In this sermon, the preacher discusses the concept of judgment day, where every person's life will be exposed on a video tape. Each individual will have their turn, and their memories will playback, showing every thought, word, deed, attitude, and motive. There will be no room for argument or denial, as the video tape will faithfully display everything. The sermon emphasizes that while salvation is by grace, judgment will be based on a person's deeds, and there will be different degrees of punishment in the lake of fire.

Let's turn to the book of Revelation and chapter 20, Revelation chapter 20. If you will remember in our last study we were considering about the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ on the earth. A thousand years of peace with garden of Eden condition where the lion will lie down with the lamb and the serpents and the scorpions will not be poisonous anymore and conditions on earth will be exactly as it was in the garden of Eden. Except for one thing, the word of God teaches that during those thousand years there will still be sinners on the earth. Men will live to very long ages. There will be sinners on the earth. We see here in Revelation chapter 20 and verse 4. In the first three verses it tells about the binding of satan for a thousand years and this is one reason why the earth is going to be at peace. The other reason being that Jesus Christ would have set up his throne in Jerusalem and the nation of Israel will be the head of the nations on the earth at that time. And it says here there were thrones and these thrones are on the earth and they sat on them and judgment was given to them. This is the time when the saints are going to judge the earth and rule the earth for a thousand years. Not all are going to reign with Christ. The word of God says very clearly if we suffer with him now we shall reign with him then. Not otherwise. That's taught very clearly in Romans chapter 8, second Timothy chapter 2 and in principle throughout the new testament. That if those who suffer with him now and are faithful in their hidden life now will be publicly revealed and rewarded they will reign with him then. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus because the word of God and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image that is a possibility right through all ages the spirit of the antichrist there at work those who overcome that who refuse to receive that mark literally or symbolically on their forehead or on their hand they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. And notice this verse 5 the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. The bible teaches that there are two resurrections. One at the time when Jesus establishes comes to take his faith and the other after the thousand year reign of Christ at the end of the millennium will be the second resurrection. But verse 6 says blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection. And it seems pretty clear to me from verse 4 that this is referring to the overcomers. Over these the second death has no power. Now you notice a similar phrase in revelation chapter 2 and verse 11 he who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. Revelation 2 11 you put that together with revelation 20 verse 6 and you see that it is those who have overcome who are going to be in the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection. Those who have listened to the voice of the spirit in their earthly life to be overcomers. And this resurrection is spoken of in a number of other places. I just want to show you one or two places. In Luke chapter 20 verse 35 it says Luke chapter 20 verse 35 Jesus said those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead. Notice that phrase those who are considered worthy to attain to the resurrection from the dead. In other words the resurrection from the dead the first resurrection anyway is not automatic. Everybody is going to be raised from the dead but not everybody is going to be in the first resurrection. That that is something to be attained and that is something which is going to be attained by those who are considered worthy. Notice another phrase in Hebrews 11 and verse 35. This is referring to old testament saints because old testament saints are also going to be in that first resurrection at the coming of Christ. Hebrews 11 35 it says some women received back their dead by resurrection that is in the time of Elijah and Elisha and others were tortured and when they were tortured and told to deny their faith they refused to deny their faith they refused to be to receive the mark of the beast on their forehead or their hand and they did not accept their release. Why? In order that they might take part in the first resurrection in order that they might obtain a better resurrection. There is a better resurrection and there is a resurrection which is not so good. That's pretty clear and in order to obtain that better resurrection they refused to deny their faith. In other words symbolically they refused to take the mark of the beast or to worship his image. There are people like that who've been through the ages who've stood true to the faith refusing even when tortured to deny the lord. Another passage we find is John 5 29 where Jesus said the dead will come forth when they hear the voice of the son of man. Verse 29 those who did the good to a resurrection of life those who committed evil to a resurrection of judgment. Notice two resurrections the resurrection of life and the resurrection of judgment and we are to aim for the resurrection of life and notice another passage in Daniel chapter 12 verse 2 Daniel 12 verse 2 it says many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake these to everlasting life but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Again two resurrections notice another verse that we looked at in an earlier study Luke chapter 14 and verse 14 it says if you help and bless and give to those who are in need who are unable to repay you then verse 14 of Luke 14 you will be blessed since they do not have the means to repay you but you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous and that is 1000 years before the resurrection of the