I'd like for you, if you will,
to turn with me in your Bibles to the last chapter in the book,
the last chapter in the Bible, Revelation chapter 22. Revelation chapter 22, verse
1. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the
midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river,
was there the tree of life, which bear 12 manner of fruits, and
yielded her fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were
for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse,
But the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and
His servant shall serve Him. And they shall see His face,
and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be
no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the
sun. For the Lord God giveth them
light, and they shall reign forever and ever. And he said unto me,
these things are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the
holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the
things which shortly must be done. These verses that I've
just read are part of a vision. You see, the chapter begins with
the word and. That's a connecting word, isn't
it? These words, these verses that I read, as I said, are part
of a vision that God gave to John, the Apostle John. And it is a vision of the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ in the eternal state. A vision of the
church of the Lord Jesus Christ in eternity or in heaven. If you look back to chapter 21,
in verses 9 and 10, this is where the vision began. And there came unto me one of
the seven angels, which had the seven vows, full of the seven
last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will
show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away
in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me that
great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from
God. This tells us here the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ is called the Bride, the Lamb's Wife, and
the great city, the holy Jerusalem. There's no doubt in my mind that
it is called the great city. You see that in verse 10. And he carried me away in the
spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me that great city. I believe one of the reasons
is it's called a great city because of the great number of people
who will be in heaven. the great number of God's elect,
of God's chosen people who have been redeemed by the blood of
the Lamb. Before this, in chapter 7, John
says that he saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of
all nations and kindreds and people and tongues standing before
the throne and before the Lamb. clothed with white robes and
palms in their hands. It's a great city, heaven. It's a great city because of
the great number of the redeemed of the Lamb. We think about this
great number, a number John said that man couldn't number. We
know God knows the number. It's not an infinite number.
It's a finite number. It is made up of everyone that
God set his love upon from eternity and chosen in Christ before the
foundation of the world. But when we read earlier in 1
Corinthians 1 that Christ is both the power of God and the
wisdom of God, everyone of that great multitude, you and me one
day, God willing, along with all of the others saved, We will
all be there because Christ is the power of God and the wisdom
of God. When I think of him as the power
of God, I think of the number of sins, this great multitude,
if somehow all of the sins of God's people could be collected
in a bundle and laid upon a person Who could bear the weight of
that great burden of sin before a holy God? Only Christ, and
that's exactly what happened. In Isaiah chapter 53, God tells
us that God hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all, and no
one else No other created being could have borne the weight.
He's the power of God in so many different ways, but he's also
the wisdom of God. We see how that in Christ, God's
holiness, his justice, his righteousness, his law is fully honored, and
yet God is able through the work of Christ, the person and work
of Christ, to show mercy and be gracious to guilty sinners. He's the power and the wisdom
of God, a great multitude. And no doubt it is also called
the holy city. It's called a great city, I believe,
because of the great number of people who are going to be there. And it's called a holy city because
it's here where God has his eternal throne. It is here where God
Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit reign. And it is also
the throne of the Lamb. He's upon that throne. Now call
our attention to the words in verse three that I read, and
there shall be no more curse. We, you and I, we have always
lived in a world that is under a curse. Always. Since Adam disobeyed God, God
cursed this world. Cursed the ground. We've lived
in a world under a curse. We can't imagine what it will
be when there shall be no more curse. What will life be like? What will life be like in this
holy city? And of course, that's just a
metaphor for heaven. I've heard over the years, and
I've probably said this myself, that heaven can only be described
in negatives. or as most often described in
