Transcript: January 27th, 2002« Back

The New Heaven and New Earth

Revelation 21:1-8

Jeff Noblit

Revelation 21:1-8


Revelation chapter 21, we’re going through the book of Revelation. You might say, “Pastor, we’ve been going through the book of Revelation for twenty years.” Oh, it’s been an incredible study, and what an incredible edification to my own soul. And as we come to the ending portions of the book Revelation we see the eternal state being established, and our text today will show that forth even more that God has a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells, a place of absolute holiness and a place of exceeding happiness.

But also the text is going to show us that there’s an eternal state that is fixed for the unbeliever, a place called hell where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, where there is torment day and night, where there is no chance of ever escaping. And yet the text implies to us that even in the eternal state of heaven where we’re gonna be, if you’re saved that’s where you’re gonna be, we will not in any way grieve or be unhappy or be in dismay over those in hell because we will have a higher and perfected understanding of justice and a higher and perfected understanding of God’s sovereign goodness, that even that realization will not add to our dismay or will not trouble us, but will actually add to our bliss.

My friend, listen to your pastor this morning. God is bigger than you think He is. He’s greater than you think He is. He’s more wonderful than you think He is. And that’s something that Revelation has done for us. It’s sort of taken us out of the God in the box syndrome and said, “Gaze on who I am in a little greater way than you ever understood Me before.” May we do that again this morning.

Revelation 21, beginning in verse 1. John, as you know, is writing this. He’s the human author. John’s receiving a series of visions about the end times and how things are gonna end. We’ve already seen the ushering in of those seven years of unbelievable tribulation when God puts plague after plague, wave after wave of wrath and judgment against planet earth. And then if we finally saw that point in time when Jesus Himself appears on earth, and He destroys those enemies. And He establishes a thousand year kingdom on earth, centered in Jerusalem, centered around redeemed Israel, which is exactly what He promised Israel through all the Old Testament prophets.

At the end of that thousand years, Satan is released from a place called the pit, where he had been bound. And he goes out and he seduces men who are on the earth, and he deceives them into thinking that it’s the right and just thing to do and even that it’s serving God to march against Jesus and to march against Jerusalem. They come up against Jerusalem, and fire just falls down out of heaven and devours all of them. After that is finished, the Bible tells us that God’s gonna take this present heaven and this present earth and He’s gonna completely destroy every bit of it. Then He’s gonna create a new heavens and a new earth. That’s the eternal state, and that’s what we see in Revelation 21.

Revelation 21 verse 1: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. And I will give to the one who thirsts from the springs of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.” Verse 8: “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and the immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

The new heaven and earth. Roman numeral one, let’s first of all notice this is a holy place. It is a holy place. I’m telling you, I’m just amused and dishearted at all that goes on in Christian settings and church settings and seminars and among pastors and leaders and church members, all that’s happening to bring everything but holiness back to the church. All types of fads and gimmicks and programs and approaches, uh, uh, under the guise of quote reaching people and making people comfortable, lower the standard, lower the standard, lower the rules, lower the rules, get it on down there so man can feel welcome. My friend, listen, if you don’t have a hunger for holiness, you’re not gonna like heaven. You’re just not gonna like heaven. We’ve got to understand in our hearts, God is holy.

Now what is holiness? Well, let me give you this working definition for our purposes today. Holy is that which is right and true in the highest sense. It’s what is right and what is true in the highest sense. Holy and holiness means to be set apart from all sin and corruption. It’s the state of being whole or pure or perfect, and that’s what this new heaven and earth’s gonna be: holy. It’s going to be set apart from everything that’s sinful and everything that is corrupt. It’s going to be a right place, or you could say a righteous place, a place of truth in the highest sense of right and truth. It’s pure. It’s whole, and it’s perfect in every way.

Now listen to me, child of God. When you trust Christ as your Lord and Savior, you, you were going in one direction with self on the throne of your life and pleasing self at the dictate of a philosophy of your life, and then when you received Christ you turned around and you began to make a quest toward holiness. And that’s why our churches should have godly standards and godly rules and godly convictions for membership and for leadership. Why? Because we are to be a holy people. We are the holy, called apart people in this present age. And then when we get to heaven, we’ll be cleaned up that much more and be more holy, actually holy in the perfect sense.

