Revelation 21:1-10

Excerpted from The Divine Conqest

For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. (1Ths. 1:5)

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. (Revelation 3:1)

To one who...

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Revelation 21:4

Yes, we shall come to this if we are believers. Sorrow shalt cease, and tears shall be wiped away. This is the world of weeping, but it passes away. There shall be a new heaven and a new earth, so says the first verse of this chapter; and therefore there will be nothing to weep over concerning the Fall and its consequent miseries. Read the second verse and note...

"And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new." Revelation 21:5

Glory be to His name! All things need making new, for they are sadly battered and worn by sin. It is time that the old vesture was rolled up and laid aside, and that creation put on her Sunday suit. But no one else can make all things new except the LORD who made them at the first; for it needs as much power to make out of evil as to make out of...

Scarcely could we rejoice at the thought of losing the glorious old ocean: the new heavens and the new earth are none the fairer to our imagination, if, indeed, literally there is to be no great and wide sea, with its gleaming waves and shelly shores. Is not the text to be read as a metaphor, tinged with the prejudice with which the Oriental mind universally regarded the sea in the olden times? A real physical world without a sea it is mournful to imagine, it would be an iron ring without...

It probably comes as a shock to anyone reading this verse that the fearful and unbelieving are listed together with what we would think of as outrageous, vile sinners, and that they will share the same punishment for all eternity.

It probably comes as an added surprise to note that the fearful are listed first. This should be tremendously sobering to any who excuse their timidity as a trifling matter. Perhaps they are afraid to accept the Lord Jesus because of what their friends might...

Sell all that thou hast and give to the poor, says Christ, Except a man forsake all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. Give us this day our daily bread. We are crucified unto the world and the world unto us.

Naturally, we grasp at all. We embrace with our hands all that we possibly can, and embrace the rest with our desires. What we are not able to inscribe with our name as possessor, we inscribe with our name as candidate....

Luke 14:15-24

"A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests." This supper is a picture of the blessings of redemption. The redemption of Christ is said to be great - he who prepares it, its blessings, and the numbers who enjoy it, its eternal duration, and the sweetness of its joys - all are great. At a feast men provide the best provisions they can obtain;...

Luke 14:15-24

"A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests." This supper is a picture of the blessings of redemption. The redemption of Christ is said to be great - he who prepares it, its blessings, and the numbers who enjoy it, its eternal duration, and the sweetness of its joys - all are great. At a feast men provide the best provisions they can obtain;...

This is not your rest. § There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. § Behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus.In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. § With Christ, which is far better.God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there...

Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended. 

He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth.

These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of...