Turn with me, please, to Revelation
21, Revelation chapter 21, verse
5. And he said, For 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 thirst 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 in the lake which
burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Now,
we know that there is a new heaven and a new earth to come. John
described it for us in verses one through four of this chapter.
We anticipate with anxious hearts that new creation, that new heavens
and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. in which the knowledge
of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.
But our dear Savior exercises his renewing creative power today. He exercises his renewing creative
power right now. Look at what he says in verse
five. He that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things
new. In fact, the language is in the
present tense. The Son of God declares himself,
behold, I am making all things new. So that he is saying to
John, this is what's happening right now. Right now, as I sit
upon my throne, I am making all things new. It is though the
Lord said, John, the promise of the new heaven and the new
earth should not astonish you. It should not astonish you because
I am right now making all things new. Indeed, I have made all
things new for you and I will make all things new for all my
people. Turn back here, hold your hand
here and turn back to John chapter 5. Let me show you another way
in which the Lord does this. In John chapter 5, our Lord gave
an announcement here in verse 25. Verily, verily, I say unto
you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear
the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in
himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself,
and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because
he's the Son of Man." Our Lord said, now John, I'm creating
right now. I'm creating right now. resurrection
life in the hearts of my people. I'm raising men from death to
life spiritually." And he said, now don't marvel at this. Don't
marvel at this because there's another resurrection. Look at
verse 28, marvel not at this for the hour is coming, there's
another hour coming, an hour coming in the which all that
are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth
they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and
they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.
So the Lord says, now I'm doing a spiritual thing now. I'm doing
a work of grace now. I'm raising men from the dead.
And that's the pledge of a work that shall yet be done when I
shall raise their bodies from the dead by my own sovereign
power. And here in chapter 21 of Revelation, the Lord declares
to John, I'm going to create a new heavens and a new earth.
I'm going to make everything new. Everything is going to be
created new. All the remnants of sin shall
be expunged from my universe and I'll make all things new.
Now don't marvel at that. Here's the pledge of it. I'm
doing it right now. I'm doing it right now. Behold,
I make all things new. What our Lord is telling us is
this. Every time the Lord God saves a sinner by His almighty
grace, He makes all things new for that sinner. Now, let me
divide this passage up that we've read in six ways. I'll give you
six points to the message, and I hope you'll follow along carefully.
I believe I have a message that will bless your hearts if God
will be pleased to give me the grace to preach it. First, our
Lord gives us the announcement of grace. He that sat upon the
throne said, Behold, I make all things new, or I am making all
things new. He that sat upon the throne,
this is our Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, our Savior. The
one speaking speaks from the throne of sovereign, total, universal
dominion. The one speaking is the one in
control of everything. The one speaking is the ruler
of the universe. He sat upon the throne from eternity,
for he's God. He always has been on that throne.
Even when He was here upon the earth, He was on that throne.
Even when He was here, He was in heaven ruling everything.
He's the omnipresent God seated upon the throne of total universal
dominion. But he that sits on the throne
sits there now in a body of human flesh. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
the God who sits upon the throne, the God whom John saw, the God
whom John heard, is none other than the God-man who lived and
died for us as our substitute. and by right of his obedience
as our mediator, by right of his righteousness and his substitutionary
redemption and his resurrection from the dead, the God-man now
sits upon the throne. God has given him power over
all flesh for this purpose, that he should make all things new,
that he should give eternal life to as many as the Father has
given him. He sits upon the throne in serenity and peace. I like
this picture. Our Lord Jesus is, whenever we
read of him in the New Testament, he's always pictured as seated.
