Simple Faith

Bill Henry: Has anybody ever been hurt in a church? Those can be some of the deepest hurts. "Hey, I thought you were a Christian. I thought you loved me. I thought you were a pastor," I thought this or that. And these hurts can haunt us, and the enemy loves to bring them up again, doesn't he? You see, the Lord has forgotten them. He will never bring them up again. Ever think about that? Whenever a sin that is past and you've repented of and confessed is brought up, it's never the Lord because He's forgotten of it.

Guest (Male): Once again, it's great to have you along for Simple Faith with Pastor Bill Henry. Now, if you've done any house hunting in recent years, you're familiar with the crazy descriptions that real estate agents use to describe new homes and communities. Mediterranean architecture, French Provincial, the latest in gated community living.

Well, with all due respect to your local realtor, there's no way they could ever come up with an adequate description of the city we'll hear about today. As we continue our study in Revelation, Bill will bring us more details about this most amazing place: the New Jerusalem. Here's Pastor Bill Henry in Revelation 22.

Bill Henry: Now, what great grace of God the Father, what endless mercy we see even when we don't even realize it. Now, we're told back here in our text in Revelation 22:2 that the old heavens, remember the old earth, has passed away, that our old flesh is passed away, that death and hell have been cast into the lake of fire.

And now in verse two here, the new heavens and the new earth, the New Jerusalem itself, that the tree of life will be made available to us again. Does that get anybody excited? I am excited about that. Why? Well, we're going to see in verse three that the curse has been lifted. But let's finish verse two real quick.

Notice he describes some of the tree of life. He says, "With its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month." So this tree of life will bear twelve kinds of fruits. And again, notice the number twelve again that we've had, so it will be twelve kinds of fruit bearing each month, twelve months, so twelve and twelve again, it's very interesting.

But we don't know if this means that it's going to bear one type of fruit every month, like a different kind of fruit every month, or just all twelve fruits all at the same time every month and just continually bear fruit. We don't know that. But what I do find interesting, and again, this is like a little bit of a sidestep, is at this point in time, we will be in what's called eternity.

And some Bible scholars will say that time itself will be gone at this point. Now, I humbly disagree with that assessment. And part of the reason is what we're reading here within our text because we have a reference to time: that every month it will bear fruit. So I'm not going to get too far into that, but I believe that since God created human beings into a timeline back in Genesis, that time will always have some role to play for us.

And that's something how God made us, I believe, as we see evidence here within our text. Now, this doesn't mean, though, that when we're there, we're going to look at time in the same manner. Because remember that if the whole world was under the curse, it would also make sense that time itself was under the curse as well.

So again, I'm not going too far with this, but just kind of an interesting thing. So just to kind of look at that, that we see that it will be a monthly thing, new fruit will be continually on, and I just love that. It also shows, by the way, that we will probably be eating there. People have asked, "Well, with our new bodies, will we?"

No, we know that we will be having the marriage feast of the Lamb. We will be eating there. We know that Jesus, that our body will be likened to His, we're told, that He ate. Remember? Fish and drank with the disciples. So, very interesting. Now, notice verse two says, "The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."

Now, I find this verse very interesting and even the commentators have a lot of different views. But do the nations need healing at this point? Will they need healing? My question to you is: Do you? Anybody here need healing? And not just physical, but in other ways? I don't believe this is referring to physical healing because we will all have our new bodies at this point.

First Corinthians 15, you don't have to turn there, it will come up on the screen, verse 50. It starts; it says this: "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump."

Anybody listen for that trump? For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh Death, where is your sting? Oh Hades, where is your victory?"

So I don't believe that this is talking about physical healing of the body. So, is it going to be for emotional healing, mental healing, the things that we had gone through? Remember, there will be a lot of people that are coming right from the thousand-year reign of Christ who were still under the curse and still had to deal with the curse even in the midst of Jesus ruling and reigning.

Now, here's the thing, guys and girls, just like the waters of life, they're available to us today. So too is the healing of Jesus Christ. Now, and right now I'm specifically, I believe in the gift of healing for today, although I think it's also greatly abused and mis-taught on, but I do believe that God, I've seen God do miracles either through doctors and nurses, but I've also seen Him heal supernaturally.

