To. Revelation 22. I'd like to consider one verse
this morning. Verse five, Revelation 22, five. And this is concerning. The final
and glorious state of God's redeemed, God's elect, God's church, the
bride. This is her state in heaven.
And there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, need
the light of the sun. For the Lord God giveth them
light, and they shall reign forever and ever. Let's pray together. Our glorious Father, God Almighty, You who are eternal, all-powerful, immutable, glorious, Father, You who we only know
by the glorious revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us
this day and teach us as we look into Your Word and consider the
majesty of who You are in the light of
Your blessed Son. Help us. Help us to hear and
help us to see Help us to understand. Teach us by Your Spirit. For
Christ's sake, we ask these things. Amen. In this verse of Scripture, we're
going to consider three glorious truths that are taught about
the redeemed in heaven as they are thereby the grace of Almighty
God." Here's the three things. Number one, there's no night
there. Number two, they need no candle,
neither light of the sun. And number three, they shall
reign forever and ever. All right, number one. There shall be no night there. I don't doubt for a second that
that's not literal. We know of day and night, which means that we know something
of change in this day, 24 hours, Half of it's day and half of
it's night. Half of it I'm awake and half
of it I'm asleep. Half of it I'm aware of some
things and half of it I'm not. So here we know something of
night as we know of night. The sun's on the other side of
the earth. I don't doubt for a second that
it's literal. But obviously it's symbolic. And I think that 1 Thessalonians
5.5, turn with me there, 1 Thessalonians 5.5, this gives great insight into
this blessed truth of there's no night there. 1 Thessalonians 5, 5, Ye are all
the children of light and the children of the day. We are not
of the night nor of darkness. You are children of Him who is
light. That's what he's saying. You
are children of light. Now all that is going to be found
in the glorious presence of God as He is revealed in the Lord
Jesus Christ, all that is going to be found
in His presence is going to be out of the sons of men. I know
there will be His heavenly host, the angels. But out of the sons
of men, all that have been born into this world, all that's going
to be in His presence are going to be those that Almighty God
has everlastingly loved in Christ. All those that He chose in His
Son, His chosen servant, all that He chose in Christ Himself, they are the ones that will be
in the presence of God. All those that He has everlastingly
loved. In time, the Spirit of God called
them out of spiritual darkness. At one time we were, as being
born in Adam, children of wrath even as others. And as I've said
before, it does not mean that we were, that is the elect, that
we were under the wrath of God. 1 Thessalonians said, God hath
not appointed us to wrath. So at no time were the elect
of God under the wrath of God. But what does it mean that you
were children of wrath even as others? It meant that we had
an attitude toward God, one of wrath. We were children that
were wrathful against Him. We were enemies, Paul says, in
our mind, but not in His. He said, I've loved you with
an everlasting love. There was a point in time, you
that believe, there was a point in time when you were in spiritual
darkness. But the Spirit of God calls His
people out of spiritual darkness and gives unto them light, spiritual
light. The light of the knowledge of
Almighty God as it is in the Scripture says the face of the
Lord Jesus Christ. So the Scripture reveals that
for God's elect, called out of darkness, they're not the children
of night. But there is a sense, though
you who believe are not in complete spiritual darkness. You're not
in complete spiritual darkness. You have been called out of darkness.
But the presence of sin is still with us. The presence and the effects
of sin. Now here's a great truth. Born in sin, The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world and was made sin. That means created. I've tried to look those words
up. Produce, that's what it means.
It means to produce something. He hath made them male and female. He actually made them. He hath
made him sin. He produced. Suffice it to say that the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the God-man, was actually made sin. He was made sin. That we might
be made a different word, that we might become That's what that
word means. The righteousness of God in him.
Now here we are and we're in light. God has given us light. But we're still in this world
found to be with the presence of sin. Not the guilt of it.
Not the guilt of it. He hath made him sin. for us
who knew no sin. And Almighty God dealt with the
guilt and the punishment of it in our substitute. Now the guilt
of it is gone. The presence of it is still here.
