Good morning all. Great to be with you again on church and online.
Just let me add one more thing.
This is effectively the close off of Vision 2020
and what an amazing journey it's been.
Someone who's been with us that whole time has been Nick and Sam.
They've both been with us that whole time.
And it's quite appropriate that today is their last day
before they take seven weeks of long service leave
at the end of Vision 2020.
So thank you guys. Thank you for serving us.
In the next seven weeks, may you experience rest
as we launch into looking at eternal rest now.
Let me pray as we begin.
Gracious God, thank you for Nick, for Sam, for Isla, for Juddy.
Thank you for their contribution to our church life.
And I pray that these next seven weeks for them
will be a glimpse of heaven.
I pray that they will drink deeply from you,
that they will experience rest as a family
and especially rest for their souls in you.
So Lord, refuel them for the next stage of ministry.
And as we launch into your word now,
give us a vision, a clear vision of the end.
And I pray, Lord, that our hearts will beat,
that adrenaline will course
as we look forward to the day coming.
Amen.
And so as we close off Vision 2020
and as we close off Revelation
and our time of celebration,
we start looking to the future
as we've already started to do.
I want to begin today by,
as I've done on numerous occasions in the past,
drawing our attention to the life
of one of the greatest philosophical thinkers,
one of the sharpest political minds,
one of the most quoted individuals
and widely respected entertainers
of the past 100 years.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was born
the son of a low-ranking Austrian police officer
and he was destined to be a nobody
until his hands wrapped around a barbell
for the very first time.
By the age of 18, he was traveling the world,
competing in bodybuilding championships.
And at one point, he's living in England
and his coach, Wag Bennett, said to him,
Arnie, what do you want to do with your life?
And Wag said Arnold's response
was phenomenal for an 18-year-old.
He said, I want to be the richest
and the greatest bodybuilder of all time.
I want to live in the United States.
I want to be an actor, a movie director.
I want to own an apartment block
and I want to have a political career.
18 years of age,
he saw the vision of the future
and that vision controlled his day-by-day actions.
One training partner,
living and in fact working with Arnie at that time,
said that Arnold was so focused on his future
that on one occasion,
we were doing reps with masses amounts of weight
and he said, I did one more than Arnie.
And he said, Arnie looked at me and said,
you'll never ever do that again.
And he said, no matter how hard I tried,
no matter how much training I did,
I could never beat him from that moment.
He knew what he wanted,
wasn't distracted,
he saw the future
and he went for it.
You see, whatever we think the future is,
it will determine
how we live in the present,
whether you're an atheist or a Christian.
Your future determines how you live.
So I want us to focus today,
Revelation 21, 22,
on a rock-solid certain future hope
that should control how we live right now.
As I said last week,
Revelation was not given to us
to satisfy our curiosity about things in the future,
but to open our eyes.
It's there to prod us
to become awake to the reality of what is
and to stimulate and reform actions in our lives.
It opens our eyes to the Christian worldview.
The crucified, resurrected Jesus
is the one who reigns in heaven.
His people suffer on earth with joy
while being threatened and seduced
by the powers and cultures of its day.
God, however, is in control
throughout the chaos of history
and he has determined
and he will come again
to judge all of humanity
and Christians are therefore called
to remain faithful to Jesus
and the good news about him
as we wait for his return
to wind up history
and to bring us into his perfect presence forever.
Last week, we saw the destruction of Babylon,
Babylon, the city which represents
the representation of idolatrous human societies
in all their forms
which are set against the creator God.
By the end of chapter 20,
all evil is dealt with and judged
and as we launch into chapters 21 and 22,
we're introduced to a new city.
And we'll notice a number of contrasts
between the two cities of Babylon,
the prostitute,
and Jerusalem, the bride.
Babylon seduced and corrupted the nations
but Jerusalem is a light to the nations.
Babylon is full of abominations and filth
but impurity and deceit
are excluded from Jerusalem.
In Babylon, wine intoxicates the nations.
In Jerusalem, there is water of life
and a tree of life
for the healing of the nations.
God's people are called out of Babylon
and they are called to enter Jerusalem.
And so before us today is an alternative city,
alternative Babylon,
a place of eternal rest.
