WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:05.200 So we are about halfway through our study of the book of Revelation. 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:10.320 So let me catch you guys up to speed of where we're at and what we've been saying. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:15.359 What we've been saying is that this is John's letter at the end of the book, end of the Bible. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:16.960 It's a letter to seven churches. 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:23.120 It is poetic, it is beautiful, the imagery is large and majestic. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:28.239 Revelation 4, John begins to have a vision that he is writing down. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:34.799 Now, like so many things in the Christian faith, there are a lot of opinions on the book of Revelation. 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:36.960 There are different views on this. 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:42.799 So if you remember, we had a couple really big terms that we can impress our friends with. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:49.759 And the first term is this dispensational premillennial view, of which, just use that this week. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:55.039 Your status intellectually with your friends will go up a little bit and make you feel better than them, which is always good. 00:00:55.359 --> 00:01:00.000 This is what I would say is the kind of left-behind book series view, right? 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:01.759 Like this is a very common view. 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:03.280 Maybe you hold this view. 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:04.239 We welcome you. 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:07.200 Hey, we we're glad you're here if this is your view. 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:19.120 This is uh that view where it says, hey, there's gonna be a rapture, Christians are taken up to heaven, then there's gonna be some tribulation, and then Christ will reign for a thousand years, and then there's an eternal heaven. 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:24.000 Like I said, maybe your view, maybe you've heard that, maybe you don't care, right? 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:24.879 Maybe. 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:26.719 Probably you probably don't care. 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:31.760 Now, there's another view, and this is the view that we will be teaching and looking at. 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:36.079 And this is called the covenantal, amillennial view. 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:41.920 And this means that we see a lot of the book of Revelation as figurative. 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:56.799 We see the book of Revelation in terms of end times being these times that we are in the end times right now, that the book of Revelation is a symbolic writing about the time between Christ's first coming and second coming, and so we are in the tribulation right now. 00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:05.280 We are in end times of suffering and illness and war and difficulty and relational divisions and heartache and sadness. 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:07.760 Maybe one of those connects with you. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:14.159 Now, before you try to leave, because some of you want to, why, why, why? 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:15.680 Like, why? 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:17.439 Why even go into this book, right? 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:19.280 Like the strange book at the end of the Bible. 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:20.319 Why even go into it? 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:21.599 Why does revelation matter? 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:22.400 And we said this. 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:23.520 Two weeks ago, we said this. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:24.319 We said three things. 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:29.840 Number one, the crazy book at the end of our Bible is not as crazy as people think. 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:31.360 That's just reassuring. 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:34.319 Just to know, like that crazy book, we're not crazy. 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:39.759 You're not crazy to believe in the Bible, I'm not crazy, we're not crazy, and it's not as crazy as we think. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:49.120 Number two, revelation actually draws our hearts toward the astonishing greatness and the lavish redeeming love of God. 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:50.639 That's what we see in the book. 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:55.599 Number three, revelation helps us see God will restore. 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:57.759 He is on a mission. 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:07.520 In this mission of creation, fall, redemption, restoration, God will restore the hurt and sadness of the world and of your heart. 00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:11.439 So let's read some of the passages. 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:14.400 I'm gonna reread what was read, and then we're gonna go into Revelation 7. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:18.879 We're gonna be looking at the sixth seal we covered two weeks ago, seal 1 through 5. 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:26.639 If you remember, a seal is like a way to say, John is using this as imagery to say a description of what life is like. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:29.599 So, 6 12 through 17. 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:42.879 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:48.080 The sky vanished like a scroll that's being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 00:03:48.240 --> 00:04:06.800 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones, and the generals, and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:11.599 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand? 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:14.159 And nobody wants to say amen, right? 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:17.680 Like none of you are like, Amen, you know, praise God, you know, bless you. 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:18.319 That's so great. 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:19.920 No, we're all going like, uh, what? 