Amen, you may be seated. Please take out your Bible and turn to the very end, not the maps, but in front of the maps, Revelation chapter 21 and 22. Revelation chapters 21 and 22. Someone told me as we were leaving last week that the sermon on hell wasn't one they were really longing to hear. And I can understand that. It's not that they did not agree or thought it unimportant. The realities of hell, it's just that they are so horrific and ghastly. And many of us have loved ones who are closing in on that destiny with every passing day. It is, however, needful to remind us, looking at hell, to remind us of what is at stake with everyone who does not turn in saving faith to Jesus Christ. And yet, that's not where I wanted to conclude this series of sermons to inspire us on in evangelism. I want to finish up with encouragement on a high note and returning to all the happy reasons why we cannot but speak. As believers, we have every reason to be motivated to share the good news, because so great is our salvation, so glorious is our God, so worthy is our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and so powerful is the Spirit. And today, I want you to see, so wonderful is the destiny of those who do repent of sin and embrace Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. heaven. We move from speaking about the horrors of hell to extol the happiness of heaven. It's wonderful indeed, and for that reason we cannot but speak. Paul said to the Romans, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And accompanying that salvation is an underlying hope The hope of heaven. Not a, I hope so, but I know so, therefore I'm filled with hope. That hope is another reason why we just cannot but speak to others the glorious gospel of God's salvation. And to set our minds on the wonders of heaven, I want us to turn to the final couple chapters of the book of Revelation. We will study this morning chapters 21 through chapter 22, verse 5, and if you would please stand with me as we read the Word of God. John writes that, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 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. He will wipe away 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. And he who was seated on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new. Also he said, Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. And 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 from the spring of the water of life without payment. 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. Then came one of the seven angels, who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, and spoke to me, saying, Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper clear as crystal. It had a great high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed. on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies four square, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, twelve thousand stadia, Its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits, by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel The first was Jasper, the second Sapphire, the third Agate, the fourth Emerald, the fifth Onyx, the sixth Carnelian, the seventh Chrysalite, the eighth Beryl, the ninth Topaz, the tenth Chrysoprase, the eleventh Jacinth, the twelfth Amethyst, and the twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each of the gates made of a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. And I saw no temple in the city. For its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations, but nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. Then the angel showed me 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 twelve 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, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads, and night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun. for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. Amen. Let's pray. Oh Lord, such a glorious text that you have inspired and breathed out through the Holy Spirit, by the Holy Spirit, through John, giving us an account of this amazing vision that you gave to him. And this morning we pray that the reality of this vision will be alive in our hearts and minds so that we will share together in the awesome reality of the wonder of heaven, lift us up off of our feet in anticipation of being lifted up off of our feet when we meet Jesus in the air and are taken gloriously to the place that he has gone to prepare. Lord, may it be used, may this understanding and this presentation of this picture be strong in our hearts and minds. May it be more powerful than any temptation to despair or discouragement in this life. And may it be, Lord, a driving force as we think of the need that human beings all around us have to hear and believe the gospel of the one whose is the only name by which we must be saved. And the one yet by whose name we are surely saved to be with him in paradise for all eternity. As we hope in you, Lord, give us resolve and give us just an overflowing fountain that can't help from spilling over into all those around us, that we would share in the words of Paul, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. For those who believe, we pray it in Christ's name, amen. You may be seated. Well, this past week, none of you knew about this, but the city of Milwaukee has been a buzz. It's the only city in America where the Republican National Convention was held. Dignitaries and celebrities and politicians have filled our streets and filled the forum. And the city was trying desperately to put its best foot forward and to portray our city as a wonderful destination. There's a lot to like about Milwaukee. It has a certain