Heaven: Saints' Bliss

If you remain seated and if you would turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9, verse 9 to 10, Paul is speaking about how the rulers of Christ's day put him to death not realizing that he was the Lord of glory. Verse 9, But as it is written, I has not seen nor ear heard nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. But God has revealed them to us through his Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God." That's the secrets of God and especially those secrets concerning our future. And Paul is quoting here, you will notice, from Isaiah 64 and verse 4. Then please turn with me to the book of Revelation, chapter 7. There are two wonderful passages on heaven, chapter 7 and then chapters, well, chapter 21, but our lesson will be taken tonight basically from chapter 7, verse 9 to 17, but we'll also be drawing some information from chapter 21. So Revelation 7, verse 9. John is given a view into heaven, and he sees a great multitude there, and he also sees the throne of God. Verse 9, After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. All the angels stood around the throne, and the elders, and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne, and worshipped God, saying, Amen. blessing, and glory, and wisdom, thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from? And I said to him, Sir, you know. So he said to me, These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation. and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger any more nor thirst any more. The sun shall not strike them nor any heat. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them. and lead them to living fountains of waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. So far, the Lord's blessing rests upon the reading and the preaching of His Word. We come tonight to the last of the messages in the series, What Lies After Death? So far we have looked at the disembodied existence of our soul in the interval between death and our resurrection on the last day. In the second message, we focused on the return of Jesus Christ to judge both the living and the dead at the end of the age. And the third message, which we looked at last Sunday morning, had to do with the kind of body that both the righteous and the wicked will receive when they are resurrected from the dead. And then last Sunday night we grappled with the unpleasant but sobering reality of the endless but just suffering of the wicked in hell. And now tonight we come to that very heartwarming and glorious subject of heaven, the saints' everlasting bliss. Now, skeptics, of course, dismiss the doctrine of heaven as a religious crutch that some people need to get through the difficulties and the pains of life. And they have projected the idea of heaven, they say, the critics say, as a place where everyone is going to be compensated for the losses and the pains and the suffering they have endured on earth. And you know, this is what Karl Marx was referring to when he said that religion is the opiate of the people. It makes them willing to go through the miseries and the deprivations of this life, because they're going to be compensated in heaven, instead of looking for heaven here on earth. And Karl Marx boasted that his new social order would eliminate man's need of heaven, for he would have heaven here on the earth. What are we to say then to the critics who contend that heaven is not real, but only a longing for pie in the sky when we die that's never going to be fulfilled? And our Lord's answer to the skeptics was they know neither scripture nor the power of God. Sin has blinded their minds to the truth. Heaven is real precisely because God in his word has said there has to be such a place if justice is to be done and seen to be done in the earth. As Jonathan Edwards put it in one of his miscellanies, quote, the only natural argument of any weight for the immortality of the soul takes its rise from this observation, that justice is not executed in this life, and that as the governor of the world is just, man must live hereafter in order to be judged. Unless there be a state of rewards and punishments, it will certainly follow that God maintains no moral government over the world of mankind. So, the reality of heaven is based on the reality of Scripture, or the reliability of Scripture. And the reliability of Scripture rests on the truthfulness of God, who, through holy men of old, the prophets in the Old Testament, the apostles in the New Testament, has revealed His truth to us. And nowhere is heaven more fully spoken of than in the book of Revelation, particularly in chapter 7 and verses 9 to 17, which is one of my favorite portions in the book of Revelation. And dear God gives the Apostle John a vision of the saints' everlasting bliss, not just their rest from all their labors, but of their happiness. forever and ever. So let's see what we can learn from Revelation 7 by asking some very pertinent questions. And the first, of course, is where is heaven? Because the critics say we now can look 82 million light years into space with our radio telescopes and still we haven't discovered a place that can be called heaven. Where is it, they ask? And you know, our problem isn't made any easier as Christians when there are those in the church who insist that the Bible teaches that heaven is somewhere above the earth, somewhere in outer space. Now, it's true that the New Testament says, the gospel writers tell us, that Jesus was taken up into heaven. But that was simply to convince his disciples that finally and really he was leaving this world. They had to be convinced of that. Christ could, of course, have suddenly disappeared into thin air. as he did in the upper room when he finished talking to his disciples, and again when on the Sunday afternoon he was walking with the disciples to Emmaus, and then it bred with them in their home and suddenly vanished and disappeared. He could have done the same thing, but going up like that on the clouds and into heaven, It was the clearest way for Jesus to signify He was leaving the earth and returning to His Father in heaven. So let me say right at the very beginning that heaven, like hell, is both a place and a state. It is a place because heaven is where God is, where God's throne is. and it is a state because only those who are pure in heart can see God and look upon Him. Heaven cannot be seen by our radio telescopes because it exists in a spiritual dimension. God is spirit and our physical senses cannot penetrate that spiritual dimension. Heaven is where God is. And so in Revelation 4, when the door of heaven is opened for John to have a peep into heaven, God's dwelling place, the first thing John sees is a throne, God's throne. And everything, you know, that is mentioned after that in chapters 5 and 6 and 7 is related to this throne. and the God who sits upon it, who is, and who was, and who is to come. And, chapter 5, verse 6, in the midst of that throne, John sees a lamb as though it had been slain. For Jesus shares God's rule and glory in heaven as our great High Priest at His right hand. And He is our High Priest because He Himself was the offering, the sacrifice to pay for the pardon of our sins, to atone for our sins. But at the same time, He is also our Great High Priest. because He offered that sacrifice and offering of Himself for our sins. And so, encircling this throne, very significantly, is a rainbow, which is a symbol of the mercy and the pardon and the forgiveness of God. For when God saved Noah and his family from the universal judgment of the human race by a flood. God vowed to him by the symbol of a rainbow that he would never destroy the earth again by a flood. So the rainbow over this throne is a symbol of God's mercy. And we can therefore say that God's throne is a throne of grace, where mercy is extended to the undeserving. But notice, from that throne, John says, proceeds flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, because God's throne of grace is at the same time a throne of judgment. And round the throne, says John in chapter 7, are twenty-four elders representing the church of the Old Testament by the twelve tribes of Israel and representing the church of the New Testament by the twelve apostles. Also praising God in heaven, around His throne, are the four living creatures who are the representatives of all life. that is to be found in the four corners of the universe, and together with them are myriads and myriads of angels. And then stretching before that throne, says John, is a sea of glass like crystal, symbolizing the infinite transcendence of God above and beyond his universe. Now it's true that John goes on in chapter 7 and verse 16 to speak of certain things that are absent from heaven. He says, they shall neither hunger any more nor thirst any more. And if you turn to Revelation 21 and verse 4, he says, there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, and there will be no more pain. But I want us to understand tonight that the emphasis of the book of Revelation about heaven is not on the things that will not be there, but on the reason why those things will not be there. The cause of their absence, which is, of course, the presence of God. It's because God is reigning unchallenged in heaven, and everything is under His control, that all these things now have no place. In heaven, God will never be out of sight, and He will never be out of mind. So that's the answer to our first question, where is heaven? It is where God is, where God's throne is situated, where His presence is immediately felt in favor and blessing and goodness. It's the place where Paul says, God is everything to everybody. The second question is, what is it like? Well, the Bible says, and that's why I read to you from Paul's quotation from Isaiah 64 verse 4, it is a wonderful statement. Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, nor has it entered into the mind of man the things that God has prepared for those who love him." It's a wonderful statement. In other words, the glory of heaven is too great for our finite human minds to grasp or comprehend. And you know, someone has well described the problem like this. Imagine a world in which all the people are totally blind and totally deaf. And then suddenly, one of them receives his sight and his hearing. And lo, in a moment of unutterable glory, a new world of beautiful colors and forms and sounds fills his soul. And he longs to tell all the friends around him about it. And he doesn't know how. I mean, how can anyone describe the color and the shape of a perfect rose to a person who is blind? And he longs to describe the musical callings of the birds that he is hearing. But how can he describe that to people who are deaf? And you know, in the same way, you and I are like blind and deaf men in God's universe. The Bible cannot tell us much because the glories of heaven are invisible to us. It can only describe heaven through using some of the grandest symbols with which we are familiar here on earth. And though these symbols conjure up grand images in our mind of the splendor of heaven, like streets of gold and gates made out of single pearls, and a river of life where the trees on either side bear fruit every month, a different fruit