Renewal

Revelation chapter 21. Revelation 21, and I would like to thank as well the assembly here for the opportunity to be with you in hospitality as well, getting to see so many that we love again and be with you. Revelation 21.

I just want to read one verse, refer to others but one. This is the closing of the last book of our Bible, as you're well aware. Things are being wrapped up.

Things are being summed up from the beginning of our Bibles to the end. The new heavens and the new earth are in view. I want to just look at verse 5. And he that sat upon the throne.

This is an administrative action. The power of God is in view and he that sat upon the throne said behold I make all things new. New things.

New things can be good or bad. If you remember in Exodus chapter 1 there was a new Pharaoh who rose up and he knew not Joseph and it wasn't really good for the children of Israel. You can have new situations, new events, but not here.

Not here. This is the end of all things bad. When it comes to new things it's amazing how quickly things that are new become old.

There were two boys one time and they were playing with a remote-control airplane and one friend, he had just bought this airplane and he said to his friend, it's brand new, he said you want to go with me? He said let's try it out and the other boy said yeah sure and they went there and the other friend said to him, he says can I try it? Can I try it first? And he says yeah sure go ahead and he gives him the controls and he sends it up and all of a sudden it just comes like a nosedive. Kamikaze. Boom! Right into the ground.

Shatters into pieces and his friend looks at him and he says it was new, now it's broke. That's exactly like creation isn't it? At the beginning. For seven days it's new, it's all new.

God spoke and it was there, brought into being, brought into existence. Now we don't know how long, I would assume it wasn't very long, and the creation itself that was so new, so fresh, so pristine, so untainted, becomes broken. We've been hearing our brother Joel has brought before us the fact that we live in a world that's not simply breaking down, it's broken down.

It's broken because of sin. Sin has tainted everything, every nook and cranny of not only this world but the very universe itself. There are, in fact, there are situations that are in chaos out in galaxies and there are certain situations on earth.

There are situations in lives and it's all because of a fallen creation, a fallen world, sin that has come in. Job 15 verse 15 says, even the heavens are not pure in his sight. But I want you to think as we close the ministry session of this conference, I want you to get a look ahead, just for a few moments.

You know, it used to be years ago, every conference we used to get little shots in the arm at the end and, you know, think about the Lord's coming. I remember who was great for that, Albert Hall, he was just great for that, just give you a shot in the arm. We need that.

And I was thinking of this verse and just contemplating, behold I make all things new. Now there are different words for the word new. We talk about something that's new and we just have that one word, new.

But in the Greek, in the New Testament language, there's different aspects. There's a word that means new in quality, something that is new in character, new in quality. And then there are things that are new in time.

When it comes to new in quality, it's a word kynos. And when it comes to the word new in time, it's neos. We talk about people who are a neophyte.

They're new to something. And so we would use that word. Sometimes the Bible puts the two words together.

For example, in Ephesians chapter 2 and Ephesians chapter 4, we read about the new man. He makes of Twain one new man. And in reference to the church, the body of Christ, there is something new that is developed.

It's new in character. It's radically new, revolutionarily new. But then that word is used as well of that in Colossians 3. That's new in time too.

We have the new covenant. And again, those words are used of both in relation to the new covenant. It's new in relation to that which was old and ineffective.

It's new in character. But it's also 1,500 years after. So it's new in time.

And so sometimes those words are used for different things. But when you come to the book of Revelation, you have Revelation that gives us the end of all things old. Everything's old when you come to the end of the book of Revelation.

And we're looking at now a world. We're looking at the entirety of all of creation. And now God says, and you could almost picture, can't you? The Lord Jesus standing there in majesty.

And maybe you'll allow me a little bit of imagination too because I don't know how it's going to happen. But with a wave of his hand, behold, I make all things new. New.

And with one sweeping motion, everything becomes new. And not just new, but the idea here is that it is stamped with a freshness that will be eternally, forever new. No best-by date.

No expiration. Note that God is now making it new. And now after several thousand years, if there is time, it's got a little mark of use on it.

No, it's a constant newness. In fact, we actually in this world, there are companies, there are things that are built, the iPhone. As practical and as popular as that is, there is no doubt in my mind that it is built, it is a product that is built and made with built-in obsolescence.

Everybody's agreeing. You must have an iPhone, right? Okay, sure. Well, when it comes to the universe, it's broken down.

And when God makes all things new, there is no built-in obsolescence. There is no, it will constantly, eternally have a mark and stamp of freshness upon it. Now this word, kainos, new in character, new in quality, is the only word that is used of the things in Revelation.

There are eight new things that are given to us in the book of Revelation, and it is only the idea of that which is new in character. I'm going to give you very quickly. In chapter 2, there's a new name.

That new name is given to the overcomer. There was a reference earlier in the conference to eating of the hidden manna that the Lord Jesus gives, hidden manna. And there's a white stone, and in that stone there's a new name written which no man knows except him.

Now that is an interesting verse. I'm not prepared to go into all of that, but the fact is that this new name that is given to that individual, there's a permanency about it. Some commentators really aren't sure, and I'm not either really, as far as what that new name is absolutely based on.

