Speaker: Gary Peters

Passage: Revelation 21:1-16

REVELATION 21:1-16

Revelation 21. We have two more weeks. How many are sick of Revelation? Few of you are. You know why you’re sick of Revelation? Because it’s a hard book to understand. The fact that we went through it chapter by chapter, I think is pretty astounding as a team and as a church. 

We get in the good stuff today, hopefully. As we approach these last two chapters of this letter to the seven churches, I need to remind you that in chapter 20, something incredible happens. The Devil, the Beast– by the way, devil means accuser. How many are glad the accuser is going to be gone? I don’t have to worry much about accusing myself. I always have somebody saying, Shoulda, coulda, woulda, shoulda, coulda, woulda, shoulda, coulda, woulda. 

The Devil, the Beast, the False Prophet, death, the grave, and those whose names were not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life were all thrown into the lake of fire. The only one that grieves me in that is those who don’t accept Christ. The rest of them, I’m given a big shout. I’m tired of death, tired of the grave. You know, Jesus conquered all, but some things haven’t been completely realized yet. 

REVELATION 21:1-8

Chapter 21, verse 1, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there was no longer any sea.” Interesting. We’re not going to need the sea anymore. I guess it’s not going to rain. I don’t know. Interesting statement, no sea. No see the sea. But we do know the sea also means chaos. The land, solid; the sea is chaos, so there’s not going to be any chaos. 

“And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” As a male, this statement really speaks to me in the sense that I can remember, though it was forty-five, almost forty-six years ago, looking down the aisle and seeing my wife, my bride, come down the aisle and me becoming a blubbering idiot. But the fact is, think about this is how Christ sees us, this bride adorned for her husband. 

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell or tabernacle among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, nor crying, nor pain; for the first things–’” those are in this life– “‘the first things have passed away.’ 

“And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’ And He said to me, ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give water to the one who thirsts from the springs of the water of life, without cost. And to the one who overcomes will inherit these things, I will be his God, and he will be My child. But as for the cowardly, the unbelieving, those that do abominable acts, the murderers, the sexually immoral persons, sorcerers, and liars, and idolaters, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.'” 

GOD’S ULTIMATE PLAN

I’ve struggled with this passage on how to present it. I love the fact that we’re in part of the book where the story turns. We’re no longer worried about the Antichrist, the Mark of the Beast, the fourth wart on the third– you know, none of that stuff. Always call it the fourth wart on the seventh head. 

Anyway, we don’t have to worry about that. We’re getting to the good part. What is happening here is something incredible. By the way, last night, I hardly slept. I was up all night, off and on, off and on. Sleep for an hour, something be downloaded; sleep for an hour and a half, something be downloaded. So, I’ve struggled with this and literally put the final touches on this, even though I’ve been working on it for a month, at about 4 am this morning. 

And this is one of the things that I realized: is God’s ultimate plan and purpose have been in motion since the dawn of time and throughout eternity, unwavering and unchanging. 

We’ve got to understand that even for our own lives, God has put plans in your heart for you, but He’s also working those plans out for you. Sometimes, He sees the end of the story, but we’re in the middle here, or we’re at the beginning of the story, and God needs to work in our life to get the plans He’s already placed in our hearts for us to come to pass. And we get impatient with the planning of the plans– follow me? That we give up or we get discouraged. 

God’s ultimate plan, He didn’t have plan B. He didn’t freak out when Adam and Eve sinned. I say it all the time to people, the Triune God doesn’t perform a counsel and say, Look at Gary Peters, he’s awake again. What are we going to do with the boy? 

God has provided the means for everything we need. It’s already been done. That’s the Book of Revelation. That’s the end of the chapter. I saw, and I saw, and I heard, he says, And behold. God’s desire has always been for a people for Himself. 

And when we think about that, it’s not like Adam needed a helpmate, he needed a wife so that they could be complete, in that sense. God doesn’t need us, church. If God needs anything, He’s not God. 

God doesn’t need me; He wants me. He wants to have relationship with me. It’s so hard for us because we can’t comprehend it with this thing between our ears called our brain, because we don’t have unconditional love. No matter how much you love somebody, there’s still some conditions placed on that. With God, there’s none. 

He loves us unconditionally. He loved me before I knew Him. He loved me while I was the enemy. I was shaking my fist and calling for Barabbas last weekend, and He said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. He’s always wanted me, and He sent His Son for that purpose. But the Son was slain before the foundation of the world. 

