Hope

Well, good morning, everyone.

Isn't that a lovely phrase, faultless stand before the throne?

That's a lovely phrase.

Will you pray with me as we come to God's Word?

Our Father, we thank you that you're a God who speaks hope to us.

Lord, we thank you that our hope is not wishful thinking,

but it is grounded in your Son's death and resurrection.

Thank you that we have such a solid place to stand.

Lord, I pray that for those who are burdened by their sin,

that you would speak into their hearts this morning.

And assure them that they are yours and washed.

Lord, for those of us who are just going along with the ways of the world

and not caring about you, I pray that you would convict us.

Lord, for those who are suffering and just burdened,

I pray that you would renew us with just such a bright picture of what is to come.

Lord, please speak to us.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, think ahead to this coming week.

What are some good things that could happen?

So I want you to start listing them in your head.

What are some good things that could happen?

Now, what would be the best thing that could happen?

Do you feel like I'm trying to trap you?

You know this sermon is about heaven.

I'm not trying to trap you.

What else is your heart going to?

What are you thinking of?

I wonder if anyone here thought about winning the Powerball.

$150 million last week.

I'm not encouraging that, by the way.

Did anyone think of a new car?

I'm looking forward to a new laptop.

My current one takes two attempts to start up.

I can't be too harsh on it because it takes me two attempts to start up in the morning.

Would the best thing this week be if you met the love of your life?

Reconciling that strange relationship.

Is it something to do with your kids or grandkids?

Getting that home loan approved.

Passing those exams that are keeping you up at night.

Being on holidays.

Maybe some thought of their anxiety or depression being lifted.

Maybe you even thought the best thing is if you died and went to be with the Lord.

Maybe you thought of your loved one.

That they would come to Christ.

And have life.

I wonder, was your first thought, the best thing that could happen this week is if Jesus turned up.

And I saw him face to face.

And his idea of heaven on earth was put into full effect.

For those of us who belong to Christ, when we stop and think about it, we genuinely do desire this, don't we?

We really do.

It is our deepest desire.

But why is the future that our Father has promised us, the future that Christ died to give us,

the future that the Holy Spirit is preparing us for,

why doesn't it flood our hearts with an all-consuming desire?

I suspect the answer is, Jesus' words, where your treasure is, there your heart is also.

Whatever else your heart cherishes more than our future with Christ,

that thing will actually make the idea of heaven unappealing.

How do we replace a lesser love with a greater love?

We do that.

Thomas Chalmers calls it the expulsive power of a new affection.

You get rid of one affection by replacing it with a greater affection.

But perhaps part of the problem is that it's just your own imaginary ideas of heaven that you find unappealing.

Whatever the case is, if you're loving something else more than Christ,

or if you've got just a wrong idea of heaven, the solution's the same.

We need to listen to what God says.

What is our future hope?

What is it?

What are we looking forward to?

What is it?

So we're finishing our series in God's words,

and it's only fitting that we listen to God's final word in the Bible in Revelation 21 and 22,

and it is a word of hope.

Isn't it great that God's final word to us is hope?

In Revelation 21 and 22, God shows the Apostle John a vision of the eternal age to come.

It is full of imagery, but it's not a photograph of what it's literally going to be like.

And it's also not a riddle that you have to solve.

Every sentence is just jam-packed with stuff from the Old Testament.

It's a picture upon picture.

It's a picture upon picture, mixing metaphors, looking at the same thing from multiple angles to give us a theological picture.

So what are we about to see?

What is the end point for all God's work of creating and sustaining the world,

speaking and revealing himself, redeeming through the blood of Christ in his resurrection,

sanctifying his church, judging the world and sin and Satan?

What is God's goal?

What's his end point that he is determined to achieve?

What's he doing?

Where are we going?

We can't cover it all, but we're going to focus on five things.

We're going to see a new heaven and a new earth.

We're going to see the church as the bride.

The bride, the bride adorned for her husband.

The best thing, we're going to see his face.

What we won't see is any curse anymore.

And because we won't see anything that can wreck it, it will be forever.

Then we'll finish by asking a few questions.

How can I be sure that this is my future?

How can we be sure that he really is coming?

And what are we called to do until he comes?

Have you been to both a Christian and a non-Christian funeral?

Is there a difference?

Did you sense a massive difference?

Hope.

Hope.

As Christians, we take deep comfort in the fact that we will be with our Lord,

freed from the agony of this world.

There's enormous comfort in this.

But is that what we're meant to be looking forward to?

Is that the end point?

It's good, but is it the end point?

