>> Well, thank you very much for that
introduction and thank you for the invitation
to come and
be here today. I want to begin by reading a
part of the passage that our brother preached
from this morning, Ezekiel chapter 37, but the
latter part of that passage, if you want
to turn there with me, we'll sort of introduce
our subject in that way. Also, I want to refer
to the 1689 Confession, the chapter on sanct
ification, and then I'll tell you where we're
going.
We're going, God willing, to Revelation
chapter 21, and we're going to talk about the
end
of all these things, the Lord's purpose in all
of these things. We were talking about
Arminianism a little while ago. Some of you
probably met and remember the South African
evangelist, John Wilton. Any of you all ever
meet him? Maybe nobody did. John was president
of the Baptist union of South Africa years ago
, and he was greatly influenced by Errol
Holtz. Some of you know about Errol. Errol was
one of those guys like J.I. Packard was
a lot of them that sat under the ministry of
Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones in London. I remember
Errol telling me that John, he said, "That's
my first guy in South Africa." That's where
Errol was from originally. But anyway, I got
to be good friends with John, had him several
times at our church, and we had a very good
relationship after he moved to the United
States. So one day I said, "John, it must be
really something for you," because he just
moved about preaching in all kinds of churches
. I said, "It must be really something for you
to preach in all these Arminian churches." He
said something really interesting to me.
He said, "Joe," you talk like with the accent.
He said, "Joe!" He said, "You don't understand
."
He said, "It's not the Arminianism." He said,
"If they were consistent Arminians, they
actually
would be better off than what they are." He
said, "These guys I meet don't have any
theology
at all." And that's the problem you see is
that so many people are reared in churches
where they really don't get any kind of
systematic presentation of sound doctrine. I
did when
I was a child. I was grateful to the Lord for
that. I grew up high church Baptist. Any
of you ever heard of landmarkism? That's what
I grew up in. But at least I was taught
doctrine. And I'm very grateful for that. And
it was very helpful to even though I had
to reject some of that as the years went on, I
'm very appreciative for what the Lord. The
Lord just, He has a plan that He's working out
. Look at Ezekiel chapter 37, verse 15,
and following the Word of the Lord came to me,
"Son of man, take a stick and write on
it for Judah and the people of Israel
associated with Him, then take another stick
and write
on it for Joseph the stick of Ephraim and all
the house of Israel associated with Him,
and join them one to another into one stick
that they may become one in your hand." Now
I'm going to skip over, but you know this
passage. Then look at verse 22, "And I will
make them one nation in the land on the
mountains of Israel, and one king shall be
king over
them all, and they shall be no longer two
nations and no longer divided into two
kingdoms;
they shall not defile themselves any more with
their idols, and their detestable things
are with any of their transgressions; but I
will save them from all the backslidings
in which they have sinned, and will cleanse
them; and they shall be my people, and I will
be their God, my servant David shall be king
over them." Now obviously we are not talking
about a passage of Scripture that is to be
interpreted in a literal way in every aspect,
are we? Because we know that the Davidic king
is who, our Lord Jesus Christ. "So my servant
David shall be king over them, and they shall
all have one shepherd; they shall walk in my
rules and be careful to obey my statutes; they
shall dwell in the land that I gave to my
servant Jacob, where your fathers lived; they
and their children and their children's
children
shall dwell there forever. And David my
servant shall be their prince forever; I will
make
a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an
everlasting covenant with them, and I will
set them in their land and multiply them, and
will set my sanctuary in their midst forever
more. My dwelling place shall be with them,
and I will be their God, and they shall be
my people. Then the nations will know that I
am the Lord, or I am Jehovah, who sanctifies
Israel when my sanctuary is in their midst
forever more." So here is a prophecy of a
great future day, a blessing. The heart of it
is that God's people will be what they
are supposed to be, and that the Lord will
dwell among them. So that's the expectation.
