You are listening to Radical with David Platt , a weekly podcast with sermons and messages from pastor , author and teacher David Platt . If you have a Bible and I hope you do let me invite you to open with me to John , chapter 3 . And while you're turning there , let me encourage you to pull out the notes that are in your worship guide be a guide for our time together this morning . I feel like I need to warn you from the beginning of our time together this morning that it's going to be a heavy time in God's Word . I think in many ways , this sermon should have preceded last week's . Last week , we came face to face with the question do you know for certain ? Are you absolutely 100% sure that when you die , you will go to heaven , sure that when you die , you will go to heaven ? I realize that many people and many people in this room hear that question and think there's a questionable premise behind it . That premise is that there is a heaven and there is an alternative , ie hell , and there are many people who would look at heaven or hell as more imaginary or fictional . Is it really possible that some people in this room will spend an eternity in a place called heaven , and is it really possible that some people who are in this room will spend an eternity in a place called hell ? And I realized that as soon as I even say that , that it is culturally inappropriate and really just unacceptable to a lot of people to even suggest the possibility that hell is a real place and that people will go there . Many people will go there and I think there's a lot of reasons why that's unacceptable or inappropriate in a lot of people's eyes and maybe even in many eyes across this room . I think the way the church has addressed both heaven and hell in the past has been abusive in many ways . The way we've talked about heaven is sitting on clouds with a bunch of harps singing songs . That is not a biblical picture of heaven . But then the biblical picture of hell has really been clouded out by some pretty strong emotional fire and brimstone preaching that is less biblical and more emotional than anything . I'm guessing that many of you have heard fire and brimstone kind of preaching . I remember one particular preacher who said about one particular service he was going to preach that night he guaranteed a certain percentage of people would be saved if they came to this service . So he came to the service and he , for an hour he yelled about how horrible and miserable the burn unit was at the local hospital and he scared the living daylights out of everybody who was there . And he got to the invitation and he said if you don't want to spend an eternity in the burn unit , then come down to the front . And so everybody was crying and come down to the front and then he got his percentage . That's how you do it .
Speaker 1You talk about the burn unit and obviously there's abuses like that , and then you take that and you combine it with the rampant pluralism of our day , this idea that , well , all kinds of different people have different religious beliefs , and it's arrogant , rude to say that one belief is right and another belief is wrong , and really arrogant and really rude to say that if you don't believe this certain thing , that you're going to spend an eternity in damnation . And that is prevalent even in the church . There are a lot of people in the church that would say how can we sing and worship a loving God and then talk about hell ? And there's no question that you can find a plethora of preachers on TV and you can read their books and you see them and you read them who say that we should not talk about hell in the church because it doesn't make people feel good . People don't want to talk about hell and really , when you get down to the core , you can't draw a good crowd if you talk about hell very often and you certainly can't pay all the bills if you're always talking about hell and so you don't want to talk about hell and , as a result , I am fully aware that there are many Christians and many preachers who would recommend to me this morning that we not talk about hell , especially two days before Christmas . People are going to hell . Have a Merry Christmas . It just doesn't fit together , just a disconnect there . But here's the deal In the most famous verse that ever came out of Jesus' mouth , he said for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life .
Speaker 1Don't miss this , jesus . Jesus himself , in the most famous verse about the love of God , somehow thought it significant enough to point out to us that it is God's love that rescues us from eternal perishing . And so , based on that and so based on that , I'm gonna step out from that which is culturally appropriate and do what even many people in the church would recommend and not do . And I'm gonna lead us in a discussion this morning about eternal life and eternal death , and you know what ? I'm just not going to apologize for that either .
