Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #18 of Revelation chapter 21 and we are continuing to look at Revelation 21:7:

He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

In our last study we were looking at a few verses in Ephesians, chapter 1 and, especially, Ephesians 1:13-14:

In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

In our last study I mentioned that the Greek word, Strong’s #629, which is translated as “redemption” is the same word “redemption” that is found in Luke 21:25-28:

And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

We have discussed many times that the language here must be understood spiritually because God is speaking of “signs” in the sun, moon and stars.  We know from Matthew 24:29 and Mark 13:24 that what it is referring to as “signs” is a darkened sun and moon and stars falling and if these things literally happened, it would not be a “sign.”  A “sign” is something that points to a reality.  You see the “sign” and it is an indicator of the truth.  If the sun and moon were literally darkened and if stars literally fell to the earth, it would not be a “sign” of the end, but it would be the actual destruction of the world and universe.  But that is not what God means and in Mark 13:24, God uses the term, “In those days after that tribulation” in which the sun and moon are darkened, so these “signs” are taking place over a course of time called “those days after that tribulation,” so there is absolutely no way that these things can be understood literally when we take into the account all the parallel passages in Matthew, Mark and Luke. 

What it is teaching is that “immediately after the tribulation,” which ended May 21, 2011 (after an exact 23 years or exact 8,400 days), God put out the lights of the Gospel which are typified by the sun, moon and stars.  We have been living in this world ever since, so these are the days in which the sun has been darkened, and so forth.  The putting out of these Gospel lights is a “sign” to the people of God who have spiritual eyes to see it.  It is a “sign” to the elect that it is Judgment Day because they can only “see” the sign of the darkened sun, moon and stars in the pages of the Bible.  You cannot see it when you look up into the sky because those literal lights are still there, but you can see the signs in the Bible and that is exactly where Christ reveals His coming in judgment and that is what it is saying in Luke 21:27:

And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

The word “coming” is a participle that refers to continuous action, as God spiritually identifies clouds with His commandments, as we see in Numbers chapter 9.  When the cloud moved it was the commandment of God that the Israelites were to move on and when the cloud stayed it was the commandment of God that the Israelites were to stay.  The “great cloud of witnesses” is the Word of God, the Bible, and we “see” the signs of the darkened moon and stars in the Scripture.  It could also be said that we “see the Son of man coming in a cloud” as the Judge of the earth.  He has already come as a thief in the night.  How do we “see” that?  We see it in the Bible. 

Properly recognizing what these previous verses are saying helps us in understanding Luke 21:28:

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Redemption is “nigh” or “near” and that is also confirmation that we have understood the previous verses correctly because if it were a literal darkened sun, moon and stars and if Christ did literally come, then why would God say that our redemption is drawing near?  It would be the end of the world and the time that God fulfills all His promises, but it is not that time.  That does not fit the passage, does it?  It does not say, “Look up, for there is Christ and your redemption is here.”  Instead, it says, “Then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”  It is an expectation, not the reality, but it is why God’s people have a good expectation regarding October 7, 2015.  When we are looking toward and hastening unto the coming day of God and looking for God to fulfill His promise of a new heaven and new earth, we are looking at a particular date that the Bible points to in a strong way because it is the last day of Tabernacles and we are “looking up,” in a sense, as we look for Christ to complete His Word on that last day.  We are doing so because we see the “signs” of the sun, moon and stars in the Bible.  We see Christ coming in the clouds in judgment and we see that in the pages of the Bible.  In response, we “look up” by continuing to look to and trust the Word of God and in doing so, we are glorifying Him.

The world has “had enough” of dates and hearing about the end of the world.  They do not want to hear it any more.  The churches have had enough.  Their conclusion is, “No man knows the day or the hour,” and they have applied pressure to the believers that are still holding onto these things: “You should have had enough, too.  You should stop looking and hasting unto the coming day of God.  Why do you not be like everyone else and focus on this world?  Turn your attention away from all this and stop looking for the coming day of God.  Do not think so much about your redemption drawing nigh.  There are many other things you could focus on.  We are very content with the world.  Look at us.  Just stop all this foolishness.”

But God’s people (because they are God’s true people) continue to “look up” and “lift up their heads” in expectation of the end and, believe me, it is very annoying to the rest of the world.  It is very troublesome to them.  They thought they had gotten rid of us and the whole discussion after May 21, 2011, but here we come again. 

We are not trying to annoy the world, but it is the nature of the people of God to continue to look because we desire the completion of our salvation.  We hunger and thirst after righteousness which will only dwell in the new heaven and new earth.  We have not received our new resurrected bodies, so we only have the “earnest of the Spirit,” but we want the completion of it.  It is a desire God has placed within us and we groan within ourselves for the completion of these things.  God knows us better than we know ourselves and God says in Romans 8:22-23:

For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

We only have the “earnest of the Spirit,” or the down payment and we desire the redemption of our bodies.  There is a desire within the believers, “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”  We still have a corrupt, mortal body that we have been commanded to “put to death” and, yet, the sins of our bodies keep resurfacing whenever we take our eyes off Christ.  There is a “groaning” within the true believers and it is only increasing in the people of God since May 21, 2011 when God ended His salvation program.  God is no longer sending us forth with the Gospel of salvation that others might become saved.  That has been fulfilled and there is no more evangelization and that leads us to desire the end all the more because we know from the Bible that we are so close and our redemption draweth nigh, according to the things we have learned since May 21, 2011. 

