Please almighty God to bless
us indeed as we meditate in his holy word this evening. Let's
turn to the book of the Revelation and chapter 21 and we'll read
verses 6 and 7. The book of the Revelation chapter
21 and reading verses 6 and 7. And he said unto me, it is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. I will give unto him that is
a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit
all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. We should recognise that the
Revelation has much of it in what we think of as figurative
language. We have a picture but it doesn't
necessarily mean that it's going to be worked out in the same
way that you and I might interpret it at face value. But we should
realise that God has written this for God's people's encouragement
and instruction and therefore we shouldn't pass by it. We're
thankful that in this book there is a few elements relating to
the afterlife, either in heaven or in hell. There's not very
much in the scriptures about these situations, but we should
be thankful that we have something of it in these books, or in this
book rather. And this particular chapter commences
with a statement. And it says, And I saw a new
heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth
were passed away, and there was no more sea. So we know that
John here, when he had this vision, he was on the Isle of Patmos,
and he had many things shown to him. And here he was told
that there would be a new heaven and a new earth, and that the
first heaven and the first earth, which is what we know today,
this earth that you and I are on, on the first earth, and the
heavens that we see are the first heavens, but we know from the
scriptures that when the Lord returns, which we know he will
do, these will be removed or at least burnt up, so they will
not exist in the form that you and I know them and in their
place. there will be a new heaven and
a new earth. So we should recognize then that
those things that you and I are familiar with and all that it
entails, as we know in this world since Adam and Eve were on the
earth and they committed that what we term as original sin
when Eve listened to Satan and disobeyed the Word of God. Sin entered into the world. And ever since that time we've
lived in a sinful world. And we see scenes all around
us which show clearly that we live in a fallen world and so
much sin exists and appears to increase but there will be a
time when this earth will be burnt up and the heavens will
pass away and there will be new heavens and a new earth and those
will be without sin there will not be any sin and there never
will be any sin and so there will be that wonderful, perfect
and glorious environment for the Church of God to look forward
to. But there are two sides, as we
know. There are two sides, those who
worship the Lord and those who worship the devil. And we're
given some little clue as to what the new heaven and new earth
will be like. We're also given a clue as to
what the other side will be and in the 8th verse we read about
the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers
and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone
which is the second death. So that's the position that those
who are not believers those who do not understand the great truth
of scripture have never turned to the Lord with repentance,
that they will be cast into that lake of fire, there to live forever. It's a very frightful picture,
isn't it? And I suppose we don't speak about it very often, but
the Word of God is very clear, and we should be very fearful
because there are only two places. One is the glory of heaven and
the other is the terrible condition of hell. And all of us will be
found in either of those places. So it's a solemn reality, isn't
it, to think that unless we know the Lord as our saviour, unless
we believe the glorious truths of the gospel, we will indeed
be cast into that lake of burning and that lake of fire to spend
eternity and it's very hard as I've often spoken to you and
told you about eternity how it's beyond our comprehension to think
how long it is because it's not in time And you and I understand
time. We know what years are, and months,
and weeks, and so on. We know what time is, but we
don't really know what eternity is. All we know is that it goes
on forever, and ever, and ever, and there is no end. And there's
no escape from that terrible, terrible condition. And so all
of us should be very, very concerned to know that we are right with
God and that we are amongst those who, by His grace, believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ as our great and glorious saviour and
be amongst those who are therefore looking forward to the new earth
and the new heavens because we know it will be a most wonderful
place and there will be no sin and there will be no sadness
and there will be no sorrow and everything would be perfect like
it was in the beginning when God created the heavens and the
earth when he put Adam and Eve into that Garden of Eden it was
a perfect environment and then they sinned and disobeyed God
and they lost that perfect environment and what they lost, the whole
family of God, all those born on the earth. have lost also. So as we look around, what do
we see? We see sadness and sorrow, don't
we? Pain, crying, people upset, people
sad. We see murders, we see fornication,
we see so many evils. We see people telling lies so
freely it seems to get worse and worse and that's all because
of that original sin which occurred in that Garden of Eden. just
after creation. So it's a very sad reminder that
we face today the effects of that sin. But by the grace of
God, if we are amongst those who are believers, we can look
forward to the wonderful blessing of a new earth and a new heaven. And what a wonderful blessing
it will be because we will have a King and that King will be
the Lord Jesus Christ. And we will be able to worship
