WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.640 It is great joy to be here. 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:06.640 I shared with many of our young leaders yesterday 00:00:06.640 --> 00:00:09.480 and emerging leaders that, you know, 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:12.640 I counted a privilege in the season of life 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:15.620 looking at my 70th birthday being my next one. 00:00:15.620 --> 00:00:17.019 You would love my wife, Darlene. 00:00:17.019 --> 00:00:17.960 She was to be here. 00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:20.800 We're staring at our 48th anniversary in the face. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:25.500 And in the season to remember the fact 00:00:25.500 --> 00:00:29.600 that we have had my wife and I, a spiritual mother and father 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:34.399 that have lived out finishing well with more joy 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:37.840 and more willingness to press into God's story, 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:41.439 even in contexts where it's very difficult to minister. 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:44.020 And I'm so thankful that I have seen, 00:00:44.020 --> 00:00:46.420 have been loved well, continued to be loved well 00:00:46.420 --> 00:00:48.659 by those that have gone before me. 00:00:48.659 --> 00:00:52.460 But mere human encouragement is not enough. 00:00:52.460 --> 00:00:53.960 And it's why we turn our attention 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:57.460 to the last vision in the entire Bible today, 00:00:57.460 --> 00:01:02.219 a portion of it, Revelation chapter 21, verses one through six. 00:01:02.219 --> 00:01:05.299 I wanna set the context and then I'm gonna tell you 00:01:05.299 --> 00:01:07.700 what I'm gonna tell you and we're gonna walk through 00:01:07.700 --> 00:01:09.939 three affirmations from this text. 00:01:09.939 --> 00:01:13.200 I have about 28 minutes to give you as much encouragement 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:15.879 as we can squeeze out of this text. 00:01:15.879 --> 00:01:19.099 I told Derek, I honor children's workers, 00:01:19.099 --> 00:01:20.939 I love those who serve our children 00:01:20.939 --> 00:01:22.540 and we will be out on time. 00:01:22.540 --> 00:01:26.500 I wish we had three hours to marinate in this text. 00:01:26.500 --> 00:01:29.140 We have sufficient time by God's ordering. 00:01:29.140 --> 00:01:31.439 And it is a great, great passage. 00:01:32.500 --> 00:01:36.340 It's a passage that reminds us that the only command 00:01:36.340 --> 00:01:41.019 in the entire New Testament that we are called to do 00:01:41.019 --> 00:01:45.219 more and more and more is to encourage one another. 00:01:45.219 --> 00:01:46.420 You ever thought through that before? 00:01:46.420 --> 00:01:50.460 The only command in the second half 00:01:50.460 --> 00:01:53.819 of God's remarkable unfolding story is this, 00:01:53.819 --> 00:01:58.819 encourage one another and all the more 00:01:59.339 --> 00:02:03.019 as you see the great day of Christ approaching. 00:02:04.059 --> 00:02:06.139 In the book of Romans, God himself, 00:02:06.139 --> 00:02:08.459 among many different titles, reveals himself 00:02:08.459 --> 00:02:11.419 as the God of encouragement and hope. 00:02:11.419 --> 00:02:15.699 And hope in Scripture is never just a feeling or a fancy. 00:02:15.699 --> 00:02:18.180 It's not the crossing of our fingers. 00:02:18.180 --> 00:02:23.180 It's not straining hard, hoping something's good's gonna happen 00:02:23.180 --> 00:02:28.180 and the Bible hope is always seeing, smelling 00:02:29.540 --> 00:02:34.260 and tasting and remembering God's future into the present. 00:02:34.260 --> 00:02:36.260 It's a sure hope. 00:02:36.260 --> 00:02:38.140 It is a living hope. 00:02:38.140 --> 00:02:42.340 And it's one that gives us deep and rich encouragement. 00:02:42.340 --> 00:02:45.140 And again, encouragement in the Bible 00:02:45.140 --> 00:02:47.879 is far less just an emotional feeling 00:02:47.879 --> 00:02:50.540 because our feelings can be very fleeting, 00:02:50.540 --> 00:02:52.860 but it's a core reality. 00:02:52.860 --> 00:02:56.940 It's a core reality that has more in common with peace, 00:02:56.940 --> 00:03:00.900 not the absence of tears, but the transformation of tears. 00:03:00.900 --> 00:03:05.140 And John the Apostle, when he received all the visions 00:03:05.140 --> 00:03:07.220 that comprise the book of Revelation, 00:03:07.220 --> 00:03:11.420 he was in an incredibly difficult context. 00:03:11.420 --> 00:03:14.980 And indeed, it's hard in the States in many ways. 00:03:14.980 --> 00:03:17.860 It's hard in Scotland, but I would not trade 00:03:17.860 --> 00:03:20.560 our situations for John the Apostles, right? 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:21.560 Derek, you think about it. 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:26.560 Here is a John the Apostle as he writes this final aspect 00:03:26.780 --> 00:03:27.860 of God's story. 00:03:27.860 --> 00:03:30.259 He's in his early 80s. 00:03:30.259 --> 00:03:32.060 He's an octogenarian. 00:03:32.060 --> 00:03:35.780 He is on the Isle of Patmos, same man that wrote 00:03:35.780 --> 00:03:38.379 the Gospel of John and the Three Epistles of John. 00:03:38.379 --> 00:03:42.860 He is now in a world that seems to be saying, 00:03:42.860 --> 00:03:44.259 evil's going to win. 00:03:44.259 --> 00:03:49.140 The Roman world is just pressing in on the young church. 00:03:49.139 --> 00:03:51.979 And he, John, has separated some 70 miles 00:03:51.979 --> 00:03:56.179 across the Aegean Sea from the churches of Asia Minor. 00:03:56.179 --> 00:03:57.579 He's a pastor. 00:03:57.579 --> 00:03:59.739 He's a lover of God. 00:03:59.739 --> 00:04:03.139 And what he needs is exactly what we need, 00:04:03.139 --> 00:04:06.339 not hype, but hope. 00:04:06.339 --> 00:04:10.439 And so Revelation is a book that's not meant to confuse us, 00:04:10.439 --> 00:04:11.979 but to deeply encourage us. 00:04:11.979 --> 00:04:15.379 The very title of the book means an unveiling, 00:04:15.379 --> 00:04:17.339 not a concealing. 00:04:17.339 --> 00:04:20.659 Revelation is throwing the curtains open 00:04:20.659 --> 00:04:24.819 on the entire story of God reminding us 00:04:24.819 --> 00:04:28.099 there is only one hero in the entire Bible. 