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To even those who are the most ignorant about prophecy, the last three chapters of Revelation are an exciting part of the Bible. Maybe you can't understand the beasts and dragons and trumpets and such of the visions recorded by John on that island called Patmos in the Mediterranean Sea, but even without any knowledge of the previous 19 chapters, you can get to Revelation 20 and on and grasp what is taking place. Everything in these last three chapters of the Bible are about future events. They are promises from God about the future that have yet to be fulfilled. All prophecy has not been fulfilled, no matter what some might claim today.

In Revelation chapter 20 we find that a unique time period of 1,000 years is prophesied. This is usually called the "Millennial Reign" by scholars. It will be unique because Jesus Christ will rule and reign in charge of all of the earth. It will be unique because it will be the first thousand year period in the history of the earth without a war of some type. It will be unique because the Raptured church -- in glorified and immortal bodies -- will rule and reign with Christ among ordinary humans. And it will be unique because for 1,000 years Satan will be bound and will not be free to wreak havoc in people's lives.

We find that at the end of this 1,000 year period that there will be one final war with the end result of Satan being cast into the lake of fire and then time as we know it today will come to an end. There will be the white throne judgment where all of humanity will stand before God and give an account of their lives and when you close the 20th chapter of Revelation, you have also reached the events that will usher us to the point where everyone's eternal destination has been achieved. Everyone will either have made it into eternal life and eternal damnation. And let me say that the Bible says "let God be true, and every man a liar." God will come back and we will have a Rapture of the Church and a resurrection. And there IS an afterlife and you will give an account of how you have lived here in this life. And it does matter whether or not you have obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ! And there will be many who spend forever in a place of torment called hell. And that place IS real. It does exist! And it's not a party. It's not a place that you would desire to go. But a place to be avoided at all costs! And the only way to avoid the fire of vengenance is to "obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ" like Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 1:8. And the Gospel of Jesus Christ is His death, burial, and resurrection and we obey it by dying to our sins at an altar of repentance, being buried with Him in water baptism (Colossians 2:11-12), and being regenerated and awakened to a new life in Christ by the baptism of the Holy Ghost (Titus 3:5)! That's the only way to be saved and that's why Peter preached that three-fold message to the church in Acts 2! Jesus came to save us from a place that was prepared for the devil and his angels, but there will be some that refuse to live for Christ and obey the simple plan that He has commanded and be deceived and be lost with the devil! Somebody make up your mind that that won't be you!

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But just as there is an actual hell, there is also a better place! Revelation 21 outlines that the old heaven and the old earth will melt away with a fervent heat and that there will be a brand new earth and brand new heaven that will be created for us to spend eternity within! It will be glorious and beyond comparison, just the new environment that we will be in, but John saw a great city that came out from heaven and descended to the surface of the new earth. This is the "New Jerusalem" and here we find walls of jasper, and gates of pearl and streets of pure gold. It has twelve foundations each made of a precious jewel and there will be no more night there because the light of God will light the world and there will be a river of water flowing from the throne of God which will be in the midst of the city and on either side of the stream will be trees of life that will enable us to live for forever! There will be no more sickness! And it will be a great place! But the best thing about it will be Jesus Christ in the middle! And we will forever be with Him in this beautiful new earth and new heaven and New Jerusalem. It will be awesome and as one preacher said: "You wouldn't want to miss it for the world!"

The Bible goes into great detail about the New Jerusalem and the streets of gold and the stream flowing out of it. It even lists each gemstone from which the foundations are made and gives it's exact dimensions. But for some reason, God doesn't give us a whole lot of details about the new earth itself. For that matter, we don't know a whole lot about the new heaven either. We know that nothing that committeth abomination will enter into the new earth. But really the only given feature that we know about this new earth is found in the first verse of Revelation 21, which we read as our text:

All we know about the new earth besides the fact that it will be "new" is that "there was no more sea." A couple of years ago, I was asked in a prophecy conference, what this phrase means. I wish that I'd had this sermon prepared because at the time, the answer was "I don't know."