He's seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. He sits
upon the throne. He sat down in heaven. One time
we see him standing. One time, and that was when he
was standing to receive his servant Stephen, when Stephen was stoned
to death. Every other time our Lord Jesus is seen seated on
the right hand of the throne of God. He's seated there in
the heavens, sitting, sitting with patience, sitting with peace,
sitting with serenity, sitting with satisfaction. How is that?
because he's confident that everything in the world is accomplishing
his pleasure. There's no fretfulness. There's
no fear. There's no anxiety. There's no
worry. There's perfect serenity in the
heart of him who sits upon the throne. He has all his way. He has all his will. He has all
his pleasure. He does all that he's desired
to do. Everything is ruled according
to his purpose. For he sits upon that throne
in total dominion of the universe. He that sat upon the throne said,
Behold. Now John, stop and give some
consideration to this. I'm going to tell you something
wonderful. I'm going to tell you something that will stagger
imagination. I'm going to tell you something
that is beyond the conception of human beings. I'm going to
tell you something that is beyond the power of man to grasp. I'm going to tell you something
that's worthy of your utmost attention. Now hear me and consider
it well. I make, I make, Here is the one
who speaks with creative power. It is altogether my work. I'm
the one who does it. I am the creator. I'm the maker. I'm the sustainer of all things.
I make all things new. I make them all new by my power.
I make all things new according to my purpose. I make all things
new by the grace of my own heart. I make all things new for my
own praise. There's no free will here. There's
nothing here that depends upon man. There's nothing here that
he's waiting for you to do. He does not say, now John, I
have done my part and I'll wait for you to do yours. He says,
I make all things new right now. I'm doing it. I make all things
new. What can that be? What can that
mean? Turn over to 2 Corinthians 5.
Now in your bulletin this morning, you had Brother Ken Weimer's
letter in which he gave a an exposition of this 17th verse
of 2nd Corinthians 5 But here in this 17th verse Our
Lord declares by the Apostle Paul therefore if any man be
in Christ if any man be in Christ He is a new creature Old things
are passed away behold all things are become new Seems to me there's
a parallel. Behold, all things are become
new. Now, in the introduction to Ken's
letter, he said, he said, I have often heard it preached and I
used to preach myself that this is talking about the old nature
passing away and all things becoming new in the experience of the
believer. But that's not true. That's not true. That's not what
happens in the experience of the believer. And Ken states
that very clearly. You've not experienced in your
life that everything old passed away. Let's talk about it this
morning after services, Oscar. It ain't all passed away. It's
still there. It's still there. We've got this
old nature and not everything about us has become new. That's
not the reality of our experience. What the apostle is talking about
here is not regeneration, but rather reconciliation. And so
the Lord is telling us by the apostle that when a man's in
Christ, Everything in his past life has passed away. God has
blotted it out. God has expunged it from the
record. It's no longer there. And in
the record of God, all things have become new. Everything.
So that now, before God Almighty, we have a new standing, a new
nature, a new heart, a new will, a new record before God Himself
in heaven. And this is what our Lord is
telling us. I make all things new. I make all things new by
the merits of my obedience. He makes everything new for his
people because he has obeyed God as our representative. I
make all things new by the power of my spirit. I make all things
new by the preaching of my gospel. Notice how that everything in
these verses centers in and flows from this one who sits upon the
throne. He said, I make. He said, I do. He said, I'm the Alpha. I'm the
Omega. I'm the beginning. I'm the end.
Everything is altogether His and done by Him. Now what does
He mean when He says, I make all things new? Let me give you
a few hints. I found this to be delightful.
Turn over to Jeremiah 31, Jeremiah chapter 31. I make all things
new. What's included in that all things?
Well, I know this. One thing that's included is
a new covenant, a new covenant. In Isaiah 55, our Lord said,
He said, now you come to me. You come to me and I'll give
you the sure mercies of David. I'll give you all the benefits
and blessings and mercies of the covenant of grace. Here in
Jeremiah 31 and verse 31. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah. Well, what is that new covenant?
It's not a covenant according to the covenant that I made with
their fathers. in the day that I took them by the hand to bring
them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they broke,
although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord." So I'm
not making a covenant of works. I'm not making a covenant that
depends upon man. I'm not making a covenant with
them that is in any way possibly to be broken. But I'm making
a new covenant, one that's altogether new. The days come, we're living
in that day. We're living in that day, for
Paul quotes this passage in Hebrews, and he says this covenant's ours.