I've seen God say "no" through doctors and nurses and I've seen Him say "no" supernaturally. So I believe that that is still here. But what I'm talking about here: Do you know that if you're heavy in heart? In other words, Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, "Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest."

Is that you today? Are you heavy laden? Are you in labor as far as just getting worn out? Verse 29: "Take my yoke upon you, learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Jesus tells us that in Him we can have peace, we can have healing.

There's so many other promises. Joel 2:25: "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten." You see, our God is a God who restores what the locusts have eaten. So many things in our lives can hurt us. Cruel words of a parent or a teacher or someone else. The lack of love shown to us by our parents or others. Physically abused.

Physically or sexually abused in some way. Even our own sin. Even though we stand forgiven at the cross of Jesus Christ, even though the Lord forgets our sin, we don't, do we? And many times I've met Christians that are continually still even now living with regrets even though they stand forgiven at the cross of Jesus Christ.

Is this what this is talking about? The hurt can go on and on. Anybody ever been hurt in a church? Those can be some of the deepest hurts. "Hey, I thought you were a Christian. I thought you loved me. I thought you were a pastor," I thought this or that. And these hurts can haunt us, and the enemy loves to bring them up again, doesn't he?

You see, the Lord has forgotten them. He will never bring them up again. Ever think about that? Whenever a sin that you've repented of and confessed is brought up, it's never the Lord because He's forgotten of it. You see, guys and girls, we can still come today and find peace at the cross of Jesus Christ, healing.

But it takes what it takes as Christians is taking our eyes off of those hurts because a lot of us like to live in those hurts, don't we? That's the other side. A lot of us in today are taught by a lot of people out there that are false teachers and by the world that you should identify with that. "This is who I am," and they identify with the sinner that they were before they came to Christ.

Or "this happened to me" or "let me tell you about my brother who died or my husband who died or my wife who died or my child," and again, it's not a few days or a few weeks, even a few years, it's 10, 20 years and they're still living in that place. Why? Because that's what they're thinking on all the time. They're meditating upon that.

Read Philippians chapter four. I love that because it tells you to meditate on Christ, to meditate on those things that are pure, those things that are lovely, not upon the hurts. That's not saying those things don't hurt. Amen? It's not saying that the hurts and things that you've gone through and will go through, that they aren't valid and there will be times to mourn.

But it is saying: Take your eyes off of that even at the time it's happening and put them on Jesus and find healing and comfort and He will restore what the locusts have eaten. He promises that. Look at verse three, back in our text: "And there shall be no more curse." Right there, anybody? Woo!

Dude, this is like great news. Imagine if all of a sudden somebody called you up: "Hey, you know your house? It's paid off. No more debt. Everything's paid off." Anybody be excited about that? You see, you're more excited about that than the curse being gone. And seriously, I understand why, don't get me wrong, but that's focused on the temporal.

This is eternity. There's going to be no more curse. "But the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it and His servants shall serve Him." No more serpent, no more curse, no more fall, no more sin. Praise Jesus! Even in the thousand-year reign of Christ, think about this: They dealt with the curse.

Even when Jesus is ruling with a rod of iron and there was complete peace upon the earth, even then we read in Revelation 20:8 that as many as the sand of the sea stood up to rebel against God at the end. I can't comprehend that. But they were still under the curse and they decided to go with sin.

You know, it's interesting: The curse of sin was really rooted in the rebellion of men and women against God and His leading. Remember back in the garden, what did the serpent say to Eve? "Hath God said? Hath God really said that you can't eat of any of the fruit of any of the trees?" Even there, more lies already.

But you see, that's even today, that is the root of even today the curse: rebellion against God. It amazes me when I meet somebody who professes to be a Christian but then says they're going to ignore what the Bible says about this or about that because they don't like it. And so they're going right back to the garden, right back to the curse.

I don't know about you, but I'm stoked that there is not even going to be a thing in me that wants to rebel against God because the curse is gone. The slate is clean. For Christians today, we're still in Romans chapter six, seven, and eight. We're still in Galatians chapter five where the flesh is at war with the spirit.

