Okay, thank you. Thank you, Sheriff. I'll say a 65. Peter mentioned God's promise
of a new heaven and a new earth, and that's found here in Isaiah
65. And we're going to be turning
back and forth between the Revelation and Isaiah 65. Those two books
will be our principal places of study. So keep those, when
we turn to Revelation, hold that. Scriptures say much about the
New Heavens. New Heavens are New Heavens. God's dwelling place, the heavens
and the new earth. This message was born through
a conversation. My father and I were sitting
on his back porch. just a week or so ago, and just
enjoying this beautiful God's creation. Birds, just numerous
birds feeding and singing, and flowers were growing, and just
a beautiful day. We were thoroughly enjoying it,
and began to talk about the new earth. And we brought up Isaiah
65. and began to talk about that,
and I could not get this passage off my mind. So I began to look
at it, and I think it would be a blessing to you. He says in
verse 17, Isaiah 65, Behold, I create new heavens and a new
earth, and the former shall not be remembered. Now remember, whenever the Lord
says, Behold, He means for us to sit up and pay attention. Think about this. Behold this. Let your mind dwell on this,
on your dissipation in glory. Behold, I create new heaven. And the new earth is so wonderful,
so glorious, and so enjoyable, he says, that the former won't
even come to his mind. He won't even be remembered for
the glory of his life. It reminded me of the glory of
the covenant of grace as opposed to the law. The former was not glorious because
of the glory of the life. But he says it's so wonderful,
so glorious, it's new heaven and new earth. New heavens and
new earth that the former is not even going to come into your
mind. You're not even going to remember it. But it's going to
be eclipsed, and it's glorious. And we're going to consider in
a moment just how glorious it's within our finite understanding. We're going to consider how wonderful
it is in just a moment, what it will be like. And if I announced that I was
going to preach a message tonight on the new heavens and the new
earth and advertised it, we'd get a house full of people. Right? Because people are interested
in things. But now, people that gather here
tonight are interested personally. So that's what we're going to
look at first. Who is going to be there? Why will they be there? And then what will it be like
there? Okay, who is going to be there? Who will be there?
All right, back to verse 1 of chapter 65. And he's been telling
us this all through Isaiah. This is the theme of Isaiah.
The glory of our God is sovereign, electing, redeeming grace for
unworthy sinners. You and I looked at this, at
how God said several times, you know, I'm not doing this for
your sake. I'm not doing this for your sake, but for my name,
for my glory, to the praise of the glory of his grace. He didn't
create the first heavens and earth for man to enjoy principally. He created it for his glory.
That's what he said, didn't he? For thy pleasure and for thy
glory they are and were created. And the second, the new heavens
and earth, are also created for his glory. And they are for the
unworthy. They are for the... Look at verse
1. He said, I am sought of them that ask not for me. I am found
of them that sought me not. I said, behold me. Behold me. Look unto me. Look unto me. So
who will be there? The unworthy will be there. Those
that have been chosen by God. Verses 8 and 9, look at it. Verses
8 and 9. And anyone who carps at God's
sovereign election, they won't be there. Because everyone who's
there knows that's why they're there. Verse 8 and 9, 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. And I will
bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah, an inheritor
of my mountains, and my land shall inherit it." My servant,
my elect, my servant. You remember that back in chapter
43? My favorite passage. Go back there again. To look
at the same things again is not grievous to me. Chapter 43. Chapter 43. God's elect. This is the theme of all of our
preaching. God's author, electing, redeeming
grace. See, in every message, this is
the thing. Chapter 43, verse 1. Now, thus
saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and that formed thee,
O Israel, fear not. I have redeemed. I have called
thee by name. Thou art mine. Verse 7. Everyone is called by my name.
