Friday, I'm going to give you
a rerun, a repeat. Isaiah 65. Isaiah 65. I wanted to do this on the back
of that message last Sunday night on Christ and creation. I wanted to do this last Wednesday,
but our dear brother Todd came and preached for us, and I thought
about something else, but then I couldn't get this out of my
mind, so we'll look at it again. It was a blessing to me in looking
at it again, considering these things. I preached this down
in Crossville, too, and people there seemed to be blessed by
it. Maybe the Lord will bless it again. Our text will be verse seventeen
through nineteen. Let's go ahead and read that.
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. For behold, I create
Jerusalem a rejoicing or a place of rejoicing, and her people
a joy, a joyful people. 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." Future glory. This talks about,
this not only speaks of the church for the first coming of Christ
when he established that blessed city or blessed tabernacle called
the church or Jerusalem or Zion. But I'm just certain in the context
here and he said create new heavens and a new earth. I'm just certain
he speaks of his second coming as well and a new creation. This
could apply to, he said, I create new heavens and a new earth.
And to the believer right now, old things are passed away and
all things have become brand new. So this applies both ways,
both ways. But we're going to consider tonight
both a little bit, both, but mostly that second coming of
Christ and future glorious estate of the believer in Christ. And
I want to go back. I didn't do this before, but
I want to go back in this chapter. Look back at verse 1. I want
to go back and kind of lay the groundwork for why he said this
and differentiate between a natural Jew and a spiritual one. You know, Paul said in the book
of Romans several times that he is not a Jew which is one
outwardly, but is one inwardly. And he talked about true circumcision
being circumcision not of the flesh. That was a mark given
to the first people called Jews. But now, true circumcision, both
men and women are circumcised in the heart, the cutting away
of the old heart and given a new heart, a spiritual one. And God's judgment came upon
the natural Jews because they're unbelief. You see that clearly.
And there's only a little remnant of those people that went into
the promised land. Remember, only two people over
twenty. The rest of them are just babes and children. And of that natural people, Israel. And even now, we're called a
remnant in relation to the mass of humanity. Look at this congregation
here. Just look around. Everybody look
around. Look what we've got here. It's not very big, is it? My, my. But even now, a relatively
small remnant out of the mass of humanity, and most of these
are Gentiles, very few Jews, believe, even though they had
all of the advantages. You remember when Paul said that?
What advantages does a Jew have? Well, many ways. Well, look at
verse one of chapter sixty-five. This speaks of us Gentiles. He
says, I am sought of them that ask not for me. It's a picture
of salvation, isn't it? It's a mystery. This is that
paradox. We're not calling on God, but yet we are. We do. God sought us and in turn
caused us to seek him. But he was sought of them that
didn't seek for him. And I am found of them that sought
me not. And I said, Behold me, behold
me, see me, behold my glory unto a nation, or that is, a people,
a Gentile that was not called by my name. Do you remember when
Paul said we were once aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
being strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope without
God in the world? But now, but God, but now, in
Christ Jesus. who were sometimes a far off
or made near by the blood of Christ. And I can't forget this. I can't. We can't really enter
into this like we should. But in thinking about I mean
all of this took place in a land far away across the ocean in
a little bitty tiny little country over in the Middle East thousands
of years ago. I mean, the promise, the people,
this handful of people brought up into the promised land, and
God's blessings and promises, and God wiped out everybody all
around them, and his blessings and his promises and so forth
were upon these people, his covenant and so forth. Well, here we are
all the way across the ocean, you know, thousands of years
in the future, and now it's us he's talking about. And it all
had something to do with that. It's a mystery. It's a mystery.
And look down at verse 15. Verse 15. He says, but the natural
Jews now, and if you're reading Romans 11 on your own, you'll
see that this whole thing is a mystery. The Jews, they're
casting away and are bringing in, are grafting in. Romans 11,
you're somewhat familiar with it. Verse 15, and it says, you,
talking to the Jews, shall leave your name for a curse And to
my chosen, there's a passage in Deuteronomy 28 that says the
Jews will be a byword, a common byword to the people, a curse. And aren't the Jews to this day
a laughingstock to the world? It's a common byword to the people.
He's Jew in me. He's nothing but a Jew, you know.