No more sea. Think about that. Over 80 percent of the earth is covered by water. I went on a cruise a few years ago and so now the company sends me regular brochures advertising the cruises to exotic and faraway lands. I've been to the Bahamas and I can tell you that it's just as pretty as the postcards make it out to be. It's also expensive, and in case you are wondering, someone else paid for my trip. I haven't been back since. When you think about the world and the oceans and the coastlines of the world, you are thinking about the most beautiful parts of the world. And the most expensive to live in because everybody wants to be near water. I know in Texas that means having a cactus in your backyard, but my brother has been real excited because he is renting a house in Louisiana that is very modest in size but circles a big pond with other houses. There's something nice about being able to look out and see the water. My niece can terrorize the ducks. Humans like water.

And to think about life on earth without the oceans is unthinkable. The amount of pollutant that we put in the atmosphere is offset by the relative eco-stability of the oceans. Life is able to function on the land because of all the processes and benefits of the great oceans. I won't bore you with all the scientific reasons except to say that without oceans, there would not be life on earth. God created it to give a balance to the atmosphere and our existence. Besides, that without waterways and oceans there would be no shrimp or crawfish to eat and that would be a very sad existence indeed!

No more sea. New heaven and New earth, but no more sea. To our modern minds that sounds horrible, but God intended it to be something positive. So let me say it's very possible that the phrase "no more sea" refers to spiritual things and not an actual physical feature of the new earth. The Bible makes it clear in the next chapter that there will be at least one river flowing, and it would seem strange for the river not to flow into something. So obviously we don't have enough information in scripture to comment as to this phrase's meaning in the natural, but we DO have enough information to understand it's spiritual meaning.

No more sea. Let me preach to you why I think that God wanted you to be able to read that phrase when you read about the future. When you view the sea through the land-loving Hebrews eyes and view it through scriptural contexts, then the phrase becomes very positive and exciting.

The Psalmist wrote about the cruel nature of the sea to destroy when he wrote:

We recently witnessed the brutal power of the ocean in the tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands of souls and put them instantly into eternity. The sea is unstable. A little tremor can set off a wave that can wipe out entire countries. A stronger tidal surge can set off flooding and affect the climate of the earth for years. I grew up in Southern Louisiana, and my wife in Florida. We learned to respect the storms of the ocean more than anything else. Maybe we seem a little callused when Texans freak out over a little wind, rain, and hail, but that's because we've seen hurricanes and tornados and the mighty sea rise up and all the other stuff seems very miniscule. Nothing on land can compare to the ocean's roar of a storm. And there is no greater shaking than being in a brutal storm asea that is pounding the craft that you are sailing within. To the Israelis and disciples, the sea represented the unstable of life and feared "storms." They got scared in a little lake in Jesus' ministry and there is no Hebrew man or woman that was known for ocean-going prowess. The Hebrews feared the sea and so they wrote about it as something bad and unstable.

The sea also represented the deep unknowns and uncertain futures of the Hebrews. They had never traveled across the seas and oceans and therefore they were the symbol of the mysteries of God. Because they could not see across the ocean, they viewed the sea as a metaphor of their inability to see the future of their life. Because of this representation God chose to reveal the visions of the great unknown of future events to Daniel and John over the ocean horizon. Both saw their great beasts rise from the sea. Both of them understood that they would not understand what they represented, but that it represented the future. They understood what the sea symbolized.

And so God just wanted you to know that there will be a day in the future where there will be "no more sea." Life can get tough sometimes with the constant change and flex and give and take. The ups and downs and the waves of life tire us out sometimes. And the storms, I could preach entire sermons and no doubt will simply encouraging people to trust God and stay with Him no matter what the storms of life bring! But lest you get so caught up in your circumstance that you forget who's in control. Lest you get so despondent that you forget that there is an eternity awaiting and that anything in this life is but temporary and not the reality, God wanted you to know that there is coming a day that you will be with Him for eternity in a new place and in this new world and existence there will be "no more sea!" No more instability and fear. No more storms. No more deep unknowns and uncertain futures. No more monsters and big uglies raising their heads against you and no more fighting to survive. No more being swamped over by an unexpected turn and trying to make headway into the wind. No more trying to just barely stay afloat.

No matter how despondent you are, know that if you will be faithful but for a little while, then for eternity you will be in a much better place. No more tears. No more crying. No more pain. No more suffering. No more tears of regret. No more disappointments. No more heartaches. No more dying. No more let downs. I'm talking about an eternity with Jesus! I'm talking about the new Jerusalem! I'm talking about a new heaven and a new earth. It doesn't matter what life has dealt you here, if you will be faithful to God then you will spend eternity in the land where there is no night! You've got a bright future in store if you will stay strong and focused on Him! You've got the Word from God to assure you that there will be "no more sea!"

