WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:04.719 Thank you for praying for me because it's been a month since I've preached, and it's good to be back. 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:09.679 And hopefully, some of the rust will go away as I get going this morning. 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:19.039 While I've been gone, we we hired an associate pastor before I left, but he started while I was gone, and so hopefully you've gotten to meet him. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:36.240 And our goal with Matt being with us is that while our church is experiencing, at least for now, who knows if it'll last forever, some growth uh numerically in this way, we want to make sure we're growing this way in depth. 00:00:36.399 --> 00:01:00.799 And so it's important for us as a church and for our leadership as we're praying about the future of our church is to make sure that we're growing in that way, uh, that we are growing in spiritual growth, that we're growing in new people to be able to assimilate and connect and get to know other people, uh, that groups are growing and being formed, uh, that congregational care is occurring and not falling through the cracks. 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:09.920 And so all of this was a catalyst for us to hire Matt and an exciting time for us as we move into this next school year. 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:19.840 Now, when I left for summer sabbatical for those few weeks off, we had been going through the book of Revelation and we were almost done. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:26.560 And so, if you didn't pick up on it, there was one chapter left, actually two chapters, 21 and 22. 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:35.280 And so we're gonna finish that up this Sunday, and then we're gonna jump into Psalm 23, moving into the fall. 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:42.799 So, if you remember, just to recap, John wrote the book of Revelation, the last book of our Bible. 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:46.319 Strange book, a lot of us avoid for a lot of reasons. 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:51.439 It's complicated, there's crazy language, there's metaphors, there's symbols, there's all sorts of weird stuff going on. 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:54.480 We've been studying it for months, figuring this out. 00:01:54.640 --> 00:02:01.120 And what we've been saying is we've been taking the covenantal amillennial view, the covenantal amillennial view. 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:02.799 Now, I'm not going to review all that. 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:04.959 That means something to some of y'all. 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:20.240 Uh, it means nothing to probably most of you, um, but that is the view that we take, which means to some extent that we just don't take all the language of Revelation as literal, but we take a good bit of it and some of it as symbolic. 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:25.759 And what we do know is John keeps recapping in this book what Steve just told us. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:26.879 We're broken. 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:28.800 We live in a broken world. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:30.719 And John keeps recapping this. 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:39.759 There's a broken world, yet, yet, we have full redemption in Jesus, and Jesus is enough for us, and then there's a restoration to come. 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:42.319 We have a heaven, we have a home. 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:46.240 For a lot of us, we don't think much about that in our comfortable world now. 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:49.599 For some of us, we think a lot about it because we're sick. 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:55.120 Or you have a loved one who's sick, or somebody who loves is dying. 00:02:55.360 --> 00:03:01.840 And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, like that, you go from not thinking about it all to thinking about it a lot. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:05.840 And we do have another home, a future home. 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:11.439 Revelation gives us the story from God that's true about us. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:19.439 On my break, uh, I went fishing in Grand Teton National Park with uh a couple other pastors and then another friend. 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:23.840 It's basically it's three, three pastors and a construction worker, is what we got. 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:25.280 That's our our fishing group. 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:30.560 But the fourth guy, he's been an elder in churches and everything, so he mixes right in. 00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:33.520 He likes to talk theology, and we talk church and we talk about all sorts of stuff. 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:34.960 And so we were out there fishing. 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:44.639 One night we decided to go into town to grab some dinner, and so we go into town and we park, and on our walk-in, we walk by the Episcopal Church that is there in Jackson, St. 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:52.400 John's Episcopal Church, a series of log cabin buildings there right off the squares, founded over a hundred years ago. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:54.800 And as we're walking by, we see their chapel. 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:56.159 Here's a picture of their chapel. 00:03:56.240 --> 00:03:58.479 That's their little chapel there in Jackson, Wyoming. 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:00.639 And the door was open just like that. 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:03.280 It had a sign out, said, All were welcome. 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:06.400 And so my other two pastor friends who are much more spiritual than me. 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:08.719 I was thinking about, you know, the beer and the burger. 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:13.120 They kind of just kind of poke their head in and they're like, hey, you know, let's let's let's go. 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:13.599 Let's go in. 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:15.360 Let's see what they're doing, you know, let's see what they're doing. 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:22.399 And so we walk in, and I check the time, and I'm like, all right, well, there's only 15 minutes left of whatever's going on here, so I'll go in. 