WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.180 Let's open up to Revelation 21. We're not gonna 00:00:03.180 --> 00:00:05.360 make it far tonight, but that's okay. That's 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:07.759 what happens when the entire congregation is 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:13.539 in the hospital. It is a prayer meeting, that's 00:00:13.539 --> 00:00:18.480 right, yeah. And I'm gonna try to teach and preach 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:22.059 sitting down. Revelation 21. I might end up standing 00:00:22.059 --> 00:00:25.320 up, we'll see. It's really gonna mess with the 00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:27.460 cameraman back there, huh? If I sit down, stand 00:00:27.460 --> 00:00:31.039 up, sit down, stand up. All right, we're coming 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:34.479 to Revelation 21 and it's interesting when we 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:35.840 get to this passage because we're gonna start 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:38.399 in verse 5, but it's interesting because there 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:40.820 are only two times in the book of Revelation 00:00:40.820 --> 00:00:45.359 in which God speaks directly. We've heard a lot 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:49.179 of what the angels have said and what John has 00:00:49.179 --> 00:00:51.500 received from a vision from the Lord and from 00:00:51.500 --> 00:00:53.780 the angels, but there are only two times when 00:00:53.780 --> 00:00:56.799 God, at least God the Father, speaks directly 00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:00.159 and the first time is in Revelation 1 8. And 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:03.600 he says, I am the Alpha and the Omega says the 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:07.359 Lord God who is and who was and who is to come 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:09.900 the Almighty and then it's interesting because 00:01:09.900 --> 00:01:13.659 when you come to Revelation 21 six He says it 00:01:13.659 --> 00:01:17.099 is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega the beginning 00:01:17.099 --> 00:01:20.840 and the end to the thirsty I will give from the 00:01:20.840 --> 00:01:24.879 spring of the water of life without payment and 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:29.370 so twice God speaks directly to us and twice 00:01:29.370 --> 00:01:33.129 he says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning 00:01:33.129 --> 00:01:37.030 and the end. And it confronts us with the reality 00:01:37.030 --> 00:01:40.829 that every single person has to deal with God. 00:01:41.670 --> 00:01:44.730 There is no getting around God, there is no avoiding 00:01:44.730 --> 00:01:50.030 God. Everyone must do something with Him. C .S. 00:01:50.129 --> 00:01:53.370 Lewis famously said in his book, Mere Christianity, 00:01:53.909 --> 00:01:57.280 he says this, I'm trying here to prevent anyone 00:01:57.280 --> 00:01:59.980 saying the really foolish thing that people often 00:01:59.980 --> 00:02:03.379 say about Jesus. I'm ready to accept Jesus as 00:02:03.379 --> 00:02:06.540 a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his 00:02:06.540 --> 00:02:09.740 claim to be God. That is one thing we must not 00:02:09.740 --> 00:02:13.639 say. A man who was merely a man and said the 00:02:13.639 --> 00:02:15.719 sort of things Jesus said would not be a great 00:02:15.719 --> 00:02:18.659 moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on 00:02:18.659 --> 00:02:20.879 the level with the man who says he's a poached 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:24.400 egg, or else he would be the devil of hell. You 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:26.979 must make your choice either this man was and 00:02:26.979 --> 00:02:30.620 is the son of God or else a madman or something 00:02:30.620 --> 00:02:34.259 worse You can shut him up for a fool You can 00:02:34.259 --> 00:02:36.620 spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can 00:02:36.620 --> 00:02:40.259 fall at his feet and call him Lord and God And 00:02:40.259 --> 00:02:43.080 let us not come with any patronizing nonsense 00:02:43.080 --> 00:02:46.479 about his being a great human teacher He has 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:49.419 not left that open to us. He did not intend to 00:02:49.710 --> 00:02:51.810 You see, essentially, Lewis is saying that all 00:02:51.810 --> 00:02:55.569 of humanity has to make a choice and a decision 00:02:55.569 --> 00:02:58.669 about what to do with Jesus. Jesus is either 00:02:58.669 --> 00:03:02.830 a liar who cannot be trusted, he is either a 00:03:02.830 --> 00:03:06.430 lunatic who should not be followed, or else Jesus 00:03:06.430 --> 00:03:10.150 actually is Lord. And if he is Lord, then we 00:03:10.150 --> 00:03:13.870 must submit to him and obey him. And that's the 00:03:13.870 --> 00:03:15.689 great claim of the Bible, and that's the great 00:03:15.689 --> 00:03:18.090 claim of the book of Revelation as well. All 00:03:18.090 --> 00:03:21.729 of humanity has to deal with God. He claims he 00:03:21.729 --> 00:03:24.110 is the Alpha and the Omega, he claims he is the 00:03:24.110 --> 00:03:26.750 beginning and the end, and so we must come face 00:03:26.750 --> 00:03:29.969 to face with him and decide who he actually is. 00:03:30.629 --> 00:03:34.270 And if God is who he says he is, then we need 00:03:34.270 --> 00:03:37.129 to do something about it. And what does God say 00:03:37.129 --> 00:03:39.469 about himself? Well, if you look at verse 5, 00:03:39.550 --> 00:03:41.569 the first part of verse 