Revelation chapter 21 our text
will be found in verses 6 through 8 I'm sorry verse 5 through verse 8 And the title of the message
this morning is the grace of the new creation the grace of
the new creation. The Scripture says, "...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 Alpha, Mega, 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. But the fearful and unbelieving,
and abominable, and murderers, and hungers, and sorcerers, and
idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which
burneth with fire and with brimstone, which is the second death." Now,
at this point in the vision given to us, given to John by the Holy
Spirit, he has witnessed the end of all things. The end of
all things. The saints have been saved by
the blood of Christ, called by the Holy Spirit to life and faith. Those saints that have died and
have ascended into the heavens by their spirits. When Christ
comes again in the glory and majesty of His throne, their
bodies shall be raised from the dead, and all the saints of God
shall be gathered together in one place. and they all shall
be saved forever. And the devil and all his demons
and all those who do not believe in Christ shall be cast into
the lake of fire which burneth forever and ever, which is the
second death." And so then, in chapter 21, John then begins
to describe the new heavens and the new earth. You remember the
old earth is to be burned up. Everything, everything that you
see, everything in this world, all the things and pleasures
and families and friends and all the things that men hold
dear in this world, listen, they shall be burned up. Everything
that a man thinks is important in this life shall soon be destroyed. What kind of men, Peter said,
ought we to be, seeing that all these things shall be dissolved?
That word dissolved has ringed in my ear for a little while.
You take a stick of butter and you put it in a hot pan and leave
it for a little while. What happens? It dissolves. Nothing
there. Put a boiling water on to boil
and you forget about it and pretty soon what happens? It evaporates.
It's gone. There's nothing left. Nothing
remains. And that's what's going to take
place in this new creation. The world is going to be burned
up and God then is going to restore the earth to its full strength
and glory which it had before. Every tree yields strength. Can you imagine that? The beauty
of this new heaven and new earth. That everything is going to be
perfect. Nothing is going to be out of
place. New heaven and a new earth. And
he said, there's no more sea. Remember that? That has to do
with trouble. There's no more trouble, no more
enemies, and no more separation. That's what that picture is.
No more sea. In verse 2, he said, there'll be a new Jerusalem coming
down from God out of heaven as a bride adorned for her husband.
What is this? This is the church. This is the
resurrection. This is when all of the saints
of God shall descend from heaven with Christ to inhabit this new earth and
new heavens. It's called New Jerusalem, remember,
because it's in opposition to the Old Jerusalem. The Old Jerusalem,
which was the center of worship under the law, is only a figure,
only a picture, a type of what the church is. The New Jerusalem. And this comes down from heaven. even because we all who are saints
of God shall be gathered together in one place." You think of a
city. What is a city for? It's cities for protection. A
city has a wall, a fence. It keeps things out and it keeps
things in. What is this? It is the eternal
refuge that keeps all sin out. All wickedness out shall never
enter into this place, and everyone in this city shall live in peace
and joy forever, having Christ as our refuge. We shall be a
bride adorned for her husband, which means the righteousness
of Christ shall adorn all the saints of God. In verse 3, we
see at the end of all things that the presence of God shall
be with them. He said, Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men, and He will dwell with them. You know what
the joy of heaven is? It's the presence of God. That's
the joy of heaven. Anybody who wants to go to heaven
for streets of gold is a fool. Anybody who wants to go to heaven
for gates of pearls is a fool. The joy and pleasure of heaven
is the presence of God. I know this by my limited experience
in this world, that the greatest and highest feeling is the presence
of God. That's what I enjoy the most.
I enjoy other things, but there is nothing greater than the presence
of God to the saint. To feel His presence. Forever. And fourth, the bliss. He shows
us the bliss of heaven in the next verse. He said, God, wipe
away all tears. No more tears. Neither shall
there be any more death. No more death. Neither sorrow
nor crying. Neither shall there be any more
pain. For the former things are passed away. this heaven will be is only can
be described by a negative experiences we know what pain death and sorrow
is we don't know anything of a life without it do we but what
a joy to think about that that one day we will be without these
things no more There'll be no more at this time. No more death.
No more sorrow. No more crying or pain. And fifthly,
we learn this about the eternal heaven, the abode of the saints.
