Overcoming is the dominant theme in Revelation, which kind of scares me. But Jesus comforts me with this: As the Father loved me, I also have loved you. Abide with me. Stick with me. That's overcoming.
Not being perfect. We try to be perfect. We're commanded to pursue perfection. What is the alternative? Pursue okayness.
That wouldn't work well. It's already hard enough with this high standard, and God does not lower His standards. He rescues us from failing to meet the standard. Hmm. This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston.
Rick is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Rick is currently teaching through the book of Revelation. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio. specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. And now here's Pastor Rick beginning in the book of Isaiah, chapter 25, and then he'll be in Revelation 21 on this edition of Cross-Reference Radio.
There shall be no more death. Isaiah 25 verse 8 He will swallow up death forever. The Lord Yahweh will wipe away. Tears from all faces, the faces of those who believe. It says, nor sorrow.
I believe that the memory of those who rejected Jesus Christ will be deleted from our minds, Now, of course, that's my view. I know that it will not trouble us because. He's already said there'll be no sorrow. Nor crying. No tears, only cheers.
We will leave nothing here that we'll miss. And we will have nothing to complain about. for the first time in our existence. When we leave this life as Christians for the first time we will have nothing to complain about. I don't know if I'm going to miss that or not.
For this to be true, I'll have to be the only one in heaven permitted to drive. I don't know of any other way you could have a situation with no crying. If that wasn't the case. Yeah. No physical pain, no emotional pain.
This is the heaven we work for. This is why we try to sacrifice for Christ because He says, My reward is with me. And my reward is so big I can only tell you about the ribbon. But what's underneath the wrapping? What's inside the box?
You'll have to get there to really see. For the former things have passed away, and that's why the strength behind not remembering things that we don't. How many things, for you older Christians, How many things have you that you never want to remember again? Maybe you did something to somebody that was wrong back in first grade, and you still regret it. I don't want to remember so much of this life.
I want to move forward with God. There are some things that we will recall. After all, how could we identify So many things, each other, just depreciate things. Of course, we're going to have some memory. But the troublesome things won't be troublesome.
I know that much. Who will be the apostles? to remember if if everything is wiped out, if the symbolism has anything to do with appreciation for what happened here, it will have to include sorrow in the past. We we can get that. You don't need me to comment any more on that.
But Isaiah 65:17, I created new heavens and new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. A pretty powerful statement. I won't even think about things that I don't want to think about. How many of you have lost sleep at night? Because the devil's messing with your head.
Bringing up things you don't want to think about. And you pray to the Lord to just, and I encourage you, you know, don't give up on asking the Lord. To come in and say, Lord, I'm being sifted here, not by you, but by the enemy. Can you take it away? We will not.
Grieve. Verse five. And he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Right. But these words are faithful and true.
Now, you know, if you're reading this in your devotional time and the Spirit is upon you, and when He says, He said to me, you insert yourself into this. Conversation with God. Jesus is speaking. Ephesians chapter 1. Christ, He raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.
What he s saying is Christ is not self appointed God. He is God every bit. And as part of the plan of the Father and the Holy Spirit and the Son. To have the only begotten Son come from eternity, come from God. without ever stop being God.
By taking on humanity, he simply Paused. his superiority of never losing his deity. He was always God, even as a babe in the manger, he was still every bit divine. He continues, he does in Ephesians 1. Far above talking about Christ, far above principality and power and might and dominion.
And every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. There's a lot of power packed into that. And so Jesus, speaking to John here in verse 5, says, Behold, I make all things new. Who doubts him? What believer doubts that?
Well, you might doubt, but you fight through it. There's going to be a recreation of God's creation, not a renovation. Philippians Chapter 3, verses 20 and 21. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body according to the work.
the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. No loss of free will, but a permanent upgrade to perfect will. That can never be again. opposed to God. The acorn has become the oak.
The acorn is vulnerable. The squirrels to rot. It can sprout, it can become a sapling. And in those stages is vel relatively vulnerable. For my metaphor.