It's a curse. You say that in a in a derogatory
fashion, you know, talking about the Jews. God said it would happen
because of their unbelief. They'd be the off-scouring, the
curse of the world, your name. For the Lord thy God, verse 15,
the Lord God shall slay thee, and he's going to call his servants,
his people, by another name. Not Jews anymore. Spiritual Jews, yes. Spiritual
Israel anymore. But over in Jeremiah 33, it says
this. This is her name. This is what his people's name
is going to be. Jehovah Sidkenu. This is the name wherewith she
shall be called. This is the church's name. Jehovah
Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness, or more specifically Christians. Christians. Not Jews. Christians. It's a different,
a new name. It's the name that they're going
to be called. And verse sixteen, now here's the blessing. He who blesseth himself in the
earth shall bless himself in the God of truth, for that is
the gospel of truth. The man that's going to be blessed
now on this earth, a really blessed man, Christ said it all the way
through Matthew five, didn't he? The first ten verses. Blessed
are the poor, blessed are the morn, meek, and so forth. Right? A blessed man is that man who
finds himself blessed in the gospel of God's truth, Christ. That's the greatest blessing
on this planet, in the earth. And he that sweareth in the earth,
look here, or he that professes or confesses anything in the
earth, he will swear by the God of truth, he'll confess Christ
to be his all and all, his all. Swear by the God of truth, and
this is going to be his greatest cause of rejoicing, verse 16,
because the former troubles are forgotten because they're hid
from God's eyes. The former troubles. I want you
to look over Jeremiah chapter 31. I got such a blessing in
considering this the other day. My old brother Jack Shanks, too,
preached on this subject anyway. Jeremiah chapter thirty one look
at verse thirty four. Now if you're a sinner. Well that's a silly statement
if you're a sinner. You are a sinner but if you know
it. You feel it and you mourn over it. Blessed are they that
mourn they shall be comforted. If you are if you if that which
gives you the greatest trouble. The greatest source of trouble. to a believer is not his job,
it's not his bills he has to pay, it's not the old clunker
that keeps breaking down all the time, it's not this world,
it's right here. It just rises up. It's this old
man, it's your sin. Like David, the man after my
sin as ever before. Yeah, we got all these inconveniences
and troubles in this life, but Christ said that would happen.
That comes with the territory, doesn't it? But this right here
is what, oh, it's what plagues me. This is the troubles, the
troubles of my heart. The sin within me that troubles
me. Well, God says someday it's going
to be gone, along with the other things. Look at verse thirty-four,
look at the last part of verse thirty-four, and it says, They
shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of
them. Who's me? Well, that's Christ. No Christ.
Saith the Lord, For I will forgive their iniquity. Now, old brother Jack preached
on this, like I said, and he talked about, he took a verse
from Job, the book of Job, that says, God is not a man. God's
not like a man. He has mercy, compassion, grace. And he brought this out how that,
you know, we forgive people. Somebody does us wrong, we say
begrudgingly, we say, well, I'll forgive you if you won't do it
again. I'll forgive you, but you're
going to have to really prove yourself from here on out, aren't
you? You know, we may forgive, but do we ever forget it? Oh, we have a hard time. The
only ones we will are our children, right? That's the only ones.
God says, their sins, their iniquities will I remember no more. The only thing God can forget.
Isn't that great? The omniscient God who never
learns anything Who never forgets anything? Terry said there's
one thing he forgot. He forgets. And that's the best
thing he could have possibly forgotten in my sins. It's going to come up someday
to that great tribe. Well, look at verse thirty-five.
No, verse thirty-seven. Look at this. Boy, this is great.
Thus saith the Lord, if heaven can be measured, if the foundation
of the earth searched out beneath, then I'll cast off all the seed
of Israel for all that they've done. If you can measure heaven,
then I'll cast off my people. Can you do it? No. God says,
neither will I. Neither will I. There are sins,
and because of a covenant, he said in verse 33, this covenant
will I make with the house of Israel. And that's that covenant
of grace in Christ. Christ sealed it with his own
blood. Sealed it. That covenant of grace. My, my. There's a tribunal, like I said,
a great tribunal over in Revelation chapter 20. Here it is. Revelation
chapter 20 says that a people, all people will stand. Let me
read it to you. It says, I saw the dead, small and great, stand
before God, and the books were opened. The records were brought out
against the people. Now, Psalm 130, Henry, says,
If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquity, Who's going to stand? Who's going to stand in this
great day when all flesh, it says, all, I saw the dead, small
and great, stand before God and the books were opened. And another
book was open now. There are two books open. One
was the book of life. The other one was the book of
judgment. It says the dead were judged out of these books. which
were written in the books. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which
were in them. And they were all judged. Every
man was judged according to his works on the earth. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire. His sins were read. Two books
are going to be judged by it. Listen to John Newton's poem
here. This is John Newton writing on this Revelation 20. He said,
I John, John saw in a vision. He's talking about John in chapter
20. John saw in a vision, he saw the day when the judge will
hasten down. Heaven and earth shall flee away
from the terror of his frown. dead and living, small and great,
raised from the earth and sea, and at his judgment bar shall
hear their fate, what will then become of me? Can I bear his
awful looks? Shall I stand in judgment then,
when I see the open books written by the Almighty's pen? If he
to remembrance bring and expose to public view every work and
secret thing, O my soul, what can I do? When the list shall be produced
of the talents I enjoyed, means and the mercies I abused, time
and strength I misemployed, conscience then compelled to read must allow
the charges true. Say, my soul, what canst thou
plead in that hour? What will you do? But the book
of life I seek." May my name be written there? Then from guilt
and danger free, glad I'll meet him in the air. That's the book
I hope to plead, tis the gospel opened wide. Lord, I am a wretch
indeed. I have sinned, but Christ has
died. Now my soul knows what to do.
