In the 21st chapter of the book
of Revelation, John has this to say, 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. And he said unto me, It is done.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto
him that is a first of the fountain of the water of life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his
God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful and unbelieving
and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers
and idolaters and all liars shall have their part of the lake which
burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death. 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. A new heaven and a new earth. I saw a new heaven and a new
earth. Or at that time, that season,
that time of the year when multitudes under these heavens and upon
this earth are reminded of the entrance of the Son of God into
this world. The heavens and the earth resound
to the sound of that message that Jesus Christ was born in
Bethlehem that the Son of God was born with human flesh as
a babe in Bethlehem and multitudes will hear some facts regarding
his coming that this babe named Jesus is the Son of God, that
shepherds were told of His coming by angels and came and glorified
Him, that He was born as no other man was born, born of a virgin
Mary, conceived of the Holy Ghost, that He was the long-promised
Messiah, promised unto Israel for generations. The world will
hear that wise man from the east heard of his coming and looked
for his coming in the stars and saw a star that led them to where
the child was. The world in its foolishness
and blindness buries much of the truth of this message and
mixes it up with its revelings and riotings and distractions
but nevertheless through the noise of this season and the
hustle and bustle and the commercial selling and buying and the reveling
and the drinking and the partying nevertheless there is a name
which sounds which goes from lip to lip, Jesus. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. And though man,
in the blindness of his nature, may take that name and repeat
that name and tell children of that name and know nothing of
its meaning and know not the one so named. Nevertheless God
witnesses unto all that Jesus, Joshua, God's Saviour, came into
this world, the Son of God, born a man, and he came to save sinners
from their sins. Under these heavens and upon
this earth, there has been a witness and a testimony to the coming
of Christ for 2,000 years. as so witnessed and testified
to for thousands of years by the prophets before his coming. This world knows that there is
a God who sent his son into this world of sin, into this world
of darkness, that he might lead his people unto the light. What do you know of that child
born Jesus? What do you know of his message? And what do you know of his salvation? For many will speak much of his
coming Many at this time of year, even in the churches, will speak
much of His coming, much of His birth, much of who they think
He is. But much that is said and done
is said and done in blindness. And though they take the name
and though they repeat some of the facts, they know not this
Christ. And they know not His salvation. What of you? Who was he? Who is he to you? Why did he
come? Why was he born? And to what
end? Why was he born? Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. He came to save his people from
their sins. He came to accomplish salvation. He came to deliver sinners, hard-hearted
sinners, rebellious sinners like you and I, from our sin, from
the wrath of God which burns from heaven above against our
sin. from the judgment of God to come if we remain in our sins. From all our enemies, all our
foes, all our troubles, all our trials, he came to deliver his
people from sorrow, from death, from tears, from crying, from
pain. He came to deliver them from
this fallen evil world. He came to save. To what end
did he come? To this end, the salvation of
all those whom the Father gave unto the Son. the salvation of
the people of God, the children of Israel, the elect, the chosen,
His people. He shall save His people from
their sins. Are you one of His people? Do you know His salvation? And if you do, what are you looking
for as you journey through this world? Is your gaze, is your
heart set upon this earth and these heavens, this world, all
that's in it, all its glory, all its pleasures, all its riches,
Do you take the name of Christ and say you believe whilst you
journey around this world seeking and devouring, grasping and grabbing
at all that you can gain here below? Or has God put another life,
another spirit, another desire, another ambition, another love
within your heart? Has he put faith in your heart
to look to look up, to look beyond this earth for another earth,
to look beyond these heavens for new heavens, to look beyond
all that is below, up unto all that is from above. Are you merely
looking backwards to the coming of Christ in history as an event
which has come and gone? Is your gaze below and backwards? Do you look merely to the facts
and the history and the records of that fact and of that coming? Or are you by faith looking unto
the one that came each and every day? And are you by faith looking
for His coming again? For as surely as Christ was born
and came into this world, He is going to return. As certain
as His first coming was, as promised through generations and preached
about by generations of prophets, so it is certain that he will
return again. Generations preached of him and
the world around mocked and scoffed and went about their business,
went about their sinful ways, went about building their empires
and mounting up their riches and shutting God and his message
and his gospel and his saviour out from all their thoughts and
affections. Multitudes were born and multitudes
perished who ignored the message of the prophets that Messiah
would come. But He came. And He did all that
was prophesied of Him. He was born where He would be
born. Of the lineage that God said
He would be born of. Of the line of David. Of the
kingly line. He was born at the moment, the
perfect moment in the fullness of time that God purposed he
should be born. He was born at the perfect moment
historically that the Son of God should come into this world
when Israel was in captivity under the rule of Rome. God so
purposed that his Son should come then. that his gospel should
go not only to the Jews but out through Rome and the Roman Empire
to all the four corners of the earth to the Gentiles also. He
came when He was purposed to come. All that was said of Him
was brought about. All that was said of Him in His
life was brought about perfectly. All the records of the prophets,
you can go and you can read them. We have the scriptures preserved
for thousands of years and those books in the Old Testament written
thousands of years before the coming of Christ. And all that
they said regarding Him came about to the letter. And when
the Jews received him not, and gave him up to the hands of the
authorities of Rome, and demanded that he be crucified, and he
was smitten, all the promises and prophecies regarding his
death came about and were fulfilled. They smote the shepherd. They pierced him. when the soldiers
found that unlike the two thieves on either side of him that he
had that being crucified he had died already he'd given up the
ghost already whereas with the others they broke their legs
to finish them off with him they found him dead already and they
merely pierced his side and out flowed blood and water and in
so doing they fulfilled all the prophets all the prophecies regarding
him that not a bone of his body should be broken but that he
should be pierced. The soldiers as he was crucified
took his garments and separated them between him so fulfilling
words of the prophet. All that was promised and prophesied
regarding his first coming came about and you can take the scriptures
and you can read them through and they are there and they were
written before his coming and all that happened as recorded
in the gospels was a fulfillment of all those words. Now this
bible tells us that he's coming again And there have been generations
of preachers sent to this world for the last 2,000 years to tell
you not only did Christ come, but He will return. And you can
be certain that He will return and all that is prophesied regarding
His return will come about just as it did with His first coming.
