Throughout the book of the revelation
of Jesus Christ, this revelation which was given to the Apostle
John, we see repeated allegories, pictures, visions of the history
of time, particularly between the coming of Christ and his
work in delivering his people from their sins upon the cross
and the end of time and the bringing in of a new heavens and a new
earth. And in chapters 20 and 21 we
see this portrayed for us As we read in chapter 20, and I
saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless
pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the
dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound
him a thousand years. and cast him into the bottomless
pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive
the nations no more till a thousand years should be fulfilled and
after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones,
and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them. And I saw
the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and
for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast,
neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their
foreheads or in their hands. And they lived and reigned with
Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived
not again until the thousand years were finished. This is
the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath
no power. But they shall be priests of
God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. And
when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of
his prison. and shall go out to deceive the
nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and
Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom
is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth
of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about, and
the beloved city, and fire came down from God out of heaven and
devoured them. And the devil that deceived them
was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast
and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night
for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne
and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the
heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And
I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, And the books
were opened. And another book was opened,
which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books according to their
works. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it. And death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man
according to their works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. and
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire. 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. And I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband. Death and hell were cast into
the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire. Into the lake of fire. What a
term. And what a place, the Lake of
Fire. How graphic is the language used
by John here to describe real events, real places, and real
circumstances. Death and hell were cast into
the Lake of Fire. and whosoever was not found written
in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. These are dramatic events which
are described. We read of the first resurrection,
the second death. We read of the devil and Satan. We read of the devil that deceived the
people being cast into the lake of fire and brimstone and being
tormented day and night forever and ever. We read of a great
white throne and of him that sat upon it before whom all people,
all the dead small and great shall stand and how the books
are opened and how their judgment is determined. We read in chapter
21 of a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and
the first earth are passed away. And we read of new Jerusalem
coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. We read of both terrible things,
the dead and the devil, the serpent being cast into the lake of fire,
where they are tormented day and night, forever and ever.
But we read of wonderful things, of a new heaven and a new earth. where those whose names are written
in the book of life enter and none else. But these things begin at the
beginning of chapter 20 with this angel that comes down from
heaven having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain
in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon,
that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him
a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless pit and shut
him up. and set a seal upon him that
he should deceive the nations no more till a thousand years
should be fulfilled and after that he must be loosed a little
season. Now what is this describing?
What event is this when this angel comes down from heaven
and lays hold of the dragon that old serpent and casts him in
to a bottomless pit? And what time is this, this thousand
years described? At the end of which this devil
is loose for a little season and brings things to their conclusion. At the end of which he's cast
into a lake of fire. What is this thousand years during
which whilst he is cast into a bottomless pit? During which
John also saw thrones and people sat upon them who lived and reigned
with Christ. Those who are part of the first
resurrection. Those upon whom the second death
have no power. for they are priests of God and
of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. What is
this thousand years? Well when this angel comes down
from heaven and takes the dragon, lays hold upon him, the dragon,
that old serpent which is the devil and Satan and binds him
a thousand years. This is pointing us to the coming
of Christ, when he came down from heaven's glory, the Son
of God, born in human flesh, God's great angel, great messenger
Christ, who comes, the Word of God entering the darkness of
this world, he comes. to take that old serpent, which
had deceived the nations, and to destroy him, to bind him,
to cast him into a bottomless pit. As Christ entered this world,
that adversary, Satan, tried to take hold of him. He tried
to tempt him. He tried to destroy him. He moved
in men's hearts to oppose him. And in the end, those men, moved
of Satan, moved by that old serpent, moved by that liar, took hold
of Christ, whom they rejected. And they accused Christ of making
himself equal with God. And they demanded his death.
