All right, it has been a joy to preach through the book of Revelation and I would say it's
been a dream of mine since probably I got saved to preach the book of Revelation and
I kind of know what I'm talking about, you know, I'd like to preach that book one day
and actually know what it's teaching and the symbolism there and obviously it's an inexhaustible
book and so even though we covered a lot in the book of Revelation, I'm sure years from
now there's a lot more that I'm going to learn, there's a lot more that you're going
to learn because there's so much richness within this book and especially as we near
the end times, a lot more content that we see in the book of Revelation that may be
obscure now will not be obscure then, you know, it's going to come to light and we're
going to understand so much more of it later on and now we are in Revelation chapter 22
and we're going to be talking about the Garden of Eden being restored.
Now, Revelation chapter 21 starts off with that, with the new earth and the restoration,
the redemption of the earth and I'm going to focus a lot on the Garden of Eden because
that's exactly what we see it being restored back to.
Now here in chapter 22 along with chapter 21, we are now over a thousand years into
the future and into the new heaven and the new earth.
Now let me just say this is that I was thinking about this today, you know, the millennial
rain, you know, it could happen in, you know, within the next ten years possibly, right?
We could say ten, fifteen years, obviously it could be a lot further than that but as
far as how close it is, we never know, it could be within the next ten years that we
could experience that millennial rain.
However, the new heaven and the new earth, that's a long time from now.
I mean it's a thousand years after, right?
And so if you think about this and I was talking about this with my wife today, you know, a
thousand years is a really long time.
I mean one year is a really long time, ten years is a very long time, fifty years is
a long time but a thousand years, that's a really long time.
And so we're talking about a time period in the history of creation where it's a long
time from now but a lot of things are going to change and really this is what eternity
is going to look like for us, okay?
This is where the beginning of the end, so to speak, you have the end of the book but
then you have the beginning of a different life here in this world.
And so the earth has been transfigured, its fashion has been changed at this time, it's
a lot different.
And one of the main things that changed is the fact that the city of God, the new Jerusalem,
has descended from heaven and has replaced the physical temple.
If you remember the physical temple being mentioned in Revelation chapter 11, there's
no indication that it was gone after that.
In fact, I personally believe that Jesus Christ is just going to come and take it away from
the wicked, inhabit it, and just basically rule from there.
But after the millennial reign, you have the new Jerusalem descending which is where Jesus
Christ is going to be, God the Father is going to be right there.
Revelation 21, 22 says, and I saw no temple therein.
This is indicating, the implication there is that that physical temple that was built
in Revelation chapter 11 is now gone.
I saw no temple therein for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
That's in Revelation 21, 22.
Now this evening, I'm going to draw some parallels between the new earth and the new Jerusalem
to the Garden of Eden.
If you remember from last week when I preached at Revelation 21, I went old IFB and I spent
a lot of time just on the first two verses of the chapter.
But I drew the parallels between the millennial reign, or excuse me, the new earth and salvation,
the millennial reign, salvation, so on and so forth.
We're going to do something similar, but we're going to draw parallels between the new earth
and the garden, and more specifically, the Garden of Eden.
Now when you study the new heaven and the new earth, it's basically God's operation
in bringing things back to the way they originally were.
You know, it was sin followed by a worldwide flood that changed not only the composition
of man, but also the composition of the earth.
Well in like manner, in the end times, the Bible tells us that iniquity will abound,
right?
It will be followed by earth being baptized, not in water, but in fire, and in order to
restore it to its original composition, okay?
Now look at chapter 22, verse 1, we're going to look at the global Garden of Eden, okay?
Verse 1 says, and He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Now the description of the new earth is, and more specifically, the new Jerusalem that
descends from heaven has a striking resemblance to Eden and also the Garden of Eden.
And this should come as no surprise because history will conclude with God basically restoring
things back to its former conditions.
And in the beginning of the creation, you see that everything is good, right?
Everything is good, the world was perfect, and the culmination of that perfection in
the creation was the Garden of Eden, okay?