Speaker 1I listen to a lot of preachers I respect and people I read who , when they start to talk about hell , get very apologetic and they say things like I know that hell is a difficult subject and I'd rather not talk about it . I wish we didn't have to talk about it , but since it's in the Bible , I guess I'm gonna have to . So we're gonna address it as if they're embarrassed about what God has called them to proclaim , and it makes no sense . It makes no sense when you really think about it . I mean , imagine with me , even if you're in this room this morning , you don't even believe in God . Just imagine with me for a second that there really is a heaven , and imagine there really is a place called hell . And imagine there really is a place of everlasting joy and there really is a place of everlasting suffering . Then would it make any sense , if that was true , for me to stand before you and say well , I'm sorry , I have to warn you about eternal agony and darkness and suffering . But since I have to , I'm gonna do it . So let's just kinda get through this thing . Absolutely not . I would stand before you and urge you with everything I've got . You don't want to go there . So that's what I'm going to do this morning To every person in this room , to every child .
Speaker 1Children , please listen this morning . I know this may not seem very important to you because you are young , but any one of us may die , at eight years old , at 18 years old or 88 years old , and we don't know when that will happen . And when we die , we will either go to eternal life with God or to eternal death and suffering . And you don't need to be afraid of that , because God has sent his son , jesus , to die on a cross for you so that you can spend eternal life with him . So I want to encourage you to listen very closely this morning so that you can walk away from here and look at your mom or your dad and say , mommy or Daddy , I need to know how to have eternal life in heaven .
Speaker 1Teenagers in this room , who Satan would want nothing more in the next few minutes than to fill your mind with thoughts about presents that you're going to get over the next couple of days , or what your friends and you did this weekend or are doing this week , teenagers who are engrossed in this relationship or that relationship , or looking forward to seeing this movie or playing that video game . I want to remind you that Satan will do everything he can to blind you from the things in this world that really matters by giving you those things , and so I want to encourage you to put those out of your mind , because when you go into eternity , it will not matter how many iPods you have or what DVDs you have , or what you've done with your friends on what weekends . The only thing that will matter in that day is what you've done with Christ for eternity . So please listen to every married man or woman , single man or woman in this room who is engrossed in the busyness of your careers , your families , your dreams , your desires and your plans and your stocks and your sports and your ball games and your politics and your restaurants games and your politics and your restaurants and your computers . I want to urge you to come aside from the world that is so consumed with the temporary that we are deafened to the reality of the eternal . I want to invite you to come aside from that and see the reality of the eternal for what it is . And to every older man and woman in this room , I want to urge you not to avoid the fast approaching , all important question of what will happen to your soul in a matter of years or months . I want to urge you to consider the reality of eternal life in God or eternal wrath under God and at the end of our time together . This morning I am going to challenge , invite kids and teenagers and men and women across this room for the first time to say I want eternal life in God . And I know , I know that there are people across this room that right now are thinking Dave , I've got this and this and this going on in my life right now and I've come to worship this morning . Morning and you're going to talk about hell . And if that's you , all I ask is that you just stick with me , because you stick with me and we see the reality of eternal death . We will not stop there . We will see the glorious reality of eternal life and the day that is coming when you will no longer have to worry about this or this or this thing going on in your life , because they will be taken care of completely . So stick with me . Stick with me and we'll see the beauty of eternal life
.
Speaker 1John , chapter three . We have spent the last few weeks looking backwards , looking in the Old Testament to help us understand this text . Now we're gonna look forwards . What I want us to do is I want us to look at the last words that Jesus says here in this conversation with Nicodemus , in John , chapter 3 , verses 16 through 21 . And then we're going to look at a variety of other places . We're not going to have time to turn to them all , though At different points . I'm going to just call out verses here and there , and I want to encourage you , as you take notes , to write those down so that you can go back and look at them if you want . We'll look at a couple of them , but not all of them . Look at John , chapter 3 . We'll start here , verse 16 through 21 .
Speaker 1Jesus says to Nicodemus God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son . That whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life . That whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life , for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world , but to save the world through him . Whoever believes in him is not condemned , but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only son . This is the verdict . Light has come into the world , but men loved darkness instead of light , because their deeds were evil . Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed . But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly by what he has done , that what he has done has been done through God .