Did Jesus rise from the dead so that we could be with him in a spiritual,

bodiless existence in heaven?

Verse 1 is God's end point.

All these chapters.

Verse 1.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.

God's goal for creation is not that we escape it,

but that his original purposes will be fully and finally realized.

Verse 5.

And he who was seated on the throne said,

Behold, look, I am making all things new.

And he said to me,

It is done.

On the seventh day of creation, it is finished.

God's purposes.

At the completion of King Solomon's temple in Jerusalem in the Promised Land,

it is finished.

As Jesus draws his last breath, dying on the cross for your sin,

before rising to new life,

it is finished.

And we're looking forward to when God says for the very last time,

when he resurrects heaven and earth,

resurrects our bodies,

it is finished.

If you're wondering what heaven will be like,

go for a walk.

Look at the stars.

Feel the breeze.

Roll in the grass.

Make angels in the grass.

That's what we're encouraged to do at college.

Smell the flowers.

Eat some freshly baked bread.

Imagine, if you can,

nothing ruining it.

It's a new heaven and a new earth.

But before we get too obsessed with the place itself,

we have to focus our attention on what God is looking forward to most of all.

And surprisingly, perhaps,

the majority of Revelation 21 and 22

is about the church.

Verse 2,

When you attend a wedding,

and the bride, in all her beauty,

shining and glimmering,

walks down the aisle,

do you take a look at the groom

to see his reaction?

Now, some men don't cry.

I cannot claim to be one of those men.

But this moment is too powerful

and overwhelms a lot of guys.

When a husband's beloved is presented

in all her glory and all for him,

all the preparation has been leading to this moment.

They are on the brink of uniting forever.

What's God's goal?

What's history moving towards?

The permanent union of Christ and his beloved, the church.

Tom Wright calls it the marriage of heaven and earth.

This picture of the bride is zoomed in on

from verse 9 onwards.

The angel says to John,

Come, I will show you the bride,

the wife of the Lamb.

And what has he shown?

A city.

So don't picture a city wearing a wedding dress.

Mixing metaphors, remember.

It's the New Jerusalem.

It's the place God has chosen to live with his people.

The place where God's name is.

We're not going to go into all the details,

but if you skim these verses or read them later on,

you see all the precious jewels in the streets are gold.

God's church will be beautiful.

Precious.

In God's sight.

No blemish whatsoever.

Holy.

You might be tempted to think that the church is ugly now.

It's just getting ready.

It's still in preparation.

It's going to sparkle.

The city is made up of all the people of God

from north, south, east and west.

All the world.

People from all the world.

The gates are always open

because there's nothing to threaten it

from the outside or from within the church.

Nothing threatening it anymore.

No Satan.

No sinful desires.

No divisions in the church.

But the church, finally holy.

United as one bride,

giving all her affection to her one husband.

Jesus Christ.

It's relational imagery, isn't it?

It's purity language.

And it's not like the church being united to Jesus

is approaching something like marriage.

It's the other way around.

Marriage is just a small taste

of what the real and the permanent thing will be like.

Perhaps the most important feature of this city

is that it's a cube.

2,000 kilometers in length and width and height.

That's a bit weird, isn't it?

A bit random.

There's only one other thing in the Bible that is a cube.

Do you remember what it is?

I didn't.

Someone had to tell me this week.

The Holy of Holies.

The innermost part of the temple

where God's presence is.

The closest you can get to God.

And so, of course, John doesn't see a temple.

There is no temple in the future

because God is immediately with us.

We don't need the picture anymore.

We've got the real thing.

The church.

God dwelling in his church.

The Holy of Holies.

That's what we're looking forward to.

The marriage of heaven and earth.

Verse 6.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

Behold,

the dwelling place of God is with man.

He will dwell with them and they will be his people.

And God himself

will be with them as their God.

The greatest thing we lost at the fall of humanity

was not paradise.

It was God's presence.

At Mount Sinai,

God offered Israel to be their God

and they would be his treasured possession.

He would dwell with them in the tabernacle

and in the temple.

But what happened then?

Even while the wedding documents,

the covenant was being signed

with Moses on the mountain,

the people are down below committing adultery,

giving their affections to other gods.

But God is committed to his plan.

And unlike Moses,

who had to be hidden behind a rock

to see only the back of God

and only for a moment,

soon God will come to earth

and make his home with us forever.

The best thing about our future,

your future,

is summed up in 22 verse 4.

They will see his face.

I think we get a sense

of what this will be like

with those YouTube videos.

Not just any YouTube video,

but where there's the little girl

and her father is a soldier in the army

and he's been deployed overseas for years.