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:21.360 Like wrath of the Lamb? 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:25.519 Like I like more like Matthew, like Jesus saying, I'm gentle and lowly. 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:28.399 Like, that's my Jesus, this is not my Jesus, this whole wrath thing. 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:29.600 Well, what's this about? 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:37.120 So the sixth seal is this it's symbolizing the unveiling of God and the terror of judgment. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:41.920 All judgment's a terror, especially judgment before God. 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:45.279 Even judgment before your mom or dad is terror, or you're like your best friend. 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:49.439 I mean, judgment is terror, and then judgment before God is terror. 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:52.319 So we're gonna have to have a rescue. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:59.120 And John's using vision and poetic language here in this passage to say, hey, we have natural disasters. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:05.120 We have political divisions, we have conflict between nations. 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:10.800 And then that bothersome passage phrase, the wrath of the Lamb. 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:13.040 I mean, that rubs me wrong. 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:13.839 I'll just be honest. 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:19.040 I mean, I think it's good to be able to kind of rub up against something in the Bible and be able to, it rubs you a little bit. 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:21.040 I'm gonna have to deal with this. 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:32.720 But see, I know Christ, and hopefully you know Christ is gentle and near because you're in God's grace. 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:44.399 Now, that doesn't mean that God's justice will not one day deal with the evil of abuses and genocides and starvations and wars and enslavements. 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:46.399 So here's the point. 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:47.120 Point number one. 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:54.800 In light of God's wrath toward injustice, we find safety in Christ's love. 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:58.560 We find safety in God's grace to us. 00:05:58.800 --> 00:05:59.600 That's the good news. 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:01.920 In Christ's work for us, not our work for him. 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:04.639 We never have any fear of judgment. 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:06.639 That's why we just sang in Christ alone. 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:12.560 We want to make sure to tee this up for you, like ground us before we read this, because it's in Christ alone. 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:16.720 We need to go back to Narnia. 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:17.839 Look at Aslan. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:19.120 It helps us, right? 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:20.480 That imagery that C.S. 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:26.879 Lewis built out for us in Aslan helps us because Aslan was so fierce in the book and in the movie. 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:28.240 Love this image. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:30.879 The little girl in front of a fierce line. 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:34.560 He was fierce to his enemies, right? 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:41.120 To any injustice, to enemies that would harm peace and joy. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:42.959 He was fierce. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:48.160 And yet you had these children that were always so comfortable around him. 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:49.920 Well, why? 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:54.480 Because they came before him in need. 00:06:56.480 --> 00:07:00.079 They knew him as caring and fiercely for them. 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:05.519 I love this well-known quote by Frederick Bruner. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:11.120 The wrath of God is not the irritability of God. 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:15.600 It is the love of God in friction with injustice. 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:26.079 It is the warm, steady, patient, but absolutely fair grace of God in collision with manifest selfishness. 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:31.759 God's wrath does not contradict God's love, it proves it. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:36.879 A love that pampers injustice is not lovable. 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:40.959 Now, Revelation 7. 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:45.040 John sees four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:46.639 He's holding back the winds. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:53.839 Verse 4, and I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. 00:07:53.920 --> 00:08:00.000 So this 144,000 is made up of 12,000 from every tribe of Israel. 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:20.240 These numbers, plus verse 9, verse 9, after this I looked and behold, a great multitude that no one could number from every tribe, every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne, before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:25.360 So this number symbolizes the totality of the redeemed. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:30.319 And then some scholars break these numbers into two ways to think about this. 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:35.519 They say, verses four through eight, we can think about it as the church mobilized in the world. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:36.639 What does that mean? 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:45.200 Which means we are receivers of God's love as to be givers of God's love, mobilized in the world. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:56.080 And then verse 9, the church triumphant before God, which means, good news, the church will never shut down or shut up or fail. 00:08:56.639 --> 00:09:01.600 It doesn't matter who the political leader is, what political system you're in, it just won't. 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:02.879 It can't. 