I make a new covenant, altogether new. It was made before the world
began. It was revealed in time. The
first covenant came in Adam, and in the giving of the law,
we had a representation of a covenant of works. And now in time, God
has revealed this second covenant, but the second covenant was really
the first one. He made it before the world began.
It's a covenant of peace and a covenant of grace. A covenant
made between the three persons of the Godhead. A covenant in
which our salvation was guaranteed, our salvation was secured, and
our salvation was accomplished. Look at this, verse 33. This
shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, saith the Lord. I'll put my law in their inward
parts. That's the new nature. That's regeneration. God puts
his new law, puts his law in our hearts in the new birth.
That law is love and faith. I'll put my law in their inward
parts. I'll write it on their hearts and will be their God
and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbor and every man his brother saying, know
the Lord. They're not going to need a priest. They're not going
to need any priesthood upon this earth for they shall all know
me. Look at it. They shall all know
me from the least of them to the greatest of them. My sheep,
hear my voice. saith the Lord, for I will forgive
their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Turn over
to chapter 32. You'll see something more about
this covenant. Jeremiah chapter 32. This is a covenant in which
our salvation was arranged, plotted, schemed, and agreed upon by God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God said,
I will forgive their sin. God said, I will put my spirit
within you. God said, I will write my commandments,
my law upon your heart. God said, I will forgive your
iniquity, your transgressions and your sins. Well, what about
the future? What about the future? We've experienced this forgiveness
of sin. We've experienced this new birth.
We've experienced this adoption into the family of God. We've
experienced all that. But what about tomorrow? We are left in
this world with that old nature. We're left in this world with
that old sinful inclination of our flesh, that old corrupt human
flesh. We're left here with old man
Adam still living in us. How are we going to persevere
in this thing? Look in verse 37. Behold, I will gather them
out of all countries. whether I have driven them in
mine anger. God scattered his elect through the earth and now
God gathers his elect out of the four corners of the earth.
I've driven them in my fury and in great wrath. I will bring
them again to this place and I will cause them to dwell safely
and they shall be my people and I will be their God. I love it.
I will give them one heart. One way and they they that they
may fear me forever For the good of them and for 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 But I will
put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me
now Bob. That's his covenant Our Lord
says, behold, I'm making all things new. And every time he
calls one of his elect and puts within them his spirit, he gives
them this covenant. I've given you the sure mercies
of David. I'll forgive you. I'll blot out your transgressions.
I'll be with you. I'll live in you. I'll give you
one heart and one way, and I'll cause you not to depart from
me, and I'll never depart from you for good. I make all things
new. That's his promise. I make all
things new. What does that mean? Well, certainly
it's talking about a new nature. That's included in the covenant.
Turn over to 1 John 3, 1 John chapter 3. In the new birth,
the Lord God does not fix up the old man. He does not repair
the old nature. He does not improve the old nature.
He does not cause the old nature to cease to exist. But the Lord
God implants in the hearts of His children an entirely new
nature. He gives that which we did not
possess before. He gives a new heart, a new will,
a new love, a new attitude. He gives an entirely new nature
for He implants within us the very nature of Jesus Christ His
Son by the power of His Spirit. Look in 1 John 3 verse 9. Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin. Now underscore, that's what
it says. That's what it says. Well, are
you saying, preacher, that we have sinless perfection here? Not on your life. You know better
than that. You know better than that. What does this mean? He does not commit sin. This
old man, old man Adam, The nature with which I was born does nothing
but sin. It cannot possibly refer to this
nature. You remember Paul, he said, it's
no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me. This isn't
me. This isn't me. There's a new me inside here.
