Praise thy faithfulness, O God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changest not. As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. ♪ Let me in thy hand have provided ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me ♪ ♪ Summer and winter and spring and fall ♪ ♪ Springtime and harvests ♪ ♪ Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above ♪ ♪ Join with all nature in blessed holiness ♪ ♪ To thy great faithfulness first we sing ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Morning by morning new mercies I see ♪ ♪ All I have needed thy hand hath provided ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Born unto thee ♪ ♪ Hardened for sin ♪ ♪ And a peace that endureth ♪ ♪ Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide ♪ ♪ Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow ♪ all I have Brother Tim, would you pray and ask God to meet with us this afternoon? Father, we ask you to come and live with us forever. We pray that you would help us. We pray that your spirit would be with us. We pray that you would stimulate Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Amen. You may be seated. I have the comfortable job of not being worried about insulting anyone's intelligence because I'm just going to read the word of God. And it is a glorious chapter that we have come to this week. As always, lots of references to New Testament scriptures. We can't go through all of them because of time, and it is a long-ish chapter. But just a brief reminder of the last days theme that runs throughout Isaiah. And we are living in the last days. as post-resurrection believers in Jesus Christ. But there is also hints of the final, the consummate last day when Christ himself appears in the clouds of glory. So it's sometimes hard to separate them in the passages that we read through here. Again, I mentioned once before about the looking for the word for the fact that Israel is Depicted as the Messiah and the Messiah is depicted as Israel I still haven't found that word yet but again, we have it here clearly in verses 1 & 2 the The commentators that I've read are universally unanimous. This is the Messiah that we're speaking of, but his name is Israel in verse three. So again, Isaiah, a wonderful thing to contemplate. verse 8 is quoted directly in 2 Corinthians 6 verse 2, which is interesting because in this chapter we will see the restoration of Israel in the gathering in of the church of Jew and Gentile believers. And so the church at Corinth being primarily made up of Gentile believers, I think it's significant that Paul would grab a verse out of this passage for himself. In this chapter, Zion is pictured as a bereaved widow and God, as it were, lifts his finger under her chin to raise her eyes and says there in verse 18, lift up your eyes round about and behold, all these gather themselves to you. And it's speaking of the gathering in of Gentiles into, grafted into the nation of Israel. And then we have her touching response, a response of wonder there in verse 21, which is where I have trouble not breaking down, just thinking about it, when she says, after God shows her, look at these coming to you, who has begotten me these? And where did they come from? And we see an echo of that, those very words in Revelation 7, verse 13, where one of the elders comes to John after he sees the gathering of the 144,000, the marking of them out in their foreheads, and then immediately on the heels of that, he sees a white-robed throng that no man can number of all nations, peoples, tribes, and tongues, And the elder says to John, who are these? And where did they come from? I'm paraphrasing a little bit, but that's the gist of what he is saying. And he's referring to Isaiah 49, I'm sure of it. So anyway. Time fails. We got to move on. We can't help but note Jesus' words there in verse 24 when he talks about, shall the prey be taken from the mighty or the lawful captive delivered? And we cannot help but think of Jesus' words and says, no one can spoil the strong man. You can't take away his goods unless you bind the strong man first. And of course, he's Speaking of exactly what he's doing, he's taking Satan's captives captive for himself and delivering them from his deception, from his bondage. So Isaiah 49, I'm going to, if my phone won't open. going to read it from the King James with substituting Yahweh for capital L-O-R-D and a couple other words that are maybe better translated in the other translations. One of them Being in verse 20, I'll say it now so I don't have to interrupt the reading, he says, King James has the children which you shall have, speaking to this bereaved widow, the children which you shall have after you have lost the other shall say again in your ears, this place is too stray, it's too small for me. Other versions have children of your bereavement, and I kind of like the NIV and the NET, It's more of an interpretive translation, but they say children born during your bereavement. And so we are, as Gentile believers, being born during the Jews' bereavement, as it were, exile, as it were, at least in their eyes. Isaiah 49. Listen, O Isles, unto me. This is the Gentiles, the nations, and hearken you people from far. Yahweh has called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother, the