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:27.759 And we walk in, sit on the back row, back row, right? 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:28.959 Back row people. 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:30.240 Back row. 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:32.160 I got to sit on the back row. 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:33.759 It's amazing. 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:43.360 And the pastor's he's leading through a reading and a meditation, some time of silence, and then a discussion. 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:48.240 There's about 30 people kind of scattered around this little log cabin chapel. 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:50.560 And I'm sitting in the back row. 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:52.879 I'm in charge of nothing. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:56.720 Everything can go wrong in this room. 00:04:56.959 --> 00:04:58.639 And I just walk away. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:04:59.199 Right? 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:01.519 Back row people, that's why you're back there. 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:07.360 You're like, hey, this can all go down, and you just turn around, walk to your car, drive away, nothing. 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:10.800 Well, that was me, you know, last week. 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:12.480 Amazing feeling, right? 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:17.040 And so I'm sitting in the back row and I'm just, oh, it was wonderful. 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:19.839 When it's time for discussion, I didn't talk. 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:21.040 Just listen. 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:24.399 I was just there, I was just receiving. 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:28.800 And that little chapel was a lot like our sanctuary in a ways. 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:33.439 It had a pulpit, it had a table, it had a cross. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:39.199 And for me, sitting on the back row, I was kind of half listening to the discussion, not too much. 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:41.600 But I was just looking at the table. 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:45.199 I love going into church after church. 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:48.079 Where there's a cross and there's a table. 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:50.800 Because it just tells us the story. 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:59.920 It reminds me of the story, and that's what I was being reminded of sitting there, that I'm not a I'm not an achiever bringing all my good stuff to God as to belong. 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:09.279 Like when we walk forward at the end of the service to come to the table, the body broken for us and the blood shed for us, we come empty-handed. 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:12.959 You don't have anything in your hands when you walk forward. 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:15.519 And it's given to you. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:18.959 The body broken for you, the blood shed for you. 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:22.160 Isn't that good news? 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:28.000 It's a little offensive at first because you want to bring something. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:36.800 But once you realize the exhaustion of that attempt, man, the cross and the table is our freedom. 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:38.879 It's our forgiveness. 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:42.800 It's that we can be empty-handed and we're receivers. 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:49.920 And I got to sit in the back of that little log cabin chapel and just sit there and just be in charge of nothing. 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:53.360 Just be in church and just receive. 00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:59.759 Be reminded, my life's not defined by being a pastor, my life's not defined by how good this sermon is. 00:06:59.920 --> 00:07:00.800 Thank you, right? 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:02.480 That's great for me. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:06.720 But my life is defined by his love for me. 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:09.360 And I'm free because of that. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:13.600 And here's my point, tying it, kind of tying it back in Revelation. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:20.319 We can make sense of our hearts and lives only as we find our place in God's story. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:25.279 Trying to make sense of your heart and your life outside of God's story for you. 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:27.279 You're always going to be lost. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:36.160 And God's story is this that we see throughout the scriptures over and over again: creation, fall, redemption, restoration. 00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:37.680 You were created. 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:39.920 You are fallen. 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:41.839 You're imperfect, sinful. 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:46.639 You're redeemed by God, his love for you and Jesus. 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:51.120 And now in that redemption, we live in the already but not yet. 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:57.199 Because we're waiting for the full restoration, heaven to come. 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:04.160 Point number one is this as we begin to dig in, and we'll hear in a second open into Revelation. 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:10.160 Point number one is this we begin to comprehend the goodness of heaven by remembering our beginning in Eden. 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:15.519 It's interesting that the end of our book takes us back to the beginning of our book. 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:21.040 Everything was right in the beginning in Eden. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:23.279 It was flawless joy. 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:26.319 Here's some of the description that I love for Eden. 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:30.480 Beauty of the magnificent world God created and deemed good. 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:36.240 Simplicity of living and gardening without toil, anxiety, or stress. 