Revelation 21:1-4

Last time, we saw the final judgment of God on all evil and those who will not give up on practicing it. These were disposed of in the most excruciating way I could imagine. My old friend and mentor, Rev. Dr. Victor Lujetic, known to some of us as “Pastor Victor,” added to that terrible thought. Being plunged into boiling sulphur (444.72 ℃) will create a wound on the surface of the flesh like a scald, and then, as he pointed out, that wound will never heal. Now apply the sulphur to the open wound. For forever. Ouch. But after that is all done in history, we will see what starts this evening as a very brief glimpse into the eternal state of redeemed man, that is, all of those who were NOT thrown into the lake of fire.

I had many thoughts about how to approach this topic and what form the delivery of this information should take, so I will give an introduction to where we are going. We have already seen where we have been, and this is a renewed heaven and earth. I did find some meaning in the original Greek. I have no reason but to take this somewhat literally, allowing for metaphor when appropriate. Both can still be true, as we have seen all the way through Revelation to this point.

I broke the text down like this:

KV3: True Immanuel, God With Us

3: And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,

1: New Heaven and Earth

2: New Jerusalem, New Capital

3: New Divine Living Arrangement

4: New Intimacy and Relationship

I thought about this for a short time, and God had the mercy to reveal to me that as it began with a loving Companion in a Garden, the story of the Bible ends in a garden with that same loving Companion. All those upon whom He has had mercy in calling them to Himself at the right time for them will come to this day in joy, blessing, and peace. Not a great deal can be known, but I do think simpler things can be reasoned out. We will speak about those things as they arise.

This time, we see four basic things right off the bat that will begin here and continue for eternity, or as the Greek text is wont to say, “εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων,” or “to the ages of the ages.” I like a song by the band Acapella with a similar title: “While the Ages Roll On.” The chorus goes, “While the ages roll on // While the ages roll on // I’ll be with my Lord // While the ages roll on and on.” We first see the recreation of heaven and earth, second, the New Jerusalem, third, a new living arrangement for everyone, and finally, a new level of intimacy for everyone. That said, let’s look at the text.

KV3: True Immanuel, God With Us

3: And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,

When Jesus was conceived and it was time for God the Son to become human, an angel of the Lord said this to Joseph in a dream, when he was telling him of Mary’s faithfulness but unusual obedience to God and situation, in Matt. 1:21, “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” The angel went on to explain that name in verses 22 and 23: “Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,’ which translated means, ‘GOD WITH US’” The specific prophet Gabriel was quoting was Isiah, from 7:14 of his book, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

The realization the Lord allowed me to come to is this: It began in an idyllic setting, God walking with a man as a friend and companion. We blew that one, and none of us would have done any better, I don’t think. So that God became a man to pay the debt for His creation, who had, in ignorance and deception, rejected His commands. God the Son became Jesus the Man. God truly was with us. He lived a life without sin, and He did it for us. At the right time, He provoked a set of events that caused His enemies. There were many of them posing as the religious leaders of the nation He was born into, to have the Roman overseers of Palestine (their word, not mine) to put Him to death in the most horrific way humanity ever imagined; they crucified him by nailing him to a wooden cross by his wrists and ankles, setting that cross upright and letting Him slowly suffocate, pulling himself up with his nailed-down arms and pushing Himself up with nothing but that nail through His ankles for support. In this way, He died not as a victim but as a willing volunteer who paid for all our sins. That was on Friday. Then He rested on the Sabbath, the second day, and then on the morning of the third day, the Lord’s Day, we call it “Sunday,” He rose from the grave to prove that the price had been paid. From that point, any who have turned to Him in true repentance and faith have become His. He was God with us, and He came for this express and stated purpose. Immanuel indeed. We are approaching what in the church is known as “Advent.” It is the celebration of God becoming human as a gift for all of us. We should make an effort to remember this as we go through what we have come to call “Christmas” this year.