There's a new me right in here. A new nature. A new nature that
does not sin. Now look at what he says. For
his seed remaineth in him. And he cannot sin because he's
born of God. In this the children of God are
manifest in the children of the devil. Whoso doeth not righteousness
is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. The Lord
God being in the new birth gives us the very nature of Christ. Why is it that a man hears the
gospel? You've heard it, you've heard
it, you've heard it, you've heard it, and you go on hearing it
year after year after year. You hear the claims of Christ
pressed upon you and you say to yourself, no, no, I will not
have him to rule over me. No, I will not submit to the
rule of Christ. No, I will not trust the merits
of another. No, I will not acknowledge my
sin and give up my righteousness. I will not do it. And then another
day, you hear the same word preached, the same gospel by the same man
and with the same kind of forcefulness and the same kind of liberty. But all of a sudden, now you
want Christ when you want life itself. Now you give anything
just to submit to the rule of Christ and to take His yoke upon
you. Now you want Him. You want His
righteousness. You want His dominion. You want
His will. Now you have a heart to love
Him. What on earth has happened? God put a new nature in you.
God gave you a new heart. God gave you a new will. That's
the power of His grace. I make all things new. Oh God,
do it tonight. Do it tonight. Be pleased tonight,
sovereign God of heaven. Be pleased tonight now by the
power of your Spirit to make all things new for somebody here.
To give a new heart, a new will, a new nature. Give them life
in Christ Jesus. That's what it means. It gives
us a new relationship too. Right here in 1 John 3 again,
look at verse 1. Behold, behold, look at this,
look at this. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed on us. The trash he finds in the dung
heap of fallen humanity. What manner of love the Father
hath bestowed on us. I'm talking about us. Us. Us who believe. Us who are redeemed. Us who are called by His grace.
Us who believe. Look what God's done. That we
should be called the sons of God. He's made us to be His sons. Our Lord said, I call you no
more servants, but friends. But more than friends, sons. Sons of God. An entirely new
relationship. I'll be your God. I will be your
God. You shall be my people. I love
God's shalls and wills. He says, I will and they shall. I will and they shall. I have
made them my sons and daughters. I will be a father unto you.
The Lord has made us to be his own family, his own sons, given
us this new relationship. But more than that, he's given
us a new family. You remember in Mark 3, Our Lord was ministering. Someone came in, some of his
brethren, and said, your mother's wanting you. Your mother's standing
outside. She's wanting to see you. And the Lord Jesus said,
who is my mother? Who is my brother? Who is my
father? Who is my sister? And he looked around, folks before
him, and he said, whosoever doth the will of God, the same as
my mother, my father, my brother, my sister. You see, we've got
a new family. We've got a new family. All together
new. Now, we don't neglect, nor do
we show any irresponsibility toward our earthly relationships. Somebody says blood's thicker
than water. The blood of Christ is thicker than the blood of
Adam, too. I want to tell you this. We have a new family. This is my family. This is my
family. The children of God, they are
my family. This is my present family. This is my most delightful family. This is my most intimate family.
This is my eternal family. This is my family. Whoever does
the will of God, that's my family. That's my family. Everybody else,
everybody else, any relationship I have with them is just temporary.
It's just temporary. It's passing away. It's passing
away. And we have a new way. Look in
Hebrews 10, Hebrews chapter 10. Remember when our Lord spoke
this and said, behold, I make all things new. The Old Testament
dispensation, the old law, the old ceremonies, the old ritualistic
worship had just come to an end by the death and resurrection
of Christ. It had only been 80, 90, 100 years since our Lord
had died and done away with that old ceremonial religion. And
there were still a lot of fellows around who tried to hang on to
it. They tried to hang on to the Sabbath days. And they tried
to hang on to the ceremonies. And they tried to hang on to
circumcision. And they tried to hang on to some kind of a
priesthood. And it's been going on ever since
then because we like to see. We like to see and touch and
feel. We like by nature to have a carnal means of worship. But
our Lord made a new way. Every believer is a priest. Every
believer has direct accessibility to God Almighty. Every believer
enters into the holy place and does business with God upon his
throne. Look at this. And our priesthood
is in Christ Jesus. Verse 19, Hebrews 10. Having
therefore, brethren, boldness, that is liberty, freedom, to
enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. To enter into
the holiest. We don't have to have some priest
with some clowns outfits say some mumbo jumbo over us and
let us get into God's presence. We have a priest and we are priest
ourselves. Jesus Christ is our great high
priest and in him we have liberty to enter into the very presence
of God. the holiest, the very holy of holiest by the blood
of Jesus Christ, by a new and living way, which he has consecrated
for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh. And having
a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near. Let
us draw near. Do you have a high priest? Do
you have a high priest over the house of God? When Aaron went
into the holy place once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the
children of Israel gathered around the tabernacle, they gathered
around the temple, and they watched and they worshiped. And they
gathered there in the name of God, according to the Word of
God, with the sacrifice that God had appointed, and the priest
that God had ordained, in the holy place at the mercy seat
which God had decreed. And they were confident that
God would be worshipped. God would be worshipped. God
would accept their worship if they came according to his word.
