THE WORLD TO COME IV

Heb. 2:5

Morning Meditation 7/10/17

"For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak."

The theme: The final description of the city, the ones who are allowed to come into the city, and the final invitation of the Lord to salvation.

LIFE IN THE CITY

We see this in Revelation 22:1, "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb."

This river proceeds out of the throne of God. The earthly Jerusalem during the millennial reign of Christ is similiar in that there is a river that flows out of the Temple of God.

Ezekiel's description is of the millennial temple. Ezekiel 47:1-12, "Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt. And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine."

There are some similarities between Ezekiel's description and John's. But one is of the heavenly Jerusalem and the other of the earthly Jerusalem. One is temporary the other permanent. One speaks of a renewed earth after the destructions during the tribulation during the time of God's wrath and the other speaks of a renewed earth during the 1000 years.

Remember the New Jerusalem hovers as a satellite during the millennium and will never end. The earth over which it hovers will disappear with a great noise at the time of the final judgment and will be replaced with a newly created earth which will have no sea and will be inhabited by Israel and nations. 2 Peter 3:10 says, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."

What happens to the water? That is a question I asked just to let you know, I don't know. Unless it evaporates and falls as rain on the earth or that somehow it is channeled to the earthly temple which will be the source of the water for the millennial earth as Ezekiel explains it.

It is a fact that we have to stay with what is revealed. For us to speculate on what is not revealed would be wrong. This is where science goes wrong. They try to discover what God has not revealed about origins. God says it happened and science is not willing to live with God's silence on further revelation. God will reveal all He wants us to know in His own good time. Paul speaks of those in the last days in 2 Timothy 3:7, "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

Daniel says something like this in Daniel 12:4, "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."

What we are told is that the New Jerusalem will have "a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb."

GLORY BOULEVARD

Revelation 22:2, "In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."

The tree of life reappears in the eternal city that was in the Garden of Eden and because of which Adam of Eve were driven from the garden. Now in the eternal state the fruit can be freely eaten. The leaves are for the "healing of the nations." The word "healing" translate "therapeia" and means, "medical service: curing, healing." We get out word therapy from this word.

Jesus made a promise to the Saints in Ephesus and to all the churches: Revelation 2:7, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Eating of this tree is not a reward for good works. One needs to understand what the word "overcomer" means. John tells us in 1 John 5:4, "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." The overcomer is the believer who does not abandon his faith in the trials of life. Paul cautioned believers in this Hebrew epistle about this:

1. Paul recognizes the danger of trials and the weakness of the flesh. He also recognizes that faith can be of such a quality that it does not save. Faith that saves will believe in the face of persecution. So Paul is reminding them of this in Hebrews 3:7-14, "Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;" There were those in Israel who had enough faith to get them out of Egypt but not enough to get them into Canaan.

2. Paul emphasizes that our High Priest in heaven should encourage us to hold fast our profession; Hebrews 4:14, "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession." The words "let us hold fast" translate "krateo" and means, "to have power, be powerful, to be chief, be master of, to rule, to keep carefully and faithfully." Jesus not only died for us to save us from the penalty of sin, He lives for us to save us from the power of sin. When temptation becomes unbearable we can always get help according to Hebrews 4:14-16, "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

3. Paul challenges the Hebrew believer in Hebrews 10:23, "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised)" He is saying that we should be unmoved in our faith in Christ even though Satan uses unfavorable circumstances to try to get us to cast away our faith. For Christ to allow us to go through severe testings and though our prayers seemingly go unanswered, Paul is saying that these things should not affect our faith. He adds a parenthetical statement what is the bottom line for our faith, "(for he is faithful that promised)."

The description of the street and the river in the midst and the trees that bear different kinds of fruit every thirty days is beauty beyond our finite minds to comprehend. The street is pure gold, the kind of purity that we have probably never seen. The river is pure and clear as a crystal. It is so beautiful and this is the way John wants us to understand it.

THE EXPERIENCE OF THE GLORIFIED SAINTS

We are told in Revelation 22:3-6, "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: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done."

1. We have never known what it is to live in a situation where there is no curse. The curse is the result of sin. Jesus has done away with sin in the believer and given him a new body. He has done away with Satan and permanently put him in the lake of fire never to trouble us again. He has judged and cast all the unbelievers in the lake of fire from which there is no escape. He will also remove every curse that came about as a result of sin. We will be living in a world where there is no unpleasantness whatsoever.

2. The throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it. This is a promise of His presence being continually available to the Saints.

3. The words, "and his servants shall serve him" lets us know that heaven is a place of activity. There is service there. The words "shall serve" translates "latreuo" and means, "to serve, minister to, either to the gods or men and used alike of slaves and freemen; in the NT, to render religious service or homage, to worship." There is nothing more fulfilling than worship on the part of the believer. Then there will be tasks to preform that will be easily done because the curse will be removed. The mechanic starts to overhaul an engine and finds several other things wrong. He puts it back together and it won't work right. That will never happen in heaven--not that there will be cars there--but just to illustrate that the frustrations that the curse has caused will be completely absent from the eternal state.