I debated saying this, but I have to: people love Christmas, and how it is associated with the little baby Jesus. It’s like they forget that He grew up and died in our place on that Roman cross to redeem us, to save us, from all of our sins. At this point in our future history, there will not be a single person left anywhere who does not belong to Christ our King, who has saved us all for this very purpose. I do not think it means we do not celebrate the birth of our Lord, our God, becoming Human. It means we must be very purposeful about it, because the day we read of in our text this time is coming, and we want to be there as full participants in His glory as we will serve Him to the ages of the ages. Participate in church gatherings. Preach the word in (the Christmas) season and out of (the Christmas) season. Tell people about why you love Him and how He set you free. Let them know that if they are willing to turn from their sins and toward Him as the living God, they can be the same. It does not mean that their lives will become problem-free, but they will have His grace and steadiness to face trouble. Email me if you want to know more at Pa*******@**********on.com.

With that said, let’s get into the text.

1: New Heaven and Earth

I will remind us that last time, we saw that the old earth and heaven (the ones we live in and on now) fled away from the One who sat on the great white throne. It was the day of the uncreation of the universe. The only part of it left standing was the area where the throne was, and the dead gathered in front of that, I suppose. After their final sentencing is carried out, what happens? We do not know, because John goes through a scene change. As the scene changes, so does our level of joy. It is challenging to be joyful about someone being thrown into everlasting conscious torment, no matter who it is. We begin to think of the “what ifs” and the “if onlys” in life, but at that great white throne, it will be too late. That is why we are so stuck on telling people to turn now, so they can avoid that whole scenario that, frankly, haunts me. It should haunt everyone.

This part is what happens after the end. Let’s see what the text says.

1: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

The first thing we see is a new heaven and a new earth! But we need to talk about what that may mean for a second or three. There are two Greek words that mean “new.” The first of these is καινός, a form of the word used here in our text. This word means that which is unaccustomed or unused, not “new” in time, recent, but “new” as to form or quality, of a different nature from what is contrasted as old, according to Vine, in his Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words.
I have an informative example that relates to our reading club selection on Fridays. We are reading Dr. John MacArthur’s book Strange Fire, which argues that today’s Charismatic movement has really missed the boat on some things, introducing the same kind of “strange fire” that Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, introduced into their worship of YHVH. Those men died for that, and because [sarc] we don’t have enough trouble in the church today [/sarc], the Charismatics introduce the same type of misguided and abominable things into what we would call “worship” today. It says in Mark 16:17, “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;” The word “tongues” here is the Greek word “glossa,” and is used in this passage to mean “languages.” The word “new” here does not mean “new in time,” but is again a form of καινός, meaning that it is a language new to the speaker, but one that exists elsewhere, and that they speak. Some will claim that it is a heavenly language, but that cannot be true, because it was always used to either edify the church in a place where they spoke a different language from the speaker, or to preach the gospel in a way the hearer can understand. Paul explains the use of tongues in the church in 1 Corinthians 14. You can read that for yourself. I can say more and bring in the first use of “tongues” in Acts 2 if need be, but I will leave it alone, as this is not our topic here.
Heaven is new. I have no idea what all that means, but there will be one that is new in our experience. I think this may mean we will be with our King Jesus directly. There is an old hymn I like, and it is the best thing I could find to summarize my thoughts. It is called, Where Jesus Is, ‘Tis Heaven There. It goes like this in verse 3: “What matters where on earth we dwell? // On mountain top, or in the dell, // In cottage, or a mansion fair, // Where Jesus is, ’tis heaven there. // O hallelujah! yes, ’tis heaven, // ’Tis heaven to know my sin’s forgiven; // On land or sea, what matters where? // Where Jesus is, ’tis heaven there.” I included the chorus. I like the idea, though I admit I do not completely understand it yet. I will then.
The Earth is new! There will be no more curse, it will do what God designed it to do, and there will be no more decay that resulted from sin. Again, I do not know precisely what that will mean, but I do know it will be like Eden before the fall. It will be free from any of the consequences of sin, ours or angelic. Isaiah described this in Isaiah 65:17-19, which says, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness. I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.” This has been predicted since about 700-800 years before the birth of Christ!
When we look around today, we see the world physically decaying and spiritually infected with sin. Cheer up, believer! We have hope in this! Faced with these conditions, Christians need not be pessimistic, for they have hope of future glory. We can look forward to the new heaven and new earth that God has promised, and wait for God’s new order that will free the world of sin, sickness, and evil. While we wait for this coming day with joyful expectation, we should go with Christ into the world to heal people’s souls and to fight the evil effects of sin. Some think that it should include healing their bodies, but it depends on what they mean by that. If they mean supply medical care, then I agree. If they mean the sign of miraculous healing, I say, “Get your empty hand off my empty head.”
I like the thinking of Puritan Commentator Matthew Henry on this. In his meditations on this text, he wrote, “The new heaven and the new earth will not be separate from each other; the earth of the saints, their glorified, bodies, will be heavenly.” We shall be like Him, and we shall see Him as He truly is, John told us in 1 John 3:2, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” I don’t have any other way of reading this.
The old heavens and the old earth “passed away.” This is the aorist, active, indicative, 3rd person, plural verb ἀπέρχομαι. It means to come or go away, to depart. This means they will be gone and will be no more. Again, I have no other way of saying that as clearly. This happened in our text last time, when they fled before the One sitting on the great white throne, and no place was found for them, and they went back into the nothingness that God spoke them out of in the first place, in nihilum, the opposite of ex nihilo.
No longer any sea. There is some debate on this topic, depending on how literally it is read. Some say that it means there will be no more sea. It might mean that, and it tells us that what will exist after eternity begins will not be dependent on liquid water. That is so far beyond our understanding of what makes life alive that my brain, with its biology degree, does not know what to do with that. It might also be somewhat metaphorical. The sea in Scripture represents the hidden and chaotic. This could mean there is nothing hidden any longer, and that God will finally be the victor over chaos. Ultimately, we do not know what this new earth and heavens will look like or entail. It will be amazing to find out. And all of that is enough wonder to keep my heart singing for quite a while. However, and I must quote the late Billy Maize here, “But wait! There’s more!”

