WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.960 Okay, so this morning I'm going to look at mainly Revelation, the passage we read, but 00:00:09.960 --> 00:00:14.480 also I'm going to look at Isaiah, chapter 65, because it's the same theme that both 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:15.480 of them have. 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:21.000 There's a couple of, a few interesting things that I read or heard this week or thought 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:27.519 about, which are really completely unrelated to the sermon, but I thought I'd share them 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:28.519 with you anyway. 00:00:28.519 --> 00:00:34.359 The best is, I really caught a really great phrase from one of the guys that does the 00:00:34.359 --> 00:00:41.640 Bible in a year, Daily Verses, and did one this week, and said, don't strive to be educated 00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:45.960 in the Bible, that is, don't strive to be educated in the Bible beyond the level of 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:46.960 your obedience. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:49.200 I thought that was such a great thing. 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:55.039 He said, you know, we can strive for all kinds of knowledge and depth and insight, but sometimes 00:00:55.039 --> 00:00:58.560 it can be just for the sake of it. 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:03.960 He says, don't strive to be educated beyond what we're obeying, because true education, 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:08.799 true knowledge of God, true wisdom is putting into practice what we know. 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:12.799 It's not learning new things and then putting them in our back pocket for some future time 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:14.400 to think about. 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:18.599 It's all about knowing and obeying the Lord. 00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:21.239 I thought that was very significant. 00:01:21.239 --> 00:01:28.599 And yesterday I was reading from John's Gospel, the end of the Gospel, and I was amazed again 00:01:28.599 --> 00:01:34.839 that when Jesus rose from the dead, the disciples were told the disciples didn't understand 00:01:34.839 --> 00:01:38.239 the resurrection of the dead from Scripture. 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:42.119 John 20, verse 9, they didn't understand the resurrection. 00:01:42.119 --> 00:01:46.799 They'd been with Jesus for three years, he taught them in very clear terms that the resurrection 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:48.519 would happen. 00:01:48.519 --> 00:01:54.679 They had the Old Testament which prophesied and spoke of it, and yet they didn't understand 00:01:54.679 --> 00:01:57.039 because they needed the Holy Spirit in their lives. 00:01:57.039 --> 00:02:01.560 And really that by way of introduction is what I want to say, that we need the Holy Spirit 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:07.640 constantly to keep on understanding, to take our understanding and apply it in our lives 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:14.840 and to know it and to be aware of what God is teaching us. 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:18.439 The third thing again is just about the speed and passage of time. 00:02:18.439 --> 00:02:24.920 This morning I put my 32nd diary, year diary, up on the top shelf. 00:02:24.920 --> 00:02:29.680 32nd diary, time is passing quickly. 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:38.080 I remember putting the first diary up and thinking, well, I've lasted six months, and 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:39.680 now it's 32 years. 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:41.120 Time passes quickly. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:44.240 You young people here, you don't think about that for a moment. 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:48.480 You think the world is ahead of you and you'll live forever, but we're getting older by the 00:02:48.480 --> 00:02:54.840 day and it's hard to believe that there's 32 worse of diary up there and not much in 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:56.159 them. 00:02:56.159 --> 00:03:03.080 But in Christ we recognize and we know that His job is rescue and realignment of our lives, 00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:04.080 don't we? 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:11.160 And it's always good to be returning to the Lord and enthroning the Lord in our lives, 00:03:11.159 --> 00:03:14.840 sanctifying His nature and His character. 00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:20.759 And worship is what we do, not just as our here, although that is precious in itself, 00:03:20.759 --> 00:03:23.319 but our lives as worship. 