May 13, 2021

To all the beloved friends and saints of Grace Baptist Church,

May the restoring power of Christ be upon you with great joy!

Pam and I had a delightful anniversary celebration last week; made even more special by loving recognition, surprise gifts, and a card signed by so many at church. Thank you so very much. We love you and are glad the Lord has called us here to serve this body of believers at Grace Baptist Church. We have been through so much together and I believe our best days are still ahead. That is not optimistic thinking—rather that is solid biblical theology speaking. We are a people who have been given God’s joy and a living hope to live by. It ought to encourage us each of our days.

In my sermon series on the book of Luke, we find ourselves in chapter 6 where Jesus begins his teaching on the plateau. This is essentially the same message found in Matthew 5-7 and is there known as the Sermon on the Mount. There are several ways to interpret Jesus’ message, but the best way I think, is to consider Jesus inaugurating the Kingdom of God. People wanted to get into this kingdom. Specifically, the Jews were looking for a Messianic Leader who would deliver them from the Romans and set up his kingdom in Jerusalem. Even James and John asked Jesus if they could sit at His right and left in His Kingdom. But Jesus was establishing an “Otherworldly Kingdom.” It’s not like the kingdoms of the world; rather, His kingdom operates by a different set of values than the kingdom of men. It’s an eternal Kingdom. In the Revelation we get a better glimpse of this. Let me share with you briefly from Revelation 21:1-8.

 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.  But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

We know that the Kingdom Jesus is establishing is “other worldly” because we are told that John saw “A new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” The first heaven and the earth were prepared for the first man and woman and their descendants. God had readied everything for them when He placed them in the Garden. God had called all of His creation, “Good!” And it was–until Adam and Eve brought sin into the world. They ushered in death and decay into God’s good creation. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Then in the Garden, God set a plan in motion to begin the redemption of all creation. This old and fallen creation is going to be made new again. Listen to Jesus in Matthew 19:28 “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” So there IS going to be a renewal of all things. And John adds that there will no longer be any sea. While many people take this to mean literally: no oceans—I think it is best to understand this as a metaphor. The “sea” in the Revelation is seen as the ungodly civilization of this world. No more fallen humanity in all of its pride and godlessness

In contrast to the ungodliness of fallen mankind we now have the picture of God’s people who will populate this new heaven and earth. Verse 2 tells us that the people of God are prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. This is the church of the Risen Christ. Paul instructs the Ephesians about husbands and wives in Ephesians 5 and in that passage he says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless,” Eph. 5:25-27. The church is the bride of Christ. In the Revelation we see her taking her place in the Kingdom and she is now made beautiful without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In God’s Kingdom we WILL epitomize all of that. We will not be like we are now—but we will be changed. We will be made like Him.

It will be like a wedding day as when the groom comes for His bride. A loud voice will declare the occasion that the event is taking place. The reality of that moment is that God’s dwelling place will be among the people. The Bible gives us an interesting record of the dwelling places of God. He first walked with Adam and Eve in the beautiful garden He prepared for them. Then we see Him dwelling with His people Israel in the tabernacle in the desert. When Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem, God takes up residence there to be with His people. John records that when Jesus came to earth He literally “tabernacle” among us (John 1:15). In the New Testament we are told that God no longer lives in man-made temples, but in the bodies of His people (1 Cor. 6:19-20) and in the church (Eph. 2:21-22). In the New Heaven and New Earth God will dwell with His people and we will see Him face to face.

Often when I hear people talking about heaven verse four is mentioned. It stands out as one of those verses that inspires hope and generates awe. God is so tender toward us, and here we learn that there will be no more tears. It says that God will wipe all our tears away. That is how awesome God is and how great this new earth will be. No more of the things that plague us in this present earth in our fallenness. One day there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. Why? Because of what God is going to do. He is going to renew everything. It will be better than when He first created it and called it good. Why? Because there will no longer be the potential for sin plaguing the earth. When we are at a funeral we experience tears of loss. But we should know that for us and for all those in Christ Jesus we have a greater life experience ahead of us. C. S. Lewis captures this thought, “Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave it with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.” It is hard to imagine. In fact, it is impossible to truly imagine it. Just look at 1 Corinthians 2:9. I will be happy the day that “the old order of things has passed away.” Why? Because it will be replaced by something so incredible I can’t even imagine how “Good” it will be.