This is where everything is taking place, this is where God walks, this is where Adam
and Eve are.
Go to Genesis chapter 2 if you would, hold your place there in Revelation chapter 22.
Go to Genesis chapter 2 if you would.
So the world was created by God, but more specifically, you see Him kind of honing in
and focusing specifically on Eden.
And more specifically than that, the Garden of Eden, okay?
Look at verse number 8 of Genesis chapter 2, and we're gonna see what kind of parallels
we can draw between the two because this is important.
You know, the Bible begins with the Garden of Eden, it's gonna end with the Garden of
Eden.
It begins with God's purpose, original purpose, and it's gonna end with God's purpose being
fulfilled, okay?
Look at verse 8, it says, and the Lord planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put
the man whom He had formed, and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree
that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of
the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Look at, skip down to verse number 10, it says, and a river went out of Eden to water
the garden, and from thence it was parted and became into four heads.
Now, if you could just picture from a bird's eye view what this looked like, okay?
Not from a flat earth view, okay?
Bird's eye view, okay?
From a bird's eye view, what does this look like?
You have Eden, okay?
Let's just give Eden a circular type of a parameter, right?
You have Eden, or I'll just go like this to you, right?
You have Eden, okay?
And east of Eden is where God plants the garden, right?
In the midst of that garden, you have the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of
good and evil.
So you have Eden, you have the garden of Eden, and within the midst of the garden of
Eden, you have the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Then you see that it tells us that there's a river that goes out of Eden to water the
garden, and from the garden, it splits into four heads into the rest of the world, okay?
And it gives us those specific areas that it goes into where it partitions into four
heads from verses 11 all the way to verse 14.
Look at verse 15, if you would.
And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress and to keep
him.
The Lord God commanded the man saying, of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely
eat.
So this is, man, this is life right here, this is paradise.
You know, get a nice garden here, or first you get Eden, paradise, then you get the garden,
and then within the midst of the garden, you have the tree of life, you have God walking
in the cool of the day, communion with God, you know, there's water flowing from Eden
to the garden, splitting up into four parts into the rest of the world.
And he tells him, look, this is for you, you go ahead and work and dress and keep it, maintain
it, etc.
Go to chapter three now.
Chapter three and verse 17.
Now what happens?
Well, man messes it all up, more specifically Eve, okay?
You know, she's deceived by Satan, Satan, the serpent was more subtle than any of the
creatures, beguiles Eve, she eats of the fruit, gives it to her husband.
They both, their eyes are open, they take up the tree of knowledge of good and evil,
and at that point, they begin to die spiritually, so to speak, okay?
Look down at verse 17, it says, and then to Adam, he said, because thou was hearken unto
the voice of thy wife, and has eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou
shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake, in sorrow shalt thou eat of
it all the days of thy life.
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the
field, and the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread, till thou return unto the ground,
for out of it was thou taken, for dost thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.
Now keep in mind, after this, what happens?
We see the curse, right?
Not just upon man, but you actually see the curse upon the land.
Curse upon man, curse upon the land.
Now let me ask you, was Eden cursed?
No.
The garden wasn't cursed, it was everything outside of Eden that was cursed.
That's why he sent forth out of the garden, outside of Eden, to till the ground, okay?
He sent out of the parameters of Eden in order to till the ground, he's gonna bring forth
thistles, it's gonna be arduous work for him to do.
This is part of the curse, okay?
We see later on that both Adam and Eve are cast out not only of the garden, but also
out of Eden.
Skip down to verse 22, if you would.
Verse 22 says, And the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become as one of us, to know good
and evil.
And now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live
forever, therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground
from whence he was taken.
So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, cherubims,
and a flaming sword, which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life.
Now that's a lot for you to remember, but just keep those events in mind as we draw
these parallels.
And I promise you, there's gonna be some deep meaning here, you say, well, what is this
Sunday school class you're just teaching me, things I already know?
All right, well, that's good.
You need to learn things that you already know, because you might forget them, okay?
We're gonna draw some parallels, all right?
