{"id":19018,"date":"2020-01-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-26T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/revelation-069-there-is-a-new-world-coming\/"},"modified":"2020-01-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-26T06:00:00","slug":"revelation-069-there-is-a-new-world-coming","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/revelation-069-there-is-a-new-world-coming\/","title":{"rendered":"Revelation 069 – There Is a New World Coming"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[111],"series_event":[490],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19018","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-revelation","series_event-revelation","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Revelation 069 - There Is a New World Coming","sermon_date":"20200126","sermon_month":"1","sermon_year":"2020","sermon_notes":7490,"sermon_slides":7489,"sermon_mp3":7492,"sermon_id":"126201336253668","series_or_event":490,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":111,"chapter_and_verse":"21:4-8","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nThere Is A New World Coming\n\nRevelation 21:4-8\n\nLesson 69\n\nGood morning everybody.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take our Bibles and open them to the second to last chapter in the Bible, the Book of Revelation, chapter 21 and verse 4, seeing if we could look at this morning verses 4-8. \u00a0The title of this message is not a title that originated with me, it was a title of a commentary on the Book of Revelation that I read as a fairly unchristian and the title of the commentary is There Is \u00a0A New World Coming<\/em>.\u00a0 And that\u2019s exactly what we see happening here at the end of the Book of Revelation, there\u2019s a new world coming.\u00a0 Do you believe that?\u00a0 There\u2019s a better world coming and it\u2019s so easy to get sort of despondent about the course of the present world and we forget very fast that the things that are happening today are very, very temporary.\u00a0 God has something in store where He\u2019s going to bring in things as He intended.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what we\u2019re seeing here in Revelation 21.\n\nIf you\u2019ve been tracking with us in our series on the Book of Revelation we have finished all of those terrible judgments that God is using to evict Satan from planet earth.\u00a0 That seven year time period ends with the personal return of Jesus Christ to the earth to establish His long awaited kingdom.\u00a0 And then what?\u00a0 The Book of Revelation doesn\u2019t end there, it describes four events that will happen after Jesus comes back to the earth.\u00a0 The first is the thousand year kingdom, which we\u2019ve studied.\u00a0 The second is\u2026 I\u2019m glad we\u2019re finished with that part anyway, the Great White Throne Judgment.\u00a0 We just heard from some missionaries, that\u2019s why missionaries are necessary because if people around the world don\u2019t hear the gospel that\u2019s their prospect, they will stand at that Great White Throne Judgment.\u00a0 And so we talked about that sort of as an impetus for missionary activity.\n\nAnd then what follows after that is the destruction of this earth, we saw a little bit of that last week and it\u2019s replacement by a new heavens and a new earth.\u00a0 So here are the three parts of the Book of Revelation yet to come in our study: we have a description of the New Heavens and New Earth, verses 1-8, hopefully finishing that today.\u00a0 And then beginning next week we will see the eternal city, the New Jerusalem which will be part of that new heavens and new earth beginning three in verse 9 of chapter 21, going all the way to chapter 22 and verse 5.\u00a0 And then the Book will conclude with an epilogue, sort of some thoughts that tie everything together.\n\nBut notice Revelation 21:4, we\u2019ve been talking about this new heavens and new earth.\u00a0 Last week we saw it\u2019s a new creation.\u00a0 And that new creation is going to be marked by the defense of an eternal city.\u00a0 You see that there in Revelation 21:2, and it will probably look something like that, look at that.\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 And last week we talked about\u2026 I had a different picture on there, remember, it had am ocean on it and I said well that\u2019s not quite theologically accurate because John says \u201cI saw no sea.\u201d\u00a0 So Pastor Jim went to work, without even being asked, and put together a different one without any visible ocean so we can be absolutely biblically correct.\u00a0 But that is the city which I think exists now in heaven which will descend to this earth one day.\u00a0 And we\u2019re going to get a tremendous description of that city later on in our chapter, most likely for next week.\u00a0\u00a0 And then we saw a new fellowship, verse 3, where the tabernacle of God has now come amongst men walking in fellowship with God; the potential for sin is over.\u00a0 And there\u2019s nothing left for us to do but to enjoy unbroken, unhindered fellowship with God throughout the ages.\n\nAnd then we move this morning into a new order; we see verse 4 the old order passing away to be replaced by a new order, verse 5.\u00a0 Notice if you will Revelation 21 and verse 4.\u00a0 \u201cHe 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.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 One of the things to understand about sin is sin always has a price tag.\u00a0 Romans 6:23 says, \u201cFor the wages,\u201d that\u2019s a cost isn\u2019t it, \u201cFor the wages of sin is\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201cis death.\u201d\u00a0 And this is where Satan is so good at getting our eyes off of the cost and instead onto the short term benefits of sin.\u00a0 Yes, you heard that right, there is a passing pleasure associated with sin.\n\nMoses forsook that, he decided to suffer ill treatment with his people rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.\u00a0 Hebrews 11:25.\u00a0 {Hebrews 11:25, \u201cchoosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 Satan is very good at getting us focused on those passing pleasures but what he doesn\u2019t tell you is the long term consequences, the cost, the price.\u00a0 This goes back to Genesis 3:6 in Eden, it says, \u201cWhen the woman\u201d that\u2019s Eve, \u201csaw that the tree was good for food and it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, good, delight, desirable to make one<\/em> wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.\u201d\u00a0 The furthest thing from their minds is the price tag that\u2019s coming.\u00a0 Even a price that would be exacted by God\u2019s only son to reverse that situation.\u00a0 The serpent just got their eyes focused on the short term pleasures.\n\nBut we\u2019re coming into a world now after the Lord returns, Revelation 21, where sin won\u2019t even be a potentiality, it won\u2019t even be a possibility.