5, it says, And he who 00:03:41.569 --> 00:03:46.250 was seated on the throne said, Behold, I am making 00:03:46.250 --> 00:03:49.810 all things new. So notice that the first thing 00:03:49.810 --> 00:03:52.789 he says that he is doing that is true of himself 00:03:52.789 --> 00:03:55.370 is that he is making all things new. And I want 00:03:55.370 --> 00:03:57.629 you to notice something very important about 00:03:57.629 --> 00:03:59.930 this verse. I want you to notice that it does 00:03:59.930 --> 00:04:05.090 not say, I will make all things new. That is 00:04:05.090 --> 00:04:08.129 sometimes how many Christians misread this verse 00:04:08.129 --> 00:04:10.530 and misunderstand this verse. They read this 00:04:10.530 --> 00:04:12.270 verse and they see God saying, I'm making all 00:04:12.270 --> 00:04:15.069 things new. And immediately they think this is 00:04:15.069 --> 00:04:16.649 something that's going to happen in the future. 00:04:17.050 --> 00:04:20.009 This is some far off promise for the future that 00:04:20.009 --> 00:04:23.310 one day God is finally going to make all things 00:04:23.310 --> 00:04:27.089 new. But notice here that this is in the present 00:04:27.089 --> 00:04:31.269 tense. He says, I am making all things new. So 00:04:31.269 --> 00:04:33.949 God is currently right now making all things 00:04:34.279 --> 00:04:37.199 And you might ask, well, how is he doing that? 00:04:37.720 --> 00:04:39.540 And he starts by doing this with his people. 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:43.759 We see this in 2 Corinthians 5, 17. Therefore, 00:04:44.220 --> 00:04:47.500 if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. 00:04:47.660 --> 00:04:50.660 The old is passed away, and behold, the new has 00:04:50.660 --> 00:04:54.339 come. And so God starts by making his people 00:04:54.339 --> 00:04:58.839 new. We were old. and ragged and God took the 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:01.319 old and he made something entirely new out of 00:05:01.319 --> 00:05:03.160 it in such a way that the old has now passed 00:05:03.160 --> 00:05:07.180 away and the new has come and then the Holy Spirit 00:05:07.180 --> 00:05:11.060 works through these new creations to transform 00:05:11.060 --> 00:05:14.000 the world. And this is needed because one of 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:17.259 the greatest tragedies of humanity is that ever 00:05:17.259 --> 00:05:21.040 since the fall humanity has been trying to create 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:23.920 the world that they want. They've been trying 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:27.230 to recreate the world into a world of their liking. 00:05:28.069 --> 00:05:31.350 We see this in the book of Genesis at the time 00:05:31.350 --> 00:05:35.209 of Noah. Remember this? The Bible says in the 00:05:35.209 --> 00:05:37.870 book of Genesis that people were no longer living 00:05:37.870 --> 00:05:40.290 according to God's standards. They had been entirely 00:05:40.290 --> 00:05:43.670 corrupted by sin. And so the Bible says in Genesis 00:05:43.670 --> 00:05:47.230 6 5, the Lord saw that the wickedness of man 00:05:47.230 --> 00:05:50.750 was great in the earth and that every intention 00:05:50.750 --> 00:05:54.029 of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 00:05:54.730 --> 00:05:57.569 And so what does God do? He brings the flood 00:05:57.569 --> 00:06:01.089 and wipes them out. The humanity had tried to 00:06:01.089 --> 00:06:04.470 make a world after their own liking and God said 00:06:04.470 --> 00:06:07.829 it is just evil all the time. And then you see 00:06:07.829 --> 00:06:11.029 this again at the Tower of Babel, where man decided 00:06:11.029 --> 00:06:12.449 that they were going to try to take the place 00:06:12.449 --> 00:06:14.709 of God in remaking the world. So this is right 00:06:14.709 --> 00:06:16.750 after the flood. We have all these generations 00:06:16.750 --> 00:06:19.550 and it's a brand new world, right? It's a different 00:06:19.550 --> 00:06:21.569 world. God had gotten rid of all the bad people. 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:24.600 or so we thought. Because as soon as people started 00:06:24.600 --> 00:06:26.759 being born again and started populating the earth, 00:06:26.980 --> 00:06:29.680 turns out the sin didn't go away. And so they 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:32.500 want to make a new world. And it's interesting 00:06:32.500 --> 00:06:35.240 because the Bible says in Genesis 1 .26, this 00:06:35.240 --> 00:06:38.980 is God speaking, he says, let us make man in 00:06:38.980 --> 00:06:42.360 our image after our own likeness. This was God's 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:44.540 plan for the world. I'm going to create a world 00:06:44.540 --> 00:06:47.379 in which my image is displayed. It will be a 00:06:47.379 --> 00:06:50.040 world for my glory and I'm going to create people 00:06:50.040 --> 00:06:54.319 in my image. Now notice the parallel in Genesis 00:06:54.319 --> 00:07:00.040 11, 4. The people, they said, come, let us build 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:02.680 ourselves a city and a tower with its top in 00:07:02.680 --> 00:07:07.420 the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, 00:07:07.939 --> 00:07:09.800 lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:12.199 earth. I want you to notice the parallel there. 