Let's stand for the reading of God's Word. We turn in the Old Testament Scriptures to Zechariah, Zechariah's prophecy, chapter 14, and then in the New Testament to Revelation, chapter 21. First to the prophet Zechariah, chapter 14, this description of the end-time Jerusalem, even in shadow form, the new Jerusalem coming. And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the king, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the king, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no reign. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no reign. They shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And that day, holiness to the Lord, shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the Lord of hosts. Everyone who sacrifices shall come and take them and cook in them. And that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts. And now to Revelation chapter 21. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, 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 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. 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. And he said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. And we turn in the preaching of God's Word to Revelation chapter 21, the opening eight verses of that chapter, as we read just a few moments ago. There's a popular saying that's been around for some years now. I believe it comes from the 19th century. But no doubt you've heard it, and it's wrong. It's not about the destination. It's about the journey. It's not about the destination. It's about the journey. And for us as Christian believers, this is manifestly false. We are to think of those words of the Apostle Paul, our citizenship is in heaven. from where we look eagerly for our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, for us as Christians, it is really all about the destination, where you and I are headed at the end of the age. What we read in Revelation 21 here, a new heaven and a new earth, an eternal home for God's children. And in fact, this destination shapes everything about our journey there. To not have, we could even argue this biblically, that to not have a clear view of the final destination is to go wrong in all the rest. To not have a clear view of heaven and of what heaven entails. even as we see something of that here in Revelation 21, is to go wrong on the journey altogether, to take, in fact, the wrong journey. So there's an urgency here that you and I would understand our destination by the grace of God. A robust view of God's glory and of our future with Him, I believe, shapes everything about pastoral ministry. It's been my privilege to serve as one of your pastors now for these few short years. And though my own desires for heaven are so often cold and weak and faint, yet I can confess that by the grace of God, my desire is that I would make it there, and that you would make it there too, that you would at the last day stand with Christ in glory, that you would make it to the new heaven and new earth in which righteousness dwells. In fact, our worship each Lord's Day is, as it were, a foretaste of heaven. It's heaven brought forward into our present lives. Though we do not see our Lord Jesus Christ with our natural eyes, yet we are fed and ministered to by His Word and Spirit. Our fellowship is to resemble an outpost of heaven, heaven begun on earth. And increasingly, you and I are to long, not merely for the fleeting shadows of earth, but we are to look above, to long for glory to come, to look to Christ, recognizing that our lives are hid with Christ in God. and to set our minds on things above, not on the things on the earth. So this comes with a note of urgency as well. It's great comfort for us, and there's comfort here, there's urgency here, there's comfort for us in the midst of parting and saying goodbye. that we, on our earthly pilgrimage here, are headed for glory, headed for, by the grace of God, eternal communion with God and with His people. But there's also great urgency here, that you, as you hear the preaching of the Word today, would endeavor, by the grace of God, to trust the Lord Jesus Christ, to embrace Him in true faith, and to walk in His way, to walk with heaven in view. to see much of His heavenly glory and to press on from this earthly journey to that blessed land. As we consider Revelation 21 together, I have three simple questions I want to ask of the text, three simple questions to drive home to our hearts heavenly glory and what it means to long for the same. First, what is this place? What exactly is the place that John is describing as he writes under the inspiration of the Spirit in this vision in Revelation 21? What is this place? Second, who is it for? Who is this place particularly for? And then finally, how do I get there? How do you and I make it there? What is the place? Who is it for? And how By God's grace will you and I make it there. First, what is this place? This is a description of heavenly glory, particularly new heavens and new earth, or John sees in his vision a new heaven and a new earth. We often speak of heaven, but the scriptures here are more precise, speaking of the final destination of the people of God, new heaven and new earth. In fact, this opening phrase in chapter 21 is something of a headline over chapter 21 and 22. It's a headline where John begins this vision of the world that is to come. I saw a new heaven and a new earth. And then as we continue on, if you were to read both chapter 21 and chapter 22, you would find a new city, a holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven like a bride adorned for her husband. You would read of a promise of new life, of everlasting life there in new heavens and new earth. You would read of the dimensions of this new city, this holy city, Jerusalem. Read as well of the vision of the throne of the Lord God