people. It can bring a wide range of thoughts and memories, different people, different places. For me, it brings to mind, and maybe a couple others in this room, it brings to mind this old house. This is where I grew up. A couple other people in this room grew up here too. When I think of home, I think of Blink Bonnie Farm. And I don't know if home is more connected with childhood, And of course, I have my home now with my husband and my children. But we've moved a few times since we were married. And I was the fourth generation to live on this farm. So that's pretty rare anymore, to have that kind of family history, that kind of roots in a place. My mom's still on that place. That house isn't there anymore. But that place is still what comes to mind when I think of home. And when I say home, hopefully that's a good word for you. For some people, unfortunately, that's not such a good word. But I just want you to know, if you have good thoughts of home, that is just a foreshadowing. That is just a taste of what home is really going to be like forever. And if you don't have such good thoughts of home, If you've never really felt like you've had a place that you call home sweet home, then let me encourage you today that you will. You are going to have a home that is going to be so amazing and beautiful and you will know that this is the place for which you were made and you will one day be home. We are going to learn today about the city that is to come. Hebrews chapter 13 we read we do not have For we do not have an enduring city meaning here on this earth. We don't have any enduring place but we are looking for the city that is to come and It is a city ladies beyond our wildest dreams It's so good But before we really get into this, just pray with me, and then we'll get going. God, I thank you so much for your word. I thank you for the hope that it gives us. I thank you for what you have prepared for us. And we don't deserve it. It is just so amazing what you are going to share with us for all of eternity. And it's not because we could ever earn it, but because you are so full of grace and because Jesus died for us so that we could be in this place. And I just pray today that as we talk about this, new heaven and new earth and new Jerusalem that you would help me to Only say what is right about your word and help us to be excited for what is waiting for us in eternity We pray this in your name. Amen You know, I think most of you know my husband's from England and And so sometimes when people, I've had people who are traveling to England come up to him and come up to me, even because I've been there several times, and say, what would you recommend? Like, what should I do? How should I travel? What do you do for money? They just want to get some tips. Like, how do we navigate this foreign country? Because when we're preparing to travel, especially when we're going somewhere we've never been before, we kind of like to know what to expect. And in the same way, Us as believers, we should be curious about heaven. Like, what should we expect? What is this place that we are going to? It is so foreign. It's so different from anything we've ever known. It is only natural to wonder what our eternal home is going to be like. And knowing our anticipation, God has provided a description of it for us in his word. Honestly, there's there's really not that much. There's only just kind of select few details that he gives us But even what he gives us it is so staggering and it is so mind-blowing and it is so amazing that even those few details we can't not fully comprehend them and That's just to give us a little taste of what is to come So revelation chapter 21 starting at verse 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. I For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more." So just so we know where we're at on our timeline, we've been through the Tribulation, Jesus returned, talked about the Millennial Kingdom a couple weeks ago. At the end of the Millennial Kingdom, God takes care of all sin, all punishment has been, for all unbelievers have been resurrected. They face Him at the Great White Throne, all unbelievers of all ages. are doomed to the lake of fire for eternity. Once that has been taken care of, then it's only believers left. Those flesh and blood people still on earth who are believers after the Millennial Kingdom, they will receive their glorified bodies. So now everybody has their resurrected, glorified, perfect, imperishable bodies to go into the eternal state. So he's going to create the new heaven and the new earth, and we're going to go into what we call the eternal state. And I just filled in the no mores of the new heaven and new earth on your notes, just because we're not going to touch on all of them. So I just wanted you to have all those there. We'll talk about some of them briefly. But this phrase, new heaven and new earth, is derived from Isaiah chapter 65, verse 17. For behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. This new heaven and new earth aren't simply new because they come after the old creation, but they are brand spanking new. They is a heaven and earth that has never existed, that has never been seen before, because the old creation is completely demolished. This is not just a renovation. That's it's not just even a complete gut job. That's kind of what the Millennial Kingdom was. when Jesus comes to rule and reign on the earth. But now