The LORD's Day, March 8, 2009

Great Things Are Up Ahead

Revelation 21.1-5

We don’t think often enough about heaven. We are generally too earthly minded.

This earth as we know it is passing away. It won’t be long until we are in Revelation 21 for real!

General Motors has warned that billions of dollars in government aid may not prevent it from running out of cash if vehicle sales do not improve soon.
STOCKS HIT 12-YEAR LOW...
12 pct. are behind on mortgage or in foreclosure...
FDIC: Insurance Fund Could Be Insolvent This Year...

When the LORD judges we are told in Revelation 20.11 that earth and sky will flee from His Presence. He is making everything new. There will be, as we read a few moments ago, a new heaven and a new earth.

With this new order of things, there are certain things that will be eliminated.

1. There will be no more death.

Death- the separation of the body and the spirit.

*For loved ones.
The most difficult times of our lives are when we lose people we love. I have spoken to a few people (and I understand this) who would gladly take the place of a suffering family member.

Our losses are not things we get over but rather things we learn to live with by God’s grace. But when we see Jesus, when He comes, when we rise....
I Corinthians 15.54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
55"Where, O grave, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?
In heaven the sting of death will be taken away because we’ll be reunited with our loved ones and there will be no more death.

*No more death for people in the world. While we do not know people personally who die it affects us. Tragedy, accidents and wars will be no more!

*The animals and plants will have everlasting life. All of us who ever lost a pet know how that feels. I read recently that a dog’s only fault is that their lives are too short.
My neighbor told me that sometimes plants disappear. All of a sudden one year they are gone. Its true. Plants and animals die.

There will be no more death when Jesus comes because death is going to be swallowed up in victory. The Resurrection points to this wonderful time. Jesus rose again, the firstborn from the dead. We will follow!

And right along with death comes... mourning

2. There will be no more mourning.

Grief is a very difficult thing. The experience of it can be very strange. When C.S. Lewis wrote down the feelings and experiences of what he was going through after he lost his wife to cancer it struck a chord. His book A Grief Observed, became an all time best seller. Now over 45 years later it still is.

We were not create to grieve. We were created to live. Mourning or sorrow is a distasteful experience. Many times we are grieving alone. That is one of the things David rejoices in in the 23rd Psalm. He found out he would not walk the road of sorrow which leads to the Valley of the Shadow of Death alone. God is with us.

When we get to heaven however we will not need to concern ourselves with that path again! Hallelujah!

3. There will be no more crying.

I heard a missionary say, “What makes God cry... what makes me cry... when those two things move closer together Christian Maturity take place.”

Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision and Samaritan’s Purse prayed this prayer and actually had it written on flyleaf of his Bible: “Let my heart be broken by the things that break your heart.” God answered that prayer and Bob Pierce was used by him but also broken as well. His daughter, Marilee wrote a book Days of Glory Seasons of Night. In it she chronicled the pain that came into his life and the tears to the whole family. It made me cry when I read it.

There are things we have cried over in our lives. There are things that are heart breaking today. Some of us relate to the song “In Your Loving Arms” or the new one we are doing Keep On Believing because we are crying these days.

In heaven there will be no more crying.

4. There will be no more pain.

This word can mean great trouble or physical pain. We know there will not be any death or dying. There will no longer be any sickness. No more cancer! Paul Harvey, the news commentator, died last week. He said that he wanted to live to report two great events: The cure for cancer and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
He didn’t get to do either one. I wonder if the two will be simultaneous!

Disabilities will end in heaven. Isaiah 35.5-6 No more disabilities and no more cancer! No more pain.

5. There will be a New Jerusalem.

The writer of Hebrews speak of Abraham in reference to this it : (11.10) he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

There will be a New Jerusalem. It will not have a temple. There will be no need of one! v.22 because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The Lamb has been slain, Our sins and all of those their in heaven have been atoned for and we are now like Christ- we have new bodies. No more sin.

6. The LORD and the church will be together. v.9

The marriage supper has taken place and now the church, the bride of Christ, is with the LORD, her husband. We are with Jesus!

We gather together on the LORD’s Day and throughout the week. The church is together. It is a good time, a blessed time. It is a foretaste of what is going to happen when we all get to heaven. We will be together forever. Let’s continue to love each other deeply now! Let’s not be like that verse:

To live above with saints we love, O that will be glory!
But to live below with saints we know, well that’s another story!

7. God will be with us.

He will wipe every tear from the eyes of His people.

He is with us now and we are so thankful for His Presence. He will be with us and we will be with Him and the reality of heaven is that the glass we see through darkly or dimly will be taken away and we will see face to face. Oh what a day that will be!

There are numbers of exhortations about heaven:

Hebrews 12.28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe

I John 3.2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears,[a]we shall be like him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.