Narrow. is the way. Straight is the gate. And broad is the way, wide is the gate of those who are going into hell. And Jesus said, and there are many who go that way.
Well, our role is to be knowledgeable about what God says. and to ask him to help us be used to address these things in whoever it is we face. Without apology, I don't apologize to anybody because I believe in the Bible that Jesus is my Savior. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville.
Pastor 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. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Revelation chapter 22 as he begins his message, Forever with God, Salvation's Outcome. Revelation chapter 22 will take the first five verses, but in reading we'll take verses 3 through 5.
So, if you have your Bibles, please stand for the reading of God's Word. Revelation 22, verses 3. Through five. 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, they shall see his face.
and his name shall be on their foreheads There should be no night there. They need no lamp. nor light of the sun For the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign for ever and ever. Whoever that's talking about, I want to be one of them.
Forever with God, that's the title, parentheses, salvation's outcome. We do not find Satan in the first two chapters of the Bible. and we do not find him in the last two chapters of the Bible. He is not in the beginning, he is not in the end, because he is not divine. Evil has its limits, the Bible teaches us.
Doesn't feel that way this side of heaven. But in the eternal age which this twenty-second chapter and the twenty-first chapter are Addressing There is no evil, it is non-existent, but for now. For now this enemy, this spiritual enemy Satan, is devoted to destroying as many human beings as he can, any way he can, especially their souls. But he'll also Just destroy the life if possible. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians about this, he said, concerning people who fall victim to Satan.
as far as their outlook on life and God. whose minds the God of this age has blinded. who do not believe lest The light of the gospel, of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
Well, Satan's primary weapon is lying. Mankind has been sold false ideas about evil, about God, about himself. Satan is getting away with that. But he can't get away with it. Magically or automatically People have to help him.
The ultimate aim of hell is to damn your soul and give you nothing for it. Tragically, Many of these Blind souls that Paul referenced in 2 Corinthians. Occupy bull pits Church boards. regularly attend church, blinded to what the enemy is doing, actually helping him many times. Those who relish life opposed to God's word.
to Christ. They will not rest in peace. And that is a tragedy. being spiritually blind, they reject That rejecting Christ is the ultimate crime. and it has a consequence.
Do Bible facts about heaven Irritate you. Do they irritate somebody that you know? Supposing things will work out well without Jesus. Are you willing to risk your eternal State on that. Supposing God will conform to your views that are oppose him, or somehow Lighten up on you.
In the end. Because after all, you were passionate about what you believed. and passionate about rejecting what he has revealed. This is what it comes to. It comes down to who's going to be in this number that shall see the face of God.
In peace. in happiness. New Jerusalem means the new city of peace or the dwelling of peace. And that's what we've been occupying ourselves with going through. The Bible And now this revelation.
So with that as our Foundation for what's coming in these next five verses. Verse 1, and he showed me a pure river of water, clear as crystal. Proceeding from the throne of God. and of the Lamb, This description of the new city of peace continues. It started in the last chapter.
It continues. Through verse 5 in this chapter, the purity. of life is stressed in this paragraph, these five verses. That's what God wants. In Hebrews, the writer says, You have come to Mount Zion.
Now he's talking to those who are very much involved in religion. And sort of trying to either mingle Christ into their version of religion. or just letting their religion save them. And he's writing this letter to them to tell them to stop doing that. that they have a better Faith, life, hope, and Christ than all these rituals that they're going back to.
And so he's singling them out and he's saying, hey, do you understand your identity, who you are, where you're going? Because once you get that, you won't be doing these other things. At least you won't be defending them.
So he says, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God. The heavenly Jerusalem. two, An innumerable company of angels To the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven. to God. The judge of all.
to the spirits of just men made perfect It is poetry. Those verses, Hebrews 12, 22 and 23, those two verses, A profound They make the statement. That In Christ, everything is going to be different and perfect in the end. But little, if anything, remains pristine in the age we live in. If you Ever see somebody flick a cigarette butt out their car window?
Why? Why do that? Years ago in Alaska, en route to a vacant gold mine, Came across these beautiful streams, snowbanks, snow-laden streams, just crystal clear water. which couldn't drink the water. for threat of parasites in the water.
That's not the purity that will be in heaven. There'll be no plastic six-pack binders or cigarette butts or shards of broken this or that out in the wilderness that you find today. You know, you go somewhere out in the wilderness and somebody's been there and left their litter to let you know. You can find an abandoned, stripped car in the woods. What is wrong with these things?
Well, sin has done this to us. Psalm s forty six, verse four. There is a river whose stream shall make glad the city of God. Where this is going, or what it's about, as I mentioned, the purity of life. is a serious thing with God.
It says, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. The river's source is the Godhead. Revelation continuously, this book of Revelation, the visions that John saw. continually showcase the equality that Christ enjoys with the Father. That he is divine, that Jesus Christ is as divine as the Father.
Revelation 3:21 Revelation 4:9 through 11. Revelation 5:9 through 13. 16, 7, 10, 11, 15. You say, Flow down, you got to rewind the video. 14, 4, 20, verse 6, chapter 21, verse 22.