Thus I shall with boldness stand, numbered with the faithful few,
owned and saved at thy right hand." If you help a feeble worm
to believe the promise now, Justice will at last confirm what thy
mercy wrought below." Why will God forgive and forget
the blood of Christ, the covenant of grace, the mercy of God in
Christ Jesus? He said, "...all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me." I like that. Have you come? We
talked about that this morning. Have you come by faith? Have
you? Do you trust Christ? Christ is
your only hope? Well, listen to the second part
of that verse, John 6, 37. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. But, Lord, what I did yesterday,
no wise. But, Lord, what I've done today,
I can't remember. But just five minutes ago, my
mind was, I don't remember. You see, it's going to be a day
when God's people stand before him, and these names are going
to be read off. All people are going to be held,
or be accounted, or be there at that judgment seat. He's going
to read off names, and when he gets to the name of one of his
people, there's not going to be anything there. The page is
going to be white. It's going to be clean. It's going to have a big stamp
on it. Justified. Stamped in red. Red dripping
blood. Justified from all things. Clear. Free to go. Enter into the blessings
of the Lord. So, have you come to Christ?
I will in no wise cast. I don't care what they did in
the past. I don't care what they did just yesterday. I don't care
what they did today, and I don't care what they will do tomorrow. Boy, I like that. It's called
an everlasting covenant. Don't you like that? Now, that
doesn't make me want to sin. I'm not on my text here, am I?
That doesn't make me want to sin. That makes me mighty thankful. I just want to serve Him. Well,
but for those believers Those who come to Christ, he said back
in Isaiah 65, these things, these former troubles are forgotten.
They're hid from mine eyes. They're hid from mine eyes. It's
a sin, an iniquity. No more. I won't remember. I
forgive you. Forgiven and forgotten. Forgiven
and forgotten. I like that. Now, verse seventeen,
we get to the heart here. Now, this ought to give us tremendous
peace. He says, Behold, I create new
heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered,
nor come into mind. Now the Scriptures are not completely,
don't leave us completely in the dark about the new heavens
and the new earth. Not at all. There are many prophecies
that clearly reveal the things that God, some of the things
that God has prepared for us. It says it hadn't entered into
our minds and our hearts really. We haven't seen it with our eyes,
our ears haven't actually, for some reason we're like we're
deaf and dumb and blind to the things that God, we just sit
here sometimes and think this is too good to be true. But we
have heard the glorious blessings that we have in Christ. But the
scriptures are not, don't leave us in the dark about these things.
And rather than our outlook on this world being of gloom and
doom, it ought to be of joy. We ought to be, of all people,
the most happy. We really ought to. We ought
to be happy. We should be looking toward the
future with great expectation, because we've got a lot to look
forward to. I'm telling you. God tells us. And we ought to
be anxiously awaiting and longing for Christ's return. Weeping shall endure for a night,
just for a little while. Paul called them light afflictions,
Violet. But when that great exceeding weight of eternal glory comes
along, you won't even remember what pain. You'll be so overcome
and so ecstatic with joy and happiness, you won't remember
that pain. be like a woman in travail. Christ
called it like a woman in travail who, when a son is born, she
forgets it. And she'd go through it again in a minute. She's already
forgotten it. Well, in Colossians 3, it says,
When Christ our life shall appear, then shall we appear with him—anybody
finish that?—in glory. Glory, glory. dwelleth. Glory, glory, hallelujah. I like the word, glory. You southerners
and my dad from Alabama always, glory, glory be. And that's where we'll be, in
glory, whatever that may be. Well, let's look into it. Glory,
glory. Someday we're going to live in
glory, not only in a spiritual state of perfection. beauty and
glory. We're going to live in a glorious
place, a glorious place of which the Bible speaks much of. And
as I said to you before, we've read it in the Scriptures, Christ
said in the Gospel of John, he said, In my Father's house are
many mansions. And if it were not so, I would
have told you. Many dwelling places. And we know that it's
principally talking about spiritual reservations, or we have a place
in heaven. Christ is our dwelling place.