charm with the lake, with the shore, the Calatrava, the festivals, the state fair, as well as the museums and the history. But one of the great concerns this past week has been public safety. With all of the focus and attention on the forum and downtown area, and John told me earlier today that that was the most secure area in the United States of America for five days this week. But with all of the focus of attention on the forum and the downtown area, the rest of the city has been left with minimal law enforcement. And that has been a cause for alarm. Because despite the positives, Milwaukee is recognized as one of the most violent cities in America. It is a city of this world and of this age, rife with wickedness and darkness, and with a significant degree of fear for personal safety, but little fear of God. If your view of heaven looked anything like Milwaukee, It wouldn't hold much in the way of hope or incentive to tell others about it. However, we have seen this morning that heaven is unlike any city in this present world. The things that are a blight on this world and in our cities are absent in heaven. And the things that this age and its metropolises lack most abound in heaven. Heaven is the ultimate destination, and it's the promised destiny of those who believe in and follow Jesus. As he was preparing his disciples for his imminent departure, recall what he said to them. He bolstered their hearts with these assurances. Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places, many rooms, and if it were not so, would I have told you that I go prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and I will bring you to be with me where I am. Now, the place Jesus is preparing is a reason for all our hearts not to be troubled. In fact, it is a place to be longed for. And the reality of this place undergirds the hope of the people of God because of this hope. We can't but speak. We can't keep it to ourselves. The more we capture the reality of the heaven Christ is preparing, the more unable we are to close our lips. And so as we consider heaven this morning, I want you to see that the wonder of heaven stands out because of two overall aspects. On the one hand, what is absent? And on the other hand, what abounds there? I want you to see what is absent from heaven and what abounds in heaven. Heaven, these things stand out because of what will never be there on the one hand and what will always be there in abundance on the other. So let's first this morning look at the absence in heaven. What is not there? It is striking as we read through Revelation 21 and 22 what is said to be absent in heaven. It's a place marked by certain aspects of our lives now that will not be there then, and these are glorious absences. What is noted to be absent from the outset of this text is the present heaven and the present earth. John says, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. We live on the first earth and the first heaven. And looking to the heaven of heavens, it's not going to be here. These heaven, this heaven and this earth, these are the ones that were made when, as it says in Genesis 1-1, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. This heaven and earth have been subjected, though, to the curse of God with the entrance of sin. And this heaven and this earth were invaded by the devil to tempt human beings to sin. And human sin has been justly visited on this planet with a curse on the ground. It yields thorns and thistles and weeds." I know that well in my yard. Grass loves this rain, but so do the weeds. But therefore, because of the curse, our work is toilsome and arduous. And the whole of creation is in bondage to corruption, says the Apostle Paul. And the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now, and as they wait the revealing of the sons of God. So marks of misery meet us in the face every single day. Challenges confront us. Malls destroy, rust corrupts, and mosquitoes bite. Things break down. Obstacles get in the way. Our bodies wear out. We watch others die. And ultimately, we die. And then there's sin. Our own sin is bad, but sin is all around us. Lies and deceit abound. Uncleanness is everywhere. Wars and fighting destroy peace. Murder is rampant. Sexual immorality reaches at the level of Sodom and Gomorrah. Most people worship a false god or no god. Human beings kill their own babies. There is no rest in this world. But one day this world is going to be passed away. You know, we grieve the death of loved ones. A death is coming that I'm not going to grieve. The passing away of this earth and this heaven. These things will pass away. In the new heaven and new earth, These marks of misery and trouble and limitation will be absent. And I want you to see some of them. I've grouped them into four categories. And so let's consider four items which will be absent, praise God, in heaven. And the first of these, the first in the new heaven and new earth, all afflictions will be absent. All afflictions will be absent. The first verse of chapter 21 declares that the sea was no more. That may sound insignificant, but the sea is an emblem of unrest and conflict. No more sea means no more conflict. William Hendrickson writes, the roaring, raging, agitated, tempest-tossed waters, the waves perpetually engaged in combat with one another, symbolize the nations of the world in their conflict and unrest. It is the sea out of which the beast arises. But in the renewed universe, the new heaven and new earth, all will be peace. The sea is no more. Now look at verse 4 in chapter 21. It says, God will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning or crying or pain anymore for the former things have passed away. With