Don't underestimate it, okay?
How does this fit into the new earth and new Jerusalem?
What parallels can we draw from this?
Well, the new earth, as I mentioned, would be or would parallel Eden, okay?
The global conditions of the new earth will resemble, and I would even say that it's gonna
exceed the perfect environment that we saw in the book of Genesis in Eden.
The garden of Eden actually parallels the new Jerusalem.
So you have Eden, this perfect little section of the world that's everything's perfect.
This is what God plants, right?
He plants Eden, but then within Eden, what does he do?
He plants, okay, the garden, which is represented by new Jerusalem.
So the garden of Eden was what?
Planted.
Now what do we see in Revelation 21 and 22?
We see the new Jerusalem descending down, being planted onto the earth, onto this global
Eden, so to speak, okay?
The new Jerusalem will be planted.
The garden of Eden, listen to this, was planted eastward of what, Eden.
Where is the new Jerusalem?
It's gonna be in the Middle East, because it's gonna fall right down onto where the
temple is currently, okay?
The new Jerusalem will be in the Middle East.
The garden of Eden had the tree of life in the midst of it.
You say, what about the tree of knowledge of good and evil?
Well, you gotta keep in mind, death is cast into the lake of fire.
Death and hell are cast into the lake of fire.
The source of these things, which is Satan, is already cast into the lake of fire, so
that tree has been plucked up, so to speak, okay?
The garden of Eden had the tree of life in the midst of it.
The new Jerusalem will be the headquarters of Jesus Christ, who is the true vine.
In fact, he is the what?
The good tree.
You know, you think about Matthew chapter seven, a good tree does not bring forth bad
fruit, okay?
Well, he is the good tree, all right?
Go to John chapter number three, if you will, John chapter number three.
So we see this parallels here.
Eden can represent the new earth.
The new Jerusalem can represent the actual garden that's planted eastward of Eden.
It's planted just as new Jerusalem plants itself unto the earth, God plants it.
Eden had a river that fed the garden of Eden and ultimately cleaved into four heads, okay?
So picture that.
You have this garden, you have Eden, excuse me, and out of Eden flows a river of living
water unto the garden and then ultimately splits into four and goes into different places.
Now the Bible tells us in John 3.34, from whom God had sent, excuse me, for he whom
God had sent speak at the words of God, for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto
him.
Go to John chapter four, if you would, John chapter number four.
You see, Eden can represent God the Father, who, you know, basically Jesus Christ is in
the Father, right?
The Spirit goes from God the Father to Jesus Christ and the Spirit from Jesus Christ, the
Bible tells us that out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
The Bible tells us there in John chapter four verse 14, but whosoever drinketh of the water
that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall
be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
The Bible says in Revelation 21 verse six, and he said unto me, it is done.
I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end.
I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Now from the garden, from the garden the rivers parted into four heads in like manner, what
do we see?
The testimony of Jesus Christ is broken up into what?
Four gospels that goes into all the earth, you understand?
So the word of God has gone out into all the earth, and more specifically, Jesus Christ,
the name of Jesus has gone into all the earth, okay?
Now that water represents the Spirit, the Spirit represents the water, they're kind
of synonymous one with another.
The Bible tells us in John 15, 26, but when the Comforter is come, whom I was sent unto
you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeded from the Father, he shall
testify of me, the Bible says.
You see the parallels there?
You see that the water flows from Eden to the garden, and from the garden it splits
into four and goes into all the world, okay?
In the new earth, there is one river.
Now go back to Revelation chapter 22, Revelation chapter 22.
So a lot of what's taking place, by the way, this just shows the foreknowledge of God.
Because even when conditions are perfect, everything is running like a well-oiled machine,
there's no sin, it's already symbolically representing things, or it's already symbolically
representing the new heaven and the new earth, because God already knew what was gonna happen.
Verse one of Revelation 22 says, and he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as
crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
So instead of those four rivers being split up, instead of that river being split up into
four heads, now it's just one stream, it's one river that's going out, okay?
