He Holds The Future - Jonathan Pickens

And before fall breaks, there was summer breaks and we've got all kinds of breaks these days and with breaks come family trips. And some of us got it like that and you go to Italy on your vacation and we praise God for you. And others of us go to grandma's house, which we praise God for you too. But all of us probably know what it's like to be in that position of thinking about what are we going to do for this trip. And then the difference when you go from browsing for a destination to your trip to when the trip is booked, when you go from browsing, are we going to go down south Georgia? Are we going to go skiing out west? Are we going to go to the beach? Are we going to go abroad and then all of a sudden someone in the family comes in and says trips booked, we're going skiing out west. Check out this Airbnb and you're looking at the Airbnb and you're imagining yourself in every shot. You're like there's a hot tub in the snow for crying out loud. You're going through the next page. Look at the mountain. Look at the view. I'm thinking about what I'm going to eat. I'm thinking about what I'm going to wear. I'm thinking about what I'm going to bring. I'm thinking about who's coming with me and the difference between browsing is that might be nice. But when the trip is booked, you start getting excited. You start thinking about it differently. And today I wanted to remind us that in Jesus, eternity has been booked with him. We're not a browsing kind of people. But sometimes it's possible to go through life as if we're browsing for eternity. It might be nice.

Could be cool. Hope Heaven's real. Sir, hope I'm not going to hell. But when you through the power of the Holy Spirit are walking through the work of Jesus Christ through the reality that there is an eternal certainty with heaven that is your future home. It changes things. Trips been booked. Trips been paid for by the blood of Jesus. And I want today to scroll through the pictures on Airbnb. I want to look to see some of the handholds of hope. What does it mean that we've got an eternal destination? What does it mean that our future is secure? What does it mean that there's a place where sorrow doesn't exist? What does it mean that you're going to have to think to remember what death was like? What does it mean that there is going to be a coming day that will make you forget what it was like to live a temporary life? I want to think about the reality that he holds the future. And so if you're taking notes, the title for today's talk is "He holds the future." And maybe you're listening and thinking to yourself saying, "Jonathan, that's awesome. I'm really glad that he holds the future, but I'm a little bit nervous about my future right now." It's great that we can talk about eternity. I know it's important, but right now I'm kind of in the middle of waiting to hear back about my job. It's awesome that heaven's a reality if it is. But I need to hear back from my doctor, and I don't know what they're going to say. That's great, that eternity is secure. But what about my paycheck or where I'm going to live next year or what school I'm going to or what the person's going to say in response to the message that I just sent?

I'm great with him holding the future, but what about my future? And I just want to remind us of what Psalm 16, 5 says, "Lord, you are my portion and my cup of blessing, you hold my future." Because he does hold the future, but he also holds your future. In order to have confidence heading into next month, into the response to the text message, into whatever the doctor says, into whatever your next job is, into wherever you're living in a few months, in order to enter that with confidence, we've got to first get confidence about eternity. Because I believe that what the Bible teaches us is that confidence in eternal days is what gives you confidence in your temporary days. And so we're going to spend the next few minutes looking to Paul who was facing uncertain days, he didn't know if he was going to live or die. Throughout the New Testament, he says, "The only thing the Holy Spirit tells me is that trouble's coming." And you can follow him writing and he says, "Man, whether I'm here or not." And yet what pervades 2 Corinthians 5 is certainty of eternity. And so I want some of that confidence for us as a church. So let's read 2 Corinthians 5 together to hear what God is wanting to say. Verse one says this, "For we know that if our earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a heavenly building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands. Indeed, we groan in this tent, desiring to put on our heavenly dwelling, since when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed so that mortality may be swallowed up by life." And now, the one who prepared us for this very purpose

is God, who gave us the spirit as a down payment. So we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. For we walk by faith and not by sight. In fact, we are confident, and we would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what He has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it's also plain to your consciences. We're not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us so that you may have a reply for those who take pride in outward appearance rather than in the heart. For if we're out of our right mind, it is for God. But if we're in our right mind, it's for you. For the love of Christ compels us. Since we've reached this conclusion that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised. And all throughout this text, what comes to the surface is confidence.

