God Will Wipe Away Your Tears

Lately, like many others, I find myself shedding a lot of tears. There have been tears of sorrow, tears of relief, tears of joy, and even tears of laughter.

• I’ve shed tears because of lost loved ones, and sometimes there seemed to be no comfort.

• I’ve shed tears over the senseless violence taking place in our nation. When I learned that a mass shooting is defined as when 4 or more people are killed or injured, excluding the shooter. And a few more when I saw that just this year, and we’re not even through the fourth month, but just this year there have been 159 mass shootings resulting in 187 deaths and 638 injured in the U.S.

• I’ve shed tears over the fact that since the murder of George Floyd last year, there have been over a thousand police involved deaths. I’m not saying some were not justified, but they are still lives gone.

• I’ve shed tears at the joy of a baby being born and then more as I learned that Black women are 2 1/2 times more likely than White women to die from maternal causes. At the prospect of those children growing up without a mother.

• When you add to that, the fact that Blacks are arrested at a rate of five times that of Whites and more than six times more likely to be incarcerated. Which increases the possibility of our Black children being left with no mother and no father, placed in a system that is over worked and understaffed. I’ve shed some tears.

• I’ve shed tears at other police involved killings, arrests, and harassment over something that should’ve simply been a ticket, but because of bias, bigotry and prejudice, it went a different way.

But when I read the 56th division of the Psalms, I learned that God keeps track of our sorrows, that he bottles our tears and records each one in his book.

• I’ve shed tears when I’ve seen the images of people leaving the hospital being reunited with loved ones after being at the brink of death, making it through COVID.

• I shed tears of relief at the guilty verdicts of Derek Chauvin. Only the second time in history a MN police officer has been convicted for killing someone and the first time for killing a Black person.

• Thankfully, I’ve shed tears of laughter at something I saw online, something my son shared or something my granddaughter did.

• I even shed some tears at the presence of the Holy Spirit as I petitioned God in prayer.

Today I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news. It will be up to you to decide which you will choose.

Turn with me to the last book of the Bible, we’re going to Revelation 21:4-8.

Rev 21:4-8 NRSV - He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” 5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

The title of today’s message is “God Will Wipe Away Your Tears”.

The book of Revelation is filled with symbolism, visions, prophecy, inspiration, and of course revelation. It is one of five New Testament books penned by John, the others being the Gospel of John and 1st, 2nd and 3rd John. John was an apostle, an evangelist, and a prophet, he was also identified as the disciple whom Jesus loved. It was John that Jesus instructed to take care of his mother Mary when he was on the cross.

John penned the book of Revelation while exiled to the island of Patmos. It was written as a letter to go the seven churches of Asia minor, those being the church at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

It was a letter in which God was telling the churches what he was pleased with and what he wasn’t. It’s a letter which gives us insight into what God wants and expects from his children. What God wants is no mystery to be solved, it’s not a moving target, it’s right there in the book, the book sometimes referred to as basic instructions before leaving earth, the Bible.

Revelation is a letter which tells of death, disaster, and destruction. It also speaks of trials, travail, and triumph. And then there’s judgment, justice, and shouts of jubilation. It tells of horses, harlots and a new heaven.

Chapter 21 begins with John telling us he sees a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. He writes of the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

When you imagine the pageantry of a wedding, there is so much beauty, but all the guests await the entrance of the bride, with the expectation that she will more beautiful than anything else in the room. A sight that brings tears to many, but most especially to the groom.

A time when we will finally reach perfection, when we can be holy as God is holy, when we will be filled with all the love, honour and delight in God and none of the doubt we sometimes experience in this life.

John hears a voice telling him and he tells us that God has made his home among mortals and he dwells with them. Can you imagine God,

• the creator of the universe and everything in it, who was before the beginning

• the I Am that I Am

• the all-knowing

• all-powerful

• ever—present God

That God has chosen to make his home and dwell with us.