Him and the Father and the Holy Spirit for all that they have
done for us and for that great plan of salvation. to realise
that before us then stretches out an eternity of bliss and
an eternity of happiness. But the great and important question
for each one of us is, will we be there? Will we be there? Will you and I be in heaven,
in new heaven? Or will we not be? And so easily
the devil tries to convince us that is not very important, it's
not very relevant. In any event, it may not be true. And in any event, we're relatively
young and we need not worry about those things. Well, the Lord,
in his mercy, has given us his word to warn us that these things
will occur. There will be an end to this
earth as we know it. It will all be burnt up and it
won't remain as it is. How often people have said, well,
things have continued and they're going to. But as you and I look
around, and it's good sometimes to just look around and we can
see how bad the world is getting, how sinful it's getting, how
it's departing farther, and farther from God and we're told in the
Word of God there will be wars and there will be earthquakes
and volcanoes which we see don't we today and we see them occurring
at greater regularity and in some cases more severe and it
really is a sign of the times and God has given us these pictures
and he's given us his word to warn us. We shouldn't therefore
think when it's irrelevant. It's probably the most relevant
thing that you and I can think about. the end of all things,
and to think, where shall I spend eternity? It's a great question,
isn't it? It's a question that all of us
need to be able to answer in the affirmative, to know that
it is well with our soul, and it will only be well with our
soul if we are amongst those who truly believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ, who have truly repented of our sins. See, those two things go together. The Word of God tells us to repent
and believe the Gospel. We've all heard that phrase,
that truth, I'm quite sure. But you know, perhaps we cast
it aside and thought, well, it's irrelevant to me. But the truth
is it's very relevant to every one of us, because not only we
know that the world will end, we know that you and I will die,
and how important it is to be ready, to know that our soul
is right with God, to know that the Lord Jesus Christ has died
indeed upon Calvary's cross to redeem our soul. There are many,
many truths in the Word of God to encourage us and to instruct
us, and in the first epistle of John and the fifth chapter,
we can read these words. Fourth verse, for who whatsoever
is born of God overcometh the world, and this is a victory. that overcometh the world, even
our faith? Who is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? We don't need a dictionary to
understand what those words mean. But they're very clear, isn't
it? And whatsoever is born of God, that means to be born again. That means to have a new God-given
spiritual life. And how necessary that is, you
will remember, I expect, I often refer to it, in the Gospel of
John in the third chapter where Nicodemus came to God Jesus when
he was on the earth and spoke to him and asked him what would
happen and what must he do? and the Lord Jesus Christ told
him very plainly you must be born again and that's not my
words that's the glorious words of the Saviour now Nicodemus
couldn't understand it to begin with and most people can't understand
it but it means that you and I are born again by the Spirit
of God that we become a new creature that means we have a new outlook
a new outlook on life and that outlook is an eternal outlook
we look beyond the things of this world to those things which
will come when this world is burnt up and so God has given
us such a direct picture for you and me to consider as to
whether we are born again of the Spirit and Jesus confirms
to Nicodemus and he said you must be born again How important
that is for us today. So many people in the world totally
ignore such a truth as that. They think the Word of God is
fables, it's not accurate, and it doesn't relate really to their
lives and therefore they ignore it. Well, you and I today are
wonderfully blessed to have the Bible to read. But the solemn
reality is, therefore, that you and I are without excuse. Because there will come that
day when you and I will stand before God on that great, there
will be that great white throne. And that's told us in the previous
chapter, in the 20th chapter of Revelation. And John said,
and I saw a great white throne. And him that sat on it, from
whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there was found
no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God." You see, everybody will stand before
God just to ponder that. You and I will stand there. There's
no escape. No escape. You and I will stand before God
on that day of judgment. And the books were opened. Another
book was opened, which is the book of life. and the dead were
judged out of those things which are written in the books according
to their works. Well what a blessing if your
name and my name is written in the book of life and to hear
our name called out that we are eternally safe. What a blessing
that is and how relevant it is and how important it is And that's
why we have the Word of God to reveal these things to us. So
there will be that great white throne and there will be the
judge of all the earth, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will be our
judge and we won't be able to say, well of course I never realised
it and of course I thought it wasn't perhaps true. You and
I will be utterly without excuse. I'm sure we'll be dumb, unable
to justify ourselves because we will be under the judgment
of Almighty God. So what a great and solemn situation
that will be. What a mercy for us today then,
if we recognize these words as true. And so the Lord tells us
here in the sixth verse, and he said unto me, it is done.
