heavenly relationships

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Heavenly Relationships MELVIN M. NEWLAND http:// www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=33563&Sermon%20Heavenly%20Relationships%20b y%20MELVIN%20NEWLAND

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Heavenly Relationships MELVIN M. NEWLANDhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=33563&Sermon%20Heavenly%20Relationships%20by%20MELVIN%20NEWLAND

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Page 1: Heavenly Relationships

Heavenly Relationships

MELVIN M. NEWLANDhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=33563&Sermon%20Heavenly%20Relationships%20by%20MELVIN%20NEWLAND

Page 2: Heavenly Relationships

I’ve decided to preach on the subject of heaven today. And I hope that it leaves you with a feeling about what God has done for us, & what we have to look forward to as Christians, when finally one

day we’re with the Lord for all eternity.

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But at the same time, I know that I’m going to fall short because words are just not adequate to describe what God has prepared. In fact, the

apostle Paul expressed this same idea when he wrote…

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1 Corinthians 2:9 NET But just as it is written, "Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the

things God has prepared for those who love him."

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The apostle John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, valiantly tries to describe the indescribable & express the inexpressible in the 21st chapter of the Book of Revelation where he talks about the new heavens & the new earth, about gates of pearl &

streets of gold. But even he falls short in his ability to picture heaven’s glory & wonder.

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There is a story about a wealthy Christian who somehow got obsessed with the idea of taking

some of his wealth to heaven. Now he knew the Bible clearly teaches that you can’t take it with you.

But so obsessed was he with this desire that he just prayed & prayed & prayed that God would give

him permission to take some of his wealth to heaven with him.

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Finally, his persistence in prayer paid off. God spoke to him & said, "Okay, enough all ready! You

can take one suitcase with you into heaven." Well, the story continues with the man deep in thought, "What do I take? What are the most

valuable things that I can put into my suitcase?"

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Well, he finally decided, & filled his suitcase full. Then one day he died, & when next we see him,

he is slowly approaching the pearly gates dragging his suitcase behind him. St. Peter met him there at the gate & said, "Wait a minute. What do you think you’re doing? You’re not allowed to take anything

into heaven."

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The man answered, "You don’t understand. I have special permission from God Himself to take this

suitcase into heaven." Peter rubbed his beard & said, "Well, that’s very unusual. I can’t imagine God letting you do that. Let me look inside your suitcase & see what’s

there."

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So the man dragged the suitcase over, & Peter opened it to see that it was filled with gold bars &

gold bricks & gold ingots. Peter said, "Well, all right. If God said so, I

suppose you can take that in if you want. But why in the world did you go to all this trouble just to

bring more pavement into heaven?"

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Values in heaven are different, aren’t they? Those things we consider so valuable here aren’t going to

be valuable in heaven at all.

So as we begin this morning, let’s listen to a little bit of what the apostle John has to say about

heaven.

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Revelation 21:1 NET Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had

ceased to exist, and the sea existed no more. 2 And I saw the holy city — the new Jerusalem — descending out of heaven from God, made ready

like a bride adorned for her husband.

Page 13: Heavenly Relationships

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: God himself will be with them. “Look! The

residence of God is among human beings. He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist any more — or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the

former things have ceased to exist.”

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5 And the one seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new!” Then he said to me, “Write it down, because these words are reliable and true.” 6 He also said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the

end.

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To the one who is thirsty I will give water free of charge from the spring of the water of life. 7 The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I

will be his God and he will be my son.

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A Sunday School teacher asked her class of children, "Tell me what you think heaven will be

like." She got all kinds of answers, but I especially like this one from a third grade boy who said,

"Heaven is going to be the happiest part of my dead life."

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Heaven - what will it be like? The subject itself offers great challenges because we’re a different culture - perhaps different than any other culture

that has graced the pages of history.If you’ll look back & study the civilizations of the

past, you’ll discover that virtually every culture has been concerned about the afterlife, about what

happens to you after you die.