00:04:28.099 --> 00:04:30.779 Many characters, but only one hero. 00:04:30.779 --> 00:04:32.939 The Lord Jesus Christ. 00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:37.579 That's why it is a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:04:37.579 --> 00:04:41.179 It is a revelation by Jesus about Jesus. 00:04:41.179 --> 00:04:46.179 And John needed that as an 80 year old man. 00:04:46.180 --> 00:04:48.900 And I need that in my life. 00:04:48.900 --> 00:04:53.220 And I sense I'm speaking to people that as well need 00:04:53.220 --> 00:04:58.060 not empty promises, but are resurrected in reigning savior. 00:04:58.060 --> 00:05:00.379 And so you go through the entire book of Revelation 00:05:00.379 --> 00:05:02.860 and there are cycles of visions. 00:05:02.860 --> 00:05:06.180 And one of the things we see throughout this book is 00:05:06.180 --> 00:05:09.740 John himself, as he receives visions 00:05:09.740 --> 00:05:12.139 of what's really going on in the world, 00:05:12.139 --> 00:05:15.980 the real story and subtext of all of history, 00:05:15.980 --> 00:05:20.060 not just in his day when Rome is big and powerful, 00:05:20.060 --> 00:05:23.259 but in every generation of the people of God. 00:05:23.259 --> 00:05:27.300 Three times John has magnificent sightings 00:05:27.300 --> 00:05:30.040 of what God has promised and he falls down. 00:05:30.040 --> 00:05:34.900 He falls down in adoration and joy and wonder. 00:05:34.900 --> 00:05:39.580 Four times the 24 elders who are also characters 00:05:39.580 --> 00:05:41.819 in the book of Revelation, really representative, 00:05:41.819 --> 00:05:44.939 I believe representative of leaders of both covenants, 00:05:44.939 --> 00:05:47.420 old and new covenants, the 12 tribes of Israel, 00:05:47.420 --> 00:05:50.899 the 12 apostles of the Lamb, they are represented 00:05:50.899 --> 00:05:54.860 before the throne of God, seeing things as they actually are. 00:05:54.860 --> 00:05:58.699 They too, four times seeing more of Jesus 00:05:58.699 --> 00:06:01.540 as he's revealed in the text, seeing more 00:06:01.540 --> 00:06:03.540 what's really going on in history. 00:06:03.540 --> 00:06:06.699 They, the elders fall down in worship. 00:06:06.699 --> 00:06:11.040 This is a book of incredible gospel sanity. 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:14.220 It's a picture of the living hope that we need. 00:06:14.220 --> 00:06:18.300 So enough of introduction, let's get right to the text. 00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:20.340 Let me tell you the three things I want us to see 00:06:20.340 --> 00:06:24.420 briefly this morning in Revelation 21, one through six. 00:06:24.420 --> 00:06:27.760 We're gonna see the world we intensely crave. 00:06:28.740 --> 00:06:30.540 The world we intensely crave. 00:06:30.540 --> 00:06:35.020 We're gonna see the love we desperately need. 00:06:35.020 --> 00:06:38.740 And thirdly, we're gonna be invited by God's spirit 00:06:38.740 --> 00:06:42.660 to see the day for which we greatly ache. 00:06:42.660 --> 00:06:43.660 Let me pray briefly. 00:06:43.660 --> 00:06:47.780 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thank you for St. Colombo. 00:06:47.780 --> 00:06:51.900 Thank you that one day the entire of Scotland, 00:06:51.900 --> 00:06:55.220 along with the entire earth, will be filled 00:06:55.220 --> 00:06:58.380 with the knowledge of the glory of our God. 00:06:58.380 --> 00:07:01.460 Father, not because we're gonna get the job done, 00:07:01.460 --> 00:07:04.379 but because you are a faithful God. 00:07:04.379 --> 00:07:07.460 Every promise you have made, you have made, 00:07:07.460 --> 00:07:10.620 finds its yes in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:07:10.620 --> 00:07:14.420 Lord, would you help us connect with what that means? 00:07:14.420 --> 00:07:19.420 Some of us are here today, and faith is more, 00:07:19.860 --> 00:07:23.379 Lord, pressed upon than perhaps any season in our life. 00:07:23.379 --> 00:07:27.459 Fears are numerous, concerns, Lord, we have people we love 00:07:27.459 --> 00:07:31.019 that are not alive to your grace. 00:07:31.019 --> 00:07:34.500 We live in a world, Lord, where there's so much meanness, 00:07:34.500 --> 00:07:37.019 there's so much division, Lord, my own country 00:07:37.019 --> 00:07:40.859 has never been more divided, never more showing 00:07:40.859 --> 00:07:44.500 what can indeed happen to the human heart 00:07:44.500 --> 00:07:46.979 when we don't seek first the kingdom of God 00:07:46.979 --> 00:07:49.299 and the righteousness that is of faith. 00:07:49.299 --> 00:07:52.419 Lord, be with us now, we pray, as you were with John, 00:07:52.419 --> 00:07:54.060 in every generation of believers, 00:07:54.060 --> 00:07:55.740 through this great and grand text, 00:07:55.740 --> 00:07:58.219 we pray in Christ's name and for his glory. 00:07:58.219 --> 00:07:59.060 Amen. 00:07:59.939 --> 00:08:02.180 I mentioned that this is the last vision 00:08:02.180 --> 00:08:04.539 in the entire Bible, not just the book of Revelation, 00:08:04.540 --> 00:08:07.420 because you see the book of Revelation, 00:08:07.420 --> 00:08:10.819 more than any other, assumes what's gone on before 00:08:10.819 --> 00:08:12.460 in the Word of God. 00:08:12.460 --> 00:08:16.980 This book took 1,500 years to write, 40 different authors, 00:08:16.980 --> 00:08:19.540 and it's one big unfolding story, 00:08:19.540 --> 00:08:22.340 and so John, as he writes the Revelation, 00:08:22.340 --> 00:08:27.340 directly or indirectly, references over 250 quotations 00:08:29.220 --> 00:08:34.100 and promises in the entire Word of God leading up to his day. 00:08:34.100 --> 00:08:37.379 And Jesus, the resurrected Jesus by the Spirit, 00:08:37.379 --> 00:08:38.820 brings these things together, 00:08:38.820 --> 00:08:40.500 and so let's just walk through this text. 00:08:40.500 --> 00:08:42.740 Again, I've given you the three things 00:08:42.740 --> 00:08:44.180 we wanna consider briefly, 00:08:44.180 --> 00:08:46.980 and may the Lord be praised and are missed. 00:08:46.980 --> 00:08:50.659 First, one of three, the world we intensely crave. 00:08:50.659 --> 00:08:53.259 Now, the three words I use today, 00:08:53.259 --> 00:08:56.300 crave, need, and ache for, 00:08:56.300 --> 00:08:58.860 invite us to connect with our longings. 00:09:00.060 --> 00:09:03.300 We are a deeply longing people. 