And what this represents is the fact that just as the word of God was split into four,
so to speak, of those four gospels, now the entire world is filled with the knowledge
of God, okay?
The Bible tells us in Isaiah 11, verse 9, they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my
holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters
cover the sea.
Like verse two, it says, 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, 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.
Now before I explain the parallels, let me just go ahead and just explain what verse
number two means, because this is something that perplexed me for many times, many years,
and I know there's a lot of people that this perplexes, it's like, I don't understand,
how is it that the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations, but then it
says that there's no more curse in the new heaven and the new earth?
So why would we need healing, right, if there's no more curse?
Well, let me just briefly explain that, and then we'll move on to the actual parallels.
Notice that it says that the leaves of the tree were for the healings of the nations.
The verses thereafter talk about that they shall see his face.
They shall, shall, this is future tense.
So what this is referring to, in my opinion, is it's referring to the millennial reign,
okay, because during the millennial reign, you don't have a perfect world as of yet,
Jesus Christ is there, but death is still present, obviously Satan is absent, death
is present, sin is still there, but hold on a second, you still have the healing of
the nations, okay?
This is why you have people who live for hundreds of years, and in fact, if someone, if a person
dies at 100, they're considered as dying young, okay?
So there's obviously something that takes place where the saints have access to this
medicine that God provides through this, the tree of life, that they're able to impart
unto those who are not saved, then they can live longer, okay?
So that's past tense, that's why it says they were for the healings of the nations, later
on you see that it talks about in future tense.
So it's referring to the saints having access to these trees during the millennial reign,
okay?
But I want you to notice, so you have the tree of life that's in the midst of the garden,
the Bible tells us, amidst the paradise, excuse me, but then in this particular verse, you
see that there are multiple trees of life on either side of the river, you guys see
that?
Look down at your Bibles, it says in the midst of the street of it, verse 2, and on either
side of the river was there the tree of life, which bear 12 manner of fruits and yielded
her fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
So there is a river that's coming forth from the throne of God and from the lamb, because
out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water, and on either side of this river, you
have a tree of life that's bearing these fruits, okay?
Now you say, well, what does that signify?
What does that mean?
Well, I believe that this is literal.
I think this is literally going to happen, but I also believe it is symbolic of Christians.
The trees of life that are on each side of the river are Christians.
Why?
Because the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that win his souls is wise.
Ah, that's a stretch, okay.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the what?
Rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruits in his season.
Now you see it, huh?
His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Because here's the thing, we all become almost like a tree of life, because we have Christ
in us, the hope of glory, okay?
And I take this literally, so I believe those who delight in the law of God, right, and
they make the law, their meditation day and night, they're winning people to Christ, they're
going to be reserved that right, to be on either side of the river that comes forth
from the throne of God and of the Lamb, and they're going to bear these fruits in their
season each month, okay?
That's a blessing, you know?
And look, more important than anything else is just get people saved, right?
More important is that people get eternal life, that they're saved, that they make it
just to be here, okay?
That everyone here is saved, right?
Everyone here has eternal life, as far as I know, and I know there might be a Judas
Iscariot around here, but as far as I know, everyone here is saved, and you know what?
Now that we're saved, let's leave the first principles of the doctrines of Christ and
let us move on to perfection, and let's strive to meditate upon God's word day and night,
let's strive to win people to Christ all the days of our life so that we can inherit this
blessing of being one of those trees on either side of the river that brings forth its fruit
in His season whatsoever we would do shall prosper during this time, okay?
This is a blessing.
Now, to further prove this, go to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, 1 Corinthians chapter number 3,
1 Corinthians chapter number 3, and again, there's things that we just don't know when
it comes to studying the new heaven and the new earth because it's so far away, you know?
And it's an alien world, so to speak, and when I mean aliens, I don't mean like UFOs,
right?
I mean it's foreign to us.
It's a world we've never known.
It's conditions and environments that we've never seen, okay?
And so it's going to be a lot different.
