31 December 2000
WATCH-NIGHT
References: 2 Peter 3:10, 13 (But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; … heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are thein shall be burned up. Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth,…); Acts 17:28 (…In him we live, move and have our being); Isaiah 54:17 (… no weapon formed against thee shall prosper); 2 Kings 20:1-6 (God added 15 more years to Hezekiah’s life); (SDSCP) Sin, Death, Sorrow, Crying, and Pain); John 3:1-17 (those that are made over new in this life … will enjoy the benefits of eternal life); 2 Cor. 5:17 (Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new).
I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: Revelation 21:4-5 (KJV)
II. THE LARGER CONTEXT:
Now, before we begin, allow me to share with you some HISTORICAL TRUES regarding THE BOOK OF REVELATION. For example, in the Book of Revelation, we find both a CENTRAL THOUGHT AND A CENTRAL PERSON. The central thought is REVELATION, and its central person is Jesus Christ. More specifically, the Word of God comes alive through Christ. FOR CHRIST gives it authenticity, reality, and compulsion. In fact, in our text tonight … Jesus sends an angel to reveal God’s … futuristic … plans … to his servant John.
The judgments are now past; the terrible plagues upon the earth are ended. AND …We begin … HERE … with a view of heaven coming down to earth; a time when that FAMOUS prayer … of the Saints of God …. WHICH SAYS … “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” will be answered.
III. THE SMALLER CONTEXT:
Therefore, in our particular text, THIS EVENING, we find John revealing … to us … information regarding “a new heaven … and a new earth.”
More specifically, … my brothers and my sisters … the Revelator … informs us … that after this Old Heaven, and Earth … Has Been Destroyed … and Ultimately … Annihilated … By Fire .. (2 Peter 3:10, 13)…. God is going to create a new heaven … and a new earth. In other words, God, … himself … is going to start over! For the SCRIPTURE READS:
IV. READ THE PERICOPE: REVELATION 21:4-5
V. READ THE TEXT: Revelation 21:4 -5 (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. 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).
VI. PURPOSE: To motivate the hearers to affirm to others that JUST AS GOD IS GOING
TO START OVER FUTURISTICALLY, HE ALSO assures us
(individually) OF A NEW BEGINNING, AND AN OPPORTUNITY TO
spiritually START-OVER in 2001.
VII. SERMONIC THEME: “STARTING OVER in 2001”
VIII. PROPOSITION:
It has been said that … GOD’S CHURCH … AND ALL OF GOD’S CHILDREN …ARE GOING THROUGH … FOR WE ARE … all … EXPERIENCING SOME FORM OF SPIRITUAL PERSECUTION. This is TRUE … REGARDLESS OF WHERE … WE … the Saints of God … ARE LOCATED GEOGRAPHICALLY …
REGARDLESS OF OUR ETHNICITIES OR FINANCIAL STATUS IN LIFE …
WE ARE GOING THROUGH … PRIMARILY BECAUSE … SATAN (OUR ADVERSARY) AND HIS EMPS ARE AT WAR AGAINST US …
THERE’S NO WONDER … JOB SAYS IN JOB 14:1 … THAT A MAN BORN OF A WOMAN IS OF A FEW DAYS AND FULL OF TROUBLE …
STILL SOMEONE ELSE HAS SAID … THAT WEAPING MAY ENDURE FOR A NIGHT … BUT JOY COMETH IN THE MORNING …
NOW … ALTHOUGH … we are LIVING IN THE END-TIME! … AND TIMES ARE STUFF!!
… THE Word SAYS …. (In Isaiah 54:17) that … no weapon formed against… US… shall prosper …
FOR THE GOD that we serve … desires to COMFORT AND TO KEEP US …. FOR IT’S HIS WILL THAT NONE SHOULD PERISH … FOR IF I CONFESS WITH MY MOUTH , and believe in my heart that Jesus Christ is Lord …
I shalt be SAVED … FOR … JESUS desires to wipe away tears from my eyes that (SDSCP) … SIN, DEATH, SORROW, CRYING, AND PAIN … HAVE CAUSED in my life.