We dwell in him, yes, but there is a literal, actual place that
we will live. We read about it in Revelation,
didn't we? New Jerusalem, new city. John
said he went to the highest mountain with an angel, an angel of the
Lord, and he saw this new city coming down, and her light was
as the light of a precious stone, sardonyx and all those stones,
and all this mass of white-robed humanity, sons of God. coming down to inhabit this place. It even gives the dimensions
of that city. Do you know that? It even gives the dimensions
of the city in the book of Revelation. But there's a literal place,
a literal dwelling place, and the Scripture speaks of things,
the things that God has prepared for them that love Him. It speaks
of a place, and it speaks of enjoyment of those things. Paul said, it doth not yet appear
unto us the things that God hath prepared for them that love him. The things. Now remember, God
created the first earth. When God created the first earth,
what did he say after he created everything the first time? What
did he say? After everything that he created, he said what?
It's good. Now don't you, whatever God creates,
don't you call Right? Didn't he say that to Peter?
Peter said, Lord, I haven't, I've never eaten pork, I've never
done this, I've never touched... He said, don't you dare call
anything I've ever created unclean. And the same can hold true with
this planet. There's nothing wrong with this planet except
for sin in it. Nothing wrong with it. What God
created the first time, this planet still bears something
of resemblance. something of the image of the
first at first it does. It's been marred by sin. Now,
man doesn't bear much of the image of God at all, not at all. But when God created the earth,
this physical place, he said, it's very good. It's one place,
Vicki, he said, it's very good. Very good. Why? Whatever God
does now, it's good. This is the Lord's doing. It's
marvelous in our eyes. So that first earth was marvelous. The first earth and the first
Adam were good. Listen to this. The first earth
and the first Adam were good. The second earth and the second
Adam were great. It's going to be great. The first
Adam, the first earth, were flesh and were, was of the earth, earthy. But man sinned and ruined that. Nothing wrong with this world
but sin in it. But man and sin. The second man,
the second earth, is better. The first Adam was of the earth,
earthy. The second Adam is the Lord from glory. The Lord from
glory. And he took a body. And it was
a good one. It was a good one. It was a great
one. But the first earth, now see if you can follow along with
me, when God created the first earth, He created a physical
place for man to dwell on, okay? He created a globe, we looked
at that last Sunday, created a globe and made it all just
ready for man to inhabit, okay? He had it all ready there, and
then He breathed, He took the dust of the ground and made a
man, formed him out of the dust of the earth and breathed breath
into him, and then stuck him on that earth. I stood back and
looked at it and said, it's good. This is good. Enjoy yourself. Multiply. Replenish your earth.
Subdue it. Have a good time on me. Give me all the glory. Obey me.
Worship me. But enjoy yourself. All right?
Somehow or another, religion has, I believe, reached a point
where they believe sin and enjoy yourself. Ah, boy, prudish people,
you know. But listen to this. That's how
God created the first one. But the second one now, God does
the second one a different way. God destroys the old planet,
and He starts first, the second creation, the regeneration, He
starts building the man first. Right? He brings into us the
Holy Spirit. and makes us a new spiritual
man. The old man's dying. The flesh
is decaying, dying away. But he makes us a new living
spirit unto God. Then he's going to create the
planet for us to dwell on. This is a glorious rejoicing
what God's created, this new man, new creature in Christ,
rejoicing that. God started that here, going
to perfect it in glory. And then someday he's going to
take that perfectly new man, and we're going to have a body
too, then he's going to take that perfectly new man and he's
going to create a new place for him to dwell, new earth, and
take that perfectly new man and set him on it again. And so there
now. But Henry, here's the good part
about that. God's not going to sit back and
say, now there, multiply, subdue the earth, replenish it and so
on. It'll be replenished. Ain't going to need to be replenished.
It'll be replenished. There'll be plenty on it. It'll
be all the people that God's chosen on that new earth, and
God says He's going to roll up His sleeves
and get down right in the midst of them and just sit down. Enjoy
His people throughout eternity. He's going to be there. Dwell
with them there from now. God will be with them. He'll
be their God. They'll be His people. They'll be like little
children all around Him. He's going to enjoy them. The Holy Spirit would not have
recorded this if it was not true and without virtue and necessary
for us to take heed. Verse 18, Behold, that which
I have seen, it is good, and it is comely for one to eat and
to drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor, that he taketh
unto the Son all the days of his life, which God giveth him. It's his portion. Why do you
go to work? Because you have to. Well, you
work so that you might earn some money and buy a little house
and marry your little wife. and get your little this and
that and sit back and enjoy yourself. Is that sinful? Well, I know it most certainly
is not. If you've got your heart set on it now, if you worship
this world in opposition to worshiping God, If you've got your heart,
your mind, your soul, and your direction and your ambition and
everything set on this world instead of God, now that's sin.
