Thru the Bible

Steve Schwetz: If you've ever stood by the casket of someone you love, you've felt the sting of death. Even if that person knew the Lord Jesus, death is still an enemy to mankind, and praise God for victory in Christ Jesus. Welcome to Thru the Bible, where our teacher Dr. J. Vernon McGee gives us a picture of what happens after death to those who refuse God's gift of life. We'll be in Revelation 20 beginning at verse 14.

This message is really tough to hear, but gratefully Dr. McGee didn't leave us in the depths. As we make our way to Revelation chapter 21, we'll travel to the beautiful heights of heaven. So as you find your seat on the Bible Bus, and if you're able turn to Revelation 20, I want to share some great letters. But first, let's listen to Dr. McGee read this one.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: There is indeed a remarkable letter. It comes from Hillsboro, Oregon, and it says, "You've commented several times lately that you haven't heard from any truckers for a while. Well, you're hearing from one right now and a real fan of yours at that. He drives the West Coast between Seattle and San Diego and often passes over Pasadena. Don't you ever hear our air horn giving you a cheery greeting?

You be listening now, and at the same time, he'll probably have one of your tapes going on the cassette player in his truck. When he's home sometimes on weekends and he's trying to get to sleep in a bed for a change from sleeping in the truck, he'll say, 'Put on one of McGee's tapes. I can't seem to get to sleep.' and he puts me to sleep every time."

Now that part of it I didn't quite appreciate, but I'm glad that we can even put a trucker to sleep, but I hope not at the wheel. And so we rejoice that we are hearing from our trucker friend.

Steve Schwetz: That's great. Now here's a voicemail from Blair, who also drives a truck.

Guest (Male): I listen to McGee every couple- through the stations every hour or two just hoping to get Mr. Vernon McGee. Love to hear his stories. He seems like he brings a humanity- it just opens up my eyes like right now I'm hearing him in high gear.

So much insight he brings humanity to the people that was there, the people we read about. Sometimes we read about them thinking that they were so much better than we was. Oh, he opens it up says, "No, they were just following God." I love to hear that and then they make mistakes following God. I love to hear that. It just makes me feel like I'm at least trying. But thank you, Mr. McGee. He was the best Bible teacher I've ever heard. Thank you.

Steve Schwetz: It's so wonderful to hear from you, Blair. Thanks for sharing your story. I'll save you a seat, as there is so much amazing ground left to travel in God's Word. Now here's an email that we received from Dikta in Georgia.

"This is my second trip on the Bible Bus, and I'm a member of the World Prayer Team. I'm also enjoying the ease of using the Bible Bus pass to invite people to join us. I pray that the whole world joins this glorious ride and hope that my little contribution puts some air in the tires as we ride around the globe. I look forward to occupying my seat on the bus as the bus rolls on. God bless you, your whole team, and your families."

Well, that's so encouraging. Thank you, Dikta, and we're so glad that you're on the Bible Bus and inviting others to join with you. And it's an exciting time to ride together. In just a few days, we're going to be completing our journey through the whole Word of God and begin a new trip, starting back at the beginning on April 3rd.

That's quite a milestone, and I want to challenge you to stay on board and keep riding and learning and growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's my own personal goal too. And this is a great time to also thank listeners like Dikta for your financial support. Your gift, no matter the amount, is used by God to keep the Bible Bus on the road in more than 250 languages.

Thru the Bible is so grateful for the generosity of those who benefit from these studies. So if the Lord is prompting you, we welcome you to the joy of ministry. And like I said, God uses our partnership together to take the whole Word to the whole world, and it's quite a privilege.

To support this mission, just call us: 1-800-65-BIBLE. Again, that's 1-800-652-4253 or click on donate in our app or at ttb.org. And you're always welcome to drop your gift to the ministry in the mail. The address to send it to is Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. In Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, teach us now from Your Word just how wonderful heaven will be. We can hardly wait. Draw to Yourself those men and women who are hearing Your invitation, maybe for the first time. In Jesus' name, amen. Here's Dr. J. Vernon McGee with our study of Revelation 20 on Thru the Bible.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now I'm turning to the last of chapter 20 today, and I put in here and begin reading verses 14 and 15: "And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire. And if any were not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire." Now there are some things that need explanation there.

The word here for hell, and I read in the translation, "and death and hell were cast in the lake of fire," and I changed it in my translation, "and death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire." Well, that is an unfortunate translation in our Bible. Sheol in the Old Testament is not hell, nor is Hades in the New Testament. Actually, this place is the place of the unseen dead. It's divided into two compartments.

The Lord Jesus, in the parable of the poor man and the rich man who died, He divided it into paradise and the place of torment. Paradise was emptied when Christ took with Him at His ascension the Old Testament believers. And if you turn over to the fourth chapter of the epistle to the Ephesians and read, which I'll do: "Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.

Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things." Now He did do two things. He gave gifts to man down here, but He also took with Him to heaven the Old Testament saints that had died—that is, the place called paradise.

But the place of torment will deliver up the lost for judgment at the great white throne which we saw last time. All who stand at this judgment are lost, and we're told that they're cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. We're also told the Lord called it outer darkness. Now we believe that that is symbolic of something worse than literal fire and outer darkness. I believe that it's much worse than that.

It is eternal separation from God, for death means separation. Now death, the great final enemy of man, is finally removed from the scene and no longer will it be said, "In Adam all die." And death is personified in this case because it's man's great enemy.

The Old Testament said that, Hosea 13:14: "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes." And that's in Hosea 13, verse 14. Then Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:26, said, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

Then in verse 55: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" In other words, Hades is the prison of lost souls. It's likewise cast into the lake of fire. Why? Well, the lost are no longer in Hades but are in the lake of fire. So this is where Satan, the wild beast, and the false prophet and their minions were consigned.

Now let's face up to it. If man will not accept the life of God, he must accept the only other alternative. God never created man to be put in this place. But there's no other place for him. Eternal association with Satan, for that was the purpose of the creation of hell itself.

I take it it's a place where God never goes. He stays away, and it means to be separated from God. And the second death means eternal and absolute separation from God. Now very candidly, I'm very happy to turn the page and come to the 21st chapter of the book of Revelation, because at a time like this, we need to see a very wonderful picture and there's a wonderful one coming up before us.

Eternity is unveiled here in chapter 21: a new heaven, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem, a new era, and the eternal abode of the Lamb's bride. We will be then new creations in Christ Jesus, without the old nature that manifests itself so much today. Now we have the entrance here into eternity, and eternity's unveiled before us.

We have now the new heaven, the new earth, and the new Jerusalem here in verses one and two. Now if I may adopt a popular aphorism of the day, it can truly be said that this chapter is out of this world, and it certainly is. It hasn't anything in the world to do with the earth, except the first part of it. And we do see the eternal abode of the church.

What really is heaven? There's so much today that is just sticky stuff and sentimental stuff. It's quite weepy when we talk about heaven. Well, heaven is a place, a very definite place. You'll have an address there, and a name's going to be put on you when you wander around through eternity into outer space, because you might get lost and some angel will have to bring you home, and you'll have a home.

Now as the long vista of eternity is before us in this chapter, we've moved not only from time to eternity but to a new creation. A new heaven, a new earth, a new Jerusalem greet us, and the redeemed have previously received glorified bodies like Christ's. All things have become new, and a new universe suggests new methods and approaches to life.

New laws will regulate the new universe. The entire lifestyle will change, and here are some of the changes that are suggested by these next two chapters. I've listed here six of them. Number one: there'll be the total absence of sin and temptation and testing in the new creation. This in itself makes a radical difference.

The second: the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven does not mean another satellite for the earth, but rather the earth and all of the new creation with all of the galactic systems will revolve about the new Jerusalem because it's the dwelling place of God and of Christ. Then the third radical change: the law of gravity as we know it will be radically revised.

There'll be traffic between the new Jerusalem and the earth. Now I do not think the earth dwellers—those saved in the Old Testament and in the great tribulation period and in the millennial period—are going to be able to leave this earth. But the church has already left the earth, and its dwelling place is the new Jerusalem.

I believe that we'll have entirely different bodies and the law of gravity will not affect us—that is, the law of gravity of this earth or any other planet. Now the fourth great change: there'll be no sun to give light, for God Himself will supply it directly to the universe. There'll be the absence, therefore, of night.

There's no night there because we just won't need that time to rest, because we've got new bodies. I'm looking forward to it, by the way. Now the fifth: there'll be no longer any sea on the earth. The sea occupies most of the earth's surface today, approximately three-fourths of the total surface is water. Now this denotes a revolution in life upon the earth. Just think of the parking space you're going to be able to have.

There'll be no fish to eat, and apparently man will be a vegetarian even in the millennium and in eternity, as he was in the Garden of Eden. Fruit is the only diet of the eternal man, and you get that, by the way, when you turn over to the 22nd chapter of Revelation. We'll be picking that up; it says in the midst of the street of it, on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits.

I'm not going into that now, but the point is, man's diet apparently is going to change. Then the sixth is the presence of Christ and God, together with the throne of God made visible, and it ushers in a new day for man and the new creation. Now let me come to the text itself, and we have here in the first two verses a new heaven, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem.

He says, "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." This is quite interesting. John says, "I saw," and that's the oft-repeated statement of John to remind us that he was a spectator to all of these scenes. In other words, he's a witness to the panoramic final scene which ushers in eternity here.

That's very important. Now the scripture clearly teaches that this present order of creation is to pass away in order to make room for a new heaven and a new earth. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away." The old creation was made for the first Adam, and the last Adam has a new creation for His new creatures.

