Heaven is God's Place, the third major point message, if you will, the third and fourth message, and now we'll begin there in the fifth as well. Heaven is God's Place. This series, The Hope of Heaven, This particular message, heaven is God's place. We've looked at heaven is a new place, heaven is a holy place, heaven is God's place. What is so great about heaven? God is there in the fullness of His love for His children. What is so great about heaven? We get to worship God forever and ever and ever. Heaven is a glorious and wonderful place. building upon this truth. Heaven is God's place. I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. That's the hope of heaven. God with men. Sinful man reconciled unto a holy God. That's the hope of heaven. In Matthew 18, verse 3, the Lord Jesus says, Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus speaks of the heart that longs for the God of heaven. Jesus speaks of this simple heart, this simple faith, this childlike heart. Unless you become converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. We must become as little children who say, Abba, Father, as Romans 8 speaks of, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Little children who want to be with their holy, heavenly Father, their Abba, Father. We must become like little children who delight in the presence of the Father. Little children that are pleased to be with the Father. No matter what the Father is doing, the children want to be with the Father. And if in any way they can help, or if in any way they can bless, then they want to bless. This is the heart of a little child to help, to bless, to come alongside, to walk with the Father. And this is the heart we must have that longs just to be near our heavenly Father, just to be near him, just to draw near unto his presence. A heart of a child that longs to hear their father's approval. That longs to hear any word their father should speak. The heart of a child that has great shame and pain of heart over their father's disapproval. The heart of a child whose greatest day is to spend a full day with Dad. The heart of a child that our greatest day would be to spend eternity with our Heavenly Father. We must have the heart of a child. We must be converted, converted, because we have the heart of proud men, the heart of proud women, the heart that is self-centered, the heart that loves self over and above God, the heart that loves things that God hates, The heart that doesn't want to hear from God. The heart that doesn't want to draw near to a holy God. The heart that doesn't want to hear, certainly, chastisement from God. The heart that definitely doesn't want to receive the chasing rod on the backside from our holy and heavenly Father. Therefore, we must be converted and become like children. Children who love their daddy. Children who love their heavenly Father. and delight in His presence that run to Him. Children that when they're hurt, they run to the Father. Children that when they're pained, they run to the Father. Children when they're devastated, they run to the Father. Children that when they have a hard day outside of the home in some venue, they have the joy of knowing that there's a safe place called home. in which Father dwells, in which Father has provided all of their needs. We must become as little children. We must be converted and become as a child with the heart of a child, or you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven, says the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, may God give us this heart. It's such a beautiful heart, the heart of a child. I've told him this text before, just a few months ago, and I told you that story about one of my children who just would so often look up to me and say, Daddy, are you big? Just wanting me, begging me, pleading with me to say yes. Daddy's big. That was that heart's great desire to have a daddy that was big and strong and could care for them. His heart celebrated that reality again and again and again. It was so tender and incredibly sweet. And that is the heart that we are to have. Say, Father, You are big and awesome, omnipotent, in control of all things. You've got the whole world in Your hands. And we delight in that fact. We delight in that, that You've got my brother, and my sister, my father, my mother, my son, my daughter, the tiny little baby, the whole world in your hands, O Lord. That is our Father, and that's how we must come to Him, as a God who is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, all-glorious, delighting in Him. Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted, become as little children who by no means enter the kingdom of heaven, You'll by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. How do we get entrance to heaven? Where God is reconciled to men, where God dwells with men. We must become a child of God with a simple, loving, childlike faith. Are you the child of God that you should be? Or has your heart perhaps become more like the heart of a rebellious young person? who forgets all the benefits their loving parents have brought them, who long ago forgot all the loving affection and care that was poured out upon them in their infancy, in their toddler years. Have you forgotten that while you were yet a rebel sinner, the Lord bought you, sought you, brought you under his grace, giving you the dual gifts of repentance, and