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HopeLives365

Mark Finley

What Will the City of Heaven Be Like?

Now I have 1 problem in preaching this sermon and my problem is that I try to preach from Revelation chapter 21, but my Bible doesn't have those pages in it.

No, the Bible on the chair there I've marked.

So I need to get a different Bible because I've memorized much of this chapter and it's just right here.

It's nice to have a Bible where you have all the passages.

I'm going to probably be able to find Revelation 21 at least in 1 of them.

And so what had happened is the surveyors went out and they began to ask people the question, do you believe that heaven is real?

And I want to read to you some of the responses.

So the question is asked to people on the street.

Now, these are not necessarily Christians.

They're walking down the street and you've got the surveyor with the clipboard asking them the question, Do you think heaven is real?

Second answer, for me, heaven is my house, my kids, and my Lexus.

That guy must have been, had a little money in the bank.

Third question, heaven, well, I just kind of hope so.

Third answer, an elderly couple, actually.

Fifth answer, that's pie in the sky, by and by.

The surveyors came to the conclusion that the 1 commonality of The answer to the question that was asked, do you believe in heaven?

They had kind of this inner longing that they wished there was a heaven.

They wished there was something life after death, but they have this great uncertainty whether it is real or not.

I thank God that we can live with something beyond uncertainty, that we can have a hope that burns within our hearts of the reality of heaven.

The Bible begins with a perfect world, and the Bible ends with a perfect world, Revelation chapter 21 and 22.

And I want to look at some insights regarding heaven.

You know, often when we talk about heaven, when we preach about heaven, we talk about the fact that we'll build houses and inhabit them, and that's true.

We'll plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them, That's true.

There'll be no sickness, suffering, heartache and death.

But if all that were true and you were living in a mansion alone, would you be fully happy?

If you had no human relationships in heaven, would you be fully happy?

And I want to look at 3 things in this devotional this morning.

First, heaven is a place for relationships.

And the broken relationship that we have with God will be fully restored.

Secondly, God has made provision for every 1 of us to be there.

And thirdly, all relationships in heaven will be healed.

There will be no fractured relationships, no tension between people.

And I want to show you that from the text.

So we begin here at Revelation chapter 21.

And John says, Revelation 21 verse 1, and I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

John says, I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

This is not something that is the figment of John's imagination.

Here is something real, something definite, something certain.

And in this age of uncertainty where so much is questioned, letting the scripture echo and re-echo in our minds and getting the certainty of the book of Revelation, John says, this earth may have polluted waterways, polluted airways, our food may be contaminated, there may be conflict between peoples, there may be sickness, suffering and death.

This old world may be in a state of decay, but I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

The first heaven and the first earth had passed away.

This earth so polluted, so pockmarked with sin, This planet in rebellion had passed away.

Now, why does John say there was no more sea?

I think people ask me, Pastor Mark, when you travel, where's the favorite place you go?

But of many, most of the time when they ask me that, I think 1 of my favorite places is Patmos.

You either go from Turkey and go from Kusadasi in Turkey.

And if you go from Greece, it takes you an overnight trip.

The boat's not real nice and you don't sleep well.

So I don't like to go from Greece at all.

But when you go from Kusadasi, you come into this beautiful port called Skala on the island of Patmos.

And there's only a couple thousand people living there.

And I remember 1 time I was there on the island of Patmos and I sat, I came in on a Friday night, I spent Sabbath there.

And I was just with a small group on that time.

We weren't leading a tour and I think there were probably 4 or 5 of us.

I had camera people and I had some sound people.

And we went out and on Sabbath we all spent time alone.

And I went down, it was well first on Friday night, sun was setting and I went down and sat on the rock by the Aegean Sea and I looked out over this vast expanse of the sea and I read the first half of the book of Revelation.

And on Sabbath morning, I came down and read the second half.

But I thought about John when he writes, there was no more sea.

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What Will the City of Heaven Be Like?

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