WEBVTT 00:00:05.549 --> 00:00:08.130 Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity 00:00:08.130 --> 00:00:11.210 Sermons. This week we're wrapping up our teaching 00:00:11.210 --> 00:00:13.830 series called A Matter of Time, where we're talking 00:00:13.830 --> 00:00:17.969 about what time is, how we should best use our 00:00:17.969 --> 00:00:20.850 time. And Rob has spent a lot of time telling 00:00:20.850 --> 00:00:24.589 us that we have a limited amount of time. But 00:00:24.589 --> 00:00:27.609 what about eternal life? Doesn't Jesus say that 00:00:27.609 --> 00:00:31.230 we will live forever? How does that work? And 00:00:31.230 --> 00:00:34.990 how does eternal life impact our life today? 00:00:40.670 --> 00:00:43.490 Today we are completing a four -week teaching 00:00:43.490 --> 00:00:45.289 series that we've been doing called A Matter 00:00:45.289 --> 00:00:47.549 of Time. And over the past few weeks, we've been 00:00:47.549 --> 00:00:50.469 looking at the topic of time from a few different 00:00:50.469 --> 00:00:53.710 angles, right? We talked about how our time is 00:00:53.710 --> 00:00:56.570 limited and how Psalm 90 says, Oh God, teach 00:00:56.570 --> 00:01:00.469 us to number our days. So that we may gain a 00:01:00.469 --> 00:01:03.890 heart of wisdom. And then we talked about how 00:01:03.890 --> 00:01:07.250 to make time. How to prioritize time in our lives 00:01:07.250 --> 00:01:09.349 for things that are most important. And especially 00:01:09.349 --> 00:01:13.790 to seek first the kingdom of God. And then last 00:01:13.790 --> 00:01:16.930 week we talked about focused time. And how we 00:01:16.930 --> 00:01:20.090 realize that we can't do everything in this life. 00:01:20.150 --> 00:01:21.930 And just because something needs to get done 00:01:21.930 --> 00:01:25.510 doesn't mean that it needs to get done by me. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:29.260 So over the weeks, we've been saying things like, 00:01:29.379 --> 00:01:35.299 you know, life is short. You've got limited time. 00:01:35.939 --> 00:01:39.900 Your days are numbered. Which is why on a day 00:01:39.900 --> 00:01:42.400 like today, what I'm about to share with you 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:45.099 is going to sound like a bit of a contradiction. 00:01:45.540 --> 00:01:48.060 Because some of you are probably already asking, 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:49.920 when you look at that, you're probably saying, 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:55.250 but Rob, what about eternal life? right? Doesn't 00:01:55.250 --> 00:01:58.030 the Bible say that we're actually going to live 00:01:58.030 --> 00:02:02.909 forever? And so, yes, true, life is short, but 00:02:02.909 --> 00:02:05.730 don't we actually also have this thing that Christians 00:02:05.730 --> 00:02:09.930 call everlasting life? Which is it then, right? 00:02:10.009 --> 00:02:12.750 Do I have limited time, or do I have all the 00:02:12.750 --> 00:02:17.110 time in eternity? Are my days numbered, or will 00:02:17.110 --> 00:02:21.870 I live forever? Now, I want to say right off 00:02:21.870 --> 00:02:24.139 the bat that many people here, They frankly, 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:25.979 they just don't believe in the whole concept 00:02:25.979 --> 00:02:30.960 of eternal life, right? For you, and there's 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:33.699 no problem believing this. We're glad that you're 00:02:33.699 --> 00:02:36.319 here. But for you, you totally say, look, what 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:39.599 you see is what you get. And it's only things 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:42.460 that I can touch with my hands and measure with 00:02:42.460 --> 00:02:45.000 my eyes. Those are the only things that real. 00:02:45.139 --> 00:02:47.639 And all this talk about eternal life, that is 00:02:47.639 --> 00:02:50.060 just like stories that human beings made up over 00:02:50.060 --> 00:02:53.620 time in order to deal with the tragedy. of life 00:02:53.620 --> 00:02:57.340 and the finality of death. Anything else that 00:02:57.340 --> 00:03:01.139 people might come up is just wishful thinking. 