A heavenly perspective

WELCOME:

Wednesday night Bible study will resume this week!

There will be a meal. Sign up sheet in the fellowship hall

SCRIPTURE READING:

(Rev 4:1-8)

1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.

3 And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.

4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.

5 Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God;

6 and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.

7 The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle.

8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”

LET US STAND AND WORSHIP!

“The Goodness of God”

Words and Music by Hillsong’

PRAYER OF PRAISE FOR WHO GOD IS

Lord, thank you for your constancy. For never turning Your back on us, for never getting frustrated with us, for forgiving our sins, for allowing us to be part of Your plan. We ask that You would look down upon this gathering of people and fill our hearts with great joy today as we focus on You. Amen!

“What a beautiful Name”

Words and Music by Hillsong

“What a beautiful Name”

Words and Music by Hillsong

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION TO OPEN OUR HEARTS

Lord, give us ears to hear Your voice and eyes to see Your glory. Would you this morning illuminate Your Word and make it known to us? Help us no to make application to others peoples’ lives, but to apply every Word to our own lives. Amen

SERMON

INTRODUCTION:

John chapter 14. This morning we are going to talk about heaven. Jesus is telling His disciples goodbye. It is the night before His crucifixion. And He has them alone and is teaching them what to expect while He is gone.

One of those things is to “keep a heavenly perspective”. While Jesus is leaving, they will see Him again. And not only that but He will be coming back for them, to bring them to where He is in heaven. Thats a promise.

But while He is away, they are not to sit idle and wait. There is work to do, there is the hope to have, and there is a destiny for God’s children.

1) What makes heaven so glorious is not the mansions, but God’s presence

John 14:1–3 NASB95

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

Explanation:

“Do not let your heart be troubled, believe in God, believe also in Me”

Why would their hearts be troubled? Because Jesus was leaving them. They had envisioned being with Jesus forever, and in a sense they will be, but the earthly Jesus is going away and where He is going they cannot come (yet).

Now this was disturbing to them because without Jesus they were lost. They followed Him everywhere they went. He led them. He taught them. He provided for them. He was their future and their hope, and now He tells them that He is leaving and they cannot come.

And He tells them to not be troubled by this news…Why? Because of their belief in God.

This is the place of their security and it is the place of our security too…

Application:

Do you have fears in your life? Is there something you fear right now?

The answer to that fear is for you to trust in God.

It is to believe that every word God has spoken will come true.

And what is the greatest human fear today? It is the fear of death! Everyone gets very uneasy when death becomes the subject.

And God says believe Him that there is life after death, there is a resurrection, and to those who believe, do not let your hearts be troubled…

Listen to what Jesus says: “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places….for I go to prepare a place for you”

Here is a very familiar verse that is often misunderstood because we have always heard in the King James version, “In my Fathers house are many mansions”

And we like that translation because we get the idea that there is a great big mansion waiting for us in heaven.

But that’s not what it says. The literal translation is, “In My Father’s house are many “rooms” which NASB translates “dwelling places”.

Jesus is NOT telling us that when we go to heaven, we are going to become like Jesse Duplantis and have a 35,000 sq. foot mansion waiting on us….

What Jesus IS saying is that there is room for us in heaven. And we do not have to fear that where Jesus is today is unattainable for us.

Application

When the Bible speaks about Heaven, it describes it as a literal dwelling place.

It is not a dream land, or a place of imagination, or a place of unconsciousness that we drift out into when we die. Its not a place of outer darkness. Life does not end when we draw our last breath.

Heaven is a real place of existence. A place where we will see, touch, feel, do things, know one another, have relationships with people….

And the Bible says it is better than we could ever imagine:

1 Corinthians 2:9 “but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.””

The splendor of heaven is not about having a mansion, but about being in the presence of God:

(v 3) “I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also”

Notice the emphasis is that we will be with Jesus.

This is the real treasure in heaven. Its not material things like houses or streets of gold, or seas of glass, or the colors, but that we will be in the manifest presence of the Lamb forever.

And that alone is incomprehensible, but it must be far better than mansions or streets of gold or Jesus would have never emphasized it.

2) The only way to heaven is through Jesus

John 14:4–6 NASB95

“And you know the way where I am going.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Explanation:

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Thats it…exclusively He is it! There is no other way to get to heaven!

