Brother and I asked Brother Gabe
if he had a scripture I could read, and he said he would be
preaching from Isaiah 65. So let's turn there. Pay close
attention. This is where Brother Gabe will
be preaching from. Isaiah 65, verse 1, I have sought
of them that ask not for me. I am found of them that sought
me not. I said, behold me. behold me
unto a nation that was not called by my name. I have spread out
my hands all the day unto a rebellious people which walketh in a way
that was not good after their own thoughts, a people that provoketh
me to anger continually to my face, that sacrificeth in gardens
and burneth incense upon altars of brick. which remain among
the graves and the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and
broth of abominable things is in their vessels, which say,
stand by thyself, come not near me, for I'm holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose,
a fire that burneth all the day. Behold, it is written before
me, I will not keep silence. but will recompense even recompense
into their bosom. Your iniquities and the iniquities
of your fathers together, saith the Lord, which have burned incense
upon the mountains and blasphemed me upon the hills, therefore
will I measure their former work into their bosom. Thus saith
the Lord. As the new wine is found in the
cluster, and one saith, destroy it not, for a blessing is in
it, So will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy
them all. And I will bring forth a seed
out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains.
And mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell
there. And Sharon shall be a fold of
flocks, and the valley of Acre a place for the herds to lie
down in, for my people that have sought me. But ye are they that
forsake the Lord, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare
a table for that fruit, and that furnish the drink offering unto
that number. Therefore will I number you to
the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter, because
when I called, you did not answer. When I spake, you did not hear,
but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I
delighted not. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry.
Behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty. Behold,
my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed. Behold,
my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for
sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. And ye
shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen, For the Lord
God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name. That he who blesseth himself
in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth. And he that
sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth, because
the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from
mine eyes. For behold, I create a new heavens
and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered, nor
come into mine. 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 thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath
not fulfilled his days. For the child shall die a hundred
years old, but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be
accursed. And they shall build houses and inhabit them, and
they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. 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 enjoy the work of their hands. 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.
And it shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer. And while they're 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 serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy,
and all my holy mountain, saith the Lord. Our gracious God and our Father, Lord, you are holy and just in
all your ways. You are continually working your
sovereign will in this earth to glorify your holy name, to
glorify your dear son, to save your people. Lord, we are needy
sinners. We need, Lord, to hear a word
from you. We need to hear what you've promised, what you've
accomplished, what Christ has done for your people. And Lord,
we ask you as the word goes forth, you be with Brother Gabe, to
bless that word, to give him the ability to speak boldly,
to proclaim Christ, And Lord, we ask you to give us the ability
to hear. Give us faith to believe and
trust our Redeemer. Lord, we thank you for this brother
that has asked to profess Christ. Thankful, Lord, and pray that
you'd be honored and glorified in him. We pray, Lord, if it
be your will that you would do the same now for one of your
lost sheep. call them to Christ and cause
them to know their salvation and no other. Lord, we thank
you for your mercy. We thank you for free forgiveness
in our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, increase love in our hearts.
Increase mercy and forbearance and forgiveness of one another
in our hearts. Make us to be useful in your
kingdom. Make us to be your servants.
Thank You, Lord, for continually keeping us and preserving us,
for Your glory and the honor of Your Son. It's in His dear
name we ask these things. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. If you would turn
in your hymn books. It's 5.06. 506, I will sing of my Redeemer. 506. I will sing of my Redeemer. I am strong, richly loved to
be. And sealed my heart And the dead
have made me free I will tell a wondrous story How my love
did stay the same Through His boundless love and mercy He purchased me on the cross. He sealed my heart, claimed the
dead, and made me new. Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer
With His blood He purchased me He sealed my bondage, made the
dead and made me free. I have seen the life redeemed,
and it's Him we love to be. He from death to life has brought
me He purchased me on that cross
He sealed my heart, paid the debt, and made me free Before our brother Gabe comes
to us this evening and brings us a message, I just want to
share a couple of thoughts with you from a couple of verses.