I have created him for my glory. I have formed him. Yea, I have
made him. Verse 10. You are my witnesses,
saith the Lord, and my servant, whom I have chosen, that you
may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. I've chosen you, he said. So
who's going to be there? God's elect. God's elect, those
unworthy sinners, those unseeking sinners. No, no believer sought God first. They all seek Him. They all call
upon Him, but not first. Not first. He calls in. The unseeking,
the unasking, they're recipients. Every one of them are recipients
of God's sovereign, electing presence. That's who He's going
to be. That's who's going to be there. Chosen to know and
serve him. My servants, he said. Why will
they do that? Why will they do that? Well,
they're chosen by God. That's the purpose of God. He chose a people before the
foundation of the world, wrote their names in the Lamb's Book
of Life. They were given to Christ in
a covenant. were given to Christ to come
to this earth to stay. Why would they be there? Look
at chapter forty-two. Because all of the elect, all
of God's servants, are the elect and are God's servants because
of one elect and one servant. Look at verse 1. Isaiah 40 says,
Behold, my servant, whom I have told, my elect, in whom my soul
delighted. Who's that talking about? The
Lord Jesus Christ. All the elect are chosen in Him. Isn't that what Ephesians 1 verse
4 says? Chosen in Christ. He's the firstborn
of every son of God. My soul delighteth in him," he
said. I have put my spirit upon him,
and why are they there? Why are they going to be in this
new heaven, new earth, new heavens? Because he, Christ, shall bring
forth judgment to them, truth to them. On down in verse 4,
he shall not fail. They're going to be there because
of what he shall do. He shall bring forth salvation.
He shall bring forth righteousness. He shall pay for their sins and
their iniquities. He shall. He shall. Why will
they be there? Because of something He shall
not do. Verse 4, He shall not fail. He shall not fail. And so God's elect, God's chosen
will be there because they've been chosen by God and redeemed
by God. That's who's going to be there. They are redeemed by the Lord
Jesus Christ. And look at verse 6. It says
there in Isaiah 42, verse 6, he says, I, the Lord, have called
thee in righteousness and will hold thy hand and will keep thee
and give thee for a covenant of the people. He is their covenant. He is their assurance. He is their passage. their acceptance, their way to
heaven. They get in because there's a
man in glory right now. They get in. They all get in.
The gates of heaven, Psalm 45 says, will be open. Psalm 24. Because somebody's coming in.
There's a man coming in. And there's a whole train of
people behind him. except the end of love. So you see, they've
been redeemed by Christ and made worthy by Him. Turn to Revelation
chapter 5, Revelation 5. So who will be there? Who will
be there? God's elect. God's elect. And they love election. And they've
been redeemed by Christ. That's why they're there. So
Christ redeemed them. Christ made them fit for heaven,
meet to be partakers, made them righteous. Christ redeemed them,
captained their salvation. Revelation 5, look at verses
9 and 10. And why they are there is also
a preview of what they'll be doing. This is also a preview
into what they're doing there. Verses 9 and 10, and they sung
a new song saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open
the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and thou hast redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue. every
kindred, tongue, and people, and nation, and thou hast made
us unto our God's kings and priests, and we shall reign on earth."
So the song of those that are there, and the reason why they
are there, is because Christ hath redeemed them. Because Christ
is worthy. Because Christ was, and is, and
ever shall be. Because Christ has And for evermore
doth do what he doth live and make intercession for them. Verse
12, they sing, worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb, and
only the Lamb, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing. So who will do that? those that
have been chosen by God, those that have been redeemed by Christ.
Why would they do that? Because Christ redeemed them.