everything is destroyed, and the new heaven and the new earth is created, and nothing is left of the old creation, which begs the question, what happened to the old universe? So I taught a lesson to the Awana kids, kind of about the end times and how the world ends and that type of thing. Very basic, obviously. But I had these pictures for them, because I said to the kids, now, who wants to know how the world's going to end? Because I know. It's not because I'm special, but God's word tells us how the world's going to end. It's not going to be a pandemic. It's not going to be a meteorites going to hit the earth and we're all going to blow up. It's not going to be world war three or some kind of nuclear war. It's not going to be an alien invasion. It's not going to be that artificial intelligence becomes so intelligent that it takes over the planet and kills all the people. And when I said this one, there was a sweet little girl right in the front row of my Iwata class, like, loudly just went, oh, thank goodness. I was like, honey, were you worried that the robots were going to take over? She's like, yeah. Don't worry about that girl. It's not gonna happen Okay, when we know the Bible we don't have to worry because we know how things are gonna go So then I told the kids all this, you know, it's not gonna be this not me that's not me that I said It's gonna be global warming And all the kids like no, it's not. No, it's not global warming. Like yes, it is It's not the global warming that you read about in the news, but it will be global warming because in second Peter we read But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved. The earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God? Because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. How does this go down? I don't know exactly. I do know that even at the very basic level of the physical universe, there is no scientist on the planet that can explain an atom. Because an atom, the nucleus of an atom, is made up of protons and neutrons. Neutrons are neutral, protons are positive. And very basic rule in physical science is that like charges repel. Unlike negative and positive attract but positive positive negative negative repel There's no scientist on the planet who can tell us why every single nucleus of every single atom on in the universe holds together By all definition every single atom should fly apart because it's only negative charges in that nucleus and And we know how hard it is to rip that thing apart. I mean, that's an atomic bomb. If you can rip apart the nucleus of an atom, you create a massive explosion. But you can't... I mean, it takes all that mankind can do to figure out how to even rip that apart. How do you explain that that holds together? I say God holds it together. In Colossians 1, 15 through 17, it talks about how all things are in Him and through Him and for Him, and in Him all things hold together. I kind of just picture in my mind, you know, the lake of fire is obviously forever So that's not going to be destroyed and unbelievers are there but then when he's ready to destroy the universe I just picture God in one hand holding everybody because he can hold billions in his hand and All believers, all faithful angels, all of those creatures that serve him in heaven. I picture him holding all of us in one hand, protecting us. And with the other hand, the old universe, he just lets go. But somehow it's all destroyed. And then he creates a new one. And read about that in Revelation 21, verse 2. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold. Oh, sorry. I'm at three, verse two. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. So number one in your blanks are the characteristics of the New Jerusalem. It descends from heaven and it is adorned as a bride. Is that your second blank? Adorned as a bride for her husband. We're going to see very quickly that the New Jerusalem becomes the main focus of John's vision. It's described in far more detail than any other aspect of the eternal state. And don't get the impression that the New Jerusalem is the only place of the new creation. It's not. That's the capital city. That's just the capital city. There's a whole new universe, new heavens, new earth, and on the new earth is the New Jerusalem. That's the capital city. We'll get back to the New Jerusalem in a bit, but then we see this pronouncement in verses three and four that are some of my very favorite words in all of the Bible. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. For the former things have passed away. Ladies, the supreme glory and joy of heaven is not going to be all of its splendor. It's not going to be the absence of sorrow and sin. It's not going to be the presence of all of our loved ones. Though all of those things and more will certainly contribute to the joy of heaven. But the supreme glory and joy of heaven will be God. He will be with His people in a way that He has never been with us since the Garden of Eden. He will finally be there with us. God is going to pitch his tent with his people. And that truth is so staggering that this heavenly voice repeats it several times in different ways. And that's one of the things I love. Number two on the no mores of your list, there will be no more loneliness ever, ever. Because God will be with us. God will no longer seem far off. He will no longer be distant. He will no longer be transcendent. He will be with His people. He will no