THE NEW JERUSALEM

This New Jerusalem that’s coming down is not a place; it’s a people. It’s us. Everybody that has ever lived for Christ, accepted His Son, had the blood of Jesus cover their sin, whether they’re living or at that time have died. That means everybody in this room that knows Jesus, you’re part of this New Jerusalem. You’re part of it. 

You say, Why can’t it be a building? Because, first of all, it’s an equal square. What was the perfect cube in the Tabernacle? The Holy of Holies, where God dwelt. And when we see over and over in the Book of Revelation, where there’s a square, a perfect cube, it pictures the holiness of God. 

But the other thing, the measurements in today’s language is fourteen hundred miles by fourteen hundred miles. How many think that’s a big, big city? That’s from the border of Las Cruces, New Mexico to Canada, and it’s basically from Omaha, Nebraska to San Francisco, that giant of a city. 

And even if you put everybody that has ever served God for all of the centuries in that space, we’d still be kind of like this. It’s not a place; it’s a people. It’s the people of God. God coming and dwelling with us for eternity. 

It’s so important for us to understand that. God’s plan from the beginning, He goes from– I love this because we see this in the Book of Revelation– he says, I saw, and I saw, then I heard, and the voice said, Behold. 

And whenever we see the voice in Scripture, especially Revelation chapter 4, Behold, come up here, and behold. See the worship that’s going on in Heaven. Behold, see Heaven coming down to earth. And Jesus said we need to pray for that. 

GOD LONGS TO DWELL WITH US

But God’s plan from all eternity has been to dwell with us. God’s not mad at you. He may not like what you do, but God’s not mad at you. He’s not a ticked-off God. He didn’t wake up on the wrong side of the bed when He thought about you. He’s unlike anybody you know. He wants to tabernacle, and what does that mean? To dwell. It means to take up residence. It means to abide. 

From the beginning, God met with Adam and Eve nightly, walked with them, and talked to them. Then the tent of meeting in Exodus was put up where Joshua and Moses– it blows me away, of all those millions of people, two dudes showed up. But it’s still been His purpose. And then the Tabernacle of David had one piece of furniture, the Ark of the Covenant, the Mercy Seat. Why? Because it’s a picture of God dwelling with man, God taking the sacrifice for man. And then Amos’ prophecy that the Tabernacle would be restored in the latter days. 

It’s the purpose of Jesus, in John 1, verse 1 and verse 14: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh–” through Mary giving birth to Jesus, overshadowed and dwelt by the Holy Spirit– “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory,” John says. “The glory of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” 

I love 1 John; he says, “That which we have seen, that which we have beheld, that is what we declare to you in the Word of life.” How many have met somebody that’s beheld God? You know they’ve beheld God? What does it cause you to do? Causes you to want to be more like God, more like Jesus. 

The reality of the new covenant is the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. The indwelling of the Triune God will be with us in new creation. It’s the reality of the new covenant, and it’s the reality for us. 

GOD WILL RESTORE ALL THINGS

The second thing: not only has His plan been from eternity to dwell with us, His plan has been from eternity to restore all things. He’s going to make all things new. No more cancer, no more death, no more sorrow, no more rejection, no more sexual sin that breaks your heart, no more people leaving you, walking out of your life, none of that anymore. 

He’s going to restore it. He’s going to make it new. How many are excited about that? I’m glad for the Book of Revelation, amen? I’m glad we walk through this to get to this place. In the Book of Revelation, I’m not freaking out over the Mark of the Beast or the Antichrist. I’ve set the stage because, as they say in Texas, God’s fixing to do something. God’s fixing to do something. 

He’s about ready to come on the scene. And we’re closer now than we’ve ever been. I don’t know when it’s going to happen. 

Because He’s with us, He’ll wipe away our tears. There’s not going to be any more death, no mourning, crying, pain. “All of these things are gone forever,” the New Living says. And you’ve heard me say this every time I teach: I have people come to me and say, Well, when I get to Heaven, I’m going to ask Jesus why this happened. 

When you get to Heaven, you’re not going to care. You’re not going to care because you’re going to behold Him. You’re going to be so enthralled with Him. It’s like everything else is going to pale in comparison. 

That’s why they cry, Holy, holy, holy, holy, day and night because it’s a new expression. They’ve never seen that picture of God before. They’ve never seen Him move like that, and they just cry, Holy. 

That’s what holiness is– it means you’re like nobody else. You’re not like nothing I’ve ever seen. You’re like no other being I’ve ever watched because He’s infinite, and He’s not just the creator, He’s our Father. 

