORY.

*** DIGNITARIES SUCH AS THE QUEEN OF SHEBA CAME SEEKING SOLOMON’S COUNSEL AND BRINGING HIM TREASURE. IN FACT SHE WAS OVERWHELMED BY WHAT SHE SAW.

**** FOR IT SAYS IN I KINGS 10:4-10 –

V. 4 – WHEN THE QUEEN OF SHEBA PERCEIVED ALL THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON, THE HOUSE THAT HE HAD BUILT,

V. 5 – THE FOOD OF HIS TABLE, THE SEATING OF HIS SERVANTS, THE ATTENDANCE OF HIS WAITERS AND THEIR ATTIRE, HIS CUPBEARERS, AND HIS STAIRWAY BY WHICH HE WENT UP TO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, THERE WAS NO MORE SPIRIT IN HER.

V. 6 – THEN SHE SAID TO THE KING, “IT WAS A TRUE REPORT WHICH I HEARD IN MY OWN LAND ABOUT YOUR WORDS AND YOUR WISDOM.

V. 7 – NEVERTHELESS I DID NOT BELIEVE THE REPORTS, UNTIL I CAME AND MY EYES HAD SEEN IT. AND BEHOLD, THE HALF WAS NOT TOLD ME. YOU EXCEED IN WISDOM AND PROSPERITY THE REPORT WHICH I HEARD.

V. 8 – HOW BLESSED ARE YOUR MEN, HOW BLESSED ARE THESE YOUR SERVANTS WHO STAND BEFORE YOU CONTINUALLY AND HEAR YOUR WISDOM.

V. 9 – BLESSED BE THE LORD YOUR GOD WHO DELIGHTED IN YOU TO SET YOU ON THE THRONE OF ISRAEL; BECAUSE THE LORD LOVED ISRAEL FOREVER, THEREFORE HE MADE YOU KING, TO DO JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

V. 10 – SHE GAVE THE KING A HUNDRED AND TWENTY TALENTS OF GOLD, AND A VERY GREAT AMOUNT OF SPICES AND PRECIOUS STONES. NEVER AGAIN DID SUCH ABUNDANCE OF SPICES COME IN AS THAT WHICH THE QUEEN OF SHEBA GAVE KING SOLOMON.

***** NOW THE QUEEN OF SHEBA GAVE SOLOMON, WHO WAS VERY WEALTHY TO BEGIN WITH, THE EQUIVALENT IN OUR DAY OF 4-4½ TONS OF GOLD, WHICH ON THURSDAY WAS WORTH CLOSE TO $900 AN OUNCE.

(2) BUT MORE THAN THAT SHE WAS IN AWE OF SOLOMON AND HIS POSSESSIONS AND WHAT SHE SAW IN JERUSALEM IT SAYS IN I KINGS 10:5 THERE WAS “NO MORE SPIRIT IN HER”, LIT. THE EXPERIENCE LEFT HER BREATHLESS.

* SO JERUSALEM WAS IN ITS HAY DAY IN ABOUT 950 B.C. IT WAS GLORIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL. IT WAS THE GOLDEN AGE FOR THE CITY AND SOLOMON.

** BUT THIS PROVED TO BE A TEMPORARY BLIP IN HISTORY.

*** THE REASON BEING, AFTER SOLOMON’S DEATH, HIS KINGDOM SPLIT IN TWO.

**** IDOLATRY BECAME THE NORM.

(3) AND LATER ON IN GOD’S JUDGMENT, JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE WERE TORCHED BY THE BABYLONIANS IN 586 B.C.

* THE GOLDEN AGE WAS OVER.

** BUT, BUT, JOHN’S VISION OF THE NEW JERUSALEM IN REVELATION 21 SURPASSES THE OLD JERUSALEM AS DIAMONDS SURPASS RHINESTONES, AS GOLD SURPASSES SILVER.