There is no other religion that will work

Don’t buy that lie that all religions lead to the same place. They do not! And there are thousands of different religions

Those who worship Allah and see Jesus as a prophet will not get into heaven

The Mormons who worship the god of Jospeh Smith will not enter

The Catholics who worship Mary and believe faith plus works will not make it

Anyone who thinks they can make it to heaven by any other means other than Jesus will not enter! Her is the way

POINT: And if this is not true, then Jesus is a liar. And if Jesus is a liar then our faith is worthless..He either is the only way or He is not the way at all

Let’s think through some spiritual basics

Everyone has been born with some knowledge of eternity. Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has also set eternity in their heart.”

God has created human DNA with the knowledge that there is life after death. No matter what anyone says, everyone is born with eternity in their hearts.

And so whether people admit it or not, they know there is life after death

And in light of this people respond to this in different ways:

Some people just choose to not think it. They completely ignore anything and everything that refers to God or the afterlife.

These are your atheists, agnostics. They disregard the Bible, any kind of preaching or teaching, and push it as far away as possible and think that if they just ignore it, then it will go away.

But thats a false comfort. There is no difference in that and knowing that you have cancer and instead of finding treatment for your cancer you just choose to ignore it as if it will go away.

Psalm 14:1 “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

And then other people try to create their own way to heaven. They say, “God likes good men and women; therefore, I’ll be good, and I’ll get to Him that way.

This is based upon the idea that people are really good deep down and they just need to be a little bit better.

So they try to clean up their lives and clean up what they say and clean up themselves to look presentable to God. And they think that if they look good on the outside, God will accept them

1 Samuel 16:7 “God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

And then you have people who think if they just get some religion then God will accept them.

So they make a profession of faith, join a church, get baptized, and attend regularly.

But thats all it is is outward religion. Theres no real obedience to what Jesus taught. Theres no real dedication.

Its the belief that if I show up once a week for God, then that’ll be enough and He’ll let me in on that.

Romans 2 teaches religion cannot save us

And then there are the people who believe what Jesus said…that He is it…and if Jesus is the only way then how Jesus says we get on that way must be it….and there is no way around that:

John 3:3 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.””

John 3:15 “whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.”

Luke 13:3 “but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Matthew 16:24 “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”

That is the only way to heaven. It is to believe that Jesus is the only way and Jesus’ way in the only way

3) Seeing is not believing, but believing is knowing

John 14:7–11 NASB95

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.

Explanation:

(v 8) Philip said to him, “Lord show us the Father and it is enough for us”

Usually it is Peter speaking on behalf of the group but I guess Peter had been corrected enough by Jesus that he is done talking….so Philip speaks up.

Philip just says what everyone is thinking and what many people desire to say to God today: “reveal yourself to us, and it is enough”.

In other words if you will show yourself to me, then I would completely believe in You and trust You. That would satisfy them.

(v 9-10) “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

1) Jesus is saying that to see Him is to see the Father. That the unity that exists between the Godhead is so close that one reveals the other.

The Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father.

The miracles that Jesus does are the works of God.

To see Jesus is to see the Father

To see the miracles that Jesus did, is to see the very things God the Father God did

2) Jesus is saying that there is a difference in seeing Jesus and knowing Jesus

We meet people everyday in all walks of life, or places and we see them, but we don’t know them.

There are people in this church that we see every week, but we don’t really know them

Knowing someone is much deeper and meaningful than seeing someone

Think about a man who is blind…that doesn’t mean he cannot know his wife, or his children, or his parents..just because he cannot see them

Application

You and I will never lay our eyes upon Jesus on this side of eternity. He is not going to walk in this room today and say, “here I am”.

But that does not mean that we cannot know Him, intimately, as a person and then also know the Father.

Seeing is not a requirement to knowing!

Believing is…

(v 11) “Believe Me”

The reason many people do not really know Jesus and know the Father is because they do not really believe in Jesus.

They may believe with their minds, but not with their hearts

Whats the difference?

One is having knowledge. The other is trusting in the person of Jesus.

And there is a great chasm between the two…

We may know what Jesus said, but unless we do it, then we really do not believe it

4) Those who truly believe will continue to carry out the work of Jesus

John 14:12–14 NASB95

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

Explanation:

“he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also”

Now this seems radical: believe in Jesus = do the works of Jesus.

