In his sermon titled 'The Gospel's Greatest Hope,' Paul Carrington explores the profound hope presented in the gospel, focusing on the vision of a new heaven and new earth as depicted in Revelation 21. He contrasts the initial creation with the re-creation through Christ, emphasizing the surpassing greatness of the new creation. Carrington reflects on the historical hope of saints, who endured great trials by looking forward to this promise. He critiques human efforts to create utopias, noting their inevitable failure, and highlights God's perfect plan for a restored creation. The speaker underscores the intimacy believers will experience with God, the eradication of pain and suffering, and the ultimate fulfillment found in being with God eternally. This hope serves as a steadfast anchor for believers, encouraging them to live by faith amidst the world's turmoil. Carrington concludes by reminding listeners of the invitation to partake in the water of life offered freely by Christ, urging a life oriented towards the promises of God.

There's one line in that song that struck me as we were singing, as I was listening to you singing, it says, he was raised to overthrow the grave. And that's what I actually wanted to talk to us a little bit about here this afternoon. Last, I think it was two weeks ago, we spoke in looking at 2nd Corinthians chapter 4, and we talked about the power that was on display when the Lord Jesus Christ saved you as an individual. And we looked at how the apostle Paul contrasted the beginning of creation and the magnitude of all that occurred in that first creation when God said, let there be light, and there was light. And how we contrasted that to what happens when he says let there be light in the soul of an individual and that that person is brought to life in Christ and how far exceeding the recreation is than even the initial creation.

Well there's something even greater afoot that I want to talk to us today and that's the the ushering in of a new heavens and a new earth. The scene in our verses that we're going to be looking at today, we're going to be looking at the first eight verses of Revelation chapter 21 and the scene in these verses really kind of carries us beyond the final judgment. It's the joyous state of the redeemed church where paradise has been regained. And what I want to talk to you about is really, really simple, very, very beautiful, and it's really the greatest happiness of the gospel. And I want to read to you these eight verses in Revelation chapter 21.

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, And there was no more sea. Then I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, behold the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death nor sorrow nor crying.

There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcome shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death." So as we go through these verses here this afternoon in the short time that we have I just want to ask you to have two things that you really keep top of mind. Hopefully you can remember these as we go through. And the first thing I just would like for you to keep top of mind is this, is that when you read through the New Testament or even when you go through church history, the things that we're discussing are the hope, is the hope of all the saints of times past.

It was something that kept them and helped them to endure through the most intense difficulties. It's what Peter called the restoration of all things when he was preaching in Acts chapter 3. You go to Romans 8 and it's what Paul talks about this long-awaited liberation of the creature from the curse of sin. When you flip over to Philippians 3, the Apostle Paul talks about the eternal purpose that God was accomplishing in Christ. They were they were captured and enamored by this hope.

And then of course you go over to Hebrews chapter 11 and what becomes the fuel of their faith is the hope of what we're going to be talking about where the writer says, but now they desire, speaking of Abraham and his sons and all the people in that train, but now they desire a better, that is a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." And so I just want to encourage you that in times of greatest crisis, during which, by the way, this book was written during a time of great, great crisis for the church, this became their greatest hope. It's also in Hebrews where the apostle or whoever was writing Hebrews speaks about the hope that we have in the recreation, the physical recreation as an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast. And so here is John, he's writing to flesh and blood, real first century saints, people that are in the midst of a terrible storm of persecution, deception, compromise, All of these things are happening. So I just want you to keep that in mind, that saints all the way through the ages have looked to the new heavens and the new earth as that anchor for their soul.

And that's something that we should do as well. The other thing I want to have us keep in mind is that in troublous times or in times of great crisis, there's nothing more important than looking at these things because it helps us gain a true perspective. And when you look around us today, just to be as relevant as we can, look around us today and all that's happening in the world, there's a temptation, I think, to be overwhelmed. If you haven't noticed, we're living in the midst of perhaps the greatest moral revolution that's ever taken place perhaps arguably in history. And I've heard even among ourselves and I found myself asking this like where will we be in the next two years or five years or ten years?

