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TEXT: Revelation 1:1-20; 21:10-14
IT was Sunday. John was all by himself on a lonely island. An island is some land that has water all around it.
John could not get off the island. He had no boat and it was too far to swim to any land. Some men who did not like God had put him way out there, all by himself, with no one to talk to. They thought he would not live out there, but he did. God took care of him.
When Jesus was here on earth, John was one of His very best friends. John loved Jesus very, very much and Jesus loved John. The last time Jesus ate supper with His helpers, John leaned up against Jesus. He loved Him so much he wanted to touch Him. No doubt John felt bad because Judas, one of Jesus’ helpers, had let sin get into his heart, and he was not Jesus’ friend any more. How could Judas do such a bad thing? John wanted to do things to please Jesus.
Here sat John on this island. He could see the water of the sea. He could see the rocks. John was thinking about Jesus who had gone up into Heaven.
As he sat there and looked at the blue sky and saw the white, fluffy clouds he must have thought about God’s loving care. He must have thought how God made the earth, the trees, the grass. God made the sea and the sky.
Suddenly in the quietness, John heard a Voice that sounded like a trumpet-horn. The Voice was beautiful.
John looked around to see who spoke in such a loud Voice way out there away from other people. Whom do you think he saw? There stood Jesus. His face was shining bright as the sun. John was not alone after all! Jesus was right there with him.
He could not see Him all the time but He was with John.
John was afraid at first, but Jesus put His right hand upon John and said, “Fear not.” Jesus told John to write down what he saw. Jesus had many things to tell the people of the world, like you and me. He wanted John to write them in His Book, so we could read about them in the Bible today.
John was careful to write exactly what Jesus told him. John saw Heaven and he saw what a beautiful place it is. God is waiting there for people who love Him. There is no nighttime in Heaven. It is always bright and beautiful.
John was kept on this island by mean people a long, long time. He was there all by himself but he saw many things that had not even happened yet. He put it all down and we can read about it. He wrote the very last Book in the Bible. When you see the very last Book in the Bible, think about John out there on the island writing it for you.
John saw a place called the New Jerusalem. He saw twelve gates to the City. Each gate was made of a beautiful stone called a pearl. The street of the City was pure gold. The walls of the City were made of the beautiful rock-stones that are very pretty. The stones upon which the City was built had the name of Jesus’ twelve disciple-helpers written on it. John even saw his name there, too, on one stone. Jesus loved His twelve helpers who left their homes and went with Him to tell others about Jesus. How happy John must have been when he saw the names of all his friends and his own name, too.
John did not understand everything he saw. We do not understand everything we read in the Bible, either, but we know what it says is going to happen someday, because Jesus said it would.
You must be sure to pray every day and keep your heart clean from sin so you can see the City John wrote about. You will get to live there with Jesus, too, and never have to go away from Him. He shall wipe away all tears, and we shall never cry again and never be sick up there.
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