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:05.360 The church will never fail. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:11.759 Now let's jump to the end of the chapter, verse 17, and then we're going to circle back to the middle of the chapter. 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:14.480 So Revelation 7, 17, this is where we're headed. 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:17.679 I want to ground this first because this is your story. 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:20.000 Your story of restoration. 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:24.240 It's where God is taking you and all of your herd. 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:29.600 For the lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd. 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:34.000 There's our rescue from that terror of judgment. 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:38.240 And he will guide them to springs of living water. 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:44.080 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:48.720 So this imagery of wholeness and restoration. 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:50.720 Remember that word restore? 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:52.960 To be set right. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:10:07.679 For three days this week, I and four other dads from our church, we went and we bravely chaperoned the fifth grade Westside Elementary retreat. 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:08.559 Here's a picture. 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:09.679 That's my group. 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:12.240 I'm in the back just waiting for one of those boys to do something. 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:13.919 Kid in the white hat's about to do it. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:15.120 Sorry if that's your son. 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:16.799 He was in my group. 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:18.799 You already know that story. 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:20.159 I'm just waiting. 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:20.799 That's all I'm doing. 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:22.159 That's all I did the whole time. 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:22.879 Just waited. 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:24.080 Put down that stick. 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:25.200 Don't push her. 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:26.080 Don't do that. 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:27.200 Stop spitting. 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:28.399 Just constant. 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:29.039 Constant. 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:30.480 That's all we did. 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:34.000 And here's what I can report back on fifth graders. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:36.320 Fart jokes? 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:39.600 Still awesome. 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:50.559 And your social status in fifth grade, 98% of it, is tied to your performance on the four-square court. 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:54.879 You win and lose in life on the four-square court. 00:10:56.480 --> 00:10:58.240 And Jenny may like Johnny. 00:10:58.320 --> 00:10:59.120 We're not sure. 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:02.480 But we saw her talking to him over at the four-square court. 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:03.679 We're not sure. 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:04.879 I mean, maybe. 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:10.080 But we're not sure if Johnny's even aware of it because he also doesn't know where his underwear is. 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:11.919 So we don't know. 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:13.279 We don't know. 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:14.080 But it's a big deal. 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:15.279 It's a big deal. 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:22.639 So after Reed Wagall and I sternly welcomed our boys into our cabin because we decided to go in with a fear-based approach. 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:30.480 It's kind of like basically we took our entire philosophy of our church and just reversed it into our cabin governance. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:32.320 Fear-based. 00:11:32.559 --> 00:11:35.679 Walked in, just really, you know, put the law on them. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:36.720 It worked. 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:39.919 A lot of, you know, they wanted to perform up to us. 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:42.960 17 minutes after being there. 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:45.120 This is one boy's bag. 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:46.480 17 minutes. 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:49.600 That's 17 minutes. 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:50.639 That's not a day. 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:52.320 We're there three days. 00:11:52.720 --> 00:12:00.639 Okay, so just take 17 and multiply that out over three days, and that's what the kind of war zone that was developing. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:05.440 The last morning. 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:09.279 The last morning, we're gonna wake up, we're gonna wake them up 20. 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:11.519 Our whole goal is just not to have them in the cabin. 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:16.480 Like wake them up 20 minutes before kick them out, take them back to the cabin 20 minutes before bedtime. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:22.320 So 20 minutes before we're like, hey, wake up, you got 20 minutes, let's go, let's go, let's go, get the four-square court, you know, you know, keep your social status. 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:46.080 You know, and they throw all their stuff in their bag, so the war zone's getting kind of cleaned up, and then just in 20 minutes, like everything is out the door, and Reed and I start to sweep up a little bit, and we sweep up, and and you know, I've been the whole time because Reed and Meyer is, you know, it's nice and manicured, you know, like tight, and then it's war all around, you know, and then finally, you know, look back and it was oh, right? 