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The ancient Egyptians spent years building pyramids, using hundreds of thousands of

laborers. They buried their loved ones in these pyramids, with abundant supplies of food, clothing,

& other valuable articles buried with them - all because they believed in life after death.

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It doesn’t seem to make any difference what culture you study. It has always been true,

that is, until today. We’re probably the first culture in history that

seems to be more concerned with "here & now" than the future.

"I want it all. I want it now. Grab all the gusto you can get.

He who has the most toys when he dies, wins."

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This attitude can even affect the church. When we come to church, we expect the preacher to give us something that will help us today. "I want to know how to solve my problems today, to heal my heart

aches today." "I want to know how to deal with issues in my life affecting me today."

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Well, we ought to be concerned about today. We ought to be concerned about the issues & how they affect our lives. Remember, Jesus said “I

have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” John 10:10b NET

But there is more to life than that. The Bible teaches that what we do today is extremely

important because it determines where we will be tomorrow.

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Jesus asks, For what benefit is it for a person to gain the whole world,

yet forfeit his life? Mark 8:36 NET So if we’re focusing all our efforts on gaining the

world, but in the process of getting it, we lose our soul,

WE’VE LOST EVERYTHING!

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Bill Hybles says that among his earliest memories of church was being in a children’s choir.

They dressed up in robes, & stood on risers, & practiced a lot. And he says that as a child he

hated almost every minute of it. He hated putting that robe on, & he hated having to stand still for so

long.

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"To make matters even worse, the Choir director told me, `If you don’t like singing in the choir,

you’re not going to enjoy heaven.’ So as a child, I thought of heaven as putting on a choir robe &

standing on a riser & singing for all eternity. So I wasn’t really all that excited about going to

heaven."

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Maybe some of you feel the same way. Maybe some of your images are mixed up, & you’re not sure what to expect of heaven, either. So what is

heaven really going to be like? Now I could approach the subject from many

different angles. I could talk about the physical portrayals of heaven, about streets of gold, &

gates of pearl, about jasper walls, & the river of life, & the great white throne.

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But John, in Revelation 21, talks more about relationships. And that’s the part that I want us to look at this morning. It makes sense, doesn’t it? If the relationship we have with God is a real close

personal relationship that spills out & causes us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, isn’t that

what our God wants?

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Isn’t that why the Bible talks about us as a family, the family of God, & each one of us as sons &

daughters of God? And if we’re a part of one great family of God, then it only stands to reason that

heaven is going to be an extension of the relationship that is already started on earth. So I

want you to understand why it is that John speaks of heaven as a place of relationships.

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THINK ABOUT HEAVEN AS A PLACE WITH A

NEW RELATIONSHIPFirst off, John speaks of heaven as a place where

there is a new relationship. Listen again to his words, Revelation 21:1 NET Then I saw a new

heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist, and the sea existed no

more.

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2 And I saw the holy city — the new Jerusalem — descending out of heaven from God… then in

verse 5 he says, And the one seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new!” You see,

our relationship in heaven is going to be completely different from any relationship we’ve

experienced on earth. It is going to be a brand new relationship.

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It has to be, doesn’t it? Because all of the relationships here are imperfect.

But heaven will be perfect.For example, we’re going to live in a new place. Listen to what the writer says in Hebrews. He’s

talking about Abraham, when he says, For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations,

whose architect and builder is God. Hebrews 11:10 NET

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We’re going to live in a city designed & built by God. Now, I don’t know about you, but that is

exciting to me.Most of my life I’ve lived in older houses where somebody else has lived before. They’ve been

nice enough, but I’ve always thought that it would be a lot nicer to live in a brand new house, my

house, a special place that belongs to me.

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And what this passage says is that we’re going to have a new home in a new city, with a new heaven & a new earth. It’s all going to be brand new. We’re

also going to live a completely new way of life. We’ll never have to worry about locking our doors, or about children being abused, or about crime in our neighborhood. It will be a community beyond our wildest dreams & imaginations - a place of

peace that passes all understanding.