And although she has the security

of living in the house

and food and clothing,

although she's received letters from her dad

while he's been away,

messages from him,

you watch those videos.

That day when he enters their home

and the little girl sees her father's face,

the joy is overwhelming.

We will see his face.

Our father will be home with us on earth.

Our hope is not so much

that we are waiting for a place.

That'll be excellent.

That's part of it.

But the main thing we're looking forward to

is a person.

Our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

dwelling with us.

We will see his face.

Em and I were in Barabah,

a farming town past Townworth two years ago.

It was only a short time into the drought.

And we saw cows so skinny

that, you know, you can see their ribs.

And we saw them gathered around

what used to be a dam,

but it's just this puddle of dirty water.

And there's a saying that we heard up there,

which is a pretty disturbing thing,

but you've got to understand first

that farmers love their animals

way more than people in the city can understand.

They really love their animals.

But there's a saying in rural towns

that during drought,

farmers buy enough bullets

for each of their animals plus one.

It is that devastating.

While being shouted to dinner

by such a faithful Christian

cattle farming family,

it started to rain.

It was only a sprinkle,

but gee, it was exciting.

It was so exciting.

It was just a sprinkle.

They need a lot more.

At the moment,

our bodies,

our relationships,

our society,

our earth

are under God's curse

for our refusal

to let God be God.

We live in a kind

of spiritual drought,

lacking the knowledge

and presence of God.

But we see in chapter 22

the river of the water of life,

bright as crystal,

flowing from the throne of God

and of the Lamb

through the middle

of the street of the city.

Also on either side of the river,

the tree of life

with its 12 kinds of fruit,

yielding its fruit each month.

The leaves of the tree

were for the healing

of the nations.

No longer will there be

anything accursed.

He will wipe

every tear

from their eyes.

And death

shall be no more.

Neither shall there be mourning

nor crying

nor pain

anymore

for the former things

have passed away.

Every time you are brought

to tears

by this world,

brought to tears

by your own sinfulness,

brought to tears

by broken relationships,

brought to tears

by the curse

just impacting

everything.

And you wipe away

your tears.

Remember,

remember,

use it as a

memory device.

When you wipe away

your tears,

He will wipe away

your tears

one day.

He Himself will.

every single tear.

No more doubts

about God's love

for us.

No more

sensing God's

displeasure.

Can you imagine it?

No more accusations

from Satan.

No more temptation

from the sinful world

around us.

No more temptation

from our sinful desires

inside.

No more mixed motives

for what we do.

No more burdensome

duties

that end up fruitless.

No more

division

or arguments

in the church.

No more

carrying the sufferings

of our brothers

and sisters.

No more

of our own suffering.

No more being alone.

No more fear

of dying.

Can you

imagine it?

Our world

doesn't need

a little bit

of fixing,

a bit more

evolution,

a bit more

progress.

It doesn't

need that.

It needs

the curse

lifted

to be renewed

into immortality,

to be filled

with God

Himself.

And that's

what God

promises us.

how joyful

is it

to hear

the news

that Catherine's

bowel surgery

was successful

and got rid

of the cancer.

That's such a relief

hearing that.

Such joy

hearing that,

isn't it?

praise God

for His mercy.

Do you know

what will be

even better?

That's pretty

good.

Do you know

what will be

even better?

Is if this

week Jesus

turns up

and Catherine

is raised,

her whole body

raised to be

like Christ

and together

with us

we see

His face.

If external

enemies are

gone,

if the church

is made

holy from

within,

if God's

presence fills

the earth

and His will

is done on

earth as it

is in heaven,

if death

and corruption

are dead,

then we

will reign

with Christ

on the earth

forever.

It is

permanent.

But don't

confuse

permanent

with static.

I think

sometimes

we can be

put off

by the idea

of heaven

because we

think of it

as static.

We're just

doing the

same thing

over and

over.

Like,

you know

those songs

with the

bridge that

just repeats

just a few

too many

times?

But for

eternity?

Are you

kidding me?

I think

sometimes we

think like

that in

terms of

heaven.

Have you

seen the

variety of

this world

lately?

The different

beauties?

The difference

between the

blue mountains

mountains,

to the

beauty of

Lake

Macquarie,

to the

beauty of

the sand

dunes,

it's just

so diverse.

Have you

got sick of

listening to

music lately?

You might

get sick of

a certain

song, but

have you

got sick of

listening to

music?

Have you

got tired of

spending time

with loved

ones?

have you

got tired of

discovering new

truth?

