The Hope of Heaven (Revelation 20:11-21:8)

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Good morning church, we can go ahead and grab your Bibles, open up to Revelation chapter 20. We’ll be starting in verse 11 this morning. Revelation 20, verse 11. As you’re turning there, there’s a family that’s part of our home school community. They’re kind of an interesting family because they’ve got kids sort of the same spread as ours, which is a big spread. As you know, there are not a lot of moms that Amy can talk to where they’re talking about college prep on the one hand and potty training on the other hand. And this was one of them. So this mom and Amy were pregnant at the same time with Callum and their littlest boy, Levi. And on Thanksgiving of this last year, Levi was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor right on his brain stem was going downhill very, very quickly. And actually, it was just a few days after Morgan passed away, suddenly here that he passed away as well. And so just a few weeks back, we were at the funeral for this little three year old boy listening to didn’t think I was gonna get through that. But listening to, you know, his older brother, who’s Charis age in Charis class, deliver one of the eulogies. There’s just nothing that exposes the brokenness of this age quite like that. There’s just the overwhelming sense of wrongness that we feel, especially when the young die, and yet, after the message that we heard at the funeral, we’re all seated weeping, of course, at this time, we sang a song Brandon Lake’s gratitude. I don’t know if you’re familiar with it, and it was this little boy’s mom who stood up and lifted her arms and sang, I lift up my hands and I praise you again and again, because all that I have is a hallelujah. And believe me, everybody in the place was thinking exactly what you’re thinking right now, which is, how, how could you possibly stand and sing that so boldly at a moment like that? How do you go on? Never mind. Go on praising sorry for the heavy start. You know, it kind of just dropped us in the middle of the deepest ocean. And I knew I was going to do that. But here’s my promise to you, we may be in the middle of the ocean now, but we are swimming to Golden shores this morning, because we cannot go on. You cannot possibly do what this mom did unless we have hope, and hope is what God gives us here in this climactic passage, not just for the Book of Revelation, but for the Bible as a whole. Everything has been building up to this moment so that we can look around at the world today. We can be at a funeral like that one and say, This is not how the story ends. Something better is coming, and we will see that something better got three scenes This morning we’re going to see, first of all, the justice of hell. We’re talking about how that’s such an important part of then the hope of heaven, which is our second scene, the glory of heaven. And then finally, there’s this bit of application near the end as well. Where are we? Just in case you’re joining us for the first time this morning, we’re near the end of Revelation. We’re after the millennium. At this point, we’re after that final, final battle where Satan has been defeated and thrown into the lake of fire, where God’s justice has been vindicated, and now at long last, we are at eternity. And with that, let’s begin. Here’s revelation, 20 verses 11 to 15, as we look at the justice of hell. Then I saw a great white throne, and him who was seated on it, the earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small standing before the throne. And books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. So here we are before a great white throne. Each word is important, great showing God’s immensity and power. It is white which shows his purity, His Holiness, and it is a throne which reminds us of his right to rule, that he possesses the attributes necessary to rule. Well, he’s got the Wisdom, the sovereignty, the omniscience, omnipotence, needed to reign. We saw last week. This is coming from Daniel seven. This is, you know, thrones were before him, and the Ancient of Days took his seat, and here he is, the Ancient of days, days, whose hair is white, also not because he’s old, he’s eternal, that’s different than old, but because he is pure and splendid in His holiness, and he has this infinite wisdom to judge with justice and equity to render right verdicts. We can trust his judgment now, when he shows up and takes his place on this throne. The heavens and the earth flee the old heavens, the old earth flee from his presence, which, in a lot of ways, is just summing up the trauma that’s been inflicted on the old order throughout the book of Revelation, what we keep as seeing during the seals, the bowls, the plagues, all of this. I mean, we’ve seen what we’ve seen earthquakes, right? Mountains are collapsing, never mind cities. The stars are falling. The sun’s darkened. The moon turned to blood. The heavens are rolled up