And they sing of His glory, and they worship Him, and they love
the Lamb. Now, most, many, if not most,
draw near, our Lord said, with their lips. Many sing these very
things that we just read, the very songs we sang, while at the same time they have
free will on top of their church building. That is the height
of hypocrisy. So that's drawing near with the
lips. But God's people sing from the heart. They believe these
things. They love the truth. God's people
believe, love, and sing from the heart. Worthy is the Lamb
who will receive all glory, and all honor, and all praise. And
they give to Him. They don't bear share of any
of it. All right, so who's going to be there? God's elect. God's
chosen. Why would there be death? Because
Christ redeemed them. Because Christ made them righteous. And they've been regenerated
by His Spirit. Go back to Isaiah. Back to Isaiah. They've been regenerated by the
Holy Spirit. Chapter 26, Isaiah 26. The work of God is the work of God.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the work of the Triune God, salvation
of the Lord, the Lord God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. And those that are in the New
Earth, will be in the New Earth, were chosen by God, redeemed
by Christ, and regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Now, what is
this? What is this regeneration of the Holy Spirit? And it's
much said about the Holy Spirit that most of it's false. The regeneration of the Holy
Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ. Is He not the ambassador
of, the emissary of, the teacher of Christ, who takes the things
of Christ and shows them unto Christ's people. Isn't that what
Christ said of him? He said, I'll send you. He's
sent by Christ. The Holy Spirit said, I'll let
the Father. The Father will send the comforter on him, and he'll
take the things of mine and show them to you. So he's the teacher
of Christ. He's called the spirit of truth,
who leads and guides you into all truth. What's all truth? What is truth? Christ said, I
am the truth. So He causes us to love the truth,
the truth as it is in Christ. So when we read these verses
to talk about truth, certainly it means all of God's Word, but
as it speaks of Christ. Look at Isaiah 26, verse 2. It says now, open you the gates
that the righteous nations which keepeth the truth may enter into."
Who's going to be there? Those that keep the truth. But
that is to lay hold on and not willing to let go of it. Something
you keep is something you hold fast to and you don't want to
lose it. You won't trade it for anything.
You've bought it and you're not willing to sell it. Buy the truth and sell it not.
That pearl. It's a person. It's not a doctor.
It's a person. It's a doctor and a person. Buy that truth
instead of thought. Like Nathanael said, we found
him. Philip said, we found him. And they weren't willing to leave
him were they? Down we go, down we go. Thou hast the words of
life. Truth. The truth. They laid hold of
the truth. Isaiah 59. Turn over here. Isaiah
59. The truth is not everywhere,
nor does everyone love the truth. Paul wrote to Timothy and said,
the time is coming when they're going to turn away their ears
from the truth. Oh, many talk about Jesus, sing about Jesus,
Jesus, Jesus, but now the true Christ, the true God, and the
true Christ will turn away their ears from that. We don't want
to hear, we will not have this man reign over us. And they'll
turn him to fables, make-believers, figments of man's imagination
about some Jesus standing outside knocking the maid can't come
in. They love him, obeyed in arms,
but a helpless man outside. But now the truth of who Christ
is, sovereign reign, ruling, electing, redeeming, effectual,
seated, glorified, Lord, coming, Glory. And we'll have that. Look here at Isaiah 59. You may
want to mark this way. This is a present commentary. As clear as any and all of God's
Word. Verses 14 and 15. Judgment is
turned way backward. What they say about God applies
to man. You understand? What man is saying
about God that he can't unless you let him. Applies to man.
What they say about man, that he has free will, he's a... Applies
to God. Judgment is 180 degrees backward,
they say, or you don't. Justice stands at the far off.
Truth is falling in the stream. It cannot enter. They don't want
it in. Verse 15, gave truth to Caleb,
and he that departed from evil, that is, religious evil, to make
himself a friend. He is, he's the mark that everybody's
shooting for. He's the one that everybody hates,
exactly. It's he that departed from evil. As our Lord said,
you workers of the nickel. He that departeth from that,
he that leaveth, goes outside the camp to Christ's own, outside
the camp. Well, he's the mark now. He's
the one that saves us. And the Lord saw it, and He did
leave them. So, truth, truth through Christ. Now, chapter
65, look at verse 16. Now, here's the blessing. The
blessing is in the truth. The blessing is in the truth.
Our Lord said, Sacrifice them with thy truth. Thy Word is truth. I'm the truth. Over and over
again, God's Word talks about truth, truth. John wrote in all
of his, he says, I rejoice that your children walk in the truth. And those that blessed themselves,
verse 16, those who are blessed in the earth, how are they blessed? They're blessed in the God of
truth. See, the truth sets you free. You know, the truth sets you
free. Christ said, if the Son shall
set you free, you're free indeed. Come unto me. free from sin, free from men,
free from ignorance, free from blindness, free from all. And
he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth.
Whatever we believe, whatever we avow, whatever we hold to
is according to the God of truth. This is the true God in eternal
life. Right? So, all right. Now, those who
are there are lovers of the truth. Now, these are descriptions of
God's people, lovers of the truth. He said some people receive not
the love of the truth. That's what God said in the Strong
Delusion. But God's people love the truth.
