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All right, there we go. Thank you. My mother's not in the room, but my son is. So there we go. That's all we need. That's all we need right there. So I was going to start with a really inappropriate joke, but I have a question. Are all of you over 21? Never mind. Just stay on the dance floor. Don't listen. How many of you have been to a place called Niagara on the Lake? Niagara on the Lake Canada. Okay. How many have been to Niagara Falls? Okay. This is also on the Niagara river, but about a 30 minute drive north of there. Beautiful, cute little shopping area, bunch of bed and breakfast type places, and it's surrounded by vineyards, so lots of wine tasting rooms and just grapes growing everywhere. So Chris and I were at Niagara on the Lake, so earlier during the summer. And like I said, cute little shopping district. That was a magnetic draw for my wife and not necessarily for me going into shops, just a little marriage dynamics that we deal with. Chris expresses her love for people by buying stuff for them. Okay. She expresses her love by buying stuff. And I experience her love when she's not spending money. So it's really interesting marriage dynamics. But she said, I just want to go to some shops. Do you want to go with me? And I said, well, I'll go down to the shops, but then I'm going to go around and do what I do. Which was read historical markers. Right. And there was one specific place I wanted to go to. I wanted to go to a fort, the remains of an old fort called Fort Mississauga. Right. And so a picture here of Fort Mississauga. Now you're saying, Jeff, that's a golf course. Yeah. The fort is right on the other side. That steep embankment right on the other side of that green was like the moat. And then coming up the other side to this British fort, and that brick building was one of the old buildings that they've restored for Fort Mississauga. And you literally have to cut across the. The golf course. Not that part of the golf course. I just needed the picture. But you had to cross, literally cross the golf course, cross a fairway in order to get to this old fort. And if somebody had a fort right there on Lake Ontario, why in the world would the Canadians need a fort right there on Lake Ontario? Who were they protecting themself from? And the answer is from US War of 1812. Aerial view shows this situation on the left hand side. That is the state of New York. That is the United States of America. On the opposite side of the Niagara river, that's like Niagara Falls. You get the American side and the Canadian side, same thing downstream. And so during the War of 1812, Fort George was right over here. And what Americans did is we came in, landed on the other side and attacked Fort George from the back and we burned that town to the ground. I mean, you walk up and reading historical markers. Oh, that's a beautiful church. St. Andrew's Church. I read the plaque. This plaque commemorates the 200th anniversary of the burning of this St. Andrews church by the Americans. I just want to go. Sorry, sorry. You think they must have been angry. They did. In retaliation, they burned Washington, D.C. 1814. Little history lesson. So Fort Niagara on one side, that's our fort there, Fort Mississauga on the other side. But now the ruins of that old fort are surrounded by a golf course. And the reason it's surrounded by a golf course is because we are not at war anymore. Technically, it wasn't at war with the Canadians. It was a war with the British, who controlled that part of Canada at the time. So this was my walk. This last photo here of this sequence, that's your walk. You're literally cutting right across a fairway in order to go see the ruins of the fort. But the reason it's surrounded by a golf course now and not surrounded by cannons wanting to blow your head off is because we're no longer at war with them. The reason that I walked up that day and there was like a reenactor dressed up like a British soldier, but not aiming a bayonet at me is because we are not that war. That war is over. That war is over. The reason that people battle there now with nine irons and drivers and putters and not with cannon is because that war is over. And it is the reason, too, that your probably greatest physical danger is getting hit by an errant golf ball. Because that war, that war is over. We're no longer at war with them. And a golf course surrounds what used to be a place of battle. Do you ever get tired of the war? Any of you get tired about going in medical test after medical test after medical test and still not having a clear diagnosis? Do you get tired of visiting a funeral home again and standing in line to pay your condolences because someone lost their sister or their brother, lost their husband or wife, lost a parent to a long battle with cancer, or lost a child to an accident or suicide? Do you ever get tired of the war? You know, We've been married 27 years. Why are we still struggling to Communicate. Why are we still talking past each other? Do you ever get tired of the war? How long have I been a Christian? And I still battle with that desire, with that impulse, with that darkness? Do you ever. Does the length of