If you would, turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 1. Some of you may remember a man
by the name of Tom Sawyer. A dear brother who'd gone on
to be with the Lord quite some time ago. Gene Harmon had told him, if
you go to any one of these churches around here, you're not going
to hear anything about the gospel. You're going to hear about man's
free will, man's works, man do this, man do that. He said, you
know what, I'm going to go check on that. And he did. And he was
gone for two or three months, I understand, something like
that. And he came back and said, you're absolutely right. There
is no place in this area that preaches Christ and Him crucified
in His sovereign grace. And his favorite scripture was
these words right here in Ephesians, and I'm not going to read all
of it, but I do want to begin right here at verse 9. Having
made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his
good pleasure, which he had purposed in himself, that in the dispensation
of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth,
even in Him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of Him, who worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will. Now I want to
pay close attention to these next three verses, 12, 13, and
14, that we should be All of that that we just read
was so that we should be to the praise of His glory who first
trusted Christ. Who's the first one to trust
in Christ? God the Father. We've been doing a Bible study
on Friday nights titled Characteristics of God's Grace and as I was studying
and thinking about it and talking about it with Pastor Gene You
know, you have to start at the beginning. And the beginning
is with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
The Eternal God. The Great Three-in-One. They
made a covenant of grace between the Great Three-in-One. God the
Father said, I'm going to give you a people. A people to be
yours. God's Son said, well, I'll save
those people. I'll do whatever it takes. I'll
do everything. I'll cover all the bases to save that people. God's Spirit says, well, I'm
going to give them life. And then I'm going to point them
to you. And I'm going to comfort them in their sorrows in this
world. And they're going to praise our Lord. They're going to praise
Him, Jesus Christ. And we should be to the praise
of His glory. What is it that we give praise
and glory to our Savior for? How about election? Are you thankful
that God chose you in His sign? Jesus Christ, I am. As a sinner
who was saved by grace, I know that there was a time I would
have never come to Him. And that the only reason I know
Him now is because He first came to me. He chose me before the
world was. That's what he's saying back
over there in verses 3 through 7. Predestinated from the foundation
of the world. How about redemption? Can we
not praise our Savior for redeeming us? Do you know what kind of
sinner you are before God? If you do, if you know the truth
about our sin before a thrice holy God, And you know about
the redemption that is in our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Redeemed
by His blood. Purchased with the price of His
blood to be with God once again. How about justification? Is that
something we can't be thankful for and praise our Lord for,
giving Him all the glory for it? Justified. One of the most difficult
things for this sinner standing before you to comprehend, outside
of the things of God's world that are just mind-blowing at
times, but that I am justified before God. My Lord paid the
price and justified me just as if I'd never sinned. Oh Lord,
help us to see that more and more. See that more and more
as we go through this world, our sins are put away. Rick and
I were talking a little bit about that. He's going to preach a
message on this tomorrow. We're free. We're free from sin. We're dead. Dead to sin. It no longer controls us. It no longer has any effect on
us. Oh, we still sin. We still have
plenty of sorrow in this flesh for it. Christ, our Lord, has
taken it all upon Him. How about pardon? Can we praise our Lord for pardoning
us from our sin? Can we praise our Lord for adopting
us when we were outside the family of Christ? When we were walking
this world in darkness, in our own sins, dead and trespassers
in sin? Can we praise Him for adoption?
Regeneration. I followed that, I followed the
great regenerating grace behind the covenant of grace. Spirit
of God coming and giving us life. What did that blind man say? He said, I don't know about all
that stuff, all I know is once I was blind and now I can see
the color blue. I understand what it is. How about this? Some of us are
closer to this door than others. Some of us are maybe just around
the corner. How about eternal salvation?
