It's not a happy word, nor is it a pleasant thing to think about. But it speaks of a phenomenon that is real and more common than most of us care to admit. It's the word apostasy. What is it? Apostasy is the photographic negative of repentance. By definition, you see both are deliberate acts of turning. One is the act of turning toward God, repentance. The other is the very same action in reverse. The act of turning away from God, apostasy. It's a kind of anti-conversion apostasy is the full and final rejection of Jesus Christ. The decisive, deliberate, open, walking away from the good news. It is a tragic phenomenon mentioned with some frequency on the pages of the scriptures. We read, for example, of people like Hymenaeus and Alexander about whom they said they made shipwreck of their faith. We read of people like Demos who deserted the gospel ministry because of his greater love for this present world. Of course, the most infamous apostate of all, the most notorious of the states. The poster child for apostasy is Judas Iscariot. What is it that these apostates have in common, friends? Nearness to the gospel. Intimacy with the gospel. Comprehension of the gospel. First hand experience with some of the peripheral benefits of the gospel. But in the end, a full and final turning from the gospel. I don't think I'm assuming too much to say that if you've been a Christian for any length of time, you've seen it happen, haven't you? And every time you see it happen, it breaks your heart. So art, you ask, how do we prevent apostasy? And the answer, friends, is by following a distinct New Testament pattern. Calling Christians to a rigorous preoccupation with the world to come. You may not be very familiar with the little book of Jude. It is a little postcard of a letter right before the revelation. But the theme of that little book is the theme of apostasy. And because Christians in that context were turning their backs on the gospel and walking away from Jesus Christ, Jude near the end of his letter gives this succinct command. Keep yourselves in the love of God. What a strong exhortation. And in the context of the book of Jude, what he is saying is, don't stray away from the boundaries of God's love by turning your back on Jesus Christ. And then as a good pastor, Jude proceeds to tell these readers how to prevent such spiritual disaster. How do you keep yourself in the love of God? He begins by saying, firstly, you build yourself up on the most holy faith. You edify yourself by means of the truth. Secondly, he says, you pray always in the Holy Spirit. And then finally, perhaps surprisingly, you live in a state of expectancy. Waiting anxiously, he says, for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. To prevent the tragedy of apostasy, Jude writes, we must be rigorously preoccupied with the eternal life that Jesus Christ will establish for us in his second coming. The preventative for apostasy, my friends, is for you to have your eyes fixed on a promise that is so compellingly wonderful that all of the charms seeking to begile you away from the gospel will lose their allure. Where to fix our affections, our attentions on life, life to come, life and all of its fullness. Some of you no doubt are well acquainted with the fact that the book of Hebrews was intentionally written to counteract an apostasy already in motion. Christians had left the gospel. Other Christians were in the process of leaving the gospel. Some holding onto Jesus Christ were wondering, is it worth it all in the end? And to address this movement away from Jesus Christ, the writer says in chapter 10, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. And in the New Testament, the word hope you must understand, is always associated with the final experience of eternal life.
Hold fast to that hope. It's different language than Jude, but it really gets at the same idea. This is how a Christian prevents the tragedy of apostasy. He maintains a rigorous preoccupation with eternity. And why is this so important? Because my dear friends, every sin carries with the seed of total apostasy. Don't get yourself. You're not beyond it. You will not be on it until you arrive at this place. Every sin carries with it the seed of total apostasy. And why is this so urgent? It is so urgent, beloved, because the reward of heaven is not given to people who begin the race, only those who finish. The prize is given to those who cross the tape as it were. And so the writer of Hebrews, the writer of the book of Jude, over and over again, writers of the New Testament call us to a preoccupation with eternity. Hold fast, they tell us to that hope. It reminds us of the earliest scene from the movie Master and Commander. It reminds itself under attack by a French man of war. It's attempting to extend Napoleon's reach into the Pacific. And one after another, maybe you remember, an 18-pound cannonball is repeatedly ripped through that vessel. As the captain hurriedly walks to the back of the boat, giving orders to the crew and to the sharpshooters, he comes across a young officer who is huddling on the deck of the boat in fear. And so he grabs him by the arm and