Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying… Tears are the symbol of sorrow. Tears are sometimes shed through excess of joy. Yet a tearful joy is ever akin to grief. I. THE PRESENT STATE OF THE BELIEVER IS ONE OF TEARS. 1. Because he is living in a world of sin. (1) While God is loved, the Saviour served, and His Jaw honoured, the believer's heart has yet to mourn over the defectiveness of his service, and not infrequently over his lapses into sin. (2) Nor is his own sin alone the cause of his sorrow. He is no unaffected spectator of the unbelief and ungodliness and wickedness of his fellow-men. 2. Because he is in a world of suffering. Because of sin, suffering has an inlet through our whole nature, and is the chief burden of its history. It rises up like mist out of the landscape, to darken the whole scene of our present pilgrimage. (1) Think of the suffering that enters even the believer's dwelling when he experiences the stroke of adverse providence. (2) How often is the believer made to suffer from the stroke of relative bereavements! (3) How often has the believer to sorrow over personal infirmities and afflictions! 3. Because the world in which he lives is a world of death. As a curse, death is inseparable from sorrow. Even where unstinged, it tells of pain, of suffering, and tears. II. THE FUTURE STATE OF THE BELIEVER IS ONE IN WHICH THERE SHALL BE NO TEARS. 1. This removal of tears is directly traceable to God. It is enjoyed through grace in virtue of the Saviour's blood, and God bestows it through the pardon of the believer's sins, and by giving him a right and title to eternal life. 2. This removal of tears is complete. In the future world every source of sorrow shall have gent. 3. This removal of tears shall be for ever. Never shall heaven's sky be clouded nor heaven's bliss be interrupted by one single moment's experience of the vicissitudes of time. III. THE REASON WHY THE FUTURE STATE OF THE BELIEVER SHALL BE A STATE FREE FROM TEARS. 1. Because of the believer's personal presence with Christ. 2. Because it is a state of personal perfection. 3. Because it shall be a state of renewed union and communion with Christian friends for ever. 4. Because it is a state of unalloyed happiness. (G. Jeffrey, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. |
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