every month, these are grand symbols. but we must remember all the time that the reality is much greater than the symbol itself. Now in verses 15 to 17 of Revelation 7, John says something about the bliss of heaven in both positive and negative terms. Let me list some of the things that will not be there and some of the things that will be there, so that we can have some idea of what heaven will be like. First, John reveals some of the things that won't be there. There will be no sorrow, he says, because God, verse 17, will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Because life on earth is full of disappointments, failures, misfortunes, and however hard we sometimes try, broken relationships. Only in heaven will these things be no more, and God will wipe away every tear. And then He says again, if we turn to Revelation 21 verse 3, that there will be no suffering. And there shall be no more pain, he says. Not only because there will be no emotional or physical sickness in heaven, but also because there will be no persecution there either. And that brings us back to Revelation 7 and verse 16, to that statement which is a bit of an enigma when you first read it. The sun shall not strike them, nor any heat." In other words, John is saying God's children will no longer face persecution, the pain of persecution. They will no longer have to flee into the desert and bear the burning heat of the sun, nor will they have to die by being burnt by the emperor at a stake. There will be no pain or suffering in heaven, because there will be no persecution. Again, he says, there will be no sin in heaven. And we turn to Revelation 21, verse 27, where John says, he is told nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Then again he tells us there will be no separation in heaven, no division of peoples in heaven. Revelation 21 verse 1, we have another enigmatic statement. John says, I saw a new heaven and a new earth, also there was no more sea. Now why? It's symbolic. For those of us who love the sea, it might be a little bit of a disappointment. But it's a symbol. And what he is saying is that there is going to be nothing to divide individuals or come between individuals or come between nations. And the sea is a divider of people, of individuals, and of nations. You know, as the old song goes, we used to sing it when I was a teenager, probably it's never been heard of again, my bonny lies over the ocean. Oh, bring back my bonny to me. You're not smiling because you never lived in that time. So, in heaven, No one is going to be separated from anybody else by any geographical or physical barriers. And then again he tells us, there will be no night in heaven, because, Revelation 21, verse 23, the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it. For the glory of God illuminates it, and the Lamb is its lamp. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, And the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it. And in the daytime, because there is no night time, he says, in the daytime its gates shall never be closed. They are always open to God's people moving in and out. And then again he tells us there will be no temple in heaven. And that sounds strange because every major city in the world is marked by a spire or by a dome. But there will be no temple to mark heaven. For we will worship God everywhere. Revelation 21 and verse 22. And I saw no temple in the city for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. or its temple. Well, those are some of the things that won't be there. What will be there? And I must simply say, everything that our sinless and perfect hearts could possibly desire. For no expectation in our glorified state is going to go unfulfilled. And so when the little boy asked his preacher if in heaven he is going to enjoy ice cream and have his hamster, there was no evasion when he said, well yes, if that's what you will want when you are in heaven. It wasn't an evasion, because God is going to satisfy all the desires of our glorified and perfected humanity. To begin with, there is going to be rest in heaven, because our long fight with the world and the flesh and the devil will at last be over. And Revelation 14 verse 13 says, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them. Now, I want you to notice that the rest contemplated here is not rest from all work. As we shall see, there will be plenty of work to do in heaven. but rather it is rest, release, and relief from opposition, from the exhaustion of resisting the evil forces that sought to destroy our faith while we were on earth. All those struggles will be over because in heaven there will be no evil to fight, no remaining sin in our hearts, and no devil. He will be in the lake of fire and brimstone. But if there is rest in heaven, as I hinted at, there will also be activity, because man was made to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. And so it is unthinkable that in heaven you and I are going to be released from this glorious privilege of worshipping God, this high calling. And so Revelation 7 and verse 15 says, Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple, meaning in His presence. So at last, all we who have longed in this life to pray to God perfectly, to worship God and praise Him, perfectly, we will be able to do so at last in heaven. To quote Isaac from one of Isaac Watts's hymns, every power will find sweet employ in that eternal world of joy. And then thirdly, John tells us heaven will be a place of rejoicing. Chapter 7 verse 9, I looked and behold a great multitude standing before the throne and before the Lamb with palm branches in their hands. And