We have eternal salvation guaranteed through our Savior Christ Jesus. In whom? Verse 13, in whom ye
also trusted after that ye had heard the word of truth. I'm so thankful that our Lord
has the word of truth still going out, that he's got men like our
brother Gabe who will be coming up here bringing the truth from
those verses we read in scriptures, Isaiah 65. the gospel of our salvation,
in whom also after that we believed, ye were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise. which is the earnest of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession unto, and here our
Lord says it again, the pravice of His glory. If our Lord says
something once, folks, we better stand up and listen to it. If
He says it twice, you better take notes. If He says it a third
time, you better really, really look at it. Brother Gabe, would
you come? Oh, wait a minute. We're going to sing one more
song first. Then we'll do that. I forgot. Sorry about that. Thank
you. Turn in your handbooks if you would to, I'll get it, 196. There is a fountain, 196. Filled with love for all of Emmanuel's
saints. As sinners' lives be redeemed,
as blood to the gold is shed. and the Did an eye equal the princess
of Calgary? THE RATS ARE HERE! Me too I'll be back, I promise. Thank you, Denise. Pastor Gabe Stoniker of Kingsport
Sovereign Grace Church. Him and his wife Hannah were
here for a special meeting a little over a year ago, I believe it
was. About springtime, wasn't it? Yeah. And Kevin, my good
friend Kevin introduced us, or he told me about it. So I called
him up, talked to him, got him to come out here after they were
done building their church. And just like the first time
I met Clay, just like the first time, actually I fell in love
with Kevin. When he was moving out here, I think I called him,
they were just closing the door on the U-Haul to their truck
coming out from wherever it was they were back east. And just
like God's ministers, I just fall in love with these people.
Brother Gabe, come. God bless you. Crying on the
grass, brother. Good evening, everyone. It is
my sincere honor to be here, mine and Hannah's and the girls. I mean that, I mean it very dearly.
I am very grateful to Brother John for having me back, and
Kathy, I'm so thankful to both of you. I'm so thankful to this
ministry. I'm so thankful to everyone here
who supports this ministry. I love you all. I sincerely love
you all. We're staying in the hotel with
a few different ones, and every time I see a person who loves
Jesus Christ, there's a lot of people in that hotel. And I pass
a lot of people in that hotel. But every time I pass somebody
or see somebody who loves the Lord Jesus Christ, my heart burns
with envy. Because I'm vitally connected
to that person. I love that person. And I love
you all. I just love you so much. And
it's such a sincere honor to be here. And I pray the Lord
will let us worship Him together. I pray He'll bless His Word.
I pray He'll send His Spirit. I pray He'll meet with us. Turn
with me back to Isaiah 65, where our brother read a moment ago. I want to bring a message to
you that I feel strongly led to bring to you. Every time we
preach, we pray and dig and search and look. I did that for this service,
and the Lord led me here and wouldn't let me go anywhere else.
And I do believe this is the message for the evening. And
I pray the Lord will bless this. But a while back, I was doing
some reading in 2 Peter 3, and I came across this verse. Okay,
let me read this verse to you. 2 Peter 3 verse 13 says, nevertheless
we according to His promise look for new heavens and a new
earth wherein dwelleth righteousness according to His promise. That
sounds pretty good to me. That's why we're all here. We're
all here for a man named righteousness who dwells in a new heaven and
a new earth and we want to be there with him. Well, I got sucked into that
verse and for a little while I just started dwelling on it
and thinking about it, thinking about glory. We just sang, Dear
dying Lamb, thy precious blood shall never lose its power till
all the ransomed Church of God be saved to sin no more. I love
that line. Every time we sing that, I love
it so much. And I was just thinking about
heaven, glory with Christ. Life with the Lord Jesus Christ.
This new state of being that we're going to experience. It's
hard to imagine, it's hard to get our minds around it, but
we're going to experience it. This new place where sin cannot
dwell. That's what I want. A place where
sin cannot dwell. Only righteousness. Only righteousness. And I was thinking about the
fact that just being with Christ, wherever that is and whatever
that is, that's going to be heaven. Wherever that is. People always
debate, is He going to come back and stay here a while, or is
He going to this? I don't care what He does, as
long as He takes me with Him. And that's all I care about.
That's heaven. But He said, according to His
promise, According to His unfailing, absolute, everlasting promise,
He said that there is a place He would create. It's a new heaven,
new heavens, and a new earth. And in searching for scriptures
that described this new heaven and new earth, I was led to Isaiah
65. And I want us to look at this
chapter tonight. We're just going to go through it. And if the
Lord is willing, I would like for us to get excited about eternity
together. That's the hope. That's my hope
for this message. I've titled this, New Heavens
and a New Earth. Now let's begin with what our
Lord has to say in verse 1. Isaiah 65, verse 1. He said, I am sought of them
that asked not for me, I am found of them that sought me not. I
said, behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called
by my name. Do you know what that verse tells
us? That verse tells us that God
is sovereign. That's what it tells us. That
verse tells us that God is merciful. Merciful to whom He will be merciful. Sovereignly merciful. And that
verse tells us that God is kind. And He is gracious and He is
loving. Verse 1, He said, I am sought of them that asked not
for Me. I am found of them that sought
Me not. I said, behold Me, behold Me
unto a nation that was not called by My name. Verse 2, he said, I have spread
out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people which walketh
in a way that was not good after their own thoughts. Do you know
what that verse tells us? That verse tells us that we are
wicked and rebellious and selfish. That's what it tells us. Verse
2 again. He said, I've spread out my hands all the day unto
a rebellious people which walketh in a way that was not good after
their own thoughts. God is sovereign, merciful, and
kind. We are wicked, rebellious, and
selfish. Verse 3. A people that provoketh
me to anger continually to my face that sacrificeth in gardens,
and burneth incense upon altars of brick, idol-worshippers."