In verse five, John hears God speak—audibly. God is sitting on His throne which signifies that He is in charge. He is powerful. And He is sovereign. God Himself confirms again that He will make all things new. He said it once, and now He says it again. And in case it seems just too incredible to believe He underscores it by affirming, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” I get a sense that God knows that some of us don’t really believe this. We say we believe, but that is just wishful thinking or speaking on our part. But here, God totally wants us to understand and trust in this fact. His words are trustworthy. Meaning that this saying can be relied upon. His words are true. Meaning these words are in accordance with facts and reality. They are based upon the unchanging nature of God Himself.

Now then, just as God finished the work of creation in Genesis 2:1-3, so Jesus finished the work of redemption. On the cross He declared, “It is finished!” John 19:30. So now in verse six when God says “It is done,” He is declaring a past fact. God’s plan for the renewing of all things is now a reality. The Kingdom of God has been established and we get to live in this current reality. Now God can give us water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4 that if she would ask of Him, He would give her water and she would never thirst again. “Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life,” vs. 14. Jesus also called out at the festival and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them,” John 7:38.

This water is given to those who are victorious verse seven says. So who are they? These are all true believers in Jesus Christ. 1 John 5:4-5 says, “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” Going back to chapters 2 and 3 in the Revelation, Jesus addresses 7 churches. To each of the churches Jesus has a gift or a promise for each of those who are victorious. True believers will inherit all of this Jesus says. That is mind boggling. Furthermore, God says that He will be our God and that we will be His kids. That speaks of family intimacy. We will experience a perfect relationship with the Father. Now this verse isn’t suggesting that only the “spiritually elite” will inherit this. Rather, God is saying that every true believer will inherit all of this.

Not everyone will inherit heaven when they die. There is a judgement coming and it is not based on how good you are or what you have done. It boils down to whether you have believed the Son. In verse 8 we see some attributes of those who will not inherit eternal life. Jesus said that we will recognize them by their fruit. And now we have a representative list of the Beast’s followers. The first fruit is unbelief. Some will say that they believe in Jesus, but it is merely an expression and not a reality in their life. Many will come to Him in that day and say “Lord, Lord, didn’t we do this or that?” But Jesus will tell them “Depart from me you evil doers. I never knew you.” See Matt. 7:21-23. God knows the reality of our hearts. We sometimes even fool ourselves.

There are the cowardly. They are those who turn back from following God. They are not victorious because they have not received God’s Spirit of love, and power, and self-control. They will not stand up for Christ. They are not humble enough to submit to His authority over their lives. They shrink back, and have not truly entered in to His life.

And then we have a list of other sins as well. Those who are vile, murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, idolaters, and all liars. These are all blatant violations of God’s 10 Commandments. They have not been given new hearts, and have not been born again. Rather they are committed to doing life their way. The fruit of their fallen hearts is evident, resulting in all kinds of sinful practices. There is no remorse. In fact, many of these people are proud of their sins and think it foolish when others don’t join in with them. See Romans 1:28-32.

So what will become of all these? God says, “They will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death,” verse 8. Yes God is loving. Yes God is merciful. And yes God is just! Meaning that there will be consequences for violating His law and for spurning His beloved Son. Those who do so will spend eternity in agony in lake of fiery, which is the second death. That is bad news for sinners. And it is news like this that causes unbelievers of all sorts to consider their fate and seek for a Savior. The Good News is that Jesus IS that Savior, and He is willing to save whoever would call upon His name. Hebrews 7:25 says, “He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.” That is the gospel. The Kingdom of God is inaugurated. Are you in it? Will you inherit it? I pray you will.

Benediction:

“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. Jude 1:24-25 (NIV2011)

Pastor Russ Hilsinger,

Grace Baptist Church of Dallas, OR

P.S. The saints of Grace will be gathering this Lord’s Day. I hope to see you there!