My point is The deity of Christ is everything. It's his identity. And to deny that... It is to refuse him. This is what makes the Jehovah's Witness and the Mormons doctrine, for example, so damning.
As they insist that he is not who the Bible says he is. God's throne in heaven assures us that he will never fade away. We see this throne in heaven, which Christ occupies with the Father. And the reason why he's being shown to John, so that he can show us, is to say, after this life, forever and ever, God's going to be there. You will see his face in peace.
He will lift his countenance upon you permanently. Only from God. Can such purity flow? Remember, the description of the city, it's difficult. To identify exactly what's exact, but we know all of it is symbolic.
And we know what symbols mean in Scripture because we have other verses to teach us these things. For example, Jesus being the first fruits when he showed up after the resurrection in his glorified form. He was able to eat food. and walk through walls.
Well, that would indicate to us that we're going to have some of that, not the fish, but the glorified body, which then would say, well, why do we need a city?
Well, put your stuff. Yeah. Yeah. The point that I'm making is This is symbolic. How much of it is true is difficult to pin down.
A lot of it could be true. You know, we'll have to wait and see. But I'm pointing this out so you don't get tripped up. Because when I read it, I have questions. It creates questions in me.
In my head. And I default to What is God trying to say to people? through these things. That's the important part. Where's he going to get the gold from to pave the streets?
Yeah. So anyway, coming back to what I'm talking about. Only purity flows from God. And you have to ask yourself or someone else: what is their source of philosophy? or politics.
Their lifestyle. Their views on life. the books on their shelves. There Acquaintances, their allies. What's the source behind?
those things and these people. Or are you indifferent about the source? Where something is coming from? Are you indifferent about the information that you are exposed to? Are you careless about the surroundings?
And what may lurk just out of your sight? Spiritually-minded people are very much into this. When I say spiritually minded, I mean those in Christ, Holy Spirit-minded. Can you identify sub-scriptural views and influences? that oppose Christ's likeness.
The Corinthians had a problem with these things, and Paul says this. Are you not carnal? Are you behaving like mere men? People who have not come in contact with the Holy Spirit. who have not come to the cross of Christ.
Are you comfortable with that kind of behavior? Why is the Bible avoided by many church-goers if it is God's Word, His Will, and His way expressed to us? There are those that will say, I want to find a good Bible-teaching church. What kind of program do you have for my kids? Why didn't you just leave it at the Bible teaching place and let the Lord take it from there?
And if you say to them, well, we don't teach the Bible here, but we've got a fantastic kids' program, okay, we'll be there Sunday. They may not articulate it that way, but it happens all the time. And what? Should pastors be quiet about that? Should they not point that out?
Let you know it takes place. Matthew 13. For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears. lest they should understand with their hearts and turn.
so that I should heal them. There's sarcasm in there. Or don't hear with your ears. Whatever you do, don't see with your eyes. you might actually have contact with God.
So open-minded.
some people that their brains fall out. Narrow. is the way. Straight is the gate. And broad is the way, wide is the gate of those who are going into hell.
And Jesus said, And there are many who go that way.
Well, our role is to be knowledgeable about what God says. And to ask him to help us be used to address these things in whoever it is we face. Without apology. I don't apologize to anybody because I believe in the Bible. That Jesus is my Savior, that I know I'm a sinner.
I don't apologize to anybody for that. In fact, I look for an opportunity to throw it up in their face. Because I'm not going to help them by telling them those things are Secondary. They're primary. And may I never lose sight of it.
I don't have to be perfect to preach about a perfect Savior. That doesn't give me license to be imperfect. Verse two, in the middle of the street, John is still telling you what he sees about heaven coming, and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each yielding its fruit. Every month the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
So he sees the river of life. flowing straight down Main Street as a median. And then you have a river, and on the banks of the river, you have trees, plural. And then you have the street again on the other side. This is what John is seeing.
Of course, that just creates more questions. Wait, the city is 1500, it's a cube, it's so huge. Is this Main Street?
Well, it looks like it is. And God wants us to say, man, this is going to be wonderful. I don't know what's happening, but I'm excited over the things that He's telling me. And many Christians come to the scripture not having a keen theological understanding of things, but excited because they know it's divine. You do not have to be The proverbial theologian to be effective for Christ.
You have to be full of the Spirit. There are many theologians who aren't full of the Spirit. Theologian merely is someone who studies the Word of God. But of course, we have in mind some Oxford professor that has ultimate degrees, and we think that's the theologian.
Well, really, I want anyone who studies the scriptures, a theologian in its purest sense. And coming back to this, We picture the two lanes flanking the river. Tree is mentioned in the singular, but It is presented in the plural. It says on either side of the river was the tree. That's two right there.
You have two sides of the river, unless it's a one-dimensional. I mean, it's more than one tree. And then he says that there's fruit. The mention of fruit suggests There's potential for more life. for more trees, orchards even The tree of life in the original creation was in the middle of the Garden of Eden.
According to the Genesis 2 line, In the original garden, The tree was singular. The tree of life. But here in heaven things have expanded. Things have developed. They're far better.
