Eternal Re-Creation

Turn with me if you would to Revelation chapter 21 will be looking at verses 134 that I saw a new heaven and new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. Also, the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, it dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away Jabal with me as we got our Lord in prayer. Heavenly father, your timing is always perfect, never late never early so as not by accident that we scheduled on this day May 3, 2020 to preach a sermon on the future heaven we turn on our TVs and we hear reports all over the world people are dying from the coronavirus the doctors the politicians, news reporters, the scientist and the biologist had done little to remove fear or give comfort things that people are trusted and counted on for decades have been imploding jobs and careers retirement funds vacations seem to be slipping out of our grasp this life as all of a sudden become very transient and temporary. We need solid truth to standalone. We need promises that will last forever will not flutter away in a pandemic today by the sovereign hand of God. We are studying our future eternal home home with there will be no tears, no sickness, no death, no sin, no pain, no frustration, nothing but joy unspeakable and full of glory Lord Jesus use the Scriptures in this sermon to exalt Christ and edify those watching help us to submit to your lordship and to defeat every semblance of fear. What is in Jesus name that we pray.

Amen.

41 years ago I finished preaching a sermon on the Sunday night at Olive Grove Baptist Church in Creekmore North Carolina I noticed that in the congregation. There was a new face was a young boy about 17 years old.

It was they are with young boy that was in our youth group's name was Luis and I noticed this young man was listening intently, just rapt attention. I got to preach in my sermon that evening and I walked out toward the back door and in this young man came over to me grab my hand shook my head said my name is Mike and I would like to know more. I said that's great.

Can you come back to my office and he said yes and he and Lewis went back to my office and we sat down and I opened up my Bible I began to share the gospel withing we looked at heaven and we looked at hail and then we went right to the gospel message and and I shared with him about what the Bible said about repentance and what the Bible says about trusting Christ to be our Lord and our Savior putting our faith in what Jesus did on the cross and through his resurrection. I talked to him about the substitutionary atonement and about that time Lewis began to get a little nervous and antsy and he started to tell jokes and I said Lewis. I said you need to be quiet. You need to be quiet right now from talking to Mike about his soul. About that time, tears begin to roll down Mike's cheeks and he looked at me and said Doug I'm a sinner and he said I'm headed to an eternal hail will Jesus save me. I city and Jesus as your only hope he said what do I need to do and I said you need to cry out to Jesus cry out to Jesus for your salvation, and he got down on his knees and he weeping begin to confess his sins, and to repent of his sins and trusted Christ as his Lord and Savior few days. After that, Lewis came up to me and shared with me that on their way home that night Micah taken his cigarettes and throwing them out the window of his car and that he had made a commitment that that was it that his drinking days were completely over. Will the next Sunday.

He came made a profession of faith public at our church and was baptized and joined our church one long after that that he felt a call to preach and he went on to a Christian Bible college and then from there he went on to seminary today, 41 years later, Mike Miller, that same guy and his wife Caroline are missionaries that we support over in the nation of Greece and is doing a wonderful job. I remember about a month after Mike's conversion, Lewis came up to me at any said Doug. He said you know Mike is different is just different pay city. He looks the same. He wears a saint close. He wears his hairstyle the same. He goes to the same school, but he's different is like he said he's new I knew exactly what Lewis was talking about.

Second Corinthians 517 says if any man be in Christ is a new creation.

Old things are passed away behold all things are become new.

God had intervened in Mike Miller's life and God had made out of him and you creation you say Douglas that have to do with the new heavens and the new earth. Everything because when God saved Mike Miller opinion killing and replacing them with a new person to regenerated him. He renewed him. He made out of him and you creation a tuk-tuk so it is with the new heavens and the new earth that the new heaven will not be a replacement of the old, it will be a renewal of the old and Matthew chapter 19 in verse 18 Jesus describes the eternal heaven. This way, Marie, first from the Christian standard version that I read from the King James Jesus said to them, truly I tell you in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 thrones of Israel in the King James and Jesus said unto them, barely saying to you that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, you also shall sit upon 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. The King James version calls the new heavens regeneration. That's a term that the theologians used to describe what happens when we are born again we are regenerated we have new life that we did not have before.

So in a sense the new heavens and the new earth are a born again new heavens and a new earth. It's not a replacement is not completely different.