he lifts him to his feet and calls him to his duty, at which point without saying a word, an old, wrinkled topman. The man who stands on the platform at the top of the ship's foremast, extends his arm and clenches his fists so that this young sailor can read the letters tattooed on each of his fingers. H-O-L-D-F-A-S-T, hold fast, given the nature of the battle faced by Christians, given the ever-present reality ostasy beloved, it would not be altogether inappropriate to have those same letters tattooed on the fingers of every Christian. Hold fast. Hold fast to what? To God's promise of eternal life and all of its fullness. It's the preventative to apostasy that is repeatedly set before us, my friends, throughout the entire New Testament. Your enduring faithfulness to Jesus Christ, your success continuing in the gospel of Jesus, is in large part dependent upon your rigorous, intentional, repeated preoccupation with eternity. What wasn't the Christian in Pilgrim's progress said to his companion? I am most happy when I have my eyes fixed on the place to which I'm headed. It is because the gift of eternal life is not granted to those who begin the race, but only to those who start it. It is because of that fact, beloved, that you must hold fast, hold fast to the eternal life that is to come, and that you see is why these two chapters end the book of the Revelation. That's why these two chapters are here. It's what they're all about. They're intended to serve you as a preventative against apostasy. And how does he do that? By setting before you a vision of eternal life so magnificent, so wondrous and beautiful, that the enticements of Babylon will seem like nothing but the tattered rags of an old whore. Which is precisely what Babylon is, if you recall. And so upon the completion of all God's judgment, God's judgment of all His enemies in chapter 20, chapter 21 opens with a glorious vision of the new creation. Set forth in terms of more explicit than you'll find anywhere else in all of the word of God, eternal life, beloved, in its final consummated expression. But to get more specific, we asked a particular question of verses 1 through 8. What is it that defines the newness of the new creation we asked last Lord's day? What are its conspicuous features? What are its defining characteristics? And to begin with in verse 1, we discovered that the new creation is a renovated universe perched of everything sinful. A renovated universe perched of everything sinful. And the reason for that as we learned, keeping in mind the symbolism of the revelation, is because the very source of such things will have been obliterated. Remember? I saw the new heaven, new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea existed no longer. Then in verses 2 through 4, we discovered a second defining characteristic of the new creation. That it is a holy community distinguished by unalterable joy. Over and over, beloved, we saw this that the new heaven, the new earth, is characterized, distinguished by community, life together. In fact, if you read chapters 21 and 22 with this in mind, you'll see the language of relationship permeating all through these chapters. Perfected human beings, living with other perfected human beings, and most importantly, God Himself making His home with them. The very presence of God, we all live together as we're under the same tent. The new creation will be nothing less than this. A holy community lived in the atmosphere of unassailable joy. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, God will. This is why there will be joy. Death will exist no longer. Grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer. Why? Because the previous things, those things associated with this fallen realm, have passed away. Now for this morning, as we come to the next paragraph, verses 5 through 8, I'd like us to once again pose the same question. What is it that defines the new creation? What makes it new? And this paragraph supplies us with a third very important answer. And it is quite simply this. It is a divine achievement resulting in consummate life. This is what makes the new creation new. This is what defines the newness of the new creation. It's a divine achievement resulting in consummate life. Life for us, life for his people. Now let's watch this unfold, verse 5. Then the ones seated on the throne said, throughout the revelation you may recall, we've heard loud voices from heaven announcing repeatedly the various faces of God's unfolding program. Voices from the sanctuary, voices from around the throne, the voices of great angelic messengers, but here, beloved, this pronouncement that is about to be made, it's not made by an angel. This announcement is made by God Himself. It must be a matter of some significance because I would remind you this is only the second time that God speaks in the revelation. In other words, God Himself here assumes the personal responsibility for ensuring that what we are here seeing can in no way be misunderstood as a utopia created by the powers of human genius. In other words, He wants us to understand that the new creation that has just been witnessed by John