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Revelation Twenty-One
Revelation Twenty-one begins
with the encouraging statement, "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. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out
of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:1-2) The
"new heaven and new earth" was a picture of victory for the saints of
God.
Second Peter
Isaiah, Peter and John all had
in mind the same thing as they wrote of the new heaven and new earth. They are
writing about the time when persecution will be over and the saints of God will
be victorious. The "new heaven and the new earth" means a new order
of things. God's faithful people will be victorious!
Revelation Twenty-one gives us
a look at the wonderful fellowship with God that will be enjoyed by those that
die faithful. "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." (Revelation
21:4) We are also provided a glimpse into the beauty and protection enjoyed by
those that die faithful.
Wonderful fellowship with
God – Revelation 21:1-7: God's faithful people do not die without hope.
The sea that had prevented intimate fellowship in the presence of God is no
more. (Revelation 21:1) The New Jerusalem is the church. "For I am jealous
over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I
may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." (II Corinthians 11:2) Those that die faithful in the church enjoy
heavenly hope.
The amazing fellowship that
saints enjoy with God is beyond anything they could have hoped for. This is a
picture of the final state of
the redeemed. In this state: (1) God dwells among His
people (Revelation 21:3), (2) God is their God and they are His people
(Revelation 21:3), (3) There will be no more tears (Revelation 21:4), (4) There
will be no more death (Revelation 21:4), (5) There will be no more sorrow
(Revelation 21:4), (6) There will be no more crying (Revelation 21:4), (7)
There will be no more pain (Revelation 21:4), (8) All things are made new
(Revelation 21:5), (9) God will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain
of the water of life freely (Revelation 21:6), (10) He that overcomes shall inherit
all things (Revelation 21:7), (11) They
shall be God's son. (Revelation 21:7) It is a wonderful thing to overcome!
The wretched state of the
ungodly – Revelation 21:8: In sharp contrast to the state of the
righteous John wrote of the state of the ungodly. "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." (Revelation
21:8) This is the final description of those that do not overcome.
Observe these sins: (1) The
fearful are those that in cowardice chooses self and safety before Christ.
God's faithful people must do the right thing and to hold fast to the faith.
(2) Unbelief is the result of spiritual wickedness. (3) The abominable likely
were participants in the rites of paganism and the unmentionable perversions of
that day. (4) Murderers do not respect God and therefore have no respect for
human life. (5) Fornicators violate the eternal law of God by their sexual
behavior. (6) Sorcerers practice an especially despicable sin because they try
to substitute some other power for that of God. (7) Idolaters give the glory
that should belong to the Creator to the creation. (8) Liars can never be
pleasing to God. God cannot allow any place in heaven for those that practice
these things. They "shall have their part in the lake which burneth with
fire and brimstone: which is the second death."
John is shown the New
Jerusalem – Revelation 21:9-17: The description of the New Jerusalem
had to do with the glory of God. There was security because of the gates and
the walls that were great and high. There was hope because of the size of the
city. It was 1,400 miles in each direction. The city "had a wall great and
high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written
thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of
God provided perfect
protection. The wall around the city stood 216 feet high. "And he measured
the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the
measure of a man, that is, of the angel." (Revelation 21:17) "We are
to conceive of the city itself as towering immensely above the walls. Its
glory, therefore, would not be obscured by the wall that was thrown around it
for defense."
Nothing that defiles will
enter into it – Revelation 21:18-27: God takes the most precious things
that we are familiar with and made the city of these. Imagine the worth of this
wonderful place. It will be a place of great blessings because of the presence
of God. "And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the
Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the
moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the
light thereof." (Revelation 21:22-23)
The inhabitants of heaven will
all be pure and holy. Those that are unclean and practice abominations or
falsehood will have no access into the heavenly city. "And there shall in
no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh
abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of
life." (Revelation 21:27) Nothing will be found in that blessed abode
which is unholy or sinful. The gates of heaven have been opened wide for the
righteous by the blood of Jesus. However, nothing that defiles will be there
because they will all be cast into a lake of fire.
The blessing awaiting those
that die faithful to God should motivate us to obey the gospel and serve Him
faithfully. To obey the gospel one must hear God's truth (Romans
- - - - Charles Box
News & Notes
1. Prayer List: Stabler Hospital:
Mary Autrey,
2. Remember To Pray:
Alan Jackson needs our prayers as he serves in
3. Sympathy Expressed: Our
love and sympathy is expressed to (a) The
family of Ila Ruth Callins, (b) The
family of Michael Mitchell, (c) The
family of Clark Sosbee. He was a great
gospel preacher and elder in
4. Wedding Invitation: Mr.
and Mrs. Douglas Church request the honour of your
presence at the marriage of their daughter, Amy Elizabeth to David Ethan Box on
Saturday, the eighteenth of March, two thousand and six at
5. Thank You: A special
thank you to the ladies that helped with the directory: Lisa Bagents, Christine
Lucas, Eleanor Stabler, Elease Brown, Shirley Boutwell, Deborah Owens, Joan
Barr, Virginia Lowery, Elizabeth Perdue, Shirley Autrey and Nell Daughtry.
Thank you for your time and for helping make the process go
so smoothly.
6. Congratulations:
Congratulations to Randy Fullington on being selected secondary teacher of the
year at
7. Backwoods Christian Camp:
Our camp dates are July 9th – 14th. Plan to participate.
A walk-a-thon for Backwoods Christian Camp is planned for April. See Darrell
Powell for details.
8. Birthdays: Celebrating
birthdays this week are: March 6th Holly Arnold
and Kenneth Smith, March 7th Jason Owens, March 10th
9. Web Site: Our new web
address is: www.walnutstreetchurchofchrist.org. Updates are frequently being
made, so visit it often.
10. Weekly Budget For 2006:
Our Elders announced that our budget for 2006 is $6,117.87 per week. God
blesses us richly. Let us give generously!
11. Thank You: (a)
12. Area Events: (a) March 6th-9th
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Thorns In The
Flesh
“So to keep me
from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn
was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from
being too elated. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it
should leave me. But he said to me, “my grace is sufficient for you, for my
power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly
of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” I won’t
speculate on what Paul’s “thorn in
the flesh” was, but I do want to cast your attention on what he asked the Lord,
and what the Lord’s response was.
Whatever
Paul’s problem was, he wanted to be rid of it. He pleaded with the Lord three
times to take it from him. Yet, listen to the answer he was given, “My grace is
sufficient for you…” Didn’t God want Paul to be happy? Doesn’t He want us to be? Certainly He
does! So why would He not take the
“thorn” away? James wrote: “My brethren,
count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of
your faith produces patience” (Jas
1:2-3). “Trials,” though they’re often difficult to bear, mold us into more
Christ-like beings. One key to this is
in the second part of verse 8 of I Corinthians 12 – “for My power is made
perfect in weakness.” Our weaknesses, if we react properly to them, cause us to allow God’s power to make us
whole.
There is no
reason for a Christian to allow any earthly trouble to destroy them, because we
know that this place isn’t the end of everything. I love Paul’s words in Romans 8:18 – “For I
consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with
the glory that is to be revealed to us.” But only those who are “in Christ”
have this life-changing hope. “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God,
through faith. For as many of you as
were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal
- - - - Darrell Powell
We must not change God’s message, His message changes us.
Don’t just own a Bible; read it!
(334-382-3001)