Speaker 1Now here's the deal . In those verses we see a variety of contrasts . We see this contrast in verse 16 between eternal perishing and eternal life . It's a contrast . We see this contrast between condemnation those who stand condemned and salvation those who are saved by God . And we see this contrast between darkness and light . And so what I want us to do is I want us to see a very unpopular reality in our culture today that the Bible speaks to , and then I want us to contrast that with an unprecedented rescue that is absolutely eternally life-changing .
Speaker 1So let's start with the first part , the unpopular reality . And this is the unpopular reality that Jesus is communicating to Nicodemus and to all of us today . This is the reality . We are all perishing . We are all perishing Now . This is an unpopular reality because no one likes to think about how we're dying in sin . Does it make for good table conversation to talk about how we are dying and perishing ?
Speaker 1But Jesus doesn't shy away from this . In fact , he uses this word here . He uses it again in John , chapter 10 , verse 28, . And then uses it again in John chapter 17 , verse 12 . In fact , when you kind of take a step back and look at all that Jesus says in the Gospels Matthew , mark , luke and John and this picture of his life that we have , about 15% of his teachings , this picture of his life that we have , about 15% of his teachings about 15% deal either with judgment or hell you look at all of the gospels , you will see over 30 different instances , separate instances . This doesn't even include the overlapping that Matthew and Mark maybe talk about the same instance . You've got over 30 separate instances where Jesus is talking specifically about eternal judgment and hell . And even in this verse that's so soaked in God's love . It's what we think of when we think of the love of God .
Speaker 1Just two verses later , he's talking about condemnation . He says now , god did not send his son into the world to condemn the world , but to save the world through him . But listen to verse 18 . Whoever believes in him is not condemned , but whoever does not believe listen to this stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only son . Here's what Jesus is saying there . He didn't come into the world to condemn the world . What he's saying is the reality is that the world is already condemned . Condemnation is not just this future thing that's going to happen to any one of us someday out there . Instead , what Jesus is saying to Nicodemus is right now , apart from belief in him , you stand condemned , already condemned . We are perishing . The reality is , jesus is sounding the alarm to Nicodemus , a good , religious man that he's talking to , who has done all the good things in life , has a great family , goes to great church , so to speak . He's done it all . And Jesus is saying to him apart from belief in him , he stands condemned before God . And he is saying to him apart from belief in him , he stands condemned before God and he's saying you don't want to die in that state .
Speaker 1And here's a few of the things he says about our condemnation . Number one our condemnation is personal . It's personal the core issue in the New Testament , really in all of Scripture . But when Jesus is talking about judgment and condemnation , the core issue is that every single person , every person , stands before God , condemned for their sin . Don't miss this . This is not a sermon that is singling out any one particular person in this room . On the contrary , this is a sermon , a text , that is singling out every single person in this room .
Speaker 1All of us stand condemned before God for rebelling against Him , for choosing our way instead of God's way , for rejecting Him , for choosing to live life apart from him . All of us , all of us in this room , personally , not just the person beside you , in front of you , behind you , the person you think of when you think of sin , your life , personal condemnation that if you were to stand before God to give an account for your life , sin would be written all over it . All of us have rebelled against God , from the least in this room to the greatest , from the poorest to the richest , from the nicest to the meanest person in this room . We all , all stand condemned before God . Not only is our condemnation personal , second , our condemnation is total , total .
Speaker 1Now here's where we ask the question this idea of perishing isn't that a little extreme as a punishment for sin , to perish for eternity ? Any discussion of hell we always ask the question isn't that a little extreme ? To perish for all of eternity because of my sin ? Is God overreacting there ? Isn't that a little overkill ? What we've got to realize here is why perishing is equated with sinning against God . The reason is because God , in and of his nature , is infinitely good . He is infinitely great , he is infinitely holy , he is infinitely wonderful and he is infinitely worthy and therefore any insult to his worth , any insult to his holiness , any rebelling against him and rejecting against him is an infinite insult , an infinite rebellion , an infinite rejection and deserving of infinite punishment . And this is why Scripture makes very clear and there have been people all throughout church history that have tried to refute the picture that's here in Scripture , but it is all over it .