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:03.400 And if that's where you are today, that's totally 00:03:03.400 --> 00:03:05.979 fine. A lot of people just do not have time for 00:03:05.979 --> 00:03:10.360 the subject of eternal life. For others, you 00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:12.819 actually don't like talking about eternal life 00:03:12.819 --> 00:03:16.120 because it's always sounded a little escapist 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:18.780 to you. It's as, you know, Christians sometimes 00:03:18.780 --> 00:03:21.280 talk about it is in this way. They say, yeah, 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:24.060 yeah, yeah, life is hard, but don't worry. One 00:03:24.060 --> 00:03:26.699 day you're going to get to go to this other place 00:03:26.699 --> 00:03:30.360 and it'll be so much better, right? So just get 00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:34.240 through this life and then you can enjoy eternal 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:37.860 life. And so they treat eternal life almost as 00:03:37.860 --> 00:03:43.699 an escape hatch from this life. And still others 00:03:43.699 --> 00:03:46.020 of us find the whole concept of eternal life 00:03:46.020 --> 00:03:48.900 very childish. And that's because the images 00:03:48.900 --> 00:03:52.219 that we have in our minds are pictures of things 00:03:52.219 --> 00:03:56.199 like pearly gates and clouds and harps and angels. 00:03:56.560 --> 00:03:59.620 And you might actually be open to having a real 00:03:59.620 --> 00:04:02.000 conversation about the topic of eternity and 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:04.840 eternal life. But it can't be from a child's 00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:08.580 point of view. You need an adult version of that 00:04:08.580 --> 00:04:11.919 teaching. And still others would say, well, I 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:13.580 don't even really care about this. I mean, why 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:17.740 worry? If there's eternal life, great. I'll find 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:20.459 out when I get there, I guess, right? But it 00:04:20.459 --> 00:04:24.720 doesn't really make any difference to my present 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:28.579 life. I mean, we can talk about it at funerals, 00:04:28.600 --> 00:04:31.920 but what does it have to do with my Monday morning 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:36.639 or my work or my everyday life? And finally, 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:40.040 some of you are probably also saying, Rob, this 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:42.839 is Pentecost Sunday. What the heck are we doing 00:04:42.839 --> 00:04:46.779 talking about time and eternal life still? Shouldn't 00:04:46.779 --> 00:04:51.600 we be talking about the Holy Spirit? Well, today 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:55.879 I want to push back against all of those questions 00:04:55.879 --> 00:05:00.240 and ask this question, but what if, right? What 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:05.560 if actually there is more to this life than what 00:05:05.560 --> 00:05:08.660 we see with our eyes? And what we can touch with 00:05:08.660 --> 00:05:11.000 our hands. And what if eternal life is not just 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:13.839 like some escape hatch. And it's not a fairy 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:17.199 tale. And it's not some vague comfort that we 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:20.500 get and talk about at funerals. And what if, 00:05:20.620 --> 00:05:24.060 here's a big one. What if eternal life is not 00:05:24.060 --> 00:05:29.610 just about the future? But it's about a life 00:05:29.610 --> 00:05:32.050 that you can have right now, a life that does 00:05:32.050 --> 00:05:34.170 make a difference on your Monday morning, on 00:05:34.170 --> 00:05:37.610 your drive to work, and in your everyday life. 00:05:37.870 --> 00:05:41.250 And finally, for all you people wearing red today, 00:05:41.449 --> 00:05:46.009 what if... Pentecost Sunday is actually the perfect 00:05:46.009 --> 00:05:49.649 day to talk about all this. That's where we're 00:05:49.649 --> 00:05:51.750 going to go in the next few minutes. I've given 00:05:51.750 --> 00:05:54.290 you some teaching notes to follow along just 00:05:54.290 --> 00:05:58.230 so you don't get lost. But let's begin by talking 00:05:58.230 --> 00:06:00.689 about something we can all acknowledge. And this 00:06:00.689 --> 00:06:02.970 is whether you believe in eternal life or you 00:06:02.970 --> 00:06:05.870 don't believe in eternal life. It is this. We 00:06:05.870 --> 00:06:10.370 all have this ache within us for something more. 00:06:10.610 --> 00:06:13.910 We all have this. ache for a life that lasts 00:06:13.910 --> 00:06:18.389 an ache for forever there is just something in 00:06:18.389 --> 00:06:20.470 us that when we look at the beauty of this world 00:06:20.470 --> 00:06:23.529 when we see love or friendship or when we're 00:06:23.529 --> 00:06:25.910 gathered around a table with good friends or 00:06:25.910 --> 00:06:29.730 when we watch a sunset over a lake in the evening 00:06:29.730 --> 00:06:34.509 it just something in us says this can't be all 00:06:34.509 --> 00:06:37.829 that there is, right? We have to have been made 00:06:37.829 --> 00:06:40.149 for more than this. Life cannot just be this 00:06:40.149 --> 00:06:43.550 random little flicker of light between two vast 00:06:43.550 --> 00:06:47.529 darknesses on either side. No, right? Every culture, 00:06:47.629 --> 00:06:51.829 every generation, every civilization has said 00:06:51.829 --> 00:06:55.670 that deep down, gosh, there has got to be more 00:06:55.670 --> 00:06:59.569 to this life. Surely my life. is connected to 00:06:59.569 --> 00:07:02.730 something larger. And that ache, it's there in 00:07:02.730 --> 00:07:06.750 all of us. It shows up in our stories and in 00:07:06.750 --> 00:07:09.970 our movies. And, you know, Peter Pan, right? 