And the Jews cried out of Christ, away with this man! Crucify him! Crucify him! And they had the
Romans take him and nail him to a cross and crucify him. And Satan, working in their hearts,
took the Son of God, this angel that came down from heaven and
sought to destroy him. And Satan In so doing, bruised
the heel of the Son of God. But in bruising that heel, that
heel crushed Satan's head. Crushed the serpent's head as
we read of elsewhere. And cast him into a bottomless
pit. Satan tried to destroy Christ. but in so doing he wrought his
own destruction. And when Satan did this, all
the sins of all God's people, who had fallen into sin at the
deception of Satan at the beginning, were laid upon Christ. And instead
of them bearing the judgment, Christ bore the judgment in their
place. and Christ took death, the first
death which had come upon them, spiritual death as a consequence
of their sin, He took death and He destroyed it, He took it away
and He brought in its place for that people everlasting life
and everlasting righteousness. Their sins were judged according
to the righteousness of God and blotted out and His very own
blood washed those sins away. Yes, He conquered death for that
people. In the beginning, this old serpent
had entered this world in the garden, in the garden of Eden,
and had come up to Eve, and had said unto her, whispering lies
in her ears, Hath God said? He says, take of this fruit and
eat it of this tree. And she says unto him, but God
has told us not to. And he says, have God said. She
says that we've been told that in the day that we eat it, we
shall surely die. And he says, is that true? Have
God said, you shall not surely die. That Satan comes unto mankind
and says, God's a liar. He's trying to trick you. You
won't die. God doesn't want you to do that
because He knows you'll become as gods like Him. He's trying
to prevent you from being powerful like He is. So He flatters man. And He flatters man that man
can by his own deeds and efforts achieve greatness. And what He
said to Eve. And what he persuaded Adam of
as a result, he has done to all mankind ever since he comes unto
us and says, you can be great, you can attain unto heaven, you
can be as a God by your own deeds and efforts. Take of the fruit
of this tree. Come to the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil. Come to the law of God. and try to keep it. Because if
you eat of the tree, eat of the fruit of this tree, if you try
to keep the fruit, if you try to keep the commandments of this
tree, if you try to walk by the law of God, you can do it. You
can live. Life is promised to all those
that obey. And if you obey, if you're obedient,
you know that God will bless you and you'll live forever and
reign forever you'll be as a God and he deceives us Because the
reality that Eve found and Adam found in the garden when this
old serpent came unto them, was that when they ate of the fruit
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which promised
so much, it promised to instruct them, it promised to show them
the way, when they ate of that fruit, they sinned. Sin entered into the heart of
man. They disobeyed the command of God when God has said, don't
eat of the fruit of this tree. And as they said, death entered
into the soul of man. Sin entered this world by one
man and death by sin. Mankind thought that by their
obedience, to the law, to the knowledge of good and evil, that
they could attain unto glory. But God has said, don't go that
way, because it only brings death. You've got no strength to live
that way. You've got no strength to do
this. But they did, and sin entered,
and death by sin. and the serpent had deceived
them, like he's deceived you, and like he's deceived me. He's
a liar from the beginning, which is why he's called the dragon.
That old serpent, the devil, and Satan, our adversary, Satan,
he opposes us. He's against us. He pretends
to be for us, but he's brought our condemnation. He brought
in, by that deed of Eve and Adam, in eating of the fruit of that
tree, he brought in the first death. Man died in the day that
he ate of that tree, as God had said he would. Death entered
into the heart of man. Sin entered and death by sin. We died. We died spiritually. We died in our understanding
and in our communion with God. We were separated from God when
we disobeyed. And as a consequence, we die
physically. Our lives are brief. because
we're dead in our souls within because our hearts are full of
sins and corruption so our bodies waste away and in the end we're
laid in the grave and lay buried there until God brings us up
out of the grave on this day mentioned in this chapter when
he brings up all the dead small and great to stand before God
and the books are opened and we're judged out of the books
and if our name is in the book of life we will enter in to a
new heaven and a new earth. But if our name is not in that
book, then we will be cast with Satan, that old serpent, into
a lake of fire, where we will be tormented with him, day and
night, forever and ever. The realities are very, very
plainly stated in these chapters. and very solemn and very true. And they are a consequence of
the fall caused by Satan's deception at the beginning, that though
God had warned man, if you try to go this way, if you try to
eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in the day
you eat of it, you shall surely die. Despite God's admonition
and warning, man, deceived by that old serpent Satan, the father
of lies, went that way, and sin entered and death by sin. Now
God has repeated this warning unto man throughout time. Having delivered his people out
of Egypt and brought them out and shown them his salvation,
he presents unto them a reminder of what happened at the fall
and what will happen to them in giving them the law. He presents
the law to Moses and presents the law and shows through that
law with the backdrop of Mount Sinai and the thunders and the
darkness and the fearsome sight presented when it was given.