the passing away of the present heaven, all of these afflictions pass as well. Tears, death, mourning, crying, pain, all gone. Thorns and thistles will be extinct, no weeds in heaven. Everything that mitigates against peace will be passed away. Never more will they be in the new heaven and the new earth. You know, we shed tears for various reasons, but the most prevalent ones are sorrow and pain and affliction. Hell will be filled with tears, as we saw last week. Weeping and gnashing of teeth and pain and suffering as the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, but none of these conditions will be present in the new heaven and the new earth. Afflictions abound now. They're like hurdles for the godly. We have to get over them. We have to step over them one at a time. They're difficult, hurtful, and they toss us to and fro, but in this way they help keep us from loving this present world. They strengthen our faith and prepare us for the next. Keep us looking forward and not plant our feet so firmly here on this soil or loving this present world. But once we cross the finish line, no more hurdles. No more afflictions. They will never return. Afflictions and all their sorts are forever then to be eliminated from our experience. And that includes death itself as well as disease and illness. There will be no unhealthy bodies in heaven. No high blood pressure, no COVID, no cancer, no arthritis, no back aches. There will be no need for Motrin or Tylenol. No pharmaceutical companies. There will be no doctors or chiropractors or dentists or hospitals or clinics. Thanks be to God. At the same time, I think of a number of you who at this present time are living with excruciating pain. Some in this family of faith are wracked by it. And sooner or later, all of us have different kinds of pain at different levels. And if you are like me, And when you get pain, there's only one thing you want, to get rid of that pain. In heaven, there will be no more pain. And the older we get, the more we look forward to pain-free, death-free, turmoil-free living. And that is the way it will be in the new heaven and the new earth. Absent are all afflictions. Afflictions aren't just physical though, are they? Afflictions are also emotional and troubling because of circumstances that would be tempted to grip our hearts and squeeze the life out of them. Look into heaven. None of that is there. No affliction. Praise God. Now, the second item that's missing in heaven is sin. really sin and everything related to it. In Revelation 21 verse 5, we hear the statement of the one who sits on the throne. Behold, I am making all things And part of the newness is the elimination of all sin in the new heaven and the new earth. In verse 8, he assures that as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, all liars, their portion is going to be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, the second death. And in verse 27 he adds, but nothing unclean will ever enter into the new heaven and the new earth. nor anyone who does what is detestable or false. If I interpret that rightly, that means the devil won't be in heaven. Isn't that good news? He came into the garden and he has wreaked havoc. But he won't come into the new garden. He will be banned from its walls. He will not be there to attempt to deceive and lead God's people astray. That's right. And all these absences mean there will be, therefore, no temptation in heaven. When you're in the throes of temptation and fighting in the power of the Spirit to resist the devil, it is especially encouraging and relieving that a day is coming when the flesh will be no more. Right now we're living in the experience of the flesh being in opposition to the Spirit and the Spirit being in opposition to the flesh. We are in this conflict, but when the sea is no more, that means that conflict will be over. We will be glorified in our every desire. Our flesh, the sinful flesh, will be eliminated, and in our glorious state there will be no sin, no temptation, and no desire for things ungodly. We won't have to put on battle armor every day to be ready for the devil's assaults. We will live within the battle armor of heaven. It will forever be a place of rest. Think of what Paul said in Romans 7. Paul, in agony in the midst of his battle with indwelling sin, he says, when I want to do right, evil is close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but I see in my members another law, waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Well, thanks be to God. All things new because of the Lord Jesus Christ means that the sanctifying work of the Spirit of God will be complete in us and there will be no more sin, no more desire to sin, no more impure or ugly thoughts. How wonderful is heaven! And let that be an encouragement to you and to urge you to fight on against all of the temptations that will come your way this very day. Now thirdly, I see in John's description of heaven another striking absence. So we've seen, first of all, there's no affliction. There's no sin. And thirdly, it seems as though John expected to see something there, but it was not. There is no temple. This detail is related to us in chapter 21, verses 22 and following. John says, I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. There was nothing wrong with the temple that God instructed the Israelites to build and in which to worship. However, the temple on the earth demonstrated the separation that exists between God and his people due to sin. When Jesus died at the cross, the veil was torn in two, representing the direct access that we have to God through Christ. In glory in the new heaven and the new earth, the temple is eliminated altogether. at