What Do We Know About Heaven?

Revelation 21:1-7

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell                                   with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” 5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” 6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

The word “Heaven” with a cloud background

I. Heaven is relationships.

1. Heaven is a place of renewed relationships.

2. Heaven is a place of new relationships.

II. Heaven will be a new place to live. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth has passed away.

III. Heaven is going to be a new way to live. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

A. PREPARE

B. PURITY.

C. PRESENCE And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 

IV. Heaven is a place prepared personally for individuals. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive who? YOU to Myself; that where I am, there YOU may be also.

And He said to ME,  It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to HIM who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be HIS God and he shall be MY son.  

V. Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 

ADMIT

BELIEVE

CONFESS

And I will be HIS God and he shall be MY son.

Repent of your sins and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and confess Him as your Lord!

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Revelation – The Lion and the Lamb – 12

Revelation 5:1-14 – 1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll    and to open its seals,for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God    from every tribe and language and people and nation,10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,    and they shall reign on the earth.”

11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,to receive power and wealth and wisdom and mightand honor and glory and blessing!”

13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lambbe blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

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How do you picture Jesus? Whatever our picture of Jesus is, it likely falls woefully short of how and who he truly is. The passage we will be studying tonight is one of the clearest pictures we get of Jesus, and it is one of the most powerful chapters in all of scripture. More clearly than anywhere else, the veil of heaven is pulled back and we glimpse into heavenly realities.

Just like many of these Revelation sermons, we will dig deeper into some things than others, and there will be some speculation about different things that happen. But we are given Revelation for a reason, and it is for us to be able to know things about God and things about the future. What we will see clearly in this chapter is Jesus.

What if there was no Jesus? There would be no ________________. Ultimately, there would be no meaning or hope, for your future or for the future of humanity. As renown atheist Richard Dawkins said, “The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.”[1] In terms of where existence is heading…thinking about the trajectory of history, the German liberal Rudolf Bultmann said, “We cannot claim to know the end goal of history. Therefore, the question of meaning in history has become meaningless.”[2]

When you have no view of God or a low view of God, this is what you get. This is the only option. Your life is meaningless and history is going nowhere. This is not what we see in Revelation 5.

This chapter is broken up into three parts, so we will see three main things in this message and dig a little deeper into what it means.

1) None but Jesus can di

The Restoration Business

James 5:19-20

I.  RESTORE BELIEVERS

“Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth…”

(1) The POSSIBILITY of a person who knows Christ wandering away from the Lord.

1) Some people wander away from the Lord because of neglect. “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as is the manner of some.”

2) Some people wander away is because they get caught up in the ways of the world.

a. You can wander away in BELIEF. “if anyone among you wanders from the truth…”

b. You can wander away in BEHAVIOR. “he who turns a sinner from the error of his way.”

(2) The RESPONSIBILITY we have to restore them. “He who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”

II.  RESCUE SINNERS

(1)  The MISERY in these verses

1. The SINNER WANDERING. “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” 

2. The SINNER SINNING. “a multitude of sins.”

3. The SINNER DYING. “save a soul from death.”

(2) The MINISTRY in these verses. He who turns a sinner from the error of his way.

“on some have compassion but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire…” (Jude 23) 

Lord, I’m Coming Home!

Revelation – The King on His Throne – 11

Revelation 4:1-11 – 1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,                    who was and is and is to come!”

9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,   to receive glory and honor and power,for you created all things,    and by your will they existed and were created.”

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What is the greatest surprise you have ever gotten? There are good surprises and bad surprises. I love watching people get surprised scared. My wife gave me a surprise birthday party for my 30th birthday with my youth group. She even had a massive fat head of my face made. Surprises are awesome.

I was driving my son Hudson the other day, and we were listening to one of my favorite bands, The Gray Havens. One of their songs about heaven came on and it had the words, “Gone are the days / When we cry-y-y, cry-y-y / Here are the days / When we’ll fly-y-y, fly-y-y / All our hopes will turn to sight / Beyond the veil, in the morning light / We’ll sing gone / Are the days.”

This led to an awesome conversation with Hudson about heaven. I said, “It will be so awesome. The Bible says there will be no more crying or pain anymore, for the former things will have passed away.” And what my son said in response was one of the most profound things I have ever heard and will never forget. He said, “Yeah, there will be no feeling there but happy and excited and surprised forever.” Man, that wrecked me. I lost it right then and there. The thought of being surprised…in the best possible way…forever. And I had to say, “Yes. You are exactly right.”

That is the picture we begin to get in Revelation 4. It opens with a door standing open and John getting to look into the throne room of God. Talk about excited and surprised! And what he sees is nothing short of incredible. That’s what we’re going to look into tonight. If you have a small view of God, it needs to change and conform with reality.

Revelation 4 falls into two parts: The One seated on His throne and the worship of the One seated on the throne. When you truly see the One seated on the throne, the only response is worship. What we see right off the bat is a throne…God’s throne.

The throne represents authority, and the authority of the one seated on the throne is absolute. (vs 2-3)

Answered Prayer

James 5:16-18

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

I.  An EXPLANATION of answered prayer. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

(1) There is an INTEGRITY to prayer. “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man.”

a) A POSITIONAL righteousness.“For He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  

b) A PRACTICAL righteousness. “He who practices righteousness is righteous.”