We are told that there will be a new heaven and a new earth. that there will be a day in which
this present earth will be burnt with fire and the heavens and
the stars and all around will be rolled up like a scroll. This universe will be brought
to its conclusion. This earth that you seek to grasp
and gain with all your might and power will slip from your
fingers as it's burnt up and you and I and all men and women
and children will stand before Almighty God and there will be
a day when we will all stand before Him there will be a people
chosen who he will say enter into my glory forevermore and
there will be another people judged for all that they have
done and fought and said in their lifetime whom he will find wanting
And though many of them will cry, Lord, Lord, I've prophesied
in thy name. I've done this in thy name. I've
held my Christmas services in thy name. I've told many of thy
coming, Lord. Although they've taken his name
and proclaim his name, they never knew him. And he says unto them,
depart from me. I never knew you. Though you took my name, though
you spake of my birth, though you fought, you were telling
people of me. You never received the truth
regarding me. You never truly understood what
the Prophet said of me. You took my name from the Bible
and you turned me into an idol. You fashioned an idol named Jesus
that has nothing to do with me. The one that you followed called
Jesus, the one that you did so much in the name of is not I. I never knew you. Now do you
proclaim to follow Jesus Christ? Do you speak of his birth? Do
you speak of his death? Do you speak of his love and
his salvation? If you do are you sure that the
one that you follow in your head is the one whom God by the Spirit
of God has revealed through this word? Or have you twisted and
perverted the truth concerning him and followed an idol? Because
on that day you will either stand with the sheep who go into glory
or with the goats who go into outer darkness and a lake that
burns with fire. And what you know of Christ and
what you profess of Christ and what you believe regarding this
Jesus is vital. Yes, there comes a day when this
world will be burnt up, all of it. all the nations all the creation
it will go and all the ungodly and the wicked in it who have
not been washed with the blood of the Lamb of God who have not
bowed down to that babe born in Bethlehem and worshipped him
as the Son of God as those shepherds did and as the wise men later
on a couple of years later did when they found that child growing
If you've not bowed down with them to that man born in Bethlehem
who would later be crucified outside of Jerusalem in the place
called Golgotha, then you with multitudes will be separated
from the sheep and be consumed in the fires of that lake that
burns forever. For when this world is gone,
there is a people, a blessed people, a thankful people, a
lowly people, a favoured people, who will see,
as John saw, a new heaven and a new earth. This people, born
sinners as all others are born sinners, born children of wrath
as all others were, having rebelled against God like all others have,
unbelieving by nature, apathetic by nature, full of sin by nature,
this people are a people who in time hear the message of that
Jesus. that came to save His people
from their sins. And in time by the Holy Spirit
are convicted of their sins and brought to recognise that they
are but sin through and through from head to toe, lepers, having
no good in them. having no righteousness, having
no holiness. They're taught by the Holy Spirit
that they're under wrath by nature, that God's wrath burns against
their sin. and that there's nothing that
they are which is acceptable unto a holy and a perfect God
and that there is nothing that they can do which is acceptable
to a holy and perfect God they're taught by God their dreadful
state by nature and their dreadful position and that if they should
remain in such a state that the hours are ticking away to that
day when they will be plunged into darkness Have you been taught that way? Are you being taught that way?