Almighty and of the Lamb, the throne from which proceeds a river of the water of life, the river that irrigates the tree of life, whose leaves bring healing to the nations. This is what John sees, a vision of new heaven and new earth, the glorious final destination of the people of God. Notably, a new heaven and new earth that follow the passing away of the first heaven and the first earth. the end time reality to which we press, the reality that will burst upon this cosmos as all things are made new, as we read later in the text in verse five, as the old earth and old heaven pass away and all things become new. There are many things in Revelation that are unclear, but this is plain, this glorious final destination, this place, comes through the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who rides conquering and to conquer, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. the one who ushers in this new heaven and new earth, the one who, though we cannot see him now in his ascended glory, will come again. In chapter one of the book of Revelation, we read that every eye will see him. Even those who pierced him on that cruel hill called Calvary, they will see him and many will mourn because of him. He's returning on the clouds from glory, visibly and bodily, King of kings and Lord of lords. reigning and conquering all His and our enemies. We look for His return. And when He returns, there will be a glorious day of resurrection. Those who are in Jesus Christ, united to Him by faith, will be raised from their graves. Those of us who are alive and remain, as Paul writes to the Thessalonians, will be caught up together with them in the air. The dead in Christ will rise first, and we together will be caught up with Him in the air. Forever we will be with the Lord. The wicked will also be raised, but the wicked will be raised to eternal and everlasting judgment. Judgment that is brought on by that final day of judgment, as all people have their day in court, as we have our day, our appointed day, in the heavenly court before our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who will, in fact, judge the nations. That's a terrifying reality. For any who are yet outside of Jesus Christ, who have not bowed their knee to Him, any of you who have not trusted the One who is King of kings and Lord of lords, the One who is a gentle Lamb, meek and lowly in heart, who offers salvation full and free in His own name and by the grace of His Spirit, but One who is coming and who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the one who is burning in majestic holiness and splendor, one who has all power in heaven and earth, the one who has been ordained the judge of all the earth. Do not try to face that day of judgment apart from faith in Jesus Christ now. Surrender. Bow to Him. Run to Him. Flee from the wrath to come by running into the blessed arms of Jesus now. Our Lord Jesus will return. He will raise the dead to life, and he will judge all things. The first heaven and the first earth will pass away. The present situation, the present cosmos, the present reality will pass away, and all things will then be made new. There's a tantalizing comment in John's vision here in verse one, that there was no more sea, no more sea. And sea, particularly here in the book of Revelation, is really representative of all that which is against the Lord Jesus Christ, against his glory and against his kingdom. In fact, we read in chapter 13 of a beast that comes up out of the sea. We also read in chapter 20 that at the Day of Judgment, the sea will give up her dead, and Christ will rule and judge all peoples. The sea is overcome. What a comfort this will be for the people of God. No more sea, no more beast to oppose them, no more dragon to terrify them, no more false prophet to deceive them. No more of the harlot Babylon, mystery Babylon the great, to tempt them. All things will be made new. This is the place that John sees. And very simply, it's a few more things about this place, this new heaven and new earth that I want you to remember. Remember that it's a real place. It may be a very simple point, but we need to remember it. It's a place with physical dimensions. In the mystery of God's working, it's a renewed cosmos. All things made new and purified. A real place. Not a mere spirit world. Not a dreamland. Not a fable. Not a myth. but a real place to which we press. We look for the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come, a reunited body and soul together in the presence of God, a real place with physical dimensions. It's also an eminently holy place. I referred to Peter's epistle when he writes of the new heavens and new earth that in the new heavens and new earth righteousness dwells there. Literally, it's infused with righteousness. You know, living in Greenville now for these probably 15 or 16 years. Each spring, I've been reminded that Greenville is rightly named. As everything comes to life and we see green, don't we, all around us? And the newness of spring and everything coming to life. And this is just a glimmer, isn't it, of the way in which righteousness will infuse the new heavens and the new earth. All things made new. No more vestige of sin. of misery, and no more rebellion to God, no more unbelief, no more idolatry. It's as if the righteousness in this place, the new heaven and the new earth, is tangible, as if you could taste it, as if you could see it, as if you could you could savor it, a holy place. John sees, in verse 2, the capital city of the new heaven and the new earth. He sees the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husbands. all of her sin washed away, a holy city, a place that we, as we read in the book of Zechariah in the shadows of the Old Testament, there's this indication that the new Jerusalem, this coming city, will be so clean and so pure and so holy that even the