We're called in scripture to call the Sabbath a delight, and I trust it has been, by God's grace in Christ, a delight to you. Today it's been a delight to me for so many reasons, and I thank God for you all and for this day of joy and gladness together in Christ. We do open God's word this afternoon to the book of the Revelation, of Jesus Christ, chapter 21, and reading verses one through four. Revelation chapter 21, one through four. Let's pray together as we hear God's word. How thankful we are, Lord God, for your word. The word of our father in heaven is the father of mercy and the God of all comfort. It's the word of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, our sympathetic high priest. It's the word of the Holy Spirit who is our comforter. We pray, Father, that for Christ's sake and by the work of the Spirit you would minister to us, your people, tonight. We pray that you would soften the hard-hearted and bind up the broken-hearted to the praise of your glorious grace. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Revelation 21, and beginning at verse 1, this is the holy word of our holy God. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever. Amen. One night some years ago, when one of our daughters was quite young, after hearing about the death of the mother of someone in our congregation, She came to me and simply told me, I cried. How do you respond to that as a parent? Well, I think there's certainly two wrong responses. The first would be, don't cry. It's wrong to cry. Or on the other hand, to say, yes, cry. Life is hopeless, devastating, fearful. Why did you ever stop crying? Beloved, the longer I live and the longer that I am in the ministry, the more tears I see. And it's not simply a professional observation. I have shed a lot of tears. and a lot more the older I get. The accumulated joys and sorrows of life. Some tears are tears of joy. I very much expect I will shed a few tears of joy this coming Saturday, Lord willing, when Emily gets married. But I'm thinking particularly this evening from God's word about tears on the other end of the spectrum. The sorrows of life. Last year, I attended the funeral of a 28-year-old man, the son of a pastor I know in Canada, whose son went missing after he went out ice fishing one night. He didn't come home. The police divers found his body the next day. He left behind an expecting wife and a young son. And at the funeral, his mother was literally wailing. I have never heard anyone cry like that in public ever before. There was no other word for it but wailing. And 400 people joined in weeping with her. Our text tonight in Revelation chapter 21 makes us think, compels us to think about the subject of tears and crying. And I've always remembered the way that J.C. Ryle spoke to the children in his congregation about this. And so boys and girls, this is something that you will be able to understand. When he talked about tears, He talked about three places. Tears related to three different places. And he described them this way. The first is a place where there is a lot of crying. The second is a place where there is only crying. And the third is a place where there is no crying at all. Boys and girls, you remember those three places. And let's think about them together from God's word this afternoon. Tears are a curious thing in many ways. Scientific American Magazine says emotional tears are one of the three kinds of tears human beings produce. The other two share a similar chemistry, although they perform different functions. Basal tears bathe our eyes each time we blink. Reflex tears well up when we get poked in the eye or when the fumes of the onions we are cutting irritate them. But emotional tears have a makeup all their own. Evolutionists are, to this day, stumped by human tears. We are the only creature that truly cries. And this is a world where there is a lot of crying. This world was once flooded with water, but it has always been flooded by tears. Tears are first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 21-17. God heard the boy crying. And the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, what is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid. God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. And then not much later in Genesis 23 verse 2, She died at Kiriath Arba, that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. And Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her. Those are the earliest explicit mention of tears in the Bible. But it is not hard to imagine that tears must have followed very soon after the fall into sin. Did Adam and Eve cry in repentance over their sin? Did they cry when God killed the animal so that they could have clothes to cover themselves? Who can doubt that they cried when Abel didn't come home that night? Bible is full of tears because human history is filled with crying. Now many tears we share in common with all human beings in a fallen world. Tears of sadness and pain, tears of suffering and sorrow of all kinds. Job in chapter 30, 25 says, have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor? common maladies of this fallen world. And there are tears of conviction in the world, even as a worldly sorrow. Hebrews 12, 17 speaks of Esau, for you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. He found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears. Judas, after he betrayed Jesus, was seized with remorse. But we read in 2 Corinthians that there is a godly sorrow that brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. All of the tears that are cried out in the world are tears that can never wash away sin. One of the Puritans said, even our tears of repentance need to be washed. There are a lot of tears out in the world, but there are some tears that are tears only Christians cry. Christians cry in a way the world doesn't and can't. And I think it's helpful to see that being a Christian means we will often cry more than the world does, not less. A Christian has godly sorrow, again, for sin. as an offense to God our Father, that brings grief when we think of Jesus, or because we grieve the Holy Spirit. Think of Peter in Matthew 26, 75, then Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times. And