4. Here is one of the most wonderful parts of this. Verse 4 says, "And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads." Moses only saw the hinder parts of God as He passed by.. But the glorified saints will behold God face to face. Of course God gives us the capacity to look upon Him by giving us a glorified body.

5. The words in verse six tell us that the words of the angel are words the Lord told him to say.

THE SPEED WITH WHICH THESE THINGS COME TO PASS

Revelation 22:7 says, "Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book." Dr. Ed Vallowe said the word quickly does not mean soon. It refers to the quickness of the things happening in this book once they start. That sounds reasonable because it has been at least 1900 years since John said this. When you consider that from the rapture of the saints until Jesus comes again to establish His kingdom will only be seven years. It is not hard to see this aspect of the meaning of the word quickly

Verse 7 also says, "blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book." We are not saved by works but we are rewarded according to our works. When one keeps the sayings of the book and sometimes suffers and dies a martyr's death as a result, it may seem a big price to pay for serving the Lord faithfully. However, when we stand before the Lord and see the real results of faithfully serving Him, it will seem like no sacrifice at all.

JOHN'S ATTEMPT TO WORSHIP THE ANGEL

The angel straightened John out in a hurry. This is brought out in Revelation 22:8-9, "And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God." Two things the angel said:

1. The angel said, "See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets." Does this mean that the angel was a prophet turned angel? No. It means that the angel worked with the prophets. I believe every saved person has a guardian angel. I talk to the Lord about mine all the time. And the Lord instructs my angel to guard me in answer to my prayer to Him. People are becoming over occupied with angels today. This does not please them or HIM. We are not to worship angels or attempt to communicate with them. The Lord makes the assignments for the angels and they take orders only from Him.

2. The next thing the angel said is, "Worship God." Only God is to be worshipped. God is a jealous God. Exodus 20:5 says, "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;" Exodus 34:14 says, "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:" God says one of His names is Jealous. Where this feature of the Godhead would come out is when His bride begins flirting with another God. God absolutely forbids this kind of infidelity. God loves us and wants us to be attracted to Him alone.

THE BOOK STAYS OPEN

This is brought out in Revelation 22:10, "And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand."

The LORD told Daniel in Daniel 12:4, "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." The book of Daniel is the Revelation of the Old Testament. But God stopped short of detailing the things that would happen at the very end. Then He took up where He left off in Daniel and continues it in the Revelation of St. John the divine. It would be difficult to understand the Revelation of Jesus Christ without the Old Testament book of Daniel. The Lord tells John to leave the book open for all in the church to read. We have been living in he last days since the day of Pentecost.

THE DEADLINE IS OVER STEPPED BY SOME

This is brought out in Revelation 22:11, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still."

This simply means that the coming of the Lord seals the destiny of the lost and the rewards of the righteous. First, he says, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still." This is where all the lost are classified. The unsaved possessed by an old sin nature and under the control of Satan whether they realize it or not are what God terms as "filthy." This is both morally in actions and thought. It is hard to find a movie on T.V. that does not have a raw sex scene in it. Why do they have to ruin a half way decent movie with scenes like this. The main reason is that the majority want it that way. Hollywood is in the business to sell their product and if they take the filthy scenes out they cease to sell their product. We Christians would like to think better than that of this great country. We don't want to believe that the general public are absolutely perverted in their lustful thoughts and want to feed that unholy desire on the imaginative side of their lusts. But the fact is that we are a society who have sold itself to satisfying their sinful lusts. There will come a time when God will call off His soul winners and say, "I have withdrawn my offer of salvation." Those who are unjust, let them be unjust still and he who is filthy, let him be filthy still."

An important point: NO MAN CAN COME TO GOD APART FROM THE DRAWING POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. When God says, "It is enough," there will be no further offer.

Then, He will also say, "and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy let him be holy still." One has to make a choice after he is saved whether he will serve the Lord faithfully or just casually. I was saved a 9 and did not serve the Lord until I was 24. I went to church. I was taught but it didn't take. At 24 after two times in the U.S. Army I made a decision to serve the Lord. I have not looked back since. It has been a very happy joyful experience for over 45 years now. I'm so happy that I did not wait until the Lord said, "it is too late. You are saved but you did not choose to serve me. It is too late to change anything now. You will have to face me with your present record." Salvation is a choice that can be withdrawn. Service to the Lord after one is saved is a choice, and that can be frozen into place. I thank the Lord for His matchless love and grace that would give me another chance.

THOSE OUTSIDE THAT CANNOT ENTER

This is no doubt a millennial scene. There will be nothing like this in the eternal kingdom either within or without the city. But it says here in Revelation 22:14-17, "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

The word "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city." God is not making this a condition to entrance but an evidence of the genuineness of their salvation experience. I go to church because I am saved. I read my Bible and do what it says because I am a child of the King not in order to become a child of the king. Salvation made martyrs out of the early church. They were willing to prove their faith by giving their lives for their beliefs. They did not look on death as a horrible thing but looked on it as a door into the presence of the Lord.