00:07:12.540 --> 00:07:15.839 God says, let us make man in our image after 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:19.399 our own likeness. And then man responds by saying, 00:07:19.879 --> 00:07:23.980 actually, Let us make a name for ourselves. It's 00:07:23.980 --> 00:07:26.100 identical in the Hebrew. The only change is when 00:07:26.100 --> 00:07:29.160 you start to get into the word name. And so it's 00:07:29.160 --> 00:07:31.639 a direct parallel. Man has taken it upon themselves 00:07:31.639 --> 00:07:34.839 to try to recreate the world in a way in which 00:07:34.839 --> 00:07:38.220 they liked it. And on and on this theme goes 00:07:38.220 --> 00:07:40.959 throughout the Bible and it still continues to 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:43.879 this very day because we still have people who 00:07:43.879 --> 00:07:47.019 are trying to recreate the world to be a world 00:07:47.019 --> 00:07:49.579 after their own likeness in a world in which 00:07:49.610 --> 00:07:52.889 they decide what is right and wrong. And we've 00:07:52.889 --> 00:07:55.110 tried just about everything to bring about real, 00:07:55.350 --> 00:07:57.750 meaningful, impactful change in the world, to 00:07:57.750 --> 00:08:01.050 make it a better place, and has it worked? The 00:08:01.050 --> 00:08:04.370 answer is no, it has not worked. We've seen the 00:08:04.370 --> 00:08:07.509 world try monarchies, dictatorships, and oligarchies. 00:08:07.889 --> 00:08:10.449 We've seen them try communism, socialism, and 00:08:10.449 --> 00:08:13.689 fascism. We've seen social programs trickle down 00:08:13.689 --> 00:08:16.970 economics and bailouts. And these have all been 00:08:16.970 --> 00:08:20.019 humanity's attempts to make a better world. to 00:08:20.019 --> 00:08:22.720 make a better place and they have all failed 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:25.500 miserably. And it's because all of these things 00:08:25.500 --> 00:08:28.500 are like putting a bandaid on a cancer patient. 00:08:29.079 --> 00:08:31.839 It doesn't do anything. You're trying to fix 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:35.519 something that you have no ability to fix. And 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:37.100 all the ways you're going about trying to fix 00:08:37.100 --> 00:08:41.240 it don't actually address the real problem. If 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:43.659 you want a world that is better, if you want 00:08:43.659 --> 00:08:45.720 the world to be a better place, you have to take 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:48.470 care of the underlying issue. with humanity, 00:08:48.769 --> 00:08:52.149 which is sin. And until sin is dealt with and 00:08:52.149 --> 00:08:54.269 done away with, the world will continue spinning 00:08:54.269 --> 00:08:57.029 its wills, desperately trying to create a better 00:08:57.029 --> 00:08:59.870 world that will never actually come to fruition. 00:09:01.110 --> 00:09:03.309 But the good news of this verse is that God has 00:09:03.309 --> 00:09:06.110 given us hope. He is promising that the world 00:09:06.110 --> 00:09:09.019 will not always be this way. He is promising 00:09:09.019 --> 00:09:11.860 that real change and real renewal is possible 00:09:11.860 --> 00:09:15.000 because He is doing it. He is making all things 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:18.259 new and He's doing it through His people whom 00:09:18.259 --> 00:09:21.240 He has made to be new creations. You see today 00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:23.059 we have a lot of Christians who are waiting around 00:09:23.059 --> 00:09:25.000 on something that God's already told them to 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:27.399 do. We have a lot of Christians who are sitting 00:09:27.399 --> 00:09:29.519 around complaining about how bad the world is 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:31.000 even though they never actually go out in the 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:34.009 world and try to bring about real change. We 00:09:34.009 --> 00:09:36.590 can't wait around for some future day of change 00:09:36.590 --> 00:09:39.190 and newness. We need to go in the Spirit of the 00:09:39.190 --> 00:09:41.129 Lord and bring about the change that we hope 00:09:41.129 --> 00:09:44.149 to see. We need to stand firm on the Word of 00:09:44.149 --> 00:09:46.549 God. We need to preach the gospel. We need to 00:09:46.549 --> 00:09:49.230 fight for justice. We need to give opportunities 00:09:49.230 --> 00:09:51.350 to the poor. We need to care for the fatherless, 00:09:51.570 --> 00:09:53.889 the sojourner, and the widow. We need to build 00:09:53.889 --> 00:09:56.629 up the church, equip the saints, disciple believers. 00:09:56.870 --> 00:09:59.409 We can't just complain about how bad the world 00:09:59.409 --> 00:10:02.169 is if we're unwilling to actually do anything 00:10:02.169 --> 00:10:05.429 ourselves. And we definitely don't need to wait 00:10:05.429 --> 00:10:09.269 around on the world or on a government to do 00:10:09.269 --> 00:10:13.090 something that God has entrusted His people to 00:10:13.090 --> 00:10:15.570 do. It is not the government's responsibility 00:10:15.570 --> 00:10:18.529 to fix this world. We know that, right? And if 00:10:18.529 --> 00:10:20.889 it were their responsibility, they're doing a 00:10:20.889 --> 00:10:24.539 horrible job of it, yes? Okay, so we can't look 00:10:24.539 --> 00:10:26.360 to the government and trust the government and 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:28.259 put our hope in the government to bring about 00:10:28.259 --> 00:10:31.340 real, meaningful change. It is the responsibility 00:10:31.340 --> 00:10:36.120 of Christians. And the question is, well, is 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:38.480 God really doing this, though? And can we trust 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:41.080 that He's doing this? And the answer here is 00:10:41.080 --> 00:10:43.340 yes. If you look at the last part of verse 5, 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:48.259 the Bible says, also He said, write this down, 00:10:48.779 --> 00:10:52.529 for these words are true and trustworthy. You 00:10:52.529 --> 00:10:54.929 see, the words of the Lord are completely trustworthy 00:10:54.929 --> 00:10:58.629 and true. As Christians, we don't have hope like 00:10:58.629 --> 00:11:00.529 the rest of the world has hope. When they have 00:11:00.529 --> 00:11:02.769 hope, they're just putting a feeling out there 00:11:02.769 --> 00:11:04.450 and they're kind of crossing their fingers and 00:11:04.450 --> 00:11:07.529 hoping for the best. Christian hope is different. 