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Home Sermons 2011 Bringing heaven to earth (Part 3 of "Being ready for the 2nd coming of Jesus")
 
Bringing heaven to earth (Part 3 of "Being ready for the 2nd coming of Jesus") PDF Print E-mail
Written by David Charlton   

Scripture

Revelation 7:9-17
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!" 11 And all the angels stood round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen." 13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and whence have they come?" 14 I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night within his temple; and he who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
 Matthew 6:10
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.

  Core Idea, Challenge & Summary

Core Idea: By working to bring heaven down to earth, we set the conditions for the return of Jesus.

Challenge: To challenge Christians to do what’s necessary to make earth more like heaven.

Summary: Every Sunday, when we pray the model prayer given to us by our Lord Jesus, we pray for the kingdom of heaven to become a reality on earth. We pray this when we say, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We acknowledge that the way things are in heaven is how things should be on earth.

God answers this prayer by using us to make the necessary changes on earth to make it more like heaven. We are, after all, the feet, hands and mouth of Jesus Christ on earth. With this in mind, we need to compare the heavenly visions found in Revelation to the realities on earth. This will show us what needs to be changed. We then seek God’s power to make the necessary changes. By doing this, we become more ready for the return of Christ. 

Two Sundays ago, we learned to become ready for Jesus’ return by accepting God’s free offer of forgiveness through faith in Jesus. Then we learned that we continue to prepare for Jesus’ return by overcoming sin and evil. We do that by not sinning, resisting evil and doing good. Closely related to overcoming is bringing heaven down to earth. By relying on God’s power to overcome, we’ll make the necessary changes to make earth more like heaven. As we bring heaven down to earth, we set the conditions for the return of Christ.     

The Sermon

I. Introduction: “The Way Things Ought to Be”

     A. Conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh, wrote “The Way Things Ought to Be”

  • Wrote it in 1992 to espouse the conservative political view point. According to Limbaugh, a conservative agenda should dictate how things should be.
  • Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with Rush Limbaugh, he does bring up a very good question: “How should things be?” More specifically, “How should things be here on earth?” (As a pastor, I don’t care of you agree or disagree with Limbaugh. Both the conservative and liberal schools of thought have serious shortcomings when analyzed in the light of Scripture.)

     B. As followers of Christ, we need to ask, “How should things be here on earth”.

  • Every Sunday we pray for the Kingdom of Heaven to become a reality here on earth. We do this when we pray the model prayer given to us by Jesus: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10)
  • When we pray this prayer, we acknowledged that the way things are in heaven is the way things should be here on earth.
  • God answers this prayer by using us, as His followers, to make the necessary changes on earth.
  • As we bring heaven down to earth, we set the stage for the return of Christ.

II. Bringing heaven to earth and the return of Jesus

     A. Two Sundays ago, we learned:

  • Jesus is coming back in His glorified, resurrected body. We don’t know when but he’s coming back as King of Kings, Lord of Lords and Judge
  • We become ready for His return by receiving God’s free offer of forgiveness through faith in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

     B. Last Sunday we learned:

  • We continue to prepare for Jesus’ return by overcoming sin and evil.
  • We overcome by not sinning, resisting evil and doing good.

     C. Overcoming and bringing heaven to earth are closely connected

  • As we rely on God’s power to overcome (not sin, resist evil, and do good) we make the necessary changes to make earth more like heaven.
  • As we overcome and make earth more like heaven, we set the stage for the return of Christ.

III. Comparing heaven to earth 

     A. Revelation has four heavenly visions (4:1-5:14; 7:9-17; 19:1-10 and 21:1-22:5)

     B. These heavenly visions show us how things should be on earth

     C. By comparing the heavenly visions to the realities on earth, we can learn what we

          need to change on earth.

     D. Let’s look at the second vision: 7:9-17

IV. Revelation 7:9-17

     A. In heaven, people from all walks of life come together in love to worship the Lord

  • "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!""  (Revelation 7:9-10)
  • In heaven Democrats will stand side by side with Republicans, Arabs with Jews, rich with poor, Japanese with Koreans, blacks with whites, conservatives with liberals, Catholics with Protestants, educated with uneducated etc…. All will come together praising God.
  • In his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, Dr. Martin Luther King said: “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” Dr. King simply giving us a vision of heaven and telling us that he has a dream of making heaven a reality on earth.
  • What can we do as individual Christians to make this a reality on earth? What can local congregations and the church as a whole do? 
     B. In heaven, everyone is continuously worshipping God. All activity is centered
          around God.
  • Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night within his temple; (Revelation 7:15)
  • Every aspect of life in heaven is centered around God and God’s will
  • What can we do as individual Christians to make this a reality on earth? What can local congregations and the church as a whole do? 

     C. In heaven, there is no poor. No one is in need.

  • They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:16-17)
  • No famine in heaven. No homeless. No disease.
  • What can we do as individual Christians to make this a reality on earth? What can local congregations and the church as a whole do? 

V. Conclusion

     A. Jesus is coming back and we need to be ready!!!

  • Receive God’s free offer of forgiveness through faith in Jesus
  • Continue to prepare for His return by overcoming
  • As you overcome, seek ways to bring heaven down to earth.
     B. Are you doing this? Have you received God’s forgiveness? Are you overcoming?
          Are you working to bring heaven down to earth?
 
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