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:28.240 Everything we give and everything we are, we give to Him and we refocus our lives to 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:29.599 Him on the new year. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:32.400 We resolve anew, I think. 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:34.039 We all do it. 00:03:34.039 --> 00:03:41.719 Whether we keep that or not, usually as sin or saved by grace, we have one step forward, 00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:44.719 a couple of steps back, and a few steps forward again. 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:49.759 But it's good always, isn't it, to be refreshed and renewed and encouraged as we live in the 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:50.759 shadows. 00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:53.079 As we live in the shadowlands. 00:03:53.079 --> 00:03:57.879 That C.S. Lewis film was on this week and it was good just to dip into that again, the 00:03:57.879 --> 00:04:02.000 shadowlands reminding us of what is yet to come. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:09.960 So there's this brilliant hope, isn't there, an amazing perspective that should always touch 00:04:09.960 --> 00:04:12.360 us in our lives and in our worship. 00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:16.839 We should always, not just have the perspective of a new year, but we should always have this 00:04:16.839 --> 00:04:19.279 perspective, I think, of eternity. 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:21.639 And worship should speak into that. 00:04:21.639 --> 00:04:27.360 And actually, not just our lives, but I think our times together, our worship together on 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:33.199 the Lord's Day, when we come as a community with a focused desire to worship God, that 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:36.040 should really point us towards heaven. 00:04:36.040 --> 00:04:37.480 I hope it does. 00:04:37.480 --> 00:04:42.400 I wonder sometimes about our worship, what it does, whether it changes anything in our 00:04:42.400 --> 00:04:43.400 lives. 00:04:43.400 --> 00:04:47.080 But it should, I hope, it should point us towards heaven. 00:04:47.080 --> 00:04:52.480 It should make us think about the community of believers, the weight of glory, and the 00:04:52.480 --> 00:05:01.080 fact that what we do now is kind of rubbish compared with what lies ahead for us. 00:05:01.080 --> 00:05:06.680 And so I just want to think about what is in this passage about what lies ahead for us 00:05:06.680 --> 00:05:08.319 in the new heavens and the new earth. 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:17.680 There's this great reality of unimaginable newness that we can look forward to. 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:24.280 And I saw the new heavens and the new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had 00:05:24.280 --> 00:05:25.280 passed away. 00:05:25.280 --> 00:05:32.319 I think that is a great opening phrase and a remarkable phrase. 00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:40.199 In Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 20, we remind ourselves in Paul's prayer that to him who 00:05:40.199 --> 00:05:46.199 is able to do far abundantly more than all we can ask or think according to the power 00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:51.039 that's within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations, 00:05:51.039 --> 00:05:52.039 forever and ever. 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:57.120 And there's this sense in which what God is doing and what God will do and what God 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:03.120 is pointing towards in our lives now and in our worship and in the future is this incredible 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:07.719 new experience and new reality that we look forward to. 00:06:07.719 --> 00:06:14.279 We will breathe the atmosphere of divine love and divine friendship in a fullness that we 00:06:14.279 --> 00:06:16.919 just can't imagine just now. 00:06:16.919 --> 00:06:21.079 We find it so difficult just now, so hard. 00:06:21.079 --> 00:06:27.439 We find relationship with him so difficult and yet what is promised is beyond our knowledge, 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:30.719 is beyond our imagination, beyond our understanding. 00:06:30.719 --> 00:06:33.359 No wordsmith can ever do it credit. 00:06:33.359 --> 00:06:35.079 No preacher can do it credit. 00:06:35.079 --> 00:06:41.959 Indeed, not even the inspired writers of Scripture could do it justice but could only point to 00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:49.079 the unimaginable reality that lies ahead for Christians and new existence and new heavens 00:06:49.079 --> 00:06:50.479 and a new earth. 