Will you please turn to the last book of the Bible, Revelation? We will read from Revelation 21:1-8.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:
for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away;
and the sea is no more.And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His peoples, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.
And He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes;
and death shall be no more;
neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more:
the first things are passed away.And He that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true.
And He said unto me, They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.
But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.
And the final word, Revelation 22:20:
He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus.
Dear Lord, as we gather here this morning, we realize that throughout all these centuries and generations, people who love Thee, constrained by Thy love, are waiting for Thy return.
Lord, twenty centuries have passed. We are here, still waiting. Oh, dear Lord, we wonder why. Why is it that Thou dost delay Thy return? Thou hast promised, “I will come back and take you unto Myself.”
Oh, dear Lord, we thank Thee for Thy patience, Thy long-suffering with us. We do realize that it is not Thou who delayest; it is we who delay. Oh Lord, forgive us.
What can we say, Lord? We want Thee to return, but we are not ready. Thou who knowest the heart of man, Thou lookest upon our hearts. Thou knowest our condition. We have delayed. Oh, we have sinned against Thee. We have sinned against the saints of the past. Lord, forgive us.
This morning, as we gather here, Lord, do create within us a clean heart—a heart that is pure unto Thyself, a heart that really loves Thee, loves to see Thee more than anything else. Lord, wilt Thou not remove anything that leads us away from Thee?
Oh, dear Lord, make us a people that are really waiting and hastening—not delaying, Lord, but hastening—Thy return. Only Thy grace can do that. Only Thy judgment can do that.
We yield ourselves to Thee this morning with one heart and one cry: “Come.” We are here, waiting, longing for Thee. We pray, Lord, this morning, that Thou wilt reveal Thy glory to us. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
Yesterday morning, we considered together before the Lord the prospect of His coming again. We do thank God for sending His Son into this world. We do thank God for the first coming of our blessed Lord.
He came to declare His Father to us, that we may know Him. He came to proclaim to the meek and lowly the gospel. He came to bear in His own body our sins and deliver us out of death, bringing us into life.
We thank Him because He was obedient to His Father, even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. The Father has highly exalted Him and has anointed Him as Lord and Christ, giving Him a name which is above every name. At that name every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord.
Oh, how we thank God for what He has accomplished during His first coming. Our Lord Jesus has completed His mission. All that was needed to be done during His first coming has been done. He has laid the foundation for the fulfilment of the eternal purpose of God.
But, dear brothers and sisters, we also realize how necessary it is that our Lord Jesus will come again. His second coming is to complete the full purpose of God concerning Him, His church, Israel, the world, and even His enemy.
We thank the Lord for His first coming, and we thank the Lord knowing that He has promised us that He will come again. This is something for which we are waiting every day.
On the one hand, it grieves our heart that for twenty centuries past He has not been able to return. On the other hand, we do praise and thank Him, knowing that He is our only hope.
We find in 1 Corinthians 15 that if only we have hope in this life, then we are the most miserable of all men. Why? Because we have believed in Him, we are saved by His grace, and His love constrains us to follow Him—to leave the world behind us.
If our only hope is in this world, then truly we are the most miserable of all men. We are the foolish ones. The worldly wise seek after the things of the world. At least they get something of the world—temporarily, passing with griefs and sorrows, yet there is something. But to us believers, in this world we get nothing.
So, dear brothers and sisters, it is the coming again of our Lord Jesus that really gives us hope. Our hope is not in this world. We do not live for the seen; we live for the unseen. We have enough intelligence to know that the seen is temporary and passing, but the unseen is eternal.
Thank God, He has begotten us unto a living hope. We are hoping for an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, unfading, reserved for those who believe in Him, kept by His grace for that eternal blessing.
Brothers and sisters, every time we think of the coming again of our Lord Jesus, it revives our faith. Truly, our faith has been severely tested. But thank God, the testing of our faith makes us fine gold, knowing that our faith will soon become sight.
In this perilous world, the Bible tells us that men’s love will grow cold. No wonder, because of the difficulties of the times, because of trials and tribulations, our love seems to grow cold. But thank God, every time we think of the love of God in Christ Jesus, He revives us. He keeps us in love with Him.
