Revelation chapter 21. And the title of the message this
morning is, Five True and Faithful Words. Five True and Faithful
Words. The Apostle John here was given
A great privilege, a great blessing to write this book of the revelation
of Jesus Christ. If you will notice, it is not
revelations, it is not plural, it is one. It is one revelation. As the Scriptures all are of
one revelation, and that is of Jesus Christ. This is the sum
and the substance of this book as well as He is the sum and
substance of all books in this Bible. He is the sum. And so
John was given the privilege of writing this book of revelation
that revealed the entire age of the gospel. the entire age
of the gospel. Now, as I turn to this book,
there's much confusion about the book of Revelation that need
not be. If you go to this book and you
find anything of fear or dread, there's two things I want you
to keep in mind as you read so you don't err in reading it. There's two things. If you keep
this in mind no matter what you read in this book, you won't
be far from the truth. If you miss something, you won't
miss it far. Here's one thing you need to remember as we read
this book. This book, as all Scriptures, is concerning the
person and work of Jesus Christ. This book of Revelation is written
for the comfort and assurance of God's elect to reveal the
complete and absolute and decisive victory of the Lord Jesus Christ
and His church. That's what this book is here
for. It is to show you, it is to reveal to you how things really
are. That the victory Christ has won
over sin, death, and hell, that we who are His church are more
than conquerors. through Him that loved us. This
book reveals God's eternal purpose, that it is not in jeopardy, that
it is not in trouble. This book reveals to us that
God's purpose is not on the brink of failure, as it may appear. Believers,
things are not as they seem to be. Satan is defeated. The world and all those that
are in it are moving according to the sovereign will of the
Lord Jesus Christ and doing exactly what God before determined to
be done. Everything. Everything. is moving in accordance with
God's divine will. Back in Ezekiel, I didn't read
this on purpose because it was too large as it was this morning. I didn't get to it. But in that
prophecy of Ezekiel, you see these angelic creatures, these
living beings, and you see these wheels within the wheel. All
of that is pointing to the providence of God. And if you read that,
you'll find that the angels, the angelic beings, only move
forward. Straight. They don't turn to
the right, they don't turn to the left. The wheels turn, but
they don't turn to the right and they don't turn to the left.
The providence of God is moving straight forward. It is accomplishing
exactly what God before determined to be done. That's what you should
read in this book. That God does not fail. even though it appears. Doesn't
it appear? That sin is rampant, that the
world is winning, that the church is small, that the remnant is
going away, the light is going out. We're in despair all the
time. This book is an encouragement.
God's church will triumph because Christ has triumphed. That's
what this book tells you. So when you read that, read it
with confidence that he's going to show you the victory is won. The victory is won. That the
Lord Jesus Christ has by his death put away sin and that he
will call every elect sinner to faith in Jesus Christ, and
we are assured that not one, not one, not one of God's elect
will be lost. Not one will be missed. Not one. Beginning of this book, you read
of 24 elders. How many chairs are there? 24. One for each elder. You know
how many places there are in heaven? Exactly the number God
determined before to put there. That's how many are going to
be saved. Exactly how many God is determined to save. The Revelation
of John writes to assure us of Christ's complete victory. Second
of all, you keep this in mind. And you won't err from reading
this book of Revelation. That we are not to try to mix
these visions of John into one prophetic history. These visions that John has given,
each one of them, each one of them describe in prophetic detail
the beginning to the end of the gospel age. Every one of them. That's why you'll find things
repeated in this book. You'll find things that seem,
hey, doesn't that look exactly like this? Yeah, because it is
exactly the same over here. It's one gospel. And what he
does is seven visions, he repeats the gospel seven times over.
