Turn with me, if you will, to Revelation chapter 21, as we read chapter 21 and a few verses of chapter 22, Revelation 21 and 22, and also if you would turn in the back of the Psalter hymnal to page 29 where we find Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 22. The two questions and answers, they're dealing with the last two articles of the Apostles Creed, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. We will confess both of them together in unison tonight, although we will consider only the last, the article concerning life everlasting. We'll do that in just a moment. Revelation 21 and 22, as you may recall, give us a glimpse of the glory of heaven and the bride prepared for her bridegroom. As you can see, as indicated in the order of worship, I've chosen a number of different verses out of chapter 21 and the beginning of chapter 22. It's not my purpose tonight to consider this passage, obviously, in all of its fullness. That's simply not possible. but to consider portions of Revelation 21 and 22 to help us understand the glory of life everlasting and that which is being prepared for us and that for which we are being prepared. So we'll consider sort of the whole section of Scripture, but with these particular verses that I've indicated to help us in that. But first, let's go to Lord's Day 22, page 29. In the back of the Psalter hymnal, questions and answers, 57 and 58. 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. Revelation 21, and the first part of 22, again, the text, 21, verse 4, 23, 27, and then chapter 22, verses 2, and the beginning of verse 3. Hear now the word of God. 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 away 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. 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. One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the spirit to a mountain great and high and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, is shown with the glory of God. And its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great high wall with twelve gates and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates, and its walls. The city was laid out like a square as long as it is wide. He measured the city with a rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length. That's about 1,400 miles. And as wide and high as it is long. He measured its wall, and it was 144 cubits thick by man's measurement. which the angel was using. The wall was made of jasper and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysal praise, the eleventh jacent, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass. 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. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light and they will reign forever and ever. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, it doesn't get any better than this. Now, no doubt that's a slogan that you have heard before, maybe in some sort of an advertisement promoting a cruise or a family vacation or maybe even some sort of alcoholic beverage. And the scene that you see on the television set is that of a backyard barbecue and everyone there holding that select beverage in their hand and the caption is, it doesn't get any better than this. Or maybe it's the advertisement of some who promote a certain kind of social life with a pick of the opposite sex, anyone you want. It doesn't get any better than this. But of course we know this is the idea of the people of this world, those who are trying to create some sort of a make-believe, a fantasy world. But as believers, as we look at the sadness and the trouble and the difficulties in the world, and that's not all we look at. We're not downers. We don't only focus on the bad things in life. God has given to us so much to rejoice in. And indeed, we are called to rejoice in that which God has given to us. But the truth is, we look at the sadness and the trouble and the difficulties that surround us in the world and we see cemeteries filled with graves of those who have died. We see all the crime that is listed for us in the newspapers and reported on the television and we must respond to a slogan like that with the words, Oh really? Oh really? Now we know, of course, that all that God places before us in this life, all that He calls upon us to experience in this life, whether it's good or bad, whether it's hard or easy, whether it's happy or sad, He uses all of it to prepare us for the best which is still to come. We confess at the close of the Apostles' Creed after confessing God the Father in our creation, God the Son in our redemption, God the Holy Spirit in our sanctification, we confess at the close of that portion of sanctification, we confess the reality of life everlasting. Everlasting life. that it is real in the glory of heaven, in the very presence of God. And of course, each one of us knows that this is something that's very, very difficult for us to comprehend. We cannot fully comprehend it. We know in our heads and we believe in our hearts that the glorious presence of God is the essence of heaven. It's the glory of eternal life. That's what the Bible teaches us. But what will that be like? What will characterize His glorious presence? What will we like, beloved, when we see Him face to face? Is He even the best situation or the most enjoyable pleasure that we could ever experience in this life? Does not even come close to comparing with what will be. Now the Bible, of course, gives us a glimpse of heaven, of everlasting life. We speak