So, dear brothers and sisters, it is very true: this matter of the coming again of our Lord Jesus is our hope, our faith, and our love. Without that, how can we live?
We are waiting for Him. We know when He shall come, He will wipe away our tears. We will enter the joy of our Lord. The past will be gone; the future is eternal and bright.
But, dear brothers and sisters, in hoping for the return of our Lord Jesus, is it just for ourselves? How often we find people speaking of walking on the golden street, playing the harp, praising the Lord, and enjoying His glory. Thank God, all these are true.
But, brothers and sisters, if our waiting for the return of our Lord is for ourselves, then we are still self-centred. There is something so much bigger than ourselves. There is that eternal purpose which is involved.
Thank God, His coming back again has to do with the fulfilment of God’s eternal purpose. Even before the foundation of the world, before there was time, before there was space, before there was anything, God purposed in His heart. He willed according to the good pleasure of Himself. He laid down an eternal purpose.
Throughout time, He is working out that purpose. The first coming of our Lord Jesus laid the foundation for the fulfilment of God’s eternal purpose, but His second coming is to complete that purpose, that God may be all and in all.
So, dear brothers and sisters, this matter of our longing, waiting, and hoping for His return is more than something just for ourselves. It is something for God, that God’s eternal purpose may be fulfilled.
During His first coming, we remember how John the Baptist blew the trumpet and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” Yes, when our Lord Jesus came the first time, He came meek and lowly. He was born in a manger in Bethlehem, that little city. He was raised in Nazareth, there in the country, out of the way—unknown, and yet known by God.
Even though He was sinless, He began His ministry by going to Jordan and receiving the baptism of repentance from John. John realized that here was a Man who had no need to repent. John realized that before that Man, he was the one to be baptized.
Yet our Lord Jesus said, “Let us fulfil all righteousness.” This is the way that God will do, and this is the way that we will go. So our Lord Jesus went to the River Jordan and received the baptism of repentance—not repenting for Himself, but repenting for the sin of the world.
During His ministry, how He suffered. How meek and how lowly He was—a Lamb of God, ready to be sacrificed. He came to die, not to live. He was obedient to the Father, even unto death, yea, the death of the cross: a Lamb pure and holy, slain from the foundation of the world. This is our Lord.
The Bible tells us that the Word became flesh and tabernacled among men, full of grace and truth. Then, in John 1:16-18, it says, “Out of His fulness we received grace upon grace.”
There is one word that characterises His first coming: grace. The law came through Moses, but grace and truth subsist in Him. That simply means that He brings grace to this world. He is grace. He is the only One who can give grace to us.
Throughout His first coming, it is grace. Brothers and sisters, we are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves, but of Him. How we praise and thank Him for the grace of God in Christ Jesus. His grace is all-sufficient. How we experience grace day by day. That marks His first coming.
But, brothers and sisters, when He shall come again, He will come as the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
When you turn to Revelation 5, you know that the book of Revelation is a book of prophecy; but the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus.
John, enjoying that vision on the island of Patmos, was taken in spirit up to heaven in Revelation 4. There he saw the glory of the God of creation. In Revelation 5, he saw the glory of the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus.
He saw God sitting upon the throne of glory, and there in His hand a little book, sealed with seven seals. Then he saw and heard an angel crying with a loud voice that could be heard throughout the universe: “Who is worthy to take this book, and to open the seals?”
But there was complete silence—no answer from heaven, no answer from earth, and no answer from underneath the earth. John wept because he knew what it meant. That little book, sealed with seven seals, is nothing but the title deed of this world.
Our God created the world, the earth, heaven and earth. He is the Owner of this world. But somehow there was a usurper upon this world, and he entered through the sin of man. He is temporarily called the god of this world and the prince of this world, but he is a usurper. The ownership never leaves the hand of God, but it is sealed.
The challenge was: Who can take this book? Who can inherit it? Who can open the seals and expose the mysteries concerning this world, and bring all things that God has created unto the purpose of God? Nobody can.