Now remember, this was a vision, given to John and he's telling
us what that vision was and here he's had a picture and spoken
to John of those things which would come about and he was told
and I heard a great voice out of heaven saying behold the tabernacle
of God is with men and he will dwell with them And they shall
be his people, and God himself shall be with them and their
God. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former
things are passed away. And then we have the picture,
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things
new. And he said unto me, Write, for
these words are faithful and true. Don't think that these
are just the words of man. in the words of Almighty God,
which in His great favour have been written down for you and
me today. Not only written down, but translated
into our language. So it's a wonderful blessing
for us to have these things and then to realise the truth of
God's Word. He says, I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the end, that all always has been. always has
been, from eternity past, and always will be, Alpha and Omega. And so he comes and says, I will
give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water
of life freely. I wonder whether you and I have,
what we might term, spiritually thirsted after the Lord Jesus
Christ. to really desire that we might
know that He is that One who has stood in our place and bore
the punishment due to us. that we might be eternally safe. Well, he was indeed the water
of life and we can read the wonderful account in the fourth chapter
of John may be familiar to you. There's a woman of Samaria and
Jesus came and he passed through Samaria. He had to pass through
Samaria because he had to meet this woman. And what a blessing
if in a similar way the Lord's come to you and me. Perhaps come
to our house. Perhaps no one else has known
about it. Come to our house. and visited us, because we read
here, and he must needs go through Samaria. And he came to the city
of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that
Jacob gave. And Jacob's well was there. And there cometh a
woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me
to drink. Well, that was unusual because
males never normally talked to women, and especially a woman
of Samaria. The disciples had gone away and
Jesus was there by himself. And the woman questioned Jesus
and said, How is it that thou being a Jew askest drink of me,
which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings
with the Samaritans. Jesus answered her, If thou knewest
the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to
drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given
thee living water. Well, I wonder, with our position,
whether we've come to the Lord Jesus and asked for this living
water, the water of life. The woman saith unto him, Sir,
thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From whence
then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father
Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and
his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto
her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the
water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that
I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing
up into everlasting life." Well, naturally speaking, The woman
thought that was wonderful and the response was, the woman said
to him, Sir, give me this water that I thirst not, neither come
hither to draw. You see, she didn't realise this
was spiritual water that the Lord Jesus was giving unto her. She wanted this natural water
so that she wouldn't have to go and draw it again. And then
Jesus asked her a very pointy question. He told her, go and
call thy husband, where she was honest enough to say, I have
no husband. Jesus says, thou hast said truly,
for thou hast five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is
not thy husband, in that sense thou truly. The woman said, sir,
I perceive that thou art a prophet. Well, that's a blessing, if you
and I perceive that Jesus indeed was and is the Son of God, and
he is the one that you and I need to come to. and pray earnestly
that we may be blessed with this living water which Jesus gives. And this woman said, Sir, I perceive
thou art a prophet, our fathers worshipped in this mountain,
and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought
to worship. Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe
me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor
yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not
what. How many people today don't know
who they worship? Ye worship ye know not what. We know what we worship, for
salvation is of the Jews, and the hour cometh, and now is,
when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. Well, how does that affect us
today? Are we amongst those who are
called a true worshipper? Or are we just a pretend worshipper,
a false worshipper? Well, the Lord said, For the
Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit, and they
that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Just like he spoke to Nicodemus,
that he must be born again. These words are very true. and
they're not to be passed away. My friends, don't forget, you