“And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, look at this. I’m making all things new.’” See, not just to hear it, not just to see it, but to behold the fact. Everybody look at me: God’s going to make all things new. He promised. God’s going to make all things new. What an incredible thing. It means to fix your gaze, to stop, to be arrested in your heart, to stop and fix your gaze. I’m making all things new. 

RESTORATION THROUGH GRACE

But how does He do this? The fulfillment of His plans is both demanded and guaranteed by God’s very nature and divine attributes. I think that’s pretty good. Where’s that on the screen? The fulfillment of His plan is both demanded and guaranteed by His very nature and divine attributes. The Lord dropped that in my heart at 4 am this morning. 

What that means is this: in Romans, it says, He’s the righteous, and He’s the righteousness; He’s the justice, and He’s the justifier. We can’t take credit for any of that. He’s the one that draws us by His grace, and then He gives us grace. Amen? He pulls us into Him, and then He gives us the ability to live for Him. 

I can’t take any credit. I walk in grace. Grace is not only the unlimited favor that He accepts me; grace is this: it’s the desire and the power to do His will. James says He gives grace to the humble. You know what the humble is? Help! The humble is, I need You, Jesus. The humble is, Come in, You know what I’m struggling with, Lord. 

So, what’s He do? Pour the desire and the power to do what you know He’s asking you to do. We got it all mixed up. I gotta get better. I gotta get better at this. I gotta read my Bible more. I gotta pray more. I gotta go to church more. Those things will help, but the fact is, it comes by, Help! 

What’s the first prayer God hears? Help! I need a savior, Jesus. I need You to come into my life. I need You to change my life. But every day, it’s like, God, I need to know how to love my wife of forty-five years. I need to know how to love my kids and grandkids. I need to know how to love You. 

Because if this is correct, this will be correct. Amen? If this has got a problem, this has got a problem. When I’m at odds with somebody, it’s normally because this is not correct. See, He says, because I’m the faithful and true one. 

THE ALREADY AND NOT YET OF GOD’S VICTORY

He said to me, “It is done.” Where have we heard that before? Yeah, not the exact same word, but the exact same tense, meaning it’s a finished action, it’s not going to continue on, it’s not going to have to have things added to it. 

The thing that’s so cool, Jesus on the cross, last thing He said, “Father, I commit my spirit into Your hands.” But basically said, It’s finished, it’s done, it’s over. The veil is ripped. And yet, from that point on, there’s still been sorrow, there’s still been death, there’s still been cancer, there’s still been heart disease, there’s still been heartache, there’s still been divorce, there’s still been brokenness. 

And the Book of Revelation, guess what He says? What I spoke back there is finished here; it’s done here, and it’s over here. It’s not that He didn’t speak truth here, it’s that He is waiting until all things come under His feet. He’s waiting for all things to become His footstool, where He’s just resting. I’m just resting because what I said here is going to happen over here, and this is proof. 

He says, It’s done. Why? Because I’m the beginning and I’m the end, He says, I’m the Alpha– which is the first letter in the Greek alphabet– and I’m the Omega. 

And I say it all the time: He’s the God of the in-between, He’s the God of the ‘tweener times. I hate ‘tweener times. Anybody with me? I hate a promise given, and I have to wait and endure for the promise to be fulfilled. ‘Tweener times– excuse me– suck. They do. They’re not fun. There’s a lot of things I’m still waiting for, but I know in my heart that’s finished. 

That’s what He’s saying here. The fulfillment of His plan is both demanded and fulfilled by God’s very nature and divine attributes. The work of the cross is complete. The realities in Revelation 21 and 22 is, It’s done. It’s the already of the Kingdom of God and the not yet. 

How many of you have some alreadys? How many have some not yets? Yeah, that tension point. Welcome, it’s called Christianity. Welcome, it’s called sanctification. Welcome, it’s called learning to trust God in the midst of every pain and sorrow that we have. 

And He says,” I’m the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last.” He’s always been God, nothing changes that. Isaiah, 41:4, “Who has performed and accomplished it, summoning the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last, I am He.’” 

Chapter 44:6, “This is what the Lord says, He who is King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of armies: I am the first and I’m the last, there’s no God beside me.” 

Chapter 48:12, “Listen to me, Jacob, Israel whom I’ve called; I am He. I am the first, I’m also the last.” 

He’s in the beginning, “God created.” So, in Genesis 1 we have, “In the beginning.” Almost in the center of the book, we have Isaiah, which says, “I’m the first, and I’m the last.” At the end of the book, we have Him as the first and the last. We get saved. He’s in the beginning of my life, He’s the first and last in the middle of my life, and He’s the first and the last at the end of my life. 