00:06:50.479 --> 00:06:55.479 The old heavens and the old earth that we're living in today will have passed away. 00:06:55.479 --> 00:07:02.199 And we know from Scripture here and elsewhere that there is a continuity to remind us of 00:07:02.199 --> 00:07:05.879 who we are and what we call earth. 00:07:05.879 --> 00:07:07.759 It's still a new heavens. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:12.959 It's still the earth, new though they are and different though they are. 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:18.879 I wonder if it will be like there will be a familiarity like deja vu when we get there. 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:23.439 A bit like when it clicked with the disciples when they saw the resurrected Savior. 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:28.319 Not didn't know him at first but eventually it hit them. 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:36.039 A life as we have it now but with inexpressible freshness which will blow away any of the previous 00:07:36.040 --> 00:07:40.640 understandings or images that we may have gained in this life. 00:07:40.640 --> 00:07:49.640 Even the best experiences, the happiest, the most thrilling, the most inviting and inspiring 00:07:49.640 --> 00:07:54.280 experiences will fade into insignificance. 00:07:54.280 --> 00:08:02.600 As we live in this new heavens and this new earth eternally worshiping the glory of God 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:04.920 and the glory of what He's provided for us. 00:08:04.920 --> 00:08:11.400 There's a couple of things here that we're reminded of as to what is core in this new 00:08:11.400 --> 00:08:13.640 heavens and new earth. 00:08:13.640 --> 00:08:20.040 It is really an intimate, what matters most is an intimate relationship with God. 00:08:20.040 --> 00:08:23.600 We speak about the physicality of the new heavens and the new earth and that's great, 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:26.439 that's important, very significant. 00:08:26.439 --> 00:08:32.279 It's not fluffy clouds and harps but it is this intimate relationship with God. 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:39.120 We're told there in verse 1 that there's this newness and the sea was no more. 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:46.120 This is poetic imagery that a lot of fishermen and a lot of sailors are very saddened by 00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:51.159 when they read this but I don't think it's speaking, it speaks earlier on in Revelation 00:08:51.159 --> 00:08:53.559 of the Sea of Glass. 00:08:53.559 --> 00:08:58.679 It's pictorial language because the sea, when it says there's no more sea, it reminds us 00:08:58.679 --> 00:09:03.559 of what sea was to the readers of the Bible and particularly the Jewish people who were 00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:08.719 afraid of the sea and who thought the sea spoke of separation and division which of 00:09:08.719 --> 00:09:10.479 course it does. 00:09:10.479 --> 00:09:14.679 And it says that in this new heavens and this new earth, that previous separation between 00:09:14.679 --> 00:09:18.439 God and His awesome throne is not there. 00:09:18.439 --> 00:09:25.359 In the Old Testament the sea was very much a symbol of fear and chaos and division. 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:31.759 And that's often what we experience now, isn't it, fear and division and separation. 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:39.360 That's one of the standout experiences of life, separation. 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:43.879 We've experienced a lot over these last 18 months to two years. 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:46.360 But also spiritual separation, isn't it? 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:53.080 We find ourselves struggling with God, drawing away from God, distant from God, not understanding 00:09:53.080 --> 00:09:54.080 God. 00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:59.440 And we have this barrier, this barrier of sea is gone, is gone forever between God and 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:00.440 His people. 00:10:00.440 --> 00:10:07.080 There's this amazing introduction to a relationship of holy and reverential love that we can't 00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:08.639 really imagine at the moment. 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:11.120 It will be so good. 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:17.680 But as in the Old Testament which we'll come to here in the Revelation of John that is 00:10:17.680 --> 00:10:23.040 given by God, God gives Him kind of pictures that we can understand. 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:24.639 So He gives us intimate pictures. 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:29.360 The first is of a bride and groom on their wedding day really, which is as I heard a 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:33.279 loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, He 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:38.399 will dwell with them and be with His people and God Himself will be with them as their 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:39.399 God. 