The Church of Eleven22

Episode: The End – Stand Alone
Speaker: Pastor Joby Martin
Date: January 4, 2026

Episode Overview

This stand-alone message from The Church of Eleven22, delivered by Pastor Joby Martin, focuses on the biblical vision of "the end"—the ultimate hope for followers of Jesus Christ as described in Revelation 21. Contrasting common misconceptions about heaven with the deep promises of Scripture, Pastor Joby explores what eternity with God truly entails: a new heaven and new earth, embodied newness, unbroken peace, flawless perfection, and the fulfilled presence of God with His people. The sermon also clarifies the seriousness of sin, the reality of hell, and the invitation Christ extends for forgiveness and eternal life.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Misconceptions About Heaven and the Reality of Eternity

• Common Childhood Ideas: Many envision floating in clouds or becoming angels after death, but Scripture promises so much more (00:05).
  • Quote:

    “When I die, I’d go to heaven forever. And it wasn’t until I got into my 20s and I heard about what really happens, what eternity really is...”
    — Pastor Joby (00:05)

• Immediate Heaven vs. Ultimate Home: Pastor Joby stresses that the 'heaven' we often think of is an intermediate state; the true hope is in a renewed creation—body and earth—at Christ’s return.

2. Why Start the Year With ‘The End’

• Completion of the Christmas Story:
  • Christmas is about both Jesus’ first coming and His coming again as King. (04:48)
  • Quote:

    “One side of it is that Jesus came as a baby. The other way Christians have celebrated Christmas is that Jesus will come again as king.”
    — Pastor Joby (04:57)

• Orienting Life by the End in Mind:
  • Encouragement to “reverse engineer” our lives based on God’s promised future, aligning the present with eternal hope (07:20).
  • Quote:

    "What I would love for us to do is kind of cast our eyes out to the end and then reverse engineer our life back."
    — Pastor Joby (07:20)

3. Exposition of Revelation 21: New Heaven and New Earth

• Physicality and Renewal:

  • The Greek word "kainos" means renewed, not replaced. The new heaven and earth are the original creation, perfected (09:10).
  • The resurrection of Jesus is the template for the believer’s eternal, physical life.
  • Quote:

    "Why would Jesus be bodily resurrected, and why would Scripture promise us a bodily resurrection if we're gonna spend eternity as disembodied souls floating around in some ethereum? It doesn’t make sense."
    — Pastor Joby (12:35)

• Total Peace Described:

  • “No sea” indicates the end of chaos, danger, and uncertainty—imagery for total peace (13:00).

  • Personal story: Pastor Joby describes a harrowing boat trip as an analogy for the biblical idea of the sea as chaos (13:38).

  • Quote:

    “Imagine total peace forever. Imagine no stress, no anxiety, no jealousy, no fear, no doubt, no drama... no road rage...”
    — Pastor Joby (15:10)

4. The Bride, Flawless Perfection, and the Marriage Supper

• Heaven as Union With God:

  • Describes New Jerusalem “coming down” as a bride, indicating God’s pursuit and initiative (17:40).

  • Personal reflection on seeing his own bride on wedding day, relating the analogy to the joy and perfection of Christ’s union with His people (18:00).

  • Quote:

    “I love to look at the groom as soon as the door opens up because it’s the same reaction every time—they’re thinking, that’s beautiful, that’s perfect. I don’t know how I did that.”
    — Pastor Joby (18:56)

• Imagination of Eternity’s Perfection:

  • No sin, no sickness, no pain, everything as it should be—including creativity, culture, music, adventure (20:32).
  • Cites Anthony Hoekema:

    “Will there be better Beethovens on the new earth? Better Rembrandts, better Raphaels... Our cultures will glorify God in ways that will surpass our most fantastic dreams.”
    — (21:01)

5. God With Us—Personal Presence Forever

• Face-to-Face With God:

  • The fulfillment of Emmanuel (“God with us”)—God dwelling with His people, not us ascending to Him (23:43).
  • Quote:

    “The whole Bible is about God coming to be with us, not us working our way to go up to try to be with Him.”
    — Pastor Joby (25:10)

  • Eternal life is enjoyable precisely because God's presence is the point—not simply pleasure or place.

• Perfect Relationship Restored:

  • Personal anecdote about family, paralleling God’s closeness to our desire to be with loved ones (25:45).

• No More Separation or Uncertainty:

  • All confusion, distance from God, and sorrow end; the great reward: “You and I get Jesus” (27:15).

6. No More Tears or Death—Complete Happiness in Jesus

• The End of Suffering:

  • Quoting:

    “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more...” (Revelation 21)

  • Personal grief: Pastor Joby refers to recent losses, sharing comfort from Christ’s promise (28:35).

