Cornerstone Baptist Church ~ For Sunday AM, May 01, 2011
Revelation 21:1-8
Have you ever been anxious to get home from vacation or a business trip? We sometimes guilty of taking home for granted!
Greg Moore, a staff sergeant in the N.Y. National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry wrote… “There are no longer generators running, or armored vehicles rumbling, or mortars exploding. What I hear at night now is the gentle breaths released from the lips of my son.
My release came earlier than expected, so when I pulled into the drive – the house was empty. I dropped my bags and walked through the house, soaking in the images and smells that had been only a memory during ten months in Iraq.
My son's first-grade teacher had sent school updates and pictures via e-mail almost weekly. So when I came into the classroom she ran and gave me a "welcome home" hug.
"Easton is practicing a song,” she said. “Why don't you surprise him?"
My heart was racing. I followed the sound of the piano and the little voices singing, then stood and watched. Trickles of love and pride started involuntarily down my cheeks as I listened to my son. He has gotten so big. The anticipation built as I waited for him to see me.
The little girl next to him was the first to notice the uniformed man standing in the doorway. The image she saw and the facts she had been told were doing battle in her brain. Then her eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open.
"Easton! Easton...your Daddy's here!" she said in an electrified whisper.
My son's head snapped around. The excitement and disbelief on his face is something I will never forget. I motioned to him and he ran into my open arms. There was no hiding my tears, and I didn't care. This was the day I had long waited for.
I choked out my words of love and hung on to this boy who had cried so many nights, this boy who had used all his wishes on me. He kept pulling his head back from my shoulder to look at my face. Cheers rose from the other kids and teachers.
I was complete again. I had my boy. And there have never been more perfect words spoken to me than “I love you, Dad.”
When I get home…
1. The word “whosoever” will be a precious gem on the lips of every person present (v 6). “And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” Rom 10:13
John 3:15-17 “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have ever-lasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
Revelation 22:17 “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
2. “Heaven” will be more beautiful than I could have ever imagined (v 1-3). “I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” Rev. 21:11, 18-19, 21.
I have seen some incredibly beautiful places in my life…
One day I will see this scene for myself! The moment I see Heaven I know I will be overwhelmed with gratitude for the many things this world considers insignificant – the Bible, Church, godly pastor’s, Sunday school teachers, gospel tracts, church vans, revivals…
1 Corinthians 2:9 “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”
When I get home…
3. Everyone there will understand why Calvary is the single most important event in all of human history (v 4). There will be no debate…
1 Corinthians 1:18 “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”
Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
4. There will be no more suffering (v4). “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
Not just the removal of physical pain, but all pain of every kind.
· Emotional – depression, anxiety, fear, emotional disorders, etc…
· Relational – divorce, fighting, arguing, etc…
· Physical – disease, sickness, death, etc…
#5. There will be no more sin (v 8). “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