But that’s what this place is. It’s a new and holy place. Look at verse 5, if you will as we continue introducing this first main point. Says, “He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’” Now it’s interesting to me that He says to John, “Write.” And I believe what it means there is ole John’s just blown away. John’s seeing in a vision the glory, the majesty, and the holiness, and the perfection of that new heaven and new earth, and he just sort of in a daze. And God has to say, “John, hey! Write this down now, son. I know it’s awesome, but we need to get this recorded because the people of God are gonna need these truths through the ages, and particularly the people who live through the tribulation gonna need to know it all ends up good in the end. Hang on.”

Well, so He says, “John, write. These things are faithful and true.” When He said there in verse 5, “Behold, I am making all things new,” actually God is saying, “Look, perceive, understand what I’m gonna do when I’m finished with everything. Take a good look on it.” When He says, “I am making all things new,” He’s saying, “Look at what I’m accomplishing. Look at the end product that I’m gonna bring about.” And then when He says, “Behold, I am making all things new,” He means new there in the sense of new in character and recently made. It’s going to be a brand new place because it’s a brand new and holy place. Well, this present heaven and earth’s not holy, but that future heaven and earth is going to be holy.

Let’s look at two sub-points under it being a holy place. First of all, let’s notice it is a new creation without corruption. A new creation without corruption. We see that in verses 1 and 2. First of all it says, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.” That means again new in kind and in quality. It’s a new kind of heaven and earth. Not like this present heaven and earth. It’s totally different in every way, shape, and in every fashion. Um, what we need to understand is this present heaven and earth of for us, we’re just simply, chiefly concerned about the earth. This present earth has within it the resident elements of corruption inherent, or as a part of this old earth are corruptible elements. And even the elements God will use to judge and destroy this earth. But the new heaven and earth will not have this. You see, what we have now is a temporal creation. That’s what we have now. But Isaiah prophesied about this new earth that we’re gonna have that’s not designed to be temporal, and it’s not designed to be judged or destroyed.

Isaiah 65 verse 17, the prophet wrote, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.” And that’s hard to imagine. Matter of fact, you cannot imagine it, that everything we know about this old life and this old world is gonna be left behind. It’s all gonna be brand new. Isaiah 66 verse 22: “For just as the new heaven and the new earth, which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, “so your offspring and your name will endure.” Notice the emphasis. It will endure before Me. This old earth wasn’t made to endure forever. My friend, you’re, you’re actually sitting on a time bomb is what you’re sitting on. God designed this thing to explode and burn up when He wants to judge it. But the new earth will not be designed that way. It’s designed to endure for all eternity. What we’ll have when that is created is that new eternal state: a new heaven and a new earth without sin, without rebellion, and without sin’s curse. Second Peter chapter 3 verse 13 wrote about, Peter wrote about this. Peter said, “But according to His promise we are looking for a new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”

Now as we continue talking about this new creation that will not be corruptible, it’s not gonna be destroyed, I want you to look at a phrase, the last part of verse 1 there. This is an interesting phrase. The last phrase of verse 1 says, “And there is no longer any sea.” Now why is that significant? Why would God of all the particulars about the new earth, pick out one particular thing and say, “Hey, I want you to know something. The new earth will not have a sea.” Now it’s going to have the river of life, but as far as we know that’s the only water that will be on the whole earth. Why will it not have any sea or any oceans as we know it today?