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:45.120 And it's just, it's bouncing back into the kind of vows that are taken on that day, that 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:51.519 vows of being together, that vows of being close, that vows of exclusivity and faithfulness 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:55.319 together in a human relationship. 00:10:55.319 --> 00:11:00.199 And He says that's just the very beginnings of a picture of what I mean, that trying to 00:11:00.199 --> 00:11:08.039 take what might be the very best experience of relationship in life and saying it's nothing, 00:11:08.039 --> 00:11:13.879 absolutely nothing compared to what lies ahead in the intimacy and the fulfillment of the 00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:17.079 relationship with God. 00:11:17.080 --> 00:11:22.400 And whether you are married or single or in a great marriage or a terrible marriage, all 00:11:22.400 --> 00:11:30.000 of it will fade into insignificance as we look forward to a different, fuller, fulfilling, 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:39.560 energizing, rewarding, intimate, emotional, relational, compatible relationship beyond 00:11:39.560 --> 00:11:43.280 our wildest dreams in God. 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:49.039 It is almost impossible to imagine in this life when we think about our lives now and 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:55.279 the physicality of our lives and the human relationships and that we can gain something 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:59.839 so much greater in our relationship with God which seems hard at the moment. 00:11:59.839 --> 00:12:05.799 But we will be living in the light and we'll be living beyond our wildest dreams and entering 00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:13.399 into trinitarian fellowship through the perfect and dwelling of God's Spirit in us beyond 00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:19.839 anything that we experience now or even Adam and Eve knew in the beginning. 00:12:19.839 --> 00:12:24.120 It is a greater, stronger, better, more glorious relationship. 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:28.439 So we've got that image of the bride adorned for her husband, but we also have another 00:12:28.439 --> 00:12:34.679 intimate image that is given to us here of wiping away every tear. 00:12:34.679 --> 00:12:38.079 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more. 00:12:38.079 --> 00:12:40.359 Neither shall they be mourning nor crying or pain or any more. 00:12:40.359 --> 00:12:41.839 For the former things have passed away. 00:12:41.839 --> 00:12:47.439 It's in that the most remarkable verse almost in the Bible. 00:12:47.439 --> 00:12:53.479 They have this sovereign King of kings, this revelation of what lies ahead, this Alpha 00:12:53.479 --> 00:13:01.000 and Omega, it's beginning and the end, this crucified God, this amazing, infinite being 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:04.479 and He uses the picture of wiping away every tear. 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:13.039 It's a beautiful, glorious, close, intimate picture that highlights that there is no more 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:20.639 sea and that the relationship between us and our God is one we can only believe by faith 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:26.360 but can't truly grasp because it's so remarkable. 00:13:26.360 --> 00:13:30.120 It's the picture of a close friend, isn't it? 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:34.159 If you ever wiped away the tear of a close friend. 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:36.319 That's an intimate thing to do. 00:13:36.319 --> 00:13:39.679 You wouldn't do that really to a stranger. 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:41.719 It's a parental thing to do. 00:13:41.719 --> 00:13:46.759 You remember, all of us remember our mums or dads doing that, don't we? 00:13:46.759 --> 00:13:51.480 We remember that healing swipe of the tear being wiped away. 00:13:51.480 --> 00:13:53.039 We remember these things. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:54.759 That's an intimate act. 00:13:54.759 --> 00:13:56.159 It's a close act. 00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:59.600 It's an act that says, it's okay. 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:01.439 Things are different now. 00:14:01.439 --> 00:14:03.319 I'm here. 00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:07.960 And we will be in the light where He has wiped away all the darkness. 00:14:07.960 --> 00:14:10.800 No night, no shadows. 