like a scroll. You get the idea, right? The Old Order is done. And why? Why do they flee? They flee because they’re stained, tainted, defiled by sin, corruption and death, and so they they cannot stand in God’s presence any longer. Now, in so many ways, this old order are the kingdoms of Daniel two that we’ve looked at so many times. And I remember Nebuchadnezzar dream, the statue. And it was all the kingdoms that were coming in human history, the gold head and then the silver of the bronze, the iron and clay. We read this in Daniel 235 then the iron, Clay, bronze, silver and gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer, the wind swept them away without leaving a trace. And that’s the old order. That’s just what happened here. The Lord speaks, and it’s gone. All that is gone. It’s like a divine skid steer coming to just remove the rubble from these shattered kingdoms and get them out of the new heavens and the new earth that he is preparing to create. But not the rock, not that mountain that destroyed these kingdoms, the rock of Jesus Christ that goes on forever, right? We we’re looking for a city with foundations. Hebrews tells us one that won’t be shaken. We’re receiving a kingdom that can’t be shaken. Hebrews 1228, says a kingdom that will never produce any Rubble, but will endure for ever. But let’s parse this out as we talk about the rubble here for a little bit. What are we talking about? Exactly? What is it this being removed in the old order, the old heavens and the old earth. I mean, think about what is being stripped away at this point. We’re talking about cancer. We’re talking about complaining and conflict between people. We’re talking about rape and robbery and rheumatoid arthritis, and how different that is from this rock, the mountain that fills the whole earth, the kingdom that is coming, which is marked by joy and peace and love and health. And you remember those differences, and you think, I’m really happy about this demolition here, right? Like we’re just ripping out black mold to make way for a new and glorious and eternal home. But when we think about this, we can’t leave it at the level of the impersonal the rubble that’s being removed includes sin and wickedness and rebellion, which means it will include sinners and the wicked and the rebellious. We talk about this a lot here, like we all want racism kicked out of heaven. Can’t get rid of racism unless we get rid of racists. Can’t get rid of human trafficking unless you get rid of human traffickers. You can’t get rid of exploitation, unless you get rid of the exploitative. You can’t get rid of pride unless you get rid of the proud you get the idea. And we want all those things gone and 100 more that we could name quite easily. We want them gone, because otherwise heaven will become hell in an instant. So how, how are they going to be gone? Now remember, as we talk about this, God has opened every door. He has made a way for all to come to him. He has made every offer of grace. In fact, this point was made forcibly to me at this little boy’s funeral, when his dad, who was a pastor, spoke, and he said, You know, I’m looking at my. And thinking, I would do anything to save him, and then thinking, and God didn’t. God said, You can have my son. That’s the offer of grace. You talk about all that God has done to make a way, and yet some will not come and will not repent. We saw this last week, after the 1000 years of the perfect reign of Christ, there are still those who would murder him. We saw this in Revelation, 1816, somewhere, one of the teens. It’s all blended together for me at this point, just Oh no, it’s 16. It is 16. There just will not repent. And what then? What then? Is what I keep saying. And not the first time I’ve said it, even in the last couple of weeks, God’s going to quarantine evil and quarantine evil doers. He casts hell outside this coming kingdom. He judges justly, yes, but he judges. And so here the dead are raised to face judgment, and two sets of books are opened at this point, again, taken from Daniel seven, the court is seated and says, books were opened. Here they are. These books are opened and the dead are judged. Now here dead, meaning both physically dead and spiritually dead as well, which we know because they’re being judged according to what they have done. Every person on earth judged according to what they have done. The sea gives up their dead, the grave death. Everybody. So this, every person on earth being judged here, if verse 15 is key, if the name was not written in the book of life, the name is not written in the book of life that will be eternally condemned justly, because they’re being judged according to what they’ve done. Make sure we understand the implication of that. That means what’s being said here, we cannot be saved by our works. We cannot be saved by our works, if we are judged any one of us, if we are judged by our deeds, all that we have done or left undone in this life, we will perish eternally. We