Heaven on Earth (With Greg Laurie)

bible is the one book that dares to predict the future not once not twice but hundreds of times with 100 percent accuracy the words of jesus seven churches speak from behold the white house saying jesus christ is lord to the glory of god upon him the book of revelation hey let's all grab our bibles and turn to revelation chapter 21. by the way we're almost at the end of our series in revelation and the title of my message is heaven on earth you know ever since i was a little boy i was really into all things disney i loved disney movies i loved watching the shows on television like the mickey mouse club and of course the tv show the wonderful world of disney later changed to the wonderful world of color because color television was coming into its own yes i am old enough to remember only black and white tv so one day walt himself announced that he was opening up a new place for everyone to visit called disneyland and he kept his promise in 1955 when i was two years old disneyland opened and i remember the excitement i had when i went there for the first time i was someone to disney i saw every film they put out especially the animated films i decided at an early age that i wanted to be an artist uh maybe an animator maybe a cartoonist or a graphic designer of some kind now one of the reasons that i was so excited about disneyland is it was to me as a little kid almost like heaven on earth it was an escape from the kind of awful life i was living in my childhood you know my mother was married and divorced seven times and she was a raging alcoholic so disneyland was this fun place that i would go to and enjoy so much one day my mother brought home an actual disney animator and i didn't believe him and i made him prove it so he took out a pencil and he drew a flawless mickey mouse on a piece of paper and then this man said to me you take this pencil and put it under your pillow and go to bed now and when you wake up in the morning you'll be able to draw like me i believed him sad thing as i was 18. no not really i was much younger i went to bed put the pencil under my pillow fell asleep woke up the next morning grabbed a pencil went to a piece of paper no i could not draw a mickey mouse i just think this guy wanted to spend time with my mom but you know disney himself walt disney had a vision and when he was a little boy he used to love to go to a place called electric park and there was a carousel there and he began to plot out in his mind an amusement park that he would build one day he was trying to i think in his own mind bring a little heaven on earth i read a book a while ago on the life of disney and the author pat williams said this and i quote i know that walt felt a longing for heaven he had that longing when he was a boy in kansas city peering to the fence at electric park wanting what he could not have because he didn't have a dime in his pocket i believe it was that longing for him and that drove walt to build a perfect place where children could ride merry-go-rounds and always catch the brass ring a place where yesterday and tomorrow are always within walking distance a place where anyone can be perfectly happy if only for a day and waltz my writes pat williams heaven is a beautiful park all shiny and clean filled with wonderful things to see and do with a castle rising over it all and a train that goes around it end quote beautifully written i think walt disney like all of us had eternity in his heart the bible tells us that god puts us inside of each of us where we long for something more long for a place we've never been to before and i believe that longing is actually for heaven itself we're homesick for heaven and things happen in life that seems so wrong and so unfair tragedy may strike and life on earth often disappoints but i think you begin to realize that when you put your faith in christ is you were made for another world and that's exactly what we're looking at here in revelation 21 we're looking at another world that is our future and it's even better than disneyland we're looking at the moment when heaven comes to earth now try to understand how hard this is for john here's john the apostle banished to the island of patmos for his faithful preaching of the gospel and jesus comes to him and gives to john what we call the revelation uh the unveiling is what the word revelation means and john is effectively catapulted into the future and sort of a spiritual time machine as i've said before i don't think it was a delorean but he saw things that were yet to come he saw the afterlife he saw the final judgment he even peered into hell itself and he's trying to write all of this down you know it's worth noting that john spent 18 chapters describing the great tribulation period but only one chapter for the 1 000 year millennial reign of christ and less than two chapters on heaven that's not because heaven is not important that is because heaven is beyond words john was seeing colors and sounds and sights that he simply could not explain things that are indescribable in fact the apostle paul died and went to heaven and he wrote about it in second corinthians 12 and he said i was caught up to paradise and i heard inexpressible things that i'm not even allowed to tell inexpressible things are what he saw so john spends more time in revelation 21 describing what will not be happening in the eternal every kind of separation now is a thing of the past there's no political separation there's no national separation there's no racial separation there's no spiritual separation everything is coming together at this moment heaven is mentioned 532 times in the bible and more than 10 of those mentions are right here in the book of revelation john speaks about heaven 55 times so let's see what he has to say revelation 21 i'm gonna read verses one through six i'm reading from the new