The entire gospel age. So don't try to link this and
this and this and put it in order of time. You'll err greatly in
doing that. Each section of this book gives
us a view of the entire gospel, from His first coming to His
second coming. Each vision pictures for us a
complete person and the complete work of Jesus' redemption and
the grace of God, and ends with the judgment of God, which results in the glorification
of the believers and the destruction of the wicked. So you keep those
things in mind as you read the book and it will be clearer to
you. It will be clearer. Now, look
at our text. With these things in mind, my
text will be found in verse 5. And he that sat upon the throne
said, Behold, I make all things new. John, in his vision here,
he sees the end of God's purpose of grace towards His elect people. He sees in the previous chapter
the wicked being cast into hell. The judgment of God has come,
and the wicked are gathered together, they're heaped together as a
bundle, and they're cast into the lake of fire which burneth
forever and ever. This, he said, is the second
death. The second death. These men who
were cast into the lake of fire were not objects of God's mercy,
but rather vessels of wrath fitted for destruction. These were cast into the lake
of fire, notice this, in verse 15 of the previous chapter, and
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire. Only the elect of the Father,
the redeemed of the Lord Jesus Christ, and those called by the
Holy Spirit, only they are written in this book of life. Only their
names are written. If you go over to Revelation
13, look at that. Revelation 13 in verse 8 reveals
this. And all that dwell upon the earth
shall worship Him whose names... This is the beast. They shall
worship the false prophet and the beast. And those that worship
Him whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Go to 17. Go to chapter
17 and verse 8. See it again. And the beast which thou sawest
was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and
go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth
shall wonder whose names are not written in the book of life."
Listen, from the foundation of the world. Who go after the beast
and the false prophet? Only those whose names are not
written in this book. Do you have any interest to know
if your name's there? If your name's not there, you
will be cast out. Do you have any interest? Then
behold, I tell you, confess your sins. Confess your sins Confess
your nature to be void of righteousness, and you should sue God for mercy. You should beg God for mercy. Behold the Son of God manifest
in the flesh. Behold and see that He is the
only righteousness of God, and believe on His sinless holy person,
and you shall be accepted of God. Behold the death of the
Son of God, whose blood flowed under the justice of God for
the sins of the elect. Sinner, cast all your soul on
Him. If you have any need of pardon,
forgiveness, then you should sue God for the blood of Jesus
Christ to cover your sins. And behold, Him who is risen
from the dead is seated on the throne as the only sovereign
monarch, that all power is given to Him. And He is now doing His
own pleasure in heaven and in earth. What is Jesus doing in
heaven? He is doing His will. Whatever His will is, He's doing
it. And I know His will. Do you know
His will? Do you know what He's doing?
People are always asking, what is the will of God? What are
they asking for is a crystal ball to find out what they need
to do next. That's all they want. That's not given. That's secret,
that belongs to God. What I do know about His will
is, He is saving His people from their sins. This is the will
of Him that sent me, that of all He hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. See, I
know what His will is. His will is to save sinners. That's what
His will is, to save His people from their sins. So sinner, behold
now the Son of God, and believe on Him alone, that you may know
your name is written down. You who believe. Our names are
not written because we believe. You believe because your name
is written. That's a great distinction in
that, isn't it? Because one is based on merit. The one says,
if you believe, then, based on your belief, God writes your
name down. No. That's not what the scripture
says. My name was written before the foundation of the world.
So it was definitely written before I believed. But I tell
you this, I believe because it is written. Every month I get
a check. from the government. I have a
disability. It's not mental. I mean, it is,
but that's not why I get the check, okay? I do have those,
but that's not why. See, my name is written down
in the government system somewhere. It's written down. How do I know
that? Every month there's a check, okay? How do I know my name is
written in heaven? Because I have faith. Faith is
the evidence. Faith is the evidence that my
name is written down. Behold, then, the assurance of
our salvation does not come from our obedience or our knowledge
or even our faith or our feelings. Praise God. Praise God. How often do our feelings flow
up. and down, and down, and down,
and down, and up, and down, and down, and down, and up. That's
mine. I don't know about yours. Maybe yours is up, and up, and
up. I don't know. But I'm telling you, these feelings have nothing
to do with this. My name is written down not based on my feelings.
My reign is written down because God has given me faith to believe
on the Son of God. And it's from the object of my
faith. Jesus Christ is the object of
my faith and my assurance. The Father, that the Father chose
me in Christ. The Son redeemed me by His blood.