will have earned hell. So important is like those teeny bopper magazines, you take the quiz and find out what kind of person kind of person you are. Okay, take this quiz find out what kind of person you are. You are the kind of person who deserves eternal condemnation, and they might be tough. And you might be thinking right now, you know, this is why I don’t like Christianity. Wish my parents didn’t drag me here something like that, like, even if you don’t think the Bible is right, let me ask you, how do you think you’re doing here? Really? Do you even measure up to your own standards? Like you got, you know, the Hobby Lobby grateful sign over your dining room table. Does gratitude mark every moment of your life? Or do you ever grumble and complain, and probably more often than you would care to admit maybe you got a kindness is everything sign in your front yard? I’m a big fan of kindness. It’s one of the fruits of the Spirit. I don’t know that it’s everything. I’m gonna be honest, somebody tried to kidnap my kid. Kindness is not the first thing in my mind, justice is okay. It’s not everything, but kindness is really, really important. Sure. Okay. Are you unfailingly kind? You’ve never been jealous of a friend’s success, selfish in traffic, or justified your unkindness towards somebody because they’re the wrong kind of person. You know, people who have those political views don’t deserve your kindness. There’s not anyone here in this room or on earth who would for a moment pretend that we always do what we think we should do. I don’t need to convince you of that. We all know it’s true, we fall short Somerset Maugham, the author, has said it like this. He said, If I wrote down every thought I’ve ever thought and every deed I’ve ever done, men would call me a monster of depravity. He is not alone. Like if you knew everything I’ve ever thought and said and done, not only would you fire me, you would run me out of town, and if I knew it for you, I would do the same. I would treat you the same. We are monsters of depravity. And here’s the problem, by the way, the Ancient of Days, the righteous Judge, does know every thought and word and deed. Nothing in all creation is hidden from His sight. So we’re in trouble. So we come to Jesus a little bit like the rich young ruler, if you remember him, he was a pious Jew. He comes to Jesus and asks Jesus, what must I do to enter the kingdom of heaven, to be right here in this. Moment in the book of life instead. And what does Jesus say? He starts rattling off the 10 Commandments. Why? Now the 10 Commandments are God’s standard. Yes, even for us today, we talked about this. We just did a series on 10 commandments not that long ago. But I don’t think that’s why Jesus is bringing the 10 Commandments up there. I think he’s bringing up the 10 Commandments because that’s the rich young ruler’s standards for himself, where he’s saying, right? Because that’s how the responds. So, do this, do this, do this. And the rich young ruler goes, I did it. I met my standard. I’m living up to my own standard. And Jesus says, just one thing you lack. And then he just points out very subtle part of this man’s life where he was falling short, because you’re not supposed to have any other gods before Yahweh, and this man loved money more. And what did he do? Confess a sin, repent. No, he walked away dejected. And that’s our problem, right? We if we can’t even measure up to our own standards, which is a sliding scale, like we are grading on a curve for ourselves. We know that if we can’t even measure up to our own standards, what chance do we have when the standard is perfection? Our only hope is if another measures up for us and in our place. And that’s the beauty of this scene, which is a hard scene, of course, and yet there’s this beacon of light in the middle of it, because there’s grace, we will either be judged by our deeds or by grace, because there is a book of life, the book of life, which is the eternal Roll Call. God knows his sheep, and his sheep know his voice, and they come when he calls. And even now he is calling, and maybe you’re hearing his voice right now. Now is the time to come to Jesus to say, Yeah, I’m not going to measure up. I’m not measuring up right now, and I know that. And so we’re just, we’re just going to switch. I’m going to give Jesus everything wrong that I’ve ever done, and I will take everything right that he has ever done, and I will meet the standard of perfection in Christ and for His glory, come to Jesus. Why? Because the alternative is stark and terrible, the lake of fire. This is where death and the dragon and the beasts, the False Prophet and all been thrown in the last couple of weeks. It is the second death, spiritual and eternal death. It is terrible. It is necessary and good too, because this is the consummation of justice, when God, utterly and eternally frustrates wickedness and brings evil to an end. How many times I said evil has an expiration? Date? It just expired. It’s over. We cannot have heaven if hell is still there. And so this moment, the judgment of the dead, the reality of justice, is what makes heaven possible. We gotta have that in mind as we take what’s gonna feel like a big turn here to the next sections. That was the justice of hell. Second scene, the glory of heaven. Let me read Revelation 21 one to six. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband, and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Look, God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. The old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, I am making everything new. Then he said, Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. He said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end to the thirsty, I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. So we get the new heavens and the new earth. Because, of course, the old heavens, the old Earth, just ran away. And what’s so beautiful about this moment is that Heaven and Earth are coming back together again. Right? The city comes down from heaven unto Earth. It’s all being brought together at last. This is the whole story of the Bible. We start in Genesis, one and two, and Heaven and Earth are together. Adam and Eve are right there in God’s presence. And then we sin, and that’s it. And they’ve been separated ever since then. And how when will they come back together? Here it is, and what a sweet moment it is. It’s in fulfillment of Isaiah, chapter 65, verses 17 to 19. See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever. And what I will create for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice. Face over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and crying will be heard no more in it. This, by the way, is one of the most important passages that people will look to to figure out what the millennium is like, because there’s some stuff in the rest of Isaiah 65 that makes you go see maybe it is like an intermediate stage. But remember what I said last week. John doesn’t quote this when he’s talking about the Millennium, he quotes it when he’s talking about the new heavens and the new earth, right? This is what it looks like in the end. Part of why I think the millennial age is part of the new heavens and the new earth. The important thing here is he’s remaking Earth. He is restoring all things good to remember, too. By the way, some of you grew up thinking when you die, you know you’re going to go to heaven forever. We go to heaven, if we by Heaven, we mean the presence of God. We go there until this moment, and then we come back to Earth. Because heaven comes back to Earth. It’s a new heaven, a new earth, but it’s real, it’s physical, right? We’ll be raised physically. So Jesus doesn’t come to snatch us away, to take us home. Jesus comes to heal our home, ultimately, in the end. And then we read, there’s no longer any sea. And you’re like, that’s actually kind of a big bummer. I love the sea. I’m happiest when I am on the water. What are we talking about? Though we’re not talking remember, we’ve actually seen a sea in the throne room already sparkles like glass. Remember that one? That’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about the tumultuous, stormy abyss, like the portal to chaos. How many times we drawn on Daniel seven already, even just this morning? Well, this is Daniel seven, right? Verse three, four great beasts. These were not good beasts, right? These are the wicked kingdoms. They all come together. And The Beast of Revelation 13, these four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. We don’t want the beasts back. And so here’s the good news, we’re done with that nonsense. That’s closed, that’s gone. There’s no more portal to chaos. I don’t think this is saying anything in particular about whether or not we get to sail or swim in glory. Then he sees the New Jerusalem descending this city. Now the city is not just the structure, of course, but the people we are talking about the people of God, the church, which is why he calls the city his bride. We know that the church is his bride. Now the city is important because we’ve been talking a lot about cities in Revelation, Babylon in particular, Babylon the prostitute who has fallen and who is finally destroyed. So she’s the counterfeit bride. Well, here at last, we get the true bride, although it’s interesting again, Babylon is not just counterfeit like that. This moment, it takes us all the way back to the to the first city, really, because Babel is the first city becomes Babylon. And what’s Babel, famous for tower, right? Genesis 11, they build this tower. So everyone comes together to try and build this tower up to heaven. Basically, I’m gonna get saved by my works. I can reach heaven, and it doesn’t work, and God frustrates their plans, scatter them, everything like that. What happens here? We’re not trying to get up. The city comes down like this is Grace, right? Here, the only way you’re going to get there