00:09:03.299 --> 00:09:06.139 You see, even a part of what frustrates you in life, 00:09:06.139 --> 00:09:08.059 even a part of what breaks your heart, 00:09:08.059 --> 00:09:10.539 a part of what generates your tears, 00:09:10.539 --> 00:09:12.899 a part of what fuels your anger, 00:09:12.899 --> 00:09:16.419 is not simply brokenness, it's goodness. 00:09:16.419 --> 00:09:19.659 We are made in the image of God for a world 00:09:19.659 --> 00:09:21.059 where everything is right. 00:09:22.339 --> 00:09:24.459 And that's why when we think about longing, 00:09:24.459 --> 00:09:27.740 we start with this vision of what John sees 00:09:27.740 --> 00:09:30.539 barreling towards him in his own imprisonment. 00:09:30.539 --> 00:09:31.979 Listen to the word again. 00:09:31.980 --> 00:09:34.940 John writes, verse one, chapter 21. 00:09:34.940 --> 00:09:39.340 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth 00:09:39.340 --> 00:09:42.460 for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away 00:09:42.460 --> 00:09:45.060 and there was no longer any sea. 00:09:45.060 --> 00:09:48.019 Now, how does that one verse summarize for us 00:09:48.019 --> 00:09:51.659 the world we intensely crave? 00:09:51.659 --> 00:09:53.700 That one verse brings together 00:09:53.700 --> 00:09:56.460 so much of the word of God. 00:09:56.460 --> 00:09:59.379 What does John the apostle affirm in that first verse? 00:09:59.379 --> 00:10:01.899 There was a first creation world. 00:10:01.899 --> 00:10:06.500 There was a world that's described for us in Genesis one 00:10:06.500 --> 00:10:08.899 and two that actually existed. 00:10:08.899 --> 00:10:12.259 He's affirming the fact that as followers of Jesus, 00:10:12.259 --> 00:10:15.299 and some of you may just beginning to explore this story 00:10:15.299 --> 00:10:18.579 called the gospel of Jesus Christ or biblical faith. 00:10:18.579 --> 00:10:21.419 You need to hear us say it is a story 00:10:21.419 --> 00:10:25.379 by God's own revelation that is connected to real stuff. 00:10:25.379 --> 00:10:30.179 Our God is a God who creates, who needs nothing. 00:10:30.179 --> 00:10:33.219 Story, the Bible is God as Trinity Father, Son, 00:10:33.219 --> 00:10:37.339 and Holy Spirit is famously, gloriously, 00:10:37.339 --> 00:10:39.819 fabulously content with Him Himself. 00:10:39.819 --> 00:10:43.019 But in grand generosity created a world 00:10:43.019 --> 00:10:46.500 as a revelation of His goodness, His truth, and His beauty 00:10:46.500 --> 00:10:50.979 into which He placed His first son and daughter, 00:10:50.979 --> 00:10:55.059 His beloved children to live in a world 00:10:55.059 --> 00:10:58.059 that we really remember in our bones. 00:10:58.059 --> 00:11:01.939 See this phenomenon called DNA, it's not just a matter 00:11:01.939 --> 00:11:03.619 of molecules and test tubes. 00:11:03.619 --> 00:11:08.619 We are coded, we are made for what is called the Garden of Eden. 00:11:12.259 --> 00:11:13.579 And you see that's a part of what they mean 00:11:13.579 --> 00:11:15.659 by the longings that we have. 00:11:15.659 --> 00:11:18.139 A part of what frustrates you is the fact that you know, 00:11:18.139 --> 00:11:20.459 is anything the way it was really meant to be? 00:11:20.459 --> 00:11:25.059 What John understands, we all wanted that, we all lament, 00:11:25.059 --> 00:11:30.059 we are disjointed and disconnected from the world 00:11:30.899 --> 00:11:32.059 that we really, really want. 00:11:32.059 --> 00:11:35.899 Well what he sees in this verse is God did not abandon 00:11:35.899 --> 00:11:38.419 His first creation world. 00:11:38.419 --> 00:11:40.939 And neither did He write it off. 00:11:40.939 --> 00:11:44.779 You see when John writes, I saw new heaven and a new earth 00:11:44.779 --> 00:11:46.379 for the first one had passed away. 00:11:46.379 --> 00:11:49.779 He's not describing a story of replacement 00:11:49.779 --> 00:11:52.579 but of redemption and restoration. 00:11:52.580 --> 00:11:57.259 See the unfolding story of God is God under no obligation 00:11:57.259 --> 00:12:02.259 being the generous, good God of intimacy and beauty 00:12:02.580 --> 00:12:05.500 and connection and calling after His first son 00:12:05.500 --> 00:12:09.580 and daughter rebelled and the disease of sin and death 00:12:09.580 --> 00:12:13.340 came into His image bears into the world He made. 00:12:13.340 --> 00:12:18.340 He began to tell the story of His commitment, 00:12:18.340 --> 00:12:22.700 eventually to make all things new, which is a central 00:12:22.700 --> 00:12:25.580 affirmation of our text which we'll come to in a few moments. 00:12:25.580 --> 00:12:29.139 And so John now, he sees it, it's not Rome. 00:12:29.139 --> 00:12:32.100 It's not, you know, John has lived through Nero 00:12:32.100 --> 00:12:35.019 in the crazy Roman world of Nero. 00:12:35.019 --> 00:12:40.019 He's now in Vespusion, he's now in Domitian, excuse me. 00:12:40.019 --> 00:12:45.019 And he is seeing what seems to be a voice, a power and evil 00:12:45.540 --> 00:12:47.940 that's gonna overthrow the story of God 00:12:47.940 --> 00:12:48.860 and the people of God. 00:12:48.860 --> 00:12:52.220 And yet God says in the midst of that new heaven 00:12:52.220 --> 00:12:54.260 and new earth that was promised by the prophets 00:12:54.260 --> 00:12:55.100 it's coming. 00:12:55.100 --> 00:12:57.780 Well, what is the language of new heaven and new earth? 00:12:58.740 --> 00:13:00.540 I've mentioned this, let me affirm it again. 00:13:00.540 --> 00:13:04.540 It is a picture of purification and restoration. 00:13:04.540 --> 00:13:06.780 As surely as the Bible says that the bodies 00:13:06.780 --> 00:13:09.900 that we live in right now, that when we die 00:13:09.900 --> 00:13:13.700 that God is preserving His people for the day of resurrection 00:13:13.700 --> 00:13:17.060 and that to be absent from the body is to be 00:13:17.059 --> 00:13:18.459 immediately present with the Lord. 00:13:18.459 --> 00:13:22.299 And yet we hold out for the resurrection of our body. 00:13:22.299 --> 00:13:27.299 Well, as surely as God is committed to resurrect our body 00:13:27.379 --> 00:13:30.339 as a part of the grand family that He's redeeming. 00:13:30.339 --> 00:13:34.859 So He has promised to bring redemption to His world. 00:13:34.859 --> 00:13:37.619 Why should that encourage us? 00:13:37.619 --> 00:13:39.299 For many reasons. 