Today we’re going to jump straight into the last 2 chapters of Revelation.

Revelation 21:1-2
1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

There is going to be a new heaven, a new earth and a new Jerusalem. Everything is going to be new!

The new heaven and new earth is our planet earth that it is referring to.

• The new heaven is the new atmosphere. Nothing to do with the heaven in which God resides.

New Jerusalem descends.

• This takes place at the close of the 1000 years that we studied about in Revelation 20.

Then we read about the ultimate goal of really the whole Bible.

• Revelation 21:3
  And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “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.
• God will finally be with us.
• Sin has separated us from Him. Which means sin is finally eradicated.

Revelation 21:4
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

What will be absent?

• No more tears, death, sorrow, crying or pain.
• All of that is in the past.

Revelation 21:5
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.”

The key word that we see there – NEW.

• All things will be new.
• This earth will be Eden restored.
• God gives the guarantee – these words are true and faithful.

Revelation 21:6
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.

What is the significance of the water of life for us today?

• John 7:37-39
  37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
• If we will thirst for the spiritual water today, which is the Holy Spirit, God assures us that we will have that literal water in heaven one day.
• And we can only get the Holy Spirit through prayer.

Revelation 21:7
He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

We are reminded that we have to be overcomers.

• It takes us back to the seven churches. There were overcomers in every church.
• We have to overcome temptation, sin and the devil.
• Revelation 12:11
  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
• God has His overcomers even today.

Revelation 21:8
8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

In this passage there are 8 types of sinners.

• Cowardly – they are fearful. Afraid of public opinion, afraid of man. The fear man and not God.
• Unbelieving – they lack faith and don’t trust God.
• Abominable – those who are disgusting and detestable in their person and behaviour. They have drunk of Babylon’s abominations in Revelation 17:4-5.
• Murderers – they have the spirit of Cain who killed his brother and who was a form of antichrist in 1 John.
• Sexually immoral – the ultimate immoral behaviour is the joining together of church and state.
• Sorcerers – those involved with the occult. The spirits of demons will go out and deceive everyone at the end of time. The false prophet.
• Idolaters – the image of the beast.
• Liars – those who teach false doctrine and deliberately deceive people.

The rest of the chapter is describing New Jerusalem. This is a literal application, not a spiritual.

Revelation 21:9-11
9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

The light of New Jerusalem is like a jasper stone, like crystal.

• Even the light shines differently in New Jerusalem. Why?
• Revelation 4:3
  And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.
• God’s presence is like a jasper stone in colour.
• The reason why the city has the glory of God is because of the presence of God. He is the light which we will see at the end of the chapter.

Revelation 21:12-14
12 Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 14 Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

There are 12 gates, and 12 foundations.

• The gates have the names of the 12 tribes of Israel on them.
• And then 12 foundations have the names of the 12 apostles on them.

The 12 tribes: the Old Testament church

The 12 apostles: the New Testament church

It is God’s people throughout all time.

An interesting thought about the 12 foundations:

• Matthew 10:1-4
  1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter… and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.
• Who was the last disciple named? It was Judas Iscariot.
• When you look at it from the perspective of laying foundation, Peter would have gone first. He would have been at the bottom.
• Judas would have been the top!
• Truly the last shall be first. If only Judas had been faithful.

Revelation 21:15-17
15 And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. 17 Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.

The city is a perfect cube.

• How big is twelve thousand furlongs?
• 1 furlong is approximately 185m.
• 12,000 furlongs is 2,220km.
• Australia is about 4,000km in width.
• So just over half of Australia is the width of the New Jerusalem.
  • This is not to scale
• And it will be 2,220km in height as well.
• This is not small building!

Revelation 21:18-21
18 The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

The city and its walls are pure gold like transparent glass.

There are 12 foundations.

And there are 12 pearls.

All that we regard as precious, God will use in building of the New Jerusalem.

Revelation 21:22
But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

There will still be a temple. But its form and function has changed.

• It will not need to exist for the sake of sin for sin will be gone forever.
• But we read this:
  • Revelation 7:15
    Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.
• So there will be a temple, but for what reason? We don’t know.

Revelation 21:23-26
23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). 26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.

There will be no night there.

• How that affects our sleep I don’t know.
• But the Lamb is its light.
• This is why the New Jerusalem shines with glorious light because God will be present in it.
• This is beyond imagination – not needing to sleep? Not getting tired? Not growing weary and old?

Revelation 21:27
But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

We are reminded of the standard that God has set for those who wish to enter into this New Jerusalem.

