Admonition Podcast

Good morning.

Good to see everyone out this morning.

When I left it was summer.

I came back and it it was almost like the
weather started to make sense.

But ~ it's still Tennessee,

so don't know that that'll stick around
for mu much longer.

All right. Take your Bibles

if you will and open them to Revelation
chapter twenty.

As we close out chapter 20 and we get into
chapter 21,

we're seeing some things in this text that

for f many years I know ~ I've heard
lesson after lesson after lesson

about the text of the end of chapter
twenty and its picturing

of the final day of judgment and the final
~

The return of Christ and the resurrection
and the saints at that final day.

And you know, sometimes what

is popular is not exactly what the text
says.

And now are there lessons to be learned?

Yes, but we got to pay attention to the
text.

So we're gonna open with a word of prayer
and then we'll get into

our study this morning. Gracious Father in
heaven,

we bow before your throne, grateful for

For the day that you blessed us with,

grateful for the life that we have been
granted,

the energy and the health that we have,

and at the same time mindful of all of
those who,

for one reason or another, do not have
that health and that opportunity.

Lord, we pray that you will be with them
in their struggles that they have

in their daily walk. We pray that you give
them health and strength.

We pray that you help them to.

Have the endurance and the capacity to do
the things that they need to

do and desire to do, especially in
spiritual matters.

Lord, we pray that you forgive us when we
sin and fall short of your glory.

We pray for this nation and we pray for
the leaders of the world throughout

the world. We pray that we might boldly
speak the gospel and always stand firm

in the truth. All this we pray and ask in
Jesus' name,

amen.

Now Peter would write concerning Paul's
writings that Paul wrote

things that were hard to understand,

and that as a result of that, those who
were not faithful

in their diligence with the scriptures
often would rest the scriptures

to their own destruction.

I don't know what Peter's opinion was of
what John wrote,

but not everything that John wrote is easy
to understand.

But one of the things that we should
always remember

as we're in Revelation, as we're in a book
like Revelation that uses apocalyptic

language, which just simply means it uses
picture language to convey a truth,

is that When

The text tells us what something means.

That is what it means. And when we get
into chapter 20,

or chapter 21, rather, we're going to see
the text tell us exactly what something

means. And while we can learn lessons from

the picture about other things,

we must admit that whatever John says,

this is what it is.

It is what it is. If the text tells us
what it means,

that's what it means. If the text gives us
a picture and doesn't tell

us what it means, then we're supposed to
ask the question,

what does it mean? Chapter twenty,

we've noticed that the text opens,

you have the one who had the key of the
bottomless pit,

and he is going to lay hold of the dragon
and place him in that bottomless

pit for a thousand years.

Now what does the w what does the term a
thousand mean in the book of Revelation?

A complete or total period of time.

God owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

God is faithful to a thousand generations.

It doesn't mean that in the thousand and
first all that's gonna be over,

that the thousand and first hill doesn't
belong to the Lord and the cattle

on it don't belong to him. It means all of
them.

God is going to end Satan's use of Rome
permanently,

finally.

Doesn't mean Satan will never attack the
Christians again,

never persecute them with a r a government
again.

It means this saga is over.

You know, sometimes when you watch movies,

especially in the last probably 30 or 40
years,

~ certain certain movies, if if it did
well enough on the first one,

they're going to make three. Right?

So everybody signed a contract for three
if the first one sells well enough.

And s there are times you get to the end
of the third,

like, okay, but there's more stories.

Surely there's something else to happen.

And you know, depending on how much money
they make,

they may make three more. And they may
make three more.

Star Wars. ~ but the fact of the matter is
you're like,

well, there's got to be more story because
there's there's things that just

got introduced in the last movie.

Well, here in Revelation 20,

21, 22, there is more story.

There is more to be known about the church
and what would follow from these events.

But there's a context to the story.

And the context is limited

to the events of the first century church
with Rome.

What we learn from that is altogether
different.

That is something that is timeless.

There's a passage over in 1 Corinthians
chapter 10 where Paul is going

to write about the events of the very
first generation that came out of Egypt.

So here's Paul in the first century
writing to the Christians,

and he is going to tell the Christians in
Corinth,

most of which were not even Jews.

He's going to tell the Christians in
Corinth.