00:13:39.299 --> 00:13:42.619 It means that for those of us who are followers of Christ 00:13:42.619 --> 00:13:46.259 mission is about everything we do 00:13:46.259 --> 00:13:47.860 and the way we live our life. 00:13:47.860 --> 00:13:49.460 It's why we wanna be a good neighbors. 00:13:49.460 --> 00:13:52.980 It's why we wanna pray for downtown Edinburgh 00:13:52.980 --> 00:13:55.899 as a place where people don't just have a devotional 00:13:55.899 --> 00:14:00.539 experience of an abstract God in a realm of angels 00:14:00.539 --> 00:14:02.179 and in hymns. 00:14:02.179 --> 00:14:07.179 But to know that we are in a story in which our God 00:14:07.379 --> 00:14:12.379 is absolutely taking on all the implications of evil. 00:14:12.500 --> 00:14:14.419 This is what is meant by this first verse. 00:14:14.419 --> 00:14:18.339 When John writes, I saw new heaven and new earth 00:14:18.339 --> 00:14:20.299 coming towards Him. 00:14:20.299 --> 00:14:21.779 For the first is passed away. 00:14:21.779 --> 00:14:25.099 It is come under the judgment of God 00:14:25.099 --> 00:14:27.860 and the purification of God and resurrection of life 00:14:27.860 --> 00:14:29.579 is barreling towards us. 00:14:29.579 --> 00:14:30.759 No more sea. 00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:34.059 The sea in John's revelation does not speak 00:14:34.059 --> 00:14:35.659 of a great body of water. 00:14:35.659 --> 00:14:38.819 He's not describing that our future will be a world 00:14:38.819 --> 00:14:41.259 without oceans and that marvelous sound. 00:14:41.259 --> 00:14:43.579 We all love a big waves crashing. 00:14:43.580 --> 00:14:48.580 The sea in the revelation stands for evil and chaos. 00:14:48.580 --> 00:14:50.700 And what an affirmation. 00:14:50.700 --> 00:14:52.940 It means that everything through the book of revelation 00:14:52.940 --> 00:14:55.940 that has shown men and women living in rebellion 00:14:55.940 --> 00:14:58.780 to the one true living God who is worthy alone 00:14:58.780 --> 00:15:00.139 of our worship and our hearts, 00:15:00.139 --> 00:15:04.259 who alone is committed to our health and our joy 00:15:04.259 --> 00:15:07.220 and our filling the earth with His goodness. 00:15:07.220 --> 00:15:11.060 He, God will not only judge evil, 00:15:11.059 --> 00:15:14.459 but eventually will eradicate all evil. 00:15:14.459 --> 00:15:18.059 That means a lot to a lot of you to have that hope. 00:15:18.059 --> 00:15:21.059 My wife for the last two years in Nashville, Tennessee 00:15:21.059 --> 00:15:25.099 has been walking with women coming out of sexual slavery. 00:15:25.099 --> 00:15:28.099 The Mexican mafia owns human trafficking 00:15:28.099 --> 00:15:29.179 in Nashville, Tennessee. 00:15:29.179 --> 00:15:30.459 And it is hideous. 00:15:30.459 --> 00:15:31.539 It is repugnant. 00:15:31.539 --> 00:15:33.379 That says nothing about Mexico. 00:15:33.379 --> 00:15:35.179 It says everything about evil. 00:15:35.179 --> 00:15:38.979 What hope do we have that human trafficking 00:15:38.979 --> 00:15:40.979 does not get the last word? 00:15:40.980 --> 00:15:44.779 What hope do we have that evil as we see it, 00:15:44.779 --> 00:15:46.940 not just in our world and culture, 00:15:46.940 --> 00:15:48.580 but at times in our own hearts, 00:15:48.580 --> 00:15:50.060 that it will be done away with? 00:15:50.060 --> 00:15:54.340 This bold affirmation, John sees every promise 00:15:54.340 --> 00:15:57.379 God has made coming towards this day. 00:15:57.379 --> 00:16:01.940 This world that we ache for and we can ask ourselves, 00:16:01.940 --> 00:16:03.139 is it possible? 00:16:03.139 --> 00:16:06.220 Is it even worth risking hope? 00:16:06.220 --> 00:16:08.100 And the bold affirmation of scripture 00:16:08.100 --> 00:16:11.620 is absolutely because the Lamb has prevailed. 00:16:11.620 --> 00:16:14.100 The Lamb has triumphed over all evil. 00:16:14.100 --> 00:16:17.820 Evil has an expiration date. 00:16:17.820 --> 00:16:19.100 John sees it. 00:16:19.100 --> 00:16:20.180 He smells it. 00:16:20.180 --> 00:16:24.259 He's very sensual in the way he describes through his book, 00:16:24.259 --> 00:16:25.340 what he sees coming. 00:16:25.340 --> 00:16:26.700 It's not imaginary. 00:16:26.700 --> 00:16:28.379 It's not hallucinating. 00:16:28.379 --> 00:16:31.220 It's very, very actual. 00:16:31.220 --> 00:16:32.899 That's why the apostle Paul said, 00:16:32.899 --> 00:16:35.820 if these things have not actually happened, 00:16:35.820 --> 00:16:37.899 starting with the resurrection of Jesus, 00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:40.019 we have all people that are most to be pitied. 00:16:40.019 --> 00:16:43.939 But because Jesus has been raised from a real death, 00:16:43.939 --> 00:16:47.860 we have hope for not just our spirits to continue, 00:16:47.860 --> 00:16:50.179 but the world in which we live. 00:16:50.179 --> 00:16:51.139 We must go on. 00:16:51.139 --> 00:16:53.299 I'd love to say so much more about each of these. 00:16:53.299 --> 00:16:57.220 But again, the world we intensely crave, 00:16:57.220 --> 00:16:59.259 what we deeply crave, 00:16:59.259 --> 00:17:02.460 John says by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, 00:17:02.460 --> 00:17:03.419 it's coming towards us. 00:17:03.419 --> 00:17:05.059 Well, what about the second category 00:17:05.059 --> 00:17:07.019 that maybe is a little bit more 00:17:07.019 --> 00:17:08.819 where we do most of our life? 00:17:08.819 --> 00:17:11.139 What of an affirmation, 00:17:11.139 --> 00:17:14.220 the love we desperately need, verse two? 00:17:14.220 --> 00:17:17.980 How would verse two in this last vision 00:17:17.980 --> 00:17:21.940 connect us with the need we actually have, 00:17:21.940 --> 00:17:25.180 need that often gets hijacked 00:17:25.180 --> 00:17:27.740 by wrong ways of thinking we can find fulfillment? 00:17:27.740 --> 00:17:29.099 With a second verse, 00:17:30.339 --> 00:17:31.500 John goes on, he says, 00:17:31.500 --> 00:17:34.819 I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, 00:17:34.819 --> 00:17:37.220 coming down out of heaven from God, 00:17:37.220 --> 00:17:38.779 prepared as a bride, 00:17:38.779 --> 00:17:41.179 beautifully dressed for her husband. 00:17:41.179 --> 00:17:42.819 Well, as with the first verse, 00:17:42.819 --> 00:17:45.460 he's summarizing a lot of biblical story, 00:17:45.460 --> 00:17:47.619 a lot of biblical promise, 00:17:47.619 --> 00:17:49.139 a first creation world, 00:17:49.139 --> 00:17:51.939 the promise to the prophets of new heaven and new earth, 00:17:51.939 --> 00:17:53.819 restoration and renewal. 