we rejoice in the blessed confidence
that one day soon our Lord Jesus Christ will come again, and when
he does, he will make all things new. He will create a new heavens
and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Now, John discusses
this briefly in verses one through four of this chapter. Read with
me, And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. Imagine what he
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 near Jerusalem. coming down from God
out of heaven, now if you want to know what that means, read
the next line, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. The
holy city, the New Jerusalem, is the church of God. It is not
a physical city, it is not a literal city somehow hovering above the
earth, coming down and sitting in the atmosphere above the earth,
but the holy city, the New Jerusalem, is the church of the living God,
the Jerusalem which is from above. It is the bride of the Lord Jesus
Christ, all of God's elect, redeemed by the blood of Christ and robed
in his righteousness. Now, in the end, John sees them
made perfect before God, prepared as a bride adorned in her wedding
garments, beautiful, spotless, pure, holy, white, standing before
her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. God's come down to be among us. God comes down to make himself
the abode of his people in the new heaven and the new earth.
And he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. Dwell with them perpetually,
without interruption, in the constant manifestation of His
pleasure, His communion, and His presence. He will dwell with
them, and they shall be His people, unquestionably, immutably, perpetually,
knowingly. No more doubts, no more fears,
no more struggles, No more heartaches, no more difficulties. They shall
be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their
God. And when that happens, God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there shall be no more death,
no reason to cry. Tears be gone. No more death. No more sorrow. No more crying. Neither shall
there be any more pain. None. None. And when I read those words,
my heart and my mind are simply overwhelmed. I understand that
there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain in a
physical sense, I understand that. When we're done with death
and we're done with sickness and we're done with bereavement
and we're done with the struggles and troubles of this world, then
certainly we'll be done with all the sorrow that accompanies
those things. But I'm confident that in this
text, our Lord is telling us much more than that. He's telling
us that in heaven's glory We will so perfectly be one with
Christ that we will see things and understand things and appreciate
things from his viewpoint so that even as we look back upon
this earth and remember our experiences upon this earth and remember
the blessed experience of God's grace to give praise to him and
honor to him And remember our struggles with sin, and our struggles
with our own weaknesses, and our own failures, and our own
unbelief, and our own unfaithfulness, which now cause us so much sorrow
and pain over yonder. When we remember these things,
there'll be no sorrow, and no pain, and no crying. How can
that be? For the former things are passed
away. They're gone. The former things
are passed away. We anticipate with anxious hearts
that great day when our God shall make his creation new and the
former things shall pass away. We look forward to the new heavens
and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. But let us never
forget that our Savior right now exercises his renewing, creative
power and grace. In fact, if you read verse 5,
the Lord Jesus speaks now, and he that sat upon the throne said,
Behold, I make all things new. Now, both the New American Standard
Version and the New International Version of the Scriptures translate
those words in the present tense, so that our Lord Jesus, who sits
upon the throne, says, Behold, I am making all things new. In other words, John first saw
the new heavens and the new earth that Christ will make in the
last day, and then he heard the Son of God declare, now John,
you can count on this, You can believe this, you can rest in
this, because I am right now making all things new. It is
as though the Lord said, John, the promise of a new heaven and
a new earth should not astonish you. Behold, I am now making
all things new by the power of my grace, by my saving, renewing,
regenerating grace. So what is declaring? is that
every time he saves a sinner by his almighty grace, he makes
all things new for that sinner. Now, let's look at these next
few verses, 5, 6, 7, and 8, and let me tell you something about
Christ who makes all things new. First, there is this announcement
of grace. He that sat upon the throne said,
Behold, I make all things new. Look at those words, he that
sat upon the throne. This one who sits upon the throne
is Jesus Christ himself, the God-man, our Savior. He sits
upon the throne as our mediator. He sits upon the throne as the
Lamb of God who was slain for the sins of his people. Now,
he sat upon the throne from everlasting, from old eternity as God. No