\u00a0 And if sin is no longer a possibility then neither are the terrible consequences or the price tag associated with sin.\u00a0 What kinds of consequences?\u00a0\u00a0 Number one, tears.\u00a0 Number two, death.\u00a0 Number three, mourning.\u00a0 Number four, crying.\u00a0 And number five, pain.\u00a0 Think about all of the tears and mourning and crying that has taken place since Adam\u2019s fall in Eden because of the price tag of sin.\u00a0 It mentions there death.\u00a0 You know, it\u2019s interesting, God is very clear at the beginning, Genesis 2:17, He said to our forbearers, \u201cbut from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.\u201d\n\nThey died spiritually that very day and they began to die physically and consequently the Bible says, Hebrews 9:27, \u201cIt is appointed once for a man to die and after this comes the judgment.\u201d\u00a0 The interesting thing about death is it doesn\u2019t respect persons.\u00a0 Have you noticed that?\u00a0 It treats us all equally.\u00a0 And that terrible process of death began to manifest itself, you don\u2019t have to get far in the Bible to see this, the fall of man happened in Genesis 3 and then you go to Genesis 5 and it says, \u201cSo all the days of Adam were nine hundred and thirty years and he died.\u201d\u00a0 All the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years and he died.\u00a0 All the days of Enoch which were nine hundred and five years and he died.\u00a0\u00a0 So all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.\u00a0 All the days of Mahalalel say that five times fast, were eight hundred and ninety-five years and he died.\u00a0 So all the days of Jerod were nine hundred and sixty-two years and he died.\u00a0 And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years and he died.\u00a0 I think I\u2019m seeing a pattern here.\u00a0 All the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years and he died.\u201d\n\nWhat a depressing chapter.\u00a0 The only bright spot is Genesis 5:24, \u201cEnoch walked with God and he was not for the LORD took him.\u201d\u00a0 Wow!\u00a0 So somebody in that generation didn\u2019t experience death.\n\nAnd what does the Lord say about us?\u00a0 A hope of His return in an event called the rapture; \u201cwe will not all sleep\u201d Paul says, \u201cbut we will be changed.\u201d\u00a0 [\u201cBehold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,\u201d 1 Corinthians 15:21]\u00a0 In the moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet\u201d\u00a0 Maybe we\u2019re that generation.\u00a0\u00a0 Maybe we\u2019re just like Enoch, where we\u2019re going to be exempted from the prospect of death.\u00a0 I can\u2019t personally guarantee that, I wish I could guarantee that.\u00a0 But there is a generation out there that will not experience death, Enoch sort of being a type of that future generation.\n\nBut other than those few bright spots we\u2019re living in a world with death in it all the time, even in this own congregation and fellowship the people that were once among us that re now departed, deceased and in the presence the presence of the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0 But think of a world where there\u2019s no sin in it and therefore there can\u2019t be any consequences of sin, there can\u2019t be death any longer, there can\u2019t even be pain.\n\nIt\u2019s interesting what God said to our forbearers when they sinned in Genesis 3:16. He talks about pain that would come.\u00a0 \u201cUnto the woman He said, \u2018I will greatly multiply your pain and in thy conception\u201d or child birth, every female in here that\u2019s borne children know exactly what this is talking about.\u00a0 It says, \u201c\u2026In pain you will bring forth children\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 [Genesis 3:16, \u201cTo the woman He said, \u2018I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.\u2019\u201d]\n\nI don\u2019t even think it\u2019s necessarily talking about the physical pain of childbirth, it includes that but \u00a0this is the pain of rearing children and having children be a disappointment to you.\u00a0 Just like were a disappointment in many ways to our parents and all of the sort of emotional burden that involved, now pain and heartbreak is now part of daily life because of sin.\u00a0 And yet there\u2019s coming\u00a0 world with no pain in it.\u00a0 God said to our forbearers in Eden,\u00a0 \u201cThorns and thistles it shall bring forth,\u201d your life now as \u00a0you eke out a living will be characterized by thorns and thistles.\u00a0 I know this much about thorns, that they hurt.\u00a0 The pain of normal life being erased because sin is now a distant memory.\u00a0 That\u2019s the world that\u2019s coming.\n\nI like what Stephen Lawson says in his book, \u201cHeaven Help Us\u201d as he is describing these last two chapters of the Bible.\u00a0 He says, \u201cThere will be no more funeral homes, no more hospitals, no abortion clinics, no divorce courts, not brothels, no bankruptcy courts, no psychiatric wards, no treatment centers, there will be no pornography, no teen suicide, no aids, no cancer, no talk shows he says, I might miss that a little bit.\u00a0 No rape, no missing children, no drug problems, no drive by shootings, no racial tension, no prejudice, there will be no misunderstanding, no injustice, no depression, no hurtful words, no gossip, no hurt feelings, no emptiness, no child abuse, there will be no wars, no financial worries, no emotional headaches, no physical pain, no spiritual flatness, no relational divisions, no murders, there will be no tears, there will be no suffering, no separations, no starvation, no arguments, no accidents, no emergency departments, no doctors, no nurses, no heart monitors, no rust, no perplexing questions, no false teachers, no financial shortages, no hurricanes, no bad habits, no decay, no locks,\u201d (I like that).\u00a0 We will never need to confess sin, we will never need to apologize again, never need to straighten out a strange relationship, never have to resist Satan again, never have to resist temptation.\n\nThere\u2019s a better world coming, isn\u2019t there.\u00a0 That\u2019s the hope of the Christian.\u00a0 He speaks here about how the\u00a0 first order of things, the end of verse four, has passed away.\u00a0 [Revelation 21:4, \u201cand 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.\u201d] What is the first order of things?\u00a0 It is what in our world is considered normal because of the fall in Eden living in a post fall world.\u00a0 And even many of the songs that we sing in church, sometimes even with the kids singing \u201cThis is my Father\u2019s world,\u201d are we sure about that one?\u00a0 I\u2019m not completely sure this is the Father\u2019s world; it\u2019s certainly God\u2019s creation but it obviously has been tremendously marred from God\u2019s original design.