We Will See His Face || Victory Church [Heaven #3]

that you've likely never even thought about. But here's my guarantee to you, okay? Is if we can get this truth really deep down inside of our soul, I can guarantee you it's gonna change your life. 'Cause it's already changed my life. This truth has radically changed my life. God's already been doing a fantastic work here at Victory this weekend through these moments that we get to share right here. Because today, we are in week three of four of talking about the best thing ever. We're talking about heaven. Come on, who don't wanna talk about heaven? Come on, we're kinda spending the beginning of the year. Here's how I'd say it, getting hungry for heaven. Way too many of us aren't hungry for heaven because we think that this is heaven right here 'cause I live in America in whatever day. I promise you, this ain't heaven. I promise you, just open up your eyes for five minutes. This is not heaven. And last week, because of the weather, we kinda pulled in Audible on week two of the series and I sat down with my dad and I didn't interview with him and we just talked about heaven. He's 80 years old. And one, I just wanna say thank you for many of you, for your kind words about my dad. And don't worry, I did stop crying eventually.

If you watched that, about three days later, I was just emotionally drained. Oh my God, if y'all weren't able to watch that last week, I just encourage you to hit up YouTube and watch that. And two weeks ago, in the first week of the series, we were in Revelation 21. And that's really where we're camping out here. The last two chapters of the Bible on this journey through Revelation, Revelation 21, 22. And there in Revelation 21, we saw what heaven is gonna look like. I mean, as much as I can see it and hear it and mine can conceive it, what we're gonna look like and actually what we're gonna do. And we encountered some pretty good news there. Okay, some of the good news is essentially this, is that the ones who have gone before you in Christ, they're not here, 'cause we're not Buddhist. We're not African spiritualists. Your ancestors are not watching over you. Right now, they're watching the Lord. Good news, the Lord is watching over you. And what Revelation actually shows us is that there's this amazing day out there in the future when God is actually gonna bring a new heaven to a recreated rebirth, new earth, place a new city on that place. And he's gonna sit on the throne in the middle of it all. And then we, those who have died in Christ are gonna receive a resurrected body

and you are physically, tactily going to embrace and look in the face of those who have died before you and the Lord. That death has lost its sin. Death doesn't win any longer because Jesus Christ holds the keys of death. Hell and the grave Jesus wins. And that is the future for every single Christ follower. Amen. - Amen. - Okay. And that's only what we saw in Revelation 21. And so today, everybody say today, today. After six months of walking through the book of Revelation, today we're actually turning the page to the last chapter of Revelation 22. And we're gonna spend two weeks here because I believe that God saves his best for last. And what we're gonna start stumbling into here over the next few minutes is what I just say, one of the greatest truths that many of us have never even thought about, okay? And what John does here, he kind of picks up in Revelation 22 where he left off in 21. He continues describing the new city, the new Jerusalem, which we're gonna start wading into these waters. Okay, so verse one of Revelation 22. Here's what John says. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life. This is in the new heavens, the new earth, the new city. As clear as crystal flowing from the throne of God and of the lamb down the middle of the great street

of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing 12 crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations, amen. I guess we're gonna take a few more verses after this, but I'm gonna pause right here. River of life, tree of life, river of life, John recognized these two things. Okay, if you've ever read your Bible before, even in a one year Bible reading plan, you're probably in the first day, okay. 'Cause they're from Genesis. This is what's in the garden of Eden. There's a river of life in the garden. There's a tree of life in the garden. But here's the amazing thing, all right, in the new city. Where does this river originate? It doesn't originate from a glacier. It doesn't originate from all this rain on the mountaintops and the trickles down and tributaries and forms this river. No, the river of the water of life in heaven originates from the heart of God. From the throne, from the heart of God himself comes this river which waters the new heavens and the new earth, which brings life. And on that new earth and the new heaven, on the new city is this tree of life. Is the tree, I'll remember the tree of life.