question about that. But as this text speaks here,
and as it is spoken of throughout the scriptures, beginning back
there in Revelation chapter 5, I believe it was, where the Apostle
John saw the Savior, and he saw a rising in the midst of the
throne. Let's see if I can find it here. Revelation 5, verse
6. And I beheld, and lo, in the
midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst
of the elders, stood a Lamb, as it had been slain. so that
as the purpose of God begins to unfold, the Lamb of God is
seen right in the midst of the throne of God, not just as God,
but as the Lamb of God, slain for our sins, our Mediator. And he sat upon the throne of
God from everlasting, not only as God, but as the Mediator of
his people. He sits upon this throne, by
the light of his accomplishments as our Redeemer. He sits upon
the throne because he's prevailed. He sits upon the throne because
he has, by his blood, purged away our sins and earned for
us, in himself, everlasting righteousness and glory. Our Lord Jesus, sitting
upon the throne as our mediator, sits there with total dominion. All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. He has all power over all things,
over all creatures, and he holds that power as power mediator. He holds that power to do us
good, to preserve his people, to save his elect, and to increase
his kingdom as he sees fit. Now, our Savior sits upon the
throne because everything's finished. The whole work of redemption
is done. all his mediatorial work has been accomplished. He
sits upon the throne in the blessed peace and serenity of one who
is in absolute control of everything, whose will can never be frustrated,
whose purpose can never be overturned, whose promise can never be thwarted,
who sits upon the throne and says, my counsel shall stand. and I will do all my pleasure."
So he sits upon the throne with total dominion and blessed serenity
and peace as the mediator of his people. Now that ought to
cause us to in measure enter into his serenity and his peace. If the head of the church is
at ease, the whole body ought to be at ease. If the mediator
is at peace, then we ought to be at peace. If he who is our
king with absolute, total composure of heart and mind, so we ought
to worship him and walk with him in the total composure of
heart and mind. All is well. He sits on the throne. He sits on the throne. Now look
what he says. He that sat upon the throne said,
Behold, and give me your attention now, hear and consider what I
say. I'm doing wondrous things for
the sons of men. He that sat upon the throne said,
Behold, I make." Now, he's talking about creation. He's talking
about the creation of grace. But in the creation of grace,
as in the creation of the world, nothing is made of itself. But
rather, he says, I make. It is altogether my work. I'm
the creator. I'm the maker. I'm the sustainer
of all things. I make by my power, according
to my purpose, by my grace, and for my praise, I make all things
new." All things. What can that mean? Turn over
to 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. I want to look at two scriptures
in this regard, and I want to show you the connection. 2 Corinthians
chapter 5 and verse 17. The apostle says, if any man
be in Christ, if any man be in Christ, by the power and grace
of God, in Christ, by living faith, in Christ, as the branches
are in the vine, in Christ, as the limbs are in the body, if
any man be in Christ by a vital living union, he's a new creature. Quite literally, a new creation.
Old things are passed away. Is that what he said in verse
4? The former things are passed away. If any man be in Christ,
he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things will become new. Look in Galatians chapter 6.
Galatians the 6th chapter and verse 14. The Apostle Paul again
is speaking. He's been talking about the cross
of Christ. in which he glories, by which the world is crucified
unto me, and I unto the world. And in verse 15 he says, For
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision. In other words, your being religious
or your being irreligious is really insignificant. Your being
a good, moral, upright person in a religious sense or your
being an absolute scoundrel is of no significance. In other
words, you don't have any advantage in Christ because you were raised
in religion or because you were raised in the gutter. You don't
have any advantage in Christ because Mama and Daddy were faithful
men and women, or Mama and Daddy were reprobates. You don't have
any advantage in Christ by nature. Neither circumcision availeth
anything the doing of acts of obedience, nor uncircumcision
the doing of acts of disobedience. That avails nothing. What does? But a new creature. A new creature. The Lord Jesus is talking about
salvation. He's talking about his work of
grace. He says, Behold, I make all things new by the merit of
my obedience, by the power of my spirit, through the preaching
of my gospel. Now, notice how everything centers
on him. Not a word here about your works,
good or bad. Not a word here about your free
will. Not a word here about your religion.