But some have suggested that it's the fact that it's secret and no one else knows that name except him that is given to, perhaps it's based on the loyalty of that individual. Perhaps it's based on the individual aspect of how that person has lived for his Lord and Savior. And in the world of Pergamos, a world of compromise, here is someone who has said, I'm going to live for him, and he's given a new name.

It's new in character, it's new in quality. When you come to chapter three, now it's not something that's quiet, it's not something that's personal in that sense, but it's something that's public. And the Lord Jesus, in speaking to the assembly in Philadelphia, speaks about giving to those, and he says, my new name, the name of my God, the name of the city of my God.

This is public. It's going to be something that is new in character here. When you come to chapter 3 again and chapter 21, and I'm moving through these quickly, we read about the new Jerusalem, the new Jerusalem.

We read about it coming down from God out of heaven, coming out of heaven from God. It is literally the place where God dwells. It's new in relation to the old Jerusalem.

It's new in relation to that which was old, which was war-torn, which was bloodied, which was battled, which was full of sin and historical downgrades. And even though it was referenced as the city of God, it was a place of tears and pain and sorrow. No, this is the new Jerusalem.

It stands in contrast to that, the heavenly Jerusalem as well. Those who were strangers in this world, strangers for God, strangers for their Lord, strangers for the Redeemer, those that the world had cast out, their citizenship is in heaven. And so there's the idea of a permanency to a place that is so in contrast, war-torn on earth.

It's new. Chapter 5, there's a new song that is sung. It's new in character.

It was unable to be sung previously. The words, the content, the character of this song is now new. Can I ask you something just before I leave this on a practical note? What kind of songs do you sing? Young people here, if you pulled out your iPhone, what kind of songs are on your iPhone? What kind of music do you listen to? What do you fill your thinking with? Because if you're saved, God has given you a new song that the world is unable to sing, and you can sing it.

This is a new song. In chapter 14, there's another new song, and the 144,000 alone are able to sing this because of what they've been through, who they are. They have a unique song that is credited to them, and it's new in character compared to what anybody else has been able to sing.

There's a new heaven and a new earth. We're given that in Revelation right in this chapter in 21. It's interesting.

I'll just pass this on. There are three individuals, and they write of a new heaven and a new earth, and they write from different perspectives. Paul writes 1 Corinthians 15.

Peter writes in 2 Peter chapter 3, and John writes here in Revelation 21. Do a study of it. It's interesting to see what each one emphasizes, but it's a new heaven and a new earth, and whether your theological position is that this new heaven and new earth is a result of that which has been purged or that which is a new creation, whether it's the idea of the materials or the mode of it, the fact of the matter is this.

It is a new heaven and a new earth. It stands in contrast to that which is old. The rudimentary aspects, the elemental breakdown of the universe.

The word we get there in 2 Peter chapter 3 is interesting. He says that the elements shall melt with fervent heat. It's where we get the word stoichiometry from.

It's this aspect of the rudiments, the building blocks of the universe. The basic elements will be reduced. They will be loosened.

If you take the words there, it could very well be that the atomic structure will be loosened of everything, and the one who holds all things and the one by whom all things consist will release his grasp momentarily, and the universe itself will be purged. I don't know exactly what's going to happen. I'll tell you what though.

I'm glad I'm going to be there. Power that will be unleashed that is unimaginable. The power, that same power, that is one day going to change our bodies according to Philippians 3 and verse 21.

The power that is able to subdue all things unto himself is that power that I would like to think with a wave of his hand or the word of his mouth. Behold, I make all things new. So in relation to that future, I want to just contrast a few things because what we need is renewal.

All things are going to be made new, but I'm wondering if we can take from this conference, from what we've just heard, what we've heard earlier, what we've experienced, even with interactions with one another, I wonder if what we really need is renewal. In light of all things being made new, I wonder who's going to go from this conference in light of the fact that one day all things are going to be made new. Is there going to be a new commitment, a sense of a new or renewed commitment to the things of God? A committal, not simply a drive-by shooting or a drive-by accident where we all of a sudden tense up and we think, I need to drive better, I need to be better, but a reality of the work of the Spirit of God in us now as a result of the ministry and the truth of God and being brought face-to-face with divine realities in relation to a man who has given his life for us and died for us, a renewed commitment.

Renewed consecration. We fritter away things. We waste time.

We've been hearing, I'm guilty of more guilty than any of you probably, and renewed consecration, renewed commitment. Something comes into my mind. I was thinking of it as my brother was speaking and how we waste time.

Brother Peter Orsuk, if many of you would have remembered him, he came to our house. He was staying with us one time and Peter loved to do, well, he loved to go to pet shops, loved to go to candy stores, loved to do things like that, and one day he said to me, we're sitting at the table, I had taken some time off work, he was having some meetings at the time there, and he said, what do you want to do today, Frank? What do you think we should do? He said, you want to go to a pet store? And I was like, pet stores, not many pet stores here. How about a candy shop? Candy shop.