and will be developed more thoroughly in the following paragraphs, that this new creation will not be the achievement of technological advancement, social engineering, nuclear disarmament, democratic government, comprehensive education, education, religious pluralism. Look, God says, I am making everything new. As a Christian, you need to understand that the new creation that will one day define the nature of your eternal life will be solely and completely the unated achievement of God Himself. An underscoring this fact, beloved, is something that I particularly overlooked last week in verse two. Remember we are introduced to the new Jerusalem? This beautiful imagery of a bride, this new Jerusalem part and parcel of the new creation, sometimes synonymous with it, sometimes a component of it, this new Jerusalem I would remind you does not emerge from the ground up. It is not the product of human prowess, earth evolving into heaven. Rather, it is seen to be coming down, watch this, out of heaven, stressing its origin from God, stressing its originator. In other words, this isn't the result of humanity's endeavor, rather the fingerprints of God are what mark every nook and cranny of this new creation. I will make everything new, which implies what, practically speaking, that everything about it, that every single aspect of the new creation will be the highest, the ultimate, the maximized, the most intensified expression of perfection. And at the end of the day, beloved, you begin to think about this and you run out of categories by which to understand it. We can't fathom this, friends, because everything and everyone associated with this old creation, even when it said its best is marred by some, even the slightest, expression of imperfection, a piece of art, a newly built home, a powerful computer, a sumptuous meal, a model on a magazine cover. Here a baseball fan, you know that recently Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks pitched a perfect game, an amazing feat for any pitcher, let alone one that is 41 years old. Last pitch he throws to strike out the last guy, 98 miles an hour, I mean, they're guys in the prime of their career who can't get close to doing that. But even at that point, my friends, you need to appreciate the fact that baseball's definition of perfection is less than comprehensive. Though amazingly, no one reached base, throughout all of those nine innings, not every pitch he threw was precisely where he wanted it to go. You say, but I know what could do that, right? It's my point, which is what makes this new creation so utterly amazing. Notice its comprehensive, I am making everything new, and notice what God adds to this. He said, right, right, put this down on paper, John, for the benefit of all those Christians who will come after you, put this down on paper so that you can stake your eternity upon it. Why? Because these words, the declaration that I am making everything new, because these words are marked with divine integrity. They are faithful and true, they're reliable, they're genuine, they're valid, they're dependable, meaning what? They're certain to come to pass. Now, friends, are you following the line of thought here because there is a logical coherence to all of this? God himself has made a promise. I will bring into existence a new creation, a renovated universe perched of everything sinful, a holy community distinguished by unalterable joy. And what's more, friends, he's placed his own integrity on the line by going on the record. This is no back room, off the record kind of musings, put it in print. Why? Because these words are faithful and true, but my dear friends, particularly those of you who have a skeptical streak, is it possible for you to be absolutely certain that this promise is faithful and true? We're to hold fast to the promise of eternal life, the New Testament teaches us. It's the preventative to apostasy. And right here, that promise is understood as bearing real integrity. These words are faithful and true. But my friends, let me ask you quite bluntly, is it an integrity so strong that it merits from you? A confident, so certain, the entirety of your life's choices can be determined by this promise. That you would die for this promise, or perhaps more to the point, more realistic, that you would live your life in light of it. That you would make your choices for how you do family and how you do business and how you do recreation and all of those things on the basis of that promise. That you would think about your life together in this congregation in terms of that promise, your investment in ministry on the basis of that promise. Will this promise determine everything? How can you be sure that it's true? How can you be certain that it will come to pass? And the answer, beloved, is quite simple. It's because this promise, its integrity is guaranteed by the authority of God. In other words, standing behind this promise is the authority of His position, verse 6. And He said to me, it is done. What's done? His promise that He is making everything new? It's done! Now, wait a minute, God, you ask reverently. How can you make such a claim with