*** AND IN OUR 4 STUDIES OF THE NEW JERUSALEM WE HAVE SEEN SOME GLORIOUS THINGS IN THIS CITY THAT ARE BEYOND IMAGINATION. WE’VE STUDIED SOME STAGGERING DETAILS OF BEAUTY AND SPLENDOR.

**** AND THE NEW JERUSALEM IS DISTINGUISHED BY ITS SIZE, SPLENDOR AND BEAUTY FROM ANY EARTHLY CITY.

(4) BUT IN CONTRAST IN OUR STUDY TODAY, WE WILL SEE THAT THE NEW JERUSALEM IS DISTINGUISHED BY THE THINGS MISSING FROM IT.

* JOHN WILL GIVE US A LIST OF THINGS MISSING IN THE NEW JERUSALEM.

** BUT THE ABSENCE OF THESE THINGS WILL ONLY MAGNIFY ITS GLORY!

*** FOR THERE IS NO TEMPLE THERE, NO NEED OF THE SUN OR MOON, NO NIGHT THERE, ITS GATES WILL NEVER BE CLOSED AND BEST OF ALL, THERE WILL BE NO SIN THERE.

**** NOW THAT ALONE MAKES IT GLORIOUS TO ME REGARDLESS OF ITS GOLD AND JEWELS.

(5) AND MY POINT IS, THE NEW JERUSALEM WHICH IS HEAVEN, THE PLACE BELIEVERS WILL BE FOREVER IN THE ETERNAL STATE IS GLORIOUS BY NOT ONLY WHO’S THERE AND WHAT’S THERE, BUT ALSO BY WHAT IS MISSING.

* THUS THE TITLE OF THE SERMON TODAY, “WHAT’S MISSING?”

** AND UNDER THAT TITLE WE’LL LOOK AT 3 POINTS AS WE WORK THROUGH REVELATION 21:22-27.

*** NO. 1 NO SHRINE, SPEAKING OF NO TEMPLE, NO SANCTUARY, V. 22; NO. 2 NO SUN, VV. 23-26; AND NO. 3 NO SIN, V. 27.

**** SO WHAT’S MISSING, THE SHRINE, THE SUN AND SIN.

(6) AND WITH THAT OUTLINE AS OUR COMPASS, LOOK AT REVELATION 21:22 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, NO SHRINE.

I. NO SHRINE, (READ V. 22)

A. NOW FOR THE LAST TIME IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION JOHN USES THE EXPRESSION “I SAW” FOR A TOTAL OF 39 TIMES IN THE BOOK.

* AND JOHN USES THIS PHRASE TO COMMUNICATE WHAT HE SAW IN THE VISION GOD GAVE HIM OF THINGS TO COME WHILE HE WAS EXILED ON THE ISLAND OF PATMOS.

** AND WHAT JOHN SEES AS HE IS NOW INSIDE THE NEW JERUSALEM IN HIS VISION IS, THERE IS NO TEMPLE THERE.

*** AND THE WORD TEMPLE IS THE GREEK WORD NA-OOCE WHICH IS NORMALLY TRANSLATED TEMPLE IN THE N.T., BUT IT IS ALSO TRANSLATED SHRINE AND SANCTUARY.

**** AND THIS PARTICULAR GREEK WORD COMES FROM A ROOT WORD WHICH MEANS “TO DWELL.”

1. AND THERE IS NO TEMPLE BUILDING IN THE NEW JERUSALEM BECAUSE THE NEW JERUSALEM IS GOD’S TEMPLE, IT IS THE PLACE THAT HE DWELLS IN THE ETERNAL STATE. THE CITY ITSELF IS THE TEMPLE.

* THE NEW JERUSALEM IS THE PLACE THAT GOD HAS CHOSEN TO DWELL IN THE FUTURE.