00:14:10.800 --> 00:14:17.160 And the image there is almost like He's wiping away all the things He goes on to list. 00:14:17.160 --> 00:14:25.800 You know, He wipes away death and mourning and crying and pain. 00:14:25.800 --> 00:14:28.240 We can't begin to imagine that. 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:31.400 We can't imagine a life without these things. 00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:33.919 We can't imagine a day without these things. 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:34.919 No shah. 00:14:34.919 --> 00:14:42.319 All the things that makes your life and mind tough as we enter into 2022. 00:14:42.319 --> 00:14:46.799 All the things you long for not to experience. 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:54.559 All the things that aren't on your wish list or your bucket list or your New Year resolution. 00:14:54.559 --> 00:15:01.360 All of these things, He says, the sadness, the pain, illness, the tears of guilt, the 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:08.080 loss of loved ones, decrepitude, death, separations, endings, isolations. 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:14.800 All that tarnishes and spoils and blocks even the best of days. 00:15:14.800 --> 00:15:20.879 And when there's a best of days that's completely shadow free, there's still the night, isn't 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:21.879 there? 00:15:21.879 --> 00:15:23.960 And He says, all that will be gone. 00:15:23.960 --> 00:15:29.000 All the blockers, all the spoilers, all the things that cause us not to worship and make 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:32.559 worship so difficult for us will be gone. 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:34.200 All the barriers gone. 00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:36.120 You can't imagine that, can you? 00:15:36.120 --> 00:15:38.039 I can't imagine it. 00:15:38.039 --> 00:15:41.120 I can't imagine a day free of these things. 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:45.919 And yet this is what we're told is trustworthy and true. 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:46.919 Trustworthy and true. 00:15:46.919 --> 00:15:50.559 Pot of John was to write these things down. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:55.200 God says to him, write them down, write them down so that St. Columbus will hear that on 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:57.360 January the 1st, 2022. 00:15:57.360 --> 00:15:58.840 They need to hear it. 00:15:58.840 --> 00:15:59.840 They need to be encouraged. 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:00.840 They need to be... 00:16:00.840 --> 00:16:03.200 But write it down. 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:05.080 Write it down for the original hearers. 00:16:05.080 --> 00:16:07.639 Write it down for all the people through history. 00:16:07.639 --> 00:16:09.840 Write it down. 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:13.480 So he's got this great picture of wiping away tears. 00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:14.600 And as part... 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:21.680 Part of that is as part of that intimate relationship with God, which we see and we acknowledge in 00:16:21.680 --> 00:16:27.560 this passage, but it's part of being a community together, not just me and God. 00:16:27.559 --> 00:16:30.759 It's just that intimate, just me and God. 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:36.159 But it's me and God in a community of believers as part of a worshiping, serving society in 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:37.159 New Jerusalem. 00:16:37.159 --> 00:16:41.239 And I saw the New Heavens and the New Earth, and then it goes on to speak about the New 00:16:41.239 --> 00:16:44.119 Jerusalem, the city of God. 00:16:44.119 --> 00:16:49.719 Again, just speaking of the redeemed, speaking of the people of God, their biblical imagery 00:16:49.719 --> 00:16:52.559 of all of us together. 00:16:52.559 --> 00:17:00.879 All of us, all of us together, replete together in heavenly worship, involving the kind of 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:09.559 experiences that are beyond our understanding. 00:17:09.559 --> 00:17:14.319 And that's the glory of what we believe. 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:19.159 And that's why community is so important. 00:17:19.160 --> 00:17:24.240 It's because we are saved to be a community and we work out grace in community. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:29.800 And we welcome unbelievers into community, into this New Jerusalem as they will accept 00:17:29.800 --> 00:17:31.320 Jesus by faith. 00:17:31.320 --> 00:17:33.800 And that's our longing and that's our desire. 00:17:33.800 --> 00:17:37.160 And that's why it's so important and it's all impossible. 00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:39.800 It's why we pray. 00:17:39.800 --> 00:17:40.800 It's why we come together. 