Well, look back at Second Peter with me, and I think we get a key insight here. Second Peter chapter 3, look at verses 5 and 6. Second Peter 3 verses 5 and 6, just a few pages back to your left. He’s talking about the mockers and the false teachers, how they will mock the doctrine of the second coming mock, the doctrine of the new heaven and the new earth. And he says in verse 5, “For when they,” the false teachers, “maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago,” now watch this, “and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.” Now he says first of all, the substance of this present earth, the original earth, when God, if you look at Genesis chapter 1, we won’t take the time, but God, God created it as a ball, a mass of water. It was chiefly a watery substance. And then we know the Bible says He separated the land from the sea, brought the land up, and the seas went to their places and the land areas covered their predetermined, marked out places. And then God had all this water on the earth, and it was actually a water canopy that surrounded the earth. There was an atmosphere above the earth’s surface, then a water canopy. Then there were great chasms of water below the earth’s surface. Now, what’s the point? God said this, uh, Second Peter chapter 3 verse 6, “The world was destroyed with that water.” In other words, God says, “The water that I put on the present earth was there for destruction. It was there for judgment.” God created that first earth so that, so that within that first earth there were the resident forces of judgment. This earth is designed for judgment. This earth is designed for judgment. And in Noah’s day, He took the, the present, resident forces of the waters and used that to cover the earth and bring judgment in that day. Therefore, we’re gonna have a new heaven and a new earth that won’t need any seas. There won’t need to be any oceans because God’s not designing it to be destroyed. God’s not designing that new heaven and earth to be judged. Because there’ll be no sin in the new heaven and new earth. There’ll be no rebellion in the new heaven and in the new earth. And so it’s not composed of the elements of destruction and judgment that this first one needed to be composed of. There will never be judgment because it will never be needed.

Now a lot of folks want to say, “Well, there’s not gonna be a judgment because God’s a good guy.” Listen to me, friend. God is a good guy, therefore He must judge sin. Amen? Don’t you make God unjust. Don’t you make grace and mercy mean that God is somehow permissive about evil and rebellion and sin. No, my friend. It’s just that in the new heaven and new earth all sin’s been purged out. All rebellion will be gone, so there will never need to be a judgment. So the new earth does not need to have the resident forces of judgment and destruction in it. And I think that’s what He’s signifying when He points out that one specific thing in verse 1: “There’s no longer any sea.” Why? Because the water was there because God was gonna use it for judgment. But not in the new heaven, and not in the new earth.

Now look at verse 2. John’s watching this vision, and verse 2, he says, “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.” God says, “I’m gonna have a new earth,” and He said, “I’m gonna have to have a new city of Jerusalem.” You see the old city of Jerusalem just will not do in the new earth. God promised Israel that He would establish His throne in Jerusalem. Now that was true during the millennial kingdom, but it didn’t endure forever, and that’s what He promised. But in this new Jerusalem, that kingdom and that city will endure forever, and He’s gonna establish the throne there. Uh, matter of fact, the old Jerusalem is not going to work, and the old Jerusalem cannot be maintained because the old Jerusalem’s wicked. Matter of fact, in Revelation 11 verse 8 he said the old Jerusalem is Sodom. What’s he mean? It’s just full of corruption and full of wickedness. And the glorious and the key fact of verse 2 is that this new Jerusalem is one that’s coming down out of heaven. It’s a God-born, God-built city, not a man-born, or a man-built city. It’s a city built by God Himself.

Now you can go over to Jerusalem today if you’re brave enough, and you can look at that old city of Jerusalem and you find out that it’s anything but glorified. Today you might call it the horrified city, but not the glorified city ‘cause it’s just full of terrorism and crime and hatred all around it. The nation of Israel, you see, is in rebellion today. The nation of Israel is not trusting her Messiah today. She’s rejected God; she’s rejected God’s Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jerusalem does not know peace today. She’s ravaged by war with, with unceasing terrorism. And today she is indeed the horrified city, but not the glorified city. But that’s all going to change in the new earth. In the new earth, God’s going to send down a city from heaven, and it’s gonna be one of pristine purity, knowing no vileness, no wickedness, no crime, and no terrorism. The new Jerusalem is pure and beautiful, and she will be like a bride adorned for her husband.

Now there’s a lot of teaching in Walvoord, and I’ve got a lot of respect for his prophetic teaching, says that he believes this new Jerusalem was actually around during the millennial kingdom. It was a suspended, satellite city, if you will. It wasn’t on the earth during the millennial kingdom. It was up above the earth, and all of the redeemed saints of all the ages who had died and gone on to heaven will inhabit that city. And in a sense, that will be heaven for them until this new heaven and earth is created. So during the millennial kingdom, uh, Walvoord teaches that we live up there, those of us died and gone on, and we could just go down to earth and go back up into heaven and enjoy earth and enjoy heaven. And then after the end of the thousand year reign, God just sort of pulled that new Jerusalem back further from heaven and earth. He destroyed heaven and earth, and then He recreates a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells. And then He brings down that holy city, back down to planet earth. What a glorious thought that is.