all due respect? It's done? How can you speak of something already accomplished that has not yet come to pass? It's because standing behind His promise is His position. Look at it. I am the Alpha and the Omega. The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, or to say the same thing in another way, the beginning and the end. Now, those are titles, those are names that seem very strange to us. And that is because my friends, they are figures of speech that are called merisms, in which the point is to mention the two opposite poles of something in order to emphasize the totality of all that lies in between. That's the point of a name like this. So here you'll notice God refers to Himself as the Alpha or the beginning. And He refers to Himself as the Omega, that is the end. In other words, He's the Creator, He's the consummator. History begins with Him. History ends in Him. Now, here's the thrust of it all. Since He stands as sovereign over history's beginning and end, He is to be understood therefore as sovereign over everything in between. I am making everything new. Who makes this promise? The only one bearing the authority to bring the old creation to its end and the new creation into its existence. The one who is nothing less than the sovereign lord of history. In other words, beloved, what He says will come to pass precisely because of who He is. His position guarantees His promise. That's why He can say it's done, though it's yet to come to pass. It's done. By the way, does that exclamation sound familiar to you in any way? Any bells resonating in your mind? It's done. Does the table give you any clues this morning? My friends, when Jesus Christ from the cross victoriously it is finished. He set the new creation in motion at that very instant. His bodily resurrection from the dead was the beginning, the first expression, the pioneer of this new creation. A new creation you see that advances steadily every time a human being is brought to spiritual life. All pass away, everything becomes new, a new creation that moves ahead, beginning at the cross, expressing itself in the resurrection, steadily moving ahead that will consummate in a scope, notice that is both cosmic and comprehensive. I am making everything new. It is done here, signifies the final expression of what was achieved in the it is finished of Jesus on the cross. And this is why dear friends, the exhortation for you to hold fast onto the promise of eternal life is not an empty one. A religious placebo to help you through the rough patches of this life but ultimately devoid of anything real. This promise is faithful and true. It is valid, it is trustworthy because guaranteeing its fulfillment is the authority of the Lord of history who will bring to pass that which was accomplished by his son on the cross. Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ from the cross, it is finished. Now his father answers, it is done. What is it that will distinguish this new creation? Not the fingerprints of a fallen humanity. Only the artistic genius of God himself. It will be his masterpiece, bearing the conspicuous marks of his hands. It will be beloved nothing less than an exclusively divine achievement. But notice now, a divine achievement resulting in consummate life. God goes on to say, I will give to the thirsty from the spring of living water as a gift. The victor will inherit these things and I will be his God and he will be my son. Now beloved, I would beg you to remember the context in which these words are spoken. We are not looking here at the present experience of Christians this side of heaven. We are given a glimpse here of eternal life in its consummated expression. To be more specific, we are given to see the recipients of this eternal life and the essence of this eternal life, both of which are highlighted here, distinguished here in two very illustrative ways. Notice the first sentence again, who has made the recipient of this life in the new heaven and new earth? The thirsty. The thirsty. And how is eternal life here described as a drink from a spring of water? You say, well that doesn't sound like a very meaningful way of referring to eternal life to me. Now that's because you never lived in the arid climate of Palestine during the first century. My friends, to such folk the possession of water meant life and the absence of it meant death. You read some of those battles in the Old Testament and you will discover that at times they were strategically fought precisely because victory would secure a particular source of water. Water meant life. Now it's not that way to us. That's why we read this and we show our shoulders and say what's the big deal because you go to the store and you choose from dozens of brands of bottled water. You drink half the bottle and you throw the rest away. But in the culture of the first century, a drink of water to a parched mouth was a metaphor for complete, comprehensive satisfaction. In contrast to those who drink from Babylon's cup filled with abominations and impurities, chapter 14, 17, 18, eternal life in a new creation will be like a drink from a spring of living water given free