That's what we are. That's what we are. The greatest
idol we have is self. I'm my greatest idol. I love
me. I worship me. My flesh does. Verse 4, which remain among the
graves and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh and broth
of abominable things, is in their vessels. Dead. Evil. That's what we are by nature. Dead. And evil. Verse 5, he said, which say,
Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou,
self-righteous, ignorant, and delusional. That's what we are
by nature. He went on to say in verse 5,
These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. Verse 6, Behold, it is written
before me, I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense
into their bosom your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers
together. Sayeth the Lord, which have burned
incense upon the mountains and blasphemed me upon the hills,
therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom. He said, I'm going to recompense
to them everything they deserve for their rebellion against me. And where did God do that to
His people? Where did God do that to His
people? Thank God He did it on the cross of Calvary in His own
precious Son. Thank God for that. Thank God
for that. What a blessing it is when God
reveals the cross. When God reveals the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Who was hanging on that cross?
Why He hung on that cross? What He accomplished in hanging
on that cross? Thank God. If we are ever really
going to learn and know anything about salvation, We're going to have to truly
understand what happened on the cross of Calvary. What happened
on the cross of Calvary? The only way we can know the
gospel and know salvation is by knowing
why Christ died. That's the only way. Why did Christ die? Why did Christ
die? It was because God the Father
toward all of the vengeance that was owed to us on His own Son. Why? Like, do you ever... I don't
have an answer for that. I'm not about to give you the
answer. Why? Well, He tells us why. Love. God committed His love toward
us. I've loved you with an everlasting love. Greater love had no beginning. But honestly, God's people think,
why? Why? God the Father poured all the
vengeance that we deserved on His own Son. Why did Christ die
on the cross? It's because all of our sin,
which was laid on Him, my sin, oh the bliss of this glorious
thought. My sin, not in part, meaning not from this moment
to the past and now the rest is on me. My sin, not in part,
but the whole was nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord,
O my soul. That's good news to my soul.
All of the sin that was laid on Him, laid on the Lord Jesus
Christ, All of that sin was a smoke in the nose of the Father. And He dealt recompense to it
in the person of His own Son. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound. It saved a wretch like me. Amazing. Therefore, verse 8 says,
Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine is found in the cluster,
and one saith, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it, so will
I do for my servants' sake, that I may not destroy them all."