is if I bring it to you, and he has brought it to us. Speaking of grace, the city is dressed beautifully as a bride, right? Because now we are clothed with Christ’s righteousness. The deeds that we are supposed to do, the fine linen clothes that were given to us to wear. We read in Revelation 19. Now we are clothed in them. This is what Jesus came to do. And how does Paul talk about Christ’s love for the church? He says this in Ephesians 5:25-27: Christ loved the church, gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water, through the Word, to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish but holy and blameless. It’s finished. It’s done. It’s come true at last, of course, it is because in verse five, his words are faithful and true. God keeps all his promises. So this is the end of our defilement, what Jesus is making us. We are finally fully and forever. I heard a story once some years ago of a woman who, as a child, was molested and abused, ultimately raped as well, all the sorts of things that we want, very definitely kicked into hell. As a result, she grew up wildly promiscuous, even as a Christian, came to Christ, but continued in her sexual immorality. It was so bad that. She was engaged to marry a Christian man who knew nothing about her past. She lied, kept all that from him, and then she actually cheated on him during their engagement, and years later, after they were married, few years later, she finally told her husband everything was a hard moment for him, because he’s looking back going, honestly, I wouldn’t have married you if I’d known what was true of you, and certainly not in fact, you cheated on me during our engagement, and he left, understandably, and she was panicked, of course. Would he come back? Is he gone for good? No, he’d gone to purchase her a new white nightgown as a symbol of this moment, right here. So he had her undress in front of him and put on this new white gown to say, This is what Jesus has done for you, right? He’s taken off your filthy deeds, and he has clothed you with His perfect righteousness. And I choose to see you as Jesus sees you, and think of how she must have felt to be literally naked and ashamed in one moment and in the next, clothed and accepted, fully known at last, by her husband, and yet fully loved still. That’s how we feel in the presence of Christ, when we turn from sin and turn to Jesus and rest in His finished work. That’s how he sees us. But the good news of this passage is That’s how we’ll actually be, in the end, closed in white. Then a voice tells us that God’s dwelling is right there with us. Again. This is the whole story of the Bible, right just back to Eden. Only better. We were with God, then we were separated. How do we get back here he is with his people. Again, this is the heart of the covenant. Promise. You want to sum up the covenant of grace in a single phrase. It’s this, Ezekiel, 3727 my dwelling place will be with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And here it’s true now again, our context. How many we’ve been in Ezekiel, 36 to 48 for the last few weeks, we’ll be there next week also, right? So remember Ezekiel, 36 That’s the promise of the New Covenant. Sprinkle you with clean water, heart of flesh, spirit, all that stuff. 37 the valley of dry bones. It ends with this verse, the covenant promise. Here. Then we get that apocalyptic battle with Gog from Magog. And then an angel starts measuring the temple, which, by the way, we’ll get to next week specifically. But how does Ezekiel end the very last sentence of his book? The name of that city from that time on will be the Lord is there. The name of that city from that time on will be the Lord is there. It’s finished. It’s done. Look, His dwelling place is now with us. All his words come true. He’s fulfilling every promise. In fact, we can see, like the creation, the thread, the city thread, the marriage thread, the temple threads. They all are woven together here in this passage, into this glorious Gospel tapestry. And what a place it will be, because the old order, the order of sin and death, has passed away, and the new order of life, physical life and spiritual life, will endure forever. He wipes every tear from our eyes. There’s no more death, so there’s no more mourning, there’s no more pain, so there’s no more crying. Can you even imagine what a day that will be? He will swallow up death forever. Isaiah, 25 verse eight, says the Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces. Just think for a moment, when was the last time you cried