The Holy Spirit has given me a new life, new nature, by which
we believe on Christ, by which we love Christ, and by which
we hope in Christ. You see, I'm anticipating something.
I'm anticipating something. That's what hope is. Hope is
anticipation of something you know is going to happen. I have
a good hope that when this life is finished, there waits for
me glory, heaven, the kingdom of God. I know that. I'm assured of that. I anticipate that one day Christ
is coming, even as John sees in this vision. He said, 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. Believer
in Christ, look around you. Is there anything in this world
you hold dear? What do you hold dear? You better
hold it loosely, because it's fleeting. It's going, whatever
it is. Joy is fleeting. Pleasure is fleeting. Peace is
fleeting. It's going fast. So whatever
you're holding on to, you better hang on loose because it's going. All we see now is a vast separation. All that we see now is a vast
separation between heaven and earth. In order to go to heaven,
I have to die. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. Therefore, to be present in this
body is to be absent from the presence of my blessed Savior
in his body, in his bodily person. We must, for a time, be separated
from those that we love, but soon all of that's going to change. Soon all that's going to change,
for everything we know about this world is going to change.
Everything we think we know is going to be gone. This is witnessed
by John when he saw that there was no more sea. I like this. What separated John from those
people he loved? It was the sea. He was on that
island all by himself, separated by a vast ocean. And when John
saw the new heaven and earth coming down, he noticed something. There was no separation. There
was no separation. Behold the wonder of this believer
that the new Jerusalem will come down from heaven and God himself
will dwell upon the earth with us and heaven and earth shall
be in union together. Be in union together. Isn't it
so wherever Christ is, heaven is? Isn't that right? If Christ
is not in heaven, that's not heaven. Wherever Christ is, that's
heaven. And behold, on this day there
will be no more tears, no more death, no more pain, no more
crying. Isn't that all you know here?
Believer, isn't that all you know? Pain, death, crying, sorrow,
sadness, disappointment. Listen to the words of the king.
Behold, I make all things new. One day he will take away all
tears from your eyes. He will remove all sin from your
nature. I won't even remember what it's
like to be a sinner. It's going to be new. I only
know what it's like to be a sinner. One day I'm never going to know
that feeling again. Never going to know it. He's
going to wipe all the tears from my eyes. Consider the promise
of Jesus who makes all things new. There's no more tears or
death or pain even because there'll be no more sin. Wasn't it sin
that separated us from God? It was sin that causes our tears,
and even because sin brought with it the curse of God. But
God says in that day, that day that's coming, there will be
no more curse, no more separation between us and God. Jesus, who
has made a curse for us, suffered and satisfied the justice of
God and removed the curse. But have you experienced that
yet? We've not experienced being removed
from the curse. All I see is cursed. One day
that is going to be gone. Gone. And there'll be no more
curse. How do we know these things are
true? When that day comes and all things are made, how do we
know He's going to make all things new? Look at verse 5. Because
of who said it, He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make
all things new. How do we have confidence? Even
because Jesus Christ sits on the throne of heaven and does
everything after His own will. Therefore, he tells John this,
write, John, you put this down on paper because what I say is
true and faithful. What I say, Christ says, what
I say is true and faithful. It's true and faithful because
He does His will. He said, I'm God, and there is
no God beside me. I declare the end from the beginning. And from ancient times the things
were not yet done, saying, All my counsel shall stand, and I
will do all my pleasure. Consider, consider this. Is there one thing that Jesus
Christ has ever said that he has not done? Can you find it? In the book of Joshua, you look
at that little nation, and God says, I'm going to give you all
of these mighty nations. What happened? They didn't believe
him. They said, no way. There's no way. And they wander
around the 40 years until their carcasses fell in the wilderness.
You don't believe God? You'll wander around and your
carcass will fall in the wilderness. You'll die in your sins. God
says, I will give you the kingdom. I will. and there failed not any good
thing which the Lord had spoken to Israel all came to pass. You can trust this word because
of the one who says it. He is faithful and true and therefore
his words are faithful and true. Now behold the five things. Five
things, five words here given for our comfort. Look at
the five words that John was supposed to write. These are
the things that he was writing down. He said this in verse six,
and he said to me, this is the first thing you write down, John,
it is done. That's what you write down first. Number one, it's done. In these
three faithful and true words, Jesus Christ has just summed
up the gospel. is done. This should give every
believer the greatest source of comfort and rest right now.