that's a picture, a symbol taken from Palm Sunday when the people and the children welcomed Jesus into the city of Jerusalem, waving their palm branches and saying, Hosanna to the King. And what John is saying here simply is that heaven is going to be one eternal Palm Sunday. A joyful, triumphant celebration of the victory of God's King over all the forces of evil. A happy chorus of praise. in which John says, the redeemed are going to sing, chapter 7, verse 10, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. And then again, he tells us in verse 16, heaven is going to be a place of refreshment. They shall neither hunger any more, nor thirst any more, for the Lamb will shepherd them. He will lead them to springs fountains of living water. That is, fountains that issue in the water of life. For God is eternal life. God is the source of eternal life. And our life will always be dependent upon God in heaven. We will be drawing from His life, from the fountain of His life. all the time that we are in heaven. Our spiritual life will be continually reinvigorated, for we will be living in the immediate presence of God, who is the fountain of all spiritual life. And then again he tells us there is purity in heaven. Chapter 7, verse 9. He says that in heaven we will be clothed in white robes. That is, a symbol of what Paul says in his pastoral epistles, without holiness no one will see the Lord. And then, sixthly, heaven will be a place of bliss because it will be a place of revelation, where God reveals himself. in the fullness of His glory and of His perfection and of His infinite majesty and being in a way that He has never been able to do before. God will reveal Himself in His fullness to us. Look at verse 15. Therefore they are before the throne of God. You know, it's a wonderful thought to think that If there is so many millions and billions of people who over the centuries have been gathered into the kingdom and are going to be there, we never have to worry whether we are at the back of the crowd or on the side of the crowd. We're all going to see the throne and the God who sits on the throne. And chapter 22 verse 4 says this quite plainly. We will not only see the throne, but we will see His face. In heaven, nothing is going to stand between us and seeing the full glory of God. And because we are perfect and glorified and sinless, we will be able to look on that glory without perishing. You know, I love the words of Mr. Stan Fost in Pilgrim's Progress. And if any of the younger people here today have never read Pilgrim's Progress, let me encourage you to do so. If you find a little difficulty at first, applaud on. But it is a wonderful allegory of our spiritual journey through this life until we get to heaven. And here is what Mr. Stan Faust has to say when he is on the banks of the river of death waiting to cross over to go into heaven. He is about to enter heaven and this is what he says, I have formerly lived by hearsay and faith but now I go where I shall live by sight and shall be with him in whose company I delight myself." I think that's so precious. That's the ultimate blessedness of heaven, to feast our soul upon the glory of God, to gaze upon the beauty of His perfection, and be lost absolutely in wonder and love and praise. There is no room in there anywhere at any time for boredom. And all of this is going to be unending. To quote an anonymous, the anonymous author who appended the last verse or stanza of John Newton's Amazing Grace. I don't know if you know that the last stanza is a contribution from an anonymous author. It has to be anonymous because the grammar wasn't quite as good as John Newton's. But this is what he says, when we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first, how should he have ended it, began. But it didn't rhyme with sun. So he was foxed. And so he put him to God. I think John Newton could have done a better job than that. He would have changed it around. But anyway, I'm off my subject now. Let me not follow that red herring down the trail. But the emphasis and the message of that final stanza is just so true. The bliss of heaven. is going to be that it is unending. It never ceases. In heaven, the Christian is going to inherit, in fact, what fairy tales have always envisaged in fancy. For there, by God's abounding grace, we will not only live, but we are going to live happily ever after. Doesn't that prospect thrill you? How often in this life we have moments, we see a beautiful sunset and we say, I don't want this to end. And then the sun goes down behind the mountain or goes down across the sea. Always does end. Heaven, however, will be different. Praise God. The bliss will be endless. I must hurry on to the third question. Who are these people who are enjoying this? Well, notice first of all, they are an international community. Verse 9, they come from all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues. For in obedience to Christ's great commission, the church has, over the centuries, gone out and made disciples. of all nations. And you know, even at this present time when we are living, although the job of world evangelization, evangelism, has not been completed, the Church is in every major country and The Bible is in every major language. There are languages that still await translation of the Bible, but it is in every major language. In the new heaven and in the new earth, this international community will finally be complete. There will be representatives drawn from every nation, every tribe, every tongue. The curse of Babel will be revoked. The narrow nationalisms will be replaced by a new international brotherhood. And