Today we are diving into one of the most insane books ever written. If you’ve ever picked up a Bible you know which book I am talking about. Revelation! Written by the same disciple that wrote the book of John and the three letters of John in the New Testament. Frequently when pastors preach on this book they focus a lot on the rapture, the tribulation, and God’s wrath on the world. I want to discuss the last two chapters of the book that really describe what Heaven is like and what we as believers in Christ have to look forward to. It’s quite brilliant and makes your entire soul feel good as we anticipate eternity with Christ. I hope you’re ready…

Let’s go directly to Revelation 21 verses 1-4

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.* 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

God created us to be His people. Satan corrupted God’s creation. Satans power and his choice to be a scumbag has made humans naturally kinda scummy. Sinful. Unholy. Separated from our creator. 

The Father sent us Jesus to tell us how to live, show us grace, and gave us the chance to repent for who we use to be and be born again in Christ and live everyday with the intentions to do as he did. Live with the intentions to follow Him in all seasons of life, in all lows, and in all highs. The word says, “God will live with them, and they will be his people.” 

God after the end times will be with us once and for all. All the people that truly loved Him and lived the life he gave us for Him. My little human brain thought, man if God is so powerful why doesn’t he just wipe out the world and start fresh, why doesn’t he just change the rules, why doesn’t he just change everyones heart and show everyone proof He is real. But dude that’s such an ungodly thought because that would mean His Word he gave us isn’t real. His word is his bond. His word gives us trust, faith, hope, love, aspirations, forgiveness, grace, and shows us his amazing power and love for us as his people. Him just flipping the switch is like you playing a video game and something doesn’t go your way in the game and you just shut it off and restart it. If you were to play again and win, that victory wouldn’t feel right. It won’t feel genuine. It won’t feel sweet. 

God wants our genuine love. He wants our genuine hearts to be about him and for him, especially in front of others, especially to the world. Let the world know you are His. Never be ashamed to love God. Never be ashamed to tell the world you love Jesus. 

Verse three says, “God himself will be with them.” All pain is nonexistent, the broken world is gone, all sin is destroyed. Christ  tells us all these terrible things are gone forever. 

Verses 5-6 says:

5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” 6 And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.

God gives us this beautiful gift of salvation and the gift of all things good by following him and loving him. So much grace, so much love, so much mercy on us. 

7 All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.

Let’s go. Let’s get these eternal blessings y’all. I want it, you want it, we need it.

This verse eight you are about to read is what we are seeing all over America right now, and frankly all over the world right now. The Bible is the Living Word of God for a reason! 

Verse 8 “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

Sheesh imagine dying twice. Scary. A lot of people we know will have this happen to them. A sad truth, one we can continue praying about and hoping we can lead others to Christ. So I encourage you to be a seed that helps people you love. Send them this podcast. It’s an easy way to find out about Jesus. We are living in a new world. The old ways of bringing people to Christ may not be working anymore. This is the future of the gospel. I truly believe that. Podcast are going to be the way we get back to loving God with all of our minds. The shift is happening before our eyes. They are closing churches all over the world and blaming it on a virus that has a 99.5 percent survival rate. We are the church! We are the bride of Christ. We are his body! 

The church is rising up! The gospel is still being spread. A pastor in Canada (James Coats) was recently jailed for preaching the gospel. They are putting fences around churches and the churches are breaking them down. The body of christ is shining! Be a light in your peoples lives y’all!

Let’s continue in Revelation 21:

Let’s Read 9-14

9 Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls containing the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come with me! I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

10 So he took me in the Spirit* to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal. 12 The city wall was broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates. 13 There were three gates on each side—east, north, south, and west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

When I first read this I got upset that twelve apostles were going to be written, because I thought Judas was one of them. But let’s not forget that he got replaced in Acts 1:26 “Then they cast lots, and Matthias was selected to become an apostle with the other eleven.”

Let’s continue…

15 The angel who talked to me held in his hand a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 When he measured it, he found it was a square, as wide as it was long. In fact, its length and width and height were each 1,400 miles.