The effects of it are still here. And we know it. And now here we are in this world
with the effects of it. And Paul says in 1 Corinthians
13, 12, for now we see through a glass darkly. That means in obscurity. Now you that believe, you see. You have eyes to see. You have
eyes to see Christ. You have a love, a heart that
loves Him. But I'll tell you, Paul reveals
here under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, we see through
a glass darkly. We see with obscurity. He says,
but then face to face. Now, Paul says, I know in part,
but then shall I know even as also I am known. So at best,
you that are honest, you admit, I see, but I see darkly. with obscurity. Try to explain some of these
great truths that we believe. Do you believe that Christ was
actually produced or created sin? That's what it says. He
was made sin just as the Lord made water into wine. He made male and female. I'll tell you another word that
it uses. It says He made a scourge. He made a whip. Those that got
whipped that day, do you think that whip was a legal thing or
do you think it was a whip? He worked them over. He made
a scourge. That's the same word. Now, do
you believe that? Yes. Explain it to me. Oh, I see through a glass darkly. In the present twilight of our
existence, We do truly see by faith, but
our sight is obscured by the flesh in which we live, and we
know it. We have an eye, a new eye of
a new soul, and we see the King in His beauty, but we see Him
darkly. We know Him, but we know Him
darkly. We long to see Him more. We want
to know Him more. We want to love Him more. But we know Him part. But Revelation
22 verse 5 says, In that day there shall be no night there.
No more darkly. No more. The presence of sin
will be gone. No obscurity. No night. None whatsoever. That's the first
thing we know about that great eternal day in the presence of
Him who is our hope. Here's the second thing we know.
They need no candle, neither light of the sun. There will be nothing there that
is needed. I notice it says, and they need. They need. There is no need for. There's not a necessity of. They
need no candle, neither light of the sun. Nothing there except Him. He is our need. My God, Paul said, so supply
all of your need according to His riches, the Lord Christ Jesus.
Psalm 36.9 says, For with thee is the fountain of life, and
in thy light shall we see light. In your illumination of instruction
shall we see the illumination of instruction of Christ. God's
light will see light. Christ is the independent, He's
the self-sufficient spring of life, creature and eternal. You're living today. You just
took a breath by the grace of God. That was God's air. The earth is the Lord's in the
fullness thereof. You that believe, that's God's
air. You that don't believe, that's God's air. You just took
a breath of God's air. Everything's His. He said, I'm
the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. No man comes to the Father
but by Me. There is no need but Him. We know that in that day, there's
no night there. They need no candle. They need
the light of the sun. There's nothing temporal. There's nothing divinely created. The sun. God made the sun. I
enjoy it. First time I've seen the sun
now in a long time. It looks nice. I like the sun. I like to feel the sun, the warmth
of the sun, the benefits of the sun. But it was created by Almighty
God. And there's coming a day where
that sun will not be needed anymore. Why? For the Lord God giveth
them light. He is, the Scripture says, the
Son of Righteousness. And that word is spelled S-U-N. He is the one that arises with
healing in His wings. Psalm 8411 says, The Lord God
is a sun and a shield. The Lord will give grace and
glory. No good thing will He withhold from them that walk
uprightly. You know, you take the sun right
now out of our solar system. And we're gone. It's over. We need the sun right now. We
need the sun in this life. But there, there's no need of
the sun anymore. He is the light. God giveth them
light. Here's the third thing I know.
They shall reign forever and ever. I have heard this. We will reign with him. I've read that scripture. I've heard it. I've heard men
make reference to it, preach on it. But that glorious truth,
if I'm ever going to admit, Neil, that I see through a glass darkly,
I'm going to admit it right now. That blessed truth transcends,
it goes beyond the limit of our ability to comprehend it. We shall reign, they shall reign
forever and ever. Now this I know, and this is
from the words of our Lord God. Revelation 3.21, To him that
overcometh will I grant, to sit with Me in My throne, even as
I also overcame and am sat down with My Father in His throne."