• Nothing that defiles.
• No abomination.
• No liars.
• Only those who are found written in the book.

Revelation 22:1-3
1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.

This is no normal city.

• Though it is made of gold and is transparent, yet it will be full of greenery as well.
• There will be in it the water of life.
• There will be inside of it the tree of life which bares 12 different types of fruit.
  • We will have to constantly eat of it if we are to live forever.
  • Just like Adam and Eve at the beginning. They had probably eaten of the tree of life at some point before their sin. But once they sinned, they were barred from eating it lest sin would be perpetuated forever.
• Mind cannot comprehend the glories of this city.

Even the leaves will be edible – they are for the healing of the nations.

• The earth is currently under a twofold curse.
• God cursed the ground as a result of Adam’s sin.
  • Genesis 3:17
    Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.
• God then cursed the earth after the flood. The atmosphere changed. Even the animals changed
  • Genesis 9:2
    And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand.
• Romans 8:22
  For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
• Even the whole of creation is awaiting for the second coming of Jesus. And it’s all our fault.

Revelation 22:4-5
4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.

His name shall be on their foreheads.

• This reminds us of the 144,000 in Revelation 14 who have the Father’s name on their foreheads.
• But now everyone will have His name on their foreheads.
• This is a reminder that all who enter heaven must have the character of Jesus. Not only the 144,000.

Revelation 22:6
Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.

Once more God confirms to John that all that he has been shown will come to pass. Not even a word of it will be left unfulfilled.

• And then John is reminded that all of it will shortly take place.

Revelation 22:7
“Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

The soon coming of Jesus should lead us to one thing:

• The urgency of applying all these words to our lives.
• We have to keep it.

Revelation 22:8-9
8 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

Once again John falls down, overwhelmed with the revelation, that he just falls down to worship and is reminded again to worship God.

• He alone is to be worshipped, unlike the antichrist who desires to take that worship to himself.

Revelation 22:10-11
10 And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. 11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.”

Revelation is a book unsealed. Yes it is full of symbols, but God has never instructed it to be sealed.

• Daniel is a sealed book which has now been unsealed since 1844.
• Revelation has always been open.

The unjust and filthy and righteous and holy.

• There will be a clear day where there will be no more going back and forth.
• There will be a time when probation will finally close.
• And the words that we find in Revelation will have a direct impact on our experience and which side to decide to be in forever.
• How important is the book of Revelation? It is for our salvation.

Revelation 22:12-15
12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” 14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

Once again, a reminder of the shortness of time.

• But Christ is coming with a reward.
• What is that reward?
  • Romans 6:23
    For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  • It is eternal life!
• But how can we obtain that reward?
  • We need to do His commandments. Revelation makes this emphasis from the beginning to the end of the book. This is nothing new at this time.

However, there will be a group that will try to prevent us from obtaining that reward. Who are they?

• The dogs, sorcerers, sexually immoral, murderers, idolaters and liars.
• All of them are clear and can make an application to the last days except the dogs.
• What does the dogs represent?
  • Philippians 3:2
    Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers…
  • They are just generally described as the wicked.

Revelation 22:16
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

The messages of the book of Revelation as the messages of Christ.

• It comes directly from God Himself.
• Christ refers to being the root and offspring of David.
  • He is from the right tribe that shows that He is Messiah.
• He is also the bright and morning Star.
  • He is the One that will soon do away with the darkness of the night and bring in everlasting day.

Revelation 22:17
And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

This is God’s final appeal to all of humanity.

• Come if you hear.
• Come if you are thirsty.
• Come if you desire it. It is free!
• The choice is ours.
• God will never force a single soul to accept Him, and to drink of that water of life. He leaves it up to our choice.
• Nonetheless, Christ is pleading. He is knocking. He is doing all that He can to save us.

Revelation 22:18-19
18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

This is a very solemn warning.

• We need to be careful that we don’t add to this book.
• And we need to be careful that we don’t take away from this book.
• It emphasizes how important this book of Revelation is in God’s sight.
• Yes the whole Bible has the same application, but especially the book of Revelation in particular.

Revelation 22:20-21
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Once again, we are reminded at the end that Christ is coming very quickly.

• Let us not forget that.

And John’s response to that final message:

• Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
• That should be our same response.
• That should be our same desire.
• That should be our aim, to hasten His coming.

And then we conclude with John’s benediction:

• The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, amen.
• May God’s grace rest upon each and every one of you.