00:17:40.800 --> 00:17:45.560 It's why we don't grumble and complain or seek forgiveness when we do, because we're 00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:50.879 all sinners saved by grace and yet we're all working towards this great society that we 00:17:50.879 --> 00:17:52.379 will enjoy forever. 00:17:52.379 --> 00:17:59.679 And I want to go back, if I may, for a few minutes to Isaiah 65, which I think in Old 00:17:59.679 --> 00:18:08.159 Testament imagery, as it's revealed to an Old Testament people, speaks more about this 00:18:08.159 --> 00:18:13.359 kind of community that is part of the New Heavens and the New Earth. 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:17.199 It's a heavenly society that we're looking forward to. 00:18:17.199 --> 00:18:23.759 We're not going to be in heaven, as I said before, kind of some inactive sort of passive 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:26.399 worship of something. 00:18:26.399 --> 00:18:30.799 We're not going to be crossed-legged like Buddhas on clouds, plucking on harps. 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:34.559 It's not that kind of reality that we look forward to. 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:40.359 It's something much more tangible, something much more real. 00:18:40.359 --> 00:18:43.919 And it will be worshipful, loving service of God. 00:18:43.919 --> 00:18:56.439 I think there will be within the New Heavens and the New Earth, there will be strong relationships. 00:18:56.439 --> 00:19:02.879 We've got this picture, and it's quite a contentious picture, I have to say, in some circles, which 00:19:02.879 --> 00:19:08.319 talks in verse 20 of Isaiah 65, no more shall there be an infant who lives but a few days 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:11.879 or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years 00:19:11.879 --> 00:19:14.240 old and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:15.799 What does that mean? 00:19:15.799 --> 00:19:16.799 What's that speaking about? 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:20.559 It's saying that people die in heaven, that the young children grow old and the old people 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:25.960 die, but that can't be the case, surely, because it's a metaphor or it's an image, and it's 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:30.759 in an Old Testament political form. 00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:37.319 We know that Isaiah 25 verse 8 says that death is swallowed up forever, and we know from 00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:40.799 the rest of Scripture that there's no death in glory, there's no death in the New Heavens 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:45.759 and the New Earth, there's no getting old, there's no dying young. 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:51.799 But what it's taking, again, it's taking earthly pictures that we understand and saying in 00:19:51.799 --> 00:19:52.799 this new... 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:58.839 And even eternal life wasn't that clear, clearly defined in many places in the Old Testament, 00:19:58.839 --> 00:20:00.799 it unfolds as it were. 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:05.679 It's a progressive revelation in Scripture, but it's the idea of permanence. 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:10.720 It's the idea that it would be outrageous for a baby to die young or an old man to die 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:11.720 before a hundred. 00:20:11.720 --> 00:20:20.720 It's just this whole idea that life goes on, that all the tragedies of this life, of 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:25.039 lives being taken early, of people saying dying before their time. 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:26.039 How often do we hear that? 00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:28.519 Are they dying before their time? 00:20:28.519 --> 00:20:31.440 Dying before they were old, not seeing old age. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:36.160 All of these things will not be a part of it, death will not be a part of it, sin will 00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:37.519 not be a part of it. 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:44.920 It's just using the pictures of... that would be understood by people that in this New Heavens 00:20:44.920 --> 00:20:51.200 and this New Earth will be great relationships that are permanent, no jealousies, no immaturity, 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:59.080 no rivalry, ageless perfection, innocence, and a kind of permanent childhood as part 00:20:59.079 --> 00:21:05.599 of the family of the living God, childlike, not childish. 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:11.119 We worship in that relationship of being together, whatever that looks like, and it's beyond 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:15.039 that understanding, isn't it? 