of it as the streets of gold, the sea of crystal, the gates of pearl, which really, as we have read in chapter 21, points to the glory of the church, the new Jerusalem, the bride of Christ. But yet to give us a sense of the beauty, the magnificence of the glory of heaven. The Bible paints for us a picture of the incomparable majesty of life everlasting, which we see very, very dimly now. We only see it in part, yet by faith. It's enough for the believer to confess the bliss of life everlasting. I will look the word bliss up in the dictionary because as I thought about it, I thought, what really does it mean? There's only two words given for a definition. Complete happiness. Complete happiness. In other words, a happiness that can't be attacked. A happiness that can never be lessened. A happiness that can never be altered in any way. And that means, beloved, no matter how many times we talk about something being blissful in this life, not one of us has or will enjoy bliss in this life on this earth. It's not possible. Yet the believer is able to confess the bliss of life everlasting. And that bliss includes, first of all, the absence of the curse of this world. Chapter 22, verse 3, so that begins, No longer will there be any curse. You see, beloved, as I thought about this, it's hard for us to consider the glory of heaven, that which we have not yet experienced. I think it might be easier for us to consider it or to grasp it somewhat What? By considering what is real today that won't be there then. And so we consider the absence of the curse of this world, but we must first, in order to understand that, we consider indeed what is real today. And what is real today is the curse of sin and its results. What is this curse? Well, the Old Testament word that is used is use of a ban placed on people because of sin, sentencing them to complete destruction. The ban or the curse of sin means complete destruction of death, eternal punishment. Death, that's what sin and its curse brought. Death, we know that. But first of all, spiritual death. A heart of sin. Rebellion against God. Not seeing things God's way. That was Adam and Eve, right? That's you and me in and of ourselves. And that heart of sin, that rebellion, results in enmity with God. We have made God our enemy by nature. Man hates God and God's anger burns against man and man is under God's wrath. But that heart of sin also then results in selfishness and pride which breeds hatred and envy and anger and a lack of contentment and satisfaction and greed and lust and temptation and I'm sure you can add more. And those things in turn are then used against our neighbor. as these things produce trouble, crime, divorce, cheating, persecution, sinful lifestyles, toil in our work. And we can add to that all kinds of fear and frustration and doubt. And then, of course, there's physical death. And I'm not talking simply, boys and girls, about when this life is over, when somebody dies and they are here no longer and we bury their body. But you see, beloved, we experience physical death our whole life long. Every time you scrape a knee and have to put a band-aid on it because you're bleeding. That's the pain of physical death. All life long, we struggle with the weakness of our bodies as we get older. The aging of our physical flesh. Boys and girls, we break our bones. It's the pain of physical death. Diseases, some of them the direct result of sinful behavior. And then, of course, it does ultimately lead, we know, to the end of this life. And that might come by, as we say, some sort of an accident or maybe a disease or even old age. It's simply the ceasing of this life as we know it. And all of that brings grief, mourning, crying, inward pain. But sin and its curse also then brings eternal death for those whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life. For them, there's nothing but eternal hell. And as our portion of Scripture described it, as the fiery lake of burning sulfur to give us even a glimpse of the torment and the torture of hell. But even believers, congregation, except for eternal death, even believers, those who no longer, because they are born again, they no longer practice many of the things that I've just stated, even believers are affected by and experience the troubles and the effects of sin at the hands of the world, but we also experience the pain of physical death, don't we? Haven't we? Grief. Sadness. Mourning. Crying. Tears. And we also experience from time to time spiritual pain. Doubt with regard to our faith. Anguish because of our sin. The question that rolls around in our minds at times, how could God ever love one like me? Beloved, sin has caused countless tears. Tears that are the result of anguish and oppression and persecution and sorrow and death. And boys and girls, you too have experienced the effects of sin and its curse. If you've ever been picked on. If you've ever been in a fight. If everyone's ever been mean to you. If you've ever broken a bone or scraped your knee. You've experienced it. Each of us has experienced all of these troubles in various degrees. And that's why this life, in this life, we spend much of our time and our energy dealing with the effects of the curse of sin, either trying to avoid those effects or dealing with those effects when we're faced with them. This life, beloved, is less than blissful. Even our happiest day in this life is not a day of bliss. And of course, we know that it causes us to take our focus off of God and the constant praise and the