The angels were silent; it was beyond them. The earth was silent, because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Those under the earth, of course, were rebellious—totally unworthy.
John wept. Brothers and sisters, if we understood what he saw, we too would weep, knowing that there would be no more hope for mankind and no more hope for all created things. All have fallen away from God. No restoration, no recovery.
Then John was comforted by one of the twenty-four elders, who said, “Weep not.” Is that not the great tidings, the glorious gospel? Weep not, for there is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He has overcome, and He is worthy to take the book and to open the seals.
And behold, John saw before the throne, and the twenty-four elders, and the four living creatures, a little Lamb, newly slain, standing.
Brothers and sisters, this is a picture of the ascension of our Lord Jesus. We said yesterday that when He was taken up, the disciples were looking at Him. Then the cloud took Him, and they could not see Him anymore. But we are assured that He has arrived in heaven at the throne of God. Here is the truth: a Lamb newly slain, but standing. This is resurrection.
This Lamb, newly slain, is worthy because He has overcome. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him. So the Father handed to Him the title deed of this world. He is the One who will execute the recovery and restitution of all things.
What marks the second coming of our Lord Jesus? As the Lamb of God marks His first coming, so the Lion of the tribe of Judah will mark His second coming.
As grace is the characteristic of His first coming—a grace that is free for all—so judgment will be the characteristic of His second coming. A lamb represents grace, but a lion represents judgment.
Dear brothers and sisters, we like to hear the word grace. The more grace, the better—free grace. But oftentimes we make grace cheap. We do not understand what grace really is. We do not understand what sacrifice is behind the grace of God that is freely given to us.
We do not understand the power of grace in turning us from such ungracious persons into gracious men and women. And, brothers and sisters, we do not like to hear the word judgment. We consider it a harsh word.
But thank God, in His second coming, judgment characterises His work. As a matter of fact, brothers and sisters, you cannot separate grace and judgment—judgment and grace. They complement each other.
We may say it this way: in one way, grace lays the foundation, and judgment completes the work. Or we may say that judgment prepares the way for grace, and grace is the glory resulting from judgment. These two things cannot be separated.
So I do hope, dear brothers and sisters, do not be surprised. Do not be shocked. You are expecting grace, grace, more grace at His return—but no. His second coming is characterised by judgment.
Judgment is not a bad word. Judgment is as good a word as grace. Hopefully, by the grace of God, we may stand with God and appreciate both. We need grace; we need judgment. Without grace, we cannot stand the judgment. Without judgment, we cannot enjoy grace.
So, brothers and sisters, first of all, let us be very clear: as we think of His second coming, our thought should not be completely occupied with this matter of grace. Instead, our thought must be centred upon judgment. Only judgment will complete the work that grace has begun.
Now let us see through the Word of God how His second coming will fulfil the eternal purpose of God. Let us begin with the church.
We mentioned yesterday that our Lord Jesus, during His first coming into this world, came as a Bridegroom looking for His bride. But everywhere He went, everyone He met was either crippled, blind, a leper, or even dead.
Thank God, our Lord Jesus began His work of grace—healing the deaf, opening the eyes of the blind, making the cripple walk, cleansing the leper, and raising the dead, spiritually speaking.
Now, do you know why He saves you? Why does He save me—a person totally worthless, more than worthless? Why? That we may go to heaven? That we may enjoy ourselves? No.
He saved us for Himself. The purpose of His saving us is to transform us and make us to be like Him, that we may be His helpmate. That is the purpose of salvation.
For this reason, He went to the cross. There on the cross, He finished the work of redemption. You remember in John 19, John, the disciple whom the Lord loved, was there watching the final scene of the death of our Lord Jesus.
He saw the soldiers break the legs of the two robbers who were crucified together with our Lord, to speed them to death. But when one soldier came to our Lord Jesus, he saw that the Lord was already dead.
To make sure that our Lord Jesus was dead, he thrust his spear into the side of our Lord Jesus. That spear drew out, from the broken heart, the last drops of blood and water.