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We’ll receive comfort there, too. John says that God will wipe away all our tears. All the tears &

sorrow & pain we’ve experienced as we traveled this dusty road of life will finally be gone. The hurts will be mended. The broken hearts will be whole.

And God will be with us & be our Comforter.

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THE SECOND RELATIONSHIP IS AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP

The second relationship pictured here is that of an intimate relationship. Listen to what John says in

verses 2-3 And I saw the holy city — the new Jerusalem — descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband.

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3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: "Look! The residence of God is among human

beings. He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them.

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You understand that in the book of Revelation, John deliberately uses symbolic language because

he is having to find words to describe something that we don’t have human words to describe.

So when he tries to describe the relationship that we’re going to have with God in heaven, the

closest thing he can come up with is to compare it to a wedding.

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Now think about this wedding pictured in Revelation 21. How much preparation has gone

into it? The Bible says that since before the foundation of the world, God has been preparing

for this wedding.And the Bible goes on to tell us that when we

stand before God, when the church becomes the bride of Christ, we will be dressed in white robes.

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Revelation 7:9 NET After these things I looked, and here was an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing

before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their

hands.

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Revelation 7:13 NET Then one of the elders asked me, "These dressed in long white robes — who

are they and where have they come from?" 14 So I said to him, "My lord, you know the answer." Then

he said to me, "These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in

the blood of the Lamb!

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It’s symbolic. And what it symbolizes is purity. When finally we

stand beside Jesus, our bridegroom, & we’re united with Him as the church,

His bride, we will be pure. Our sins will have been forgiven & forgotten &

gone forever. Because of His love, we’ll stand before Him pure in

His sight.

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THERE IS AN INDIVIDUAL RELATIONSHIP

Thirdly, in heaven there is a personal relationship. And this really appeals to me.

Revelation 21:6 NET He also said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the

beginning and the end. To the one who is thirsty I will give water free of charge from the spring of the water of life. 7 The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be

my son.

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Now notice the promises in these verses. God has made some wonderful promises about what will

happen when we finally get to heaven.First of all, we’ll never have to be concerned about our salvation again. Nobody, nothing, can take that

away from us. We’re secure in the Lord, & He gives us freely from the water of life. We’ll drink

from it, & it doesn’t cost us anything.

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We’re not used to that. We’re used to working & paying our bills & making it on our own, & feeling

like we’ve earned it & we deserve it.But there we won’t earn it, & we won’t deserve it. But it will be ours as a gift. We have to accept the gift, obviously, before it becomes ours. But it is a

free gift from a God who loves us.

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Secondly, there is strength there. Listen to what He says in verse 7a The one who conquers will

inherit these things, We’ll be conquerors, (overcomers in KJV) because we’ll have conquered, overcome, the problems, the

temptations, the sins, & the difficulties that we have faced here.

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How will we have overcome those things? We’ll have conquered them because of the strength

given to us by a faithful, holy God. And throughout eternity we’ll be conquerors in His

sight.

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Finally, there’s the promise of sonship. And that’s really special. He says, in verse 7b and I will be his

God and he will be my son. Only God can accomplish that. Each one of us will have an

individual personal relationship with God. I’ll be His son, & He’ll be my Father. You’ll be His daughter, &

He’ll be your Father. He’ll take us in His arms & love us for all eternity. That’s what heaven is going

to be like.

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You know what? Our presence here, as we meet together, ought to be a foretaste of heaven.

Singing, praising God, & loving each other. You come into the room & you see someone who’s

downcast, & you say something that builds them up. We bear each other’s burdens & become

conquerors together. That’s what the church ought to be.

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Have you seen Heaven in a different light today? Aren’t those Heavenly Relationships worth giving

all we have to Jesus? Giving our time, efforts, love & obedience in such a way as to help others enjoy

those Heavenly Relationships also?

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This morning, if you’re not a Christian, you need to know God’s love is real, & He’s proved it by going

to the cross & dying for your sins & mine. He offers you a new relationship in His family that

will last throughout all eternity.Will you accept it?

Will you come as we stand & as we sing?