But it's a renewed new heavens only given illustration. My dad will be a part of the new heavens and the new earth my dad when I see him. The new heavens and the new earth. As a Christian I will look at him and I will know if that's Dutch Agni but I will also note that he is not what he was before. He's different, better different is sin nature's been eradicated PAT PE eight. He's different than he was completely different.

He everything about them will be like Jesus.

Jesus would have taken my dad and made him absolutely complete in Christ. What a glorious thing that'll be.

I will see my dad say that's Dutch Agni.

That's my dad but now he's complete in the Lord, you know, when we see the thief on the cross.

We will see and read and think about his thefts and is stealing will see someone who is totally like Christ in every facet of his being.

Joel beachy said it this way when someone is born again, he becomes a new person but he does not become another person. You say that person is you. There's something different about him yet. He is the same person is basic personality interpreted temperament have not changed. Jesus says that when he returns to earth, all things will be regenerated. They will be made new, but not altogether different. It will be a transformed world, but we Christians won't find ourselves in a alien order of being on that day. We won't find ourselves in a world that is totally and absolutely different from the world in which we now live. We will find ourselves in a recognizable environment.

It will be a physical world because we are in steel will be physical creatures there with that said, let's take a look at how John describes the new heavens and I want to share with you five points today .1 is no more see. Look at verse one in chapter 21 then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. So what does it mean no more see. I think the two concepts. We need to think about here.

The first one I called Agni version. I remember when I first read the book of Revelation, I got chapter 21 reading about the new heavens and the new earth. And the first thing I saw was this, and there was no more see I thought while John has kind of anti-climactic why the world would you say that that doesn't excite my soul. That doesn't thrill me, why, why would you say that when you start with the throne of Jesus wanting you start with a the streets of gold of the river of life. Why start with no more see that all of a sudden it hit me. John would been exiled on the island of Patmos. That's where he wasn't and any couldn't get off. He had to be very couldn't could not stray he was there on the island and he was pretty much by himself. He was there on that island in his church and his people and his friends and his wife and his family were 30 miles away in Ephesus and those 30 miles were not dry miles. They were wet miles for there was 30 miles of seawater between John and the people that he loved and so that water could somehow just dissipated it if it had been evaporated, or if that water just been drained out than John could walk right across that dry sand had been right there with his loved ones, but that sea was a border, a huge border. So when John looks at the air at the new heavens and the new earth. The first thing he says about it while in heaven they'll be no more see in heaven they'll be no more separation will never be separated from our Lord ever again will never be separated from our Christian friends ever again. No more separation.

I love to use that in funeral services were I can say to a family has lost a Christian love one, if you're gonna cry. It's okay to cry. But cry for yourself. Don't prop your Christian loved one because he's with Jesus, never to be separated ever again. He is with his Christian loved ones that have gone ahead of them and never to be separated from them ever again.

Dr. Douglas Kelly was a professor at RTS is retired now. He preached in this very pulpit, probably seven years ago and he was preaching it out one of our Presbytery meetings makes a very powerful sermon on the subject of prayer. We also wrote a book, a commentary on the book of Revelation. Don't you listen to what he said about this idea of no more see. He said John tells us that there was no more see. I remember 1977 visiting two elderly saintly ladies who attended the same church ride regularly gone in Edinburg. One of them from the Isle of Lewis hated to see me go as I was leaving, said that she did not know if they would ever see me again. Then she added I was just reading and revelation something that encourages us that you're going back across the sea which separates us. Revelation says that one day there will be no more see nothing to separate us. I left there there little flat there in Edinburg with a very uplifted heart no more see that which separates us is going to be absent from the new heaven and the new earth. But there's another concept in this idea of no more see Revelation chapter 12 or 17. The Scripture says that Satan was standing on the sands of the sea. Then Revelation chapter 13 verse one.