What's happening here? If I could say this, what would have happened if sin had never touched Eden? And Adam and Eve just kept having dominion and being fruitful and multiply. And dare I say, we actually get to this place without sin. And God, since we couldn't do it, God just does it himself. And He brings this new city to this newer, to the new heaven. This river is originating. This tree of life is on both sides of the river, and it has God's fruit of the month club. (congregation laughing) 12 crops of fruit. And it says the leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations. I love that. In the Greek, it's literally, the leaves are for the therapy of the ethnos. The therapy of the ethnos. Think about that. I just envision this, like all, like there's so much racial division and cultural division here. I just imagine what unites us, a shared meal. I see just the invitation of God to black and white and Asian and Latino and all the nations to come together around this tree and receive the healing therapy of God.

Listen, this is all just part of God beginning to heal everything. But remember that God would not let Adam and Eve eat of the tree of life. But we're eating of the tree of life. I mean, question, why weren't Adam and Eve allowed to eat from the tree of life? Because in Genesis three, they sin. And so God pronounces a curse on them and on the earth. And part of the curse was they weren't allowed to eat from the tree of life. Why? Because God hated them. I think that's our natural issue. Father, God's really upset. He's gonna cut them off from the tree of life. No more tree of life for you. No, no, no, no, no. It's actually a mercy move. Why is it a mercy move? Because Adam and Eve are now sinning. They're in rebellion. They're now fragile. Their hearts are disconnected from God. And listen, there's no actually greater judgment than if God had let them live forever separated from him. Living forever separated from God is hell on earth. So it was actually a mercy move to cut them off from the tree of life because now their days are numbered. God is foreshadowing the restoration,

the redemption of Jesus to actually restore all things back to himself and actually the gateway of restoration back to himself is death. And so he cuts them off from the tree of life. But in heaven, we'll have access to the tree of life. Again, how? John continues on, verse three. Because no longer will there be any curse. Come on, Christians. No longer will there be any curse in heaven. The curse is gone forever and heaven. The curse has been thrown into the lake of fire forever. The curse is no more. And here's what this causes us to begin realizing guys. When we sinned in the garden, we lost way more than we realize. Way more than, 'cause we're like, oh, I didn't have access to the tree of life, sure. But listen, sin only comes to steal and kill and destroy. Sin, sin, you know, I always say this like, we've used sin like paddy cake. Sin is actually Russian roulette, all right? Sin is much more serious than we think it is. We lost way more than we realized in the garden. We didn't just lose access to the tree of life. We lost our home. We lost security. We lost Shalom. We lost peace. We lost marriage.

When did marriage start falling apart? Sin in the garden, why? Because, oh, it's the woman's fault. And she's like, oh, it's the devil's fault. Everybody's pointing fingers. We lost unity. We lost peace, why? Because the second board, 'cause the first board. We lost, oh, but the worst thing we lost because of sin and the garden is listen, is that God no longer walked with us. We could no longer see his face. So scripture hints at is that God would walk in the garden in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve. And they would walk with God and they would talk with God and they would hear God and they would look in the face of God. But when they sinned, God wouldn't do that with him any longer. Now notice what I said. I didn't say he couldn't do it any longer. He wouldn't do it any longer. It's another mercy move. Why wouldn't God do it any longer? Because he did not want to kill them, right? Here, unholyness cannot dwell in the presence of perfect holiness. Come on. Darkness cannot thrive in the presence of unapproachable light.

Come on, have you ever walked inside a room, turned on a light switch and there was a struggle? No. Light wins every single time. And so what happens when we in our darkness, in our sin and our rebellion, draw near and God turns on the light switch, poof, we're gone. What happens when we, like paper sinners, We're consumed. So it's actually a mercy move. God would not walk with them and God would not commune with them. They could not see God's face any longer because this perfect fire would consume them. Listen, if you're pure refined gold and you've got no impurities, you draw near to God. All you do is melt into his presence. But if you come as paper, poof, you're gone. 'Cause God's a consuming fire. Listen, I think what some of us, we brought God down to our level to make him safe. God is not safe. God is a consuming fire. A.W. Tozer said this. He says, God is as far above the archangels as he is above a caterpillar. This is the creator of the cosmos. This is the God who said light and trillions of galaxies were formed. And we used to walk with him.