least as far as a building structure is concerned. And the elimination of the temple emphasizes the full presence of God throughout. His glory will not be shrouded or hidden. There will no longer be any separation. His glory will not be contained to a place within the heavens, but will be unrestrained in its fullness. The glory of God will not be mitigated in any way by the darkness of our minds. His light will fill His people at all times. No temple. Praise God! And then, correspondingly and finally, there is no night in heaven. Revelation 21-25 says there will be no night there. There's no need of sun or lamp, but neither is there night. Because the glory of God is the light of heaven and it never quits shining. His glory never goes out. It's just mind-boggling. You know how dependent we are upon electricity? And when a storm hits and you lose power and all the lights go off? Not to worry. There's not wires. and conduits of electricity in heaven. There is the glory of God that fills the place. And you are incapable of getting away from the darkness. I mean, you're incapable of getting away from the light, because the light of the glory of God permeates the place. Now, think about, though, night. Nighttime is often when people secretly attack. It's when people stumble and fall. It's when people get lost. It's also when people carouse, none of that will be in heaven because there will be no night. With no enemies to attack and no night in which to give them opportunity, the gates of the city are always open. And you can always find your way. It is comforting to know what we have to deal with now that we don't have to deal with in heaven. How can we not speak to others, to urge them to set their faith on Christ Jesus because the destiny of believers is so wonderful. But let's turn our attention now to the abundance in heaven. It is striking that these things are absent, but it's also striking that certain things are there. Abundantly. The many things that destroy and disturb our lives in the present time will be absent in heaven. And at the same time, the many things that delight God's people and give us peace and joy will abound in heaven. In John's account, he provides details of things that will permeate the new heaven and the new earth. And they are things that redound unto joy. and endless delight. What fills heaven is delightful, beautiful, satisfying, and thrilling. I want to highlight several features which gloriously abound in heaven. First of all, in heaven there is an abundance. of the presence of God." Now, this has kind of been highlighted already, but we need to think about this in a positive way. It is highlighted first in chapter 21, verse 3, a loud voice from the throne said, 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. Do you see how many with thems there are? And being his people here, just in the short space of those words there, this permeating presence is reiterated in the fact that there is no temple, but the temple is the Lord God Almighty and God is omnipresent. That means God is everywhere, all the time, in the same extent of His being. God is everywhere. You can't go anywhere where God is not. That's true right now. He is always present everywhere, and there's nowhere that you can go where He is not. But in heaven, His presence is experienced in an even more powerful way because His presence is made known in a more concentrated way. It is the glorious presence of God in communion with His people. On earth, God has made Himself known at various times and in various ways. He walked with Adam and Eve in the garden until they sinned. Incidentally, by the way, there's imagery which points us to an even better communion in heaven. What they had in that garden will be surpassed in the new one. Down in chapter 22, verses 1 and 2, there's a river of the water of life flowing through the middle of the city and on either side, the tree of life. We have a picture of Eden now in the future as it was supposed to be or potentially was. Now that is the way it will be. Not only did the Lord commune with Adam and Eve, He also spoke to Noah, and then to Abraham. He came to visit Abraham in several different ways, yet for much of the time it seemed that God was silent. And God spoke to Moses wonderfully, and Moses longed to see the glory of the Lord, but the Lord said, you can't see my glory and live. The Lord spoke through the prophets. in various ways and at various times and at last He spoke to us in His Son and we beheld His glory in that way. The Spirit brings to us the knowledge of the presence of the Lord, but still we long and hunger for more. Hymns have been written to say, more, more of Christ let me know, because there's a longing within the heart of His people to know Him better, see Him more clearly, be so enraptured with the presence of God that we are saturated and overflowing because of it, and the presence of God for which Christians' hunger and thirst will be known in heaven. As Paul said, for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part. Then, now get this, what Paul said, then I shall know fully even as I have been fully known. Just think what that means. How well does God know you? He knows you completely, does He not? He even knows you better than you know you. He knows me better than I know me. David says he knows everything about us. In Psalm 139, David reckons with God's knowledge of him. He writes, O Lord, you've searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from afar. You are intimately acquainted with all my ways, and even before there's a word on my tongue. Behold, O Lord, you know it all together. Almighty God knows us through and through. Nothing holds him back from knowing us