He shows unto us through that law that if you were to keep
this law and keep it perfectly you will live but the law is given as a reminder
that we can't keep that law every time we try to we fail
and we prove it to be a killing letter a sentence of death it
slays us We will never climb a mountain by trying to keep
that law. It will keep us in the grave
because within us reigns sin and death as a consequence of
the fall. That law is a tree of the knowledge
of good and evil. Its fruit brings death. In the day we eat of it, the
day we try to keep the law, we die. There was another tree in
the garden, the tree of life, which is Christ. And if Adam
and Eve had eaten of that tree, they'd have lived and reigned
forever. They'd have lived and reigned with Christ a thousand
years, as priests of God and of Christ. They'd have had their
names in the Book of Life. and none whose name is in the
book of life will find themselves cast into the lake of fire but
all whose names are in the book of life will enter into the new
heaven and the new earth a place in which in the very
last chapter in the Bible concluded the message of God from Genesis
to Revelation We are told, in chapter 22, He showed me a pure
river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of
the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street
of it, on either side of the river, was there the tree of
life. which bear twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit
every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing
of the nations. And there shall be no more curse,
but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and
his servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face,
and his name shall be in their foreheads. we see this glorious
picture in this city of God in this new heavens and new earth
of the tree of life and the blessing of the fruit of the tree of life
and so our thoughts are taken right back to Genesis where there
were those two trees one tree, the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil which brought death and one tree, the tree of life
which brought life And here, those whose names are in the
book of life are brought to reign with Christ a thousand years
and enter into a new heaven and a new earth and come before the
throne of God and that tree of life. But Satan deceived man
to take of the fruit of the other tree. That tree which promises
life if we're obedient and if we strive by our own efforts
and our own strength for our own glory to attain unto heaven. That tree which was a picture
of the law and the obedience of man to law in his own strength
to attain unto heaven. The law was given unto Moses
and it condemns It slays. It says, do this and live and
none have done and none have lived by its commandments. Eve
took of its fruit and died. Adam took of the fruit and died
and all men died in him. And if you try to take of the
fruit of this tree, if you think that you can attain unto heaven
by your obedience, by your good works, you will find yourself
plunged into death. And if God is not gracious and
delivers you from the deception and the lie of Satan, that old
serpent, you will find yourself in the end cast with him into
a lake of fire. There's thousand years is a figurative
time spanning when Christ entered this world and died upon the
cross and bruised the serpent's head and took the dragon that
old serpent and cast and bound him a thousand years and cast
him into the bottomless pit and shut him up there he is today
This thousand years is figurative of the time between that event
and the end of time when Christ will return again and when all
the dead small and great shall stand before God and the book
shall be opened and the sheep shall be divided from the goats
and those who are whose names are in the book of life shall
enter the new heaven and the new earth and those who aren't
shall be cast into the lake of fire where they will be tormented
with satan day and night forever and ever that's the conclusion
of the matter Now those who are part of the
first resurrection will be spared that judgment. They will live
and reign with Christ a thousand years. They will live in this
period between his death and resurrection and his coming again. The rest of the dead live not
again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first
resurrection. The first resurrection. There
are a people who are who have a part in the first resurrection
and there are those who remain dead in the grave throughout
blessed and holy is he that have part in the first resurrection
on such the second death have no power but they shall be priests
of god and of christ and shall reign with him a thousand years
what is this first resurrection that they should be spared the
second death. It is that resurrection of Christ
when He died for His people's sins, and when they, spiritually
in Him, died with Him. When their old man in Adam was
crucified, when their sins were put away, and when they were
judged under the judgment of God. When He died, they died. When He was laid in a grave,
they were laid in a grave. And when He rose again, they
rose again with Him. They rose with Him in the first
resurrection from the dead, spiritually. Now in time, whenever they are
born, they are brought to hear, in the fullness of time, in the
Gospel, what happened. When we're born, we're born sinners. We're born dead as a consequence
of the fall and of our falling Adam into sin. We're born as
those full of sin and dead spiritually. The first death has had its impact
upon us. We're born dead sinners, dead
in trespasses and sins as Ephesians tells us. But in due course,
if we're Christ, if we're God's people, if we're chosen, elected
by grace unto salvation, God sends us the Gospel. And by His
Spirit, the Gospel is brought unto us and spoken unto us. And
the Spirit of God comes unto God's people in the Gospel and
causes them to live. because they have risen with
Christ spiritually in the past when in time they're brought
to hear the gospel the Spirit of God takes of the power of
that first resurrection and applies it to their souls and says live
and the dead like Lazarus in the grave hearing the gospel
are born again of God by the power of the Holy Ghost. Those