But once it's an oak. A car can't knock it down. And when we have finally become The Oak of the Acorn will not be susceptible. to anything. Except The goodness of God.
You save You're preaching as though this is heaven, exactly. And exactly it. Whatever idea you have about existence. The idea of paradise is a painless environment. And God is saying, that's what I'm telling you.
And he said to me, Write, for these words are faithful and true. God cannot lie. He doesn't have to lie. There's no pressure that can get him to lie. And it's too good, it's too pure.
Titus. in hope of eternal life, which God, Titus 1 verse 2, Who cannot lie, promised before time began. How many times did Paul write things like that because he was struggling? in life. with all sorts of hardships.
In the giving of the gospel. As he's getting caned, as he's getting stoned. Roughed up. He could have said, Where's my God when I need him? Or he could have said, God has got this.
I just have to take it. Verse six. And he said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give the fountain of water of life freely to him who thirsts.
This is again still Jesus speaking. He is referred to as the Alpha and the Omega four times in the Revelation, and it's connected to Him. I don't know how the cults missed this. How they reassign it, they d I don't know how they do a lot of things, I I'm really beyond that. This is Jesus telling us there is an irreversible future event.
that I want you to be ready for. That you're just gonna love. You are predestined to that. if you believe in me. That is where you are going.
The acorn of our con our conversion. Has become the oak of our Eternity. I am the alpha, the omega, the beginning, and the end. God's New Testament way of saying, I am. that I am.
It is the New Testament way of saying, I am complete in myself. I am everything. Before there was anything, I was there. No matter how far back you go, there I am. No matter how far forward you go, there I am.
And so Isaiah writes: Thus says Yahweh, the king of Israel.
Now again, the church is not even a thought in the minds of the people. God knows it's going, but the Jews didn't have any concept of the church as we know it. They may have glimpses of it, but still, that's why it was so hard for Paul to get them to understand. Anyway, so I point that out to say when the prophets talk about Israel and her future, it's not saying, oh, but this isn't for the Christians. It's just for the Jewish people.
No, in its final state, in its final application beyond the millennial kingdom age, it is for all the believers. And so thus says Yahweh, king of Israel, and his Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts, I am the first and the last besides me. There is no other God. The Alpha and the Omega. I am the first and the last.
There's no other God.
So for Christ to say, I am the Alpha and the Omega in Scripture is to say that he is claiming deity. And his crucifiers missed it. They didn't want it to be. Jesus affirms his deity by referring to himself. As this beginning and end.
Imagine if somebody said that to you. You'd know they were a kook. Unless they could back it up. He did. No one else.
Title claimed by Yahweh. three times in the prophet Isaiah. four times by Christ in the Revelation. should chase away any doubts about who this Christ that we love and worship is. I will give the fountain of water.
of life freely to him who thirsts. No more dissatisfaction. Thirst is a dissatisfaction. You know, you're not satisfied. You have to have that quenched.
There'll be no need in heaven. Those without Jesus are declining this offer of eternal life in heaven because they don't care for the terms. They'd rather set them themselves. In verse 7, he who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. A child.
offspring from God by faith, Overcoming is the dominant theme in Revelation, which kind of scares me. But Jesus comforts me with this: As the Father loved me, I also have loved you. Abide with me. Stick with me. That's overcoming.
Not being perfect, we try to be perfect, we're commanded to pursue perfection. What is the alternative? Pursue okayness. That wouldn't work well. It's already hard enough with this high standard, and God does not lower his standards.
He rescues us from failing to meet the standard. Through love. as any good parent would do. For God all things All things is quite a bit. If it's from God.
And I will be his God, and he shall be my son. As many as received him to them, he's given the right to be children of God. John gets that out right away in his gospel. I worked in a warehouse years ago and in in receiving. And if the package was damaged, I could reject it and refuse it, which I would do from time to time.
Otherwise, I would receive them.