\u00a0 And think if that design was set right; that\u2019s what you have in Revelation 21 and 22.\n\nYou say well can you teach on something a little bit more practical?\u00a0 Let me tell you how practical this is.\u00a0 When\u00a0 you evangelize, and by the way you\u2019re biblically commanded to do that, the number one question that you\u2019ll get from unbelievers is well, you\u2019re talking about this God of love and my spouse just died of cancer or my child or grandchild just got his in the crosswalk by a drunk driver.\u00a0 What do you mean a God of love!\u00a0 \u00a0The reality of the situation we actually have an answer to that.\u00a0 The answer is very simple; the answer is the world that we are experiencing today is not the way God designed it because you see many people today are angry at God and they\u2019re angry at God because some problem, some infirmity, some adversity, some difficulty has come into their life and they don\u2019t know who to blame other than God.\u00a0 And so they stay away from God.\n\nAnd the very simple answer to that issue is today is an abnormality.\u00a0 Genesis 3 all the way through Revelation 19, even into chapter 20, is an abnormality.\u00a0 What is happening today is not normal; it\u2019s not what God intended.\u00a0 You say well what is normal?\u00a0 Normal is Genesis 1 and 2, before the fall of man.\u00a0 Normal is Revelation 21 and 22.\u00a0 And so the story of the Bible is from a garden to a city with a cross in between and Jesus doing everything possible to step out of eternity into time to redeem us from our abnormalities.\n\nAnd if your life your life with that sort of belief system, the world system can throw all kinds of things at you but it cannot destroy hope because you realize that everything that\u2019s happening today is an abnormality that God really never intended; in fact, God has a whole design in mind where He\u2019s going to restore everything back to how it was.\u00a0 See this even will help you with hope in daily life, it will help you with evangelism.\u00a0 And how many people today with all of the problems that they\u2019re experience simply numb their problems through chemicals, chemicals of pleasantry, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, seeking after pleasure, anything to numb the pain.\u00a0 And yet the Christian can live in a world like this even with its pain and endure it because we understand that it\u2019s just temporary.\n\nYou know,\u00a0 you throw\u00a0 out the Bible, which is what I call [can't understand word], you throw the world biblical view and you\u2019ve just cut the cord on hope, that\u2019s what you\u2019ve done.\u00a0 And we have this generation of very depressed people today, young people coming up, they don\u2019t know how to cope with circumstances.\u00a0 How should they cope, the don\u2019t know how to cope, you can\u2019t expect them to cope when you cut the cord on this Book.\u00a0 It\u2019s only in this Book that you understand what normal is versus what abnormality is, hope, walking with hope, walking with optimism.\n\nHe continues on, not only talking about the old order that passes now John begins to see in his vision the new order that comes.\u00a0 And notice, if you will, verse 5.\u00a0 Notice what he says: \u201cAnd he who sits on the throne said, \u2018Behold, I am making all things new. And He said, \u2018Write, for these words are faithful and true.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 God\u2019s specialty, the title of last week\u2019s message, is making all things new.\u00a0 In fact, if you are in Christ this morning by way of faith you are, according to the Word of God, a new creature in Christ Jesus.\u00a0 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, \u201cTherefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.\u201d\u00a0 And since we are new creatures in Christ Jesus why would God leave us in a world that doesn\u2019t fit who we are?\u00a0 So just as we are new \u201cin Christ,\u201d His end game is to bring us into a new heavens and new earth to fit who we are, to fit our position in Christ.\n\nAnd John is seeing these things, verse 5, and he is told to write them down.\u00a0 John, going all the way back to Revelation 1:11 was told this: \u201cWrite in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: [to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.\u201d\u00a0 And John may have thought what an insignificant task that is.\u00a0 And yet if John had not done what God called him to do we wouldn\u2019t even be having this Bible study, would we?\u00a0 Because John did a very simple thing by way of obedience; his life was used by God to trans generationally bless God\u2019s people.\n\nThose are the kind of people that I think about when I read the great books of the Bible.\u00a0 I think of Phoebe; it says this if Phoebe in Romans 16:1, \u201cI commend to you our sister Phoebe, [who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea;]\u201d\u2019\u00a0 Who was Phoebe?\u00a0 She delivers the Book of Romans from Corinth to the church at Rome.\u00a0 What about Tertius, we know about Paul, don\u2019t we.\u00a0 Have you ever heard any Bible study by Tertius?\u00a0 We don\u2019t even know he\u2019s in the Bible.\u00a0 We know about Paul, don\u2019t we?\u00a0 Have you ever heard any Bible studies on Tertius?\u00a0 Most people don\u2019t even know he\u2019s in the Bible.\u00a0 But there is in Romans 16:22, \u201cI, Tertius, who write this epistle, salute you in the Lord.\u201d\n\nThe word used Paul the Lord revealed the great majestic truth of the Book of Romans to Paul but if you don\u2019t have a Tertius who acts as a scribe and writes it down and if you don\u2019t have a Phoebe who delivers the letter, you don\u2019t have a Book of Romans.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t have a Book of Romans you don\u2019t have the Protestant Reformation that happened in the 16th<\/sup> century.\u00a0 You think little old Tertius and little old Phoebe could ever contemplate how God was going to use them doing something small for Him to trans generationally bless the world.\u00a0 I don\u2019t even know if John understood what was happening.\u00a0 He just did what God told him.\n\nThe application to this is there\u2019s a lot of us that God says to do something, it could be very small, it could be very anonymous, no one could even know you\u2019re doing it but God says do it.\u00a0 And you have no idea what one little step of obedience is going to do because God doesn\u2019t show you the big picture necessarily.\u00a0 When you die and get to heaven you\u2019ll see it, you\u2019ll say Oh Lord, how foolish of me to think that the task was beneath me or to second guess you.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s very significant that John is just doing what God told him to do, God says write and he\u2019s writing what he sees in this vision.\n\nNow why write it down?