Not a word here about the power of the pulpit. Holy shit! I make all things new. The Lord Jesus is himself that
one in whom and from whom the whole new creation arises. He
is the one who alone performs the work. He is the one who alone
shall have the praise of it. Now, what is included in this
new creation? Well, everything about this new
creation is altogether new. Let me show you a few things
in the scriptures. Turn back to Jeremiah chapter
31. Let's look at some familiar territory
and maybe some that's not quite so familiar. In Jeremiah chapter
31, in the new creation, We are made to be the recipients and
beneficiaries of a new covenant. The Lord God speaks in verse
31 of Jeremiah 31, and it says, The days come, saith the Lord,
that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel. What
is that? Well Paul refers to it in Hebrews
chapter 8, and again in Hebrews chapter 10, or chapter 12 rather,
yeah chapter 10, and he tells us that this covenant is for
us. This is the covenant, I will forgive their iniquities, and
their sins I will remember no more. He says, this shall be
the covenant, verse 33, that I will make with the house of
Israel, and to those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in
their inward parts. I'm giving them a new nature.
I will cause them to know my law in their inward parts. I
will put it there, and I will put my law in their inward parts,
and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they
shall be my people, and they'll all know me. And they shall teach
no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of
them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord." Now, what that
means is simply this. The Apostle John gives us an
understanding of it in 1 John chapter 2 when he says you have
an option from the Holy One and you know all things. So that
if God creates you new in Christ Jesus, if God has given you a
new heart, If God has planted his law, his word in your heart
so that you're a new creature, you may be illiterate, you may
not be well educated, you may not be able to sit down and argue
with folks in points of logic and debate with folks about the
scriptures, but you know God and you know his truth. And that's
enough. That's enough. It doesn't matter
whether you're young or whether you're old. It's God the teacher. You know God and you know God's
truth. All right, look what it says.
For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin
no more." This is the covenant which was made between God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit before the world
was. And that covenant, by the promises
of the three persons in the Godhead to one another, that covenant
secured the everlasting salvation of God's elect. That means you
and me who now believe. This covenant may absolutely
certain the salvation of God's people. Look in chapter 32. Chapter
32, Jeremiah. He continues on with this covenant.
In verse 38, he says, They shall be my people, and I will be their
God. I will give them one heart and
one way that they may fear me forever, and for the good of
them and of their children after them. and I will make an everlasting
covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do
them good." Did you get hold of that? God says, I will not
turn away from you to do you good. Never. Under no circumstances. He says, but I will put my fear,
I will put my reverence, I will put my awe in them, I'll put
my fear in them, in their hearts, that they shall not depart from
me." Now look at the next line, "...yea, I will rejoice over
them, to do them good." Now, those who are new creatures in
Christ are made beneficiaries of this new covenant, so that
all the promises and blessings of the covenant, yea and amen
in Christ Jesus, are ours because we're new creatures in him. Those
who are made to be beneficiaries of the covenant, who are made
new creatures in are given a new nature. We're made to be partakers
of the divine nature. We've been studying in our Bible
class lessons on Sunday mornings the last few weeks in 1 John
3. And the Apostle John argues for
our holiness in conduct, in our behavior, from the standpoint
that we have been made to have a holy nature. It's seeds put
within us. That holy thing that cannot sin,
it's born of God. Now, if a man or woman's a believer,
and it doesn't matter whether they're 80 years old or 8 years
old or 18 years old or somewhere between, those who are born of
God have a new nature put in them. The old nature's still
there. We struggle with it, we fight
with it, we live with it, and we cannot do the things we would.