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:52.720 It was neat, and it was orderly, and it was clean, the war was over. 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:53.440 Right? 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:55.200 It was, it was it was restoration. 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:58.960 The cabin had been restored, the cabin had been set right. 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:08.480 And you want restoration for your own war zone, for your own tribulation, your own end times. 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:32.960 Because your life or heart feels like a mess because there's that part of you that's still plagued by that one kind of line of thinking, that tape that plays over and over again, that one issue, or maybe you feel like you're never enough, or you never have enough, or that person cheated you or took from you or hurt you or abused you or lied to you, or the doors keep closing over and over and over again. 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:36.480 Finances are hard, relationships are messy. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:38.159 It can feel like a war. 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:41.519 And you just want it right. 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:43.919 You just want it whole. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:47.679 We all long for restoration because we live in the already but not yet. 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:50.799 We're in redemption, but we're not in restoration. 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:54.399 We all want Revelation 7, 17. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:56.480 We can't wait for it. 00:13:57.200 --> 00:14:00.639 Our hearts have been hoping for it our entire lives. 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:02.720 We just don't realize it all the time. 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:04.960 Now let's pick back up in verse 10. 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:07.519 There's a great multitude before the throne and the lamb. 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:12.320 We are clothed in white because we are fully righteous in Christ. 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:16.080 Waving palm branches because that symbolizes victory. 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:28.159 Verse 10, so 7, verse 10, and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, and all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:29.759 Remember, we reviewed all that earlier. 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:34.000 And they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, Amen. 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:40.960 Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:42.080 Amen. 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:50.320 Maybe for you, this vision of heaven, you are in it because you can't get enough passion music and Maverick City music and Sandra McCracken music. 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:51.840 Like you are all in. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:57.679 Others of your like, hey, like when Redeemer goes from 59 minutes to 63 minutes, I get antsy. 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:01.919 Like four-minute overage of worship is too much for me to handle. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:03.519 And I just say, I understand. 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:05.519 Like, I need some Dave Matthews mixed in, right? 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:07.600 Neil Kenny Chesney mixed in. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:09.519 That's what we some of us need that. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:11.200 But we are forgetting. 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:16.000 We are forgetting this, that we don't know everything about heaven or how we'll feel when we get there. 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:21.440 Like what that might feel like to be riddled of all sin and selfishness and shame and guilt. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:23.679 What kind of freedom we might have there. 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:26.080 That everything would change. 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:29.600 Let's read the rest of chapter 7. 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:35.120 It's a bit of reading, but as I read it, imagine this for your own heart. 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:37.840 Your own exhaustion. 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:42.559 Your own guilt or shame or whatever you're carrying around. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:45.519 Verse 13. 00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:49.919 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, Who are these? 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:52.000 Clothed in white robes. 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:54.000 And from where have they come? 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:55.519 Right? 00:15:55.679 --> 00:15:57.600 So who are you? 00:15:57.919 --> 00:15:58.559 Who are you? 00:15:58.799 --> 00:15:59.679 Who are these? 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:02.240 I said to him, Sir, you know them. 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:03.200 You know. 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:07.519 And he said to me, These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:11.279 They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:15.840 Therefore they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple. 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:20.720 And he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:26.960 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:35.039 The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat, for the lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:43.759 And he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:47.200 Point number two, just two points. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:56.960 Our thirst for more and our hurt will be restored by God's endless care and love. 00:16:57.440 --> 00:16:59.600 I know he's not working on your timeline. 00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:01.679 He's not on my timeline. 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:03.919 But this is our story. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:05.920 We are waiting. 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:09.039 We are in hope, which means we are weary and waiting. 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:11.519 We are in hope of heaven. 