Well, we really cannot hardly consider the purpose for our Lord's Advent without considering where we are in the Catechism, the last two articles of our Confession of the Apostles Creed that I believe the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting, indeed the great purpose for the Advent. If you would turn in the back of the Psalter hymnal to page 29. Page 29. And also if you would turn to Philippians chapter 1 and chapter 3. We'll read a few verses from each one and also Revelation. We have a lot of places to mark tonight. Philippians chapter 1 and Revelation chapter 21. Again, we'll read various portions there, considering in particular, along with these two articles of our faith, Philippians 1.21, 3.21, Revelation 7, verse 4, and 7, verse 21. First of all, we look at the High Liberate Catechism, Lord's Day 22, page 29, question 57. We recite together, question 57 asks, How does the resurrection of the body comfort you? Not only my soul will be taken immediately after this life to Christ its head, but even my very flesh, raised by the power of Christ, will be reunited with my soul and made like Christ's glorious body. How does the article concerning life everlasting comfort you? Even as I already now experience in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, so after this life I will have perfect blessedness such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no man has ever imagined a blessedness in which to praise God eternally. Turning to Philippians chapter 1, we'll read from verses 19 through 24 there. We know, of course, that Paul was a prisoner. We know that he expected that he might be put to death sometime soon at this point. Verse 19. For I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage, so that now, as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me, yet what shall I choose? I do not know. I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. And turn over to chapter 3, beginning at verse 17 through 21. Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For as I have often told you before and now say again, even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their God is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things, but our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body. In Revelation chapter 21, verses 1 through 7, then 21 through 27. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, I am making everything new. Then he said, write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. He said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To him who is thirsty, I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. The beginning of verse 21 again. 22, actually. I did not see a temple in the city because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it for the glory of God gives it light and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Well, beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, what's next? It seems to be the question of life, doesn't it? What's the next step in that Lego project that my son is diligently working on, following the instructions? For those who are seniors in high school or seniors in college, the question inevitably comes to them, what's next after that phase of education? When someone announces their retirement plans, the question comes again, well, what's next for you? But then also, if there is the courage, then the big question, what's next after this life as we know it? You see, at death, no matter who it was who died And no matter what that one believed, someone is sure to say, well, at least we know so-and-so is in a better place. It's used as kind of a blanket statement. It's used by society, a society that does not know the Lord Jesus Christ, because that society cannot imagine death, and it cannot imagine the process leading to death. It cannot imagine anything worse than that. and therefore this society holds out hope of a better place. And sadly, there are many who ignorantly believe that if there is something after this life, that certainly it must be a better place for everyone. And still more sadly, many will be disappointed and even terrified when they reach the other side. But not those redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Not those whose sins are all forgiven. Those who are reconciled with God. For them, what's next is the life that never ends. Now maybe you notice in the Catechism's treatment of these last two articles of the Apostles' Creed that twice it uses the phrase, after this life. So really, it's dealing, this Lord's Day is dealing with after this life. And it's not just two things that it deals with. The resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. But there are three periods to consider. Because it is a life that never ends. And that means, first of all, it is a life preserved at death. Secondly, it is a life glorified in the resurrection. And then finally, it is life blessed for eternity. so what's next well for the unbeliever those who have read the one who has rejected the lord jesus christ the one who is still in his or her sins when they die it is not the life that never ends but it is the death that never ends it is the existence of eternal torment because there is an unmistakable connection beloved between sin and death and we know that to be true too don't we because we still face, until Christ comes, we face physical death. We face that last enemy because of sin. But for the unbeliever, it is not the life that never ends, but it is the death that will never end. But for the child of God, for the one who is saved by Jesus Christ, it is life. And that word life comes with the idea, it points to enjoyment, it points to communion, It points to fellowship, because where sin has been removed by Christ's satisfaction, there, death has lost its power. It's lost its sting. And therefore, this life that never ends is, first of all, a life preserved at death. The catechism's treatment of the last articles talk about, ever so subtly, but it talks about that intermediate state until Christ returns, and what happens to the believer's soul at death. How does the resurrection of the body comfort you? Not only my soul will be taken immediately after this life to Christ its head. Not only my soul, but that means my soul will be taken immediately after this life to Christ its head. You see, the body still dies physically, we know, but for the believer, it does not lead to eternal separation from God, But instead, as we confessed in answer 42, our death does not pay the debt of our sins. Rather, it puts an end to our sinning and is our entrance