sermon061905
I thank God for your prayers, your comments and your questions. Open your Bibles to Matthew 23:9 and listen.
Matthew 23:9
9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
I was asked last week about where in the Bible is this stated and here is the answer.
· Repeat last week – ESSENTIALS OF OUR FAITH IN THE LORD’S PRAYER
· Matthew 6:9 9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
· Today let’s look at these words ‘Our Father in heaven’.
· ‘Our Father’, deals with the closeness of God
· ‘In heaven’, deals with His distance and His reverence
Ecclesiastes 5:2
Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven and you on earth; therefore let your words be few.
Isaiah 66:1
Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?
· Prayer is not just about relationship it is also about worship and this statement can be approached from the other end; prayer is not just about worship it is also about relationship
o Listen – Our Father in heaven
o The King James has a beauty in the way it is stated; ‘Our Father which art in heaven’!
· I DON’T INTEND TO BE LONG TODAY BUT WE NEED TO HEAR ABOUT HEAVEN
o HEAVEN IS PART OF OUR ESSENTIAL OF OUR FAITH
o WE DON’T TALK ABOUT IT MUCH
o WE DON’T DWELL ON IT MUCH
· But this is my second point; allow me to repeat this very important point. A point that is needed in today’s culture.
· And the point is
o We are allowed to address All-Mighty God as our Father but this does not mean that we perform it in a disrespectful way
o He is not ‘Our father down the street’.
o He is not our father at work.
o He is not our father lying on the couch
o He is ‘Our Father in heaven’!
o Listen to Isaiah
Isaiah 6:1-5
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”
This is ‘Our Father’, church!
· Now New Hope, focus with me on this question; how often do you think about heaven?
· Our Father in heaven, I shared with you Isaiah’s vision from the Old Testament where all he can say is woe is me, for I am undone, my lips are not clean and I dwell with people of unclean lips. Thank God for the New Testament now listen to Jesus
John 14:1-3
14 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 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. 3 And 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.
And listen to the Epistles:
2 Corinthians 12:2-4
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
PARADISE IS INEXPRESSIBLE IN OUR LANGUAGE!
Philippians 3:17-4:1
17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame— who set their mind on earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
4 Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.
Did you hear it? Our citizenship is heaven, not will be in the future but now!
· How badly do you want to get there? Another member quoted Philippians 1:23-24 to me; “For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.
· As you ponder the question listen to this quote “Examine your heart. Heaven should be the fulfillment of your greatest spiritual longings. In fact, if you’re having such a great time down here that heaven can wait, there may be something wrong with your salvation. If you never hunger for heaven, you should take a long, hard look at your walk with the Lord.”
· Jesus said in John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. And from this and the 2Corinthian 12:2-4, Heaven is not like;
o What we see on this earth
o It is not the things we value here on this earth our material possessions
o It is beyond the beauty that we can observe and experience on this earth
o It’s more than fancy houses with swimming pools and nice looking cars
· Listen at just some of the benefits of heaven
o No more temptation – no more struggles with this weak flesh, or dealing with the fiery darts of Satan.
o No more loss – replaced by contentment, unity and community. Restlessness, anxiety, and bereavement will be left here
o No more tears, no pain and no agony. In heaven we find the end to bitterness and frustration
o No more death when we get to heaven, here it is part of our future but some glad morning
o No more regrets, I don’t know about all of you but I know I have said; If I can go back in time with what I know now or I wish I had never said that or done that
o No more schedules because there will be time for everything
o No more darkness, no more darkness of night and no more darkness of misunderstanding
o No more disillusionment and depression, no more highs and lows in our life for we will see Jesus as He is.
· When you dwell on heaven
o It makes your day, no matter what or how it is, goes better
o It energizes your work for the Lord, in your home, your job and your community
o It motivates you to want to share this.
Close with the rich farmer and the new preacher where the rich farmer takes the preacher on his land and says (looking in all 4 directions) as far as you can see, I own. And the preacher taken back looked the farmer in the eye and pointed heavenward and said how much do you own in that direction.
1 Timothy 6:17-19
17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
How much do you own my brother and my sister in that direction?
Let us pray
The invocation of God in the Lord’ Prayer draws us into just such an awareness. “ur Father”speaks of the quality and depth of God’ love to Christ’ people—ll the sustained care and concern that a perfect father could show. “hich art in heaven”sets before us the fact that our divine Father is great—ternal, infinite, almighty: thus it makes us realize that God’ love is unchanging, unlimited, unconquerable in its purpose, and more than able to deal with all the needs we bring when we pray. Prayer shaped and supported by thoughts like this will not be dull
The Greek gods were thought of as spending most of their time far away from earth in the celestial equivalent of the Bahamas, but the God of the Bible is not like this. Granted, the “heaven” where saints and angels dwell has to be thought of as a sort of locality, because saints and angels, as God’s creatures, exist in space and time; but when the Creator is said to be “in heaven” the thought is that he exists on a different plane from us, rather than in a different place. That God in heaven is always near to his children on earth is something which the Bible takes for granted throughout.
Prayer Study
Part Three (Growing in Christ)
Here is an article on prayer that appears to be worth reading. Looking at the Lord's Prayer and how it actually helps us to pray in a right way.
I would also like to use the Roman 8:26 passage to show that this is saying so much more than 'we do not know how to pray'
Prayer (Easton's Bible Dictionary)
This article contains many scripture references and definitions. Use this in sermon prep dealing with the subject of prayer.
THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD. (Spurgeon's Sermons: Volume 4)
Heaven
This a note on heaven the definition of it and what we can add to this for sermon prep.
Our Father in heaven (who art in heaven)
Heaven — (1.) Definitions. The phrase “heaven and earth” is used to indicate the whole universe (Gen. 1:1; Jer. 23:24; Acts 17:24). According to the Jewish notion there were three heavens,
(a) The firmament, as “fowls of the heaven” (Gen. 2:19; 7:3, 23; Ps. 8:8, etc.), “the eagles of heaven” (Lam. 4:19), etc.
(b) The starry heavens (Deut. 17:3; Jer. 8:2; Matt. 24:29).
(c) “The heaven of heavens,” or “the third heaven” (Deut. 10:14; 1 Kings 8:27; Ps. 115:16; 148:4; 2 Cor. 12:2).
Easton, M. (1996, c1897). Easton's Bible dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Notice here that there are three heavens; first the firmament, as the fowls of the heaven the birds of the sky, second the starry heaven where we can see the moon, the stars, and the planets, last we have the third heaven called the heavens of heavens see what Paul said about this in 2 Cor. 12:2.
So many times when there is a consideration of heaven it is done while looking at heaven and hell but in the Lord's Prayer Jesus says Our Father which art in heaven (KJV). Here he is concerned and our concern should be on the place where our Father is.
It is about anticipation, what are you waiting for and hoping for? The ones with the carnal mind (the unbeliever) longs to:
Hold on to this life and world
Prolong youth, good health, good wealth, and good days
Live forever in this state
Long to:
Have a better life on this side of glory
Live happily and peaceful on this side
Also remember that all of this is relative to context, keep in mind the presentations of Kent and Daniel because that reminds us of what we have now. Take an individual from Kent or Daniel's video and bring them here and put them in your shoes and your hell would be their heaven on earth.