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:18.199 Because it's not going to just be in these strong relationships, but I think it's also 00:21:18.199 --> 00:21:21.599 going to be in somehow in building homes. 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:27.119 Isaiah 65 verse 21 says that they shall build houses and have them, they shall plant vineyards 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:28.799 and eat their fruit. 00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:33.519 Whatever that is envisaging, it's talking about, isn't it? 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:38.519 It's talking about a place that we'll belong, a place where we'll be at a home, a place 00:21:38.519 --> 00:21:44.480 where we will work to enjoy and there'll be no thorns and thistles and nothing from the 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:48.279 old creation to destroy that for us. 00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:54.919 It'll be society and community securely working together in our heavenly home, no coveting 00:21:54.920 --> 00:22:04.440 or stealing, worshiping God as the provider and the enabler, building homes, strong relationships, 00:22:04.440 --> 00:22:08.360 fruitful labour, we shall eat their fruit, they shall not build another inhabit, they 00:22:08.360 --> 00:22:13.320 shall not plant another eat for the days of a tree shall be like the days of a people 00:22:13.320 --> 00:22:14.800 shall be. 00:22:14.800 --> 00:22:22.720 All of that curse that makes going to work tomorrow, maybe not tomorrow, Monday, or the 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:29.920 following week if you're fortunate enough to have another week of idle slobs, then that's 00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:32.680 going to be a great thing. 00:22:32.680 --> 00:22:36.680 You're not going to dread working, it's not going to be unfruitful, nobody is going to 00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:43.000 take a claim for what you have done, there'll be this tremendous sharing and blessing and 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:51.720 freedom and joy fulfilling beyond what Adam and Eve were entrusted with in stewarding 00:22:51.720 --> 00:22:55.759 the earth, beyond that in relationship with God. 00:22:55.759 --> 00:23:02.000 And it will be done I believe in harmony with nature. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:07.000 The wolf and the lion and the lamb shall graze together, the lion shall eat straw like 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:08.480 the fox. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:14.400 The curse will be no more, whatever that means. 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:19.360 We have a dog worshipping with us today and maybe there'll be dogs in glory, not the same 00:23:19.359 --> 00:23:25.319 dogs maybe because they don't have souls, but there may be new dogs in heaven. 00:23:25.319 --> 00:23:31.039 There may be new animals, there will be a new creation and sweet cooperation between 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:37.639 the ground and all living creatures that has been lost since the curse of Genesis chapter 00:23:37.639 --> 00:23:46.599 3, harmony, pleasurable work, no tension, no abuse, no waste, nothing but joy in a relationship 00:23:46.599 --> 00:23:50.480 with the material world. 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:55.919 So we remind ourselves today of that intimate relationship with God that we find hard to 00:23:55.919 --> 00:24:03.319 grasp now that you may feel this morning as cold as ice spiritually. 00:24:03.319 --> 00:24:06.959 You may feel God is a million miles away from you. 00:24:06.959 --> 00:24:13.159 It doesn't change anything in terms of who He is and His promises to you as a believer 00:24:13.160 --> 00:24:19.040 and His willingness to always be there with arms open to you. 00:24:19.040 --> 00:24:24.360 And it will not always be like that, either in this world or in the world to come as you 00:24:24.360 --> 00:24:30.240 keep turning to Him and keep looking back to Him. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:35.040 And our worship together, please pray about it. 00:24:35.040 --> 00:24:39.519 Pray before you come, pray during it, pray after it. 00:24:39.519 --> 00:24:43.279 Ask God to apply the word and the singing and the praise and the prayers and all that 00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:50.519 we do into our lives, remembering that we are in a community project together in worship, 00:24:50.519 --> 00:25:01.279 seeking to... seeking, can you believe it, to be a little bit of heaven in a world of 00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:02.279 shadows? 00:25:02.279 --> 00:25:07.039 That's what we strive to be, not just in our public worship but in our lives, our community 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:13.000 lives to get a little bit of loving God perfectly and loving one another perfectly, however hard 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:16.319 and challenging that as we've got the Holy Spirit to enable us. 