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:38.639 Can you imagine your job? 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:41.600 Your parenting being like that. 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:48.080 Relational harmony that Adam and Eve knew without pettiness, dysfunction, or discord. 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:52.559 Provision that God created through the bounty of the land. 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:56.480 Purpose to tend the garden each day in pleasure. 00:08:57.360 --> 00:08:58.960 Rest on the seventh day. 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:03.519 Rest without work and demand creeping in. 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:08.799 Security of knowing and being known by a relational, loving God. 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:14.240 Can you even imagine how good, how good that would be. 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:20.000 Now we're ready to jump into Revelation 21, where John sees heaven as a beautiful city. 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:25.279 Now the city is the symbol of God's people prepared to live with God. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:28.960 And the text is loaded with images and symbolism. 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:33.120 But here we're going to jump in at Revelation 21, verse 22. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:40.559 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:49.440 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:55.200 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring bring their glory to it. 00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:59.919 And its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there. 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:12.159 There will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations, but nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:15.919 Point number two is this it's about the city. 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:26.000 The new heaven is an existence of eternal security with God's saturating presence. 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:28.320 There's a lot of religious language in that point. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:29.600 Let's see if we can make sense of it. 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:38.480 Well, John's expanding our view of heaven from being a Bill Gates mansion to being a city with physical beauty. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:53.039 And this city measures a perfect cube, which is interesting because John's taking us back to Solomon's temple in Jerusalem in the Old Testament, where there in 1 Kings 6.20, the most holy place, which was inside of the temple. 00:10:53.360 --> 00:11:07.840 So the most intense saturated place, the presence of God, the most intense saturation of the presence of God, was known to be inside the temple, inside this most holy place room, and that room was shaped as a perfect cube. 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:11.120 20 cubits by 20 cubits by 20 cubits. 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:15.279 So John is referencing this to get us to think about this. 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:27.840 As if to say the new heaven, our future home, after this world, is an existence like one giant most holy place. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:38.720 That you and I, like the city, that we will be like one giant most holy place. 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:45.279 We will exist in unfiltered, permeating, fully satisfaction in the presence of God. 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:51.200 Which means you will finally be at peace. 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:52.879 Right? 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:55.200 That's what we say when someone passes away, right? 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:57.039 We say, rest in peace. 00:11:57.519 --> 00:11:58.879 That's why we say it. 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:00.799 Because we finally get to do that. 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:03.360 We finally get to rest in peace. 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:09.279 From the exhaustion, from the disappointments, from the hurt, from the pain, from shame, guilt, from all of that. 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:18.879 And that all of existence, and all of the real you, the real you, the core of you, underneath the shell and the hardening and the pain. 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:23.759 Fully satisfied in absolute presence of God. 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:27.519 End of chapter 22, verse 1. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:36.000 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, brightest crystal flowing from the throne of God and of the lamb through the middle of the street of the city. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:42.399 Also on either side of the river the tree of life, with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:45.279 The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:52.720 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:58.320 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads, and night will be no more. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:07.120 They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:12.399 Point number three, coming out of all of this imagery, is about the tree. 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:20.480 The new heaven is an existence of perpetual nourishment and everlasting peace for your soul. 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:22.960 Nourishment that never ends. 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:25.279 That's what we get out of this passage. 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:35.519 That your soul, the core of who you are, so much of our toil here is trying to be nourished to get some life out of something that gives us a little bit of life and then lets us down. 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:40.000 But we'll have perpetual nourishment and everlasting peace. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:44.240 This tree also takes us back to the garden, doesn't it? 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:47.200 This imagery John's pulling for us. 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:55.519 Because what John is teaching us is that all that was lost will be restored. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:01.759 Now, one of the most famous gardeners in the world is Monty Don in England. 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:05.600 Anyone else, just a nerd, gardening nerd, and you know Monty Don? 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:06.720 Nerd like me. 