Well, if you don't receive the invitation of God, it goes back. to the sender. And you don't get it. But if you receive it, and it doesn't come damaged from God. It is yours.
as many as have received him He is given the right in his sovereignty. He has set it up this way. with no loss of his sovereignty. In verse 8, but the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars shall have their part in the lake. Which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
Hmm. You know, we want to be happy. Can you just preach a sermon without help? No. It's not possible.
Reason why, not me, because the scripture always, always brings this back into the story. The consequence Because the The value of salvation is so high That God does not want you to one moment forget What it's all about. People want to be happy without water without hearing Harsh things from the Bible, from scripture, so they water it down. This will get people to come back because they're leaving church happy. They're just not leaving church holy.
And as a result, They end up just becoming sort of sterile. Not able to reproduce. according to the scriptures. The impenitent. Those who have chosen their own lifestyle over the style of Christ.
God is saying, don't forget, there's a consequence to that. The kingdom of self Over the kingdom of Christ is not overcoming. It is succumbing. They resent his barring them from his kingdom. The Bible is not God's Holy Word to them.
It's not rich to them. When I quote Zephaniah or any when you read about the prophets, it's rich to you. There's a legacy that goes to the throne of God. Which the unbeliever doesn't want. And many who claim Christ don't want it either.
Many resent is judging their insolence. and restricting their evil.
So, when the Ten Commandments is posted in a courtroom, they want it torn down. When he says, You shall have no other gods before me. I want to hear that. You shall not steal, you should not covet, you should not remember.
Well, maybe they're not doing it, but someone they love is doing it, and they don't want to hear about judgment on them either. They resent the very idea That there would be a holy God to set terms over them. Too many fit this category. And John shared the world with these kinds of people just like we do. Why should those who died rejecting Jesus be allowed into Jesus' heaven?
It doesn't make any sense. This is what we have to tell them because they're not going to figure this out on themselves. They're not going to sit down and say, wait a minute, why should God let me into heaven when I'm rejecting everything He says? Has sort of been muted in their thinking, and that's what we have to help them with. That's what the preacher does.
I don't mean the preacher from the pulpit, I mean the evangelist, the witness of Christ. If you're just preaching them about a Jesus that loves them, you are doing a disservice. If they also need to hear about a Jesus, who will judge them?
Now, some you can preach the love of Christ and they're there. You don't have to get to the hell part. They got the love. I want that. But not all of them.
Some of them, and you have to read that as you're speaking to them, you have to say, okay, this person thinks hell is a joke. And as long as they think that, why do they need a Savior?
So I'm going to let them have it. Exhibit A.
Sodom and Gomorrah. Colossians 3:6, this is why the wrath of God is coming on mankind. Ezekiel.
So we've been going through that in chapters 20 and 21. God displays, I know, I'm talking to you about heaven, but let's remember something. There's a reality you live in right now, and I don't want you losing sight. And so we have verse 8. But over all the judgment of God is the character of God.
Which is what the prophets are giving us.
So when Ezekiel says, As I live, says The Lord Yahweh I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. but that the wicked turn from his way and live. And then there's this sob of a plea. Turn, turn from your evil ways, for why should you die?
So don't go putting up in in the face of God or his servants This is so mean, this is harsh. Maybe your rejection is simply stupid. I think so. I think when I was rejecting him, I was that way. I look back at my conversion and I'm still bewildered.
What if he didn't get me? It's a horrifying thought. How did that happen? How did he get me? Yeah, I can explain.
I can say what happened. I can say how I felt. I can explain biblically, theologically what was going on. But I cannot account for why outside of Away he loves me. I know that.
But why? I'll accept it. I will not ask when I get to heaven, why am I here?
Well, I know why I'm here. You know, the person that says, You mean to say deathbed confessions? You know, I just have to repent, and all of a sudden, I'm in heaven. That doesn't sound right. Also, it sounds right that God should die for somebody like you.
You see, you're a big bargain for God. You can earn it somehow. You can do something. He's supposed to be. Ooh, I'm so impressed with you.
Come into heaven. How could I say no? Would you like to sit on the throne for a day? People are self-impressed and they don't even know it many times.
