What Is Heaven? (Revelation 21:1-8)

VIDEO

 What Is Heaven? (Revelation 21:1-8)

GIST: Heaven is God’s transformative grace fully realized: His people in His presence experiencing His love forever.

Welcome back to our study in Revelation. After taking December off to focus our hearts on Jesus’ incarnation, we’re picking up with, well, the end of our study… of the end ☺️. Throughout this journey together (and it has been a journey), we’ve seen that Revelation was never meant to be a mystery to solve but rather a revealing of Jesus to us. It gives us a picture of who He is and how He will work in a broken world until He returns to judge sin, destroy death, and redeem His people. We’ve watched this unfold in a series of images circling back through the same “kinds” of events over and over…until chapter 20 where Jesus’ return was depicted for the final time showing Him victorious over everything. Now, we’re in the last two chapters and what do we see? Heaven. 

So much of these final chapters flows around a driving message: Jesus is coming back, and it will be wonderful for those who have accepted His rescue and Hell for those who have chosen to run from Him. Nonetheless, I just want to walk through what we see specifically in the first eight verses of chapter 21 this morning. Before I say anything else, let’s just look at that→

“1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." 5 And He who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also He said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." 6 And 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 from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be His God and He will be My son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."”

A lot of this imagery is probably very familiar to many of us. However, let’s not forget we’re still in the same book we’ve been studying for over a year together. These images are John putting what he saw into the words he knew. We have to be careful not to lose the message by trying to make the pictures work with our understanding of how things should be. I know we all want to know what Heaven is going to look like, and what our bodies will look like, and what we’ll spend our time doing. However, that’s not the kind of picture we get. Instead, we’re told more impactful truths like this (and here’s our gist☺️)→ Heaven is God’s transformative grace fully realized: His people in His presence experiencing His love forever. Let’s break that down.

I. Heaven

New? Ok, before we get into the message portion, I do want to at least address the elephant in the room. Maybe you’re asking this question. Maybe you’ve never thought about it. However, since I imagine someone is, we need to talk about it for a second. This passage, which we’re reading on New Years Day by the way ☺️, starts by saying John saw a new heaven and a new earth.  “1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.”

So, what does that mean? Full disclosure: I don’t completely know, and I don’t think anyone with integrity will say they do. There’s been lots of speculation. The prevailing thoughts are that either the world will be completely destroyed and then remade, or the world will just be cleaned up, or (something between the two—and this is where I fall right now) something inbetween—the world will be completely transformed or redeemed. This seems consistent with the message of Scripture and other passages like 2 Peter 3:6-7 where Peter compares Jesus’ return and final judgment to the flood. “6 Through these the world of that time perished when it was flooded. 7 By the same word, the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.” (CSB). What happened then? Was the world completely destroyed and then remade? Not really, but it was completely changed. For that reason, I would say it seems like the same kind of thing is going to happen. Heaven will be earth completely transformed: made new, made perfect. Later, we’re going to see Garden of Eden imagery—which is helpful. I’ve said this as often as I can in this study, but we have to fight the sterile white room image of Heaven. Heaven will be vibrant and alive in a way the best parts of this fallen-creation only hint at! 

It will be the world with no sea. Not necessarily because there won’t be vast bodies of water in Heaven, or Jesus had enough of it the first time ☺️, but because the sea symbolized chaos and destruction in the ancient world. Heaven will be a clear absence of that! The old way of sin has passed away. Life is new. 

Ok, so that’s the elephant. Here’s the meat. Heaven, whatever it will “look like”, will be→ 

II. Grace Fully Realized

 “2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

Here we’re coming back to two pictures used throughout this letter to describe God’s people: His Bride and His City. Both of these are used to represent→

His People in His Presence. The Church is depicted as the Bride of Christ. Why? Because He loves us. Because He took Hell in our place to present us blameless before Himself that we might be with Him forever. Because only the intensity of a strong marriage relationship even comes close to the level of love Jesus has for us (and it’s just a shadow of His love!). What about the city? Specifically, we’re called Jerusalem, the Holy City, the place where God met with His people. If we had any question about what this means, God’s voices thunders it home for us→ “3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.”” Heaven is being with Jesus. It is the ultimate place of safety and belonging…because we’re with Him! If that doesn’t excite us, then we’re probably not really looking forward to the reality of Heaven, and we probably need to look at the state of our relationship with Him now.