And we used to talk with him. And we used to see his face. And in the garden, because of sin, they lost the best part of life. Insemit close fellowship with the king of glory. Guys, here's a big thought for today, okay? The story of humanity, since Genesis three, the fallen Genesis three, the story of humanity has been one long, painful reaching for that intimacy once again. For that fellowship once again, to see that face once again. David cried out in Psalm 63. He said, you God, oh my God, earnestly I seek you. I thirst for you. My whole being longs for you. And a dry and parched land where there is no water. Listen guys, David's the king. He's got the stuff. And what David is saying is I live in a world that has everything, but it has nothing. And I've tasted, I've drank of this. I've had sex over there, I've had the success that. I've got the palace, but it all turns to sand in my mouth. It does not nourish my body. I've tried everything in this world, yet I'm still thirsty. I'm still longing. I'm still searching because what I really need is God. But I've tasted it before. I've had an experience with the Lord and it changed everything.

And he said this, I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. And because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live. And in your name, I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the riches to foods. With singing lips, my mouth will praise you. On my bed, I remember you. I think of you through the watches of the night because you are my help God. I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you. Your right hand upholds me. And that is what David realized, guys. He tapped into it. God is what we were made for. We were made to know God. We were made to encounter God. We were made to love God. We were made to be loved by God. You were made for the affections of God. You were made to gaze on God. You were made to feast on God. Psalm 34.8, he writes it, taste and see that the Lord is good. Listen, I'm all about knowledge. We need knowledge. We need to know the scriptures. We need to know the truth.

The truth sets you free. But he's talking about experience. He's talking about experiencing. Do you understand that God is not just a set of ideas? He's alive, the tomb is empty. He's bigger than stained glass. God is real taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Psalm 27.4, one thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 84, how lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty? My soul yearns even faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Better is one day in your courts than a thousand days elsewhere. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. Do you feel the groaning? Do you feel the long? Do you feel the ache? Do you feel the, oh God? Listen, we have been grasping for God since the garden. My soul thirst, my body longs, all of me aches for the living God. Here's the truth guys. Most things become less interesting over time, right? You got a new car, you don't care about that thing anymore.

You know what I'm saying? At this thing, whatever it is, you don't care. Hardly anything becomes more interesting over time. But there is nothing more fascinating than God himself. Few weeks ago, I got a confession to make. Isaac and I were in the car the night before the fast started. And I was like, "I'm doing it. I'm getting a milkshake." And so he and I went through this little drive-thru and got milkshake. Sorry to mention milkshakes for those of you who are fasting with us. And we're in the drive-thru. And I'm just talking to him about some stuff about Jesus. And, you know, that's what Deuteronomy says, right? Like, just as you're going on the side of the road, on the way to school, just find life lessons, teach about the world. And I'm just talking to him about Jesus. And I said this, I was like, buddy, you're going to discover this. You're going to discover this. The more you learn about God, you're going to realize you know nothing about God. And he said this, in essence, he said this. He said, "Dad, you know like 500 times more about God than I do." And I said, "I know." So that means I know what I'm talking about. And here's what you're going to discover. The more you learn about God, the more you realize, I know nothing, right? Like, it's like every single doorway you walk through and you're like, I got it. I got them figured out. You're like, "Well, there's more!" And they're like, "Another, and another, and another, and another, and another." You keep going deeper, and then another, and another, and another, and another. See, there was a vision a number of years ago that a man had, not a dream.

A dream is when you're asleep, a vision is when you're awake. And this man had a vision. He was awake, and an angel took him, in essence, to this ocean of sand. And he said, "This ocean of sand is the sea of the knowledge of God, stretching forever in every direction." And the angel reached down and he grabbed a handful of sand. He said, "This is the knowledge of God that's available to the church today." And he grabbed a pinch of sand. And he said, "And this is what the people of God are operating in." Family, here's the truth. We have not plumbed the depths of God. And when we finally do, my promise to you is, you'll never reach the bottom. Because God's greatest gift to us is, and always will be, himself. Bigger than the car, bigger than the house, bigger than any pleasure that this world could ever provide to you. What you're really after is God. And see, our problem is this, guys, we don't think like that any longer. We've somehow been trapped and tricked into thinking that just going to church, sitting in a service, saying, "I know God, that's enough." That will never quench your thirst, and so, therefore, you'll go looking in this world for other things to quench your thirst. So you'll say that God doesn't quench my thirst, so I have to go out there and do it. But I promise you this, guys, you'll never find the end of God. And if you've never encountered him, you don't even know what you're missing. You don't even know what I'm talking about right now. See, these are the types of things you hear. You hear like, "Oh, you're hungry for God? Ew, that's weird. You're hungry. What does that even mean? You're hungry for God." And so what the world thinks and what even many Christians think, they think that the Jesus people are the weird people. Here's what I'm going to tell you today. I think the weird people are the ones who actually think they can find contentment in this world.