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:21.000 And just to conclude with something that you should never do and any preachers here 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:24.559 will know this is, introduce a new point in their conclusion. 00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:32.359 But I'm going to anyway, is that there's a symphony of praise in all of our lives as 00:25:32.359 --> 00:25:38.519 Christians and particularly in the life that we are going to enjoy in heaven. 00:25:38.519 --> 00:25:41.240 In Revelation 19 verse 6, that's great. 00:25:41.240 --> 00:25:45.679 I seemed, I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude like the roar of many 00:25:45.679 --> 00:25:50.959 waters like the sound of mighty peals of thunder crying out, hallelujah for the Lord our God, 00:25:50.959 --> 00:25:51.959 the almighty reigns. 00:25:51.959 --> 00:25:56.479 Let us rejoice and exalt and give Him the glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come 00:25:56.479 --> 00:26:00.399 and the bride has made herself ready. 00:26:00.399 --> 00:26:01.879 That's great, isn't it? 00:26:01.880 --> 00:26:10.360 That is the theme of our lives is this symphony of praise together both as we sing but also 00:26:10.360 --> 00:26:12.200 as we live our lives. 00:26:12.200 --> 00:26:16.920 And I just can't imagine what it will be like on that day. 00:26:16.920 --> 00:26:21.800 Thundress, sweet, cacophony and chorus of the redeemed. 00:26:21.800 --> 00:26:25.320 How did we'll add our voice to it? 00:26:25.320 --> 00:26:31.520 Are we trembling quiet voice will be added to that amazing cacophony of sound, a multitude 00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:32.920 that no one can number. 00:26:32.920 --> 00:26:38.519 You know, if you've ever been, if you've ever been to a great concert or a, you know, a 00:26:38.519 --> 00:26:45.400 60, 70, 80, 100,000 people football match or whatever it might be, it can be awe inspiring 00:26:45.400 --> 00:26:51.759 noise, even just that tiny number, but millions upon millions upon millions praising. 00:26:51.759 --> 00:26:56.480 We out of this world, if we can use that phrase. 00:26:56.480 --> 00:27:04.599 So our worship is to, we seek to reflect that praise, those who lead the praise as we sing, 00:27:04.599 --> 00:27:13.160 even with even with masks and one day the masks of God, no masks in glory. 00:27:13.160 --> 00:27:21.120 In our conversation, in our discipleship, in our mission, in our lives, may we reflect 00:27:21.120 --> 00:27:23.000 a little bit of heaven. 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:30.720 And that is really significant, I think, moving into 2022, which is the world we live in, 00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:37.880 and the world you live in particularly, is confused, is dark, it's foundationless. 00:27:37.880 --> 00:27:44.000 People are struggling, people are lost, humanly speaking, let alone spiritually. 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:50.680 And what an opportunity we have to rise above our circumstances and share with them Jesus 00:27:50.680 --> 00:27:56.320 Christ and reflect the hope that we have in Him. 00:27:56.320 --> 00:27:58.160 Let's pray and think about that. 00:27:58.160 --> 00:28:04.480 Heavenly Father, reminders of who you are, reminders of your great glory, it's so difficult 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:12.640 to even put into words what Scripture teaches about heaven, because it seems so beyond our 00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:15.039 ability to imagine. 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:20.560 But help us to grasp it by faith, by the gift of faith that you promise, to live in the 00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:27.440 power of your Spirit, to love in a way that is radically Christ-like, very different from 00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:33.159 what our natural human sin, sin-stained love is like. 00:28:33.159 --> 00:28:38.519 Help us to love Christ as first and foremost, and love one another and treat each other 00:28:38.519 --> 00:28:46.839 as better than ourselves in a world where we are, we are our hearts and what we hear 00:28:46.839 --> 00:29:01.679 around us, screams at us to be self-centred and self-motivated and self-inspired and self-worshipping. 00:29:01.679 --> 00:29:07.679 Help us to be different, we pray, and help us to reach out with the gospel with such 00:29:07.679 --> 00:29:15.599 courage and freshness, even with fear and trembling, but may we do so in the knowledge 00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:21.559 of the hope of the gospel that is ours, that we are not, what we are asking not to keep 00:29:21.559 --> 00:29:23.199 to ourselves but to share with others. 00:29:23.199 --> 00:29:24.199 We ask it in Jesus' name. 00:29:24.200 --> 00:29:46.200 Amen.