These are questions that come up in our minds as we kind of do a survey of our present day. And as men attempt to do what they can to build their own so-called utopias or heavens on earth, it always ends up totally backfiring, doesn't it? It goes off the rails as soon as man tries to put his own ideas into practice to bring about whatever it is that he thinks makes for peace. Whether it's humanism or communism or fascism or any other ism, All of them usually end up in a terrible state. Every dream of utopia becomes a nightmare.

And as I was studying, serving the wreckage of man's attempt to create bliss on earth, I was looking at the various utopias that have existed over the last thousand years, and it's a sad tale of man's attempt. But there was one particular case, a sad case, that came top of mind. You could have picked communism or anything else, But there's a little case study of a city by the name of Palma Nova, a Venetian city, that in 1593, you had a handful of Renaissance thinkers that got together and they said they were going to build this perfect Little Utopia, a beautifully planned town. It was designed down to the finest detail. It would be a place where self-sustaining merchants and craftsmen, farmers, every inhabitant in this town would have the same amount of land.

Everyone would have the same amount of wealth, the same amount of respect and life experiences. It was designed to express all the ideals of social harmony. Its citizens would be healthy, successful, content, and apparently look great on paper, but when it was finally finished they couldn't find a single individual that actually wanted to move to this utopia. And so these desperate Venetian leaders, what did they end up doing? To populate this town, They ended up emptying all of the prisons roundabout, not only pardoning all the criminals but actually offering them financial incentive to settle.

And of course everything unraveled from there, but every attempt that man makes to build utopia, heaven on earth, founders. But look at this, there is a city that has foundations whose builder and maker is God. And so while the storms are raging in our present day today all around us, threatening even to capsize us. Always remember that there is an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast. And so today I just wanted to spend a few minutes looking at the outcome for those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

And that's what John says in verse one. He says, now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and there was no more sea. And he's talking about this idea that the present age, the age that is characterized by being stained by sin, infected by the curse, and all of its systems, all of its ways, all of its rebellion is now extinct. It's gone, it's been replaced. And in its place, a new heaven and a new earth.

Not something entirely new but totally transformed and restored. It's a physical world and many times I think Christians just generally, perhaps not here, but many Christians kind of believe in a final fulfillment of things somewhere out there. You know, we go to a place called heaven, maybe somewhere we can get pictures of clouds or angel wings, harps, all these types of things, but the Bible describes this actual physical renewed world that is the place where God dwells with his people forever. And John, he says this, and also there was no more sea. And if you go through the entire book of Revelation, what you end up finding is that the sea was used many times figuratively for the place where the beast came up or the place of rebellion.

It was the place of unruly rebellion against God and now all of that is is totally done away with. When you look at chapter 17 verse 15 describing the waters he says this, then he said to me, the waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are the peoples, the multitudes, the nations, and the tongues. That's what, so when he says there's no more sea, he's not necessarily speaking in a sense of no water, but the place where all evil and rebellion against God comes up is totally done away with. Can you imagine a time like this where there's no longer any threat from Satan? All enemies have been totally eradicated, not for a season, but forever and always by the power of Christ.

And then he goes on in chapter two, verses two and three. Then I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from 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 will be with them and be their God." So you see that the heavens and the earth aren't the only thing that's new, but there's actually a new Jerusalem. And here we find the consummation, the fulfillment of absolutely everything, because the New Jerusalem, as you go further on into chapter 21, you find that it's not so much a city as it is the bride. That's what the New Jerusalem is and it gives a hint here in this verse that the new Jerusalem comes down as a bride adorned for her husband.

This is the church glorious and triumphant restored by what Christ has accomplished for us. But the question to ask ourselves is what is the great reward? The great reward, similar to what we heard this morning, is God himself. Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. This is the fulfillment of God with us, not symbolically, but actually and really.

And for you, just when you think about it, when you think about eternity, you know, what is the great attraction? What is the great attraction? Is it reunification with loved ones or is God the primary overriding attraction that you'll be able to see Him face to face and be with Him forever and ever? I was reading some excerpts from a Puritan by the name of Thomas Goodwin. And look what he says, he says, if I were to go to heaven and find that Christ was not there, I would leave immediately, for heaven without Christ would be a hell to me.