We're only, we're conjecturing here, but I believe this conjecture is correct because
I'm just comparing it, scripture with scripture.
But keep in mind that the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that winneth souls
is wise, right?
Well, look at 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse number 8.
Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one, and every man shall receive his own
reward according to his own labor.
Look what it says in verse 9.
For we are laborers together with God, ye are God's, what, husbandry, like the trees
of life.
Ye are God's building.
Now keep in mind that this all is in context of winning people to Christ, right?
Because it tells us earlier that who is Apollo's, who is Paul, but those by whom ye believed,
right?
There are basically instruments of, there are gospel preachers that went out and saw
people saved, and this is the work that he's referring to.
Obviously there's various types of work that we can do as Christians, right?
I mean if we give a cold cup of water to someone, you know, in his name, we're going to receive
a reward.
So hold on a second, there's greater rewards that comes with winning people to Christ obviously.
I mean an eternal soul, right?
That means a lot to the Lord.
And so it's referring to being, us being God's husbandry to those who are winning people
to Christ.
And that fits in perfectly what we see in Revelation chapter 22, that you see trees
of life on either side of the river.
Now go back to Revelation chapter 22 if you would, go back to Revelation chapter 22.
I want to share that with you.
So just a review there.
So we see that the Garden of Eden has now been restored on a global scale.
And the garden, yeah, garden, I'm sorry, Eden, sorry, has been restored on a global scale.
The Garden of Eden has been restored and it is represented by the new Jerusalem that comes,
that descends from heaven.
It's planted in that Middle East, that eastward part of Eden so to speak, okay?
In the midst of the garden we have the tree of life, you know, who is the way, the truth
and the life, right?
Jesus Christ.
We know that out of his belly flow rivers of living water.
It's a river that flows into all the world.
And on either side of that river you have the trees of life represented by Christians
of course.
Verse 4 says, and they shall see his face and his name shall be in their foreheads,
referring to God the Father.
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 forever and ever.
Now I personally believe that the sun is the lake of fire, okay?
And don't blast me for that, that's just, it just makes sense.
It's a lake of fire, okay?
Like how would you describe the sun as a lake of fire?
I mean there's no refuting that.
Now obviously I could be wrong.
And this is one of the reasons why I believe that the sun will not disappear because the
lake of fire is not going to disappear, okay?
Yeah, but you know, if it doesn't have enough fuel, you know, the sun is going to eventually
disappear.
Yeah, but it's going to have fuel forever.
Because if you have billions of souls burning forever, that's very fuel efficient.
I mean it's just constantly burning day in and day out.
So I don't believe in the new heaven and the new earth that the sun is going to dissipate,
it's going to go away, it's going to stay there forever.
Revelation 21 verse 23 says the city had no need of the sun.
It doesn't say that the sun is no longer there, it just has no need of it.
Neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it and the lamb is
the light thereof.
And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it and the kings of the
earth do bring their glory and honor into it and the gates of it shall not be shut at
all by day, for there shall be no night there.
Now notice that the entrance in the Garden of Eden was closed.
No one was allowed to enter in.
Well here you have them now open, okay.
And people could come in and out, the nations of them which are saved can walk in the light
of it.
Isaiah 60 verse 1 says arise, shine, for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is
risen upon thee.
For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness to people, but the Lord
shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall come into thy light and the kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Verse 19 says the sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall
the moon give light unto thee.
But the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light and thy God thy glory, thy sun shall
no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself.
For the Lord shall be thine everlasting light and the days of thy morning shall be, and
this is referring to the holy mountain of God, the new Jerusalem.
Look at verse number 6 if you would of Revelation chapter 22.
And look, in after the flood, you know, I'm paraphrasing here, but God specifically said
that the seasons would not end.
Think about it, right.
He says summer is going to continue, winter, all these seasons will continue.
He didn't say there was going to be a ceasing of them.
Well that, Revelation 22 actually confirms that, okay.
Because it tells us there that these fruits are going to yield fruit.
Every month it's going to be a different season.