Now go ahead and turn with me to Revelation,
to Revelation chapter 21. We're going to
take a look at a fairly long passage of
Scripture. I'll try not to belabor it too much
, but I
want to make a number of points about what we
find there. But before we do that, let
me just read this. "They who are united to
Christ, effectually called and regenerated,
having a new heart and a new spirit created in
them through the virtue of Christ's death
and resurrection, are also farther sanctified
." Really? And personally, through the same
virtue
by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them, the
dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed
,
and the several lusts thereof are more and
more weakened and mortified, and they more
and more quickened and strengthened in all
saving graces to the practice of all true
holiness, without which no man shall see the
Lord. That's paragraph one of chapter 13
in the 1689 Confession of Sanctification. Par
agraph two says, "This sanctification
is throughout the whole man, yet imperfect in
this life. There abided still some remnants
of corruption in every part, whence arises a
continual and irreconcilable war, the flesh
lusting against the spirit and the spirit
against the flesh." I might be the oldest
person here. I don't know, I'm not sure, but I
'm sure not getting any younger, I can tell
you that. But I know this, that this continues
to be a battle, a battle within me. That's
my experiential testimony about this truth of
the confession of faith here. And then
the third paragraph, "In which war, although
the remaining corruption for a time may much
prevail, yet through the continual supply of
strength, from the sanctifying spirit of
Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome. And
so the saints grow in grace, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God, pressing after an
evangelical life, an evangelical obedience
to all the commands which Christ has said and
King and His Word have prescribed them.
And let's make sure we understand what we mean
by evangelical obedience and evangelical
obedience, perfecting holiness in the fear of
God. Evangelical, what is it? Eugelion
is the word evangelical, what is it? We're
talking about the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ, aren't we? So we honor the law of God,
we recognize that it is a standard of
righteousness and that the Lord Jesus Christ
did not set it aside, but we also make sure
that we understand that everything is
perfectly brought together and revealed when
He died
that atoning death on the cross of Calvary for
His people. And the self-sacrificing love
of the Lord Jesus Christ becomes our example
for the life that we are called to. That's
why it is evangelical obedience we are seeking
to honor and imitate, emulate the Lord Jesus
Christ in that. So in the passage of Scripture
that I read and in the article of sanct
ification
from the 1689 confession, we have statements
about an expectation of holiness of life that
we are called to. So you know the truth that
we're dealing with what? The sovereignty of
God on one hand and human responsibility on
the other hand, we don't want to forget that,
that we are called to be responsible in our
response to our Savior and that the two things
don't cancel each other out, but obviously it
is God's work and the hope of God finishing
that work in a marvelous way that is our, that
is our trust, that is our expectation.
Everything depends on Him and on His grace and
on His strength. And so I think we could
all say amen to that. But we're talking about
two things. We're talking about individual
sanctification. That's something that you and
I have to be concerned about as individuals
as far as human responsibility is concerned.
But we're also talking about what might be
called corporate sanctification or the sanct
ification of a people, the people of God. What
God is
doing in bringing that people into being by
the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ, you see, and by the work of the Holy
Spirit. So you're, you're, I don't think I'm
going to preach anything new this afternoon to
you. Nothing that you don't know already
actually, but I want to preach in a celebr
atory way this afternoon. Turn with me to
Revelation
chapter 21. We're going to begin with verse
one and following. I want to talk about where
all this is going and how it's going to work
out in the end. This morning I got ready,
I was getting ready to come here. And I said,
you know, I've got that, I got that new white
shirt there and it has French cuffs. And I
remember this old friend of mine, Harry White,
Harry went to be with the Lord years and years
ago, maybe 50 years ago. And Harry was married
to Peggy and Peggy's daughter was married to a
very wealthy industrialist and they had
to, they had a fancy apartment in New York
City near the United Nations building. And
I happened to be living there one time. And so
they, they came through on their way to
the estate in Spain. Yes, I'm telling you,
this was, you know, I don't know many people
like that, but I've known a few. But anyway,
so, so I went over and visited with them and,
and they were happy to see me. And they said,
we're going to Spain and stay a while. And
they went back, came back eventually. The next
time I saw them was in my hometown of
Laurel, Mississippi. And Harry had brought me
a pair of Spanish made cuff links, you
know, I have never worn those cuff links. And
this morning I thought, you know, I'm
going to find those cuff links and I'm going
to put them on and wear those cuff links today
.
So I got my shirt out. And first of all, I put
the cuff links in. And then I realized
I'd put them in backwards because when I stuck
my, my, my hands through the wrong part of
the cuff link was showing not the pretty part,
but you know, the other part that won't do.