You think you can actually find satisfaction in this world? Why do you think millionaires still commit suicide? Because you get what you think you always wanted, and then it never actually satisfied your soul. Because you weren't made for that. You were made for God. And so what happens is the world, because they don't know what they're talking about. The world tells Christians to shut up. Say, "Hey, just go to church. Have your nice services." But come on. Keep the God talk a little. Keep that down. Just keep that to yourself. Right? Just kind of chill out about that. Have your nice services, but just kind of keep God. But listen, guys, the God I serve is worth my worship. And the God I serve is worth my enthusiasm. The God I serve is worth my devotion. The God I serve is worth my obedience. The God I serve is worthy of my breath. He's worthy of my life. He's worthy of my death. The God I serve is worthy of my energy. He's worthy of my time. He's worthy of my money. He's worthy of my every fiber and my being. He is worthy of me lifting my voice. He's worthy of me getting rowdy. He's worthy of me sharing how much I love him with this world.

Because I'm not going to let the rocks out worship me. Because he's what I was made for. He's what I've always wanted. He's what I've always longed for and ached for. And listen, he's what they were made for too. They just don't realize it yet. And guys, I don't know about you. I don't know your story. I know a few of your stories. I don't know all your stories, but I'm just going to promise you this. The most intense moments of my life have been God moments. Listen, I've had a great, wonderful, blessed life. But it doesn't even hold a candle to my time. And listen, one of my benefits, y'all, many of you, you've kind of seen my dad, you've met my dad in a sense. I was never taught against the move of God. I was never taught against experiencing God and feeling the pleasure of loving God. And so listen, so when I actually walked in environments where it was happening, nobody said, "Oh no, listen, I know there's no scripture "for it, but God doesn't do that stuff anymore." And so listen, when the presence of God dropped, and I just felt pleasure like I'd ever had, and I just started laughing for like an hour. I didn't even know what was happening. But I was like, that's what I made for. I've never felt joy like that. When the conviction of God fell,

and I just started weeping for my sin, but it felt so right. And I freely gave it up. Because why would I want that when I can have that? When the glory, the kind of glory of God filled the room and I was like, ah, I was afraid to open up my eyes 'cause I might see him. Listen, fam, listen, I know, like I'm so glad, I am so glad we can't even put into words. We could never fully put our arms around God. So Jesus came to him and put our arms around him. But listen, whenever the prophets went to the throne room and they saw God, they weren't like, what's up, my home boy? (congregation laughing) They were like, whoa is me? Whoa, my, ah, I'm a man of unclean lips and I live among the people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the king of glory. I am bathed in sin, I am unworthy and I'm being purified by the gaze of God. (congregation clapping) Guys, I listen, I'm right there with you, I love Jesus. I wanna see God, not yet. (congregation laughing) I ain't ready yet, I ain't ready yet. I ain't ready to look in his face yet. In fact, one of the wildest moments in the Bible happens in the Old Testament with Moses, who was called a friend of God. This is God talk to him like a friend.

I can't even imagine that, I can't even, I wanna imagine that. And what's happening here, the Hebrew people are about to enter into the Promised Land, this land flowing with milk and honey, it's everything they've ever wanted. They've come out of slavery, they've been wandering, they're about to go into the Promised Land. And Moses is having this conversation with God, Exodus 33. It says, "Then Moses said to him, "God, if your presence does not go with us, "do not send us up from here." In other words, God, I don't care about the milk and honey, I care about you. God, if your presence doesn't go with us, I don't want the mansion, I don't want the palace, I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. I'd rather be homeless with God than have a mansion apart from God. If you don't go with us, I don't even wanna go. Because how will anyone know that you're pleased with me and with your people, unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth? And the Lord said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you've asked "because I'm pleased with you and I know you by name." In other words, God is saying, "That's exactly the attitude I'm looking for."