You should rest right now, believer. Why? It's done. Your salvation? Done. It's finished. Believer, we were
given to the Son of God. We were loved of God. Our names
were written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the world began. And behold how much faith the
Father had in the Son to lay all the responsibility of your
salvation on Him. Isn't that good that it's all
on Him? The responsibility of the glory
of God rested on the shoulders of Jesus Christ. You see, God was never pleased
with your obedience or your sacrifices. He said, Lo, I come, in the volume
of the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God. Why? Because sacrifice and offering
thou wouldest not. He had no pleasure in our works,
in our obedience. Therefore, He said, Jesus said,
I come to do thy will, O God. He came because He had a work
to do. And what was His work? His work
was to accomplish righteousness. His work was to satisfy the justice
of God on the behalf of all of His elect people. And you know
what He says about that? It is done. That's it. It's done. Isn't that what he
said on the cross? It is finished. Three words. Now, who here doesn't
understand that? Is that above anyone here? Jesus said, I finished the work
you've given me to do. What work was that? I have redeemed
your people. I bought them. I paid for them. They're mine. And now I sit on the throne of
God, and what is He doing? He is calling them, even now,
by this same gospel that I tell you. Sinner, it's done. Why would you lay down your shovels,
lay down your work tools, stop trying to merit it? It's done. Believe it. That's it. Is that too complicated? No,
it's not complicated at all. But I tell you, it takes the
Holy Spirit to make you understand it. And when he calls us, isn't that
the gospel that he called us by? That his offering has forever
satisfied. And after he offered that sacrifice,
he sat down on the right hand of God and it was done. He sat
down on the throne and is gathering all his people. I like this song,
My Soul Consider This. Jesus' love for all his own directs
the power of his throne. Elect and precious to our God
all things predestined for My good. Consider that all things in heaven
and earth this morning are moving in concert. You ever been to
a symphony? That just don't happen, does
it? Somebody had to put a lot of work into that to make all
those instruments sound good together. Listen, I tell you
there's a lot of work going on and the problem is nobody's doing
it but God. He's the only one doing it. Every
person, thing, and being in this world is moving in perfect time
and symphony. Just moving. He's conducting
His will and moving men where He wants them. For what purpose? To call His people. Why? And what is he going to
tell them when he calls them? It is done. And you know what
they do? They believe. They believe. It is done. Oh, my soul, rest
yourself in this. It is done. It is done. Number two. Look at this. I am The Alpha and the Omega. This is what he tells John to
write down second. He says, John, you tell them this. I am A and
Z. I'm the first and the last. In other words, I did all your
salvation and you know what? I am salvation. I'm salvation
from the beginning, and I'm salvation in the middle, and I'm salvation
all the way to the end. That's what he's telling us.
He is all our salvation. My salvation is sure because
it began in Christ Jesus. Isn't that what Ephesians 1 tells
us? That we were chosen in Christ Jesus? When? From the beginning. So salvation, in its beginning,
was in Christ. Now then, in time, Jesus Christ
came into the world and accomplished salvation by His death. And at the appointed time, he
comes to his people and applies that salvation to them through
the Holy Spirit. And then he keeps us until what? The end. So who does it all? Christ. It's done, and I've done
it. You got those two things? It's
done, and I've done it. That's what he's telling John
to write. That's what he's telling you. It's done, and I've done
it. And number three, he says this,
I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of the
water of life freely. Herein is the fountain of the
water of life. This is the source. It's done. This is the water,
the gospel. It's done. Where does the fountain
head? I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the fountainhead and source of it being done is Jesus Christ.
Now then, He gives this water to people to drink. And it's not just to everyone.
