No More Night
“No More Night”
(Rev. 21-22)
“Preached by: Carolyn Sissom
Sunday, March 15, 2009
It was one evening in May 1994, the Lord woke me in the middle of night, set me up in bed and spoke to me,
“Teach on the song, ‘No More Night’”.
Rev. 22:3-5: “and there shall be no more curses: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it: and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. AND THERE SHALL BE NO NIGHT THERE; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun: for the Lord God gives them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”
“The Bible begins with a garden and ends with a city. It starts with a morning followed by a night and ends with a day that shall know no more night. It breaks the silence with, “In the beginning” and it hushes the universe to sleep with, “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.’”
Walt Harrah wrote a song using these verses of scripture”
‘NO MORE NIGHT”
By: Walt Harrah
The endless theme earth and heaven will pass away
It’s not a dream. God will make all things new that day.
Gone is the place from I stumbled and fell,
Evil is banished to eternal hell.
CHORUS;
No more nights, no more pain
No more tears never crying again
And praises to the Great I Am
We live in the light of the Risen Lamb
Verse 2:
See all of life, now the nations bow down to sing,
The only sound is the praises to Christ our King
Slowly the names from the book are read
I know the King. I have no need to dread.\
REPEAT CHORUS
Verse 3:
See over there, there’s a mansion prepared for me.
Where we live with my Savior eternally.
“This heavenly state is described in Revelation as a paradise in a city, or a whole city in a paradise. In the first paradise, there were only two persons to behold the beauty of it, but in the second paradise whole cities and nations shall find abundant delight and satisfaction.” (Matthew Henry)
This is a description of Heaven and the state of the uncompromising Saints who suffered for Christ and will not worship the beast (the spirit and kingdom of the anti-christ) or his image. These martyred Saints will take part in the first resurrection. (Rev. 20: 4-6)”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. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”
For Christians, our Messiah has already come, and with his exaltation to God’s right hands, His reign has already begun over the Kingdom of God on earth. The Kingdom of God is Joy, Peace, and Righteousness in the Holy Spirit and is the extension of God’s rule or dominion in the earth and the universe.
The Kingdom of Heaven is the government of God in the heavenlies or the realm of the Spirit. These are both the same Kingdom. The Kingdom of Heaven shows us where it is from (Spirit) and the term “Kingdom of God” shows us who runs it.
The Father has delegated all authority in the kingdom to the Son, Jesus Christ, and Jesus is the Head and Lord of all. True ministry will always emphasize the preeminence, Lordship and centrality of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Kingdom age has now dawned upon the earth. Prophets have always been given a glimpse of the in-breaking of the Kingdom of Glory. There are times I get up there—up to my head, shoulders and elbows, but I seem to slip back. The writer of Hebrews describes it as “those who have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come.” There is a place with God through walking and living in the Spirit that we can experience the principles, benefits, and responsibilities of the life of the Kingdom. There is a place with God on this side of death which I call the pain free zone. It is a place of NO MORE NIGHT, NO MORE PAIN, NEVER CRYING AGAIN…….”
Kelly Varner said it well, “Do I believe that the rapture is spiritual? YES! Do I believe that the rapture is literal? YES!” (End of quote) I believe it is spiritual because I have been raptured through prophetic ecstasy and vision into the Kingdom of Heaven. I believe it is literal because both Enoch and Elijah were caught away, “caught up with Jesus”. I believe in many visitations of the Lord, and I also believe in that day when "He will be glorified in His Saints". (1 Th. 1:10) I believe in Day of the Lord and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 3:5-12)
(1 Co. 15: 22-28): “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits: afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming, then comes the end, when shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, until he has put all enemies under his feet, the last enemy to be destroyed is death. He put everything under His feet.”
Jesus triumphed over death when He was raised from the dead. Death came through a man, Adam. The resurrection of the dead must also come through a man. When he comes, those who belong to him will be made alive.
Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. for the Christian, when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, receive the atonement of His blood, his robe of righteousness, and the Holy Spirit with His work of sanctification, then we enter the
Kingdom of God, the eternal church, in the Heavenlies, now on earth as it is in Heaven and throughout eternity. “They shall reign for ever and ever.”
There is a condition to this entry in Rev. 21: 8 &27: This is the work of sanctification and purification through the Blood of the Lamb. (V.8) “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whore mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death” (V.27). “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defiles, neither whatsoever works abomination, or makes a lie; but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
By the Blood of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, we can walk in this blessed state on earth as it is in Heaven.
It is training time for reigning time. We are now in the transition of two ages. What a time to be alive! We are kings and priests now, but we are also being “made” kings and priests. This formation of the new creation man will continue until the fullness of a king-priest ministry will be seen in the Overcomers as they do press beyond the veil into the Holy of Holies (the realm of No More Night-no limitations) and then roar out of Zion of God to deliver the creation.
Rev. 21:7: “He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”
Am I saying we will have a trouble free life? NO! If we follow Jesus and serve him we will suffer persecution, rejection and being mis-understood. Some will be imprisoned, others crucified. We have assurance that Stephen was in that pain free zone when he was stoned and the Lord of Glory stood up to receive him into the Kingdom of Glory. Paul received a “thorn in the flesh” to keep him from being puffed-up from his visions of the third Heaven. Somehow once we “tasted this gospel to which we are called (2 Th.2:14) for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, we hit that pain free zone.
