100:00:01,000 –> 00:00:06,140The scriptures encourage us to set our minds200:00:06,140 –> 00:00:12,360on things above where Jesus Christ is seated and I want to give you today a very simple300:00:12,360 –> 00:00:17,620grid for doing this for meditating, reflecting, thinking on the life that is to come.400:00:17,620 –> 00:00:20,660Four strategies and it is very simple.500:00:20,660 –> 00:00:23,840You will be able to remember this and to use it.600:00:23,879 –> 00:00:29,299Add, subtract, divide, multiply.700:00:29,900 –> 00:00:33,000Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith.800:00:33,000 –> 00:00:33,980I’m David Pick.900:00:33,980 –> 00:00:35,400I’m glad you could join us today.1000:00:35,400 –> 00:00:39,020And Colin, I hope you’ll keep this simple because the whole reason I went into1100:00:39,020 –> 00:00:41,540radio is that I am hopeless at maths.1200:00:42,700 –> 00:00:46,740This is, I promise you, the best mathematics you will ever enjoy.1300:00:46,740 –> 00:00:47,740Okay, good.1400:00:48,720 –> 00:00:49,959Okay, think about this.1500:00:49,959 –> 00:00:51,720A new heaven and a new earth.1600:00:51,779 –> 00:00:56,259That means that there’s an add to the life that we have here.1700:00:56,259 –> 00:00:58,520It is not something completely other.1800:00:58,520 –> 00:01:03,040It is Heaven and Earth made everything that God ever intended it to be.1900:01:03,040 –> 00:01:05,059Then there’s a take away, there’s subtract,2000:01:05,059 –> 00:01:07,800because there’s going to be no more pain, no more mourning.2100:01:07,800 –> 00:01:10,239God will wipe away all tears from our eyes.2200:01:10,239 –> 00:01:13,440There’s a big divide, because God separates humanity.2300:01:13,440 –> 00:01:17,620And there’s a multiplication, because you take the greatest joys you can know2400:01:17,639 –> 00:01:21,779in this world now and you multiply them up and make them last forever2500:01:21,779 –> 00:01:26,459and you’re just beginning to touch the edge of what God’s preparing for those who love Him.2600:01:26,459 –> 00:01:31,120Well, I’m convinced. It sounds a lot easier than calculus, I’m pleased about that.2700:01:31,120 –> 00:01:33,739Join us, if you can, in our message,2800:01:33,739 –> 00:01:35,540How Much Will I Enjoy Heaven?2900:01:35,540 –> 00:01:36,820Here is Pastor Colin.3000:01:36,820 –> 00:01:42,000We have a marvelous subject in front of us here this morning.3100:01:42,000 –> 00:01:45,339We’re going to look at the happiness of Heaven,3200:01:45,339 –> 00:01:50,320or perhaps more specifically, the happiness of the resurrection life3300:01:50,320 –> 00:01:56,660that all of God’s people will share with Jesus Christ in the new heaven and the new earth.3400:01:56,660 –> 00:02:01,059A central aim of the short series that we’ve been pursuing on heaven has been to3500:02:01,059 –> 00:02:06,459heighten our anticipation to awaken within us3600:02:06,459 –> 00:02:11,979an interest in this great, great subject of the future3700:02:12,039 –> 00:02:15,520that lies ahead of every Christian believer.3800:02:15,520 –> 00:02:20,720I want to try and banish any notions that lurk at the back of perhaps some of our minds3900:02:20,720 –> 00:02:25,119that heaven in some way may be less than what we experience and enjoy now,4000:02:25,119 –> 00:02:28,660that it may be in some way dull, or perhaps even boring.4100:02:28,660 –> 00:02:34,360I want to encourage us with the kind of relish that you find in the New Testament4200:02:34,360 –> 00:02:39,520as Christian believers anticipate the joy of all that is to come4300:02:39,660 –> 00:02:41,899for those who are in Christ Jesus.4400:02:41,899 –> 00:02:47,779You know, it’s very striking to me that the pundits of pop psychology4500:02:47,779 –> 00:02:53,839often talk these days about living your best life now.4600:02:53,839 –> 00:02:57,100You know, you hear this on the television talk shows and so forth,4700:02:57,100 –> 00:03:02,000magazine articles, living your best life now, think about that.4800:03:02,000 –> 00:03:06,979That it’s only possible to live your best life now is only possible4900:03:07,020 –> 00:03:10,179for a person who is going to