\u00a0 Notice what it says in verse 5, \u201cFor these words are faithful and true.\u201d\u00a0 You might recall Revelation 19:9, it says the same thing, \u201cThese are true words.\u201d\u00a0 These things are going to happen.\u00a0 I\u2019m reminded of 2 Peter, (come join us Wednesday nights we\u2019re going through 2 Peter.)\u00a0 Peter, of prophecy, says this, \u201cSo<\/em> we have the prophetic word made<\/em> more sure,\u201d made more sure than what?\u00a0 You back up in the context and it\u2019s an eyewitness testimony because Peter, in that context is talking about how he was an eyewitness to the things of God, even the transfiguration he saw.\n\nThe most potent and powerful witness you could ever introduce in a court of law is eye witness testimony.\u00a0 And yet Peter says through the prophetic word we have something \u201cmade more sure.\u201d\u00a0 Made more sure than what?\u00a0 Eyewitness testimony, the most potent form of evidence that there is, \u201cto which you do well to pay attention because it\u2019s a lamp shining in a dark place,\u201d Would you say the world today is in a dark place?\u00a0 What would give you hope in the midst of that?\u00a0 There\u2019s this lamp that God has given us, which is His prophetic word.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201c\u2026 until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.\u00a0 But first of all know that no prophecy of Scripture was a matter of one\u2019s own private interpretation, [21] for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.\u201d\n\nIf there\u2019s ever an hour in church history that we ought to be studying where God says of the future it\u2019s right now, because if you don\u2019t have that angle if Satan cuts you off from the past and he cuts you off from the future there is no basis for hope as you navigate the painful terrain of life.\u00a0 So John is reminded in verse 5 that\u00a0 you need a righteous stand because these words \u201care faithful and true.\u201d\u00a0 Well of course they \u201care faithful and true.\u201d\u00a0 Who did they come from?\u00a0 They come from Jesus Christ Himself who was called, Revelation 19:11, \u201cFaithful and true.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 19:11, \u201cAnd I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is<\/em> called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.\u201d]\n\nIn fact, did you know that there are some things that God can\u2019t do?\u00a0 I know the philosophers recoil at that.\u00a0 If God is God how can He not do certain things.\u00a0 Well, there are some things He can\u2019t do and won\u2019t do because it violates His character, one of which is to lie.\u00a0 Numbers 23:19, \u201cGod is not a man that He should lie.\u201d\u00a0 I can lie,\u00a0 you can lie, church leadership can lie, the people that you trust most, parents or grandparents can lie.\u00a0 You already know your kids can lie.\u00a0 And we all know the politicians can lie.\u00a0 But God can\u2019t lie!\u00a0 For God to say something inaccurate or incorrect or to sugarcoat things, or to misrepresent things would be outside of His character.\u00a0 So John writes this down because this is true; this is going to happen, and this is your hope.\n\nAnd we move from a new order, verses 4 and 5 to a new satisfaction.\u00a0 Notice what it says there in Revelation 21:6, \u201cThen He said to me, \u201cit is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.\u201d \u201cIt is done,\u201d it is finished; the plan of God and man being tested is over.\u00a0 You know, every age of time, as\u00a0 you go through the Bible God is putting man through a test.\u00a0 Even right now in this age of grace man is being tested.\u00a0 There are, we believe, about seven ages of time dividing up the Bible where God puts people through tests.\u00a0 But now it\u2019s done, there\u2019s no more tests, this is the eternal state.\u00a0 Man is no longer on probation.\u00a0 Whatever decision has been made for or against Christ has been made and now eternity is started and those decisions are now solidified in cement.\n\nBy the way, it\u2019s why Revelation 21 and 22 looks a lot like Garden of Eden but not quite the same.\u00a0 Did you notice that?\u00a0 This is a chart from Henry Morris in his book, The Genesis Record<\/em>, comparing Genesis 1 and 2 to Revelation 21 and 22.\u00a0 Genesis 1 and 2, in Eden there was a division between light and darkness; we don\u2019t have that in the eternal state, there\u2019s no night.\u00a0 In Eden there was a division between land and sea; you don\u2019t have sea in the eternal state.\u00a0 In Eden there was a sun and a moon: you don\u2019t have a sun and a moon in the eternal state.\u00a0 Eden is the garden; Revelation 21 and 22 is a city.\u00a0 The river flows out of Eden in the Garden of Eden, but the river is flowing from the throne in Revelation 22.\u00a0 Gold is in the land in Eden but not in the eternal state, gold is in the city, in fact we\u2019re walking on streets of gold. There\u2019s a tree of life in the middle of the garden in Eden; you have trees of life throughout the city in Revelation 22.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got some strange stones mentioned there in Eden.\u00a0 You have all manner of stones in the eternal state.\u00a0 God is walking in the garden in Eden but in the eternal state He is dwelling with His people.\n\nHave you ever asked yourself that, why didn\u2019t God just put us right back in a garden?\u00a0 The answer relates to the fact that man in Eden is under probation; God made man in God\u2019s image which basically means he has to have a choice; if he doesn\u2019t have a choice to have a relationship with God or not have a relationship with God then he is really not being respected as the image bearer of God that God made him.\n\nSo there\u2019s got to be a tree of knowledge in Eden.\u00a0 There\u2019s got to be an avenue of rebellion should man choose that path.\u00a0 But you get to the end of the Bible and there\u2019s no tree of knowledge anymore, there\u2019s just a tree of life.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because it\u2019s done, the probation is over!\u00a0 The test has been run, people have made their decision, people have made their choice.\u00a0 So we\u2019re put back in an environment that\u2019s like Eden but not exactly the same.\u00a0 From a garden to a city with a cross in between!\n\nHe not only says there in verse 6 \u201cIt is done,\u201d Jesus says \u201cI am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.\u201d\u00a0 Alpha, as you know, is the first letter of the Greek alphabet; Omega as you know, ends, it\u2019s the last letter in the Greek alphabet.\u00a0 Jesus is saying I am the first and the last.\u00a0 Just to get the point across He says the same thing later in Revelation 22:13, \u201c\u00a0<\/sup>I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.