longer be shrouded with a cloud by day or a pillar of fire by night. He will no longer use the prophets as His mouthpiece. He will no longer be hidden away in the Holy of Holies by a thick veil. He will no longer be limited to the human form of Jesus while He was on earth. We will not have to worry anymore about being struck down dead because we got a glimpse of the glory of God. Paul says in 1 Timothy chapter 6 that no one has ever or can ever see God because He dwells in unapproachable light. But Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. And that's because He's going to make us pure. And we will get to see and be with God. Nothing to separate us from Him. Nothing to be ashamed of. No sin to try to cover up or make excuses for. In every way, we will have a perfect relationship with God. He will be fully and completely with us. I hope some of you are as excited about that as I am. Verse 5. And he who was seated on the throne said, behold, I am making all things new. Also he said, write this down for these words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage and I will be his God and he will be my son. Just try to imagine that awesome voice reverberating throughout the universe. It says there, it is done. Very reminiscent to Jesus' words on the cross, it is finished. When Jesus said, it is finished, he was talking about the completion of his work of redemption on the cross, dying for the sins of the world. And here a voice says, it is done, marking the end of redemptive history. God has started history and he is going to end it according to his sovereign plan. Verse 8, but as for the cowardly, the faceless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. And this is the one verse really in these chapters that kind of disrupts the euphoria of the new heaven and the new earth, but it serves as a necessary and solemn warning. And this list is in no way saying that anyone who's ever been guilty of these things, anyone who's ever been sexually immoral or idolatrous or a murderer or a liar, that they are destined for the lake of fire and there's no hope for them. God can forgive all of those things and more. But rather this is saying for those whose lives were characterized by those things, that gives evidence that they were never saved by putting their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, And in stark contrast to the eternal bliss of the new heaven and the new earth, the wicked will suffer eternal torment in hell. So we need to be sure that we repent and submit to Christ and trust in Him as our Savior while there is still time. Verse 9. Then came one of the seven angels, who had the seven bowls full of the seven flags, and spoke to me, saying, Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great high wall with twelve gates, And at the gates, 12 angels, and on the gates, the names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed. On the east, three gates. On the north, three gates. On the south, three gates. On the west, three gates. And the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and on them were the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its walls and gates. The city lies four square, its length the same as its width, and he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. The wall was made of jasper, while the city was pure gold like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth cardillion, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth barrel, the ninth topaz, the 10th chrysophrase, the 11th jacent, the 12th amethyst, and the 12 gates were 12 pearls. Each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold like transparent glass. And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations, but nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is despicable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. Also on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations, No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads, and night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. That is a magnificent description of the New Jerusalem. We certainly don't have time to talk about all the details. You know, I've been to many big cities around the world. I've had the opportunity to do that. I've been to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Bangkok, Shanghai, Cape Town, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seoul, different cultures, different places. But I can tell you all those big cities have at least one thing in common. I would not want to live there. No, thank you. I'm fine with small town living. I'm good with that. But when we think city here, maybe city doesn't do it for you. But don't think the human cities. This is God's city. We're going to want to be in this city. It's so amazing. It's so beautiful. Number three is it has an appearance like jasper. It says it's surrounded by a wall of jasper Sorry, it's number five. It's the next blank um Like perfectly clear crystal radiating with the glory of god glory goes in your blank there You know if you google jasper, this is what comes up. Um, this is what we would call jasper today. It's an opaque stone um, but the better Idea of what you should think about when you read this is quartz That's what the Greek would have been talking about. The the Greek is describing a translucent stone like quartz crystal clear Ladies come on who likes sparkly things Okay. I mean I remember and you know, my