They receive the truth. God's people are keepers of the
truth. They've heard the truth, and
they will not. David said in Psalm 119, I esteem all thy precepts
concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false letter.
I hate it. This is why all of this religion
is such an abomination to God's people. The truth of God's glory,
the truth of Christ's redemption, the truth of salvation can't
abide by any lie. And he said that in Revelation,
no lover of the lie will be there, but lovers of the truth, believers
of the truth. All right, what are they doing then? What will
they be doing then? Now look here in our text. Verse
18. Well, let's read verse 17 again. Behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered, nor
come into mind. Be ye glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create." Well, behold, let's not think. Here's
what I'm going to do. I create Jerusalem a rejoicing,
and her people a joy. All right, what is going on out
there? Joy and rejoicing. Joy and rejoicing. They're not
rejoicing in heaven. They're not rejoicing in mom
and me in there. They're rejoicing in the Lord. They're rejoicing in the Lord.
Look at Revelation 19. Turn over there. Revelation 19. They're rejoicing in the Lord. And Paul said, it begins here. Rejoice in the Lord. And again
I say, rejoice. Rejoicing in Him. Revelation
19. Just as they sung to His honor,
they rejoiced in His presence. Look at verse 7. Let us be glad
and rejoice and give honor to Him. Rejoicing in Him. They're doing, you see, who will
be there? What will they be doing there? Who will be there and what they
are doing there are those who are doing there what they love
to do here. You understand? Nothing different. They do there
what they love to do here, but they do it perfectly there. They're
doing it perfectly there. What? Worshipping Him. Hearing Him. Except they don't
hear through a little mouth. They hear Him. They see Him as
He is. They are rejoicing in Him. Now,
heaven, the new heavens, I keep saying heavens, correct me if
I'm wrong, Heavens being whatever the heavens, the firmament, whatever
the atmosphere, so forth, that will be around the earth. That's
what he's speaking of, the heavens. Because there'll be no darkness.
There won't be suns or stars, so there'll be no heaven. Heavens,
the new heavens and the new earth will be most certainly a place
enjoyable, no doubt. Many enjoyments we'll consider
in a moment. But now the chief joy and rejoicing,
the chief joy and rejoicing of God's people is that He is there. That is what makes it heaven.
That's what David said in Psalm 65, who have I in heaven but
thee? And so there's none on earth
I desire beside thee. Paul said for me to live here
is Christ, or that is to get to know him, to be conformed
to him, to die, to be absent from the bodies, to be where?
To do what? So that's the joy and rejoicing
of God's people. That's what makes heaven heaven,
beholding his glory. Isn't that what Christ prayed
in John 17? He said, Father, I will that they be with me where
I am. What? To do what? Behold my glory. To behold my glory. That they
may be one in me. I follow Proverbs 8, where it
says that Christ was with the Father before there was a heaven
or earth, before there were any things. Christ was with the Father, and
He said that I was David in the history of life. The Father and the Son needed
nothing but themselves to have perfect bliss. But he said that his delights
were with the sons of men, dwelling in the habitable parts of the
earth, and so will the delights of God's people someday. Their
sheer delight, their absolute joy and rejoices of their heart
will be nothing more than to be with him. And we've said before
that, well, try to say it. That if you put all of the wonderful
attributes and glorious characteristics of our God in one person, then
those are Christ. The most gracious, and loving,
and kind, and sweetest, and gentle, and understanding. Put them all
in one, that's Christ. And I've asked you before if
there was anybody in particular you enjoyed being with. There's
certain persons whom God has given Christ-like traits. Some have beautiful smiles. They just, when they smile, they
light up the room. And they make you smile. You
know anybody like that? And when they smile, you have
to smile back. Multiply that 10,000 times. And you have the smile of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The countenance. Some people
have a sweet countenance. Right? Multiply that 10,000 times
10,000. The fairest among 10,000, you see. And on and on we could
go. Voice. What about a voice? Some
persons, you know, have voices, sweet voices. Some ladies sing