who were once dead here in the gospel are brought to life. They
were dead in Adam. They were crucified with Christ. They were resurrected when Christ
rose from the dead. And when they are born physically,
they're born dead in Adam. and they hear the gospel and
the power of God causes them to rise again they're born again
with newness of life from heaven above they're resurrected This
is their first resurrection, this is the resurrection they
are a part of. The resurrection of Christ, of
which they were a part back then, and of which they are a part
in circumstances in their own life when they're brought to
hear the gospel. It's applied to them. His blood
was shed at the cross and here the gospel is brought unto them
and the Holy Spirit takes that blood and sprinkles it in their
heart and they live. They're resurrected. Blessed
and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection, and
on such the second death hath no power. But they shall be priests
of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. These people, sinners, born again
of God, reign with Christ a thousand years. They reign in this gospel
age. The gospel comes unto them in
power and brings them to life. It says unto them as they lay
in the grave like Lazarus, live, come forth. And they live and
they come forth, resurrected with Christ. They rise spiritually
with Christ from the dead and as a consequence they're born
again by their spirit to be resurrected from their first, their spiritual
death. And all who are resurrected in
this way are spared the second death. Blessed and holy is he
that hath part in the first resurrection, on such the second death hath
no power. The second death. What is this
second death? Well the first death was when
we died with Adam. Was when sin entered into our
hearts and we died as a consequence. All man died in Adam. But there's
a final death. A second death to come at the
end of all time. When those who have been resurrected
in the first resurrection with Christ will be spared. They will come before God as
the sheep of his pasture and be led in as those whose names
are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. They'll be led into
the new heaven and the new earth. But those who never believed
the gospel, those who rejected the gospel, Those who shut their
ears to the gospel and shut their eyes to the gospel and closed
their understanding and laughed at it and mocked at it and would
not hear. Those who in their hearts put
Christ the Lamb of God to death. These who were dead from the
beginning in Adam. and who lived their lives rejecting
God and went to their graves dead in trespasses and sins and
were laid in the grave and remained dead in the grave till the end
of time these in this day will be resurrected brought up out
of the graves the graves will be opened the dead small and
great are brought to stand before God and the books are opened
And these who know not God, these whose names are not written in
the Lamb's Book of Life, these who've laughed, mocked, jeered,
sneered and rejected the Gospel throughout all time, are judged
according to their wicked works and they are cast into a lake
of fire. in the end, into a second death
from which there is no escape. That death is final. We're all partakers of the first
death. We're all sinners, dead in trespasses
and sins in Adam. We're all hopeless in ourselves
without strength. But if God comes unto us in the
power of his gospel, and says unto us live, then we are blessed
and holy in that we have a part in the first resurrection and
on such the second death have no power. The second death, the
devil that deceived them, that deceived us was cast into the
lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet
are and he shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.
But John saw a great white throne and him that sat on it, from
whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was
found no place for them. And he saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God. And the books were opened. And
another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the
dead which were in it. And death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them. And they were judged, every man
according to their works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. and
whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast
into the lake of fire. Yes, there is a book, the Book
of Life, and all whose names are written in the Book of Life
will be spared this judgment. But there are other books which
record the works of all men, and all men will be judged according
to these works, whatever works they are. Whether they're the
works of evil, the works of sin, the works of rebellion, or whether
they are the works of self-righteousness, the works of the religious, the
works of those who would seek to get to God by their own works
and their own glory, they may be the works of the most religious,
the most devout, the works of the devout Jews that put Christ
to death. the works of the zealous Bible-believing
professor who thinks by his own keeping of the law and his own
righteousness or his own worship or his own Bible reading and
prayer he will attain unto God but he does not know Christ and
he does not know what it is to be nothing and confess that he's
nothing and confess that his works are as filthy rags before
a holy God There are many like this, who will be judged according
to their works. Their very grand seeming works,
their very religious works, their very dutiful works, their very
zealous works, their very bible believing works, but their very
evil works in the sight of God, their filthy rags. They'll be
judged according to these works. Your name is either in the Lamb's
Book of Life and your salvation is determined by the grace and
the mercy of God alone. Or your name is written in one
of these books, beside your works of self-righteousness, your religious
zealousness, which led you, in your heart, to put the real,
the truthful Jesus Christ unto death. The Jews, when Christ
came unto them, he came unto his own, he came unto his own
people. They received him not. They had the scriptures, they
had the religion, they had the priesthood and the sacrifices.