diamonds is relatively small. That's I remember when I got engaged I just wanted to look at it all the time, right and Just hold it in the light and let it sparkle and oh, it's so pretty. You know, we love the sparkly things even though if we're not too girly we still kind of like those things sometimes and Our little diamonds as beautiful as they are Do not compare To this city. This city is like this flawless massive gargantuan crystal that will be bending and reflecting and refracting the brilliant, blazing, dazzling glory of God throughout the entire recreated universe. That is what this city will do. Like a beacon that maybe everyone can see no matter where you are in the universe. Human language is woefully inadequate to describe the unimaginable opulence of our eternal home. We see that we get the dimensions of it. This angel with this measuring rod measures it. They tell us that it's shaped like a cube. So that's in your blank there. It's shaped like a cube because it's equal in length and width and height. It says it's 12,000 stadia. One stadia is about 607 feet. So that makes this, in your blank, is 1,380 miles approximately. 1,380 miles in every direction. So length, width, height. Just to give you some perspective on that, if you plunked a city that size down on our country, that's about the land mass it would take up. Also, for the height of it, Mount Everest is about five and a half miles high. That's our highest place on the planet. Five and a half miles. This is 1,380 miles. It's about 250 times that. So if you put that on our planet, that's what it would look like. And I've heard arguments of people saying, okay, these measurements can't be literal. We don't take these numbers literally because if we put that on our planet, it wouldn't even fit. It would knock it off its orbit. There's no way that's real. Did you read the part about the new earth? That's the old earth. There's a new earth. And I'm pretty sure since God's in charge of defining the laws of nature, he can do what he wants. I mean, come on. I take it literal. This thing is going to be huge. It could house, I didn't write it down, I heard, I think I read, something it could house like 20, you could easily put more than that, but 20 million people could be in this thing and all have their own 75 acres. I mean, it'll accommodate everybody who wants to live there, who wants to visit, because we'll be going in and out. It's enormous. The thickness of the walls, that's your next blank, It said it was 144 cubits. That is 72 yards. Though I suppose if I was walking at the top of those walls and I'm 1,380 miles up there, I'd want it to be pretty wide. But I guess I don't have to worry about falling in my glorified body, so that's all good. We see that it is accessed by 12 gates in the wall. You read about the gates there. These gates, and there is an angel, that's in your next blank, there is an angel stationed at each gate. And also, each gate has the name of one of the 12 tribes of Israel inscribed on it. That's your next blank. So they have the 12 tribes of Israel, one on each of the gates, commemorating for all of eternity God's covenant relationship with Israel. And we read that there's three gates on each side, three to the north, south, east, west. If you like symmetrical, I think you'll like this city. It seems very symmetrical. We also read that each gate is a single pearl that goes in your blank, a single pearl. I mean, if these go all the way to the top, that means these pearls are 1,000, like they're 1,300 miles high. I'm pretty sure those bad boys didn't come out of an oyster. It's just mind-blowing. And we also see that the gates are never closed. Never closed. This is a place of perfect security, a place of peace and rest. These angels are not standing at the gates to be guards. They're more like the Mike Sluders of the New Jerusalem. They just stand and greet. They're just going to greet people as they come in the gates, because there's no need to guard against anything. Number seven on your notes, the wall has 12 foundation stones. And these stones have the name of one of the 12 apostles inscribed on it. That's in your other blank has the names of 12 apostles. Obviously, Judas, not among them. The apostles did replace Him with a guy named Mateus, but personally I think that 12th when it talks about the 12 apostles And them being on thrones and their names in heaven. I think the 12th is Paul. I think Jesus replaced Judas the spot with Paul Not that the apostles were wrong and when they drew those lots to appoint Mateus, but I think Paul was God's choice and that will commemorate for all eternity God's covenant relationship with the church and So first we saw Israel, but now we see his covenant relationship with the church because the Apostles were the foundation of the church and We see that these foundation stones are adorned with all and I had to throw that Let me tell you about this ladies. The foundation stones are adorned with 12 Anisotropic gems. I've got to tell you about the anisotropic gems. Okay, because this is cool now John lists these 12 different gems and Some of these that we would read today in John's day, we'd be like, oh, yeah, you definitely have that one. But then you'd also read others and think, well, that one's not that special. Like there's some that he lists that in his economy wouldn't be that expensive. They wouldn't be considered that rare or precious. And then there's some that