Do you feel the guilt of your sins? Do you recognize and own
that you have sinned and you have sinned not against men but
against the Holy God and that he's furious with your sins and
those sins must be answered? Well if you have or you are then
you will come the same way as this people who haven't been
taught that. A then wonderful day, glorious
day, merciful day, led by the Spirit of God to the foot of
the cross. and led to see and to behold
by faith that child born in Bethlehem, now a man, offered up and crucified
as a sacrifice for their sins. They're brought to see that that
Jesus, of whom the world says much at his coming, wrought salvation
on the day on which he was crucified. He wrote, he accomplished, he
finished salvation. He wrote it for them. He blotted
out their sins. He took away their sin. and took it outside the camp
and burnt it up under the fire of God's wrath. He saved them,
he stood in their place, he took their own sins upon himself. He was made sin for them, that
they in him should be made the righteousness of God. Yes, this people are taken by
the Spirit of God through the Gospel, through the preaching
of the Gospel, to behold by faith the Saviour. And to know that
that Jesus, whom they spoke of much, is not only a child born
in a manger, not only a name repeated once a year, when people
exchange gifts, but he is the very Son of God who came into
this world to save sinners. And they, knowing that they are
sinners, bow down in wonder that this man, a man without sin,
should take their sins upon himself. and drink up the cup of God's
wrath due unto them, that they through him should be delivered. Delivered from the wrath to come.
Delivered from the judgment. Delivered from hell. Delivered
from death. Delivered from the lake of fire. Delivered from their flesh. Delivered
from their fallen state. Delivered from this world. and saved with an everlasting
salvation, being given the righteousness of God in Him, being made the
righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, having eternal life in
Him. They, being born again by the
Spirit of God, having life in Christ, are brought to see with
John a new heaven and a new earth. a new heaven and a new earth,
oh have you beheld by faith have you looked through the passing
of time into the future and seen that which is to come that there
is 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 oh what
a sight And oh what a sound that John heard when he heard that
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. Have you heard that voice? Has
he said it of you? Are you one of his people? Is God with you? Is He your God? Oh what a voice to hear. And
what a promise we read of here of the coming of this day when
this new heaven and new earth are brought in and we enter into
it as God's people if you're one of His. When that people
enter in what does God say shall be done? He says 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. Oh what a day, what a day
to come. This is why Christ came, that
this day should come. that his people, his bride, should
be with him forevermore. in a place where there's no more
death, no more tears, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more
pain. All the fallen world in which
we live, all the evil, all the sin, all the pain, all the violence,
all the anger, all the hatred, all the jealousy, all the nastiness,
all the trouble, all the trials are all gone away. and in that
new heaven and new earth all there will be will be peace forevermore
love joy righteousness hope glory what a place As the one 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. Now why will these things come
to pass and why can we be so certain they will come to pass?
Why can we by faith look and be so sure of their coming? Because
of what he says in verse 6 he said unto me he said unto me
It is done. It is done. As Christ cried out on the cross,
it is finished. It's done. It's accomplished. It's wrought. Salvation is accomplished. It's done. and when this day
comes and time is no more then God will say it's done for all
has been brought into its final conclusion but it's because Christ
cried out it's done it's finished upon the cross that made this
finishing certain It will come. When Christ cried out 2,000 years
ago, it's done, He made sure that this day would come to pass. And God will say when His people
are gathered in, when the bride is united unto Christ, all His
people behold Him, He will say, it's done. It's over. It's finished. It's complete.
All the struggle is in the past, all the trial, all the persecution,
all the suffering that my people suffered for me whilst they journeyed
through a world that hated them like it hated me is over. Oh believer you'd struggle now. With so many things. With doubts
and with fears. With the daily struggle of life. With the struggle to put bread
on the table. With the struggle to meet your
bills. With the struggle with illness and trouble. With the
struggle with trials and opposition. You struggle now with persecution
for the cause of Christ. Persecuted for righteousness
sake. Oh you've troubles. You know
trial. You know suffering. and sometimes
in the midst of it you think will it ever end well it will
end in a moment in a twinkling of an eye in a blink in a flash
in but a breath in but a span of a breath there will be a day
when you will wake up and you will hear a voice from heaven
crying out it's done it's over welcome entering in a new heaven
a new earth and that voice will say unto you I am Alpha and Omega
the beginning and the end I will give unto him that is a first
of the fountain of the water of life freely are you thirsty
then drink of this water do you hunger and thirst after righteousness
then eat of this bread and drink of this water of the righteousness
of God in Jesus Christ. It's done. When Christ's blood
flowed forth and out came blood and water, it was done. He that overcometh shall inherit
all things. And the Lord says, and I will
be his God and he shall be my son. O will He say unto you,
I will be thy God, and you shall be my son? Will He say? Why will we know that in that
heaven and that earth that there are no tears, no crying, no more
death, nor sorrow, nor pain? What makes it so certain? It's