00:11:08.090 --> 00:11:11.889 Our hope is a certainty. We know that whatever 00:11:11.889 --> 00:11:15.250 God has said is going to come to pass. We know 00:11:15.250 --> 00:11:18.490 that whatever God has said is true and that all 00:11:18.490 --> 00:11:21.340 of His purposes are going to come to pass because 00:11:21.340 --> 00:11:24.580 every word of scripture proceeds from the mouth 00:11:24.580 --> 00:11:27.639 of God and the Bible says that God cannot lie. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:31.919 In Hebrews 6, 18, it literally says it is impossible 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:35.899 for God to lie. So we have this assurance. Whatever 00:11:35.899 --> 00:11:39.360 we read in the scriptures is true, which this 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:41.240 isn't even in my notes. This one's for free. 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:43.840 But that means if you disagree with the scriptures 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:46.860 or you don't like what they have to say about 00:11:46.860 --> 00:11:52.580 something, That's a you problem. We don't get 00:11:52.580 --> 00:11:54.480 to determine what this book means. We don't get 00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:56.899 to change it to our own liking and we don't get 00:11:56.899 --> 00:11:58.899 to just pick and choose what we like in the Bible 00:11:58.899 --> 00:12:01.600 and what we don't like in the Bible. Whatever 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:05.519 God says is true and right and good and it doesn't 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:07.379 matter what society says. It does not matter 00:12:07.379 --> 00:12:09.320 what the world says. It does not matter what 00:12:09.320 --> 00:12:13.139 the culture has to say on this issue. God's Word 00:12:13.139 --> 00:12:17.129 is true and trustworthy. And we even have more 00:12:17.129 --> 00:12:18.730 hope and assurance here, because if you look 00:12:18.730 --> 00:12:22.230 at what he says in verse 6, the Bible says, and 00:12:22.230 --> 00:12:26.730 he said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and 00:12:26.730 --> 00:12:29.990 the Omega, the beginning and the end, to the 00:12:29.990 --> 00:12:32.570 thirsty I will give from the spring of the water 00:12:32.570 --> 00:12:35.409 of life without payment. Now you might be asking, 00:12:35.590 --> 00:12:37.590 well, how does this verse give us assurance? 00:12:38.289 --> 00:12:39.970 How does this verse give us hope? And it has 00:12:39.970 --> 00:12:43.309 to do with that little phrase there, it is done. 00:12:43.850 --> 00:12:46.490 It's a very interesting phrase in the Greek because 00:12:46.490 --> 00:12:49.370 for starters in the Greek is actually in the 00:12:49.370 --> 00:12:52.370 perfect tense Which is referring to something 00:12:52.370 --> 00:12:55.690 that is done in the past that has continuing 00:12:55.690 --> 00:12:59.110 effect and significance for all time So it's 00:12:59.110 --> 00:13:00.970 something that's been done and is continuing 00:13:00.970 --> 00:13:04.590 to have significance for today and the Greek 00:13:04.590 --> 00:13:08.610 word used here is a verb that means to happen 00:13:08.610 --> 00:13:11.980 and It's actually a plural verb So I think a 00:13:11.980 --> 00:13:14.399 better translation of this phrase, it is done, 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:16.899 if you were to be literal with this in the Greek, 00:13:17.139 --> 00:13:21.320 is everything has happened. This might sound 00:13:21.320 --> 00:13:23.740 strange to us as English speakers. Yeah, Doug? 00:13:28.940 --> 00:13:31.860 Not in my notes, but that's a good... Let's go 00:13:31.860 --> 00:13:33.299 there anyways because we're not going to finish. 00:13:33.899 --> 00:13:36.419 Doug asked for everybody listening online. How 00:13:36.419 --> 00:13:39.200 does this phrase relate to what Jesus said on 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:41.679 the cross when he said, it is finished? The Greek 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:44.100 word that is used there for that is one word 00:13:44.100 --> 00:13:47.500 for that whole phrase. It's to telestai. And 00:13:47.500 --> 00:13:50.759 it is translated in the Bible as it is finished. 