worship that He deserves. In order to understand the bliss of life everlasting, we need to consider the absence of the curse of this world again, which means understanding the reality today. Only then can we consider the reality in eternity. There are two words in this portion of Scripture that we read, Two words, small words that ought to be very, very comforting to you and me, and they are the words, no more. No more. We can talk about what the Bible says will be in eternal glory. We can talk about all that the Bible says will characterize the glory of heaven, things that we have not yet experienced on this earth, at least not fully, and we never will on this earth. But again, I think we can probably identify a little better with this by considering the things that we experience here that will be absent there. No more curse. The curse of sin will be removed. It's removed for you and me already. Christ has taken the curse upon Himself, our curse, because He paid for sin. He's taken our curse from us and God has made Him to be sin for us and therefore there the effects and the results are also gone, will be gone when we get there. And of course, it's real already for us today. We confess that, the first part of Answer 58, even as I already now experience in my heart the beginning of eternal joy. We experience only the beginning of it, but we experience it already today. Confidence and assurance already today that eternal life is waiting for me. That I'm justified in the sight of God for Jesus' sake. Yet, that confidence, that assurance is not yet perfect because in this life, that confidence and that assurance is still shrouded with the effects of sin. But it will be perfect for you and me in glory. 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. Again, no eye has seen, no ear heard, no man has ever imagined. That comes from Romans 14. There's no one, beloved, who has experienced that who's been able to write a book for us, to explain it for us, to give us a little better understanding. No one except for our Lord Jesus Christ who, of course, knows it perfectly. But it will be perfect. And that perfection includes, again, that the curse and its effects will be gone. Absent forever. And therefore, with confidence, we can talk about things that will not be experienced there. For example, the wages of sin. Death. And we can go back over everything we just said. Death. With death destroyed, the sadness, the grief, the mourning, the crying, the pain that is caused by the curse of death disappears. It will be no more. And again, that includes spiritual death. Now imagine this. Enmity against God and against man. Gone. The heart of sin. Selfishness. Pride. Hatred. Envy. A lack of contentment, a lack of satisfaction, greed, lust, non-existent there. All temptation, in whatever forms we might endure it, gone. Rebellion against God, replacing God with something, even trying to take God's place myself, gone. Won't be there. Verse 27 of chapter 21 says, nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful. Gone. Spiritual death. Boys and girls, imagine this. No more hurt feelings. No more being picked on. No more fighting. No more arguing. No more nervousness. No more anxiety. No more stress. No more being afraid. But also physical death. We know that when Jesus Christ comes again, He will conquer that last enemy, physical death, which means bodily pain, broken bones, skinned up knees, aging and discomfort, and the resulting sadness and grief and heartache and crying will not exist in glory. It will be gone. Every single last tear will be wiped away by our God. Again, we know this in part today. You might say, well, how do we know this? How do we experience this in part today? Just a little bit. Just a touch. Well, as we think about the difference between Christian and pagan funerals, for one thing, Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4 says that we, believers, do not grieve as those who have no hope. We grieve. We just said that we experience that pain in this life. We grieve, to be sure, but not as those who have no hope. We grieve with hope. We grieve with the hope of what we're talking about. Life everlasting. Salvation in Christ Jesus. But also as you and I are called upon to experience the troubles of this life, God says, My grace is sufficient for you. The taste of His presence in glory. Believers are blessed with that peace of God that passes understanding. Again, the world has no clue. They look at you and I and say, How can you even think about being content with your lot in life. How is it possible? Because of God. That peace that passes understanding that gives us comfort in the most difficult of situations. And of course, we know that for the child of God, already today, eternal death, gone. So many wonderful things were revealed to John on the island of Patmos. No more curse. No more night. In other words, the evils and the threats of this life, of this world, will not exist in glory and they will not stop the saints as these things do and try to do in this life, will not stop the saints from enjoying the complete and full presence of God. God alone, you see, is the reason that the curse of sin and its effects will be no more. We can confess the bliss of life everlasting indeed by considering the absence of the curse of sin, but in the second place, the presence of the glory of God. Chapter 21, verse 3 says, 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. Fellowship with God. This is fellowship earned by Christ. The only way to