Speaker 1Scripture makes very clear that when you die , apart from Christ , condemnation is a reality and that doesn't mean you just go out of existence . It means that you remain for all of eternity under the wrath of God . Now , as soon as I say that , many people think well , what do you mean ? Look at the very end of this chapter , john , chapter 3 . Look at verse 36 . This chapter that gives us this great picture of God's love . This is one of the most sobering verses in all of the book of John , really all of the Bible . Listen to this , john 3 , 36 . Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life , but whoever rejects the Son will not see life , for God's wrath remains on him . God's wrath remains on him . It's the same picture .
Speaker 1Go over to the last book in the Bible . Go to Revelation , chapter 14 . Revelation is a book that's written by the same guy who wrote the Gospel of John . John's writing this . He's given us a picture of end times . There's a lot of discussion , a lot of debate about Revelation and what this imagery or that picture means . We don't even have to get into what it means . Just look at the picture that's being depicted here and you'll know . You'll know this picture of how God judges sin .
Speaker 1Look at Revelation , chapter 14 , verse 10 . This is context . Here is talking about he who worships God's apart from the one true God , who turns from the one true God . Listen to what it says verse 10 , revelation 14 , 10 . He too , listen to these words . He too will drink of the wine of God's fury , which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath . He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the lamb . Did you catch those words ? He will drink of the wine of God's fury , which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath . Can you imagine any stronger depiction of the fact that perishing is not just going out of existence , perishing is experiencing the wrath of God . His condemnation is total and not just total and personal . His condemnation third . Our condemnation is total and not just total and personal . His condemnation . Third our condemnation is eternal . It's eternal Now when you go back to John 3 , 16 , it doesn't say eternal perishing there , but it does contrast with eternal life . And you look at other places where Jesus talks about hell .
Speaker 1In Scripture , matthew , chapter 25 , verse 46 talks about how many will be given over to eternal punishment , even here in Revelation 14 , look at verse 11 . Look at this and the smoke of their torment rises . Underline these words . They're heavy words . Forever and ever . The smoke of their torment rises forever and ever . The smoke of their torment rises forever and ever . Same phrase is used over in Revelation , chapter 20 , verse 10 , to talk about how the wrath of God is on them forever and ever , eternally , always , never ending that when you stand condemned before God , there is never a point where that condemnation and being under the wrath of God will cease . It's eternal . And as a result , our condemnation is not just personal and total and eternal , it is irreversible . It's irreversible . There is no evidence in Scripture whatsoever . There is no evidence in Scripture whatsoever . There is no evidence in Scripture that once we die under the condemnation and judgment of God for our sin apart from Christ , there is no evidence whatsoever that there is any hope of changing that in the future . It is irreversible . That is a sobering thought that once we die condemned , we are condemned forever and there is nothing that could change that .
Now , when we come to Scripture and we see these kind of descriptions of judgment and hell , even from the mouth of Jesus , I don't think the primary purpose of Jesus saying these things is to give us an exact representation of what hell looks like . I don't think he's trying to spell out point by point . This is what you can expect in hell . This is what it will look like . This is what it will feel like . Now there's obviously a lot of imagery , and that's where you get into a lot of debates about hell . It's this figurative or literal , this or that . I don't think the primary purpose , though , is to give us an exact representation of what hell looks like . I think the primary purpose of Jesus and other New Testament authors here , when they talk about judgment in hell , is to make it very clear you don't want to go there . You don't want to go there , and the New Testament clearly depicts hell as a state of conscious pain that's at least comparable to burning , in which we will realize a few different things .