the war just drain you? Do you ever get tired of the war? I have good news. And the good news is that if you know Jesus, someday this war will be over because you will be saved. Thinking, hey, what do you mean we'll be saved? I already am saved. I was saved. If you were part of our conversation this morning, we talked about this word salvation. Salvation is an umbrella statement for God's work in saving me in the past, his work in saving me in the future, and his work in saving in the present is working. Saving me in the future. So is salvation. But it's like, I was saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved. And the theological expressions we give to these, these five syllable words, justification. I was saved. And that is almost exclusively how we end up using the word. It's like, are you saved? Oh, I was saved when I was a sophomore in high school at this camp. I was saved at an easter service in 2015. I was saved by getting involved in a women's Bible study. And we think I was saved. But sanctification is. And God is in the process of rescuing me. Day after day. He wants to rescue me from gossip, he wants to rescue me from fear. He wants to rescue me from my sense of self superiority. That's condescending. He wants to rescue me from belittling language. I am being saved. And glorification, the one we want to talk about this evening is I will be saved. I have been saved. I am being saved. And someday I will be saved. Three last expressions. Justification is, I'm saved from the penalty of sin. Sanctification here and now, day by day, I'm saved from the power of sin and glorification. Glory be, someday I will be saved from the presence of sin when the war is over. So in the New Testament of our Bible, salvation is often, it's like the salvation to come. And you go, hang on a second, I was saved. What do you mean, salvation to come? It's talking about glorification. It's talking about what's ahead. So an example of this is first Peter, chapter four, where Peter writes, now this inheritance is kept for you who through faith are shielded by God's power. Here we go. Until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed. When? At the last time, at the end of time. And so Here Peter is talking about you say, what do you mean, the coming salvation? I was saved back at that church service. No, that's justification. Sanctification is the ongoing work. He's talking there about glorification. And so as we talk about glorification, this beautiful way to worship our God for what he has done, what he is doing and what he will do, glorification, I just want to say, look at three different aspects of glorification. And one aspect that seizes me and has seized me, moves me deeply throughout the years is this aspect here. It's the resurrected body. The resurrected body. And so when the apostle Paul wrote to those Christians up in northern Greece, in Philippi, where he had been on his second journey, he reminded them of the resurrected body that was to come. So in Philippians, this is what Paul wrote. He says, but our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a what a savior this is in the future, a savior. From there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to put everything under his control, will transform, will transform our life lowly bodies so that they will be like his what? His glorious body. That's why we call it glorification. There will be a transformation of the body I have into a what's called a glorious body. And the template of this, by the way, it says, transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. The template for this is the resurrected body of Jesus, which was a physical body. Caravaggio's painting here of Doubting Thomas, where Jesus says to Thomas, you know, the other ten disciples, Judas is gone. Ten disciples. See Jesus, touch him, see him. And Thomas goes, unless I'm able to put my finger right where that spear went in, I'm not going to believe. He was just asking for the evidence that they had, by the way. And Jesus shows up and says, look, here's my hands, here's, here's my side, it's me. He asks them for something to eat. And there's beautiful image In John chapter 20, I believe it is where post resurrection appearance of Jesus. They're fishing. Some of the disciples are fishing on a lake and they're on the shore. Jesus starts a campfire and he's grilling fish and he's making bread. This is the template for your resurrected body. It's physical. Why would you need a resurrected body? Won't a floaty spirit do? Why would you want a resurrected body? You will want a resurrected body because you will want a physical body because you will be in a physical planet In a physical place. One of the things that we look forward to, end of the Book of Revelation, is the creation of a new heaven and a new Earth. You will need a physical body for a physical planet with your physical Lord. And the reason this is so critical and the reason this captures me is because our vision, the typical vision of heaven is absolutely pathetic. You get the normal features. There's like the angel guy, maybe a harp. White cloud, always monochrome. In fact, I found this cartoon that I absolutely love. Wish I'd brought a magazine. Wish