The Blessings of Heaven

Last week I preached about being able to stand before the Lord.

At the end of chapter 6 the question is asked who can stand against the wrath of the Lord, and in chapter 7, we see an innumerable number of Gentiles who have come to faith in Jesus. They are the ones who are seen standing before God and they were able to do so because they were robed in white… clothed in the rightousness of Jesus, and have trusted in His shed blood.

Last week I got jumbled up on the verse 14 and Revelation 12.11

verse 14- the have made their robes white by the blood of the lamb

chapter 12.11 they overcame by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony.

Sorry for my confusion.

Today I want to take a closer look at all the blessings that are identified for those who are in heaven around the throne of God.

For instance Heaven is place where there is

The Presence of God

Revelation 7:15 HCSB

15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His sanctuary. The One seated on the throne will shelter them:

No more abstract. No more faith, only sight. No more times of wondering if God is real or even there. No more ups and downs spritually. We will be in His presence.

The Service of God

Revelation 7:15 HCSB

15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His sanctuary. The One seated on the throne will shelter them:

But this is not the word for working service- that the word we get deacon from. We are all to be servants. No, this word serve is used to talk about what we might call “worship service” carrying out the things that might happen in in an organized, official time of worship.

Catch this- In heaven, or service won’t be out of duty or drudgery, but out of worshipful devotion to King Jesus.

The Fellowship of Others

Revelation 7:15 HCSB

15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His sanctuary. The One seated on the throne will shelter them:

Sometimes I think we overplay our hand on what heaven is about. We can make it all about seeing our relatives who have gone on before, when heaven is about going to be with Jesus.

However, all the uses of the word “they” and “them” reminds us that heaven will be a place where Christians are together.

If you think about it that’s alot like church is supposed to be. We come to worship God, but we also enjoy each other’s fellowship and company.. or at least we are supposed to. There we will.

The Care of God

Revelation 7:16–17 HCSB

16 They will no longer hunger; they will no longer thirst; the sun will no longer strike them, nor will any heat. 17 For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; He will guide them to springs of living waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Almost always when I preach a wedding, I will talk about the verse in the Bible where Paul says “Love your wives as you love yourselves. For no man hates his own body, but nourishes it and cherish it.” I learned to love the implications of this verse while listening to Josh McDowell preach through the years.

Here is a definition of love- to nourish and cherish. Before I heard Josh preach on this, I always so “cherish” kind of like making over something emotionally, hugging it up tight and cuddling it. But cherish means to protect something. The object you cherish has such value that you desire to make sure no harm comes to it. So ultimately Paul is saying we should provide for and protect our wives. Love is protection and provision.

Now look at this verse.

No more hunger and thirst… Why! Because according to verse 17 Jesus provides for them. (springs of water)

No more harsh conditions… Why because according to verse 15 God shelters them.

This is the definition of Love- God provides for our needs and protects us from harm.

This is part of what waits in heaven.

The Peace of God

Revelation 7:17 HCSB

17 For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; He will guide them to springs of living waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

All the things that rob us of peace, and joy. All the things that cause frustration, hate, and anger. All the struggling. All the hurt. All the bitterness and all the despair.

What a beautiful picture. God wipes EVERY tear away.

The world says real men don’t cry! The Bible says Jesus wept! I think I will go with that.

I wonder how that looks? Just in this one heavenly scene there is an innumerable mass saved out of the Tribulation. These are people who have gone through the fire for their faith and lost their lives too. In my mind, somehow, God is able to wipe every single tear from every single eye, all at the same time.

What a precious scene.

In the last 11 years, life has not always been easy for the Pricketts. You have been there for us through much of it over the last 10 years, and hopefully we have been there for you! We’ve done a lot of rejoicing, but we have also shed a lot of tears. Doesn’t the thought of God bringing and end to all that sound awesome? IT does to me.