didn't make the list that you'd think should, like diamonds. There's no diamonds to be found anywhere. No rubies anywhere. So it just seems like an interesting list if and obviously this we know this is a divinely inspired word of God, but if John was just writing this these likely aren't the gems he would have picked. You know, for example, that last one is amethyst, and I actually have it on today. I have a birthstone ring with my three boys. Two of them were February, so I've got amethyst, and these are genuine gemstones, and one of the purple amethysts got chipped. So I was like, ugh, I need to get it replaced, and it's real, and we'll see how much that costs. I take it in, $40. Like, oh, okay, I can handle that. Even though it just didn't have a lot of value for that particular gem. Well, fairly recently in history, just like less than a century now, scientists discovered cross-polarized light, which is a way of saying pure light. I don't know what makes it pure, but somehow scientists have been able to figure out how to shine and how to filter and shine pure light. So one of the things they did when they had this pure light is they started shining it at different gemstones just to see what would happen. And for some, which they now call anisotropic gems, when you shine pure light on those gems, they explode with color. It's like all colors of the rainbow. I mean, it's just glorious. It's just beautiful to look at. But then you take some other gems that are called isotopic, because that's not how they're qualified. Isotopic gems, when you hit them with pure light, look like a black hole. Like, there's just nothing. It's ugly, it's black, it's nothing. And one of those is a diamond. A ruby is isotropic. So there are 28 stones out there that are considered gemstones. Of those 28, there's only 16 that are anisotropic, meaning they shine with all kinds of brilliance. So to me, and we don't even realize it when we read this list, but this is such a proof of the divine authorship of God in His Word, because no human would have picked these gems. But God, being the creator of all things, He knows how to decorate His house. And He knows the gems that are going to display His glory the best. And every single one that John lists is an anisotropic gem. Out of 16 in the world, he just happened to pick 12 of them? I don't think so. I don't think a first century man is going to do that. Of course, God nailed it. Ladies, this city, It's just going to be breathtakingly beautiful. There are going to be spectrums of dazzling colors, maybe colors we have never even seen, as these stones shimmer and shine and radiate with the brilliance of the glory of God. Tells us that the city and the street are pure gold that's in your next blank. They are pure gold. So pure. They're like transparent Glass that doesn't even exist in our world. We don't have transparent gold in our world But it will exist there Everything about this city is designed to let the light of God's glory blaze unrestricted and unconfined. And we will walk on pure gold like it's asphalt. Because the luxury and the opulence of this city is all about displaying the glory of God. And you can't overdo it when you're talking about displaying the glory of God. But the other great thing about it, too, is another reason for all of that opulence is that God is so pleased to share his extravagant, limitless wealth with his children. Isn't he such a generous father to us that he will share all of these things with us? Number nine, it's temple is God Himself. There will be no more temple. There will be no need for a building. No need for a special place to go to worship, because like I said, we're constantly in His presence. The presence of the Trinity will permeate heaven. It no longer needs to be confined to a single place of manifestation. There will be no sun or moon. Those are your next blanks. There's no sun or moon. There's no need for them. They can't compete, quite frankly. Because the glory of God lights this place. There is no need for the sun or the moon. Your next blank, there is no night. There is no night, no cycle of days or months or years or seasons, because we will not need to keep track of time. Why do you need to keep track of time when you've got eternity? We don't need to worry about anything or anyone sinful or evil or unclean ever entering this place. Number 12 in your blanks, no one or nothing sinful will enter. Only those written in the Lamb's Book of Life can enter the city. You'll notice a lot of life mentioned here. The Book of Life. The next blank is the River of the Water of Life. The river of the water of life flows through the middle of this city like everything. It's crystal clear to reflect the glory of God as a symbol of eternal life. It cascades from the throne of God in dazzling, unpolluted, unobstructed, never-ending flow of the life that God gives as everlasting life flows from the throne of God to the people of God. And then we see the tree of life. That's number 14. The Tree of Life seems to be the heavenly counterpart of the Tree of Life that was in Eden, symbolizing the blessings of eternal life. You know, the Tree of Life really is the reason why Adam and Eve were barred from the Garden. Because once they introduced sin into the world, God didn't want them taking from the Tree of Life and living forever in their sinful state. It was an act of mercy to get them out of there, get away from the Tree of Life. You don't