It is sure. Look at that. In verse 5, He
that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
And He said unto me, Write. Why? Because these words are
true and faithful. Friends, you could take this
to the bank. You can put this down. This is
sure. This is sure to happen. I don't care what men feel, or
what men think, or the opinions of men. The only thing that matters
is this. Thus saith the Lord. That's all that matters. All
you need is thus saith the Lord. If God said it, it's true. If
man says it, you can question. He may or may not have the truth.
I don't know. But I know this, any man that
says what God says, you better listen to him. You see, I don't
have any, as a preacher of the gospel, I don't have any desire
to give you my opinion. You don't need my opinion. You
have your own. Your opinion most likely is better
than mine. But our opinions are not what
men need. What men need is, thus saith the Lord. Because whatever
God says is going to happen. I like that in, I believe it's
Joshua. It says, "...and all that the
Lord had spoken came to pass." And this is going to come to
pass. This day is coming. This day is coming. Heaven is
coming. It is sure. And truly then, it is the heart
of every saint of God, every believer in Christ, that He should
come again. Isn't that what John said? Even
so, Lord, come quickly. Even so, come today. Would it
bother you if He came today? Is there something more pressing
for you than to have Him come? Would you delay His coming? No! Come now! Come now! Come now! Come now! We want Him now. That's
when we want Him to come. We should ever expect Him to
come. It is our hope, it is our confidence
that He will fulfill His oath, make a new creation, a new earth,
new heaven and earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. And when He comes, He will make
all things new. That's what we've come to in
this vision. But I want us to see this. This word here that
He says in verse 5, Behold, I make all things new. It's not future
tense. He said, I'm not going to make
all things new. Although He is going to make
all things new. But rather, this is present tense.
Behold, I am right now making all things new." So believer,
we have a hope for the future, but we also have a hope here
in the present. He says, I make all things new. So then let us not forget in
our looking forward to the new heaven and new earth, let us
not forget that Christ is now making All things new in the salvation
of sinners. In the salvation of sinners.
You see, the old man by nature is ruined. Man by nature is ruined. He's corrupt. He's vile. He does
not seek the things of God. He does not care for the things
of God. He does not love the things of God. He does not know
God. Neither can he know Him. And though men be like the Pharisees,
of old, religious, moral. You remember what Jesus said
about those religious and moral men. He said, you are nothing
more than painted tombs, beautiful on the outside. But what was
the problem? On the inside full of dead men's
bones. This is what man is by nature. He is dead. He is corrupt, wicked, vile. And where does this corruption
stem from? From the heart. From the heart. Man is corrupt and his actions
of evil stem from the heart. Go to Matthew chapter 7. Our Lord gets to the issue of
this. Matthew chapter 7, verse 18. He says, a good tree cannot bring
forth evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not
forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. What is the Lord talking about
fruit and trees? He's talking about the heart
of man. He said, every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit. Is that not a good picture? If
the tree is good, the fruit will be good. If the tree is bad,
the fruit is bad. Very clear. And he's talking
about the heart of man. If the heart is good, then the
fruit will be good. But what's wrong with man? Why
is man's fruit corrupt? Because the tree is corrupt. He's Pharisees. They washed their hands. That
was a ceremony they had. They said, you know, you need
to wash your hands. It was a ritual. And they thought
by washing the hands that they had some kind of holiness, some
kind of purity by this ceremony of washing the hands. And Jesus
said to His disciples in another place, He said, Are you so without
understanding, do you not perceive that whatsoever thing from without
entereth into a man, it cannot defile him? Because it entereth
not into his heart, but goeth into the belly, and goeth out
to the draught, purging all meats. And he said unto them, That which
come out of the man defileth the man. For from within, out
of the heart of man, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications,
thefts, covetous, wickedness, deceit, murders, envies, blasphemies.