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:18.160 And I don't know what sort of church you've been in or faith background you've been in, fear-based or shame-motivating. 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:26.160 But I know you and I, what we need to hear, is that he has endless care and endless love for us. 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:29.440 That we are clothed in white. 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:35.200 We are waving victory because of his work for us on the cross, not our work for him. 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:38.160 I mean, just listen to your story. 00:17:38.319 --> 00:17:39.200 This is your story. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:40.160 Listen to this. 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:42.000 Finish your great tribulation. 00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:43.839 Will that day be so good? 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:55.599 Deemed pure in Christ, joyfully served without hesitancy, sheltered in presence, hunger no more, thirst no more, stricken no more, weary no more. 00:17:55.839 --> 00:18:02.240 For Christ will guide you to wholeness and contentment. 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:05.920 And God will restore your sadness. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:14.319 Two weeks ago at the Mockingbird Conference in New York, a priest showed this music video by Florence Welch. 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:16.559 So she's in the band Florence in the Machine. 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:18.799 The song is entitled Free. 00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:20.960 It's four minutes long. 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:23.279 We're gonna watch the whole thing so you can kind of settle in. 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:25.279 You don't have to wait for me to cut it off. 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:30.559 If you're at home watching, I don't know what you're about to get during these four minutes. 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:36.000 Maybe you see the video, maybe you have audio, maybe you go grab a snack. 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:38.000 I really don't know, so just hang with us. 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:39.359 It'll be about four minutes. 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:42.160 Hang with us as we watch this. 00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:46.400 So let's just ponder for a moment. 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:48.240 Here's what she's saying. 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:50.240 Maybe you couldn't pick up all the words. 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:52.079 I'm always running from something. 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:54.480 I push it back, but it keeps on coming. 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:57.359 And being clever never got me very far. 00:18:57.680 --> 00:19:02.000 As it picks me up, puts me down, it picks me up, puts me down. 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:04.319 Then she sings the bridge. 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:05.920 Is this how it is? 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:13.279 Is this how it's always been to exist in the face of suffering and death and somehow still keep seeing? 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:18.400 Oh, like Christ up on a cross who died for us, who died for what? 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:20.640 Oh, don't you want to call it off? 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:28.400 But there is nothing else that I know how to do but to open up my arms and give it all to you. 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:31.519 And then at the end she stands, right? 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:39.599 She's standing there, covered in red, and she holds her body shaped like a cross. 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:42.240 And then she's finally at peace with her suffering. 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:44.880 It's a story of restoration. 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:46.880 There at the conference. 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:52.079 It was dead quiet right after her show of the video, just like it is right now. 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:55.119 And the priest asked the crowd. 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:58.319 He said, How does that video make you feel? 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:00.880 No, I said it. 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:08.799 And finally, one man very faintly, he said, undone. 00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:11.759 I feel undone. 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:26.079 My brothers and sisters, over and over again, God is calling us in the sufficiency of Christ, covered in the blood, and the hope of heaven. 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:34.720 We are being called to surrender our hearts and to surrender our cares into his care, into his sufficiency, and into his love. 00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:41.599 Florence Sangat, there is nothing else that I know how to do but to open my arms and give it all to you. 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:43.200 Let's pray together. 00:20:44.799 --> 00:21:01.920 God, thank you for your grace and mercy to us that we can fully acknowledge the already that we live in right now, that we are yours and we are loved and we are redeemed and we are righteous, and yet we have anxiety and fear and loss and sin and shame and guilt. 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:06.799 Our hearts hope for so much more. 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:16.880 We want to know you in a deeper way, have our identity grounded in you, have a greater wealth of identity in you to know victory for the spirit to be at work in us. 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:17.920 We want all of that. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:33.440 And at the same time, our hearts are constantly longing for the hope of heaven, Revelation 7:17, that there will be a day when you wipe away all the sadness, that we are redeemed and we are on a journey to be restored. 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:46.000 May us rest, help us to rest more in this story of redemption and restoration that is true and right, good and steady and stable in Christ alone. 00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:47.759 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:48.559 Amen.