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It turns out that there is more to that scripture than first meets the eye and I could continue on the list of what to expect in the future for quite a while. Jude characterized the false teachers of his day that were preaching lies and deceiving people with these words:

To him the wishy-washiness and destructiveness of those preaching false doctrines were best characterized by the raging sea! And so it is that some people can twist scripture to their own destruction and slosh about from truth so much that all they do is manage to drown others in their deception. But if you've ever been aggravated because of someone who didn't believe truth. Or if you've ever been disappointed because someone bought a lie and turned their back on receiving all that God has for them. Take heart. There is coming a day where there will be "no more sea!" They may sound good on earth, but those who embrace false doctrines and teachings will not be with Jesus for eternity! And so let it be comforting to those of you who love truth and a warning to those of you who don't: You'd better take all of the Word of God and stand upon it and obey it! Don't get caught up in the waves of false teaching and easy believism and "live-like-hell-yet-still-go-to-heaven-ism!" Because those waves won't take carry you to the desired eternal destination! We're going to a place where there's no more sea!

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No more sea. The new heaven and the new earth will be God's ultimate plan for this planet. It will be God's ultimate gift to His bride and His ultimate and perfect creation. And it seems that a characteristic of God's perfect plan will be "no more sea." What that tells me is that there is something that we can learn from this scripture to apply to our lives today. We cannot wait for Him to be Lord of All in the future, but He desires to be Lord of All now. Today. Those who are saved to spend eternity with Him will be those who choose to walk with Him now. Therefore God desires right now for there to be no more sea in our lives.

What's that mean? There are three major bodies of waters called "seas" in the Bible. To the Israelites the Red Sea represented the dividing line between God's way and the sinfulness of Egypt. They weren't officially out of Egypt until they crossed through the Red Sea. We are delivered from our Egypt and sin by the Red Sea of the waters of baptism. But here's the catch: after you cross through, God doesn't want you to return headed in the other direction! There must be no more sea in your life! We can't be born again, brought out of Egypt and yet desire to head back to what God delivered us from and expect to stay in God's will! Those who will be saved will get the revelation of "no more sea!"

Then there was the Sea of Galilee. It's interesting that the eleven disciples that stayed faithful to Jesus were drawn from the shores of the Sea of Galilee. I'll bet you don't even know what the term "Galilee" means, because nobody ever preaches it. "Galilee" means heathen and the phrase in the Greek for "Sea of Galilee" actually reads "circle of the heathens" in the original! Jesus took those men from the circle of heathen and led them to Jerusalem, where He promised them that He would return. When you decide to follow Jesus there must be "no more sea" in your life. Peter tried to go back to his old lifestyle fishing on the sea, but Jesus rebuked him for it. You can't waver and go back to where you used to go. You can't be delivered and yet return to the endless circle of the heathen's lives. You can't live your life as normal, if you have been called of Him! The command "follow me" implies and demands, that you leave the sea far behind!

And that also means that the Dead Sea must be avoided. The Dead Sea is dead because it receives nutrients but has no outlet upon which to bestow what it has received. The nutrients and minerals that flow into it from the Jordan river have so built up in it that it is the most lifeless place on earth. And so there must be no such sea in our life. You'd better find an outlet. You'd better learn to witness. You'd better learn to worship. You'd better learn to minister and to teach Bible Studies. You'd better get involved in a ministry in the church whether it be bread, youth, or Sunday School or whatever. Because if you come and continually receive the blessings of God and yet never turn and give of what you have received you will end up a Dead Sea! You will end up lifeless and hopeless and with no passion or zeal and an eternal home that you don't want to inherit!

I'm preaching to you the message of our text! God's will is for there to be no more sea! The whole earth will be that way in the future, but God's will must be done in our lives today! Right now!

The sea is the divider of cultures and lands and continents. More than political boundaries and more than cultures, the oceans keep our world apart. But for the child of God there must be "no more sea." That means no more division. That means that we must come together "with one accord." We must have one purpose despite our cultures and backgrounds. We must be a part of one body with one Spirit and with one baptism and with one blood having purchased us. The sea of skin color must not separate us. the sea of culture clashes must not separate us. The sea of north versus south or old versus new or aged and young must not separate us. There must be no more sea in the body of Christ.