pots and the pans and the bells on the horses are engraved with holiness to the Lord. No more vestige of sin, not one shred of sin left. A holy city coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. A bride like the bride that Paul speaks of in Ephesians 5, the bride which is the church, without spot or wrinkle or any such blemish, but on her wedding day prepared and adorned for her husband. all things made new. This place, the new heaven and the new earth, is a real place with physical dimensions, and it's an eminently holy place. And because it's a holy place, finally it's a happy place. The happiness and the joy flows from its holiness. Because it's pure, because there's no more sin, there will be no more misery there. What a blessing, what a joy to our hearts. Verse four, in that glorious place with physical dimensions, all things made new, a holy and pure place. Also, verse four, 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. All things have been made new. The former things, the former tears are wiped away. No more misery and sadness in that day. No more cancer or disease or miscarriages or death. No more funeral services. No more painful partings among the people of God. No more loss. No more car accidents and terrorist attacks and wars across the globe as it currently stands, the creation that groans, waiting for the glorious liberty of the children of God. No more estranged children and painful divorces and strained relationships. but all things purified and all things happy. And it's not as if it's just the absence of death and the absence of pain and the absence of sorrow, but it's the presence of the very fullness of joy. Our larger catechism tells us that by God's grace in that glorious coming place, we will be filled, God's people will be filled with inconceivable joys, not merely the absence of sadness and tears and death, but given inconceivable, inexpressible joys, made perfectly holy and happy in body and in soul. A place of inconceivable and inexpressible joy. I can't get to the bottom of that. I can't explain the fullness of what that means. But what it should do is make us long for that day, make us desire more and more a place of eternal happiness and joy. Maybe some of you children, some of you children who's, you think my life is happy here. I have what I need, live in a happy home. I have a wonderful time here. I don't really see the point of heaven. But even for those of you children and even others whose lives are filled with good things and may not be in the hour of suffering now, think of this. Think of the best and the happiest moments that you savor here on earth. Perhaps it's a family vacation coming up, or maybe for you children, it's a birthday party that you are so looking forward to, and you break out your calendar, and you count down the days, the weeks, and then the days, and you can't wait for that moment to come, and then what happens? When the moment finally comes, it's gone. It's gone in an instant, and it's an increasingly distant memory to even the happiest times, even our wedding days. indeed are this way, one of the happiest times in our lives for those of us who are married, but they come and they go so quickly, and the best joys, earthly joys, recede like distant memories, but not so in heaven. Not so in heaven. The inconceivable joys in heaven last. The inexpressible joys. The one who makes all things new declares in verse 6 that it is done. In other words, this new creation is brought to its consummation. And the Lord declares, I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the one who fulfills all of his promises and gives us everlasting bliss and everlasting fullness of joy. Joy that will not recede from our minds like a distant memory. In other words, the new heaven and the new earth never become old. they are filled with inexpressible joy for the people of God. This is the place, the home to which we press, a place with real physical dimensions, a holy place, and a happy place. But there's much more here. We trace these springs up to the fountain itself, or better, the fountain himself. You see, I quoted from Psalm 16 a moment ago that the Lord will give us fullness of joy. But where is that fullness of joy really found? Not in just the gifts that the Lord gives us, but in his very presence. In your presence is fullness of joy, and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. So you may have noticed a moment ago, I skipped verse 3. And verse 3 is really the heart of the text. It describes who it is who gets to live in the new heaven and the new earth in which righteousness dwells. Who is it for? Verse 3. 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. Heaven is heaven. The new heaven and new earth is such because of the presence of God. It is His presence that makes the feast. It is fullness of joy in His presence, not merely drinking from the springs here on earth, but to drink deeply of that fountain above, of God's immediate presence with his people and that unhindered and unending forever fellowship between the triune God and with his people. This is the reality and the holy city in the new Jerusalem. God making his dwelling with men and that forever. This is the central promise. This is the central promise of all of God's dealings with his people throughout all the ages. This is isn't it what Adam lost in the garden long ago that that face to face intimate communion with God to walk with God and to speak with him. He's expelled from the garden because of his sin. It's what the tabernacle and the temple pictured, God's dwelling with his people, but that in types and shadows. It's what the patriarchs, it's what the Old Testament prophets so longed for, is for God to again be their God and to dwell with them. Over and over in Exodus and also in Leviticus and repeated again in Ezekiel is the promise, I will be your God and you will