00:17:53.819 --> 00:17:55.059 As with this second verse, 00:17:55.059 --> 00:17:58.179 he's summarizing a lot of glorious promise 00:17:58.179 --> 00:17:59.740 and outworking of God's commitment 00:17:59.740 --> 00:18:02.259 to be a God of mercy and grace. 00:18:02.259 --> 00:18:04.940 How are we to understand verse two 00:18:04.940 --> 00:18:09.500 with this picture of a bride appearing in John's vision? 00:18:09.500 --> 00:18:11.819 Well, it's the culmination, 00:18:11.819 --> 00:18:15.299 it's the consummation of the commitment that God made, 00:18:15.299 --> 00:18:19.019 even when he first grabbed hold of a pagan moon worshiper 00:18:19.019 --> 00:18:22.420 in Genesis chapter 12 named Abram. 00:18:22.420 --> 00:18:25.059 And I love the telling of the story of Abraham, 00:18:25.059 --> 00:18:26.940 Abram that became Abraham. 00:18:28.220 --> 00:18:30.819 And the Bible, the Bible doesn't record 00:18:30.819 --> 00:18:33.139 that there's just a bunch of seekers. 00:18:33.139 --> 00:18:35.939 The Bible basically is telling a story of one seeker 00:18:35.939 --> 00:18:38.099 who happens to be a great finder. 00:18:38.099 --> 00:18:41.819 And our God, who has already committed in this story 00:18:41.819 --> 00:18:42.980 to be a great redeemer, 00:18:42.980 --> 00:18:45.579 grabs hold of a man named Abram. 00:18:45.579 --> 00:18:48.779 And he makes promises to Abram of land, 00:18:48.779 --> 00:18:51.059 seed and blessing. 00:18:51.059 --> 00:18:53.139 God won't take Abram to a land 00:18:53.139 --> 00:18:55.179 where a nation will be formed. 00:18:55.179 --> 00:18:57.980 And that nation will become the national womb 00:18:57.980 --> 00:19:00.460 of the one that we know as the Messiah. 00:19:00.460 --> 00:19:03.900 But early into that conversation and commitment 00:19:03.900 --> 00:19:06.420 to be a generous God towards Abram, 00:19:06.420 --> 00:19:08.779 he also promises that through this nation, 00:19:08.779 --> 00:19:09.980 through this Messiah, 00:19:09.980 --> 00:19:13.059 all families on the face of the earth will be blessed. 00:19:13.059 --> 00:19:18.059 And that promise of God having an extraordinarily huge family 00:19:18.059 --> 00:19:20.660 to love and to enjoy forever, 00:19:20.660 --> 00:19:23.259 emerges within this beautiful metaphor 00:19:23.259 --> 00:19:25.620 in the Bible of marriage. 00:19:25.620 --> 00:19:27.140 You know, one of the main reasons 00:19:27.140 --> 00:19:32.140 why you'll never be completely fulfilled in any human marriage 00:19:32.140 --> 00:19:35.380 is because you're made for the ultimate spouse, Jesus. 00:19:36.340 --> 00:19:40.060 And it is a mystery and it is wondrous. 00:19:40.060 --> 00:19:42.180 But when we see the Bible saying 00:19:42.180 --> 00:19:45.460 our deepest relational longings, 00:19:45.460 --> 00:19:48.700 the actual need that God has written into our being, 00:19:48.700 --> 00:19:52.700 it will find its fullest joy and satisfaction 00:19:53.700 --> 00:19:56.180 as we're a part of this bride 00:19:56.180 --> 00:19:57.660 who is made up of men and women 00:19:57.660 --> 00:20:01.660 from every single race, tribe, tongue, and people group. 00:20:01.660 --> 00:20:05.820 Here's how active God was in John's world. 00:20:05.820 --> 00:20:09.220 It seems like the church will be extinct 00:20:09.220 --> 00:20:11.420 even as John is suffering. 00:20:11.420 --> 00:20:14.539 God is raising from the dead men and women 00:20:14.539 --> 00:20:17.220 who are streaming into Rome from the nations, 00:20:17.220 --> 00:20:18.980 just like he's doing right now. 00:20:21.340 --> 00:20:23.100 Oh, so many stories I wish I could tell you guys. 00:20:23.100 --> 00:20:24.860 Let me tell you a couple of real hopeful ones 00:20:24.859 --> 00:20:27.500 in terms of this God being generous 00:20:27.500 --> 00:20:31.259 and loving you with the absolute love 00:20:31.259 --> 00:20:34.939 that you and I foolishly think can be found in a spouse, 00:20:34.939 --> 00:20:37.619 a friend, the perfect church, the perfect company, 00:20:37.619 --> 00:20:40.099 kids that will rise up and call us blessed. 00:20:40.099 --> 00:20:42.059 Good luck with that one. 00:20:42.059 --> 00:20:45.659 Any relational assumption that what you really want 00:20:45.659 --> 00:20:48.059 can be found apart from intimacy with Jesus, 00:20:48.059 --> 00:20:50.259 it needs to fall under the weight of God's grace 00:20:50.259 --> 00:20:51.179 in this declaration. 00:20:51.179 --> 00:20:54.819 And God is at work raising men and women to faith in Christ. 00:20:54.819 --> 00:20:56.419 I have an 80 year old aunt, 00:20:56.419 --> 00:20:58.779 I wish you could meet her, her name is Aunt Cynthia. 00:20:58.779 --> 00:21:00.779 She was the daughter of an American general 00:21:00.779 --> 00:21:03.659 and it felt like that growing up with this aunt in my life. 00:21:03.659 --> 00:21:05.859 Everything is just like this. 00:21:05.859 --> 00:21:07.500 She went through a lot of suffering. 00:21:07.500 --> 00:21:10.980 I went and preached my father's funeral that made it to 92. 00:21:10.980 --> 00:21:12.939 I lived through that story of a father 00:21:12.939 --> 00:21:15.980 that no longer knew my face or name. 00:21:15.980 --> 00:21:20.019 He went to heaven through the tragic story of Alzheimer's 00:21:20.019 --> 00:21:22.139 but at my father's funeral that I preached 00:21:22.140 --> 00:21:26.300 with great joy knowing he rested in Jesus, my aunt showed up 00:21:26.300 --> 00:21:27.700 and she was not the same aunt 00:21:27.700 --> 00:21:30.220 of an American general I remember. 00:21:30.220 --> 00:21:34.220 Several months earlier, my aunt happened into a Lutheran church 00:21:34.220 --> 00:21:37.060 that was preaching the gospel and she was converted. 00:21:37.060 --> 00:21:40.060 She's 88 today, I was with her last week, 00:21:40.060 --> 00:21:41.980 planning her funeral for the five time 00:21:41.980 --> 00:21:44.420 because she said, Scotty, I may outlive you 00:21:44.420 --> 00:21:47.060 but I want the gospel to be presented in my funeral 00:21:47.060 --> 00:21:49.540 because I have finally found what I always wanted 00:21:49.540 --> 00:21:51.740 and never knew where it was. 00:21:51.740 --> 00:21:53.940 Two summers ago, my wife and I were speaking 00:21:53.940 --> 00:21:58.059 in the Canadian Bible camp up in Hamilton, Canada, 00:21:58.059 --> 00:21:59.420 north of Ontario. 