But that new nature has been implanted in us. God does not
repair the old heart. He does not repair the old nature. He does not repair our old self. He puts in us a new heart, a
new nature, a new will. And that new nature is Jesus
Christ himself. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you, the hope of glory. And we have a new relationship.
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,
that we should be called the sons of God." Sons of God? Several years ago I read something
by John Gill on that statement. He said, better to be a son than
to be a servant. For the angels are his servants,
but not his sons. Better to be a son than to be
justified, for a man may be justified and yet not be adopted. Better
to be a son than just be forgiven, for a man might possibly be forgiven
and not be adopted in the thinking of men. Oh, but to be a son is
to be possessor of everything. To be a son of God is to be greater
than to be the sons and daughters of the greatest potentate upon
the earth. We are called the sons of God. Called the sons of God because,
beloved, right now we are the sons of God. Right now. As much
so as we shall be in heavenly glory. And we have been brought
to God and to worship God in a new way. come to worship God. In the Old
Testament, no one dared go into the Holy of Holies. No one dared
approach the mercy seat. No one dared walk into the presence
of the Shekinah glory of God in that holy place. No one dared,
but by the high priest as their representative. Now, the veil
has been read in two, and you and I are priests unto God. Priests unto God. That means,
Lindsay, we do business with God personally. That means we
have the right and freedom of access to God himself in Jesus
Christ the Lord with the acceptance of Christ himself. So that Rex
Bartley, he's in Christ is as welcome at the mercy seat as
Christ himself, as welcome at God's presence as Christ himself,
as welcome at the throne of grace as the advocate who bears our
names. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace
that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of
need. But there's something more Being
new creatures in Christ, we have a new record. Old things are
passed away. And behold, all things are becoming
new. Now, I've heard that text quoted
and preached from a lot of times in a lot of ways. And fellows
preach it as though everything concerning the old man has passed
away. I'm going to tell you something,
if that's somebody I haven't experienced it, have you? The old man hasn't
passed away. The old lust hasn't passed away.
The old carnal desires haven't passed away. The old fleshly
appetites haven't passed away. The old envy and jealousy and
all those things the flesh has not passed away. They've not
passed away. But what on earth is this talking
about? It's talking about God's duality. We're talking about
our reconciliation to God. The Lord God declares, Behold
I, even I am he that blotted out thy transgressions, and will
not remember thy sins. So that though we by nature,
and by practice, and by word, and by deed, and by choice, are
guilty of all manner of sin before God, The Lord God has watered
it out. And he remembers it no more.
Not only that, but he's given us a new record. A new record. When God looks in the books,
in the books of his memory, in the books of judgment, in the
books which record everything by which the world shall be judged,
God looks at us and declares their sins and iniquities are
not. Let me show it to you. Jeremiah
chapter 50, and verse 20. The Lord is speaking of this
last great day, and it says in verse 20, In those days and in
that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought
forth, and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and they
shall not be found. For I will pardon them whom I
reserve. He will look on us, indeed he
does look on us, through Christ his Son. And when God looks on
his people, he sees nothing but his Son. When God looks on his
people, it's not that he winks at us and he doesn't, but there
is no sin. When God looks on his people,
it's not that he pretends like a building father, that his children
are righteous when they're not, but he has actually made us righteous. Do you understand that? He declares,
and he declares that it is so, that we have been made rich in
the sight of God, so that every believer can with confidence
say, with Christ's thoughtless garments only, I'm as holy as
God's own Son, you and me. As holy as God's own Son. The
Father is well pleased with us in Christ Jesus, who says, behold,
I'm making all things new. Some of you here, may God make all things new for
you right now. All things That's the announcement
of grace. But then there's this assurance
of grace as well. Our Lord is such a tender Savior.
