We Will Reign With God Forever

Sermon Transcript

Good morning! My name is Matt and I am one of the pastors of the church and it’s my privilege to welcome you to this gathering of Citylight Church. Citylight Church exists to make disciples of Jesus to the glory of God through gospel-empowered worship, gospel-empowered community, and gospel-empowered mission. If this is your first time gathering with Citylight Church, we would love to help you find a home here. On your seat is an orange and white connect card. Would you please take a moment to fill out that connect card and on your way out this morning, please drop it in the orange box in the back. We will be in touch with you tomorrow to give you more information about Citylight Church and help you find your home here.

 

Today is an incredibly significant day in our life together as Citylight Church. Today is our Reach mid-way Commitment Sunday. If you’re somewhat new to Citylight Church, before we turn our attention to God’s word, I want to tell you what Reach is, what Commitment Sunday is, and why we’re doing it. In March 2022 we began a new chapter as a church called Reach. Reach is a two-year discipleship initiative designed to help Citylight Church set down deep roots in our community and bear lasting fruit for generations through a long-term facility. There are a lot of reasons why we want a long-term facility where Citylight Church can set down deep roots and bear lasting fruit. As I’ve said before, many of us have different “whys” for wanting a long-term, 24/7 facility for Citylight Church. I’ve come to realize that for many of us, our “why” is our own experience. At Citylight we’ve experienced renewal in the gospel of grace and we want a place where more people can experience that same renewal. That’s our “why.” For others of us, Citylight Church is where we first came to saving faith in Jesus and we want a place where more people can be saved by God’s grace as well. That’s our “why.” And still for others of us, Citylight Church is where God put our lives back together and we want a place where more people can experience wholeness in Christ. That’s our “why.” For some of us Citylight Church is where our children first learned about Jesus and we want a place where more children can learn about the love of Christ. And for a few of you, Citylight Church is where the Lord shaped your desire to be pastors, church planters, and international missionaries, and you want a place where more people can be raised up and sent out for God’s glory. This is what Reach is all about – raising the funds necessary to set down deep roots and bear lasting fruit – and today is our Reach mid-way commitment Sunday.

 

At our first Reach commitment Sunday in March, 2022, Citylight Church beat our goal of raising $4.3M in two-year pledges and expected gifts toward both a long-term facility and our day-to-day disciple-making ministry. By God’s grace, we are right on track in fulfilling those commitments. At our first Commitment Sunday we didn’t know where our long-term home would be, but now, by God’s grace, we are the joyful owners of the facility at 4050 Main Street right down the hill at the corner of Shurs and Main here in MNYK! 

 

4050 Main Street provides us with an incredible opportunity to set down deep roots in our community and bear lasting fruit for generations, and it also brings to bear the need for additional financial resources for buildout costs. Therefore, we are asking the Lord to expand our Reach generosity through the Reach mid-way commitment Sunday by $500k, bringing our total Reach stretch goal to $4.8M in pledges and expected gifts.

Toward the end of this stretch goal of an additional $500k, the Citylight pastors and I are asking everyone who calls Citylight Church home to make one of three commitments today. Commitment Sunday Slide. Please grab your commitment cards. 

New Commitment. Reach is for anyone who calls Citylight their church home. If you call Citylight Church home, today is a wonderful opportunity to give yourself first to the Lord and then, out of that, make a resulting generosity commitment through March 2024.

Finish Strong. Others of us made a commitment last year and perhaps this journey has been as difficult – or possibly more difficult – than we had envisioned. While it may be completely appropriate to reduce your Reach commitment today, I want to encourage you to first seek the Lord and ask him to empower you for where he is leading. 

Increase. Some of you made our Reach commitment one year ago, and it is possible that God is calling you to increase that commitment. For you, maybe joyful and sacrificial generosity calls for an increase in your Reach commitment. Now that we know what Reach and commitment Sunday are, Aleh is going to come, read our Scripture passage this morning, and we’re going to look to God’s word to renew and refresh us in why we’re doing all this. If this is your first Sunday, feel free to take this all in and participate only as much as you desire.