00:21:59.420 --> 00:22:02.019 I give an introductory talk, this woman comes, 00:22:02.019 --> 00:22:05.339 I simply share that a part of my wife's story, my story, 00:22:05.339 --> 00:22:08.779 was finding healing later in life in our marriage. 00:22:08.779 --> 00:22:11.460 We both have stories of childhood sexual abuse 00:22:11.460 --> 00:22:12.779 and God's been very gracious 00:22:12.779 --> 00:22:16.579 and I was inviting those that week to come and let us chat. 00:22:16.579 --> 00:22:19.259 Well, a woman seeks me out that afternoon, 00:22:19.259 --> 00:22:20.460 the first day of the conference. 00:22:20.460 --> 00:22:22.100 She says, Scotty, where's Darlene? 00:22:22.100 --> 00:22:24.980 I hear your story, I have a story like that too. 00:22:24.980 --> 00:22:27.620 We met this woman whose name is now Grace, 00:22:27.620 --> 00:22:29.620 that was not on her birth certificate. 00:22:29.620 --> 00:22:32.100 Here's what she said, here's my story. 00:22:32.100 --> 00:22:33.380 I can't tell you his name 00:22:33.380 --> 00:22:35.940 but I'm a daughter of an Iraqi Ayatollah. 00:22:36.860 --> 00:22:39.259 And my father, who is a man of means 00:22:39.259 --> 00:22:41.819 who really trained me to be a suicide bomber, 00:22:41.819 --> 00:22:43.460 wanted me to learn English. 00:22:43.460 --> 00:22:46.100 So he hired a woman to teach me English. 00:22:46.100 --> 00:22:48.819 He didn't know that she was a Canadian missionary. 00:22:48.819 --> 00:22:51.419 She prayed for me before she taught me English. 00:22:51.419 --> 00:22:53.460 She prayed at the end of the lesson. 00:22:53.460 --> 00:22:55.740 And after you Americans, 00:22:55.740 --> 00:22:58.859 she wasn't mean pointing the finger, but she was honest. 00:22:58.859 --> 00:23:02.859 After America bombed an orphanage I was running 00:23:02.859 --> 00:23:04.460 and all the children passed, 00:23:04.460 --> 00:23:06.460 my heart was so filled with hate. 00:23:06.460 --> 00:23:08.460 And yet I remembered those prayers 00:23:08.460 --> 00:23:10.460 and Jesus revealed himself to me. 00:23:10.460 --> 00:23:14.460 And I now have found what I always wanted. 00:23:14.460 --> 00:23:19.460 A daughter of an Iraqi Ayatollah who now lives in Canada, 00:23:19.819 --> 00:23:21.340 immersed in the Word of God, 00:23:21.340 --> 00:23:24.100 the story of God praying for her own country. 00:23:24.100 --> 00:23:27.140 You and I even have heard some of these stories recently 00:23:27.140 --> 00:23:31.539 that the conversion growth rate in Iran and Iraq right now 00:23:31.539 --> 00:23:35.579 is just outpacing what's going on in America. 00:23:35.579 --> 00:23:39.819 My brothers and sisters, as John sees a gathered bride, 00:23:39.819 --> 00:23:42.700 he remembers the story of God. 00:23:42.700 --> 00:23:43.740 We should be encouraged. 00:23:43.740 --> 00:23:45.700 And it's not that we outnumber anybody. 00:23:45.700 --> 00:23:47.420 Please don't read the book of Revelation 00:23:47.420 --> 00:23:48.900 as though it's telling this story. 00:23:48.900 --> 00:23:51.140 I read the end of the book and we win. 00:23:51.140 --> 00:23:53.460 No, this isn't a book of triumphalism. 00:23:53.460 --> 00:23:56.019 It's I read the end of the book and the lamb triumphed 00:23:56.019 --> 00:23:57.460 even over me and you. 00:23:57.460 --> 00:23:58.859 Hallelujah. 00:23:58.859 --> 00:24:01.980 We're part of this large story of redemption 00:24:01.980 --> 00:24:03.539 that frames the whole of history. 00:24:03.539 --> 00:24:05.980 This is what history is all about. 00:24:05.980 --> 00:24:08.220 God is committed to frame all of history 00:24:08.220 --> 00:24:10.620 in terms of his commitment to redeem his bride 00:24:10.620 --> 00:24:12.740 from every nation and make all things new. 00:24:12.740 --> 00:24:15.380 We've got five minutes to bring this home. 00:24:15.380 --> 00:24:17.140 I will try not to talk any faster 00:24:17.140 --> 00:24:19.220 because I already know I've ramped it up. 00:24:19.220 --> 00:24:20.940 But look at this text. 00:24:20.940 --> 00:24:23.460 We not only see the world we intensely crave, 00:24:23.460 --> 00:24:26.660 we don't not only see the love we desperately need, 00:24:27.620 --> 00:24:30.180 we see the day for which we greatly ache. 00:24:30.180 --> 00:24:33.019 Look at verses very briefly, verses three and four. 00:24:33.019 --> 00:24:35.660 Here's the day for which we greatly ache. 00:24:35.660 --> 00:24:38.140 And brothers and sisters from Scotland, America 00:24:38.140 --> 00:24:40.500 and the uttermost parts of the earth, we all ache. 00:24:40.500 --> 00:24:41.539 We all long. 00:24:41.539 --> 00:24:45.659 We all feel deeply no matter how we masquerade it, 00:24:45.659 --> 00:24:48.180 no matter how we foolishly try to medicate our pain. 00:24:48.180 --> 00:24:49.659 And it's answered here. 00:24:49.659 --> 00:24:52.579 And here's the day we want and John sees it 00:24:52.579 --> 00:24:55.740 and holds out the hope for us in this church. 00:24:55.740 --> 00:24:57.220 Listen to how the way he describes it, 00:24:57.220 --> 00:24:59.899 the day for which we greatly ache. 00:24:59.899 --> 00:25:00.740 Verse three. 00:25:02.339 --> 00:25:04.619 And I just love the way he's so enthusiastic. 00:25:04.619 --> 00:25:08.579 He says, and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 00:25:08.579 --> 00:25:11.659 now the dwelling of God is with men 00:25:11.659 --> 00:25:14.859 and he will live with them and they will be his people. 00:25:14.859 --> 00:25:16.460 Actually the Greek is plural. 00:25:16.460 --> 00:25:19.500 They will be his peoples because God, 00:25:19.500 --> 00:25:22.179 the story of God is an inclusive story. 00:25:22.179 --> 00:25:27.179 God is into pan national salvation, every nation family. 00:25:27.980 --> 00:25:31.419 It's what I love about the position you guys have 00:25:31.419 --> 00:25:32.539 in downtown Edinburgh. 00:25:32.539 --> 00:25:36.139 The nation's stream by you every single day. 00:25:36.139 --> 00:25:37.859 You're an outpost, you're an expression, 00:25:37.859 --> 00:25:39.779 you're a first fruit of this world 00:25:39.779 --> 00:25:42.139 that's barreling towards us and this day. 00:25:42.139 --> 00:25:43.619 More about this day. 00:25:43.619 --> 00:25:47.259 Now, and now John's referencing the second coming of Jesus. 00:25:47.259 --> 00:25:49.019 Now the dwelling of God is with men. 00:25:49.019 --> 00:25:50.059 He will live with them. 00:25:50.059 --> 00:25:52.179 They will be his peoples and God himself 00:25:52.179 --> 00:25:54.059 will be with them and be their God. 00:25:54.059 --> 00:25:55.219 Now look at verse four. 00:25:55.219 --> 00:25:58.539 The first thing descriptive of our God 00:25:58.539 --> 00:26:00.859 when he finally sends back his son Jesus 00:26:00.859 --> 00:26:02.139 to finish the story. 