THE LIVING WATER

That’s the God we serve. What an incredible thing. And what happens is we put all of these conditions and restrictions on what it takes for somebody to become a believer and to stay a believer. And then He says, “I’m the living water,” which is the sustainer of life. 

You can live a long time, or a comparably long time, without food. You can’t live very long without water. I went to Moab one time. We lived in Washington, rains all the time. I was just looking for some sunshine. My brother-in-law hopped in his suburban, threw our mountain bikes and our gear, and drove seventeen hours to get to Moab without stopping. He probably drove forteen of that because I’m letting him. 

We get there, we’re so excited. We pull into a couple bike shops. They tell us about a couple trails we can knock out, like a three-hour tour of Gilligan’s Island. You know, you have three hours, you can knock it out? So, literally, Gilligan’s Island, if you know the story. 

So, we hop on our mountain bikes about 4:30, 4:15 in the afternoon. It’s starting to cool off, it’s like 95 degrees. First of all, we’re like, Why isn’t anybody here? Well, I thought this was the mountain bike capital of the world. Nobody’s here. It’s because it’s so flipping hot, nobody’s there. 

So, we hop on our mountain bikes, we take two bottles of water, it’s going to take us two and a half hours to do this trail, knock it out, come back to camp, set up camp. We’ll be good to go. 

We get up on this trail– first of all, we see a couple of rattlesnakes go through. Seriously, it’s like, Hmm, I’m glad I was about five feet below before that. And then we see a couple coyotes. We hear things, and it’s like, That has to be a bigger one. 

And so, we get out, all of a sudden, we get to the top of this mountain, this plateau, and where there’s supposed to be rock cairns showing the way of the trails, some idiot– and he is an idiot, I’ll call him an idiot– thought it was fun to kick over these rock cairns. So, everywhere you go, you just see piles of rocks. It’s like, is the trail that pile of rocks, or is the trail that pile of rocks? 

To make a long story short, we polished off our two water bottles in about an hour and a half. We started at 4:30, 4:15 in the afternoon. We got back to camp at 2:30 in the morning. And the only way we got back to the camp is because I knew there was a full moon, and after we’re trying, Forget it, I’m not riding my bike, I’m pushing my bike, you know? 

How many know you’re supposed to have a bike to ride, not to push? When you see somebody pushing, they don’t know how to ride, or they aren’t in shape, one of the two things. I was in shape, but I’m pushing my bike, pushing my bike, and all of a sudden, be like, oh, you drop off a ledge about this far. 

And I said to my brother-in-law, Dude, I’m done. I’m hearing things. There’s gotta be rattlesnakes and coyotes around here. Maybe a bear, man, a badger. I don’t know. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. 

Anyway, I’m freaking out. And so, I said, I’m just gonna sit on this rock, and I know there’s a full moon tonight, and it’ll come up, and we’ll have enough light to get off this hill. Because we could hear the water running, we knew the road paralleled the river, we knew it was down there, and we were up here. 

So, of course, we’re behind the highest peak of Moab Valley. So, it took until about 1:00, maybe 12:30 in the morning, for the moon, finally, to get enough where we could walk our bikes down the hill. 

We got out on the road. We’re like, Thank you, I’m not going to die. They’re not going to find me up here. And this deputy sheriff drives by. We’re like, We’re saved. Jesus answered our prayers. This is awesome. Thank you, Jesus, You answered our prayers. 

He says, Here’s a jug of water for both of you. You got about five, six miles, see you later. You know why? Because he said, I find you idiots out here all the time. All I’m required to do is bring water to you. You got a bike. 

My point is this: I get to the camp at 2:30 in the morning. I’m clipped in, I literally just fell over on my bike. I was so cramped, I mean, every muscle, my neck, my cheeks, my shoulders, my legs especially, it was just nasty. 

My point is this: you can’t live very long without water. Told you all that story to tell you, you can’t live very long without water. So, we’re downing salt, you know, we’re drinking jugs of water. Next morning, we’re back at it. 

Anyway. Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. You have no money. Remember, He said in Isaiah, “You who have no money come, buy and eat. Buy wine, buy milk, without money and without cost.” 

And Jesus, in John 7, says, “On the last day of the great feast, Jesus stood and cried out, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture said, “From his innermost being, shall flow rivers of living water.”’” 

One time, I was teaching, and I said, livers of riving water, but it’s rivers of living water. And His point was, I’m the one that sustains you. “They will no longer thirst,” it says in Revelation 7. 

