“AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER
REV. 21:1-7 21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of 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 shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
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And they all lived happily ever after.” We all like stories with a happy ending. We read them to our children and grandchildren. But, as grown-ups, we know that such stories are not true. Living happily ever after only happens in the realm of make believe.
Let' s look at verse 4 again.....No more deaths
No more sorrow
No more crying
No more pain
Just imagine heaven.... No need to lock your doors,,,,,,
no more doctors,,,,, no more lawyers,,,,, no more police officers,,,,,n
No need for any of these..
Heaven, is not a fairy tale
It is real..... It is not like the CInderella story,,,,, It is not like the Hansel, and Gretel story we heard as kids.
. Someday those who have put their faith , and believed in Jesus Christ as Savior, are going Home. C.S. Lewis said, “If nothing in this world satisfies me, perhaps it is because I was made for another world.”
It is not about who have been good, and who have been bad, It is about where have we placed our hope, and trust. If we have accepted Jesus Christ, to be our risen Lord and Savior, and humbled ourselves, and repented , then the blood of Christ has removed our sins.. The apostle Paul said “we preach Christ and not ourselves” (2 Cor. 4:5).
The book of Revelation gives us a glance at what heaven will be like, and we can know , without a shadow of doubt, that this will be our destination, if we are born again Christians.
My hope is that this sermon will encourage you.
Things of this life are temporary
This earth is not our home. We are as Pilgrims as we live on this earth.
I love the old, old gospel song I used to hear when I was a child growing up
The song went like this,,,,I am a pilgrim and a stranger
Traveling through this wearisome land
I've got a home in that yonder city, good lord
And it's not, not made by hand
I've got a mother, sister and a brother
Who have gone this way before
I am determined to go and see them, good lord
For they're on that other shore
I'm goin' down to the river of Jordan
Just to bathe my wearisome soul
If I can just touch the hem of his garment, good lord
Then I know he'd take me home
I am a pilgrim and a stranger
Traveling through this wearisome land
I've got a home in that yonder city, good lord
And it's not, not made by hand
Romans 8:18 Paul says,,,,,,
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
If you are not from the South, you may not have heard the term RECKON. It is a word we use a lot. Someone may ask you,, Are you going to church Sunday, and you would probably say,, I reckon I will, if the Lord wills.
I had heard a joke once, saying that Paul must have been from the South,
Paul was saying, that no matter what we go through here on earth, the pain, and sorrow, and troubles, they are not worth even mentioning, when comparing them to the glory that God will reveal to us. This stuff down here , is just temporary
Some day, we will be able to say,,,And they lived happily ever after….
HEAVEN IS NOT A FAIRY TALE..
Heaven is a real place, and as Christians, we will be able to enjoy all the things that God has in store for us.
I remember hearing a poem called heaven's grocery store, and it went like this....
I was walking down life's highway a long time ago.
One day I saw a sign that read,
"HEAVEN'S GROCERY STORE"
As I got a little closer
the door came open wide
And when I came to myself
I was standing inside.
I saw a host of ANGELS.
They were standing everywhere.
One handed me a basket and said,
"My Child shop with care".
Everything a Christian needed
was in that grocery store.
And all you couldn't carry,
you could come back the next day for more.
First, I got some PATIENCE:
LOVE was in the same row.
Further down was UNDERSTANDING:
You need that everywhere you go.
I got a box or two of WISDOM,
a bag or two of FAITH.
I just couldn't miss the HOLY GHOST,
For it was all over the place.
I stopped to get some STRENGTH and COURAGE
To help me run this race.
By then my basket was getting full,
But I remembered I needed some GRACE.
I didn't forget SALVATION,
For SALVATION was free,
So I tried to get enough of that
To save both You and Me.
Then I started up to the counter
To pay my grocery bill,
For I thought I had everything
To do the MASTER'S Will.
As I went up the aisle, I saw PRAYER:
And I just had to put that in,
For I knew when I stepped outside,
I would run into Sin.
PEACE AND JOY were plenty
They were last on the shelf.
SONG and PRAISE were hanging near,
So I just helped myself.
Then I said to the angel,
"Now, how much do I owe?"
He smiled and said,
"Just take them everywhere you go.”
Again, I smiled and said,
"How much do I really owe?"
He smiled again and said,
"MY CHILD, JESUS PAID YOUR BILL
A LONG, LONG TIME AGO."
I wonder why children have no problem believing in heaven. Maybe that is why Jesus said " unless you become as a little child, you will not enter into the Kingdom of God.