negatives, no more curse, no more sin, no more sorrow, no
more death, no more tears. But this morning I want to bring
a message to us, the Lord willing, I have five positive things,
not negative things, but five positive things about what life
will be like in heaven. First, heaven will be a life
of serving God and of the Lamb. You notice that also in verse
three. But the throne of God and of
the Lamb shall be in it, and his servant shall serve him. Heaven will be an eternity. I said a life, but yes, an eternity
of serving God and of the Lamb. If you turn back in your Bibles
with me to a passage in Acts chapter 27, the setting for this
text, of course, is Paul is being carried to Rome and they're on
a ship And the ship is in a storm, a storm which lasted a hurricane
or something like that, that lasted for at least 14 days from
what I read here. But they've given up all hope. Everyone on the ship, they've
given up all hope of ever being alive, of surviving this storm. They've cast all the tackling
overboard. They've done everything. They
fasted. hoping somehow to be rescued, to be saved. And
Paul, if you notice in verse 27, we read, but when the 14th
night was gone, as we were driven up and down in Adria about midnight,
the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some company. Well, let's go back to verse
23. of verse 22. And now I exhort you to be of
good cheer, for there shall be no loss of any man's life among
you but of the ship. Now this is the verse I want
to call our attention to. For there stood by me this night,
this is the Apostle Paul, there stood by me this night the angel
of God, whose I am and whom I serve. That is the confession of every
child of God, whose I am and whom I serve. We know that all men are God's
creatures. He's called the father of all
men. And he is by creation. It is he who has made us and
not we ourselves. But we also know when the Apostle
Paul here said, whose I am, he's speaking about being God's by
adoption, by adoption. That is by being chosen in Christ,
by being redeemed by Christ, by being called by God the Holy
Spirit and given everlasting life, whose I am, and whom I
serve. That is the testimony of every
child of God, whose I am, bought with a price. We're no longer
our own. We're bought with a price. And
that price is the precious blood of Christ. And we are saved by
the grace of God. to serve him. Now clearly not
everyone is called to serve God in the same way Paul was. Paul
was called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ and went up and
down the land at that time preaching the gospel. We're not all called
to be preachers. None of us are called any longer
to be apostles of Christ, but we are called to be servants.
In fact, in that passage in Ephesians 2, which says, for by grace are
you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is
a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Good works, serving Christ. God's already ordained the good
works that we are to walk in. If we are His, if we are His,
if we've been saved by the grace of God and we can say, whose
I am, He owns me, lock, stock, and barrel. I'm His, whose I
am, and whom I serve, whom I serve. We're not saved by serving, but
all of those who are saved do serve the Lord. And we do like
to do His will. But it's also true that in this
world, as long as we are in this world, God's people grow weary
in well-doing. You say, how do you know that?
Because Paul. writing to the churches of Galatia,
said, let us not grow weary in well-doing. Yeah, we serve him
if we're his, but sometimes we grow weary in serving him. Many times the spirit is willing,
but the flesh is weak. In heaven, here's my point, in
heaven we shall serve him. Now we're not told, this is,
we're not told what that service will be. You know, there are paradoxes
in the word of God, aren't there? Seeming contradictions. Paul
names a number of them, and I believe that's 2 Corinthians. He said,
we're poor, having nothing, but making all rich. How's that possible? Here's a person, he has nothing,
and yet he's making everyone rich. Paradoxes, seeming contradictions. And we know in the case of that
paradox, Paul was poor in the things of this world, but he
had a treasure, the gospel of Jesus Christ that he preached. And those who were saved by that
gospel were made rich, heirs of all things, joint heirs with
Christ. But I see we have a paradox here
also because The text, if you look back at our text, it tells
us, and his servants shall serve him. In heaven we shall enter upon
our rest, and yet we will rest not, day or night. Now that's a paradox, isn't it?
We're told that in heaven we will enter upon our rest, and
yet we will rest not day or night. Our labors are ended. In chapter
14 and verse 13, we read, yea, saith the Spirit, they that they
may rest from their labors, and yet we shall serve him. And in
chapter seven and verse 15, we read that that great multitude,
I mentioned a few minutes ago, who stand before the throne,
now listen, serve him day and night. What the service will be, we're
not told. But if heaven would just be a
place of inactivity, How would that be a good place?