Isaiah said, "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." And again in 66:22: "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain." Now God had promised Abraham a land forever, and David a throne forever, and Daniel prophesied of a kingdom which shall never be destroyed.

The new earth will see the total fulfillment of these prophecies. And listen to Hebrews 11, here in the faith of the Old Testament worthies, verse 13: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and they were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly." Heavenly doesn't mean they're going to heaven.

It means heaven's coming to this earth. And that's what we mean in the Lord's Prayer: "Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven." Well, it's coming. "Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city." Now again, in 2 Peter 3:13: "Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."

Now Peter has something to say about that in the third chapter, verse 7: "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." Verse 10: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness." Now the chief characteristic of the new earth, as we've suggested, is the absence of the sea. Now this would automatically change the climate, the atmosphere, and living conditions.

It's impossible for the human mind to comprehend the great transformations which will take place in a new creation. The sea in the past has been a barrier and also a border for mankind, which in some cases it's been good and in others bad. Also the sea was an instrument of judgment at the time of the flood.

However, by the disappearance of the sea, the population of the earth can be doubled again and again because of the increase of the land surface. Now in verse two I read: "And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband." Now we come to the part that should interest us: this is where we're going to live.

When you talk about going to heaven, what do you think about? It's to most people just the beautiful isle of somewhere. Well, it's a definite place. It's a city called the new Jerusalem. It's a planet within itself. And we're going to see that as we get into this section. This is a great section.

Very candidly, very little is said in scripture about heaven. But here it is, and that's the reason this ought to be important to us. How would you like to spend Christmas in heaven? It'll be better than Southern California, I know that. He says, "I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride."

Now I can't think of a lovelier description of this than that: a bride, made ready as a bride. This new Jerusalem shouldn't be identified, by the way, with the old Jerusalem, the earthly Jerusalem down here. Now let me come back to this. I say I can't think of a lovelier figure, and the reason is this: it's been my privilege in a long pastorate to have married several hundred couples that have stood before me.

I've made this statement many times: I have never seen an ugly bride. They're always lovely. At the wedding, the first thing that happens is that after they get through the solos, there comes the wedding march. And here comes the preacher, I walk out from the side, and then there comes the best man and the bridegroom, and nobody pays any attention to him except his mama.

She's sitting down and she smiles at him, she thinks he's wonderful, but nobody else looks at him. But in a minute, here comes the bride-to-be, and I tell you, everybody stands up and looks at her. I've never yet seen an ugly bride. My wife, when I used to return from a wedding that she didn't attend, she'd always ask me the question, "Was the bride beautiful?"

I'd always say, "Yes." Never seen an ugly one. Don't think I'm just a doting old man when I say that. I have seen some of these brides before they got married and I wondered were they going to be able to make it. Then I've seen them after the wedding, and I tell you, I wondered if it was the same girl who came down the aisle.

But you know, God gives to them at that time a radiance and a beauty. And to me, that's a thrilling moment when you look down the aisle and, especially for the bridegroom, and see the one that you're going to make your own—she's yours. What a picture. As I say, I've never seen an ugly one yet.

God seems for that moment to just transform every girl into just a lovely bride at that time. And I think the reason He does it is because the new Jerusalem where we're going to live is like a bride adorned for her husband. And what a picture that we have here. May I say that this is the first time we get a glimpse of it.

I think it's been around. The Lord Jesus said He was going 1900 years ago to prepare a place for you, and He's been preparing this home for His bride, the church. And it's a thing of beauty; we're going to see it in this chapter. It gives the description of it.

We're going to have a very happy holiday not thinking of Bethlehem but thinking of the new Jerusalem, the place toward which the church is moving today. We're pilgrims and strangers down here now, but we've got a permanent home over there. Until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.

Steve Schwetz: Yes, if you know the Lord Jesus, be encouraged that you're not home yet. The Lord is preparing that place for us as He promised in John 14. "And if I go and prepare a place for you," Jesus said, "I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be always."

We've got a very bright future ahead of us. And as I mentioned earlier, we're about to start a new five-year study through the whole Word of God in just a week, our 12th trip. How many of those trips have you been on? You know, we'd love to hear why you keep coming back. Is it because God's Word breathes life into your weary soul?

Maybe because it reveals the beauty of Jesus more clearly? Maybe because it steadies you in the storms of life or stirs you to grow in ways you never expected? Well, would you write and tell us your story? Just send your note to the feedback section of our app or email us at biblebus@ttb.org.

Of course, you can always leave a voicemail on our testimony line if you want to do that. You can call us at 1-800-65-BIBLE. Again, that's 1-800-65-BIBLE. I'm Steve Schwetz. For all of us at Thru the Bible, praying that you see God's mercies today, new with every sunrise.

Guest (Male): Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.

Guest (Male): We're grateful for our committed listening family who faithfully pray and invest in Thru the Bible as we together take the whole Word to the whole world.