** AND THROUGHOUT REDEMPTIVE HISTORY GOD HAS CHOSEN TO DWELL AT OR IN CERTAIN PLACES.

*** TO ILLUSTRATE THAT, IN THE DAYS OF MOSES GOD ESTABLISHED THE TABERNACLE, A TENT OF MEETING WHERE THE LORD GOD WOULD COME TO DWELL IN THE MIDST OF THE PEOPLE IN WHAT WAS KNOWN AS THE HOLY OF HOLIES.

**** UNDER THE REIGN OF SOLOMON THIS WAS TRANSLATED TO THE TEMPLE.

2. AND THEN OUR LORD JESUS WOULD COME TO DWELL OR TABERNACLE WITH PEOPLE AS GOD WITH US AND BECOME THE ULTIMATE AND COMPLETE SACRIFICE FOR SIN.

* AND SHORTLY AFTER JESUS ASCENDED, THE HOLY SPIRIT WOULD COME TO DWELL IN THE BELIEVER’S BODY WHICH BECOMES THE TEMPLE OF GOD IN THE CHURCH AGE.

** AND THEN IN THE 1,000 YEAR KINGDOM ON THE EARTH A MEMORIAL TEMPLE IS BUILT TALKED ABOUT IN EZEKIEL 40-47.

*** HOWEVER IN THE ETERNAL STATE, THE LORD GOD THE ALMIGHTY, GOD THE FATHER, AND THE LAMB, GOD THE SON ARE ITS TEMPLE.

**** THERE IS A TEMPLE IN THE NEW ORDER, BUT NONE LIKE WE’VE SEEN BEFORE IN REDEMPTIVE HISTORY.

3. AND THE FATHER AND SON’S BLAZING BRIGHT GLORY WILL FILL THE NEW JERUSALEM AND THERE WILL BE NO NEED FOR ANYONE TO GO ANYWHERE TO WORSHIP GOD.

* AND WORSHIP WILL BE A WAY OF LIFE FOR BELIEVERS CONSTANTLY ARE IN THE LIT. PHYSICAL PRESENCE OF THE LORD.

** THERE WILL NEVER BE A MOMENT WHEN THEY ARE NOT IN PERFECT, HOLY COMMUNION WITH THE LORD GOD THE ALMIGHTY AND THE LAMB.

*** THUS, THERE WILL BE NO NEED TO GO TO A TABERNACLE, A TEMPLE, A CHAPEL, A CATHEDRAL OR A CHURCH OR ANY OTHER KIND OF HOUSE OF WORSHIP.

**** THE OLD ORDER HAS PASSED AWAY.

4. AND TWO QUICK APPLICATIONS BEFORE I MOVE ONTO V. 23.

* NO. 1 WORSHIP SHOULD BE A WAY OF LIFE FOR TRUE BELIEVERS NOW. AND YES CORPORATE WORSHIP ON THE LORD’S DAY IS SPECIAL AS IT OVERFLOWS, AS IT FLOODS OUR CORPORATE GATHERING, AS WE HAVE BEEN A WORSHIPPING PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK IN OUR WALK WITH THE LORD, IT WILL SPILL OVER.

** AND THE HEAT OF YOUR WORSHIP CORPORATELY IS DETERMINED BY YOUR WORSHIP DURING THE WEEK AND PREPARATION AHEAD OF TIME.

*** AND GREAT WORSHIP OF OUR GREAT GOD DURING THE WEEK LEADS TO GREAT WORSHIP CORPORATELY.

**** AND LUKEWARM WORSHIP DURING THE WEEK LEADS TO LUKEWARM LETHARGIC WORSHIP ON THE LORD’S DAY.

5. AND WORSHIP IS A WHOLE LOT MORE THAN SINGING. IT IS PRAYING, GIVING, SERVICE, PRAISE THAT IS ROOTED AND FLOWING THROUGH TRUTH OF THE WORD OF GOD BEING PROCLAIMED AND APPLIED, READ JOHN 4:24 (ILLUSTRATE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SAMARITAN WORSHIP AND JEWISH WORSHIP AND SPIRIT AND TRUTH WORSHIP)

* AND TOUCHY FEELY SONGS AND SERMONS DON’T PRODUCE WORSHIP BUT ONLY GOOD VIBES AND FEELINGS THAT WON’T GET YOU THROUGH THE REST OF SUNDAY WHEN YOUR NEXT TEMPTATIONS AND TRIAL COMES.