People sympathetically ask me how I manage to Pastor a church and take care of an invalid husband. This scripture is my answer to all, “Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” All that we experience in life is for the glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Th. 1:10) through us.
This is not possible to understand or explain to those who have not experienced this call. I count it all joy. It is not sympathy I need, but friends who will say, “Yes and Amen”.
As we approach Easter 2009, we again make the journey to the Cross. Like the Virgin Birth, the Cross is foundational to our Christian Faith and each year all Pastors and Teachers must affirm our Faith in the life, death and resurrection of our Savior.
Malice, jealousy, betrayal and abandonment, are all part of the Cross. Tonight I will be ministering on “Judas”. His betrayal was as much a part of the Cross as the crucifixion itself. But let none of us suffer for doing wrong. However, as we die daily, pick up our cross and follow him; for the Overcomer, as we go from Faith to Faith and from Glory to Glory, we shall enter more and more into this spiritual paradise of “No More Night”.
Revelation is the book of the triumph of Jesus Christ. It was by no material weapons, physical prowess, or wealth, but by the power of the gospel and the King of the Kingdom walking on earth that Christ conquered the Cross. “His disciples put the battle of history on high boil. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And send them he did to ports, courtyards, on boats, synagogues, prisons and palaces. They went everywhere. The message of the Nazarene dominoed across the civilized world. They were an infectious fever. They were a moving river. They refused to be stopped. Armed with nothing but the fire and presence of a living Savior they conquered the pagan Roman empire. By that same power, He has continued to conquer in history, and will conquer to the end.” (C.S. Lovett)
In the final struggle of good and evil, I do not believe that Christ will change his weapons. In Rev. 20: 1-7, the subordinate powers of evil will have been destroyed. Only satan remains to be dealt with at the end of the thousand years.
Those who worship the image of the beast (system and kingdom ruled by the spirit of anti-christ) have no place in the Book of Life.
“O may we stand before the Lamb and hear the judge pronounce our name with blessings on our head.”
I must declare this Glory: I can no longer keep silent. If there are none to listen, the Kingdom of Heaven will hear me. The ministers of the gospel slip backwards in to pre-eminence, Babylon and ambition. The church leaders must repent of all selfish ambition and vain glory before we can lead the people out of the beast system.
“A Lamb company has been chosen. They are the Overcomers. They have gone beyond gift and ministry as such, and now they minister out from their relationship with the Lamb. In union with Christ, they can do anything He wants them to do, simply because in themselves they can do nothing. They are utterly dependent upon the Lord, even as He was utterly dependent upon the Father when he walked the earth.” (George Warnock)
The weaker and more vulnerable I appear, others are mistakenly emboldened to take advantage. This is the way of the carnal mind. It is the way of the Lord that in my weakness, Jesus is made strong. I will glory in my weakness.
(Rev. 21:22) “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God almighty and the Lamb are its temple. (the old order of the temple system has passed away.) The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the Glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the king’s of the earth will bring their splendor to it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and the honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written on the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
God and the Lamb are the city’s holiness and it is itself, God’s dwelling place on earth. The Lord will be your everlasting light and your God will be your Glory. The election of some does not mean the damnation of others. Because of the torch of the elect, nations will walk by its light. Those who are sanctified will always find the gates open.
There will be no more night! No intermission of the Glory of God’s presence. The elect live in his presence. “We are no longer children of the darkness, but children of the light.” However, sin will separate us from this glorious state. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. But sin will keep us out of the Glory of God on earth as it is in heaven.
In a book so full of judgment, here we again find the gospel message extended so plainly and freely.
“The spirit and the Bride say, “Come”! The spirit of God and the Saints and let him who hears say, “Come”. Whoever is thirsty, let him come, and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” (Rev. 22:17)
The blindest idolater, the worst sinner, the fiercest persecutor, the prostitute, the drunk, the thief, the liar, the backslider, the miserable, the downtrodden, those who are in debt, fallen ministers, saint and sinner, may all come if they will and accept the full and free benefits which the gospel provides.
If any man is Holy, let him come; if any man is not, let him repent.
Isaiah 60: “Arise and shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See darkness covers the earth and thick darkness over the people, but the Lord rises upon you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”
(Vs. 14) “You will be called the city of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”
He is the fountain of all light, the bright and morning star, and has given to His churches this morning light of prophecy.
The message of Revelation was delivered to John by the angel who had been the apostle’s guide and interpreter. Holy angels are still delivering the gospel message by vision.
In this spiritual city, Mount Zion, the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, with an innumerable company of angels, the general assembly and church of the firstborn, the saints will see the face of God. All this will be with perfect knowledge and joy, walking in the light of the Risen Lamb; here in the NOW and throughout all eternity.
Message given to Carolyn Sissom by the Holy Spirit.
Scripture quotes are from K.J.V.,
Bibliography: C.S. Lovett, Matthew Henry, George H. Warnock, Kelly Varner, F.F. Bruce and Walt Harrah