The Scripture says that the beast is raised up out of the sea and what is the beast of the beast is the global godless secular political system that is diametrically opposed to Christ to God's word and to God's people. Most commentators believe that the, the sea represents demonically inspired nations that had given their allegiance over to the beast, and they stand against Christ and they grieve the people of God folks after the second coming in after the final judgment where will our enemies be the Scripture tells us that Satan was cast into the burning like a fire, that the beast, the political anti-God system was cast into the lake of fire at the false prophet, the false religious system was cast into the lake of fire and every Christ rejecting unbeliever will have been cast into the burning like a fire, so perhaps John had this in mind when he said no more see no more see would mean no more conflict no more resistance no more war no more hatred to take those two concepts and put them together that no more see means no more separation from Christ or his people ever ever ever and no more conflict with our enemies for our enemies will be totally separated from us forever. I didn't think so. The first time I read the Revelation chapter 21 and when I looked at what John had to say about the new heavens and new earth.

I thought he had a teacher to come up with something better than this, but I can't think of anything better than this. A great way to start is description of the new heavens and the new earth, no more see 2.2 no more corruption. Look at the first part of verse two and I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, Doug Kelly has some great insight on the new Jerusalem, on the read you what he said because he can's he said a lot better than I can to the Old Testament sometimes calls Jerusalem the holy city, but after the inhabitants of Jerusalem rejected Jesus Christ and agreed to his crucifixion. God was no longer dwelling in the city of Jerusalem as he had formally but what happened on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit when he came down and asked to did not feel the Temple of Jerusalem, but rather feel the personalities the bodies and souls of the men and women who believe in Jesus. Through them he began bringing others into this living relationship. Christian believers are the true temple of God. You can read about it in first Corinthians 1213 where we were all baptized by one Spirit into the body of Christ, that is, the new Jerusalem is the church. Hebrews 1222 speaks about a heavily Jerusalem or Mount Zion, the city of the living God, and originates by action of God in heaven. The Saints go there when they die on the appointed day they will come down with a heavenly bridegroom to join those who are called up from the earth we share with you three quick points about our final home in glory point a holiness is called the holy city. Now I think about my own personal holiness. First of all think you kind of in a negative way because holiness to me in my personal life is a war against sin. It is me realizing that the temptation to be proud. The temptation to be lazy. The temptation to be lustful, the temptation to be selfish. The temptation to be angry or are pulling at my very heart in order to try to get me to destroy my testimony and to hinder my fellowship with Christ and if I'm going to have any vestige of victory and mile in my Christian life I gotta get up every morning to put on the whole armor of God, I got a set my affections on things above. Gotta resist the devil, that he will flee from the gotta realize that yes I am a a new creature in Christ. But my sin nature is not been eradicated, so I'm going to have a spiritual battle every single day. That's what's going on in this life right now over folks in heaven. Holiness will not be negative.

It will be totally positive for in heaven there there.

I'm going to have an eradicated sin nature. I'm never going to be at war with see him again. I'm gonna hate evil in the same way that God hates evil. So holiness will always be positive.

My focus will no longer be on fighting sin. My focus in heaven will be on knowing God.

Each day I will get to know God better. Randy Alcorn made a statement years ago that really is help me. He said one of the great things about heaven will be that when we get to heaven we will never stop learning. God is so great so glorious so magnificent so unlike us, that we will never be able to know him completely, but I think each day God will pull back up his veil pull back the veil and Linda see a little more of his glory. A little more of his wisdom, and finally when we been there for 10 million years were going to realize he is so great that we have not begin to scratch the surface of how great have glorious this God really is. Folks in heaven there will be nothing negative about holiness. My uncle Percy was a missionary to Brazil for 45 years.

He was a real Stephen of the word of God. I love to talk to them about the Bible and I can remember talking to him one day about first Corinthians chapter 3 and Paul's discussion about Christians receiving awards and Christians losing rewards about the works of Christian sum will would be like gold, silver and precious stone. Some warts will be like wood hay and stubble. I can never say in about my uncle. How will some people in heaven have greater rewards and other people in heaven and he said this, he said the Christians who more faithfully serve the Lord Jesus, and who love Jesus with a greater intensity will have a bigger cup supporting a bigger cup and he said a bigger capacity a greater capacity to take in the glory and the love of God, oh my goodness that writing my bail brothers and sisters, that is an incentive to fight the good fight to finish our course and to keep the faith. So first John sees holiness in heaven, and then be PCs community. He calls it a holy city heaven like the church is community helping a maverick Christians in heaven, that there will be no isolated loaner Christians in heaven they'll be no prideful narcissistic hotshots in heaven will get one glimpse of Jesus Christ and we will see how great how glorious he is and we will realize that he is everything and we are absolutely nothing is what will be in everything will be done corporately. We will corporately worship corporately praised corporately adore him and corporately serve him and it will be a joy for seven weeks now.