“Well, Brother Jeff, is that the way it’s going to happen? Is that the way it’s all going to come about?” I don’t know. But let me give you one good cross reference. Look at Hebrews chapter 11. Would you turn there? Back to your left just a few pages. Hebrews chapter 11, and look at verses 8 through 10. Hebrews 11 verse 8: By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise, promise. Verse 10, here’s the verse: For he was looking for the city which has foundations whose architect and builder is God. I believe by faith Abraham was looking for the new Jerusalem. And all the saints of God, through all the ages have journeyed forward, not just looking for that old physical Jerusalem on this old corrupted, sinful earth that’s marred with terrorism and bomb holes and, ravagings and wars. No. They were looking for a new Jerusalem that wasn’t built by man’s hands, but one that’s built by the very hand of Almighty God. And that’s the one that’s coming down to the new earth in Revelation chapter 21.

Well, we see it’s a, it’s a, or rather it’s a holy place. Why? Because it’s a creation without corruption. This new earth will not have the corrupting forces within it. It was not designed for judgment or destruction. It’s a brand new earth of a brand new kind. It’s a holy place. But not only is it holy because it’s a creation without corruption, but secondly, it’s a holy place because it’s a society without sinners. It’s a society without sinners. The only people that will be present will be the saints of God. It’s a society without sinners.

Now friend, let me talk with you for just a moment about the difference between saints and sinners. Here. A saint is a person who still may sin unfortunately, but sin is not his goal or his purpose or his pattern in his life. If you’re saved, you’re a saint of God. Now we know the Roman church, uh, christen certain people as saints or appoint certain people as saints. But the Bible says if you’re saved you’re a saint. You’re viewed by God as a holy one of God. Matter of fact, that word saint just means a holy one. It means you’re set apart from the sin and the unholiness of the world to honor God and to live for God and to represent God in this earth. You still do sin unfortunately; I still do sin unfortunately. But it’s not our nature to sin and should not be the pattern of our lives to walk in sin. All right?

Now a sinner is different. A sinner is someone whose nature is to sin. Their nature is to rebel. Their nature is to serve self. Their nature is to honor themselves. They may be religious. They may be Baptist. They may be baptized. They may be moral. They may be upstanding. They may be respectable. They may be good neighbors. But they’re not saints. Their nature is a sinner, and they live for self and they use religion for the ends of self and the gratification of self or the advancement of self if they’re religious at all, and many of them are. So we’re talking about a society that is absent of anyone who is not born of God. All those who are not born of God will be excluded from this society.

Look at it there in verse 8 if you will. Well, let me give you verse 7 just to get the flow and the context. It says, “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.” So first of all in verse 7 He says the overcomers are gonna inherit the new heaven and the new earth. Then there’s a different group that won’t be there, and that’s what we see in verse 8. “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death.” So in verse 7 we have the overcomers. Hey, are you saved this morning? You’re an overcomer. There are no saved people who are not overcomers. I mean if you’re an overcomer, you’re saved. If you’re a saint you’re an overcomer. All right? You have the overcomers of verse 7, then you have the sinners of verse 8 because there’s a different nature in both of them. And these sinners as listed in verse 8, by the way this isn’t the whole catalog of sinners. It’s just some representative categories of sinners. But nevertheless, instead of these sinners being an overcomer, now listen, by placing faith in Jesus, now listen to what I’m going to tell you, when you place faith in Jesus it doesn’t mean easy believes where as I just believe He died on the cross because I don’t want to go to hell one day. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. When you place faith in Jesus it means this: I’m placing faith in Jesus that He is the One necessary for my sin problem, and the only one that can rid me of my sin problem. And secondly, I’m at the same time placing faith in Him that He is the only wise Lord or guide for my life from this point onward. Amen? That means you place your faith in God’s Word to lead your life, your conduct, your home, your business, your finances, your raising of your children, the church you choose, and the church you serve in. You go to the Word, by faith place your trust in God’s revealed word. And as you walk in that faith, you are an overcomer. That is normal Christianity. That’s what it means. Not an easy believism where, “Well, one day I walked the aisle and prayed the sinner’s prayer.” Folks, I’m gonna tell you, hell will be full of folks who prayed the sinner’s prayer because they’re not overcomers. They’ve never received the new nature. And the new nature propels you to walk in overcoming victory. And we’ll talk more about the overcomers in just a moment.