that is something to look forward to. And then secondly, notice that they are not only an international community, they are a countless community. Verse 9 speaks of a great multitude which no one can number. Now, John wrote that at the end, near the end of the first century, when the Christian church was still a small and struggling community. But in his vision into heaven, God gives John the privilege of seeing that the day is going to come when this community of the redeemed, the gathering of the elect, is going to be so great, such a mighty throng, that no person will ever be able to count them. That should be a great comfort to us all. God's church, at any point in time, seems like a minority movement. But when in heaven it stands before him completed, John says, it will be a countless multitude. For God promised Abraham 4,000 years ago that he would multiply his seed as the stars in the night sky and like the sand on the seashore. And when we accept what Paul teaches, that it is believers who are Abraham's true children, suddenly this promise becomes very real and very significant. So who are these people in heaven? They are an international and countless community, which brings me to the final question. How did they get there? And this is surely the most pressing question of all. I hope that every one of us at some time in our life have asked ourselves the question, how am I going to get to heaven? Or will I get to heaven one day when I die? Well, in verse 14, John tells us something about this countless multitude from every nation and how they got to heaven. And there are two important things about them. John is informed, first of all, that these are the ones who came out the great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. So, the first thing then about them is that they have suffered for Christ on earth. They have come out of the great tribulation. And at first sight it's very tempting to interpret these words as referring to the great tribulation that Jesus speaks about in Matthew 24 and I think it's Luke 21 that will come upon the earth just before the return of Jesus Christ. And And it would be very tempting to think that this is what John is talking about, that the 144,000, which is really a symbolical number for all of the redeemed of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, to take it as referring to that closing period of tribulation upon the earth. But I want to say tonight it cannot possibly refer to that because only a few people are going to experience that tribulation at that particular time. Only those who are living right at the threshold of Christ's return. The great tribulation mentioned here, however, is clearly something out of which all the redeemed who are in heaven have come. And the phrase, therefore, must be a graphic description of every person's Christian life here on earth. That all of us, to some extent, have to experience persecution. For the godly always suffer tribulation. for righteousness sake. Abel was killed by his brother Cain, David was pursued by Saul, Jeremiah was imprisoned, Daniel was thrown to the lions, and John the Baptist was beheaded. Our Lord himself was taken by wicked hands and unjustly crucified. And he warned his disciples that we could expect much the same. You will be hated, he said, by all men for my name's sake." And Paul says in Acts 14 that through many tribulations we, that is all of us, must enter the kingdom of God. And again in 2 Timothy chapter 2 he says, if we endure tribulation we shall also reign with him one day. It is significant therefore, and I want you to notice this if you are a Bible student, it is significant to notice that John uses a timeless present here in verse 40, which literally translated reads, these are those who are coming out of the great tribulation. He's referring to all the suffering that God's people have to go through on earth. And in the providence of God, some people suffer greatly. Some have to die excruciating deaths as martyrs. Others have lesser persecution and trouble. But no Christian goes through this world without some persecution, without some suffering. for righteousness sake. There can be no heavenly crown without an earthly cross. Jesus demands that you and I stand true to Him, whatever the price we have to pay. And friends, let's be honest. Let me be honest with myself. If I compromised less, I would surely suffer more. And I'm sure you would say the same. Now, the other important thing about this company is that they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. And some people are repelled by this concept, especially the liberals in the Christian church today. But there is no need to be offended, for the imagery in the book of Revelation, as I said, is symbolical. It's not pictorial. It is intended to be interpreted, not to be imagined or visualized. You cannot visualize this statement as a literal fact. If you try to launder garments in blood, they will never come out white. No, it's a highly dramatic figure of speech and it's not difficult to understand. You and I know that the Lamb is Jesus Christ whom John says in chapter 13 was slain from the foundation of the world. He is our Passover Lamb who died as our substitute for the penalty of sin that our sin incurred. And the innocent Son of God has died as the Lamb of God for the guilty sons of men. And he was appointed to that atoning sacrifice and death right before the foundation of the world, before God created anything. And when John the Baptist laid eyes on Jesus, you remember, he cried, Behold the Lamb of God. that takes away the sin of the world. Now that's what John is referring to in