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Ambassador Baptist Church
1926 Babcock Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15209
(412)477-3210
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Pastor's Pen - December 31, 2007
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December 31, 2007

Revelation 20-22
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Following Scripture Verses
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Revelation
Chapter 20
  1. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
  2. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
  3. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
  4. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
  5. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
  6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
  7. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
  8. And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
  9. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
  10. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
  11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
  12. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
  13. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
  14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
  15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.


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Revelation
Chapter 21
  1. 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.
  2. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
  3. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
  4. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
  5. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
  6. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
  7. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
  8. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
  9. And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
  10. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
  11. Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
  12. And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
  13. On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
  14. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
  15. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
  16. And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
  17. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
  18. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
  19. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;
  20. The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
  21. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
  22. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
  23. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
  24. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
  25. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
  26. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
  27. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.


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Revelation
Chapter 22
  1. And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
  2. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
  3. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
  4. And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
  5. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
  6. And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
  7. Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
  8. And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
  9. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
  10. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
  11. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
  12. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
  13. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
  14. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
  15. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
  16. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
  17. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
  18. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
  19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
  20. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
  21. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.


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Thought for the day:
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 Hi,

 This is the final installment in the "Through the Bible" series. I hope that you have been able to read through the Bible this year, whether or not you followed this schedule. If any of these devotional thoughts have been a help or blessing or challenge to you, then I am grateful to the Lord for allowing me to write them. If for some reason you would like to follow the same schedule again next year, it, along with these devotional thoughts, can be found on our website, which is http://www.hisservice.com/galley/pastpen/pastpen.htm. Everything for this current year is not yet posted, but there is material there to get you started again in 2008.

 May the Lord bless you, and allow you to know Him better and serve Him in an even greater capacity in the upcoming year.


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 Much of chapters 20-22 contains a stark contrast between the eternal destinies of the saved and unsaved. The closing verses of chapter 20 reveal the final state of the unbelievers as they stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgment. The Bible tells us that all the unbelieving dead of all the ages will stand before God at this time. Books will be opened, and we are told that the dead will be judged based upon their works that have been recorded in these books. Some may ask why these records will be consulted. I believe that it is done to show each person exactly how wicked he really was during his lifetime. Many people that we witness to today are willing to admit that they are sinners, but they don't believe that their sins are so bad that they deserve to go to Hell. They think that the "good" that they have done will outweigh the bad, and that God will allow them into Heaven. At this judgment, after all the evidence has been presented, no individual will still believe that he doesn't deserve to go to Hell. His only hope will be that his name has been recorded in the Book of Life. Unfortunately for all the people at this judgment, their names will not be recorded, for they have all chosen to reject the God of creation and His Son Jesus Christ. Since the evidence reveals that they deserve eternal punishment, and since they have never chosen to accept the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ upon the cross, the Judge has no choice but to sentence them to the Lake of Fire. They will be cast into this fiery pit where they will join the Satanic trinity: the Anti-christ, the False Prophet, and Satan himself, to be tormented without hope throughout all eternity.

 Chapters 21-22 give us a much different picture. These chapters open with the appearance of the new heaven (not the abode of God, but the heavens above us), the new earth, and the new Jerusalem. The elements of the old heaven and earth were melted away in the fires of judgment (II Peter 3:10, 12), and God has created the world all anew. The New Jerusalem is a beautiful city, measuring approximately 1500 miles wide by 1500 miles long by 1500 miles high (21:16). It is surrounded by a jasper wall approximately 216 feet high (21:17-18). The foundations of the wall are twelve precious stones, and the twelve gates to the city are each made of a single pearl (21:21). The streets of the city are made of gold so pure that it is transparent like glass (21:21). The River of Life runs through it, having its origin at the throne of God Himself, and the Tree of Life is there as well, bearing twelve different types of fruit every month. What a wonderful sight this all will be!

 Even greater than the physical wonder of the New Jerusalem will be the spiritual and emotional wonders that exist there. Revelation 21:4 gives us the tremendous promise,

"God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."
Imagine the wonder of a body that feels no pain, experiences no sorrow, and never needs to fear the enemy of death. How wonderful that will be! There will also be no sin there. Revelation 21: 8 gives a list of people who will not be in this place:
"the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars."
Verse 27 adds,
"And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life."
Finally, the curse that has existed upon all the earth since the fall of Adam will be completely eradicated, for Revelation 22:3 promises us that there will be "no more curse". Hallelujah!

 The greatest promise of Heaven is that Jesus Christ Himself will be there. He promises that He will be with the inhabitants of the city, and that He will be their God (21:3). He promises that the citizens will be His sons (21:7). He will be the light of the city, so that there will not even be a need for a sun (21:23). Perhaps most wonderful is that we will see His face (22:4) - the precious face of the One Who gave His life for us.

 The fulfillment of all these prophecies is coming soon. The next to last verse of the Bible says,

"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen."
Jesus has promised to return soon. May we echo the words of John:
"Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

May the Lord bless you.

Pastor Mark J Montgomery

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1926 Babcock Blvd
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(412)477-3210
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