The word heaven appears over 700 times in the Bible. Revelation tells us more about heaven than any other book.
John 14:1-3 , Jesus tells his disciples, shortly before He was crucified........Let not your heart be troubled: ye 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 unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
. Heaven isn’t a fairy tale. It’s a real place.
2. Let's look at some things that will be in heaven..
If you belong to Christ, you’ll meet again those you’ve lost who’ve also known Christ. Our relationships won’t be lost.
1 Cor. 15:51-52 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed
We will be changed, and have new spiritual bodies..We won't hurt, and suffer there.
a. There are no tears in Heaven. In heaven there’s no sadness, no more tears. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev. 21:4).
.
e. There are no doctors or hospitals.
No need for doctors,or dentists,, no sorrow, or pain.
And we’ll know each other. We’ll have glorified bodies, just as Jesus has. For all eternity He’ll be with us and we’ll know and see Him. That’s what He told us, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God Himself will be with them as their God’” (Rev. 21:3).
f. The best part of Heaven is that Jesus will be there.
I love the songs, by Mercy Me, I can only imagine.
I can only imagine what it will be like
When I walk, by your side
I can only imagine what my eyes will see
When you face is before me
I can only imagine
Surrounded by you glory
What will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus
Or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence
Or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah
Will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine when that day comes
When I find myself standing inside
I can only imagine when all I would do is forever
Forever worship you
I can only imagine
I believe, that heaven is a real place, and when we see Jesus, we will fall down and worship Him“
I believe that the angels, and all who are in heaven , will worship and praise Him constantly.
Rev. 5:13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
Galatians 3:26–29 26For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise
We live happily ever after through faith and Christ
We live happily ever after as sons and daughters – and not children
We live happily ever after as heirs to the inheritance
Story about governor of tennesee and teaching preachers,,,, craddock,,,,
A seminary professor was vacationing with his wife in Gatlinburg, TN. One morning, they were eating breakfast at little restaurant, hoping to enjoy a quiet, family meal. While they were waiting for their food, they noticed a distinguished looking, white-haired man moving from table to table, visiting with the guests. The professor leaned over and whispered to his wife, "I hope he doesn't come over here." But sure enough, the man did come over to their table. "Where are you folks from?" he asked in a friendly voice.
"Oklahoma," they answered.
"Great to have you here in Tennessee." the stranger said. "What do you do for a living?"
"I teach at a seminary," he replied.
"Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you? Well, I've got a really great story for you." And with that, the gentleman pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with the couple. The professor groaned and thought to himself, "Great... Just what I need another preacher story!"
The man started, "See that mountain over there pointing out the restaurant window. Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a boy born to an unwed mother. He had a hard time growing up, because every place he went, he was always asked the same question, 'Hey boy, Who's your daddy?' "Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drug store, people would ask the same question, 'Who's your daddy?'
He would hide at recess and lunch time from other students. He would avoid going in to stores because that question hurt him so bad. "When he was about 12 years old, a new preacher came to his church. He would always go in late and slip out early to avoid hearing the question, 'Who's your daddy?'. But one day, the new preacher said the benediction so fast he got caught and had to walk out with the crowd.
"Just about the time he got to the back door, the new preacher, not knowing anything about him, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, 'Son, who's your daddy?'" The whole church got deathly quiet. He could feel every eye in the church looking at him. Now everyone would finally know the answer to the question, 'Who's your daddy'. This new preacher, though, sensed the situation around him and using discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give, said the following to that scared little boy
"'Wait a minute!' he said. 'I know who you are. I see the family resemblance now. You are a child of God. With that he patted the boy on his shoulder and said, 'Boy, you've got a great inheritance. Go and claim it.'
With that, the boy smiled for the first time in a long time and walked out the door a changed person. He was never the same again.
Whenever anybody asked him, 'Who's your Daddy?' he'd just tell them, 'I'm a Child of God'." The distinguished gentleman got up from the table and said, "Isn't that a great story?"
The professor responded that it really was a great story!
As the man turned to leave, he said, "You know, if that new preacher hadn't told me that I was one of God's children, I probably never would have amounted to anything!" And he walked away.
The seminary professor and his wife were stunned. He called the waitress over and asked her, "Do you know who that man was who just left that was sitting at our table?"
The waitress grinned and said, "Of course. Everybody here knows him. That's Ben Hooper. He's the former governor of Tennessee!"
Someone in your life today needs a reminder that they're one of God's children!
psalm 23: 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
And they lived happily ever after…Will you? Do you know Jesus? Have you committed your life to Him