Having made this marvelous declaration of grace, he anticipates our
hesitancy to believe such great things. And so, in order to encourage
our faith, he gives us a perpetual word of assurance. Read on. It is done. He said unto me, root, for these
words are true and faithful. These words are true and faithful,
and it is done. Do you see that? If you come to Christ right now
for the first time, do you hear me? If you come to Christ right
now for the first time, or if you had been walking with Christ
for a long, long, long time. Before God, all things are new,
perpetually new, permanently new, immutably new, eternally
new. All things are new. But pastor,
I've had lots of bad experiences in my heart. I know that before
God, everything's new. But, Don, I've had so many failings. Yeah, me too. But before God,
all things are new. My feelings fluctuate a whole
lot, don't yours? They fluctuate a great deal.
Sometimes I have such joy, sometimes such downcast attitudes, sometimes
such elated experiences of delight, and sometimes such deep, deep
experiences of depression. Before God, all things are new.
All things are new. This new creation you see does
not depend upon you. It does not depend upon me. but it depends altogether upon
the truth and the faithfulness of God who knows his own, and
will never forget them. All things are new. Our Lord
said, now John, you write this, for these words are faithful
and they're true. They're true. I ask only one question. Do you trust Christ? Do you trust
the Son of God? Do you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ? Do you recognize your sin, your
corruption, the depravity of your heart? My buddy was praying
a little while ago. Do you know yourself to be a
sinner and you trust Jesus Christ alone? If so, then I'm telling
you, Jesus Christ declares, I'm making all things new. And he'll never change his mind.
He will never impute sin where he has forgiven sin. He will
never impute sin where he has imputed righteousness. He will
never, he will never come again with crimes when he has charged
or substitute with crimes. What he has done, he's done forever.
And nothing can be put to it, nothing taken from it. Now look
at this word of accomplished grace. And he said unto me, it's
done. Oh, glorious good news. And my
heart rejoices to hear the Son of God declare, it's done. What is done? Why, everything,
the whole work of grace is done. Everything is accomplished, the
whole business of making all things new is done. It was done
before the world began and the purpose of God. We were blessed
with all blessings then and there, saved in God's purpose, glorified
according to the purpose of him who predestinated us into life
everlasting. And it was done when Jesus Christ
cried, it is finished. For he rendered unto God the
full satisfaction of justice for our sins, and perfect righteousness
for our obedience. And it was done just so that
you believe. Just so that you believe. So
there's something that you're telling us the sinner has to
do. Oh no, no, no, no, no. The faith is the result of the
new creation. If you believe, It's because
he made you new. He's given you new life in Christ.
And that faith is itself the gift of God. But you have no
claim upon any of these things till you believe. But to him
that believeth, the scripture says, whosoever believeth on
him hath everlasting life. He's got it. Everything that
has to do with everlasting life. I wrote a hymn In this regard,
it's done. Oh, hear the glorious news. It's done. It's done. It's done. Sanctification in its fullness
is a work completely done. The week of grace was all complete
before the worlds were made. The lamb was slain and God's
elect by covenant grace were saved. The Son of God wants King
Durd, his Father's will to do. When he returned to heaven with
blood, nothing was left to do. Now, sinner, all your doings
leave, and trust the Son of God. His blood and righteousness receive,
and give all praise to God." I wish I could make you understand
what I'm talking about. Paul and I have been talking
a little bit about this thing of Sabbath-keeping. The keeping of the Sabbath is
to cease from your works. That's what it is. That's what
it is. To keep the Sabbath as it was
intended by God. It was never intended by God
as just a religious ritual. Never, never, never, never, never,
never, never. It was intended by God to show
us our need of and to show us the fullness of Christ who is
the Lord our Sabbath. What do you do when you come
to Christ? You stop working. You quit laboring for God's acceptance. You quit striving to make up
with God. You quit working to win God's
approval. You cease from your works. You
cease from your works. And in that sense, we just keep
on coming to Christ. So we must keep on ceasing from
our works. And one of these days, blessed
be God, we shall indeed enter into his rest and keep his Sabbath. There remaineth therefore a rest
of keeping of the Sabbath to the people of God. Who is the
accomplisher of this grace? Our Savior says, I am Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the end. Keeping with the context,
he's telling us that salvations of the Lord I'm that beginning,
and I'm the end of the new creation. I'm the one who performed it.