2: New Jerusalem, New Capital

You know, I’ve never been to the old one. I would like to go, but as you know, there is a great deal of unrest that could lead to violence in that part of the world, and it will never be safe until the Lord returns. I can wait for that time. I want to be where the Lord puts me, and if that is in a tent in January in Northern Canada, then I guess I’m okay with that, although I would ask for identification on that kind of order. Faith should not be blind faith. That’s just credulity, that is, gullibility. But this is telling us that not only will there be a new heaven and earth, but a new capital city, the New Jerusalem.

2: And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

Indirectly, this tells us we aren’t going to stay in heaven or sit on clouds with harps. This tells us that we will live on the new Earth, right in the text of the verse. The city may be coming down out of heaven from God, but it is coming down to Earth from that being and location. It is also telling us something else.
It will be a HOLY city. Sin will be gone. No unrighteousness will dwell there. There will be nothing in the whole city, Earth, or heaven that will do any harm to anyone on Earth. There will be no street gangs or robbers or worse, there will be no murderers, no bank robbers, no bad drivers, not a one, ever.
It originates with God in Heaven. Jaimeson, Faucett, and Brown state something I find interesting here and on point: “The descent of the new Jerusalem out of heaven is plainly distinct from the earthly Jerusalem in which Israel in the flesh shall dwell during the millennium, and follows on the creation of the new heaven and earth. John in his Gospel always writes [Greek] Hierosoluma [the Greek word for Jerusalem] of the old city; in the Apocalypse always Hierousaleem of the heavenly city (Re 3:12). Hierousaleem is a Hebrew name, the original and holy appellation. Hierosoluma is the common Greek term, used in a political sense. Paul observes the same distinction when refuting Judaism (Ga 4:26; compare Ga 1:17, 18; 2:1; Heb 12:22), though not so in the Epistles to Romans and Corinthians.” They credit this observation to Johann Albrecht Bengel (1687-1752), renowned German Lutheran pietist and language scholar, and so will I.
Coming down out of Heaven. The Greek word used in the text is καταβαίνουσαν, and is the present, active, participle, accusative, feminine, singular verb meaning “to come down, or to descend.” The image I see in my mind’s eye is like a big, beautiful, multicoloured cube (more on the city’s dimensions in a later study) descending vertically, landing upright on the ground. It is literally descending from the sky. It is not clear to me whether we will see it descend as John did or whether it will already be in the city itself. However, it is coming down as a gift from God Himself. God will come down to his new heaven and new earth to be with his renewed people.
Here, the city is described by analogy as a “bride” prepared for her husband. Whether this is a literal city that descends from the sky or an analogy that describes the community of the citizens of that city, I do not know. My own thinking is that it is both at once, because the categories are not mutually exclusive. It is not only like Eden from before the fall (Rev. 2:7 says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.”), this is no longer merely a garden, but in the Lord’s letter to Ephesus, it is the “Paradise of God.” It is a holy city, in fact, the city of God on Earth, costlier, statelier, and more glorious, and has had far more work put into it than ever expended by primitive man in the garden of Eden. No, Beloved, the “living stones” that Peter talked about have been cut into the shape they were designed by the Creator to occupy on the template pattern of the Chief Corner Stone, our Lord Jesus Christ! And they shall occupy that specially designed and specific place for all eternity, knowing the full worth and position for which God Himself designed them.
There will be relationships in that city, first between God and His people, and also between God’s people themselves. All will worship our Lord together in His fullness, and all of us will be together in a way not possible today. It will be so beautiful that it will defy description, even for John. And again, I hear the voice of the late Bille Maize saying, “But wait, there’s more!”

3: New Divine Living Arrangement

Here, we are used to living with a certain set of people, in a certain house, on a certain street, in a certain province, in a certain country, like that. I don’t know if that will be different, but there will be a very different living arrangement: God will be there in person, perhaps to see and hear personally. Let’s see what the text says.

