You will sing in heaven, and the song you sing will be filled with joy!

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1 God's Final Message Revelation 22:1-21 Introduction Heaven is the destiny of every true believer in Jesus Christ. The more you walk with Jesus, the more you will long to be with him in our future home. Heaven is a place, filled with wonder, wealth, activity and joy. 1 Cor 13:9-10 "For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away". Eph 1:15-19 "Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power" You will sing in heaven, and the song you sing will be filled with joy! Isa 44:23 "Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel". Heb 2:12 "saying: "I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You." Rev 5:9 "And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation", Heaven will be a place where the saints serve. "and his servants shall serve him" (Rev.22:3). "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple" (Rev.7:15). In heaven, we do not know all this entails but we are given clues in the Bible; "If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him... (2 Tim.2:12). The River of Life (v.1) 1. In ancient times as well as modern, people would build their cities next to rivers. With people and industry come pollution. There will be no polluted stream in heaven. Water is a the source of life on this planet. Water has often been used as a symbol of life in

2 the scripture. Jesus described the ultimate source of life, the Holy Spirit, as a river of life, welling up, or springing up within the heart. 2. John Phillips writes: "A river is used in Scripture to symbolize both pleasure (Ps.36:8) and prosperity (Ps.1:31). These two great magnets are used by Satan at present to draw men away from God and into many foolish and hurtful lusts..." Phillips goes on and describes an illustration from C.S. Lewis' classic book The Screwtape Letters. He relates a portion where Wormwood discusses hell's philosophy of pleasure. "He says that wwhile many souls have been snared through pleasure, all the same it is God's invention, and the powers of darkness have been incapable of producing even one such pleasure. The best they can do, says Screwtape, is to encourage humans to take the pleasures God has produced at times and in ways or in degree's which are forbidden. The formula he suggests for Wormwood is "an ever increasing craving for an ever decreasing pleasure." He says that the ultimate aim of hell is to get a man's soul and give him nothing in return"(p.256). How different is the city of God--which is described as pure, pleasing and prosperious. 3. Psalm 46:4 "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God". The Tree of Life 1. The tree of life in the Garden of Eden, provided the first test of loyalty for Adam and Eve. Now the Garden of Eden reappers as a kind of central park in the New Jerusalem. Gen 2:9 "And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil". 2. The tree of life was available to Adam, he could have eaten from it and lived forever (in sin). After Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God made the following decision; Gen 3:22-23 "Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"-- therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken". 3. The tree of life, uavailable since Genesis 3, is now permanently available in Revelation 22. The tree of life, lost in the garden, is now found in the tree of Calvary (the cross) and is made available in the New Jerusalem. 4. (v.3) The curse is lifted! Can you imagine--surrounded by infinity--living in eternity-- we will have forever to engage the saints!

3 God's Final Message Do you ever wonder how you will meet death? Do you ever wonder what you will say? I have always been interested in famous last words; Matthew Henry; "Sin is bitter. I bless God I have inward supports." Martin Luther; "Our God is the God from whom comes salvation; God is the Lord by whom we escape death". John Calvin; "Thou, Lord, bruisest me; but I am abundantly satisfied, since it is from thy hand. John Wesley--"The best of all is, God is with us. Farewell! Farewell! Charles Wesley--"I shall be satisfied with thy likeness--satisfied. satisfied!" William Carey the missionary--"when I am gone, speak less of Dr. Carey and more of Dr. Carey's Savior". God's Word is Faithful (vv.6-10) 1. (v.6) Lucifer became Satan when he exalted himself above God, and sin entered the world, when he questioned the word of God. Eve doubted the accuracy and authority of the Word of God and sinned. God's final message begins with a restatement concerning the truth of God's Word. The word of God is accurate, true, reliable. 2 Tim 3:16-17 "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." The immediate reference is to the book of Revelation, but it has a wider application to the whole Bible. 2. (vv.7-9) The Bible is accurate and authoratative. Jesus is coming back. This should spur us on to holy living, living in the light of Christ's soon return. John once again confesses that he heard and saw these things, and confesses to worshipping the angel! Once before John had been told, not to do that (Revelation 19) Human beings are guilty, and fragile, and capable of sin at the drop of a hat! It may have been that John was overcome by the revelations, or the splendor of the moment! The whole book of Revelation, you will recall, is about revealing Jesus. Once again I am amazed at John's willingness to confess his own sin, his own fault, for our benefit. John either made the same mistake twice or he is reminding the reader of the earlier event. 3 Even the angel submits to the authority of the Bible. The angel is in effect saying, there are not special rules for angels, we all must submit to the power, the authority and the revelation of God's Word. (v.10) Daniel was told to "seal up" one of the visions (Dan.12:4-9). I believe one of the reasons, another dispensation would intervene before the vision was fulfilled. This is not

