•We end our series on the afterlife this morning with a final HALLELUJAH!•God has prepared a place for all His faithful people.•There are truths and untruths taught in the world about Heaven.•This morning, let’s examine what the Bible says about the abode of the righteous.

From Jesus -- Matthew 25:31-34

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left…

•… "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

1 John 2:17, 25 The world and

its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever…. And this is what he promised us—even eternal life.

•2 Peter 1:10-11

Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

•2 Corinthians 5:1-3

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.

•But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ….

•Bible background for “new heavens and a new earth”

•Isaiah 65:17-18 -- "Behold, I will create        new heavens and a new earth.        The former things will not be remembered,

       nor will they come to mind.  18 But be glad and rejoice forever        in what I will create,        for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight        and its people a joy.

•"As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me," declares the LORD, "so will your name and descendants endure.”

•This promise of new heavens and earth is This promise of new heavens and earth is figurative, because…figurative, because…•Vs. 20 – death still existsVs. 20 – death still exists•Therefore sin still existsTherefore sin still exists•Which will NOT be true in the final abode of the Which will NOT be true in the final abode of the righteous.righteous.

“By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men…. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives….”•Promise of new heavens, earth

Revelation 21:1-2“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.”

•IDEA #1 -- •New heavens and earth are NOT the same as heaven•They represent a new dispensation of relationship with God.•They will descend from heaven and will represent the “capital city” of heaven, or will be separate and apart from heaven, though God and Christ will also dwell there.

•The new heavens and new earth are SYNONYMOUS with heaven and are a figurative description of heaven.

Quote from Donald Gutherie: “The centrepiece of it is the new Jerusalem, which is described in terms which cannot be taken

literally.”

“The description of the city is highly symbolic …. And so the Bible ends, with a redeemed society dwelling on a new earth that has been purged of all evil, with God dwelling in the midst of His people.”

•The new heavens and new earth, then, are figurative descriptions of heaven looking back to the initial creation of the world prior to the fall.

Matthew 5:12 -- Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

•Great is your reward in heaven!

•"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Store up treasures in heaven!

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

•The heavens and earth as we know them will change forever:

Lenski: So the physical heaven and the earth will be changed completely; when they are changed at the Parousia, we shall not recognize them.”•

•Revelation 21:22

•No temple because there will be immediate fellowship between God and His people.•No death or disease because they will have been banished.•We will see God’s face for the first time ever (22:4)•All darkness will have passed and we will dwell in the light forever.

•Won’t it be wonderful there?•Heaven will surely be worth it all.•Don’t you want to go to that land?•Are you ready?•When we wall get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be!