In his sermon, Scott Brown explores the profound connection between heaven and earth, emphasizing that heaven acts as a magnet, drawing believers towards it, while earth serves as a foretaste of heavenly realities. This concept is deeply rooted in the Book of Revelation, which provides a comprehensive testimony of heaven and highlights the physical and spiritual parallels between earthly experiences and heavenly promises. Brown argues that while heaven is a future reality, it is reflected in the earthly experiences that believers encounter, such as creation's beauty and the regeneration of souls. He stresses the importance of being heavenly minded to do earthly good and encourages his congregation to see earthly life as an invitation to heavenly realities. The sermon underscores that the ultimate restoration and renewal of the entire creation, including the heavens and earth, are integral to God's plan, illustrating the continuity between the present world and the world to come.

Please open your Bibles to Revelation 21 and find verse one, Revelation 21, verse one. This is the inerrant, all-sufficient, sweeter than honey. It's the word of God, Verse one. 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 sea. Then 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 God himself will be with them and be their God and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes there shall be no more death nor sorrow nor crying there shall be no more pain for the former things have passed away let's pray oh lord I pray that you would shepherd this church to heaven all the way to heaven I pray that you would use both heaven and earth to draw them to sweeten their journey there.

But Lord we're just so thankful that it's your word the shepherds and so open it up for us now, amen. Please be seated. So Revelation 21 and 22 is the most complete testimony of heaven in the Bible. The whole Bible points here. But today I want us to see something very simple and that is how heaven points to earth and how earth points to heaven.

And the answer is in the book of Revelation. It's all over the Bible, but we definitely see it here. And there are two things in this message I really want us to see. This is kind of an introduction to heaven You I won't Do great detail and unpacking these first eight verses will return there next week There's really just one thing I want us to consider This morning in this message and I went to delight in and the first thing is this heaven is a magnet heaven is a magnet it's designed to draw you and it's good to seek the things above. And I pray that this congregation, all of us, would see heaven as a magnet more than ever.

I realized I haven't really thought enough about heaven. And so in the next, as we go through Revelation 21 and 22, you'll probably hear at least a dozen sermons on these two chapters, because we're gonna spend some time on heaven. Second, not only is heaven a magnet, I bet that earth is a foretaste. It's good to delight in the foretaste. I pray that this congregation would find itself delighting in the foretaste more than ever.

And not think, well this world is not my home, I'm just a passing through, it doesn't really matter. No, no, no, no, no. This world is your home. And there are foretastes of heaven. So that's, well I might as well stop, that's my whole message.

Well the heavens declare the glory of God and the earth is a foretaste to draw us to heaven. I want us to understand that earth, the things of earth, the things we see on the earth are invitations to heaven earth is an inducement earth is an enticement earth is an appeal earth is a pull The heavens do declare the glory of God. The earth was designed by God to draw you to heaven. This world is luring God's people upward. It draws us in.

So there's a sense in which it is good to be earthly minded. There's a sense in which it is good to be earthly minded as long as it's seen in the context of the whole gospel of Jesus Christ and the redemption and the heaven that awaits those who love him. So I want us to see how helpful heaven is and how helpful earth is. You know, we just sang about it. The songs that were chosen by Trent Moody had so many reflections of this it was hard for me I thought I could pull a line out of almost every song we sang about this.

Well, I'll just pull one. We sang, wondrous King all glorious. And in that song, there's this exact phraseology that heaven is a pull and Earth is an instruction. Here's what we sang in that song. Moon and star, praise afar.

Him who glorious made you, the vast Heavens aid you. When you look up into the sky, the heavens are aiding you. They're pulling you, they're inviting you, they're enticing you. The heavens declare the glory of God. The shadows on earth, you know, the moon and the star in this song, they point to the beauties of heaven.