**THEREFORE … I SUBMIT TO YOU … THIS EVENING … 3 EXAMPLES … OF GOD’S WILLINGNESS …to allow us to START-OVER by wiping away tears … caused by …SIN, DEATH, SORROW, CRYING, AND PAIN … HAVE CAUSED … IN THE YEAR … 2000 …
**********************TAKE 5 BEATS*******************
MOVE 1: NOW, THE FIRST EXAMPLE OF GOD’S WILLINGNESS … TO WIPE … our … TEARS AWAY …SHOWS GOD working in the lives of BELIVERS IN THE PAST.
a. Those that are made over new in Christ in this life (John 3:1-17) will enjoy the benefits of eternal life.
b. For who can ever forget about the stories of King David and King Hezekiah?
c. … two of the greatest examples of God’s willingness to wipe our SINFUL and SORROWFUL TEARS away!
d. For don’t you remember … David sinned greatly through the acts of ADULTERY, AND PREMEDIDATED MURDER …
e. YET …. After he repented … to God (in Psalms 51), and got his life back on CHURCH STREET …GOD gave him a new beginning and an OPPORTUNITY TO START-OVER …
********************Take 5 Beats*********************
MOVE 2:. And then … let us not forget “King Hezekiah”!
a. For the First Time that Tears are even mentioned in the Bible is in relation to King Hezekiah (in 2 Kings 20:1-6).
b. For King Hezekiah had been informed by the prophet Isaiah that he was sick and he needed to get his house in order ….
c. … Because he would soon DIE …
d. The Bible says … Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and cried out to God in his plea for life …
and God added 15 more years to his life …
e. So, the first example of God’s Willingness … to wipe tears away from our lives shows God at
work in the lives of believers in the PAST.
***********************Take 5 Beats*******************
MOVE 3: Now,… THE SECOND example of God’s Willingness to wipe away tears caused by SIN,
DEATH, SORROW, CRYING, AND PAIN …IN THE YEAR … 2000 … shows God PRESENTLY at WORK in our lives … right now!
a. For we are … ALL … living examples of God’s Grace … in actions.
b. How many times have we sinned this past year …
c. Afterwards, went to God with hung down heads and broken hearts … asking him to forgive …yet
again… AND HE DID …
d. …GIVING US YET ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO …. Start-Over?
e. Well, I can’t speak for you … but I know that I have had some EXPERIENCES THIS YEAR
(death) that has caused me much sorrow and pain …
f. And through it all … GOD NEVER FORSOOK ME! HE WAS ALWAYS THERE … comforting me … and providing me opportunities to start-over!
g. So, the SECOND example of God’s willingness to WIPE OUR TEARS AWAY, shows God at work right now …
********************Take 5 Beats*********************
MOVE 4: NOW, … THE THIRD AND FINAL EXAMPLE OF GOD’S WILLINGNESS .. TO WIPE TEARS AWAY … FROM OUR LIVES … SHOWS … GOD AT WORK IN OUR FUTURE.
a. For Don’t you remember … THE CREATION STORY IN Genesis 1:1?
b. Where the Bible says, …In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth
c. Yet, … we have in our scripture, THIS EVENING, an example of God promising us (in verse
1 of Revelation – Chapter 21) that He is going to start over …
d. He’s going to start over by creating a New Heaven and a New Earth.
e. You know … A place where there will be ROOM FOR “THE no mores”
f. No more Sin …no more Death, no more Sorrow, no more crying, and no more Pain
g. It was The Apostle Peter that said it best in (2 Peter 3:10) …
h. For he said …. that the elements in our current Heaven and Earth is going to be destroyed by fire, and everything in it will be laid bare …
i. Which will end our old heaven and earth.
*****************Take 5 Beats*************************
CELEBRATION:
God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes; and there shall be … NO MORE DEATH,
NO MORE SORROW,
NO MORE CRYING, AND NO MORE PAIN …:
for the former things are
passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, … Behold, I make all things new. …
IN OTHER WORDS … GOD IS GOING TO START-OVER …and he’s giving me an opportunity to START-OVER TOO …
FOR THE BIBLE SAYS … if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new).