And I want us to see three things quickly
from this today.
And if you've got the St. Paul's app,
I encourage you to open that up
and you have those three things in front of you.
The nature of eternal rest,
receiving eternal rest,
and thirdly, living for eternal rest.
So the nature of eternal rest is in verse 2.
It says,
I saw the holy city,
this is chapter 21,
I saw the holy city,
the new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God.
So the Bible describes here
a vision of the end of the world history,
the climax of history.
It's a picture of heaven.
And this vision is not of individual souls
rising up, escaping the world,
going to a white, fluffy, cloudy place
where we're playing harps.
That's not what we have here.
What you see instead is heaven coming down
and transforming the world.
That's what you see.
The climax of God's plan is a rewoven,
healed, perfected material world.
A world where even the good things of this world
are made to be infinitely better
than they currently are.
The Bible does not give us a picture of heaven
where we hover around with wings
amongst clouds, playing harps
and communicating via mental telepathy.
It's a real material world like this one
where people hug each other
and walk and run and laugh and dance
and kiss and eat and work and play.
It's a place like we've never experienced
in this world but it's also very, very similar
to this world.
The Swiss Alps will be the Swiss Alps
but perfected.
I don't know how that's possible
but it will be.
Maybe the less skiers or something.
I'm not sure what the deal is
but it will be perfected.
The difference is everything in this world
is broken.
Even the beautiful things.
There will be all pure, right and whole.
Every one of us,
every single human being
has this sense,
a longing for the perfect,
for the complete.
As good as this world might be at times,
it doesn't give us
the satisfaction that lasts.
Even the best marriages will end.
The best cars will rust.
The best holidays will be but a memory.
It all leaves us longing for the next thing,
the thing that will last.
It might be longing for a body
that we've never had,
the approval that we've never had,
the home that we've never had,
a beach or a wave that we've never had,
the family that we've never had.
Whatever it is,
these chapters say
that all of our desires
for fulfillment
and satisfaction
and contentment
is coming.
Verse 3 tells us
why it will be so right.
Why all of our hopes
and our expectations
will be fulfilled.
It says,
now the dwelling of God
is with people
and he will live with them.
They will be his people
and God himself
will be with them
and be their God.
Right at the beginning of the Bible
we are told
that's exactly what we were created for.
It's what God's plan has been all along
for him and his people
to dwell together
in perfect harmony.
We have that
at the beginning of the Bible
at creation
God dwells with his people
in the Garden of Eden.
They walk
and they talk together.
Everything is perfect.
In fact,
at the end of six days of creating
it says that God rested.
He wasn't tired.
Rest was the goal of creation.
On the seventh day
God rested.
You don't then
and then it was Monday again
he had to get back to work.
Rest was it.
The seventh day was it.
Rest.
All things in their proper order
in harmony with each other
for their joy
is biblical rest.
And here at the end of all things
God is again dwelling with his people
in heaven.
Rest.
God
has always planned
and desired
to be with his people
in a state of perfect harmony.
Rest is the goal.
But as we know
in Genesis 3
that rest was
totally
ruined
when we lost
our relationship
with God
through sin.
And on that moment
even our relationship
with our true selves
was broken.
Fell apart.
Adam and Eve
immediately began
to experience
fear and anxiety
and their relationship
with each other
fell apart.
Their relationship
with the physical world
fell apart
as the snake
tempted Eve.
They began
to experience
aging and disease
and pain
and death.
When your relationship
with God
falls apart
everything
falls apart.
restlessness
is the consequence.
Constantly
striving
for contentment
and satisfaction
is the consequence.
but when the relationship
with God
is put right
every other relationship
is put right.
Everything sad
and broken
and wrong
will be wiped away.
That is the day
that's coming.
For me
I'm a diabetic
I'm constantly
hooked up to a pump
and I've got
hearing aids now
and so
everything's breaking.
Everything's breaking.
But for me
that's not my major concern.
The thing that I look forward to
in heaven
is not a new pancreas.
The thing that I look forward to
more than anything else
is the weight
to be lifted.
The weight to be gone.
The weight of expectations
and the need to lead
and the constant feeling
of being a failure
as a disciple
and as a leader
and everything
to be gone
to be lifted like that.