I preached about 350 empty chairs I've seen no smiles. I see no expressions of conviction of seen no tears of repentance of her know a man's I feel a little bit like the apostle John, the other on the island of Patmos. But having said that, I praise God that we been able to do this online service and that's it's been a good thing and I think it's been helpful in appreciate the Lord allowing us to do that limit.

Let me tell you this, limiting what I hate I hate not being with my congregation. I hate not being with my people.

I miss Grace Church how I miss giving the kids a lifesaver.

I miss given high-five to my Clinton buddies, but this is what I miss most that opportunity that we have the privilege that we have of getting together corporately as the body of Christ and exalting Jesus together and praising him together and worshiping him from the heart together.

If this pandemic is taught me anything, it is taught me this. We need the body of Christ. We need each other and we need to be together, hopefully to God.

It will be soon.

Point C. The city is marked by God's sovereign grace.

The Scripture says that the heavenly Jerusalem came down came down.

What is that mean it means that God did it. God brought it but folks the church that the church was chosen. It was justified.

It was an it was justified it and adopted it was sanctified, and will one day be perfectly glorified through God's sovereign grace first Peter chapter 1 verse 435 Peter said the us and in pain into an inheritance that is imperishable and undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you. You are being guarded by God's power through faith for salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time .3 is a glorious wedding.

Look at verse two and I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. The bride is the church, the bridegroom is the Lord Jesus and the one the marriage last for forever, for ever and ever. Most of us are programmed to want to be married, but there are some people who don't need to be married here some people have the gift of singleness and they they don't need marriage, they they want to be single so that they can spend more time in their worship of the Lord in their study of God's word and God gives some people that gift. Paul had that gift of singleness Jesus had that gift of singleness. John Stott had that gift. There are a lot of godly people that I know that had that gift.

So if you have that gift don't be don't eat be upset with Maria over what I'm going to say about marriage, but I think the majority of people on this earth want to be in a marital relationship.

They want to be in a loving, lasting fulfilling relationship.

The God gave us marriage for a purpose and that purpose was to propagate the human rights it was to help us to nurture children and it was to fulfill us dental. The inside but one of the reasons that God gave us marriage was that God was preparing his people. For what it's going to be like when we are absolutely with Christ. Think of the best things about marriage and then use them, use them to broaden your horizon about what it will be like to be with Christ what it feels like to be able to share your heart with your spouse in and to be able to be perfectly honest with her and perfectly transparent with her. Think of what it's like with your spouse to know that you got a person who will never leave you nor forsake you. You got a person who loves you, absolutely, unconditionally, think about this spouse that you have a spouse that you know that if you're separated for any length of time it causes great hurt your heart. So when you think of the the marriage with Christ. When you think of our relationship with Christ. When you think of Revelation chapter 21 verse two with those images of what's good about your marriage just filter right in to what you think about our relationship in heaven with Jesus point 4 Dwelling Pl. verse three and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

The term dwelling place should literally be translated as tabernacle. Like I said before, in the book of Revelation. As we been going through the book at it's very important to understand the difference between the symbols and the substance.

But when we get to heaven were not going to see a little tabernacle were not going to see an animal skin tent. When I got to see a brazen labor in the table of showbread in a 6 inch thick veil in the lampstand and Ark of the covenant when I don't see those things.

All those Old Testament symbols were pointing us to the substance which is Christ to force a literal interpretation here is to wreck the glory of the reality that that would be like saying I'll just take a picture of Jesus because I don't really need the person of Jesus sin you have been married for 23 years now and the time were we were separated for the longest was when I went for 11 days on a mission trip to Africa and while I was there I had a picture of Cindy in my wallet for five times a day. I pull it picture out and look at her and look at that picture and that was helpful, got me through the day.

But finally we came home she met at the airport at the airport and I went over to her and I put my arms around and I kissed her and we walked off with our baggage in an was holding her hand.

We were talking together.