wicked. There is going to be a repayment God is going to repay the overcomers for all that they sacrificed for him and for others for the sake of the kingdom of God there is going to be a repayment at that particular time. Now Philippians 3 is another passage where Paul speaks of the same thing Philippians 3 and verse 8 he says verse 7 whatever things were gained to me I counted as lost for the sake of Christ I count all things to be lost for the surpassing value of knowing Christ and he says I count them all rubbish you see when you hear me use the word rubbish it's not original with me by the way it's Paul was the first one who used it he said he counted everything as rubbish compared to the excellency of the knowledge of Christ and why did he count it all as rubbish for one reason listen to this verse 11 in order that I may attain notice that word again attain to the resurrection not of the dead but from among the dead in other words a selective resurrection not the universal resurrection of the dead at the end of the thousand years but a selective resurrection from among the dead before the thousand years and so there are many passages like this in scripture which I find so many Christians just completely ignore and imagine that they have just said sometime in their life Lord Jesus come into my heart and they think everything is all right that's a tremendous deception Paul himself did not believe that lie he said I count everything as rubbish I want to be an overcomer I want to know the fellowship of his sufferings otherwise I will not reign with him I want to know the power of his resurrection in my life now so that one day I can attain to that selective resurrection from among the dead that's going to take place and in that day when the Lord comes when these dead are raised up it says they're going to reign with Christ in resurrection body when we are raised from the dead we're going to have bodies exactly like the body that Jesus had we have taught that very clearly in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 21 that he will change our body into the likeness of his own glorious body and you know the powers that his body had his body could pass through a wall and our bodies will be able to pass through walls he could transport himself from one place to another in such a short moment of time and we will have bodies that can transport ourselves from one place to another without any difficulty it will not be a spirit invisible body it'll be a body of flesh and bones as Jesus said in Luke 24 he could eat fish with that body as you read in Luke 24 a body of flesh and bones the only thing missing in it will be blood there won't be any blood in our resurrection body a body of flesh and bones Jesus said he had after his resurrection and our life which is now by our blood will in that day be by the spirits and the diseases that come through the blood will not be in us there will not be any blood a body of flesh and bones a body in which we will recognize people saints of God whom we have never met in our whole life remember when Peter James and John saw Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration they didn't need to be introduced they immediately knew this is Moses how did they know there were no photographs or paintings of Moses or Elijah it was a spontaneous recognition that there is in the kingdom of God when I meet of course it's easy to recognize Jesus with the nail prints in his hands but when we meet the other saints of God Elijah John the Baptist Paul James John we won't need any introduction brothers and sisters we'll know them straight away the important thing is to be there in that day and these will reign with Christ so you see on the earth in the thousand years there will still be those who are who have not been who have not died who have been born naturally in their natural bodies and there will also be those in the resurrected bodies who are going to rule over the earth with Jesus Christ they will be priests of God it says in Revelation 20 verse 6 for a thousand years and will reign with him for a thousand years the Bible says in 2nd Corinthians 5 and verse 10 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 10 that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that we can be rewarded for the deeds that we have done in our body according to what we have done whether good or bad salvation is not by works it's by grace but judgment we can be sure is according to works the New Testament teaches that consistently salvation is by grace judgment is by works therefore we must all you and I appear at the judgment seat of Christ that is not the day when God is going to send people to hell no the judgment seat of Christ is the seat at the throne where the Lord Jesus is going to hand out reward the rewards will be the degree to which we have been faithful to him and have humbled ourselves in that degree God will reward us with some type of authority in that kingdom which he's going to come to establish on the earth and then we see here in Revelation 20 verse 7 after this thousand year period is over Satan will be released from his prison during the thousand years millions of people will be born on the earth just like they are born today and I want to show you a verse in Isaiah 65 that tells us something about the people are going to live on the earth in those thousand years Isaiah 65 verse 19 20 and 25 it's really exciting to see this because this is what we're going to see on this earth in which we are living today Isaiah 65 19 I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people and verse 20 this is how it's going to be in that millennium no longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days nowadays there are millions of infants who die a few days after their birth but in the millennium it won't be like that and nor will there be an old man who does not live out his full period of time people will live for hundreds of years because disease is removed and the curse is removed not completely there will be death but it says here in verse 20 the youth will die at the age of 100 the young people's meetings will be people are 100 years old in that day it was like that before the days of noah people lived