Turn with me, if you would, back
to Revelation 22. I would like to encourage you to
silently, privately ask the Lord to open your heart to what we're
about to read. Revelation 22, verse 20. It says, he which testifieth
these things. Who is he? Verse 16 says, I, Jesus. Verse 18, he said, I testify. He which testifieth these things. What things? Every precious thing written
in this book up to this point. This is the last page. This is the last word. Everything written in this book,
all of it, all of it. Verse 20 says, he which testifieth
these things saith, surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so come Lord Jesus. I find myself honestly saying,
please come, please come, please come quickly. Please come quickly. Sometimes this world gets the
best of me. Sometimes it does. The pain and
the sorrow, all of the sadness of
sin. The hurt that it causes. It causes
so much hurt. And the disappointment that it
brings. It just brings so much disappointment. So much. It ruins happiness outside. It ruins joy inside. It ruins everything. It ruins peace. It ruins rest. It ruins unity. It ruins everything. It ruins everything. And sometimes
that gets the best of me. Because there is so much sorrow
out there, and because there is so much sorrow in here, because
we have to deal with so much of it on this earth, and you
know what I'm talking about. We have to deal with so much
of it. There is so much of it. Because of that, I don't want
to dwell on any of it tonight. There is so much of it in the
world. And I don't wanna dwell on any of it in here tonight. What I would like for us to do
for the next 30 minutes or however long is I want us to take a break
from the world. And I'm being very serious. I
just want us to take a break. We're gonna take a break from
the world. We live in the world, we are in the world. In the flesh,
we are of the world. By the spirit of the new man,
our Lord said they're not of the world. But, uh, we have a
ways to go. And what we're going to do tonight
is we're going to take a break. And I want us to take that break
by dwelling on the day that our Lord comes back. That's how we're
going to take a break from the world. The day that he comes
back to take us away from this sinful world. The first time
he came, he came for one reason only to redeem us from this sinful
world. And the next time that he's coming,
he's coming for one reason only, to take his people away from
this sinful world. Verse 20 says, he which testifieth
these things saith, surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so come Lord Jesus. Now let's see if we can find
a little comfort in the things that he has testified concerning
this, concerning that day. He which testifieth these things
saith, surely I'm coming quickly. He said, I'm coming. And I'm
coming quickly. I promise I'm coming quickly. He is coming. He is coming quickly. It's going
to happen so, so fast. And when he does, this is what's
going to happen. Turn with me, if you would, to
Isaiah 25. Isaiah 25. Now, everything that
we're about to look at, every promise, every comfort, this
is to the redeemed. I want to make that clear from
the get-go. Every promise in this testimony,
in this Word, is to those who were chosen by the Father, redeemed
by the Son, and called by the Spirit. It's to God's people. Those who are in Christ, loved
of God in Christ. And I want to say this too. I
have to say this too. To those who are outside of Christ,
outside of the father's choosing and the son's redemption and
the spirit's call to those who are outside of Christ, the promise
of his return still stands. And he's coming quickly. He is
coming very quickly. He is coming back, and outside
of Christ, He's coming back in vengeance and wrath and judgment
and all those things. But in Christ, in the Lord Jesus
Christ, in that full, complete salvation that Christ provided,
on the day that He comes back, Isaiah 25, verse 8 says, He will swallow up death in victory. And the Lord God will wipe away
tears from off all faces. And the rebuke of his people
shall he take away from off all the earth. For the Lord hath
spoken it. That's what's gonna happen. That's
what's gonna happen the day that He comes back. He secured every
bit of that on the cross of Calvary 2,000 years ago. He secured that. And that's what's gonna happen
in reality the day that He comes back. The day that He comes back. He's gonna swallow up death in
victory. He's gonna wipe away all tears
from off all faces and the rebuke of His people, He's gonna take
it away. He said, I've spoken it. Verse
nine says, and it shall be said in that day, lo, this is our
God. In that day, have you envisioned
His return? In that day, We're going to say,
this is our God. We're not going to look up and
wonder, is that him? I heard about him, but I've never
actually seen him yet. Is that, is that who we've been
waiting for? We're not going to say that. Verse nine, it shall
be said in that day, lo, this is our God. We have waited for
him and he will save us. Look, he's coming right now to
save us. He said he was coming and there he is. This is the
Lord. We have waited for Him. We will
be glad and rejoice in His salvation. That's what's going to happen
on the day that He returns. That's what all those who are
in Christ Jesus are going to say. Now let's let that be proven
to us at the mouth of two or three witnesses and maybe a couple
of scriptures for each witness. All right. Turn with me to Isaiah
35. Isaiah 35 verse 3, strengthen
ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees, say to them
that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not, behold your
God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense, He
will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall
be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then
shall the lame man leap as in heart, and the tongue of the
dumb sing. For in the wilderness shall waters
break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground
shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water. In the habitation of dragons,
where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. and an
highway shall be there and a way and it shall be called the way
of holiness the unclean shall not pass over it But it shall
be for those the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any
ravenous beast shall go up thereon. It shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there. and the ransomed of the Lord
shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy
upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." The moment that Christ God's
high way. He said, I'm the way the moment
that Christ appears the redeemed of the Lord, the ransomed of
the Lord. And what that means is those
whose sin debt has been paid by the blood of the Lord, Jesus
Christ. When, uh, when you pay a ransom, you're making a payment.