There's an

eternal depth

to knowing

who God

is, and

so it's a

good thing

we've got an

eternity to

get to know

him.

There's

nothing in

God's idea

of the future

that suggests

it's static.

It's very

dynamic, but

it is forever.

it's

permanent.

God's

final word

of hope

to us is

a new

heaven and

a new

earth.

The

bride

in holy

beauty,

seeing

his face.

You

won't have

to put up

with my

face up

here.

You'll

see him

without

any

curse

forever.

The

marriage of

heaven and

earth, is

that not

the best

thing that

could happen

this week?

Well, this

picture of

our hope, we're

left with a few

questions.

Firstly, how

can I be

sure that

this is my

future?

verse 6, God

identifies who

will receive

this future.

To the

thirsty, I

will give

from the

spring of

the water

of life

without

payment.

This is an

echo of the

gospel invitation

in Isaiah

51.

Come,

come,

come, everyone

who thirsts,

come to the

waters, and

he who has

no money, come

buy and

eat, come

buy wine and

milk without

money and

without price.

Why do you

spend your

money for that

which is not

bread, and

your labour for

that which does

not satisfy?

Listen diligently

to me, and eat

what is good, and

delight yourselves

in rich food.

food.

It is the

one who, like

the Samaritan

woman at the

well, has no

payment, no

righteousness of

her own to

offer, but who

believes and

receives the

living water.

That's who

will be there.

Are you

thirsty?

Have you come

to Christ?

another picture

of the same

answer is given

at the end of

this chapter.

Nothing unclean

will enter into

this future, but

only those who

are written in

the Lamb's

book of life.

The Lamb who

was slain for

our sins, who

drank the cup of

God's wrath so

that we get to

drink the cup of

blessing.

nothing.

If you come to

Jesus with no

currency of your

own, but if you

thirst for true

life and come to

him to receive

it, then your

name is permanently

written in the

Lamb's book of

life.

So are you

thirsty?

Are you thirsty?

Are you

dissatisfied with

what this world

has to offer?

Do you know

that you have

nothing to

offer God as

payment?

And come to

him and drink

his forgiveness.

If that's

you, you

will be

satisfied.

And second,

how can we be

sure he is

coming?

How can we

be sure he is

coming?

The basis of

our confidence

has absolutely

nothing to do

with how

hopeful you

feel on any

given day, in

any given

moment.

It's got

nothing to do

with how you

can track

it according

to the

details of

politics in

the world,

as some

people try

and do.

You can be

sure he is

coming for a

very simple

but unshakable

reason.

He says he

will.

That's the

basis of our

confidence.

He says he

will.

So the

question is,

I can break

my word,

but does God

break his

word?

God, is

he trustworthy?

Did Adam

and Eve die

like God

said they

would if

they refused

to let God

be God?

Did God

save Noah

and his

family when

the flood

came and

destroyed the

world?

God?

Did Abraham

become the

father of a

great nation?

Did God

rescue his

people from

Egypt?

Did he

destroy the

disobedient

generation in

the wilderness?

Did he bring

his people into

the promised

land?

David?

Did David

become king?

Did God's

people go

into exile?

Did God

bring them

back from

exile?

Did the

son of David

come to

earth?

Did Christ

die for our

sins and

then rise on

the third

day?

Did God

give his

spirit to

his church?

Are people

from all

over the

world being

brought into

his kingdom?

Does God

keep his

word?

Behold,

I am

coming soon.

So what

are we

called to

do while

we wait?

verses 7

and 8.

The one

who conquers

will have

this heritage

and I

will be

his God

and he

will be

my son.

But as

for the

cowardly,

the

faithless,

the detestable,

as for

murderers,

the sexually

immoral,

sorcerers,

idolaters,

and all

liars,

their portion

will be in

the lake

that burns

with fire

and sulfur,

which is the

second death.

Remember,

only those

who are

written in

the Lamb's

book of

life,

who were

slain for

the sins

of the

world,

will be

there.

But we're

also left

with a

choice

of being

conquerors

or being

cowards.

Will you

conquer

by crying

out with

the Spirit

and with

the Bride,

come Lord

Jesus,

come.

Or will

you be a

coward

and not

fight for

this future?

just drift

along with

the ways

of this

world.

What does

it mean

to conquer?

What are we

meant to

conquer?

We see

it in

chapters 2

and 3

of Revelation.

Jesus

speaks to

seven local

churches

and each

of the

churches

has something

that is

threatening

to steal

their love,

to steal

their trust

and their

obedience,

away from

Christ.

Every

single one

of them

has to

fight.