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:10.080 Anyone want to confess you're a nerd like me and you know Monty Don? 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:11.120 None of you. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:13.039 I'm the only nerd in the room. 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:18.000 Okay, Monty Don, to fill you in, this is how nerdy I am, because I actually know this, and none of y'all do. 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:20.320 He's like the best gardener in the world. 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:25.600 He's very famous amongst a very niche group of nerds like me. 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:30.879 And he has TV shows and gardening shows, and this is his garden in Britain. 00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:34.159 He has about 30 acres, and it's called Long Meadow. 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:35.840 He has two dogs in the show. 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:38.240 You get to follow him around while he gardened his yard. 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:39.840 Beautiful garden. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:40.960 Beautiful garden. 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:41.919 None of y'all know about it. 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:43.039 Beautiful garden. 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:47.519 He's been gardening it for 30 years, this acreage. 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:51.600 He has a cottage garden and a jewel garden and a vegetable garden. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:55.120 He has a riding hut and a pond and a greenhouse. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:58.080 You get to follow him around this little garden, his house. 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:00.080 The garden's amazing. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:02.399 Paradise, we would say. 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:04.559 That's what we would call it. 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:05.360 Eden. 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:06.399 Same word. 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:08.799 I love that garden. 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:11.600 But there's larger gardens in the world. 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:14.480 Here's a picture of the largest botanical garden in the world. 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:19.120 This is in Key, England, largest in the entire world. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:24.720 Now in Pennsylvania, there is a garden called Longwood Garden, Pennsylvania. 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:29.039 This garden, it takes 1,400 employees to garden it. 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:30.960 1,400 employees. 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:37.360 But I would argue that the best garden is Yellowstone National Park. 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:39.039 Untouched. 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:41.679 Just God's garden for us. 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:44.720 I mean, can you imagine? 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:48.480 Can you imagine such beauty all around you? 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:54.960 Like rather than your messy backyard, your like your brown patch and your Zoija that you fret over. 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:59.120 Can you imagine such beauty? 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:05.600 Rather than your messy life or your weary life. 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:13.840 This is the picture of a heavenly home where we are finally enough because God is enough for us. 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:20.240 And that we exist in beauty and wholeness and in peace. 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:29.039 If all that heaven is, is golden streets, we're not going to be too enthusiastic about it. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:47.519 But when we understand heaven to be perpetual nourishment, full peace, relief from exhaustion and weariness and guilt and shame, all of a sudden it starts to open up for us to be something to really hope in. 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:50.639 So what does this mean for us? 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:55.039 I mean, what does it mean for us in Marietta today? 00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:03.840 Well, to tie it back to the sermon four weeks ago from Revelation 20, I think it means exactly what the three points of that sermon were. 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:05.759 We are all weary. 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:09.599 We all need hope. 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:16.880 And we all have hope through the joyful anticipation of our heavenly home to come. 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:20.480 And even that may feel abstract. 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:23.759 Especially if you're in pain. 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:34.799 But hope in heaven will anchor us and reorient us through disappointment and difficulty. 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:42.000 Because what it means is that disappointment and difficulty, that thing that happened yesterday, or maybe it happened in seventh grade. 00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:42.799 I don't know when it happened. 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:52.319 It'd be either one, that difficulty, that pain, probably do with rejection or love, one or the other, almost always it has to do with one of those two. 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:56.480 It's not your full story. 00:17:56.799 --> 00:17:59.599 And the pain of it won't be the end of the story. 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:02.400 That's what our hope in heaven gives us. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:12.480 It can anchor us and reorient and create a new perspective as we move through the pain, as we move through weariness, as we move through life. 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:14.720 Did you hear it in verses 1 and 2? 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:22.400 We will drink of the water of life and eat from a tree that never stops yielding fruit. 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:28.880 Then verse 4 says, They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads, right? 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:32.480 We've seen this several times throughout the book of Revelation. 