king james version john writes now i saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and there was no more seeing than i john saw the holy city new jerusalem coming down out of heaven from god prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and i heard a loud voice from heaven saying behold the tabernacle of god is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and god himself will be with them and be their god i love this verse verse 4 of revelation 21 and god will wipe away every tear from their eye there'll be no more death nor sorrow nor crying and no more pain for the former things have passed away that he that sat on the throne said behold i make all things new and he said to me right for these words are true and faithful then he said to me it is done i am the alpha and the omega the beginning and the end and i will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts we'll stop there aren't those beautiful words i love how it begins behold i make all things new god loves new things he wants to make new people so all things are new no more terminal diseases no more hospitals no more wheelchairs no more funerals no more suffering no more separations no more accidents no more courts or prisons no more divorces or breakdowns or breakups no suicide no rape no missing children no drug problems no heart attacks no cancer no alzheimer's no famine or disaster god is making all things new isn't that great to know you know we love new stuff think about when the newest phone comes out the new iphone the new android phone people will stand in line to get theirs so they can walk out i've got mine before anybody else got it there may not even be that many changes in the new model over the old model but we love to have the newest and the latest version of whatever same thing for your favorite show you like to binge watch on netflix or on television oh the new season is out i can hardly wait to watch it hey how about that new car smell there's nothing like it i have a friend that just got a new car and i was driving around in it it smelled great and so i left a burrito in it just to kind of break it and he'll find out in about a month or so but anyway what we see here is things are new and i think that marketers have discovered that if you put the words new and improved on something it may sell a little bit better now the fact is the only thing that's new and improved may be the packaging but in this case everything is new god loves new too he's bringing everything together and by the way this is already a done deal you say what do you mean it's a done deal this hasn't happened yet well in the eternal realm in a sense it has it's completed verse 6 says god said it is done and that phrase carries the idea of absolute finality with it literally these things have become done it's done and it's secure you see when god speaks of the future he speaks with certainty because he lives in the future but he understands the past and of course he's in the present it's the eternal realm ecclesiastes says whatever has happened in the past is present now whatever is going to happen in the future has already happened in the past so our response to that verse is uh what well this is simply describing something we don't fully comprehend it's the eternal realm so my point is simply this when god says something is going to happen you can take it to the bank okay so here we are in the final chapters of the book of revelation let's pick up where we last left off the next event on the prophetic calendar is the rapture of the church then the antichrist emerges the great tribulation period begins two sections of three and a half years at the end of the tribulation period we have the battle of armageddon then the second coming of jesus christ so let's bring it into the moment what happens to a christian when they die right now answer they go to heaven the moment you take your last breath on earth you take your first breath in heaven you close your eyes on earth you open them in heaven but there is a generation that will not see death they will not be placed into a casket and put underground these people will be caught up in a moment to meet the lord in the air that's described in first thessalonians 4 and also in first corinthians 15 where it says it will happen in a moment in the twinkling of an eye when the last trumpet is blown and the trumpet sounds the christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies and then we who are living will be transformed and we will never die will be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die so when the rapture happens then what we go to heaven and somewhere after the rapture and before the second coming is what we call the judgment seat of christ not to be confused with the great white throne judgment which we dealt with last time this is that's for non-believers only but this judgment seat of christ remember is sort of like an awards ceremony awards are given for faithful service to the lord crowns are distributed and so forth and then sometime after that is the wedding supper of the lamb the believers are waiting in heaven for the tribulation period to run its course and then we return with christ in the second coming okay then what happens then christ establishes his kingdom finally the answer to the prayer of the church for two thousand years happens where we pray thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven now god's kingdom has come to planet earth and this is a time where righteousness fills our planet after the thousand years are completed there's a brief rebellion satan is cast into the lake of fire and then the great white throne judgment now it's time for the grand finale or as the french would say the ps the resistance i'm not sure i pronounced that right piece de resistance that's french for snails with garlic no that's escargot no piece de resistances