Heaven is His people in His presence→

Experiecing His Love. I don’t think we need much commentary on these verses: “4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Being in the presence of Jesus is the end of all suffering! Why? Because the God of the universe will personally wipe away every tear! We’ve seen this before in Revelation (Chapter 7), and it gets me every time. I have been around a lot of hurting over the past few weeks. In fact, I tend to be around heart ache most of the time. The thought of Jesus taking away pain and death, the thought of no reason for morning and final tears being wiped away… This is love! 

All the hurting will be taken away because, as Brett Davis put it, Jesus came burning away all that isn’t love! Look at where these verses go next. In fact, we’ll look at this as our→ 

TAKEAWAYS

(But don’t get too excited…because these are kind of like points this morning ☺️.)

“5 And He who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also He said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." 6 And 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 from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be His God and He will be My son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."”

1. This is true. The God of the universe, the one reigning on His sovereign throne, says: “Trust Me! I’m the Alpha and Omega.” Life is from Him and for Him, and He’s offering life withoutpayment for all who conquer. That conquering, as we’ve seen throughout this letter, is all about clinging to the conqueror. Those whohave been rescued receive etneral life without payment…because Jesus has already paid!

2. We can look forward to a day when His love is all we see. Again, I love how Brett Davis defines the wrath of God: His righteousness burning away all that isn’t love. Life will be defined by Jesus alone. There will be no brokenness here.

3. So…how does this impact your prayers? I know that might seem like an out of place question, but this really struck me, actually while thinking about these verses in the shower… ☺️. When Jesus taught us to pray, He said to ask: “Your kingdom come Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Think about what this means in light of all we’ve seen about Heaven so far. How is His will done in Heaven? 

This would be praying that God be seen and known as sovereign. When we pray, we should ask for His control to be known and trusted. 

This would also be praying that souls would be saved. Heaven is full of those rescued by His grace because “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9). He isn’t back yet because He’s still saving people! 

This would be praying that God burn away all that isn’t love. Is it ok to pray for pain to go away? That’s what it will be like in Heaven. This should give us strength to ask Him to be who we know He is. It should also give us confidence that He only ever acts according to His nature, so even the things we don’t understand can’t be outside of His loving sovereignty.

4. So…how does this impact your life? “7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be His God and He will be My son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” What defines you? If you’re defined by sin, you’re running headlong away from grace and toward the Hell you’re choosing. If you’re defined by His rescue and His conquering of sin in your life, you’re heading toward Heaven. No, you won’t be perfect. But where is you heart? Are you striving to live for Him because you know you’re loved and love Him?

PONDERING... Have You Seen The Truth? (Psalm 19:1-11)

VIDEO

Have You Seen The Truth? (AM Sermon Notes)

GIST: Nature reveals His glorious power, and the Bible reveals His glorious grace.

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 19: 1-11

This morning we’re coming to our first psalm in our second “Summer in the Psalms”. I’m excited to be back to this study. Psalms is the prayer book of the Bible. These are also the songs Jesus would have grown up singing. They’re beautiful and heart wrenching all at the same time. I was immensely blessed by our study of them together last summer and look forward to what they hold for us as we move into this one. (On a fun note, this is technically the third summer you’ve had to put up with my preaching. I apologize wholeheartedly for that ☺️.)

The psalm we’re coming to this morning is not tremendously long. However, I still want to take it one section at a time. In fact, we’re not even going to get through the whole psalm today. Originally, that was my plan. But after finishing up my notes yesterday morning (yes, that happens sometimes...maybe often☺️), I realized doing so might force me to rush through some of these beautiful truths. I didn’t want to do that to you, so we’ll just take the first 11 verses this morning.

What we’ll see addressed here is a question that so many people ask in our world today: can we know God? Too often in our society, the conclusion people draw is a “no” because either they don’t believe there is a God, or they believe if there is one, He is unknowable. Sometimes people will say “yes”. But that yes might be a hyper-spiritualized “look inside yourself and find the god within” kind of yes. Both of those responses are missing the mark. This psalm, however, takes the same stance as Jesus. The stance we should all want to follow. We can know God because He’s chosen to reveal Himself to us. Knowing that, should break you in the best way possible.

