Sunday, July 8th, 2018 - AM - Here Comes the Heavenly Bride, Part Two (Rev. 21:3-8)

KJV 1900And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Illustration: As a pastor, one of the most joyous things I get to do is officiate weddings, and of the wedding service, there's no more beautiful moment than "Here Comes the Bride!"Main Thought:Knowing that God will one day live with His people in the new creation helps us face life's trials by faith, overcoming through Christ's all-sufficient grace and power.Sub-intro: Setting the Context-

I. John Sees the New Creation ()

A. The New Heaven & Earth ()

KJV 1900And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Revelation 21:1 KJV 1900

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

The idea of a renewed or re-created universe is present in substance in many passages: ; ; , ; , ; ; ; . Specific mention of “new heaven(s) and a new earth” is found in ; ; ; . These passages suggests the following points of interest:

God is the source of this new universe....

God will bring the new universe into existence in the end of history. [ZEB, H-L]

B. The New Jerusalem ()

KJV 1900And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Revelation 21:2 KJV 1900

And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

II. The Angel Declares the Fulfillment of the Promise of God's Presence ()

A. What Heaven Includes ()

Revelation 21:3 KJV 1900

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

The Five-fold Fulfillment:

1. "Tabernacle of God Is With Men"

2. "He Will Dwell With Them"

3. "They Shall Be His People"

4. "God Himself Shall Be With Them"

5. "And Be Their God"

B. What Heaven Excludes ()

KJV 1900And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

The Fivefold Fulfillment:

1. Tears Wiped Away

Implied is that in the new heaven and new Jerusalem—heaven as we think of it today—there will be tears, for God will wipe them away. It may be that the redeemed of the ages witness the Great White Throne Judgment recently past. In those awesome proceedings, many a loved one and friend will be cast into the lake of fire. That will undoubtedly provoke tears. (See also and .) However, the great and tender mercy of God will, in that day, wipe away all tears. [Sorenson]

2. No More Death

3. No More Sorrow

4. No More Crying

5. No More Pain

Note - Semitic Parallelism, lit.:

"And death shall be no more,

Neither sorrow,

Neither crying,

Neither pain shall be no more."

Application:

KJV 1900So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

1 Corinthians 15:54–56 KJV 1900

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

KJV 1900Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

John 11:25–26 KJV 1900

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Quote: “Is This Life All There Is? Why Heaven Is Worth the Wait,” by Joni Eareckson Tada. Eareckson Tada shares this powerful, personal reflection on the wonder of the new creation:

I still can hardly believe that I—with atrophied muscles, shriveled, bent fingers, and no feeling from the shoulders down—will one day have a new, dazzling body that’s in wonderful working order and clothed in righteousness. Not to mention, I’ll also have a mind that doesn’t want to resign or quit!…

You may not be paralyzed with a broken neck, but you could be paralyzed by other limitations: a broken heart, a broken home, a broken reputation.… The temporal troubles we face may slam the door to sustained satisfaction in this life, but then again, they can throw windows wide open to a vibrant hope of heaven. [Duvall]

III. The Sevenfold Sayings of God ()

A. "I Make" ()

KJV 1900And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

Revelation 21:5 KJV 1900

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

Note - "all things" = quantity; "new" = quality

B. "Write" ()

KJV 1900And now, O Lord God, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant:

2 Samuel 7:28 KJV 1900

And now, O Lord God, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant:

C. "It Is Done" ()

KJV 1900And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

Revelation 21:6 KJV 1900

And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

Note - Judgment - "It is done" (); Recreation - "It is done" ()

D. "Alpha and Omega" (:b)

Note - The Deity of Christ and how that separates us from the occults (i.e. Christian Science, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witness) and Islam:

In it is “the Lord God” who asserts, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” and the speaker is further described as the One “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” In 21:6 and 22:13, on the other hand, the Lord Jesus Christ is the speaker who calls himself “the Alpha and the Omega.” These two verses taken with 1:8 constitute a strong assertion of the true and eternal deity of Christ. Similarly, the use of language in 21:6 and 22:13 concerning Jesus Christ is equivalent to that used concerning Yahweh in and 48:12 and involves a strong implication Jesus’ divine nature. [ZEB, A-C, Alpha and Omega]

E. Full Satisfaction - "Water of Life" ()

Note - Contrast with the harlot’s cup ()

F. Full Inheritance - "Inherit All Things" () & Full Fellowship - "He shall be my son" ()

KJV 1900He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Revelation 21:7 KJV 1900

He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Note - The Overcomer - Believer

Note - cf. —all glories about to be unfolded

KJV 1900Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

1 Corinthians 3:21 KJV 1900

Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

To overcome. The summons to overcome (21:7) remains relevant regardless of how close or distant our trials seem analogous to those of John’s first audience. Even those with the most comfortable situations eventually face sickness, death, or bereavement. Each of the seven churches in Revelation had different trials, yet each was called to overcome (2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21); each of us today has different trials, but all are called to overcome (21:7). [NIVAC, Re]

G. They "Shall Have Their Part" ()

KJV 1900But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Revelation 21:8 KJV 1900

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Note - The Underachiever - Sinner (miss the mark)

The [“fearful”] may be those who fear persecution (2:10) more than they revere God (11:18; 14:7; 15:4; 19:5).

The “unbelieving” are those who prove faithless, unwilling to maintain their faith in the midst of testing (2:13, 19; 13:10; 14:12).

The Greek word translated as [“abominable”] (ebdelygmenos) is related to ... (17:4–5; 21:27), that which is disgusting before God (; ; , ). Most often in the lxx this word applies to two sins: sexual immorality (; ; ; ; ; ; ) and—by far most frequently—idolatry (over forty times).26 Those who compromise with the cult of the emperor or other forms of paganism and worldliness fall into the “abominable” or “vile” category.

“Murderers” (cf. 9:21; 22:15) is a broad designation but includes those who kill God’s saints (2:13; 6:11; 13:10, 15); this may include those who betrayed Christians to the government (2:9; 3:9), who to save oneself refused to love sufficiently to withhold betraying others (cf. ), or who would not meet a fellow Christian’s needs (). Such murderers will justly suffer the second death (20:14).

The [“whoremongers”] (cf. 9:21) in Revelation often point to spiritual immorality (2:14, 20; 17:1–2, 5, 15–16; 18:3, 9; 19:2), but unless readers have this in mind, they would suppose it most naturally refers to the notorious literal physical immorality of paganism. In either case, the sexual unfaithfulness of the world’s citizens contrasts sharply with the sexual purity of the bride, the holy city, and her inhabitants (14:4; 19:7–8; 21:2).

[“Sorcerers”] (cf. 22:15) translates a word in Revelation that includes the world’s seductive signs (13:13–14) and perhaps even its seductive power (18:23); in the broader sense, it includes any deceptive tools of demons (9:20–21; ).

“Idolaters” include all who have succumbed to the demands of the imperial cult or who worshiped the idols of the world system (2:14, 20; cf. ); they worship the image of the beast ().

“[All] Liars” includes not only false prophets (2:2; cf. ) like Balaam and Jezebel (, ) but also those who falsely claim to follow the truth (3:9; cf. ; ), in contrast to the saints (). [NIVAC, Re. Revisions to reflect the AV in brackets]

Conclusion:

"And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time."

- Citation: T. S. Eliot, “Little Gidding” [Craig Brian Larson and Brian Lowery, 1001 Quotations That Connect: Timeless Wisdom for Preaching, Teaching, and Writing (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2009), 125.]

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