** NO. 2 BELIEVER, OUR BODIES ARE THE TEMPLE OF GOD, THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TODAY, READ I CORINTHIANS 6:19&20.

*** AND IF OUR BODIES ARE THE TEMPLE OF GOD AND WE ARE TO YIELD OUR BODIES TO THE LORD AS LIVING SACRIFICES, ROMANS 12:1, WE OUGHT TO TAKE CARE OF THEM, NOT WORSHIP THEM, BUT TAKE CARE OF THEM BY BEING GOOD STEWARDS.

**** AND SOMETIMES WE MINIMIZE THAT AND WE DON’T EAT RIGHT, TAKE CARE OF THESE BODIES THAT ARE THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. WE DON’T PUT GOOD FUEL IN SO OUR BODIES DON’T RUN RIGHT AND WE ARE NOT AS EFFICIENT AS WE CAN BE FOR THE LORD. AND FOR THOSE WHO HAVE THE HEALTH TO EXERCISE, IT IS GOOD FOR THE BODY, THERE IS SOME PROFIT, WITH EXERCISING OURSELVES FIRST FOR THE PURPOSE OF GODLINESS, I TIMOTHY 4:8.

- I TIMOTHY 4:8 – “FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING IS OF SOME VALUE, BUT GODLINESS HAS VALUE FOR ALL THINGS, HOLDING PROMISE FOR BOTH THE PRESENT LIFE AND THE LIFE TO COME.”

6. NOW WITH THOSE APPLICATIONS SET BEFORE US, LET’S GO BACK TO REVELATION 21:23 WHERE WE’LL START TO SEE OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, NO SUN. LOOK AT V. 23 PLEASE.

II. NO SUN, (READ V. 23)

A. NOW JOHN IS STRUCK BY SOMETHING ELSE THAT IS MISSING IN THE NEW JERUSALEM, THERE IS NO SUN OR MOON.

* AND I REALIZE IT SAYS THERE IS NO NEED OF THE SUN OR MOON HERE, BUT IN ISAIAH 60:19&20, ISAIAH THE PROPHET LOOKS BEYOND THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM AND SEES A VISION OF THE NEW JERUSALEM AND SAYS:

** ISAIAH 60:19 – NO LONGER WILL YOU HAVE THE SUN FOR LIGHT BY DAY, NOR FOR BRIGHTNESS WILL THE MOON GIVE YOU LIGHT; BUT YOU WILL HAVE THE LORD FOR AN EVERLASTING LIGHT, AND YOUR GOD FOR YOUR GLORY.

V. 20 – YOUR SUN WILL NO LONGER SET, NOR WILL YOUR MOON WANE; FOR YOU WILL HAVE THE LORD FOR AN EVERLASTING LIGHT, AND THE DAYS OF YOUR MOURNING WILL BE OVER.”

*** NOW AS WE HAVE A NEW HEAVEN, A NEW EARTH, THERE IS NO MORE NEED FOR THE SUN OR MOON WITH NO SEA AND NO NIGHT.

**** AND A SIMPLE READING OF THE PASSAGE CONVEYS THE IDEA THAT THESE LUMINARIES SO ESSENTIAL TO THE OLD ORDER ARE NO LONGER THERE TO FULFILL THEIR FUNCTION FOR THEY ARE NO LONGER NEEDED.

1. THE REASON BEING THE GLORY OF GOD ILLUMINES THE NEW JERUSALEM AND ITS LAMP IS CHRIST THE LAMB.

* SO IT WILL BE AN ETERNAL TIME OF CONSTANT BRIGHTNESS AND BRILLIANCE.