These things defile a man. You see, these things defile
a man. It is the heart that's the trouble. It's not the deeds. It's not the works. The works
are only the evidence of a corrupt nature. But for a man to be fit for this
new creation, this new heaven and new earth, to be accepted
of God, cannot be done by any means of the flesh. It cannot
be accomplished by any means of the outward man. No obedience
of the law could ever make a man corrupt. You see, He's telling
us, from without. You can't make the tree good
from without. It has to be made from within. A man needs a new heart. A new heart. You remember our
Lord said that that the law, it doesn't deal just with the
outward actions but the inward thoughts. Okay, if a man lusts
after a woman in his heart, the scripture says, he hath committed
adultery with her already. If a man hate his brother, it
is the sin of murder. So then what a sinner needs is
not a change of habit. What he needs is a new heart. A new heart. He doesn't need
a change of habits. He doesn't need a change in feel-good
religious activities. He doesn't need outward morality. He needs a new heart. You take a man. Just imagine
a man in the slums of the earth. Imagine the most grotesque sinner
that you could possibly fathom. This man is in the gutter. He's
addicted to drugs. He's addicted to all kinds of
vices. And think of this man, and all
of a sudden, he comes to himself, he says, you know what, I don't
want this anymore for myself. And he picks himself up, and
he goes to the rehab, and he gets clean, he gets sober, and
he becomes moral, and he goes to a religious place, and he
begins to do good for his community. And this man, he goes back to
school, He gets all of the education the world could have, and he
becomes a great, successful businessman. His family, he wins them over
again, and he brings his family in. And there he is. He's a successful
man, a well-respected man. And he spends the rest of his
days, he lives to be a hundred, and he spends the rest of his
days doing good. And there he is on his deathbed,
he's surrounded by all of his friends and family and he's peacefully
passing and then he reflects on his life and he says, oh look
what all the good I've done. And he closes his eyes expecting
to be received. He closes his eyes in torment. I ask you, what good was all
his morality? What good was all of his being
freed from drugs and addictions? What good was all of that? What did it do him? What good
did it do him? Our Lord said, what is a man
profited if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Jesus said, first make the tree
good, and the fruit will be good. The tree is the picture of the
heart. Because the heart is corrupt,
all the deeds of man are corrupt, and what man needs is a new heart. And listen, I don't care what
you do, you can't make yourself a new heart. Can't do it. Can't do it. Go back to your text. Read it
carefully. Look at it carefully. Who makes all things new? Who does it? What did the Lord
say? I make all things new. So if you are to have a new heart,
who has to make it? You need one, don't you? Who makes it? Behold, Christ
says, I make. This is not a cooperative effort. It's not, I'm going to do my
part and you do your part. I'm going to do it all. I make
all things new. I make all things new. New creation. It is the great Savior, Redeemer,
the eternal Son of God who sits upon the throne of God. This
is the One who makes all things new, the One who sits on the
throne. Do you not see that? Who has the right and the power to make all things
new? He who sits on the throne. That's who. He said, I sit on
the throne. You see, He sat on this throne.
He made all things by the word of His own power and creation.
And by divine right, Christ sits on that throne. But I'll tell
you something greater than that. Having been made a man, The Lord
Jesus Christ being made a representative of all the Father gave Him, He
came into this world and in perfect obedience to God made an offering
for sin. And God having accepted His offering,
you know this, God put that man on the throne. God raised him from the dead
and made him both Lord and Christ. Hath given him power over all
flesh. You know why he sits on the throne?
He sits on the throne to make all things new. Now this should be encouraging.
He could have sat on the throne and said, behold, I don't have
to do anything for you. But yet for his own glory he
said, I'll make. Now there's hope. There's hope.
If you have a ruined heart and you cannot make a new heart,
then look to the one who can. I make all things new. This is an announcement of grace. An announcement of grace. I make
all things new. Well that's good if you need
a new heart. If you need to be made new, then
that's good news. There's someone who makes a new
heart. Now if you had, if it were in
our realm of possibility, a man had a cure for cancer, and you had cancer, would that
not give you hope that you may receive the cure? If there was
one. I'm telling you there is a cure
for a ruined heart. There is a cure, but there's
only one who makes it. Christ. Christ alone. Therefore, sinner, behold He
who sits on the throne. Behold Him in sovereign majesty,
eternal glory, and power. He can make all things new. Matter of fact, He is determined
to do so. I make all things new. Do you need righteousness? Do
you need a new heart? Then you should go to the One
who makes it. Go to Him who makes it. Only Jesus can make a new
heart. Salvation of a sinner is the
work of God alone. It is the work of grace, not
based on merits or works. Paul uses this same language
in 2 Corinthians 5.17. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creation. Behold all things. are made new. Old things are
passed away. Behold, all things are made new. In the salvation of a sinner,
Christ does not fix the old man. This is a common misconception
of the work of grace. Men think that God comes to fix
the old man. No! He comes to make a new man. Our Lord said that which is born
of flesh is flesh and that which is born of spirit is spirit. Peter says then to those who
are made new, he said you are made partakers of the divine
nature. Divine nature. Whosoever is born
of God..." John says this, listen, "...whosoever is born of God
doth not commit sin." Did you get that? How is that possible, John? I
know this, that I'm born again of the Spirit of God. I made
a new creation in Christ, yet I sin. We know this, you sin
because that is the old nature that still abides in you, but
this new nature sinneth not. It is a new creation. It is the
tree that produces good fruit unto God. Righteousness. He cannot sin, John says, because
he is born of God. In this the children of God are
manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth not
righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his
brother. upon the sinner. We are given
the right then to be called the sons of God. Sons and heirs of... join heirs with Christ. Are you made a new creation? Has God quickened you from the
dead? Paul says, for his great love
wherewith he loved us, in that while we were yet dead in sins. Hath quickened us together, by
grace you are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made
us sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages
to come he might show forth the exceeding riches of his grace
toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through
faith, and that, not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast, listen, for we are his workmanship. That word is skilled craftsman.