'Cause now I can trust you with blessings, Moses. Because so many people, they take the gift and they leave the giver of the gift. But now I can trust you that if you forsake the gift, if the giver doesn't go with you, now I can actually give you both. I can give you me and the gifts. And then Moses, I'm just telling you guys, Moses just blurts it out and he says, "Show me your glory." Show me your glory. Y'all remember Peter in the New Testament, he just said dumb stuff. That's kind of like Moses. I'm just telling you guys, sometimes God shows up and you just say dumb stuff 'cause you don't know. You don't know. I find myself sometimes like God's in the room and I just start praying and I'm like, I'm not even sure if that might be heresy. I don't know. I don't know. 'Cause I don't even know what to like. Remember when Peter is there at the Mount of Transfiguration and Jesus is there and he's illuminated and you just see his heavenly glory and Moses comes back and Elijah's there and Peter's like, "I'm gonna build a tent." (congregation laughing) What is that?

What is that? That's what Moses is like. All right, see, here's what I think's happening. Moses is thinking, bro, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. I'm gonna shoot my shot with God. Show me your glory. (congregation laughing) And I love this. I love it. The Lord actually responds. He said, "All right, I will cause all my goodness "to pass in front of you "and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy "and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." In other words, don't complain if it doesn't do for you. But he said, "You cannot see my face. And then the Lord said, "There's a place," I love the description, the detail of this. There's a place near me where you may stand on a rock and when my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I've passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back, but my face must not be seen. I just, I imagine Moses goes up on the mountain, so he's so geeked out like he's so excited. And God's like, "Oo-dul." (congregation laughing) The Lord, you know? (congregation laughing)

And what it says, what it says right after that? Moses comes down the mountain and says, "His face is on fire." Just from seeing the back of God. (congregation applauding) It says everybody's like freaked out so much that he has to like put on like a hat, like over his face. Everybody's like freaked out about Moses, 'cause he almost resembles God. He's like the moon. He's radiating the glory of God. What would it look like if we radiated the glory of God to the world? (congregation applauding) That's what's available, come on, guys. But there's only so far he could go. The closest man to God in the entire Old Testament, Moses, who God called a friend. There was only so far he could go. He could see kind of God, but he couldn't see his face. And live, why? Because sin, because sin. And when you get close to the fire, the sin part of you gets burned. But what happens when through Jesus, sin is finally dealt with? What happens when in heaven, the curse is done away with? I'll tell you what happens. One of the greatest pictures of heaven. Revelation 22 verse four, John goes on and he says, "They will see his face." Who's they?

You will see God's face. You will see God's face. You will see God's face. You will see the face of God, Robert. You'll see the face of God. Thank God we will see the face of mom, dad, friends, grandma, thank God. But you were made for more than that? You were made to see God. You lost it in the garden, get it back in the new earth. You will see the face of God. We will spend forever gazing on that beautiful face. Intirite says it like this. It says the new earth will be drenched in God. Everywhere you go, you'll see his face. And every heart will come fully alive. Like David said, every soul will be satisfied as with the riches to foods. And because his love is better than life, your lips will never stop praising him. And on that day, you will finally know Shalom. Permeating peace from head to toe. How? How can we do it? Because you will have been changed from glory to glory. All because of Christ, all the impurity will be thrown into the lake of fire. It's all gone, it's all gone, took it all away. And you will be able to see the face of God and live. And along for that day, in fact, guys, we all long for that day. Whether we realize it or not.

One of the most profound things that C.S. Lewis, who said a lot of profound things. One of the most profound things he ever said was this. If we find within ourselves a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world. If we find within ourselves desires, which nothing in this world can quench, nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is you weren't made for these desires. You weren't made for these foods. You're actually made for another world and he goes on and he says this. He says, we have not been trained to want heaven. Our whole education tends to fix our minds on this world. When the real want for heaven is present in us, we do not recognize it. Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want and want acutely something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise, because the world lies to you and says, this will quench you, this will feel you, this lust will do it, this person will do it, this money will do it, this promotion will do it. This thing will give you the thing, the feeling, the desire that you've always wanted, this will give you the pleasure, you've always wanted, but it doesn't. Why? Because it can't, because it can't. And listen guys, this right here, this is one of the greatest truths that a lot of us have likely never even thought about. Here it is. Sin, another way of saying this, Sin is seeking the joy of heaven with God on earth apart from God. You really want to know what sin is trying to get what you can only get with God's face in heaven, trying to get it here on earth and things. Sin is trying to extract heavenly pleasure from earthly substitutes. So guys, sorry, sorry, not sorry. Sorry, not sorry, really not sorry. You will never find what you're looking for in this world. You won't, you won't. And I know that leads some of you, you're like, oh, what? No, what it does, it starts to explain why you're never satisfied, why we've been hopping around from bed to bed,