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:53.860 The interesting thing about that is the verb 00:13:53.860 --> 00:13:57.500 is actually telestai. And when you put the te 00:13:57.500 --> 00:14:00.440 on the beginning of it, te telestai, that makes 00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:03.039 it in the perfect tense as well. So good connection 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:06.059 there, Doug. So something that is done in the 00:14:06.059 --> 00:14:09.500 past, that will always have significance for 00:14:09.500 --> 00:14:12.320 the future, which brings even more beauty to 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:15.139 that phrase. So it actually should not be translated, 00:14:15.299 --> 00:14:18.220 it is finished, but it should be translated, 00:14:18.340 --> 00:14:21.940 it has been finished. It's done and it will always 00:14:21.940 --> 00:14:25.000 remain done. It will always have lasting continued 00:14:25.649 --> 00:14:30.169 significance. So good catch there, Doug. But 00:14:30.169 --> 00:14:32.190 you might be thinking, if the phrase should be 00:14:32.190 --> 00:14:35.929 translated, everything has happened, the natural 00:14:35.929 --> 00:14:38.950 question is, well, how is that possible? Because 00:14:38.950 --> 00:14:41.309 we know that not everything has happened yet, 00:14:41.309 --> 00:14:43.549 but you have to understand this was a way of 00:14:43.549 --> 00:14:46.250 writing in the ancient world where you would 00:14:46.250 --> 00:14:49.809 speak of something that is so guaranteed and 00:14:49.809 --> 00:14:52.490 certain that is going to happen that you can 00:14:52.490 --> 00:14:54.830 write it as though it has already taken place. 00:14:55.019 --> 00:14:57.100 There's another example of this in the Bible 00:14:57.100 --> 00:15:00.899 in Romans 8 30 The Bible says and those whom 00:15:00.899 --> 00:15:04.600 he predestined He also called and those whom 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:07.259 he called he also justified and those whom he 00:15:07.259 --> 00:15:13.740 justified. He also what? glorified He also glorified 00:15:13.740 --> 00:15:16.659 Impulse around that now you wrote that in the 00:15:16.659 --> 00:15:19.480 first century. He also glorified. Are y 'all 00:15:19.480 --> 00:15:28.220 glorified? We're gonna need a book on some church 00:15:28.220 --> 00:15:31.039 words that we use in common gatherings to know 00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:35.320 what these words mean. Glorification is the final. 00:15:35.580 --> 00:15:38.860 completion of our salvation. It is when we receive 00:15:38.860 --> 00:15:42.539 our new glorified bodies. It is when we are freed 00:15:42.539 --> 00:15:45.259 from sin and the presence of sin. We're no longer 00:15:45.259 --> 00:15:47.700 corrupted by sin. And the Bible says that we 00:15:47.700 --> 00:15:50.259 will be made like Jesus because we will see him 00:15:50.259 --> 00:15:54.379 as he is. So glorification happens at the resurrection. 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:59.659 But Paul says he has glorified. How could Paul 00:15:59.659 --> 00:16:03.899 say that? Because it is so certain And it is 00:16:03.899 --> 00:16:06.179 so guaranteed that Paul can write it as though 00:16:06.179 --> 00:16:08.679 it has already happened. And that's exactly what 00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:12.620 the Bible is doing here. He's saying everything 00:16:12.620 --> 00:16:15.899 has happened because it is so certain that it 00:16:15.899 --> 00:16:18.360 is going to happen. We can write it as though 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:22.000 it already has. I want you to also notice the 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:24.700 hope of grace in the gospel that God gives us 00:16:24.700 --> 00:16:27.259 in this verse because he says, to the thirsty, 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:30.559 I will give from the spring of the water of life 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:33.679 without payment. And something that's interesting 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:36.440 when you think about this is that everyone in 00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:39.960 our world is thirsting for something. We've got 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:43.480 a world of thirsty people. Everybody is thirsting 00:16:43.480 --> 00:16:47.840 for fulfillment, for satisfaction, for joy, for 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:51.179 contentment, for pleasure. But my question is 00:16:51.179 --> 00:16:53.179 when you look at the world and everybody's thirsting 00:16:53.179 --> 00:16:56.320 for something, are people going to God to satisfy 00:16:56.320 --> 00:17:00.870 that thirst? No. People in the world today, they 00:17:00.870 --> 00:17:03.970 look to sex, they look to alcohol, to drugs, 00:17:04.150 --> 00:17:07.349 to career, money, positions, titles. It's an 00:17:07.349 --> 00:17:10.250 endless search for satisfaction and it's just 00:17:10.250 --> 00:17:13.150 gonna leave them even more thirsty. It's never 00:17:13.150 --> 00:17:16.190 gonna quench that thirst. It's like going to 00:17:16.190 --> 00:17:19.450 the beach where I just was. You're on the beach 00:17:19.450 --> 00:17:20.910 and you get thirsty, you've got no water, and 00:17:20.910 --> 00:17:22.490 you're like, well, there's a whole ocean right 00:17:22.490 --> 00:17:26.769 there. I mean, it's water, right? It's wet. So 00:17:26.769 --> 00:17:28.390 you're thirsty, you go take a drink from the 00:17:28.390 --> 00:17:33.529 ocean. Is your thirst satisfied? You're gonna 00:17:33.529 --> 00:17:36.069 die, yeah. It's just gonna make your thirst worse. 00:17:36.809 --> 00:17:39.349 It's gonna make the whole situation worse. It 00:17:39.349 --> 00:17:42.190 can't actually quench. And so the same thing 00:17:42.190 --> 00:17:45.230 is true of people. We will never be truly satisfied 00:17:45.230 --> 00:17:48.730 until we find our satisfaction in God and drink 00:17:48.730 --> 00:17:51.930 deeply from the spring of the water of life. 00:17:52.769 --> 00:17:56.150 I was listening to the testimony of a man named 00:17:56.150 --> 00:18:00.140 Ryan Reese. And he was a professional skateboarder 00:18:00.140 --> 00:18:03.759 who started traveling the world with his skate 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:05.819 group. I don't know what you call it, posse group, 00:18:06.059 --> 00:18:08.539 his team, whatever it was. He was traveling the 00:18:08.539 --> 00:18:10.299 world with them. They're doing skateboarding 00:18:10.299 --> 00:18:12.700 events and things like that. And so at a very 00:18:12.700 --> 00:18:14.660 young age, he was traveling the world and he 00:18:14.660 --> 00:18:18.579 got introduced to sex, to drugs, to alcohol. 