into eternal life. And that's why Paul could confidently confess, for to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Because at death, for the one united to Jesus Christ by faith, there is unbroken communion. Physical death does not separate one from Jesus Christ. It does not separate our soul from Him. But death doesn't even hold us back at all. It doesn't stall things. But instead, physical death, as it were for the believer, we might say, propels that soul, nudges it, we might say, forward to the glorious presence of Christ. Paul had the confidence of unbroken communion from this life. This communion that begins in his life. To live is Christ, he says. And very simply and briefly, that means to have faith in Him. It means to enjoy fellowship with Him. It means to follow after Him. For Paul, Christ is the reference point. He is the foundation. He is the content of all of Paul's thinking and acting and speaking. And Paul could confess that he experienced the promises of Christ. He enjoyed the comfort of and the strength of Christ through His Word, by His Holy Spirit. There's unbroken communion from this life to after death. That communion with Him is not interrupted, it's not broken, but instead it's made more full and more complete. And I believe that God gives us evidence of this. I believe He gives you and me clear evidence of this every time a saint dies or nears death. as we see the comfort of saints as they near that death. They are so confident by faith. I was thinking about the funerals that I have conducted from this congregation over the last, really, a period of only seven years, and there have been 24 for me. Mostly older people, some a little bit younger. Recently, you know, Polly. And again, she, as well as all of them, a clear example of that comfort of the saints as they near death. So able to confess with the psalmist in Psalm 119, Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope. My comfort in my suffering is this, your promise preserves my life. And each and every one of them and those whom you and I know from other places who have gone to be with the Lord, this was their confidence. they were not scared to enter death. Instead, they longed to give up the things of the world for the promised glory of being with the Lord, of which Paul says all of the sufferings of this life cannot be compared. At death, the believer enjoys unbroken communion, but also immediate communion. Now, this may seem like the same thing, but I think there's a distinction because some would say, Well, yes, there's unbroken communion, but it's not immediate. But Paul says, to die is gain. There are a couple of false views that we can talk about. One of them is the Roman Catholic view of purgatory, the place where the soul waits to be cleansed more or waits to be prayed out of. There's also that false view, that wrong view called soul sleep that teaches that after death and until Christ comes again, the soul of the believer, the soul, any soul, I suppose, is sleeping, lying in the grave without any sort of consciousness. So that time period may fly by like a night of sleep, but still it's a period where the soul is sleeping and doesn't have that immediate communion with the Lord. But both of those views, beloved, reduce the power and the effect of the cross and they both treat Christ as if He did not fully pay for sin or that He did not secure immediate entrance into heaven. And either of them breaks, even if it's only temporarily, either of them breaks the believer's communion with Christ. But Scripture's view is immediate communion. Paul says it's gain. In verse 23 he says, I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. how could he say it's better if the soul is lying and waiting and hoping in purgatory? How could he say it's better if the soul is waiting and sleeping in the grave? But he knew that that was not the case. It's better because, as he says in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 8, we are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. That soul, that soul which animates this body and gives life to this body house, that saved soul, Jesus keeps. He doesn't save it and set it on the shelf for a little while. He doesn't save it and turn his back on it or give it away for a while. Jesus keeps the souls of His believers forever and ever. And that gain that Paul speaks of includes freedom, freedom from fear of death, freedom from this body of death in which we suffer the effects of sin, freedom from all evil and all of the effects of sin, freedom from my evil and sin also. And you see, one cannot enjoy all of this unless life preserved at death is also a conscious communion. It's an unbroken communion, it's an immediate communion, and it's a conscious communion. There's no doubt in Paul's mind that at the moment of death, he would be in Christ's presence and he would know it. He would know it. He says, I desire to be with Christ. That to be with one means to enjoy communion with that one. It means to enjoy the company of that one. And this was the very thing desired by Christ himself. In John 17, he prayed, Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory. And this was something that was promised by God through the psalmist in Psalm 49. But God will redeem my life from the grave. He will surely take me to himself. And that points then to a further aspect of this life that never ends because of Christ's victory over death. In the second place, it is a life glorified in the resurrection. We have the comfort of knowing that our soul, upon death to this life, goes immediately to the presence of God. But even my very flesh, answer 57 goes on, raised by the power of Christ, will be reunited with my soul and made like Christ's glorious body. But even, not only my soul, but even, or also my flesh. It just keeps getting better. Paul says of the Lord Jesus Christ in chapter 3, verse 21, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. That lowly body he's talking about is the physical body, the earthly body of this life. He had the confidence of life glorified in the resurrection of the body temple. You see, body and soul belong together. Both of them were created by God. God formed man of the dust of the ground. He breathed into him the breath of life. And this body, beloved, is the temple of the Holy Spirit, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6. For we are the temple of the living God the Holy Spirit lives in, takes up His dwelling in the hearts and lives of His people. The house of the soul. This is the house of the soul, that soul gives life, it gives personality