They were very zealous in all these things. Like Paul said,
I was very zealous, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, born of the
tribe of Benjamin. Regarding the Lord blameless,
I was very zealous and yet I went about persecuting the church. In my heart I put Jesus Christ
to death. I rejected his grace. I rejected
his mercy. I rejected the doctrine of election. I rejected that salvation was
by the grace of God alone. He thought he could save himself. And his religion damned him.
and caused him to persecute the church and to put Christ to death
in his own hearts and so many do the same today and yet there's
coming a day when the books will be opened and their religious
works will be exposed for the filthy rags that they are and
they will be cast into the lake of fire. The sea gave up the
dead which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead
which were in them. What is this meant by death and
hell? It is not that permanent hell,
that permanent lake of fire into which they will be dwelt. This
hell is that place where the dead, the souls of the dead are
cast during time, where they remain until this day when they're brought
up when death and hell give up the dead and they're brought
up to stand before almighty God but there is a hell there is
a lake of fire which is forever and ever that place is for a
thousand years a figurative thousand years the time between the death
of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and He's coming again.
There is a temporary place where the souls of men are laid. But when they come to this day,
if their name is not found in the Lamb's Book of Life, they
will be cast into a lake of fire forever and ever. This death, this second death,
is final. This isn't just to die spiritually
in Adam which leads to our physical death in the grave which leads
to us being laid in the grave. Laid in hell until this day when
we come to stand the dead and the small and the great before
God and he opens the books. But this death is that one that
follows the judgment from the books. when we will be judged
and sentenced to death and thrown with the devil and his angels
into the lake of fire, never to be released. If we're not
in the Lamb's book of life, then what awaits us, religious or
irreligious, is a lake of fire where we will
be tormented day and night, forever and ever. A lake of fire. There are those, those religious
people, those cults, those sects, who want to pretend that hell
is not eternal, who want to pretend that the judgment and wrath of
God does not endure forever. They like to pretend that there
are those who haven't followed God as they should who are laid
in the grave but in the end they will be brought out of the grave
and in the end they will be brought into an everlasting earth and
kingdom of God. They are as it were punished
or rebuked for a time they may be laid in a grave for a thousand
years as punishment for their unbelief and their unwillingness
to follow God but in the end God's mercy and love extends
to all and in the end after they have been rebuked and chastised
for this period of time after they have been in their perdition
as it were that in the end God saves them all There are those
who are spared this, who go straight to this wonderful kingdom of
God, but there are those who are wicked, who endure this perdition,
but in the end everything's fine. And these love to have an idea
of a God who's all loving to all people for all time. all
forgiving surely a loving God can't punish sinners forever but their dreams and their delusions
come from one who told them lies in the beginning their dreams
and their delusions come from the very same that said unto
Eve have God said you shall not surely die. It's the very same
lie from the very same serpent, the very same whispering voice
that says, but God's a God of love. He won't judge you. You won't die. Have God said. Surely a God of love will bring
it out that in the end you'll be okay. Oh, he may rebuke you
for a bit, you may be in trouble for a bit, but in the end it
will be okay. He'll have his everlasting kingdom
and we'll all be there. And they say, hath God said. It's the same doubt cast in our
ears, the same lie, the same deception with the same result. When Satan lied to Eve, mankind
died. And when Satan whispers the same
deception even to religious people like the Jehovah's Witnesses
and others like them, That hell is not forever. That all will
be fine in the end. He's whispering the same thing.