That the events that happened to the first
generation of people that came

out of Egypt happened so that we could
learn lessons.

So that we might learn not to lust after
the things that they lusted after.

So that we might learn not to be
unfaithful to the Lord once the Lord

has redeemed us. Now, true or false.

The things that happened to the first
generation of Israelites that came

out of Egypt actually happened to teach
them lessons too.

First and foremost, it happened to teach
them lessons.

But that doesn't negate the fact that by
inspiration,

Paul says these things happened for us.

So that we might know not to do the same
things they did.

Completely appropriate for us to learn the
lessons.

The timeless lessons from the events of
the first generation

of Israelites that came out of Egypt.

Completely appropriate, biblically
appropriate for us to learn those lessons

and apply those lessons to our lives.

And it's equally appropriate for us to
learn the lessons from

the first generation of Christians that
lived through a persecution in Rome as
well.

What we shouldn't do is the same thing
that Paul didn't indicate

the Christians should do. Paul didn't tell
the Christians,

now, there's going to be a bondage,

and you're going to go through it,

generation after generation after
generation,

and then God's going to bring you out
through a series of plagues and

a series of miracles, and you're going to
walk through the Red Sea just like they

did. Paul didn't say that.

Rather, Paul said, You're going to go
through this spiritually.

You're going to have to apply this
spiritually.

You're going to have to learn the lessons
from their circumstances.

And we have to do the same thing with
Revelation.

So, verse 1 the one who has the keys is
Christ,

all the way back to chapter 1,

verse 18, chapter 9, verse 1. ~ And so
Christ gives authority,

the keys.

~ bottomless pit is ~ guarded up with a
great chain.

The one who is the dragon, the devil's
bound for a thousand years,

he's thrown in the bottomless pit.

Verses two and three, the devil's done in
his use at Rome.

~ verses five through ten, there's a
thousand years that the Christians

are going to reign with Christ.

The same thousand years, complete amount
of time that Satan's going to be bound,

the Christians are going to reign.

Even those that

were killed. Even those that Satan seemed
to have defeated are going

to live again and they're going to reign
with Christ.

Now we may mention again, just for the
sake of reminder,

this passage says nothing about how long
Christ is going to reign.

Even if you were to turn the thousand
years into a literal amount of time,

it still says nothing about how long
Christ is going to reign.

It only says how long the Christians are
going to reign with Christ

Christ.

I also th thought about something else
when it came to a thousand years.

I was thinking about this this morning on
the way here.

Think back in the scripture.

What's the longest amount of time that we
have record of anyone living on the earth?

Nine hundred and sixty-nine years.

Who was it? Methuselah. Adam lived to be
nine hundred and fifty years.

Methuselah nine hundred and sixty-nine
years.

The Christians are said to reign for how
long?

Thousand years.

Just a thought there for a moment.

God says, I can make you live,

and I can make you reign faithful with me
longer than anybody's ever walked this

earth. Just a just a thought lesson there.

So then we see the devil isn't thrown in
the fire,

but God tells his people their future is
secure.

Now, in Ezekiel chapter 38 and 39,

God is going to tell the Israelites of old
about

A great nation that's going to come
against them,

Gog and Magog. And there's no historical
event that it corresponds to.

There's no moment in time in Israel's
history from that point

of Ezekiel's day all the way forward till
today,

or ever will there be, where there is a
Gog and Magog that are going

to come physically against Israel in the
multitudes that are presented.

In Ezekiel.

So you have to ask yourself a question.

Was Ezekiel wrong? Was was God by
inspiration incorrect when

he told Ezekiel to prophesy what Ezekiel
prophesied in Ezekiel thirty eight

and thirty nine? And the answer's no.

And if Ezekiel wasn't wrong, is John
wrong?

Cause John is going to tell us again about
Gog and Magog.

Verse seven Now when the thousand years
have expired,

Satan will be released from his prison and
will go out to deceive

the nations which are in the four corners
of the earth,

Gog and Magog, to gather them together to
battle,

whose number is as the sand of the sea.

They went up on the breadth of the earth
and surrounded the camp of the saints,

and the beloved city, and fire came down
from God out of heaven and devoured them.

There's a great battle scene that arrives.

And it's this nation that Ezekiel
prophesied about.