why we've been hopping around from addiction to addiction, because we think the next one will finally do it. No, none of them will ever do it because they can't, they can't. And in fact, C.S. Lewis also said this, the last one from him, God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself, because it's not there. There is no such thing. Doesn't exist. Doesn't exist. Doesn't exist. Guys, even the good things of this life, because some of you're like, well, what about the, like, like marriage and kids and, and, and, and purpose and all that, like what, those are all what I would call secondary joys. They're what's called being derivative in nature. In other words, they derive from something else. So a secondary joy only has purpose because of the primary fuel of it, because the primary source of it. In other words, why is a flower beautiful? Because the one who made it's beautiful. Why is a sunset amazing? Because it reminds us of the God who painted the cosmos. Why is marriage and made to be so good? Because it reminds us of Jesus' relationship with the church. Why are children so awesome? Because it reminds us of how God sees us, their secondary joys, their, their derivative. And they derive their joy and their pleasure from the one who made them. But here's our problem, guys. Those things, those secondary joys are not primary. They are not ultimate. And sin, our problem is when we try and get primary joy from secondary joys. You cannot get primary fulfillment from a secondary joy. That's why even being married as amazing as it is, there's still this hunger inside your soul. And so what we think is it's our spouse's fault. We think it's their fault. We think it's life's fault. We think it's our husband's fault. We think it's our wife's fault. Here's my promise to you, if you actually allowed the secondary joy to draw you to the source of that joy, God Himself. And you actually went and feasted on God. Now you turn around, you're like, I have so much love to give everybody. All of a sudden your marriage becomes alive. All of a sudden you're an amazing parent. All of a sudden you're living in purpose. Because you didn't camp out at the secondary joy. You allowed the secondary joy to draw you to the giver of that gift. We can't camp out at the gift. The gifts of God are amazing. But look through the gift to the giver of that gift. Don't stop at the worship song on a Sunday morning. Go through the worship song to the one that the song's actually all about. That's what we were made for. That's the only place you'll be content. That's the only place you'll be satisfied. And if we camp out down here, guys, even on secondary joys, I'm not talking about sin. Because sin is just sinned in your mouth. But even the secondary joys, you'll still find yourself

saying, I'm unsatisfied. I'm unsatisfied. Because these are just gifts and there's a giver. The gifts are not ultimate. They're good things from God. What's ultimate is the giver of those gifts, the source of those gifts. He's who we're made for. In Augustine, one of the fathers, the grandfathers, great grandfathers of the faith, he said this, "Thou hast formed us for thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in thee." You have formed us for yourself, God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. Go with me. Does that not describe the dating culture today? Our hearts are restless till they find resting God. Does that not describe the hookup culture today? Everybody's trying to find rest in another person's soul set up. so it must be somebody else. It must be somebody else. So we hop from bed to bed to bed to bed to bed to bed to bed to bed thinking, now I'll finally find this spouse, the person, whoever it is. No, no, no, you'll never find it. You'll be 90 years old. You'll be a 500 years old. You'll be a Thuzula hopping around from bed to bed to bed. You ain't never gonna find satisfaction in a bed. 'Cause you're made for God. Your heart will never find rest until it finds rest in God first. This is why people in their third careers, they're on their third marriage, they're on their third affair this month. Could you think it's your spouse's fault? It's not your spouse's fault. It's your fault for not pursuing what your heart was actually made for to begin with. It's not their fault.

(audience applauding) Seat God. Seat God. That's why we're clicking on porn. This is why you got a great job but you're still pursuing the side hustle. So I gotta get more, I gotta get more, I gotta get more 'cause your heart's restless. That's why you're taking your kid from event to event, to event, to event, to event, to event, to event, to event, to event. 'Cause your heart's restless. So you're thinking, maybe I wasn't successful. Maybe I can help them to be successful because that's what it's like about. No, your heart's just restless. And your heart will always be restless until it finds rest in the king of glory. Guys, nothing is more misdiagnosed than our homesickness for heaven. Nothing. We, every single one of us is homesick for heaven but only a handful of us know it. And those of us who know it know that there's only one who can actually fill my hunger. Everybody else is looking for everything in this world to fill that hunger and it will never satisfy you. I promise you that. We think we want a thousand different things when what you really want is God.