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:23.380 He became addicted to heroin, to crack, to pot, 00:18:23.579 --> 00:18:27.579 to pills and cocaine. And he said in his testimony 00:18:27.579 --> 00:18:30.960 that he was basically afraid to be sober because 00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:34.799 he always was longing for that next high, that 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:38.839 next satisfaction, that next jolt. And he was 00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:40.740 afraid to be sober because he didn't know what 00:18:40.740 --> 00:18:45.039 it would be like to be quiet and not have any 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:48.599 sort of anything in your system. And so one night 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:50.819 he did a bunch of cocaine and it was actually 00:18:50.819 --> 00:18:53.480 smeared all over his face and his buddies came 00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:55.259 and they tried to wake him up and they were shaking 00:18:55.259 --> 00:18:56.619 him and shaking him. They couldn't get him to 00:18:56.619 --> 00:18:58.680 wake up and they thought he had died right there 00:18:58.680 --> 00:19:01.500 in their hotel room. But he woke up the next 00:19:01.500 --> 00:19:04.200 morning, looked in the mirror, saw all the cocaine 00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:07.940 on his face and he thought to himself, I can't 00:19:07.940 --> 00:19:11.480 live my life like this. I've got to change my 00:19:11.480 --> 00:19:13.839 life. I need to do something about this. And 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:16.450 his father was a Christian. And so he remembered 00:19:16.450 --> 00:19:18.190 a prayer that his dad had taught him when he 00:19:18.190 --> 00:19:21.730 was a young boy to just say, Jesus, I need you 00:19:21.730 --> 00:19:24.250 in my life. Would you please come into my heart 00:19:24.250 --> 00:19:27.670 and save me? And so he prayed that prayer in 00:19:27.670 --> 00:19:30.150 his hotel room. And since he was in a hotel room, 00:19:30.170 --> 00:19:32.029 he said, I want to know about God. I've got to 00:19:32.029 --> 00:19:34.250 do something. I'm going to die if I don't. So 00:19:34.250 --> 00:19:35.910 he goes over to the stand. And what do you think 00:19:35.910 --> 00:19:39.690 he finds in the little nightstand? A Gideon Bible. 00:19:40.009 --> 00:19:42.190 I almost sent this story to Harold Corn because 00:19:42.190 --> 00:19:44.640 I was like, Harold would love this. He found 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:47.480 a Gideon Bible and he stole it from the hotel 00:19:47.480 --> 00:19:50.779 room. And then he got on a plane, they were heading 00:19:50.779 --> 00:19:54.420 from Panama City back to LAX, and he said he 00:19:54.420 --> 00:19:57.660 spent the entire six hours reading the Bible. 00:19:58.339 --> 00:20:00.819 And he said by the time he landed in LAX, he 00:20:00.819 --> 00:20:03.599 had a peace in his heart that he had never experienced 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:06.980 before in his entire life. And he said that he 00:20:06.980 --> 00:20:10.640 had a satisfaction that no drug and no drink 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:14.240 ever came close to in his entire life. because 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:16.519 he finally had found his satisfaction in Jesus. 00:20:17.380 --> 00:20:19.859 He had started to drink deeply from the spring 00:20:19.859 --> 00:20:23.640 of the water of life and he was satisfied. And 00:20:23.640 --> 00:20:25.339 the natural question is when you read this and 00:20:25.339 --> 00:20:26.579 you're like, okay, well, this is all for, this 00:20:26.579 --> 00:20:28.900 is what I need. The question is, well, how do 00:20:28.900 --> 00:20:32.259 I get this? This sounds great. So what do I have 00:20:32.259 --> 00:20:34.940 to do to get this? And God says here, the most 00:20:34.940 --> 00:20:38.299 beautiful thing ever, nothing. You don't have 00:20:38.299 --> 00:20:41.299 to do a thing. God, what do I have to do to get 00:20:41.299 --> 00:20:42.779 this eternal life? What do I have to do to get 00:20:42.779 --> 00:20:44.839 this water of life? What do I have to do to get 00:20:44.839 --> 00:20:47.539 satisfaction and joy and contentment and get 00:20:47.539 --> 00:20:49.859 to be with you? And God says it's already been 00:20:49.859 --> 00:20:54.240 paid for. To those who are thirsty and long for 00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:56.519 the satisfaction that I can give them, I will 00:20:56.519 --> 00:21:00.680 give them the water of life without cost. We 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:03.059 don't have to do anything to get this because 00:21:03.059 --> 00:21:05.940 it's already been done by Jesus. It's been bought 00:21:05.940 --> 00:21:10.710 and paid for by Jesus. So we're invited to come 00:21:10.710 --> 00:21:13.410 and drink deeply and freely of this water of 00:21:13.410 --> 00:21:17.750 life and enjoy eternal satisfaction in the presence 00:21:17.750 --> 00:21:21.490 of God. I want you to notice something too here 00:21:21.490 --> 00:21:27.009 in verse 7. He says the one who conquers will 00:21:27.009 --> 00:21:30.990 have this heritage and I will be his God and 00:21:30.990 --> 00:21:34.609 he will be my son. Now the reason I think this 00:21:34.609 --> 00:21:37.259 is interesting is because, if you remember, two 00:21:37.259 --> 00:21:39.900 times God has spoken in Revelation and two times 00:21:39.900 --> 00:21:43.799 He has said, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the 00:21:43.799 --> 00:21:47.839 beginning and the end. And then here, He describes 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:51.460 the beginning and the end of salvation. Salvation 00:21:51.460 --> 00:21:55.960 begins by coming to God empty and thirsty and 00:21:55.960 --> 00:21:59.599 longing for Him. And salvation ends by persevering 00:21:59.599 --> 00:22:02.990 in the faith and conquering and overcoming. God 00:22:02.990 --> 00:22:05.730 is the beginning and the end. He says, this is 00:22:05.730 --> 00:22:07.829 the beginning and end of salvation. You come 00:22:07.829 --> 00:22:11.569 thirsty, you leave a conqueror who is satisfied. 