\u201d\u00a0 What is the great lesson to take away from the ages?\u00a0 It\u2019s Jesus, it\u2019s the point of history, Jesus is the point of reality.\n\nThey\u2019re trying to teach history without God?\u00a0 How do you do that exactly when Jesus is the whole point of history.\u00a0 I like the anachronism, history is His story.\u00a0 You can\u2019t teach history without God.\u00a0 In fact, you can\u2019t even teach any subject correctly without Jesus because He\u2019s the point.\n\nColossians 1:16-17 Jesus says this:\u00a0 \u201c\u00a0<\/sup>For by Him all things were created, both<\/em> in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities\u2014all things have been created through Him and for Him. [17] And \u201cHe is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.\u201d\u00a0 He is holding the whole universe together preventing the molecules and the atoms in our bodies from exploding right now as I speak.\u00a0 I mean, He\u2019s appointed the past, He\u2019s appointed the future, He\u2019s appointed the present.\u00a0 He\u2019s the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.\n\nAnd if that\u2019s true the foolishness\u2026 the FOOLISHNESS of living one\u2019s life without Jesus Christ.\u00a0 The foolishness even for the Christians who resist the influence of Jesus Christ as we sometimes quench the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 We start doing things like that we\u2019re missing the whole point of life, we\u2019re missing the whole point of existence because this is who Jesus Christ is.\u00a0 Revelation 19:10, it says of Jesus He is the Spirit of prophecy.\u00a0 [Revelation 19:10, \u201cThen I fell at his feet to worship him. But he aid to me, \u201cDo not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.\u201d]\n\nYou mean to tell me the Book of Revelation is not about the mark of the beast and the coming one world economic system and the antichrist.\u00a0 That\u2019s not the point of the book at all.\u00a0 You get to the end of the Book of Revelation and\u00a0 you think that\u2019s the point of the book\u00a0 you missed the point.\u00a0 Those things are relevant as they\u2019re studied in light of Jesus.\u00a0 But if you missed Jesus Christ you missed the whole point of prophecy; He is the Spirit of prophecy. And He says there in verse 6, \u201cI will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 21:6, \u201cThen He said to me, \u201cIt is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.\u201d]\n\nJohn wrote another book, didn\u2019t he?\u00a0 The Gospel of John and he talks there about a woman that Jesus encountered in Samaria, the woman at the well.\u00a0 [John 4:13] \u201cJesus answered and said to her, \u201cEveryone who drinks of this water will thirst again;\u00a0 [14] \u00a0<\/sup>but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him like a well of water springing up to eternal life.\u201d\u00a0 If you want Me in your life let Me into your life is what he\u2019s saying, by way of faith.\u00a0 \u201cThen Jesus said to her go call your husband to come here.\u00a0 [17] The woman answered and said to him, I have no husband.\u00a0 \u00a0Jesus saith unto her, You have answered correctly that you have no husband.\u00a0 In fact, you have five husbands, and the one whom currently with is not your husband;\u201d and I like her response, well sir, you must be a prophet.\u00a0 A great response.\u00a0 You think?\n\nSo this is a picture of what we are like without Christ.\u00a0 I think it was Augustine who said God has created each of us with a God shaped vacuum that can only find fulfillment in a relationship with the God that made us. But sin has sort of marred that, hasn\u2019t it?\u00a0 It\u2019s alienated us from God and so there\u2019s this longing in the heart to fill that void with something.\u00a0 And that\u2019s essentially what people are seeking that don\u2019t know Christ.\u00a0 Everything they try, power, prestige, success, prosperity, pleasure, artificial substitutes, abusive tendencies, violence, whatever it is it\u2019s an ache in the heart.\u00a0 Nothing seems to work, nothing seems to fit.\u00a0 I\u2019ve tried this, I\u2019ve come up empty.\u00a0 I try that, I come up empty.\u00a0 I try five husbands, I come up empty.\u00a0 And yet Jesus Christ says there\u2019s water and as you drink it you will never thirst again.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that your life is perfect but you come into relationship with the One who made you, the point of history itself, and suddenly you discover that this is why I exist.\n\nWhat a tragedy it is to go through decade after decade after decade of life, not even understanding why we\u2019re here or why we exist, just a dull ache in the heart that I know is there and that I keep trying to fill with this or that and I keep coming up empty.\u00a0 And yet here we are in this eternal state where sin and alienation from God is no longer a problem.\u00a0 And what does he say here?\u00a0 \u201cI will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life.\u201d\u00a0 I hope you didn\u2019t chop off the last little part there, verse 6, did you catch that, \u201cwithout cost.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 21:6, \u201cThen He said to me, \u201cIt is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.\u201d]\n\nIn fact, it says that at the end of the Book of Revelation, Revelation 22:17, \u201cThe Spirit and the bride say, \u201cCome.\u201d And let the one who hears say, \u201cCome.\u201d And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.\u201d\u00a0 The reality of the situation is we think we\u2019ve got to crawl on a bed of nails to get this because we\u2019re so works oriented in our pride.\u00a0 You\u2019re going to give me something that wonderful for free?\u00a0 And that\u2019s exactly how it\u2019s offered! \u00a0It\u2019s offered completely and totally on the basis of faith, which is the only way to receive a gift from God.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is why John in his other book, the Gospel of John, mentions believe or believing ninety-nine times, no bed of nails to crawl over, no denomination loyalty I have to ascribe to, I don\u2019t even have to ascribe to some sort of moral revolution that\u2019s going to happen in my life where I\u2019m making God a return promise.\n\nWow, wait a minute pastor, are you talking about unholiness in the Christian life.\u00a0 That\u2019s not what I\u2019m talking about; I\u2019m not talking about growth in Christ, I\u2019m talking about how to come to Christ.\u00a0 No cost without cost.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And how we need to understand today the grace of God and we need to understand the clarity and the simplicity of the gospel.\u00a0 And how we need to now present Jesus to people as faith plus something else.\u00a0 It\u2019s faith plus NOTHING!\u00a0\u00a0 Hebrews 11:6,\u00a0 \u201cWithout faith it impossible to please God.