hell.5000:03:10,179 –> 00:03:14,240If that is a person’s ultimate destination, then it is their best life now.5100:03:14,240 –> 00:03:17,559It will never be better, eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die5200:03:17,559 –> 00:03:20,399would have to be the philosophy if that is the case.5300:03:20,399 –> 00:03:25,139But if you are a Christian, if you are headed for an eternal future5400:03:25,139 –> 00:03:27,559in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ,5500:03:27,559 –> 00:03:30,839how can you possibly live your best life now?5600:03:31,220 –> 00:03:33,979Your best life is ahead of you.5700:03:33,979 –> 00:03:38,240And everything that you enjoy in life at its best here and now5800:03:38,240 –> 00:03:42,119is only an anticipation, it’s only a taster, it’s only a sample5900:03:42,119 –> 00:03:48,080of the joys that are to come for the people of God in the presence of Jesus.6000:03:48,080 –> 00:03:49,580Think of it this way.6100:03:49,580 –> 00:03:56,679When a couple are planning a wedding reception, they go for a tasting.6200:03:57,039 –> 00:04:01,240They taste the meal that is to be served on the great day.6300:04:01,240 –> 00:04:04,960But the tasting is only a little sample, it’s not the meal.6400:04:04,960 –> 00:04:09,240It is a preparation, part of the preparation, for the great event6500:04:09,240 –> 00:04:13,160towards which the bride and the groom are moving, counting the days6600:04:13,160 –> 00:04:16,079in eager anticipation.6700:04:16,079 –> 00:04:19,940And that spirit of anticipating what is yet to come,6800:04:19,940 –> 00:04:22,920what Jesus Christ has prepared for those who love him,6900:04:23,119 –> 00:04:27,839that runs all the way through the vibrant faith of the New Testament.7000:04:27,839 –> 00:04:31,660We’ve been seeing in this little series that there is a good, better,7100:04:31,660 –> 00:04:34,920best pattern to the Christian life.7200:04:34,920 –> 00:04:39,399To be in Christ, which is our position by faith as Christian believers7300:04:39,399 –> 00:04:41,799now in this world, that is good.7400:04:41,799 –> 00:04:45,299I mean, even when life in this world is at its toughest,7500:04:45,299 –> 00:04:51,320when you are in Christ, you are blessed with every spiritual blessing in him.7600:04:51,320 –> 00:04:54,579But to be with Christ, that is better.7700:04:54,579 –> 00:05:00,559In fact, the scripture says it is better, by far, Philippians 1 in verse 23.7800:05:00,559 –> 00:05:04,119But then we saw that even for those who are present with the Lord7900:05:04,119 –> 00:05:08,200Jesus right now, for believers who have died and their souls are present8000:05:08,200 –> 00:05:11,480with Jesus, the best is yet to be.8100:05:11,480 –> 00:05:15,519They still await the resurrection body, the new heaven and the new earth that8200:05:15,519 –> 00:05:18,600we’re going to look at together from the Bible today.8300:05:18,600 –> 00:05:23,640For these things come after the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed8400:05:23,640 –> 00:05:26,359in power and in glory.8500:05:26,359 –> 00:05:29,279So, I invite you then to turn in your Bible, if you would,8600:05:29,279 –> 00:05:33,760to Revelation in chapter 21, where we read about the new heaven8700:05:33,760 –> 00:05:35,440and the new earth.8800:05:35,440 –> 00:05:38,160Throughout this marvelous book at the end of the Bible,8900:05:38,160 –> 00:05:44,160John has seen much about the joy of believers in heaven and he has seen much9000:05:44,160 –> 00:05:49,260about the ongoing conflict of believers on earth with the great forces of evil.9100:05:49,260 –> 00:05:54,480And the story continues right up to the final triumph of the Lord Jesus,9200:05:54,480 –> 00:05:58,440and then to his righteous judgment on the wicked, which is9300:05:58,440 –> 00:06:01,720at the end of chapter 20.9400:06:01,720 –> 00:06:10,320And then John says, I saw a new heaven and a new earth.9500:06:10,359 –> 00:06:14,179Now, the Scriptures encourage us to set our minds on things above9600:06:14,179 –> 00:06:19,980where Jesus Christ is seated, that we are to think about heavenly things9700:06:19,980 –> 00:06:23,500about