of char. The whom is this water given? Not all people. Those people who are thirsty for eternal fellowship with God and His Lamb. My friends in great measure, it's a way of helping you to determine whether or not you are in the possession of eternal life. You may wonder this morning, do I have eternal life? I may call myself a Christian, but am I really in possession of eternal life, at least in its inaugurated initial expression? Well, how does eternity distinguish here? By this feature, it will be a place filled with people who know unending satisfaction. But the presupposition, of course, is that they have come to the new heaven and new earth, thirsty for God. Are you thirsty for God this morning? Do you want Him? Because if you're not thirsty for God, heaven is not the place for you. That's what marks the new creation, beloved. Consumid satisfaction in the being of God. Do you want God this morning? Consumid satisfaction is found in Jesus Christ, who right now can place a spring of living water inside a human being in anticipation of what will be consummated in the new creation. The new creation is for people who are thirsty for God, who want God more than they want anything else. The recipients of eternal life, those thirsty for God, the essence of eternal life, absolute satisfaction in Him. Those are the people who will enter into the new creation. Well, the next sentence gets to the very same two issues. The recipients and essence of eternal life only now friends they're illustrated from a distinctly different vantage point. Who are the recipients of eternal life in the new creation? Verse 7. The victor will inherit these things, or perhaps your translation reads, the overcoming one, or the conqueror, the victor. Does that language jog any thoughts in your memory? Your member revelation, chapters 2 and 3, those two chapters are made up of 7 what? 7 letters, 7 letters written to 7 churches and each one of those letters ends with the same thing, the promise of the blessing of eternal life. Each letter ends the same way, the promise of the blessing of eternal life, and who would be the recipients of such blessings in each case John indicates the very same person. Not the man or woman, not the boy or girl who begins the Christian race, not the man or woman, the boy or girl who walks forward in an evangelistic meeting, or who gets baptized at Christ Community Church, not the person who begins the Christian race, only those who finish it in faithfulness to Jesus Christ. The eternal life is for those who overcome to the end in faithfulness Jesus Christ. People, unlike our modern scripture choruses of overcoming, those who through all of the attacks and assaults of the dragon, the beast, the false prophet, the harlot and all their legions persevere in loyalty to the gospel. My friends eternal life in its consummated expression is only for those who hold fast, which means if you have lost your grip on Jesus Christ this morning, you need to take immediate steps to reestablish the vitality of that connection because only such people will inherit eternal life. And how was the essence of eternal life described here? I can't think of any more magnificent expression. The victor will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my. Can you imagine it? My stomach. Now friends, we've not got the time to unpack this, but this wonderful covenantal promise I will be there. God, he will be my son, is one of those great themes that stretches from one end of the Bible to the other, growing and growing and developing and becoming more profound and real. As early as Exodus chapter 4, God refers to the nation of Israel as my son. Israel is my first born son, referred to as a son. Why? So that as a son, Israel would reflect the image of its father. God. But Israel fails. Over and over and over and over and over again. And so what does God do? He takes one person out of Israel as a representative of the entire nation, the king. And he says, he is my son. Second Samuel chapter 7 begins this line of thought, Psalm 2, kiss the son. The son of God, the king was regarded to be representative of the entire community. But what happens? Beloved, the kings fail. Even the best of the kings fail. So what happens? One finally appears in human history as the son Par excellence. The perfect son about whom God says, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. And now, when people like you and me embrace this son of God, we become God's adopted children, John 1, 12. We become His sons, an adoption that will enter into its final and most intimate expression in a new creation. If you are a Christian this morning, my friends, you've been adopted into God's family. You've been made God's child. And now, once in a while, on occasion, more rare than you would prefer, you manage to have those wonderful experiences when you feel the intimacy of your adopted status. When you know in an experiential way that God is my father, but the fact is, we would all have to admit, I think, on most occasions, that's the fact that we have to take by faith, don't we? Because the reality of it doesn't always affect our sensibilities, but in the new