Let's open up to Revelation 21. We're not gonna
make it far tonight, but that's okay. That's
what happens when the entire congregation is
in the hospital. It is a prayer meeting, that's
right, yeah. And I'm gonna try to teach and preach
sitting down. Revelation 21. I might end up standing
up, we'll see. It's really gonna mess with the
cameraman back there, huh? If I sit down, stand
up, sit down, stand up. All right, we're coming
to Revelation 21 and it's interesting when we
get to this passage because we're gonna start
in verse 5, but it's interesting because there
are only two times in the book of Revelation
in which God speaks directly. We've heard a lot
of what the angels have said and what John has
received from a vision from the Lord and from
the angels, but there are only two times when
God, at least God the Father, speaks directly
and the first time is in Revelation 1 8. And
he says, I am the Alpha and the Omega says the
Lord God who is and who was and who is to come
the Almighty and then it's interesting because
when you come to Revelation 21 six He says it
is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega the beginning
and the end to the thirsty I will give from the
spring of the water of life without payment and
so twice God speaks directly to us and twice
he says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning
and the end. And it confronts us with the reality
that every single person has to deal with God.
There is no getting around God, there is no avoiding
God. Everyone must do something with Him. C .S.
Lewis famously said in his book, Mere Christianity,
he says this, I'm trying here to prevent anyone
saying the really foolish thing that people often
say about Jesus. I'm ready to accept Jesus as
a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his
claim to be God. That is one thing we must not
say. A man who was merely a man and said the
sort of things Jesus said would not be a great
moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on
the level with the man who says he's a poached
egg, or else he would be the devil of hell. You
must make your choice either this man was and
is the son of God or else a madman or something
worse You can shut him up for a fool You can
spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can
fall at his feet and call him Lord and God And
let us not come with any patronizing nonsense
about his being a great human teacher He has
not left that open to us. He did not intend to
You see, essentially, Lewis is saying that all
of humanity has to make a choice and a decision
about what to do with Jesus. Jesus is either
a liar who cannot be trusted, he is either a
lunatic who should not be followed, or else Jesus
actually is Lord. And if he is Lord, then we
must submit to him and obey him. And that's the
great claim of the Bible, and that's the great
claim of the book of Revelation as well. All
of humanity has to deal with God. He claims he
is the Alpha and the Omega, he claims he is the
beginning and the end, and so we must come face
to face with him and decide who he actually is.
And if God is who he says he is, then we need
to do something about it. And what does God say
about himself? Well, if you look at verse 5,
the first part of verse 5, it says, And he who
was seated on the throne said, Behold, I am making
all things new. So notice that the first thing
he says that he is doing that is true of himself
is that he is making all things new. And I want
you to notice something very important about
this verse. I want you to notice that it does
not say, I will make all things new. That is
sometimes how many Christians misread this verse
and misunderstand this verse. They read this
verse and they see God saying, I'm making all
things new. And immediately they think this is
something that's going to happen in the future.
This is some far off promise for the future that
one day God is finally going to make all things
new. But notice here that this is in the present
tense. He says, I am making all things new. So
God is currently right now making all things
And you might ask, well, how is he doing that?
And he starts by doing this with his people.
We see this in 2 Corinthians 5, 17. Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation.
The old is passed away, and behold, the new has
come. And so God starts by making his people
new. We were old. and ragged and God took the
old and he made something entirely new out of
it in such a way that the old has now passed
away and the new has come and then the Holy Spirit
works through these new creations to transform
the world. And this is needed because one of
the greatest tragedies of humanity is that ever
since the fall humanity has been trying to create
the world that they want. They've been trying
to recreate the world into a world of their liking.