** AND THAT GOD HIMSELF SHOULD BE THE LIGHT OF THE CITY AS HIS ESSENCE IS RADIANT AND GLOWING, AND THIS TRUTH IS EXPRESSED IN THE O.T. COMPARING GOD TO LIGHT.

*** AND THIS ALSO CORRELATES WITH JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF BEING THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, READ JOHN 8:12, JOHN 3:19.

**** AND THEN I JOHN 1:5-7 SAYS:

V. 5 – “THIS IS THE MESSAGE WE HAVE HEARD FROM HIM AND ANNOUNCE TO YOU, THAT GOD IS LIGHT, AND IN HIM THERE IS NO DARKNESS AT ALL.”

2. AND SINCE GOD IS LIGHT AND IS THE SOURCE OF LIGHT IN THE NEW JERUSALEM, THERE IS NO NEED FOR THE SUN AND MOON, FOR THEY WILL BE MISSING.

* AND THE NATIONS WILL WALK BY ITS LIGHT IN V. 24 AS LIGHT CONTINUES TO BE PART OF THE TRUTH COMMUNICATED. LOOK AT V. 24 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 24. NOW VV. 24&26 ARE DIFFICULT TO INTERPRET AND A LOT OF DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS ARE GIVEN IN TALKING ABOUT WHO THE NATIONS ARE AND WHO THE KINGS OF THE EARTH ARE.

* WELL FIRST OF ALL, THE WORD NATIONS IS THE GREEK WORD ETH-NOCE FROM WHICH WE GET OUR ENGLISH WORD ETHNIC AND LIT. MEANS PEOPLE AND IS MOST FREQUENTLY TRANSLATED GENTILES.

** AND THE IDEA IN THIS CONTEXT IS ALL THE PEOPLE REGARDLESS OF ETHNIC BACKGROUND WILL BE ONE PEOPLE IN THE NEW JERUSALEM. NATIONAL IDENTITIES WILL NOT BE PRESERVED IN THE ETERNAL STATE FOR SAVED PEOPLE FROM EVERY TONGUE, TRIBE AND NATION, BOTH JEWS AND GENTILES WILL BE UNITED AS GOD’S PEOPLE. THERE IS NO RACIAL OR NATIONAL IDENTITIES.

*** AND SIMPLY SAID ALL REDEEMED PEOPLES WILL DWELL IN HEAVEN’S LIGHT AND IF YOU SUBSTITUTE THE WORD “PEOPLES” FOR “NATIONS” THIS IDEA WORKS IN THE TEXT.

**** AND THEN THE WORD KINGS LIT. MEANS LEADERS, COMMANDERS, LORDS, THOSE IN AUTHORITY. AND INDIVIDUALS THAT WERE EARTHLY LEADERS LIKE PRESIDENTS, PRIME MINISTERS, KINGS, SENATORS, ETC, WHO WERE REDEEMED, NO LONGER ARE IN AUTHORITY IN THIS NEW ORDER.

1. IN OTHER WORDS THIS PHRASE MAY MEAN AND I’M CERTAINLY NOT BEING DOGMATIC HERE ON ANY OF THIS, BUT IT MAY MEAN THERE IS NO SOCIAL OR CLASS STRUCTURE.

* THERE IS ABSOLUTE EQUALITY IN THE ETERNAL STATE, EVERYONE IS AT THE SAME LEVEL, FOR WHAT DO THESE KINGS DO?

** THEY BRING THEIR GLORY INTO IT. THEY BRING THEIR EARTHLY GLORY INTO IT OF WHAT THEY WERE AND AS THEY COME INTO THE ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER OF THE CITY WHERE GOD IS, FOR REMEMBER THE CITY IS HUGE, WHEN THEY COME IN TO THE BROADWAY, MAIN AREA, THEY BOW AND THEIR FORMER GLORY AS WORLD LEADERS IS ECLIPSED BY GOD’S GLORY AND LIGHT.