the Father. And again, we know that that's ours at death. The Bible teaches us that. That when a saint dies, that when his or her soul is separated from that body, that soul goes to the very glory of God and to the glory of heaven at the moment of death. But even though we can't fully understand it, the complete completion, if you will, of it will come at the end of the age when Jesus Christ comes again and Satan and that last enemy death are completely destroyed and along with all of his followers they are thrown into the lake of burning sulfur. Whereas chapter 20, verse 15 says they will be tormented day and night forever ever and ever. Beloved, on that day, you see, today the church is still somewhat split. The church triumphant and the church militant. But on that day, the church will be complete together. Glorious. One. Whole. In the glory of heaven. With Satan and his host put away forever and ever. And that means that in eternal glory, there will be no one, there will be nothing to oppose God. And Jesus Christ, the One who brings us fellowship with God, makes His bride glorious. He makes His bride fit to be in the presence of God so that those who are justified even now will be completely sanctified in the glory of heaven. Perfect holiness. Perfect righteousness. In Ephesians 5, Paul says, Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word and to present her to Himself as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. And we are given a picture in Revelation 21 of the finished product. The new city, the new Jerusalem, to inhabit the new heavens and the new earth is talking about the Bride of Christ, the church. In all of her fullness. In all of her glory. And the details that we have recorded in Revelation 21 describing the new Jerusalem point to her loveliness and her beauty in the eyes of the Lord. Hers is a breathtaking majesty. Hers is precious value and purity. Hers is divine strength and holiness. All of these things characterize the bride of Christ. Again, as chapter 21 verse 27 says, 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. Nothing impure, nothing abominable, nothing that tries to turn others away from God will enter it. And that means, beloved, for you and me, that the very possibility of corruption is forever gone, from inside or from outside. And ultimately, all of her beauty and majesty and strength comes from the fellowship of favor that she enjoys with God. And that includes the favor of God's presence. Verse 22 of chapter 21, I did not see a temple in the city because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. There's so much we could say about this, but we're given a beautiful Old Testament picture of God dwelling among His people. Yet it's different. It's different because the Old Testament temple indeed pointed to the intimacy and the fellowship that Israel had with God, but also the Holy of Holies pointed to the people being insulated, being shielded from God's consuming holiness. The Holy of Holies was a reminder of their sin and their unworthiness. In ages past, a convicted criminal was not allowed to look upon the face of the King. God's people were not allowed to look upon His glory and His splendor. The veil, the curtain hid them. But that veil was torn in two, we know, from top to bottom in Christ Jesus. But even today, beloved, though we are allowed to approach the throne of grace through our prayers for the sake of Jesus Christ, we are not yet prepared to see Him as He is with our eyes. We could not handle that. We too are reminded still today of our unworthiness and our sin in and of ourselves. But in heaven, in heaven because of Christ, God's people will be so purified, washed so clean through the blood of Jesus by the work of the Holy Spirit that we will no longer need to fear direct contact with our Lord and our Redeemer. All doubt will be gone. Never again will we doubt our faith. There will be no terror for us in His presence. When we see Him face to face in all of His splendor, then we will offer to Him perfect worship with no distractions, with proper motives. Worship that is fully pleasing to God. Beloved, in the glory of heaven, the consuming fire of God will no longer have anything to consume because God's people will then be holy even as He is holy. And He will be forever pleased with them. And this fellowship of favor also includes the favor of God's glory and power. Verse 23, 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. Beloved, for all that we're given about that new Jerusalem, her glory and splendor, notice if you recall in chapter 21, it says that God is in her. God gives her her beauty. God Himself will flood His church with the beauty and the glory of His holiness. The bride will forever enjoy the fullness of God. His radiant light points to all that God is in the fullness of all of His attributes. And the light of His glory points to His eternal presence. He gave the sun and the moon to govern the day and the night in this life, but then there will be no night. Time will be no more. Only eternity. And His light will never go out. It will never be dimmed. But the light of His glory also points to our eternal security. No darkness. The gates will never be shut. Now that's an illustration even for the young boys and girls to understand. Boys and girls, what do your parents do before they go to bed for the night? At least in our house, we lock the doors. We shut up the house tight for protection. But then, there, there will be no darkness. The gates will never be