to, it animates the body, and therefore as physical death, when the body and the soul are separated, that soul, even though it is with Christ, it is not yet complete as long as the body is in the grave. It is not yet complete until that last enemy death is conquered once and for all, and the resurrection occurs. In Revelation 6, verse 9, we read about the souls in heaven and it says they are under the altar. And it seems to teach us there that these souls are longing for the great day of judgment. That these souls are longing for the enemies of Christ to be put away forever. That these souls are longing for the resurrection of the body and that great uniting once again. That reunion that will take place. And therefore, beloved, this body temple is to be respected. it's to be cared for. Knowing that our bodies are created by God and temples of God. That means that we do not treat our bodies as throwaway containers. Thinking that after all, well, the soul is the really important part. We are not to abuse these bodies. We do abuse our bodies, don't we, young people? In many ways, either by neglect or by the things that we do to these bodies that we ought not do to them. We do abuse them. But this body temple is to be respected. Also, because Jesus Christ suffered in soul and body in order to save both. And therefore, we look forward to the glorification also of the body decayed. The body does experience the effects and the pain of sin and already in this life, doesn't it? I trust we can all attest to that in some way. We age. This body is an earthly tent, Paul says, that is being destroyed. And because of sin, this body is subject to shame and wickedness. It gets weak. It gets fragile. It gets wrinkly. Our eyes dim. Our hearing goes. We shrink as we get older. Our hair color changes or maybe even falls out. There are parts of our body that don't work the way they once did. And beloved, all of the wrinkle cream and plastic surgery and Botox and hair color and vitamins in the world cannot make us live forever. And some of us try to act and treat our bodies as younger than they are, and then we pay for it. We're stiff and sore the very next day. Indeed, this body that will be glorified is the body that will decay, ultimately, in the grave. this body is a body of sin which will inevitably be forced to the ultimate decay of the grave it will return to dust and indeed that's a bit of a morbid thought isn't it but still we look forward to glorification then of the body raised the very same body that will return to dust and we could talk about how our bodies are destroyed some are eaten by sharks some are blown up Some are incinerated in the fire. And we can speculate all day long about how God is going to take care of that. How is He going to do it? Well, indeed, it will be a sight to see, won't it? But we know that He's going to do it. Our bodies will be raised, revealing God's power, Christ's power. That raised Himself, as Paul says, will raise our bodies. And if you think about it, beloved, this also reveals God's mercy. that body of flesh in which I struggled with sin my whole life, in which I even committed sin with this body, which is now before death sinful and corrupt, it will be raised. It will be reunited with my soul. It will be glorified. And that glorification, beloved, will be the applying of Christ's work. Paul says, so that they will be like Christ's glorified body. So that they will be like Christ's glorified body. Now, we need to understand that this is not about what will I look like then. Sometimes we tend to get in those conversations and speculate about that. What will I look like then? How old will I be? Will I have more hair than I have now? Will I have to wear glasses then? Will I have the scars that I have right now? Will I be able to suddenly appear through walls as Jesus was able to do? We like to talk about those things, but that's not what it's about. What it's about, as one commentator beautifully says, is that we will no longer be subject to sin. Instead, we will be free from all evil desires. We will no longer be subject to decay, but free from all sickness and death. My flesh will never again strive against the Spirit of God. I will always live in body and soul in perfect harmony with Christ. Then I will experience complete holiness, perfect righteousness, and ultimate glory. That's what it's all about. The glorious resurrection means, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, the body that is sown is perishable. It is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. And then, we will enjoy the perfect soul reunited with a restored body prepared for the perfect new earth as that life that never ends will be finally. In the third place, life blessed for eternity. Everlasting life. We throw that term around so easily, don't we? And it sounds so good. But really, how do we explain this life? Question and answer 58 says, How does the article concerning life everlasting comfort you? Even as I already now experience in my heart the beginning of eternal joy. So after this life I will have perfect blessedness such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no man has ever imagined, a blessedness in which to praise God eternally. The catechism wisely quotes Paul in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9 because we cannot begin to fathom this because of the corruption of life that we know today. But along with this, John in the book of Revelation gives us a glimpse of this glory of heaven, of this everlasting life, in a way that we can understand to a point. Verse 4, he had just said that God will be with them and be their God. And then he says, And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, that there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. And then verse 27, Indeed, we know that we will be with God. But John helps us to understand it in a way that we are able to. It means negatively the absence of sin's effects. The effects of sins that we know so well today will not be there. But notice John in saying, well, as if he were to say, well, do you want to know what heaven is like? Do you want to know what everlasting life is like? He doesn't say, okay, well, think of the greatest, think of the most wonderful experience that you have ever enjoyed in this life. Whether it be a fantastic trip or a wonderful relationship or anything wonderful. Think of the most glorious thing that you've experienced here in this life or on this earth. Have you thought of it? Well, you know, that's heaven, only heaven is infinitely better. He doesn't say that. True, it is