And to John, who wrote this phrase, the sea around the island of Patmos represented to him prison walls that were keeping him boxed in. John was in prison but there was no barbed wire or guards, but rather his escape was hampered and he was bound by the sea that surrounded his location. I don't know what your situation is or what is trying to bind you and keep you from being everything that God has called you to be. Like John, we can be boxed in and imprisoned without concrete and barbed wire. Maybe it's a situation. Maybe it's a past that's trying to box you in. Maybe an addiction or sickness or lie is your prison walls today. But let me say that God specializes in busting open prison walls! Take heart John, you're not going to die on your island, but God still has a word for the churches in Asia for you to deliver! If you will get ahold of being in the Spirit on the Lord's day, you will find that God can break you out of any situation! Where the Spirit of the Lord there is liberty! It's not the will of God for you to be stranded in your situation with no hope! There is hope! God has decreed that in His will, there is no more sea!

No more sea. For Jonah, the sea represented running from God's perfect will because it required humility and obedience beyond his comprehension. It took him three days in the belly of a big fish and a whale of a storm to get him to even reconsider actually doing what God had told him to do. It took more sacrifice and hardship and humility in the long run to flee from God's will that it would have been to just obey it in the first place. Somebody ought to make up in your mind that this is the year of "no more sea" in your life. No more running. No more pretending to blend in with the heathens who have a different destination in mind than that of what God has called you to do. No more hiding. No more avoiding God's will. Surrender. Jonah, it will be easier than having to hit the very bottom to see that obedience is easier. No more sea!

And I read from that piercing book called the book of James:

This needs to be the time that someone says "it's time for no more sea in my life!" No more wavering. No more faith today and doubt tomorrow. No more wishy-washiness. No more double mindedness. No more living for God today and myself tomorrow. No more fence riding. No more "mister in between." Sell out. Ask in faith believing. Stand strong in truth. There doesn't need to be any more sea in your life! The storms that you will cause from your teetering and double mindedness will destroy your family and those around you! You need to stand strong! God has decreed let there be "no more sea!"

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But I must end this message with this, which is perhaps a slightly different ending than you were expecting. We read in our other text a parable of Jesus Christ that dealt with the "sea." He said:

We preach from this parable all of the time. We understand that when we cast the net and invite "whosoever will" that some will be good fish and others will be bad. Some will be hungry and others will not want what we have. Some will stay and become fishers of men themselves and some will wonder on swimming through the currents of life. But we don't get discouraged. We continue to throw out the nets. We aren't going to keep everybody that we win and we aren't going to win everybody that we witness to, but we certainly won't win ANYBODY unless we throw out the net!

It's obvious that the sea takes quite a different symbol here. Jesus said that it represents the "world" and that the casting of the nets and separating of the good and bad represents the end of time where everybody will be sorted as to their final destination. The sea then represents time to win the lost. It represents the ability to still cast your net. Because there is coming a time, when there will be "no more sea." There will not be a church. There will not be a preacher. There will not be an altar call and the moving of the Spirit to draw hearts closer to God. There will come a time when there will be no more opportunity to be fishers of men and to throw the net out one more time. There is coming a time when there will be "no more sea."

Ask the Apostle Paul what the sea meant to him and he'd tell you that it represented the opportunity to spread the gospel. He used the sea extensively in his four missionary journeys spreading the Gospel of Christ around the known world of his time. When he got on a ship on the sea heading to a new port it represented a new door and new people to preach the gospel to.

It's a sobering thought, when you look at it from this light, but one that we must get ahold of. Jesus said it like this:

We are called to be "fishers of men" but listen to me, we don't have all the time in the world. There must be a burden grip us. We must keep throwing the net out and do it with more passion than ever before. We've just talked about how the sea represented some things that we needed to get victory over and to overcome and so I tell you that in our lives we must have "no more sea" because there is coming a day when there will be "no more sea." There is coming a time when the last net will have been thrown out. There is coming a day where everyone will face their eternal choice and they will ultimately either be saved or lost. We must keep throwing the net out. Because there is coming a time when there will be no more sea. We must ask God to change us and impart to us a genuine burden for the lost. We must reach them with everything in us. We won't win all of them, but we must not be distracted by the ones that we don't win that we falter and refuse to reach for the one that is hungry. Throw the net. Allow God to invigorate you and pick the net back up and keep working. Don't stop, because there is coming a day when there will be "no more sea!"