00:22:12.690 --> 00:22:14.809 If you remember, Jesus used these same words 00:22:14.809 --> 00:22:17.049 when he was addressing the seven churches at 00:22:17.049 --> 00:22:19.490 the beginning of Revelation. If you go back and 00:22:19.490 --> 00:22:22.789 read those chapters, Revelation chapter two through 00:22:22.789 --> 00:22:25.809 chapter three, Jesus says to each of the seven 00:22:25.809 --> 00:22:28.630 churches, the letter ends by saying, to the one 00:22:28.630 --> 00:22:32.549 who conquers. And so he brings it back here. 00:22:33.029 --> 00:22:36.009 The one who conquers will have this heritage. 00:22:37.130 --> 00:22:39.190 You see, it is only those who persevere in the 00:22:39.190 --> 00:22:42.150 faith who may lay claim to the promises of God. 00:22:43.009 --> 00:22:45.690 The promises of God are not for those who merely 00:22:45.690 --> 00:22:49.309 give verbal assent to God. They are not for those 00:22:49.309 --> 00:22:51.509 who make a one -time commitment and fill out 00:22:51.509 --> 00:22:55.269 a card and walk down an aisle. God's promises 00:22:55.269 --> 00:22:57.650 are not obtained through power or performance. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:01.160 God's promises only come through the grace of 00:23:01.160 --> 00:23:05.380 God through Jesus Christ and His enabling grace 00:23:05.380 --> 00:23:07.480 that allows us to persevere. And I've said it 00:23:07.480 --> 00:23:10.740 to you before, and I'll say it again, the perseverance 00:23:10.740 --> 00:23:15.200 of the saints is the clearest indication of salvation. 00:23:16.180 --> 00:23:19.160 I have so many people ask me as a pastor, Pastor, 00:23:19.240 --> 00:23:22.759 how can I know that I'm saved? What's the evidence? 00:23:22.839 --> 00:23:24.960 What's the sign? I've prayed this prayer. I know 00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:26.559 I filled out this card. I walked down it out. 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:28.720 I've been baptized, but I still struggle with 00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:31.019 it. Pastor, how can I know? And my answer to 00:23:31.019 --> 00:23:33.720 them is always, are you trusting in Jesus today? 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:36.180 Are you persevering in the faith? And the answer 00:23:36.180 --> 00:23:39.599 is yes. Praise the Lord. That's the sign that 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:44.660 you're a Christian. John writes in 1 John about 00:23:44.660 --> 00:23:46.660 people who left the church and they went out 00:23:46.660 --> 00:23:49.700 from the church. And he says they went out from 00:23:49.700 --> 00:23:53.319 us. But they were never of us. Because if they 00:23:53.319 --> 00:23:55.740 had been of us, they would have continued with 00:23:55.740 --> 00:23:57.980 us. But they went out from us to show that they 00:23:57.980 --> 00:24:02.140 were never actually of us. So people ask all 00:24:02.140 --> 00:24:04.339 the time, can I lose my salvation? The answer 00:24:04.339 --> 00:24:07.880 is no, you cannot lose your salvation. God will 00:24:07.880 --> 00:24:11.210 not allow his son to spill his blood. in vain. 00:24:11.569 --> 00:24:13.230 You say, but pastor, I know people who have claimed 00:24:13.230 --> 00:24:15.369 to be Christians. They grew up in church and 00:24:15.369 --> 00:24:16.869 then they walked out of the church and they never 00:24:16.869 --> 00:24:19.349 looked back. They were believers. They professed 00:24:19.349 --> 00:24:21.769 faith in Jesus. They were participating and now 00:24:21.769 --> 00:24:24.109 they're atheists. So what about them? Didn't 00:24:24.109 --> 00:24:26.009 they lose their salvation? And my answer is no, 00:24:26.150 --> 00:24:27.549 they didn't. They were never actually Christian 00:24:27.549 --> 00:24:30.170 in the first place. They were very good at playing 00:24:30.170 --> 00:24:32.829 church. They were very active in the church. 00:24:33.470 --> 00:24:37.690 They were interested in Jesus. So how can I say 00:24:37.690 --> 00:24:38.950 they're not a Christian? Because they're not 00:24:38.950 --> 00:24:41.779 continuing in the faith. Those who are truly 00:24:41.779 --> 00:24:45.259 Christians persevere in the faith. And I want 00:24:45.259 --> 00:24:48.319 you to note that this promise is not for everyone. 00:24:49.700 --> 00:24:52.259 God is not only a God of grace, He is a God of 00:24:52.259 --> 00:24:53.700 justice. And so I want you to notice what He 00:24:53.700 --> 00:24:57.839 says in verse 8. These are the ones He excludes. 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:01.319 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, 00:25:01.880 --> 00:25:04.579 as for the murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, 00:25:04.700 --> 00:25:07.460 idolaters, and all liars, their portion will 00:25:07.460 --> 00:25:10.000 be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. 