Now listen, we have a, let us draw near, having a high priest
over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in
full assurance of faith. In full assurance of faith. That's
how you come to God, Lenny. That's how it is. We come to
God. Now, how are you coming? How
are you coming? How do you approach the living God? What's your basis
of acceptance with God? I'll tell you this. If you come
with the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, you come with God's
high priest, You come with God's sacrifice. You come with God's
atonement. You come with God's righteousness.
You come with Him whom God has ordained as High Priest over
the house of God. You have right of entry. You have access to the Father
himself. by Jesus Christ. And you need
not fear being cast off. You need not fear being shut
out. Let us draw near with a true
heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us
hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering. Come
near then, if your heart has been cleaned, cleansed by the
blood of Christ, cleansed of guilt, cleansed of the curse
of the law, cleansed of the justice of God declaring condemned, and
now having the justice of God declaring in your conscience
no condemnation. It's all near to God. You got
no reason to fear Him? You got no reason to be afraid
of God? It's all near to Him. With freeness of speech, with
liberty, we have a right of entry into the holiest of all. And
there's a new record, altogether new. Come back to Isaiah 43. Let me show you three or four
scriptures here. Isaiah 43. The Lord makes a new covenant. He gives us a new nature, a new
relationship, a new family, a new way, and a new record. I mean, altogether new. Isaiah 43, 25. I, even I, am he that blotteth
out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember
thy sin." Blotted out. It's gone. That's exactly what
it means. It's gone. It's gone. And because it's gone, I will
not remember thy sins. God declares I won't do it. Look
in chapter 44 verse 22. I have blotted out as a thick
cloud thy transgressions. I keep sitting on my desk and
in my briefcase wherever I go, I have a bottle of this liquid
paper. I'm sure Judy's familiar with
it, Shelby, others of you who do any typing. Anytime you make
a mistake, of course, they've got machines to do it now, but
I don't write with a machine, I write with a pen. Whenever
I make a mistake, I blot it out. Blot it out. Now, my blot's not
very good, because if you could scratch off that liquid paper,
you'd still see my mistake. Because what I do is I really
just cover it. But that's exactly what God says there. He says,
I blot out. I blot out as a thick cloud thy
transgressions as a cloud thy sins Therefore return unto me
for I have redeemed thee look over in Jeremiah 50 Jeremiah
chapter 50 and verse 20 Now remember the Lord has blotted out your
sins if you're in Christ he's made all things new he's blotted
out your sins and in those days and at that time saith the Lord
the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for Jeremiah 50 20
the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall
be none and the sins of Judah and they shall not be found for
I will pardon them whom I reserve the Lord declares that there
is no Record of our sin. No record of our sin. None. Past, present, and future. No record. It's gone. It's gone. It's gone. Because
Christ Jesus has removed it. Justice is satisfied. The blood
of Christ has blotted out our sin. But wait a minute. We still need a record and we're
going to be judged according to the records. We read it over
in chapter 20. God's going to open the books
and he's going to search and see our record. What is it? Jeremiah
33 verse 16. Jeremiah 33 verse 16. In those
days shall Judah be saved and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this is the name wherewith
she, God's church, God's elect, God's bride, God's ransomed ones,
this is the name wherewith she shall be called the Lord our
righteousness. He's given us a new record, altogether
new. So the Lord declares, behold,
I am making all things new. May he do so for some of you
here. this very hour. But secondly, very quickly, we
have the assurance of grace given in the next line, here in Revelation
21, 5. And he said, he's speaking again,
the one sitting on the throne, he said unto me, write, for these
words are true and faithful. Now, John, write it down, write
it down. Write it down by inspiration.