This nation that is the culmination of
nations,

this nation that is the multitudes that
are innumerable on the earth,

and they're all coming against God's
people,

and they all surround one single city.

And they lose.

And they don't lose because they're
overwhelmed by God's people.

They don't lose because God's people
outnumber them.

They lose because God says,

you lose.

The message here is not about a historical
event.

The message in Ezekiel wasn't about a
historical event.

The message in Ezekiel and the message in
Revelation 20 are about the fact that

God will defeat every enemy of his people
every time.

So the Christians don't have anything to
worry about.

The Christians are secure if they're
faithful to the Lord.

So verse ten says the devil who deceived
them was cast in the lake

of fire and brimstone where the beast and
the false prophet are,

and they will be tormented day and night
forever and ever.

Now, this is Isaiah's language.

This is Isaiah's language of the time of
the return of Israel.

God's enemies are going to be cast into
the lake of fire.

Edom was cast into the lake of fire.

This is Jerusalem language.

Because the lake of fire was a picture
that

the Jews could visualize.

Because it was the valley of Hinnam
outside where they burned the trash.

Where the refuse went. God says,

I'm not only going to defeat them,

I'm going to take the one who deceived
them,

and I'm going to put him in the trash
pile.

Then I saw a great white throne,

him who sat on it, verse eleven,

from whose face the earth and heaven fled
away.

Notice you have this picture

Of heaven and earth fleeing the face of
God.

Who created heaven and earth?

When we are opening Psalm nineteen and we
read,

the heavens declare the glory of God,

and the firmament shows his handiwork,

day unto day under his speech,

night unto night showeth knowledge,

who whose glory does the earth and the
heavens

and the universe declare? God.

So so why would the heaven and earth flee
away?

The picture here is kind of like this.

The world, so inundated with evil,

gets every nation under heaven to come
against God's people.

And God wipes them all out. Well,

if every nation under heaven came against
God's people and God destroyed them with

fire, what's left of the earth?

Not much.

God says, That's okay. I've dealt with
this before.

I'll make a new one.

When in history, in actual events of
history,

did God take an earth that was covered
with evil and make a new one?

During Noah's time. Did he implode the
suns and take take the planet back

to molecules in order to do it?

No. And was the world perfectly sinless

afterwards? No, you don't even get Noah
out of that event perfectly sinless,

do you?

The picture is like what Isaiah was told
when God says,

I'm going to bring back my people to their
city,

I'm going to bring them back to their
nation,

and I'm going to remake the world.

I'm going to start all over again.

I'm going to give you a new heavens and a
new earth.

That's Isaiah sixty five and sixty six.

And I'm going to do it by the word of my
power.

I made it the first time. I made it again
in Noah's day.

I made it again in Israel's day.

No, make it again. I'm going to
restructure the planet.

Because I'm in charge. Now here's where
the contrast is.

Could Caesar sitting in Rome fold up the
mountains?

Could he make the oceans go away?

Could could could he just declare to the
stars,

you know what? I'm done with you.

Don't shine anymore.

Could he stop the sun from rising?

Could he make a day last more than a day?

Who did all of those things? God did.

The point is not that God's going to wipe
the planet away,

take everything back to the elements,

remake it, and drop his people back on it.

The point is God has complete

and entire authority over all of it.

In contrast to the devil,

to Satan, to the beast, to the ~ the sea
beast,

to Caesar, none of them have authority
over any of it.

Saw a great white throne, him who sat on
it,

whose face ~ from whose faith heaven and
earth fled away,

and there was found no place for them.

And I saw the dead, small and great,

standing before God, and books were
opened,

and another book was opened, which is the
book of life,

and the dead were judged according to
their works by the things which were
written

in the books. The sea gave up the dead who
were in it.

Now, the sea

Here is much like heaven and earth.

This isn't a resurrection of all the
sailors that got dropped off in

the ocean along the way and got buried in
Davy Jones locker.

The sea is the place where the sea beast
came out of.

The sea is the place where the nations
came out of that opposed God's people.

The sea in the prophets is almost always a
representation of the nations

of the Gentiles.

They're the ones who show up across the
sea on boats.

God says, I'm not missing anybody.

Heaven, earth, the sea, got them all.

All of Satan's tools are going to be
judged.