Look at verse number 6 and he says, and he said unto me, these sayings are faithful and
true and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the
things which must shortly be done.
Behold, I come quickly.
Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
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
showed me these things.
Now, who is the angel?
Well, the angel's not some celestial being.
An angel, this angel that's being referred to here is simply a man, he's a messenger,
who's been given this privilege to impart this knowledge unto John.
I don't know who this is, but man, he must have done some great works to be given that
honor and that privilege to be able to give all these revelations to John here.
But he's referred to as the angel, which simply means the messenger, okay.
Verse 9 says, then saith he unto me, see that do it not, for I am thy fellow servant and
of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book, worship
God.
So John, you know, falls down before his face and begins to worship this guy and say, hey,
don't worship me, I'm like one of you guys, okay.
I'm a prophet, I'm a fellow servant, you need to worship God.
Verse 10 says, and he saith unto me, seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book,
for the time is at hand.
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.
What is it teaching us?
That God gives everyone a free will.
If you want to be unjust, go for it, be unjust.
If you want to be filthy, go for it, you can be filthy.
But you know what, if you want to stay righteous, you can be righteous.
You know, someone who is unjust, someone who is not saved can become righteous by trusting
Christ as their savior.
And in fact, the end of this book is, that's what it's emphasizing.
You know, he tells them in verse 17, the spirit and the bride say, come, and let him that
hear it say, come, and let him that is athirst, come, and whosoever will, let him take of
the water of life freely.
He said, what's the message of the Bible?
It's God reaching out to mankind saying, come.
Look at this beautiful paradise that I have prepared.
Look at this wonderful life where you can just live forever with me, there will be no
more darkness, no more sadness, no more pain, I'll wipe away all your tears, I'll forgive
you of all your sins, come.
Drink freely.
Isn't that a Calvinist God?
Where he says, yeah, you can come, but not you.
You can come, but definitely not you.
I don't want you to come.
What did I do?
Nothing.
I just don't like you.
That's the Calvinist of God.
No, the God of the Bible says, whosoever will, let him come.
He leaves the book of Revelation with this open invitation for mankind to be saved.
But he tells those, hey, but you like filthiness?
You want to be filthy?
Then just be filthy.
You see, I remember back in the day, my pastor used to say, you know, God is a gentleman.
He's not going to force himself on anybody.
He's a gentleman.
He's not going to force you to get saved.
He's not going to force you to see it his way.
He presents it before you, and if you want to be filthy, then stay filthy.
If you want to be unjust, then stay unjust.
It says in verse 12, and behold, I come quickly.
My reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be, reminding us, hey, I've
not forgotten the labor that you've done.
I've not forgotten the work you've put in.
I'm coming with my reward and to give to every man according as his work shall be.
Verse 13, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Blessed are they that do his commandments that they might have right to the tree of
life and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Now, there's various interpretations of this.
Some would say that the commandments is referring to the command to be saved.
I would lean more so to the fact that it's referring to, not necessarily salvation, it's
referring to the fact that you have privileges when you're in the new earth.
Because it's telling us, blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have
right to the tree of life and may enter into the gates into the city.
So it's not saying that you're not going to be in the new earth.
It's just saying if you keep his commandments, you'll have right to enter into the gates.
It's a privileged position that you're going to get.
And it's no coincidence that prior to that, you had him talking about a reward.
Okay?
Now, keep in mind that remember in the Garden of Eden, or just Eden in general, outside
of that, you had the curse taking place.
Okay?
That's where the ground was cursed.
That's where he had to till the ground.
That's where all the chaos was taking place.
Well, verse 15, look what it says, for without our dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and
murderers and idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh alive.
Now, this is not referring to anything that's taking place on earth.
When it talks about without, it's talking about outer darkness, where there's weeping
and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Okay?
And in fact, in Matthew chapter 8, go to Matthew 25, if you would, Matthew chapter 25, I'm
going to read to you from Matthew chapter 8, verse 11 says, and I say unto you, that
many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer
darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Hey, Pastor Mejia, who are the children of the kingdom?