Now there was two thrones mentioned. Two thrones from the words from
the mouth of our Lord. To Him that overcometh will I
grant to sit with Me on My throne. He said, just as I overcame and
I'm sat down with my father in his throne. I see through a glass darkly,
just as you, but I'm going to tell you what he just said. That
I'm going to explain it? No. That I'll tell you what he
just said? I'll try. He just mentioned two
thrones. He said, my throne, my father's
throne. Now the Father's throne obviously is the throne of the
thrice holy God, the throne of Jehovah Himself, the Father,
the Son, the Spirit, and none but God Almighty. And His threefold character sits
upon that throne. Now how do you know that? The Lord said, I am set down
with My Father in His throne. Now He said there were two thrones. Nothing created will ever sit
on that throne. That is the throne of God, Jehovah. But our Lord mentioned and said
there is a throne that is revealed to be His throne. I am trying to walk as lightly
as I can and as respectfully as I can because I know who said
this. It is the Lord God Himself, the
Lord Jesus Christ, God in human flesh, the Lamb, He who the Father refers to as
God. Thy throne, O God. So I am speaking and I'm trying
to hold my breath as I speak because I don't want to say anything
disrespectfully. But the Master said, the Lord
God Himself, He said, To him that overcometh will I grant
to sit with me in my throne." There is a throne that was rightly
earned by the Christ Himself, God-man, the Messiah Himself. He earned a throne as the obedient
Son of Man. There is a throne earned by the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself. God in human flesh. God in human
flesh. And there is a throne in which
He, as our representative, the God-Man, He sits as the obedient, and
righteous servant of God. Now Him of whom we speak, our
Lord and our God, that is what Thomas said, my Lord and my God.
He Himself in an everlasting covenant, a covenant of grace,
betrothed Himself To His elect, those that the Father gave Him,
the Father chose, the Son redeemed, and the Spirit of God regenerated
and teaches and seals. The Christ Himself. He betrothed Himself to His people. When did He do that? You know
what betrothed means. He's promised to marry. But this marriage is everlasting. Hosea 2.19, I will betroth thee
unto Me forever. The word forever means the vanishing
point, past, future, eternal, the vanishing point. I will betroth
thee unto Me in righteousness and in judgment and in lovingkindness
and in mercies. The betrothal. is that everlasting covenant
in which He has united Himself to His church. His church is His body. It's His bride. It's His love. And He betrothed Himself everlastingly
to her, united Himself. And that everlasting marriage
covenant, the covenant of grace, is forever. It's never dissolved. The Scripture says that it was
made in righteousness because His righteousness that He earned, the right that He has to sit
on His throne, that's His throne, that's what He said. To him that
overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne." Who earned
it? He earned it. But he says to those that overcome. And who are those that shall
overcome? Those that he keeps. Those that he betrothed himself
to. Those that he died for. Those that he has everlastingly
loved. Those who are his body. To those that overcome, those
that overcome by the grace of God because they're kept by the
power of God. To those that overcome, He said,
I will grant that they will sit with Me. That throne that was established
in righteousness, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness. It's going to be right. It's going to be honorable. Our righteousness is His righteousness
imputed to us. Those that sit upon His throne
with Him are sitting there robed in His righteousness. She's sitting
there in Him and with Him. married to Him. He said, this betrothal will
be made in judgment. What do you mean, Lord? He said,
there's not one atom of God's demand for justice that's going
to be put aside. It's going to be right. Honor,
righteousness, judgment, Her sitting there with Him on
His throne is going to be by the establishment of righteousness. Justice has been satisfied in
Him who is her surety. There's nothing shady about this.
This is right. And He said this betrothal is
going to be in loving kindness and mercies He said, I will have mercy upon
whom I'll have mercy. She will know eternally, I am
here by the grace of God. What did she ever do in herself
to earn the right to sit with Him on His throne? What did the bride ever do in
herself Nothing. Nothing. She is there because
the Father chose her to be there. She is there because Christ earned
a righteousness for her and imputed that righteousness to her. And she is clothed totally in
Him that the Father said, that's My beloved Son in whom I'm well
pleased. Justice was satisfied. They shall reign forever and
ever. Listen to this one verse in closing.
Isaiah 64. For since the beginning of the
world, man hath not heard nor perceived by the ear, neither
hath the eye seen, O God, beside Thee, what he hath prepared for
him that waiteth for him." You talk about seeing through a glass darkly.
We see. But believers, in just a moment, in just a vapor,
just a hand breath, this life, this journey shall be over. And this will be the state of
all that He's everlastingly loved. There will be no night there. We're going to know as we're known. We're going to
see Him as He is. We'll see Him face to face. And
we will look upon Him who is there in our nature. He who was made flesh, we will
see Him and know Him. And we'll understand. There'll
be no need for candles, light of the sun, for the Lord God
giveth them light. And they shall reign forever
and ever. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen. Let's take about a five minute
break.