completely. Well, in the new heaven and earth, the presence of God will be so permeating, so full, and so rich that we will know Him in the depths of which He now knows us. We see now in a mirror dimly, but then face to face, every man and every woman who knows God wants to know Him more. And in heaven, we will know Him more than we can dream. And that knowledge will engulf our souls in exhilaration and in delight. The presence of God abounds. in the new heaven and the new earth. And because of the presence of God in heaven, there will also be pleasure. Pleasure like humans have never experienced before. Far greater than the pleasures of sex or gluttony or intoxicants. They cannot even begin to compare. I'd say far greater than the pleasures of the good and righteous pleasures that we can know now. They will exceed all of that. The pleasures of heaven are soul satisfying. In hell there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, but in heaven there is joy unspeakable and full of glory. In the inescapable permeating presence of God, the Bible says there is fullness of joy and that at His right hand there are pleasures forevermore. The pleasure of His presence is the root of all heavenly pleasures. Now Jesus said, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Not only will we see God in heaven, but we will see Him so well because we will be like Him. And here's another reason there's no more sin in heaven, because when we have been fully made like Him, then sin will be completely undesirable to us in every way, shape, and form. Now 1 John 3, 2 says that Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He is. Revelation 22, verse 4 says, what does that say down there? It says that His servants will see His face. You know the great yearning of Moses, Lord, show me Your glory. It will be granted to all who are in heaven, and they shall be satisfied. Beholding the glory of God, we will be changed into the same glory. From Jesus' parable of the weeds and the wheat, He indicated that at the harvest, the weeds are burned, but what happens to the wheat? The wheat are gathered into His barns. And it says that in the kingdom of His Father, the righteous will shine like the sun. Listen to Psalm 1715. As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness. When I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness. The key feature and soul-satisfying aspect of the wonder of heaven is the permeating, soul-engulfing presence of God that is not just His presence, but also the pleasure that comes from being saturated. with His glory. Now not only is heaven filled with the presence of God and pleasure from God, it's also filled with the praise of God. Revelation 22.3 says that in heaven His servants will worship Him. We have seen that heaven is filled with worship in Revelation 4. Praise goes up to Him who sits on the throne. Worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power. In Revelation 5, praise goes to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever. Worship is one of the most thrilling exercises of the heart for the people of God. And there will be an abundance of worship in heaven. You know, if you followed any of the Republican National Convention this past week, you have seen a lot of exuberance and chanting and excitement. Those people seemed to be having a really good time. But it is unworthy to be compared to the excitement and joy in heaven as God's people. overflow with songs of praise, with lives of purity, with words of ecstasy ascribing salvation to Christ our King. We won't be saying four more years. We will be saying glory. Power and wisdom and strength belong to the Lord our God. The world that God created should be ceaseless in praise and worship. But it takes his name in vain and complains for what it does not have. We who believe should be doing the opposite of that, abounding in praise even now and overflowing with thanksgiving, giving glory to God. That's definitely going to be part of the joy of heaven. Why not let it be your joy here on earth? And you know what it takes for that to happen? It takes a whole lot more than pure emotion. So much praise and worship, it seems to... I'm not saying emotion is bad. Okay, don't get me wrong. But it's not the root. It should be the fruit. The root is knowing God and loving Him as He is. And when you do that, when He shows you His glory, you will be on your knees. You will be lifting your voice to Him. You will be emotional, but the emotion is not driving your praise. The glory of God is what drives your praise. Now before closing, I want to point you to a couple more points in the abundance of heaven. For one, there is pizzazz. Pizzazz and abundance in heaven. You might say, where are you getting that from? Well, it's actually one of the most prevalent aspects of what is talked about here. The most details are those details that are given to what it looks like. And when you read about these different jewels, forming the walls and there being this topaz there and amethyst and all of these precious jewels. And John describes the radiance of the city as that of a most rare jewel. Jasper, clear as crystal, is like a diamond. And every kind of jewel adorns the city gates and walls. Its beauty alone is a pleasure to behold. That is pizazz. When you see gems and minerals forming the walls and gates that themselves, each one is a pearl. They're not words to describe exactly what we're going to see when we get there. But we're given enough images to know it is going to be full of pizazz. It is going to be glorious and amazing. And then And by the way, all of that pizazz, that is just a physical representation of the majesty and wonder of what heaven is all about. You think