body of my mother, as he made mention of my name. And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword in the shadow of his hand as he hid me and made me a polished shaft in his quiver as he hid me. And said unto me, you are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, "'I have labored in vain. "'I have spent my strength for naught and in vain, "'yet surely my judgment is with Yahweh "'and my work with my God. "'And now, saith Yahweh, that formed me from the womb "'to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, "'though Israel be not gathered, "'yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of Yahweh, "'and my God shall be my strength.' "'And he said, "'It is a light thing that you should be my servant "'to raise up the tribes of Jacob "'and to restore the preserved of Israel. "'I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, "'that you may be my salvation unto the end of the earth.' "'Thus saith Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel "'and His Holy One to whom man shall be saved.'" to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers. Kings shall see and arise. Princes also shall worship because of Yahweh that is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose you. Thus saith Yahweh, in an acceptable time have I heard you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you, and I will establish I will preserve you and give you for a covenant of the people to establish the earth to cause to inherit the desolate heritages. that you may say to the prisoners, go forth to them that are in darkness, show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways and their pasture shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them. For he that has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. and I will make all my mountains away, and my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from far and low, these from the north and from the west and from the land of Sinai. Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, and break forth into singing, O mountains, for Yahweh has comforted his people and will have mercy upon his afflicted. We had, just if I might briefly, we had in verse four, the Messiah, as it were, saying, I have labored in vain, or Israel. Same response, verse 14, but Zion said, Yahweh has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yeah, they may forget. Yet will I not forget you. Behold, I have graven you upon the palm of my hands. Your walls are continually before me. Your children shall make haste or you might have builders shall make haste rebuilding Zion as it were. Your destroyers and they that made you waste shall go forth of you. Lift up your eyes round about and behold all these gather themselves together and come to you as I live, saith Yahweh. You shall surely clothe you with them all as with an ornament and bind them on you as a bride. For your waste and your desolate places and the land of your destruction shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants. And they that swallowed you up shall be far away. The children which you shall have after you have lost the other, the children of your bereavement, in other words, shall say again in your ears, the place is too straight for me. Give place to me that I may dwell. "'Then shall you say in your heart, "'Who has begotten me these? "'Seeing I have lost my children "'and am desolate, a captive, "'and removing to and fro, "'and who has brought up these? "'Behold, I was left alone. "'These, where had they been?' Thus saith the Lord Yahweh, behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles and set up my standard to the people and they shall bring your sons in their arms and your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and your queens your nursing mothers. They shall bow down to you with face toward the earth and lick up the dust of your feet. And you shall know that I am Yahweh, for they shall not be ashamed who wait for me." Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith Yahweh, even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrifying shall be delivered. For I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children, and I will feed them that oppress you with their own flesh. And they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine, and all flesh shall know that I am Yahweh, your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob. Again, take your Trinity hymn books, turning to 269. 269 in the Trinity. Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God. 269. Let's stand as we sing. ♪ Christ the Lord, Zion's city of our God ♪ ♪ Thee whose word can not be found near ♪ ♪ Born before ages long ago ♪ ♪ Thou, Thou, Thou, Thou, ages now imparting shade ♪ With salvation's cross surrounding, Thou bid'st not let up Thy cross. See the strength of living waters, Screaming from eternal love. ♪ Well supply thy sons and daughters ♪ ♪ And all free of bondage be good ♪ ♪ Who can think of such a manner ♪ ♪ That earth was declared free of sin? ♪ to swage. Graceless one, the Lord, the giver, never fails from age to age. Proud in temptation, prouder, see the proud empire appear. ♪ That the Lord is near ♪ ♪ Thus deriding the mere man ♪ ♪ My, my, my, in shame or day ♪ ♪ See fitly upon the manna ♪ ♪ Which he gives them with praise ♪ I will glory in thy name. Three years, the world is glad. Good, you can be seated. Revelation chapter 21. Revelation chapter 21. I'm coming to the end of my own personal reading through the book of Revelation, and the last couple of weeks I've been reading through chapter 21, heading into chapter 22, and some of the things that I considered and looked at throughout that study I just want to set before you for a little while this afternoon. Revelation 21, starting in verse 1, And then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and he will dwell among them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be among them. We'll stop our reading there. When you come to Revelation 21, we have set before us God's plan for the new heaven and the new earth. The destructive force of God towards his enemies has come to an end. We read in chapter 20, and the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone. where the beast and the false prophets are also, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Those who oppose God will come to their end. And we are told that they're cast into the lake of fire in which they will be tormented forever and ever. The enemy is defeated. We go on to read, then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. They were doomed. All hatred, all hatred towards God has been removed. And what we see in chapter 21 is a wonderful picture of the positive and glorious work of Christ. The end, the final and complete realization of all God's promises fulfilled. So the conclusion of the book of Revelation not only sets before us the glorious triumphantness of Christ over Satan and all his works, but also comes and sets before us the glorious future dwelling place of God's people. Christ provides a new heaven and new earth. And it's good for us to dwell upon these things. We often spend so little time thinking about the new heaven and new earth. And often that's the case because we're so caught up with what we live in now. We're so caught up with our materials that we don't take the time we ought to think about that new heaven and new earth. Here we will have eternal life, eternal happiness, eternal peace. There will be perfect fellowship with God and perfect fellowship with one another. No more being distracted by heat. No more distractions with perhaps some of those things that Pastor Micah spoke of this morning of having malice in our hearts. None of that. It is all gone. Max Dohner, who was a pastor out West, he's now retired. and from what I understand, gives himself primarily to writing. And he recently wrote this revelation, A Manual for Spiritual Warfare. It's a two-volume set. And just to put it in context, Pastor Alan Dunn, who's been a friend of this assembly for a long time, gives an endorsement of these things here, of these two volumes. But Max Dohner says in this book, as we stand on the edge of the shore of a vast ocean of blessing that God has provided as our eternal inheritance, let us wade out as far as we can in our mental understanding, knowing that we can only grasp a tiny part of all God has laid up for his dear children in the new heaven and in the new earth. Our eternal destiny will be something in which the reality we experience will far surpass the expectation that were raised by the promises that are given to us. Heaven will not fall short of our expectations. Instead, it will infinitely surpass them. Think about that. Have you ever gone someplace, and you were all excited about going there, and you think it's gonna be a wonderful thing, and you get there, and there's this sense of letdown and disappointment? This is what I was all excited about? Well, Mr. Donor says here, heaven's going to be the opposite. As glorious as you might mentally think it will be, it will surpass your expectations. Surpass it. How glorious that new heaven and that new earth will be. So when we come to chapter 21, we come to a portrait of John's final vision. He begins this book with a vision of the Lamb of God, and now he ends with a vision of the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Chapter 21 focuses not on the Lamb slain, but on the lamb who has fulfilled his promise and the gates of hell will not prevail against his kingdom. In this chapter, we come to that time when all sin and decay will be removed. And the one who sits on the throne Behold, said, behold, I'm making all things new. And then he said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. It is inconceivable what it would be like to live in such a place. One man has said, one day the scrappings that surround the works that he is doing will come down and the glory and the majesty of his accomplishment will be visible to all. It will be a glorious day when we enter into that new heaven and new earth. And just for a few minutes, looking at chapter 21 here, I want you to pretend like I have a photo album. And I just wanna show you a few snapshots of the new heaven and the new earth. And there are three in particular. One will show us the beauty of that place, One will show us the security of that place, and one will show us the majesty of that place. The beauty, the security, and the majesty of that new heaven and new earth. So