We see this in the book of Genesis at the time
of Noah. Remember this? The Bible says in the
book of Genesis that people were no longer living
according to God's standards. They had been entirely
corrupted by sin. And so the Bible says in Genesis
6 5, the Lord saw that the wickedness of man
was great in the earth and that every intention
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
And so what does God do? He brings the flood
and wipes them out. The humanity had tried to
make a world after their own liking and God said
it is just evil all the time. And then you see
this again at the Tower of Babel, where man decided
that they were going to try to take the place
of God in remaking the world. So this is right
after the flood. We have all these generations
and it's a brand new world, right? It's a different
world. God had gotten rid of all the bad people.
or so we thought. Because as soon as people started
being born again and started populating the earth,
turns out the sin didn't go away. And so they
want to make a new world. And it's interesting
because the Bible says in Genesis 1 .26, this
is God speaking, he says, let us make man in
our image after our own likeness. This was God's
plan for the world. I'm going to create a world
in which my image is displayed. It will be a
world for my glory and I'm going to create people
in my image. Now notice the parallel in Genesis
11, 4. The people, they said, come, let us build
ourselves a city and a tower with its top in
the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves,
lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole
earth. I want you to notice the parallel there.
God says, let us make man in our image after
our own likeness. And then man responds by saying,
actually, Let us make a name for ourselves. It's
identical in the Hebrew. The only change is when
you start to get into the word name. And so it's
a direct parallel. Man has taken it upon themselves
to try to recreate the world in a way in which
they liked it. And on and on this theme goes
throughout the Bible and it still continues to
this very day because we still have people who
are trying to recreate the world to be a world
after their own likeness in a world in which
they decide what is right and wrong. And we've
tried just about everything to bring about real,
meaningful, impactful change in the world, to
make it a better place, and has it worked? The
answer is no, it has not worked. We've seen the
world try monarchies, dictatorships, and oligarchies.
We've seen them try communism, socialism, and
fascism. We've seen social programs trickle down
economics and bailouts. And these have all been
humanity's attempts to make a better world. to
make a better place and they have all failed
miserably. And it's because all of these things
are like putting a bandaid on a cancer patient.
It doesn't do anything. You're trying to fix
something that you have no ability to fix. And
all the ways you're going about trying to fix
it don't actually address the real problem. If
you want a world that is better, if you want
the world to be a better place, you have to take
care of the underlying issue. with humanity,
which is sin. And until sin is dealt with and
done away with, the world will continue spinning
its wills, desperately trying to create a better
world that will never actually come to fruition.
But the good news of this verse is that God has
given us hope. He is promising that the world
will not always be this way. He is promising
that real change and real renewal is possible
because He is doing it. He is making all things
new and He's doing it through His people whom
He has made to be new creations. You see today
we have a lot of Christians who are waiting around
on something that God's already told them to
do. We have a lot of Christians who are sitting
around complaining about how bad the world is
even though they never actually go out in the
world and try to bring about real change. We
can't wait around for some future day of change
and newness. We need to go in the Spirit of the
Lord and bring about the change that we hope
to see. We need to stand firm on the Word of
God. We need to preach the gospel. We need to
fight for justice. We need to give opportunities
to the poor. We need to care for the fatherless,
the sojourner, and the widow. We need to build
up the church, equip the saints, disciple believers.
We can't just complain about how bad the world
is if we're unwilling to actually do anything
ourselves. And we definitely don't need to wait
around on the world or on a government to do
something that God has entrusted His people to
do. It is not the government's responsibility
to fix this world. We know that, right? And if
it were their responsibility, they're doing a
horrible job of it, yes? Okay, so we can't look
to the government and trust the government and
put our hope in the government to bring about
real, meaningful change. It is the responsibility
of Christians. And the question is, well, is
God really doing this, though? And can we trust
that He's doing this? And the answer here is
yes. If you look at the last part of verse 5,
the Bible says, also He said, write this down,
for these words are true and trustworthy. You
see, the words of the Lord are completely trustworthy
and true. As Christians, we don't have hope like
the rest of the world has hope. When they have
hope, they're just putting a feeling out there
and they're kind of crossing their fingers and
hoping for the best. Christian hope is different.
Our hope is a certainty. We know that whatever
God has said is going to come to pass. We know
that whatever God has said is true and that all
of His purposes are going to come to pass because
every word of scripture proceeds from the mouth
of God and the Bible says that God cannot lie.
In Hebrews 6, 18, it literally says it is impossible
for God to lie. So we have this assurance. Whatever
we read in the scriptures is true, which this
isn't even in my notes. This one's for free.