As we go through Luke 21 or Matthew 24 we can almost check the items off.  The “falling away” has come; false Christs and false gospels are rampant and iniquity abounds all over the earth.  And now the “signs” are in place, as was asked of Jesus’ disciples: “What shall be the sign of they coming, and of the end of the world?”  There will be “signs” in the sun, moon and stars.  The “signs” were partially in place when God darkened the “third part” of the sun, moon and stars when He withdrew the Gospel light from the congregations, but Luke 21 and Matthew 24 are not talking about the “third part.”  They are speaking of the fullness of the sun and the fullness of the moon and the fullness of the stars and it can only be referring to Judgment Day, the time after the Tribulation when God shut the door of heaven and ended His salvation program over the entire face of the earth. 

The Gospel lights are out and that is the “sign.”  It is a big piece of the puzzle, as Christ answered His disciples’ question: “What shall be the sign of they coming, and of the end of the world?”  Jesus is saying, “When you see there is no more salvation in the world, you are seeing the Son of man coming in the clouds or coming in judgment.  You will only see it with eyes of faith in the Bible and that is the only “acceptable sign,” according to the Bible.  Anyone that is looking for a sign in the actual sky above is part of the evil and adulterous generation, but only the sign of the prophet Jonah will be given to that evil generation.  Where do you see the “sign of Jonas?”  You can only read about it in the Bible in the Book of Jonah.  That is the “sign” and the Bible is the only place that God will give the “signs,” which we now can see.

The Bible says, “And when these things begin to come to pass,” and we have to know about these things, spiritually, in order to know they are coming to pass, as it says in Luke 21:28:

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

It is not referring to the redemption of our souls because that is over and done with in regard to all the elect.  It is referring to the redemption of our bodies, as it says in Romans 8:23.  We are looking for the redemption of our bodies and the completion of salvation for our physical bodies.  That is what it means, again, at the end of Ephesians 1:13-14:

… ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession….

It will be the redemption of our bodies, which was purchased by Christ from before the foundation of the world by the blood of Christ.  When He died for the sins of His people He purchased their redemption in both soul and body.  That is why there are two resurrections.  There is the first resurrection, which is the resurrection of the soul and there is the second resurrection, the resurrection of the body.  Then we will be one “whole personality” and salvation will have been completed and perfected, the “redemption of the purchased possession.”  But until then, we have the “earnest of our inheritance.”  The indwelling Holy Spirit is a testimony from God and a down payment on our inheritance.

Let us turn to 2Corinthians, chapter 1 where this word “earnest” is used.  It says in 2Corinthians 1:21-22:

Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Again, here we see where the “earnest of the Spirit” is located.  It is in our hearts and that would be the new heart that God has given us after removing our old heart of stone.  God removed the desperately wicked and ugly heart and He placed a new heart within us and in that heart is “the earnest of the Spirit.”

In 2Corinthians, chapter 5, we find a very significant passage for our time as we anticipate the fulfillment of the redemption of our bodies, so let me read starting from the beginning of this chapter.  It says in 2Corinthians 5:1:

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

And that would be the house the Bible describes as “which house are we.” 

Then it goes on to say in 2Corinthians 5:2-4:

For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

Again, we see language here that indicates that we are groaning that “mortality might be swallowed up of life.”  That goes back to what we learned is a “strong desire,” which is expressed by the word “groaning,” that our physical bodies be redeemed.  So here is the “earnest of the Spirit,” which is given at the point of salvation and it is a witness to each one of us as we live in this world that God has begun a good work and He will complete it.  He will fulfill all His Word and finish His salvation plan for each of us individually, as we receive our new resurrected bodies.

The Greek word “earnest” is actually a word that is transliterated from the Hebrew.  It is the Greek word “arrhabon,” Strong’s # 728 and it is from the Old Testament Hebrew, Strong’s #6162 that is translated as “pledge.”  It is similar to a down payment.  When they wanted to purchase something they would give a “pledge” that is saying that they will come back and complete the payment.  Again, that is where we get the idea of “earnest money” when buying a house.  It is the down payment and it lets the lender know that we have made a partial payment, but we will complete the payment.  The reason why we speak of “earnest money” is because this Greek word “earnest” comes from a Hebrew word that is translated as “pledge.”  We will look at an historic account in the Book of Genesis between Judah and Tamar and we will see how God has an interesting way of using that Hebrew word a few time in that account and how it fits with the idea of the Holy Spirit being a “down payment” and being present in the life of a believer, especially as it relates to the believer that enters into Judgment Day.  It is pretty interesting.  It is in Genesis, chapter 38, if you want to take a preview look at it, but we will have to pick that up in our next study.