John noticed it, and he said, “I saw it. I testify to it, and my testimony is true. You must believe it.” Why? Because the blood out of the side of our Lord Jesus washes away our sins. The water that comes out with the spear is the released life, that we may have life and life eternal.
In other words, by the finished work of Christ on the cross, He prepared the materials for the building of the church, His bride: a people washed by His blood, a people living by His life. That is the material for the church.
You remember in Matthew 16, our Lord, looking forward to His crucifixion, asked this question of His disciples. At that time, He was rejected by the Jewish world. He retreated to Caesarea Philippi, on the border of a Gentile city, and He asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
Then He asked, “But who say ye that I am?” Simon Peter said, “Thou art the Christ, the Anointed of God, the Son of God.” Our Lord Jesus said, “Simon Bar-Jonah, thou art blessed, because this is not something flesh and blood can know. This is something that My Father in heaven has revealed to thee.”
“You are Peter. You are a little stone. Now I will build My church upon this massive rock,” and that is the confession of Peter: the Christ, the Son of God. “And the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
During the first coming of our Lord Jesus, He was just preparing the material of the church, the bride. He said, “I will build.” But when will He be building? There is a difference between gathering material and building that material together into a house.
During the first coming of our Lord Jesus, the Lord was preparing the materials. He said, “I will build.” But when? How? On the day of Pentecost, He sent the Holy Spirit to come, and in one Spirit those who are His are baptised into one body—neither Jews nor Gentiles—and all drink of one Spirit.
So, brothers and sisters, during the time after the ascension of our Lord Jesus and before He comes back to receive His bride, what will He be doing? He will be building the church. He will be perfecting His bride. That is the work our Lord Jesus is doing today.
If you turn to the book of Revelation again, you will find in Revelation 1 the Patmos vision that John saw. It is the vision of the risen Lord. John knew our Lord Jesus when He was on earth, and he knew Him so intimately that he even lay at His bosom. But here he received a vision that he had never seen before. He saw the ascended Lord.
He saw Him as the great High Priest, ministering in that heavenly sanctuary to His church: one like unto a son of man walking in the midst of seven golden lampstands. As our brother mentioned last night, the seven golden lampstands represent the seven churches in Asia. They are picked to represent the church in every age, every century, and every generation.
When our Lord was on earth, He was the Prophet of God. There in heaven, at the right hand of His Father, He is the great High Priest of God. This is our confession.
When we think of the high priesthood of our Lord Jesus, we usually think of His work in us individually—how He sympathises with us, sustains us, and saves us even to the uttermost. Yes, that is all true.
But, brothers and sisters, here He is pictured as the great High Priest ministering to the church, to the corporate body, to that one who is to be built and made fit to be His helpmate.
He walks among the seven churches. He measures them by Himself. He sees what is wrong and what is right—not wrong in the sense of the world, or in the sense of what people think; wrong in the sense of not measuring up to Himself.
Right is not what men consider successful. Right is being at one with what He is. That is right. That is building. He is building Himself into His church.
He is tending the lampstands. He is taking away that which has been burnt or scorched. He is supplying fresh oil. He is seeing to it that the lampstands will be bright and shining for the glory of God.
He says, “I know you. I know everything you do. I know what you are lacking, what is wrong with you. Repent. If you do not repent, I will remove the lampstand.” Oh, brothers and sisters, what is it? Judgment.
Grace and judgment work together.
You remember in 1 Peter 4, beginning with verse 17:
For the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of God:
and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?
And if the righteous is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?
When you read Revelation 2 and 3, which represent the whole history of the church, you find our Lord Jesus as the great High Priest ministering to the church. In giving grace to the church, He has to judge.
Without judgment, there can be no grace. Without judgment, we will not understand what grace is. Without judgment, how can you know you are wrong? We always feel we are right. Even before we were saved, we thought we were good. But when judgment came, when we were judged by the Holy Spirit, then we repented and received grace.
The same thing is true, brothers and sisters. We do not know where we are spiritually, but He knows. He is measuring us by Himself, and when He sees something that does not agree with Him, He judges.
His Holy Spirit, who dwells in each one of us, will prick our conscience, make us uneasy, and put us under judgment, so that judgment will bring us into repentance and the receiving of grace. Brothers and sisters, that is the way of preparing for the second coming of our Lord Jesus.
