What do you do when life won't stop beating you down? Dr. Phillip Martin walks through three powerful pieces of Scripture to show why the single greatest thought you can have in the middle of pain is the thought of heaven.

Paul was lowered out of a building in a basket to escape people trying to kill him — and right after that, he wrote about being caught up to the third heaven, seeing inexpressible things, and then coming back to boast in his weaknesses. John stepped through an open door in Revelation 4 and described what Paul couldn't — a throne room of breathtaking glory, a rainbow of covenant promise, lightning and thunder of divine justice, and angels who never stop saying holy, holy, holy.

In this episode you'll hear:

• Why Paul saw heaven but refused to describe it — and what it did to his perspective on suffering

• What John saw in Revelation 4 that explains Paul's radical contentment in pain

• Why the rainbow over God's throne is the first thing you'll see when you get to heaven — and what it promises you

• Why God's answer to Paul's thorn in the flesh wasn't removal — it was a vision of heaven

• What "My grace is sufficient for you" really means and where those words come from

• Why Jesus chose the Lord's Supper — not a survival plan — as his final gift to his disciples before the cross

• How heaven puts every temporary pain in perspective when you know what's waiting for you

This message includes Communion and serves as the introduction to the new/continued series through the Book of Revelation at The Grove Church.

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:1–10; Revelation 4; John 14