So I took, took it off and I kind of pull my
hand through, forcing it through. And then
I put it, put them in the right way. I thought
, and then I forced my hand back through again.
And the first, the first hand that went in,
you know, I heard something go, and part of
the cuff link went off that way. And part of
it went off this way, you know, and I said,
oh, yeah, that's pretty typical. So, so I
reached into the closet and got my slightly
soil shirt and I put my slightly soil shirt on
, no French cuffs, you know, and I'm here
with you today. Now I don't understand why
things don't go better than that a lot of
times, you know, but Robbie Burns, what is it
about the plans of men, all the plans of
men, gang after clay, they, they all, they all
go crazy, you know, things just don't
work out right somehow. But it's not like that
with our God. It's not like that. Well,
now why, why he brings us through these
experiences, especially silly ones like that
little things
that happen to us like that. But I do believe
that he's working all of that together for
good that has a purpose in it, even though we
may not be able to see it. I do believe
that. But what I want you to celebrate with me
this afternoon is the truth about our eternal
life, the end result of what man's goal is,
the end result of sanctification, the new
order that we have in our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. We're told that there is a new
creation
in Christ. Why is it that the, why is it that
the first Christians got together on the Lord
's
day on the first day of the week, one day in
seven, but why is it they got together on
that day instead of the old resurrection, the
old non resurrection day, the old day that
celebrated creation, which was the previous
day. Well, I think that it ought to be pretty
obvious. It's not obvious to a lot of people,
but I think it ought to be obvious that that
was celebrating creation, which was the right
thing to do. But there's what a new creation
in our Lord Jesus Christ now. And so the day
of resurrection is the day that we celebrate
that, the old and the new creation in our Lord
Jesus Christ. So I want you to look with
me at Revelation chapter 21 verse one and
follow. We're going to make several points.
First of all, the new order in Christ Jesus
will mean that the present creation will pass
away. All things will be made new and the
great gulf between God's dwelling place and
ours
will be removed. Then I saw a new heaven and a
new earth for the first heaven and the first
earth had passed away and the sea was no more.
Now what's sea? The Mediterranean. I don't
think so. The Atlantic. I don't think so. What
we're talking about is the gulf between
the dwelling place of the Lord and our
dwelling place. So the new heaven and the new
earth,
you know, there's a heretical group. They make
a lot of saying it's all one, you know,
but there is a, there's a truth there that in
that day, heaven and earth, heaven, the
dwelling place of God and earth, the dwelling
place of man will be brought together and
there will be no more division between the two
. There will be a new heaven and a new
earth for the first heaven and the first earth
had passed away and the sea was no more.
Secondly,
the new order in Christ will mean that the
purity of God's work of redemption in his
church will be revealed far all to sea. Look
at verse two. And I saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
So the picture is the church as a bride, as a
pure and spotless bride, as a bride worthy
of the Lord Jesus Christ, but notice the
mixing of the metaphors. What does he see? I
saw the
holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of
heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned
for her husband. So he sees a city, but he
also sees the city prepared as a bride and
we'll say more about that in just a moment.
But the holy city is the church, obviously,
and the bride is the church, obviously. Then
notice that this new order in Christ will mean
a new closeness to the Lord to God. And I
heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.
He will dwell with them and they will be his
people
and God himself will be with them as their God
. Now that's not a new idea by any means. When
the tabernacle was constructed in the
wilderness, you had what three tribes here and
three tribes
here and three tribes here and three tribes
here all looking in to the tabernacle. And the
tabernacle
had, of course, the holy of holies and the
presence of God was understood to be there.
And the point
was that it was God's intention to dwell among
his people in this future day. There will be a
new
and perfect proximity to the Lord, a new clos
eness to the Lord. Again, Ezekiel chapter 37
that we
read a few moments ago reference this. Let's
just turn back there a moment. I want to read
it one
more time. I think it's verse, verse 26, 27.
Yes, I will make a covenant of peace with them
. It shall
be an everlasting covenant with them and I
will set them in their land and multiply them
and will
set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.
This is an eternal reality forevermore. My
dwelling
place shall be with them and I will be their
God and they shall be my people. So this is
the end
result of all of this expected by Ezekiel so
long ago. Notice also in verse four that this
new order
in Christ will mean perfection of life with
God. He will wipe away every tear from their
eyes and
death shall be no more and neither shall there
be mourning or crying or pain anymore for the
former
things have passed away. The Lord has been so
good to me in my life. I marvel at the things
that He
has done for me, the places that He allowed me
to visit, the places that He allowed me to
live.