our life in Jesus Christ and indeed our life as it will be9800:06:23,500 –> 00:06:26,299with the Lord Jesus Christ.9900:06:26,299 –> 00:06:29,579And I want to give you today a very simple grid for doing this,10000:06:29,579 –> 00:06:33,980for meditating, reflecting, thinking on the life that is to come,10100:06:33,980 –> 00:06:35,940four strategies.10200:06:35,940 –> 00:06:36,820And it’s very simple.10300:06:36,820 –> 00:06:39,820You’ll be able to remember this and to use it.10400:06:39,820 –> 00:06:41,839Here they are.10500:06:41,839 –> 00:06:48,720Add, subtract, divide, multiply.10600:06:48,720 –> 00:06:51,220It’s four things you want to do, four strategies for thinking10700:06:51,220 –> 00:06:52,540about the life which is to come.10800:06:52,540 –> 00:06:54,299Very simple, right?10900:06:54,299 –> 00:07:00,820Add, subtract, divide, multiply.11000:07:00,820 –> 00:07:01,839That’s where we’re headed today.11100:07:01,839 –> 00:07:03,000Hope you have your Bible open.11200:07:03,000 –> 00:07:04,739First is Add.11300:07:04,739 –> 00:07:10,260Verse 1, I saw a new heaven and a new earth.11400:07:10,260 –> 00:07:15,820Now, I’m using the word Add here to communicate continuity.11500:07:15,820 –> 00:07:21,959Life in the new heaven and the new earth will not be other than the life that we have here.11600:07:21,959 –> 00:07:29,179It will be more than the life we have here, hence the word Add, but it will not be other.11700:07:29,179 –> 00:07:33,320You will have this life in the new heaven and the new earth.11800:07:33,399 –> 00:07:37,559It will be your soul that will be made perfect.11900:07:37,559 –> 00:07:45,040It will be your body that is resurrected from the dead as the body of Jesus Christ was raised12000:07:45,040 –> 00:07:48,179from the dead, in the power of an endless life.12100:07:48,179 –> 00:07:50,619So, forget floating on clouds.12200:07:50,619 –> 00:07:56,899You will have a flesh and bones resurrection body, that’s how Jesus described his resurrection12300:07:56,899 –> 00:08:01,440body in Luke’s Gospel 24 and verse 39.12400:08:01,559 –> 00:08:08,179And you will live this new life in the new heaven on Earth.12500:08:08,179 –> 00:08:10,720The new heaven.12600:08:10,720 –> 00:08:11,720New Earth.12700:08:11,720 –> 00:08:16,859Now, this word, new, can be used in two different ways, and it’s important to understand the12800:08:16,859 –> 00:08:19,959way in which it’s being used here.12900:08:19,959 –> 00:08:25,359You can use the word new, for example, in this way, you may say we’re going to move13000:08:25,359 –> 00:08:26,799to a new house.13100:08:27,279 –> 00:08:32,760You say we’ve been through too many Chicago winters, we’re going to move to a new house13200:08:32,760 –> 00:08:40,479in Florida or move to a new house in Arizona or whatever it is, and if you were to do that,13300:08:40,479 –> 00:08:44,179there is no continuity between the two houses.13400:08:44,179 –> 00:08:49,840They are different houses, different places, different locations, and the only connection13500:08:49,840 –> 00:08:55,440between the two is that you happen to have lived in both of them at different times,13600:08:55,440 –> 00:08:59,260and presumably you take some of your stuff with you when you actually move.13700:08:59,260 –> 00:09:04,599But that’s one way of using the word new, new in the sense of different.13800:09:04,599 –> 00:09:07,580But there’s another way in which you can use the word new.13900:09:07,580 –> 00:09:08,580Think of this.14000:09:08,580 –> 00:09:11,840Suppose you decide to renovate your house.14100:09:11,840 –> 00:09:13,599Your house.14200:09:13,599 –> 00:09:17,679It’s an old house and it needs everything doing to it.14300:09:17,679 –> 00:09:19,539But the old house is in a great position.14400:09:19,539 –> 00:09:25,219It was built on a secure foundation and you know in your heart that though it needs everything14500:09:25,239 –> 00:09:29,979done to it, it could actually become something very special.14600:09:29,979 –> 00:09:36,059So you get to work and you have the plumbing renewed and you get new electric and you tear14700:09:36,059 –> 00:09:40,919down some wall that the last owner in a moment of madness had put in and it’s been frustrating14800:09:40,919 –> 00:09:41,919to you.14900:09:41,919 –> 00:09:43,559You say that wall should never be there and so forth.15000:09:43,559 –> 00:09:47,919You do a total rehab of your house.15100:09:48,239 –> 00:09:53,479And when it is done you say well now everything is new.15200:09:53,500 –> 00:09:56,460Well, you see, that is exactly what God says here in verse 5.15300:09:56,460 –> 00:10:04,719He who is seated on the throne said, behold I am making all things new.15400:10:04,719 –> 00:10:10,140Not all things different, not like scrap the world and just start again and make another15500:10:10,140 –> 00:10:15,280one, but take the one that I have made and the one that I have pronounced good that needs15600:10:15,280 –> 00:10:20,739all kinds of things done and make it as I always intended that it should be.15700:10:20,739 –> 00:10:23,380I am making all things new.15800:10:23,380 –> 00:10:28,200The confirmation that that is how we are to understand this great work of God comes from15900:10:28,200 –> 00:10:36,619Romans in chapter 8, where it is very clear that God renews or renovates this planet.16000:10:36,619 –> 00:10:39,200It is a new earth.16100:10:39,200 –> 00:10:41,960This is earth.16200:10:41,960 –> 00:10:47,520Romans chapter 8 in verse 21 states this quite plainly, the creation itself, that’s this16300:10:47,659 –> 00:10:52,419that is this creation, this planet in which we live, it will be set free from its bondage16400:10:52,419 –> 00:11:00,159to corruption and it will obtain the glorious freedom of the children of God.16500:11:00,159 –> 00:11:03,239You’re listening to Open The Bible with Pastor Colin Smith.16600:11:03,239 –> 00:11:05,380We’ve got to pause the message briefly there.16700:11:05,380 –> 00:11:10,320The message is called, How Much Will I Enjoy Heaven and it’s part of our series Simply16800:11:10,320 –> 00:11:11,739Called Heaven.16900:11:11,739 –> 00:11:15,500If you’ve missed any of the series or if you had to leave early today, you can easily catch17000:11:15,520 –> 00:11:22,419up or go back and listen again on our website at openthebible.org.uk or if you prefer, go17100:11:22,419 –> 00:11:27,380to a podcast site, search for Open The Bible UK and there you’ll find all Pastor Colin’s17200:11:27,380 –> 00:11:30,380messages that have already gone out on air.17300:11:30,380 –> 00:11:32,859Back to the message now, here again is Pastor Colin.17400:11:32,859 –> 00:11:38,059So here’s the story of the world in which we live in a nutshell.17500:11:38,059 –> 00:11:44,380In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth and what God made was good.17600:11:44,659 –> 00:11:49,960But sin brought a curse, not only into the human race, but also a curse onto the ground17700:11:49,960 –> 00:11:51,099itself.17800:11:51,099 –> 00:11:57,299So, that we live with the effects of sin in this fallen world and the effects of sin show17900:11:57,299 –> 00:12:03,900up in human nature as hatred and violence and murder and war and extortion and all kinds18000:12:03,900 –> 00:12:05,859of evils.18100:12:05,859 –> 00:12:13,479And the effects of sin also show up in the planet in tornadoes and earthquakes and landslides18200:12:13,679 –> 00:12:18,679and floods and droughts and even aggression in the animal kingdom.18300:12:19,700 –> 00:12:26,159But here is the great promise of God, again in a nutshell, that when God has removed all18400:12:26,159 –> 00:12:34,039the effects of sin from His people, then he will remove all the effects of sin from the18500:12:34,039 –> 00:12:42,299planet so that the new earth, that is the earth as we know it, renovated fully and completely,18600:12:42,320 –> 00:12:49,880will become a place fit for God’s children to share a life of unclouded joy in a resurrection18700:12:49,880 –> 00:12:55,820body forever and forever. That is a glorious prospect.18800:12:55,820 –> 00:13:02,320So think about the joys of life, even as they’re experienced by unredeemed people in this fallen18900:13:02,320 –> 00:13:10,700world. And thinking about the joys of life as we have them now will help you to project19000:13:10,719 –> 00:13:18,260what the added joys are going to be in the life that is to come in the renovated The19100:13:18,260 –> 00:13:25,260New Earth. Think of the joys of music and the joys of sport and all the joys of art19200:13:25,900 –> 00:13:30,619and all the joys of science and technology and travel and food and friendship. All the19300:13:30,619 –> 00:13:37,400joy that that is even to unredeemed people, even in this fallen world. And what will it19400:13:37,780 –> 00:13:43,479be for all of these things created good by Almighty God, when the planet is renovated19500:13:43,479 –> 00:13:50,280and we in our very nature and our bodies are completely renovated? None will be less, none19600:13:50,280 –> 00:13:56,940of this will be less in heaven, everything will be more. Add is the word that you must19700:13:56,940 –> 00:14:01,799think of when you think of The New Heaven and The New Earth. Not something wholly other,19800:14:02,119 –> 00:14:07,979but something that is an infinitely more, wonderfully more and therefore every joy of19900:14:07,979 –> 00:14:14,979this life should sweeten and hasten our anticipation of the greater joys that are to come.20000:14:16,599 –> 00:14:23,599I think the moment that this really settled in my own mind more clearly than it had before20100:14:24,880 –> 00:14:29,320was when I was having lunch up at Trinity with Dr. William Van Gemeren who for many20200:14:29,380 –> 00:14:35,979years served as a very distinguished professor of Old Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity20300:14:35,979 –> 00:14:41,219School. I’d gone to talk to him about the book of Isaiah, about which he knows a very20400:14:41,219 –> 00:14:46,900great deal and we were talking about Isaiah 65, where Isaiah the prophet speaks about20500:14:46,900 –> 00:14:53,500the new heaven and the new earth. I will never forget what William said, you20600:14:53,619 –> 00:15:01,380he said when I am enjoying the new earth, I think one of the things that I would enjoy20700:15:01,380 –> 00:15:06,400doing in the resurrection body is to climb Mount Everest because that is something that20800:15:11,200 –> 00:15:17,780I would have neither the capacity nor the opportunity to do right now. Now you see what20900:15:17,780 –> 00:15:23,200he’s thinking? We’re talking about this planet and that’s gonna go through the fire of God’s21000:15:23,539 –> 00:15:27,099judgment, second Peter chapter 3, the earth melt with fervent heat it’s gonna be wonderfully21100:15:27,099 –> 00:15:33,640renewed and replenished but the topography remains and the resurrection body isn’t some21200:15:33,640 –> 00:15:40,640kind of phantom body. Jesus says flesh and bones. Luke chapter 24 and verse 39. The new21300:15:43,299 –> 00:15:48,539heaven, the new earth, real life. Someone came up to me after the service last night21400:15:48,619 –> 00:15:53,840and said you know what, thinking about this, I have realized I don’t have to worry about21500:15:53,840 –> 00:15:59,179my bucket list. I thought that was a great line because the things that I don’t get21600:15:59,179 –> 00:16:02,700the chance to do in this world and the things that we don’t get the chance to do in this21700:16:02,700 –> 00:16:09,200world I will have the opportunity to do in a renewed earth with a resurrection body.21800:16:09,200 –> 00:16:16,119Friends, as we think about what scripture makes real to us and reveals to us, it will21900:16:16,280 –> 00:16:21,859wonderfully, wonderfully hasten and sweeten our thinking about that which is yet to come.22000:16:21,859 –> 00:16:28,859Now notice that John sees not only new earth, but also new heavens. Why new heavens? Listen22100:16:30,219 –> 00:16:36,159to this very good and helpful comment from John MacArthur. He says God will remake the22200:16:36,159 –> 00:16:43,159heavens and the earth, merging his heaven with this earth in a perfect dwelling place22300:16:44,059 –> 00:16:50,679that will be our home forever. In other words he says heaven the realm where God dwells22400:16:50,679 –> 00:16:57,500will expand and it will encompass the entire universe of creation, which will be refashioned22500:16:57,500 –> 