Well, we need to finish this up. He says, but the cowardly. Who are these people? I think more than those who may have crumbled under the weight of persecution. If they don't recover, yeah, they're gone.
But remember, Peter crumbled. under the weight of persecution. And Christ called it a sifting. And Christ said, Before Peter failed, When you return. Strengthen your brethren.
You already told him I've dealt with this before you've even gotten there. And Peter went out and denied him, and he cried like a baby.
Well, he cried more than a baby, he cried like a man out of control. And Peter's in heaven.
Well The cowardly I believe of those who are afraid Of what they may have to give up if they come to Christ, or what their loved ones and friends may think. Quick anecdote, and we're almost done. I was when I was in apprentice school for steel work, There was at my last year There was a another apprentice who I had been witnessing to and he was going to get married. And he was loving what he was getting from the Bible. And he said, I told I'm getting married, I'm Rom he was Roman Catholic.
He said, I have to go through these premarital courses with the priest, he and his fiancé, and I told my priest about you. I said, yeah. And he said that I should not see you again. And so I kept giving him the gospel. And well, that evening.
And he he went his way, I went my way. And he never came back again to school.
Now the catch, the thing is, in that program, if you miss three times in a season, in a semester, you're out. And you don't get to become a journeyman and make the big money. Anyway, he did become a journeyman, and he did make the big money nonetheless, because, of course, the priest had connections in the union hall. Say, listen, I don't want him coming back to that class, that heretic. Steal him away from the Catholic Church.
You give him his book and make him a journeyman. Even if he doesn't come back to class. And that is exactly what happened. But I always think he's the coward. He's the guy.
That was falling in love with the Jesus Christ. but was so afraid of the priest, the fiancée, the family, That he turned away from Christ. I think that's what the coward means here. Those afraid to come to Christ because of how others would feel. And significantly, this is the first group named.
who are doomed. Matthew 10, therefore, whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny. Before my Father who is in heaven. And there have been other Christians than Peter who have denied the Father and recovered.
Thomas Callmer. burned at the stake. Initially he recanted his faith. And then he recanted his recantation. And they burned him alive.
And he holds up the hand that he signed his initial recantation in the fire, and is believed he was saying. I renounce renouncing. I serve the Lord. This was these were the Oxford three, those three professors that they Murdered. Because they had the audacity to believe in the Scripture and the Lord Jesus Christ and were non-conformists.
to the false religion. Anyway, the Bible does not consider cowardice a virtue. And that is where you need. to go to Christ for help if you feel you are that person. Unbelieving, he says, the atheists, The abominable, the root word for that Greek word used for abominable is stink.
In other words, you're revolting to God. Because you have rejected him. belittled him. mocked him. attacked his believers perhaps.
Murderers, sexual, immoral.
Well, we expect them to be on the list, but what about King David? He committed both crimes and more. God never stopped loving David. Because David repented. And his repentance was genuine.
And God says, I'm going to use you to write about. How messed up you are. And he did. We have Psalm 51, for example. Idolaters, those who worship their own ideas about God.
That's basically what an idolater is. Here's what God says, here's what you say. You want to go with what you say. You're an idolater. Schell he continues here.
and all liars. When Jesus said Satan was the father of lies, And his children are like him. shall have their part in the lake of fire which burns as fire and brimstone. which is the second death. They had their chance.
They spent it criticizing People like us who warn them. And God says, I want to give you heaven, but make no mistake, you will get hell. If you decide you don't need me.
So he closed with this verse. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. And I think This has been Cross Reference Radio with Pastor Rick Gaston. This program is a radio outreach of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Pastor Rick has been teaching through the book of Revelation, but if you're interested in learning about a different book of the Bible, we have hundreds of past episodes available to listen to on demand.
Just visit us online at crossreference radio.com and you'll find an archive of Pastor Rick's past teachings. While you're there, you can also find links to follow our program on your favorite podcast app, as well as links to get connected with us on Facebook and YouTube. There's also an interviews tab where you can learn more about Pastor Rick's heart for ministry.
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