As we celebrate 150 years of God’s faithfulness to our church we look forward to what He is going to do.

A Secure Future

The first thing we should notice in our text is that the future of believers is certain. John has already seen our future and written it down for us. God will remain faithful and keep His covenant with His people. He will finish the work He began in us. As we see our final destination it helps to inform the direction we must go as a church.

Worship as a Priority

If we are going to spend eternity praising Jesus for the great salvation He has bestowed upon us, we should begin to do so now. Gathering as believers to worship should be our number one priority. If you do not like gathering with believers to praise Jesus, you will hate heaven. Our entire lives must be reoriented around the worship, praise, and exaltation of Jesus for His saving grace.

Joining with other believers

If we are going to spend eternity with all believers, we must begin to form relationships with them now. Over the years, the church of Jesus Christ has split repeatedly. This has sometimes been in the formation of denominations or even the splitting of local churches. Sometimes individual Christians have conflict that lead to a falling out. If we are to follow Jesus Christ, our future must be filled with joining with other believers. The long work of healing, reconciliation, and cooperation must begin with us.

Evangelism is the priority

Our future looks like a great multitude from every family, language, and nation gathered because of the saving grace of Jesus. To that end we are commanded to preach the Gospel to every creature. Our church must be organized around this task. We can rest when the whole world has heard the Gospel. Until then, we must do whatever lies within us to go make disciples who make disciples.

We must separate

As we look at this massive task before us, the Great Commission becomes more of a reality. If we are truly going to work together to see this multitude from every tribe, language, and nation come together to worship Jesus it is going to require that we go into all the world with the Gospel. This means that we must send out our best and closest for the sake of the mission. It means that we must plant churches. It means that even our local assembly must change to accommodate those the Spirit draws. We will have to separate from each other from time to time for the sake of the Kingdom.

A True Homecoming

But herein lies the truth about our future. There will be a great homecoming when all of those we have sent out for the sake of the King come together forever to worship Him. Until then, our future will be filled with many different homecomings as those we have sent out return to tell us of what God has done and join us to worship Jesus Christ. We will then separate again, go to our respective fields of service, and labor until every one of God’s elect has been gathered into His sheepfold.

Application:

Do you know your future in heaven is secure?

How can you begin to link arms with other believers?

Who has God called you to reach with the Gospel?