heaven and the new earth, the experience of intimacy in your relationship with God will be forever unending. And I think steadily and eternally intensifying that forever, it will get better and deeper and richer. My friends, for all of the talk of spirituality that is permeating our day and it is everywhere if you have eyes and ears. All of the subjectivity and all of the mysticism that clouds so much of our present American culture in particular, you need not be confused by all of that, dear friends, this is eternal life. It's this simple, this is eternal salvation, ultimate satisfaction in God, unimaginable intimacy with God. God is your father, you as God's child. All around us in our own day and time, people are pursuing the things they think will provide them with real life, aren't they? I mean, you see them in this inexhaustible first for life, they want happiness, they want contentment, they want love, they want truth, they want justice, they want everything that goes into the idea of life at its best, and can you blame them? God made them to want what only He can supply. It's a saint Augustine said long ago, our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee, and the point is beloved, here it is, this is what they want, comprehensive satisfaction, unending intimacy, both of which are found by means of one exclusive source. They are found in God through His Savior, Son Jesus Christ, they are given to those who do not fall away but hold fast, they are given to those who overcome, and in direct contrast to such folk, they are those who begin the race, but fail to finish in faithfulness. You'll notice that verse ain't begins with the word but, in other words, a direct contradiction is being established, a direct contrast is being established with the overcombers. We have this list here that appears, friends, frankly, throughout many passages in the New Testament scriptures, we see it in Galatians 5, we see it in 1 Corinthians 6, this list of vices, but in the revelation, there's a particular nuance to this business, because they're set up directly against those who overcome, those who persevere in faithfulness to Jesus Christ. In other words, what you have here in verse 8 is a list of apostasy in its various expressions. These are not people, friends, who are radical unbelievers, who've never embraced the gospel, who've rejected Jesus Christ, these are people who've been close, and they bagged out, that's why cowardly begins the list. Who would have thought cowardly would have headed the list of vices that would condemn? You know why it's there? It's because what's in view in verse 8 is apostasy, people who've been close, near, around, benefiting from it all, and finally under the pressure, relinquish, and embrace the life of the harlot, succumbing to the beast, rather than being willing to deny themselves for the sake of following Jesus Christ. What we have here is the opposite of those Christians who overcome. The cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. Are you a Christian this morning? For you I have a three-word exhortation, endure and anticipate, endure and anticipate, hold fast by regularly reminding yourself of the promise of the new creation and the one who guarantees its fulfillment. Everything else is momentary light affliction when compared to the eternal weight of glory that we confidently anticipate. I want to tell you something, my friends, though you may not be able to believe it at this point, I assure you on that day all of this will seem like nothing. And you will wonder on that day I guarantee you, you will wonder on that day how you could have ever been so foolish as to be tempted to turn your back on the gospel, hold fast, endure and anticipate, endure by anticipating. Are you not a Christian this morning? I have a three-word exhortation for you. I will evaluate and respond. I will evaluate and respond. This is it, my friends. This is the real deal. Some of you you have been around with us since we began this study in the revelation from the very outset. I knew we had to get here. You knew that we would eventually face this. I told you our very first week that one of the dynamics of the revelation is there is no gray, there is black, there is white, there is eternal life, there is eternal death and every person belongs to one of those two realms, every person chooses one of those two realms. To not choose is to secure your destiny in one of those realms. I'll say it as simply as I can entrance into the new creation will require of you two things. You must have the debt of your offenses against God paid in full and you must possess a righteousness that will qualify you for this place. If you rely on yourself, you will come up miserably short on both counts. If however you receive Jesus Christ as the means of payment for your sin and the source of righteousness required, God will grant to you the gift of eternal life. And what will be the proof of it? You will hold fast and receive the reward of satisfaction and sonship evaluate and respond endure and anticipate the very thing we're about to do until the Lord comes. Would you bow your heads with me, please?