he went outside and wept bitterly. Our Lord Jesus never shed a tear in repentance. He didn't need to do that. But he often cried. And he is the great example to us in our faith. We need to recognize that we are different personalities and temperaments. St. Ignatius said so long ago, some indeed have tears more naturally, or because God our Lord, seeing that it would be good for them, allows them to melt into tears. But this does not mean that they have greater charity or that they are more effective than others who enjoy no tears. We can't make a law of this and get out a graduated cylinder and measure the tears that a Christian cries to evaluate their spiritual life or maturity. But beloved, I am convinced that it's good to know and remember, because the Bible records it, that Jesus cried. The Christian life is a life in which we are commanded to rejoice always, and yet there can be and often are tears. Some Christians, I think, fall into maybe not specifically a health, wealth, and prosperity gospel, but somewhat similarly a no crying gospel, as if tears were to be avoided at all costs as sub-Christian. Even Victor Hugo in Les Miserables could say, those who do not weep do not see. Jesus saw. Christians enabled by the Word of God and the Spirit of God see more than the world ever does or can. Jesus saw and Jesus wept, and we shouldn't try to be more pious than Jesus. Hebrews 5-7, during the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. He wept as the Lord our righteousness and as the Lord then our example. And if we walk as Jesus walked, we will more than likely cry as Jesus cried. The Apostle Paul did. He shed tears over sins and divisions and sadnesses in the church. 2 Corinthians 2, 3, and 4. I wrote as I did so that when I came I would not be distressed by those who should have made me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you that you would all share my joy. For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears. Not to grieve you, but to let you know the depth of my love for you. The people of God shed tears sometimes because of persecution from the world. We sang about it, Psalm 42, verse 3. My tears have been my food day and night while people say to me all day long, where is your God? In Psalm 6, 6 and 7, I am worn out from my groaning all night long. I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow. They fail because of all my foes. And as we sing, as we see sin in the world and a disregard for The Lord and his anointed and the word of God streams of tears flow from my eyes for your law is not obeyed. I wonder if we weep about the sin that we see in the world as much as we point our fingers at the sins that we see in the world. There are often tears because Christians know more about eternal destinies. Jesus wept about the physical death of Lazarus, but he also wept as he looked out over Jerusalem as he considered spiritual death. Luke 19, 41, as he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, if you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace, If only you had known what would bring you peace. What brings people peace? Who brings people peace? It's the one crying. It's Jesus himself whom they were rejecting. I went to a funeral again last year and minister who obviously didn't believe the Bible was speaking, and he proclaimed the comfort of the gospel was that Jesus cried. He read John 11 and that was his sermon. Jesus cried. If all that Jesus did was cry, we would still be in our sins. Death and misery came through one man's sin, but by one man's obedience came forgiveness and the gift of life and peace. Jesus never cried as he went to the cross. He cried in Gethsemane. But then he stood up and went to the cross. We are not to cry in pity on him. as we think of the cross, it was his victory. Instead we read this, Luke 23, a large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. And Jesus turned and said to them, daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves and for your children. The time will come when you will say, blessed are the childless women and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed. Then they will say to the mountains, fall on us, and to the hills, cover us. For if people do these things when the tree is green, that was himself the fruitful vine, what will happen when it is dry? A few hours before Jesus was betrayed, tried, beaten, and crucified, he told his disciples, Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. Christ is risen. we are to rejoice." Again, Philippians 4.4, rejoice in the Lord always, I'll say it again, rejoice. But earlier in Philippians, that's Philippians 4, Philippians 3, the same Apostle in the same letter writes in Philippians 3.18, for as I have often told you before, and now say again, even with tears I Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Trusting in Christ brings a joy to the Christian life that the world does not know and that the world cannot take away. But that doesn't erase completely the reality of tears, even for Christians in this world. This world is a world where there is a lot of crying. But this life is a short time, and then eternity. Then the Bible teaches that for immortal souls and one day joined to resurrected bodies, there are only two places. And faith in Jesus is the difference between those two eternal destinies. So boys and girls, there is a place where there is a lot of crying, and that's this world. even for Christians. But the Bible says there is a place where there is nothing but crying. And that place is called hell. There is no happiness in hell. Jesus spoke about hell. He believed it. He knew it was real. He knew what it was like. Four times in Matthew's gospel, we are told that there, there will be weeping. Matthew 13, they will throw them into the blazing furnace and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 22, then the king told the attendants, tie him hand and foot and throw him outside into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 24, 51, he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 25, 30, and throw that worthless servant outside into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Ted Donnelly in his helpful