PRAY – INTRODUCTION

Why are we doing all this? (Rope Illustration). Do you see this rope? I want you to imagine that this rope goes on and on and on forever. This rope represents eternity – forever and ever. Do you see this tiny black tip at the end of the rope? This represents our momentary mortal lives. Why are we doing all this? Because we want to live in this part (black tip) that makes an impact in this part (longer section). We want to lay up treasures in eternity, not here in time. We want to live in light of what we read in Revelation 22:5 – And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. Why are we doing all this? The answer is the big idea of our passage: We will reign with God forever. This is why! We will reign with God forever. The book of Revelation, perhaps better than any other book of the Bible, reminds us why we do all this. Theologian Vern Poythress says that Revelation is designed to “purify our desires by directing them to God and his glory.” Why do we do all this? We will reign with God forever and ever. What will it be like? To help us answer that question, we are going to look at three images in our passage: 1. The Garden (vv. 1-2) 2. The Curse (vv. 3a) 3. The Throne (vv.3b-5). 

THE GARDEN

The first image that helps us see and feel what it will be like when we reign with God forever, the first image that leads us to live now in light of eternity is a garden; a Garden-city. If you’re somewhat familiar with the Bible, the Garden may remind you of the opening chapters of the Bible, the creation, and the Garden of Eden. John is intentionally harkening back to the Garden of Eden to help us see that we will reign with God forever and ever in a new creation, a Garden that is even more wonderful than Eden. And flowing through the Garden-city to come is a river of the water of life. The river is not unique to John or Revelation. We first see this river giving life to the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2:9-10 – “And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden…” Even after Adam sinned and was barred from the Garden of Eden, the prophets promised a new creation with the river of the water of life flowing through it and bringing life where death once reigned. The prophet Ezekiel in particular highlights the significance of the life-giving river that will flow from God’s presence. Ezekiel 47:12 – And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for fruit. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing. Not only do the prophets promise the river of the water of life that will flow through the new Garden, spreading life where death once reigned, but the Lord Jesus Christ is the only Savior that gives this living water. John 7:38 – Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” As believers in Jesus, we taste the waters of eternal life now through the indwelling Holy Spirit, but this is just a downpayment guaranteeing the fullness of eternal life, joy, and blessing that will flow from God’s presence in the new Garden forever. Let’s look at it again. Revelation 22:1-2 – Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Friends – the river, the trees, the garden image all communicate life – glorious, joyful, abundant, and eternal life that awaits all who belong to Christ when we reign with God forever and ever. 

Citylight Church – this is why we’re doing all this. This is why we’re making generosity commitments today, this is why we want to be the church for decades to come – we want to give this world a foretaste of the Garden. Through Christ we have rivers of living, eternal water flowing through our hearts. Together we are a foretaste, a preview of the Garden to come. That’s why we’re doing this. We want more people to trust in Jesus, experience a foretaste of the Garden, and then reign with God forever and ever. Look – we all know that the Schuylkill River isn’t exactly the river of the water of life. But it is a hazy forestate of the river to come and it’s going to flow right by our new facility where we will be a foretaste of the Garden. That’s why we’re doing all this. That’s why we are using the black tip of our lives now to make an impact for eternity. We will reign with God forever in a Garden and its abundance will be so great that we can afford to make sacrifices now. Let’s turn now to the second image that helps us see what it will be like when we reign with God forever and ever…

THE CURSE

We will reign with God forever and ever and there is one line in our passage that speaks volumes about what it will be like. Revelation 22:3a – “No longer will there be anything accursed…” The “curse” image also brings us back again to the Garden of Eden. Have you ever asked yourself, “what is wrong with this world and how did it get this way?” That answer to those questions is what is called the curse. In the Garden, Adam and Eve enjoyed unhindered intimacy with God, intimacy with one another, and intimacy with the created world. But when Adam and Eve committed cosmic treason against God by rejecting God and the perfect world he created, God put a curse on the man, the woman, the serpent, and the land. The curse brought alienation where there was once intimacy. Alienation between people and God, alienation between man and woman, alienation between man and his work, alienation between people and creation, and the ultimate alienation of death. Every feeling of distance from God, every conflict in your marriage, every experience of loneliness, every way that you’ve hurt others and been hurt, every setback and frustration you’ve had at work, every natural disaster that has occurred, all the violence we see in our city, the mass murders we’ve been hearing on the news, every tear you’ve ever cried, and your every experience of death is the result and part of the curse. But the Bible says that when the sinless Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross, he was taking our curse and breaking the power of it. Galatians 3:13 – Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” That’s why John can say that when we reign with God forever and ever “no longer will there be anything accursed.” Friends, every believer in Jesus Christ will reign with God forever and ever and there will be nothing accursed. Nothing that has ever made you sad will be let in. Every tear will be wiped away. He will return to you the years that the locusts have eaten. Death will be no more, sin will be no more, regret will be no more, cancer will be no more, depression will be no more, anxiety will be no more, and all the alienation will be gone! And Citylight – that’s why we do all this. The reason why we can cheerfully pour it all out for Jesus now through our financial commitments, the reason why we can pour it all out to set down deep roots in our community and bear lasting fruit for generations is because this world and everything in it is not our hope or security. We do all this because we are living for a Garden-city whose builder is God where no curse will be found, and we will reign with God forever. Let’s turn now to the most beautiful and inspiring image of what it will be like when we reign with God forever.