*** FOR THE PEOPLE WILL WALK, LIT. LIVE BY ITS LIGHT AND THE LEADERS BRING THEIR GLORY INTO IT AND THEIR GLORY IS NOT SEEN IN THE LIGHT OF GOD’S GLORY.

**** AND TO BE TRANSPARENT, THE OTHER INTERPRETATIONS I HAVE READ ABOUT DO NOT FLOW IN THIS CONTEXT AT ALL, EVEN THOUGH THIS ONE I’M GIVING YOU IS NOT CLEAR.

2. BUT OTHER ONES ARE THESE ARE PEOPLE SAVED DURING THE MILLENNIUM AND STILL HAVE NATIONAL BODIES AND LIVE ON THE NEW EARTH WITH RULERS AND KINGS DOES NOT GO HERE NOR THAT UNSAVED KINGS COME FROM OUTSIDE AND BRING THEIR GLORY INTO IT.

* ALSO I DO NOT BELIEVE WE GO BACK TO THE MILLENNIUM HERE WHEN THE CLEAR CONTEXT IS THE NEW JERUSALEM.

** BUT WHATEVER IT MEANS, THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY AND THE LAMB HAVE THE SPOTLIGHT AS THEIR GLORY LIGHTS UP THE PLACE. AND THERE WILL BE NO NIGHT THERE, LOOK AT V. 25 PLEASE.

C. READ V. 25. NOW TWO FACTS ARE DISCLOSED BY JOHN IN V. 25 THAT SEPARATE THE NEW JERUSALEM FROM ALL OTHER EARTHLY CITIES.

* NO. 1 THERE IS NO NIGHT THERE. AND OF COURSE IN OUR WORLD THAT IS A PART OF THE 24 HOUR CYCLE. WE HAVE NIGHT, MOST PEOPLE REST AND WE RISE AND START A NEW DAY.

** BUT THERE ARE NO MORE SUN RISES, NO MORE SOLAR DAYS, NO MORE MOON TO REFLECT THE SUN AND BRING LIGHT TO THE NIGHT, FOR THERE IS NO MORE NIGHT.

*** AND IT REALLY MAKES SENSE FOR GLORIFIED PERFECT BODIES NEED NO REST AND OUR LIVES WILL BE FULL OF CONTINUOUS ACTIVITY, LIKE ANGELS.

**** BUT NO. 2 UNLIKE OLD CITIES IN BIBLICAL TIMES WHICH WOULD SHUT THEIR GATES FOR PROTECTION FROM ENEMIES AT NIGHT, THE 12 PEARLY GATES OF THE NEW JERUSALEM WILL NEVER BE SHUT, THEY ARE ENTRANCES AND EXITS TO THE NEW EARTH, THEY ARE NOT BARRIERS.

1. AND CERTAINLY THIS DEPICTS THE CITY’S COMPLETE SECURITY. IT WILL BE A PLACE OF SAFETY AND SECURITY.

* AND ALL OF GOD’S ENEMIES AND ALL OF THE UNSAVED HAVE BEEN DEALT WITH IN REVELATION 20 SO CRIME WILL BE NON-EXISTENT AND THERE WILL BE NO MORE CRIMINALS.

** AND MANY TIMES CRIME TAKES PLACE AT NIGHT, BUT WITH NO MORE NIGHT THERE, ALL THAT GOES ALONG WITH THE NIGHT AND DARKNESS ARE ELIMINATED. EVIL AND DARKNESS GO HAND IN HAND, BUT ARE NO MORE.

*** BELOVED, THE OLD ORDER OF THINGS HAVE PASSED AWAY, A NEW ETERNAL HOLY ORDER IS SET UP.

**** AND WITH THAT SAID, LOOK AT V. 26 PLEASE.

D. READ V. 26. NOW THE THOUGHT OF V. 24 IS REPEATED HERE IN A WIDER CONTEXT.

* AND ALL GLORY AND HONOR RIGHTFULLY BELONG TO THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY AND THE LAMB, THEY BELONG TO OUR CREATOR AND OUR REDEEMER, READ REVELATION 4:11.