Speaker 1Number one in hell , we will realize how serious our sin really is . We'll realize how serious our sin really is . We have no clue about the seriousness of our sin , but I'm convinced , in hell , what Scripture teaches us for the first time , we will be exposed to the guilt that we bear for turning from our Maker to ourselves ourselves , and we will recoil in horror at the depths of which we have rebelled against our creator . We will realize how serious our sin really is , and we will look back at all of those times that we have experienced when we thought about repenting and turning to God . But this little voice inside of us said it's not that bad . It's not that bad , don't worry about it , you can do that later . We will look back at all those times and long that we will , in one of those times , realize the seriousness of sin that we realized . At that moment we will realize how serious our sin really is .
Speaker 1Second , we will realize how just God really is . For the first time , we will realize how right it is that we would be excluded from his presence and his love and his joy for all of eternity . We will not have questions there about whether or not this is right of God or just of God to be in hell for all of eternity . That question won't remain because we will realize the depth of our sin and the justice of God , and to that point we come back to that question Is this fair of God ? Isn't this overreacting ? Isn't this overkill ? Is it fair for this punishment to be put on sin ? Don't miss this , don't miss this . Please don't miss this .
Speaker 1We do realize that for any one of us who rejects God in this life , rejects Christ in this life and finds herself spending eternity in hell . We will only be experiencing exactly what we wanted our entire life Separation from the love of God and the presence of God and the guidance of God and the care of God that we have spurned over and over and over again throughout our entire life . God will finally give us over to that which we have embraced all of our lives and we will experience the reality of that which we have ourselves chosen . We won't have to deal with God . We're now separate , apart from his love , and experiencing separation from him for all of eternity . We will realize how just God really is to give us exactly what we desired . What a horrible thought that he would give us exactly what we deserve . We will realize how serious sin really is , how just god really is , and we will realize how endless suffering really is .
Speaker 1We across this room different ones of us have experienced varying levels of pain or suffering in this life , and there are people in this room that have experienced far more physical suffering than I can even imagine . But any of us know that there are points , whether in our lives or in others' lives , that we see , where physical suffering is so painful that you even look forward to death because that's the hope of that suffering ending . It's a very difficult place to be . I was talking with one person on the phone this last week about his wife who is going through all kinds of pain , and he said to me about his wife who is going through all kinds of pain , and he said to me she and sometimes I just wish that it could all end , just to get her out of the pain that she is going through , even looking to death as a hope of ending suffering . But here's the deal , ladies and gentlemen what ? What if there's a point when we can no longer even say that ? What if there's no hope of it ever ending ? What if that suffering continues day after day , year after year , after year after year , after millions of years , at the end of which you realize that you are no closer to the end than when you first started and you will never , ever be delivered from that . There is no hope for any change forever .
Speaker 1God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him would never have to experience that , never perish . The unpopular reality and I realize how unpopular it is , but it is what Jesus sounds very clearly to us . We are all perishing and it sets the stage for the unprecedented rescue . Ladies and gentlemen , we are all perishing and it sets the stage for the unprecedented rescue . Ladies and gentlemen , we are all perishing , but God is all pursuing . God does not leave us in a state where we stand condemned before him . Ladies and gentlemen , if that were the case , then all of us , all of us in this room , myself , any one of us , the best person in this room , would stand under the wrath of God . But that is not where God leaves this picture . He pursues his people and , ladies and gentlemen , where our condemnation is personal , his salvation is personal .
Speaker 1In John , chapter 6 , verse 44 , jesus says the Father is personally drawing people to me , that the Father is opening our eyes to see who he is , to see who Christ is . This whole picture in John , chapter 3 , of darkness and light . And we all resist the light . We want to be in darkness . Why ? Because nothing is exposed . Resist the light , we want to be in darkness . Why ? Because nothing is exposed in the darkness . When you come into the light , everything is exposed , all of our sin , all of the depth of our sinfulness exposed . And nobody wants that . We do everything we can to avoid that .