But that means if you disagree with the scriptures
or you don't like what they have to say about
something, That's a you problem. We don't get
to determine what this book means. We don't get
to change it to our own liking and we don't get
to just pick and choose what we like in the Bible
and what we don't like in the Bible. Whatever
God says is true and right and good and it doesn't
matter what society says. It does not matter
what the world says. It does not matter what
the culture has to say on this issue. God's Word
is true and trustworthy. And we even have more
hope and assurance here, because if you look
at what he says in verse 6, the Bible says, and
he said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and
the Omega, the beginning and the end, to the
thirsty I will give from the spring of the water
of life without payment. Now you might be asking,
well, how does this verse give us assurance?
How does this verse give us hope? And it has
to do with that little phrase there, it is done.
It's a very interesting phrase in the Greek because
for starters in the Greek is actually in the
perfect tense Which is referring to something
that is done in the past that has continuing
effect and significance for all time So it's
something that's been done and is continuing
to have significance for today and the Greek
word used here is a verb that means to happen
and It's actually a plural verb So I think a
better translation of this phrase, it is done,
if you were to be literal with this in the Greek,
is everything has happened. This might sound
strange to us as English speakers. Yeah, Doug?
Not in my notes, but that's a good... Let's go
there anyways because we're not going to finish.
Doug asked for everybody listening online. How
does this phrase relate to what Jesus said on
the cross when he said, it is finished? The Greek
word that is used there for that is one word
for that whole phrase. It's to telestai. And
it is translated in the Bible as it is finished.
The interesting thing about that is the verb
is actually telestai. And when you put the te
on the beginning of it, te telestai, that makes
it in the perfect tense as well. So good connection
there, Doug. So something that is done in the
past, that will always have significance for
the future, which brings even more beauty to
that phrase. So it actually should not be translated,
it is finished, but it should be translated,
it has been finished. It's done and it will always
remain done. It will always have lasting continued
significance. So good catch there, Doug. But
you might be thinking, if the phrase should be
translated, everything has happened, the natural
question is, well, how is that possible? Because
we know that not everything has happened yet,
but you have to understand this was a way of
writing in the ancient world where you would
speak of something that is so guaranteed and
certain that is going to happen that you can
write it as though it has already taken place.
There's another example of this in the Bible
in Romans 8 30 The Bible says and those whom
he predestined He also called and those whom
he called he also justified and those whom he
justified. He also what? glorified He also glorified
Impulse around that now you wrote that in the
first century. He also glorified. Are y 'all
glorified? We're gonna need a book on some church
words that we use in common gatherings to know
what these words mean. Glorification is the final.
completion of our salvation. It is when we receive
our new glorified bodies. It is when we are freed
from sin and the presence of sin. We're no longer
corrupted by sin. And the Bible says that we
will be made like Jesus because we will see him
as he is. So glorification happens at the resurrection.
But Paul says he has glorified. How could Paul
say that? Because it is so certain And it is
so guaranteed that Paul can write it as though
it has already happened. And that's exactly what
the Bible is doing here. He's saying everything
has happened because it is so certain that it
is going to happen. We can write it as though
it already has. I want you to also notice the
hope of grace in the gospel that God gives us
in this verse because he says, to the thirsty,
I will give from the spring of the water of life
without payment. And something that's interesting
when you think about this is that everyone in
our world is thirsting for something. We've got
a world of thirsty people. Everybody is thirsting
for fulfillment, for satisfaction, for joy, for
contentment, for pleasure. But my question is
when you look at the world and everybody's thirsting
for something, are people going to God to satisfy
that thirst? No. People in the world today, they
look to sex, they look to alcohol, to drugs,
to career, money, positions, titles. It's an
endless search for satisfaction and it's just
gonna leave them even more thirsty. It's never
gonna quench that thirst. It's like going to
the beach where I just was. You're on the beach
and you get thirsty, you've got no water, and
you're like, well, there's a whole ocean right
there. I mean, it's water, right? It's wet. So
you're thirsty, you go take a drink from the
ocean. Is your thirst satisfied? You're gonna
die, yeah. It's just gonna make your thirst worse.
