SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE 24th June 2001.

A crowd was lining the edge of Union Quay peering into the waters.
A girl came out of a pub and asked blearily what they were doing.
It's the killer whales, she was told. A family of three had swum up the river
and were providing a free entertainment to the late night revellers
But not this girl. She was too cute to be taken in.
They were ball hopping or drunk
So she thought anyway, and looked for a cab home.
I wonder does she realise now what she missed
through not believing the report given her.

I wonder,
do we miss out on the wonder and the glories of the new heaven and earth
as told us in Revelation 21 -22
Like the girl, we are predisposed to not to believe
we are too busy having a good time, we are preoccupied with our own problems
or we are too suspicious, we think it's a only trick pie in the sky when you die

Like the dwarves in CS Lewis's 'The Last Battle'
we become so cynical and turned in on ourselves,
so supposedly pragmatic and realistic:
we dismiss what others tell us about the joy and beauty held out to us.
The dwarves think that they are shut in a dirty wooden shed
everyone else can see that they are in a grassy open space in the sunshine
Beautiful food and drink is offered
but they dismiss it as stale bread and stagnant water.

Is it like that for us and heaven?
We have been programmed to become so this worldly
that any report of a better life beyond this life is dismissed as a fable, a tale
and yet we are not that happy or fulfilled in the supposed realism of this life.
But there is something better
Let me tell you about that heavenly city:
by a series of negatives and positives from Revelation 21 & 22
NO SEA 21.1 '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.'

The sea here stands for all that is uncertain and unsafe.
You remember the storm on the sea of Galilee
when the disciples thought they would all drown
that's not going to happen in heaven: no sea, no storms.
Of course you and I like a sea view and the sea side
we like to see if there are any whales ...
but who of us would like to live on the sea?
It's fine to travel on a calm day to get from Cork to Swansea
but it's not a safe place
That is why there is no longer any sea in the heavenly city.
But a life of absolute certainty and solidity, no storms no shipwreck

NO SORROW 21.4
'God will wipe every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,
for the old order of things has passed away."
Isn't that such a tender picture?
God living among his people, will wipe away all tears.
The pain the grief that we all experience here has no place there
not that it is buried or denied, no, it is wiped away by a loving heavenly Father
The question is often asked: will I see my loved ones in heaven?
The Bible neither says No you won't nor Yes you will.
What we are pointed to is a relationship with God himself
which puts an end to all grief
and rises above our dearest earthly relationships

NO SANCTUARY, NO SPECIAL HOLY PLACE
There is no temple, no special place of worship,
because God dwells there right among his people
22 'I did not see a temple in the city,
because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.'
That repeats the promise of 21 .3
'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.
They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.'
What they looked for in the Old Testament is now a reality
There are no church buildings in heaven,
but plenty of worship and fellowship with God, every place , all the time

NO SUN
There is no sun or moon to shine
because the presence of the God who is light is all that is needed
21.23 'The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it,
for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.'
Just as Jesus said that he is the light of the world and whoever follows him
will not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.
The lamb, the sacrificed one is the lamp, the source of light.
Everything that is done or said in the new community
is under the light of the cross
in the knowledge that our sins is forgiven, that God does love us
and we are at peace with him

NO SECURITY MEASURES
21.25 'On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.'
Isn't this a terrible feature of modern life,
wherever there is anything pleasant and valuable
there the fences go up, security screens are in place, doors and gates locked
security cameras scan the approaches and panic buttons are wired in.
We are afraid in our everyday lives, perhaps sometimes with reason
but in the community of heaven there is no need for security measures
for there is nothing or no one to make us afraid.

NO SIN
21 27 'Nothing impure will ever enter it,
nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,
but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.'
All impurity is banished for ever
and we are relieved of that bias in our nature which pulls us down.
It reminds me of the old hymn: 'There is a city bright, closed are its gates to sin.
Naught that defileth, naught that defileth can ever enter in.'
How then can we who are defiled, dirty ever hope to enter?
'Saviour I come to thee, O Lamb of God I pray, Cleanse me and save me, Cleanse me and save me, wash all my sin away
Those who have trusted in Jesus Christ personally
may be sure that they are in the Lamb's book of life
that they are registered among those he will acknowledge s his own people

NO SEPARATION
Since there is nothing sinful or shameful there is no curse, no separation from God, nothing in between to destroy the blessing
22. 3 'No longer will there be any curse.
The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city,
and his servants will serve him.
4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.'
There is the essence of heaven in one phrase, to see God's face.
If the images of streets paved with gold and crystal streams do little for you
then focus on that one central idea, the joy of heaven is the joy of seeing Christ.
If that's what you look forward to, then be sure you are going to hevaen,
but if you have no desire to look at him face to face,
or perhaps even a fear and a shrinking from that
then you need to get back to the basics of Christian faith
that we need to confess our sin and turn to Christ
as the only who can and who will deliver us, who died for us,
and whom we should be excited that we shall one day meet.

This is the challenge and the choice of this closing chapter of the Bible
this is the promise of he who is
'the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.'

14 "Blessed are those who wash their robes,
that they may have the right to the tree of life
and may go through the gates into the city.'

To be a Christian truly is to wash your robes, to offer yourself for cleansing
through Christ the Lamb of God, the one perfect sacrifice.
Such people may have access to the tree of life and enter the city.
It is a wonderful reversal of Genesis 3
where Adam was excluded from approaching the tree of life
and from fellowship with God.
But not everyone washes their robes ...
15 'Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral,
the murderers, the idolaters
and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.'
Some people it seems
would rather have their filth than the joy of the presence of Jesus
but I pray that no one here makes that negative choice.
I trust rather that we all respond to this compelling invitation:
17 'The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!"
And let him who hears say, "Come!"
Whoever is thirsty, let him come;
and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.'

I trust that you have a longing for heaven today.
If you are not moved by the description in Revelation of the city
where there is no sun and no shadow, no sorrow and no sin,
no storm and no fear
if you are not moved to respond positively to this invitation
do go home and ask God to stir you to meet Christ by faith today
and have a growing thirst for heavenly fellowship

As those who have been raised with Christ
set your hearts on things above
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above not on earthly things
For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ who is your life appears
you also will appear with him in glory. (Col. 3.1-4)