Did you see how He started that in verse one? Paul says, "For we know." He's not saying, "Man, I hope." He's not saying, "For we suppose." He's not saying, "For it seems." What Paul is saying is, "For we know." We are confident. We are 100% sure. Take it to the bank. We know that we've got an eternal destination that we are going for. He's got certainty. He's got confidence. And He says, "Seems to say that this kind of confidence is possible for you, and this kind of confidence is possible for me, that eternity can become a certainty through Christ and by the power of His Spirit. And when eternity moves from possibility to certainty, it changes our priorities. When you understand the eternal destination that you're moving towards, it will change the way that you live your life right now. And maybe you're sitting here thinking to yourself, "Well, Jonathan, how can you speak with such certainty? Aren't there a lot of different kinds of people who have a certainty?" Or maybe you're sitting here and you're like, "I think I'm on board, but I just still have some questions and I need to find the truth." And I would just encourage you,

questions are really good. And we want to be people who pursue the truth. And what we believe is that all truth is God's truth and that the truth is going to point to the truth of knowing Jesus Christ. And yet at the same time when you follow truth to its end, no worldview can simply say 100% based on intellectual knowledge that we are 100% confident. But what we can say, and the reason that Paul can say this is that by following intellectual knowledge, following the truth, following as best information as we possibly can, that still gets you leading. We believe that this eternity is a reality. And at that point in time, faith comes in the spirit in the words of Romans eight, testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God. And when you hear God testifying with you and convincing you of his love, you've experienced the reality of who he is and you've encountered salvation going from death to life and you're walking and being led by the spirit. You can say with Paul, no, no, no, no. Yes, the intellectual knowledge points me this direction but it's the power of God that convinces me that it's 100% true. That's what we can have in Jesus. And to further describe this point, Henry Newen writes in one of his books called The Greatest Gift. that's been used several different places.

He tells a parable about two twin boys in a womb. And so he says something like this, imagine that there are two twins, just born, or about to be born in the womb. And one of the little twin boys says to the other. So do you think there's life after this? To which the other twin boy says, I do. We keep getting bigger. We have a desire to leave. I could see a day where we use our mouths to eat. We use our legs and feet to walk. And I think there might be life on the other side of this. To which the other twin boy in the womb responds and says, pfft, no way. You think we're gonna eat with our mouths? We have this cord that gives us everything that we could possibly need. How could we even have life on the other side of this? This cord wouldn't even let us go very far. You think we're gonna walk with our legs? What does it even mean to walk? All there is is darkness right now. And I think that what we're gonna find on the other side is more darkness. And then the believing twin boy says, yes, but I think that on the other side, there will be life. And I think that we'll get to be closer to mother than we've ever been. We'll get to see her face to face and know her in ways we never have.

To which the other twin boy says, you think there's a mother? Why could you possibly think there's a mother? If there's a mother, where is she? I mean, all there is is darkness. I sure like to meet mother. And then the other twin boy says, well, I think that mother's all around us. And I think that where we're going is to meet her. And the skeptic says, well, how could you know that? And the twin boy responds? Because sometimes when I'm quiet and I listen, I think that I can hear her voice and she's singing over me. And obviously that's an illustration. But in the same way, the intellectual knowledge of what's happening gives indication of their direction. And it's a reality that he's going to experience life. But what convinced the little one in the womb of the certainty is the voice of the mother. And in the same way, it is the intellectual information that will point us to the truth of the destination, but it is the voice of the Father by the power of the Spirit that will convince you of its truth. For we know, eternity is a reality. And that is where we're going. It's like Jonathan Edwards prayed all throughout the great awakening. God, would you stamp eternity on our eyeballs? Impress it on our hearts. This is why Paul tells the Colossians,

said your hearts and your mind on things that are above. Why? Because when eternity is our reality, it changes our priorities. You will live different on earth when you're confident of the reality of heaven. And so what's our response? What does this lead us to? And just as we can continue thinking about what heaven will be like, I want to encourage us that life with God in heaven will be better than life with people on earth. And I want to just leave that there for a minute because if we're honest, I don't know that all of us, including myself, would believe that all of the time. But what Paul says in verse chapter two is that he says, indeed, we're groaning in this tent. We are desiring to put on our heavenly dwelling. He says, I want this to happen. I think it's going to be better. I'm comparing this to a tent, but we've got an eternal dwelling coming from. I'm comparing this to being naked and we've got clothes coming. He's going back and forth, giving these different analogies and he's saying what's coming is better. That's why he can say in Philippians chapter one, for me to live his Christ, but to die is gain.