Heaven is a place
of rest
of endless joy
happiness
freedom
fulfillment
beauty
love
contentment.
The future
for the inhabitants
of Babylon
is darkness
despair
and loneliness.
The future
for the members
of the new Jerusalem
the bride of Christ
the church
is light
joy
and intimate
relationship.
And that's what we see
in the second half
of chapter 21.
In verse 9
one of the angels
says to John
come
I will show you
the bride
the wife
of the lamb
and he carried me
away
in the spirit
to a mountain
high and great
and he showed me
the holy city.
So here's John
taken away
in a vision
to see the bride
the wife
of the lamb
and when he gets there
what does he see?
A city.
Now the details
of the rest
of the chapter
reveal
an unusual city.
It's huge.
It's a huge
cube.
2200 kilometers
by 2200 kilometers
by 2200 kilometers.
That's massive.
That's a lot
of stories.
Here to Townsville
and somewhere
further west
and I don't know
how many
Mount Everest
on top of each other.
An awful lot.
The measurements
and the details
here are symbolic.
This cube
echoes the most
holy place
in Solomon's temple
in 1 Kings 6.
The holy city
is now
the most holy place.
The place
where God
meets with his people.
In the past
it was only
the high priest
who could ever
enter the most holy place
and only once a year
and after very
specific preparation
the blood of Jesus
has opened the way
for every
single person
to now
be in his presence
forever.
The jewels
on the high priest
breastplate
which represented
the people of God
are now embedded
into the city walls.
The old temple
had one single entrance.
This one
has gates
on all four sides
welcoming people
from all four corners
of the globe.
The temple
was the symbol
of God's presence
with his people
and now that symbol
has given way
to reality.
It's not literally
2,200 by
it's not literally
a big cube.
These numbers
are significant.
This vision
of the John C
is so
magnificent
so incomprehensible
that he tries
to grab for language
and symbols
to try and describe
the beauty
and the magnificence
of it.
This is a city
that contains
all of God's people.
All of God's people
from Old Testament
to New Testament
that's what all the
specific numbers
are referring to.
That's the symbolism
of it.
And it's a city
about the size
of the world
as they knew it
at the time.
The thick walls
and the angelic watchmen
on each gate
which are never closed
are references
to its safety
and its security.
Perfect relationship
with God
perfect relationship
with all people
and perfect relationship
with the created order.
It's hard to picture.
But imagine
this world
with everything
negative
everything broken
sinful
evil
decaying
dark
destructive thing
every one of those things
taken out of it
so that all
that we have left
is the stuff
that's good
whole
light
righteous
loving
kind
and all of that stuff
being perfected
millions and millions
of times over
and you start to get
a glimpse
of what forever
with God
is going to be like.
Revelation 21
verses 4 and 5
really just sum it up.
God will wipe away
every tear
with their eyes
that we know
more death
or mourning
or crying
or pain
for the old order
of things
has passed away.
He who was seated
on the throne
said I am making
everything
new.
That is the hope
of the Christian
and that is the nature
of our eternal rest.
So how do we get it?
The simple answer
is
you believe
in the death
and resurrection
of Jesus Christ
and you cling
to him
all the days
of your life.
Jesus' death
is alluded to
in verse 6
where it says
to him
who is thirsty
I will give
to drink
without cost
from the spring
of the water
of life.
As I said
last week
the John who
gets this vision
in Revelation
is the John
who wrote John's Gospel
and what's standing
behind verse 6
is John 4
where Jesus
meets a woman
at the well
and says
that he can give
water to her
that will mean
that she will never
ever be thirsty
again
and she thought
this is fantastic
you know
get me buckets
and I'll have
some of that.
She of course
thought he was
talking about
actual water
he was talking
about eternal life.
Jesus offered her
in that moment
a foretaste
of this new heaven
and this new earth.
The deepest longings
of our life
the longing
for love
the longing
for value
the longing
for life
to last
are satisfied
in and by Jesus.
Jesus says
that we can have it
for free
he offers it to us
it says there
without cost.
How is that possible?
How is it possible
that he can offer
that to us
without cost?
Well
at the end
of John's gospel
we have Jesus
on the cross.
That's how it's possible.
He's the one
who has taken
our sin
to the cross.