is the final dish the main dish and here now heaven and earth are coming together they're merging and becoming one the last marking of time is revelation 20. after the millennial reign of christ we enter into sort of a eternal timelessness everything is now forever have you ever gone on a vacation and lost track of time you know when i go on vacation which isn't very often i'm actually a very bad vacationer i don't rest well i'm always thinking of things and coming up with new ideas and i'm my own worst enemy sometimes with that but um it takes me about seven days to unwind where i stop being aware of what day it is and you get on a vacation or you take a break and what day is it again in eternity this is a beautiful thing where we're just now on god's time schedule and we're seeing things the way god sees things you know god is not bound by our watches or our schedules or schedules as they say in the uk no god lives on his own times in his own time zone and has his own schedule in fact psalm 90 verse 4 says for god a thousand years are as yesterday they're like a few hours sometimes for us it seems like god is late like come on lord why why haven't you done this yet why haven't you come back i think many people felt the lord was laid in sending the messiah but in galatians we read when the time was just right god sent forth the son born of a woman made under the law to redeem those that are under the law but note when the time was just right everything was aligned perfectly the roman kingdom had pretty much taken control of most of the world they had established a common language which was greek they had the roman road system that opened the planet up for the first time ever when everything was ripe when everything was just ready that's when the messiah was born in bethlehem and when everything is right on god's schedule christ will come again listen he's right on schedule and everything is going according to plan ii peter 3 9 says the lord isn't slow about his promise to return as some people think he's being patient for your sake because he doesn't want anyone to perish so he's giving more time for everyone to repent i want you to notice one of the first things that happens here in verse 1 is there's no more ocean no more sea all the servers are like whoa dude what's up hey what god gives you and the place of the ocean will be so much better you won't miss it at present two-thirds of the earth's surface is covered with water thus only a small percentage of the planet earth is inhabitable and god's going to remove these barriers that separate us right now think about this all people who have trusted christ will come together have you ever gotten together for a family reunion and seen members of your family you haven't seen for so long and you wish it could go on forever or gathered with old friends that maybe you haven't seen for a while and you're having such a good time imagine this heaven is a great reunion where everyone will be reunited in one time at one place all those who have died in faith over the centuries all of us together evil be there sarah will be there so will ruth david noah jonah peter james and john i think abraham lincoln will be there c.h spurgeon oh look it's dr martin luther king over there oh look it's d.o moody it's billy graham d c.s lewis will be there just think of the people that will be gathered together what conversations we'll have what times we'll have together and for many of us best of all we'll be reunited with loved ones that have preceded us to heaven this is going to be a wonderful time now god breaks the silence with something he wants us all to hear look at verse 3. he heard a loud voice from heaven saying behold the tabernacle of god is with men and he will dwell with them and they will be his people and god himself will be with them and be their god you know throughout history god has effectively been shrouded from humanity sure he picked certain individuals to reveal himself to like moses where the bible says the lord spoke to moses face to face as a man speaks to a friend but in the old testament you would go into the tabernacle which means tenth later into the temple and you would have to go to the high priest who would enter into the holy of holies and sacrifice an animal for the sins of the people but god was not approachable but that's all changed in christ now god can be approached god can be called upon but now when heaven and earth become one you have open access to the presence of god you want to say something to the lord say it to him face to face you have a question for him ask him whatever you want to ask no appointment required how wonderful would that be you know i think if i could live at any time in history i would surely pick the time when jesus walked this earth and how what would it have been like to be one of the disciples of jesus and ask him whatever was on your heart or mind and just spend time with them well you'll have that moment in eternity when heaven and earth become one and also we see in this new earth we're going to have a new city look at verse 2. ice john saw the holy city new jerusalem coming down from heaven from god prepared as a bride adorned for her husband notice that word prepared jesus said i go to prepare a place for you and if i go and prepare a place for you i will come again and receive you unto myself that where i am you may be also the word prepared is the same greek word that paul used in first corinthians 2 9 when he said i has not seen nor has ear heard the things that god has prepared for those that love him so heaven and the new earth are prepared places for prepared people and we have the new jerusalem the city of jerusalem plays a part in our past and our present and in our future jerusalem is the nerve center of the world geographically jerusalem is the salvation center of the world spiritually and jerusalem is the