Verse 23, he says, I long to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. And so if I could just encourage us today, even if you've yet to graduate, even if you've yet to get married, even if you've yet to have kids, even if you've yet to become a grandparent and experienced retirement, even if you've yet to have a successful business, what we believe if you were to die before, all of that and to go and be with Jesus, you're not missing out. You've got the better end of the deal. That is far better. Life with God in heaven is better than life with people on earth. And I just want to give us some handholds of hope today and swipe through the Airbnb There are no wheelchairs in heaven. There's no chemotherapy in heaven. There are no pharmacies in heaven. There are no antidepressants in heaven. There are no prosthetics in heaven. There are no empty cribs in heaven. There are no wars in heaven. There are no hospitals in heaven. There's no hospice in heaven. No divorce court in heaven. No homeless shelters in heaven. No law firms in heaven.

Sorry. No broken bodies in heaven. No sleepless nights. No brokenness. No depression. No anxiety. No racism. No addiction. No prisons in heaven. No graveyards in heaven. There are no cemeteries in heaven. There is no enemy in heaven. There are no funerals in heaven. There is no death in heaven. But I want to tell you, what is in heaven? What is in heaven is that the dead and Christ are in heaven. Eternal peace is in heaven. Eternal joy is in heaven. Eternal purpose is in heaven. A fuller form of life than is presently imaginable is in heaven. Watch this. Jesus is in heaven. And what the psalmist says in Psalm 73 is he says, what on earth do I desire besides you? And who do I have in heaven but you? What makes heaven great isn't just the place. What primarily makes heaven great is the person that we want to be with who is God. We're going to be with him forever in heaven. So as you're scrolling through the Airbnb,

don't you groan for that. Don't you want that? Don't you want to say with Paul in 1 Corinthians, death has been swallowed up with victory. Where death is your victory? Where death is your sting? Let's be people who get our hopes up because our eternity is certain in Christ. He holds the future. And he holds your future. That's how do you know? Verse 5, what does he say? You've already got the first payment. You've tasted the appetizer. More is on the way. He says the Holy Spirit is the deposit. The Holy Spirit. Verse 5 is what he says, is a down payment. Down payment means more is coming. And when you've been convinced by the Spirit of God, you can be confident that more is on the way. So then how do we walk? If eternity's our reality that we can be confident in, how do we walk as believers? Here's how we walk. Unbridled confidence is the posture of the eternally minded believer. We are very confident. We are-- our confidence is unbridled. It is not contained.

There's nothing that could come our way that would stop our confidence. I remember many, many years ago, my parents sent me to a small church camp up in North Georgia. I was about in seventh grade. And during free time, there's several different stations that you could go to. And one of the stations, they had this big telephone pole that they had put these different rungs on the side that you could climb up. And they played this game where they'd put a harness on you. And you'd climb up this telephone pole, jump off and ring the bell. And whoever did it, the fastest one. You get creative when you don't have social media. So I remember putting this harness on. It's perfect game for middle schoolers here in the most insecure time of your life and when embarrassing in front of your friends. When I get the harness on, I start going up this little pole and I just look like an absolute idiot. Just shaking, trying to make my way up to the top. It simultaneously looked cool for my friends, which was impossible. And I remember getting to the top. And I'm afraid of heights and my knees are shaking. And I would not have done this if I didn't have confidence in the harness. I knew it would work. That's why I was here.

Wouldn't be up here if I didn't. But in that moment, you're like, not so sure. And I remember jumping off a graceful swan, hit the bell, and the harness caught me. And I remember thinking to myself, it actually worked. And they lowered me and I said, how was my time? I'm like, you don't want to know. OK, got it. Said, I hate to be that guy. Would you mind if I win again? And all my friends are like, oh, don't do that. I'm like, oh, let's just-- let's try it. This time, I knew this thing's going to hold me. So I go up to this thing, 3, 2, 1. And I take off-- I mean, I'm going like a spider monkey. I'm taking off, shooting up the top, I get down and I was like, how was it? And he looks at me and he says, you just set the camp record this week. So it's not a big deal. I mean, I did come in first place in seventh grade church camp. (congregation laughing) But what changed, what changed was not my ability. What changed was my confidence. And for you and for me, when we get into the harness of heaven and you get to life on the other side of death and you experience the reality

that eternally, actually held, that heaven actually held you, that you really are with Christ. You and I are not going to be able to look back and say, let me try again. But right now, you and I want to be convinced that there is a harness of hope called heaven around you and it frees you to throw yourself into the work that God has called you to. And so you and I want to live, like we've got a harness on us. And the harness is called hope. The harness is marked by faith. And so your life and how you give is going to look different. Your life and how you serve is going to look different. Your life and how you spend your time. Your life and how you talk. It's going to look different. It's going to be marked by faith. And it's okay if it doesn't make sense to the people around you as long as it makes sense to God. Because in the end, I don't want to have to stand before the throne of God and explain to God, no, no, no, you don't understand. I lived like that because I wanted it to make sense to the people on earth. I want to stand before God and say, I lived like that because I wanted it to make sense to you. I'd way rather have to explain it to the people around me, the reason that we serve, the reason that we give,

