Welcome Graham fam! We are so glad you could watch Sunday morning online with us.
Today, we continue with the Lord’s Prayer. Please stand and read it with me together!
Scripture:
– Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJ Version)
Today’s sermon title is Who Art in Heaven. And it is so important to remember as you approach God in your prayers that first of all, He is your father! Second of all, he is in heaven. Now this may seem a little trivial, but when you look at the simple aspect that God is in heaven! And when you ask where does everyone want to go? Of course, they are going to say heaven. Well, going to heaven means going to God!
Understanding where God is (which is in heaven), puts everything in its place as we approach God in our prayer life!
Points:
1. God and heaven are eternally intertwined!
You cannot get one without the other. Most passages where people have visions of God always deal with him being in heaven and being on his throne. There are other times in scripture where it says that people saw God, or spoke with him face to face, but many times they were communicating with an angel who was the direct representative of God in that moment. I don’t have time to go into all of that, but if that interests you, go and look it up. It’s quite fascinating.
– Psalm 11:4-7
– John 6:38-40
Think about this. For us to have eternal life, God (or Jesus) had to come down to earth for us to have that. Without God we don’t have heaven and if you want to go to heaven, you have to approach your heavenly father to get there!
This is one of our greatest theologies as Christians in understanding what it means to be saved! So, acknowledge God being in heaven and the fact he sent his son from heaven to earth!
2. Acknowledging God in Heaven will change you!
Anyone who ever had a vision of God immediately understood how doomed they were. In that moment they completely realized where they stood in the grand scheme of things!
Job, the most righteous man to ever live whined and complained for 37 chapters. It gets really annoying! Eventually once the Lord speaks to Job, he immediately repents and takes back everything he said! Immediately he is terrified!
One of the best examples we have of this is Isaiah’s vision of the Lord in…
– Isaiah 6:1-5
We cannot contend with God. We are only at his mercy and that is the extent of it. But the awesome thing about God is that he always makes a way. God cleansed Isaiah and prepared him to be sent out to do his will.
There is a reason that Solomon wrote about fearing the Lord…
– Proverbs 9:10-12
If you claim to believe in God, you would have to be a fool not to fear him. Yes, he is your heavenly Father, but you need to understand what that means and the respect and fear you should have for him. It will benefit you in this life and with eternal life.
3. Our Father in Heaven can bring about the Fullness of Salvation!
We all want to go to heaven. That’s why most people ask Jesus into their hearts. It sure beats the alternative if you believe in scripture and believe in God. But most people never experience the fulness of salvation!
Many of you are probably saying, “I don’t know what that means!” And that would not be surprising. Many people profess faith in Jesus at some point in time and genuinely feel that first work of grace in their lives. But we cut God so short of the whole work that he is able to do because we don’t know we should be expecting something more from him!
– 1 Peter 1:3-7
Because God is in heaven, he is protecting and ensuring that your inheritance is preserved and undefiled by the sin of this world. Jesus said he has gone to prepare a place for us! Because of that, we can have hope and faith that we will go and be with him one day!
But we cannot neglect the understanding that the ultimate goal is to be with God in eternity. This is why we are called to leave the things of the world behind, to come out of the world so that God can dwell in us and walk among us! He wants us to experience as much as we can of Heaven in this life and that means living in his presence!
I don’t care what anyone has told you. Read your Bible for yourself. Go home and read it. Salvation is a lifelong experience. God does not just want to forgive you and then be done with you. His desire is to make you like Christ! And your salvation is not complete, until you stand before God upon your death, or you stand before God when Jesus Christ returns. As a Christian, you are in a constant state of being redeemed by God. He is bringing you out of this world and preparing you for your eternal home!
Everything that you go through in this life is a preparation for that! The trials prove not just to others but even to yourself that your faith is genuine. If you lose faith, get mad at God, threaten God, or curse God during your trials, God is revealing to you that your faith is not where it should be. We are all being tested as fire tests and purifies gold.
And look at the last half of verse 7. When your faith remains strong it will bring YOU!!! It will bring YOU!!! Much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus is revealed to the world. Everyone who is faithful unto the very end will get to share in the eternal inheritance that God is preparing and keeping of them in eternity!!! That’s good news!
Closing:
So, if you are hearing this and you are saying, well I got saved and at first it was pretty awesome but honestly, that’s in the past and there hasn’t been anything new going on. Don’t settle by thinking God doesn’t have anything left for you. He has a lifetime waiting and an eternity prepared for you!
If you would like to watch our past services, you can do so here: https://www.gcwesleyan.org/sunday-service-videos/
Like and subscribe to our new YouTube channel, Graham Chapel Youth! We are producing some funny videos as well as live streaming our Wednesday night youth group: https://is.gd/grahamyouth.
If you would like to give to Graham Chapel, you can do so here: https://www.gcwesleyan.org/give/
Graham Chapel Wesleyan Church is in Mayo, SC which is near Cowpens and Chesnee in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. We are affiliated with the Wesleyan denomination and have a diverse congregation. We would love to have you join us on Sunday mornings in person, or on Wednesdays with our youth! Visit our website to learn more.
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