Good morning, church. So thankful you're here. Today we are concluding a series that we started many weeks ago called the Story. And here we are at the end of it, at the end of this story where we've highlighted some of the larger concepts of the Bible over the last 12 weeks. We start in the book of Genesis.

Here we are ending in the book of Revelation. Now you know very well we didn't cover everything. You don't cover the whole Bible in 12 weeks. It's impossible. But we caught some of the highlights.

We talked about creation, we, we talked about some of the covenants to Abraham, we talked about the flood, we talked about the exile. And then over the last couple of weeks, we talked about this wonderful thing that the hero of the story, the author of the story, wrote himself in and died on a cross for us and rose from the grave. And now we are his church. And so we're finding ourselves now at the end at least of the biblical story, with an expectation of what is to come. And so we're in this, I talked about it last week, but we're in this in between moment where basically in the book of Acts, we're in the continued.

And so the church has been created and the church continues until Christ the King returns. And so this is where we find ourselves today, at this end story and figuring out how it ends and what's Christ up to. And so here's what's amazing about how it's all going to end, how it's all going to be fulfilled, is that like we just sang these words, so be it. When the king speaks a word, it happens. When he says yes, it's yes.

When he makes a promise, it happens. And so that's what's different here about this story than any other story. Most of the ones you've read are fiction. But then there's these other things you've gotten like, to the period at the end where there's nothing left afterwards. Now we come to the book of Revelation.

We know something is to come and we know God is going to finish when he started. He's not like me. And here's the problem that I often struggle with is, and there may be a word for this, and you can tell me later. I don't know if it's some version of ADD or something, but I have this thing where I'm kind of a neat freak. I like to keep rooms clean, but at the same time I get a little bit lost in the midst of my work.

And so this past weekend, for instance, my wife was kind of working and doing things. I wanted to do a few nice things for her so she could come home. So to a kind of a clean house. But here's the problem. I started in my bedroom, and as I'm moving something out that didn't belong in there, I get to the next room.

And then what I meant to do was bring this item in this room and leave it. But now I'm in this room, and this room's got some mess, too. And so it's 30 minutes go by, and I go back to the main room. I'm like, this is where I started. And maybe that happens to some of you, too, that there's.

Maybe there's clutter on your desk at work where this was Monday, this was Tuesday. And eventually you're going to finish all these things. Things. And sadly, that's how a lot of my backyard looks too. A lot of great ideas and not a lot of finishing power.

And so some of you are experiencing that in life. Some of you have received that from others. But that's not the case with the Lord. He finishes what he starts. Everything he makes is good, and every yes, he says is yes and amen in Christ Jesus.

And so here we are at the end of the story where everything God has promised is going to take place. Some of that is really great news for some of us in the room. It should be, I would say, not bad news, but urgent news. And as we get to the end of the text today, you'll see what I mean by that. As we get to this consummation, this end of the story, where God is going to fulfill everything he promised from Genesis on.

I pray that it would give us a sense not only of peace and joy, but also of urgency. And so here we are in the book of Revelation, chapter 21, really at the end of the story. And here the apostle John catches a vision, an incredible moment for him to catch this vision of what God is ultimately going to do in the redemptive story of history, and that at the end, he is going to make all things new. The text is going to give us three really clear ways that God will ultimately bring about his redemptive story. And so let's dig in.

We're in Revelation 21, we're reading just the first eight verses. So join me in this verse one, chapter 21. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem Coming down out from heaven, from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard with a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.

He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with him as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore. For the former things have passed away.

And he who is seated on the throne said, behold, I'm making all things new. Also. He said, hey, write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, the murderous, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, idolaters, and the liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. God bless the reading of His Word. Amen.

I recognize that this one ends with some difficulty. We're going to get into that together, and I pray that this will give you the appropriate view of what is to come. I heard it said this past week as I was studying this, that if we rightly understand Christ's return in the end times, that it will give us a peaceful urgency. But if we misunderstand it, it will give us fear and anxiety. And I pray today, as we dig into this text, that you will have that peaceful, joyful urgency, eager expectation for something great that is to come.

There are three ways that God is going to bring about his redemptive story to. To the point of completion. Here's the first. Christ is creating a new heaven and a new earth. A new heaven and new earth.

It says that plainly here in the text. When John first writes, he says he saw something. He saw it with his eyes. He perceived something that a new heaven and a new earth, and that the original, the first, had passed away. This means something new is happening.

Now, when the Bible talks about earth, it has a couple of different ways. But here it's the word that implies, literally the ground we walk on, the vegetation, all of that is the earth. And when it speaks here of a new heaven, it is not speaking of heaven as in the place where God exists, but a new planet, if you will. So, just so you understand this fully, when the Apostles and others were writing on this. They perceived heaven in three stages.

And so for them, the first heaven was this, the sky above us, the birds, the clouds, that what we might call the ozone. They didn't have that word back then, but that's the first heaven. And then the second heaven was what's beyond what we now call space. The stars, the moon, the sun. That was the heaven above our visible heaven, where there's things beyond what we can even see.

And then the third, for them, the third was the heaven in which God resides, the celestial heaven, if you will, where the heaven and his angels and God is there. And that's where this voice comes from. And he says, hey, this new heaven that's coming, this new Earth, is like a new planet, if you will. A new thing has occurred, because why? The first, it says, has passed away.

God is changing it up. I've often asked this question because it's always kept me curious. Like God, God is such a creative being. He's made us in his image. He makes this wonderful thing.

When he was done with all that, did he just hang up the creative hat? I think absolutely not. I think God is eternally creative. And here we see him put that hat back on that he's created a new heaven and a new Earth. And he says it's going to be a little different this time.

I think this is beyond a little bit what we can visualize some of what is described in the Book of Revelation. I. I would encourage you this week, read through the Book of Revelation, try to picture some of this. But it's very hard to picture entirely because some of it is describing something maybe that we've never really seen. And so this new heaven, this new Earth, seems to have changed a little bit from what we've experienced in this life. One of those things is, it says, the sea is no more.

The sea is no more. Now, is that literal? I'm not sure. I'm a lover of the beach, y'. All.

I like those sandy shores and watching the waves come in. I don't know if that's what's implied here. I think what is really meant to be understood by this sentence, the sea was no more. If you go back this week and read all of Revelation, you'll see that a lot of the sinful chaos, some of the dark stuff, is coming from the sea. It's part of the illustrative language of this text.

And so what he's essentially arguing for is that chaos, that sinful stuff is going to be gone. It's going to have passed away. Now it could be literal. It could mean that this new city, this new Jerusalem is like a garden city with many rivers and the sea has changed. I don't know, perhaps we will soon see.

But right now we know that something has shifted and this holy city, this new Jerusalem is coming down. And it says in verse two, it's prepared as a bride, it's adorned for the groom. Now this, I think, friends, is the perfect picture for what it's like to live in eager expectation of Christ's return. So I've been bumping into people lately, some of you in this room, some people out. And people are asking a lot of similar questions lately about what are we supposed to do with what's going on in the news.

What are we supposed to think when it comes to Israel? What are we supposed to think when it comes to Ibrahim and these kinds of things? And there's the personal stuff. What are we supposed to do when things are kind of hard, bills are hard to pay. And there's some anxiety about all that.

There's some lacking of peace even among the church. It's to that very picture that I think John paints this wonderful image in chapter 21 that the way in which we should think about what is to come shouldn't be one of fear and anxiety, shouldn't be one of oh, I don't know what's happening next church. Let me tell you this, we do know what's happening next. Christ is coming again and he wins. Straight up, he wins.

And those in Christ Jesus win as well. We are the overcomers who overcome with the one king, the one king, the king of kings, Jesus. And so when he returns, we know this, he's the victor. Now what happens in between? There's some stuff in there that's confusing.

There's some stuff in there that could cause us to have anxiety but I would argue it shouldn't because here's the picture. The picture is as a bride coming down who has been prepared and adorned for you. So those of you in the room, and there's a right many of you in the room, I'll give you two pictures that'll help this. One of them will be for most, one of them will be for all. Here's the one for most.

Some of you think back, some of you it was many years ago for me it was a good 20 some years ago that I was month out, week out, a few days out from marrying this little girl named Nicole. And those months ahead felt like years. Those days felt like millennia, like eagerly, I cannot wait for this date in August of 2005. Let it come quick. And I remember the night before I could barely sleep.

Not because church, hear me, not because I was anxious, but because I was so excited. You remember this. Some of you in the room think back. And some of you, this is current. Like imagine how you feel the month of December, the way you felt when you were a little kid on December 24th when you couldn't sleep a wink.

Cause Santa's coming. Some of you remember that. You remember that time in your life. That's the picture that Christ gives here is as a bride coming eagerly and adorned for her groom. And that's us.

We've been waiting for this new city that Christ has prepared and he's been preparing for a good little bit. I'll take you to John, chapter 14. Here's what Jesus said. Let this sink in today. He says, let not your hearts be troubled.

Why? Because if you believe in God, you believe also in me. And in my Father's house there are a lot of rooms. And if that weren't the case, I would have told you. So that's what he says.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and I will take you to myself. That where I am you may be also. Jesus is saying, hey look, we got enough rooms. Heaven is not going to have a sign up that says no vacancy when you arrive. We got room for you and it's better than you can ever imagine.

And I've been preparing a place. Now God, at least if you believe as I believe, I think it's a literal six days. God made the earth. Now you can think what you want about that. That's kind of irrelevant in this argument.

But I believe that in six days he made the earth six literal days. And he's been gone for 2,000 years preparing a place. He did a lot in six days. I can't imagine what he's accomplished in 2,000 years. He's been preparing a place for you and I and it is going to be incredible.

The word here in verse two, adorned is the word that we take to mean cosmetology. In the Greek it's cosmeo. This is the idea that God that Christ has been making this place beautiful. He's been gussying this bride up. I don't know if anybody uses that term anymore.

But I still sometimes, unlike, you know, it's very important that Jesus here says that. The speaker here says adorned as a bride because the men in the room. You know what we did, like, we tried to get our hairs kind of lined up. That was about all we accomplished, right? But the women, I'm telling you, I don't know what your wives were like husbands in the room, but my wife had a layer makeup.

I mean, and that's not normal for her. I mean, I'm telling you, she was perfect. It was like nothing had ever happened in her life to cause any sun damage or anything.

Not me. I was a little, you know, a little different. Thankfully, the photos include her. Praise God. But this is the nature of which this bride has come down adorned.

Perfect. There are no blemishes. The old has passed away. The chaos, the brokenness. Church, you understand, it's gone.

And when Christ shows up, he says it is done. When talking about this passing away, a lot of the disciples and apostles, they write about this. Peter, when he's writing about it, he says it goes back, that God has taken it down to like an elemental level. Second Peter, chapter three. Peter writes, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise.

And the elements. Church, hear it. The elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Nevertheless, we, according to the promise, to his promise, we look for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Peter says, hey, God's taking it back down to the elements. He's taking it down to the studs and he's creating a new heaven and a new earth. Isaiah caught a vision of this too, very similar to what John saw. Isaiah 65. Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not even be remembered or come to mind.

Behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy. The wolf and the lamb, they'll graze together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy any or in all my holy mountain, says the Lord. So death is gone.

The order in which things are occurring has changed.

In Genesis, this tragic thing happens. The garden is lost. In fact, we find out in the book of Genesis that when man sinned and separated himself from God, God hid the place. Cherubim now blocked the path, the gates are shut. But something has happened in Christ Jesus.

The end is telling us this story that a new heavens and a new earth is coming. And. And God is swinging the doors wide open to those in Christ Jesus. And the garden which was once Great. The Garden of Eden now has become a garden city full of rivers and the tree of life.

And as we read in this story, these things come without payment. Now, let me just say this. A payment was made, but it wasn't yours. It was the Lord Jesus payment. So now when we come to the rivers of life, the water of life, and we come thirsty, we can drink without payment.

This new city is incredible.

As we try to picture such a thing, I think it causes us to realize something and to long for something that we all know intrinsically, that deep down, there's something in you, that when you look at the world around you, you look at it with a bit of frustration. Even the most optimistic person in the room, the most optimistic person in the room, you will still walk out into your yard later this week and notice a weed that shouldn't be there. Some of you could care less about that kind of stuff. It frustrates me that at springtime, I never have enough money to fix my situation because my front yard is not great and I'm weird. I would very much like it to look like the putting green at the Masters.

It's never going to happen at my current pace. Alright, I'm way off. But I wish. And so when I come out and I look, there's a weed and there's a bit of frustration there when I walk out onto my back deck, which I spent money on building and spent time on building. For some reason, my back deck is very attractive to wasps and I despise wasps.

I think that's okay to say. Lord, I'm just going to say it right to you. That creation is. They're demented. I wish you'd have never made that.

I'm just putting that out there now. One day you're going to make that make sense. But I have done something crazy. I've put dragonflies all over my back deck because I heard they might keep the wasps away. I'll let y' all know.

I'll let y' all know. So far, I'm not sure other than I just look crazy now. I just look crazy with a bunch of strange dragonflies. But when I look around the world, and sometimes I look internally, I don't even have to look externally. I look internally and go, what in the world?

I can look in the mirror and that's all I need to go, man, there's got to be something more. There's. As C.S. lewis put, there's like an abyss in the human heart that longs for a new world. That longs for a better country.

As we look at this text, I pray believers in the room, it would encourage you. It would give you peace, it would give you joy to know that that thing you've longed for, that weird suspicion you have in your heart that there's something more. It's true. You are made for a better place. What should that do in you?

It shouldn't cause you anxiety. It shouldn't cause you to look at. No. It should cause you to look at everything that's going on and go, hey, yeah. But the king is sovereign and he has not stepped off his throne.

He continues to rule and reign, and one day he will permanently fix it. It's not yet, and I don't know when, but it could happen in my lifetime. And if that's the case, I'm going to live as if he's coming any day. And what that does for me is not create an anxiety or fear in me. No, it creates quite the opp.

Because I know when he shows up, I'm gonna be ready. And when he shows up, I want to be living in such a way that I am urgently glorifying him. So that when people. When he shows up, that people around me, when I disappear, that he's gonna. They're gonna know full well, yeah, I saw that coming.

I don't want anybody to be surprised. Oh, really? I'd have never guessed he was one of those believers. No. I want people to go.

Yep. So all that, in fact, I want the people around me, if I am gone, if the Lord takes me on, that they would go. Part of what God was doing on this earth and being the salt of the earth, has left. I want people to feel it when I'm gone. Why?

Because Christ has called me to be not only the salt of the earth, but the light. He is placed by the power of the Holy Spirit, the light within each of us that we. Wherever we go, our workplace, our neighborhoods, our families, the. That people would say, man, I like being around that guy, that gal. They light me up.

They bring praise to the Father. I want that to be the case. You were made for a new world, friends. So set your hearts and minds on things that are above. This is what Paul writes in Colossians.

Many places. Set your minds on things that are above. If you can't walk out of the room today with a sense of peace, thinking about the return of the King of Kings, then I don't know how to help you today. I pray you walk out of this room encouraged so that when you look at whatever's going on, you know, hey, he's in charge. And here's the second really great news.

The first is God's still creative. He's creating a new heaven and a new earth. He's been working on it. He's been preparing it a long time. He has adorned it with incredible beauty.

And not only that, verse three and verse four tell us that he has a dwelling place now with us that's different from anything we've ever experienced in this life. It's like what Adam and Eve experienced for a very brief time. It says in the book of Genesis that they walked with God in the cool of the night. I can't wait. Church to walk with God on the streets of gold.

Do you realize how amazing that news is? Because here's the story of scripture. Man sins and so God separates himself. And then God dwells with Israel on a tabernacle and on a temple. And he dwells with them in pillar of cloud and pillar of fire.

He dwells with them, but not walking with them. He's an image. And then in the exile, he's in the temple and he leaves. And now he comes and this person named Jesus. And so we have God incarnate with us.

But not all people saw him, only those who were near Saul. And now he sent his promised Holy Spirit with us, dwelling in us. But one day, one day we will walk with him on streets of gold. That's an incredible, incredible word. It's better than even the fact that he has made something new beautifully adorned.

The better news is that the God of the universe knows you and will spend forever with you. That's better news. And some of you in the room, I want you to hear that today. If that's not better news to you today, you really need to check your image of heaven. You need to check it out the door.

Because what it means to be Christian is to be with Christ. And if you don't love spending time with Jesus on this side of heaven, it's going to be real uncomfortable there. Because the way the revelation describes it is the sun and moon are no longer even necessary. God himself will become our light. And so if you want heaven without Jesus, you don't want heaven at all.

If heaven to you is, oh, no more suffering, no more pain, all my problems are gone, that's great, but that ain't heaven. Heaven is a place where we eternally know and worship and enjoy God forever. And you ought to get some practice here, otherwise it's going to be right shocking when you get there. In fact, I'm not even sure you'll be ready.

It's confusing to me. I'll say this, this is going to sound very much self, you know, like I'm trying to make. Make things better for me because I'm often up here doing worship. But I got news for y'. All.

When I look at the Book of Revelation, it seems to me the words are every tongue, every nation, tribe and tongue will be singing Worthy Are youe. I'm looking over at you, my boy. Every tongue will be singing.

And some of you are like, I can't sing, Jonathan. I don't care. And he doesn't either. He made you. Do you think he's like, oh, my gosh, that one can't sing?

Really? You think he's surprised? No. When he hears your goofy little voice, he's like, man, I love it. Who in the room.

When you hear your sweet little children at 2 and 3 years old singing way out of pitch, who in the room says, you better cut that out. You need to go back and really find your ability to love anybody. When you hear that sweet little two year old singing way out of pitch, you're like, you get them. I love it. Some of you, you're 62, God treats you all the same.

He loves it. Time to sing. Time to clap. Heaven is not gonna be a place where we stand there. I'm sorry, it's not.

It can't be otherwise. The words are false. Here we're going to be in a place where we sing worthy of the. There's going to be people bowing. There's going to be people on their face.

This is what heaven is, and so be prepared. It's time to get encouraged in this that God is now dwelling with his people. It is going to be permanent. There it is, beginning here. We're getting a foretaste in this moment when we come together as a fellowship of believers, we're getting a foretaste of the dwelling place of God being with man.

This is what verses three through four say. It says, I heard with a loud voice. The Greek. There is the word phones, megales. It's where we get the idea of megaphone.

It's like somebody came on the loudspeaker and said, he who's from the beginning, he will make his dwelling place with man. A time is coming where God Himself will walk the streets with you. You will see his face and hear his voice. You will hear it like you hear the voice of your father or mother. Now I hear his voice all the time in here I pray.

Lord, let me hear you. I hear his voice in prayer. I see his face on the pages. I. But this is more.

That I would walk the streets of gold with him. That's more. And he says, I'm going to wipe every tear away. Why? Because the former stuff's gone.

That's really great news. Because the former stuff includes death and suffering and pain and sin. And sin is the culprit for all of that. No more will I have to wonder whether or not I can ever get over my addiction, my brokenness, whatever it is that's got me hung up. No more.

It's gone. No more do I have to fear death. No more do I get the bad news over the phone from a relative that, hey, I've got the big C. No more cancer. Whatever. It's all done.

Oh, that's glory. But compared to walking the streets of Jesus, it's minor.

We're getting it all, though. Isn't that cool, Church? I'm telling you, you better walk out these doors today encouraged, because I don't know. Otherwise, you're just deaf.

Wipe every tear away. Former things have passed away. Paul, when he's thinking about it, he begins to quote a lot of Scripture. Second Corinthians 6. He says, we are the temple of the living God, as God said, I will make my dwelling among them, and I'll walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

I want you to be ready for heaven, Church. I want you to be ready for this beautiful thing that God one day will walk the streets with you. And that blows my mind, too, because I can't imagine a God who would love me that much. Look, I've tried to live well. I've tried to do well, but at times I don't even like me to be honest.

And the people that I love most, I don't want to be around them all the time. I made four children, y', all, and I love them. I really do. But there are times, and they will tell you where I look them in the face and say, go do something. Get out of my face.

This is why, when I was growing up, that our parents sent all of us outside and we stayed. We weren't allowed to come back in. I didn't. This is just a little before me, but I realized recently, and some of you, this was your life. I think this is Jen Xers.

But there used to be something that came on TV that said, do you know where your kids are? That's a Little before me. But that's amazing. All right? That's the way a lot of us were raised.

You go outside and you stay outside. Why? Because our parents loved us. But go do something with yourself because you're getting on my nerves. Do you understand?

The God of the universe wants to spend every moment of every day with you. I can't believe that. That is so amazing. That is greater than the love of a mother, of a father. My mom, she's as sweet as she can be.

But I'm telling you, she looked me in the face before and said, get out of the house.

God doesn't say that. Come to me, all who are weary, and I will give you rest. That's the voice of God here in this place. He says, my dwelling place will be with you. I'm going to spend my time with you.

Wow. I'm so thankful for this God. And I saw this beautiful thing this week I had never considered before. I'd never thought of it this way. At least that the entire Bible is really a great love story, if you will.

That Genesis to Revelation is a great love story. In fact, there is a. A first wedding, a climactic wedding, and then a final wedding. The first wedding happens between Adam and Eve. You're probably pretty familiar with it.

God looks at the earth and he says, this is good. The trees, the plants. It's good, it's good, it's good. He looks at man and says, that's not good. That guy needs.

He needs something. He needs a helper. He needs somebody to be with him. So God puts Adam to sleep and guts and in the side removes a rib and makes a woman from his rib, brings them to her. God officiates the first wedding.

Adam and Eve are made one. This is beautiful. Here's what I'd never considered before. Christ, when hanging on the cross, hands and feet pierced, he has his side also slit. So that what?

So that now the bride of Christ, who is who? Us, the church might be restored, that we might be drawn and taken down the aisle to say, here is your King, here is your Lord, serve him forever. And I say, yes, and Amen to that. That's the middle, the climactic wedding where Christ is pierced for me. And then there's this final scene where now the new heavens and new earth prepared as a bride adorned for a groom.

Do you have that anticipation? Those in Christ Jesus today he's coming again and it's going to be way better than you could ever imagine. The greatest gift of heaven, though, don't Forget if you remember nothing else today, it's not the streets of gold, it's the fact that you get to be with Jesus. Hallelujah. Here's the third, and I know y' all have been itching for me to get to these last few verses.

What is he going to do with this? Well, God is fully good, fully holy, fully loving. He is fully just, and he will always be just. And so the third way in which God is revealing Himself here in redemption is that he is making all things new and he is judging all evil. Evil is the very idea of evil is not God.

If you want to know how to define evil. It is everything that is not God. And so those things outside of his will, he will not stand for. They will be fully dealt with. There are things in this life right now you are longing for him to finally rid of this planet.

And one day he will.

Now, Christ, it seems to me theologians when reading this text, they see this as either one or two voices. I think based on the way the language is here. Verse 3, you'll see that this voice comes out in the third person. Verse 3, it says, Behold the dwelling places with man. He will dwell with them.

I think this perhaps is an angelic host by the throne, saying, he will dwell with you. He will wipe away your tears. And then as John's watching, I think the king stands up from his throne, says, I am making all things new. I am the alpha and the Omega, and I will help you be the overcomer who can receive this living water. He says in verse six, verse six, he says, it is done.

Now that sounds pretty familiar to you, I bet. But I want to tell you something. It's a little different than the it is finished, you know, of on the cross. Christ says and looks out at the people and he says, it is finished. This is the Greek word tetelestai, which means it is complete, it is done.

Powerful word. But it's different than this word. This is the Greek word genomi, which has to do with something you planned, something you made being done. And so what God is really saying here, he's saying two things in the story of Scripture. He's saying, first of all, your payment, that sin debt, it is finished.

And then here he's saying, hey, that stuff I've been planning, I'm done with it. It's done. One day all the promises in Christ will be amen. Yes, here is that moment. Here he says, it is done.

And then he goes on to say, I'm the alpha, I'm the Omega, and from me you can receive the spring of the water of life. Now, I'm going to let you go ahead and hear this because otherwise verse 8 is impossible to hear. I want you to not miss verse six. He says, to the thirsty, I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. So as I read again verse 8 here in a moment and deal with it, you might find yourself, as I find myself going, I'm some of these things sometimes.

Some of these things I'm concerned about because of me, to the thirsty. So the question is, what is your heart posture to God? How do you approach him? Do you approach him like this? God, I got this.

Don't need you. Then you're the eight things listed here. But if your approach to him is, God, I desperately need you. Would you fill me with the water of life? Would you show me how to speak to my neighbor?

How to treat my wife? Would you show me how to be a better father, a better mother? Would you show God, I desperately need you? That's why he writes to the thirsty. This means to be parched, to be longing for.

This is why the psalmist writes, as a deer pants for water. So my soul longs for you. This isn't about perfection, church. You don't come to God saying, I've got it, all right? I'm totally perfect.

No, you come saying, I'm broken and I desperately need you. To the thirsty, I will give the water of life. And then he goes on in verse seven to say something that you should question. He says to the one who conquers, that one will have a heritage. Wait a minute.

I'm not sure who that is. Am I the one who conquers? Some of you in the room are feeling right small right now. Maybe you've drugged some baggage in here today. Maybe there's been some really hard stuff going on in your life and you're feeling like, man, I haven't overcome anything.

I'm not the conqueror he's speaking of here. I have great news for you today, friend. It doesn't have anything to do with what you've accomplished. It has everything to do with what he accomplished. And whether or not you believe that or not.

This is why the Bible is clear. And this is just two spaces I'm going to take you to. I could go to a whole lot more. But First John, chapter five makes this really clear. John in another book writes, first John, chapter five.

Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the son of God? You want to know who the overcomers are, those who believe in the overcomer. Paul writes similarly in Romans, chapter 8. He says, yet in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. So what makes you an overcomer?

What makes you a conqueror? Your faith. Your faith in Christ. And it's not just that. Because the very power for you to overcome is in Christ.

I've said this really recently, and I'm chewing on this more. I think that too many believers have this confusion that sin is inevitable.

I don't think it is. I don't think sin is inevitable. As if to say, hey, I've made this mistake before. I've made it. I don't know, some of you in the room, you know what that is.

Some might call it an indwelling sin, something that you've done hundreds, if not thousands of times. Maybe it's lie, maybe it's gossip, maybe it's an addiction, maybe it's lust. There's something in you that you've done so many times. And there's something that begins to tell you this sin area is inevitable. For me, I don't believe that's the case.

I think the case. The real truth is we are more than conquerors. Those who love Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit of God, which raised Christ Jesus from the dead, lives in you. If that's true, then he can raise dead things. And this brokenness you experience, you may need to put some boundaries around it, but God can help you overcome it if you make the same mistake every time you go to the bar.

Stop going to the bar.

But my car just drives me there. What? Every time I stay up late, I end up watching something I should not watch. Then stop staying up late. But I'm a night owl.

My kids don't go to bed. I need me time. Me time ends up being sin time go to bed. I hope you're getting that. You can put boundaries around it, but sin is not inevitable.

In fact, God is a conqueror in your life. So I pray you would overcome. This is the prayer I have for myself. Look, God does not. He's not expecting perfection, but he is, however, expecting obedience and that we would be faithful.

So now, verse eight. Why these eight things? And they seem strange. They seem strange to me. The word cowardly seems strange.

You're telling me that cowards don't go to heaven? Is that what he's saying? In an aspect, yes. That is what he's saying. There's an aspect of that that he means.

Why these words? Why unbelief why this word detestable? Or in other translations, it's the word abominable, which just makes me think of a big snowman. What's going on here?

I think these are character traits that don't belong in the Holy City. That's what many theologians said about it. And there's no easy way to slice this. And here's why it's not easy. Because at our heart, we want everybody to go to heaven.

And I think that's a great thing. I think that's God's heart. I think it is. This is what he writes to Peter in Second Peter. He says God desires that all men would be saved, that none should perish.

That's the heart of God. If you feel that way, you're right. But here's the problem. God is not going to make anybody do something they don't want to do. And there's a lot of people that want nothing to do with him.

And he's not going to make them be there. And so here we have this case. These are people with a heart posture opposed to God. The first is this heart posture of cowardly and unbelieving. Cowardly really applies to the Christian around the world who's facing persecution or the person around the world who, in the moment, they will claim Christ when it's convenient, but when it's inconvenient, they'll want nothing to do with it.

That's what the coward is in this sentence. And for some of you, it's really comfortable to be a Christian right here. Will you do it tomorrow at work? Because it can be comfortable on Sunday morning. It might even be comfortable on Sunday nights.

But somewhere you go to bed and you wake up a nonbeliever. I don't understand that. That's the coward he's speaking of here. And when he's speaking to the first century, that's the kind of coward he's speaking to. Because they're under great persecution.

And when it's convenient, they'll get around and say, okay, we like this Acts, Chapter two stuff. Everybody's giving and they're being generous and everybody's being loving. And then Rome shows up and says, I don't know the guy. This is the cowardice of Peter. And Peter's restored.

Peter's unique. And some of you are going to get that restoration too. But don't count on it. Peter, when asked, he says, I don't know him. Three times he says, I don't know him.

Quit bugging me about it. I don't know him. This is why when Jesus shows up later to deal with Peter, he fully restores him. The three times that Peter says, not me, not me, not me. Christ says, do you love me?

Do you love me? Do you love me? Feed my sheep. Feed my sheep. This is kind of restoring power of God.

But had Peter stayed there in that cowardice. That's what he's speaking about. The unbelieving. This is someone who has rejected God. They would hate heaven because heaven's more than streets of gold and pearly gates.

No suffering. It is a place where we worship God forever. If you don't care for him here, you're going to despise it there. He won't make you go there.

Then there's these four middle ones, which are about corruption, immoral and spiritual decay. He says, detestable, that is to have an alignment in yourself that does the things God hates, that you most often do, things God disdains. That's detestable that you would be a murderer. Oh, finally one showed up that we're like, yeah, let's not let the murderers go. But then you forget, wait a minute, where do I fit into this?

Because when Jesus talks on the Sermon on the Mount, he says, hey, if you've ever said to your brother Raca and felt anger towards him, you're a murderer in your heart. It's like, daggone it. I mean, I have an older brother and he was a piece of work when we were young. I mean, I wished evil upon him many times because he would come home and just beat me up sometimes because he'd had a bad day at school. Next time you see Stephen Combs, I'm telling you, ask him about it.

He was a turd. Straight up. He's great now. I love him to death. We're great friends, but in school it was tough.

I thought many bad thoughts. Jesus says murderer. You look at a woman with lust in your heart. You've committed adultery with her in your heart already. Well, fail, Fail.

Okay, what do I do with this list then?

The difference here is that these are ones who they don't hate what God hates. Instead, they align with what God hates. They're happy with it. The sorcerers, the idolaters, the liars. These are people who could care less about truth.

To them, the Bible writes, and it writes plainly, and I don't want anybody to be confused about this, that there is a destination for those who are apart from God. It says there will be a lake of fire and sulfur, and they will have verse eight says they will have their part in the lake. The word part here has to do with the idea of payment their lot, that the lot in life that they've received for the actions they've committed will be this lake of fire and brimstone of sulfur. Now, before you go, well, yeah, they get what they deserve. No, no, they're getting what all of us deserve.

The only difference between you and them is the blood of Jesus. And so don't come at this with pride. Instead, come at this with humility and go thank the Lord because I deserved it. Because of these eight brokennesses, I've pretty much done them all.

David wrote about this day when evil would finally be judged and the meek would inherit the earth. Psalm 37 Yet a little while, and the wicked shall be no more, but the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace this last verse I actually debated this week whether or not I wanted to keep it in here.

The reason being is because I know how hard it is to hear, but I think we needed to hear it. Here's why there's only 2 responses to this that I see those of you in Christ Jesus today, the church that's in the room, you should hear this verse and have a sense of holy urgency. There are family members, there are co workers, there are neighbors. There are people around you that are not going to spend eternity with the living God and their heart is set against him in this moment. And the invitation to you, the urgency for you is that you would be a light, that you would be the salt of the earth to them if they receive it.

Great. That's up to the Lord. But your responsibility is this. Be salt and light. There's some of you that have come in here today and you have lived in opposition to God.

I want you to hear this as an invitation, not as a discouragement. This isn't here to say you're in trouble, you're stuck. That's not the case. It's here to inform you there's hope. Because God has not.

Christ has not come yet, nor has he taken you home. That means you have time at least. You have this moment. I can't speak to what happens to you on the way home or what happens this week. But you have this moment.

This should be an encouraging word to you that yes, this has been my heart posture, but no more. God has given me another chance. And God gives a lot of chances. I don't know why he does. 40 years of second chances he's given me and in Christ Jesus the ultimate second chance.

I pray today that you would react to it this way because all of us could fit into this list of eight. And yet, because of Christ Jesus, we have been redeemed. And those of you in the room who have never received it, it is time. Wait. Not another moment, because no man knoweth the hour.

So this is the story. 12 weeks we've been here. If you missed any of these, they're all online. I think I really enjoyed this. I've had such a blast.

This is one united story, one grand narrative of God's redemption. He loves you. He made you for himself. He made you in his image. You are different than anything else on the planet and he loves you so much that he took on the cross and the grave for you and he's not done there.

For 2000 years he's been preparing and adorning a place for you and I to live. The invitation today is.

Come to the water. Thirsty?

Are you thirsty? Are you the overcomer? Where are you in the story? Because here we are in the in between. Christ has not yet come, but he's coming.

And he could come any day. He could come any day. I'll paint a picture for you for just a moment, something to consider. This is Jonathan's opinion. Okay, I'm a person who believes in a young earth and what I mean by that, I believe the earth is somewhere around 6,000 years old.

And you're going to tell me later, oh well, the data, this and that. I'll throw one wrench in that big mess. If God can create a full grown man, he can definitely create a thousand year old tree in a breath. So if you want to say carbon dating proves the earth is this old, okay, I don't care because God can create anything within indwelt, inbuilt age. So I'm not going to go there.

In my opinion, the earth is around 6,000 years if you just base it on the Bible, 2,000 years from Adam to, to Noah, Noah, 2,000 years to Jesus. Now here we are 2,000 years after Jesus. There's something significant about that. To me there's a lot of people lately that are seeing, hey, most of the prophecies that are foretold, they seem to be at least close to or have been completed. Now hear me when I say this.

Every generation has thought this and I think they're right to do so. In my generation, I think he could come, I think he could come any day. And because of that it changes how I live. Guess what? The believers in the first century, they thought Christ was coming any day.

That's the right way to live. Those in the 1500s. Oh yeah, the Christians in the 1500s, they thought he was coming any day. That's the way to live church. Because he could come tomorrow.

So what does that look like? What's my part in the story? I'm going to be salt and light. I'm going to come to the cross thirsty every day. You with it.

Let's pray now together. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much that you are first of all a good God who loves us, who's creative. That you made us not only in your image, but made us for yourself. You made a good thing and you made us to have an everlasting soul that would spend eternity with you. And your desire is that all men would be saved and be restored and be reconciled to you.

And that's what you want. And that's what I want. Lord, I pray that you would help me myself. That our church, your people here in this room. That we would live in such a way, that we would be reconcilers.

That our desire is to be light and salt in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces. That people would see Christ Jesus in us in the way we speak and the way we think and the way that we interact with others. That it would be obvious to people. Boy, he loves that Jesus. I want it to be obvious, God, make it obvious to others.

And that you would do the thing that only you can do and begin to draw men to yourself. That my family members, my co workers, my neighbors. That these people would see you through me and it would draw them to you. I can't do that part. But help me to be courageous when it happens.

Happens. Help me to have the boldness to open up my mouth when it happens and talk about the hope I have in Christ Jesus for that person who's come in today. I don't know what caused them to be in the room, but I have no doubt, Lord, it was you orchestrating the moment. That today is the day, my friend. If you've come in today and you fit into that last eight and the verse eight, if that's you, I have great news for you.

It doesn't have to end there. There is hope for you. The lake of fire and brimstone and sulfur, that is not a guaranteed destination for you, my friend. You can change that today by faith. And I pray you would do so.

That's why you're here. God set up a moment in time for you. Don't reject it here. Don't look past it this time.

Dear friend, if that's you, would you pray simply with me? Jesus, I believe today that you are Lord of my life. That you died on the cross for my sin, that God raised you from the dead. Thank you. Thank you for that.

Thank you for paying for this. Because I am a mess. Those eight things. I'm all of that, or at least some of it.

Lord, I want to drink from the water of life today without payment. Thank you for what you've done. And I'm asking now, Lord, would you guide me? Would you help me to live in a new way where I'm salt and light? I'm not anxious and afraid anymore.

Lord, help me to live with a sense of peace and joy. With eager expectation of your coming again, Dear friend. Welcome to the family of God. We're all praying that last part. God, guide us that we would live with eager expectation.

Let this church be the kind of people that would truly impact a city. That because we're urgent, because we know you could come any day, it changes the way we talk, it changes the way we think. It motivates us in a fresh way. God, do that in your people. Use your church to reach many.

I pray that when your kingdom comes and you return, you would find your people hard at work for your name's sake. I pray all these things in Jesus name. Amen.