00:25:10.319 --> 00:25:13.660 which is the second death. Now, I do think that 00:25:13.660 --> 00:25:15.579 there are actually two categories here. I know 00:25:15.579 --> 00:25:18.200 it's not broken up into categories, but I think 00:25:18.200 --> 00:25:20.000 you actually have two categories here. If you 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:23.680 look at the first three, these likely refer to 00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:27.680 people who at one time professed faith in Christ 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:29.839 and claimed to be Christians, but they abandoned 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:33.579 the faith. They're called cowardly because they 00:25:33.579 --> 00:25:35.980 turned on Christ and the faith when it became 00:25:35.980 --> 00:25:38.859 costly to them. When their lives were on the 00:25:38.859 --> 00:25:41.359 line, When the threat of persecution and death 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:44.859 became too much for them, they denied Jesus and 00:25:44.859 --> 00:25:47.519 they abandoned the faith. That's why they're 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:49.640 called faithless, because they have shown themselves 00:25:49.640 --> 00:25:52.599 not to possess the true faith that would persevere 00:25:52.599 --> 00:25:55.839 to the end. Even if your life is on the line, 00:25:56.279 --> 00:26:00.680 you do not deny Jesus and reject the faith. And 00:26:00.680 --> 00:26:02.279 they're called detestable, because not only have 00:26:02.279 --> 00:26:04.140 they abandoned the faith, but they've sided with 00:26:04.140 --> 00:26:06.619 the enemy and pledged their allegiance to Him. 00:26:07.339 --> 00:26:10.880 The second category is a list of probably the 00:26:10.880 --> 00:26:13.500 most common sins that people give themselves 00:26:13.500 --> 00:26:17.940 to today. And Jesus says these people have no 00:26:17.940 --> 00:26:20.700 portion in the kingdom of God. You know, there's 00:26:20.700 --> 00:26:22.619 that notion God's just going to forgive everybody 00:26:22.619 --> 00:26:24.319 one day and everybody's just going to get to 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:26.599 go to heaven. And that is not what the Bible 00:26:26.599 --> 00:26:30.859 says. The Bible says that God is redeeming a 00:26:30.859 --> 00:26:34.180 people in Christ. who will cling to Christ and 00:26:34.180 --> 00:26:36.039 those are the ones who share in this portion. 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:38.380 But I want you to notice the interesting parallel 00:26:38.380 --> 00:26:43.759 here. Believers are promised a satisfying drink 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:47.700 from a spring of the water of life. But notice 00:26:47.700 --> 00:26:51.059 the parallel. Those who reject Christ in the 00:26:51.059 --> 00:26:53.759 gospel, they do not get a satisfying drink from 00:26:53.759 --> 00:26:58.019 a spring. What do they get? A lake of fire. Do 00:26:58.019 --> 00:27:00.859 you notice that parallel? The water is the parallel 00:27:00.859 --> 00:27:04.190 here. Waters of life to those who persevere and 00:27:04.190 --> 00:27:07.089 lakes of fire and judgment for those who give 00:27:07.089 --> 00:27:11.009 themselves to sin. I think one of the most striking 00:27:11.009 --> 00:27:14.589 things about this passage is the fact that the 00:27:14.589 --> 00:27:18.109 world has been trying to get rid of God for centuries. 00:27:18.849 --> 00:27:20.910 You look all the way back at Frederick Nietzsche, 00:27:21.190 --> 00:27:22.849 which if you ever just want to be depressed, 00:27:23.029 --> 00:27:26.069 read Nietzsche, okay? He'll do it for you. Nietzsche 00:27:26.069 --> 00:27:30.029 famously declared, God is dead and we have killed 00:27:30.029 --> 00:27:33.369 him. The world has been trying to get rid of 00:27:33.369 --> 00:27:36.130 God. They want to do away with Him. They want 00:27:36.130 --> 00:27:38.750 to do away with Him and don't want Him in our 00:27:38.750 --> 00:27:40.849 classrooms. They want Him out of society, out 00:27:40.849 --> 00:27:43.230 of government, out of science, out of ethics, 00:27:43.369 --> 00:27:48.329 out of philosophy. And yet the Bible says, before 00:27:48.329 --> 00:27:52.650 there was even a beginning, there was God. That's 00:27:52.650 --> 00:27:54.569 one of the most stunning statements in the Bible. 00:27:54.589 --> 00:27:58.289 We just read over it like a storybook. In the 00:27:58.289 --> 00:28:02.549 beginning, God. You understand that implies that 00:28:02.549 --> 00:28:04.769 God was before the beginning. He was already 00:28:04.769 --> 00:28:10.130 there before things even begun. Began. Whichever 00:28:10.130 --> 00:28:14.289 one it is. God was there in the beginning sitting 00:28:14.289 --> 00:28:16.890 on his throne. And then I want you to notice 00:28:16.890 --> 00:28:22.069 this. We read here at the very end of history, 00:28:23.130 --> 00:28:27.740 God is still seated on his throne. He was seated 00:28:27.740 --> 00:28:30.299 on His throne before this world began, and when 00:28:30.299 --> 00:28:32.759 this world ends and history comes to a conclusion, 00:28:33.160 --> 00:28:37.839 God will still be seated on His throne. We cannot 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:41.119 do away with God. We cannot hide from God. We 00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:45.460 cannot avoid God. Every person on earth must 00:28:45.460 --> 00:28:49.480 deal with God. He is either a liar, a lunatic, 00:28:49.619 --> 00:28:52.380 or Lord, and the question is, what will we make 00:28:52.380 --> 00:28:56.630 of Him, and what will we do about it? We will 00:28:56.630 --> 00:28:59.710 pick up with verse 9, Lord willing, next week. 00:29:01.529 --> 00:29:07.690 Let's switch it up. Who's it gonna be?