This is referring to the Jews, folks.
This is a preview, by the way, for next week, all right?
That's all I'm going to say.
The children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness, there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 25, verse 41 says, then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, depart
from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
Now if you remember in the Garden of Eden, this is pretty neat, you know, a cherubim
was placed at the east of the garden, right?
And it tells us in verse 24, it says in Genesis chapter 3, verse 24, it says, so he drove
out the man and he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden, cherubims, and a flaming
sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life.
Now again, bird's eye view, if you're looking, if you're, you know, you're in the sky, you're
the bird, you're looking down, Eden, garden, tree of life, but then on the east of the
tree of life, the garden, so to speak, you have the way leading up to the tree of life,
which is exactly what the angels are protecting, okay?
It says to keep the way of the tree of life, they had a flaming sword which turned every
way.
Now, you know, there's speculation that, well, you know, does that mean that the tree of
life is like in the ocean right now, you know?
But here's the thing is the Bible actually says in the Book of Revelation that the tree
of life is in the midst of paradise.
Now where's paradise?
It's in heaven, okay?
So because we're not dispensational dipsticks here, we better not be, you know, there's
no dispensation, we don't think that paradise is in, you know, the center of the earth or
anything like that, Abraham's bosom, okay?
The tree of life, according to the Bible, is in the midst of paradise, which is in heaven.
That's what descends with, you know, God the Father in the New Jerusalem, okay?
But what I'm saying here is that they're put there to guard, it doesn't say the tree of
life, it says to keep the way of the tree of life, you understand?
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
Now look at verse 16 of Revelation 22, it says, I, Jesus, have sent my 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.
Now no man was able to come into the garden without going, excuse me, no man was able
to go into Eden without first going through the tree of life because that's where the
entrance was.
That's what they were guarding, the way to the tree of life, going into the garden, or
Eden, excuse me, I keep getting those, mixing those up.
But no man can get to the tree of life without first going through the cherry bins with the
flaming swords.
You see where I'm getting that here?
So you have the cherry bins, no one can get through them, they have the flaming swords,
you need to go through them in order to go through the way up into the tree of life,
which is in the garden, which is in Eden.
You understand what I'm saying?
Now here's the thing, check this out, in like manner, no man cometh unto the Father but
by Jesus.
Right?
But here's the thing, no man cometh unto Jesus but by the angel who's the messenger.
Now obviously the cherry bins are not necessarily angels but they are, you know, they're messengers
so to speak, referred to as cherry bins, but here we see that the angel did testify of
these things.
So the parallel there is that the cherry bins are like us, because no one can actually go
to the tree of life without us.
And is it any coincidence that the cherry bins are bearing the flaming sword, right?
In like manner, that's how we get people saved, that's how we get people to the tree of life,
is by the word of God which is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing sunder of soul and spirit, joints in the marrow as a discernment of the
thoughts of the intents of the heart.
Who is then?
Who then is Paul?
Who is Apollos?
But ministers by whom he believed, even as the Lord gave to every man.
So we see there, and by the way, what do we see on both sides of the river in the new
earth?
The trees of life, us, which represent the people who win people to Christ.
See the parallel, all these parallels that are being drawn here, good stuff man.
So what I'm saying is this, is that no one can go into the tree of life without getting
through those cherry bins, but in like manner, guess what?
No one can come to Jesus without us.
The Bible tells us that no man can come unto the Father but by Jesus, but you know what?
No one can get to Christ if we don't go there and preach the gospel unto them.
We need to go with the flaming sword, right?
We need to charge hell, the gates of hell and pull people out of the fire using the
word of God.
People are not going to just seek God on their own, they can't get saved on their own.
We don't have a Calvinistic God that just makes them elect and they just believe.
So human instruments are necessary in order to get people saved.
So when they come to the tree of life, we can say, hey, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved.
And what happens?
They get to the tree of life, which is Jesus Christ.
And then they can go to Eden, right?
The new earth, okay?
I thought that was pretty cool.
So today I was like, hey, this is legit.