00:26:02.139 --> 00:26:02.979 Look at this. 00:26:02.979 --> 00:26:06.019 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. 00:26:06.019 --> 00:26:08.900 Now that's a profound idiom in the Greek. 00:26:08.900 --> 00:26:11.619 This is not speaking about your favorite grandmother 00:26:11.619 --> 00:26:14.059 or aunt that always has a convenient hanky 00:26:14.059 --> 00:26:16.019 to dab your tears on your cheek. 00:26:16.019 --> 00:26:17.299 I had one of those. 00:26:17.299 --> 00:26:21.220 Grandmother Ward, Granny Ward, Granny and Paw Paw Ward. 00:26:21.220 --> 00:26:23.259 Now this isn't about a grandmother 00:26:23.259 --> 00:26:25.660 wiping off your cheek tears. 00:26:25.660 --> 00:26:28.539 It's an odd idiom but the Greek actually says, 00:26:28.539 --> 00:26:30.740 and God will put his finger in your eye 00:26:30.740 --> 00:26:32.299 and wipe the tear out of your eye. 00:26:32.299 --> 00:26:33.660 Now I know that's not delicate. 00:26:33.660 --> 00:26:35.900 God poking his finger in your eye. 00:26:35.900 --> 00:26:38.180 Here's what that means. 00:26:38.180 --> 00:26:40.100 And we need to pause on this one. 00:26:40.100 --> 00:26:47.180 The pain behind your tears will be redeemed. 00:26:47.180 --> 00:26:49.340 This is the God who declares, 00:26:49.340 --> 00:26:52.900 I will put things right. 00:26:52.900 --> 00:26:56.580 Dear friends, heaven is not going to be so much 00:26:56.580 --> 00:26:59.100 finally getting all of your answers. 00:26:59.100 --> 00:27:02.460 It's going to be the resolution of everything 00:27:02.460 --> 00:27:06.620 that violated the beauty of Eden. 00:27:06.620 --> 00:27:10.259 Everything that fell the wonder of our God. 00:27:10.259 --> 00:27:11.860 Those tears, that pain. 00:27:11.860 --> 00:27:13.660 That's run through in my own story, 00:27:13.660 --> 00:27:16.740 the death of a mom when I was 11 years old, 00:27:16.740 --> 00:27:18.100 killed in a car crash. 00:27:18.100 --> 00:27:20.299 My father went into such a depression. 00:27:20.299 --> 00:27:24.259 He did not speak for her name for 40 years. 00:27:24.259 --> 00:27:25.940 Never saw my mother's body. 00:27:25.940 --> 00:27:26.940 I just shut down. 00:27:26.940 --> 00:27:29.620 Never just never went back to her grave 00:27:29.620 --> 00:27:31.740 until 40 years later. 00:27:31.740 --> 00:27:34.539 Seven years later after my mom was killed in a car wreck, 00:27:34.539 --> 00:27:38.339 the only person in my life I gave my heart to in high school 00:27:38.339 --> 00:27:41.700 would risk getting close to her name was Debbie. 00:27:41.700 --> 00:27:44.019 She too was killed in a car wreck. 00:27:44.019 --> 00:27:46.299 And I shut down. 00:27:46.299 --> 00:27:49.500 And I determined I will never get so close to someone 00:27:49.500 --> 00:27:50.980 as to risk the pain of love. 00:27:50.980 --> 00:27:53.900 Four years later, I married to my wife, Darlene. 00:27:53.900 --> 00:27:59.620 God honored the tears of a little guy who had deep loss, 00:27:59.619 --> 00:28:03.579 who even earlier than that, as I would discover in my mid 50s, 00:28:03.579 --> 00:28:06.139 had been sexually abused as an eight-year-old. 00:28:06.139 --> 00:28:08.779 And I'm here just to put that brief statement out there 00:28:08.779 --> 00:28:12.539 to some of you that think, where was God when this thing happened 00:28:12.539 --> 00:28:13.579 towards me? 00:28:13.579 --> 00:28:15.059 I'm not going to give you a time. 00:28:15.059 --> 00:28:18.139 I'm not going to give you a cliche or a biblical band-aid. 00:28:18.139 --> 00:28:21.739 I am going to say, this is the God who promises 00:28:21.739 --> 00:28:24.139 to redeem the pain. 00:28:24.139 --> 00:28:25.179 And you long for that day. 00:28:25.179 --> 00:28:26.179 And so do I. 00:28:26.180 --> 00:28:29.940 And that's why we alive in union with this Father, Mercy, 00:28:29.940 --> 00:28:32.380 and God of all comfort, want to be a church for the city, 00:28:32.380 --> 00:28:34.299 want to be a church for the community, 00:28:34.299 --> 00:28:37.019 want to be those that don't fix anybody, but simply say, 00:28:37.019 --> 00:28:40.340 as God's grace and mercy is coming to me in my addiction, 00:28:40.340 --> 00:28:44.980 in my fear, in my rebellion, and the things that make no freaking 00:28:44.980 --> 00:28:47.140 sense to me. 00:28:47.140 --> 00:28:49.140 He's the one that tolerates my pain. 00:28:49.140 --> 00:28:52.259 He's the one whose shoulders are broad enough, whose heart is big 00:28:52.259 --> 00:28:57.059 enough, who's going to sustain that and has paid the ultimate 00:28:57.059 --> 00:29:01.019 price for the fulfillment of the longings and the pain 00:29:01.019 --> 00:29:02.420 and the tears that we share. 00:29:02.420 --> 00:29:05.339 Two more things, and I'll pray. 00:29:05.339 --> 00:29:07.180 And then there's some coffee and cookies. 00:29:07.180 --> 00:29:09.740 That's good stuff. 00:29:09.740 --> 00:29:11.700 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. 00:29:11.700 --> 00:29:19.019 There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain 00:29:19.019 --> 00:29:22.019 for the old order of things has passed away. 00:29:22.019 --> 00:29:25.579 My brothers and sisters, the world we intensely crave 00:29:25.579 --> 00:29:28.099 is promised and provided for us by Jesus. 00:29:28.099 --> 00:29:31.259 The love we desperately need, it's not going to be found 00:29:31.259 --> 00:29:32.259 in another affair. 00:29:32.259 --> 00:29:35.099 It's not going to be found in marrying seven people that 00:29:35.099 --> 00:29:37.259 represent the perfect spouse to you. 00:29:37.259 --> 00:29:40.980 It is going to be found in being in union with Jesus, 00:29:40.980 --> 00:29:42.139 the ultimate spouse. 00:29:42.139 --> 00:29:46.099 The day we absolutely greatly ache for, it's coming. 00:29:46.099 --> 00:29:48.980 And that's why this text finishes with these two images. 00:29:48.980 --> 00:29:53.140 Look lastly, and I promise this is the last last. 00:29:53.140 --> 00:29:55.860 How does this great hope end up? 00:29:55.860 --> 00:30:00.299 A love, verse 5, a bold declaration. 