stay with me. I know it's a little warm. And consider with me because as I've thought about this throughout this week, the more we think about the new heaven and the new earth, the more eager we will be for that day. Perhaps we're dull with regard to that day because we don't think about that day. Secondly, the more we think about entering the new heaven and the new earth, the more we will live in light of that reality. That day will come. And oftentimes, we just go about our business. Listen, I get up every day. And most of my days, I've given very little thought to the new heaven and the new earth. But I believe if I gave more of my thought to that reality, the more I would live as I ought to live with that expectation of a new heaven and a new earth. And thirdly, the more we think about that day, the more we will long to see others one day enjoy that day. that very place, and there's only one way that that happens. Not everyone will go into the new heaven and the new earth. Only those united to Christ by faith, and faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, and that ought to more excite us to give the gospel to a lost and dying world. So three quick snapshots, snapshots. in the photo album of the new heaven and the new earth. First of all, there's a snapshot of the bride. The bride. We read here in verse two, and I saw a holy city of New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. A bride adorned for her husband. The new heaven and new earth is a bride who has been prepared to meet her husband. We are the bride. What a glorious snapshot. In this snapshot, the bride is coming to meet her husband. And there the bride is, who's adorned for her husband. She is beautiful. There's a day when the trumpet will sound, and the door will open, and Christ will see his bride arrayed in a perfectly righteous garment. One without spot or wrinkle or any such thing that she should be blameless. I think I've used this illustration before. I like doing weddings. One of the high points of the wedding is when everybody's gathered in and suddenly there's this dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, and the door's open. And there she stands. If you saw her a few hours ago, she had blue jeans on that were really modern, so they had holes in them and a sweatshirt. And then she's off. And I love standing there and watching the door open. And watching the groom see his bride in all her beauty. And it's always amazed me, the various reaction. There are some guys who see her and they get teary-eyed. There are some guys that just stand there with a silly grin on their face. Yes, she's gonna be behind. Her beauty, she's such a beautiful bride. In the new heaven and in the new earth, there will be the bride and the essence of the glory of the new heaven and the new earth is that the bride will see the groom face to face. We will see him face to face. John chapter three, it does not appear as yet what we shall be. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is. But by the grace of God, now we see him as our savior, as our redeemer. But there's a day coming when we will see him better. When in glory, we shall see him face to face. On this day, the believer will be face to face with Christ. Nothing hindering the sweet fellowship of their Lord. When the new heaven. And the new earth occurs, believers will be radically changed with perfect righteousness, perfect holiness. In beauty. Not their own. On that day. The bride. The beauty. of the new heaven and new earth. Snapshot number two, the security, the security. And with that, we see the city. We see in particular, the city. We read there in verse two, this city, New Jerusalem, coming down, out of heaven. In verses nine and 10 we read, and one of the seven angels spoke with me saying, come here and I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great mountain high and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. You see in this vision, John has taken a tour of his bride. It's like, you know, if you go up to Gatlinburg. One moment. I just said nothing to you. My phone's talking to me. You go to Gatlinburg, you take those helicopter ride around the mountain, and you just see everything. And that's sort of what John's doing here. Something went wrong. Please try again. Why's she talking to me? He's taking a tour around this great city. And he sees this city, which was a place of security. The city is like no other. It's like no other in its measurements, it's like no other in the security. In verse 17, measures the wall. The city wall is described as being great and high. This brings a great sense of security for God's people. The material that makes up this wall, the materials that make up this wall are magnificent. The city is pure gold. The foundation stones of the city of the city walls were adorned with every kind of precious stone. Look at verse 19. The lasting quality of the material is phenomenal. Again, Pastor Micah spoke this morning about how things of this world are gonna pass away. In this great city, nothing will pass away. It will stand forever and ever. Look at verse 23. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it. The glory of God has illuminated it. Its lamp is the lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime, for there is no night there, Its gates will never close. Its gates will never close. There's absolute security. No need to lock the doors anymore. The gates will be opened. No intrusion. No intrusion of sin. No intrusion of decay. None of that. In verses 12 to 14, we read that all the ransomed church of God will be saved to sin no more. Can you imagine? I can't. I only know what I read and I believe it. No more sin at all. No more frustrations. No more anxiety. No more fears. It's a wonder of wonders. But the third snapshot is this. The majesty. The majesty. or what I would call the temple of God. And you may say, wait a minute, what do you mean the temple of God? Look at verse 22. And I saw no temple in it. How can you talk about a temple if there's no temple in it? The idea is, yeah, there's no temple in it, because it is the place of God's special presence all over it. There'll be no need, think about this, there'll be no need to go to church as a special activity in a particular place. because it is the place. The radiance and the majesty and the glory of the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb forevermore will pervade every nook and cranny of that place. You don't need to say, I need to go to church this week so that we can be in God's special presence. Everywhere you go will be God's special presence. There's no place in the city where God's glory doesn't shine. Think about that. We read here in verse three, and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the tabernacle of God, the dwelling of God is where? Among men. And he will dwell among them and they shall be his people and God himself will be among them. The new heaven and the new earth, the special presence of God is everywhere. And there is no place to go to get more of God. He's everywhere. He's among them. He's among them. Now, dear people, as simple as these points are, they're glorious. And I trust as simple as they are, each one of us will be more excited and more eagerly awaiting that day when the trumpet sounds And God destroys this world as we know it. Christ will appear. We'll meet him in the air. There will be the establishment of a new heaven and a new earth. And God, the Lamb of God, will triumphantly bring us down and dwell among us forever and ever. Now, you know why John said these weren't just words. He saw the vision. And he said, what? Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. Is that your prayer? I mean, if the trumpet blast right now, are we ready? Only one way to be ready. that's being clothed in the righteousness of that lamb that was slain for our sin. And so that's what I wanted to share with you. And I trust, I pray, it will encourage you as we walk out of here to live knowing that's what's yet before us. And I love what Max Stoner said, he said, It will exceed our expectations. May it be so. Let's pray. Father in heaven, again, we we thank you for your glorious promise. That the enemy will be destroyed. All those who opposed you will be tormented forever and ever. And there is this glorious promise of a new heaven and a new earth that awaits us. And Father, may we dwell upon that more so that we might more greatly anticipate that day. And so Father, we pray these things aren't just theories, but these things are realities that we're waiting for. And perhaps there are some hear this afternoon or perhaps some listening to the voice who that day is the most frightful day of their life. May you show them that there's a way to enjoy that new heaven and new earth and may you so work in their hearts that they'll turn from their sins and be united to your son by faith. So take your word and do a work every one of our hearts and lives to do us good. As we ask these things in Christ's name, amen. Well, in closing, you might have guessed, let's take our hymn books and turn to Trinity hymn book 599. 599, the sands of time are seeking, the dawn of heaven waits. And of course, the bride. You know, I've yet to ever see a bride walk in like this. Oh, I do look good. Don't I look not? Every bride sees the groom. And she forgets what she looks like. Her eyes are upon him. And so it'll be on that day. The bride eyes not her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face. 599. Let's stand together as we sing. ♪ The nursery horn awakes ♪ ♪ A child within the midnight ♪ ♪ The day's dream is at hand ♪ ♪ And glory, glory dwelleth ♪ ♪ In Emmanuel's hand ♪ ♪ A king bearing his beauty ♪ ♪ With valor he lives still ♪ ♪ In prayer a well-spent journey ♪ ♪ No sadness can between ♪ ♪ A man with his fair army ♪ ♪ And glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's hand ♪ ♪ O Christ, he is the fountain, the deep spring well of life ♪ ♪ O'er deep mountain above ♪ ♪ There to an ocean full of rest ♪ ♪ His mercy doth extend ♪ ♪ And glory, glory dwelleth ♪ ♪ In heaven's head ♪ ♪ The briar is tattered on it ♪ ♪ But where did my roof's case ♪ ♪ I will the case and glory ♪ ♪ I am the King of grace ♪ ♪ I am the crowning gift of grace ♪ that I may stand, and wear his golden glory, while he reigns the land of the dead. I pray you have a good week. If I'm wrong, we'll see you on Wednesday night on Zoom. I hope to hear next week from you. Bye. Thank you, folks, that you're here. You are dismissed.