These verses here, they speak of intimacy with the Lord. And you can go back in your mind and consider the intimacy that you see in the first Eden when Adam and Eve were there, and you hear the account of how the Lord was walking in the garden in the cool of the day looking for Adam. There's this unity and fellowship that just existed so purely, so simply, but it was broken because of man's sin. But what we find here is that paradise has been regained and not only put on par with the first creation but far exceeding the first creation. Think about it like this there's gonna be a time when there's no such thing as faith.

You don't need faith. There won't be such a thing as hope because everything will be before you. God himself will be with you. Such a beautiful thing to consider. And so just ponder that fact that God is the great reward of the age that is to come.

But with God, look what follows in verse four. It says this, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." And so you see this idea of God coming and what does he do? The very first thing, doesn't even say a whole lot of words, but it says he comes and he wipes away every tear from their eyes.

When I think about this, I ask myself is there a picture more beautiful than that for those of us that live in this veil of tears, as it were, this world. It's almost impossible to describe what this will be like. And so notice what John does. He doesn't describe so much what it will be like, but he describes it in a negative sense. He tells you what's not going to be there, as if by trying to describe it, he would just find himself running down a path and not, you know, frustration.

There's not enough superlatives to describe what the new creation is going to be like. But this is something I would ask you to consider here. There's four things that John says will not be there in this new creation. But look at our present age that we live in right now that started in Eden or are casting out from Eden, even up until now. And if you were to take all of human history, the last 6, 000 years and compress it into a five-minute video, these are the four things that would rise most prominently after you finished the video.

These would probably be the four things that you would say described man at his best. What are they? Well, he says that there shall be no more death, no more crying, there shall be no more pain. Of course, he wipes away every tear from their eyes. But if you just take a journey even through our most recent century, and you go down and just hit the high points, so to speak.

You have World War I, which was, by the way, called the war to end all wars. It was followed closely on the heels by the Spanish flu pandemic, an actual pandemic. Then you had a decade of Great Depression following that, recession, the Dust Bowl after that, and then you were launched directly into World War II. And that's just the first half of the century, and that's just the high points. Following that, you've got the Korean War, you've got the Vietnam War, you've got the Cold War, unbounded abortion, not just here in America, but all over the world.

You could even throw a few genocides in for good measure, like Rwanda in 1984, or some of the other things that took place under communist regimes all over the world. And all told with all of our sophistication, there's been a lot of advancement in science and medicine and all of these types of things, but by far the last century was the most bloody century, not only in the history, but if you add up all of the centuries together, the 20th century slaughtered and killed more people than any other century. Man at his best. But even if you forget all the grand events and look at individuals, think of all of the private sorrows maybe even some of you bear, and the depressions, the disillusionment. We live in a world of woe despite the blessings.

It's a world of woe. And every attempt at utopia has ended in that dreaded nightmare, but here it says there shall be no more death. It's now swallowed up forever. You could say that death is now dead. It's been annihilated by the resurrection of life through Jesus Christ.

It says there's no sorrow. You know, when you think of sorrow, it's that deep kind of beating upon the chest and you feel perhaps like there's no release. Again, something that characterizes our world. How about no crying, nor crying, no despair anymore, no dismay, no confusion, No more pain of every kind, physical, mental, emotional, all of it done away with. All the things so familiar to us in this world, it says, have passed away.

Swallowed up by unending joy and gladness. And this is what Isaiah, he also says at the end of the book of Isaiah in chapter 65, he says, for behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come to mind. And I love this verse, this is perhaps my favorite verse. In verse 5, this glorious vision is interrupted and it says, then he who sat on the throne said, behold I make all things new. And he said, right, for these words are true and faithful.

You would wonder how these words would hit the the first readers of this in the in the early church those saints that were facing expulsion from the guilds, they were facing persecution, loss of property, homes, compromise, being assaulted from a thousand different directions, and God is saying, I make all things new. And then he says, Just in case, write for these words are true and faithful. They can bear all of your weight. God is basically saying, put everything you have and all of your confidence and trust in the fact that I am actually saying these words. The one thing that it is impossible for God to do is what?