and I have a never-dying soul, a soul that lives forever, and
we shouldn't trivialise with such very important truths. And the woman saith unto him,
I know that Messiah's cometh, which is called Christ, when
he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus said unto her,
I that speak unto thee am he. I wonder again whether Jesus
has spoken into our hearts. to show to us that He is Almighty
God, that He is the Saviour of sinners. Of course, we're told
then His disciples came and marvelled that He talked with a woman and
the woman left her water pots. and went away and came to the
men and said, Come, see a man which told me all things that
ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Well, we see that here was this
woman taken up with the truth. She left her water pot. It was
irrelevant. And so the things of time. in
relationship to the state of our souls. They're really irrelevant. We spend a lot of time, don't
we, on the things of time. But remember the words of Jesus
who said, one thing is needful. He spoke to Martha with regard
to Mary. One thing is needful. And Mary
has chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from
her. So, my friends tonight, are we amongst those who are
truly seeking after this living water, this water that is the
life of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ? It will be a great
blessing, won't it? If the Holy Spirit moves us to
realise the relevance of these things and how vital they are. And so as we look at these words
and ponder them and He said them to me, it is done. Yes, it will
be so. And one day when the Lord returns,
those things which are revealed in the Word of God will be done,
they will be completed. Yes, the world will be burnt
up. There will be a new heaven and
a new earth. And there will be that statement. And it is done. As God said. Yes, God has spoken. God has promised. And it will
come to pass. So how relevant it is, when we
read this word, it is done. to know that such a statement
with regard to that which is to come is true, is true. You and I may be on the earth,
we may not be, but wherever that is, whether it is while we're
here or when we're passed out of time, nonetheless it will
come to pass. And nonetheless you and I will
have to stand before that judgment seat And we will be questioned
with regard to our belief on the law of Jesus Christ, whether
we did or whether we shunned it, whether we didn't want to
be counted with those who were believers. Well, we didn't want
to have to face the cost, the difficulty with being a disciple
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, my friends, may we fear,
have the fear of the Lord, which we're told is the beginning of
wisdom. And what a great Blessing that
is to know the fear of the Lord, that is to desire to do that
which is set before us in his word and to be amongst those
who overcome. He that overcometh shall inherit
all things and I will be his God. and he shall be my son. We may ask, well, what does it
mean? What does it mean, therefore,
to be a true believer, one who does indeed believe the great
and glorious truth of God's word? Well, we can read about these
things in the earlier chapters of Revelation, and in the second
chapter, for a start, it's a number of times when this is referred
to and the Lord was speaking to the church about the church
at Ephesus and he says to them when he described their thoughts
they had and what they should do he then says, he that hath
an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches
and that's a direction to all of us today You see, we all have
ears. Sometimes those ears are stopped
up. Sometimes the devil doesn't want
you and me to hear the truth of God. What a blessing if our
ears are opened to receive the Word of God. He that hath an
ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him
that overcometh, will I give to eat of the tree of life. which is in the midst of the
Paradise of God. Well, I'm sure we're familiar
with the account of the Garden of Eden, where of course there
was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and also the
tree of life. Well, Adam and Eve partook of
that forbidden tree of good and evil, knowledge of good and evil.
They didn't partake of the Tree of Life. And here we have this
information here about this new heavens and new earth that will
be the Tree of Life. And what a blessing therefore
to be a partaker of that. And so as the angel says, I give
to each of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the paradise
of God. Well, the relevant point is that
you and I need to be numbered amongst those who are indeed
overcomers, because the seventh verse tells us, He that overcometh
shall inherit all things, and I will be his God. and he shall
be my son. Well, how do we overcome? How do we overcome? Well, we're told we overcome
through the blood of the Lamb. That means through the life and
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. My friends, tonight, do we believe?
Do we believe such a great and glorious truth They overcame,
we read that in the 12th chapter of Revelation, this same book,
the 12th chapter and the 11th verse. And they overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.