And the reality is, when you take of that fruit and eat it,
you will find yourself under a sentence of death. Because
you will find that in the end, taking of their fruit, and following
their works, and following their ways, that there will come a
day when the dead, small and great, you included, stand before
God and the books will be opened, and your name will not be found
in the book of life, and your works will be found as filthy
rags, and your unbelief of God's word will be found wanting, and
you will be cast into a lake of fire. This is the second death. and this lake of fire as we read
is forever and ever the devil that deceived them was cast into
the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and false prophet
are. The false prophet, the false
prophets throughout all time. All these false prophets that
tell us a lie, that preach another Jesus and another gospel, that
say everything shall be fine if you follow our Father Christmas
God and our Father Christmas Jesus. All will be fine, He loves
everyone. He died for everyone. He wants
everyone to be saved and everyone will be saved in the end. There's
no hell, nothing to fear. All will be well. This false
prophet and all his followers, all who are deceived by Satan,
that old serpent, shall be cast into this lake of fire where
they shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. The eternity, the everlasting
nature of this lake of fire is made plain here. the fact that
those whose names are not in the book of life will never escape
this lake of fire and will never enter into the new heavens and
new earth is made plain here at the end of chapter 21 that
describes the new heavens and new earth we read that there
shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth neither
whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie but they which
are written in the Lamb's book of life. You'll either be found
in the new heavens and the new earth because of the grace of
God which brings salvation through Jesus Christ alone because your
name's in his book or you'll be cast into a lake of fire forever
and ever. This lake of fire, this hell,
this judgment is eternal and everlasting. It's not a temporary
perdition. It's not merely for a thousand
years. This chapter describes that thousand
years. It describes the event after
that thousand years. And then there is that which
is everlasting. Those sent to the lake of fire
have no part in the new heavens and new earth. He that overcometh
shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall
be my son, we read. But the fearful, and unbelieving,
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. It is forever. there is no escape. It is final. There is a second
death, an everlasting judgment, a torment forever and ever, a
lake of fire from which there is no escape, in which the false
prophets, the religious, the liars, the serpent that deceived
us in the beginning and deceives until the end are all cast together. But there is a new heavens and
a new earth, which God has prepared for his people. 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. And I, John, saw the
holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And he that sat
upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he
said unto me, write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, it is done. I am out for an omega, the beginning
and the end. I will give unto him that is
a first 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. What is it to overcome? We can't
overcome ourselves. We're overcome by our adversary. We're overcome by his lies. We're overcome by sin and death. We're overcome. We've got no
strength. We can't overcome. What is it
to overcome and inherit this wonderful blessing? It is to
hear the Gospel by the grace of God. It is for the Holy Spirit
in mercy to come unto us in the deadness of our sins, as we lie
in our filth in the gutter. It is the here is word crying
out unto us, live! And when we hear, we live. And
we know we're nothing, we know we were dead. But by His grace
we're brought up out of the dead and we live. And we discover
what Christ has done for us. We discover that He bore our
sins away. We discover that we've been cleansed
and washed in His blood. We discover the righteousness
of God is ours in Jesus Christ. We discover His everlasting salvation. We discover His great grace and
mercy and love and we discover His throne. We discover our name
written in the Lamb's book of life. We discover a new heaven
and a new earth. We discover the throne of God
in the midst. We discover the Lamb of God in
the midst. We discover the tree of life. and we take of its fruit and
it heals us of all our ills. There is no more curse, no more
sin, no more death, no more tears, no more sorrow. All is glorious,
all is everlasting, all is done, all is forevermore. We discover
joy and peace forevermore. We discover life everlasting,
we discover that Christ loved us and gave himself for us. And he wrote our name in his
book of life from whence it is never removed. And as such, we
will be with him around his throne forevermore. they shall in no
wise enter into this place, anything that they fire lift, neither
whatsoever work of abomination or make of a lie, but they which
are written in the Lamb's Book of Life." It's your name in that
book. Have you heard His voice? Has the Spirit come in the Gospel
unto you and pointed to you Christ crucified in your place? Have
you been brought to partake of the first resurrection? Are you
reigning as a priest of God and of Christ with Him a thousand
years? Does the new heaven and the new
earth lie before you? Or will you be cast with Satan
and the false prophet into a lake of fire and be tormented day
and night forever and ever.