Now, I don't know what your impression of heaven is, But heaven is not otherworldly. The bible doesn't speak of it that way and When you look at the things that are said about heaven in the book of revelation, it's so clear heaven is a physical place And if you look at the scenes of worship in chapter four, chapter five, chapter seven, chapter 14, there are physical realities of heaven. There are beings and people and instruments and songs and stones and all kinds of earthly things that are there. And when you look at the scenes in heaven, this is what I want us to get. You've already seen them here.

They shouldn't seem otherworldly. They're not otherworldly. They are like this world only in their perfected state and So I'm I'll you know Here's an example in Revelation 11 15. There's a correlation between this world and heaven Revelation 1115 then the seventh angel sounded and there were loud voices in heaven saying The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever. There's something like the kingdoms of this world that are in the kingdoms of the other world, stripped of all of the manifestations of the Fall.

What would it be like if I was or we were together as a congregation more heavenly minded? What would it be like? We ought to be more heavenly minded, to see more of God's glory, to have greater affection, because we've been stirred up by the allurements of the earth and the magnets of heaven. In a way, I thought of this sermon a little bit the way that the apostle Paul described his life in the churches in the first century to be a fellow worker for your joy. I pray that you'd find more joy as a result of this.

So let's look at the text. Verses one through eight. This is an introduction to heaven. We're going to return to it in more detail But I want to get I want you to get one thing out of these eight verses and then we'll loop back next week And get more things out of these eight verses. So first of all, we have a new heaven and a new earth We've already seen in When we engage this this first phrase the last time I preached on this, that this new heaven and new earth is not the destruction of one earth and a creation of a brand new one.

It's the renewal. That's The very words that are used here in the Greek text makes that very, very clear. It's a renewed earth. But we also read there was no more sea. Now, the sea is a symbol of chaos.

We've already seen this earlier on in the book of Revelation The sea is a figure of chaos. I don't believe it means there's no more ocean We'll talk about more of that next week but The sea is a symbol of chaos and frankly all of us have seen in this world, the Lord bringing an end to chaos at various times in our lives. We've seen wars cease actually. We've seen all kinds of endings of chaos. You've already seen this in the earth.

That work of ending of chaos started in our hearts when we embrace the peace of God that passes all understanding. We've already seen this. In verses two through four, there's a city. We've already seen cities. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband we've already read of holy cities in the Bible the New Jerusalem we we know what cities are and by the way we know what brides look like.

We've already seen this here. We know how beautifully brides adorn themselves for their husbands. We've already seen that. I mean, that's what you see in the New Jerusalem. And then you have the presence of God in verse three.

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. God himself will be with them and be their God." Well, if you're a Christian, you already have experienced what it means that God is with you. You read those words that God would send his son, whose name is Emmanuel. He's God with us. You've already experienced that.

You've already seen that. Verse four, everlasting comfort. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. You've already seen God wipe tears away from your eyes. Maybe not all of them, but you're not crying today like you used to cry about certain things that happened.

Because God's been working with you, he's been comforting you, he's been teaching you. And you don't weep like you used to weep either. You used to weep without hope. But we've already seen tears wiped away. You're gonna see them in heaven only in their perfected state.

And then no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. We've already Understood that Jesus came to conquer death. We've already known the comfort in our sorrows. We've already Known him To be the healer of our hurts. Well, he's been healing our bodies too, you know, you know your child, you know Scrapes up his knee.

You know that knees gonna heal. He's gonna be you've already seen healing. We see it all the time. We have doctors and nurses in this church, they've seen healing, you've seen healing. You're gonna see a healing like never before.

You've already seen these things. Heaven is not some other worldly, ethereal, weird ghost-like existence. It's real. In verse five, all things behold, I make all things new. We've already encountered the new birth.

We've already encountered that we have a new heart. We know that we've been made new creatures. We're not the same like we were before the Lord saved us. We've already seen this in its first form, in its foretaste. And then in verses six and seven, and he said to me, it is done.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son." Well you've already tasted that fountain of water of life. Jesus said if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink. Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

That's the spirit of God. You've already experienced that. Not like you want to, but you've already had it. You've had a foretaste of it. You've already been thirsty.