all of those things that are these things that I'm calling pizazz, these precious stones, they're all things that on earth are rare and expensive. And there, they're everywhere. Again, the stress on the abundance of the things that are most valuable and most precious and most satisfying and most exhilarating. They're there. And then there is protection. God's people have nothing to fear. The city's gates remain open because there is no threat to God's people. And finally, here in the destiny of God's people, there is permanence. Again, they won't be saying four more years. We'll be saying forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever. Glory to God. Permanence. Heaven is forever. There is no death. And in verse 5 of chapter 22, we are told that God's people reign with Him forever and ever. The chant won't be something we hope for. We hope an election will be won. There's no election in heaven. There's a king. And he rules and he reigns. And it's the king who created the world to begin with. And now with our messing it all up, he will make a new one that can't be messed up. And we will be with him eternally. And just as sure as sadly the smoke of the torment in hell goes up forever and ever, the joy and exuberance and delight, unmitigated, flows forth from our hearts day by day by day. What a glorious destiny. How can we keep silent? You know, I talk, everybody wants to know, when are you going to Switzerland? And I'm counting the days. Every day I look up, Swiss Air, how many days to when you can register or check in? 28 days now, I think, or less than that. Counting them down. And I know a lot of you would like to go on that trip, too. And I'll probably come back telling you, you should go. But I can tell you right now, when I get I still would want to point you to heaven because it's far greater than the Alps. It is far greater than any physical destination you can go to here on earth. When you begin to suffer in the ways of this world, when you begin to experience the affliction or as you experience the afflictions of this world, you know that it really doesn't matter when you're afflicted where you are. You just want your afflictions to be over. And that's the way heaven will be. And that's just one little part of the glory and beauty of that forever place that Jesus went to prepare for his people. In hell the worm does not die, and the smoke of their torment goes up forever. But heaven is wonderful and glorious, and forever the pleasure of God's people never diminishes in delight and abounding joy. Hell is the place no one would want to go. And yet most of the world is headed there. And today we've drunk in the delights of heaven. It is the place no one wants to leave. But leave heaven is precisely what Jesus did in order to bring us there who believe in Him. He shared in the glory of heaven, but left it for what must have seemed like 10,000 years, though it was only about 33. And although in the form of God, he did not count quality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking on the form of a servant and coming to this corrupt earth, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. That's what it took for Him to be able to save His people from their sins. And who are His people? They're the ones who love Him. and believe in Him, who trust in Him, who turn from their sins and rest in Christ. That's the death of Christ. That's what it took. His departure from glory to this earth. That's what it took for Him to gain an affirmative answer from the Father to His prayer request in John 17, 24. You know what Jesus prayed there? There Jesus prayed, desire that they also whom you have given me may be with me where I am to see my glory for his people to be with him in heaven Jesus had to leave heaven and come to earth and be our sin offering and that is what he was willing to do for us we cannot but speak of Jesus and we cannot but speak in part because of the place that he's gone to prepare for and for which He is coming back to receive us to Himself. So may God fuel our hope in the midst of all the tribulation that we experience now and may He thrust us out into the fields which are widened to harvest because we cannot but speak of what great things He has in store for us. Let's pray. Our Father and our God, We still have questions, many questions, but you've given us the answers that we need the most. What will it be like? What will it be like when I close my eyes in death and open them up in your presence. What will it be like when after the great judgment and the wicked are consigned to hell, the saints are escorted into the joy of their master, the sheep are led into the kingdom of heaven prepared for them from the foundation of the world? What will it truly be like? We thank you for what will not be there. We thank you that there's no affliction, no sin, no temple, no night, and we thank you for what abounds there. We thank you that the presence of God abounds, pleasures from God abound, the praise of God abounds, that there's plenty of pizzazz, that there is eternal protection, and that there's permanence, that we will be with you forever. Glory to You. Lord, cause our hearts to be filled with hope as we contemplate what You have in store, what the Scripture says that I have not seen. Lord, it's even entered into the mind of man what God has prepared for His people. But even to think about it as we have today, Lord, gives us great mounds of expectation and anticipation. And as we anticipate, Lord, help us to talk and speak and help us to just overflow because we want to see others join in the thrill and the pleasure and the delight of seeing Christ face to face. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay.