6/28/26 - Revelation 22: In Closing - Steve Gee

I've talked about this before, but uh our family, well, Chris and I, we don't love movies, we don't love movies that we don't understand how the ending is going to play out.

So I know I've said this before, like, I don't like the movies.

If you see on the cover, like if they have like the laurel leaves and they've won like some sort of independent film festival, I would say no that no thanks.

Because that means it's gonna end poorly.

That they don't feel like it should be a Hallmark movie or a fairy tale, and so they're like, oh, this is real life, and so uh we'll we'll give it an award because it ends horrifically, and nobody's happy at the end, and then it just ends with like somber music and then it wins an award.

And I don't, I'm not a fan of those kinds of movies.

I like I like the fairy tale movies, I like the ones that end well, I know are gonna end well, I like the movie, I like the best kind of fairy tale movie is the one I've already seen.

So then I can go back and watch it the second, third, and hundredth time, knowing uh knowing how it's gonna end.

And so I watch all of the conflict and all of the drama in the movie.

No, I still may get sucked in.

I'm like, ah, and I'm like, oh yeah, I know how this ends.

Happily ever after.

I know how this ends.

Uh they're okay.

I know how this ends.

Uh restoration, I know how this ends.

And yeah, so I may get sucked in, but at the same time, there's always that continual, but I know how this ends.

I know how this ends.

And today is all about us remembering how this ends.

The church must continually remember the end.

I I've I've had people over the last weeks and months talk to me about uh just you know how much I like the book of Revelation, just to always try to put it in there.

But I think, as I'm going to show you, it's not that's not a Steve thing, that's a Bible thing.

That's that's what we're all supposed to be doing.

The children of Israel in the wilderness continually forgot what had been promised them.

So why did the children of Israel fall short in the wilderness?

They forgot how the story ends.

They forgot that the land had been promised.

Even when they got to the edge and they sent the spies in.

What did they do when they came back?

They forgot how the story ends.

They forgot that the Lord goes with them.

They had been given a promise of his presence, they'd even been given a visible manifestation of his presence in the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, always and continually visible reminders for 40 years that God is with them and leading them, yet they were fearful and doubting and forgetful, and they rebelled, and again, forgetting even when they got to the edge what the Lord had assured them.

Well, what about the New Testament?

Do we see this in the New Testament too?

And of course we do.

Okay, I'm gonna just, let me just, I I this week I just went through this exercise.

Like, let me just read through this.

I'm not gonna get them all, but I just went through the New Testament book by book and looked, just kind of glossed over each book.

Uh I'm not bragging, I glossed, okay?

Uh uh I glossed over each book.

Let me see that this is important in the New Testament, too.

It's not just important for the children of Israel to remember that it was important for the New Testament saints as well.

Sermon on the Mount, Mount.

I'm gonna, this will be the longest passage I read from this little section.

Look at the Beatitudes.

And when you read that, when you hear these Beatitudes read to you, what is Jesus Christ pointing them to?

Is he pointing them to right now, the already, uh, the this present age, or is he pre uh pointing them to how the story ends?

Let me just read it to you and think about that.

The beatitudes.

This is Christ's teaching on the mount.

He opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit.

Why?

Because they're just having their best life now?

No.

Why?

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn.

Because mourning is fun?

No.

For they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake.

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Rejoice and be glad.

Why?

Because it's fun to be persecuted.

Where does their joy come from?

Christ tells them, for your reward is great in heaven.

For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you throughout the Beatitudes.

Remember what's coming.

Remember what's coming.

Remember what's coming.

I know you're suffering.

I know you're hungry.

I know you're thirsty.

I know you're you're you have you're you're you're being crushed down.

I know all these things are happening to you right now.

Guess what?

Acts 14, Paul reminds them, it is through many trials we enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Romans 8, Paul reminds them, all of these things are not worth comparing to that which will be revealed to us.

1 Corinthians 15, we are pitiable if the resurrection is not true.

Galatians, don't lose hard in doing good, for there will be a harvest.

Ephesians, all things will be united to him, and we will acquire an inheritance.

Our citizenship is in heaven and will be transformed to be like his glorious body.

Colossians 3, set your mind on things above where you will be revealed in glory.

1 Thessalonians, encourage one another with the return of the Lord.

1 Timothy 6, doing good for what is to come.

Titus, waiting for the arrival of our blessed hope.

Hebrews 12, striving for peace with everyone that they may see God.

1 Peter 5, after you've suffered for a little while, there will be glory and restoration.

1 John 2, this world is passing away.

Don't love it, abide forever with Christ.

We are in the last hour.

James 5, be patient, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Jude, keep yourself from the love of money.

Wait for your eternal life.

It is throughout the New Testament.

This is a Bible thing.

Remember how the story ends.

Always keep that intention in your mind.

You understand you are eternal.

This life is not all there is.

Do you believe that?

Do you function out of that truth?

Over and over again, God breathes out exhortation to remember how your story ends, to live lives oriented around what He has promised in hardship and suffering.

While we mourn and are severely grieved, we are not consumed because we know that this is only for a little while, that death and decay will be undone, and so we trust him.

And also in times of prosperity and health and harvest, we remember that all good things from above, and instead of all good things are from above.

And instead of worshiping creation, we worship the Creator and are not led away by the idols of money and power.

Instead, we consider how we invest these gifts for the sake of that which is eternal.

Knowing how the story ends is the truth that orients our feelings of hopelessness and our call to live generously.

And while we don't have a pillar of cloud and fire to lead us, we have something better.

And I know we can say, I can't believe it, they messed it up.

They had a pillar of uh of cloud, a pillar of fire.

I heard somebody say maybe that maybe the pillar of cloud was to give them shade during the day, and the pillar of fire was to give them light by the night.

I don't, that's not, that's that's from that's Baxter biblical, right?

I'm preaching from silence.

Uh but you can say, oh, well, if I just had that, like if that was in front of me, if God's presence was in front of me, I would be led by him and I would trust him in the wilderness.

I would remember that his promises will come true.

Uh it's an airtight thing.

I'll just I will do it, I will do it, I will do it.

And yet, Jesus Christ Himself says there's something better than even me having me on this earth, and that is I'm going to send the helper, the advocate, the Holy Spirit, the paraclete, and he will come and indwell in you.

Would is it not better to have the Holy Spirit in us than to have a pillar of fire in front of us?

And yeah, we say, Yeah, if I had that, I would.

I would never, I would never walk in a way that uh is for this age.

I would never forget the promises of God if I just had that.

We have been given the indwelling of God, the Holy Spirit, who leads us by day and by night.

With all of that, we jump into our passage.

Revelation 22, 1 through 5.

Reading from the English Standard Version, Revelation 22, 1 through 5.

This is what it says.

This is how the story ends.

This is true.

These are things are trustworthy from uh from Christ, by the by the hand of John.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of the god of God and of the Lamb, through the middle of the street of the city.

Also on either side of the river the tree of life, with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month.

The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nation.

Verse three No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.

Verse 4, they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads, and night will be no more, they will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

And ever.

It's like pie.

Just keeps going.

I mean, not like the baked good, I mean like the mathematical equation.

It just keeps going forever and ever and ever.

He will be our God and we will be his people.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you for this day.

As we remember these things, Father God, may we remember these things.

May we function out of this truth.

We need your help, Father God.

We doubt.

We look around us in the wilderness and we think about our thirst and our hunger.

Uh, and we we grow afraid.

Or even worse, we have gold and we feel like we don't need you.

And we don't run to you, we don't depend on you.

And so, Father, as the right of Proverbs wrote, Father, just give us enough.

Don't give us too much that we don't run to you.

Don't give us too little that we fall away from you.

Father, we need you, we need you every day.

Thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who makes all these things possible.

It's in his name we pray.

Amen.

So the question is do we believe that what is written in J in Revelation 22, 1 through 5 actually will happen?

Do you believe it's true?

This morning we'll spend our time unpacking and thinking through this profound truth, but especially verse 4.

And I again I I can't say this enough.

I mean, maybe I could.

But uh I I would just ask you to suspend all of your grown-up ideas that fairy tales that happily ever after is not somewhere actually uh hard-coded into us, that it is not actually what we are meant for.

It is.

It is.

There is happily, joyfully ever after.

It's not a fairy tale.

In fact, as Tim Keller, I know Brad Jenkins quoted Keller a lot this morning, as Tim Keller talks about, all fairy tales are actually an echo of what God is going to do.

So where does that where does that story even come from?

Let me give you a purpose statement.

The children of God live in the present with the confidence of the end in mind.

The children of God live in the present with the confidence of the end in mind.

So then let me give you three points to that.

First, his face, second, his name, and then therefore.

His face, his name, and therefore.

First, his face.

Verse 4, they will see his face.

You see at the bottom of the screen, they will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads.

Uh, you know, if you've ever had to go looking for a house, what are you looking for when you buy a house?

You're looking for somewhere safe, you're looking for somebody, uh, you're looking for uh a roof that doesn't leak, you're looking probably for a foundation that doesn't have cracks, you're looking for something to keep you warm, you know, make sure the HVAC works.

Uh you're looking for something that uh keep you dry, that'll be shelter if a if a tornado comes.

So you're looking to all of these things.

And also somewhere at the end of the day, you can come home and find rest.

Right?

So there's all these things you're looking for when you're looking for a house.

The foundational belief of Christianity is that all humanity is seeking a home.

The foundational belief of all humanity, oh I'm sorry, the foundational belief of all Christianity is that all humanity is seeking home.

And so uh a Christian or the Bible would say that it's not just Christians who are seeking God, it is all people are seeking God.

The Bible explains this in the very first book.

In Genesis, God created man and woman, he placed them in the garden, he gave them a home, and God dwelt with them, and it was good.

And humanity walked in the fullness of their creator and his creation, but then man rebelled and was sent what?

Into exile, outside of his home, which really is a person.

And the rest of the Old Testament is the continual struggle of God's people trying to get back home, the home that is now guarded, to dwell with his God.

Psalm 27, 4 says this, it's on your screen, it should be in your Bible.

Psalm 27, 4.

One thing have I asked of the Lord.

Like I like that convicted me.

One thing I've asked of the Lord.

One thing, priority, one thing I've asked of the Lord that I will seek after, that I pursue, that I'm going after with my entire life.

Here's the thing that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and inquire and to inquire in his temple.

And again, we would say this is the underlying quest for all of humanity.

This is the great unease we are all born into.

It is what we all seek, and it is what we all are.

It is the thing under all of our pursuits.

C.S.

Lewis in Mere Christianity says this.

Creatures, and I know we've talked about this before, creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exist.

A baby feels hunger, well, there's a such thing as food.

A duckling wants to swim, well, there's such a thing as water.

So if I find myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud.

Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only arouse it to suggest the real thing.

Does that make sense?

It'd be strange if a duck had webbed feet but water didn't exist.

It'd be strange if a baby felt hunger, but there was no such thing as food to satisfy that.

And so then, too, here the argument is this thing that we're all looking for, and we all can't name it.

We all we all have not figured out what the water is or what the food is.

We all are questing after this thing.

That would be strange if it just didn't exist.

It does exist, but it's not in the things.

All the things are actually meant to point to the thing itself.

While C.S.

Lewis calls the longing a desire for another world, I think it's probably better to say we are made for a home that we feel exiled from, or really a person.

That finding rest and shalom is on the other side of something we can't seem to ascend to.

We all long to dwell in the house of the Lord and gaze upon his glory.

I was thinking this week as you know, any anything in my appetite, uh, and and there's some good books about this, like when when when you know you've you've not eaten, you're, you know, maybe even you're you're doing your fasting or uh uh you've just not had something, you're tired, you're sleepy, that maybe what we need to do in those moments, we hear our appetites from.

I'm not saying you shouldn't eat or you shouldn't go to sleep.

Please do.

Right?

That's what Elijah needed, right?

A nap and some food.

Like, but what I am saying is maybe in that first moment when you feel that what would be good to do is to overlay this passage that this overlay this passage of Psalm 27, uh Psalm 27, 4, and say, boy, oh boy, you know what I'm really longing for.

You know what all these things are pointing me to.

It's it's pointing me to the fact that I really just want to see the beauty of Jesus Christ.

That's the face I want.

That's the thing my eyes and my that's the thing that my I'm hungry for.

That all of our appetites are meant to point us to something.

However, we have a problem.

Exodus 33, 20, we read this, uh we read this.

Uh Jesus, or God's telling Moses this.

Moses says, I want to see your face, I want to see your glory.

So we're all longing to gaze at the glory of God.

Exodus 33.20, God tells Moses this uh, you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.

So if this is what we all long for, if this is home, to see the face of God, to gaze at his glory, Psalm 27, 4.

We and we can we can't, because if we do see the face of God, we'll die, then we are crushed, we are eternal exiles.

We will never have the final thing or the thing that will give us uh completion or rest.

Again, it's the duck's webbed feet with water being banished, separated from water.

But we know in Exodus 33, God made a way for Moses.

God's solution was to hide him in the rock.

Exodus 33, 21 through 23 says, And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me which where where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by, I'll put you in the cleft of the rock, and I'll cover you with my hand until I've passed by.

Then I'll take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.

As I reread this biblical account, I thought about Moses hidden in the cleft of the rock, and the glory of God passes by and then until he gets by, and then I just, yeah, okay, it's crazy.

And I think uh I was thinking about how when um God lifted his hand or lifted the veil, and and and Moses was able to see just the passing of God.

I wondered what uh Moses felt again.

If I just may stay away from what's written and just think about it, like to try to put myself in that empathize with Moses.

I, in my mind, here's what I think here's here's Moses uh in that moment.

Uh the glory passes by, and I think Moses would have would have exited.

I think I'm gonna That's what I've been looking for.

That's the thing I've been wanting.

Oh my days, that's all I want.

The thing that I've been hungry and thirsting for.

Trying to fill with the other things.

My anger, my frustration, my pride.

You feel that?

Also, as we know, this was not meant to be the full response of a loving God.

God was not satisfied with his knowing him from a distance or from behind.

Rather, it was just meant to foreshadow it was.

When you think about the biblical tradition, what comes to mind?

What do we need saved from?

Hell?

The lake of fire?

Well, yes, that is true.

But we need to understand that paradise and hell are not simply two places with very different climates.

Rather, they are defined by two eternal realities.

Just for a moment, let's remember what we're talking about here.

Hell is the eternal torment and death of separation from the face of God.

And it is more than just the absence of God.

It is to live under the continual and forever displeasure of your Creator.

It is the unending exile into the wrath of God.

Hell is to be always consumed but never destroyed.

Hell is if the greatest beauties Oh no, let me let me start this differently.

So if the greatest beauties and pleasures of this age are just aromas and shadows of what is to come for the child of God, then the greatest sufferings of this age are also just aromas and shadows of what is to come for the child of wrath.

As one author put it, if heaven's joy is so full that sadness is pushed out, then hell's sadness is so full that joy is squeezed out.

Quite literally, a forever painful frustration of an unquenchable thirst.

That is hell.

The continual, forever, eternal wrath of God being poured out on you.

We were talking this morning about, uh, I pointed over there.

Sonny, I'm not pointing to you, although, good to see you.

Uh uh in Sunday school, we're talking about things that things that the reason why we don't maybe share the gospel uh, you know, to coworkers or in this culture, in this society, there's a lot of a lot of yeah, a lot of reasons we're given.

Uh I I can tell you one thing that we don't like to talk about is hell.

That makes us uncomfortable.

And I mean, like it ought to.

It ought to make us uncomfortable.

But it's in the Bible and it's true, and it's real.

The forever displeasure of God upon us.

What do we need to say from it?

However, the new creation is the eternal life and pleasure of the presence of our God.

It is the satisfaction we all clamor for, it is the glory that the most imagined Person who ever lived could not dare to even dream.

When I think about that, it's better than any fairy tale.

Think about the best fairy tale from your childhood, happily ever after, ended just like you wanted it to.

It's better than that.

The Bible says you can't even imagine how good it is.

It is the face of our King and Savior, Jesus, in full clarity.

It is to be planted by a stream of water.

It is our thirst completed.

It is the answer to every longing our appetites groan for.

So then, the salvation of God is the rescue and redemption of his people unto an inseparable presence with him.

Just as we are all born with basic needs for our survival, everyone, all of humanity is born with the same longing that Moses articulates on the mountain.

We all want to see God.

We are desperate to be before his face.

And just as God put Moses in the rock so that he could catch a glimpse, a shadow of his glory, and he could taste salvation, God sent his son Jesus to be the true rock of our salvation, so that we could be placed in him and not die in his presence.

God said, You can't see my face, you would die.

So let me do this to you, Moses.

And then he sent his son Jesus Christ so that we could, the veil could be twenty, that we could stand before the face of God.

When the apostle John wrote here in Revelation 22, they will see it, getting to your passage, they will see his face.

If you would have dropped that verse, that truth in on Moses, he'd be like, How?

What do you mean they'll see his face?

If uh Moses would have read Revelation 22, 4, they will see his face.

He would have been very confused because God just told him, You will not see my face and live.

There has to be a way.

Something has to have happened.

And it was really, who has happened?

It is Jesus Christ, the true and better rock that we would be hidden in.

When the Apostle John wrote that, he was declaring that we have been saved unto the only thing that will give us rest and salvation.

This is our true home, and it is in Christ upon fire that rest.

I will, we will exhale deeply.

We will see his face, will not be undone, we'll gaze upon his beauty and his fullness.

I believe when we see Christ's face, when Revelation will all I've been waiting for.

That was the thing that I've been longing for my entire point.

Verse 15.

So you have the high priest in the Old Testament.

One of the regulations that said this in verse 6 the tomb on the high priest who would go before God to make a sacrifice, to make atonement, to represent the people before God, would have a plate of pure gold engraved on it, and engraved on it would say, Holy Lord, on the forehead of the as he entered into the presence of God.

Holy is the Lord.

The phrase holy uh to the Lord, uh sorry to the Lord means holy unto or holy before.

So again, the high priest goes into the place of atonement and it says, holy unto the Lord, or holy before the Lord, on his forehead.

And so one of the things we should understand in Revelation 22, 4, is that we will stand as righteous before God because of the name on our heads.

His name on our foreheads.

What is it saying?

Holy unto the Lord.

Why?

Because his righteousness has been accounted to us.

We've been made holy before the Lord.

Why?

The name on our foreheads.

It is Jesus Christ, that is, his uh imputed righteousness, his death on us, or his righteousness on us, our death, our sin on him.

There is no other name that could be on our heads that could save us.

It must be but also his name on our heads is meant to declare that we are in an intimate relationship with his name on our heads is a designation of whose we are.

We are not simply Christian, we are his.

Our quest for identity and belonging has been finished.

The anxious thoughts of our insecurities have found their amen.

Consider how that completely reorients our existence.

Use the language of time.

Billions and billions of years we have no thoughts of fear and shame.

We wake up to an eternal sense of rest from every concern of loss or failure.

Listen to creation, new earth, uh uh uh missions end.

The role of missions ends in eternity.

And I love my brother Heath, but there will be no more anxious thoughts for him to counsel.

Anxiety has been wiped out.

Have to find a new job.

Maybe we'll become fishermen.

Seriously, I like to fish.

Okay.

This is for all time, for all eternity.

We wake up to an eternal sense of rest from every concern of loss or of failure.

We're no longer obsessed with the question of who we are as we are settled in the proclamation of whose we are, his name on our head.

And there is no reality in which that can or will ever change.

And in that security, we are set free to full joy.

As I thought about this, I thought about the uh uh uh, you know, when you go on vacation, the posture of a child versus a parent, you know, the parent goes and you know, if we you know you go to the beach and the parents thinking, especially when their little ones are like, uh, you know, especially the mom, uh don't drown, don't drown, don't drown.

And the dad is thinking, how much, how much, how much is this gonna cost me?

And so you have all of these, even when you're in in vacation mode, you have all these things, don't drown, how much is this gonna cost me?

What do you mean pizza costs 60 bucks?

I don't understand the economics here, and and there's all these thoughts, even when you're on vacation, and the child is thinking, I think I could jump off of that.

Carefree.

They can enjoy the vacation.

Child of God, this is what awaits us: a complete shalom, fullness, peace that sets us free from all anxieties that view the beauty of creation.

We'll be able to be fully present in the beauty of God's new creation and with each other.

For the first time and forever, we will have the ability to truly enjoy our God and his new creation without any hesitation.

The security of our relationship before God will then radiate out to how we relate to each other and to all things.

His name on our heads orients every thought and everything.

And again, this is not simply the hope of what will be.

God longs for us to begin our enjoyment of this reality in the already, to know that what will be is so sure that we can put our current weight on it.

Just like you watch a movie differently when you've seen it for you know 30 times and you know it's a happy ending, just like you watch it.

We this is the reality we're supposed to walk in.

We're supposed to be able to enjoy creation, not because they are a God, because we can enjoy creation because we're not concerned.

We don't have that over concern.

We know how the story ends.

And then finally, third point therefore.

Okay.

So what now?

What is the calling of God's people?

Is the calling of God's people to gather here every Sunday to huddle together as it awaits their homecoming?

We come here and say, Okay, let's await, let's wait.

Remember in Acts 1, the disciples asked Jesus about the timing of the new kingdom.

He says, uh, they said, Are you bringing the new kingdom now?

Is this now the time?

Christ said, That's not for you to know.

And he told them to wait for the power of the Spirit and that they would then be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with God's beauty.

And after Jesus ascended, you remember what the disciples did?

They were staring into heaven.

I'm assuming, with their mouths open.

And the angel said, What are you staring at?

He's gonna return the same way again.

Go.

Paul writes in Ephesians 5 that those who have been saved in Christ should.

Okay.

I I've quoted this before.

So in Ephesians 5, here's what we get.

I think this is important for a city, uh, a place culturally that can drift into complacency.

Paul says this.

So this is what the child of God, how the child of God is meant to live in the already.

Aware of the not yet.

We know this is going to happen.

Here's what we're meant to do: awake, oh sleeper, and arise from the dead.

Wake up, church.

Wake up.

Be careful how you are walking, be wise and make the best use of the time you have here in this age.

These days are evil, so don't be a fool, but walk in the will of the Lord.

That's today.

Wake up every day.

Wake up.

These days are fleeting.

These days are evil.

Let's not be fools.

Walk in the will of the Lord.

And that question of what is the will of the Lord for my life so often is only applied to the big decisions in our lives.

Again, y'all know the meta-narrative of me preaching today, right?

And I've had so many people saying, you know, what is the will of the Lord?

Is this the will of the Lord?

Is this the will of the Lord?

We're seeking the will of the Lord.

Yes, of course we're seeking the will of the Lord.

But can I tell you so often I think we miss it?

We think the will of the Lord is are the big crossroads of our lives.

That's when we pray for the will of the Lord.

What is the will of the Lord?

Should I do this?

Should I get this?

Should I take this job?

Should I move here?

Should I marry this person?

Should I do that?

You know, go to this church and we ask, and I'm not saying that God is not what doesn't want to inform those things.

But that's usually when we think about the will of the Lord.

What is the will of the Lord in these huge decisions?

Church, I think we're missing it.

The will of the Lord is a daily, ordinary posture.

And I think if we would live every day trying to follow the will of the Lord, what He's called us to do every day, that those big questions become pretty easy to make.

That somehow they get made for you.

You're like, oh no, of course this is where I'm gonna go to church.

Of course, this is who I'm going to marry.

Of course, this is the job I'm gonna take.

Of course, this is the call.

It all makes sense.

I've been following every day the will of the Lord.

I've been seeking him every day in my life.

Will of the Lord when I wake up.

What is the will of the Lord?

Every day when you wake up, would you love God and love others?

If you continue to lean in that, those big decisions, you're not running to the Lord's like, oh my goodness, I have it's a blank slate.

What should I do?

Seek him in the big decisions.

But remember, it's a very daily calling.

Colossians 3, 1 through 4, it's on your screen, it's in your Bible.

Then you've been raised with Christ.

So if you're a Christian, if you're a believer, if you've put your trust in Christ, if you're hidden in the true rock of your salvation, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on the things that are above, not on things of the earth.

For you have died past tense, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, you will also appear with him in glory.

Paul goes on to explain in Colossians 3 that this means that we put to death sin.

Okay.

I mean, it's going to be very red by the time I'm finished here.

Okay, so read Colossians, get to know Colossians 3, especially 3, 1 through 17, at least for the sake of this argument.

Colossians 3, 1 through 17 gives you the posture of those who believe, who trust the fact that uh the end is what it is.

That is, we will one day be revealed with Christ in glory.

And what does Paul say?

Does Paul say then uh because of all of these, because of all of these things, with their mindset on, here's who you should marry, here's the school you should go to, here's the job you should take.

Again, I'm not saying those are the wrong questions, but I am saying, what does Paul then point us to with that posture of understanding that this is not the full story, that we know how the story ends.

What does Paul point us to?

He says, Listen, I could paraphrase it for you, but um, I mean, let's let's just see it.

Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians.

Okay.

If you have a Bible, open with me to Colossians 3.

I want us all to see it, and I want us all to remember it.

It's right after Philippians, Colossians 3.

Okay.

So if you're asking, what is the will of the Lord for my life?

Here's what the will of the Lord is for you today.

I don't know what you came in here with, but if you are a child of God, this is what God wants from you today, Sunday, June 28th, 2026.

And it's gonna it's gonna be what the will of the Lord is for you tomorrow.

Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you today.

Put away sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry on account of these things.

The wrath of God is coming.

In these you two once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away.

Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Put it away, child of God, today.

Do not lie to one another.

Seeing that you have put off the old self from its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge after the image of his creator.

In this place there is neither Jew nor Greek, circumcised and uncircumcised barbarian, Scythian slave, f uh free, slavery free, but Christ is all and in all.

Okay.

Commission.

These are the things of commission, the things that we're supposed to put away.

Today.

Today, this is the will of God for you.

If you came here thinking, I wonder what the will of God is for me, I wonder what it looks like to live in light of eternity.

Here it is.

Put off those things today.

By the work of the Holy Spirit, by his grace, put these things off.

Now, don't omit these things.

Verse 12.

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience bear with one another.

And if one is a complaint against another, forgive each other as the Lord has forgiven you.

So you must also forgive.

And above all these, put on love which binds everything together in perfect harmony, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you are called in one body, and be thankful.

Let the word of Christ, the gospel, the one, the rock of our salvation, let that word dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another.

Can't do this by ourselves in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in our hearts to God and whatever you do in word or deed.

Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

That's the will of the Lord for you today, in light of what's going to happen in the not yet.

This is what it means to live in light of eternity, to live with the full confidence and trust that this is not all there is, to live with our minds set on heaven.

We love well because we've been fully loved.

We forgive deeply because every single day we've been forgiven afresh.

We offer a new mercy to our family members and our coworkers because we've been given a new mercy each morning.

Paul goes on further, later in 1 Corinthians 6, 7, he writes this, or earlier.

To have lawsuits, listen to this.

This is one that I think is going to be hard for us.

To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you.

Why not rather suffer wrong?

Why not rather be defrauded?

That's crazy.

We're Americans.

You can't defraud us.

You're a Christian.

You're a child of God.

Isn't it better to be defrauded?

I know.

Nobody wants to hear it.

I'll move on.

I don't want to hear it.

Somebody takes something from you that's not theirs?

A Christian brother or sister takes something from you that wasn't theirs?

You get all angry.

And the Bible says, Paul says, you know what the will of God for you in light of eternity, knowing how the story ends.

You know how you ought to respond?

It's okay.

It's better to be defrauded.

In all of this, we live in confidence that this is also very temporary, that this is the prologue to a glorious eternity, that this is the backstory of why the saints sing with so much passion.

It is the inhale that leads to a forever exhale of our rest.

It is the age of our great need that leads to our great joy.

It is the revelation of the grace of God.

And as the writer of Hebrew declares, Hebrews declares, it is only for a little while.

Okay, in closing.

For real this time.

Kinda.

Okay, in closing.

First of all, if you're here today and you're thinking, I'm not sure about all of this, I'm not sure how my story ends, I'm not sure whose I am, and even in the midst of summer vacations, you not cannot seem to find rest, then may today be the day of your salvation.

Trust God.

He loves you, he sent his son into the exile of the curse on the cross in your place so that you could be brought home into his presence.

Repent of the sinful exchange that seeks created things over the Creator.

Repent of trying to be your own God.

Trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

He is the face you seek, he is the satisfaction of all of your pursuits.

Trust.

I know this is the Bible Belt.

And I know you Dallas says it, and probably Mississippi says it.

Oh, we're the buckle of the Bible Belt.

Can't be two buckles, a strange belt.

I mean, maybe.

And I know you think, well, I can't I can't repent and trust God to like I'm I've been saved for 30 years.

Wouldn't that be embarrassing?

In eternity it won't be.

So ask the question.

It's okay.

God's not saying, I mean, you know.

It's, you know, you just barely got it.

So ask the question.

And church family, for all of us, please, can we step back from the tyranny of the urgent for a second?

Step back and see the fuller picture of your existence.

We are almost home.

That's not to be, uh it's not only meant to be an encouragement in the valleys, it is meant to orient us in the green pastures.

May we understand that it is not just in the suffering in this life that will be eclipsed by what is to come.

The best days, the best things, the most wonderful good things in this life will also be fully eclipsed by that which is to come.

And so, whether we are being defrauded or blessed by those around us, our hearts are steady.

We not only know how the story ends, we know how the story is, and we are already his.

So whether we are walking in abundance or in need, our fullness is in Christ.

Our joy has been secured.

The promised land is a person, and he will not abandon us in the wilderness, and he will finish what he has begun.

The day of our salvation unto his face is closer than when we first began.

So then, this is our already song of worship.

May we love one another well.

May we put away gossip and slander of one another.

May we not lie to one another.

May we not resent and disregard one another.

May we not neglect the gathering and be devoted to this fellowship.

May we remind one another, as long as it is called today, that sin is deceiving and it leads us away from God.

May we forgive one another and teach one another.

May we bear one another's burdens and confess to one another, because in doing all these things, we're declaring not just who we are, but whose we are.

We are declaring the goodness of our King and Savior to one another and living lives that please him.

This is our worship.

I know we can all sit here and we say, I know all of this.

Okay.

So do I.

But I repent.

I repent.

Already today, I need to repent.

I want to live this way.

This is not the goal.

The goal isn't an hour and a half worship service, and we leave and we go about our lives.

We have a calling today.

I pray that when we leave this place, we would say, I know how the story ends.

I'm going to see my face the face of my God.

I want to love my family well.

I want to love my wife.

I want to love my kids.

I want to love my friends.

I want to love my coworkers well.

I want to love the people at the grocery store well, because I want them to know that this is not it.

This is not how the story ends.

I want to live a life like Paul that says at the end, boy, if the resurrection is true, isn't true, boy, I should be pitied.

I'm so generous with my love and my time that I would be pitied if the resurrection isn't true.

But if it is true, but if it is true, then all the saints will stand before him and exhale and say, worth it.

Worth it.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you for this day.

Thank you for everything you've done for us.

Father God, as we as we pray, as we come before you, may we may it not be lost on us.

That we only come before you, that we only stand before you, that we only walk into your throne room of mercy in our time of need because of your son Jesus Christ.

And so I come, we come to you hidden in the rock of our salvation, in your son Jesus Christ.

And we say thank you.

Father God, it might be today that some of us face you.

Thank you for Jesus.

Thank you for all that he offers us.

We look forward to the day when we will see him face to face.

It's in his name we pray.