sweetly. Some men have deep, resonant,
beautiful voices. Multiply that 10,000 times 10,000. They said that while he was on
earth, no man spake like this. Even his enemies were held captive
when he spoke. And he sang while he was on the
stage. And I guarantee you, no man sang like this man. And we're
going, that's the reason there's going to be silence in heaven
for the space of 30 minutes when we hear that voice. I'm telling you. The idolize will be... It's being
within. You know, the younger a child,
the less things they need, but what they really delight in is
to be with their daddy or their big brother, right? They just
want to be with him, and that's the joy and rejoicing of all
of God's people, whose youth will be renewed, will be eternal blessings, rejoicing
in our big brother. And he will dwell with us. Look
at Revelation 21. Revelation 21, verses 1 through
4. You have it? 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 going for her husband. And I heard a great
voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
me, and He will bless them, and they shall be His people. God
Himself shall be with them, and be their God. Who? God Himself. Well, but no man has seen God
nor can see Him. But God, when Job said, I will,
I'll see Him with my eyes. Who is it? Who's your God? I thought, Jesus Christ, this
is the true God in the eternal Bible. Behold my God, Thomas
said. My Lord and my God, behold Him
in His glory. That's what we'll be doing. And
the way that we know we will be there. Do you want to know
if you'll be there? Have you enjoyed what you've
heard thus far? Anything appeal to you thus far? Now I haven't
said a thing about a thing. I haven't mentioned anything
yet. No mention of streets or gates,
permanent gates, nothing. Just the person. Does that appeal
to you? Like, I'll ask you what Abraham's
servant asked Rebekah that time. He said, well, you know you've
never seen this one, but when you come, would you like to go
see? All right. Now, what will the
new heaven and earth be like? And I've reserved very little
time for this. Like I said, because that's not
the place. It's not what believers are interested
in. And I've observed that very little
time for this because I know very little about it. And very
little known about it. And the scripture says twice,
I have not seen, ear hath not heard it. It says that here and
I say it. Neither hath entered into the
hearts of man, the heart of man that thinketh God in comparison
to God. But a few things have. And there
are a few things we know. Back to Isaiah 65. Now, the new heavens and earth will
be much, number one, they'll be much like the first. The new
earth will be much like the first. How do I know that? Well, because
when God created the first earth, he saved it. After he'd created
it all, what did he say about it? He said, it's very good. Each day that he created something,
he said, it's good. And when he finished it, he said,
it's very good. Now what does that mean? Now
God, whatever God creates is perfect. It's glorious. It means it really cannot be
improved upon. And Peter, but Peter said this,
Peter said, here's the one thing about the new earth that will
keep it from ever being marred again. He said in 2 Peter 3,
wherein dwelleth righteousness. Righteousness. No more in chapter
22 of Revelation, it says there's no more curse in the new heaven,
new earth. No more curse. No more curse. No more the possibility of it.
And we mentioned that Sunday, how God created man a fallible
being. He made man susceptible to falling. God allowed sin to enter into
his creation tomorrow for his glory. But now this new one,
this recreation, this new heavens and new earth, and this new righteousness
is in silence, perfect, where he wrote, righteousness, nothing
shall entail it, no sin shall enter in, nothing, tomorrow,
forever, no possibility of it. Satan, you see, is going to be
destroyed. Satan, sin, hell, and death will
be cast into the lake of fire. No possibility of destroying
the new heaven and earth. No sin. And think about it. This earth, there's nothing wrong
with this earth now. apart from sin, and the things
that make this earth now intolerable are the result of sin. Thorns, thistles, mosquitoes,
all these things, really, these things that are troublesome to
the flesh are a result of sin, right? Now, I said it's going
to be much like the first earth. Man was meant for a garden. Man was meant for a garden. My
father and I discussed this. Why is this earth just full of
so much chaos and confusion and so full of violence and just
wrath and blood and so forth? Why? Because man lives in concrete
and steel cages. And he's turned into a mad dog.