3: And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,

My first question: Who is “the voice?” Is it God? Is it another angel? We do not know, but all will hear it. The commentators are divided on this point. One says it must be God speaking audibly. Another says it must be an angel standing near the throne. The text does say the voice comes from the throne. There is no way to know from the text. When we have no way of saying, I personally conclude that the person saying the words is less important than the words. What are the words? They are a great joy to my heart.
Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men. The Greek word for “tabernacle” in the text is σκηνὴ, the nominative, singular, feminine noun for “tent.” It sounds much like the word we have in English “skin,” not that the English is important here. It is usually translated as “dwelling place” in Scripture. The obvious comparison is the ancient Tabernacle set up by Israel under Moses in the wilderness, which became the symbolic dwelling place of God on Earth. That was an archetype, a faint shadow of the reality that is about to come to pass here. The Tabernacle was where all the sacrifices of Israel were offered. Speaking of all the animals that were sacrificed in that place, the writer of Hebrews makes this point in Heb. 9:23: “Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” The sacrifices were all types and shadows of the very real Jesus, God the Son, who took His own human blood into the holiest place before the seat of God the Father, in payment of the debt humanity incurred by our disobedience and sinfulness. THAT God is the one who will now live with humanity, and He will do it on Earth, in the new Jerusalem that is coming down from heaven from God. This is not the “millennial temple,” either, though that temple may be the closest until that point. This is the very place where God locates Himself, as much as He can geographically, being omnipresent (everywhere at once). Gone is the weakness of the flesh he wore during His first incarnation. He is in His permanent and heavenly body, and so will be all humanity at this point. Why is this happening?
And He will dwell with them. Who is “them” speaking of? That is US, Friends! This will be the first time that we will all be able to say that we are home on Earth. Moreover, God will not only dwell with us, but we will be His people. Literally, He will tabernacle with them. The Greek word is σκηνώσει, a form of the word we looked at earlier. It is the future, active, indicative, 3rd person, singular verb form, actually. It means that He will take up His residence with us. More than that, the “they” in the phrase “they shall be His people” shows a two-way relationship. That word in the Greek is said to be in the emphatic.” Koine Greek uses both standard (enclitic) and emphatic forms for personal pronouns. Emphatic pronouns tend to be accented and longer, and their primary use is to draw attention, provide focus, or make a contrast—often standing out noticeably in the sentence. He shall be our God, and WE shall be His people. I want to say a bit about the word for people as well. The Greek word is λαοὶ, and it is plural. All the peoples of the nations will be there and may be recognizable! And there will be no tension or dissension among them at all, unlike in our present world.
It will also be a two-way relationship, with permissions, privileges, rights, and responsibilities going both ways, and will always be executed perfectly and, at least on my part, be done with pleasure. I suspect everyone else will be that way also. Why?
Because God Himself will be among them, he will truly be Immanuel, God with us. As difficult as it is to imagine, it creates a longing in my heart for that time. It will certainly be better than the time we live in now, although we can be fulfilled now by working for Him in the best way we can. You will recall my term of “inaugurated eschatology” from our studies in Ephesians. I got that term from Theologian George Eldon Ladd in his book, A Theology of the New Testament, if you want to look it up in your own copy. I’m not loaning books anymore; they grow legs and walk off. I found it on Amazon. Here, that eschatology is no longer in its inaugural form, and in fact is no longer eschatology! That was “last things!” This is “first things,” and what it instead inaugurates is a new living situation! God will be with us! Not only is that new, but there will be a new relationship of His visible presence with us! From the language of the verse, that relationship will be two-way, demonstrating a level of previously unknown intimacy with our God and King! I hope I am conveying all the reasons I look forward to this. And again with the voice of Willie Maize! “But wait, there’s more!”

