Gary Gleans

And he said to me,   “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of   the spirits of the prophets,   has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”    “And behold,   I am coming soon.   Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”     I,   John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them,   I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those   who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”     And he said to me,   “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.  Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” As John closes out his message, he gives us every assurance ...

Then the angel showed me   the river of   the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of   the street of the city;   also, on either side of the river,   the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were   for the healing of the nations.  No longer will there be anything accursed, but   the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and   his servants will worship him.    They will see his face, and   his name will be on their foreheads.    And   night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp   or sun, for   the Lord God will be their light, and   they will reign forever and ever. There will be characteristics about the New Earth that are dramatically different than the reality we currently experience.  The quality and quantity of life will be beyond our abi...

And   I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.  And the city   has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for   the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.  By its light   will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth   will bring their glory into it, and   its gates will never be shut by day—and   there will be no night there.  They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.  But   nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's   book of life. We use the word “glory” as a synonym for heaven or the new earth.  There is good reason for that usage because heaven will certainly be filled with glory.  This passage refers to three different types of glory that will be present in the New Jerusalem.  Each of these uses ...

Then came   one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of   the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you   the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”  And   he carried me away in the Spirit to   a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God,   its radiance   like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.  It had a great, high wall,   with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.  And the wall of the city had twelve   foundations, and   on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.  And the one who spoke with me   had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its g...

And   he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I   am making all things new.”  Also he said, “Write this down, for   these words are trustworthy and true.”    And he said to me,   “It is done!   I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.   To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.    The one who conquers will have this heritage, and   I will be his God and   he will be my son.    But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars,   their portion will be in   the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is   the second death.” Life feels long and the history of the world feels longer.  In relation to one another, the world is longer than life.  In relation to eternity, both will seem like a blip.  Because of our mortality, ...

Then I saw   a new heaven and a new earth, for   the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw   the holy city,   new Jerusalem,   coming down out of heaven from God,   prepared   as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold,   the dwelling place of God is with man. He will   dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and   death shall be no more,   neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” The history of this earth will culminate with the inauguration of a new creation that will put an end to the sufferings experienced in today’s world.  We can only imagine what this new and eternal life will be like, but we have in this and the following passa...