You already believe that your inheritance is in heaven. You already feel yourself to be a son. I will be his God and he shall be my son. He shall be my son. You've already experienced that.

So here's what I'm trying to say. What is in heaven you've already experienced on earth as a foretaste. Enjoy it, savor it, give thanks to God. Even the trials and tribulations, which will end, are pointers to heaven. Every sickness points to heaven.

Every joy or trial followeth from above, Traced upon the dial by the son of love. He's doing it because he loves you. He's trying to draw you He's giving you four tastes one after another heaven is not some otherly world weird place that you've never experienced. Earth foresees heaven. Earth gives prior knowledge.

Earth gives us preconceptions. Earth creates wonder. Earth is a foretaste to whet your appetite. It's designed to show you heaven. Okay, so let's talk about where we are in the book of Revelation, the context of where we are.

First of all, I think we should always remember that Revelation is a letter to churches. It's an epistle. It's just like Ephesians and Philippians, Colossians, except it's in figurative language. It's in prophetic language. It's like Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Daniel and Amos and so forth.

It's the same kind of language that you read in the prophets. But it is a letter, but it's a letter to strengthen churches. It's a letter to encourage the church, particularly in the times of the persecution. And what Revelation does is it spins out cycles, various cycles of the kinds of things that you see in history. You remember, you know, these cycles in Revelation, they loop around to the second coming over and over and over.

It's not linear history. It's a snapshot of this kind of thing that will happen, this kind of cultural collapse, this kind of political tumult, you know, whatever. Revelation describing the kinds of things that are going to happen in history. And it was written to shepherd the church to the gates of heaven. It was written to encourage a church to take heart that Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords, that Jesus Christ is magnificent, he's majestic, he's in control, He will destroy all his enemies, and his love is everlasting.

That's the message of Revelation. It's a letter to a church. It's a letter to our church. And When I read this letter, I think, what kind of church are we going to be? What kind of images are gonna shepherd this church?

Because we're all shepherded by images, aren't we? This is why images are so powerful. And these words create pictures. Revelation is a picture book. It's pictorial theology.

And it's meant to paint pictures to shepherd the church. Maybe in one way, it's like a pillar of fire and the cloud of the children of Israel that led the children of Israel through the wilderness. These pictures show us how things are and what will be. And so you have these pictures of the new heavens and the new earth still continuing to be full of symbolism. And the big question is, how much of this is symbolic and how much of this is literal?

Good question. I think it's a mix. Lots of symbolic language that point to realities. They point to actual realities in the world. And I realize sometimes it's difficult to figure them all out.

But you know, pictures and prophetic language is really designed in many ways to almost be like a lightning bolt to say bam, look at, Wow, look at this. This is a remarkable scene. And so we have the new heavens and the new earth, and all of these things point to Jesus Christ. Revelation is the revelation of, not the end times, not the political machinations in each generation, but it's a revelation of Jesus Christ in the midst of all that other stuff that happens in the world. I don't know if you saw the funeral of the Queen of England recently.

This passage was read at her funeral and really some remarkable things were said drawing right out of this passage after it was, and sung. There's a song that's sung that was just like this passage. But you know, it's interesting, you know, the whole world heard that. It was remarkable to think about that, how good God was to do that. So this section is about the new heavens and new earth.

In The last time we were in Revelation in this first one, I wanted to make one point, God is the great regenerator. I stole that phrase from Charles Spurgeon. And Revelation 21, of course, is talking about this great restoration of the heavens and the earth, just like he restores the soul, just like he restores relationships, just like he restores broken people, he will restore everything. He starts with you and he ends with everything. Isn't that amazing?

Your part, all of us who've been regenerated are part of this massive regeneration by the great regenerator. We also, I just want to remind us too, that Genesis and Revelation are bookends of the Bible. And these two chapters pull everything together from the beginning of Genesis to Revelation. Genesis one through three and Revelation 19 through 22 are really like bookends to the Bible with all kinds of remarkable declarations and helpful revelations in the middle. In Genesis one through three, you have the first Adam, you have a garden, you have the fall, you have the loosing of sin into the human race.