I'm the one who preserves it, and I'm the one who shall have
the praise of it. Then look at the abundance of grace. Let me
hurry here. The Lord Jesus says, I will give unto him that is
a thirst. A thirst. Oh my God, a thirst. you he speaks for those who thirst
for the pardon and righteousness of sin in Christ but more oh
those who thirst for Christ himself for communion with him for increased
knowledge of him for conformity to him he says i'll give to him
that isn't thirst thirst you thirsty him he says i'll give
in great abundance. I will give to him that is a
thirst of the fountain of the water of life. I'll give you
the only overflowing fountain that quenches your thirst. I'll
give it freely, freely. Thirsty? Take a drink. Oh, thirsty, just dive in. Dive in to the fountain, Christ
Jesus. The fountain of the water of
life. And he promises that he will
give you his spirit. He shall be to you a well of
living water, springing up into everlasting life. He'll do it
freely. And look what else he says. He that overcometh shall inherit all things. Whether or not I'm going to overcome,
if you're a believer you will. Is that right, Merle? We're more than conquerors through
him that loved us. Isn't that what the book says? Who shall
overcome? Every child of God shall overcome.
Well, look what it says concerning this now. Every believer Is that all right? Every believer shall inherit all things. Is that an accurate interpretation
of that first scripture? Every believer shall overcome, nobody
else shall. We shall overcome sensation in
the world, we shall overcome every thought and every temptation,
we shall overcome through Christ the Lord, and every believer
shall inherit all things." Everything. Everything. Those words alone
from the lips of the Son of God ought to forever put to silence
every dispute and every question about degrees of reward in heaven
for God's saints. Wouldn't you say? We are heirs
of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. That means that whatever
Christ possesses as the God-man, our mediator, we shall inherit
fully, eternally, in Christ the Lord. All right, we go. He says, I will be his God and
he shall be my son. These are the words of Jesus
Christ, the mighty God, whose name is the Everlasting Father,
and we are his spiritual seed forever and forever, so that
we are forever identified with him, and he forever identified
with us, we forever one with him, he forever one with us,
and never ashamed to call us brethren. I will be their God
to protect and provide for them. I will be your God to give them
pleasure forever, and they shall be my people. We're his seed,
and in heaven's glory he shall see in us his seed. He shall see in us of the travail
of his soul and shall be satisfied. And there will be pleasures forevermore
for him and for us in the saving of his people in this new creation. But there is an admonition of
grace given as well. Look at verse 8. But the fearful
and unbelieving, and 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. You see, what our Lord is saying
is this, you must be made a new creature by his almighty grace
or you must forever perish. Nothing else is a consequence. Nothing else. Circumcision doesn't
avail in that. I've been baptized, I've been
in church all my life, but I've been A loyal member of the church
for years and years and years. I never miss a service. I read
my Bible. I say my prayers. Are you or
are you not a new creature? A new creature. A new creature. If you're not a new creature,
you're going to perish under the wrath of God. Jesus Christ makes all things
new. And he does it for every sinner.
who looks to Him, every sinner who thirsts for Him, every sinner
who comes to God by Him. Has God made you a new creature? And I admonish you, children
of God, don't ever forget who and what you were when God saved
you and what you are now by nature. You know that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived, neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the
kingdom of God. And that's what you are. cetera and such were some of
you but you are watched but you are
sanctified but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
by the Spirit of our God who says I make all things new that
means Bob we don't belong to ourselves oh let us continually,
day by day, hour by hour, consecrate ourselves to God, our Savior,
who makes all things new. You're not your own. You're bought
with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's. Amen.