We are His craftsmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Oh, have you believed on the
Son of God? Has God shown you the exceeding riches of His grace
through Christ? Has He shown you the beauty of
the person and glory of the man, the God-man, mediator? Have you
seen the perfections of His obedience and the perfection of His offering?
If you have, you have been made a new creation. That's the only
reason you believe and others don't. You got it? You know why
you believe? Because He said, Behold, I make
all things new. That's why you believe. That's
why you trust. It's because He that sat on the
throne made you a new creature. A new creature. We now behold the Lord Jesus
Christ who has made us whole. We trust Him. He has made us
righteous. He has made us spotless. He has
purged us. And we rejoice with Isaiah who
said this, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be
joyful in my God. For He hath clothed me with the
garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness. As a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels. Is this not the most amazing
announcement that you have ever heard? Behold, I make all things
new. It's an announcement. But look next at the assurance
of this. He said this, right, for these things are faithful
and true. Just as sure as God is going to make a new heaven
and a new earth wherein dwell the righteousness, you listen,
God is going to save his people from their sins. This is sure. This is true. He who said, I make all things
new, I am making all things new right now. You put it down, God
is now making new creatures in Christ. He is doing this. This
is the purpose of Christ coming and dying, is to save His people
from their sins. I know this, believer. We still
have this old man. We still struggle in this body. Though we've been made new creations,
we still have this old man of sin about our neck, struggling
constantly, fighting and warring with us. It brings doubts and
fears concerning this matter of salvation. Sometimes we ask ourselves, concealing
our sin, has God made us new? Am I new? How can I be new and
still have this old corrupt nature? You remember when Rebecca was
conceived of those twins in her womb, Jacob and Esau, which is
a picture of the church and the lost. But it's also a picture
of the new nature and the old. Those twins who were struggling
in her womb. She said, if it be so. What was
she talking about, if it be so? If God has promised that from
my womb should come the Christ, why then am I struggling? And
isn't that your question? Many times you say, if I am an
heir, if I am a son, if I have been made new, then why the struggle? Why the difficulty? Why the temptation? Why do I fear so much? and do
not believe. If it be so, why am I thus? It's thus because we have the
two natures dwelling in us, a warfare constantly going on. Paul said
that I find in myself, he said, I delight in the inner man after
the law of God. But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity
of the law of sin, which is in my members, O wretched man that
I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? Is that not your constant struggle? You know
what? A man that doesn't have this
struggle is a man who does not have life. He's a man of one nature continuing
on to eternal damnation. God said, Paul through the apostle,
through the Holy Spirit said that the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. These are contrary
one to another so that you cannot do what you would. What would
the flesh do? The flesh would leave. The flesh
would sin. What would the Spirit do? The
new man. It would be righteous. And yet
here we are struggling, desiring, and we can't do, either one can't
do what they want to. Now consider the grace of our
Lord in recognizing and remembering your frame. If God says something once, shouldn't
that be enough? Yet why does he say it over and
over again? Why did he have to say this?
Why did he have to tell John Wright that these words are true
and faithful? Weren't these words true and faithful without that?
And yet He said that because He knew you would doubt it. So the assurance is this. These
words are true and faithful. Everything God said He would
do, He will do. And because of our frailty, knowing
our frame, He gives us an oath. Right, for these words are true
and faithful. Therefore, believer, let us not
be moved from them." Don't be moved. He said, I make all things
new. And if He made all things new
in you, you listen. It's new. It's new. And you know what? It's new. And it's new every moment. You're made perfect every moment. Every moment you're perfect.
It's fresh. It's new. His mercies are new.