So these sinners of verse 8, instead of placing their faith and trust in Christ, lived in the fear of man. Instead of fearing or reverencing God and His Savior that He sent, Jesus, they fear and reverence man. They want to know what does man think. They want to know what does man desire. They want to know what makes me popular, what makes me happy, what makes me pleasurable, what does this earth have for me. That’s the fear of man, respecting man and not respecting God. Proverbs 29 verse 25 says, “The fear of man brings a snare, but He who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.” Isn’t that what Revelation 21 is telling us? All of those who put their faith and trust, that means fear of man, respect of man, they’re gonna be in the lake of fire. But those who put their faith and trust in the Lord, they’re exalted in the new earth and in the new heavens.

Well, during the tribulation period, the period that was before the thousand year reign, and I believe, by the way, the book of Revelation will have a special meaning for those who go through the tribulation because as they go through the tribulation, they’ll just be able to turn through Revelation and find out what’s coming tomorrow. I mean because it lays it all out, and it will be a special encouragement to those because they will endure persecutions and sufferings for their faith like most of us know nothing about. But I would remind you, church, that today as we sit here, there are brothers and sisters in Christ around the world being martyred for their faith. It’s happening today. It’s presently not happening in America. Thank God. But it’s happening around the world today, not in the numbers that it will happen in, uh, as far as the tribulation period. But it is happening today. But those dear saints who go through the tribulation will be overcomers. They will not succumb to the pressures of the Antichrist and of this world. But these listed in verse 8, these cowardly and unbelievers, and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and liars, these are the ones who succumb to the pressure and the intimidation of the world, and particular for those tribulation saints, the intimidation of the Antichrist himself. So in cowardice they bow to the pressure. In cowardice they, were intimidated. And in cowardice they refuse to believe God’s Word and place faith and trust in Jesus Christ. They trusted in what they could see with their eyes. They trusted in what they heard with their ears. They trusted in their feelings, not in truth.

Now let’s look at some of these folks. Here they are listed in verse 8. Generally, they’re all cowardly because they chose under the pressure to not be courageous and trust Jesus and to walk with this world. But he lists some specifics there. First of all, abominable. This word abominable means, uh, defiled by immoralities. That won’t, that’s the classic mark of a man that goes on after seasons of time in rejecting Christ, in rebellion against God. Their lives tend to be defiled and marked by immoralities. That word abominable is the same, uh, the Hebrew equivalent in the Old Testament is used in Leviticus 18:22. Leviticus 18:22 says homosexuality is an abomination. So these, this is a pattern, or, or something you generally find in an unbeliever, immoralities.

Also he calls them murderers. And I think this has particular reference to the tribulation period because there will be such a, holocaust, if you will, a murderous slaughter of believers during that season of time. But don’t we have the same principle working in this present world that we live in today? You and I live in a culture of death. We live in a culture that promotes the killing of unborn children in abortion. And that’s not enough. And, and, and some thinking wise and godly men said years ago if you begin to justify and put a stamp of approval on killing unborn children, it will not be long before newly born children can be killed under certain circumstances. And now we have partial birth abortion, which is just four-fifths infanticide. And, and there’s actually been documented records, over and over again, little babies born whose parents didn’t want them, maybe the saline abortion did not work, but the baby was birthed alive. And they throw it in a canister that’s air tight and let the baby die. WE live in a culture of murderers. It’s a culture of death.

And then infanticide’s starting to creep its way in, and it’s already being accepted in some quarters and some place. You go to China today, infanticide is widely practiced. And then that domino falls and hit euthanasia, and we’re, we’re seeing the killing of the elderly and taking of the lives of the elderly because they’re no longer fit to contribute to society. And then all the way up to the point to where in rebellion against God, now listen to what I’m about to tell you, an age is coming, the Bible teaches, when people will actually believe they’re honoring God and doing service to God to kill true believers. They will believe Christians, real believers, are the problem and the plague of the earth. And the only way to get earth where it ought to be is to get rid of those believers. Now these folks are gonna call themselves Christians. They’re gonna go to church, and they’re gonna say they’re serving God.