00:30:00.299 --> 00:30:02.700 He who was seated on the throne said, 00:30:02.700 --> 00:30:06.019 I am making all things new. 00:30:06.019 --> 00:30:08.259 Not I will make all things new. 00:30:08.259 --> 00:30:10.940 Right now, this resurrected Jesus is at work. 00:30:10.940 --> 00:30:14.059 In your story, in your heart, in your world, 00:30:14.059 --> 00:30:16.380 in this community, in this church, 00:30:16.380 --> 00:30:18.299 I am making all things new. 00:30:18.299 --> 00:30:21.259 Not I'm making all new things. 00:30:21.259 --> 00:30:22.740 Not replacement. 00:30:22.740 --> 00:30:24.700 But I am at work. 00:30:24.700 --> 00:30:26.619 Brothers and sisters, we have a living hope, 00:30:26.619 --> 00:30:28.299 a bold declaration. 00:30:28.299 --> 00:30:30.740 He goes on to say, write this down for these words 00:30:30.740 --> 00:30:32.859 are trustworthy and true. 00:30:32.859 --> 00:30:35.419 See, we don't need hype. 00:30:35.419 --> 00:30:37.579 We don't need spin. 00:30:37.579 --> 00:30:38.259 Right? 00:30:38.259 --> 00:30:41.019 There's enough spin, masters, masters in the world. 00:30:41.019 --> 00:30:43.019 We need truth. 00:30:43.019 --> 00:30:44.019 And we have it. 00:30:44.019 --> 00:30:46.379 And that's why along with the bold declaration, 00:30:46.380 --> 00:30:49.420 we finish with this grand invitation. 00:30:49.420 --> 00:30:52.780 Look at the last verse of our morning. 00:30:52.780 --> 00:30:54.460 I love this. 00:30:54.460 --> 00:30:56.980 Verse 6, he said to me, it is done. 00:30:56.980 --> 00:31:01.100 I am the author and the omega, the beginning and the end. 00:31:01.100 --> 00:31:05.660 To him who is thirsty, I will give to drink 00:31:05.660 --> 00:31:09.420 without cost from the spring of living water. 00:31:09.420 --> 00:31:10.860 My last question to you is this. 00:31:10.860 --> 00:31:14.660 What are you doing with your thirst? 00:31:14.660 --> 00:31:16.300 What have you done historically with your thirst? 00:31:16.299 --> 00:31:19.539 I abused so much alcohol as a senior in high school, 00:31:19.539 --> 00:31:21.659 trying to numb the pain. 00:31:21.659 --> 00:31:24.220 Being so deeply insecure, being an introvert 00:31:24.220 --> 00:31:28.940 in an extroverted world, and it was never enough. 00:31:28.940 --> 00:31:32.019 I have acted out destructively. 00:31:32.019 --> 00:31:35.139 In 48 years of marriage, assumed that my wife would be enough, 00:31:35.139 --> 00:31:38.099 that if she loved me well enough, it would be enough. 00:31:38.099 --> 00:31:40.659 I've got two marvelous children and three grandsons, 00:31:40.659 --> 00:31:42.019 Finn, Otis, and Otto. 00:31:42.019 --> 00:31:44.379 They're not enough. 00:31:44.380 --> 00:31:47.420 As Blaise Pascal said years, years and years ago, 00:31:47.420 --> 00:31:49.140 French mathematician and physicist, 00:31:49.140 --> 00:31:53.300 there is a Jesus-shaped void inside of us 00:31:53.300 --> 00:31:55.380 that only fits Jesus. 00:31:55.380 --> 00:31:57.420 Are you thirsty today? 00:31:57.420 --> 00:31:58.740 Will you come? 00:31:58.740 --> 00:32:01.980 Non-believer, come for the first time 00:32:01.980 --> 00:32:05.820 to the one who loves you, has paid the supreme price 00:32:05.820 --> 00:32:06.660 for your redemption. 00:32:06.660 --> 00:32:08.900 Jesus did not come into this world primarily 00:32:08.900 --> 00:32:12.140 to be your model to follow, but your substitute to trust. 00:32:12.140 --> 00:32:15.259 He fulfilled the law of God for you. 00:32:15.259 --> 00:32:16.500 He's not your second chance. 00:32:16.500 --> 00:32:17.700 He's the second atom. 00:32:17.700 --> 00:32:21.060 He obeyed God in your place. 00:32:21.060 --> 00:32:23.180 And he took the judgment upon the cross, 00:32:23.180 --> 00:32:26.700 exhausting the judgment and the separation we deserve. 00:32:26.700 --> 00:32:29.020 If you've never believed that, why not today? 00:32:29.020 --> 00:32:32.460 If you have believed it, where has your heart drifted 00:32:32.460 --> 00:32:34.900 in recent seasons, like me? 00:32:34.900 --> 00:32:38.820 In between resurrection, return of Jesus, we leak grace. 00:32:38.820 --> 00:32:41.259 We need grace all the time. 00:32:41.259 --> 00:32:43.259 And I'm just going to close with a prayer now, inviting 00:32:43.259 --> 00:32:45.180 believer, non-believer alike. 00:32:45.180 --> 00:32:46.779 Here's the good news. 00:32:46.779 --> 00:32:48.059 If you're thirsty, come. 00:32:48.059 --> 00:32:51.539 Without cost, it's been completely paid for. 00:32:51.539 --> 00:32:52.740 Hallelujah would have saved your, 00:32:52.740 --> 00:32:53.859 hallelujah would have salvation. 00:32:53.859 --> 00:32:55.500 Let me pray. 00:32:55.500 --> 00:32:57.339 Father, thank you for a beautiful morning 00:32:57.339 --> 00:32:59.700 in downtown Edinburgh. 00:32:59.700 --> 00:33:03.099 Thank you for giving me the gift of this weekend, Lord. 00:33:03.099 --> 00:33:05.940 You know how much I needed yesterday and today. 00:33:05.940 --> 00:33:09.779 You know that nobody needs this story, this grace, 00:33:09.779 --> 00:33:12.819 this hope, this encouragement more than me. 00:33:12.819 --> 00:33:14.500 And I thank you, Lord, that you're not a God 00:33:14.500 --> 00:33:16.899 that exaggerates or lies. 00:33:16.899 --> 00:33:20.619 And I thank you that you have secured the day, 00:33:20.619 --> 00:33:24.579 you have secured the new world, creation world, 00:33:24.579 --> 00:33:27.660 that we are loved by you, Father, 00:33:27.660 --> 00:33:30.819 and Jesus beyond all imagining. 00:33:30.819 --> 00:33:33.779 I pray right now for those that have never received, 00:33:33.779 --> 00:33:37.299 never have risked drinking the free gift of eternal life. 00:33:37.299 --> 00:33:39.899 Lord, buy your spirit. 00:33:39.899 --> 00:33:42.500 Within their hearts create a knowledge of need 00:33:42.500 --> 00:33:45.819 and create, Lord, the faith just to receive, 00:33:45.819 --> 00:33:48.539 not to promise, but to receive. 00:33:48.539 --> 00:33:50.339 And Lord, for believers in this room, 00:33:50.339 --> 00:33:51.940 through different seasons of life, 00:33:51.940 --> 00:33:54.940 Lord, just marriage, life, finance, 00:33:54.940 --> 00:33:59.299 transition, Lord, just the hard diagnosis, Lord, 00:33:59.299 --> 00:34:02.299 will make this gospel not only true, 00:34:02.299 --> 00:34:04.899 but real and beautiful in this day 00:34:04.900 --> 00:34:08.300 and we acknowledge our thirst and come to you, 00:34:08.300 --> 00:34:10.860 O our generous God, in Jesus' name we pray, 00:34:10.860 --> 00:34:12.539 with great thanksgiving. 00:34:12.539 --> 00:34:14.340 Amen, amen. 00:34:14.340 --> 00:34:35.340 God be praised.