When? Every morning. They're new. Well, I don't feel new. Don't trust your feelings. Trust
His Word. Set those feelings aside if they
contradict His Word. Now if the feelings go with His
Word, oh, they're wonderful. We thank God for them. But if
they go against it, then you need to set them aside and trust
His Word. Why? His Word is faithful and
true. Therefore David said this in
Psalm 138, he said, I will praise Thee with my whole heart. Before
the gods, before everyone, before every one of these false deities,
I will praise you. I will worship toward thy holy
temple, praise thy holy name. Listen, for thy loving kindness
and for thy truth. for Thou hast magnified Thy Word
above Thy name." Why should we believe the Word of God? You
see, God put everything on His Word. When God says something,
if it doesn't come true, then God ceases to be God. If God lies, He's nothing better
than you are. And we know that's not going
to happen. God cannot lie. And thirdly, look at this assurance
here, in verse 6. And He said unto me, It is done. It is done. Friends, in these
three words we have the whole of the gospel of Christ. It is
done. You know what the difference
between true and false religion is? Their religion is due. Do this and you shall be saved. Do this and God will accept you. Do this. Do that. But our religion
is not do. Our religion is this. It is done. Done. You remember that wedding feast?
I'll close with this. You remember that wedding feast?
Go to Matthew chapter 22. Let's read this together in closing. And I want you to see this gospel
clearly pictured in this. Matthew chapter 22. In verse 2, "...and the kingdom
of heaven is likened to a certain king which made a marriage supper
for his son. And he sent forth his servants
to call them were bidden to the wedding, and they would not come.
Again he sent other servants to tell them that were bidden,
behold, I have prepared my dinner, my ox and my fatling are killed."
Listen, all things are what? Ready. All things are done. Who is the King? It is God. Who
is His servants? Those are the preachers of the
gospel. Who is the ox and the fatling killed? That is Christ.
And what has He done? He's made all things ready. And
what does He do? He bids men to come. Today, I
am bidding you to come. It's done. All is ready. And
you know what men do? They made light of it. They went their ways. One to
his farm, another to his merchandise. And a remnant took his servants
and treated them spitefully and slew them. But when the king
heard thereof, he was wroth. And he sent forth his armies
and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city. And
he said to his servants, the wedding is what? Done. It's ready. But they that are bidden are
not worthy. Go therefore into the highways, and as many as
you shall find, bid them to the marriage." So those servants
went out in the highways and gathered together as many as
they found. Both bad and good, and the wedding
was furnished with guests. Oh, this is going to be good.
The wedding is furnished. All is done, the wedding will
be furnished." From where? The highways and the hedges,
the bums and the beggars. That's where. The sinners, harlots,
sorcerers, whoremongers, idolaters. That's who God calls sinners. He says, come, all is ready,
bring nothing. You see why those that were bidden
did not come? Because they had things. They
had farms, and they had families, and they had friends, and they
had this world, and they would not come. They enjoyed those
things. But the people in the highways
and the hedges, they didn't have anything. They were starving. You see, that's a sinner in need.
Do you need? Then come, all is ready. All is ready. Verse 11, And the king came to
see the guest, and he saw there a man which had not a wedding
garment. And he said to him, Friend, how
comest thou hither not having a wedding garment? He was speechless. His servants bind him hand and
foot and take him away and cast him into outer darkness. And
there shall we weeping and gnashing of teeth." Who is this? This
is a pretender. This is one who pretends to be
hungry. This is one who pretends to need righteousness. This is
one who comes with his own righteousness and tries to add it to the wedding
feast. No, no, listen. All is done and
to add anything is an offense and affront to the Son of God. If you bring anything in, you
are saying to Christ, your work's not enough. I need to add to
it. I've used this illustration before. You take the Sistine
Chapel, that beautiful painting, and then what if I were to say,
well, you know what, that thing, it just needs a little work.
I'm going to take my brush and go draw some stick figures up
there, and then it would be perfect. How much more an offense would
it be to Christ if you try to add anything to Him? No. What does the Master say? I make
all things new. Listen. It's done. It's done. Why would you bring anything
in? and He will put on you a robe
of righteousness fit for a king and crown you with everlasting
life. This is the announcement of grace.
I make all things new. This is the assurance of grace
right for these things are faithful and true and this is the accomplishment
of grace it is done done why then will you not come and if you have come rejoice
because God has made you new I pray God blesses to you