the reason that we spend our time this way is because we believe we're going to stand before him for forever. So I'm not trying to live to please you. I'm trying to live to please him. That's why Paul can say in verse seven, for the righteous walk by faith, not by sight. We're not living based on this world. We're living based on the world we're going to. And faith often leads us to walk where it doesn't make immediate sense. The life of a believer is a life that is marked by faith. And faith will often lead us to walk in places that don't make sense to those around you. They're not going to understand why you're spending your time serving young students with vacation time. They're not going to understand why you're giving so much of your thought life and conversation time with the people of your around to talk about Jesus. They're not going to understand these steps of faith that you're taking. But I just want to remind us today that the righteous have always walked by faith. In fact, nobody understood why Noah was building a boat in a desert. Nobody understood it. It makes sense to the people around Abraham when the son that he had been promised.

He was walking up a hill to sacrifice. And no one understood when Moses led his free people to the face of a sea. Faith led Joshua to march around a city for seven days, hoping it would fall. Faith led Elijah to drench his altar with water when he wanted it to burn with fire. Faith led Jehoshaphat to put the worship leaders out front when he was going into a war. Faith led Daniel into the lion's den when he only had to stop praying. Faith led Shadrach Meshach and Abednego into a fire when all they had to do was bow. And faith led Jesus to a cross when he was supposed to save the world. And faith looked really dumb to everybody around them and it didn't make sense to them. Until about three days later when Jesus rose from the grave at the resurrection, faith started to make sense. Until Daniel was brought out of the pit unscathed by the lions. Faith started making sense when Shadrach Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire and they weren't burned. Faith started making sense to Noah when the rain started falling. Faith started making sense to Moses when the sea split. Faith started making sense to Joshua

when the walls fell and faith started making sense to Jehoshaphat when they won the victory. Faith started making sense to Abraham when there was a lamb in the thicket. And as the resurrection, when we're standing in eternity, our faith is going to make sense. So it's okay if living by faith and not by sight doesn't make a ton of sense to the people around you today as long as it makes sense to God when you're standing before Him in eternity. immediate sense. So what's that mean practically? What's that look like for us, like this week? Paul tells us in verses 9 through 11, he says it changes three things about us. It changes our aim, it changes our actions, and it changes our anthem. Our aim, that's what he says in verse 9, read it with me, "Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to him." And when you're a believer who not only knows where you're going, but knows who Jesus is and what he's done, your life isn't just clothed in eternal security, but your life is clothed in the eternal pleasure of God, that when Jesus looks at you, it's pleasure. It's pleasing in his sight. Why? Because your sin and my sin was taken away and put on Christ at the cross. So what's coming your way according to Romans 5 is the Holy Spirit pours out his love in your heart. You've got the eternal pleasure of God resting on you. And when you've got the eternal pleasure of God, it frees you from needing to please other people. The pleasure of God makes pleasing God our first priority.

When you understand how loved you are, it frees you from trying to get the love of the world. And your primary aim is living a life that makes sense to God and pleases him. Therefore, whether I'm at home or whether I'm away, I'm going to please him. And I loved it Paul in verse 9 says weather because he doesn't know. If I'm going to die or if I'm going to live, I don't know. But what I do know is I'm going to please him. So I may not know what the future holds, but I know that in my future, my priority is going to be pleasing God. I may not know what job I'm going to, but what I do know is whatever job I go to, I'm going to please God. I may not know what the doctor is going to tell me, but what I do know is that in whatever the doctor tells me, my aim is going to be to please God. And when you've got who you're pleasing right, it changes how you live. And so it doesn't just change our aim, it also changes our actions. And as he points to this in verse 10, he calls it our minds. He calls to our minds, the judgment seat of Christ, and he's using an analogy of the day. It's almost like he's saying, if you would just were in a courtroom and the judge were to call you forward, and you were to stand before the judge of the booth, that's like what this word is. You're standing before him. And as I was thinking about this list of what it's going to be in heaven and what's not going to be in heaven, it also came to my mind during this section in thinking about standing before the judgment seat of Christ, that there are no secrets in heaven. No secrets in heaven, and primarily what you and I are going to be judged by isn't just our actions, it's our motives. I was so convicted and encouraged seeing a video of Pastor Louis this last week talking about doing passion conference with two different arenas. And in the video, he shared that it's possible to by face see two arenas filled with thousands of college students and to walk away and for God to say, I wasn't pleased with that.

