It Is Done

 Temple Baptist Church - 3-27-2022

Revelation 21:6-8

 

A.  Verse 6.  "And he that sat upon the throne."  Throughout the past 7,000+ years, Satan, and his angels along with the ungodly of this world, have done their best to dethrone almighty God.  I wonder how that worked out for them?  I am being facetious at this point as they are ALL at home in the Lake of Fire.

 

Satan's Foolish Plan - Isaiah 14:12-14  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!  (13)  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:  (14)  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

 

God's Permanent Power - Isaiah 6:1-3  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.  (2)  Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.  (3)  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

 

B.  Just to let men know that God cannot, and God will not be dethroned.  It matters not what they think, He will not go away.  As Dr. S. M. Lockridge said:

 

"You can't get Him out of your mind. You can't get Him off of your hand. You can't outlive Him, And you can't live without Him. The Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but they found out they couldn't stop Him. Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him. The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree. Herod couldn't kill Him. Death couldn't handle Him, And the grave couldn't hold Him."

 

C.  Verse 6.  "And he … said unto me, It is done."  I am reminded of the times that I was doing something that I did not necessarily like, and it was finally finished.  I shoveled the last shovel full or was driving the last nail, etc. I usually say, "That is the one I was looking for."  The end of history is the beginning of the future.  That 7000+ years is past with all its troubles, trials, testing, and tribulation are finally done and the future of perfection and peace has come.

 

D.  "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end."  Revelation 1:11  "Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last:"  Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet: figuratively only (from its use as a numeral) the first.  God is the beginning of all things; He is the origin of all things because He is the First of all things!  Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet: (figuratively) the finality.  He was before all things, and He will be after all things.

 

E.  "I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely."  In the end of the Bible, the Holy Ghost reiterates that salvation is personal responsibility!  "I will give to him" removes all doubt as to the privilege and promise of salvation to all who come.  In John 6:37 says, "and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."  Until the end of the 7000 years, the Door of salvation will be readily available for all who "thirst."  The Fountain is Christ Jesus, the "water of life" is the Christ Jesus the Word of God, and "freely" is the price that was paid by Christ Jesus as our Propitiation on the cross of Calvary.

 

Matthew 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

 

F.  Verse 7.  "He that overcometh."  The overcoming is not of works, lest any man should boast.  The overcoming is defined in 1 John 5:4-5,  "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.  (5)  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"  "shall inherit all things." 

 

Galatians 4:6-7  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.  (7)  Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

 

1 Peter 1:3-4  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  (4)  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

 

G.  "And I will be his God, and he shall be my son."  Many have the wrong idea about the relationship of the believer with God.  They teach that a saved man or woman can eventually become a lost person again.  The Bible teaches us that though fellowship with God can be broken, relationship with God cannot be broken.  In the human aspect, we who are born of our parents carry their DNA.  As long as we live on this earth, they are our parents, and we are their children.  So, it is with the spiritual birth of the believer.  Notice the personal aspect of this verse.  "And I will be his God!"  "And he shall be my son."

 

H.  Verse 8.  In verses 7-8, we see a distinct difference between the faith and lives of the saved and unsaved.  The new creature verses the old creature.  The new man verses the old man.  In this verse, we find the horrific promise given to the unbeliever.  The word "But" is used to show contrast.  "The fearful, and unbelieving" verses the "fearless and believing."  This is illustrated in the Bible:

 

1 John 4:15-19  Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.  (16)  And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.  (17)  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.  (18)  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.  (19)  We love him, because he first loved us.

 

Fear is the opposite of faith.  The "fearful" are those who were afraid to confess the Lord Jesus because of their unbelief while the "fearless" are those came to Christ Jesus in faith and who love the Lord Jesus. 

 

J.  "And the abominable."  Things mentioned in the Bible that are "abominable" to God.  The Bible uses the words "abomination," "abominations," and "abominable" 152 times.  Things that are detestable to God; things that are idolatrous before God.   Things that are perverted and evil.  Our world is full of them but the world to come will not contain them.

 

K.  "And murders."  Murder is different from killing.  The Bible is clear that there are times when a life must be taken, such as in cases of war, self-defense, and crimes that require the death sentence.  Murder is different!  Murder is the unlawful, malicious taking of life!  With malice aforethought is a phrase that is used in indictments.  "Murderer" is differentiated from "manslayer" in the bible or from the accidental taking of life.  Murder can be the malicious taking of life of both the born and the unborn.  Abortion is murder!  Life comes from God and is to be handled as such.

 

L.  "Whoremongers."  This word comes from a root word "pornos," from which we get the word pornography.  Pornography is prevalent in these days of "information" and "social media."  In not only applies to the one caught up in pornography but also to the one who sells or promotes it.  It implies the selling of or prostitution. "Debauchery" would be a good word to use in our day.  We find pornography in almost every place that we go from department stores to the advertisement industry.  Nakedness is still a sin!

 

M.  "Sorcerers."  Here we normally think of witches and witchcraft.  The Bible says that we are not to suffer a witch to live in Exodus 22:18.  But the word "witchcraft" comes from the Greek word "pharmakeia" from which we get our word "pharmacy."  To bring something under the power of something.  We live in days of addiction as the minds of people are impaired through the use of alcohol and drugs.  They have introduced the words "recreational" when speaking of the initialization of such usages.  The Bible teaches abstinence.

 

N.  "Idolaters."  An image worshipper.  Dr. Billy Kanoy used to say that "there are idols that are metal and there are idols that are mental."  There are "churches" that continue to use statues and images as part of worship as well as heathen people who worship images.  It is not acceptable to be a heathen worshipper of images but totally acceptable to be a church that worships such.  The First Commandment forbids the making of and worship of idols.  An idol can also be mental or anything that comes between man and God.

 

O.  "And all liars."  A lie is an untruth.  Something that is spoken of as being the truth but is deceitfully erroneous.  It comes from the word "pseudes" from which we get our word pseudo or false.  To intentionally deceive someone is to lie.  God hates lying.

 

P.  "Shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."  Heaven will not be home to those who do such things unless they turn in repentance to God and place their faith in the finished work of Christ.  All our neighbors in the new heaven and new earth will be good ones!  Someone once said that "hell was truth realized too late."