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:34.960 Something on somebody's forehead. 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:40.640 It's an ancient way of saying who someone belongs to. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:41.839 That's all it means. 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:43.759 Doesn't have to mean more than that. 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:45.680 Who you belong to. 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:51.440 And this gives us our last point in our study through Revelation. 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:57.759 In Christ, we have forever belonging with God. 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:09.279 A few years ago, a friend of mine went with a friend of his, and he went fly fishing at this private club in upper state New York. 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:11.759 Real bougie club. 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:14.160 I mean, my friend came home, he's like, you won't believe this. 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:16.240 And so here's the deal with this club. 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:18.880 And if you're a member, by the way, I'm open to going with you. 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:21.359 I will receive this invitation. 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:35.359 I can gladly walk into a free bougie setting of fly fishing where there's this lodge and you spend the night and all the members wake up and walk down to breakfast, and breakfast is prepared for you. 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:39.839 And there at breakfast they give out the assignments of the morning. 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:42.799 Private water, well-kept water. 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:48.559 And each fisherman gets, or fisherwoman, gets a private section of water. 00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:50.160 Nobody else is going to be on this section. 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:55.920 If you're a fisherman, you know what I'm talking about because there's nothing worse than driving up and somebody's on your section of water. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:58.000 This is private, only for you. 00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:07.039 And you fish the morning and you come in for lunch, which is prepared for you, and you lie about all the fish you caught or the size of the fish, because that's what we do. 00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:09.519 And then you get the next assignment for the afternoon. 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:25.440 You get a different section of water just for you, and you go out and you fish that section of water, and then you come in for dinner, which is prepared for you, and you lie about the fish you caught in the afternoon, and then you go to sleep happy, and then you do it again the next day. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:26.720 I mean, I could do that forever. 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:29.920 That's heaven, that's my paradise, is what we just described. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:32.000 There's only one problem with it. 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:32.960 It's private. 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:35.279 I don't get to go, I can't go. 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:43.839 And something about that, knowing that I can't belong, maybe that doesn't do something to you. 00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:47.039 Maybe you're really spiritually mature. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:49.440 But that bothers me. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:59.279 Either I act like I don't care, or I daydream about it kind of secretly, about what it must be like to be able to belong there. 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:05.119 We tend to all have something like this that we daydream about. 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:12.000 Like what it might be to belong to that club or those people or to that person. 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:18.880 I know for me, there's still like a little sixth-grade boy inside. 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:21.039 I got glasses that year. 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:21.839 That was new to me. 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:23.279 I didn't know how to kick them real well. 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:24.160 You know what I'm saying? 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:25.920 Some of y'all got glasses, but you're used to it. 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:27.119 You know how to do it. 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:28.960 It was new for me. 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:35.119 I showed up to sixth grade, kind of a new school, glasses, wasn't sure how that was gonna work out. 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:37.440 And I'm wondering, am I gonna belong here? 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:38.720 Am I gonna meet friends? 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:40.079 Will they accept me? 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:43.359 Some of that's still in me, 43 years old. 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:48.240 We keep asking ourselves: where do I fit in this world? 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:51.119 Will someone or something validate me? 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:57.839 If people really know me, could I possibly belong? 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.160 Will this life ever be okay? 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:06.559 And then we run into the word Eden. 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:09.039 Pleasure. 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:21.359 Then we get this idea that we could have a forever home after this world, which can anchor us in this world, where all is restored. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:24.880 And all that is lost in Eden comes back. 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:34.880 Let's read the final section of scripture that ends the book of Revelation and it ends our Bible. 00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:36.960 Starting in verse 17. 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:45.359 The Spirit and the bride say, Come, and let the one who hears say, Come, and let the one who is thirsty come. 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:50.240 Let the one who desires to take the water of life without price. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:54.400 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. 