And one of the
significant things
he says
at the end
of John's gospel
while he's on the cross
he said a number
of things
but one of the
significant things
he said
was
I am thirsty.
It wasn't just
a physical thirst
because straight afterwards
he says
my God
why have you
forsaken me?
On the cross
Jesus
was experiencing
cosmic hopelessness
so that we could
experience
living hope.
On the cross
Jesus experienced
cosmic thirst
separation
from God
that's what
we deserve
so that we
could have
the spring
of the water
of life
instead.
On the cross
Jesus
took the curse
of God
for our sin
so that we
can experience
an eternal
future
of blessing
in his presence.
On the cross
the sun went
down at midday
darkness fell
so that we
could experience
an eternal
future of light
and glory
and safety.
He was nailed
to the cross
of death
so that we
can have access
to the tree
of life.
Jesus
left the rest
of heaven
came into
this world
so that we
could receive
eternal rest
with him
forever.
And he
didn't just
die
he rose
again.
His resurrection
his new
body
is the first
installment
of everything
being made
new forever.
It all hinges
on that.
It all hinges
on resurrection.
So if you're
sitting here
today going
pie in the
sky Steve
let's get
historical for
a moment.
Walk away
from here
and investigate
the resurrection
of Jesus.
Historical
resurrection
of Jesus
that is the
first fruit
of this promise
here of
eternal rest
with Christ.
If you need
help doing
that I'd be
delighted to
help you do
that.
his resurrection
is a promise
to us that
this world
is not
everything
and that
there is
hope beyond
death.
His resurrection
guarantees our
resurrection with
him and
therefore guarantees
our hope
and he invites
us to join him
in it.
So thirdly
how does this
future shape
our present?
What does it
mean to live
for eternal
rest?
You see
the person
who knows
that their
destiny is
glorious
and certain
because of
the radical
love and
the sacrifice
of a forgiving
and loving
God will be
free and I
mean set
free to
live the
most radical
life of
love and
sacrifice here
on earth.
You see
if someone
picture this
someone falls
out of an
aeroplane
you're flying
along right
someone falls
out of an
aeroplane and
they don't have
a parachute
on
you don't
go
I'll jump
out of the
aeroplane and
see if I can
rescue them.
There's no
point.
Two deaths
is not better
than one.
Doesn't make
any sense.
However
if the person
falls out of
the aeroplane
and you happen
to have a
parachute on
then you just
may in that
moment attempt
one of those
James Bond
kind of rescue
attempts where
you free fall
like a bullet
and you catch
them and
pull the cord
and you rescue
them.
You see
it is the
hope of
eternal
rest
safety and
love in the
end that
releases
radical
sacrificial
love right
now.
So the
book of
Revelation
and our
future hope
should cause
the Christian
to move
away from
lives of
self-centeredness
and flimsy
loyalties and
undisciplined
devotion and
presumption of
God's
patience into
people whose
lives are
consistently
living for
more than
self-preservation
self-praise and
self-fulfillment.
the Christian
is not just
the citizen
of this
city,
New Jerusalem
into the
future,
they're part
of it right
now.
And at the
very least,
what that
means is
that there is
to some
degree that
we can in
fact wipe
away the
tears of
our city
right now
through
acts of
selfless
love and
mercy and
justice.
The
Christian
hope is
a life
transforming
living hope
and not an
abstract idea.
These
chapters were
originally written
to people who
were suffering
terrible things.
they had
homes taken
away and
plundered,
as I said
right at the
beginning of
this series.
They were
sent into
the arena
and torn
apart by
wild animals
as the
crowds watched
and applauded.
Christians
were impaled
on stakes
while still
alive,
covered with
tar and
set alight.
They also
suffered the
daily struggle
of not being
seduced by
the power
and the
affluence of
Rome,
the daily
struggle of
not planting
their hopes
firmly in
a temporary
empire.
That's what
they faced.
What does
John give
them?
Free
tickets to
the Maldives?
No.
Great
career
advancement?
No.
He gave
them this
is what he
gave them.
He gave
them this.
He gave
them the
new heavens
and the
new earth.
He gave
them the
glimpse of
God's
plan of
the climax
of history
and it's
a simple
fact that
when he
gave them
this,
it worked.