It's to lie. God cannot lie. And he's saying here, right, John, put this down because these words are true and they are faithful. No matter what you're looking around and seeing, these words are going to come to pass. And if we're anything like those early church saints, what is the great struggle?

We're tempted so often to stop living by faith and to begin living by sight. This is the great temptation by the way, the constant aim of Satan is to get you to live your life by sight and not by faith. And in speaking to this, John Calvin, he was speaking about Abraham and he was telling, he was in his commentary, he's speaking about Abraham. He received the promise at 75 years old. You remember that?

But years pass, One year, five years pass, a decade passes, no son. At about the 12th year, he gets it into his mind or his wife puts it into his mind. This is not working out, maybe we can help God out. And of course, Hagar comes into the picture. And you know the story goes on from there.

Well John Calvin in commenting on this challenge of how do we how do we balance faith and sight? How do we as a people live by faith in a world where even ourselves, we live by our senses, so much of our lives are ruled by what we can see and touch and taste and hear and all of those things. He says this, he says, what are we to do? We must close our eyes, disregard ourselves and all things connected with us, so that nothing may hinder or prevent us from believing that God is true. In other words, he's saying that when what you are actually seeing, maybe even the present age that we're living in right now, and what God has said, they seem to be in conflict.

He says, do away with what you're seeing and trust God's Word and put all of your weight on God's Word so that you can live in this present age. And so here we have this glorious picture of God. Here he is sitting upon his throne and what man could never touch, which is the heart. God totally renews, renovates, and transforms. See, as the source of the disease, man can't solve the disease, can he?

What can man do as the actual one who is the disease himself to solve the disease? Therapists, prescriptions, philosophies, all of these things fall so, so short. All attempts found are, we sometimes can live in a world where we think perhaps better legislation or more education or shorter work weeks. Popular today, confiscation and redistribution of wealth, what the Bible has short form for called stealing or reparations. All of these things are attempts to bring about something that man thinks is better, but he can never touch the thing that's most damaging and destructive and that's the heart of man.

And so all of these utopias, all these attempts are entirely elusive and I love how Isaiah he describes it. He says this, for the bed is too short. Look at this picture. For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the covering so narrow that no one can wrap himself in it. This is man trying to find life and hope and peace outside of God.

It just cannot work. But look what God has for us here. And he said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.

He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son." And as you see those words, it is done. I don't know how you can read past those without being transported to those final words when the Lord Jesus, he hung upon the cross and he uttered those words before his head fell on his chest, it is finished. And that it is finished is the beginning of this new creation, where it looked like defeat, didn't it? But by those words, the Lord Jesus was actually conquering and it brings about this day where it is done this is the beauty of it that the death of death occurred in the death of Christ. And this is what we have great hope for as believers.

He says that I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. In other words, he's saying, I'm from all time. I was never once out of control. Even when things look like they were out of control, when you didn't know which way was up. I was never out of control.

Everything resides and will reside underneath and beneath the bounds of my sovereignty. That in this world there are no autonomous zones, there's nowhere where God doesn't rule entirely. He's the author of history and it gives us great great confidence. And in the middle of all of these great descriptions of the world that is to come for these first century believers threatened by persecution He gives this gospel invitation This is God himself Making this invitation. He says this I will give of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.

I think our brother read this morning from Isaiah chapter 12, and you see men, And maybe sometimes even men or women in the church, sometimes it's a sad state, but a man goes through his whole life lowering his bucket into a thousand different wells, pulling them up, trying to even shake it to see if there's even a single drop of water and there's none. There's a thousand wells, but is there any water to satisfy the soul in any of them? Well, here we're seeing that there is a fountain. There is a well unbought. You're invited without money, without price.

See all of man's problems. Everything that man faces is solved in a person and that person is the fountain of all blessedness Jesus Christ himself And what I love about this is that all are invited. This is an unlimited invitation. I love the way John Bunyan says it. He says this, thou art invited.