It is true that we are now in the period of grace. As people say, one day the day of grace will be over and judgment will come. That is true. But to the church, judgment has already begun in the house of God.
This is true as far as dispensations are concerned: one day judgment will come. This is the day of grace, not the day of judgment; but one day it will be the day of judgment, not of grace. That is true dispensationally speaking. But spiritually speaking, thank God, judgment begins with the house of God.
Will you please turn to 1 Corinthians 11? There you find the apostle Paul speaking about the breaking of bread. Thank God, our Lord Jesus, before His death, instituted the breaking of bread. He wants us to remember Him.
When the Corinthian believers met together to break bread and remember the Lord, the apostle Paul warned them. In 1 Corinthians 11:28-32, we read:
But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body.
For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep.
But if we discerned ourselves, we should not be judged.
But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
Here you find this word judgment a number of times. But if you read carefully, in the original Greek there are two different words. One word, judgment, means the sentence of the judge, which is judicial. That is something of which we are all afraid.
The other word means to distinguish, discern, examine, or look. In verse 31, “if we judge ourselves,” the word judge is the same word as “discern” in verse 29: “not discerning the body.”
In other words, we need to discern, we need to distinguish, we need to prove ourselves, examining ourselves. If we do that, then we will not be judged—and the judgment there is the judicial sentence of a judge. Being judged, we are disciplined by the Lord.
So, judgment begins with the house of God, and this judgment carries the meaning of distinguishing, discerning, proving, examining, disciplining, and chastening. In judgment there is a special sense—the sense of chastisement.
In Hebrews 12, you find how a father chastises his son. The reason he chastises his son is to make him a man. It is not for condemnation; it is for child training.
So, brothers and sisters, judgment must begin with the house of God. What does it mean? It means, first of all, that our Lord is our God, our Father. Because He loves us so much, if He sees something that does not agree with His own character, something that is damaging to us, then He will discipline us.
He will train us as children. He will chastise us. He will make us feel uneasy. He will prick our conscience. He will enable us to judge ourselves and repent before God. Such judgment is unto sonship. Judgment is not unto condemnation.
Thank God, brothers and sisters, so far as we, the children of God, are concerned—so far as the church is concerned—when our Lord Jesus judges the church, He judges not for our condemnation. He judges that we may discern, understand, be chastised, repent, learn the lesson, be obedient, and be transformed.
That is judgment. This judgment has already begun in the house of God. Is it not true as far as our personal experience is concerned? After you have believed in the Lord Jesus, do you think that He who loves you so much will leave you alone to live however you like to live?
Certainly not. That is indulgence, and indulgence will corrupt life. Discipline will build up life. So our heavenly Father is truly disciplining us. The word discipline can also be said to mean that He judges us.
Now, you do not like the word judge, neither do you like the word discipline, but it is necessary. Personally, this is true. Otherwise, we will never grow up. Otherwise, the church will never be built.
Thank God for His discipline. Discipline is His way of judging us in order that we may be purified, in order that we may repent, and in order that we may turn back to Him. That is the purpose behind that judgment.
Brothers and sisters, I believe our brother Dana, who is speaking tonight, will tell us more about this. But I just want to say this: do not despise the discipline of the Lord, because this is the way He builds His church.
Those who receive that discipline are the overcomers. They are the ones whom the Lord, when He comes, will take away to Himself, because they have made themselves ready for Him.
He who refuses the discipline and judgment of God will be left behind. But thank God, the great tribulation of three and a half years is another chance. You can be an overcomer even out of the great tribulation.
But when the great tribulation is over, then, as 1 Thessalonians 4 says, the trumpet will sound, and the dead in Christ will be raised first. Those who remain behind will be changed, and all will be caught up in the air to meet the Lord in the air.
There will be the judgment seat of Christ to decide who is worthy to inherit the coming kingdom. Brothers and sisters, this is very sobering.