Our gist for this morning is really the outline for this first part of the psalm itself: Nature reveals His glorious power, and the Bible reveals His glorious grace. Next week, we’ll talk more about what kind of reaction this should then elicit from us, but for this morning those two truths should give us plenty to chew on. Let’s pray and then dive in!  

I. NATURE REVEALS HIS GLORIOUS POWER

Let’s break down the first 6 verses here. "1 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” David grew up as a shepherd. He spent a lot of time outside watching over his sheep, gazing up into the sky. Drawing on this experience, he opens this psalm by saying, in essence, you can’t look up at the majesty and vastness of the sky and miss it proclaiming that there is someone bigger behind all of this. He says nature declares God’s glory. In this context, we’re talking about the sheer power and strength of God. He also says nature proclaims God’s handiwork meaning… He displayed His power by making all of this! I know believing God created the universe and everything in it can be an unpopular viewpoint sometimes. However, people far smarter than me can walk you through just how improbable it is that we even exist on this planet (see the link at the end of this message). If we were just a fraction closer or farther away from the sun, it wouldn’t work. If the oxygen to hydrogen levels weren’t balanced like they are, it wouldn’t work. If the earth didn’t rotate at the speed it rotates, it wouldn’t work. You can look at all of that and the fact that even this broken version is absolutely beautiful and believe that it happened by random chance. But it’s far more believable that this perfectly structured world is the perfect design of the perfect creator.

That’s how this psalm opens, and the first 6 verse develop that thought. Look at nature, and you’ll see there is a powerful God behind it all.

Let’s keep moving through next few verses. “2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.” This revelation is continual. Night and day speak to the truth of God’s existence and design. These reminders aren’t just occasional ones you might miss if your timing isn’t just right!

“3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. 6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.” The ESV words verse 3 a little differently than most, you might have noticed that if you’re reading along with another translation. However, the core thought is unchanged. The world is not literally speaking words, yet you can still hear what it’s saying loud and clear. It’s beautiful, and it’s proclaiming the creator of this beauty!

I love verses 5-6 which poetically describe the excitement with which the sun performs its designed task, being compared to groom on the day of his wedding or an athlete before a competition. This speaks to the boldness we see in the witness of nature, but it should also be a little convicting for us. Are we that excited about fulfilling our designed purpose? That might be another sermon for another day, but it’s worth your time to think about it. How excited are you to get up every morning and reflect Jesus to the world?

So, we see his opening point. Nature points us to a powerful, creator God. But that’s not enough. Knowing that there is some God out there who is majestic is an entry point, but that truth won’t save you. That’s not the same thing as knowing God. Which is why we need point two→

II. THE BIBLE REVEALS HIS GLORIOUS GRACE

Toward the end of John’s gospel account, we get a glimpse of what eternal life is all about: John 17:3 “3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Scripture exists to point us to Jesus. We were made by Him. We were made for Him. We were made to be with Him. And through His Word, He tells us exactly how we can be with Him and shows us who He is! Remember, Jesus wasn’t just a messenger for God; He was God in human flesh revealing Himself to us! That’s the truth that is developed in this next section. Nature tells you there is a God. Scripture shows you His grace by revealing the truth about Himself. This is grace because He didn’t have to reveal it, but chose to. Why? Because He loves us. Let’s break down what these next few verses say about Scripture. You’ll notice a pattern here. There will be a description of what the Scripture is followed by a description of what it does.

“7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;” The law here refers to the whole of inspired Scripture. It’s interesting that the word LORD is used in this section. This is the way English translations typical write the name Jehovah or Yahweh, which was how the Jews referred to the name one true God. Early in the psalm, the word used for the “glory of God” was the more general term for deity. Here, though, David makes it clear that God is not just general, but specific and revealed through His Word, which is perfect.

The Bible is faced with constant scrutiny. Yet, it has stood the test of time. So often, we hear people say that there are contradictions in the Bible, and it cannot be trusted, at least not in its current and corrupted state. We’ve heard that so often, I think some of us just believe that to be the case. In fact, I’ve had conversations with Christians who have grown up in church and still make remarks that reflect this belief—like it’s just a fact we have to accept. I think that’s why we’re sometimes afraid to share Jesus with our non-believing friends, because we don’t think we can defend the Bible against their accusations. Let me just make two quick points here. First, most people who claim that there are contradictions in the Bible, also claim this because they’ve always heard that is the case and don’t, in fact, know of any themselves. Second, the fact of the matter is most alleged contradictions can be resolved by looking at the entire passage in context rather than trying to isolate individual phrases, or by looking at what the actually text is saying instead of just looking at older translations that use English words in a way we don’t use those English words today. Please get this if you get nothing else this morning: there are no contradictions in the teachings of Scripture. Period. It’s flawless.