I'd brought a magazine. Boring. I'm telling you, if I had a choice between floaty Cloudland and Gull Lake, I'm taking Gull Lake hands down. And so the question before the house in this why in the world would the new creation that God has promised be less impressive than the creation we see now, but without the brokenness? Why wouldn't you be able to hike? Why wouldn't you be able to kayak across an inland lake? Why wouldn't you be able to enjoy coffee as the sun is rising in the morning? Why wouldn't you be able to garden? Adam and Eve placed in the Garden of Eden and using their creative efforts to garden before sin enters into the world. Why wouldn't there be meaningful work? And unfortunately, this image that most people have of heaven, just this floaty cloudland, that's monochrome. It's so pathetic. It's like, yeah, I guess it's better than the other place, but, ugh, boring. So this next image here, what if there's community and what if there's beauty? And what if there's all of the natural beauty for from the first creation, without the brokenness that has hit us since the fall? What if there's all the natural beauty we could ever experience, but with perfectly whole relationships and with a perfectly whole heart and not this sense that there's always a war that we're trying to fight. We await, Paul said, a savior from there, saving from there the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to put every everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body. What you have to look forward to if you've come to know Jesus, is salvation in the future, which will involve a resurrected body in a resurrected world with your resurrected Christ. I just think that's something to look forward to. And in the meantime, in the meantime, we suffer. We really do. Suffering is part two of the conversation. And this too, I think is critical because the fact that Jesus is in me now that he has saved me, that he is rescuing me day by day, and that someday he's going to call me home and give me a resurrected body while I'll be with him. Life still rescue hurts. In fact, the term that Paul used in two locations, one in talking to the Romans and one in talking to believers in Corinth. The term he used was the word groaning. Groaning. Groaning is inarticulate. Groaning is an expression of pain that comes out like a moan, like a gasp, like a groan. And Paul said, as we wait for that heavenly body, as we wait for the resurrection of the body, there's a whole lot of groaning that we go through. Now, two examples, Romans, chapter eight. Check this out. Not only so, but we also check this out. Who have the first fruits of the spirit, we too, who are born again, who have God in us. We groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our body. Think, Paul, you already have been adopted. He says, I know, but I've never held Jesus. It's like the adoption papers are done, but the adoption has yet to fully kick in. Meanwhile we groan. Let's go back, please. Just another Meanwhile we groan as we wait eagerly for our adoption to kick in. Second Corinthians, chapter 5. Very similar. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, he's talking about his body here. And at that point the apostle Paul had been beaten a bunch of times. If this earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God. He's talking about the resurrected body there, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we what? Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling. I think there is a sense that if you were to approach the apostle Paul and say, are you living the totally fulfilled Christian life? I think Paul would say, no, I won't be totally fulfilled until I'm with him. Describe. Like, it's groaning, but it's groaning forward. This is groaning, longing to be clothed. The Romans 8 is groaning, groaning, waiting for this new transaction to take place. It's a groaning forward. It's not just a groaning about. It's a groaning for. Meanwhile we groan. We groan physically. Ask one of these 19 year old dude counselors, you're looking forward to your resurrection body. I don't think so. I'm doing okay. Arthritis kicks in, you start having some balance issues, some memory issues. Good news, there's surgery for that and then there's recovery and physical therapy after the surgery. Meanwhile we groan. These bodies wear out. And we groan. We groan emotionally. I believe that the wounds that you have experienced in your past, that you're gracious, Lord, through the fellowship of other Christian brothers and sisters as you experience his love through them, that he can heal you one day at a time. And I also believe that there are some horrific emotional wounds that go so deep you will not be totally whole until you're with him. Meanwhile, we groan. We groan relationally. The marriage that crumbles, the divorce of one of your kids and the turmoil you have, and whether this custody thing that's being worked out, if you will lose your ability to see your grandkids, church conflict, people that you have served with and prayed with and worshiped with, and there's an issue, and people fracture and scatter, and we groan. If someone were to say to me, jeff, I've got this question, I've