In Revelation 19 to 22, you see the end of sin, you see the holy city, you see a new Jerusalem, and you see the loosing of creation from all the effects of the fall. So Genesis and Revelation are like bookends. And it's so helpful to understand history, isn't it? To know where you are. Well, we are in this interim period.

We are between these two eras. You know, the Bible speaks of the age, this age and the age to come. We're in this age right now. And then there is the age to come. And we're living between Eden and the new heavens and the new earth.

So God is making all things new. That's the heart of this whole thing. I really wanna keep bringing us back to the way that we've always thought about heaven. Heaven in vague terms, in maybe over-spiritualized terms. You know, what is heaven?

You children, let me have your attention. Are you looking at me? You listening to me? Do you think heaven is just one really, really long worship service? Where you're just sitting there trying to stay awake?

No. It's not. It's not a billion year long worship service where you're sitting like cabbages, you know, cabbage heads in a field, you know, looking forward. No, no, no, well, it does include worship. It includes unrestrainable joy in this new heaven and this new earth.

So banish some of the dumb pictures that you have in your mind. You're not like a ghost floating through spiritual, ethereal unreality. There's rivers, there's trees, there's stars, there's beings that are astounding, a lot like the astounding beings that are right here on the earth. So I want us to just consider our impressions of heaven, how we got them. And I'm here to say there are two ways that you should get them, on earth and what's said about heaven.

Now, in the Bible there are three ways that this word heaven is used. Okay? Three ways. So if you look up the word heaven, the word that we're dealing with, There are three ways that it's used. Number one, it's used of the atmosphere, the upper atmosphere.

That would include the clouds and the birds and the rainstorms and the upper atmosphere just above our heads, that's one way the word heaven is used. Another way, the second way the word heaven is used is of the planets, of space. The biblical words, the expanse, the firmament. Like in Psalm 19 verse one, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork. Day into day, utter speech.

Night unto night reveals knowledge. There's no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth. That's the heavens. That's another use of the heavens.

You know, in Genesis 1-16, there's this phrase that always just makes me smile. God creates all these remarkably complex things, and then there's this. And then he made the stars. He made the stars. Okay, let's move on.

You know, this massive, it seems like infinite space, he made the stars. This is God. This is your God. Behold your God He's really big. He's very powerful, but the third way Beyond the upper atmosphere and planets in space is the habitation of God The place where God dwells it's called the heaven of heavens You know heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool.

It's the place where God dwells. It's the place where God reveals himself in his fullness. So in the restoration of heaven and earth, it includes all three of these. All three of these realms are restored and banished of everything regarding the fall. The upper atmosphere, the planets, and the heaven of heavens will be renovated.

This is an intergalactic cosmic renewal that includes absolutely everything from the tip of your toe to the top of your head to the highest of heavens. This is what God's doing. He's a renewer, he's the great regenerator. In Matthew 19, 28, Jesus calls the new heavens the regeneration. So Jesus said to them, assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on his throne, sits on the throne of his glory.

It's regeneration because that's what God does. And of course we know at best by the regeneration of our souls, the changing of our hearts, the breaking of the power of sin, giving us new affections, changing our lives, you know, making things new. He's transforming us. And you have these words in the Bible, regeneration, redemption, renewal, resurrection, re, re, re, that's the heart of God. He's always renewing and refreshing.

That's what he wants to do in your life. If you're not a Christian today, here's what you need to know about God. He wants to renew everything. He wants to freshen everything in your life. He wants to take away the dross.

He wants to take away the poison. He wants to suck it right out of you your whole life long until he takes you to heaven. No more poison. God is so good. So, But the restoration is not limited to souls.

Do you understand that? The restoration is not limited to souls. It's it is expanded to rocks and trees and skies and seas. Everything is regenerated. There are There are temporary things that are designed by God to point us to the everlasting things.