\u00a0 And how the apostle Paul pronounces a curse on people that add to the gospel and make it sound as if they\u2019ve got to somehow do this or do that, do this good work or do that good work when the whole reality of the situation is we\u2019re saved on our good works, we\u2019re saved on His good works.\u00a0 I\u2019m not saved based on my sacrifice, I\u2019m saved based on His sacrifice.\u00a0 I\u2019m not even saved because I take up my cross and follow Jesus, I\u2019m saved because He took up His cross.\n\nNow once the Spirit of God is in you He\u2019ll start dealing with you on certain things.\u00a0 And that will probably last your whole life or till death or the rapture, whichever comes first, I\u2019m not dealing with growth in Christ, I\u2019m talking about coming to Christ.\u00a0 You know, it\u2019s interesting in John 4, this woman with five husbands, if there was ever a chance for Jesus to say well I need to see a moral reformation in you first.\u00a0 That was would have been the chance, which he does not say.\u00a0 What He says is there\u2019s resources available to you that you don\u2019t know anything about.\u00a0 The water you\u2019re drinking from will make you thirsty again.\u00a0 The five husbands.\u00a0 Trying to build a void in your life through promiscuity, rapid divorce, remarriage, we all do this maybe not that particular sin but we\u2019re all trying to fill the void with something.\u00a0 I want to give you water that will give you the meaning and purpose for your existence.\u00a0 You can have it without cost.\u00a0 John emphasizes here without cost.\n\nHe continues on with verse 7 and he begins to talk about a new realization.\u00a0 But backing up to verse\u00a0 6 just for a moment, imagine living in an environment where sin isn\u2019t even in the picture anymore.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing that can take you outside of the fellowship with Christ and you\u2019re just there throughout all eternity in a new order experiencing not just unbroken fellowship but satisfaction at the Jesus level.\n\nBut then notice verse seven where he begins to talk about a new realization, \u201cHe who overcomes will inherit these things, I will be his God but he will be my Son.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 21:7]\u00a0 Again John wrote another book, didn\u2019t he, called 1 John.\u00a0 If you put 1 John together with this statement here in the Book of Revelation\u00a0 you don\u2019t have any doubts as to who the overcomer is.\u00a0 Because many people look at the word overcomer and they think the pressure is on me, I\u2019ve got to do X, Y and Z to gain a status as an overcomer so I can enjoy all of these provisions and blessings one day.\u00a0 And that\u2019s not what the Bible is saying.\n\n1 John 5:4-5 says, \u201cFor whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world\u2014our faith. [5]\u00a0 Who is the one who overcomes\u201d that\u2019s a great question, \u201cWho is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?\u201d\u00a0 Jesus said in the Upper Room, \u201cDo not let your heart be troubled for I have overcome the world.\u201d\u00a0 My status as an overcomer is not based on me climbing up some kind of ladder.\u00a0 My status as an overcome comes to me when I trust in Jesus because He\u2019s the overcomer.\u00a0 He died on the cross, He was buried on the third day, He rose from the dead, He ascended to the right hand of the Father, He overcame!\u00a0 I am trusting not in myself to be an overcomer, I am trusting in Him, the ultimate overcomer and that automatically makes me as a believer an overcomer.\n\nYou say well I don\u2019t feel like an overcomer.\u00a0 I don\u2019t look like an overcomer.\u00a0 What does that have to do with anything?\u00a0 You don\u2019t live your life by what you feel or a mood at any given point in your life; you live it according to the objective truth of God\u2019s Word. God says you\u2019re an overcome;\u00a0 God can\u2019t lie!\u00a0 If\u00a0 you\u2019re \u201cin Christ\u201d\u00a0 you\u2019re an overcomer.\u00a0 And the overcomer here, verse 7, gets benefits because he\u2019s been promised a lot, and now these promises are becoming a realization.\u00a0 \u201cHe who overcomes,\u201d that\u2019s the believer, \u201cwill inherit all these things,\u201d everything that\u2019s described here in these two majestic chapters.\u00a0 [Revelation 21:7, \u201cHe who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.\u201d]\n\n1 Peter 1:3-4 says that the day is going to come when we will receive an inheritance. [1 Peter 1:3-4, \u201cBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [4] \u00a0<\/sup>to obtain<\/em> an inheritance which is<\/em> imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.\u201d]\u00a0 Verse five says, we \u201care protected by the power of God through faith\u201d as we speak for that inheritance.\u00a0 [1 Peter 1:5, \u201cwho are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.\u201d]\n\nWhat is an inheritance?\u00a0 It\u2019s something that\u2019s legally yours but you haven\u2019t yet entered into the enjoyment of it,\u00a0 possession of it.\u00a0\u00a0 You get left a piece of property or a sum of money in a will but until the person that left the money passes on the money is legally yours, you just don\u2019t have access to it yet.\u00a0 How do I know I\u2019m going to get access to it?\u00a0 Because the Bible says I\u2019m being protected by God\u2019s power until the day comes when I receive it.\u00a0 And what we discover here is now the hope of an inheritance is now a realization.\u00a0 \u201cHe who overcomes will inherit\u201d all of these things.\u00a0 It\u2019s no longer a distant hope, it\u2019s a present reality\u00a0 that\u2019s being described here in these verses.\n\nAnd what does it say here?\u00a0 \u201cI will be his God,\u201d is that not a personal walk with the Lord?\u00a0 You mean the God of the universe wants to be my God?\u00a0 This is more than a set of creeds adhering to a religious system, this is a personal relationship with the one that made it, AND redeemed us!\u00a0 Matthew 7:23 says this, \u201cThen I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me\u00a0 you who practice lawless-ness.\u201d\u00a0 God wants to know us.\u00a0 God wants to relate to us.\u00a0 God wants to walk with us.\u00a0 God wants to have a personal relationship with us.\u00a0 In fact, that\u2019s why we were made, to experience intimacy with God.\u00a0 But boy, sin certainly short-circuited this, didn\u2019t it.\u00a0 Sin put that barrier right there between us and God and so now we\u2019re living outside of our intended design with this deep ache and need in the human heart, knowing it\u2019s there but not knowing exactly how to fill that void.\u00a0 That\u2019s what the whole conversation with the woman at the well was about.\n\nAnd so we\u2019re walking in this relationship with God, our inheritance has now reached a fulfillment or a realization and if you look at the end of verse 7 it says, \u201cHe will be my son.