The sea gave up the dead who were in it.

Death and Hades delivered up the dead who
were in them.

And they were judged, each according to
his works.

Then death and Hades were cast in the lake
of fire.

This is the second death.

When you kill death, you've done
something.

When you cast death into judgment,

you've done something. But bear in mind
that Hades

and the grave, or death and Hades,

rather, were characters in the vision.

We saw them in chapter six. They were
riding on a horse.

They were part of the persecution.

God says, I'm going to judge you for what
you did.

I'm going to judge you for those who you

destroyed. I'm gonna judge you for those
who you persecuted.

And anyone not found in the book of life
was cast in the lake of fire.

The picture teaches us something about the
day of judgment,

doesn't it?

When Jesus sent his disciples out on that
missionary journey,

and or sorry, when when he sent his
disciples out into the cities of Israel,

and they came back and they were all
excited because they

had performed great miracles. They had
healed the sick.

The demons were even subject to their
word.

And they come back to Jesus and they're
telling Jesus about all the things that
they

were able to accomplish while they were
out on their own and he wasn't with them.

And Jesus will praise them for those
things,

but he will remind them.

Take joy that your name is written in the
book of life.

Jesus says, all that's great. But here's
something that's more important.

You make sure that your name is

in God's records as one of the faithful.

Because if the demons are subject to you,

hmm, seems like I remember Paul saying
something about this.

If the demons are subject to you,

if you can by faith tell a mountain to go
cast itself into the sea,

and you have not.

Love, you're nothing.

They were impressed with the things that
they had never been able to do before,

that God had given them the ability to do,

and Jesus is just reminding them,

all of those things are great.

Don't get them out of proportion with the
thing that matters,

and that is being in a right relationship
with God.

So, do we learn lessons about the day of
judgment from this?

Yes. Absolutely. Is this picture the
picture of the final day?

No. Does it inform us about the final day?

Sure. Does it tell us how it's going to
turn out?

Absolutely. It's going to turn out where
God's people are going to be blessed,

Satan's people are going to be destroyed,

and God is going to judge those who

who walk this earth based upon what
they've done while they were on the earth.

Chapter twenty one. We're not going to
dwell significantly

on twenty one or twenty two. We're going
to just spend the rest

of today and probably next week in the

But if you wanted to take chapter the end
of chapter 20 and make it literal,

final day of judgment, an event that
occurs right after

God has figuratively described many
things,

then you're gonna get in chapter 21,

you're gonna have to deal with,

well, if that's literal, then so isn't
this?

And so many will try and say, Well,

this is a picture of heaven.

Except John tells us it's not.

Now, for the same reason that we've just
discussed about all of the things that

we can learn from chapter 20 about that
final day.

The lessons we can learn because they went
through it first.

We can learn the same things about
eternity and heaven

and fellowship with God from chapter 21
and 22.

But we must let the text speak for itself.

We must let the context demand what the
context demands.

So we open up chapter 21, 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. First thing you
gotta deal with

if this is an eternal,

glorified heaven and earth.

The home of the saints for eternity,

we're going to be living on a planet with
no water.

Ask Mars how that works out.

We just spent ~ over in North Carolina we
homeschooling camp that we went to,

we spent an entire week talking about the
universe and astronomy and planets

and you know, one of the unique things
about this particular ball we live on.

Or the C's.

Yeah, the vast majority of the planet is
covered in water,

and that's the difference between a living
planet and a dead one.

So if this is a picture of the new heavens
and the new earth where

all of us who are Christians live forever,

according to some.

Then John was certainly right,

we don't know what we'll be like because
we're going to be able

to live without water.

That's not the point, is it? The seas in
Revelation don't picture the water

on the planet, do they? They picture the
nations of the enemies of God.

And God says, they're not there.

Your enemies aren't there anymore.

I took care of them.

He says, chapter 21, verse 1, I saw a new
heaven and a new earth,

for the first heaven and the first earth
had passed away,

and there were no more sea. Then I,

John, saw the holy city, the new
Jerusalem,

coming down out of heaven from God,

prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband.

The second thing that we notice

is that John explicitly says, This is not
heaven.

John says, I didn't see heaven.

I saw this descending.

Heaven.

So John sees a new heaven and a new earth.