Thank God, we will not go through the great white throne judgment of death and eternal life. Our Lord has undertaken that for us. But that does not mean that we will not be judged. If we are judged today, we will not be judged at the judgment seat of Christ.
Brothers and sisters, the reason is that He wants us to come to completion. He wants every one of us to be an overcomer, every one of us to be like Him. That is the eternal purpose. That is what you see in Revelation 21: the new Jerusalem.
This is the process. It is through judgment that He will bring everything to the fulfilment of His eternal purpose concerning the church.
The same thing is true concerning Israel. Let us turn to Jeremiah 46:27-28.
But fear not thou, O Jacob My servant, neither be dismayed, O Israel:
for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity;
and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.Fear not thou, O Jacob My servant, saith the Lord:
for I am with thee;
for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee,
but I will not make a full end of thee,
but I will correct thee in measure,
and will in no wise leave thee unpunished.
Today, the children of Israel are in fear. They are afraid that the nation of Israel will be eliminated. That is what the enemy is trying to do. But thank God for His promise. He says that one day He will deliver them, because He is faithful to His promise.
One day He will give the new covenant to them. Unfortunately, because of unbelief, Israel is partly, as it were, set aside. But thank God, He is returning to them.
He will judge them, and through judgment they will repent. Look at the prophecy of Zechariah. From Zechariah 12 through 14, these chapters are centred upon the destiny, the final stage, of the nation of Israel. We do not have time to go over it, but I will read a few verses.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication;
and they shall look unto Me whom they have pierced;
and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son,
and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem.
—Zechariah 12:9-11
In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
—Zechariah 13:1
So, brothers and sisters, we thank the Lord that one day all Israel shall be saved. That is through judgment. Judgment brings in grace, as grace enables us to pass through judgment.
The same thing is true with the world. Revelation 5 through 19 describes how our Lord opens the seals, exposing the plan of God in bringing this world—the kingdom of this world—into the kingdom of our God and of His Christ. That is going on, and that will soon be fulfilled.
As to the fate of Satan, in Revelation 20, we find that he will be bound and thrown into the bottomless pit. He will be kept there for a thousand years. During those thousand years, there will be the golden age: the kingdom of the Messiah, the kingdom of the heavens upon the earth.
Finally, after the thousand years are over, Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire. That is the scene of which we are speaking in Revelation 21 and 22.
Brothers and sisters, all the eternal purpose of God concerning His Son, concerning the church, concerning Israel, concerning the world, and concerning Satan and his evil forces will all be brought to the end.
All the purpose of God, even before the foundation of the world, shall be fulfilled. Look at that glorious scene. Brothers and sisters, Revelation 21 and 22 is the final, eternal scene of God’s created world.
I believe when we read Revelation 21 and 22, probably our attention is still focused on ourselves. We think of ourselves as those who compose the holy city, the new Jerusalem, descending upon the new earth. We think of walking on that golden street, worshipping and serving our Lord.
Yes, these things are true, but our attention is still upon ourselves. No, by that time we will not do that. When you read that wonderful, glorious scene of the eternity to come—the new heaven, the new earth, and the new Jerusalem—what do you see?
You see the glory of God, the glory of Christ. He is the temple. He is the light. He is the throne. You see the glory. That wonderful new Jerusalem—when you look at it, the glory is the glory of God.
No wonder His servants shall serve Him eternally with love. Oh, brothers and sisters, here you find the consummation of all the works of God, fulfilling His eternal purpose.
Behind His mercy and grace, all that He has done is not because of us, but because of Him. We shall all be incorporated in that new Jerusalem.
All the works of God throughout the centuries—the Old Testament type and the New Testament type—will all be gathered together there. The foundation bears the twelve names of the apostles, but the gates bear the names of the tribes of Israel. Nothing is lost.
You hear the voice: “I have made all things new. It is finished.” May we bow and worship.
Dear Lord, we praise and thank Thee. It is by Thy grace and judgment that Thou hast brought all things unto Thyself. Thou shalt be worshipped and served eternally. Thy glory shall fill the house. We worship Thee in Thy name. Amen.
Well, brothers and sisters, we would like to have some closing prayers now before we leave, and I will close at the back.