  • Quote:

    “Jesus himself...puts his thumb on your cheek and just goes, no more tears. And you never cry again. You never hurt again.”
    — Pastor Joby (30:00)

• Ultimate Joy and Satisfaction:

  • “In your presence there is fullness of joy, and at your right hand, pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11) (31:20).

7. It Is Done—Eternal Security and Accomplishment in Christ

• Finality in Jesus' Work:

  • "I am making all things new...It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.” (Revelation 21)

  • Echoes Jesus’ words: “It is finished” (33:23).

  • Quote:

    “You can trust that everything has been fully secured for all eternity, accomplished, because Jesus died and rose again victorious.”
    — Pastor Joby (34:22)

8. Sobering Reality of Hell

• Hell Is Real, Serious, and Permanent:

  • Clarity on modern debates; Pastor Joby affirms eternal conscious separation from God for those not in Christ (35:27).
  • Quote:

    “Hell is forever. It is eternal, it’s conscious, and it is payment. And I know you’re thinking, ‘Gosh, isn’t that a little extreme?’ Yes, because sin is extreme.”
    — Pastor Joby (36:08)

• No One Is Good Enough:

  • All fall short by God’s standard; the only difference is faith in Christ’s finished work (37:49).
  • Quote:

    “There are no good people in the new heaven and the new earth, only forgiven people. That’s who’s there. And that’s really good news for you and for me.”
    — Pastor Joby (39:27)

• Salvation Offered Freely:

  • No one earns their place; it's a gift of grace by faith, freely given due to Jesus’ sacrificial payment (40:30).
  • Quote:

    “To the thirsty, I will give from the springs of the water of life without payment.”
    — Pastor Joby (41:07)

9. Invitation and Response

• Call to Place Faith in Jesus:

  • Invitation for listeners to trust Christ for forgiveness and eternal life (42:05).
  • Quote:

    “I would invite you to receive Jesus’ payment on your behalf...maybe for the first time today, you would receive that gift of God and you would step into the assurance that you will live in the new heaven, the new earth face to face to the praise and glory of God.”
    — Pastor Joby (42:40)

• Anticipating Christ’s Return:

  • Closing words from Revelation and a worshipful call to say, “Come, Lord Jesus” (43:40–44:07).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Heaven’s True Hope:

  “It makes perfect sense when you consider that Jesus was physically, perfectly bodily resurrected and that you and I, as followers of Jesus, will be perfectly bodily resurrected, spending eternity in a perfectly, physically renewed earth with the resurrected, perfect, bodily Jesus.”
  — Pastor Joby (12:52)

• On Peace:

  “Chaos and the sovereignty of Jesus in person cannot exist in the same place; Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and wherever the Prince of Peace rules and reigns, there is nothing but peace.”
  — Pastor Joby (16:48)

• On Flawless Perfection:

  “Do you know why perfection, flawless perfection, will be the new heaven and the new Earth? Because Jesus is perfect and nothing imperfect will be in His presence.”
  — Pastor Joby (21:32)

• On the Heart of Eternity:

  “If you have an imagination of your eternity and it's everything you ever hoped and dreamed, but you don't have Jesus, you missed it all.”
  — Pastor Joby (27:20)

• On Salvation:

  “Our works and our behavior and our morals don’t earn us the way there. It's only by faith in Jesus, who has done everything, who has been the perfect one on our behalf, that we’re there.”
  — Pastor Joby (40:10)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:05 — Childhood ideas about heaven; the surprise of biblical eternity
• 04:48 — Connecting Christmas, Christ’s return, and “the end”
• 09:10 — Jesus' resurrection and the physicality of eternity
• 13:38 — “No more sea”: Illustration of chaos and peace
• 17:40 — The bride analogy and New Jerusalem
• 20:32 — The perfection and adventure of the new creation
• 23:43 — “God with us” theme through the whole Bible
• 28:35 — No more tears; personal stories of loss
• 31:20 — Fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11)
• 33:23 — “It is done”; eternal security in Christ
• 35:27 — The reality and severity of hell
• 37:49 — No good people in heaven, only forgiven
• 41:07 — The free gift of eternal life
• 42:05 — Invitation to trust in Christ
• 43:40–44:07 — Closing encouragement and worship: “Come, Lord Jesus”

Final Thoughts

Pastor Joby’s message anchors hope not in vague spirituality but in the concrete, embodied, relational, and eternally secure promise of life with Jesus Christ. The end of the biblical story is not escape from creation, but its renewal, reunion, and restoration. The invitation is not to achieve but to receive by faith. He challenges listeners to orient their present lives by this sure future and to respond in faith and worship to the One who “makes all things new.”