And there's no water. And then John sees a
new city,

a new Jerusalem, and it's descending

out of heaven.

But it is arrayed like something John

recognizes.

What's it arrayed like?

Like a bride.

Who's the bride of Christ? The church.

Now you say, Well, well, yes, but here it
he it's just an analogy.

It's l it it arrived with the fanfare.

It arrived with the rejoicing,

the way the bride arrives at the ceremony.

It it's it's an analogy. Okay.

All right. You might be able to get the
analogy out of verse two.

You're not gonna get it out of verse nine.

Because verse nine, then one of the seven
angels who had the seven bowls filled with

seven plagues came to me and talked with
me,

saying, Come, I will show you the bride,

the lamb's wife. And then he's going to
proceed to show him the city.

So the analogy is more than just an
analogy of entrance.

It's the bride.

When the book tells us what something is,

what is it?

Exactly what it says it is. When John sees
the New Jerusalem coming out of heaven,

what is it? It's the bride of Christ.

Now notice I heard a loud voice from
heaven saying,

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men.

If we were to go searching in the plain
spoken portions of the

New Testament about the tabernacle and the
typology between the tabernacle,

what was the tabernacle a type of?

It was a tent, it was a temporary dwelling
place for the people of God,

it was a type of the church.

It was a picture in the Old Testament

of the real thing.

And that picture on earth is a picture of
eternity.

So he says, Let me introduce you.

To the dwelling place, the communion place
of God with men.

That's what the tabernacle was.

The tabernacle was the place where all
Israel came together to be in

the presence of God.

And the bride is the place where all the
people come together to be

in the presence of God.

And it's the jerk.

He says, Behold, the tabernacle of God is
with men,

and he will dwell with them, and they
shall be his people.

God himself will be with them and be their
God.

This is Old Testament Israel language.

Of God giving the tabernacle to Israel and
saying,

I will be your God and you will be my
people.

And I will put my name with you,

and I will give you my name, and you will
dwell with me,

and you will commune with me.

God will wipe away every tear from their
eyes.

We sing a song, it's in our songbooks.

No tears in my life.

This is one of those moments where we say,

you know what? The lessons learned are
appropriate.

But don't be confused.

There's no tears here either.

Actually, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute.

~ I read the book. ~ read around
Revelation chapter six.

There were some souls under the altars
crying out,

How long, O Lord, faithful and true.

Don't you think there were probably some
tears?

When those who were faithful to God were
beheaded for the cause of Christ,

were killed for the cause of Christ,

were persecuted for the cause of Christ,

do you think there were probably some
tears?

Yeah. Yep.

So how is it that there's not going to be
any more tears?

How can we have a physical earthly
existence where there are no tears?

All right. Turn to first John chapter one.

As Eddie pointed out, this isn't about
physical tears.

This is about something that Paul would
write about in First Corinthians chapter

fifteen.

Do people die? Yeah. Do we grieve?

Yes. But Paul says, we don't grieve as
those who have no hope.

~

We mourn over separation, knowing it's
temporary.

You Think about David when his child was
sick

and nigh into death as a result of David's
own sin.

And David fasted and prayed and mourned
and grieved

all the way up until the point where the
child did what?

Died. Died.

Then David got up, washed his face,

washed himself, sat down and ate.

And all of his servants were confused.

Why did you stop grieving when the child
died?

But you were grieving when the child was
alive.

David said, He's gone. Paraphrasing.

But I can go to him.

While he was alive, I could plead for him
to be able to remain.

Now that he's gone, I don't have to grieve
now.

I know where he is, and I can go to him.

John will write in first John chapter one
that which was from the beginning,

which we have heard, which we have seen
with our eyes,

which we have looked upon, and our hands
have handled concerning the word of life.

The life was manifested, and we have seen,

and bear witness, and declare to you that
eternal life was with the Father,

and was manifested in us, that which we
have seen and heard,

we declare to you, that you also may have
fellowship with us,

and truly our fellowship is with the
Father and with His Son,

Jesus Christ. And these things we write to
you.

That your joy may be full.

John introduced his letter of first John
saying,

I'm going to write you these things so
that you don't have to mourn ever again.

So that your joy may be absolutely
complete.

And then he's going write to them about
the fact that they're going to sin.

And they're going to need forgiveness.

And they're going to need, but he's
writing to them to tell them that their

fellowship with God, their oneness with
God,

is perfect in Christ.

Because Christ did come. He did live.

He did walk this earth. He did die.

He is the propitiation. His blood does
cleanse us from all sins.

And therefore we do not grieve.

The way we would if we had no hope,

Eddie.

Yeah. Absolutely.

We're gonna read in verse four of chapter
twenty-one.

God's going to wipe away every tear from
their eyes.

There should be no more death,

nor sorrow, nor crying. There should be no
more pain,

for the former things have passed away.

The message here about the tears and the
mourning and the grief and

the sorrow is the grief and sorrow and
tears

of the tribulation they've gone through.

God says, I've dealt with it. You cried
out and said,

How long, O Lord, till you deal with it?

And the answer is, I dealt with it so
completely you have no memory of it.

There's nothing to cry about. Everybody
you thought was dead's alive now.

Everybody you thought was defeated,

was beheaded, was sacrificed for the cause
of Christ,

they're alive. Not physically walking the
earth,

they're victorious with Christ.

So what do you have to cry about?

There's no everybody you thought was
dead's not.

Everybody you thought had been killed for
the cause of Christ and

for the testimony of Christ.

Is alive. Who you could cry about?

See, the context is just like the context
in Isaiah when Isaiah says these exact

same words.

Isaiah is going to tell Israel,

there's going to be a time when you're
going to return from Babylonian captivity

and you're not going to weep anymore.

God's gonna wipe away all tears.

There's not gonna be any more death.

There's not gonna be any more crying.

There's not gonna any war. Because God's
going to have put aside

the old world and all of its troubles.

And he's gonna make a new thing in Israel.

And John's going to use Isaiah's
terminology.

Verse 5: then he who sat on the throne
said.

Behold, I make all things new.

And he said to me, Write, for these words
are true and faithful.

And he said to me, It is done.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the end.

I will give of the fountain of the water
of life freely to him who thirsts.

Have you noticed we've got a problem?

Cause this new world, if it's a physical
literal one,

has no Cs, but it has a fountain.

N'a gonna work out.

When we try to insist that the text means
something that the text doesn't ever

say it means, we're gonna have problems
because the text is gonna stand

up and whop us.

For not letting the text talk for itself.

In this new world,

God says, I made a fountain of the water
of life.

Now I seem to remember there was someone
who spoke about that fountain while
sitting

at a well.

And he told a lady who was needing water
that

if she would just partake of the water
that he could give her,

she'd never thirst again.

And she did the same thing we're often
tempted to do with Revelation twenty one.

She says, Great. Hand me the water.

I don't ever want to have to come to this
well and draw water ever again.

She took what God was talking about
spiritually and she wanted to make it
physical.

We do the same thing with Revelation
twenty one.

We take the lessons that God is teaching
the first century church about their

existence after God defeats all of their
enemies.

And we say, that's what heaven's gonna be
like.

Here's what heaven's gonna be like.

John wrote very explicitly about it.

It's in 1 John chapter 3.

First John chapter three verse one Behold
what manner of love

the Father has bestowed on us that we
should be called children of God.

Therefore the world does not know us
because it did not know him.

Beloved, now we are the children of God,

and it has not yet been revealed what we
shall be,

but we know that when he is revealed we
shall be like him,

for we shall see him as he is.

And everyone who has this hope in him
purifies himself just as he is pure.

That is the single most explicit statement

of John about what eternity will be like.

His answer is, I have no idea.

I can give you only one piece of
information about

our eternal existence.

Will be like Christ.

For we'll see him as is.

Now remember this one message.

No man has seen God at any time.

What's that tell us? That tells us that
we've seen manifestation of God,

we've seen Christ, we've seen,

as Paul, as John points out, we handled
him,

we we we saw him, we touched him.

We saw a manifestation of God as Paul ~

as ~ Christ appeared to Saul of Tarsus on
the road.

We see a manifestation of God as John
describes him,

as he sees him here in the vision.

But the text of scripture is incredibly
clear.

No man has seen God at any time.

And John tells us why.

'Cause we're not like him. Yet.

But we will be. That's John's explanation
of heaven.

The rest of this is John's explanation of
victory in the church.

Thank you for your attention.