HEAVEN WILL BE WORTH IT ALL!
Anyway, the anointing of God was tremendous and I feel what He wanted accomplished was accomplished.
We finished the sermon series called "These Last Days." The topic was HEAVEN from Revelation 21:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” 6 And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. 7 All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.
8 “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
9 Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls containing the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come with me! I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
10 So he took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God
Here is what we are promised according to the Word of God:
1. WONDERS BEYOND DESCRIPTION!
-4 different times the word "NEW" is used in the scripture above!
NEW heaven, NEW earth, NEW Jerusalem and "I will make all things NEW!"
2. THE HEART OF HEAVEN
-None other than the majesty of God Himself!
-We are going to personally meet our rescuer! He is the One that
- mends every hurt,
- forgives every transgression,
- understands all of our emotions with an unconditional love!!
3. EARTH'S BURDENS LIFTED!
"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there will be no more mourning, no more crying"
4. HEAVEN IS OUR DESTINATION
"I am Alpha and Omega" the "Beginning and the End"
-Jesus is saying that He is the source of life while we are on this earth and He will be the destination of our souls when we leave this world!
Do you realize that the best is yet to come for you if you know Christ as your Lord and Savior?
Just hang on a little longer and Jesus will rescue us from this painful and vile world!!!
Let this story encourage you:
A woman was diagnosed with a terminal illness and given three months to live. She asked her Pastor to come to her home to discuss her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at her funeral, and what scriptures she wanted read, and which outfit she wanted to be buried in.
Then she said, "One more thing... I want to be buried with a fork in my hand."
The pastor was surprised.
The woman explained, "In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably say to everyone, 'Keep your fork.' It was my favorite time of the dinner, because I knew something better was coming, like velvety chocolate cake or deep dish apple pie - something wonderful. So, I want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and wonder, ' What's with the fork?' Then, I want you to tell them, ' Keep your fork, because the best is yet to come.' "
The pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he bid the woman goodbye. He realized she had a better grasp of heaven than he did, and knew something better was coming.
At the funeral, when people asked him why she was holding a fork, the pastor told them of the conversation he had with the woman before she died. He said he could not stop thinking about the fork, and knew they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either. He was right.
"Keep your fork. The best is yet to come."
Good sermon.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most popular blog posts I ever wrote was on the topic of "no more sea" in Revelation. It's here, along with a lot of comments, some of them not very helpful, some which are.