And I want you to test this in your own heart, see if you think it's true. Everything about you, everything about your surroundings, your house, your city, your family, All these are temporary things, but they point to heaven. You know, if you do a study on the use of the word house or household, here's what you find out. The earthly households are all metaphors for the heavenly household. Like when you have a house, when you have a home, you're building a little piece of heaven there.

That's why God gave you a home. He gave you a home to prepare everybody for heaven by making it the sweetest place on earth where all of his laws are held up and all of his loving kindnesses are expressed in your house. Even your house is a metaphor of heaven. That window over there, that door, this light, these are all metaphors of heaven. God is always pointing us to heaven.

He wants to thrill your soul. He wants to show you how good he is. Well, Paul told a local church in Philippi that our citizenship was in heaven. For our citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly await for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which he is able Even to subdue all things to himself. Oh boy.

This is really important when God subdues something to himself He is sweetening it He's rejuvenating it. This is why you should love his authority. God's authority is the only rejuvenating authority. Our citizenship is in heaven. So, heaven is designed to nourish us.

Now have you ever heard anybody, have you ever thought that there was someone who was so heavenly minded that he was no earthly good. So heavenly minded that he was no earthly good. The person who said that first, apparently, was Oliver Wendell Holmes. He was a Darwinian lawyer. He was passionate about eugenics.

He hated objective truth. He hated biblical morality. He rejected God, and he wanted to divorce man from God. So anybody who says, he's so heavenly minded, he's no earthly good. I read Steve Lawson say, that's heresy, that's ridiculous, that can't happen.

Because people who are heavenly minded are abundantly earthly good. Because they know what's good. And they replicate it on the earth. Oliver Wendell Holmes was mocking heaven when he said that. So keep your eyes fixed on heaven, because heaven is a magnet.

And to be heavenly minded is to do so much earthly good that's why in in in Colossians 3 verse 1 the apostle Paul told the Colossian church, if then you've been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on the things on the earth. It makes me kind of excited, because for at least a dozen Sundays, that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna focus on what's above in heaven. Keep your eyes fixed on what's happening at the right hand of God and learn from it.

Grow your affections, you know, grow your appetites from heaven. Jesus said, Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Jesus taught us to pray thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth As it is in heaven bring heaven down look at heaven bring it down bring it on down Bring down the things that you see in Revelation 21 and 22 Jesus wanted his disciples to understand that heaven had something to do with earth. Heaven is not some ethereal, impractical principle in your brain. It's a real, physical, beautiful reality that God actually has designed for us to replicate in our homes, in our churches, in our work, in everything that we do.

I think that heaven was meant to change our lives on earth, not just think of floating around with harps. Charles Spurgeon, well, here's a confession. I think I've probably read sections of 20 of Spurgeon's sermons on heaven over the last three or four months. So here's a quote. This won't be the last one you'll hear.

Breathe the home air. Breathe the home air. He's talking about heaven. Jesus tells us the air of home is alive. To understand life on earth, it helps to know what God is aiming at.

He's aiming at heaven. Heaven teaches about earth. And then he says, on earth as it is in heaven. Heaven teaches us. Jesus told his disciples in John 17, and now, oh Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was.

This is the interaction between heaven and earth. He said, whatever we, Spurgeon said, whatever we think of heaven, let us chiefly think of the Father, for our Father's, in our Father's house are many mansions, and it is to the Father that our Lord has gone that he might prepare a place for us. In John 14 33 Jesus said my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him. Heaven is nearness to God, it's communion with his thoughts, it's unbroken filling of the Holy Spirit, it's becoming like him, it's permanent delight, it's no stain of sin, it's no discomfort from sin, it's no insecurity, there are no conflicting thoughts, there are angels, everything is always new and always fruitful. Jonathan Edwards, heaven is the place alone where it is to be obtained for our highest end and highest good.

God made us for himself. Of God and through God and to God are all things. Romans 11 36. But there is there is but a very imperfect union with God to be had in this world. A very imperfect knowledge of God in the midst of abundance of darkness.

