In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

On the last day, Jesus will return visibly with great power and glory. The dead will rise. Believers will be with Jesus. And this world will end. Everything we see around us will be destroyed. Even this building will be destroyed. Then where will we live? Well, it says here that...

After the resurrection of the dead, we will have glorified bodies. And God will create a new home for us to live in forever. It’s called a “new heaven and a new earth.” Try to picture the Garden of Eden, only bigger and better. It’s going to be great. It will be perfect in any way. But consider:

1. Who will live there (and who won’t).

The Bible plainly teaches that believers in Jesus will live there. Believers are described with special terms here. The “holy city, the new Jerusalem” is the Holy Christian Church, the gathered group of all true believers in Jesus. Then, it says in verse 6, “To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.” “Thirsty” is a figurative expression of what it feels like to want forgiveness and salvation. If you would spend a summer day in the desert, you would learn what it feels like to be really thirsty. Say that you were driving to Arizona, and on the way, you made a wrong turn in New Mexico. And, there you became lost and finally ran out of gas. It would be your own fault that you are in that position, and there, in that desert, you would be really thirsty. You would long for a nice, cold drink. So you finally make it to a house, and the man at the door says he’ll sell you a glass of water for a million dollars. You don’t have a million dollars. Now what?

Well, that’s kind of like the predicament we find ourselves in due to sin. We’ve made many “wrong turns” in life. We’ve fallen into all kinds of sins. We have not always loved God above all things. We haven’t always loved our neighbors as much as we loved ourselves. We haven’t always stayed on the straight and narrow path of God’s commands. We’ve taken many wrong turns into sins of thought, of word, and of action. And so, we are in a desert. And we thirst for forgiveness and salvation. We can’t buy forgiveness. We can’t pay for salvation. But God is much nicer than that guy who lives in the desert of New Mexico. It says right here that God provides “the water of life,” God provides forgiveness and salvation “without cost.” He gives us a cold drink by saying, “I love you. I sent my Son to save you. Jesus lived a perfect life for you. Jesus died on the cross and paid for all of your sins. Jesus rose from the dead, and that means that you are forgiven. You are saved!” That’s the cold drink of water we all need. By faith, we drink up that good news. And that good news is very refreshing! Praise God that he gives us the GIFT of eternal life.

Then it says more. It says, 7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. The Bible teaches that, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” Believers must “overcome” these hardships. Believers need to over come temptations to sin and unbelief. Believers need to over come persecution in this life. Then, by God’s grace, we inherit our heavenly Father’s kingdom. We inherit an eternal home in heaven. By faith in Jesus, we believers become the children of God, the heirs of heaven.

But, sadly, not everyone gets to go to heaven. Unbelievers will not be allowed into heaven. Jesus died for them too, but they reject the free gift of eternal life. They do not want Jesus to be their Savior. Unbelievers are described in verse 8 “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars - their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” Some of those described in this verse maybe were believers, but fell away. They fell away in a “cowardly” way in a time of persecution. Or they were unfaithful to God’s Word. Or they did not live in keeping with Gods’ will. Some unbelievers are “vile.” Some are “murderers.” Some are “sexually immoral.” We see examples of these in the news each week! There was the Virginia Tech massacre. Sexual sins are paraded all over the place as a person’s right – whether it is sex before marriage, or adultery, or homosexuality. TV programs today are constantly pushing these issues into our living rooms. People who “practice magic arts” includes witchcraft and drug abuse. “Idolaters” describes unbelievers who are living only for themselves and their own selfish desires. “Liars” follow the devil who is the father of lies. None of these will be in heaven. Unbelievers will not enjoy a place in heaven. But, there will be a place in heaven for believers in Jesus. So, let’s consider...

2. What it will be like (and what it won’t be).

The Bible does not tell us everything we’d like to know about heaven. We’re going to have to wait until we get there to really know what it’s like. But, the Bible does reveal basic truths about what it will be like and what it won’t be like. It says in verse 3, Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. When we get to heaven, God himself will live with us and we will live with God. We will see God. Here, we know that God is with us by faith, but we cannot see Jesus. There, we will see our Savior face to face.

Then it says in verse 4, He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. The “old order of things” is this sinful world. This world was perfect when God created it. But now, everything’s been wrecked. Things just aren’t right. We have climate problems, disease, pain, sadness and death. But when we get to heaven, God will wipe away our tears. He will comfort us there, and we will never be sad again. We will never experience pain again. Imagine that! No more arthritis! No more aching back! Everything will be perfect. We will have a perfect environment in which to live. We will have gladness and joy all the time. Heaven will be PERFECT in every way! It’s hard to even imagine that.

It’s easier to say what heaven will not be like. It will NOT be like this world that’s been wrecked by sin. "There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain...” Won’t that be great? Let’s look forward to our heavenly home! God will make a new heaven and a new earth! Finally, let us consider...

3. What this means for us today.

You know, we aren’t going to stay in this sinful world forever! Here we have to think about terrorists, crime, pain, disease and death. We have arguments and wars, problems and unemployment... But, one day, that will all be a part of the past. That gives us hope. We can look forward to having: No more terrorists! No more massacres! No more war! That gives us Christians an optimistic outlook on life. We will win in the end as long as we stay believers in Jesus!

That also teaches us to steer clear of worldly temptations. Remember, we are going to get a place in heaven! Why would we want to follow the unbelieving world around – doing what they do, acting like they act?! We have different priorities! We have different values! We follow the Bible, not what the wicked world says.

But, there’s something else too. Does it bother you that many people are NOT going to get into heaven? Well, don’t blame God! Jesus died for ALL! Whoever believes in him receives eternal life! But, how can they believe unless they hear the gospel? And how can they hear unless we tell them? Faith comes from hearing the message, so let’s see that our loved ones hear the message! Knowing that only believers will be in heaven teaches us the importance of teaching God’s Word to our children, and sharing it through mission work and outreach.

We are going to be in heaven! But, not everyone will be there. Anyone that you know who doesn’t believe in Jesus is not on a path to heaven right now. Could you make a difference for them? Do you want them to be in heaven too? And, if you want them to be in heaven, understand that they need to hear the saving Word of God.

That’s what the Andrew Plan is all about. We invited, encouraged, and challenged every members to get into a Bible study, and then, we asked each one to invite a friend, relative or neighbor to come along. At least 65% of our members have participated! That’s great! But, our work is not done. There are still people who need to learn God’s Word... And this matters! Not everyone will be in heaven... maybe your loved ones won’t be in heaven... Of course, you could still invite them to come with you to learn what the Bible says...

Knowing that heaven is waiting for us, and that only believers in Jesus will be in heaven helps us to focus our thoughts on what truly matters. Sometimes, we get all wrapped up in things that don’t matter. Once in a while it helps to ask the question: will this matter after Judgment Day? If it matters, it must be important. I’ll tell you what’s important: Baptism, hearing and learning God’s Word, seeing that each child learns God’s Word. These things really matter! These are more important than having the best video game system or keeping up with the latest clothing fad. Inviting a neighbor to Bible Basics is more important than finishing every project in your home. Now I ask you to think about this: What’s more important: being in Bible study, or being first in line at the restaurant? When Judgment Day comes, which will matter more? One day, all this will all be gone. But, don’t be afraid! Things will only get better for believers in Jesus. Amen.