be my people and I will dwell with you. but that mediated through types and shadows, through the shadows of the tabernacle and the temple. We rejoice in the new covenant and the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, the word who became flesh, the one who literally tabernacled, literally dwells with us in his incarnation, who came from heaven. And here is the, again, the inbreaking of heaven on earth, the descending of heaven to earth, that God would again dwell with his people. But as we saw last Lord's Day, our Lord Jesus has ascended to glory. And though we enjoy such close fellowship with him now by his word and spirit, it's still through a glass darkly. It's still mediated fellowship. Then, in the new heaven and new earth, it's face to face. It's God with his people, unhindered and unending. the tabernacle of God with men and He dwelling with us and we as His people. This is the center of His covenant dealings, the center of all that we enjoy, not merely the good things and the blessings like forgiveness and cleansing and adoption into the family of God, but God gives us Himself. His own very presence to be with us. This is what makes heaven heaven. As we love to sing in that hymn, Emmanuel's Land, a hymn that directs our gaze to that heavenly glory, there's a line in that hymn that says, the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, is all the glory of Emmanuel's land. It's His presence that makes the feast. It's the presence of God with his people, and that a people who are made holy, who are washed clean by the blood of the Lamb. not a remnant or vestige of sin remaining, of that which hinders our fellowship in the veil of tears now, but all of our sins washed away, dressed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and brought into close fellowship eternally with God. This is why we long for heaven, isn't it? To be with God. That the Lord Jesus even promised this in John chapter 14. He's gone ahead to, to build a home, to make a home for us, to prepare a home for us in glory, so that where he is, there we may be also, brought home with the Father, through the Son, and by the Spirit. God's presence with his people. A place of unending joy. You see the joy, the holiness, the blessing, all of it flows to us from the very presence of God, from our intimate knowledge of Him. What theologians have called the beatific vision or the idea that by the grace of God we will see Him. We will see him as he is. We will see and look on his glory with body and soul united, even with eyes and glorified bodies, able to look on such glory and not be consumed. This is at the center of the new heaven and new earth. It's for God and for his holy people. What a blessed place. What a glorious place. I pray that you long for that day, that you long for heaven because of the very presence of God, that you're not merely looking at the springs that flow from the fountain or the rays that come from the sun, but that you run to the fountain himself, the triune God, the sun as it were, the center of his blessing, his own presence that calls us to himself. How do you and I get there? If this is the place of all blessing, if this is the eternity to which we press, a holy and a happy place with no more suffering, no more painful partings, no more death, and the immediate vision of God, then how do we get there? How can you today make sure by God's grace that you are headed for this place? I was reading in recent days about a cultural phenomenon that is sadly overtaking many of us. It's called the fear of missing out. The fear of missing out. And it's fed by our use of social media and other things. That we with our news feeds and our endless technology and the news cycle, we're constantly looking at what others have. at their blessings and their possessions and their entertainments and their vacations and what have you. And there's this constant stream of fear and even anxiety that someone somewhere is enjoying something that I am not and I'm missing out. I need to make sure that no one has an inordinate supply of good things that I lack. Why do they have it and I do not? There's an endless cycle of envy and anxiety fed into our hearts by this fear of missing out. But for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, there's only one fear of missing out that matters. None of those things matter. There's one fear of missing out, and it's a true fear of missing out on this blessedness, on the presence of God with his people. The one true fear of missing out is that you would fail to enter this rest that God promises those who belong to Jesus Christ. You see that we can up the stakes here. As we continue through Revelation 21, we find out that this, again, is this place of blessed communion is for God and for His holy people. There's no room there, verse 8, for the cowardly, the unbelieving, the abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars. They have no part. They have no part in glory, they have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. So sobering warning, there's no room in glory for those who will love their sins, and love their pleasures, and love the fleeting things of this world, and who hold the Lord Jesus Christ in His mercy at arm's length. But there is blessing and there is life for those who thirst. Verse six, I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. The question really is this, are you thirsty today? And are you thirsty for heaven? In fact, perhaps your life at some point, no doubt for all of us this is true, our lives at one point or another are marked by unbelief, even cowardice, abominations, murders, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars. These are our sins that checker the past of the people of God. But the question is this, do we thirst for glory? Have we recognized that attempting to slake our thirst on the broken cisterns of this