I've lived in Southeast Asia for a year. I've
taught pastors in places like Nizhny Novgorod
and
Russia. When I was a young man, I was a
musician. I've stood on the stage of the Pal
achio de Bellas
Artes in Mexico City singing with the Mexican
National Orchestra. I've had all kinds of
experiences
that were really interesting experiences. The
Lord gave me a wife who was just remarkable in
that
all the years of our marriage people look at
me. I think they think I'm not telling the
truth when
I say this but we never had a fight. Didn't
mean we agreed on everything but we never had
a fight
in all those years of marriage. It was
glorious. I have two beautiful daughters. I
love their
husbands. I love my sons-in-law. They're
marvelous Christian guys and my grandchildren
and I could
just go on and on talking about them, you know
, how we get when we get to be a certain age.
We
begin to think in that way and talk in that
way but there's some things I don't understand
. After
33 years of marriage my wife Janice got pan
creatic cancer and the last four months of her
life I fed
her, you know, with the intravenous thing, you
know, I learned how to do that, you know, and
you
say Lord why ever you've been so good to me
but there are some things that we will only
understand
the rationale, the Lord's reasoning one day
and that day is going to come. It will come.
He will
wipe away every tear from their eyes and death
shall be no more. Several years ago, you know,
it was just all that I'm okay, you're okay
stuff, the pop psychology and all of that and
one of
the things was to embrace death is just this
really wonderful end of life, you know. Listen
,
I don't you believe it. The last enemy that
shall be destroyed is what? Death. The last
enemy that
shall be destroyed is death. I hate it. I don
't like it at all but I tell you this, the Lord
God
is going to deal with it one day and death
shall be no more. Neither shall there be
mourning or
crying or pain anymore for former things have
passed away. Then notice that this new order
in
Christ will come about by the good pleasure of
the King himself, verse 5, and he who was
noticed
seated on the throne. We're talking about the
fulfillment of that expectation of the Davidic
King and he who was seated on the throne, the
one who is ruling and reigning in
righteousness. He's
the one who speaks and he says, "Behold, I am
making all things new." Now he did that by the
shedding
of his blood on Calvary and it was confirmed
by his resurrection from the dead. But one day
we're going to see the working out of that as
well. "Behold, I am making all things new."
Also he
said, "Write this down for these words are
trustworthy and true." Then look at verse 6,
"This new order in Christ is the fruit for us.
It's the fruit of the gospel of God's grace."
And
he said to me, "It is done. I'm the Alpha and
the Omega, the beginning and the end, to the
thirsty I
will give from the spring of the water of life
. I will give. I will give. It is a giving. It
is
grace to the thirsty I will give from the
spring of the water of life." How? Without
payment. Without
payment. It's a wonderful old song that
repeats that strain over and over again.
Without payment.
Without payment. Come to Jesus Christ and buy.
You know, you don't need money. Without money.
Come
to Jesus Christ and buy. Then look at verse 7,
"This new order in Christ will belong to those
who overcome by God wrought faith." Verse 7, "
The one who conquers will have this heritage
and I will
be his God and he will be my son. But as for
the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable,
as for
murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers,
idolaters and all liars, their portion will be
in the lake
that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the
second death." So this new order in Christ is
the fruit
of the gospel, of the grace of our Lord, and
we conquer because we have that heritage. But
there
are those, there are those that will not
experience that at all. The new order belongs
only to those
who overcome by God wrought faith. This is
love for God to obey His commands and His
commands are
not burdensome. "For everyone born of God over
comes the world." This is the victory that has
overcome
the world, even our faith. But where did that
come from? It's the gift of God. This, who is
this
that overcomes the world? Only he who believes
that Jesus is the Son of God. Then look at
verse 9
with me, "This new order in Christ will reveal
the future splendor and blessing of God's
people."