No, we're going to serve him. We're going to serve him in heaven. What the service will be, as
I said, we're not told. But we know that there is a heavenly
choir there. We know that. And we know that
everyone in that choir is in tune and all singing the same words,
worthy is the Lamb. Every heart will beat to that
same tune of praising God. So that's the first thing that
heaven will be like. It will be a life of serving
God. and never growing tired, and
never growing weary. The second thing, heaven will
be a life of perfect holiness. Again, if you notice in verse
27 of chapter one, we read, and there shall in no wise enter
into it. What does it stand for? For that
holy city, for that great city, for heaven. There shall no wise
enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination,
or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book
of life. Heaven will be a life not only
of service, but heaven will be a life of perfect holiness. Now, in this world, we live under
our Lord's word when he said, be therefore perfect. Be therefore perfect, as your
Father in heaven is perfect. That's our desire, isn't it?
That's his word, and that's our desire, to be perfect, to be
perfect. But is there ever a day that
goes by that we do not have to pray as our Lord taught us to
pray? Forgive us this day our trespasses. But the command is to be perfect,
even as God is perfect. When we leave this world, we're
not only going to leave our family and our friends and all our possessions,
but we're going to leave that sinful nature with which we were
born. We're going to leave that old
man That has been part of us. Been us, really. That body of
sin, which has been part of us from our conception. From the moment of conception
in our mother's womb. In sin, David said, did my mother
conceive me? Yes. And we still have it, don't
we? That old nature. And even though
we're commanded to be perfect, we know that we're not. That's
our desire. But think of these wonderful
truths. There, in heaven, our faith, here, which is often mixed
with unbelief. How many times do we have to
pray, Father, I believe, help thou my unbelief. Not there. Not there. Our faith will be
perfect. What about our love? Well, here,
I don't know about you, but I think my love is so feeble, I'm ashamed
to even call it love most of the time. But there, our love
will be perfect. We will love as we are loved. What about our humility? Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. What about our humility? Well, how often does pride invade? Doesn't it? I'm sure it does. How often does pride, even when
we're praying, that old evil sin of pride will creep in. And
when we're preaching or teaching the word of God, And I know I'm
not alone, I've talked to other preachers, they tell me the same
thing. Yes, that's just part of living
in this world with this old nature, isn't it? But never again, never
again in heaven will we confess for the good that I would do,
I do not. And the evil which I would not
do, that I do. We'll never confess that again,
no. Are you never sad? Are you never
sad or discouraged because of something you've done, something
you've said, your conscience? You ever have those problems? Do you? I do. Never have that
again. No, no. Sadness is the opposite
of happiness. And where there's no sin, there's
happiness. No sadness, but yes, happiness. And that brings me to my third
point. Heaven is a life of happiness. And that must be so because of
holiness and happiness, they're conjoined. You can't be, holy and not be
happy. And you can't be happy if you're
not holy. That's just true. There are questions about heaven
that God has chosen not to reveal unto us in this word. And I'm
happy with that scripture which tells us the secret things belong
unto God. But the things which are revealed
are revealed unto us and our children. I'm happy with the
things that are revealed, but there are things about heaven
which are not revealed. But I know it will be a place
of happiness, and I know that from the word of God. Here are
some things that we're told. Paul tells us that to die is
gain. To die is gain. Now he's talking
about believers, obviously, about God's children. To die is gain. He doesn't say that it shall
be gain at some future time. He doesn't say there's gonna
be a delay. But no, the moment, the moment
to die is gain. immediate gain. There's but one
step. There's but one step, and the
soul is in glory. There's no delay. There's no
waiting for God to get a company of angels ordered to come transport
that soul into the presence of God. No. To die is gain, immediate
gain. What is it that causes God's
people to be unhappy in this world? It's sin. But there is no sin there. What is it that causes God's
people to be unhappy in this world? Well, it's sin. It's the
devil tempting us, but the devil will be bound in the lake of
fire. We'll not be bothered by him
again. And isn't the doubts and the fears of our acceptance? You know, not every child of
God has assurance of salvation. And not every child of God always
has assurance of salvation. These things write unto thee,
John said, that believe on the Son of God, that you may know
that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the Son
of God. You ever have any doubts? Ever
have any fears that after you have confessed Christ and served
Christ for however long it may have been, that in the end, you've
just been a big hypocrite all the time? Ever have any thoughts
like that? I do. I do. Well, we won't have those doubts
once we're there. We're accepted. We're in. We won't ever doubt our acceptance
again. No, heaven is a life of happiness. Some people have questions because
of their trials. How could I be a child of God?
