Easter isn’t just a time for looking back at what Jesus did, but forward at what He purchased for those who believe in Him. The amazing eternity that we have to look forward to and three new things, that will be ours. A new body, a new heaven and a new earth. Now that deserves a Hallelujah! No More Tears Over the past little while on the program we’ve been talking about the importance of having hope in our lives. Hope is like a photo album in our hearts and in our minds … images of the good things that we hope are going to happen to us and for us in the future. And when we run out of positive images, that’s called … hopelessness. But the important thing that I’ve learned over the course of this series is this: that the sort of hope that the Bible talks about is entirely different to the sort of hope that we talk about. For us, hope has a dimension of uncertainty to it. You’re sitting in the doctor’s surgery, you’re waiting to go in to be told whether the x–rays reveal cancer or not. You hope that it’s going to be okay, but … well, you just don’t know. Or you hope that next week, you’ll receive that promotion at work. The bosses are getting together over the next couple of days, to evaluate the candidates. You’re hoping that your name will be at the top of the pile, but … you just don’t know. There’s a kind of a tension involved in the way that we think about hope. I hope it’s going to be okay. I hope it’s going to be great. I hope my marriage doesn’t fall apart. I hope my teenage kids are going to be okay at the party tonight. And when things don’t turn out the way we want, often there are tears. The disappointment that ensues when the hope that we had proves to be misplaced, is really, really tough. It often leads to tears. Think about the last time that you shed tears. What was it about? A betrayal? A relationship breakdown? Missing out on that promotion? A scary prognosis from the doctor? I read on Wikipedia that according to the German Society of Ophthalmology, which has collated different scientific studies on crying, women cry on average between 30 and 64 times a year. Men cry on average between 6 and 17 times a year. Men tend to cry for about two to four minutes and women cry for about six minutes. Crying turns to sobbing for women in 65% of cases, compared to just 6% for men. But these differences don’t start to occur until adolescence. Inevitably, these tears are related to the disappointment that comes when hope has failed us. Think back to the last time that you cried. What was it about? Why did you cry? What was the trigger? Sometimes it’s physical pain, but mostly, it’s when there’s some trigger or breaking point that brings lost hope to a head; that thing we’d hoped for: a good marriage, an obedient child, trustworthiness in a work colleague, good health. Whatever it is… that thing that we hoped for… has failed us. Do you enjoy crying? No. I don’t think there’s a single person on the planet who enjoys crying. And if you or I had our way, we would never, ever, ever encounter another situation that causes us to cry anything but tears of joy, for the rest of our days on this earth. Right? The things we hope for on this earth don’t always happen. But the sort of hope that the Bible talks about is completely different, and there’s no better passage to tell that story than in Romans chapter 5 verses 3 to 5: And not only that, (writes Paul) but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. Did you pick it? The sort of hope that the Bible talks about is the sort of hope that doesn’t disappoint us. It never disappoints us, because God is faithful; God’s Word is true; God’s promises never fail and so we can hope in Him with absolute, rock solid, certain hope. No ifs. No buts. No maybes. Even, as is the case here, during times of suffering. Because during that suffering, God is building our character and our endurance and through that, He grows a godly hope in our hearts, by pouring the Holy Spirit into us. So, when it comes to the tears that you and I shed from time to time there is a promise that I want to share with you today that you can have a rock solid, unfailing hope in. Revelation chapter 21, verses 3 to 5. This passage tells us what our eternity with Jesus is going to be like. Have a listen: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’ Just think about that. Whatever sadness and tragedies that you’ve had to travel through, whatever disappointments and losses that you’ve experienced in your life, God Himself will wipe away every tear from your eyes. Death, suffering, sickness, pain, mourning, loss, tragedy, disappointment … none of those things will ever be again, because those things will have passed away. All the things that matter today, all the things that cause you hurt today, every single thing that brings a tear to your eyes today, will be gone because those things … the first things … will have passed away. It’s hard to imagine isn’t it? I know there’s someone listening today who has lost a child. Another whose life’s work was taken away from them. Another whose wife or husband has just died and was suddenly taken away from them. And there’s no doubt someone listening whose marriage is a complete mess, not at all what you’d planned when you walked down the aisle together all those years ago. One day, all those things will be gone. And if you believe in Jesus, all that will be left, will be you, with countless others, in glory with the Lord your God for all eternity. Billy Graham once said this: ‘I’ve read the last page of my Bible. It’s all going to turn out all right.’ That’s the rock solid truth in which you and I can place our hope … and never, ever, ever be disappointed. So let’s bring that hope now, into the middle of the situations and circumstances that you’re travelling through at the moment. The things that you have uncertain hope about. The thing that last moved you to tears and to sobbing, the pain so deep, that you don’t have words to express it. What difference does God’s hope, this certain hope make? What difference can it make? Does it completely take away the pain and the tears now? No, I don’t think so. Probably not. Some hurts are incredibly deep. But what it does do, is it puts them into a whole new eternal perspective. Just stand back and look at the whole picture. What you’re going through now in the context of the hope that you can have for where you’re going to be and what you’re going to be doing and what God will have done on that day that you go to be with Him. And listen to His Words again, as He speaks them personally to you: ‘I will dwell with you; and you will be mine, I myself will be with you; I will wipe every tear from your eyes. Death will be no more; your mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for those things will have passed away.’ And my friend that very same God, the God that speaks those words of love and hope to y...

Released on 10 Apr 2022