\u201d\u00a0 Galatians 4:6 says, \u201cBecause you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, \u2018Abba! Father!\u201d\u2019\u00a0 Which means Daddy!\u00a0 You\u2019re not a servant in the household, you\u2019re not even the CEO of the company; you\u2019re the inheritor of the estate.\u00a0 See the difference.\u00a0 I mean, who would you rather be?\u00a0 Somebody that starts a Fortune Five Hundred company, you want to be the CEO, I\u2019m sure it pays pretty well.\u00a0 Or do you want to inherit everything?\n\nYour status as a son or a daughter in Christ gives\u00a0 you inheritance rights.\u00a0 That\u2019s why in verse 7 when it talks about inheritance it mentions our status as His Son.\u00a0 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son!\u00a0 And if a son then a what?\u00a0 An heir!\u00a0 Heir to what?\u00a0 Heir to the eternal state.\u00a0 The inheritance is now realized.\u00a0 What legally is yours payday has arrived because of our relationship to Jesus Christ.\n\nBut that discussion is followed by verse\u00a0 8 which speaks of not just a new creation, not just a new city, not just a new fellowship, not just a new order, not just a new satisfaction, not just a new realization but a new holiness.\u00a0 Look at verse 8.\u00a0 \u201cBut\u201d a very important word there, \u201cBut for the cowardly and the unbelieving and the abominable and murders 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.\u201d\u00a0 Notice the contrast, we just went from a son and an inheritor to the plight of the unsaved. \u00a0Don\u2019t misread these verses; this is not talking about Christians that struggle with sin.\u00a0 This is speaking of people who never knew Christ, never had a relationship with Christ.\u00a0 And what we see of them are eight characteristics and God help us not to be like these people in our daily choices, because that\u2019s not who we are.\n\nEight things, the first thing they\u2019re called is cowardly.\u00a0 Every time I read that I\u2019m shocked by that. I think it should say ax murderer or something.\u00a0 But the very first thin on the list is the coward because being a coward is not a characteristic of the godly.\u00a0 Proverbs 28:1 says, \u201cThe wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Paul, writing to young Timothy says God has not given us the spirit of timidity but of love and power and self-discipline.\n\nThe second characteristic here is the unbelieving; that makes sense because \u201cwithout faith it is impossible to please God.\u201d\u00a0 This is why God one hundred and fifty times conditions and relationship with Him on faith alone in Christ alone\u2026 period!\u00a0 He says this in Romans 4:4-5, \u00a0\u201cNow to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.\u00a0 [5] \u00a0<\/sup>But to the one who does not work,\u201d but what? \u201cbut believes [in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteous\u00adness\u201d]\u00a0 That\u2019s why I think it\u2019s such a big deal to God.\u00a0 It\u2019s the only thing that we can do which God does not accept as a work.\u00a0 If salvation is conditioned on anything other than faith by itself then it becomes a work.\u00a0 But in the mind of God the one who believes is the one who does not work.\u00a0 God won\u2019t accept us on the basis of works; He requires faith!\u00a0 And so the unsaved are characterized as unbelieving.\u00a0 They\u2019re also called abominable.\n\nIsn\u2019t it interesting how our culture is mainstreaming things that used to be considered abominable.\u00a0 Did you know that the Bible says homosexuality is an abomination, among other sins, not to just pick on that one, it calls it an abomination.\u00a0 And isn\u2019t it interesting how people today are sort of main-streaming that.\u00a0 Jim Wallace says, \u201cAbomination is a pretty strong word, there\u2019s a debate and questions about the meaning of the word \u201cabomination.\u201d\u00a0 No there\u2019s not !\u00a0 God calls a spade a spade, not just homosexuality, any other sins.\u00a0 You know, everybody today is all worked up about climate change.\u00a0 Let me tell you about the real climate change; it\u2019s the moral climate change that\u2019s happening in this country and around the world.\u00a0 There\u2019s your climate change, where things that were once considered abominable, taboo, off the charts, are now mainstreamed into ordinary life, even mainstreamed right into the church.\u00a0 My God help us understand this.\n\nThe unsaved are characterized as murderers, a violation of the sixth commandment.\u00a0 Of course, that\u2019s who Satan is, John 8:44, a murderer.\u00a0 [John 8:44, \u201cYou are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.\u00a0 He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.\u00a0 Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.\u201d]\n\nYou know, we can commit murder a lot of different ways.\u00a0 Did you know that?\u00a0\u00a0 We think of murder one way but God says, Proverbs 18:21, \u201cDeath and life are in the power of the tongue.\u201d\u00a0 You mean this two by two slab of mucous membrane called the tongue can kill?\u00a0 Yes it can.\u00a0 It can kill a reputation, it can kill emotions, it can destroy someone\u2019s self-image and that\u2019s who the unbelievers are characterized by, they\u2019re murderers.\u00a0 Personally I can\u2019t tell you how thrilling it was to see the President of the United States march in the March of Life event.\u00a0 And the news people are telling us that this is the first President we\u2019ve had in forty-five\u00a0 years to actually go down and march and speak in a prolife event.\u00a0 I\u2019m thrilled with that because I don\u2019t want our nation through abortion or whatever else to be known as the murder nation.\n\nThe unsaved are characterized by immorality.\u00a0 When Jesus was questioned about morality He started quoting Genesis 1:27, \u201cGod created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.\u201d\u00a0 God blessed them and said be fruitful and multiply\u2026. The two shall become one flesh, etc.\u00a0 [28, \u201cAnd God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.\u201d]\n\netc. Mark 10:8, \u201cand the two shall become one flesh: so that they are no more two, but one flesh.\u201d\u00a0 God\u2019s standard for sexuality is one man for one woman for one life.\u00a0 And I understand that many of us through decisions and things that have happened to us may have fallen short of the standard and the grace of God is always available for people, but that never changes the standard.\u00a0 \u00a0Who do we think we are exactly inventing or reinventing sexuality, as if we\u2019re the creators of the whole thing.\u00a0 God is the One that gives us the blueprint for that.