So, we’re in 21, now we go back to 7. “They will no longer hunger or thirst, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to the springs of the water of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” 

OUR INHERITANCE

The third thing– almost done– is those who seek Him and rely on His overcoming grace, come to understand and experience the reality of God’s plan and character. There’s another promise and command here. We saw it in all the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3. 

To him who overcomes, to those who overcome, I will do this. In this case, He says, You must overcome. To the one who overcomes, he’ll inherit these things. What are these things? Three of them. I love this. 

He says you will inherit the Kingdom of God. How many promises are in this book? A bunch. I encourage you, start in Genesis and let your goal be now to the end of the year, I’m going to cover a few of these books, and I’m just going to jot down every promise, every promise God’s promised for His kids. 

That’s your inheritance. He’s going to give you an inheritance. And by the way, when my parents gave me inheritance, when they passed, I didn’t earn it. I got it because they earned it. That’s the idea. 

The second thing: God will be their God. That’s it. It’s the term El Shaddai. Lord God Almighty. Zephaniah says, “The Lord in your midst is mighty. He will sing over you. He’ll dance over you.” El Shaddai is your inheritance. 

The third thing He says: you’ll be My sons and My daughters. And if you have a whacked-out relationship with your dad, this should be a hallelujah moment. 

The church I pastored in Washington, hallway probably from here to about the baptistry. To a five-year-old, it looks a lot longer. My daughter was about five, brought one of her little friends after church from children’s church. We were getting ready to go. She says, Come on, come with me. This little girl stood on the edge and said, I can’t go there. Why? Because that’s pastor Gary’s office. My daughter turns to her and says, It’s just dad. It’s just dad. 

See, she could say that because she was my daughter. I had a relationship with her. I’ve loved her all her life. I loved her before she was born. I don’t know how it happens. They’re born, you just love them. That’s the difference between kids and marriage. Marriage, you have to choose your spouse; your kids, you love. They win, but they shouldn’t. 

So, this hallway looked long and dark to this one little five-year-old girl, six-year-old little girl, but to my daughter, she knew dad was at the other end. And it’s, Come on, you can come with me. It’s just dad. 

And not any disrespect for our Heavenly Father. I say this all the time: if Jesus walked through the door, none of us would be slapping Him on the back, going, Hey, bro, how’s it going today? But that’s how some people treat Him. We’d be on our face if we saw Him in all of his glory. 

But the fact is, whenever He sees that type of response you see in Scripture, when somebody falls in the presence of God, what’s He do? You gotta grovel there in the dust. No, what’s He do? He picks him up. That’s our father. He’s your dad. 

If you have a terrible relationship with your own father, He can repair the fact of your brokenness. You’ve got to forgive. How do you forgive? God, I don’t want to forgive. I don’t like that person. I didn’t like what they did to me. I didn’t like the abandonment. I don’t like it. What’s that? Help! Grace. 

That’s what it is. It’s help and grace is poured out, then you’re able to walk in forgiveness. And forgiveness doesn’t mean you have to trust, some people aren’t trustworthy– a lot of people aren’t trustworthy. You have to forgive. 

How many have to forgive somebody who’s not trustworthy? Yeah. But you forgive them by releasing them. God, like You didn’t hold my charge against me, I don’t hold their charge against them. I release them. 

It’s just dad. That’s what He wants. Wants you to have relationship with Him, that’s the end of the book. That’s the last two chapters of the Bible. He wants to be Dad. He wants to be your provider, your peace, your comfort, your joy, your life itself. 

So, how do we do that? By saying Help. God’s ultimate plan and purpose have been in motion since the dawn of time and throughout eternity, unwavering and unchanging. He’s never freaked out. It’s the Lamb slain before the foundation of the earth. 

The fulfillment of His plans is both demanded and then guaranteed by God’s very nature and divine attributes. Those who seek Him and rely on His overcoming grace come to understand and experience the reality of that plan and that character. 

Let’s pray. Put your hand on your heart. Prayer teams are going to be up here at the end. Might be some stuff. We used to call it making business with God. Have a come-to-Jesus-moment before you go out and have lunch. 

Father, thank You for Your grace, Your mercy, Your faithfulness. We say all the time, God, we are undeserving, but thank You that You chose us. That Jesus was slain before I even was born, before I even was thought of God. 

Thank You that You’ve provided the means that at the end of the book, we can say, hallelujah. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Thank You for Your faithfulness to us. God, bring healing to hurts. Help us to serve You in those in-between times. We thank You, Father God. We praise You. In Jesus’ name, amen.