He said, I'm going to have mercy on some. The ones that I sovereignly
chose to have mercy on. And why is that? He said, I'm
going to do that for my servants' sake. My servant's sake in my
servant's sake. Isaiah 42, verse 1, God the Father
said concerning Christ His Son, He said, Behold My servant. We're
only servants in Him. Behold My servant whom I uphold,
whom I elect, and whom my soul delighteth. I have put My Spirit
upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. And my favorite part about that
is he said, He shall not fail. I love that. He shall not fail. And because of that, he said,
I'll have mercy for my servants sake, for Christ's sake, and
my servants in Him. Every soul in Him, I'll have
mercy. Verse 9 says, And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob
and out of Judah, an inheritor of my mountains, and mine elect. God has an elect people. And people want to argue that
all the time and I don't know why. Because it says it right
there. God has an elect people. Chosen
people. Mine elect shall inherit it,
and my servant shall dwell there. And Sharon shall be a fold of
flocks in the valley of Achor, a place for the herds to lie
down in, for my people that have sought me. He said, I'm going
to do this for my particular people, my elect people who have
sought me. That's who I'm going to do it
for, the ones who sought me. Now, how did we seek Him? Why did we seek Him? Look at
verse 1 again. I am sought of them that asked
not for me, I am found of them that sought me not. I said, isn't
the Lord good? I said, behold me. That's what we want to do. That's
all we want to do is behold Him. I said, behold me. Behold me
unto a nation that was not called by my name. He gets the glory
and the credit for this. He said, seek my face. That's
what He did. He came to each one of us. He
came to each one of His own. And He said, seek my face. And we said, yes sir. That's how it went. Now for those that He did not
draw to Christ, those that He did not draw in the Lord Jesus
Christ, verse 11 says, Isaiah 65 verse 11, it says,
but you are they that forsake the Lord. I'll tell you this,
a child of God will read that and will wonder, now hold on,
is he talking about unbelievers right there or believers? Is he talking about believers
or unbelievers? When he says, you're one of the
ones that forsook the Lord, Is He talking about those who are
His people or those who are not His people? In our nature and in our flesh,
there's no difference. We're all coming from the same
blood. We do the same thing. We do the exact same thing. God's
own people do the exact same thing. All of humanity is in
the same boat. When it comes to forsaking the
Lord, And as he went on to say right
here, forgetting His holy mountain. The only difference in those
who are God's people and those who are not God's people is mercy
in the blood of Jesus Christ. That's the only difference. Mercy
in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ took the punishment
for those who were given to Him. Christ bore the flame. Christ bore the guilt. of those
that forsook Him. Christ redeemed those that were
given to Him. And those that were not given
to Him, they're going to suffer that punishment alone. I do not
want to suffer that punishment alone. If we want to know what's
coming outside of Christ, just look at the cross. Look at what
happened to our Lord on the cross. I do not want to suffer that
alone. But this is His punishment on
all of our sin. Whether in Christ or out of Christ,
this is His punishment on all sin. Verse 11. But you are they
that forsake the Lord, that forget My holy mountain, that prepare
a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto
that number. Therefore will I number you to
the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter, because
when I called, you did not answer, When I spake, you did not hear,
but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I
delighted not. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry.
Behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty. Behold,
my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be ashamed. Behold,
my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry for
sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. And you
shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen, for the Lord
God shall slay thee and call his servants by another name. Can we not hear the horror and
the terror of the cross in that? Can we not hear the horror? I'm
telling you, the only difference, we hear that and we think, yeah,
that's those who don't bow to Christ. If we were not made to
bow to Christ, nobody in here would bow to Christ. If He did not say, follow me,
none of us would follow Him. And that horrible, horrible condemnation,
That's what was poured on Christ for our sake. The only difference
in those who are not His servants and those who are His servants
is the man, Christ Jesus, the Lord. That's it. He alone is
the difference. Verse 16 says that he who blesseth
himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth and
he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth
Because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are
hid from my eyes. He said, if any of my servants
glory, they're going to glory in the Lord. Because the former
troubles of their sin have been dealt with, and they're over,
and they're forgotten, and it's because they're gone. They're
gone. And with that being the case,
with everything concerning the old sinful man now being dealt
with and destroyed, he said, now I'm going to make all things
new. Not only will I make my people
to be new creations in the Lord Jesus Christ, but he said in
verse 17, Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth And the
former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. I'm glad
for that. I'm really glad for that. Many places in the Scripture
say that the heavens and the earth as we know it are going
to melt with a fervent heat. This is all going to be dissolved
and burned up. You all have some beautiful places
out here. We went to Lake Tahoe, that's
a beautiful place. We've seen some beautiful things
out here. This is all about to be burned up. It's all about
to be dissolved. It's all about to be gone. Well, if God intends to keep
his people forever, where are they going to go? If he intends to dwell with them,
where is that going to be? He said, behold, I'm going to
create new heavens and a new earth. Look at chapter 66 verse
22. He said, for as the new heavens
and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me,
saith the Lord, so shall your seed in your name remain." I
said, I have made a promise. It is going to stand. There will
be a new heaven and a new earth. Peter said, wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Righteousness, which is Christ
himself. Christ dwells there. And everything that His people
are in Him. Everything that we're made to
be in Him. Righteousness. Think about this. On this new
earth, there is not going to be one unrighteous person or
one unrighteous thing there. Not one. There will be no unrighteousness. There will be no sin. There is
no possible way. Turn with me over to Revelation
21. Revelation 21, verse 1 says,
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. 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 people, 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." That's wonderful. That's wonderful. Look at verse
27. He said, There shall in no wise enter into it anything that
defile it. Has a thought ever crossed your
mind, I hope sin doesn't creep into glory. Have you ever thought
that? I hope that one doesn't get ruined.