00:22:54.559 --> 00:22:58.720 If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:08.000 And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:13.359 He who testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming soon. 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:14.640 Amen. 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:17.359 Come, Lord Jesus. 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:20.720 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:22.240 Amen. 00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:26.400 So throughout Revelation, the call is clear. 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:29.039 Come. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:31.599 Come to your Father now. 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:33.680 Come to Jesus now. 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:35.519 Surrender your life now. 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:42.559 You are created by him and for him, and through the cross, he is calling you back to himself. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:45.359 So all of your sin and my sin is forgiven. 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:46.319 All of it. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:47.440 Full forgiveness. 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:49.440 And all of his righteousness is given to you. 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:51.839 We're fully righteous through Christ. 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:55.519 So we have forever belonging in Him. 00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:57.839 Do you notice verse 20? 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:02.960 He who testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming soon. 00:24:04.480 --> 00:24:06.160 And then the response is, Amen. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:07.440 Come, Lord Jesus. 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:09.440 I've been singing that line. 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:13.680 I've been singing that sentence for a long time, like 20 years. 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:15.920 Come, Lord Jesus. 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:19.440 I never really connected with it. 00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:20.799 What was I singing? 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:22.559 I would find myself singing it. 00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:25.119 I thought God was omnipresent. 00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:26.160 I thought he was everywhere. 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:38.400 So am I saying like God come, like if you're omnipresent, like you're already here, but I'm saying, like I'm singing, come, like come, but come here, but you weren't here, and then come. 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:48.240 Or maybe like you're coming more, like you're here, like like 60% of you is here, but come and like let's get you up to like 85% or like 95% of you. 00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:54.079 Like I just didn't know, like what I'm not comfortable with any of that, actually, what I just described, uh like theologically. 00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:58.319 Um, maybe it's more like come, Lord Jesus, like reveal yourself. 00:24:58.480 --> 00:24:59.759 I'm open to that. 00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:08.559 Or come, Lord Jesus, like make me aware that you're already here, like you're already here, but I'm not aware of it because of my issues. 00:25:09.119 --> 00:25:10.319 And make me aware of it. 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:11.680 I'm open to that. 00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:24.720 In the context here, when we sing it, when we're singing it like this in Revelation 22, we're singing, come, Lord Jesus, or we're saying, Come, Lord Jesus, as a proclamation. 00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:34.720 Like, I am weary, and I am looking forward to the day when I experience full restoration. 00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:42.799 And I'm celebrating full redemption now, but I'm still looking forward to the day where I have full restoration. 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:45.359 We long for our final home. 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:48.000 It is okay to long for our final home. 00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:50.319 Part of our discontentment here is not our sin. 00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:54.160 Part of our discontentment here is our longing for our final home. 00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:58.160 Come, Lord Jesus, we have a home before us. 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:08.319 Where the letdowns stop, the disappointments stop, the pettiness stops, or my pettiness stops. 00:26:09.039 --> 00:26:14.160 And the pain is no more, and the tears are no more, and all the messes are made right. 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:16.480 And so we sing hallelujah. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:19.680 We sing it joyfully, we sing hallelujah. 00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:23.279 And we also joyfully sing, Come, Lord Jesus. 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:24.799 Let's pray together. 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:36.000 God, thank you for your grace and mercy, and that Jesus is enough for us yesterday, and He is enough for us this morning, and He'll be enough for us tomorrow morning when we wake up. 00:26:37.119 --> 00:26:43.200 Thank you for reminding us this morning that we come empty-handed, and that you love us empty-handed. 00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:47.200 You love us even when our hands are full of faults and messes. 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:55.759 And we are so grateful that we cannot cause you to love us more, and we can't cause you to love us less. 00:26:57.839 --> 00:26:59.920 And that Jesus is sufficient. 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:09.279 Would you help us this morning to connect to that truth in a greater way, to experience your freedom in a greater way? 00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:26.960 We we say hallelujah because our redemption is secure, our belonging is secure, and we cry out, come Lord Jesus, because part of our hearts is still longing for a home that we were created for in Eden, a paradise, where all the mess is over and the weariness is over. 00:27:28.480 --> 00:27:36.240 Help us in these days to trust you in greater ways, to cast our eyes upon Jesus, author and perfecter of our faith. 00:27:36.400 --> 00:27:37.680 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:38.640 Amen.