faith, giving you the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit to walk in righteousness, to walk in the fruits of the Spirit, giving you the seal of the Holy Spirit unto heaven? Have you forgotten that Jesus Christ suffered in your place? That Jesus Christ knowingly went to the cross in your place? That you might become a child of God. He took the wrath of God. That you might become a child of God, adopted, grafted into the family of God. He drank the cup of wrath in your place. Have you forgotten that He went on ahead of you to prepare a place for you in the Father's house? This is the love of God. This is the love of God and God's Son, Christ Jesus. That He would go before you and prepare a place. Are you the child of God? You should be. Delighting in the Lord with a simple, glad, determined, faithful, even a giddy heart. A giddy heart. Children just get absolutely ridiculously silly joyful over daddy when he comes home. That is until sin gets a grip on their hearts. Or until the father's sins against the children. get a grip on their hearts. Children are absolutely overjoyed. They ask the mother nearly incessantly to the point of insanity. When is father going to be home? When is daddy going to be home? Every day of the week, it seems that my children are up. When I leave the home for work, they ask me, Daddy, do you have to go in to work today or do you get to stay home? with great anticipation, with great joy. And when I tell them that, indeed, I'm off today, I'm staying at home, oh, great excitement and enthusiasm fills their hearts and their faces, and their world is all right and good. When I say I have to work a little at home, their excitement is a wee bit diminished, but at least Dad's home. At least we can have you home. That's the heart of a child. Is that our heart? To be with God. To delight in being with our Lord and King. To come to Him with simplicity and gladness and rapture, just like a little child. 2 Corinthians 6.11 speaks to the heart that should desire the God of heaven. that has the potential of being significantly distracted by the things of the world. Do we have affection for God? Do we have affection for God in heaven and look forward to and long for God in heaven forever? Or do we have affection for something else? Where do our affections lie? Is God our chief affection? 2 Corinthians 6.11. O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you. Our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. Now in return for the same, I speak as to children. You also be open. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? What communion has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? What part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. confessed in a previous message on heaven that as I study topics like heaven, as I study topics like hell, suddenly texts that I'm very familiar with take on a little bit different light. This is again one of those texts where I've been well aware of this text and preached it and taught it and understood it from many angles and facets. I see now the heart of the Corinthians. A heart only has so much room for affection. Your heart can only be fixed upon so many things. Your heart is like any investment. It gets used up in one place or another. You only have so much of it to invest. Oh, Corinthians, the Apostle Paul is distressed by their poor investment. He is concerned for their sake. because of their poor investment of their hearts. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. You and I are restricted by our own affections. The amount of God's glory that we see, the amount of God's glory that we manifest before the eyes of the world, the joy that we experience in our God, is all related to where we place our affections. The Corinthian believers, and some non-believers in their midst, no doubt, the Corinthian believers misplaced their affections. They got unequally yoked with unbelievers. And you and I have that same problem of getting unequally yoked with unbelievers. Unbelievers do not have any affection for God. None. They have complete affection for this world and everything in it that is passing away. They have beyond that affection for things that are unholy and vile and ugly in the eyes of God. Wicked things. And when we are unequally yoked with unbelievers, their affections rub off on us. The things that influence and sway and hold their affections begin to influence and sway and hold our affections. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. Do not unequally yoke together with unbelievers. That unequally yoking, that easy movement, ready agreement and union with unbelievers affects us in that our affections become worldly with their own. What fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? What are unbelievers, righteous or lawless? Lawless in the eyes of God. So where are their affections? Their affections are placed on lawless things. What fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? This flows out of our unequal yoking with unbelievers. Because of that unequal yoking with unbelievers, we end up having fellowship with lawlessness. Fellowship with it. Enjoying it. Taking part in it. Compromise. And compromise always comes in increments, one little increment at a time. If I compromise here, I'm likely to compromise here. And then I'm likely to compromise a little further and a little further. If you see me compromising there, you're likely to maybe justify that there. And compromising leading to compromising leading to compromising. And then we're just compromised. Then we get a letter from Paul and we get all put out. Who does he think he is? Oh, Corinthians. You are not restricted by us, but by your own affections. He thinks he's the loving Apostle Paul that cares for the glory of God and cares for the blessing of the saints. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? What communion has light with darkness? We are to be a people of the light, to be clearly and definitely in the light, clearly and definitely in righteousness. Because we have an affection for God. But as we get yoked with unbelievers, as we get into fellowship with lawlessness, as we end up having communion and darkness. Do you see a progression here? Yoked with unbelievers, fellowship with lawlessness, communion with darkness. There's a progression of compromise here. Our affections are getting caught up in that which the Lord forbids. rather than staying caught up in God. Which is the next verse, 15. What accord is Christ with Belial? Our affections are affected by unbelievers. Our affections are affected by lawlessness. Our affections are affected by darkness to such a point that now, what has Christ to do with Belial? Our affections aren't just on things and behaviors now, compromised, now they're all the way into Belial, the evil one. We're toying with, we're drawing near, and maybe even having some level of affection for in some manner or another for the evil one himself. What accord is Christ with Belial? What part is a believer with an unbeliever? He returns to that. You see the progression of compromise, fellowship with unbelievers, yoked together unequally. Fellowship with lawlessness, communion with darkness. What has Christ to do with Belial? What accord is there? What part is a believer with an unbeliever? Back to where it started. What part has a believer with an unbeliever? We all need to be very careful to take the Lord's counsel. I know we all have friends that are non-believers, and there's some room, some room to have friends that are non-believers. As long as the friendship is very clearly a friendship in which Christ is your Lord, and you are looking to see them saved, and you are walking in righteousness and calling them to walk in righteousness, and you're not joining them in a fellowship with lawlessness, in a communion with darkness. If you have non-believing friends and what you have in common with them is lawlessness, what you have in common with them is darkness, what you have in common with them is something that Belial created in this world, then that's a friendship you can't afford. You can't afford that at all. So what you will find is that maintaining friendships with non-believers is challenging. It's challenging. It's worthwhile for their soul's sakes. It's worthwhile because you love them. But be careful how you love them. Be careful how you enjoy their company because your love of them and your enjoyment of them, that's your affection. And that unequal yolking with unbelievers, because you have an affection for them, can easily lean over to an affection for their lawlessness, an affection for their darkness, an affection for Belial himself. O Corinthians, you're not restricted by us. You're restricted by your own affections. And this is how your affections got misplaced. Hear me, saints of God. The reason we don't have enough affection for God and heaven, where God is, Because our affections are misplaced. Our affections are somewhere. They're somewhere. Let's find them. Let's figure out where they're at. And let's prove out that wherever our affections are is according to the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12. Or prove out that they're not at all according to the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. And our affections need to be moved because we have had an unequal yoking with unbelievers. Whether it's through media or through friends, it's not always through friends, folks. We have incredible access to sources of media in our day, and we get very yoked with unbelievers in media because we like these people. They entertain us in various ways. And therefore, you know, that wasn't so bad. So we'll partake of that, too. And it's one step of compromise after another until we're just like the world, delighting in the things the world delights in. Delighting in lawlessness. Have an affection for lawlessness because we have affection for unbelievers. An unholy affection. Have affection for them that would make them holy, but don't have an affection for them that would make you compromise and become unholy having fellowship with lawlessness, having communion with darkness, having accord with the vile. What part, as a believer, with an unbeliever? The way the Apostle Paul is challenging the Church of Corinth, he's saying, none. None. And so let us be careful how we justify the part that we have with nonbelievers. Again, if our part with nonbelievers involves in no way a compromise of holiness, does not yoke us in with worldly affections, does not yoke us into lawlessness, does not yoke us into darkness, does not yoke us into Belial himself, then we probably are in a relationship in which we are going to be a blessing to them. and we're not going to compromise. But if someone who