What you really, do you think, I promise you no new bag, no new purse, no new car, no new job will give you what you actually want. I promise you that. I'm telling you today what your body really wants is God. So next time you go into the hookup app, next time you reach for the bottle, I promise you, this is my promise, guys. If you will pause your soul and if you will actually press into that hunger, if you will actually dive into that hunger instead of sedating, instead of pouring some liquor on that hunger, instead of pouring some sex on that hunger and trying to quench it. Well, what it does, it just sedates it. It's still there. You just found it in lesser things that you're driving your life off a clip. No, no, no, if you would actually just pause and press into that hunger, what you would actually find when you call through that hunger, you would find you're actually hungry for God. You're not hungry for that bottle. You're not hungry for sex. You're hungry for God. But you have to be willing to stop snacking on the world if you actually want the real thing. You'll never get the real thing. (congregation applauding) And Toser said this, Toser said this.

He says, "Father, I want to know you, "but my coward heart fears to give up its toys." Jeremiah 29, God tells me, He says, "You will seek me and you will find me "when you seek me with your whole heart." God actually says, "I will be found by you." Here's our reality, guys. Let me tell you, don't you dare blaspheme the name of the Lord by saying, "I tried Christianity and it didn't work." You didn't try Christianity. You got the cliff notes free version online. Unless we lay down our toys, crack open our chest and say, "God, here's my heart." Don't you dare say that you've tried Christianity. And I promise you this, the day you lay down your toys, crack open your heart and say, "God, here's my life." You'll encounter God. And I think that's the call today. The call today is to give up our toys that are robbing our joy and to go to God with our whole heart to pursue pleasure, to get joy. Listen, guys, pleasure, we got this bad word in Christianity 'cause we think we're all Puritans. Listen, like little hats, like on the Mayflower, coming over, you know? Like, dude, you were made for pleasure. You were made for God's and His presence are pleasures forevermore.

God's not afraid of giving you pleasure, but it's His pleasure. It's not this false dollar store pleasure like we got down here. No, it's His pleasure. It's the real thing. That's what you were actually made for. Because listen, I've never had an encounter with God and said that's not what I was looking for. Every single time, I'm like, that is what I was made for. Listen, there have been, I'll say hundreds of times I've been to church and I'm like, eh, eh, come on, can we be, I know we're all Christians. We're like, I've never done that, no, come on, come on. Hundreds of times I've been to church, 'cause I've got other things on my mind. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm thinking about, I'm distracted thinking about what I gotta do today, my errands, making my Uberese thing. You know what I'm saying? Like, there's been no time ever in my life that I put my heart before the Lord and I encountered the King of Glory. I said, that's not it. I gotta keep looking. And I even know that the best encounter that I can have with God today, it's one tablespoon of what will experience forever

when we see His face. And what that does, guys, it just makes me that much more hungry for heaven. Knowing that I can have God today, but even that, it's just, it's the tasting and seeing. 'Cause no, I can see, no, no, you're can hear, no, mine can conceive. What is actually gonna be like when we see His face? And on that day, I promise you, on that day, you will know why the angels never stop singing. (congregation murmurs) This pastor said this, and I'm gonna end on this. He said, I shall rise from the dead, and I shall see the Son of God, the Son of Glory, and shine myself as that sun shines. I shall be united to the ancient of days to God Himself who had no mourning, never began. No man ever saw God and lived, and yet I shall not live till I see God. And when I have seen Him, I shall never die. (congregation claps) God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we give you all praise, glory, and honor today. I thank you that because of Christ, death does not win. Death has lost its sting. The grave cannot hold the people of God. God, that you have made us for yourself, and our hearts will never find rest until they rest in you. And I thank you, God, that you did not put that hope in our hearts in vain.