earth will be of no avail? That it will leave us dry and empty in the end and headed for destruction? Do you thirst for heaven? To leave the passing pleasures of sin behind you and to set Christ before you, to hunger and thirst for Him and for His presence, to leave cowardice and unbelief and sexual immorality and all of it behind you in repentance and by His grace thirst for Him, thirst for the presence of God. Because if you're thirsty in that way, you've begun to see that the passing pleasures of earth can never slake your thirst, and you set your heart on things above, on the Lord Jesus Christ, on the immediate presence of the Father through the Son by the Spirit, thirst will be satisfied. Christ promises to begin even now to satisfy that thirst and then in glory to grant you the fountain of love and blessedness from the Father through Christ by the Spirit. to even cause the Spirit to flow in our hearts like rivers of living water now, and then to bring us to that place where the endless fountain surges from the fountain of God and His presence with His people. Are you thirsty today? Are you thirsty for heaven? Do you long to be there? It's for thirsty souls such as these that our Savior gives a gracious promise, I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. So come and taste and drink deeply, even heaven begun in our hearts by the Spirit, and look for heaven above to come in the new heaven and the new earth. And for all of us who have begun walking toward heaven, who are on the way toward this final destination of glory, whose journey is directed there with laser focus, laser focus on glory, on that final day, on that final blessed destination, two brief thoughts for you. One is a challenge. What greater spur to holiness is it for you that heaven is a place of holiness and happiness? And may the holiness and happiness of heaven drive you even now to a holy life, to love what God loves and to hate what God hates. There's no room, and rightfully so, and glory for our sin. You can't take your sin to heaven with you. You can't take the passing, fleeting pleasures of this earth with you to glory. What better reason to leave them behind than to recognize that you're headed for glory? To leave behind the things that so often capture our hearts and our affections. To simply leave them behind and to walk in repentance and in holiness. We need the grace of God for this. What we need is particularly for the grace of God to come and to stir up our affections for heaven. to think more about that heavenly land, to meditate more on the new heaven and new earth, and then our desires for sin and for that which is passing fades like a distant memory, a challenge for holiness without which no man will see the Lord. but also a sweet, a sweet comfort. For us, in the midst of this veil of tears, even in the midst of parting now, we rejoice in that coming day when there will be no more pain, no more sadness, no more sad goodbyes, but endless communion with the Father, with the Son, with the Spirit, and with one another, and the sort of communion that will never end. world without ends. What an encouragement this is to you, brothers and sisters, those of you who I know are suffering, suffering in body and even at times the darkness of soul that comes upon you. to know that this, that suffering is for a moment, that the night of tears endures just for a moment, but joy comes in the morning. And we look forward to an everlasting morning of life, eternal life, resurrected life, body and soul in the presence of our triune God and with his people. What a support for us in the midst of our suffering. What a reason for us to be willing to do hard things in the service of Christ, to be willing to take up our cross and suffer for Him, knowing that as He suffered for us in this veil of tears, He will bring us to glory. And we have a forerunner who brings us by His grace to that endless land of glory, new heaven and new earth in which righteousness dwells, one who will reward the cross with the crown, and our humiliation with honor, and our suffering with glory, the one who promises that we will see him face to face, who has done everything necessary to secure our redemption. We don't earn this heavenly privilege of eternal life and new heavens and new earth by our righteousness, but all through the merit of our king and our forerunner, Jesus Christ. Worthy is the lamb who was slain. And one more thing, he promises to bring all of this about quickly. At the end of the book of Revelation, the Lord Jesus Christ himself declares, surely I am coming quickly, to which our hearts respond, amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus. Let us pray. Blessed God and Heavenly Father, we praise you for the hope of heaven. We ask, Lord, that by your grace we would set our mind on things above and not on things on the earth, cause us to be increasingly mindful of your glory and your grace, of your promises to bring us to new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells. Lord, we pray that this would be a cult for us to pursue holiness, to leave sin behind, to love you, to love all that you love, and to desire more and more communion with you. Support us and strengthen us in our suffering even by a fresh view of heavenly glory in Christ by the Spirit. And Lord, we ask particularly For any here who yet hold these blessings at arm's length, who hold you, O God, at arm's length, who would refuse to bow their knee to you and who are so taken up with the passing pleasures of this life, give them faith and repentance. Rescue them from their sins by your Holy Spirit and enable them to embrace Jesus Christ, to so flee from the wrath to come that they might inherit all things in Christ and with your people, and so we pray in Jesus' name, amen. And now receive the blessing of our God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, amen.