in grief, in agony, in pain, in shame, think of every time you’ve ever cried or mourned or wept because of the brokenness of this world, the suffering and evil and death the last time you were sinned against and offended, and here at last, every cause is now removed. Can you even imagine what a day that will be. The lame walk the deaf, hear the blind, see, the autistic, freed from the prison of their minds, the home bound, suffering, relentless, soul sucking, chronic pain. Freed to live and laugh and love with their God and with His people. Forever and sweetest of all, of course, those who died in Christ raised to forever life, reunited after all those years with their loved ones, Levi, with his mom, Morgan, with gage and Marie, and just fill in the blank. Every one of you has a name there. I could say most of them for you, I’ve done some of the funerals back at last, embracing forever. That’s why our friend could stand and sing. I lift up my hands and I will praise you again and again, because that is the hope of heaven and is the only hope we have. But can you even imagine what a day it’s gonna be? He is making everything new. He is the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end. That means he’s the creator, but he’s the Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet, right? He’s the consummator. He’s the one who brings it to perfection in the end and to the thirsty. That’s to us, by the way, that’s everything I just described, everything we’re longing for in this life. That’s our thirst. We’re thirsty for justice. We’re thirsty for joy and love and peace and hope. To the thirsty, he says, I got water come and drink. That’s like what Jesus said to the woman at the well who is vainly and foolishly drinking the salt water of lust to slake her thirst for love. And what does Jesus say? I’ve got something better. Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Did you catch that there’s a water we can drink now that becomes in us eternal life. Now eternal life’s not something we get in glory. It’s something we are experiencing in Christ, even now, 2 Corinthians 5:17, right? If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. We’re already a part of this coming day. Jesus says it in John 7:3 this is eternal life that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. Do you know God? Do you know Jesus? You have eternal life now. So the offer of eternal life is there, right? It’s for the thirsty. It’s like when you’re running a marathon, you’re at, you know, mile 22 or whatever, and they got that little table with the cups of water. Well, here’s Jesus, the cup of water, to those who are dying of thirst, saying: Drink, drink. Take it. We can begin to experience eternal life even now, because He gives us His love and joy and peace. Now, will you take it? And that is the question that we asked in this last section, the choice on earth. Let me just finish this up with verses seven and eight. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God, and they will be my children, cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars. They will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. Ends on a sour note, doesn’t it a little bit like we saw that beacon of a hope in the midst of the judgment section, and now we get this reminder of judgment in the midst of the life section. Why? Well, we got to remember that judgment and reward are two sides of the same coin. The coin is shallow peace. Each of us has to make a choice. To those who are victorious. It says, if you were with us for our seven letters series last summer, you you know the revelation two and three, this is there in every single letter, to the one who overcomes, to the one who perseveres, those who are victorious will inherit all this. And what’s the all this that they inherit? It’s everything that was promised in those letters. You go back and look at those letters, you’ll you’ll see things like the one who’s victorious, you know that one won’t experience the second death, or they’ll reign with Christ forever. They’ll be dressed in white, names never blotted out of the book of life. They’ll become pillar in God’s temple in the city that is coming down, and you go, it’s done, it’s finished. He brought it to pass. He keeps every promise, He fulfills his every word. That knowledge steals us to persevere in hard times. It encourages faithfulness and hope in us, and best of all of all these problems. Says, There it is again. Of course, he will be our God. Remember, that’s the covenant promise. But then it doesn’t say we’ll be His people. It says we’ll be His children, literally, will be his son, which is important, because the Son is the heir, of course. So we get the covenant promise on the one hand, and then we get to the promise to David on the other hand, the blessing of adoption that we would get to know God as Father. But remember, we can’t have this. We cannot have that radiant, incandescent beauty of verse four without verse eight, because God cannot allow evil back in, you let just a little bit of infection in, and pretty soon everybody is sick once more. But the question for us is, to whom exactly is he speaking here? Now let’s remember who Revelation is written to in the first place. This isn’t for unbelievers. I don’t think this is a warning to hypocrites and compromisers and the double-minded in church, like those in the seven churches. I mean, that’s why