infinitely better. But we can't begin to compare. And the danger is that the good that we enjoy on earth often makes us want to stay here a little longer. But we cannot begin to compare. And to describe certain situations or things of life, as some have done, as being heaven on earth. Number one, it's far from true, but also it is to deprive God of the glory that awaits us. And I believe it's nothing short of blasphemy. Indeed, John in Revelation uses the effects of sin that we know very well here. He says we will not experience them there. They will not exist there. Ever since the fall, mankind has shed countless tears. So the catechism is correct in another place where it calls this world sad, or as the older version says, this veil of tears. But every single tear and the things that cause those tears, beloved, because of the curse of sin, death, and mourning, and crying, and pain, it will all be gone. It will not be known there. we won't even be conscious of it there. In that renewed creation, there will be no sorrow, only everlasting joy and gladness. No crying, only everlasting rejoicing and singing. No pain, only everlasting well-being and prosperity. Because there, there will also be an absence of evil. Not only an absence of sin's effects, but also that which causes those effects. The absence of evil. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. The words there have to do with nothing common, nothing unclean, and are to bring our minds back to the Old Testament. Just as in the Old Testament, anyone or anything physically or spiritually unclean was not allowed in the temple courts, it could not come into the presence of God. In the same way, no unholy being or impure thing will enter the new Jerusalem. That's prophesied in Isaiah chapter 52. Awake, awake, O Zion! Clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again. Not one producing or practicing anything shameful or deceitful, Not one person or thing of this kind will enter. Instead, there is another place reserved for this evil kind. Verse 8, which we didn't read in chapter 21, says, But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. There will be the absence of evil. there, but also the absence of evil in us. And this is a fitting reminder, beloved, that as we are today, right now, still struggling with our sinful nature, we are not ready to enter. But He will make us ready. One day, indeed, again at death, our souls will be ready by the power of the Holy Spirit and will enter the glorious presence of God, and then another day, on that glorious day of resurrection, our bodies will be raised and reunited with our souls and made like under the glorious body of Christ for His sake, and then we will be perfect and righteous and pure inside out. He will make us fit to be in God's presence forever. Yet we don't know when that day will be, but right now, we still enjoy the presence of that joy today. We have that eternal joy already today. We have the beginning of it. We have a taste of it today. We taste it indeed as we come together as God's people for worship on Sunday. And by faith, we have the confidence and the assurance of that inheritance earned by Christ that it is kept safe for us in heaven. By faith, we have an unbroken line, that life with Christ that begins today and we will experience fully and completely then. How do we know? Jesus prayed also in John 17, Now this is eternal life. What? That they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Those who have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ have eternal life right now. So, beloved, what's next? Well, just as there are only two kinds of people in the world, those who believe and those who do not believe, as we considered this morning, there are only two possibilities for after this life. For unbelievers, it is eternal death. Plain and simple. Torment, pain, terror, that will never let up, from which there will be no relief. That's hardly better, isn't it? But for believers, there will be eternal life. For all who humble themselves before the glorious message of the gospel of Jesus Christ who look to Him alone and trust in Him for the forgiveness of all of your sins, eternal life with joy and bliss and delight because we will be forever in the presence of God and His love. We can't hardly imagine never more sinning against and offending God and instead praising Him perfectly and serving Him with all of my heart undivided in pure and perfect love. we can't hardly imagine that. But yet that is to be our desire today. Someone may ask, well, this all sounds great, but how does all this affect me today? Well, again, the believer has eternal joy today. It's not yet perfect, but it's eternal. And it is real. And daily, that joy is to remind me that this world is not my home, as Paul makes clear. We are citizens of another place, And my work here is not an end in itself, but my work is to serve God as He prepares me for the glory of what is still to come. And you and I are called to desire to give Him, though we don't yet, we are called to desire to give Him perfect worship and praise that we will give then. And beloved, we are to strive to store up treasures there, where they will last forever, in the life that never ends. You see, knowing what Jesus Christ has secured for me then is to give me great joy in all the circumstances of this life now, knowing that God is preparing me to live with Him without end. And in the hour of death, there will be no fear for the child of God, but instead confidence that that death is gain because we will be with the Lord guaranteed. So what's next for you? What's next for me? By the grace of God, in confidence, we can say the best place. With God, where He is, and we will dwell with Him forever. Amen. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we must confess that as long as our feet are tied to this ground, to this earth, to this life. We do have a hard time considering what's next for Your people. Yet we do thank You for such a great and a powerful confession of Your truth that we are with You now and forever. Father, may that be our confidence, the confidence of each and every one who is here tonight. And may that confidence and that assurance grow. And may that joy that you give to us, that joy that is for eternity, may that joy be used of you to lead us and guide us throughout this life. That even as we face the difficulties and the hardships of this life, we can do so with joy in our hearts, knowing that we belong to you, and we are with you now and forever. Hear our prayer, O Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you.