It's gonna make the whole situation worse. It
can't actually quench. And so the same thing
is true of people. We will never be truly satisfied
until we find our satisfaction in God and drink
deeply from the spring of the water of life.
I was listening to the testimony of a man named
Ryan Reese. And he was a professional skateboarder
who started traveling the world with his skate
group. I don't know what you call it, posse group,
his team, whatever it was. He was traveling the
world with them. They're doing skateboarding
events and things like that. And so at a very
young age, he was traveling the world and he
got introduced to sex, to drugs, to alcohol.
He became addicted to heroin, to crack, to pot,
to pills and cocaine. And he said in his testimony
that he was basically afraid to be sober because
he always was longing for that next high, that
next satisfaction, that next jolt. And he was
afraid to be sober because he didn't know what
it would be like to be quiet and not have any
sort of anything in your system. And so one night
he did a bunch of cocaine and it was actually
smeared all over his face and his buddies came
and they tried to wake him up and they were shaking
him and shaking him. They couldn't get him to
wake up and they thought he had died right there
in their hotel room. But he woke up the next
morning, looked in the mirror, saw all the cocaine
on his face and he thought to himself, I can't
live my life like this. I've got to change my
life. I need to do something about this. And
his father was a Christian. And so he remembered
a prayer that his dad had taught him when he
was a young boy to just say, Jesus, I need you
in my life. Would you please come into my heart
and save me? And so he prayed that prayer in
his hotel room. And since he was in a hotel room,
he said, I want to know about God. I've got to
do something. I'm going to die if I don't. So
he goes over to the stand. And what do you think
he finds in the little nightstand? A Gideon Bible.
I almost sent this story to Harold Corn because
I was like, Harold would love this. He found
a Gideon Bible and he stole it from the hotel
room. And then he got on a plane, they were heading
from Panama City back to LAX, and he said he
spent the entire six hours reading the Bible.
And he said by the time he landed in LAX, he
had a peace in his heart that he had never experienced
before in his entire life. And he said that he
had a satisfaction that no drug and no drink
ever came close to in his entire life. because
he finally had found his satisfaction in Jesus.
He had started to drink deeply from the spring
of the water of life and he was satisfied. And
the natural question is when you read this and
you're like, okay, well, this is all for, this
is what I need. The question is, well, how do
I get this? This sounds great. So what do I have
to do to get this? And God says here, the most
beautiful thing ever, nothing. You don't have
to do a thing. God, what do I have to do to get
this eternal life? What do I have to do to get
this water of life? What do I have to do to get
satisfaction and joy and contentment and get
to be with you? And God says it's already been
paid for. To those who are thirsty and long for
the satisfaction that I can give them, I will
give them the water of life without cost. We
don't have to do anything to get this because
it's already been done by Jesus. It's been bought
and paid for by Jesus. So we're invited to come
and drink deeply and freely of this water of
life and enjoy eternal satisfaction in the presence
of God. I want you to notice something too here
in verse 7. He says the one who conquers will
have this heritage and I will be his God and
he will be my son. Now the reason I think this
is interesting is because, if you remember, two
times God has spoken in Revelation and two times
He has said, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the end. And then here, He describes
the beginning and the end of salvation. Salvation
begins by coming to God empty and thirsty and
longing for Him. And salvation ends by persevering
in the faith and conquering and overcoming. God
is the beginning and the end. He says, this is
the beginning and end of salvation. You come
thirsty, you leave a conqueror who is satisfied.
If you remember, Jesus used these same words
when he was addressing the seven churches at
the beginning of Revelation. If you go back and
read those chapters, Revelation chapter two through
chapter three, Jesus says to each of the seven
churches, the letter ends by saying, to the one
who conquers. And so he brings it back here.
The one who conquers will have this heritage.
You see, it is only those who persevere in the
faith who may lay claim to the promises of God.
The promises of God are not for those who merely
give verbal assent to God. They are not for those
who make a one -time commitment and fill out
a card and walk down an aisle. God's promises
are not obtained through power or performance.
God's promises only come through the grace of
God through Jesus Christ and His enabling grace
that allows us to persevere. And I've said it
to you before, and I'll say it again, the perseverance
of the saints is the clearest indication of salvation.