A very imperfect conformity to God mingled with abundance of enmity and estrangement. Here we can serve and glorify God but in an exceedingly imperfect manner our service being mingled with much sin and dishonoring to God. But when we get to heaven, if ever that be, there shall be brought, we shall be brought to a perfect union with God. So look to heaven as a magnet. Last Monday, somebody in Bible study quoted Thomas Boston who said, heaven was in me before I was in heaven.

Hey, so let's be a church like that, even more. Okay, earth is a foretaste of heaven. We were just talking about how heaven is a magnet. Now I want us to focus on earth being a foretaste and speak of that a little bit more. So I, this might sound scandalous.

Keep your eyes fixed on the earth. Taste it because earth is a foretaste. And I'm not talking about an idolatrous fixation on life on this earth to get whatever you want, you know, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about looking at the beauties of earth, the things that point to heaven. God created the world as a foretaste of heaven the whole creation It's so stunning.

It's so complex. It's so beautiful and You know to see the earth the way it is in all of its beauty you want to stay here, it's so amazing The things that are here are remarkable, but there is there's corruption and there's decay and there's rust and there's sadness and there's hatred on this earth but we can rejoice that these things are coming to an end you know the the thunder the thunder should say something to us about heaven the lightning says something to us about heaven the tornadoes, the sunsets, the earthquakes, the volcanoes, the birds, the sunrise. Enjoy your earthly home today. This world is your home for now and he's restoring you here and preparing you for heaven. Spurgeon again, when you see a purple sunset or a field full of daffodils or a breathtaking mountain vista, what does it tell you about the creator?

The world is far from perfect, but God has given us glimpses of himself and of the new earth in beauty of his creation. That's in a sermon that's Spurgeon entitled God rejoicing in his new creation. So God has given us thousands of pictures of heaven right here. Look at the Sun, look at the rivers, look at the sunrises, look at the mountains. He's showing you, he's showing you over and over again how powerful and majestic and beauty and beautiful he is.

Spurgeon, the attributes of God are to be seen in the visible creation, but they are to be seen in a brighter and superior light in the new creation. There is not one of the attributes of God which has no illustration under the revelation of his grace. So it's good to study the creation. So God has given us pictures of heavenly glory. Spurgeon said, or not Spurgeon, it was Jonathan Edwards in his book on 1 Corinthians 13, Charity and Its Fruits.

He said, heaven is a world of love. Well, God does not throw away his handiwork. He said it was good, it was good, it's always good, and it's good for us to see Nothing is a throwaway and in revelation. You'll see his the gold the precious stones You'll see the creatures you'll see the rivers you'll see the oceans and all of them are here now. You've seen them before They're here.

They're here for us to really enlighten our eyes and give us joy. When you sit at a banqueting table here, even today on our fellowship meal, you're sitting with a view of heaven. When you go to the ocean and hear the roar of the ocean, you're getting a foretaste of heaven. When you look at the night sky, the morning sky, the evening sky, you're really getting pictures of emerging light and beauty and The beginning of infinity and the stars When you sing with the Saints here in this church, you're getting a small taste of What it will be like to rejoice if you're truly rejoicing when you're comforted by the Word of God, you're getting a small deposit of the perfect comfort that will wash over every part of your consciousness. And when you see the desolation of the land, you're reminded of the restoration, Ezekiel 36, 35.

So they will say, this land that was desolate has become like a garden of Eden, and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited. I close with a final statement by Charles Purgeon. Oh beloved, Can't you rejoice in this? I encourage you to do so. Rejoice in what God is doing in his new creation.

Let your whole spirit be glad. Leap down, you waterfalls of joy. Overflow with gladness. Let loose the torrents of praise. May it be so in this church.

Let's pray. Oh God shepherd this church. Shepherd this church in the glories of heaven, the beauties of the earth, the magnets, the foretastes, all these good things. Lord I pray that you would enliven and invigorate and encourage this local church today with these visions of heaven and earth. Amen.