4: New Intimacy and Relationship

As I stated, there will be a new-to-us kind of relationship. Hopefully, by this point in the timeline, where time becomes irrelevant because we will all share the trait of immortality, it will no longer be new in the sense of intimacy with our creator. What does this mean? I don’t want to speculate, but I can’t help it. I think at this point, we will all be the people He intended us to be all along. In today’s world, filled with sin, death, and the principles of decay, we are only twisted versions of that image of God in which we were created. As I write this, my own frustrations in life nearly bring me to tears. I won’t go into details, so don’t ask me. Suffice it to say that your prayers are always welcome, as is your monthly support, but I don’t expect either. Life is pain, and because of His sacrifice for me, I am facing all of it through His grace. And that is really my point. Let’s see it in the text.

4: and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.

Now, we have the pain of life. Some of us know the limiting pain of past injuries, illnesses, or conditions we had in the past or have now. Some of us know the pain of financial impecunity and the dire limitations it can impose, right down to the food you eat or can’t afford. Some of us know the emotional pain of loss, grief, and/or tragedy and the burdens that can place on your soul, for lack of better terms. We remember dear ones who are now departed from this life, and some of those people we doubt we shall see again, not knowing or suspecting they were not believers. I cannot think of how that will affect our Lord Jesus on the day of Judgement, but He will go through it, and I suspect He will understand because of what He will do here.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. I know that means there will be some tears, but He will make it right somehow. I do not understand how, but He will. We will have no tears because we will have cried them all out, but because He will literally take them away. Read the text again. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. The word for “wipe away” as used in the text is ἐξαλείψει, the future, active, indicative, 3rd person, singular verb, meaning to wash, smudge, or smear away completely, metaphorically used in the sense of wiping away, obliterating, or blotting out something. The same word is used of how Christ expiated our sins by wiping them away in Acts 3:19 and Col. 2:14. He took our sins away, he cancelled our debt before God, in other words. It also occurs in the letter from our Lord Jesus to the church at Sardis, in 3:5, which says, “He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” Jesus will not blot out the name of those who follow Him. It also occurs in Rev. 7:17 and in this verse in the sense of wiping away tears. If we arrive “safe on that eternal shore,” He will take away the reasons for our sadness. As I said earlier, I do not understand how. Some of us have seen and still undergo a great deal of tragedy. But I know, just as Job knew, that He will take it away, and better, replace it with His joy.
There will be no longer any death. I know this is difficult to imagine, given how inundated we are in this wicked world. All of us have lost loved ones, family members, and friends to death. Sometimes it was violent, and that is terrible. Sometimes it was self-inflicted, and that is even more horrible. I have known both. From this point, it will no longer be a thing. Literally, the Greek says, “death shall be no more.” For those whom He chose to be there with Him, He will have granted them immortality. Time does not end, but it will have become irrelevant for any who is there. Lord, let me be there, that I will be able to participate in this glorious day, the foundations of the new heaven and earth. I might only be a spectator, but how incredible it will be to be there and see what John describes here? And still I hear the voice of Willy Maize. “But wait, there’s more.”