But if you work hard and accumulate something in this world within
reason and enjoy it, that's what he's saying here. God's given
a man that ability. Didn't he say, subdue that world? Every man, verse 19, also to
whom God hath given riches and wealth, and given him power to
eat thereof, to take his portion, to rejoice in his labor." This
is a gift of God. Rejoice in it. Thank you, Lord,
for my home. Thank you for this nice car.
Just remember where you got it. Verse 20 says, because you'll
not much remember the days of your life. When you get old, you know. Thank
you, Lord, for all of these things. Just don't set your... If riches
increase, thank the Lord, but don't set your heart on it. Isn't
that what he said? Was it that in the book of James?
If riches increase, rejoice. Thank the Lord for it, but don't
set your heart on it. Don't set your heart on it. So
we're to rejoice in the things that God has created and enjoy
the things here, but not at the place of, or instead of, or over
and above. our God. I always remember where
they came from. But I particularly enjoy God's,
this world, the planets that God has created, the beauties
of this world. My, my. I enjoy it. David, all the way
through Psalm 104, you want to turn over there real fast? Psalm
104, David over and over again rejoiced and blessed God for
the things he had done. And this earth, look at it, verse
1, bless the Lord, O my soul, O Lord my God, thou art very
great. Thou art clothed with honor and
majesty. You cover yourself with light
as with the garment. And you're the one who stretched
out the heavens like a curtain. He laid the beams of his chambers
in the water, make the clouds his chariot. Another place says,
dust of his feet. Walks upon the wings of the wind,
verse 6. Oh, he covered the deep as with
a garment, covered the earth with the ocean as with a garment,
the waters stood above the mountain. Verse ten, he sends the springs
into the valleys which run among the hills. How many of you sat
in the woods next to a real rippling brook? You hear the voice of
God in that. You've got ears to hear it. This
is God's doing. He sends the springs into the
valleys which run among the hills. Verse 14, he causes the grass
to grow for the cattle. You ever seen a big wheat field,
winter wheat, real green, blowing in the wind? The amber waves
of grain blowing in the breeze, God blowing on them. Beautiful. Causes the grass to grow for
the cattle and herbs, Nancy, for the service of man, that
he may bring forth food out of the earth. Verse 15, wine that
makes glad the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, bread
strengthens man's heart. Trees of the Lord are full of
sap, full of log cabin syrup for your Ezekiel cakes, Barbara. The Lord just opens up a tree
and pours out maple syrup. Do you rejoice in that? I do. on down there. Oh, Lord, how
manifold are thy works in wisdom thou hast made them. Only a fool
would say this just happened. That doesn't even really bear
discussing, does it? And all the earth is full of
his riches. Verse 25 and 6. Look at the sea. You ever spend any time on the
sea? Were you in a navy, Henry? Did you go across the sea, though?
You were on it. Is there anything more mysterious? and more majestic
and more fearful and awesome, anything. Out on the way, I was
out there for ten days one time, day and night, twenty-four hours
a day for ten days, scared to death. The captain of that ship
that I was on, I almost felt like the Pope when I got off
that boat, felt like kissing the ground. But the captain of
that ship said, You're a land lover, aren't you? I said, Yes,
I am. I like my feet on solid rock.
That ocean is awesome. It's awesome. It's fearful. That's
the reason I believe the Lord talks about His voice as the
sound of many waters and of many references to the sea. But He
says the sea is such a great thing, great and wide, things
creeping innumerable, small and great. There go the ships like
little corks. Have you ever seen these like
the Queen Mary? How big is the Queen Mary? You
could put forty of these buildings in that boat. Yet it's like a
cork, the Titanic, that you, down she goes, buddy, when God
says, when God sends a little wave. There goes the whale, the
leviathan. Look at it. The largest animal
on earth plays in it. God says, you rejoice in what
I've done. Now, wait a minute now. Think
about this. Now, he says it's great and as
grand and as glorious as this first one is. He said back in
our text, he said, verse 17, he said, as beautiful as this
planet is, he said, when I create a new one, you're not even going
to remember the old one. You're not even going to remember
it. The new one's going to be so glorious, the old one's going
to pale in comparison. going to pay you. Behold, I create
new heavens and a new earth, so beautiful, so marvelous, so
glorious, so spectacular, that the former shall not be remembered,
nor come to mind." New heavens and a new earth, and new bodies,
and eternal joy. I've got fifteen minutes to cover
four major points. God says, I create new heavens.