come to know Jesus, but I don't feel totally whole. And I feel like something's missing. And I feel like I'm still at war, I would go, yeah, you don't feel totally whole because you're not yet. And you feel like something's missing because it is. And you feel like you're at war because you are. There is a legitimate empty space to the current Christian life, which will only fully and finally be met when you're with him. Second Corinthians, chapter five is where Paul did that as long as we were in this body, we groaned in our burden, we groan in our burden. We desire to be away from the body, at home with the Lord. That's Second Corinthians 5. Second Corinthians 11 is where he throws down his sufferings three times shipwrecked, five times, 39 lashes. And he ends the list by saying, in addition to that, I carry daily the pressure of my concern for the churches, these Jesus communities he had started, that had all kinds of problems. And he said, it weighs on me constantly. That's in 2nd Corinthians 11. But back in 2nd Corinthians 4. Five, he pauses for a moment. Excuse me. Over in Romans, chapter eight, he says, the suffering that we're going through, it doesn't. It can't even compare with the glory that's going to come. And I love this, too. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us. It's like he's saying, all this pressure, all of these beatings, all of these travels, ain't nothing in compared to the glory. The glorified body, the presence of Christ that we're going to experience when we are finally saved. Paul, haven't you been saved? Yes, I have been saved. I am being saved and I will be saved. Conversation number one, resurrected body. Conversation two, current suffering. It's a reality, but we try to suffer forward in expectation and suffer with hope rather than suffering in despair. And conversation number three, the new heart. Conversation number three, the new heart. The war within. I'm sorry. The war within. I was a sophomore in high school when I for the first time became acquainted with this book. It's called Johnny. Any of you my age or so remember when this thing came out. Her name is Johnny Eareckson Tada. The book came out at the bicentennial year, you know, 1976. So it's 50 years ago, right. She had been paralyzed from the shoulders down in a diving accident, which is 17 years old. 17 years old. Chesapeake Bay athletic woman, dives into the water shallower than she thought, damaged vertebrae, and has spent her life in a wheelchair. That book came out when I was like in 8th grade, 76. And then I became aware of it like a sophomore in high school a couple years later. My friends, this is Joni. Today she is, she is 76 years old. She's been in a wheelchair for almost 60 years and has served our Lord with a gracious spirit in some incredible ministries during her adult life. Seven or eight years ago, she wrote a book on heaven called Heaven youn Real Home. And the interviews that took place after that book came out. Heaven Is yous Real Home. You're doing this interview with a woman that has been wheelchair bound for almost 60 years. Book came out 50 years ago. It was a decade after the accident. So in a wheelchair almost 60 years. And so the question everybody asks is what are you looking forward to in heaven? And the answer is obvious. To run, to walk, to swim to all of these things she's been able to do. And consistently, Joni Eareckson Tada is I want a new heart. It's not just the physical ability to swim and bike and hike and run and not have the limitations of her wheelchair. She knows that something's wrong inside. And even though God is restoring her and renewing her and saving her day after day after day, she is looking forward forward to that day when the war within will be over. So like four years back, Aaron, who is my senior pastor, my boss, we were working on a series together on emotions. Aaron thought it'd be a good idea to do a fall series on basic human emotions. And so first thing we did was we called a meeting with two Christian counselors we knew and we sat down with them and we said, we're thinking about doing a series on emotions. And they said, well, you know, you'll probably want to talk about, you know, the four basic human emotions. And both Aaron and I are looking back and going, okay, refresh our memory. You know, the four basic human emotions. And Kelly, one of the counselors is there. He said, oh, desire, anger, fear and sadness. Four of the foundational fundamental human emotions. He says, desire, which often manifests itself in lust, anger, kind of short temper, Fear, which often manifests itself in anxiety and sadness, which often manifests itself in depression. So you guys want to do a series on emotions and God meeting you and your emotions probably think about hitting lust, anger, anxiety and depression. You know, desire, anger, fear and sadness. And then Kelly, with Sam as his sidekick, said, oh, by the way, two of those you will probably struggle with more than two of the others. And then he said, one of those you will probably struggle with till the day you die. And just moment of authentic vulnerability here. I looked at that list and it only took me a millisecond to go, anger, short fuse, quick tempered, when