And this is the heart of what I wanted to say
to you this afternoon. "First of all, there
will be an
intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus
Christ." Verse 9, "Then came one of the seven
angels who
had the seven bowls full of the seven last pl
agues and spoke to me saying, 'Come, I will
show you the
bride, the wife of the lamb.'" So the church
is described as the bride of Christ. Can there
be
a more intimate relationship in human terms
than that? I think not. And that's the point
that the Lord is making. Israel of old was
supposed to be Jehovah's bride. She fell so
many times.
We are the bride of Christ, and God is working
out things in us, even though it seems like at
times that we'll never get to that point,
either individually or corporately, even
though it seems
that we'll never get to that point. We are
promised in the Word of God that we can see
the bride in
all of her purity, in all of her spotlessness,
in what the Lord purposes for her to become.
"I will show you the bride." So he's going to
see, he's going to see a symbolic
representation
of the bride of Christ, the wife of the lamb.
And what he sees is a city. Look at verse 10.
First of all, we'll share the glory of God.
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a
great high
mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven from God. Having the
glory of God, it's radiance like a most rare
jewel, like a Jasper clear as crystal. Coming
down out
of heaven, this is an act of God's grace,
having the glory of God, and it's radiance
like a most
rare jewel. And the first one that's mentioned
is the Jasper clear as crystal.
What this is about is our sharing the glory of
the Lord and becoming the glory of the Lord.
John chapter one, John tells us that the word
was made flesh and dwelt among us.
And what did we see? We beheld his what? Glory
, glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of what? Grace and truth. Here is the
glory of God revealed. And that takes us back
to the cross
again. But he says, I want you to see the
bride, the wife of the lamb. And what he sees
is the holy city Jerusalem. You see how the
metaphors are mixed, coming down out of heaven
from God, having the glory of God. The
foundation of this church will be clearly seen
in that day
in retrospect as the word of God to his
prophets and apostles down through the ages.
Look at verse
12. It had a great high wall with 12 gates and
at the gates, 12 angels. And on the gates, the
names
of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel were
inscribed on the east, three gates on the
north,
three gates on the south, three gates and on
the west, three gates. And the wall of the
city had
12 foundations and on them were the 12 names
of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. Let's say they
had
12 foundations. When I was being reared in
Baptist high churches, and I mentioned it a
little while
ago when I was being reared in that, one of
the very important things was, you know, you
understand
the Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation of the
church. It's not Peter, it's the Lord Jesus
Christ.
And let's make sure we don't ever say that it
's Peter or give anybody the idea that it might
be.
And I mentioned I was teaching pastors in
Russia one time in a place called Nizhny Nov
gorod. And
there was a medical doctor, was one of the
pastors that was there. And I said that the
church,
I said that there is a sense in which the
church is founded on Peter. I'm going to get
their attention.
I was preaching through a translator. But you
know, I wanted to get their attention. I said,
there's a sense in which the church was
founded on Peter. And I got a rise out of this
guy. I mean,
he came up, he said, "Nyet," he said, "Nyet in
Russia." And you know, that won't do at all. I
said,
be patient with me, my brother. Ephesians
chapter two, talking about Jew and Gentile. So
then you're
no longer strangers and aliens, but you're
fellow citizens who are the saints and members
of the
household of God built on the foundation of
what? The apostles. I said, not Peter alone.
It's all of
them. You see, it's all of them built on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets.
Christ,
Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom
the whole structure being joined together
grows into
a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also
are being built together into a dwelling place
for God
by the Spirit. So the foundation of the church
will be seen clearly as, as what it actually
is,
whatever, whatever true church there is, that
comes from what? The Word of God, the
preaching
of the Word of God and the believing of the
Word of God. Notice also that we will be an
enormous
sanctuary of God, the true holy of holies,
verse 15 and following. And the one who spoke
with me
had a measuring rod of gold to measure the
city and its gates and walls. The city lies
four square.
Now that's not Amy Simple McPherson. Anybody
here know who Amy Simple McPherson was?
No, no. The city lies four square. It's length
the same as its width and he measured the city
with
his rod, 12,000. It's length and width and
height or equal. What's that? Go back to the
Tabernacle
in the wilderness. There was a little room
there and it was a perfect cube, wasn't it?
When they
built the temple, there was a room there and
it was a perfect cube. Now we see the bride of
Christ,
the bride of Christ, the holy city is what? It
's that sanctum sanctorum, the whole thing is
the
holy of holies. We become the holy of holies
indwelt by whom the Lord God, you see, for all
eternity,
for all eternity, the city lies four square.