I'll just skip down through here. New heavens. Men have been taken
up with and enamored with and amazed at the sun, the moon,
the stars, stargazing, astronomers and so forth. Gazing at the stars
throughout the ages. God created these things for
his glory. To rule the seasons, you know,
the stars, the planets, isn't it amazing how the moon controls the tides, the ocean's
tides, and the planets control the alignments of the planets,
control how your crops will grow. There's some truth to that, Henry.
If we had time and if we had the understanding, God says that
through the Scripture in different places. Celestial glories, Paul
talked about there's glories of the celestials, the light
of the sun, the moon, the stars, and you know there's one mark
of a believer. is that he loves the light. Lovers
of light rather than darkness. Lovers of light. I like sunshine. I like spring. Spring is one
of my favorite times of the year. I really like summer. I like
sunshine. You can have all the snow. I
like to look at it every now and then. I don't like to be
out in it. I'd like to look at it every now and then, and it's
beautiful and all that, but I like sunshine, fresh air, green trees,
and so growing things. That's a mark of a believer is
he likes sunlight. You remember when we read over
in John chapter 3 that he, that sees the light, comes to the
light, that his deeds may be made manifest? Huh? Come to the
light, like a moth to a light, like an insect to a burning light. That's the believer, comes to
the light. The people of this world like
to live under the cover of darkness. That was me, Sammy. Years ago,
I lived under cover of darkness. Didn't come out, you know, like
a bat, like Dracula. Didn't come out when the sun
came up, you know, but I was out all night under cover of
darkness. Why? You can get away with that. Nobody sees you. But now, I like
to bask in the sunshine. I like to bask in it, play in
it, work in it. And it talks about over in Revelation
21, and we didn't read it, but it says in verse 23, there'll
be no need of the sun. When God creates a new heaven,
the new celestial, there's not going to be any sunshine in it.
You remember how we studied last week how it's going to explode,
it's going to burn up. That big ball of hydrogen is going to
burn up and explode and take everything with it. But the new
heaven is going to have a light in it. It's going to be lit all
right. It's not going to be. It's not
going to be a day or night. There's not going to be a dark
place down here on below the earth and light up here with
the sunshine. Oh no it's going to be all the way around the
circumference of it. Why? What's the light? The lamb
is the light thereof. Christ is the light of the world. The light of the world. And can
you imagine somehow or another, like I said last time, would
you allow me a little bit of sanctified imagination here?
Can you imagine on a crystal clear day, like a sunshiny day
that we have today, a royal blue sky, but yet being able to see
Jupiter and Mars and Neptune and Pluto and Uranus and all
those perfectly? You know there's nothing wrong
with those planets. Sin never touched those planets, did it?
It's just my supposition that God, those are fine. But we may
be able to see everything, the celestials perfectly, the planets
that God has created, and rejoice in them. But there'll be no sun,
no sun, and that's because Christ is a light thereof, new heavens.
So he talks about creating new heavens, new celestial glories,
okay? That's the mystery, it's a mystery.
But he talks about a new earth. A new earth. I've got to hurry.
A new earth. Ah boy. What it's going to look
like. I wish I had the adjectives to
describe it. The new earth. What it must look
like. The skies. Is there anything, is there a
color more beautiful than that royal blue sky when it's a pretty
day, when there's no pollution in it? God's palette, Nancy God's,
His palette far exceeds anything any artist has ever rendered,
doesn't it? That blue sky. Rocky Mountain, sometimes I'll
come down off of the hill up there on Main Street or be at
evening, at dusk, when the sun's going down, and it'll just be
the most brilliant reds and oranges. You see that up on your hill,
right? No telling what that sky is going to look like that God
will paint. One day it'll be this, He says, rejoice in it. And that new planet, skies, the
trees, the plants, the animals, the fruits, the rivers, any river,
drink it, any river, pollution free, perfect. Perrier won't
be, you won't want Perrier. That's polluted water. God's
water, a land flowing with milk and honey, flowing with milk
and honey, honey out of the rock. Honey out of the rock. Corn and
wine, sweet corn. You think your corn was good.
Y'all thought you raised some good corn last year, didn't you?
Silver queen or whatever it is. It's going to be years this big.
God's going to raise it, too. God's going to grow it. Corn and wine. Grapes big as
oranges, oranges big as cantaloupes. Donnie Bell said, It's going
to take one whole pickup truck to haul one watermelon. Deep green moss. You ever walked
out in the woods barefooted on a bed of moss? Huh? Is there
anything more beautiful than a bed of moss out in the woods?