book, Heaven and Hell, writes about this kind of weeping. He says, how often in your life have you wept, really wept, with your heart breaking, feeling desolate, wretchedly unhappy, the grief swelling inside you like an aching, until you thought that you must crumple or burst. You may have shed tears when you were misunderstood or betrayed, or at times when you were unbearably lonely. Intense pain makes people weep. We've all cried bitterly over the death of someone we love. That is the sort of sorrow described here. For the word which Jesus uses refers to loud wailing and inconsolable misery. Think of it. Jesus says that tears will pour down your cheeks in hell, and that your body will be racked with uncontrollable sobbing. Sorrow of the most bitter kind will fill you, and not merely the sorrow of grief, but of guilt and of self-disgust. If all the tears shed on earth since Eden could be gathered together, they would not begin to compare with the tears of one individual in hell. You will weep far more than all the world has ever known. You will weep and weep forever. Crying in this world and in this life gives a little window into eternity. One window is into hell. Boys and girls, I want to see you in heaven. I want to see you in heaven. There is a place where there is a lot of tears. That's this life. And sometimes you see your moms and your dads crying, even as Christians. There is a place where there is nothing but crying. But the Bible says there is a place where there is no crying anymore. That's the other window into eternity, related to tears. No crying anymore. Because of Jesus, and by trusting in him, there is the other place, an eternal place, where there is no crying anymore. Revelation 21, verse 4. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. That's not the first time in Revelation that that is said. Revelation 7, 17. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. Every tear. all tears. Tears will be dried to be shed no more. Psalm 30, weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. There may be nights and mornings in this life, but ultimately that speaks of the nighttime of weeping of this life in this world. and the morning of the dawn of the eternal new heavens and new earth. And why will our eyes be dry? Because there will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Isaiah 25.8 says, he will swallow up death forever. The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces. He will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. Why will there be no more tears? There will be no more sin. And where there is no sin, there is no misery. There will be no more death, no more separation, no more unbelief, only cause for rejoicing. One writer said, heaven is a destination described so often in terms of negatives. No more death or mourning or crying or pain. It will be a tear-free zone. The pangs of hunger and thirst will be unknown. There will be no discouragement or despair there. No depression, no anxiety, no sinful fears. Nothing that defiles and creates guilt and shame will be there. No pollution at all. What then is there? the assembly of the righteous men and women who have been perfected, a place where temporary broken friendships are renewed and immeasurably deepened. We will see those who have gone before us, and we shall be with the Lord Jesus Christ forever. A place where there'll be no crying at all. Beloved, only the gospel of Jesus can change our eternal relationship to crying. Only the gospel can transform our tears in this life. We still cry, we still mourn, but not as those who have no hope, 1 Thessalonians 4.13. Yes, we cry, but through the yet blurry, tear-clouded eyes of faith, we can see a bloody cross, and an empty tomb, and a new heavens, and a new earth. And remember this, dear child of God, in this life when you cry, even when no one else may see, God knows, Psalm 56 verse eight, you number my wanderings, put my tears into your bottle. Are they not in your book? The Lord's eyes, the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry. The Lord puts his tears into your bottle. Jesus sympathizes. The Spirit comforts. And that should make our crying, though we cry, different on the earth. We're still crying, but not helplessly or hopelessly. The gospel means that we have a present abiding joy, even in our tears. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, and what is unseen is eternal. We hold on to the promises of the Word of God. Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them. Or Psalm 116.8, For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Beloved, hear the word of God. The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing and everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Let's pray. Our father in heaven, we pray in the name of our mediator, our sympathetic high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, it is good for us to know as we read in your word that as he walked this earth and as he was accomplishing salvation for us that Jesus wept. He knows. He knows. And the same Savior who wept will one day wipe tears away. Lord, we are so thankful that you know us and that you know our lives, and that we can pour our hearts out to you, that we can cast our cares upon you because you care for us. We thank you that you hear our tear-filled prayers as we pray for our families, our loved ones, our neighbors, those who don't know you. Father, as we heard during the time of prayer before worship tonight, And Father, we should weep in so many ways for so many reasons, even being united to the Lord Jesus Christ and often because we are united to the Lord Jesus Christ. But Father, we are so thankful that our Savior did everything necessary to deliver us from just condemnation in hell and instead has done everything to bring us safely to our heavenly home where he will wipe every tear from our eyes and there'll be no more sin or misery. Lord, we long for his appearing and until we go to be with him or he returns, Father, I pray that you would comfort your people. Comfort them by the Holy Spirit and by the word that you have given to us, the Holy Scripture. Father, comfort, comfort your people. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.