** AND SINCE ALL GLORY AND HONOR BELONG TO OUR CREATOR, “THEY WILL BRING THE GLORY AND HONOR OF THE NATIONS,” LIT. THE PEOPLES INTO IT.

*** AND JOHN MACARTHUR IN HIS COMMENTARY ON REVELATION 12-22 SAYS AT THIS POINT AND I QUOTE:

**** “THE KINGS WILL NOT BE THE ONLY ONES TO SURRENDER THEIR EARTHLY PRESTIGE AND GLORY WHEN THEY ENTER INTO HEAVEN, THE GLORY AND HONOR OF THE NATIONS WILL ALSO DISSOLVE, AS IT WERE, INTO THE ETERNAL WORSHIP OF GOD THE FATHER AND THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.” (END QUOTE)

1. AND BELOVED THE FORMER LEADERS OF THE EARTH THAT HAVE BEEN SAVED AND ALL THE PEOPLE COME BEFORE THE THRONE AND ASCRIBE ALL THE GLORY AND PRAISE TO THE WORTHY ONE.

* WHICH LEADS US TO ONE LAST THING THAT IS MISSING IN THE NEW JERUSALEM IN V. 27 AND THAT IS SIN. NO SIN WILL ENTER THE CITY. LOOK AT V. 27 PLEASE.

III. NO SIN, (READ V. 27)

A. NOW ALL IN HEAVEN, ALL IN THE NEW JERUSALEM WILL BE PERFECTLY HOLY MADE RIGHTEOUS BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB.

* THUS NOTHING UNCLEAN WILL EVER COME INTO THE CITY. AND THE WORD UNCLEAN OR IMPURE OR THAT DEFILETH, DEPENDING ON WHICH TRANSLATION YOU HAVE LIT. MEANS UNHALLOWED, THAT WHICH IS COMMON, THAT WHICH IS UNHOLY.

** BELOVED THERE WILL NEVER BE A FALL AGAIN IN HUMAN HISTORY AS WE SEE IN GENESIS 3. THERE WILL NEVER BE A DO OVER, A NEW PLAN OF REDEMPTION, THE OLD ORDER HAS PASSED AWAY.

*** AND NOTHING UNCLEAN WILL EVER ENTER INTO HEAVEN, WHICH IS A COMPREHENSIVE STATEMENT, AND THEN JOHN SINGLES OUT TWO SPECIFIC ILLUSTRATIONS OF SOMETHING UNHOLY.

**** NO. 1 THOSE WHO PRACTICE ABOMINATION. AND THE WORD ABOMINATION HERE LIT. MEANS SOMETHING FOUL AND DETESTABLE, LIKE IDOLATRY.

1. AND CERTAINLY IDOLATERS WILL NOT ENTER INTO HEAVEN.

* AND NO. 2 THOSE WHO PRACTICE LYING, FOR LYING IS THE ANTITHESIS OF TRUTH. AND GOD IS A GOD OF TRUTH, HIS WORD IS TRUTH, THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH AND JESUS IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE.

** AND SO THOSE WHO PRACTICE LYING GIVE EVIDENCE BY THEIR BEHAVIOR THAT THEY ARE NOT CHRISTIANS.

*** AND I KNOW THIS IS A REPEATED IDEA IN SCRIPTURE, BUT CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE CHARACTERIZED AS THE MOST HONEST PEOPLE IN SOCIETY, AS PEOPLE OF INTEGRITY, FOR WE ARE GOD LIKE WHEN WE LIVE THIS WAY.