Then the angel says, "For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." David writes about the crucifixion of Christ in Psalms 22:16 and he says, "For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet." This is the Lord talking in advance as if it were past and says, "For dogs have compassed me." These were not literal dogs that surrounded him at calvary.. It was one of two things. It is either demons of which He speaks or ungodly men who were simply pawns of Satan to try to keep Him from doing what He came to do. But in their attempt they did exactly what was necessary to defeat them permanently and offer the grace of salvation to the entire world.

The words "they pierced my hands and my feet" answer those who would have us believe that they simply tied him to the cross. He was nailed to the cross. Isaiah 56:10 calls men dogs, "His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber." The dumb dog (D.D.) degree is one that I don't want. The word "sorcerers" means, "sorcerers, from the Latin sortiarius, one who casts lots, or one who tells the lot of others. In Dan. 2:2 it is the rendering of the Hebrew mekhashphim, i.e., mutterers, men who professed to have power with evil spirits. The practice of sorcery exposed to severest punishment (Mal. 3:5; Rev. 21:8; 22:15).

TO WHOM THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION IS WRITTEN

John makes it clear to whom this book is written in Revelation 22:16, "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." Jesus clearly states that He is the one who has the right to be the Lord of the Churches. He is the "root and offspring of David." Is the root out of dry ground of Isaiah 53:1-2, "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." For Him to grow up out of the dry arid soil of the family of David was a miracle in itself. But His whole life was a miracle. He did not come exalting Israel and threatening Rome for their occupation of Israel. This was their punishment for their association with other nations who were idolaters. The Lord's message was the gospel. Before there can be a national revival there has to be individual salvation. Repentance is necessary. Mark 1:14-15 Jesus began His ministry by saying, "Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."

He put it stronger in Luke 13:1-5, "There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.." The mild, the meek, and lowly Jesus said, "Turn or burn." There are people today who are definite descendants of the Pharisees.. They cannot stand a confrontational gospel and want to challenge anyone who is bold enough to tell them the truth. I remind you it is the truth that sets men free, not compromize. John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

This book was written to the Churches. Revelation 22:16, "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." He could have said the Church. That would be an indication that the church is universal. But the family of God is made up of several local churches. Each individual church should be modeled after the first Church. So Jesus used the plural churches.

THE FINAL INVITATION OF THE SCRIPTURE

Revelation 22:17, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

What a marvellous invitation. God is a God of love. He desires all men to be saved. First, it is the "Spirit and the Bride" that say come. The Holy Spirit works in an through His Church and Churches. It was the local church that Jesus built during His personal ministry upon which the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost. This was heaven throne gift to the New Testament Church. The church did not begin on Pentecost. It began during the personal ministry of Christ and it was waiting in an upper room for the promise on the day of Pentecost. This is what happened: Acts 2:33 says, "Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear."

Then next He says, "And let him that heareth say Come." Anyone who hears and responds by faith can be an effective witness to the saving power of the gospel. Probably some of you who are reading these lines were saved without a regular preacher. You were saved by listening to someone who had responded to the message of salvation and they simply told you what happened to them and God turned the light on for you through their testimony. "And let him that heareth say come."

Then next he adds, "And let him that is athirst come." Any thirsty soul can come to Jesus for salvation and will be granted it by grace. It is not the ordinary way. But it will work. But let me remind you. There can be no coming without having first heard the gospel. Faith is Christ for salvation to an offer. Faith does not initiate. It receives what has been offered. So it may have been a Sunday School teacher, or a radio broadcast, or a T.V. program, or it may have been a simple tract. But the Holy Spirit convicted you on the basis of the pure revelation of the gospel. And you were saved. Jesus said and it stands as truth before the throne of God, "And him that is athirst come."

Then finally he says, "And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." I do not want to take anything away from the sovereignty of God. But this verse says, "And Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." It does not say whosoever CAN. It does not cost the believer one red cent. It cost God a price beyond our human comprehension to realize. Maybe someday we will understand. But God paid an awesome price to be able to make this offer of salvation. And I'm not going to cut anyone any slack. Whosoever will means whosoever will may come. The water of life is free. Jesus offered this water to the woman at Jacob's well in John 4 and she took it. Some titled a sermon on this woman: THE WOMAN WHO CAME FOR A POT OF WATER AND WENT AWAY WITH THE WELL! Some hold my mules!!! Hallelujah!!!

THE WARNING FOR ALL TO HEED

This warning is given in Revelation 22:18-19, "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." I believe that this is a warning for the whole book from Genesis to the Maps. I believe this goes for the translators who take the liberty to take a corrupt version of a so-called original text to leave portions of Scripture out that are definitely in the Textus Receptus or the Received Text. A lot is happening today under the lying guise of scholarship. It is not scholarship at all. It is a bold violation of what these two verses tell us. I pity the man who thinks he is smart enough to correct (pervert) the Word of God.

May the Lord bless these word to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White