Matter of fact, listen to some verses. Matthew 24 verse 9, “Then they will deliver you to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name.” What an incredible thing. Look at, listen to John 16 verse 2. “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue,” now listen to this, “but an hour is coming, for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.” Did you see that? So lest you think somewhere down the road you’re going to be, there’s gonna be a season of time, rather, where people are running for their lives just because they’re believers, and all these people are gonna saying, “I’m of Satan and I hate Christians.” No. These people will be saying, I’m of God, and I’m a Christian. That’s why I’m killing this troublemaker.” They’re gonna do it in the name of God. They’re gonna say, “We’re doing service to God by destroying these Christians.” Listen to me, brother and sister in Christ. If you’re living for God and you’re filled with the Spirit and you’re honoring God’s Word in your life, probably the most vicious ridicule and persecution you will ever receive is from those who claim to be fellow Christians. Matter of fact, I get almost no trouble out of the unbelieving world. It’s the professing believers that do the ridiculing and the running down and the slandering of the true people of God. Well, that’s gonna be true through the ages. And, and this concept of death and this culture of death and murderers, and murdering. All of those people will be cast out into the lake of fire.

Then he goes on to say in verse 8, “And all liars. And all liars.” You see, rejecting Christ, which is in effect calling Christ a fraud, and not admitting to His, the truth that He is Lord and God and Savior, that’s a lie in itself. And so people live a lie. Anyway, all of these folks will not have a part in the eternal state of the new heavens and the new earth. They will go, now listen to me, they text says they’re gonna go to hell. They’re gonna go to the lake of fire and brimstone. You might say, “You know, why would a loving God throw anyone into hell?” God’s not throwing anyone into hell. They’re going where they desire to go. They don’t want Jesus. Amen? They reject Jesus. They do not want truth. They do not want holiness. And so there’s only one place left. If you don’t like Jesus, and you don’t want truth, and you don’t want holiness, and you don’t want righteousness, there’s only one place left: hell. They’re going where they chose and desired to God. And God pleaded with them, and God offered them, and God gave them Christ, and God told them to repent and believe. But they rejected that, and chose their own eternal future destiny.

Well, it’s a holy place, the text says, because it’s going to be a creation without corruption. It’s also a holy place because it’s going to be a society without sinners. No sinners will be there in that new heaven and that new earth. Now former sinners will be. Amen? But those who are born again of God, given a new nature, and became saints of God, they’ll be the ones who will be there.

Well, praise the Lord, not only gonna be a holy place, but something that ties into holiness. You can’t separate these two main points. Something that ties into holiness is happiness. It’s going to be a happy place. My friend, listen to me. You can’t truly be happy unless you walk with God. You can’t truly know happiness unless you walk with God. And the text tells us it is going to be one more happy place.

First of all, it’s going to be happy because of the nearness of God. We’re gonna be close to our Lord there in heaven. And that makes a child of God happy. Look if you will at verse 3. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying… By the way, this is the last of twenty-one times John hears a loud voice. John says, “I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold the tabernacle, the dwelling place of God, that is, is among men, and He will dwell among them and they shall be His people and God Himself will be among them.’” God Himself will be among us in that new earth. And God is the source of true happiness. The nearness of God is what makes a man truly happy.

Now in this former earth, this present earth when God came among men, first HE came as, as, as a, a sin-bearing Redeemer. That’s when He came the first time, two thousand years ago as a sin-bearing Redeemer. The second time HE comes into this world, He’ll come as a sin-judging Ruler. But all that’s gonna pass away. There’s no need for that now. There’s no sin here in this new earth. There’s no sin to atone for. There will be no sin to judge. God, in holiness and in righteousness, dwells among men. We now share His same nature.

You see, today Christ dwells within men, but on this day He will dwell among men. AS you walk through this world today, Christ lives in you. But in that day, He’s gonna be all around you and in you. Just gonna be a dwelling with God. Knowing God and dwelling with God and dwelling in His presence will as common and normal as fellowshipping with one’s family is today. Verse 3 says, “They shall be His people.”