up to 900 and the one who does not reach the age of 100 will be thought accursed I mean say something's wrong this man didn't reach a hundred it'll be like these babies dying if a man doesn't reach a hundred in those days but it says here the sinner that's that will be sinners in those days who will die and who will live and at the end of a thousand years revelation 20 verse 7 satan will be released from his prison now here is we can say why does god release satan from his prison there's a reason for this and the reason is to expose to the universe the corruption that there is in man why do I say that one would think that after these millions of people who've been born on the earth during that thousand year reign of christ which is called the millennium after they have seen the goodness of jesus his humility the goodness of the saints of god who rule the earth not like the corrupt rulers of today and how the reign of christ brings peace he will rule with a rod of iron it says because that's how the sinners will be suppressed even in that time they will be suppressed because they will fear to disobey but they will be sinners who have not given up the rebellion in their hearts they will be compelled to obey thousands of them but the saints of god will rule on the earth during those thousand years and they will see the peace and the goodness the lion lying down with the lamb and they would at least have heard about how the earth was in previous ages when satan ruled the earth and one would think that biggest idiot in the world would know that it's better to be under jesus than under satan but it's not going to be so that's the amazing thing that after a thousand years when satan is released for a short time and he's going to go out across the face of the earth and it says he's going to deceive them again verse 8 revelation 20 he'll come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth notice the emphasis again on deception he's not going to frighten them he's going to deceive them he's going to again tell them god's commandments are a burden what he's told man for six thousand years and which so many men have blindly believed he's going to tell them again his commandments are a burden see for so many thousands of years you hundreds of years you have not been able to satisfy your lust now come to me it's all a deception you can't have any fun when you obey god and the amazing thing is there are thousands and millions of people are going to be deceived again to show god is going to show the universe the corruption of the race of adam that even after they have seen the reign of christ for a thousand years they're going to turn back to satan to live up to their lust gog and magog this is not the battle of armageddon that was the first world war the real first world war i mean is the battle of armageddon what we call the first and second world war is not really entire world but here's what we read in revelation 19 the battle of armageddon was the first world war but here's going to be a second world war after the thousand years are over gog and magog and these people are going to be gathered together again the descendants of gog and magog a second time to gather them together for the war again to fight against the lord can you imagine that it's really so difficult for me to understand how man can be so stupid the heart is deceitful nothing good dwells in this flesh and here is the clearest proof of it in the end of the bible that after a thousand years of the reign of christ man is still willing to follow the devil and live after his lust we see a little bit of that today we see the goodness and blessing of glory that belongs to those who wholeheartedly follow the lord and still so many people live after their lusts in the moment of temptation even believers so one can imagine how there will be like that and it says here the number of them listen to this one would think there'd be a few odd persons here and there who are stupid enough to follow the devil no the number who follow the devil after this thousand year reign of christ will be like the sand of the seashore amazing that they can be so stupid but they will be and they came up the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saint i mean they know very well that these people with resurrection bodies can't be killed and such is satan's deception of man they surrounded the camp of the saints from the beloved city jerusalem where jesus has his throne and fire comes down from heaven in a moment it's not even going to take one day like the battle of armageddon this is just going to take a moment and devoured them all in a moment and then here is the final doom of the devil the devil who deceived them notice the number of times in the book of revelation where the devil is called the deceiver was thrown into the lake of fire the lake of fire in brinston is different from hell i mentioned that i'll explain that in a moment the first occupants of the lake of fire we saw in chapter 19 verse 20 were the antichrist and the false prophet now the third occupant of the lake of fire is going to be the third person of the satanic trinity the first person really satan himself this is the satanic trinity who are going to occupy the lake of fire first of all and there the beast and the false prophet are still there when were they thrown into the lake of fire you remember a thousand years earlier but they're still not consumed the fire never dies the worm is never quenched exactly like jesus said and a thousand years later you find the beast and the false prophet are still there and the one who's deceived them and led astray goes down to join them and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever forever and ever we saw that about babylon in chapter 19 verse 3 her smoke rises up forever and ever and then we read the final judgment after a thousand years this is the second resurrection now now the thousand years are over man's corruption has been exposed completely finally many people think today that men are not following the lord because they haven't seen the goodness of the lord that excuse won't be there after the thousand year reign of christ and i saw a great white throne this is not the judgment