It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. There
shall in no wise enter into it anything that defile it. Neither
whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which
are written in the Lamb's book of life." Those are the ones
who are going to be allowed in, accepted in. Revelation 22 verse 3 says, there
shall be no more curse. That's what everything on this
earth is, cursed. That's what we are in our flesh,
cursed. 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. That's what I want to do. I want
to see His face. And His name shall be in their
foreheads. His name is all they'll be thinking
about. And there shall be no night there.
And they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord
God giveth them light. And they shall reign forever
and ever. That's glorious. How glorious.
Go with me back to Isaiah 65. Verse 17 says, 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. They're going to be rejoicing.
What are they rejoicing over? What is there rejoicing? Salvation. Walls. Look at all these walls.
The walls of salvation. The wells of salvation. Deliverance. Life. Like Paul said, who shall
deliver me from the body of this death? This is death. We could sum all that up by saying
Christ. What are they rejoicing in? Christ. What is their joy? Christ. What
is heaven? What is eternity? Christ. It's
all Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. All of
it's in Him. All of it's with Him. Verse 19 says, And I will rejoice
in Jerusalem, and joy in my people. The voice of weeping shall be
no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. I will joy in
my people. They will rejoice in me. I will
rejoice in them. I'll rejoice in what I've made
them to do. righteous, holy, blameless, spotless, sinless. I love how it says in Jude, the
book of Jude, that our Lord is able to present His people to
the Father with exceeding joy, spotless, undefiled. How wonderful. Verse 19 goes
on to say, I will rejoice in Jerusalem, enjoy my people, and
the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the
voice of crying. Why? Because there will be no
more sin. There will be no more sin. I'm
telling you, all of our problems come from our sin. All of them. There will be no more sin. No
more weeping, no more crying, no more sin. Christ secured that
condition on the cross of Calvary. Turn over with me to Jeremiah
50, just a few pages over here. Jeremiah 50. Jeremiah 50 verse 20, it says, In those days and in that time,
saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for,
and there shall be none." I have to put my own Selah right there
when I read this. The judge will say, go seek it
out. See if you can find one spot
on my feet. In those days, in that time,
sayeth the Lord. Do you think that will really
happen? Well, the Lord said it would happen. Sayeth the Lord,
the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall
be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found.
For I will pardon them whom I reserve. Look at Isaiah 62 with me. Isaiah 62 verse 1, it says, For
Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake
I will not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth, as brightness
and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the
Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory, And
thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the
Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of
glory in the hand of the Lord, a royal diadem in the hand of
thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed
forsaken. Neither shall thy land any more
be termed desolate, but thou shalt be called Hephzibah." That
means, my delight is in her. and thy land be love." That means
married. For the Lord delighteth in thee,
and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a
virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee. And as a bridegroom rejoiceth
over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. That's amazing isn't it? Look
down at verse 11. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed
unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold,
thy salvation cometh. Behold, his reward is with him,
and his work before him. And they shall call them the
holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. And thou shalt be called
to sought out a city not persecuted. That's what God's people are
going to be called. That sounds like something to rejoice in,
doesn't it? Look with me at Isaiah 55. I won't keep you much longer.
Isaiah 55. It's one of my favorite things
to read right here. Isaiah 55. This is when our Lord comes back
for His people, comes back for us, and we all meet Him in the
air. He takes us to be wherever He's
going to take us to be. This is that moment. Isaiah 55
verse 12, it says, For you shall go out with joy. When that moment
happens, when all the dead in Christ rise from the grave and
all of God's people see Him coming with clouds and trump sounds,
it's going to be a very happy moment. You shall go out with
joy. and be led forth with peace. It's going to be absolute peace. That's what it's going to be.
The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field
shall clap their hands. at the glorious victory of Christ
for His people. Crying, well done, well done.