verse 14. So to wash our robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb simply means that we come to Jesus Christ and cast ourselves upon His mercy to wash away our sins, to forgive our sins on the grounds of His penal substitutionary death for us as sinners on the cross. The whiteness of the robes is the fitness that He gives to believers when they stand before the throne of God. For when Jesus died there was a double exchange. He took our sins upon Himself and gave us in their place. His own perfect righteousness. So our sins were imputed to Him. His righteousness was reckoned to us. So the only way to get into heaven when we die is to wash our robes and to make them white in the blood of the Lamb by asking Him to have mercy upon us and to forgive us. Well, my time is gone. And though I've said much, I've hardly scratched the surface of the saints' everlasting bliss. For when everything is said that can be said, it is still true. As Isaiah prophesied, eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, nor has it entered into the mind of man, the things that God has prepared for those who love Him. It's beyond our finite minds to grasp. But while we stand in awe and wonder at the glory of heaven, let us never forget this, that the seeds of our destiny that we will reap in the next life are being sown in this life. If we want to drink from the perennial fountain of God, then we must begin to find our satisfaction in the Lord Jesus now, who said, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. And out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. If you want to praise God day and night in his temple, then We must start singing His praises now. And if we want to reign with Jesus Christ in His kingdom then, in the new heaven and in the new earth, then we must endure suffering for Him now. More simply, if we want to stand before the throne of God then, we must by faith wash our robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb now. Nothing less. Nothing else than the blood of Jesus can render us fit to stand forever in the presence of God and the land. Let us pray. Our Father, we ask that you will grant, as Jesus asked, that these words may sink deep into our hearts, that they may bring tremendous comfort to those whose faith is in the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world, in order to take away the sins of those who will believe on Him and trust in Him for the forgiveness of their sins. And our Father, if some are still seeking and searching, and none of us knows exactly the heart of the other, only you do, We pray that if any of us are still seeking or searching, we will come to the Lord Jesus Christ knowing that he has said, he who comes to me, I will in no wise turn aside. And so we pray that you will give grace to the seekers to come to him, to find life and to have their robes washed white in his precious blood that cleanses us from all sin. We ask it in his name and for his glory. Amen. Are there any questions you'd like to ask or any comments you would like to make? You've thought much on this, you may want to make some comment. We'll have Dr. God excluded from the questions. Yes, Jim. I think because we will be in a glory, and I don't have a good answer to that question. It's something that bothers me. It bothers any parent who has children who are not yet converted. But my own personal understanding is that in our glorified condition, we will have reached that state of understanding where we will see that God's dealings are right, and we will be happy for God. And that will remove any kind of sadness that we have. But in our present condition, in our imperfect state of mind and understanding, we cannot visualize that. We are too close to the people we love to be objective. We are very subjective to this, and rightly so, because we love them, we feel for them, we shudder to think that that ultimately could be their fate. And for those who are believers, again, I have no scripture to quote, but I just want you to know I believe deeply in my heart. God knew that I would become a Christian, that God would call me into his kingdom. He gave me the grace to respond, and I cannot believe that God would call me into that kingdom and give me my children only to allow the devil to have them. I might not see their conversion in my lifetime, We have a daughter who is gloriously converted and wonderfully committed to the work of Jesus Christ, but we have another daughter and a son who are still basically sitting on the fence and not prepared at the moment to commit to Jesus Christ. The cost is too much, and something inside of me just will not believe that God could ever allow the devil to have the last word. Now, I have no scripture on which to base it, but I hang on to it. Yes, Lois. Yes, yes, yes. It doesn't say that you cannot do these things, and that showed that his body was a real body, that he could eat and consume, you know, fish. And so the risen Christ has a very a real body, but it is a spiritual body. And while it can do those things, it doesn't need those things, you know, to exist. Okay, I won't hold you up anymore. I do trust that you and I will be given grace to dwell much upon the glory that God has in store for us in heaven, and that we will be humbled before it, knowing just how unworthy we are to be the recipients of such kindness and such goodness. I mean, what have you and I done to have a place like that waiting for us? And of course, the answer is nothing. We've done everything to be unworthy of it. But Christ has done everything and thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift in the Lord Jesus Christ.