seat of christ notice the judgment seat of christ is at the beginning of the thousand years when the saints are rewarded this is the great white throne at the end of the thousand years and him who sat upon it from whose presence the earth and the heaven fled away and notice this phrase no place was found for the earth and the heaven i think of that time when jesus came to bethlehem and a similar phrase is there no place was found for him to be born and now we find when he sits on the throne in the final day there is no place found for heaven and earth and earth which rejected him there is no place found for it when he sits on his throne and i saw the dead the great and the small standing before the throne notice that even after they are raised from their graves when they stand before the throne what are they called the dead they are still not alive they're spiritually dead physically alive because they are raised from the grave but spiritually dead the dead standing before the throne and the books were open and the word in the margin is scrolls perhaps you do not know but i want to tell you that this type of binding of books like we have today's is a very recent origin just in the last few hundred years in the time when john wrote this book on 180 there was no such book like this bound together like this the books of those days were scrolls they just rolled it up so the long parchment rolled up and when you wanted to there was no question of one page to the next you just rolled up one side and rolled open the other and you kept reading right up to the end of the scroll so you you see what it says here the scrolls were open if you looked at a scroll it's just a big thing wound up together on a central spindle and the nearest thing that we have to a scroll today is a magnetic tape that's like a scroll wound around a central spindle and we can say we can read it like this the tapes were brought out to be replayed that's the meaning here the tapes were brought up tapes of what of our entire life and another book was open another scroll and that was the book of life the scroll of life and the dead were judged from the things which are written in the books according to their deeds salvation is by grace but judgment is according to their deeds in other words they're going to be degrees of punishment not everybody is going to get the same degree of punishment even in the lake of fire there are going to be different degrees of punishment in the lake of fire and it says here the dead were judged according to their works that means the lord will press the rewind button in that day as each person comes forward and his memory in which this videotape has been running all through his life long before video was invented by the earth by people on in the world and the rewind button is pressed and it goes all the way back to zero and then begins each person's judgment and will be flashed on the screen for the world to see this was your life and then you start from your babyhood right on till the end of your life every thought word deed attitude motive will be exposed on the screen in that day for everyone to see each person one by one will come and have his turn and the videotape will faithfully play back he cannot argue against what his own memory says he himself did there will be no argument saying i didn't do that won't be like a human court where people can say i didn't do that and bluff and cheat this is going to be a videotape recorded by his own memory that's going to play back everything in his life and he will be judged god will say there what judgment do you deserve and no one will be able to open his mouth and say oh lord i don't deserve that judgment everyone will have to give an account everyone and in that day will be fulfilled the word that jesus said every idle word that men have spoken they shall give account in the day of judgment you think it's forgotten it's been recorded faithfully on the videotape every word we have spoken the things we have spoken in secret others haven't heard it's recorded on the tape the attitudes and motives it says in romans 2 god will judge the secrets of men the hidden things 1 corinthians 4 5 god will bring the hidden things to light the hidden motives with which people pretended to be religious and pretended to be spiritual everything will be brought to light the babylonian merchantmen who made money in the name of religion who used the name of christ to build their own financial empire everything is going to be exposed in that day no one is going to escape the dead will be judged according to their works and we read here in verse 13 the sea gave up the dead which are in it we don't know exactly what this means perhaps it could refer to some type of evil angels that have been imprisoned in some place because it says death and hades gave up the dead too which were in them and it seems to me the sea is set apart from death everybody goes to death and hades but those in the sea are brought forth too i want to see you you to see a verse in second peter chapter 2 verse 4 second peter 2 verse 4 it says that the angels who sinned god has committed them into pits of darkness and reserved them for judgment in verse 5 it speaks about noah and this is probably referring to the angels who sinned in the time of noah those are the angels who went after the daughters of men and committed sexual sins with the daughters of men those angels have not are not allowed to move around freely like other evil spirits they have been reserved for judgment their judgment is also going to be at that time this could possibly be what it refers to here when it says the sea gave up the dead because the sea was not part of god's original creation genesis 1 1 says the heaven and the earth were created originally but the sea genesis 1 2 came as a result of lucifer's sin and so we see the sea gave up the dead and death and hades gave up the dead which were in them they were judged every one of them according to their deeds including these fallen angels who are reserved in pits of judgment for that final day and we read in verse 14 and death and hades hades is another word for hell thrown into the lake of fire this is the second death the lake of fire there is a