Heaven's going to be. Eden's got nothing on what's coming. And mankind, of course, was excluded from that garden, so they couldn't get their sinful hands on that tree of life and live in a perpetual state of sin. God was not going to have it, so he drove them out. And one of the lessons that comes out of that part is the mercy of God.
He could have said, fine, now you're stuck. But he would not have it.
So he sent an angel or cherubim. to guard the tree. In 2 Samuel There's a story of King David's son Absalom. who was problematic his whole life. One of the things about Absalom is he wouldn't repent.
Well, anyway, he's banished by David. And Joab, that ruthless military commander of David. Kings knows that David is bothered by the absence of his son, and so he takes it upon himself to be the mediator to bring Absalom back. Again, the problem is Absalom never repented, and that means he's in a dangerous state.
Well, Joab knew that if a man goes into David and says, David and has some story, he's not going to tolerate it. But a woman. A woman will disarm David. It doesn't have to be an attractive or young, it could be any woman. And we see this today.
Women can get up in the face of these ICE agents. And they'll tolerate it. But if a man gets up in their face too much, he's got to go down. He's a bigger threat. on many levels.
And so Joab goes to sends to Techoah, a place in Israel, and he knows there's a woman that is very wise, and he tells her, This is where we're going with this is what I want you to do and say.
So she comes into David and she says, For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away a life, but. He devises means so that his banished ones are not expelled from him.
Well, that's what happened in Eden. God has a means of salvation. Heaven is the outcome of our salvation. There's a destination that we're just saved with Christians, and that's that. There's an outcome to all of this, and it's a glorious outcome.
Well, of course. The words she preached to David Led to her saying, you know, mercy has to prevail at some point, David, and it did. But it was misguided in that case. But the facts are there. God does not take away a life, but He devises means so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him, and that encapsulates salvation.
So we know that the trees are plural The next verse will bring that out.
Well, next clause.
Sorry, we're still in verse two here. It says, who bore twelve fruits, each yielding its fruit every month. Every month a different fruit. Each Tree, not each season. That's why the translators have inserted the word tree, each tree.
That's the context that's proper. But there are seasons, there are cycles of seasons.
Now, that doesn't mean, oh man, it's going to be winter, it's going to be hot and miserable. I mean, we think that way because everything here is defective. But in heaven, nothing's defective. Seasons just means new things will bloom every so often. We'll not be in the solar system that we have now and the seasons as they are now.
But this is language John could understand, and he puts it in a way we can too. The water of life, the tree of life. What stands out about both of those, not the water and the tree, but life. in the presence of God. The very thing Adam and Eve forfeited when they heated the creature instead of the Creator, which is so common to this day.
So kids come to church, they listen about the creator, God, they go off to the universities, and now they have a creature. Telling them what to believe about the Creator. Instead of the Creator. His word through his scripture, through his church, through his anointed ones. And the next thing you know, they're atheists or antichrist.
Or just backslidden. Satan will take any one of those. But that's what Adam and Eve did. They heated a creature. Satan is a created being.
Heaven Heaven includes restored life. Without trouble. without discomfort, without defect, It is worth The effort.
So the promise in chapter 2 That those who were in right relationship with Christ would eat from the tree of life. John is now seeing that come full cycle. Trees factor large in Scripture. They're a big part of Scripture. And when they're talked about, they make some great points.
In Virginia, we've got some impressive trees. And it's just Virginia, the world is loaded with impressive trees. We have the loblolly pine with its armor plating. It looks like an alligator scale, it's thick plating. the smooth bark of the American beech, the muscle of the ironwood, the shag bark hickory is poetic all by itself, especially in the fall when those leaves turn bright yellow.
The silver maple's leaves in the summertime sunshine is fantastic. You can see it from a mile away. What's that white thing on that tree? The entire canopy glowing the underside of those leaves. Trees, you know, they're weapons, they're tools, they're fuel, they come back again.
They're one of God's ingenious creations. Trees are used in the Bible to communicate great truths. about God and man through literal events. Parables, dreams, curses, cures. and the cross of Christ.
The cross of Christ. The tree that they crucified him to. There wasn't a tree that was standing up because he couldn't carry that through the streets. It was Wood from a tree, of course. When God saved the Israelites from Pharaoh's army, the people danced and they sang, they rejoiced.
I will celebrate, for he has triumphed gloriously three days later. They were nasty in the face of Moses because stress was on their life. Just three days is all it took. Their song of faith lasted That long. Exodus.
Chapter 15 tells a story. And so they wanted water. They ran out of water. Instead of coming and say, Moses, can you pray to God for us? If He can deliver us from the armies of Pharaoh, He can find water for us in the wilderness.
That's not how they handled it. They murmured against Moses. Listen, Christians want to come into the sanctuary with food and drink, and the ushers have the unpleasant task. of having to say to people who are going to resist them, Please, no food or drink in the sanctuary. And they get obnoxious many times, Christians.
You'd be shocked at how slamming things, throwing in the trash, fine, making the little comments. Mm. You wonder why we don't see them again? I can't tell you. Anyway.
Uh Are you not carnal, Rick?
Well, Lord, you understand though, right? Uh 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.
Well, we hope you'll join us next time here on Cross Reference Radio. Hello.