hates our God and loves every vile thing is our best friend, how long do you think it's going to be before their hatred of God in one way or another and their love of every vile thing affects us and our affections get misplaced? If our good, good friends are people that care not for God and care much for sin and this world that is passing away, Do you not think that that is going to affect you? Do you not think that their lack of iron will dull your iron? Indeed it will. Do we have affection for God or something else? This text explains how it is we end up with affections where they do not belong. What part is a believer with an unbeliever? Verse 16. What agreement is the temple of God with idols? This is the temple of God in this context. For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean. Oh, dear friends. We compromise massively in touching what is unclean and justifying it in various ways. We have much unequivoking with unbelievers and that which is unclean through all the media sources that we love. Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do we really desire to have the affection for God that we should have? Do we really desire that God would be our portion and all satisfying? Then we need to put wholly indefinite parameters upon our friendships, upon where we go, upon what we do with people, upon what we watch and what we listen to and what we partake of in all the forms of media that we partake of. Definite holy parameters. Because your affections will be spent in one way or another, but they get spent. God is holy. When you enjoy unholy things, how easy is it to come to church on the Lord's Day and really have affection for a holy God in worship? How easy is it to hear the Word of God and God's call to you to live holy as He is holy for His glory? when all week long we are unequally yoked with unbelievers. We are having fellowship with darkness. We're having communion, our fellowship with lawlessness and communion with darkness and even entering into the realm of the liel himself. Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean. I will receive you. I will be a father to you and you should be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. I'll be a father to you. And you should be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Will we believe God and obey God? O Corinthians, you're not restricted by us. You're restricted by your own affections. The Lord tells us how it is our affections got misplaced. And then he commands us, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean. That's pretty clear. That's pretty clear. and then the promise, and I will receive you, says the Lord. You come out and be separate and don't touch what is unclean. Don't even touch it. And I will receive you. I will be a father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Is that not a better promise? than the promise the television makes to you? Is that not a better promise than the promise the movie makes to you? This will be entertaining. This will be two hours well spent. Is that not a better promise than the promise porn makes to you? Porn that will take you to hell? Porn that will make you a pervert that molests children, rapes women, undresses every woman that walks by, your sisters in Christ? Is that not a better promise Come out and be separate, says the Lord. I will receive you. I will be a father to you. You shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Is that not a better promise than the promise in a bottle, the promise in a joint, the promise in a pill? Is that not better? Forever in heaven with God, He will receive you. He will be your Father. He who is omnipotent. He who has all power to love you with forever is going to receive you as your father and you his son, his daughter. He who has omniscience, all knowledge to love you with forever is going to receive you as a son, as a daughter forever. O Corinthians, you're not restricted by us. You're restricted by your own affections. The more of this world we love, the more sin we love, the more compromise we make, the more unequal yoking we partake of, the more fellowship with lawlessness, the more communion with darkness, the more cord we still have with Belial than the less of God we have, the less of God we love. We can't love God and love sin simultaneously. We can't love heaven, the eternal abode, which is holy, and love this world with a passion that is so unholy. We've got to choose our passion. It's either God, the holy, holy, holy God, and his holy heaven forevermore, or it's Belial, the evil one, and his evil world that is passing away. Choose your affection. God's promise is better, dear friends. His promise is better. I will receive you. Come out. Be separate. Do not touch what is unclean. God's promise is better. I will be a father to you. You should be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Second Corinthians 7.1. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Therefore, having these promises, what promise? The promise that if you come out and are separate and do not touch the unclean thing, that God will be your Father and you shall be His son and daughter, that He shall receive you to Himself. Since we have this promise, Beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness. How much filthiness do you want left in your heart, in your life, in your mind? Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. How many days do you wake up and pray to God, O Lord, help me to perfect holiness today? At the end of the day, how many days do you pray, O Lord, forgive me that I in no way attempted, much less achieved, effecting perfecting holiness. That's our goal. Holiness. Why? For the sake of holiness? To do our duty? To tough it out? To be good Christians? To look good in front of others? No, because we love God. Because God is our chief affection. And to be unholy is to love sin rather than God. We are restricted by our affections, dear friends. May we receive the Word of God and have a change of affections. James 4.4 insults us. Adulters and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Friendship with the world is enmity with God. We make friends with the world system. We make friends with the world entertainments. It's enmity with God. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever, therefore, wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4.4. Adulterers and adulteresses. We act like adulterers and adulteresses. On God, we are wed to. when we are friends with the world, when we delight in that which God hates. Whoever, therefore, wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Let us come out and be separate. First John 2.15. First John 2.15. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away and the lust of it. But he who does the will of God abides forever. Why is it that we don't desire heaven enough? Because we desire the world. Why is it we don't have affection for God as we ought? Because we have lots of affection for the world. Why is it that we do not love God with all our heart, our soul, our strength? Because we love the world. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. To whatever level we love the world, we cannot love the Father. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away. Did we not learn that? Did it not pass away? And Peter, did it not pass away in Revelation 20? Is it not a new heavens and a new earth? It is. That's what we're looking forward to. That's heaven. And so the world is passing away in the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever. Oh, that's legalism. Oh, that's torturous. No, that's love. That's love. If you love God, if you're truly looking forward to being with God forever, if you truly have affection for God, you're going to obey him. and your affections in this world are going to wane and wax cold. But if you make room and compromise and make opportunity for fellowship and communion and unequally yoked relationships, if you keep the door open for the world and continually find yourself in the habit of justifying behaviors and activities and places you're going and things you're watching and partaking of and music you're listening to. But you're continually having to justify all these things. When you come to a text like this, it says, come out and be separate. Do not touch what is unclean. And you think through some things in your life and think, well, but that's OK, because, you know, I can do that. And you're always having to justify it rather than just saying, you know what? Come out and be separate. Do not touch what is unclean. Okay, I need to come out and be separate. I need to not touch what is unclean. The pattern of Scripture is not to get as close to destruction as possible without actually being destroyed, or to get as close to outright gross wickedness as possible without anyone being able to... they can't quite prove out that I'm involved in wickedness here. The aim of Scripture is holiness. Therefore, having these prophecies, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness. How much filthiness are we to leave? None. Cleanse ourselves from all of it. The flesh, the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. The world is passing away, the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever. Abides forever. Why don't we have enough affection for God? Why don't we love the concept of heaven enough? Why don't we love the God of heaven enough? Because our affections are misspent elsewhere. They're already taken up with the world. There's a pattern of compromise, 2 Corinthians 6 and 7. Learn it. Know it. Learn to see it in your own life. Learn to see it in the lives of others so you can counsel them away from that pattern of compromise. The Lord says, Be holy as I am holy. And he doesn't say it, you know, because he wants the Christian life to be a real bummer. He says it because he wants you to be blessed. And the greatest blessing is to love God and stop loving things that are passing away and to stop loving things that are going to be in the pit of hell and things that will take you there with them. Heaven is God's place. It is God's place. And the reason we don't dwell upon that enough with joy and rapture and excitement and giddiness is because we're caught up in this place. And this place is not God's. There's a reason God is destroying this. This is not God's place. Sin has overrun it and God has given the devil rule over it for a time. But the end is coming where this place will be undone and wiped away. and the devil be cast into the pits. Do not delight in these things. Put your affections in God. Let him be your portion and your cup. Heaven. Heaven is a different place. Fourth major point. Verses 4 and 5. Heaven is a different place. A different place, praise God. Verse 4. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. Heaven is a different place. It's utterly different than this place. This place is consumed with tears and death and sorrow and crying and pain. Just watch the evening news. Heaven is a different place entirely, praise God. These are the benefits of heaven being God's place. God is life. God is truth. God is righteous. These are the effects of it being God's place. And notice verse 4, the first three words, and God will. God will. Isn't that amazing? God will. This is very, very personal. God will what? What will God do? Wipe away every tear from their eyes. I find that interesting, that the first point in Revelation 21 about what God is going to do in His interaction. The last verse, remember, is God's tabernacle is going to be with men. God will dwell with men. And that's pretty profound and awesome to consider. But the first thing God's going to do in dwelling with men, according to Revelation 21, is God's going to wipe away their tears. Why is it we have tears? Why? I thought in heaven, there's no crying. Well, there's not, once you're well in. But God's going to wipe away their tears. Now, there's two reasons that come to mind, two reasons that I find commentators and preachers speaking of, and let's talk about both. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. As you read the book of Revelation, I strongly encourage you, sometimes if you haven't done it, sit down and read all the way through Revelation, 22 chapters, read it all the way through. What you find is God's people suffering, God's witnesses suffering, God's witnesses dying for the faith, God's witnesses being murdered for the testimony of Jesus. You find in the opening chapter, John being exiled to the island of Patmos for the testimony of Jesus. And then you find through the unfolding chapters throughout that God's people are dying and being murdered and persecuted for the testimony of Jesus. You find martyrs in heaven who have died for the testimony of Jesus crying out, How long, O Lord, how long, until you bring justice to those that have murdered your saints? And so, it would seem that these tears, God will wipe away every tear from your eyes, the trauma of the life they lived for Jesus. Remember Jesus' promise in John 14? Let not your heart be troubled. Let not your heart be troubled, did he say, because you're going to have ease and comfort? No, he was telling him, let not your heart be troubled because things are going to be really difficult. You're going to be hated as I was hated. So let not your heart be troubled because in my father's house are many mansions and I go to prepare a place for you. And here they've made it to the mansion, if you will. They've made it to the father's house. Through many trials and tribulations. All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. I think that is the heart of where these tears are coming from. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. It's real suffering. It's real tribulation. All of the fury of the devil in the world system that serves him, that's real tribulation. And in the context of Revelation, God's people are suffering and dying and going into glory. And God personally is wiping away every tear from their eyes. Every tear. In Revelation chapter two and three, you find the letters to the churches. You find churches suffering. Jesus knows they're suffering. Jesus says you will suffer and you will die, but you will have victory. You will have victory. Here's the victory. Life abundant with God forever. That's the victory. The father receiving his children. Remember we talked about children coming to daddy. When children get hurt, if they have a good daddy, they run to him and they want daddy to make it well. They want him to make it better. And just as love tends to do that for their hearts, if not their infirmity. And here the Lord, God himself, personally, with infinite love, individually, will wipe away every tear from their eyes. He even says every tear. Not just tears in general. Every tear. Every tear. He's going to wipe it away. It will be gone. Thus is the love of God for His children. He is worthy of our love. He is worthy of our lives and our sacrifice. He will wipe away every tear. When Jesus in Matthew 10 talks about coming to bring a sword, not peace, but a sword, and father against mother, daughter against father, and on and on. Division within your old household lets us with the world. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Does that not make sense? Yes, it does. Secondly, God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There are those that speculate, and I think rightly so, that as we have entrance into heaven, we'll realize how far short we came in loving God. We'll realize how misspent our affections were. We'll realize how we have compromised being yoked with unbelievers, how we got into fellowship with lawlessness and communion with darkness and even flirted with Belial himself. How we played the Corinthian, restricted by our own affections and will be saved by grace, pure grace. And yet there will be sorrow. Corinthians also talks about being saved as through fire. Those who misspend their lives with works God never commanded, works God's not pleased with, building on the foundation of Christ and the apostles with what? Straw and hay and stubble and wood and useless things, worthless things. Instead of jewel, precious jewel, silver and gold. Things that will endure the fire. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And then, perhaps there's a third meaning. Tears of joy. Tears of rapture. Just absolute disbelief at all that you're seeing. Disbelief that you, a sinner, are entering into this glory. Into the very presence of God. Tears of pure, joy like you see at homecomings in the airport. People overcome with joy and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. The text isn't explicit. Perhaps it's just one of those three or just the first two or mostly the last. I suspect with newly restored mental faculties and even newly restored emotional faculties that perhaps will all be crying tears of complete joy and rapture being in the presence of God, our Father. And it will be all of grace for all of us. Make no mistake. Make no mistake. But have it be all of grace and well done, good and faithful servants. Not all of grace. And you are saved as through fire. And all the works of your life are burnt up as worthless things. You never built upon Christ. You never built upon the apostles. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death. Heaven is a different place. At the entrance, all the tears are wiped away personally by God. If there are tears after that in heaven, they are tears of only joy. God wipes them away. There shall be no more death. The greatest pain in this life that most will experience is death. Death of their father. Death of their mother. Death of their wife. Death of their husband. Death of their child. Death. Death of their good friend. The longer you live, the more you experience the pain of death. The more people you know that die. And the more sober you become in the reality that this world is a world of death. When the Lord should bless you with long life, and you find 40% of your friends dead, 60% of your friends dead, 80% of your friends, and I'm talking about lifelong friends, dead. Death begins to weigh upon you. And this world is a world of death. And there's a great weight of death in it. Sin has produced death in this world. But in the world to come, only righteousness dwells in it. There's no sin. And therefore, there's no death. There's no death in heaven. It's a real world, a real land, a real city, a real holy God dwelling in it with His people, He their God and Father, we His children. And there's no death. There's no separation from those that you love ever again. Those that you love are in Christ. No separation. Departing. There's no loneliness that comes with death. Losing your beloved friends, your beloved parents, your beloved spouse, your beloved children. Heaven is indeed a wonderful place, a wonderfully different place. Just on this foundation, there is no death. That's what so much of our fear in this world is about. So much of the fretting and the worrying and the striving to somehow cheat death. In heaven, there's no more death. Nor sorrow. Nor sorrow. So much sorrow is tied directly to death, so it makes sense. No death, no sorrow. But there are other sorrows. A great many sorrows. Sorrows tied to a great many sins. as you consider rape, as you consider molestation, as you consider murder, oh, that falls under death, as you consider violence in various ways, as you consider theft, as you consider just natural things, rust and moth, destroying, sorrow, all tied to this. Nor crying, nor crying. Again, there may be tears of joy, but no crying tied to death, no crying tied to sorrow, no crying tied to the effects of sin. This world is under a great weight of sin. Romans 3.9, for they are all under sin. Sin has produced death. The wages of sin is death. Death spiritually, death physically, death emotionally, death relationally. All that death is gone in heaven. Therefore, there's no more sorrow and no more crying. And there shall be no more pain. Now, what kind of pain? Some speculate, they say, no more pain of any sort or kind. And maybe that's true. Maybe it is. There might be a problem with that, though, because pain receptors send us signals that are useful. Maybe pain will be dealt with differently in the mind, so you still get the useful signal, but not the ache in the back. Right? And right now, you'd appreciate that. But no more pain dealing with or flowing from sin. That's for certain. No more pain because of the death that sin produces. And sin produces death on every level. For former things have passed away. These are the former things. Death, sorrow, crying, pain. Life is nasty, brutish, and short, said Thomas Hove. And God says, Life is death, sorrow, crying, and pain. Thomas Hubb was not original. But the new heavens and the new earth, where God dwells with God's people, has no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain. It is utterly different than this world. Now, why would you make camp in this world? Why would you put your hope in this world? Why would you place your affections in this world? This is a world of death and sorrow. of crying and pain. The world to come is a world where there is no death, sorrow, crying, or pain. The former things have passed away. Christ has conquered sin. And we are conquerors in Him, in Heaven. Then He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. Behold, I make all things new. Our first point in verse one was heaven is a new place. Heaven is a new place. Here, the Lord declares, behold, I