storm center of the world prophetically think about this jerusalem is a city of the past this is the city that was ruled by king david this is the city where the first and second temple were built and it was outside the walls of this city of jerusalem that our lord was crucified and it's also where he rose again from the dead but jerusalem is also the city of the present when the jewish people return to their homeland after the horrors of the holocaust and established themselves as a nation again the prophetic clock started ticking because nothing like this had ever happened on may 14 1948 a prophecy was fulfilled listen to this no nation has ever been able to maintain its national identity three to five hundred years after being removed from its homeland that is with the exception of israel the jewish people returned to this place they knew this is the place the lord was calling them and it's such an amazing thing to think about and jerusalem always has been and always will be the capital of israel so right now of course you're aware of the fact that there's great conflict in the middle east and it is once again happening around jerusalem a hamas a terrorist organization backed by iran is firing these rockets into the jewish homeland and many of those rockets are stopped from a special iron dome a technology that the united states has given to israel to protect themselves and 90 of those rockets are stopped but others get through and there have been fatalities but why why would someone fire rockets indiscriminately into population centers because iran has never hid the fact that she is an enemy of israel and she wants israel wiped off the face of the map but the bible tells us in the last days that jerusalem will play a key role in what is about to happen jerusalem is described in the bible as an intoxicating drink a heavy stone and a burden for the world zechariah 12 says god speaking i'll make jerusalem and judah like an intoxicating drink to all who are nearby who send their armies to besiege jerusalem i'll make jerusalem a heavy stone and a burden for the world but jerusalem is not just a city of the past it's a city of the future here world history as we know it will come to a completion not far from jerusalem the battle of armageddon will take place and it is at the east gate of the city of jerusalem a gate you can see right now on the wall that the bible says messiah will enter through when christ comes back again his foot will touch down on the mount of olives remember that's also the place where he ascended it will split in two and messiah will walk through the east gate but now we're talking about the new jerusalem that will come down from heaven in this heavenly city there's no crime there's no corruption there's no urban decay we're living in a curse-free world and we're busy as we're about our father's business notice revelation 22 3 says his servants will serve him i think sometimes people think we just lay around in heaven and clouds and sleep and that might be appealing to someone i'm talking to but i like to be active i like to do things and we'll be busy doing creative things things that honor god things that will bring great joy and fulfillment to us and now here is one of the great promises of the bible look at revelation 21 verse 4 and god will wipe away every tear from their eyes and there'll be no more death nor sorrow nor crying and no more pain for the former things have passed away you know we may think that when we become a christian we'll then live a trouble free life we'll never suffer we'll never get sick loved ones that are close to us will never die oh no these things may happen to us being a christian does not mean you will never weep it may mean you weep more because your heart is made tender in ezekiel god says i'll remove a heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh i mentioned earlier my mom being married in divorce seven times so i developed these defense mechanisms where i was walled off i was always moving so i never could establish long-lasting a relationship some friendships with people i was always the new kid in class according to the whims of where my mom wanted to go next and in my home love was not expressed i can't remember a single time in my life where my mom simply said i love you or i'm proud of you so being a walled off person it was hard for me to give love and it was hard for me to accept love and but that's all going to change for all of us you know sometimes we bottle things up deep inside but here's what we need to do instead of bottling things up we need to open our heart to god and let him put these troubles in his bottle yes i don't know what you're talking about well psalm 56 8 says you keep track of all my sorrows you've collected all my tears in your bottle if you recorded each one in your book i have a little bottle in my office that's blue i bought it in the old city of jerusalem some years ago in an antiquities shop in fact i remember when i first saw it i was with my oldest son christopher who went to be with the lord 13 years ago and i asked the proprietor the owner of the shop well what is this little blue bottle and he said well that's a roman tear bottle i asked what is that he said well back at this time the romans believed when they lost a loved one that they should collect their tears in these little bottles and that's what they were for well god keeps your tears and a bottle so he can wipe them away one day because one day all pain will be gone all sorrow will end everything will be changed you don't have to wait until heaven for some things to change that can happen right here right now because second corinthians 5 17 says if anyone be in christ he is a new creation old things have passed away all things become new i love the philips translation of that same verse which says if a man is in christ he becomes a new person altogether