Verse 13 says, instead of the thorn, from here on out, no more
thorn. You know, thorns came from the
curse. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree. Instead
of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree. It shall be to the
Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Turn to Isaiah 35. Isaiah 35 verse 10, it says, And the ransomed of the Lord
shall return and come to Zion, with songs and everlasting joy
shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. That's what's going
to happen. That is the condition of the
new earth and eternal glory with Christ. Now go with me back to
Isaiah 65. Verse 20 says, There shall be
no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not
filled his days, For the child shall die a hundred years old,
but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed.
Everyone in Christ is going to be the same. Blessed. Everyone
outside of Christ is going to be the same. Cursed. And for the blessed in Christ
who have been made new and are going to inherit this new earth
with Christ, verse 21 says, they shall build houses and inhabit
them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them, 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." What does that mean? I don't know. I honestly
have no idea. I've looked at that and looked
at that for years and years and years, and I don't have any idea.
The only thing I know to say about it is this. We're going
to build houses and inhabit them. We're going to plant vineyards
and eat the fruit of them. We're going to long enjoy the
work of our hands. Every time that I'm here, it
seems like somebody comes up to me and says, do you really
think we're going to build houses? I don't have any idea. I don't
have any idea. But I tell you this, whatever
God says, I believe it. Whether I understand it or not.
Maybe I don't know what He means right there. But if that's what
He said, I believe it. I believe that. Verse 22, They
shall not build, and another inhabit. They shall not plant,
and another eat. For as the days of a tree, or
the days of my people and mine elect, shall long enjoy the work
of their hands, 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. No trouble will come from anything
that God's people do. You know how we always mess everything
up? No trouble will come, because
forever God's people will be the blessed of the Lord, and
I'm so thankful it says, and their offspring with them. You
know, we don't assume on... I don't assume on my own salvation.
I need mercy every single day, every minute of every day. But
the promise of our God is that His mercy and grace will go generation
to generation. Thank God He didn't say there's
a stopping point. As long as this Gospel continues,
as long as the message of Christ continues, there's hope generation
to generation. That's who's going to be on this
new earth. It's going to be populated with people who are out of every
tribe, nation, kindred, tongue, and generation. Thank God. Verse 24 says, And it shall come
to pass that before they call, I will answer. I love that. And while they're yet speaking,
I will hear." He said, I'll be a very present help to them.
I'll be a very present help. I'll never leave them. I'll never
forsake them. I'll supply everything they need
before they ever even need it. I'll answer every question they
have before they ever even ask it. Verse 25, The wolf and the
lamb shall feed together, The lion shall eat straw like the
bullock. The dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not
hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord. What
he's saying is, there will be peace. There will be peace. That's what God's people want.
They want peace. There will be peace. Nothing
but peace. There will be peace. There will
be peace with each other. There will be peace with everything. That's what Christ secured for
us on the cross of Calvary. Peace. He said, My peace, I leave
it with you. Peace. I was going to have you
turn another place, but I don't think I'm going to. I was going
to have you turn to Isaiah 11. It says the same thing it says.
It says the lion and the lamb and everybody, you know, the
child's on a snake. Just let's take the Lord's Word
for it. There's no big piece. There's no big piece. Well, no, I do have to show you
this. I do. I can. I'm not sitting
down until you see this. It'll be fast. Go to Isaiah 11. You know, we see these things
about these animals and you think, how can that be? That's totally
not in the nature of that animal to get along with predator to
victim and all that kind of stuff. Well, this is a real example
of the new nature that has been given to us. If he can do that
to them, just think about what he can do for us. But he goes
on to say, just look at verse 6. The wolf shall dwell with
the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and
the young lion and the fatling together, the little child shall
lead them. the cow and the bear shall feed, their young ones
shall lie down together, the lion shall eat straw like the
ox, the sucking child shall play in the hole of the asp, the weaned
child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den, they shall not
hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall
be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the
sea. Now watch verse 10. And in that
day, There shall be a root of Jesse. Who's that? That's Christ. There shall be a root of Jesse
which shall stand for and sign of the people to it. That it is actually a
him. That sign that everyone is looking,
that banner that everyone is looking to is a him. Christ To
it shall the Gentiles see and what's his last part and his
rest shall be glorious His rest the rest that he provides shall
be glorious It will absolutely be glorious. That's something
to look forward to. Perfect peace Thank you.