difference as we have seen here between hell and the lake of fire now this is a big subject in itself and we don't have time to look at it in detail hell is called hades in the new testament in the old testament it's called sheol s-h-e-o-l hades and sheol is the word used for hell jesus told us about life after death in only one place and that's in luke 16 in the story of the rich rich man and lazarus it says here that when they died um this is a true story by the way not a parable luke 16 23 in hell or in hades the rich man lifted up his eyes being in torment and saw abraham far away and lazarus in his bosom and he cried out and said father abraham have mercy on me and send lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue for i'm in agony in this flame so hell is a place of flame but hades the word used in the greek language hades and in the hebrew language sheol i just want to say a few words about that had two compartments one compartment is what we know as hell burning with fire where the rich man went but there was another compartment also called hades which was called paradise or abraham's bosom in hades there were these two compartments paradise and hell and between them was this great gulf which abraham spoke of which could not be breached now when jesus died on the cross he told the thief today you will be with me where in paradise we also read in acts chapter 2 that jesus went down to hades so putting to the scripture with the other scripture we find that in hades was a section called paradise we also know from matthew 12 verse 40 that jesus said as jonah was in the whale's belly for three days and three nights so shall the son of man be where in the heart of the earth remember that his body was in the tomb of joseph of arimathea on the surface of the earth but where was he himself in the heart of the earth so that teaches us that hades the place of departed spirit was in the heart of the earth at the time when jesus died two sections and right in the middle of this earth there are two sections hell and paradise jesus and the lazarus and the thief went to the paradise section where abraham was and they were conscious they could speak to one another they could look across and see the people there in hell they could speak to each other amazing but when jesus rose up from the dead we read in ephesians 4 verse 8 that he took these captives captive and he ascended up that means he took all these people who were in the paradise section of hades and lifted them up to the third heaven the presence of god today paradise is no longer in the heart of the earth it is up there in the third heaven in the presence of god almighty we know that from second corinthians 12 where paul says i was caught up to paradise to the third heaven so when paul was caught up paradise had already shifted from the center of the earth up there christ had taken it up with his resurrection and ascension but hell is still in the heart of the earth the devil is not in hell he's in the second heaven he's in the heavenlies as we read in ephesians 6 12 but the departed evil men are the wicked are in the heart of the earth that hell is finally going to be cast into another place called the lake of fire we don't know where the location of that is that's just a little outline of these places and death and hell verse 14 were thrown into the lake of fire this is the second death the lake of fire and if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire this is the lake of fire that jesus spoke of in matthew 5 29 where he said it is better for you to pull out your eye if your eye is causing you to lust after women rather than have both eyes and go to the lake of fire it's better for you to cut out your right hand if your right hand is causing you to sin than to have that hand and go to the lake of fire where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched and i suppose he would also say it's better for you to cut out your tongue if your tongue is going to send you to the lake of fire or any other part of our body it's a serious thing jesus spoke about hell and the lake of fire more than any other preacher that ever walked on the face of the earth he was the greatest preacher on the subject of hell and the lake of fire because he knew more than anyone else the awful reality of eternal judgment and damnation when people do not turn from their sin or when people play the fool with religion do not turn to god wholeheartedly and once that final judgment is over what we see in chapter 21 and 22 is a description of the final glory the eternal stage the 7,000 years are over 6,000 years 2,000 from adam to abraham 2,000 from abraham to christ and 2,000 from christ to his second coming and then the thousand year of rest six days shall thou labor and one day thou shalt rest one day is with the lord is a thousand years six thousand years man labor one thousand years he rests and what happens the end of a week you begin another new week something new and that's what we read in chapter 21 verse 1 a new heaven a new beginning a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth passed away and there is no longer any sea notice that word again back to the original condition in genesis 1 verse 1 where there is no longer a sea only the heaven and the earth we read in 2nd peter chapter 3 and verse 13 2nd peter chapter 3 it says in verse 10 the day of the lord will come like a thief and the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat that's not going to happen immediately when jesus comes it's going to happen after jesus comes but within a period of one day that is 1,000 years as he has just said in 2nd peter 3 verse 8 one days with the lord is a thousand years and in that verse 10 in that 1,000 year period called the day of the lord the lord jesus will come like a thief at the beginning of that 1,000 year period called the day of the lord and at the end of that 1,000 year period the heavens will pass away with a roar that's what we see in genesis revelation 21 1 the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burnt up it's going to be a a fantastic atomic explosion you know man has discovered that every that these small atoms if you can split it you get such fantastic