00:17:04,500anew in a manner fit for the glory of heaven. Now here heaven is the place where God’s22600:17:05,199 –> 00:17:12,199immediate presence is known and his glory seen and this swallows up and consumes this22700:17:13,439 –> 00:17:20,439wonderfully renewed planet earth. So as the prophet puts it, the earth will be filled22800:17:21,540 –> 00:17:28,540with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. Heaven touching earth, encircling22900:17:28,540 –> 00:17:33,520earth. That’s why it says so beautifully here that the presence of God will be with23000:17:33,520 –> 00:17:39,420his people. He will dwell with them. Heaven and earth being brought together, the renewed23100:17:39,420 –> 00:17:46,420earth being the home, not only of God’s people but of the almighty, immediately present himself.23200:17:48,939 –> 00:17:55,939So by the way, it is, therefore, entirely legitimate to speak of heaven and of God,23300:17:56,760 –> 00:18:03,760to speak of heaven when we are referring to the new heaven and the new earth. Because23400:18:04,939 –> 00:18:11,939heaven will fill the new earth. The earth will be filled with the glory of God, as the23500:18:13,140 –> 00:18:20,140waters cover the sea. So add, add. Don’t think other, think more, and you will be greatly23600:18:20,140 –> 00:18:26,680helped in regards to thinking about the joys to come. Second, subtract. I am looking at23700:18:26,680 –> 00:18:33,680verse 4. And look at what is taken away. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,23800:18:36,140 –> 00:18:43,140and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any23900:18:43,800 –> 00:18:50,800more. For the former things have passed away. Now, do you see why I am using the word here24000:18:52,739 –> 00:18:59,439subtract? He is describing that which is gone, that which is no more, that which we will24100:18:59,439 –> 00:19:04,760no longer experience in the new heaven and the new earth. What will be taken away? Well,24200:19:04,760 –> 00:19:11,760there will be no more death. In the new heaven and in the new earth nothing shall be taken24300:19:11,900 –> 00:19:18,900and in the new earth no-one will ever die. There will be no one growing old, there will24400:19:19,119 –> 00:19:24,819be no one sick, there will be no one ill, no need for hospitals or for emergency services,24500:19:24,819 –> 00:19:31,819you will never attend a funeral in the new heaven and in the new earth. There will be24600:19:32,540 –> 00:19:39,400no more pain. Think about this. I refer to Jesus’ word about His own resurrection body,24700:19:39,520 –> 00:19:46,520flesh and bones, but in the resurrection body bones that never ache, bones that never go24800:19:48,099 –> 00:19:55,099brittle, bones that never break, bones that never lose their strength. No more crying24900:19:56,719 –> 00:20:03,719and there are two reasons for this. The first of course is that in the presence of Jesus25000:20:03,719 –> 00:20:09,640there is nothing in your future life that could ever bring you sorrow, sadness, disappointment25100:20:09,640 –> 00:20:16,479or pain. Nothing will ever happen to you to all eternity that would ever cause you to25200:20:16,479 –> 00:20:23,479cry, that will be entirely a past experience. So no tears ahead in the future as there always25300:20:24,739 –> 00:20:31,739are in this world but also what about tears from the past? What about regrets as we still25400:20:32,640 –> 00:20:38,160know ourselves? How will God deal with all of that? And that of course is why we have25500:20:38,160 –> 00:20:45,160verse four, God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Let’s pause there just for25600:20:48,439 –> 00:20:55,439a moment. There are tears in this life and this world that even the people who love you25700:20:56,439 –> 00:21:03,439most cannot wipe away, even though they try. They may sympathize with you in some loss.25800:21:05,599 –> 00:21:10,359They may come alongside you in your sorrow, but they cannot wipe away the tears from your25900:21:10,359 –> 00:21:16,500eyes. There are wounds that can be experienced in this world that even those who love you26000:21:16,500 –> 00:21:22,880most