make all things new. Everything is new. And perhaps you caught that in that first message. If heaven is a new place, everything is new. But in case we didn't catch that, the Lord here reiterated reiterates that truth. Behold, I make all things new. Everything is new, because everything that was old was tainted with sin, and thus death, and sorrow, and crime, and pain. Therefore, the Lord makes everything new. And he said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. Write, John. Write this down. These words are true and faithful. Now, why does He say that? Again, just like the repetition back in verse 3, the Lord seems to say this to His servant, so that we will grasp the fullness thereof, because we've never known a world where there's no death, sorrow, crying or pain. We're surrounded by death, sorrow, crying and pain. And so the Lord would have us convinced, convinced, convinced. Why? So our affections would be placed there. So our hearts would soar to heaven above and out of this world of death. Right. For these words are true and faithful. If we believe these things are true and faithful, it should radically change how we live. If we believe what John has written, it should radically change where our affections are placed. where our hope lies, and how we live each day, day by day. Psalm 1611 says, You will show me the path of life, and Your presence is fullness of joy. At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. You will show me the path of life. This is the path of life. Look unto Jesus. in faith. Follow Jesus in faith. Fix your hope on heaven and the God thereof. This is the path of life. In your presence is the fullness of joy. Put your affection on God. In God's presence is the fullness of joy. You can get a little taste of joy from this world. You can get a little joy out of sin for a time. But the other shoe or foot always drops. There's always the effect of that sin. There's always a price and the price is far greater than you want to pay. In God's presence is the fullness of joy. There's no price. There's no penalty. There's no pain. We can get a pretty good amount of joy at supper tonight after we have supper and begin to enjoy dessert, we could probably get a fair amount of joy out of that dessert. But if we eat too much of that dessert, the Bible calls that gluttony. And our joy gotten out of that dessert will turn into pain and sickness and suffering. And if you're young enough or maybe just a weak enough mindset, you might even cry. But in the presence of the Lord is the fullness of joy. You get all you can get of God, and all you get is good. Get all you can get of the Lord, and all you get is more blessing. You never get sick. You never get hurt. You never have sorrow. In your presence is the fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Forevermore. at the right hand of God. God will wipe every tear from their eyes. No more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. No more pain. God personally, lovingly engages each one, wiping their tears away. The former things have passed away. Death, sorrow, crying and pain has passed away. That's of the old world. This is the new heavens and the new earth in which God dwells. And only righteousness dwells therein. And it is sin that brought the death and the sorrow and the crying and the pain. Behold, I make all things new. All things new. And that's what we so desperately need. Because in this world, all things are old with sin, decayed with sin, corrupted with sin. They're all things are new. And these words are true and faithful. And so let us believe God. and not be like the Corinthians with misspent affections, not be like the Corinthians who Paul had to plead with to come out and be separate and do not touch what is unclean. And I will receive you, says the Lord. I will be your father. You should be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Heaven is a different place. And it's a difference you want. May the Lord give us holy affections. May the Lord give us pure affections and set us free from all the filthiness of the flesh and the spirit. Free to love God. Free to delight in the Lord. Free to hope in heaven. Let's pray. Father, we confess again, Lord, that you are gracious and merciful and loving and kind, that you have demonstrated your love toward us while we were yet sinners. We confess that you saved sinners by amazing grace, and you continue, Lord, to sanctify your saints with the sin that yet remains. Lord, sanctify us with this word, we pray. Let us not remain like the Corinthians, but hear from the Apostle Paul your words, Father. May we not, Lord, be unequally yoked with unbelievers. May we not have fellowship with lawlessness. May we not have communion with darkness. May we not, Lord, flirt with Belial himself, but come out and be separate, touching no unclean thing. May we, Lord, with new affections, long for you, long for heaven, long to enter into heaven's gates, where everything is so different, so utterly different, where you will love us personally as your children, sons and daughters, and wipe away every tear, that there is no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain. O Lord, set us free from that which would bind. Set us free from unholy affections, that we would have a singular affection, namely you, our God and Father, and your Son, Jesus Christ. We pray this in His mighty name. Amen.