Write it down and put it in the book of God. Write it down for
all generations to see. It's as though our Lord, having
made this marvelous declaration of grace, he anticipated our
hesitancy to believe it. Now, you're reluctant to believe
what I've just preached to you. I know you are. I'm reluctant
to believe it myself because it's contrary to flesh. It's
contrary to the nature of man. It's contrary to all human reason
that God should make everything new. That God should give us
this new covenant, this new relationship, this new family, this new nature,
this new record, that God should make everything new. That's contrary
to our flesh. That's contrary to human reason.
And we think, well, Surely somewhere along the way, somewhere along
the way, somehow in this world or in the world to come, somewhere
we're going to have to pay for our sins. Somewhere we're going
to have to suffer the wrath of God. Somewhere our chickens are
going to come home to roost. Sometime, sooner or later, something's
going to happen that we're going to have to make up. And our Lord
understood that because He's a man just like we are. And He
knows our tendency in the flesh toward unbelief. It's just impossible for a man,
but by the grace of God, to believe that God will never impute sin
to his people. And to believe that God makes
us the very righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Now we're
reluctant to believe that. Our Lord said, John, write it
down. These words are true and faithful. They're true and faithful. You can count on them. You can
count on them. Before God, all things are new,
perpetually new, immutably new, eternally new, and presently
new. All things are new if we're in
Christ Jesus, no matter what your experiences are, no matter what your failings
are, no matter what your sins are, no matter what your feelings
are, no matter what your lack of feelings are. You see, the
new creation does not depend upon you, but upon the truth
and faithfulness of God. If we believe not, He cannot
deny Himself. He abideth faithful. The foundation
of God standeth sure. The Lord knoweth them that are
His. This new creation is given to us with assurance. This assurance
of grace is given to us by the Word of Jesus Christ Himself.
Now look at the accomplishment of grace. And He said unto me,
It is done. It is done. Oh, glorious good
news. How my heart rejoices to hear
the Son of God say, it is done. It is, what's done? The whole
work of grace. The whole business of making
all things new. It was done before the world
began. Second Timothy 1.9. God hath
saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. The Apostle
Paul says that God has predestinated us, he's called us, he's justified
us, he's sanctified us, he's glorified us, all before the
world began in Christ Jesus in the covenant of grace. So that
when God agreed to it, it was done. When God purposed it, it
was done. When God decreed it, it was done.
More than that, it was done when Christ Jesus died. Our Lord,
when He hung upon the cross, cried, It's finished. And the
work was all done. It was all done. It was done
in the purpose of God before the world began. And it was done
according to the work of Jesus Christ He purchased it, he accomplished
it in the court of divine justice when he hung upon the tree and
cried, it's finished. The work was done. There's nothing
left to do. And it's done in the conscience of every believer
as soon as he believes the gospel. As soon as you believe, all things
are new. We have peace with God. We have
peace with being justified. By faith we have peace with God.
Being redeemed, by faith we have peace with God. Being ourselves
accepted and to be loved, by faith we have peace with God.
It's done. I got to thinking about that
last night. I wrote out a hymn. We'll sing it in a few weeks.
It's done, oh hear the glorious news. It's done, it's done, it's
done. Salvation in its fullness is
a work completely done. The work of grace was all complete
before the worlds were made. The Lamb was slain and God's
elect by covenant grace were saved. God the Son once came
to earth, his Father's will to do. And 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. It's done. That's what he says.