the past is finished and gone and everything has become fresh and new think about that do you need a fresh start do you need to begin again have you done things you wish you had not done said things you wish you had not said and you say well now i guess i just have to face the consequences of all my bad decisions well there may be some truth to you having to face up to what you've done but i want you to also know that there is a god in heaven who loves you and will forgive you of all of your sin and not only will he forgive you of your sin he will forget your sin psalm 103 verse 12 says god speaking as far as the east is from the west is as far as i will put your transgressions from me you see change happens when you put your faith in jesus christ if you're a real christian your focus and your values will change old values old ideas plans and desires will be replaced by new things a new desire to know god and love him a new desire to study the bible a new desire to engage with god's people in worship a new desire to bring glory to your god and yes a new desire to see god himself so let me wrap this up how should all of this affect us what should we be doing in the light of the fact that we have this great hope of heaven and one day a new earth here's how it helps us number one it helps us to keep perspective during times of trial it helps us keep perspective during times of trial bottom line life on earth is full of trial hardship sadness disappointment and pain but according to this and other passages god is going to make up for the losses of earth no pain is wasted by god paul says in romans 8 18 i consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in us see here's god's big plan for you he wants to make you like jesus uh romans 8 28 it's a verse we all know and quote we know that all things work together for good to those who love god another called according to his purpose right love that verse but then the next verse verse 29 says for whom god did for know he also did predestine to be conformed into the image of his own dear son see we sometimes take romans 8 28 and think it means whatever bad thing happens god's going to turn it into a good thing that is not what the verse promises again it says all things work together for good to those who love god another called according to his purpose for whom let's keep the verse going god did for no he predestined to be conformed into the image of his own dear son see god's plan for you is to make you more like jesus to make you a chip off the old rock if you will and that means hardship that means difficulty as well as joys and happy things happening to you second corinthians 4 17 paul says our present troubles are quite small and won't last forever yet they produce for us in immeasurably great glory that will last forever so don't look at the troubles you see right now rather look forward to what you have not seen yet for the troubles we see will soon be over but the joys to come will last forever so no matter what you're going through right now get the big picture god's in control the word oops is not in his vocabulary would that freak you out if god said oops what you dropped a planet what god doesn't say yours he knows what he's doing he's making you like jesus he's getting you ready for heaven number two believing that we'll go to heaven and heaven will come to earth one day well should cause us to want to live godly lives as i've said before if in our studies of the book of revelation it hasn't prompted you or motivated you to want to be more like jesus and walk more closely with them than i think we've missed the point right i heard a story about a two farmers and uh they went out hunting ducks and one of the farmers had his dog with them who would retrieve the ducks so they saw a duck fly by the farmer shot the duck fell from the sky into the lake and his dog ran out to retrieve the duck and ran across the top of the water got the duck ran back over again on top of the water came back to the farmer and dropped the duck at the farmer's feet the alfred farmer looked at him and said i don't think your dog knows how to swim hey talk about missing the point the dog walked on the water not a true story but we often miss the point this should motivate us to live a godly life because against scripture says he that has this hope purifies himself even as he is pure and then paul tells us in colossians since you've been raised with christ set your mind on things above where christ is seated at the right hand of god set your minds on things above not on earthly things this phrase set your minds means think heaven so i know i'm going to heaven think heavenly thoughts our feet must be on earth but our minds and our hearts should be in heaven and third and lastly if i really believe this and i wonder do you really believe what we've read in this message and others do you really believe the bible is true do you really believe that there is both a heaven and a hell do you really believe that we're going to enter into the afterlife if you do and i'm sure almost all of you do some of you don't probably but if you believe this shouldn't that motivate you to want to take some people with you to heaven you've probably noticed that at the end of a message that i give here at harvest at home or in our church services or in our radio program or a tv program i always invite people to christ you might say why do you do that why do i do that because i want to take as many people to heaven with me as i possibly can and that includes some of you watching right now i want you to go to heaven i want you to know jesus christ i want to help you understand what you need to do to believe in jesus christ so let me close with this appeal to you someone that's watching who does not have this confidence that they'll go to heaven when they die someone who is not sure of jesus is living inside of them