Speaker 1I'm convinced that's one of the primary reasons why hell is treated so tritely in our culture today . It is a slang term that was a hell of a game , or it is a joke that we say , well , I'm probably going to go to hell for that one , and we laugh it off . And I'm convinced we try to lighten it up , to cover up for the fact that the last thing we want to address in our lives is the depth of our sinfulness and the darkness that is there . But the beauty is God opens our eyes to his light and he draws us into the light . And , yes , he exposes all of this , but it is far outweighed by the glory that we see in Christ , who covers all of the darkness with his light and he introduces us to himself . And whereas before faith God was a fog , now in faith God is light and we see him for who he is and we know him , we relate to him and we experience him .
Speaker 1His salvation is extremely personal , not just for the person beside you , in front of you , behind you . He saves you , he draws you to himself and where our condemnation is total , his salvation is total . He doesn't leave one remnant that is under his wrath . He takes it all , he forgives it all , he pours out grace on it all . He covers it all as far as the east is from the west . Psalm 103 , 8 to 12, . He separates our sins . They are gone , they are washed , cleansed .
Speaker 1His salvation is total , eternal life . This whole word he uses it at the very beginning of the book of John In Christ was life . That life was the light of men . And then , 36 times after that , he uses this word life . It's over and over again . John 10 , 10 .
Speaker 1Jesus says I came so that you might have life and have it to the full . He's not just talking about life in the future , he's talking about life now , abundant life now . John , chapter 5 , verse 24 . Truly I say to you , he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me listen to this has eternal life . Not will have eternal life one day has eternal life right now . He has now passed from darkness into light . His life is total Life in Christ , the life of Christ that is shared with you . His salvation is personal and total and it is eternal . It is eternal just as condemnation has no end . Salvation has no end , ladies and gentlemen , the life that Christ gives cannot be interrupted by death itself . This is good news .
Speaker 1Over the last year as your pastor , I've been a part of a variety of funerals , some of them tragic funerals , unexpected funerals and I've come back over and over again to Jesus' words in John , chapter 11 , verse 25 and 26 , when he said I am the resurrection and the life , and he who believes in me will never die . Even though he dies , he will live . Ladies and gentlemen , no matter how horrible Josh Kennedy's cancer was , he had come to faith in Christ and he is not dead . He is alive . And no matter how much we miss the likes of Margie Shepard or Roland Arendt , james Jones , ladies and gentlemen , they are not dead , they live in Christ . His salvation is eternal and the life he gave to them here is the life they experience in greater abundance now , and his salvation is irreversible . This
is the beauty .
Speaker 1He uses this word eternal 17 different times in the book of John . It's all over the book of John , three times more than any other book in the New Testament , and he's making a point here . The life that Christ gives cannot be taken away . When you come to faith in Christ and the Father wraps you in his hands . The Bible says that you faith in Christ and the Father wraps you in his hands . The Bible says that you are in Christ and he puts his spirit inside of you , the spirit of Christ living in you . You realize what that means that from the moment you come to faith in Christ , from that moment out , throughout , through all the rest of eternity , for the devil to get to you he would have to break through the hands of the omnipotent God , the Father . And once he did that he would have to come face to face with the Savior who flat out took him down at the cross . And if he was able to get past him , he would still have to deal with the spirit of the living God who is in you and has sealed your soul with the blood of Jesus Christ . It is not going to happen . His salvation is irreversible and there is nothing that can take away the life you have in Christ , nothing , nothing . He who began this good work in you will carry it to completion forever . His salvation is irreversible . Now here's the deal In Scripture again , like we talked about with hell , I don't think the primary purpose it's not that it's not there , but the primary purpose of talk about heaven is to give us the exact explanation of what heaven's going to look like .
Speaker 1There's a lot of things that are in there that help us , yes , but I think the primary purpose of the picture of heaven is to say to us you want to go there ? And in heaven , whereas in hell we will realize how serious sin really is , in heaven we will realize how glorious grace really is . You know , I even have to take a couple steps back from that statement because I think in heaven we will realize how serious sin really is , but we'll just realize it from a completely different perspective . We will realize the depth of our sin , but we will know it by the magnitude of the grace that stooped down to where we are , to pull us to where we are now . We will realize how glorious grace really is and for the first time we will realize how deep our sin was and how great grace really is . We have no clue sin was and how great grace really is . We have no clue . I have no clue the depths of grace that have been shown to me and to you . We will realize how glorious grace really is and we will realize , second , how merciful God really is . Remember hell , we'll realize how just God really is .