power through it that you can burn up a city imagine when god just blows up all the atoms which are on the earth that's what's described in verse 10 since all these things are going to be destroyed in this way what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness looking for and hastening the coming of the day of god the day of god is different from the day of the lord the day of the lord is when jesus comes establishes his 1,000 year reign and destroys the heaven and the earth to the end of the 1,000 year reign purifies it then begins what is called the day of god and the heavens will be destroyed by burning the elements will melt with intense heat but according to his promise we are looking for a new heavens and a new earth and what is going to be the characteristic of this new heavens and the new earth righteousness dwells in it in the thousand year reign of christ i told you there will be sinners still in whose hearts there is unrighteousness but that's all taken care of now the great white throne judgment of god and then finally will begin what we call eternity eternity will begin after that thousand year reign of christ and that is going to be a new heaven and new earth in which righteousness dwells meaning if i were to paraphrase it in which righteousness is at home you know there's a lot of difference between living in a house and feeling at home in you go and stay in someone's house in some people's homes you feel at home in other people's homes you don't feel at home in other people's homes you're just turned out and righteousness is being turned out of this earth but a day is coming when righteousness will at last feel at home in the new heavens and the new earth and it is for that kingdom that god has begun a new work in our hearts behold 2nd corinthians 5 17 if any man be in christ he is a new creation that same new creation here that same work has begun in our heart the kingdom of god which is righteousness peace and joy in the holy spirit just like god burns up the old heavens and the earth with fire through the baptism of fire he wants to burn up this old nature of ours and make something new within us so that we can be prepared for that new heavens and the newer that's the work god is doing in these days if only we would understand what we are being prepared for for a home where righteousness is at home jesus said in john 14 verse 2 i go to prepare in my father's house are many dwelling places i go to prepare a place for you he's gone to prepare a place for us who are longing for righteousness who are sick and tired of sin and unrighteousness who hate sin who are longing for righteousness like jesus who loved righteousness hated iniquity and i saw the holy city the new jerusalem coming down out of heaven from god made ready as a bride adorned for her husband notice jerusalem is called the holy city not the great city like babylon but the holy city and this is the bride here we see the bride of christ pictured in chapter 19 we saw her pictured as a woman who has got a garment which she has made from her own righteous deeds but here the same bride is pictured it's all picture language pictured as a city coming down from heaven out from god adorned for her husband what do you think was her adornment we read that verse adornment in 1 peter 3 verse 4 where it says let women adorn themselves not with gold embroidered hair and fancy clothes but with a meek and a gentle and a quiet spirit which has great value in god's eyes it's those who have learned meekness and gentleness and humility from jesus who have adorned themselves as a bride for our husband this is the true bride not fancy clothes and external greatness but gentleness and meekness of spirit which we don't naturally have you and i do not have gentleness in our nature we are harsh by nature we are rude and crude and proud but then we receive christ and the holy spirit and the holy spirit begins this work of adorning us adorning us not with stupid things like gold and fancy clothes but with meekness and gentleness these precious priceless gems adorned ready thing is whether we are allowing the holy spirit to do that work in our hearts now and i heard a loud voice verse three from heaven saying behold the tabernacle of god is among men god has always desired to dwell among men and his desire is finally fulfilled he shall dwell among them they shall be his people and god himself shall be among them that is the fulfillment of 2nd corinthians 7th sorry 2nd corinthians 6 verses 17 and 18 come out from among them and be separate said the lord and i will be a father unto you you shall be my sons and daughters i will be your god and you shall be my people 2nd corinthians 6 14 to 18 and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes there shall no longer be any death the curse is finally removed the curse is not completely removed today people are still dying including the best of believers even in the millennium people will die but finally in eternity there will be no longer any death there will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain the first things have passed away and he who sits on the throne said behold i am making all things new the book of revelation is full of new things i will have a new name if i am an overcomer jesus has a new name which we don't know what it is yet there are new songs sung and all things new and he said write right write it down john let people know it what their future home is going to be like for these things these words are faithful and true and he said to me it is done it is finally done all that christ died and rose again for it's finally accomplished i am the alpha and the omega the beginning and the end and i will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life freely remember it's only to those who thirst blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness they will be filled it's because we don't thirst enough that we do not receive if any man thirst let him come to me jesus said in the springs of the water of life refer to manifestations and experiences in the holy spirit given freely without any cause without any cost freely because we thirst and we come to him in faith verse 7 refers to the overcomers