Huh? That's what Adam walked on barefooted. Feels good. That's God's carpet. Walking on it. Smell of lilies
and gardenias permeating it. Better yet, the smell of him
whose cheeks are the bed of spices. The lily of the valley. Nancy,
it's already losing its savoring. Smell of Christ, that sweet,
fragrant smell of him permeating the air. Breathtakingly beautiful
views. New earth. Thirdly, new bodies. New bodies. What kind of bodies
are we going to have on that planet? Look over at Philippians
chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3. What kind
of bodies are we going to have? Philippians chapter 3. Now Paul
described in 1 Corinthians 15, we didn't get to it today, but
he said, 1 Corinthians 15, now the body that's sown in dishonor
is going to be raised in glory. It's sown in weakness, but it's
raised in power. He said it's sown a natural body,
but it's going to be raised a spiritual body. Spiritual body. There is
a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. Well, what's
this spiritual body like? Well, look at Philippians 3,
verse 21. It says, God's going to change
our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious
body. according to the working whereby
he's able even to subdue all things, his glorious body. Well,
what was that like? What was Christ's body like?
Are we in the dark about this? No. Christ had that glorious
body when he appeared to his disciples, didn't he? When he
arose from the grave, he came to them. Now, what did he say?
What did he say? He said, touch me, didn't he? It's going to be an actual flesh
and bone body. Touch me, he said, a spirit hath
not flesh and bones. He didn't say anything about
blood, did he? He poured that out. Plus, the life of the flesh
is in the blood, right? The life of the flesh then is
not going to be in the blood, it's going to be in the Son.
You see, everything, every common malady that takes place in this
body is a blood malfunction, right? A blood disorder. Everything
that we get comes through the bloodstream, right? Well, when
you don't have any blood, ain't nothing going to overtake you,
overcome you, right? The life of God is going to flow
through us. What that may be, this energy,
the body, the spiritual life that flows through us is going
to be the life of the body, not the blood. But Christ said, it's
going to be a physical one. Touch me, handle me, a spirit
hath not flesh and bones. And it's going to be a perfect
one. A perfect one, free from all imperfections. Perfect, pain
free. Some of y'all can't imagine that,
can you? Pain free of pain. Free from scars. And it won't be plastic surgery.
It'll be a brand new body, like unto Christ, free from fatigue,
free from sorrow, free from all the things that plague this body. Over in the Song of Solomon,
he described it. We looked at that one time. I'm
trying to find Song of Solomon. Proverbs, Song of Solomon. He
said this, listen to this. Song of Solomon chapter 5. This
describes that new body. It says his head is his most
fine gold. His locks are bushy. Full head of hair. Ain't going
to be no bald man on God's new earth stand. A full head of hair,
buddy. Full head of hair. Most fine
gold, locks are bushy, black as raven. Eyes as a dove's eyes,
clear like washed with milk, like a baby's eyes. Youth renewed,
the skin like a baby, fitly set, keen eyes, clear eyes, beautiful
eyes. Cheeks as a bed of spices, rosy
red cheeks. Bed of spices, sweet flowered
lips like lilies. Don't need lipstick, ladies.
Don't need it. Have lips like lilies. Beautiful. Cheeks as a bed of spines. Lilies
dropping sweet smellings. Hands as gold rings set with
beryl. Legs as pillars of marble. A
perfect body. Can you imagine? What Adam's
body must have looked like? Well, what about the new one?
The first one's going to pale in comparison to the new one.
The second Adam, the Lord from glory, a perfect, a shining countenance,
a perfect, muscular, supple, smooth body, a beautiful creature. I'm telling you, when God created
man, he sat back and admired everything else. When man stepped
on the planet, everything else bowed to it. Why? created an
image of God, right? The monkey wasn't. The elephant
wasn't. The giraffe wasn't. Now, they
had all their glory. They were fine. They were beautiful.
God said it was good. But when He created man, God
created man in His own image and set that marvelous, glorious,
upright, shining, beautiful creature. Can you picture Him standing
there? King of the earth! In the image of God. And we're
all going to be just like that. Kings and priests under our God
looking just like Christ, just like Christ, because of Christ.
Well, will we eat? Will we eat? Well, yeah. Christ
said, children, do you have any meat? Give me something to eat.