I have so many people ask me as a pastor, Pastor,
how can I know that I'm saved? What's the evidence?
What's the sign? I've prayed this prayer. I know
I filled out this card. I walked down it out.
I've been baptized, but I still struggle with
it. Pastor, how can I know? And my answer to
them is always, are you trusting in Jesus today?
Are you persevering in the faith? And the answer
is yes. Praise the Lord. That's the sign that
you're a Christian. John writes in 1 John about
people who left the church and they went out
from the church. And he says they went out from
us. But they were never of us. Because if they
had been of us, they would have continued with
us. But they went out from us to show that they
were never actually of us. So people ask all
the time, can I lose my salvation? The answer
is no, you cannot lose your salvation. God will
not allow his son to spill his blood. in vain.
You say, but pastor, I know people who have claimed
to be Christians. They grew up in church and
then they walked out of the church and they never
looked back. They were believers. They professed
faith in Jesus. They were participating and now
they're atheists. So what about them? Didn't
they lose their salvation? And my answer is no,
they didn't. They were never actually Christian
in the first place. They were very good at playing
church. They were very active in the church.
They were interested in Jesus. So how can I say
they're not a Christian? Because they're not
continuing in the faith. Those who are truly
Christians persevere in the faith. And I want
you to note that this promise is not for everyone.
God is not only a God of grace, He is a God of
justice. And so I want you to notice what He
says in verse 8. These are the ones He excludes.
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable,
as for the 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. Now, I do think that
there are actually two categories here. I know
it's not broken up into categories, but I think
you actually have two categories here. If you
look at the first three, these likely refer to
people who at one time professed faith in Christ
and claimed to be Christians, but they abandoned
the faith. They're called cowardly because they
turned on Christ and the faith when it became
costly to them. When their lives were on the
line, When the threat of persecution and death
became too much for them, they denied Jesus and
they abandoned the faith. That's why they're
called faithless, because they have shown themselves
not to possess the true faith that would persevere
to the end. Even if your life is on the line,
you do not deny Jesus and reject the faith. And
they're called detestable, because not only have
they abandoned the faith, but they've sided with
the enemy and pledged their allegiance to Him.
The second category is a list of probably the
most common sins that people give themselves
to today. And Jesus says these people have no
portion in the kingdom of God. You know, there's
that notion God's just going to forgive everybody
one day and everybody's just going to get to
go to heaven. And that is not what the Bible
says. The Bible says that God is redeeming a
people in Christ. who will cling to Christ and
those are the ones who share in this portion.
But I want you to notice the interesting parallel
here. Believers are promised a satisfying drink
from a spring of the water of life. But notice
the parallel. Those who reject Christ in the
gospel, they do not get a satisfying drink from
a spring. What do they get? A lake of fire. Do
you notice that parallel? The water is the parallel
here. Waters of life to those who persevere and
lakes of fire and judgment for those who give
themselves to sin. I think one of the most striking
things about this passage is the fact that the
world has been trying to get rid of God for centuries.
You look all the way back at Frederick Nietzsche,
which if you ever just want to be depressed,
read Nietzsche, okay? He'll do it for you. Nietzsche
famously declared, God is dead and we have killed
him. The world has been trying to get rid of
God. They want to do away with Him. They want
to do away with Him and don't want Him in our
classrooms. They want Him out of society, out
of government, out of science, out of ethics,
out of philosophy. And yet the Bible says, before
there was even a beginning, there was God. That's
one of the most stunning statements in the Bible.
We just read over it like a storybook. In the
beginning, God. You understand that implies that
God was before the beginning. He was already
there before things even begun. Began. Whichever
one it is. God was there in the beginning sitting
on his throne. And then I want you to notice
this. We read here at the very end of history,
God is still seated on his throne. He was seated
on His throne before this world began, and when
this world ends and history comes to a conclusion,
God will still be seated on His throne. We cannot
do away with God. We cannot hide from God. We
cannot avoid God. Every person on earth must
deal with God. He is either a liar, a lunatic,
or Lord, and the question is, what will we make
of Him, and what will we do about it? We will
pick up with verse 9, Lord willing, next week.
Let's switch it up. Who's it gonna be?