It's done. The work's already done. But
then look at the accomplisher of grace. Not only does he declare
that he makes all things new, he's the only one that does it.
I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. It's
done and I did it. I did it all by myself. You see, salvation is of the
Lord from start to finish. One of these days I'll preach
on that text over in Exodus 15. Moses is leading the children
of Israel out of Egypt. And they come up to the Red Sea.
And there's that swelling, horribly fearful Red Sea in front of them.
The mountains around them. And the armies of Pharaoh pursuing
them. And the children of Israel are standing there in utter consternation. And they cry to Moses, you brought
us out here to kill us! And Moses said, stand still.
and see the salvation of the Lord. Oh, stand still and see. Don't do a thing! Just stand
still and see. Don't do anything! Stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord. Behold it with the eye
of faith. It's His work. He is in this
plan. He is in its purchase. He is
in its performance. He is in its preservation. And
He is in its perfection. But now notice the abundance
of grace in verse 6. I will give to him that is a
thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. Are you thirsty? Thirsty. It's hot up here. I'm thirsty. You know what I
want when I'm thirsty? I want some water. cool, fresh
water. Wish I could get it from one
of those mountain springs back in North Carolina. That's the
freshest water, spring water, bubbling up out of the ground. That helps. That helps. Are you thirsty for righteousness? Thirsty for peace with God? Thirsty
for reconciliation? Thirsty for a easy conscience? Thirsty for a purified conscience? Thirsty for acceptance with God? Thirsty for Christ? Come to Christ. You come, I'll guarantee you'll
drink. Come and take of the water of life. Drink of this water
and you'll never thirst again. Not only will he give you the
water of life to drink, but he promises he that overcometh,
overcomes the temptations of Satan, the allurements of the
world, and the religion of the world, overcomes his own flesh,
overcomes his enemies of this flesh, or the enemies of his
spirit, the enemies of his soul, the world, the flesh, and the
devil, he shall inherit all things. For sin abounded, grace did much
more abound. Inherit all things. I was talking the other day,
I don't know why on earth people have got, they got to get, interject
their opinions about religion, you know. We were down at the
square today, Shelby bought something and she happened to say to the
lady, said, you do good work. She said, oh, it's not me. God
and I did this together. If she hadn't paid for it, I'd
have left it. God and I did it together. Sounds
so pious. Talking to some fella out here
the other day. He's talking about his uselessness of things in
this world. Said, we want to lay up treasures
in heaven. We're working for treasures in heaven. Well, rather
than fight, I just walked off, walked off, bit my tongue. I'm getting better at it. I just
bit my tongue and just go on. What are we going to inherit?
What are we going to inherit? We're going to inherit a few
things according to what our hands have done. We're going
to inherit a few things according to our merits. Look at what it
says here. He that overcometh shall inherit. Now what does that say? It says
all things. All things. As all things were
made for God and by God and shall bring glory to God, all things
in eternity shall contribute to the happiness and the glory
and the bliss of God's elect. We shall inherit all things and
I will be his God and he shall be my son. That's the abundance
of grace. God makes us to be his own sons
and daughters. One more thing here. We have the admonition of grace. You must be made new or you must
forever die. Our Lord says, but the fearful
and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and the 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. When I read that before the service
this evening, another passage came to my mind,
turned there and I'll quit. 1 Corinthians 6. 1 Corinthians 6. What does the Lord say? He says,
the fearful and unbelieving, abominable, murderers, whoremongers,
sorcerers, idolaters, liars. Now look here in 1 Corinthians
6, verse 9. Know you not 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 just what he said
over in Revelation 21. And such were some of you. But
I make all things new. I make all things new, not anymore,
not anymore, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye
are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit
of our God. God have mercy upon you who yet
believe not, give you faith and make all things new for your eternal salvation. for
your eternal bliss and glory, and for the glory of his great
name. Amen.