\u00a0 You see it there in the Garden of Eden and it\u2019s violated so fast with the fall of man where Genesis 4:23 says, \u201cLamech said to his wives,\u201d plural, that\u2019s not exactly what God had in mind a few chapters earlier.\u00a0 And that\u2019s who the unsaved are.\u00a0 You\u2019ll also see that the unsaved are characterized by sorcery; you already know enough of the Book of Revelation to know what sorcery is, it\u2019s the Greek word pharmakeia<\/em>, where we get the word pharmacy, opening oneself up to artificial substances.\n\nAnd isn\u2019t it interesting that we\u2019re seeing this rash of shootings all over the nation.\u00a0 And how many of those people are addicted to some sort of artificial substance, listening to some kind of voice in their head telling them to do this horrific act.\u00a0 The\u00a0 unsaved are idolaters, you can\u2019t get far in the Bible to see God doesn\u2019t like idolatry.\u00a0 That\u2019s one of the first two commandments, \u201cno God before Me,\u201d \u201cno graven images.\u201d\u00a0 So what are you placing before God today?\u00a0 Success, power, prestige, pleasure, anything that we set over God in terms of importance becomes an idol.\u00a0 And then he mentions \u201cliars,\u201d the ninth commandment, don\u2019t bear a false witness; when we lie and misrepresent we are not walking with God because God can\u2019t lie.\u00a0 In fact, Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5:33-37, it\u00a0 says, don\u2019t swear by Jerusalem. Don\u2019t swear by the hair on your head.\u00a0 Let your yes be yes and your no be no.\u00a0 [Matthew 5:33-37, \u201cAgain, you have heard that\u00a0 the ancients were told, \u2018You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.\u2019 [34] But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, [35]\u00a0<\/sup>or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. [36]\u00a0<\/sup>Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. [37]\u00a0<\/sup>But let your statement be, \u2018Yes, yes\u2019 or<\/em> \u2018No, no\u2019; anything beyond these is of evil.\u201d]\n\nHe\u2019s dealing with people who are saying I\u2019ll keep my word, I swear on my mother\u2019s grave I\u2019ll keep my word, by swearing on something more important than yourself.\u00a0 Jesus says you shouldn\u2019t even have to do that; you shouldn\u2019t have to convince people you\u2019re telling the truth because you\u2019re swearing on something greater than yourself.\u00a0 You ought to just be so reliable that if it comes out of your mouth it\u2019s going to happen because that\u2019s the way God is.\u00a0 God cannot lie!\n\nAnd then lastly in this verse it says, \u201ctheir part will be in the Lake that burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 21:8, \u201cBut for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be<\/em> in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.\u201d]\n\nWe\u2019ve seen the phrase \u201csecond death\u201d three other times in the Book of Revelation. Revelation 2:11; Revelation 20:6, Revelation 20:14.\u00a0 [Revelation 2:11, \u201c\u00a0<\/sup>He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 20:6, \u201c\u00a0<\/sup>Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 20:14, \u201cThen death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.\u201d\n\nWhat does it mean?\u00a0 A. W. Tozer put it this way, \u201cTwice born, once died.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0In other words, if a person that\u2019s physically born into the world but they\u2019ve never been spiritually born, they\u2019ve never trusted Christ as their Savior, then this is their future in the second death.\u00a0 But how different it is for the person who has been physically conceived and then later spiritually conceived because they\u2019ve read John\u2019s other book.\u00a0 John 3:3-7 where Jesus says, marvel not when I say to you \u201cYou must be born again.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do not be amazed that I said to you, \u2018You must be born again.\u2019\n\n[John 3:3-7, \u201c\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus answered and said to him, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.\u201d\u00a0 [4] Nicodemus said to Him, \u201cHow can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother\u2019s womb and be born, can he?\u201d [5] Jesus answered, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. [6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] Do not be amazed that I said to you, \u2018You must be born again.\u2019]\n\nThese aren\u2019t my rules; this is what Jesus said.\u00a0 You have to be born again and so that of course would transition us into the gospel wouldn\u2019t it, where you can be born again right now as I speak, by trusting in what Jesus did for us two thousand years ago, because when you trust in that, that provision is now applied to your life and the sin barrier is removed and the Holy Spirit in a nanosecond enters\u00a0 you.\u00a0 That\u2019s what the spiritual birth is.\u00a0\u00a0 Without that happening in a person this is their future, the second death.\u00a0 And so our exhortation to people here at Sugar Land Bible Church, even people listening online, listening after the fact perhaps, simply as the Spirit convicts them to respond to that convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit by trusting in Christ and Christ alone for their salvation.\u00a0\u00a0 You can do that right now as I speak; it\u2019s not something you raise a hand to do, walk an aisle to do, join the church to do, it\u2019s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord where the Spirit convicts you and you respond to that conviction by believing or trusting in what Jesus did for you.\u00a0 That ALONE saves, sola fide<\/em>, faith by itself, faith alone.\n\nWell, I\u2019m just going to kind of live off of what mom and dad did.\u00a0 The reality of the situation is God doesn\u2019t have any grandkids!\u00a0 He only has children.\u00a0 You\u2019ll see no record in the Bible when He says, Abba, Father, my Son, there\u2019s no grandkids here!\u00a0 There\u2019s children and they become children by being born in the Spirit.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something that you need more explanation on I\u2019m available after the service.\u00a0 But a new creation, a new city, a new fellowship, a new order, a new satisfaction, a new realization, a new holiness and beginning next week, you might want to take a look at Revelation 21:9 all the way through chapter 22 verse 5 in your reading this week as we\u2019ll begin next week to look at the eternal city in detail.\n\nShall we pray.\u00a0 Father, we\u2019re grateful for Your Word and how it speaks directly to our lives and gives us a wonderful glimpse of what\u00a0 You have in store for us.\u00a0 Help us to live these things out this week; help us to share these things with others.\u00a0\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026. Amen!","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t