Speaker 1We ask the question is this just of God ? This picture of eternal perishing , is that fair ? Ladies and gentlemen , don't miss this . In order to get to hell , you have to run blindfolded , with your ears deafened , so that you cannot see and hear about the epic sacrifice of all of human history , when God took his one and only son , lifted him up on a cross and there poured out his wrath on sin on him , and he poured out his wrath on sin on him , and he poured out his judgment on sin on him . And God in the flesh , the very son of God , went to hell on a cross and cried out in the darkness my God , my God , why have you forsaken me ? And he experienced the wrath of sin upon himself so that you would not have to experience it . And he says to all people in all history if you will believe in my wrath being poured out of my son instead of you , if you will believe in my love , then you will have eternal life . Help us not to question your fairness , whether or not you're doing what is right and good for us . We will realize how merciful God really is , and whereas in hell we will realize how endless suffering really is in heaven . We will realize how endless satisfaction really is , how endless satisfaction really is . Let me show you a picture of this . If you're still in Revelation , go with me over to Revelation , chapter 21 .
Speaker 1While you're turning there , you know there's this tendency , even among Christians who've followed Christ for a long time . There's this tendency when you think about heaven , and part of it's because of this image of harps and clouds and that sort of thing . We don't verbalize this , but sometimes we think if heaven is eternal , won't it be eternally boring ? I'm just gonna get that out there . There are many of us who think , you know , I mean I like singing , but but I mean singing forever , and I like the picture playing harps and complete peace . But that's a lot of , that's a lot of heart playing to never end . Is there , isn't there hope of that ending ? Then we start to think , you know , we all like change Forever , something forever .
Speaker 1Revelation , chapter 21 . 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 . I saw the holy city , the new Jerusalem , coming down out of heaven from God , prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband , and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying 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 . He will wipe away 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 . He who was seated on the throne said I am making everything new . Then he said write this down , for these words are trustworthy and true . He said to me it is done . I am the alpha and the omega , the beginning and the end . To him who is thirsty , I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life , and he who overcomes will inherit all this , and I will be his God and he will be my son . Ladies and gentlemen , I promise you , you and I will never tire of being sons and daughters of the most high God , being with him for all of eternity .
And here's where we come back . Don't miss it . I know that around this room there are hurts and there are issues and situations and circumstances that people are going through that are very painful , very confusing . There's a lot of anxiety and struggling and wrestling with that and I want to remind you that , no matter how deep that hurt is and no matter how confusing it is , no matter how painful it is , no matter how painful it is , there is coming a day when the God of the universe will personally wipe every tear from your eyes and you won't hurt anymore and there won't be the pain of separation anymore and there won't be the pain of separation anymore and there won't be the pain of divorce anymore . There won't be the pain of death anymore and there won't be the pain of cancer anymore and there won't be the plight of AIDS anymore . Old will have gone and the new will come , and we will enjoy the new for all of eternity . We will realize how endless satisfaction really is .
Speaker 1Here is the truth of God's Word . Every single life in this realm , every child , every teenager , every man , every woman , is headed toward either everlasting joy or everlasting suffering . Every life in this realm everlasting joy or everlasting suffering . Every life in this realm based on the authority of God's word , is headed either to heaven or to eternity in hell , and both of them will last forever . Of them will last forever , and God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever in this room believes in him will not perish but will have eternal life in heaven . And that leaves every single person in this room with one choice , and the choice is this you can either trust in your Savior , the Son of God on a cross , or you can trust in yourself , and that choice is the determining factor in the weight of eternity for your life . We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of Radical with David Platt . For more resources from David Platt , we invite you to visit radicalnet .