How is that possible? Because God's primarily interested in our motives and our heart, even over the action. And there are no secrets in heaven. And so when you and I go to give an account, he will be looking at our heart and the beautiful thing is right now today, we've got an opportunity to get our heart right before him. So that nothing new is revealed in eternity, but everything is made known right now. And you can experience grace and step into the judgment seat of Christ with confidence. And side note, when he's talking about the judgment seat of Christ, this isn't the destination place where he's talking about heaven and hell. That's a great white throne that's later talked about at the end of Revelation. This judgment seat is for all believers. He says, we all are going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and we're going to receive what we've done in the body. And so how can you say that we get rewards or don't get rewards when I thought it was all by grace that we enter into heaven? And that's true. By grace, you've been saved, but God's grace produces good works in your life. And God's grace that produces God's work in your life will receive God's reward. away, and you'll be judged for that. And all that came from faith and resting in God's grace, that will be rewarded. In the words of C.T. Stutt, "Only one life will soon be past, and yet only what's done for Christ will last. There are no secrets in heaven, live accordingly." And then, just lastly, as we close, this eternal perspective shifts our aim, our actions, but also our anthem, and this is what Paul says in verse 11, "Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people." We want to persuade them. That's his aim. I want them to know Christ for two reasons. One, I fear God.

And I know that in eternity, that that is a reality, and that if you know Jesus, you can know that your eternity is secure in heaven with Him. Eternal paradise is the way Jesus describes it to the criminal on the cross, and yet simultaneously, if you don't know Jesus, you're going to be given what you pursued your whole life, a continuous fire of self-consumption that's going to develop an eternal destruction apart from God. And he's saying, "I know what it's like to fear the Lord." Hebrews writer says. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of a living God, and in the light of the fear of the Lord, he says, "I try to persuade people because I love them, but it's not just the fear of God and the reality of eternity. It's also confidence in his love." He's so enamored by the love of Christ that it sends him, compels him, and moves him. That's why he says in verse 14, "For the love of Christ controls us, the love of Christ compels us," how could that be? Because in thinking about eternity, he considered the one who stepped out from it. Jesus, eternally God, no beginning and no end, eternally one with the Father in the Spirit, stepped out to enter into your reality in mind. Why? Because of his great love, and what did he do when he did that? All tells us when he closes in verse 21. God made the one who did not know sin to be sinned for us, so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God. And in trusting in Christ's work, you and I can have confidence in eternity. And so can anyone, no matter how far, no matter their background, and no matter their story. And I'll close. I remember several years ago in college, I had a friend just burst through our door. And he was so excited, he says, "You're never going to believe it." My friend Zach just put his face in Jesus, and I was like, "No way who's Zach." And he says, "Him," and then Zach starts walking through the door, "Zach, I'm so happy for

you. What happened?" He just kind of points behind him, and then my friend Steve started walking through the door. And he says, "You need to talk to Steve," and then Steve shared out, "God had been putting Zach on his heart," and then Zach kind of took over the story, and Zach said, "Really, it's all thanks to Steve." He sat with me the second day of school, and he's been my friend since. He took me to lunch last week, and he gave me his Jesus Bible. He asked if I was a Christian, and then he presented me the gospel, and what the reality was if I didn't believe. He told me that he wanted me to know Jesus, because he loved me, and he cared about me. Then he said a line that I'll never forget, and he told me, "Nobody has ever told me that." And two days later, Zach started following Jesus. What happened for Steven? He was convicted and convinced of eternity. He was compelled by the love of God, and that sent him into his world to talk to his friend, Zach. Give him his Bible. Tell him the truth and the reality of the hope that we have in Jesus, and the eternal reality if we don't, and then he invited him to come from a place of fear? No, from a place of love, because he loved him and wanted him to know the one who he had found love, Jesus himself. I want it to be true that at Passion City Church Cumberland and those who are I want it to be true that if you're in a surrounding area of this church, nobody could say nobody ever told me that. I want it to be true that none of our neighbors could say nobody ever told me that. I want it to be true that none of our family members

could say nobody ever told me that. Don't you want it to be true that your friends couldn't say nobody ever told me that. But as persuaded people, we want to persuade people because eternity is a reality and that changes our day today with certainty. Because our goal is to live in light of the one that we're moving towards. We've got hope in the future and the one who holds the future. And that day is coming and we get the opportunity to worship God like it's true and to live today like it's true because in Jesus it is. And so the invitation today is to respond by worshiping the king, the one that we're living before. (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) You