And this flawless word revives us. It brings life where it is most needed, in our souls. I’ve said this often, but we really need to remember this. We need the Bible to speak to our hearts because only God’s Word has the power to change us. Our friends and family members and colleagues and...everyone else we might have an opportunity to serve need the same truth. You don’t need to come up with clever or helpful things to say to help them. You need to be in the Word, so it flows out of you when you’re talking to them because only it can make the difference.

I know I spent a long time on that first one, so let’s keep trekking here ☺️.

“the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;” The testimony, the witness of God’s Word is the answer. How many of you are wise in your own strength here? None of us. We all need direction. In fact, just last week we were talking about how we’re all looking for our purpose, looking for what we should be doing and how we should be living. We’re not naturally wise, but we are naturally seeking to know more. God’s Word is trustworthy and makes us wise because it conforms us to the wisdom of God! I quote James on this all the time because I need this reminder! “5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” (James 1:5)

“8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;” The teachings in God’s Word, His instructions and requirements, are right. They’re good and straight. Following them brings true and lasting joy. That doesn’t mean it will be easy. That doesn’t even mean everything in this world will then go well. What it does mean is that following His steps will lead us down the path we were meant to take and toward the life we were made for. His directions also call us to repent and turn to Him which leads to our salvation! We’re made to be rejoicing people. His Word calls us to a salvation that should overwhelm us with everlasting joy!

“the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;” What He tells us is clear. We might muddle it up, but that is never His doing. He tells us what we should do, and taking His Word seriously clarifies how we should live.

“9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;” I feel like this is the most unique way of referring to God’s Word here. The phrase “fear of the LORD” refers to the reverence and awe that come from knowing Him for who He is. The Bible reveals Him to us and, if taken seriously, should produce this in us. This, His Word and what it produces in us, is clean. It’s not tainted by the sin that taints everything else in this fallen world. And, it never fades. It will last forever. The same is true of those who are transformed by this Word. When we give Jesus control of our lives, the relationship we have with Him will never end.

“the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.” The teachings found here are both truth and completely righteous. That is, they are how we should be living.

“10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” His Word is precious. It’s more valuable than worldly wealth and has a more lasting effect than even the sweetest of honey. I love honey and having money can be useful (not that I am speaking from personal experience, but I have heard people talking about it☺️). Both, however, pale in comparison with the eternal worth of God’s Word. It changes everything! →

“11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” This makes it personal. His Word is wonderful, and it’s wonderful to me. It warns me of my sin and shows me the grace of His salvation. That’s the reward. Jesus. Being His and walking with Him! We look at nature, and we that there is a great God. Yet, it’s in His word that we see not only our state as sinners who are destined for Hell, but sinners who need a savior—a savior who came, and lived the perfect life, and died, enduring Hell for us, and rose again that we might be with Him forever. It’s here that we see where we are meant to be. It’s here that we meet with the God for whom we were made!

TAKEAWAYS

Now you probably see why I had to stop here for today. There is a lot for us to chew on in these first 11 verses. Let’s just end with these thoughts.

1. Nature reveals the truth of God’s glorious power, so everyone is without excuse. Paul puts it better than I could in Romans 1:18-23 “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,[g] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” God has revealed Himself to each of us in His creation. Denying it doesn’t make it go away. Are you blown away by His majesty?

2. The Bible reveals the truth of God’s glorious grace, so you’re without excuse. If you’re here today, you’ve seen more than just the general revelation of God in nature. You’ve heard the truth of Him in His Word. It’s beautiful and convicting and real...and it’s for you. So→

3. How are you reacting to this truth right now? Do you see the beauty and majesty of His creation? Do you take seriously His life-changing Word? How much of a priority is this word that is right, and pure, and reviving, and joy bringing, and directing…? If Jesus is your Lord, then His Word will direct your paths. Is that how you’re living? In opening, we asked the question, can you know God? The answer is, “Yes!” Do you today?