• We who are sinners,

• we who have hurt him time and time again

• we who have turned our backs on him

• we who have denied him

• we who have refused to acknowledge him

• we who just can’t seem to get it right

Yet God has chosen to be our God and claimed us as his people. He is with us and that same God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

Do remember when you were a little kid and you would fall down and hurt yourself, and you ran crying to your mother? Remember when she would wipe the tears from your face, gently brush the dirt away from the wound, blow on it as she cleaned it, then bandaged you up, gave you hug and sent you back out to play? Or when you experienced your first heartbreak as a teenager, she would listen to you vent about how stupid the offending party was, wipe your tears once more and perhaps a bowl of ice cream was the bandage to begin to heal your heartache.

Well just like that, God will wipe every tear from your eyes. Can you even imagine a world without death? Death will be no more because Jesus conquered death, the last enemy, when he died, was buried and walked out of hell with the keys to death, hell and the grave. There will be a new heaven and a new earth where there is no more death.

There will be no more mourning, crying and pain? All the trials and tribulations of the first world are gone away, we’re talking about a new heaven and a new earth; one with no more tears because God will wipe them away.

The one seated on the throne said I am making all things new and instructed John to write it down, write it down because the words are trustworthy, we can rely on what these words are telling us. Not only are they trustworthy they’re true. “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent.”

When we see trouble all around us, we must remember that God is still in control, that he has made us a promise and that his promises are yea and amen. What he says will come to pass, in his time.

Not only that, God told John to tell us, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.” There was nothing before God and there will be nothing after God. God is, was and always will be and he said he is the same yesterday, today and forever. God will leave nothing unfinished, he will perfect, make perfect, complete that which is concerning us.

God said, to the thirsty he will give water, blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness. For those who desire righteousness the same way the body desires and needs food and water, his water is a gift that comes from the spring of the water of life. You’ve heard the stories of those searching for the fountain of youth, well when you drink this water you will inherit all things including eternal life.

Verse seven says, “Those who conquer will inherit these things and I will be their God and they will be my children.” Who are those who conquer and what are they conquering? Those who conquer are

• the ones who have conquered the flesh,

• who have chosen to strive to live a life of holiness,

• who’ve not bought in to what the world says is ok,

• who’ve not succumbed to what the flesh desires,

• who’ve not given in to what the eyes see,

• who’ve not given way to what the mind thinks

• and who’ve not caved into what the sin nature craves.

It’s those who don’t subscribe to

• if it feels good do it – instead they possess the wherewithal to resist temptation.

• love the one you’re with – instead they honor if the one you’re with is not yours

• you only live once – when in reality they know there is an eternity and a second judgment

• the heart wants what it wants so follow your heart – when Jeremiah tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it.”

• Give in to your cravings – when what you crave goes against what God says we can or should have. And if I could just bring it to an earthly application, we can see that by giving into our cravings we are a nation with the greatest number of overweight, obese and morbidly obese people. It’s time to exercise some control and if necessary, rebuke your cravings.

We must know without a shadow of a doubt that we are conquerors, we must know we will inherit the things of God and that will be children of God.

I said I had good news and bad news, well here’s the bad news. In today’s church environment of name it and claim it, prosperity preaching and in an effort to just encourage the people we have failed to tell the rest of the story. We fail to tell the people about the consequences of unrepentant sin. In the old days they would call it fire and brimstone preaching if you dared mention hell. This neglect has led some to believe there is no hell and God loves us too much to send us to hell.

Well first let me say, God sendsno one to hell. He gives us the freewill to choose our own destiny. Hell was created when Lucifer didn’t just desire to be like God, he desired to be God and was kicked out of heaven. Misery loves company and his goal now, is to take as many as he can with him in the end. Satan is a pretender. He’ll make think he loves you; he’ll make you believe he wants to bless you, you may even acquire fame and fortune, but what good is it for a man or woman to gain the whole world and lose their own soul.

Most everyone has heard the old adage, you can’t take it with you, well that is referring to material things but what will cross over is your soul. It’s your soul you need to ensure has conquered so that you may inherit the things that come with a drink from the spring of the water of life.