You put that hope in our hearts to draw us, to live towards you our whole life, because you are what we were made for. You are what we've been longing for. You are what we've been hungering for our entire life. And I thank you that because of Christ, now the veil has been torn, and we can draw near with boldness to the throne of grace as sons and daughters of the living God. I thank you that even in this world, we can taste and see that the Lord is good. All praise to Jesus. God, I thank you that there's a day that we are gonna gaze on the face of God. And on that day like Paul says, he says that on that day, we will fully know, even as we are fully know. We will gaze on the face of God who looks on us with no condemnation. On that day, we will have no shame. On that day, sin will forever be gone. And we will experience the pleasures of loving God and being loved by God without end, all because of Jesus, all praise to Jesus. And here's the truth for us, guys. That's the truth for those who are in Christ. Some of us were talking about looking in the face of God and you're terrified. 'Cause you're not part of the family of faith in Jesus.

In and of ourselves, we stand before God in our own sin, but with Christ, we stand before God in his righteousness. And that door is still open. The invitation is there for you too today. Here's what it looks like. Put down your toys, crack open your chest and say, "God, here it is. "Here's my life, here's my heart. "You got it, past, present, future. "You got it, I give it to you. "They can use it for all it's worth." If you do that, it's what it looks like to be born again. So here's what I wanna do. I wanna pray with you and family of God's gonna pray around you. I wanna invite you to give Christ your heart. Give Christ your life and see what He does with it. Let's pray like this. Say Jesus, right now I repent of my sin, my darkness. I step out of it and I come into the light. Here I am, take me, all of me. Here's my heart, it's yours. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, died for my sin. He rose again, Jesus is alive. He's my King, He's my Lord, He's my Savior, Holy Spirit. Help me to live for you. I give you my all. Reveal the Father to me. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

Praise God for a new life. Praise God for a new birth. Guys, I've been praying for this moment. Oh, wait. God burst out last night. We don't got time for what He did last night. But in the time that we do have, He's going to do something absolutely fantastic. I want to challenge the 10% who check out in these moments and start thinking about how to beat the traffic. Don't expect to encounter God. Don't just sing some lyrics on the screen because you won't encounter God. But if you crack open your chest and say, God, here's my life, you very well may meet the king of glory today. So I want to ask you two calls. There's one group of us who have been settling for lesser joy. We need a repent of that and say, God, I'm going to stop stopping at this place. I'm going to look through that until I really embrace my hunger and find the king. There's another group of us. Listen, you've been going to church a long time and you just haven't encountered God. So you just kind of throttle back. I was talking to somebody last night. He said, just every time we have an end of service, I just kind of sit back and I watch it. Here's what I'm telling you guys. If you want what you've never had,

you may need to do what you've never done. If you want to encounter the king, you've got to make a move. He says, draw near to me and I'll draw near to you. And if you seek me with your whole heart, you'll find me. That's what God says. So what I'm going to say, guys, in the next few minutes, some of us need to say, God, what does it look like for me to be whole-hearted, 'cause I want to encounter the king. You're what I've always wanted, you're what I've always hungry for. Some of us, we need to come down front. I'll be down here with you, you need to make a move. You need to grab your spouse, you need to grab a girlfriend, boyfriend, you need to come up here by yourself, whatever it is. And say, God, I'm laying it all down. Or you need to say, God, I want to encounter you. I'm tired of just sitting back and watching everybody else do it. I want to encounter you. Others, you need to stand, some of us need to get our knees, whatever it is, take on a posture. It's appropriate when the king walks in the room. And I don't want to pray this over you as we do this. Ephesians 3, this is Paul's prayer for the church. He said, may you have the power to understand intellectually as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep this is love. And may you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand it fully. And then on that day and not until then, you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

So Father, we give you these next few minutes. Holy Spirit, come, Holy Spirit, come, come on church, lean into it, Holy Spirit, come, reveal the Father. May the face of God shine upon us. Draw us near to your heart. We say yes, here we are. In Jesus name, that's worship. Thanks for being a part of Victory Church on the Pando app. We hope this content was a blessing to you, but we want you to know that you're not done yet because we want to hear from you. So send us a letter and tell us things like what God is doing in your life, how we can pray for you, our even content that you would like to see us create in the future. We just want you to know that we see you. You're important to us and we'd love to continue to create some things in the future that will bless you. So send us a letter and we hope to hear from you soon.