Our minds can go 100 places here:

Believe and I can raise the dead?

Believe and I can heal the sick.

Heres one: Believe and I can turn water into wine!

But is that really what Jesus means? And if it is, then why are we not seeing great miracles today?

What we must ask is: “what kind of works is Jesus talking about?”

Some people claim that this refers to the miracles that Jesus did but that is very unlikely since Jesus did some very hefty miracles. Idk about you but I haven’t seen anyone ever do anything even comparable to what Jesus did while on earth.

Yes the apostles did some great things in the books of acts, but in comparison to Jesus’ ministry of only 3 years, they were nothing compared to what Jesus did.

And Jesus says here that those who believe will do “greater works than these”. Certainly they did not do greater than Jesus!?

No I do not believe Jesus is speaking of these kinds of miracles. But what could be greater than giving sight to the blind or casting out demons or raising the dead?

Well when Jesus sent out the 70 on mission in Luke 10, it says , “The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And Jesus said to them, ““Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

See what Jesus calls the greater work here is not that demons were subject to them, but that their names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

And doesn’t it make sense that a greater work is not that a lame man walks, but that a spiritually dead man lives forever?

The greater works that they will do is not greater “miracles” like Jesus did, but that they would be involved in greater kingdom growth and the conversion of lost souls.

Just think about how many rejected Jesus…there were 120 disciples in the Upper Room praying after Jesus’ ascension. Some people estimate might say that there were maybe 500 converted during Jesus’ ministry.

But in Acts 2 Peter preached and 3,000 were converted in 1 day!

The greater works are not miraculous signs, but the conversion of souls.

And for 2,000 years the church has been continuing the mission of Jesus and millions have been converted and granted eternal life.

And how will they do this greater work?

1)…(v 12) “because I go to the Father”,

So these works have to be connected to his resurrection, and His resurrection is connected to the sending of the Holy Spirit who will empower the disciples to do the work of Jesus

Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.””

This will be accomplished by the power of thew Holy Spirit.

We wont get into this much today, because we are going to get into that next week!

But this is the source of power working to convict people of sin and point them to Jesus.

2)….(v 13) “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”

Prayer.

God’s work will be accomplished by the faithful praying of the church…Thus prayer plays a big role in the church accomplishing these greater works of Jesus.

Do you need boldness to witness…PRAY!

Do you need understanding and wisdom? PRAY!

Do you need holiness? PRAY!

Do you need opportunities? PRAY!

If we want to be successful we must pray!

How do we pray?

“Whatever you ask in My Name”

Jesus is not saying that we should finish every prayer by saying, “in Jesus name, Amen”. As if those words will add some kind of urgency to our prayers and get them answered. Nothing wrong with closing prayers like that, but thats not what He means.

Asking in Jesus’ name means to come to God the FATHER under the blood of Jesus. It is having a confidence that god will hear and answer our prayers not because of who we are, but because we are in Christ and who He is.

Hebrews 10:19 “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus”

“Whatever” also does not mean we can have anything we want. It is to ask for whatever Jesus would want.

And what a way to pray. Lord not my will, but Your will.

Many of us have hindered prayer lives because we are always praying for what we want, not what Jesus wants and we think God doesn’t answer prayer because we pray selfishly

We must pray what Jesus would want, and then we will see God answer those prayers

Application:

If we do not pray, we should not expect big things here at New Beginnings.

If we are not people of prayer, then we should not expect God to us us Like He could.

This is why we have a prayer meeting here. Because without prayer we are saying God we can do this on our own and we do not need you. We know that prayer makes a difference.

But that does not mean that we do not need to be praying individually as well. I would encourage you to have a prayer list of people who need to come to know Jesus. A prayer list for the lost around you, in your school, in your family, and in your workplace. Put them on that list and pray for them daily to be saved.

CONCLUSION:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also”

I want you to notice the conditional statement there. Will everyone do the works of Jesus? Will everyone be engaged in the work Jesus gave the church?

Nope, just those who truly believe in Jesus.

That means if you are not actively involved in the continued work of Jesus, it’s likely means because you have never really believed. You have never really been saved. You may be associated with the things of Jesus, but never really involved.

You can do that this morning by turning to Him and trusting Him with your life. Turn from this world, turn your eyes upon heaven and Jesus, come to know the Father through the Son, and follow him!

~PRAYER~