Now think about when God came to His chosen people, Israel, in the Old Testament. God came down, God told Moses to come up on Mount Sinai, and Moses was to come on Mount Sinai. All the other people were to stay back. And as God gave the law of God, His holy law to Moses, what happened, smoke and darkness descended upon the mountain. The lightning flashed, and the thunder rolled. Why? Because man was sinful, and in a very true sense, they were not His true people, not as they’re going to be. Matter of fact, Moses had to be hidden in the cleft of the rock when God passed by. God put him in a crack in the rock and put His hand over it because Moses could not see the presence of God and live. And then when Jesus came among men on this earth to redeem us, what did He do? He had to veil His glory. None of His glory shone out. Some of it did on the Mount of Transfiguration. Some of it did after His resurrection, but not in the truest sense. Why? Because man could not dwell in that kind of holiness and that kind of glory. But on this day, on this day, in the new heaven and in the new earth we’ll be basking in the light and in the glory of His law and His presence. Now, I think sometimes in our flesh the notion is, when we get to this new heaven and this new earth, it’s going to be just whatever we want to do. Well, friend, everything you want to do will be in keeping with God’s laws. God’s law will be there just like His law is on earth now except you will fully and wholly and one hundred percent love His law and want to perform His law. And that’s what will make you happy. You breaking God’s law never makes anyone happy. Getting away with being a lawbreaker never makes anyone happy. Being a transgressor never makes anyone happy. Being near God and walking in His law makes men happy. And that’s why we’re gonna be happy because of the nearness of God.

But also, he says very beautifully and very preciously in the text, not only is it a happy place because of the nearness of God, it is a happy place because of the absence of all sorrow. The absence of all sorrow. Look at verse 4. And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will no longer be any death, there will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain; the first things have passed away. Now the text points out that He’s gonna wipe away every tear. Now it doesn’t say He’s just gonna wipe tears away. It means God goes to the trouble, which actually is no trouble for Him at all, of removing the cause of every single tear you could ever weep. It’s all removed. It’s all gone. You see, we have tears down here in this present earth because of limited understanding. Let me say that again. All of our tears that we have down here on this earth is due to limited understanding. You see, to see and understand as God sees and understands is something we cannot do at this time. That’s why we walk in faith. We can’t see the end as God sees the end. We do not understand how all things work together for good as God sees how all things work together for the good. So by faith we continue to trust God and live by His Word. WE walk in faith, but then we’ll walk by sight. And God makes no mistakes. His ways are perfect. Everything that happens in your life, and everything that happens in my life is a part of His sovereign plan to work out His perfect ends, and we just can’t see that today. And so there are tears. And our tears are due to the inability to see and understand the perfect end that He is achieving with all the heartaches, the disappointments, the pain, and the sorrow we experience in our lives.

Now listen to what I’m about to tell you. Even the awareness of those in hell cannot diminish our happiness in the new earth. You see, we will understand on that day as God understands. We will understand the perfect justice of God and how it has been exercised. And God doesn’t weep. God doesn’t grieve. God doesn’t have pain over that reality, and neither will we. We will be completely satisfied in God’s perfect plan.

Well, in verse 4 he says, the last phrase of verse 4, “the first things have passed away.” Well, John, what do you mean the first things are passed away? The tears are passed away. The mourning is passed away. The crying is passed away. The pain is passed away. All these will perish with the destruction of the first heaven and the first earth. Sin is not present, so tears are not present. Sin is not present, so mourning is not present. Sin is not present, so crying is not present. Sin is not present, so pain is not present. But God is present, and the Bible says, “In His presence is fullness of joy.” Well, amen and amen.

Well, let’s conclude looking at verse 6. Would you look there with me? Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. And I will give to the one who thirsts from the springs of the water of life without cost.” It is done. What does that mean? It means, “I have completed my perfect plan for the ages. I have now established the glorious, eternal state. I have executed the perfect… (end of side one.) …redemption of My elect children, and the judgment of My justly judged enemies.” He says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” That means He is the sum and the substance of all things. Alpha’s the first letter in the alphabet. Omega’s the last word. It means, it, listen. He says, “It all began with Me, and it’s all gonna end with Me.” Listen, my friend, I don’t care what you think about God and how you reverence God or how you view God. God began it all, and He’s gonna end it all His way. And I would call you to repent today and trust Him as your Lord and Savior, casting your care and your life on Him, trusting Him to lead you for the rest of your days because your end is going to be the way He determines. It would be good to get in on His team today.