This is great, God.
Look at verse 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.
Beautiful.
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book.
By the way, verse 17 and 18 are God's contrast of his love and his wrath, right?
Because you would say verse 17, man, it's very loving, like whosoever will, anybody
can come, right?
But now look at verse 18.
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.
What book is he referring to?
Not just the Bible, he's referring to the book of Revelation.
And if you don't know the plagues of the book of Revelation, go back and listen to chapter
8, 9, 10, 11, all the plagues that came upon them, chapter 16, that's how much wrath God
has for people who add unto the word of God or take away from.
He says in verse 19, 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.
By the way, anybody who doesn't believe in the reparative doctrine didn't explain that.
Because he's saying, if you take away from the word of God, you've sealed your fate.
You can no longer be saved.
You're going to get taken out of the book of life.
No hope for you there.
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.
He's saying, you're not going to get anything.
Well, can I go into the city?
Not the city, not anything that's written in this book.
You won't get anything good from me.
And in fact, you're going to burn in hell.
This is how grave God is when it comes to his word.
Hey, by the way, that's why we're King James only-est.
That's too old-fashioned.
They make me old-fashioned.
Because these modern perversions of the Bible do just that.
And every single editor, every single person who was involved in the editing and the creation
of the NIV, the ESV, the HIV, and all these other corrupt Bible versions, they're all
burning in hell.
And by the way, if they're still alive, they're still burning in hell because they're twice
dead plucked up by the roots.
God doesn't take that lightly, folks.
That's why with us, hey, so what kind of Bible are you using?
King James.
We're King James only.
Say it in the video.
Say it in the preaching.
Say it wherever.
I don't want to be ashamed of that.
Well, you know, you don't really want to come off too abrasive about that.
Folks, we can't get serious enough.
I don't want to be ashamed of his word.
Because why?
Because if I'm ashamed of him and his word, he's going to be ashamed of me and his coming.
Verse 20, he which testifieth these things, saith surely, I come quickly, amen.
Even so come, Lord Jesus, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, amen.
So he finishes off the chapter with letting us know, just giving us the right perspective
of life.
Even so come, even so come, come quickly.
And this is the attitude we need to have every single day of our life.
Because we're so heavily minded that we're just anticipating the coming of Christ.
Obviously we understand there's events that take place before that.
But you know what?
It all culminates to his coming.
We should desire his coming.
We shouldn't long for it, right?
We should be so disgusted and just done with this world that we just, even so, Lord come.
I long for the millennial reign, I long for the new earth, I long for eternity, to be
with God, to be with Jesus, to serve the Lord all the days of my life, all of eternity.
If you're sitting here like, not me, I want to go do, I want to go party, I want to go
have fun, I want to go do this and that, you know, you're temporal minded.
You need to read the Bible more.
You need to get eternity on your mind.
And look folks, there's things that take place in life that kind of take our eyes off eternity
sometimes and then put it on the temporal and it causes us to only worry about what's
taking place today.
But you know what?
This is why the book of Revelation exists.
To remind us of the things which must shortly come to pass and these things will happen.
It's not a fairy tale, it's not a figment of our imagination, in fact on God's timetable
it's like it's already happened.
Look, this should be an encouragement to you because you're going to go through a lot in
your life but you know what, at the end of the day, we've read the end of the book, we
win.
Amen.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word.
Thank you for the book of Revelation and it's been an honor, it's been a privilege to be
able to teach through it every single chapter and I'm sure I've missed a lot.
And just because the book of Revelation, the Bible just in general, but of course the book
of Revelation is so inexhaustible.
I pray God that you use it in our lives to help us be more heavily minded.
I know that even through studying this and teaching through it, it made me think more
about the rapture, it made me think more about the second coming of Christ, it made me want
to read my Bible more and pray more and just prepare myself for the tribulation to come.
And God, I pray that it continues to do that in my heart and the hearts of those who are
here, the hearts of those who are listening.
Help us to long for that new earth and recognize that it's going to come one day, but even
so, Lord, come.