(2) There is an INTENSITY to prayer.

(3) There is an IMMENSITY to prayer. 

II.  An ILLUSTRATION of answered prayer. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.

(1) Elijah’s WEAKNESS “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours…”

(2) Elijah’s EARNESTNESS “Elijah prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.”

(3) Elijah’s EFFECTIVENESS And he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth produced its fruit.

Righteous people praying earnestly and fervently produces great results!

The Benefit of Grace | April 27, 2022

Who is someone you would consider a saint? Usually it is the most godly or impactful person you know. In the catholic faith, someone becomes a saint after they die if their life is evaluated and they are found to live virtuously, as a servant of God, and have performed at least one miracle or if someone prays to them after their death and a miracle occurs.

* Conversation with a catholic and how excited he was to talk about saints and popes *

Where the real excitement is…because the real miracle is…is that you and I are considered saints. We are called saints, not because of anything we’ve done, but because of everything He’s done. Paul calls the church in Corinth saints.

1 Corinthians 1:1-4

Tonight, we’re going to look at one of the great many benefits of being a Christian—the one that allows a sinful church like Corinth to be called saints—grace.

Now, before we get started in this, what are benefits? Really, when we think about it, it is something we get when we deserve or have earned something (Gym membership benefits…Health benefits with job…Membership to retail chains…Kroger discount off groceries and gas…Discount card…$20 gets you discounts off all kinds of restaurants around town). In all of these, we get benefits because we put something in, we’ve earned it, we deserve it.

But, the benefits of being a Christian are completely different. One of the greatest benefits of being a Christian is grace (charisa). It is undeserved, not-able-to-be-paid-back kindness. It is undeserved, unearned forgiveness. This word refers to some time in the past at a very point in time, a moment of time, that you were given grace. And that grace continues on into eternity.

When you were saved, you became a saint…you became a Christian…you were given grace in that very moment…you were forgiven and free…you were a saint from that moment forward…you were given grace. So, if you’re in Christ and you are a saint and you have grace…let’s see what you can no longer have. That’s part of the benefit. There are some negative things that cannot coexist with grace.

1) You cannot have guilt with grace. Guilt cannot coexist with grace. Grace and guilt cannot go together.

Romans 8:1

Grace is not grace if God says I will be gracious to you if you do not sin. That’s not grace. If grace is withheld from the sinner in the least degree because of their sin, then it isn’t grace. Grace is undeserved, unearned favor.

This is what brought Paul to say what he did in Romans 5:6-8, 18-20.

But that doesn’t mean we go on sinning (Romans 6:1-2)

So, how much of a sinner’s sins are forgiven? All of them! No wonder Paul thanks God for grace. Are you thankful for that kind of grace? Are you thankful for the grace that’s forgiven you of all your sin and holds you absolutely guiltless before God for the rest of your eternity? You say that’s awesome! And if you’re hearing this and you’re not a Christian (you’ve never surrendered your heart and life to Jesus), isn’t this somewhat inviting for God to say to you, “I will cleanse all your sin before my eyes, I will forgive all of it, I will set aside all your guilt, I will hold you blameless and holy forever.” Isn’t that a nice offer? That leads us to our next point…

2) You cannot pay grace back. Grace cannot exist with human obligation. Grace is not something you have to pay back.

You can’t say, “Well God was gracious to me and He saved me and now I’ve got to pay Him back. I owe Him!” You can’t do that.Can you pay back a gift? No, it’s no longer a gift then.Even if you wanted to and sought to, grace is not something you CAN pay back.For what can you pay someone who has everything?

Paul gets into this in Romans 4, talking about Abraham being justified through his faith, and not by the law (not earned) and how that trickles all the way to us.

Romans 4:13-16, 20-25; 5:1-2

Our very faith is by the grace of God. Our faith doesn’t save us…it’s th

The Healing Ministry of the Church

James 5:14-16

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

“Is anyone among you suffering?” PRAY

“Is anyone cheerful?” PRAISE

“Is anyone among you sick?”

Ad for the prayer meeting this Wednesday night at 6 pm “Bring me the Boy”

I. A SICK CHRISTIAN

a) All illness is due to ORIGINAL SIN.

b) Some sicknesses are due to PERSONAL SIN.

“if he has committed sins, confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”

II.  A SPECIAL CALL. “Is anyone among you sick? CALL FOR THE ELDERS OF THE CHURCH and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

(1) Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.

(2) Oil represents the use of medicine.

“The prayer of faith will save the sick…”

“Confess their trespasses to one another…that you may be healed.”

III.  THE SPLENDID CURE “And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins and he has confessed them, he will be forgiven.”

“Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness — by whose stripes you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

The fervent prayers of righteous men have great power!

Easter: V Day

Easter for Christians is V Day (a day commemorating victory)

Easter is V Day because of…

I. A vacant tomb.

Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene , Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said among themselves, who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us? But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side and they were alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

II. A victorious Christ.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened.

III. A valid hope. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

IV. A Veritable immorality.

If a man dies, shall he live again?

Because I live you shall live also.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.

V. A vital call.

All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth, go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even unto the end of the world.

Yesterday Jesus died for me, this is history!

Today He lives for me, this is victory!

Tomorrow He’ll come for me, this is mystery!