Additional Resource:

Skip Heitzig on Psalm 19

PONDERING... Are Hardships The End of Grace? (Acts 8:1-8)

VIDEO

Are Hardships The End of Grace? (AM Sermon Notes)

GIST: No. ☺️ Even when life is devastating, God’s grace is glorious.

SCRIPTURE: Acts 8:1-8

The last two weeks, we’ve considered Stephen’s influence as a man dedicated to telling people about Jesus and how this led to his arrest and eventual death. This week, we’re back to our smaller passage sampling, as we come to the immediate aftermath of Stephen’s murder in the first eight verses of chapter eight.

1 And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city.

I wrote down a title for this message on Wednesday. At that point, I was still praying about whether or not to divide up this passage. I had considered taking a larger section of the chapter and looking at all the implications of the continuous story presented here, but I couldn’t shake the need to address this first section alone because, simple as it is, the message it has for us is so vital and so timely. In fact, as the week progressed, it seemed every day I continued to be struck by this same truth. I was confronted with heartbreak after heartbreak both in direct interactions and as I scrolled through my newsfeed. Not to get your hopes up too much, but this might be one of the shortest sermons I’ve ever preached here. Because I just one to look a the driving truth presented in these eight verses. When our lives seem to crumble, does that mean God’s grace is gone? I could have just made the gist, “no”, but for the sake of development I’ll add: Even when life is devastating, God’s grace is glorious.

I. LIFE CAN BE DEVASTATING

Let’s start by just break down the picture we’re presented in the first three verses. Like we grew accustomed to seeing in Mark’s gospel, we have a little sandwich passage here. It opens with Saul, then looks at the Church, then comes back to Saul, then goes back to the Church. Therefore, I’m going to lumped those layers together. First, we see there is a→

Deliberate and Publicly Sanctioned Attack (1a, 3)  Verse one tells us that “Saul approved of [Stephen’s] execution.” Then, verse 3 tells us he was “ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.”

Saul is about to become the central figure in this book. He is a man God will so completely transform that he will be used to take the gospel all the way to Rome. Talk about glorious grace! But before we can appreciate that transformation, we have to wrap our minds around where he started. He’s is the driving force behind this relentless persecution. We’ve seen the church being persecuted before this, but it was on a much smaller scale because the religious elite feared the people. Remember back in chapter five when the apostles were arrested and then miraculously freed by an angel? When the religious leaders came to get them back, it says, “26 Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.” (Acts 5:26) The early Church was so well liked by the people who were witnessing God’s grace amongst them, that the religious leaders were afraid to be too open in their opposition. What’s changed? Stephen’s stoning. When Stephen was falsely accused of ultimate blasphemy and then violently murdered as a criminal, public opinion began to shift. Now, this zealous pharisee, embolden and enraged, begins a deliberate and devastating conquest.

One commentary I read pointed to the word translated ravaging having the same root as the effects of a war or the tearing of a wild beast (Williams). It means to undo, ruin, and defile. This is not just telling people to stop doing something. He’s going into to homes and dragging men and women to prison.

Because of this, when we see the church part of this sandwich, we’re presented with→

Fears and Tears (1b, 2) (Not to be confused with the 80’s pop band…☺️) I know it’s easy to feel a sort of numbness when reading passages like this because it’s not our reality right now. But try to put yourself into this situation. Imagine how terrified they were. At any moment, they could be thrown into prison. And what next? Well, what had they just seen happened to Stephen? Their lives were at risk here, so they had to run.

Look at the second part of verse 1, “1b And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” They were afraid for their lives, so they fled. Now, some stayed, specifically the apostles, and there likely would have been others, as well. Yet, many ran. Remember, a lot of these people already had nothing, and many who did have had been selling what they had to help those who didn’t. They’re largely desolate, and they’re scared.

We also see they’re heartbroken. Verse two is an isolated example of this heartbreak, “2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.” I want to make two notes here. First, this would have been illegal. Stephen was killed as a criminal, and you weren’t allowed to publicly mourn a criminal, but they did it anyway. This is brave. But secondly, this was warranted. I listened to Skip Heitzig again last week, and he made a point of mentioning that the “tears here were not wrong”. Yes, they knew Stephen was with Jesus, and they could rejoice in that! And they should rejoice in that! Yet, the loss for them immediately was still real. Weeping over the loss of a loved one, even when we know they’re in Heaven, is not weakness. It’s the natural expression of the love we feel for them. No, we should not allow that mourning to stop us from rejoicing in God’s grace, or looking forward to what He can and will still do in our lives. Nonetheless, weeping is not sin. We can weep at the feet of the Savior who provides all comfort (Matthew 5:4) because He is our hope!