The early
Christians took
their suffering
with such
peace.
They sang
hymns as
the beasts
were tearing
them apart
and they
forgave the
people who
were killing
them.
But the
more the
Christians
were killed,
the more
the Christian
movement grew
and expanded
because when
people watched
how Christians
were dying,
it became
obvious to
them that
they had
something
different.
They
obviously
had a
living hope.
Us
human beings,
we are such
hope-shaped
creatures.
Our hopes
and our
aspirations for
the future
determine how
we live
right now.
Imagine for a
moment that I
offered two of
you a job
starting tomorrow.
Two people
here offered
a job and
the job was
I'm going to
sit you at
a table with
an uncomfortable
chair in a
damp, dark,
smelly, windless
room for 10
hours a day,
six days a week
and your job is
to screw widgets
onto wadgets.
And if you
don't know what
they are,
neither do I.
Same room,
exact same
situation.
But I
take one of
you aside and
I say at the
end of this
year I'm
going to give
you $5,000.
That's your
job, give
you $5,000.
The other
one I take
aside and
say at the
end of this
year I'm
going to
give you
$10,000,000.
One will
quit before
the year's
out and the
other will
whistle while
they work.
They will
experience exact
same circumstances
in utterly
different ways
because what
they believe
about their
future.
Do you
believe that
this world is
all that there
is and that
when you die
you rot?
Or do you
believe in a
new heavens and
a new earth
and a judgment
day when all
wrong is put
right and all
right is made
even better?
depending on
which one you
believe you're
going to live
in two very
different ways.
People from
every language
culture, people
from every
people group
have taken
this living
hope of a
glorious future
with their
created God
into the
center of their
lives and
they have
triumphed over
the most
harshest of
circumstances.
That is what
the hope of
eternal rest
does.
And so for
the Christian
who's hearing
this right now
here in the
room on the
screen, mark
the concluding
message of
Revelation from
the mouth of
the Lord Jesus.
I am coming
soon.
Three times
we read
these three
words, those
words, four
words in
Revelation 22
verse 7,
verse 12 and
verse 20.
The unveiling
of the scroll
has now
happened.
The scroll
has been
opened, the
destiny of
humanity has
been revealed,
the message of
Revelation is
complete and
he says to
us just
wait a
little longer.
Just wait.
Verse 7 he
says, I am
coming soon
therefore don't
disobey this
Revelation.
May the message
of this book
shape your
values, your
priorities and
your life day
by day.
Verse 12 he
says again, I
am coming soon
therefore don't
hide this
Revelation.
This is not a
book that gets
put back on
your shelf.
These words are
to be read,
they are to be
proclaimed.
This Revelation
must remain
open until
Jesus returns
and that all
people get a
chance to see
and believe
this final rest.
Verse 20
Jesus says, I am
coming soon,
therefore do
not meddle
with this
Revelation.
These words
are final.
There is not
a better
message,
there is not
a newer
message,
there is not
a supplement
to this
message.
Everything we
need to know
about human
destiny has
been revealed
in this
Revelation.
Every single
one of us
here in this
room on
screen is
living for
the future.
Every single
one of us.
That is,
there is not
a single human
being who lives
for the present.
It is a
nonsense when
people say,
I am living
for today.
No, you are
not.
No, you are
not.
You are
living for
today because
of what you
think about
the future.
So what is
the future
that has
determined
your life?
Christianity
declares
there is no
other, no
greater hope
than Jesus
Christ, billions
of people around
this world
have discovered
it in the
last 2,000
years.
And the
closing verses
of Revelation
also has a
message for
those who
have not yet
embraced Jesus
Christ.
Chapter 22
verse 17
is an invitation
for you,
the non-Christian.
The spirit
and the bride
says,
come.
And let the
one who
hears
say,
come.
Come.
Let the
one who
is thirsty
come.
Let the
one who
wishes take
the free
gift of the
water of
life,
come.
Come now
to Jesus
and find rest
for your
souls.
Come to
Jesus and
find eternal
rest.
Come to
Jesus and
receive from
him life and
satisfaction and
hope.
Come to
Jesus and
get a future
that's worth
waiting for and
working for.
Amen.