not controlled by the spirit of God, him working in my life, super short, super quick temper. And that was not encouraging news to me that you're probably going to battle this until your dying day in one way or another. It's not going to go away, it's going to resurface. You're going to have to go to war with this. That was not encouraging news to me. When Joni Eareckson TADA wheelchair bound for almost 60 years. What are you looking forward to in heaven? When she answered, I want a new heart. I get that. I'm tired of the war. So Jesus discipled John. He instructed this way. And I love this passage because it contains salvation past, salvation present and salvation future. It's like you get not in the same order, but justification, glorification, sanctification, boom, boom, boom. In this single couple verses, a difference. Dear friends, he loves the people he's writing to now. I mean right here and now. We are the children of God. That's justification. Being right with God and what we will be someday has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears His second coming, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. That one is glorification. And then he throws this down. All who have this hope in him purify themselves even as he is pure. That's sanctification that's the daily washing and cleaning that God desires to do. And what John's saying here to his friends is, a day is coming. A day is coming. A day is coming when the war will be over and you will see him, and your heart will be totally and finally revived and restored and renewed, and you will be like him sinlessly, because you will see him as he is. A reason to worship our God is because of what he has done and what he is doing, but also, my friends, because of what he will do. And if you're going through a season of struggle, my challenge to you is struggle forward. Struggle forward. Say, Jeff, I'm groaning. That's me. Groan. Longing to be clothed in your heavenly dwelling. Groan to the point where you become increasingly homesick for Jesus and homesick for his final act of salvation, glorification, salvation in the future. If I ask most dudes. Thank you, Jim, so much. If I ask most dudes, did you watch Gladiator? Did you watch Gladiator? And what's the opening scene of Gladiator? Most would respond, oh, the opening scene of Gladiator is that battle between the Romans. And is it Germanica or something like that? That's that opening epic battle scene, you know, where Russell Crowe, Maximus, you know, is leading his army against. That is not the opening scene of Gladiator. The opening scene of Gladiator is a daydream that Russell Crowe is having of walking through a wheat field back home, just reaching out. All you see is a hand, a hand reaching out. And this is a guy that's about to go into battle again and touching the grain and feeling the grain. And he wants to be home. And battling is his job, but he wants the war to be over and he wants to be home. I think there is in this an image for all of us in our desire to be finally home. The Old Testament prophets talked about a day that would come when they would pound their swords into plowshares, taking their weapons of war and turning them into gardening tools. If that doesn't grab you. Swords turned into plowshares, then perhaps just think of cannonballs being replaced by golf balls. A former place of war turned into a place of relaxation, enjoyment, or whatever you feel when you golf. But that was the feeling that I had as I walked across a fairway in order to get to a fort. That a place of conflict was now a place of leisure. There's a thin, thin little book that I have called Morning and Evening Prayers, written by a Grand Rapids guy named Cornelius. Plantinga And Neil Plantinga goes in his preface that sometimes our prayers can be renewed or revived if we read a printed prayer. And a printed prayer can sometimes jog us to pray differently or pray better or have new thoughts about how to pray. So this is Morning Prayer. At the very end of his book on morning and evening prayers, Neil wrote this. He prayed this. Oh God, Oh God, we look forward to a new heaven and new earth that will stretch gloriously forward for eternity. Your justice will at last prevail over darkness. Your harmony will at last dispel chaos. Your peace will at last quiet unrest. And your love will at last wipe away all tears. Then all nations and tribes and people will gather together before you to acclaim your goodness and your mighty salvation. Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. To the glory of, Of. To the glory. To your glory. To your everlasting glory. To your everlasting glory forever. In Jesus name. Amen. We worship our Father because of what he has done, what he is doing and what he will do. Salvation in the past, salvation in the present and salvation in the future. If your heart is troubled and tired, tired, tired of the war, let God meet you with this promise and groan forward and struggle forward with hope. Gracious God, we give thanks. We give thanks now for an opportunity this week to open your scripture and day after day hear your voice, meet us and guide us, give us ears to hear and hearts that respond to your kindness. Amen.