4 true of the book of Revelation. Yes there are many difficult things to understand. Yes there is symbolism, imagery and veiled language. The great truths of the book of Revelation were meant to be read, and understood, based on what God has revealed in the Old and New Testaments. I believe God can reveal things to his people, in the still small voice--i believe God can give visions and messages, but the Word of God is accurate, accessible, and available to everyone! The Word of God must be the final judge, the Word of God, must be the final court of appeal. I do not begrudge visions, I simply deny mysticism and metaphysics, emotionalism and antirationalism, that sets itself against God's Holy Word. Christ's Work is Finished (vv.11-16) 1. (v.11) The cross of Jesus, the work of Jesus, determines who we are. Jesus, on the road to Emmaus with the disciples, made it clear, the Bible is a book about Jesus. In Genesis, when Adam and Eve sinned, God clothed our naked parents with the skins of animals (lambs?) God had slain. Abel offered the sacrifice of a lamb (they were all vegetarians), a more acceptable sacrifice then Cain his brother. The death of Jesus on the cross, his resurrection, and ascention into heaven, is the great divide of history. Jesus saves the lost, he redeems sinners, he resues us! There is nothing more important than that! Jesus is the great divide. Everyone is either for Him, or against Him, born of Him, or not born of Him. When Jesus hung on the cross he hung between two thieves. One trusted Jesus, the other didn't. One is now in Paradise, the other is in perdition. One went to Heaven because he believed, the other went to Hell because he didn't believe. The lost go on sinning, and go on suffering. The righteous, remain righteous. "This is a reminder that each of us, throughout each day of our lives, is moving toward one or another of two distinct destinies. Either we are growing closer to God, walking with Him, obeying Him, learning from Him, experiencing friendship and fellowship with him---or we are retreating from God and from heaven. It is a sobering truth" (Ray Stedman p.348). There are two possible meanings to verses There may be a time when it is too late to change! This may in part reveal the meaning of the Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit---"He that will hear, let him hear, he that refuses let him refuse! One ancient Bible writer said "Let each man do what pleases him; I will not force his choice"--this could be a warning that each person--is writing their own destiny. Are you moving closer to Jesus? Do you live in the light of his soon return? Does the quality of your life reveal a rejection of God's love? 2. (vv.12-15) The work of Jesus Christ determines where we are. Jesus promised his disciples, that he would prepare a place for them. He also told the unbelieving religious leaders, where I go, you cannot follow. Paul longed to go and be with Christ. Jesus

5 promises he will be back for you! Whenever I go on a trip, the boys always ask me to buy them something. They always expect me to come back, and they always expect me to bring them something. Jesus is coming back, and he has something for you. (v.15) There is a place outside of heaven. That place is hell. It is bad enough to be lost, in outer darkness, in hell, they will also be outside. Outside of his love, and light and truth. Dogs were people who were crude, vile, unclean. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man knew who he was, and what he had missed. 3. (v.16). The work of Jesus determine's whose we are. We belong to Jesus. Jesus is the lover of the church, he is the Lord of the earth and the Light of creation. Jesus is all, and we belong to him! The titles of Jesus also reveal his divine credentials. He is clearly God and clearly man. He is the beginning and the end, but he is also the offspring of David, He is the only qualified Savior in the Universe! The Spirit's Witness is Final (vv.17-21) 1. Here we find the only recorded prayer of the Holy Spirit. He is the author of the Bible, every word, every verse, every chapter and every book. There are three last things the Spirit has to say, before the closing of the canon of Scripture. There is one last welcome: (v.17) "Come!" 2. The Holy Spirit's final warning: 3. (vv.17-18) The Final Warning Again, Ray Stedman is helpful: "Certainly a book so rich in symbolism must be interpreted--but it must be interpreted carefully. Don't take away its meaning by emphasizing the symbolic at the expense of the literal. Do not destroy its intent by literalizing everything in it and ignoring the meaning of the symbols. Most important of all: Believe it. Ignore, reject, or distort God's truth and you risk missing out on God's plan; you risk having to endure the terrors described in the book; you risk losing out on your portion of the tree of life and the beautiful city" (p.350). 4. (vv.20-21) The Final Word Conclusion

6 The saga of humanity begins in a God given garden and ends in a city with a garden. When John wrote this letter, Rome was the most admired city in the world. "That which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God (Luke 16:15). In Genesis the heavens and the earth are created, in Revelation there is a new heaven and a new earth. In Genesis, the sun is created, the night established, the seas created, the curse announced, death enters histroy, man is driven from the tree of life and sorrow and pain begin. In Revelation the purpose of the sun disappears, there is no night (22:5), nor more seas, no more curse, no more death, man is restored to paradixe and no more tears or pain.