Some

were putting

up with

false

teachings,

some

were putting

up with

sexual

immorality,

some had

the appearance

of being

alive,

but they

were just

going through

the motions.

Some

faced

external

threat

and pain,

some

thought they

were rich

and had

all the

answers,

not

realizing

they were

poor and

blind and

naked.

Some

had lost

the love

and good

works they

had at

first.

Each

church has

something

threatening

to steal

Jesus'

bride's

affection

and trust

and obedience

away from

him.

So he

calls them,

listen to

me,

conquer,

fight,

God,

you will

receive my

reward.

To

struggle,

to love

and trust

and put

our hope

for the

future in

Christ alone,

that is

normal,

that is

the church,

that is

the Christian

life.

It's a

fight of

loving and

trusting and

obeying

Christ alone.

it does

not mean

being free

from

temptation

or from

trouble in

this life.

But the

question is,

are you in

the fight?

Or are you a

coward in just

going along with

the ways of the

world?

I think we

fight by

crying out,

come.

Come,

Jesus,

come now.

Christ

says,

I am

coming soon

and my

reward is

with me.

Whatever

you do

that moves

towards

this

future,

it's

worth it.

Bring

people

into your

kingdom

now.

Bring them

in,

God.

Make your

church holy

now.

We want

more of

heaven now.

We cry,

come.

Anything you

do that

moves towards

this future

is worth

it.

Let me

show you

an outstanding

man who

lived in a

way that

just showed

everyone around

him that he

was crying

out, come

now, come

Lord Jesus.

There's a guy

called John

Patton.

He was a

missionary in

Vanuatu in

the late

1800s.

Just about

20 years

before he

left for

Vanuatu

from England,

two missionaries,

John Williams

and James

Harris, within

minutes of

arriving on

the island,

were clubbed

to death

and then

eaten

by

cannibals.

people.

So when

John said

to his

congregation

he felt

called to

go to

Vanuatu

and a

concerned

elder in

the church,

Mr.

Dixon,

came to

him and

said,

they'll

eat you.

You'll be

eaten by

cannibals.

Mr.

Dixon,

you are

advanced in

years now

and your

own prospect

is soon to

be laid in

the grave

and there

to be

eaten by

worms.

I confess

to you

that if I

can but

live and

die serving

and honouring

the Lord

Jesus Christ,

it will make

no difference

to me

whether I

am eaten

by cannibals

or by

worms.

And on

that great

day,

my

resurrection

body will

rise as

fair as

yours in

the likeness

of our

risen

Redeemer.

He got

it,

didn't he?

When

you're

broken by

sickness and

the imminence

of death,

keep fighting

the fight of

faith.

The new

heavens and

earth are

coming.

They're

coming.

When you're

weighed down

by your

own

sinfulness,

keep

fighting.

Your name

is written

in the

Lamb's

Book of

Life.

Your

resurrection

is coming.

When you

are trying

to be

important and

desirable in

the eyes of

the world,

stop being

a coward

and going

along with

the world.

That's

easy.

when you're

feeling

alone and

afflicted by

division in

the church,

keep

fighting the

fight of

faith,

which will

usually mean

stop fighting.

the bride will

be beautiful

soon enough.

When you're

weary of

doing good,

keep fighting.

Your reward

is coming.

whatever you

do that

moves towards

this future,

it's worth

it.

It's worth

it.

Is this

future going

to define

this church?

Behold,

I am

coming soon.

what's the

best thing

that could

happen this

week?

Will you

pray with

me?

Will you

pray with me?

Father in

heaven,

thank you

that you

will one

day be on

earth and

we will

see your

face.

that we

won't just

have to

pray to

you,

but we

can talk

to you

face to

face.

Father,

thank you

for promising

such a

great future.

Lord,

we don't

deserve a

drop of

it.

We

deserve the

opposite,

but by

your

mercy,

by your

blood

alone,

you've

promised

it.

Thank you.

Father,

forgive us

for forgetting

what you've

promised.

Forgive us

for wanting

something else

more than

what you've

promised.

But thank

you for

being

determined

to bring

about what

you've

promised

no matter

how

unfaithful

we are.

Thank you

that you

will make

it happen.

Lord,

I pray

that you

make us

individually

and as

families

and as

the church.

Please help

us to be

defined by

a crying

outcome.

Lord,

we want

you now.

we want

the church

holy now.

We want

to be

free of

death and

the curse

now.

Give us

more of a

taste of it

now, but

Lord, come.

Come.

Lord, give

us a heart

that wants

others to

come into

your kingdom.

Come, Lord

Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.