whom we have looked at many times in the book of revelation he who overcomes shall inherit all these things i will be his god and he will be not my child but my son and there is a difference between children and sons not babies he doesn't say he'll be my baby he'll be my son he who overcomes shall inherit all these things it's the father who is so delighted to hand over his entire inheritance to his son saying son i have proved you i've tested you you deserve it here you are everything how blessed it will be in that day he who overcomes the overcomers and we find them contrasted in verse 8 with the non-overcomers and there are eight classes of people mentioned here who are going to burn in the lake that burns with fire first it's very interesting to see the eight classes of people are going to burn in the lake of fire mentioned in verse 8 notice the top of the list we would put the murderers at the top of the list but the murderers come down at number four and the immoral persons come down at number five do you know who's at the top of the list the cowardly you know what that means the people who are afraid of the opinions of men and therefore were compromisers cowardly what will so-and-so say if i do this what will so-and-so think if i stand up like this the cowardly top of the list in the lake of fire he who has years to hear let him hear it's not enough to cleanse our flesh from murder and adultery brothers and sisters to cleanse our flesh from this cowardliness which god hates the most of all worshiping the creature idolatry seeking the honor of men bothered about the opinions of people no wonder we speak against that so much in the church so that we don't want to get into that trough do you know who is an overcomer the one who has overcome these eight things listed in verse eight he who overcomes it says in verse seven what does he overcome he's overcome first of all this cowardliness being bothered about what other people think about me if i do this or if i stand up for the lord like that number one second the unbelieving that has two meanings those who will not trust god who will not trust god and who are unfaithful in their life unbelieving that's a serious sin when god says something and we don't believe it we say it's a weakness it's not a weakness it's a sin unbelieving third the abominable i think that refers to people who indulged in all types of perversions and particularly sexual perversions and all types of evil abominable indecent filthy things worse than the animals murderers and every man who hates his brother is a murderer those who hate their brothers are here in the lake of fire no doubt in my mind about that immoral person those who didn't do it so much on the outside but who didn't want to pluck out the eye like jesus said didn't want to cut off their hand because they wanted a little bit of pleasure they wanted to lust a little bit and sorcerers those who played around with magic astrology what the stars foretell palm reading ouija boards demonic games all types of things and the word sorcery in the greek is the word pharmaceutical from which we get the english word pharmacy those who deal in drug are relevant to the 20th century those who are take drugs in an evil way idolaters those who give anything other than god the number one place in their heart who worship money pleasure anything else idolaters and here's another group which is mentioned three times by the way all liars and just by the way i want you to notice one thing that in all the other categories the word all is not mentioned it doesn't say all the cowardly and all the unbelieving and all the abominable but when it comes to liars why did it say all liars because there are white liars and black liars and just in case the white liars think it's only referring to the black liars the holy spirit's taking care of that by saying all liars whichever category of liar you are gray brown any type all liars their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone i wish we had a verse like this all liars will burn in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone it's true lying life deep in our flesh blessed are those who cleanse themselves from it wholeheartedly that's a pretty serious verse verse nine and one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven lost flakes came and spoke with me saying come here i'll show you the bride the wife of the lamb who overcame all these things she had the same flesh as these people who went to the lake of fire how is it she didn't go to the lake of fire because she walked the new and living way that jesus opened she used the power of the spirit to mortify the deeds of the body and she was a son of god he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city pictorial language describing the bride jerusalem coming down out of heaven from god and the first thing mentioned about her is that she had the glory of god that's the thing john mentioned about jesus christ john 1 14 we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth and the bride has partaken of that same nature the fullness of grace and truth having the glory of god and her brilliance was like a very costly stone as a stone of crystal clear jasper crystal clear means transparent no hypocrisy no double light she has cleansed herself from guile you can see through her her inner light corresponds with her outer light blessed are those who take that seriously and then the description of the bride the city of jerusalem the pictorial heavenly jerusalem begins with what would we begin with we would begin with the grand towers and all but the holy spirit begins with the wall the wall of separation this is why we speak much in the church here about the wall of separation that's the first thing that separates the new jerusalem out from everything else it had a great and a high wall and blessed are those who build that great and high wall around the jerusalem even today it's not easy to climb over it must be difficult we have to make it difficult for people to get into the kingdom it's not easy the way to life is narrow it's hard as few there be that find it there are multitudes of preachers hirelings who have broadened the gate and said it's easy who have lowered