Then look at verse 17. We will be beyond the
reach of any enemy with God as our fortress. I
have a lady in church. She's one of my church
's
members, has been for years, very artistic. It
's the paint, all you know. And when I preach
on this
passage, she just, she doesn't like it. She
says, no, no, no, she wants to take it
literally. You
know, this is a description, a literal
description of heaven. She wants, because she
wants all these
things like the various jewels, you know, and
all of that. But we need to get beyond that
and understand
what's being, what's being taught us here. He
measured the wall 144 cubits by human
measurement,
which is also an angels measurement. All that
saying is 144 cubits, that's, that's a lot.
And,
but the 12,000 staja and the 144 cubits, 12,
000, 12 times 100 times a thousand, you know,
the multiples
of 12, the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12
apostles of the Lamb, we're talking about the
body of Christ,
we're talking about the church. And then the
144 cubits, again, 12 times 12, but it's
simply saying
that the wall, it was the wall in the ancient
cities that protected that city. It's not like
that
today. We've got airplanes that fly over, you
know, but back in those days, that wall was
very, very
important. And what we're being told is that
the Lord is our security. And this very thick
representation of the wall is saying that,
that nothing, nothing can harm us. Nothing can
get to
us at all. We're beyond the reach of any enemy
with God as our fortress. And we see how God
regards his church as precious to him. It is
so very clearly seen here. Look at the way it
's
described in verse 18 and following. The wall
was built of Jasper. While the city was pure
gold,
like clear glass, the foundations of the wall
of the city were adorned with every kind of
jewel.
The first was Jasper, the second Sapphire, the
third Agate, the fourth Emerald, the fifth Ony
x,
the sixth Carnelian, the seventh Chrysalite.
The eighth Barrel, the ninth Topaz, the tenth
Chrysaphore, the eleventh Jascent, the twelfth
Amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve
pearls.
Each of the gates made of a single pearl in
the street of the city was pure gold, like
transparent
glass. We're talking about emblems of precious
jewels and, and purity as the gold is
described as
being like transparent glass. We're talking
about perfection here, perfection. So what do
we say?
We're saying that, that the Lord found me
filthy, undone. The Lord found me and I needed
a cleansing.
The Lord removed my sins from me as far as the
east is from the west and he's,
that's a sanctifying process that's going on,
but one day, one day it's going to be
glorious because we're going to see what the
Lord has done. He will bring us
to moral spiritual perfection in that day. And
also I think there's a great picture here
of how precious we are to the Lord because
these precious jewels are used to do that as
well.
And then this new order in Christ will have
God alone as its object of worship with
nothing to
distract from his glory, not even a holy place
of worship. Verse 22, "And I saw no temple in
the city,
for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty
and the Lamb." No temple in the city. Now I've
already
said that not only are we a temple of the Lord
, Peter talks about that, doesn't he? In 1
Peter,
we are God's temple that he's constructing,
that he's building, not of sticks and stones.
But even more than that, there is a sense, the
metaphor is fluid, there is a sense in which
we are not just the temple, we are the very
essence of the temple, the holy of holies,
in the temple, you see. We've already seen
that. But then he says, I don't see any temple
there.
Well, of course not, because the Lord Himself
is there. We are the holy of holies, the Lord
is
there, you see. Its temple is the Lord God the
Almighty and the Lamb. So then look at verse
23 and following, "This new order in Christ
will mean that people of every tribe and
nation
will walk according to the truth of Christ and
will bring tribute only to their eternal king
."
I used to say, I used to say this new order in
Christ will mean that every race and tribe
and nation will walk according to the truth of
Christ. I got to thinking about it one day
and I said, you know, now maybe you can think
of a passage, but I cannot really think of a
passage
in holy Scripture that says anything about
different races. The human race,
that's what we all are, you see. But there are
different nationalities, ethnicities,
there are tribes and so on and so forth. But
it seems to me that Scripture really
emphasizes our
unity as the race that our God is creating,
particularly in salvation, that we are a new
nation, a nation of His own calling and His
own purpose. So, but at any rate, this new
order in
Christ will mean that people of every tribe
and nation will walk according to the truth of
Christ
and will bring tribute only to the Lord. Again
, in verse 23, "And the city has no need of sun
or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God
gives its light, it light, and the lamp is the
lamp.