And they loved not their own lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens,
And ye that dwell in them, woe to the inhabitants of the earth
and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto
you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a
short time. and how relevant that is for
us. The devil's very active today.
He knows his time's short and he's doing all that he can, all
that he can to stop us believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, to
stop us desiring to partake of this water of life. He brings
so many things into our lives and makes out they're more important
than our eternal life. Well, don't forget, the devil
has always been a liar and the devil hasn't changed his attitude
and he hasn't changed his skills. He still comes and tells lies
and that's what he does still today. Well, may we turn away
from him and turn to the Word of God because the word of God
is true. And the Lord Jesus Christ, when
he prayed to his father in that 17th chapter of John, that beautiful
verse, thy word is truth. Ignore the devil. Remember, the
Bible is truth. The Bible is truth. And how wonderful
it is if you and I can receive it as the Word of God and rejoice
in it. And he that overcometh shall
inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my
son. What a wonderful favour to be
amongst those who inherit. What a great blessing and what
a wonderful favour it is. The Apostle Peter speaks about
this in his epistle when he addresses them. He tells us, Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to his abundant mercy have begotten us again, that means born again,
unto a lively hope, a living hope, by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead, because there is our hope in a risen
Christ, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth
not away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time. How amazing it is if God keeps
us from turning away from the truth of God. Well, here was
Peter. He knew how necessary it was
that God would keep him. You may remember that Peter denied
his Lord and Master three times. He'd been told he would. He said
he wouldn't, but he did. You know, the result was Peter
went out and he wept bitterly. because of his failure. But God
was merciful to him and God looked upon him and that's why he was
able to write really so powerfully, who are kept by the power of
God. You and I won't be able to keep
ourselves. Don't think you are strong enough. My friends, we need the power
of God to strengthen us, enable us to stand firm and to believe
the great truths of the gospel Do not listen to the lies of
the devil, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time, wherein ye
greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are
in heaviness through manifold temptations, Many temptations
come into our lives and the Apostle tells us why. That the trial
of your faith, our faith is tested. Whether we are those who do believe
or whether it's just pseudo, whether we pretend that the trial
of your faith being much more precious that a gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and
honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. And he goes
on and tells us, whom having not seen, he loved. That's a wonderful thing, isn't
it? As you and I meditate upon God's love to us. We have to
realize the great truth that John makes when he writes his
epistle, not that we loved God, but that he loved us. Amazing, isn't it? He has to
think that God should love such an unworthy sinner, such a failure, someone who's
turned their back upon God. Someone who has perhaps denied
God. We may not always like to admit that. But we may deny God
by pretending not to hear, perhaps, when people speak about the things
of God. And we don't want to get involved
because we might be embarrassed and we might have to say things
that we didn't want to. So we turn away. What are we
doing? We're denying the Lord God Almighty. a trial of your faith, be much
more precious than the gold that perishes. Well, what a mercy
it is if God gives us that living faith to believe. Well, says
John in this book of the Revelation, he that overcometh, not through
our strength, but through God's superabounding grace, the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ though he was rich yet for our sakes
he became poor that we through his riches through his poverty
rather might be rich what a Savior what a God who's been so kind
and so gracious well may we truly bow down and worship Almighty
God and recognize the importance and relevance of these words. And he said unto me, it is done.
And will be said at some time, when time is no more, God will
say, it is done. As the new heaven and the new
earth, for the people of God is that perfect inheritance,
and for those who are lost, that terrible place in hell, and eternity
will have commenced, and it will never end. And he said unto me,
it is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. I will give unto him that is
a thirst, and the fountain of the water of life freely. He
that overcometh shall inherit all things. and I will be his
God, and he shall be my son. You may remember that in the
end of the last chapter, the 22nd chapter of Revelation, we
read, and the spirit and the bride say, come. And let him
that heareth say, come. And let him that is athirst come. and whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. Well, what a blessing if God
gives you and me grace to come to the Saviour, confessing our
sins and earnestly praying that he will give to us that water
of life. Well, may God bless his word.
Amen.