the walls till you can just hop over hop in brother but here is the true jerusalem a great and a high wall that's the first thing mentioned with 12 gates what are these walls and gates isaiah 60 verse 18 says your walls shall be called salvation or separation salvation from sin your gates shall be called praise praise not once in a week for one hour in the meeting 12 gates north south east and west on all sides at all times the spirit of praise these are the first two things mentioned there above the new jerusalem the walls that separate her and the spirit of praise and this is the thing we need to speak about constantly in the church crystal clear having the glory of god the divine nature crystal clear transparent without hypocrisy the walls of separation from an evil world and the gates of praise and names were written on these uh gates at the gates there were 12 angels and the names were the 12 tribes of the sons of israel which teaches us that there will be old testament people also in the bride of christ there were three gates on the east three on the north three on the south three on the west verse 14 the wall of the city had 12 foundation stones and on them were the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the lamb they are not the foundation of the city but the foundation of the walls foundation of the city is jesus christ and verse 15 i think when it says the apostles were the foundation stones of this wall it means that they laid the foundation for this high wall of separation and it's on that foundation that we build that high wall in the church today verse 15 and the one who spoke to me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and its wall and its city is laid out as a square its length is as great as its width and he measured the city with a rod 1500 miles its length width and height are equal it's a cube in the old testament tabernacle the most holy place was a cube exactly 15 feet height length and width in the temple of solomon the most holy place was a cube so this teaches us that the temple the city of jerusalem is going to be completely the most holy place in other words the only people who are going to be there are the people who've gone through the veil which means the rending of the flesh who've gone through the rending of the flesh in their daily life and come through to the most holy place which is an exact cube that's the symbolic meaning of this cube in other words there's as much depth to their life as there is length and width which other people can see you see with most people their life is not like a cube it's like a square the square gets bigger and bigger as we keep increasing our reputation before men but in the day of judgment god's going to turn all these squares sideways so that everybody sees how much depth there is in all these squares and some of them are going to be just thin as paper they're not cubes but here are people whose lives have been cued whose depth equals the impression that they gave to others and he measured its wall 72 yards according to human measurements which are also angelic measurements and it says here the material of the wall was jasper the city was pure gold like clear glass purity again the emphasis on purity like clear glass the foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone and the stones are mentioned there jasper sapphire chalcedony emerald sardonyx sardius crystallite barrel topaz chrysanthemum jacinth and amethyst and the 12 gates were 12 pearls precious stones we don't get precious stones overnight scientists tell us that precious stones are formed under the earth over a period of many years under tremendous pressure and this is how the saints of god have been formed to fit into the new jerusalem through the pressures of daily life and circumstances they humble themselves under these pressures and over a period of many years they were formed into the precious stone to fit into the new jerusalem the 12 gates were 12 pearls each one of the gates was a single pearl and the street of the city was pure gold like transparent glass i want to tell you something very interesting when you have time you can look it up in ezekiel 28 verse 13 we read that lucifer was decorated with these stones but he was cast out ezekiel 28 13 and these stones reappeared in the garment of the high priest aaron as we read in ezek exodus 28 verse 17 exodus 28 17 symbolizing that that which lucifer lost was going to come back through christ whom aaron the high priest symbolized in exodus 28 17 and those stones are now a part of the bride of christ that glory of god has come down to us in the church in the new jerusalem the pearl every gate is a pearl all this is a picture of glory fantastic glory and the street of the city was pure gold like transparent glass i like that in heaven we're not going to put we're going to walk on gold you know here on the earth they place such a high value on gold but we're going to put it under our feet in heaven and walk underneath it and i think the people are fit to be there are the people who put gold under their feet even now we're walking on top of it right now overcome it overcome the lust for it they're fit to walk on gold in heaven too the streets of the city are lined with gold and i saw no temple in it for the lord god the almighty and the lamb are its temple and the city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine it upon it the glory of god is illuminated lamp is the lamp speaking of the light of the glory of god in that city and the nations will walk by its light and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it and in the daytime for there shall be no night there its gates shall never be closed they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and liars will ever come into it but only those whose names are written in the lamb's book of life those things don't need any explanation it's pretty clear that light is going to shine brightly there are going to be nations on the earth who are going to walk in that light in that day and no liar will be found inside that city i believe there's much that we have heard today that we can profitably meditate on to prepare ourselves for that glory that is certainly coming