There will be no longer any sorrow [Gk., “mourning”], crying, or pain. Thoughts of losses of loved ones, privileges, or riches will no longer be able to give us grief. Again, I do not understand this, and I have a great deal of difficulty picturing it, but I think I get it. I know I believe it. I personalize things like this so as not to embarrass any of you while still giving you an example. I have had a lot of sorrow, some of it self-inflicted, some inflicted by others, and some just because of circumstance. That mourning over whatever it was, or my things, or my relationships, or my family, or whatever, has taught me things. That pain has chiselled out character in me and shown me areas that He needs to work on, and all of it has been painful and tear-inducing, at least in the figurative sense. But on that day, my Lord Jesus, my Saviour and King, will personally take it away.
I look forward to it. A part of my comic nature wonders what I will do without it, but at that time, I doubt it will matter.
I know some of you have been through similar, and sometimes the same, things. For now, we must understand that we are destined for the throne, to borrow a phrase from Paul Billheimer. To borrow another from him, don’t waste your sorrows right now. Let the Lord use them in you to perfect you so that you, too, can stand with me and see all of this unfold. Personally, I want to be near the Apostle John and see his reactions, but that’s a detail I’ll leave to our Lord. The Scriptures tell us why this is even possible then.
The first things have passed away. The Greek word for “passed away” in the text is ἀπῆλθαν. It means “to come or go away.” That is what will happen. All those things that “vex” us, as righteous Lot was vexed in Sodom, they will pass away when God speaks it all in nihilum, that is, into nothing. He created it ex nihilo, that is, out of nothing, and He is able to send it back into nothing. All the sin and sorrow, all of the things that pull us away from Him, they will all pass away.

I will point out that all the verbs (except “pass away”, which is aorist, simple past) here are in the future and active tense. What this should be seen as from God is a promise that He who will not change and cannot lie will do what He has said He will do. All we have to do, as we have seen throughout this book and all the other studies we have done, is to get there by walking faithfully (or, as the Apostle Paul says, “in a worthy manner”). Whatever it is you are doing, continue to do it for Him. That must necessarily preclude sin, because sin and sinners will not stand in His presence. Allow the trials and pain and vexations, the tears, the crying, the pain, and the death (of self mostly) to sanctify you.

If you were told that this should not be happening to Christians, you were lied to. The Christian life is to follow Christ through whatever circumstances fall into your path. Because of the sin present in the whole world, and because of your own sin, our Lord Jesus loved us all enough to become human and “wipe away” the certificate of debt that Paul talks about in Colossians 2:14. He took the penalty we deserved by dying in our place, but the effects of that were to wipe away the sin of the repentant sinner who turns to Him now. I urge you, as His ambassador here, to be reconciled with God through His sacrifice for you.

Assuming it is all well with your soul, I hope to see you there on that day. That’s what I saw in the text this time.

Next time, we will look at verses 5-8. Verse 9 really belongs to the following paragraph, and we will look at that too when we consider verses 9-14 in the following study.

This year, I am in a different place, both spiritually and employment-wise, than last year, so I will try to continue the studies through the month of December. Last year, I served as the interim minister at Delta Baptist Church in December and was able to share the Word of God there. This year, nothing is in the pipeline, so instead I will ask for your prayers on that. I plan to conduct this study through the Advent season. Personally, I’m looking forward to that. I will ask for your prayers that God would lead me into a pastoral position that I could really labour for Him and support my family. I will thank you in advance.