certain because in that heaven And that earth, there is no more
sin. All those troubles come because
of that sin that entered into this perfect world at the beginning
of time. When God created this world in
six days, He said, it's good, it's good. He looked on all the
creation and said, it's good. He made man. an upright man without
sin. But when that man and that woman
sinned, and sin and death entered this world, it destroyed it,
it corrupted it, it polluted it forevermore. And all the pain,
all the sorrow, all the trial, all the hatred, all the violence,
all the wars, all the evil you see in the world around you today
is because of that sin which entered in. But this new heaven
and new earth is a heaven and earth where there is no sin. As is made clear in verse one,
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. No more sea. The seas in the
scriptures so often or a picture of our sin. God parted the sea
from the dry land. He put man on the dry land, not
in the sea. And when the wickedness of man
multiplied so greatly in those first years on the earth, that
God was moved to send destruction and judgment through those great
rains that brought that great flood, in which he delivered
Noah and his house in that ark. What this earth was covered in
was water, the rains came down, the seas rose up, and the waters
covered all the earth and all mankind upon the earth except
for those in the ark nowhere in his house were destroyed utterly
and as those seas covered the earth they were a picture of
the covering of man's sin upon it and God's judgment against
that sin but there is a new heaven and a new earth in which there
will be no more sea because there's no sin. There's no sin and therefore
there's no judgment against that sin. There'll be no sea to wash
us away, no sea to pass through, no judgment, no death. Where
there is no sin there is no death. When sin entered this world,
death entered by it. The reason you and I die, the
reason generations are born and die is because of the sin that
dwells within them. By one man sin entered this world
and death by sin. death and sin are inextricably
linked. The sin brings the judgment death
of which the seas the waters are a picture but in this heaven
and this earth there is no sin and no judgment and no death
because it's done. Because when Christ died, when
he cried out it's finished, he took away all the sin of all
his people for all time and eternity. He took it all away. So that
they, as his bride, should dwell with him forevermore. I John
saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. He sees this city
and the city itself is personified as the bride of Christ. The city
of God, New Jerusalem above, is formed from his people. They make up the city. There
are 12 walls, the 12 tribes of Jerusalem, the 12 gates on those
walls, there are 12 foundations of the walls, the apostles of
the Lamb and there are those within and collectively they
are his bride and they are a bride adorned for her husband because
every one of them has been washed in his blood. and made perfect
and pure and clean. Which is why if you read this
chapter through to the end that you read of the gold clear as
glass, you read of the beauty of this city, you read of its
perfections, you read of the stones found within it, you read
of the glory. Because these people are glorious
as their Saviour's glorious, they're one with Him, perfect
in Him. righteous, glorious, to dwell
and reign with him forevermore. He that overcometh shall inherit
all things and I will be his God and he shall be my people. But as with Noah of old, when
God sent down the judgment upon this earth on that last day,
Those who are not found in this city, those who have not looked
for a new heaven and a new earth, those who are not washed in the
blood of the Lamb will be destroyed utterly, washed away as it were
by the storms of God's wrath. The fearful and unbelieving,
the abominable, and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers
and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which
burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death. Well
amongst whom are you? Are you amongst that people described
here as the Holy City, the Bride of the Lamb? that people chosen
of God and washed in his blood who look by faith for his coming? Or are you one of those who are
fearful? and unbelieving, turning your
back upon the gospel, turning your back upon Jesus Christ,
turning your back upon those whom he sends as his preachers,
turning your back upon Jesus born in Bethlehem, turning your
back upon all God's things and God's ways. Are you unbelieving? Are you abominable? Are you a
murderer in your heart? Do you put to death in your heart
all who profess Christ's name? Are you a whoremonger? Idolatrous? Are you a sorcerer and an idolater? Do you worship another God? Another Jesus? Another salvation? Another saviour? Are you a liar? Taking Christ's name and speaking
lies regarding him. Telling men that he's like this
when he's not. Are you a liar? If you are, you
as with always, will find your part in the lake, which burneth
with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Where are
you? Where are you looking? Are you
looking for the believing heart? for the coming again of that
Saviour who came the first time and wrought salvation and cried
out it is finished and said salvation is complete, salvation is wrought,
salvation is accomplished for my people. Are you looking by
faith unto Him? Looking unto Him to wash you
from all your sin. Looking unto Him for all your
riches and hope. Are you looking unto His coming?
Are you looking for that day in which you will enter in to
be with Him in a new heaven? and a new earth. Are you? May God give you grace. May God
be merciful to you to open the eyes to behold the Lamb of God
which taketh away the sin of the world. Behold my Son in whom
I am well pleased, he said. May he open the blind eyes of
those that sit in darkness to see a great light. and to see
that joy sent down from heaven above, found in Jesus Christ
the Saviour, who will lead his people into a new heaven and
a new earth. For the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. Amen.