The last part of verse 6 there, He says, “I will give to the one who thirsts from the water, or from the springs of the water of life, without cost.” Well, who are those who are thirsty? They’re the ones who thirst for God, who thirst for His redemption, who thirst for His glory. They’re the thirsty. They’re the ones that with the world and all its allurements, all of its promises, and all of its pleasures could not satisfy their thirst. They were thirsty for the true and the living God. Those who thirsted after this world will be dissatisfied for all eternity. They were never truly satisfied in this life, and they will forever be longing in the next life. But the saved, the redeemed of the Lord, these thirsted for God and for His truth. And they will be satisfied. Now I’m convinced it’s not this water that satisfies. God Himself and His presence is what satisfies. The water just sustains us so that we can for all eternity be satisfied with the nearness of our God.

Now look at verse 7 right quick. He says, “And he who overcomes will inherit these things.” Now the word overcomes there means to conquer or prevail. Now to be an overcomer does not mean you are perfect. It does not mean you never fall back, but it means if you look at your life over the whole span you’ll find out you kept prevailing. You kept persevering. You kept seeking after God. You kept hungering after God. You didn’t fall headlong and go in another direction. And actually that word overcomes is in the present active tense, which literally you could translate it, “He keeps on overcoming.”

Isn’t that the way it is as a child of God? You know it’s been my experience. I thought, ‘Boy, after I conquered that temptation, after I conquered that trial, man, it’s gonna be smooth sailing now.” Then another mountain comes. Then you battle that one, and you slip a little bit, you strain a little bit, you fail a little bit, but you trust God. You get back up, and God gets you through that one. Then you face another mountain, and then you strain and you struggle and you fall and you falter, and you get back up and you go on for God. And that one’s conquered. That means an overcomer means he just continues overcoming. Falls down, but gets up. Slips back but goes forward. He’s an overcomer. And those are the ones who will inherit the kingdom of God. Those are the ones who get to drink from the waters of that spring of life without cost.

First John chapter 5 verse 4 says, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.” So he says, now listen, “You don’t go out trying to overcome the world, to be born of God. No, those who are born of God overcome the world.” The birthing of God in your heart comes first. The birthing of the new life in you comes first. Then you begin to walk as an overcomer.

First John 5:3 says, “His commandments are not burdensome.” In other words, those who are born of God, they walk in faith trusting God’s commands. Listen. If you’re gonna trust the Word of God and His commandments, you’re gonna have to have faith because in your human intellect, you’re not gonna, you’re gonna not be able to perceive how it all works out and how it’s best. You’re gonna have to place faith in God. And when you’re born of God, there is energized within you a love for God and a passion to honor His commandments. That’s why they’re not burdensome. You know why some folks, day after day, week after week, year after year, find God’s word burdensome, find God’s commandments burdensome, find the standards of holiness in the church burdensome, they’re not born of God. If you’re born of God, His commandments are not burdensome. Now it doesn’t mean you can do them all. Doesn’t mean there’s no struggles. But it means in your heart of hearts you say, “God’s word is right. God, help me to walk in Your Word. Help me to honor Your Word. Help me to live for Your Word.” That is an overcomer.

And over and over and over again, the tribulation churches were called, or were challenged to be an overcomer. The church at Ephesus, he said, “Be an overcomer,” in 2:17. IN Revelation 2:10 the church at Smyrna. Uh, Revelation 2:17 the church at Pergamum, and Revelation 2:26 the church at Thyatira. In Revelation 3:5 the church at Sardis. Revelation 3:12 the church at Philadelphia. And Revelation 3:2 the church at Laodicea. What did He say? “Overcome. He who overcomes will inherit these things.”

“Pastor, how do I know I’m going to be in that eternal state? How do I know if I’m going to live there forever?” Do you see that spirit and that heart attitude and that pattern of overcoming in your life? Or do you see a rebellious spirit and a self-centered spirit and a judgmental spirit and a wanting to throw off the standards of God and the law of God in your life all the time? Then you need to repent, ask God to forgive, you and trust Christ, be born of God, and become an overcomer.

Well, there’s a new heaven and a new earth coming. I’m going there. I’m going to be there. I hope you can go there too. And you can go if you trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Let’s stand together.