have access to it anymore. But in the New Jerusalem, this tree, and I don't know if it's the same tree or a new one, but it will be accessible to all. No one's barred from it. And I don't even know how to explain it. It says it's on both sides of the river. Is it going over the river? I don't know. It's going to be greater than anything I can imagine. It says it has 12 kinds of fruit. Are they all at once? Do they all come at different times? I don't know. It talks about burying them in different months, though those months I don't think are necessarily a reference of time, again, because we don't have to worry about time. It could just be John's way of saying this is just ongoing. Like, for him, 12 months was a year. Ongoing. That's a whole cycle. So this is the ongoing blessings that just keep going for all of eternity. It says that its leaves are for the healing of the nations. And again, we won't need physical healing because there's no need for that. Maybe a better way to translate that would actually be life-giving. Because so much about heaven, it's about life. Life. Life. Abundant and overflowing. The life in heaven is fully energized. It's rich. It's exciting. And as those verses said again in 22 verse 4, it says, we will see His face. Something that's impossible for mortal man. Something that we can never do right now without being struck instantly dead. We will see his face. It says his name will be on our foreheads, meaning we belong to him. We belong to him forever. We'll never again be separated from him. We will reign forever with Jesus, involved in an infinite variety of tasks that only the limitless mind of God could conceive. Ladies, heaven will not be boring. Just so you know. There's so many people like, man, it's forever. It seems like it might be kind of boring. It will not be boring. It will be amazing. We will never be bored. I think we'll be relaxed a lot of times, but we won't be bored. This is our home sweet home Are you excited yet? If you if you've had that feeling here, like I said if you've had that feeling then that's just a foretaste Foretaste of what's gonna be so much better. And if you've never had that feeling of like this is home You will you will You will get there and know this is the place for which I was made and it was made for me and I just don't have the words to adequately describe how amazing this is. Your last blank, it will last forever. It will never end. Verse 6, He said to me, these words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His angel to show His servants what must soon take place. And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book." Famous last words, I entitled them, last words in Revelation, last words of the Bible. They're important. First of all, the words of Revelation are faithful and true. These are not some bizarre, mystical dreams of John. It wasn't his overactive imagination. It's not a bunch of allegory where we have to figure out the hidden meaning of what all this is talking about. Revelation is an accurate description of events and people who are yet to come. And they will happen exactly the way God says it will happen. Number two is these things will take place soon. These things, meaning everything that John's written down in Revelation. These things will happen soon. Number three, blessed are those who believe and heed the words of Revelation. Heed means to keep, to hold fast, to guard. So what words are we called to heed? Because honestly, Revelation doesn't have a lot of commands. There's some books like James, where, you know, it's do this, do this, do this, don't do this, don't do this, don't do this. It's very practical. Like, here's how you live. This is what you do. Revelation doesn't have a lot of commands, really. There's some commands to the churches in chapters two and three that certainly would still apply to us. But honestly, I think what this is saying here is that this is a general command to apply the truths of Revelation. that we are too long for the return of Jesus and for our eternal fellowship with him, that we are to desire heaven and holiness, that we are to desire seeing Jesus vindicated and triumphant over those who oppose him, that we are to desire the end of sin and to see the end of the curse on this world, that we are to desire the glories of the millennial kingdom and the glories of the new heaven and the new earth and the new Jerusalem. That we are to love Jesus more and we're to live in the light of the reality that we are going to see him one day. That we are to be motivated to tell others about saving faith in Jesus while there is still time for them. And that we are to guard the words of Revelation as being true in a world that will tell you if you think the book of Revelation is literal and true, you're a nut job. But we are to guard them because they're true. Verse 8, I, John, am the one who heard and saw 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. But he said to me, you must not do that. I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers, the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God. I mean, John needs to kind of get it together here. This is the second time he's fell down to worship an angel. You know, he's a little overwhelmed, I'm sure. Verse 10, and he said to me, do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book for the time is near. Let the evil doer still do evil and the filthy still be filthy and the righteous