and experience the things that I experience, the thoughts that
I have, or the sickness of body. Surely if I was one of his children,
I wouldn't be sick, sometimes for years and years, wouldn't
suffer this ongoing pain. For others, it's separation,
loneliness. Why, why would I, if I'm a child
of God, why, why would I experience this? Someone just last week,
of some traumatic thing they're going through, asked the question,
why? And that's normal, isn't it?
That's normal that we're asking questions like that. We'll never
ask that question again. No, no. Not in heaven. Heaven. Life in heaven is a life
of happiness. A fourth thing. Heaven will be a life of being
forever with the Lord. That's what Paul wrote, so shall
we ever be with the Lord. Not only under his care as we
now are, not nearly near him as we sometimes are in this world,
but we will actually be with him, with him. This was his promise. He said, if any man serve me,
let him follow me. Where I am, there shall my servant
be. And this was his prayer also
for his people. Father, I will that they whom
thou hast given me be with me where I am. Do you ever think,
I wish I could have been like Peter or James or John and and
walked along with the Lord Jesus Christ. I wish I could have been
there when I saw and have seen him take those three loaves and
a few fish and start blessing them and breaking them and giving
them out to the people. How blessed it would have been
to have been one of them. You ever have those thoughts?
You ever think, well, what a blessing it would be if I could have been
like Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus. Oh, wouldn't that have
been wonderful? To sit there at His feet and
listen to Him, hear Him speak the words of eternal life. How
blessed that would be. Well, you're going to be there.
Not only will we be forever with the Lord, but also with all of
His children. Some Sundays, maybe you've never
experienced this, but some Sundays it seems like our days of worship
with our brothers and sisters singing hymns and praying and
reading the word of God and just the fellowship, the love that
we experience here. We just wish it could go on,
that Sunday wouldn't end. But they always end in this world.
Congregations always break up here. but not in heaven, not
in heaven. Heaven will be a life of being
forever with the Lord. And my last point is heaven will
be a life with no end. Everything about this world,
everything about our lives in this world is always changing. It's always temporary. Everything about the world to
come about heaven is fixed. It's lasting. It's endless. What are riches? What are riches
and honors and greatness? You've seen the little children.
They have a little bottle of, I guess, some kind of special
water, soapy water. And they put that little instrument
down into it, and they're, whew, and all those bubbles go flying. And then sometimes they try to
chase those bubbles and catch them. That's the way most people
are in this world. They're chasing riches. They're
chasing honors. They're chasing pleasures. And
when they get whatever it is they think will make them happy,
they realize there's nothing to it. There's nothing to it. But oh, to be saved, to know
God, to be a child of God, to be a friend of Christ, what blessing,
what treasure, there's nothing that can compare to this. I'm going to close with the words
of an old writer, and I quote, it is a great mistake to look
upon heaven merely as a place of reward, a sort of new life
altogether different from this. No, it will be our present Christian
life carried on and perfected in a better world. It will be
the transplanting of the fruitful tree to another and richer soil. It will be the calling up of
the faithful servant to a higher and more honored post. You see, eternal life, it doesn't
begin when you die. I give unto my sheep eternal
life. You have eternal life if you're
one of his. You'll never die. He said, whosoever
heareth my words and believeth on him that sent me shall never
die. Never die. We're just going to
change locations. And what a location, right? What
a location that's going to be. Well, I pray the Lord will bless
His word to all of us here today.