Wow that’s a nice sized city. I’m not an architect but I like those measurements. “That is a nice boulder” - Donkey from Shrek

17 Then he measured the walls and found them to be 216 feet thick* (according to the human standard used by the angel).

Yo that’s a thick wall right there. Dynamite can’t even get through those walls. 

18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. 19 The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve precious stones:* the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.

21 The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass.

What a beautiful city to live in in heaven. It sounds magical and it feels right. It feels like we are created to live in that beautiful place and to be in a constant state of bliss and love. 

Verse 22-23

22 I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. 

How beautiful is the word of God. Even the book that is apocalyptic is all really about getting back home with your creator. Remember he wanted this heaven experience with us when he created us, but man chose satan over God. And here we are… Thank God we are on the other side of the cross. So many people back then had to look forward to the messiah coming for their faith. We just have to look back in our faith. And we have the full book. The full story. Yes full story because the prophecies of God come true, always have, always will. Christ will return! Let’s not allude to that biblical truth despite how much we fear it or are hesitant to believe we will see it in our life times. He will return. Will you be ready? Will your name be in the book of life? 

Verse 23-27 

 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. 24 The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. 25 Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. 26 And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city. 27 Nothing evil* will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Will your name be one of them? Will your girl friend, wife, husband, kids, friends, family? Will their names be one of them? How can we help them be one of them. By being a light in their life, showing them what Jesus has done in your life, and planting those seeds to the people in need of revival. In need of God’s love and Jesus’ touch. Don’t you want someone you know to love Christ the way you do. Or even if you aren’t sure about the love part, don’t you want someone you know to share a similar curiosity about him. 

You ready to go a bit deeper?

Chapter 22 - Revleation

Read verses 1-2 

Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit,* with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.

God is gonna give us those new fruits every month my brothers and sisters.. Sometimes you are going to get a pineapple, blueberries, strawberries, watermelon. Bro can you imagine how watermelon taste in heaven. Oh Lord. How can you not be happy being a follower of Jesus knowing we gonna eat that watermelon one day. It’s gonna taste even better than it does at the beach! And watermelon at the beach is next level! 

LEt’s Read 3-5

3 No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. 4 And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.

Guys throw away your lamps, you ain’t gonna need lamps. I love lamps but we don’t need them anymore. 

6 Then the angel said to me, “Everything you have heard and seen is trustworthy and true. The Lord God, who inspires his prophets,* has sent his angel to tell his servants what will happen soon.* ”

The Angel tells John, “Yo im living proof. I didn’t give you this revelation to lie to you. I gave it to you to tell other people what heaven looks like, what eternal life looks like, and what the end of the world looks like.”

God uses angels, people, and profits to speak for him. He’s been doing this since the beginning of all creation why would you not believe this vivid, beautifully described, masterful revelation?

King Jesus speaks: 

7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book.* ”

Jesus just told us he is coming soon. It’s safe to tell you guys I believe him. Look at the world right now. How much longer can this go on before he returns?

Listen to how beautiful God’s Word is:

8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw all these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. 9 But he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this book. Worship only God!”

10 Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy.”

12 “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

14 Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life. 15 Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.

How many people do we see in our culture living a lie. A lie for others. 

Social media is a lie the devil uses to consume you. Why you think they call it a feed? 

News feed? 

We Scroll all day. Nations all over the world are reading through the wrong scroll. 

Closing it out strong here we go:

16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne.* I am the bright morning star.”

17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life. 

Jesus invites everyone to follow him. Anyone can follow him if they just believe and receive. Repent and Seek.  I am not more qualified then you, your pastor is not more qualified, your grandpa isn’t more qualified. We are all invited!

Desire to drink that water though!

Listen to the way the Bible ends….

The most mind-blowing way to end the Bible. The realest thing to say. The most boss like move. 

Read 18-19

18 And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.

Don’t mess with my book! You will be removed from the book of life if you tamper with this book.

Here We Go:

20 He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”

Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

21 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people.*

Amen! 

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