those letters are there. You know, this is written to the people who are going to go, you know what? Persecution is too hard. So I think I’ll deny Christ. That’s what the word cowards means here in this one, by the way. Or, you know, this false prophetess Jezebel told me that I’m a soul and not a body, so what I do with my body doesn’t matter. So I can engage in sexual immorality and it won’t matter like that’s who’s being what’s being talked about and who’s being addressed here. In other words, this choice is being set before us right here in this room. This is a message for those of us who gather with the church each week, listening to God’s word. And what is the choice it is, on the one hand, to overcome, to conquer, to emerge victorious in Christ through Christ for Christ, or to be cast out forever. That’s the choice we’re making now. That’s what’s so important, right? Revelation is all about the end, and we learned a lot about the end in the last couple of weeks, but it’s telling us about the end, then, to change how we live now, today. We have to keep that in mind: it helps us with our big idea this morning. Pretty simple, get ready for heaven. Get ready for heaven. Start living eternal life now, make the choice today to live like that day is coming, because the hope of heaven should transform every moment of every day. It should transform how you respond to suffering in this life with gratitude instead of complaining. It should respond to how you face temptation. I’m not drinking salt water. I will drink the real stuff. It should change how you prioritize your time, because you want to build stuff that will last. You want to build for this city with a foundation, so that when God shakes the heavens and the earth, what you have done endures, it should change how how you view your purpose in life. It should change the way you witness to those around you. It should certainly transform how you face your death and the death of those that you love and miss and long to see again. Graham Albans shares the story of two dear senior, senior saints in his church in England, Malcolm and Iris, in their 90s. And Iris had kidney failure and was going in for a procedure, which, when you’re 90, is dangerous. Every procedure is dangerous at that point. And so they weren’t sure Iris would make it. So Graham and his family went to visit with her. They were leaving on vacation, and promised to bring her a shell back with him from the beach. And you know, as he was saying it, he was like, Man, I don’t think you’re gonna be here to get the shell, but, but she she did. She recovered, she came home, got the show, all that stuff. It wasn’t Iris turn, it was Malcolm’s turn, because just a little while later he collapsed on Christmas Day, and by Boxing Day, he was gone. And so Graham did the funeral, and they were leaving and walking out with Iris, and Iris was smiling, not a fake smile. You know, she’s British, stiff up her lip and all that. So this was a real smile. This was, this was, this was a deep joy welling up inside of her. It’s a little bit like the ocean in some ways. You know, sometimes storms are there on the surface and they churn up the water. Don’t they like some big waves in the ocean and stuff. You go down 567, 1000 feet. Do you think they care about the storms at all down there? It’s nothing, little gentle rain, right? Because the that water is being moved by something deeper. And older, that’s what joy is, of course, going the circumstances of life, the storms of life, they don’t threaten the deep, eternal truth that moves me. So that’s why she’s smiling. But she looks at Graham, and she says, I wouldn’t want him back. Excuse me, were the marriage troubles I didn’t know about the last 70 years. No, she said I wouldn’t want him back, because I know where he is is better by far. And he wasn’t even here. He’s not here yet, because this isn’t here yet. Even still, just being in God’s presence, this foretaste of glory is enough that she would say, I would rather he gets to be with Jesus, that his faith is sight at last. But you can always say that if you have the hope of heaven, that’s what it looks like to be ready for heaven, living eternal life here and now. Let’s pray, Lord give us this hope even now, convince us the truth of what we just read, that this is how the story ends, so that we are always being moved by those deep eternal truths and not threatened by the mere storms of life, things that are temporary and passing, like pain and suffering and evil and death. If we know that those are going to go away, Lord, that changes everything about how we live today. So change how we live today and every day until this is reality until our faith is made sight, until the day when Heaven and Earth are brought back together and we will live in your presence as your people forever, finally and fully and forever freed from all The hellishness of this world simply to enjoy your love forever stir that hope in us, Lord, we pray for Christ’s sake. Amen.