When you redeem something, you're making a payment. And the moment
that He appears, all of the redeemed are gonna start marching to Zion. We're gonna march on air. We're
gonna leave the ground and we'll start marching to Zion. And we
are going to be singing songs as we go. We can mark God's word
on it. He's given testimony after testimony
after testimony on it. We are going to be singing songs
as we go. And everlasting joy is gonna
be on our heads. Sometimes I think about us singing
and worship and, you know, it's just such a precious thing. Marching
to Zion says, let those refuse to sing who never knew our God.
Because those who do know this God can't help it. They sing
and we're going to sing. We sing here, we're gonna sing
as we're going there and we're gonna sing there for all eternity.
But in the moment that He appears and that we go walking, we will be singing, everlasting
joy is gonna be on our heads. And in that very moment, sorrow
and sighing will flee away. Isaiah 55 says, not only will
we be singing as we go, but the mountains and hills shall break
forth before us into singing. And I don't exactly know what
that means, but I do know that whenever our Lord was riding
into Jerusalem and all of His people were crying, Hosanna to
the Son of David. And the Pharisees, the religious
people, just didn't like it and said, tell them to shut up. He
said, if I do that, all the rocks will start crying out. So, I
guess it means the hills and the mountains are going to break
forth before us into singing. We'll all be singing together.
The whole creation groaneth. And when that time of redemption
finally comes, everything is going to be thrilled. That belongs
to God. And it says, not only will the mountains and hills
break forth before us into singing, it says, all the trees of the
field shall clap their hands. Watch for that. Remember that.
I believe we will. I believe we'll remember that
and say, yep, the testimony was true. It's exactly what's happening. All right, now go to Isaiah 65.
Isaiah 65, verse 17. For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come
into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem
a rejoicing and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and joy in my people, And the voice of weeping shall be no
more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no
more fence and infant of days, nor an old man that hath not
filled his days. For the child shall die and hundred
years old, but the center being a hundred years old shall be
accursed. And they shall build houses and inhabit them." What
does that mean? I don't have any idea. They shall
plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. I don't know. Verse 22, they shall not build
and another inhabit, they shall not plant and another eat for
as the days of a tree are the days of my people and mine elect
shall long enjoy the work of their hands. Who enjoys getting
up and going to work? You will, you will. You're gonna enjoy the work of
your hands. Verse 23 says, they shall not
labor in vain nor bring forth for trouble for they are the
seed of the blessed of the Lord and their offspring with them.
Thank God. And it shall come to pass that
before they call, I will answer. And while they are yet speaking,
I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed
together and the lion shall eat straw like the Bullock and dust
shall be the serpents meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy
in all my Holy mountain sayeth the Lord. Doesn't that sound
wonderful? I think about, you know, I don't
claim to be an animal person, but some of you all are animal
people. And I was thinking about you
while I was reading that today. How enjoyable, just how pleasant. The wolf and the lamb are just
going to be buddies. Nothing but unity, nothing but
harmony. Alright, now let's see the event
itself regarding the moment as it concerns us. Go with me to
1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 49. As we have borne the image of
the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now
this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. in a moment
in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump for the trumpet
shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we
shall be changed for this corruptible must put on incorruption and
this mortal must put on immortality So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
death is swallowed up in victory. That's where we started. It's
what he said would happen in that day when he comes back. Now I don't fully understand
this. I do not, but I can just repeat to us what we just read.
This flesh right here, this flesh is corruptible. And it's because
of sin. And corruption cannot enter glory. Nothing corrupts there. Sin cannot
enter glory. And I'm so glad to hear that.
I'm so very glad to hear that. So on the day that He returns,
the moment that we lay eyes on Him, the trumpet shall resound. And when that trumpet blows,
it's going to get all of our attention and our eyes are going
to go up. And when our eyes see Him, John
said, it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but when He
shall appear, We shall be just like Him, for
we shall see Him as He is. In the twinkling of an eye, it's
gonna happen so fast. It's gonna, I mean, you're not
gonna know what hit you. You're gonna hear a trumpet,
you're gonna look up, and when we see Him, we're gonna be changed
into His sinless, uncorruptible image. And in that very moment,
all of God's people will say, verse 55, oh, death, where is
thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory? This is what all of God's people
are gonna say. I thought the other side was
death. We're watching each other die,
you know, and they're crossing over to the other side. And we're
all gonna say, cause see right now we think we're alive. We
haven't experienced life yet. It's veiled in a body of death. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? And we're gonna say, I thought
death was on the other side. But it's not. It's life. It's life more abundant. In that
moment, we're gonna realize, we're gonna immediately realize
there is nothing to fear in this at all. Nothing at all. This is only glorious. Thanks be to God, verse 55. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. But Christ took it away. He took
the sin away. Verse 57 says, thanks be unto
God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what every child of God is going to say. Soon as we see
him changed or whether he takes us and we cross over immediately,
we're going to cry. Thanks be unto God. Thanks be
unto God for this. Have you ever wondered? I've had moments where I've felt
like he's coming in the next five minutes and I've had moments
where I felt like he's coming in the next 500 years. I don't
know. No man knows the hour of the day. But, um, have you ever
wondered if I am one of the ones still standing on this earth
when he returns? I wonder who will be here with
me. You ever wondered that you ever thought about being with
brethren when that moment happens? Well, everybody is going to be
here with me. Literally, everybody is going
to be here with me. On that day, all of God's people,
in that moment, all of God's people are gonna be together.