Well, they, you know, they weren't, he hollered out at them when
they were in the boat. Children, do you have any meat? Well, when
we get there, we'll, and he cooked it up like that. What that meal
must have been and what that table, the feast, the marriage
supper, the lamb says, come, all things are ready. Can you
imagine, Roberta? Now, you cook a good spread,
but it's not going to be anything like that. Can you imagine God's
table, the king's table? Can you imagine? Can you imagine? The best, the best. And this is the most glorious
thought of all, and I'll hurry up and quit here. And like we
started out this thing, we're going to be without sin. Without sin. I just don't even, I can't even,
I really can't even comment on that. Because that's what makes
this world bad as it is. That's what spoils all of my
enjoyment of it. That's what spoils my enjoyment
of the things of God. That's what spoils. It's like
a rot. It's like a cancer. That's what
it is. It's like some awful, foul, vile-smelling
thing that permeates everything. No matter how beautiful something
is, sin's in it, and it defiles it, right? And we just can't
even enter into this. Someday, no sin. No sin, especially
in me. I can't imagine. There's some
time. Let's see if I can illustrate
this. There's times when you enjoy the things of God, especially
when we meet together like this. And we look at the gospel and
the things, and our hearts are lifted up with praise and thanksgiving,
and we're allowed for just a little short time to worship God from
the heart, rejoice in Christ Jesus, put no confidence in the
flesh, and look forward to those new things. Imagine that without
end. Do you ever get a chill, a literal
chill up your spine when you hear the gospel, a thrill inside
your heart? And so rejoicing that you can't,
joy which no man, he said, I will give you a joy which no man can
take away from you. Nothing's going to mar it. Nothing's
going to spoil it. Eternal joy. Unspeakable joy. Because sin's gone. Because sin
is gone. Eternal joy. Now in closing,
what is it that's going to make heaven heaven? Look at verse 19. He says, 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. And it says in verse 18, I create
Jerusalem a rejoice and her people a joy. And he says, I will rejoice
in Jerusalem. I will rejoice in What is it
that makes heaven heaven? I quote it all the time, Psalm
73, 25. Whom have I in heaven but thee?
Christ is what makes heaven heaven. What is it that makes your home
a home? It's your family, right? And what is it that makes heaven
heaven is dwelling with Christ there. We're not going to be
taking up so much with these things. We're going to rejoice
in them. We're going to enjoy them. We're going to enjoy ourselves
in these things. But what's going to make heaven
heaven God's going to be with us, and we're going to enjoy
Him years without end. And I want
you to turn over with me to the book of Zephaniah in closing.
This is the very last verse that I will read. Zephaniah. It's said there in the book of
Isaiah, in our text there, it's said that God will rejoice in
Jerusalem and joy in His people. He's going to enjoy us. That just boggles my mind. Terry,
you old rotten thing, you. God's going to enjoy you someday.
He's looking forward to you coming to be with him. You believe that? That's what he said, didn't it?
Me? Isn't that exactly what Mephibosheth
said when he came into that power? He looked around him, and the
king said, come on up here. Come on up here, Mephibosheth.
Come on. I got this place right here. Me? Yeah! Come on. Right here, I've
got your name right here on this chair, right beside me. I'm King
David. I own this place. Come on. Right here it says,
Mephibosheth. Come on. Who am I? He said it all the
way up the aisle, didn't he? What is my house? Who am I, such
a dead dog? And King David sat him right
there, put his arm around him. How you doing, friend? And God
in a sense is going to do that with you rejoice and joy in his
people. You find Zephaniah. I gave you
ten minutes to find Zephaniah chapter three. This is going
to you. Some of you may have this mark.
I know Vicki does. Verse seventeen the Lord thy
God in the midst of thee over the verse sixteen in that day
it shall be said to Jerusalem. Don't fear fear thou not and
design let not thy hands be slack The Lord thy God in the midst
of thee is mighty, he will save, he will rejoice over thee with
joy, he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing." when Christ met with those that
speaking of the first. And Christ came. It's also speaking
of the new member in the upper room when Christ met with his
disciples before his is. Before his death, you remember
what he said to. He said, with desire, have I
desired to eat this Passover with you? He said, because I'm
not going to eat this cup anymore till I drink it with you in that
new day. And then what did they do, Nancy? After they had broken the bread
and so forth, what did they say in the scriptures they did? They
sang. Wouldn't you like to hear him sing? He sang. He led them in singing. And someday
you're going to walk in. It says the angels, there's joy
in heaven over one sinner. The angels strike up a song in
heaven. It says someday God, when he
gets all his children around his throne, God's going to sing. My children sing us a song. You ever sing your little children
a song? Huh? You reading the same thing I'm
reading? God's going to sing over us. And after he sings We're
going to break out singing unto Him who loved us and washed us
from our sins in His own blood. Worthy is the Lamb who hath redeemed
us, washed us from our sins in His own blood. He says, Rejoice
in that which I am going to do. Behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth. Now former things shall not be
remembered, nor come to mind. And Jerusalem I create, Jerusalem
I rejoice in, and my people a joy. a joy, and I'm going to rejoice
in it. We're going to have a good time.
In the sweet by and by, you remember that song we used to sing? In
the sweet by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore.
In the sweet by and by, and He's going to meet us there. I know the world gets caught
up with these things. That's about