shut. There will be nothing, boys and girls, to terrorize us. Nothing to make us afraid. But the fellowship of favor also includes the favor of God's provision. In the beginning of chapter 22, Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Again, it's not our purpose tonight to say everything that we could say about this portion of Scripture, but stated simply, beloved, the bride of Christ will enjoy the never-ending fellowship with and the full satisfaction of God, from God. In Revelation 7, we read these words, Never again will they hunger, never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them nor any scorching heat, 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 away every tear from their eyes. then, in glory, beloved, we will be equipped with perfect love for God and our neighbor, the saints whom we are with. And never again will we look for other gods beside Him. Never again will we place ourselves in the place of God. The new Jerusalem, the holy city, the bride is a picture of the Garden of Eden, sort of. Only yet, the garden, if we would understand these verses correctly, goes throughout the city, throughout the church as God indwells her. Only notice, it's without the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It won't be there. No possibility for you and I to take and eat of that fruit. To sin against God. Only the tree of life. A people of God with all that we will enjoy from the hand of God and the glory of heaven as we are able to understand it as God has given it to us. With all that we are able to enjoy today, with that knowledge and that assurance, we are to be humbled with joy that then we will have no threat of being corrupted. Which means that never again will we sin against Him. Then we will be able to give to Him perfect worship and adoration as He deserves. Well, this all sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? And that's because today we can't even begin to fathom that all that we know and all that we experience when it comes to the sin and its curse and the effects, all of that, we can't begin to fathom that all of that will be absent in glory. But at the same time, we can't even begin to fathom all that we will enjoy there that we can't yet experience here. Yet, this is what God teaches in His Word, that His saints in glory will never be outside of God's glorious presence, not ever. but we will ever enjoy the bliss of being near God. And for whom is this bliss? And verse 27 says again, only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Who are they? Well, Paul says in Ephesians 1, he says that as God chose in him, in Christ, before the creation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight, to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, to be redeemed, Those are the elect of God. Well, how do you know if you are in this company? Well, here are some things to consider. These will hear and respond in faith to the call of the gospel to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. These will be truly sorry because of their sin. These will delight in God, delight to serve Him and obey Him. These will enjoy the assurance of such a great salvation. On the other hand, these will not find themselves in the company of those listed in verse 8. The cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters, and all liars. Those who continue in unrepentant sin. These will not sin without a conscience. Where do you stand? Which company do you find yourself in? See, believers live in God's grace for today and with hope in Him for tomorrow. And because of that truth, we can face the troubles and the troublemakers of this world. And we can face injustice. And we can face hardships and difficulties across our paths, whether physical or mental or emotional or spiritual. We can face death and seeming senseless destruction. We can face the effects of sin and its curse. we can do so with confidence of victory in Jesus and confidence of our eternal inheritance. That's for those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. Is that you? Beloved, may we as believers, like Abraham, as is described in Hebrews 11, may we look forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God. And like Paul in Philippians 3, as we quoted this morning, May we forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead, pressing on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters in Christ, although we cannot fully comprehend the joy set before us, yet may we be filled with joy to know that for the sake of Christ Jesus our Lord, the best is yet to come. And then one day we will be able to truly say, It doesn't. It won't. It can't get any better than this. Amen. Let's pray together. Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, we thank You and praise You for the glimpse of glory that You have given to us in Your Word. Father, it sounds so wonderful. The beauty, the majesty, all because of Your presence with Your people. And Father, it's so hard for us in this life to see that, to imagine that because of that which You placed before us here. But we thank You, O Lord, that You give to us that blessed assurance and confidence of that day when all evil will be cast aside and we too never again will sin against Your holiness. O Father, may we desire that day that when we see You as You are, then, O Lord, because of Your transforming power in our lives, then we will praise you as we ought. Father, hear our prayer of thanksgiving. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.