THE THRONE

At the center of the Garden where we will reign with God forever and ever is a throne. The throne is why we can be confident that nothing accursed will get in the new Garden. Revelation 22:3 – No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it… But, in my opinion, the best part of the throne comes in the next verses. Revelation 22:4-5 – Revelation 22:4-5 – They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. [5] And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. Wow! The Bible says no mere human has ever seen God. Even Moses could only see his backside, so to speak. Friends, when we reign with God forever and ever we will know him with an intimacy that no mere human being, not even Adam, ever experienced. And being with Him, talking with him, and reigning with him will be the best part. Over the Christmas holiday, my family took a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Singapore because that’s where my older brother was getting married. Singapore was nothing short of stunning. The city, the architecture, the food, the people, the beaches and the wedding were all amazing. But I hadn’t seen my big brother in three years and Singapore would have been nothing without getting to see him. And being with him made every part of Singapore better. Friends – the Garden would be nothing without the throne. Our God will be there, the one we’ve waited and longed for, we will see him face to face, there will be no night or darkness to obstruct our view and we will reign with him forever. And we will experience one increasingly exciting moment after another of growing in the depth of our knowledge of him forever. This is Why! This is why we’re doing all this. As the great missionary to China, C.T. Studd once wrote, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.” (Pick up rope). This is why we’re doing all this. We can pour it all out for this part (black tip) or we can pour it all out for this part – where we will reign with God forever and ever. This is why!

RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS

So what should we do in light of the reality that all who repent and believe in Jesus will reign with God forever in the garden where instead of the curse, there will be the throne? Today the answer is that we are going to make commitments. Commitments that will make it possible for us to set down deep roots in our community and bear lasting fruit for generations through a new, long-term facility. As I mentioned earlier, we are all invited to make one of three commitments: a new commitment, a commitment to finish strong, or an increased commitment. And for a moment I want to speak to those of you who are considering an increased Reach commitment. I want to encourage you as you consider “increase” by sharing with you a story from a couple in our church who came to an advance commitment night for church leaders in February of 2022 and that evening decided to expand on what they previously planned to give. Reed Video. 

THE LORD’S SUPPER

Before we make our commitments we are going to remember “why” one last time by participating in the Lord’s Supper. 

COMMITMENT TIME

Now it’s time for us to make our commitments. As I mentioned a moment ago, we are all invited to make one of three commitments: a new commitment, a commitment to finish strong, or an increased commitment. For the next five minutes the band is going to play instrumentally and we’re all going to seek the Lord and fill out our commitment cards. If you’re making a new commitment, you’re using the first box to indicate your total Reach commitment from now until March 2024. This commitment is inclusive of what you plan to regularly give, as well as any gifts out of stored resources like stock or savings. If you’ve already made a Reach commitment, the second two boxes are for you. Please do provide your contact information as well so that we can send you Reach updates. 

Along with your Reach commitment cards, you have thought bubbles on your chair. The thought bubbles are our opportunity to write down our “why.” Why you want a long-term facility where Citylight, your church, can be the church and set down deep roots in our community and bear lasting fruit for generations to come. Write down why you’re making this commitment – what you’re dreaming the Lord will do in us and through us at this new facility. You may have written your “why” last week, please write it again. And here’s why. When you come up in a few minutes with your Reach commitment card, you’re going to put your card in the box and then your thought bubble on the board so that we can celebrate all the reasons why. Take five minutes with the Lord to fill out your cards and write your “why”. As you do, some of the “whys” that were written down last week will scroll on the screen to encourage you. 

RESPONSE

At this time, we are going to bring our commitment cards and thought bubbles. As the band leads us in two songs of worship, please come forward when you’re ready, place your card in the box and your “why” on the board. Andrea is going to read a passage of Scripture to encourage us in our generosity, we will give first, and then when you’re ready, please come forward as we worship the Lord together. 

2 Corinthians 8:3-7 – For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. 6 Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. 7 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also. Andrea and I will go first, and then come forward when you’re ready.