Now here’s what you need to know, for those who may be on the fence, for those who don’t want to believe, I need to tell you something. In verse eight of this 21st chapter of Revelation, God told John to write, and God told me to preach,

• But as for the cowardly or fearful — that would be those who are afraid to take a stand, afraid to profess Jesus as Lord

• for the faithless or unbelieving — that is those who refuse to believe that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, that he was born of a virgin, died, was buried, rose again and ascended back to the right hand of the Father. Those who turn away or turn back at the difficult times

• for the polluted or the abominable — those who act in direct opposition to the design and will of God

• for the murderers — those who take a life without cause or outside the confines of war

• for the fornicators — those who have sex outside the bonds of marriage

• for the sorcerers — those who practice incantations, divination, and witchcraft

• for the idolaters — those who worship other things or people instead of, more than or before God

• for all liars — there is no little white lie, a lie is a lie and those who lie are liars

This is a very specific list, and this verse is very specific about their place. After giving us the list, the Scripture says, “… their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. What this is telling us is there will be another death far worse than the first with greater terrors and agonies of eternal death, to die and always be dying. And that is what those who have not chosen heaven have chosen, there is no in between.

So you see, when we die, that’s not the end, it’s merely a pause, a segway to the next portion or chapter of our lives, the one where we will spend eternity. It’s a pause where we will hear depart from me you worker of iniquity, I know you not, or well done thou good and faithful servant enter now into thy glory, and indeed what a glorious day that will be.

It’s why John told us in the 14th chapter of this same book that, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on… they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” Only what you do for Christ will last. Why are you doing what you do? Your motive, your motivation matters.

Are you doing it to hear or see your name in the thank yous? Are you doing it to see your name on a plaque? Are you doing it to memorialize your name or your family name? Would you do it, if no one knew it was you? Would you give it if you got nothing in return aside from the joy of giving? What is your motivation.

Our focal passage begins with God will wipe away every tear, that in itself is cause for rejoicing. We can rejoice that Jesus took on our sin, he took on our sorrows, he took on the torment that should’ve been for us; the punishment we deserved, he even went to hell so that too would be conquered, for us.

Those who die in Christ don’t have to be afraid, and you don’t have to mourn the way the world mourns for your loved ones who die in the Lord, while you will indeed mourn their absence from you, in time, you can rejoice in their presence with the Lord, for to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

In time, God will wipe away your tears, He will turn your mourning into dancing and you mustn’t stay silent, you must tell of the goodness of the Lord. For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endures to all generations. How can it endure if you’re not willing to tell?

In time, God will wipe away your tears and you will understand that weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Now that’s not to say that what you’re going through will only last one night, but it is to encourage you that eventually morning will come and with it your joy. And just when you thought you made it through, there are days you may feel down and just like day turns into night the morning will come again and bring with it your joy.

In time, God will wipe away your tears, your days of sorrow will come to an end. God will comfort you and you will be able to rejoice.

When you feel like you’ve lost everything, God will wipe away your tears and you can say like Job, "I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!”

When you feel helpless, God will wipe away your tears and you can praise him for his power, provision, and protection.

When you feel like a lost child wandering through life alone, God will wipe away your tears and be lamp unto your feet and a light unto your pathway.

When life overwhelms you, God will wipe away your tears and let you know there is help and there is hope. He wants you to know you have a way out, a way in and a way through and that he provided that plan before the world began. He knew you’d need a Savior to provide you a way out of your sin, a way into heaven and a way through the fire that would threaten to destroy you. And the best news is, he provided it as a gift for the asking.

Now the only question left to be answered is will you accept the gift? Will you pray this pray with me? Lord I know I’m a sinner, please forgive me. I believe Jesus is the Son of God, that he died for my sins and now sits are the right hand of the Father and is praying for me. I want Jesus to come into my heart and be Lord of my life. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

If you prayed that prayer for the first time welcome to the family, please go to our website at www.lovechristianctr.org to get all the information about our ministry, the days and times of our services, the zoom information to join us, how to contact us and tell us of your great decision and if you’re so led, how to sew a financial seed into this ministry.

God sees the tears you cry and he will wipe them away, if you let him.