God put man in a wide open garden with a sky for his roof and a
bed of moss for his carpet. That'd soothe anybody. Man was meant for a garden, you
see. Adam was put in a garden, wasn't he? To do what? To do nothing? No, man was given a hand. Why? To do things, to create. Look, to address it, to keep
it, look here in Isaiah 65, verse, and I know much of this is symbolic,
yet much of it is, I believe, is literal. Isaiah 65, verse
21, they shall build houses and habit them, they shall plant
vineyards and eat the fruit of them. God put the first man, who's
perfect, created in the image of God, put him in a garden and
said, start gardening. Get your hands in the dirt. I tell you what, there's something
medicinal about it. Much of what I'm surmising
is based on our Lord Himself. Okay? When our Lord rose from
the grave, and we can, when our Lord did his appearance, what
he enjoyed, how he looked, and so forth, tells us much about
what Willie will look like and what we will do. Okay? Our Lord, when he rose from the
grave, he had his glorified body, the same one he has now, and he did some things. But while
he was on this earth, where did our Lord resort? Where did they come to find him?
It says he often resorted to the garden, the garden of Gethsemane. Judas knew right where to find
him. He was there all the time. When Mary, when our Lord rose
from the grave, Mary came to the tomb and our Lord spoke to
her and she turned around and thought it was the gardener. It was. So he went and created a person
and walked in. I remember the voice of the Lord
walking in the garden. I believe Christ himself came
down and enjoyed his own freedom and talked about it. And he often resorted to the
garden while he was here. But like I said, his resurrection,
his appearance, Tells much about what we will be like. He was
flesh and bones. Not blood, mind you. That's all it's mercy's saying.
You see, the life of the flesh is in the blood. We live by the Spirit of God.
Not blood. In the Christian. But he said
a spirit has not flesh and bones, he had a body. He had a flesh
and bone body, right? He ate and drank, didn't he?
He said, touch me now, and he said, yeah, I'm going to eat.
And he's still eating. And he's still eating. What is
going to be, there's going to be a huge fiesta in glory. Suffering. Peace. The marriage
supper of the Lamb, and it's going to last. Seems like it just goes on forever
in the scripture. And I remind you that every single
worship ordinance our Lord gave to man was a feast. Feast of the temple. What do
you do? How do you entertain people? You can't go to somebody's
house without them feeding you something. Right? Our Lord. Scripture says we're going to
sit down and He's going to serve us. Oh my, what that'll be like.
We're going to eat and drink. And Solomon's table will look
like a soup kitchen. We're going to have fellowship.
Our Lord's fellowship. He stayed on this earth. Forty... how long did he stay? Forty days? Yeah, he stayed here. After he
arose. What was he doing? He was fellowshipping
with his people. In a glorified body. Rejoicing
in his people. That's what he said there in
Revelation. I'll rejoice in my people. And someday we'll never
leave. We'll never part. We'll enjoy
each other. We will know each other. We will
know each other. They didn't know the Lord until
he revealed himself to them, but there it says we'll know
even as we are known. We'll know as we are known. We'll know each other. However,
in our text, verse 17, it says the former shall not be remembered
nor come to mind. Former what? Former everything. Behold, I create all things new. He said, former relationships. There will be no relationships
in the new earth like there are here. Your mother will not be
your mother. Your father will not be your
father. Your husband will not be your husband. Your wife will
not be your wife. Every one of us will be a wife.
You see? And there'll be one husband.
There'll be one father. We're all equal. You see, that's
why there'll be no more tears. And there'll be no crying. No
sorrow. We won't miss anybody. You understand? We'll know each
other. And based on this right here,
And based on what our Lord said, who is my mother? Who is my brother? He said, your mother's out here,
your brother wants to see you. He said, who? Get a hold of my
mother and my brother. Well, there won't be any disappointments
that way, you see. If my son or daughter or mother
or father in the former earth is not there, I will miss them. But all my brethren won't be
men. See, this relationship, this
is the only relationship that will remain the same, the brotherhood
in Christ. And we'll all be, we won't be
male and female. In Christ, no male or female. No Jew, no Gentile,
no black, no white. No rich, no poor. Equal. All brides, virgins, And one
husband will have marriage, and we're all going to say with one
loud, resounding voice, I do. Will you have it? And be seated
with him. Do you understand what I'm trying
to say? That way there's no weeping to
say, no sorrow. Verse 25, and that's the reason
we need to nurture these relationships more than the others. You understand
me? That's why Christ said, any man
hate not father, mother, brother, sister. Any man love a father,
mother, brother, sister more than the others. That's why we need to nurture
this right here. These are our eternal companions.