still do right and the holy still be holy. Your next blank, the message of revelation is not to be hidden. He says, don't seal this up, spread it, proclaim it. The time is near. And when it says, let the evil doer be evil, filthy be filthy, this is certainly, I mean, we know God's heart. This is certainly not a command that Jesus is saying, OK, well, if you're just going to sin, just keep doing it because that's what I want you to do. Clearly, that's not the heart of God. What this is talking about is like those who continually choose sin and evil, they're going to be hardened by that response. And there's going to be a point where you don't get to change your mind anymore. You don't get to repent. That time is gone. So if you keep choosing evil, be warned, it gets harder and harder to choose righteousness. It gets harder and harder to bow the knee to Jesus. You need to decide now what you're going to do with the truth that Revelation has proclaimed. Because these hard-hitting truths of Revelation, they draw lines in the sand. And these words can either melt the hearts of the repentant, or they can harden the hearts of the unrepentant. And it's up to us how we're going to respond. These same truths can serve as an instrument of salvation, but they can also serve as an instrument of damnation for those who continually ignore it and push it aside and refuse to believe it and will not repent. Verse 12. Behold, I'm coming soon, bringing my recompense with me to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and the murderers and idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood again These are things not that they can't be forgiven. These are people whose lives were characterized by these things thus they never repented and accepted Christ as their Savior and When it says they're outside don't picture that as like they're just sitting outside the wall of the New Jerusalem. I Like they're outside as in they are totally excluded from this because they are in the lake of fire So so don't get that impression when it says when they enter the city, it's only you know The righteous and then right outside the corner are those people know it's just saying that They were not allowed to come even close because their destiny was in the lake of fire and I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright and morning star. The spirit and the bride say come and let the one who hears say come and let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires to take the water of life without price. Here we see the word come several times in these last verses of Revelation. The first use of come is number 8, there you're blank. Everyone is invited. They're saying, come, come while there's time. Just come. Everyone is invited to live with God forever. You've just got to humbly submit to Jesus in genuine faith and repentance while there's still time. Come, come who are thirsty. Come, take the water of life. There's no price. There's no cost. Jesus paid that. Just come. Verse 18, I warn anyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. So your next link is consequences. We see that there's warning because there are severe consequences for those who add to or take away from the words of revelation. And I think the implication can be, I mean, God's closing out the canon of His Word. I think the implication can be any of this, any of this that you add to it or you take away from, be warned. This is God's Word and it's complete. You don't mess with it. There are consequences if you do. Verse 20, he who testifies to these things says, surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. And here's the other instance or the other use of the word come. First, it was used as an invitation. Come while there is still time. Come in repentance. But now, Jesus says He's coming. That's in your blank. Jesus is coming soon, and in response to that, John can't help but implore Him. Jesus says, surely I'm coming soon, and John adds, Amen! Come soon! How many times do I pray that these days? Do you pray that these days? Oh, Jesus, just come! Please come! This world is a disaster! We're going to hell in a handbasket, quite frankly. Jesus, come. And Jesus loves that prayer. I hope you're praying that prayer, that you want Him to come. That statement is made three times. It's made in verse 7, it's made in verse 12, and it's made in verse 20, where Jesus has said, surely I am coming soon. And it is soon. And maybe you're thinking, how can you say that? John wrote this 2,000 years ago. And even then he was saying it's soon, but I haven't seen anything yet. And that's why so many are skeptical. So many don't believe. It's like, yeah, you've been saying he's coming soon for 2000 years. Give me a break. Well, soon in God's vocabulary isn't always soon in our vocabulary. 2000 years is nothing to God. But as we've talked about over these many weeks of studying prophecy, I think we have many reasons, and there's many reasons why I personally believe that we very much are living in the last days, potentially the last hours of the last days, and I think he absolutely is coming soon. May we be ready, and may we be motivated to tell others how they can be ready, because it's soon. Next week, we'll do one more class. It'll be question and answer. I've got some questions that we're going to talk about. If you still have questions, please get them to me and then I can kind of study this week, if you have anything like that.