I said, I put on too much weight. I want to go to a candy shop. And he's thinking about what we could do, what we could do, and my wife, she's not here so I can tell you this, so she looks at us both and she says, you know, she said, right now there's a sister in the hospital that you two could go and visit and spend your time profitably.

And Peter looked at her in his own Peter Orsuk fashion. He said, you know, Norma, if the Apostle Paul were married to you, we would have read of a fourth missionary journey. Well, we did go and visit her.

We didn't go to the pet store or the candy store. They got something sweeter. How about it? Time.

Time. In relation to eternity. Because if the Lord would come today, yes, this is going to happen in the future, but there is something that will interpose itself in between then and His rapture, and that is the judgment seat of Christ.

Renewed consecration. How about conviction? I wonder what type of convictions are formed at conferences like that, when the Word of God is open, when the Word of God in its preaching and in its power is allowed to literally come out and form and cause brand marks, spiritual brand marks to be put upon us as individuals. Convictions that will mark us, mold us, make us.

That will cause us to be unmovable. Now, while all things are new and we need renewal, there are some things we need to stay firm on and the same on. There are things that are being taught.

There is doctrine that is coming in, not biblical doctrine, man's doctrine. It's changing. New things that want to be brought in.

You know what the problem with new things is? It's always replaced with something else that's newer. In light of that, what does the Apostle Paul say as he writes to Timothy? He says, the same. Commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to take those same things of biblical truth and pass them on and teach them to others.

I appreciated in this conference our brother Isaiah's word, going back to 1st Corinthians 11, 2,000 years historically, to doctrine that does not change. Are you holding on to that? In light of a world with new fads, newfangled things, novel, are you holding on to that which is old, that which is of God? How about communion? Renewed communion. There is a cry for activity.

Nothing wrong with activity. It's needed. But can I go back to Bethany for a few moments? Can I go into the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus? And can I take you to a place where the Lord Jesus actually says, Martha, Martha.

He says, one thing is needful. And he says, and Mary has chosen that better part. We want and need at times activity.

But I'm wondering how much time will we renew communion, the need for it, spending time at his feet? Who was it? Brother William spoke on Ruth, I think, earlier in the 1st Corinthians, and there's Ruth lying at Boaz's feet on a cold, dark night. Where was the best place? Laying at his feet, listening, learning, waiting upon him. We are in the coldness of a dark night in this world.

Where is the best place we can be? Learning at Boaz's feet, spending time in communion, renewing those moments that nothing else can take its place. What about confession, a renewal of confession? Not necessarily as a brother Joel has been bringing before us, but not necessarily the big things, although they require that, of course, but the burdening things, the cleanup in our lives, the attitudes, maybe the evil speaking, the gossiping, the shunning, the cliques, the compartmentalizing, the off-limits of certain sections of our lives because that's our property. What about confession before God and saying there's nothing off-limits now? Nothing.

I think it's time for all of us to renew these things. What about consideration of one another? How do we consider one another to provoke unto love and good works in love? To consider the needs of others, to look upon those that we move with. What needs do we have? How can I help? Renew that.

I'll just give you several verses and I'll end. First Samuel 11, 14, then said Samuel to the people, come and let us go to Gilgal. Gilgal was the place of cutting off, right? The place where the reproach was removed.

And let us renew the kingdom there. It was in relation to Saul. Well, God had in mind even more renewal in relation to David.

Psalm 51, 10, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Isaiah 40 and verse 31, they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles.

They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Romans 12 and 2, which has already been referred to in this conference, the renewing of our minds that we might prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

So many passages where individuals experienced renewal and they were men made new. Moses in the backside of a desert, Isaiah in the midst of an active ministry, if I can put that, realizes at the altar, I'm a man of unclean lips. Woe is me! And he says, I will go.

Peter, I go a fishing. And he sets everything aside and he turns back the clock and yet he realizes as he sees the risen Lord, I need renewal. One thing, one day, all things are going to be made new.

Behold, I make all things new. What about today? What about some things today in this conference being made new? Look forward to that day and look forward to it in light of today. Is there someone here maybe you're, maybe there's infirmity, physical infirmity.

You're burdened. The pain in your body. We've been praying for a dear sister Carol.

One day, all things new. There are those with difficulty. You bear age.

Some are younger that have issues. What is it going to be like to have a new body, to be made like Him? What about emotional infirmity? What about relationship infirmity? What about people that have been burned, hurt, bruised, scarred? People that have been misaligned, misunderstood, misrepresented. One day, I make all things new.

What about people who are living right now, maybe believers and life hasn't turned out exactly the way you wanted it. You never dreamed you'd be in the situation you're in now. And maybe for some it's unchangeable now.

Behold, I make all things new. Understand this, that the one who's going to make one day everything new was here and He knows. He knows what we go through.

Look to Him. Let us look in light of that day when all things are made new. You know, it could commence.

I know Revelation 21 is further ahead than that. But it could commence for us today. What a tremendous truth that would be to take with us situations left behind, sadness left behind, slights left behind, sorrows left behind.

Thank God, sin left behind to see Him as He is. May God bless His Word.