**** AND OF COURSE THE GOD OF THE WORLD-SATAN IS A LIAR AND THE FATHER OF IT, JOHN 8:44.

2. SO OUR HONESTY OR LACK OF IT, REVEALS WHO OUR FATHER IS.

* AND THEN AT THE END OF V. 27, WHO IS ULTIMATELY IN HEAVEN-THE NEW JERUSALEM? THOSE WHOSE NAMES ARE WRITTEN IN THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE.

** AND THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE IS THE COMPLETE REGISTER OF THE REDEEMED FROM CREATION TO ETERNITY, THOSE WRITTEN IN BY THE SOVEREIGN GRACE OF GOD.

AND IN WRAP UP: (1) VERSE 27 IS A WARNING. IT IS A WARNING TO THE READER THAT THE ONLY WAY TO ENTER THE CITY OF THE FUTURE IS BY BECOMING A FOLLOWER OF THE LAMB RIGHT NOW.

* JOHN ISSUES A WARNING BY TELLING HIS READERS THAT THEY ARE STILL LIVING IN THE DAY OF GRACE.

** BUT WHEN THE END COMES, NO OPPORTUNITY WILL BE GIVEN FOR REPENTANCE.

*** SALVATION FROM SIN TAKES PLACE IN THE PRESENT LIFE, NOT THE AFTERLIFE. NOW IS THE TIME TO HEED THE WARNING AND REPENT OF SIN AND TURN TO CHRIST ALONE BY FAITH ALONE IN HIM.

**** SO IN JOHN’S DAY, TO OUR DAY, WE HAVE A REMINDER THAT NOTHING UNCLEAN WILL ENTER INTO HEAVEN.

(2) AND WHY WOULD JOHN WRITE THIS TO SEVEN CHURCHES IN HIS DAY?

* BECAUSE IN JOHN’S DAY AND EVEN MORE IN OUR DAY, IN THE PROFESSING CHURCH THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT CONVERTED, THAT ARE POSERS, PROFESSORS, NOT POSSESSORS.

** SO HOW DO YOU KNOW? IF YOU PRACTICE ABOMINATION AND LYING YOU WILL NOT ENTER INTO HEAVEN.

*** AND I CORINTHIANS 6:9-11 GIVES US A LIST OF THE UNRIGHTEOUS THAT WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND I WANT TO LOOK AT IT AND CLOSE.

**** I CORINTHIANS 6:9-11 SAYS:

V. 9 – OR DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT THE UNRIGHTEOUS WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD? DO NOT BE DECEIVED; NEITHER FORNICATORS, NOR IDOLATERS, NOR ADULTERERS, NOR EFFEMINATE, NOR HOMOSEXUALS.

V. 10 – NOR THIEVES, NOR THE COVETOUS, NOR DRUNKARDS, NOR REVILERS, NOR SWINDLERS, WILL INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

V. 11 – SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU; BUT YOU WERE WASHED, BUT YOU WERE SANCTIFIED, BUT YOU WERE JUSTIFIED IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND IN THE SPIRIT OF OUR GOD.

3. NOW THIS IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF SINNERS, BUT IT GIVES US A PRETTY GOOD OVERVIEW OF SOME. AND IF YOU AS YOUR PRACTICE OF LIFE ARE IN ANY OF THESE SINS, YOU ARE NOT SAVED.

* BUT THERE IS GOOD NEWS IN V. 11, “SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU.”

** MEANING GOD SAVES FORNICATORS, GOD SAVES DRUNKARDS, GOD SAVES HOMOSEXUALS AND GOD SAVES THIEVES. HE SAVES ALL KINDS OF SINNERS.

*** AND ROMANS 6:23 SAYS: (READ IT).

**** IS HEAVEN, THE BEAUTIFUL NEW JERUSALEM GOING TO BE YOUR ETERNAL HOME? FINALLY WHAT’S MISSING IN THE NEW JERUSALEM? UNSAVED PEOPLE. COME TO THE SAVIOR TODAY AND REPENT AND TRUST HIM ALONE.