The next day I went back to work. Not one time that I take her picture out of my wallet and look at it. I didn't need to one not because we've got the reality you don't need the symbol. The idea here of a tabernacle or dwelling place is a message about God's people. God's people enjoying God's presence of the St. John that wrote the book of Revelation also wrote the gospel of John and John chapter 1 verse 14 John said this and the word Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only son from the father full of grace and truth of the word dwelt as tabernacle.

Why would the apostle John use that term he meant that all that the tabernacle represented in the old covenant comes to fruition in the person of Jesus when he came to this earth. 2000 years ago and they were able to personally experience his presence. They were in the presence of God. God the son of God, who is Jesus Christ. But the book of Revelation we see John saying the same thing. Hayes talking about the tabernacle in heaven.

What is he mean he means that Jesus will dwell with us and we will experience his presence in glory forever .5 no more tears.

Look at verse four. He white boy every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning or crying or pain anymore, for the former things have passed away what hell I'm just while this Christ is with us in person is going to take care of needs in ways that are so complex that we can even begin to imagine them no more tears. He's going to wipe the tears from her eyes, a tale of being a preacher. I love to preach the word of God. I love to share the gospel love to see a lost person come to Christ. I love to be part of the wedding to be officiating the wedding it and get to be part of that that couple coming together's husband and wife but you know there are a lot of folks that don't like their work there.

There a lot of folks that that just don't enjoy the work at that they have to do and they'll be glad when it's the weekend will be glad when they can retire. I just don't feel like that. I love the work that that God is given me to do in the pastoral ministry. What a privilege and what a joy that you know sometimes a pastoral ministry is tough. I remember in my former church.

There was a 17-year-old girl who was killed in a car wreck. She was in her church and she's coming home from a high school football game and was a terrible accident and she was killed. They call me 11 o'clock that night I went over to her mom and dad's house.

I walked in to try to comfort them and mom and dad were just they are so devastated they can hardly even talk. Three days later officiated that service to preach the funeral message and there were over 500 high school kids. They are all asking the same question.

Why why heaven 33 years ago the dad that girls 83 years old.

He call me up on the phone about two months ago we talked for a long time and then he said. Dougie set a day does not go by that I don't think about my daughter and I miss her so much he cried. He was way out on the telephone. I'll be happy not to have to deal with that in heaven, no more pain, no more sorrow no more frustration no more sin no more death no more crying for the former things have passed away years ago, officiated in a wedding service. There was a young man that was getting married and he was a real strong Christian and he loved this girl that he was Marion with all of his heart. This girl had been abandoned at birth and she lived in foster family. She went from one foster family to another to another to she was 12 years old when she was 12 years old. She was finally adopted by family with his family had a uncle in the family who took advantage of her and started sexually molesting her, and sexually abusing her and then beat her to be sure that she wouldn't tell anybody.

Finally when she was 16 years old.

She ran away from that situation, she just let lived with friends from one house to to the other for several years. Remember doing the marriage counseling for that couple and a member thinking to myself I wonder if she will ever get over this trauma.

When the wedding service began. I I will never forget the expression of relief on that young lady space when her husband to be looked into her eyes and he said to her, I do's husband wrote his unveils wanted to read you what he wrote to her. He said I am your protector.

Your provider and your leader.

Your lover and your best friend. I will never hurt you. I will never let anyone else hurt you ever again.

I will treat you with respect. I will cherish you as Jesus cherishes the church, your hell on earth is over and it was limitation brothers and sisters that marriage worked and it worked extremely well. Now what you take what that girl felt in her heart. Is that marriage was sealed that day and I want you to multiply by about a million times and you'll have an understanding a little bit of what were going to feel in heaven. When we realize that there be no more pain, no more suffering no more frustration no more anguish no more sin no more death, and no more crying there will never be anything else but joy unspeakable and full of glory is pray.

What a glorious passage of Scripture as a preacher stand before passage like this and feel so inadequate. These trees are too glorious for me to comprehend, much less elaborate on and explained others. Father, forgive me for the weakness that I have in proclaiming your glory. But Lord, he's your enlightening power to open her eyes to the glory of the new heavens and the new earth. And may we not just be wild by the will may we be challenged by motivated to tell others of our precious Jesus who buys sovereign grace saved our eternal souls use this church for a lighthouse to take this community and the end and and use it as a beacon to our world for us in Jesus precious name we pray. Amen