and seek to come alongside and to bring healing within your life, they kind of get26100:21:22,920 –> 00:21:28,859to the very bottom of it, so that some scar remains, some fragility remains within the26200:21:28,859 –> 00:21:35,859personality. But think about this, God, God will do what even the person who loves you26300:21:37,459 –> 00:21:44,459most cannot fully do in this life. He will wipe away every tear from your eyes.26400:21:47,400 –> 00:21:51,599You’ve been listening to Pastor Colin Smith on Open the Bible with a message called, How26500:21:51,780 –> 00:21:56,660much will I enjoy Heaven? It is part of our series, Simply Called Heaven. And if you’ve26600:21:56,660 –> 00:22:01,540missed any of the series you can easily catch up or go back and listen again online at our26700:22:01,540 –> 00:22:08,540website www.openthebible.org.uk or as a podcast on all the main podcast sites search for Open26800:22:09,020 –> 00:22:12,920the Bible UK or follow the link from our website.26900:22:12,920 –> 00:22:18,339Open the Bible is supported by our listeners and we are extremely grateful for the support27000:22:18,439 –> 00:22:23,939you give us. This month if you are able to begin a new direct debit in the amount of27100:22:23,939 –> 00:22:30,680£5 per month or more or a one-off gift of £50 or more we’d love to say a big thank27200:22:30,680 –> 00:22:37,339you by sending you our Easter Giveaway bundle. The bundle consists of two copies of the brand27300:22:37,339 –> 00:22:42,640new graphic novel version of Heaven How I Got Here The Story of The Thief on the Cross27400:22:42,640 –> 00:22:49,339plus an NIV outreach edition of the Bible. These are ideal to give away to friends and27500:22:49,339 –> 00:22:55,939family this Easter. Colin how does this graphic novel speak to young people today? Well if27600:22:55,939 –> 00:23:02,099you’re a young person and especially if you have grown up in church you probably find27700:23:02,099 –> 00:23:08,880yourself asking the question am I living a good enough life? Am i living a life that’s27800:23:09,500 –> 00:23:14,660to be pleasing to God? And you maybe have in your mind the idea that pleasing God’s27900:23:14,660 –> 00:23:20,900going to be a very very hard thing to do. And here’s the marvelous good news you know28000:23:20,900 –> 00:23:27,900entrance into heaven and peace with God don’t depend on you living a good enough Christian28100:23:27,920 –> 00:23:34,599life. It’s the gift of God’s marvelous grace and that is made wonderfully clear in the28200:23:34,680 –> 00:23:40,199story of the thief on the cross. And this graphic novel tells that story in a way that’s28300:23:40,199 –> 00:23:47,199clear, simple, and compelling and it communicates the greatest good news ever, that God’s marvelous28400:23:47,619 –> 00:23:53,000grace comes to us in Jesus Christ. He’s the one who gives us peace with God. He’s the28500:23:53,000 –> 00:24:00,000one who opens the door of heaven. There is hope for every person in Jesus Christ and28600:24:00,579 –> 00:24:06,479especially the person who’s saying I haven’t lived a good enough life, I feel very, very28700:24:06,479 –> 00:24:11,300far from God. That’s the message, and I hope that it’s going to be very encouraging to28800:24:11,300 –> 00:24:16,719every young person, to everyone who’s a visual learner, and to everyone who needs to understand28900:24:16,719 –> 00:24:18,520God’s marvelous grace.29000:24:18,520 –> 00:24:23,800Well our Easter giveaway bundle is our gift to you when you begin a new direct debit of29100:24:23,800 –> 00:24:30,180five pounds per month or more, or a one off gift of 50 pounds or more this calendar month.29200:24:30,180 –> 00:24:37,660Full terms and conditions, and to give online, come to our website at openthebible.org.uk,29300:24:37,660 –> 00:24:42,339and don’t forget, if you do give online, do leave your full name and address so that we29400:24:42,339 –> 00:24:45,339can send you our Easter giveaway bundle.29500:24:45,339 –> 00:24:50,099For Pastor Colin Smith, and Open The Bible, I’m David Pick, and I hope you’ll join us29600:24:50,099 –> 00:24:51,979again next time on Open The Bible.