By its light will the nations walk, and the
kings of the earth will bring their glory
into it. By its light will the nations walk,
and the kings of the earth will bring their
glory
into it, and its gates will never be shut by
day." Well, that's different from the popular
understanding that there's only one and Saint
Peter is on it and he's got a lot of, you know
,
that won't wash, will it? That won't wash at
all, no. It says, "its gates will never be
shut by day,
and there will be no night there. They will
bring into it the glory and honor of the
nations,
and the kings of the earth will bring their
glory into it." What does that mean? What does
that mean?
Does it mean that King Charles over there in
England is going to show up and he's going to
look at all I brought? I don't think so. I don
't think so. So who are these kings? Who are
these kings?
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we rule and we
reign with Him, don't we? You see, we rule and
we
reign with Him. And then verse 27, "This new
order in Christ will exclude all those whose
names are
not written in the Lamb's book of life, but
nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone
who does
what is detestable or false, but only those
who are written in the Lamb's book of life."
And then let's go just a bit into chapter 22
as well. "This new order in Christ
will mean the restoration of paradise and the
removal of the curse. Then the angel showed
me the river of the water of life bright as
crystal, flowing from the throne of God and
of the Lamb through the middle of the street
of the city. Also on either side of the river,
the tree of life with its twelve kinds of
fruit yielding its fruit each month.
The leaves of the tree were for the healing of
the nations. No longer will there be
anything accursed, but the throne of God and
of the Lamb will be in it and His servants
will
worship Him." Remember the old catechetical
answer, the Westminster short of catechism,
the what is the chief end of man, the what is
the chief end of man, I think it is,
"to glorify God and to what enjoy Him forever
worship Him." And then verses four and five,
this new order in Christ will mean that we
will look upon the Lord in all of His glory
without fear forever and forever. They will
see His face. I remember when I was a boy,
there was an elderly man in our church and he
loved to sing an old hymn. I'm not even sure
it's in the hymnals now, but it was called "
face to face with Christ my Savior." Face to
face and
he wanted to sing that, you know. He was
longing for the time when he would actually be
in the very
presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the
Lord Jesus Christ who has revealed God to us.
It's the Lord Jesus Christ who is our perfect
revelation of the Father. It is the Lord Jesus
Christ who has brought salvation by His at
oning death on the tree and one day we will see
Him
face to face without fear of being wiped away
by the righteous judgment of God. They will
see His
face and His name will be on their foreheads,
a sign of position again, and night will be no
more.
They will need no light of lamp or sun, for
the Lord God will be their light and they will
reign
forever and ever. So all these things we have,
we expect to have in our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ.
Remember the words of Peter? Do not overlook
this one fact, beloved,
that with the Lord one day is as a thousand
years and a thousand years is one day. The
Lord
is not slow to fulfill His promises, some
count slowness, but is patient toward you,
not wishing that any should perish, but that
all should reach repentance, but the day of
the Lord
will come like a thief and then the heavens
will pass away with a roar and the heavenly
bodies will be burned up and dissolved and the
earth and the works that are done on it will
be exposed. So what's our responsibility now?
Since all these things are thus to be
dissolved,
what sort of people ought you to be in lives
of holiness and godliness?
Waiting for, and I don't, I believe it's the
word of God, I don't know exactly what
the Holy Spirit meant through Peter here,
waiting for and hastening the coming of the
day of God.
Waiting for and hastening the coming has
something to do with our leading lives that
are a testimony
to Christ, coming the day of God because of
which the heavens will be set on fire and
dissolved
and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn
, but according to His promise we are waiting
for new heavens and a new earth in which
righteousness dwells us down. Let's pray,
Father,
thank You so much, Lord, for these great
truths from Your Word. Lord God,
we still have so much of sin, Lord, clinging
to us.
But we can see that promise so far. No more
temptation, no more death, no more sorrow,
but no more struggle, no more temptation to
see You face to face.
Lord God, may we live our lives day to day in
a way that's consistent with that great hope,
for we pray it in Christ Jesus' name. Amen.
Lord God, may we live our lives day to day in
a way that's consistent with that great hope,
for we pray it in Christ Jesus' name. Amen.
[BLANK_AUDIO]