Eternity

 Temple Baptist Church - 3-20-2022

Revelation 21:1-5

 

A.  Verse 1.  For the next few weeks, we will be looking ahead into eternity.  What is eternity? A forever lack of time that holds neither past nor future.  An eternal moment.  Eternity is a doctrine to which we hold but one that is hard to explain.  We serve an eternal God.  One who has neither beginning nor end.  Many people deny God because they cannot understand nor grasp an eternal Being.  When we see the new heaven and new earth, things will be eternally different from what we know today.

 

B.  Time will be no more.  Satan, the beast, and the false prophet are in the Lake of Fire.  The wicked of earth are no longer.  Sin and sinners have received their final judgment and have joined the forementioned in the Lake of Fire.  For this, my heart aches!  The heaven and the earth of old have been purified and the new heaven and new earth are here in all their perfection as the curse of sin is gone. 

 

C.  We will now see our eternal home in the New Jerusalem.  The Jerusalem of old will have perished in the renovation of the earth and I believe that the Bible implies that the New Jerusalem will sit in its place.  To hover over the earth or to sit on the earth is not clear but where everything started, I believe that everything will end.  By end, I simply mean the culmination of 7,000 years on earth have come to an end and our eternal earth returned as it was to its original glory and intent.

 

D.  The city of Jerusalem has been called "The Eternal City" is manifested in the New Jerusalem.  As to when the New Jerusalem was made, no one knows but our Lord referenced it in John 14:2,  "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."  Our Lord, the Creator of all things, spoke of its existence, not its building in this verse.  It was already there.

 

E.  Verse 2.  "And I John saw the holy city"  The New Jerusalem is a holy city.  "new Jerusalem" The New Jerusalem is a new city in which no one has ever lived.  "coming down from God out of heaven"  The New Jerusalem is a heavenly city whose builder and maker is God.  "prepared as a bride"  In the Old Testament, the groom could not go get his bride until it was established that her home was ready to be moved into.  The New Jerusalem is a perfectly prepared city for a perfectly prepared people.  "adorned"  The Bible has more to say about this adornment later in the chapter, but the New Jerusalem is the most beautiful city ever beheld.  "for her husband."  The New Jerusalem is a purposed city.  It was made for the Husband's bride to live in.

 

F.  Verse 3.  Once more, God will live with men.  This was the purpose of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness and the building of two Temples:

 

Moses' Tabernacle in the Wilderness.  Exodus 25:8  And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. 

 

Exodus 25:22  And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

 

Solomon's Temple build by Solomon.  2 Samuel 7:12-13  And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.  (13)  He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

 

Zerubbabel's Temple build by Ezra.  Ezra 1:2  Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

 

Zechariah 4:8-9  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,  (9)  The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.

 

With the Old Testament Saint.  Job 23:10-14  But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.  (11)  My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.  (12)  Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.  (13)  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.  (14)  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

 

In The Heart of the Believer.  Hebrews 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

 

G.  The eternal presence of God with His people.  As "the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day," the Voice of the LORD God will walk with us in the New Jerusalem.  As the LORD God fellowshipped with Adam, so will be our fellowship with Him in eternity.  He will dwell with us and we shall be His people and He will be our God.  This was the original intent of man's creation and it will be the eternal state of his people.

 

Psalms 23:1-6  A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  (2)  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.  (3)  He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.  (4)  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.  (5)  Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.  (6)  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

 

H.  Verses 1, 4, 5.  In these verses, we are allowed some insight into the eternal state of mankind in the new heaven and the new earth.

 

No More Sea.  Currently three-fourths of the earth’s surface is water.  In chapter 20, the sea gave up the dead which were in it because there will be no more sea.  First, the seas of earth are its purification plants.  In our current water cycle, much of the purification of water comes through the agitation and salt of the sea.  Salt is used for savor, preservation, and cleansing.  There will be no defilement and no need of purification.  Also, the climatic conditions of the new earth will return to the beginning where the earth will be watered from withing by a mist rising from the ground.  Also, the three-fourths of the earth's surface will be needed to sustain the saved of all the ages because of the multitudes that will live there.

 

Genesis 2:4-6  These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,  (5)  And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.  (6)  But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

 

No More Tears.  I love the phrase "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."  This is a very personal thing.  As our mothers wiped away the tears that fell from our eyes and brought comfort to us, God will wipe all tears from our eyes which speaks of eternal comfort and joy.

 

Matthew 5:4  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

 

No More Death.  A land where we will never grow old and feeble!  No more tears because there will be no more death of loved ones.  Today, we die to go be with the Lord, then we shall forever be with the Lord and our bodies, because of lack of sin, will decay no more. 

 

John 11:35  Jesus wept.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:13  But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

 

No More Sorrow.  Because of the entrance of sin into this world, we are brought into this world through the sorrow of childbirth and lives filled with the sorrows of sin, disappointment, sickness, and death.  These things will be non-existent in eternity!  God's peoples will be an eternally happy people.

 

Genesis 3:16  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

 

Psalms 30:5  For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

 

No More Pain.  I love this portion of the verse.  The older we get, the more that pain becomes a way of life.  Someone said, "If you cannot endure pain, die young!"  The pain of the body but also the pain that is spiritual as we see things that disturb us transpire.  The New Jerusalem, along with the new earth, will be perfect places for God's children to dwell.

 

J.  "For the former things are passed away."  Passed away means that these things that bring about tears in this life will be no longer and the memories of them will no longer bring tears in eternity to come.  "What a day, Glorious day that will be!"