Rev 21:4,5  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."

The statements made in this passage are probably the reason that many believe this to be talking about eternal glory rather than God's church kingdom here in time. The reasoning is that there will be no death, sorrow, crying or pain in the glory world and of course, that is true. One might ask, "How can this possibly have a timely application?" This is a valid question and I hope to be able to show by the scriptures how this can be so.

The following two passages from the book of Isaiah have some very similar wording to that in Rev. 21:4:

1. Is. 65:17 "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. 20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. 21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. 22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD."

2. Is. 66:22 "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. 23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. 24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh."

Isaiah chapter 65 says that the new heavens and the new earth that God creates will not have the voice of weeping or the voice of crying. However, we find the people building houses and dwelling in the houses they build, we see them planting vineyards and eating the fruit of those vineyards, and we see them having offspring. In addition, we see in these new heavens and new earth, the wolf and the lamb feeding together. We see the lion eating straw like the bullock and the dust being the serpent's meat. Furthermore, those who possess the new heavens and the new earth look upon the carcasses of the transgressors. These are hardly things that we would expect in the Glory World.

A key to our understanding of Rev. 21, verses 4 and 5, are found in the following statements:

1. "For the former things are passed away."
2. "Behold, I make all things new."

There are several old things and several new things that are mentioned in the scriptures. Some old things mentioned in the New Testament include: old wine, old bottles, old garment, old man, old leaven, old testament, old things, old sins, and old serpent. Some new things mentioned in the New Testament include: new wine, new bottles, new cloth, new testament, new lump, new creature, new things, new man, new way, new covenant, new heavens, new earth, new name, new Jerusalem, and new song. Please note that the former things are passed away and are replaced by the new things.

When the old covenant passed away (Heb. 8:13 "In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away) passing away with it were all the ordinances and sacrifices and curses under it. These were replaced with something new and better in the new covenant.

"God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." According to Matt. 5:4 "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." When we mourn over our sins and see ourselves as poor, ruined, hell deserving sinners unworthy of the least of God's mercy then God blesses us to see that Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us and so comforts us, wiping away our tears of sorrow because of our sins.

"And there shall be no more death." According to Eph. 2:1 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." In addition, we read in Rom. 6:2 "How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" These two verses teach us that we are dead to the condemning effects of sin and we are alive from a state of being dead in trespasses and sin. To the elect there can be no more death to the condemning effects of sin and to those born of the Spirit, they can no longer be dead in trespasses and sin.

"Neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain." The Lord told the disciples in John 16:20 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. 22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you." Thus, the Lord told the disciples that they would sorrow, and cry and be pained at his death, but that sorrow would turn unto joy. The disciples never sorrowed for lack of a Saviour again. Thus when we sorrow feeling that we have no saviour and are blessed to hear the truth that Jesus saved us from our sins, then we, also, no longer sorrow, cry and pain over an unredeemed state for Jesus has given us joy that shall not be taken away.