He says, if you are on earth, not in hell, thou art invited. And how could you turn down such an invitation? All that is required, the single and only requirement is what? Thirst. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.

Every man and woman thirsts. It's a matter of what do you thirst for? Is there anything that satisfies your soul outside of God? And then he says this, even though the life that you're living, the world that we're living in, it might be characterized by loss and disappointment. He says, he who overcomes shall inherit all things.

And I will be as God, and he shall be my son." And finally we come to verse 8, but the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable murderers, sexually immoral sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death." And just as he encourages faithfulness among his people, he has another message. And I don't think he's speaking about the cowardly and the unbelieving just generally out in the world in the sense of just everybody else, but much of this message is geared towards those that are actually and physically within the walls of the church. I was looking at a bunch of different commentators and pretty much all of them agreed that this speaks of, again, those who are masquerading within the church. Maybe naming the name of Christ, singing the songs and all of this. And one commentator said this, those, this is specifically, the cowardly and the unbelieving, or those who, for fear of losing life or property, either refused to receive the Christian religion, though convinced of its truth and importance, or having seemed to receive it during times of persecution, fell away.

It's those that are more driven by a fear of man rather than God. And if you think that we're going to be able to escape that in the age that we're living in, it's just not going to be possible. Maybe for the first time some of us might be forced really to confront some serious questions. Some of us already have, I'm sure even in the last months, what is our responsibility? How do we live in this world in honor of the living God?

But it's not going to get easier as we go further. And so why is this important now? Because this is what's gonna happen. Your fundamental allegiances are going to be challenged, mine are. And the question, the question is what are you going to do when that happens?

There's going to be a time coming when you're not going to be persecuted so much because you love the Lord Jesus. They'll let you do that, but because you refuse to bow down at the sound of the horn, and the flute, the harp, lyre and psaltery like in Daniel's day. Have your, geez, that's fine, but how will you respond when you're asked also to throw in a little pinch of incense? Don't even have to mean it. But this is where we're going.

Well this group of people, their lot is not in the new heavens and earth, but the lake of fire. And so all of this to say, look at these verses and be refreshed. As you're going through this life, as you're struggling even with the wall that's going around us, nothing refreshes the heart and gives us true perspective than a gazing upon what's going to be happening and the fact that God wins and conquers and reigns victorious. And so a question for you or a thought for you that if you're scurrying around this present world as if this is the only world that there is, I would just ask you to pause, to cease, and do what the saints of old did. They looked upon the promises that were set before them.

Are you clinging to the world as if this is the only life, this is the only world that you will ever have, or have you found yourself latched on to the new world that is to come, this new heaven and new earth. And what I find, and you might find this too, is the beauty of it is that the more you're captured by a vision for the next world, the better equipped you are to live in this world. It's not about being all heavenly minded and no earthly good. That's not what this is designed for at all, but it actually equips you to live more freely and more effectively in the present age. Whether in times of peace or revolution, upheaval or trouble, keep your gaze fixed here.

You know, I liked what Martin Luther said. He says, I always live with two days before me. He says, this day and that day, constantly looking, what am I gonna do today with the view of that day when I finally am in glory? It's a beautiful thing to think about. And I just want to leave you with this in conclusion.

Do you know who else is looking forward to this day? The author and the finisher of our faith says there in Hebrews 12 that for the joy, what is he talking about? He's talking about Revelation 21. For the joy, for the consummation of the bride and the bridegroom. Where there's going to be a world where that end, for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We have much, much to be thankful for. We have a great Savior and a great hope set before us. So may God give us eyes to see and a heart to perceive what he has for us. Let's join our hearts in prayer. Oh Father, we thank you for your goodness and mercy toward us.

We praise you, oh God, that you have given us such great hopes all laid up for us. Not only in this time, Lord, but in the age to come. A world without end, without sorrow, without crying, without pain. Oh Father, even that picture of you wiping away every tear from our eyes, I pray that you would help us, oh God, to set our sights more and more on that day and that you would help us to lift our gaze from the things that rob us and take away our joy here in this world. Oh Father, be our satisfaction and our help we pray.

In Jesus name we ask you amen.