Not, perhaps, not your mother who hates God. Right? That's being very pretentious.
Right. David said, I'm a companion of
them that fear thee. Well, the verse 25, I know this
is symbolic too, and it's spiritual meaning, but it says, The wolf
and the lamb shall feed together. The lion shall eat straw like
a bull. God put animals in the first heaven, did he not? In the garden, Adam named them
all. This earth, what would this earth
be like without animals? I do know one animal that will
definitely be there. A lamb. I know that for sure. And lastly, look at Revelation
22. Revelation 22. I've often rejoiced at the thought
of our Lord's rapport with animals while He was on this earth. You
ever thought about that? God puts fear of man in animals,
not the fear of God in animals. They have nothing to fear in
God. They're not sinners. They've grown, the whole creation
has grown now, together, waiting for the redemption of the sons
of God, the animals. They didn't partake in the sin.
They were punished because of the dove. But Austen thought,
when the Lord walked this planet, I guarantee the birds landed
on his shoulder. I know a dove, Pius. I guarantee his creatures. The
ox knows his owner. They asked his master's crib.
He didn't even have to call him. They came, joy and rejoice. Nothing
to fear in this land. But, so perhaps there will be
animals there too. Revelation 22, and it says here
in verse 4, and I'll close with just a few verses. And they shall
see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. His name. And it is man, just
as there's a mark of the beast. There's a mark of the Lamb. The
name, the person of Christ, their God, is in their minds and written
on their heart. That's what that means. That's
not a tattoo. Verse 4 says they shall see his face. Are you in
22? 21. Chapter 21, verse 4, God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes, no death, no sorrow, no
crying, neither any more pain or former things are passed away.
Down in verse 10, it says, carry me away in the spirit, in the
spirit of the great high mountain, show me that great city, a great
city. We can only conjecture about
that. Verses 23 and 24. City, now, and I really believe
there'd be a city, but such as has never been seen
before. Glorious place. Now, the city
had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it. The
glory of God's enlightenment. The Lamb's the light thereof.
Verse 24, the nations of them which are saved walk in the light
of it. Kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor.
Well, there's David. Well, there's Solomon. Well, there's Josiah. Well, there's the king of kings. Chapter 22 now, verse 1, he showed
me there's going to be a river. Oh, you like rivers? One river, a river, pure river
of water of life, clear as crystal. Proceeding now to the throne
of God and the Lamb, and verse 5 says, There'll be no night
there that need no candle, no light of the sun. The Lord God
will give us no light, and they shall reign forever and ever. Now, he said, you know, if you
stay in your faithfulness, this is true. This is not a fair example. This is not a fable. Peter said,
we have not found the covenant in the last tables, and this
is the truth, because he who is true said that. So rejoice,
he said, behold, and rejoice in that which I created. Behold,
I created new heavens and new earth, and Jerusalem are rejoicing,
and her people are rejoicing, and God will joy and rejoice
in you too. All right, stand up. Our Father, how we thank you
for your word. It is glorious, too much, too
glorious for us to fathom, to understand, to really enter in. have received fully what you've
prepared for us. Our eyes have not seen your glory,
truly, as you are. Our ears, neither have our ears
heard your actual marvelous voice, but we have gotten a glimpse,
a foretaste of the glory divine through the word of truth, the
gospel of our salvation. We thank you for those things
we have heard and received. We long to look into them more
until that day. Lord, keep us mindful of our
heart set, our affection set, on things above where Christ
sits. May we, knowing that all these
things shall be dissolved in what manner a person built to
be in all holy conversation in God, So let us watch and wait
in patience the coming of our God through thinking on this
time. Thank you, Lord, for your word and your people, for choosing
them. In Christ's name we pray, we're
met together. Amen.