here's what you need to do everything can change for you right now and god can make all things new you say oh greg it's too late for me i can't change i've tried to change myself and it hasn't worked you can't you can't change anything it's just the way it is no god can make all things new god can change your story i don't know how old you are i don't know where you are in your life but whatever it is god can change it especially the ending but you must come to him and say god i know i'm a sinner i know i've broken your commandments i know i fall short of your glory but i also know that you sent jesus christ your son to die on the cross for my sin and pay the price for every rung i've ever done and then he rose again from the dead and i want jesus to come into my life i love what revelation 21 6 says he said to me it is done i'm the alpha and omega the beginning and the end i will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts deep down inside you're thirsty spiritually there was a woman who would go to a well every day at around 12 noon and draw water she didn't have many friends she had been married and divorced five times she was living with some dude at present and who is waiting for her at the well that she frequented it was jesus himself she braced herself for a confrontation ready for an argument she was even somewhat flippant and sarcastic when she began to speak to him and i love what jesus said he said if you drink of this water you'll thirst again but if you drink of the water i give you will never thirst again he was using the well that she drew water from as a metaphor for life you could write it over so many things in life if you drink of this water you'll thirst again the the well of materialism if you will if that's where you're going for answers you're always going to want more you could write it over relationships even if you drink of this water you'll thirst again you could write it over accomplishments or success or fame if you drink of this water you'll thirst again you could even write it over the well of religion if you will religion and rituals and other things if you drink of this water you'll thirst again but if you come to jesus and believe in him he'll satisfy your deepest spiritual thirst let me go back to what i said in the beginning we all long for a place we've never been to before i talked about going to disneyland as a child and how excited i was to be in the magic kingdom the happiest place on earth well this is something that is deep down inside of all of us and an amusement park is not going to satisfy that especially when you look at the price you pay to get in i think when you're a kid the happiest moment of going to disneyland is when you walk in but when you're an adult the happiest moment is when you're leaving right and then having to figure out how you're going to pay for all of that but that's just an idea to start with we're longing for something more we're longing for heaven and we're longing for god nothing this world offers will satisfy you apart from a relationship with god you can ask him to come and live inside of you and forgive you of all of your sin right here right now in a moment i'm going to pray a simple prayer that i would love to lead you in a prayer that if you pray it with me is where you are simply saying to the lord come into my life satisfy my spiritual thirst make all things new for me i want to go to heaven one day i want to be ready for your return if you would like to do that i'll give you an opportunity right now as we pray let's all pray together father i thank you that your word is true i thank you for the folks that are watching right now and i pray that your holy spirit will speak to their hearts and help them to see their need for jesus and help them to come to you and believe right now now listen if you want jesus to come into your life if you want him to forgive you of your sin if you want to go to heaven when you die why don't you just pray this simple prayer after me you could pray it out loud if you like just say lord jesus i know i am a sinner but i know you are the savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead i turn from that sin now and i choose to follow you from this moment forward in jesus name i pray amen did you just pray that prayer if so god bless you you've made the most important decision of your life there's a whole new life that god has for you now that he wants you to start living and it starts with reading the bible this is the user's manual of life you've been looking for and i would like to send you at no charge a copy of a special edition of the new testament that we're offering here at harvest at home that we call the new believer's bible many of these have gone to people all around the world and what it is is a very friendly translation the new living translation with hundreds of notes that i wrote that will encourage you and this commitment you've made to jesus let me send you your own copy of the new believer's bible so you can start growing spiritually but listen right now on the screen there's a phone number see it i would like you to call that number and let us know that you just prayed and asked jesus to come into your life and we'll get your information and send you your copy of the new believer's bible

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 30,938

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Keywords: harvest, Harvest Christian Fellowship, Greg Laurie Sermons, bible study for me, bible study, youtube sermons, Greg Laurie, Greg Laurie Live, is heaven beyond word, will we ever have heaven on earth, revelation 21, revelation 21 explained in detail, revelation 21 sermon, what the bible says about heaven, what the bible says about heaven and hell, what the bible says about getting to heaven

Id: qmLC5lR6fLU

Length: 41min 52sec (2512 seconds)

Published: Mon May 24 2021