And praise God for that, but one day that's going to be gone. There's not going to be any more sin. The lusts that carry us away that James talks about, they're gone. No more flesh. No more wanting our own desires met. No more world seeking to seduce us away from God. No more Satan seeking to deceive the nations. Woo! I love it.

Honestly, when I was doing a study, I'm just like: This is so awesome. Now, notice in verse three at the end: "His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face and His name shall be on their foreheads." So part of what we will be doing in heaven for all eternity will be serving God. Does that get you excited?

You know, that gets me so excited. Notice it says that His name shall be on their foreheads. This is a symbol that we are owned by God Himself. Now, it's funny because I think that there are some people when they hear this: "Well, what do you mean we're going to be servants of God? What does that mean?"

I think there are people even maybe here today or listening, they don't like the sound of that. "What do you mean I'm going to be a servant for all eternity? That doesn't sound very good to me." Well, let me ask you this in a loving challenge: If you're not serving God on the earth here and now with love and gratefulness, why do you think you're going to do so in heaven?

Sincerely. It's one of those amazing things to me. Years ago, I talked to a fellow and, you know, another thing we're going to be doing a lot of in heaven is worship, right? We're going to be doing a lot of worship. And this guy told me after service one time, he's like, "You know, I just hate worship." He's like, "It's so boring to me. I just get so bored."

And I honestly, I looked at him just like I'm acting now, so bewildered. I'm like, "What? Did you just say that?" And I said, "Well, you know, if you read your Bible..." He goes, "Oh, I did read the Bible. I finished it a few years ago. It was pretty good." I'm like, "Well, if you read it, you'd remember that worship is one of the main things we're going to be doing in heaven."

You're not going to want to even go to heaven, are you, because that's one of the main things we're going to be doing. And now I can relate that same thing even to serving. If we're not serving here on the earth and we're not serving the Lord wherever we are, whether it be in church, whether it be at home, whether it be at our workplaces, whether it be in our schools, wherever we are.

If we're not serving Jesus in the here and now, why do we think we're going to want to go to heaven and serve Him then? To be a servant is a normal part of being a Christian. When people come to church and they don't serve, and this isn't to rag on anybody, this is sincere, I don't understand it. It is completely foreign to my thought process.

Now, when I came to Christ, it was one of those things that it's like, you know, I know I have to serve. And then thankfully the people who were around me, they all taught me that being a disciple is also being a servant. You serve others. That's just what, no matter where you go, whether you're here, you're in Russia, you're Australia, you're in China, you serve the church.

When you're at church, you serve. And you're serving the Lord, you're serving each other, you're lifting each other up. So when people don't serve, I just don't get it. I honestly I can't relate to it. It's the weirdest thing. It's like saying, "Yeah, it was neat walking on the moon." Oh, I've never walked on the moon, so I can't relate.

When people don't serve, I honestly don't get it because it's so foreign. And to be honest, it's foreign to what the Bible teaches, too. So if you're not serving now, why do you think you're going to go to heaven and be a servant there? So again, a gentle warning, a gentle encouragement, and maybe a kick in the pants for some here today.

Sincerely a loving one. That's part of being a Christian: being a servant of all. And I'll be honest with you, some of you are going, "All right, Pastor Bill, you got me finally. You've been saying this stuff, I'll do it." Don't do it if it's like that. I'll be honest with you: Nobody has to guilt me into serving.

Nobody has to guilt me into loving my wife as Christ loved the church. I don't do either perfectly. I fall down doing both things. But you know what? I get back up, I confess sins if I need to, and I start doing again because of the power of the spirit of God by the word of God. And let me encourage you in that.

You know, it's like it's not I have to serve God, it's I get to serve God. And in heaven, it's not we have to serve Him, it's we get to. We get to serve the King of Kings. I don't have to serve my old master anymore, my old slave master: sin. Do you remember that? I remember those days.