All of God's people. Go over to 1 John 4. I'm sorry,
1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4. You ever been afraid to do something?
So you try to get a group together. You think I'm a little afraid
to do this on my own. It'd be easier if I was in a group. Well,
in this moment, the whole group will be there. The whole group. Verse 13, 1 Thessalonians 4,
verse 13. I would not have you to be ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not,
even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first."
What that means is all of our dear brethren are coming back. They're all coming back. We have, you know, brethren that
are very close to us. that the Lord has called home,
I thought of preachers, pastors, our dear brother Henry is coming
back. And our dear brother Cody Groover
is coming back. Brother Scott Richardson is coming
back and Jack Shanks is coming back and Maurice Montgomery is
coming back. and go on back through Arthur
Pink and Charles Spurgeon and the Apostle Paul is coming back. David is coming back. Abraham
is coming back. Adam is coming back. Eve is coming back. Rahab the
harlot is coming back. Mary Magdalene is coming back. Lydia is coming back. They're
all coming back. We have said so many times, I've
made this statement and so have you so many times concerning
brethren that the Lord has called home. We've said, I wouldn't
want them to come back here for anything. Well, they're coming
back. Whether we want them to or not,
they are coming back. And in the moment that Christ
appears. Every blood-purchased child of
God is gonna come out of the grave that he or she was laid
in. Every single one of them. God,
through his apostle, does not want us to be ignorant about
this. Verse 16, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with
a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump
of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever
be with the Lord. Where will that be? Where will
we go? I need to hurry, but I'm gonna
finish, because I wanna tell you this. Where will we go? That doesn't matter to a child
of God. That's totally irrelevant. True believers on Christ, they
don't care where they are and they don't care where they go
as long as they're with Him. But our Lord has told us where
He's taking us. Turn with me to 2 Peter 3. 2 Peter 3, verse 8, in the which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein
shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in
all holy conversation and godliness? looking for and hasting unto
the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on
fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat. Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness." That means Christ lives there. The righteousness
of God lives there. It's new heavens and a new earth. The other day I was looking at
pictures of this rover that they landed on Mars. Looking at pictures
of Mars. And as I was looking at those
pictures, I thought, that looks like the earth. Looks like mountains
and hills and desert and just looks like the earth. But Mars has been there for a
long time, and we had no idea what it looked like, but it was there. It's been there
for thousands of years, or however long since God put it there. In the beginning, it was there. Man didn't know what it was and
what it looked like. And you could see a little itty
bitty dot in the sky, I guess maybe at the right time of year,
I don't know, but it was there. And it just looks like a different
earth. Our Lord has created a new earth. And it's really there. And there
are really people on it. It's one that is large enough
to house all the people of God. We look at this earth and think,
well, how are all the, all of God's people throughout all the
generations and all the, how is everybody going to stand on
this earth? Well, it has to be a bigger earth
that has to be big enough to house all the people of God. Every soul that was redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb has a reserved space on this earth. It's an earth that sin has no
way of infecting. It cannot exist there. Righteousness
is the only thing that dwells there. And the Apostle John said,
I saw it. He said, I have seen it. I know
what it looks like. And I'm not gonna have you turn
to this one because I'm going way over, but I'm just gonna
tell you that in Revelation 21, John said, I saw a new heaven
and a new earth. The first heaven and earth was
passed away. There was no more sea. And he
said, on this new earth, I saw a holy city, New Jerusalem, which
is people. And she was coming down as a
bride adorned for her husband. Actually, turn over there. I've
got to show you a couple of verses. Turn over there. Revelation 21. Verse 1, I saw a new heaven and
a new earth, the first heaven and the first earth were passed
away, there is no more sea. I, John, saw the holy city, New
Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a
bride, adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His God. and
God Himself shall be with them and be their God, and God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow nor crying, Neither shall there be any more
pain, for the former things are passed away. And 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."
Write it down, this is true and faithful. And he went on to say,
the foundation of this new earth and the foundation of this new
city is Christ. And the wall is Christ. And the
gate is Christ. And the temple is Christ. And the light is Christ. And
the glory is Christ forever and ever and ever. All of this is
going to be realized and it's going to be experienced. Everything
Christ has secured and prepared for his people, it's going to
be realized and it's going to be experienced the moment he
returns. In Revelation 22 verse 20 says,
he which testifieth these things saith, surely I come quickly. I am coming quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. Amen. Let's all stand together.