He doesn't give this water to everyone. You know who He gives
this water to? Those that are thirsty. Who's thirsty? thirsty for righteousness? Do you thirst for life, spiritual
life, eternal life? Jesus says, I give this water
to everyone who's a thirst. And how does he give it? He gives
it freely. You see, this gospel is a gospel
that's all of Christ, is done of Christ, and He gives it to
us freely. You can't buy it. You can't earn
it. Matter of fact, if you bring
anything to it, you can't have it. You bring anything with you,
you can't have it. You say, well, you know, I want some of that
water, I want eternal life, but, you know, I want to bring, what
about this? You think this would be, can
I buy it with, no, you can't buy it. Ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come to the waters, come and buy wine and milk, with what? Without money and without price. It's free, it's free. But the
minute you put something to it, you've ruined it. You've polluted
it. You say, I believe in Jesus plus
my works, plus my will, plus my decision, plus my mission,
plus my determination, plus my witnessing. You've ruined the
whole thing. He said, I give it to you freely. Well, if you're thirsty, how
should you receive water? Freely. I gotta have it. A person
who's thirsty has to have it. If you can take or leave Jesus
Christ, you're not thirsty. Eh, maybe I'll do it later. You're
not thirsty. Only those that are thirsty,
he gives the water of life freely. Freely. With nothing. Behold, sinner, the rock is already
smitten, the water flows. Lay down your arms, confess your
sins, and drink, and be cleansed. Number four, he says this, he
that overcometh, he that overcometh, verse seven, shall inherit all
things. And I will be his God, and he
shall be my son." Jesus said, it's done. I'm the one that's
done it. Come and drink. And those who
drink, all who drink shall inherit all things. This overcoming. Jesus has accomplished our salvation. He freely gives it to us to drink. He gives us a new nature, a new
heart that thirsts after righteousness, and we drink by faith, by faith. And how is it that we overcome?
Is he saying, he that is really determined, then he inherits
all things. If you just put your hand to
it and work, no, that's not what he's saying. John tells us this,
in 1 John, he said, faith is the victory. In other words, you write this
down, everyone who drinks of the water of life and believes
on Christ will continue to believe on Christ until the end. That's
what it means. You who have true faith, you
will endure to the end. Why? He preserves you. He preserves you. You'll overcome
every obstacle. You'll overcome every trouble.
You'll overcome every difficulty. You'll overcome every foe, every
enemy of your soul. Why? Because your Savior has
already defeated them. You'll overcome them even by
this, faith. Faith. That's a rule of life. You who
believe, you want a rule of life? Here it is. Believe. That simple enough? We want it
more complex, don't we? We want a list of things we have
to do. That's the old man talking. Shut
him up. All you need is faith in Christ.
And you who endure to the end, listen what you have. Listen
what you have waiting. All things. What is that? Well, it's all
things. It's everything. You get the
whole package. God said, I am the exceeding
great reward. You get God. And thus you get
everything. Jesus said, I will be your God
and you will be my son. You get it all, believer. I like
this one. Jesus said this. Come, you blessed
of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before
the foundation of the world. It is your father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. Please, God, give me faith to
see that. It is my Father's pleasure to
give me all things. And lastly, see this that he
writes down, but 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. I cannot stress how important
this is. When Christ comes again, he will
divide all men into two groups. His elect and the unbelievers. And just as sure as the elect
are going to be safe and secure, just as sure as they will inherit
heaven, and God will be their God, and they shall enjoy Him
forever, just as sure as that, all of the unbelievers will surely
suffer the second death forever. You know, every one of us has
taken in the first death. The first death is in Adam. The
second death is hell. The only hope for you is that
God give you life. And if you have life, you have
faith. If you have faith, your faith
is in Christ. who sits on the throne, and his
words are true and faithful. And everyone against his words
a liar. A liar. I believe him. I believe it's
done. I believe he did it. I believe that Jesus is the Christ,
Son of God, and I surely will overcome by faith, and He will
receive me into His kingdom forever. But you who will not believe,
listen, your end is not as nice. Your end is not pleasant. Your end will be hell. May God even save you this hour. Let's stand. We'll be dismissed
in prayer.