I remember when I had to get high, I had to get drunk, have to chase after sex and other things of the world: power and money. I remember those days. That was my slave master. God set me free, Jesus Christ. He's my new master and I am so grateful and I will ever be forever grateful. I am His and I will serve Him so much more freely, more graciously, more lovingly than I ever served my old taskmaster: sin.

Now, notice here's the reward. Look at verse four: There's a reward for serving Him. Notice they shall see His face. Woo! We get to see the face of God and we're not going to melt away like in Indiana Jones. Remember when the Ark came up? We get to see the face of God because in our new bodies that have been likened unto Jesus, we can see God face to face.

Could you imagine? I'm serious, I'm speechless. I don't even know what to say. What a great honor that is. Notice verse five: "There will be no night there. There will be no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light and they shall reign forever and ever." Now, this is the second time we're told this.

Back in Revelation 21:23, the city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, the Lamb is its light. So I love this. In this new heavens, the new earth, God Himself will be our light. Every day, Jesus Christ, day and night, there's no night there. Jesus will be the light.

Do you know what's so awesome? Again, just as we read about water and just as we read, look: Jesus is the light of the world today. Even today, Jesus Christ is the light of the world. In John 8:12, Jesus said this: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life."

Isn't it awesome? Look, you go read the works of Muhammad. There's no light there. Go read the words of the Buddha. There's no light there. There's instructions on how you can try to be good and better and other religions they go through karma and you go through all these things and you try to work your way up.

Where Christianity is all about the God came down and died upon the cross. Jesus is the only place that there's light found. But here's the thing, guys and girls: Do you understand that not only Jesus is the light of the earth, so too are you and I? So too are you and I.

Ephesians 5:8-9 says, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth." In Matthew 5:13, Jesus said this: "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its flavor, how will it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men."

Why is the United States decaying? Because the salt, the church, has been so decayed and so gone away from the word of God, the spirit of God. Jesus goes on and says, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but put it on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Let me read this out of the paraphrase. I love this. This is the last part: "Here's another way to put it. You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We are going public with this, as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you?

I'm putting you on a lightstand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a lightstand, shine. Keep open house, be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven." Look, guys and girls, as we're closing and we see that Jesus Christ is going to be the light continually there, we are to be the light here as Jesus is shining in and through you and I to a world that is so dark.

It needs Jesus Christ. It needs you to go forth and to be that disciple planting seeds, watering seeds, and maybe even getting to partake of the harvest as we're out there living and speaking the words of Jesus by the power of His spirit.

Guest (Male): This has been Simple Faith from Simple Faith Calvary Chapel in Vancouver, Washington. Today, we brought you a message from Pastor Bill from his new series in the book of Revelation. If you'd like to hear today's message again or share it with someone, it's available at our website to either watch or listen, and you can actually download an audio MP3.

We have a large number of Pastor Bill's messages archived, and you can find them all at simplefaith.org. That's simplefaith.org. And if you'd like to contact us, we'd love to hear from you. There's a tab at the top of our homepage where you can also send in a prayer request. Just click that "Contact Us" tab, again, at the top of the homepage.

And this month, when you support Simple Faith with a donation of any amount, we're going to send you a wonderful 365-day devotional book by Anne Graham Lotz titled *The Joy of My Heart*. Now, whether you make it an inspiring addition to your personal devotion time or a gift to encourage a friend or family member, we pray that this best-selling devotional study will draw each one who reads it closer to Jesus, rediscovering that His word is the joy of my heart.

It's a wonderful resource we're excited to send to you, and it's yours for a donation of any amount this month. To donate, just go to simplefaith.org and click the "Give" tab. You can also call us at 833-BY-GRACE. That's 833-294-7223. And if you prefer the U.S. mail, our mailing address is Post Office Box 55, Battle Ground, Washington, 98604.

Here at Simple Faith Calvary Chapel, we have two services every Sunday morning at 9:00 and 10:45, and a great time of study in God's word Wednesday nights at 7:00 PM. For more information and directions, go to simplefaith.org, and you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Thank you so much for joining us today. Be sure to join us next time as our series in Revelation continues here on Simple Faith with Pastor Bill Henry, brought to you by Simple Faith Calvary Chapel.