Ok, before we move on to the next point, let me just make→  

Two Quick Observations: 1- This is reality: life will sometimes be a struggle. I know for several people in this room today, that point hits home because this week has been really rough. 2- This passage is the reality of many of our brothers and sisters across the world. Specifically this week, news has come out of the persecution of Chinese Christians being on the rise. Hundreds have been arrested just this week as many of us were most concerned about making sure we have all our Christmas presents wrapped. I’m not saying that to try and sound bitter. It’s just a reality that is so easy to ignore because it’s not ours right now. Nonetheless, it’s a reality we must remember because they need our faithful support and our diligent prayers.

II. GOD’S GRACE IS GLORIOUS

So, we’ve seen the devastation. Where’s the grace? Verses 4-8 focus in on what happens immediately after they are run out of their comfort zone. We know they were terrified and heartbroken. But look at this→

Reaction (4) “4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” They didn’t just run and hide! They’re lives here on earth were at jeopardy because of the gospel, but like we observed in Stephen last week, they realized that those without Jesus were in a more serious and eternal danger, so they preached the word. They weren’t pastors, they were just ordinary proclaimers who went out sharing Jesus with those they encountered!

Guys, this is just flat awesome! When we face devastation, is that our immediate reaction? Do we wallow, or do we worship? Let that sink in.

Also, remember the outline Luke provided for his book in 1:8? Jesus had given the apostles a commission, “8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” They had received this power, but so far where had they witnessed? Just Jerusalem. Now, the Church is being persecuted and what happens as a result? Look back at verse one, “...And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria…” And by the end of this chapter, we’ll see the first convert to Christianity from the “end of the earth”, as well!  Jesus used this persecution to expand His grace! (Note: I just realized as I was typing these notes that 1:8 is where it is commanded, and 8:1 is where it begins to be fulfilled! Not significant. Just fun☺️.)

Life is hard, but Jesus is still God, and people still need to hear about Him. That’s their reaction. Now, let’s look at the→

Result (5-8) After telling us what they’re doing, we’re given a specific example of the gospel being spread! “5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.” Philip, like Stephen, was one of the seven men chosen to help with the distribution of food to the widows. Now, he’s powerfully proclaiming the gospel to the Samaritans. Man, there’s so much we could point out here, but let me just make these observations.

1- These were the “wrong kind of people”. The Jews and Samaritans had a very rocky history. The Samaritans were viewed as “half-breeds” because they had intermarried with Gentiles. Needless to say, they didn’t interact. Yet, Philip went to them and shared the gospel with them! The gospel breaks barriers!

2- God is confirming Philip in the same way to them as Jesus and the apostles had been in Jerusalem. Just like Jesus and the apostles, Philip is healing people and casting out demons pointing to God’s work amongst these people. And→  

3- People were being saved! We don’t see it in this verse, but check at verse 12, “12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.” Amen!

And lastly we see this ultimate result, “8 So there was much joy in that city”(emphasis added). Verses 1-3 are filled with tears and dread, but the same events which lead to that heartache resulted in this joy! Why was there joy? Because lives were being transformed forever by Jesus! Hardship is not the end of God’s grace, but it can be a means of taking it even farther!

TAKEAWAYS

1. Hardships are still hard. They will still happen, and they will still hurt. This isn’t a call just to have a “stiff upper lip”, or just “tough it out”. Remember, they lamented Stephen. However, it is a call to remember→

2. Our suffering is never outside of God’s control. There is nothing that catches God off guard. There is no situation, no matter how dire, that causes Him to step back and say, “Well, I didn’t really see that one coming. Let me see if I can figure something out to try and fix this.” He is 100% sovereign, "28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). What’s that purpose? →

3. God uses even heartbreak to serve His ultimate heart-healing purpose. He is gracious. In the midst of the pain, remember this. In all of life, this should be our purpose, as well. Be about His business; tell people about the only One who can save them; and don’t wait for persecution to spur you to action!