00:07:10.350 --> 00:07:13.670 Highlander, The Eternals. In Harry Potter, Voldemort 00:07:13.670 --> 00:07:16.769 rips his soul into so many pieces in a pursuit 00:07:16.769 --> 00:07:20.449 of immortality. Harry himself dies and comes 00:07:20.449 --> 00:07:24.930 back to life. And man, I think we have this longing 00:07:24.930 --> 00:07:28.420 within us to say, gosh, I hope. Is there some 00:07:28.420 --> 00:07:32.519 way we can beat death? Could it be that we too 00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:37.800 could live forever? And what about the whole 00:07:37.800 --> 00:07:41.779 anti -aging industry, right? What about our obsession 00:07:41.779 --> 00:07:45.000 with health and longevity? What about billionaires 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:48.060 who are investing money in life -extending technology? 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:51.800 Do you know that right now about 500 people on 00:07:51.800 --> 00:07:56.649 earth are cryogenically frozen? Hoping that one 00:07:56.649 --> 00:08:00.649 day science will figure out how to beat death. 00:08:01.410 --> 00:08:06.129 Underneath all of it is the ache. We want life 00:08:06.129 --> 00:08:11.550 to last. We don't want love to end. We don't 00:08:11.550 --> 00:08:15.649 want beauty to vanish. We don't want our loved 00:08:15.649 --> 00:08:20.730 ones to be gone forever. We don't want death 00:08:20.730 --> 00:08:25.449 to have the final word. But that ache. is not 00:08:25.449 --> 00:08:29.110 accidental. In the book of Ecclesiastes, we read 00:08:29.110 --> 00:08:33.590 that God has planted eternity in the human heart. 00:08:33.669 --> 00:08:36.730 We feel the ache for eternal life because God 00:08:36.730 --> 00:08:40.590 has planted it in us, right? We long for more 00:08:40.590 --> 00:08:45.769 because we are actually made for more. We ache 00:08:45.769 --> 00:08:50.769 for eternity because we were made for eternity. 00:08:51.659 --> 00:08:53.899 Maybe that's actually part of what it means to 00:08:53.899 --> 00:08:56.360 be made in the image of God. God, this eternal 00:08:56.360 --> 00:08:59.019 being, kind of made us and somehow baked into 00:08:59.019 --> 00:09:02.379 us or it rubbed off on us this sense that, yes, 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:04.700 there's got to be something eternal. There's 00:09:04.700 --> 00:09:08.100 got to be something beyond this life. You know, 00:09:08.120 --> 00:09:12.620 C .S. Lewis wrote that, if I find in myself a 00:09:12.620 --> 00:09:16.240 desire which no experience in this world can 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:20.169 satisfy, The most probable explanation is that 00:09:20.169 --> 00:09:24.129 I was made for another world. In other words, 00:09:24.450 --> 00:09:28.289 that ache, that longing for eternity is itself 00:09:28.289 --> 00:09:34.399 a clue. We weren't just made. For a few good 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:37.960 decades and then a nice obituary. We were made 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:40.879 for eternal life. And that's why death feels 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:43.500 so wrong. Oh, but Rob, death is natural. Yes, 00:09:43.500 --> 00:09:45.960 of course, death is natural. But it still feels 00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:49.139 wrong. It still feels like it's the enemy. And 00:09:49.139 --> 00:09:54.080 when someone we love dies, it does not sit right 00:09:54.080 --> 00:10:00.539 with us at all. God has set eternity in the human 00:10:00.539 --> 00:10:04.330 heart. We know there's more. But we just don't 00:10:04.330 --> 00:10:08.429 know how to get there. Right? We ache for it. 00:10:08.549 --> 00:10:12.590 We search for it. We write stories about it. 00:10:12.929 --> 00:10:17.750 But we can't create it. Because while we long 00:10:17.750 --> 00:10:23.789 for eternal life, only God can give eternal life. 00:10:23.929 --> 00:10:26.950 We can extend life, maybe. We can improve life, 00:10:27.110 --> 00:10:30.690 hopefully. We can preserve memories and legacies, 00:10:30.850 --> 00:10:35.450 maybe. But only God can give eternal life. And 00:10:35.450 --> 00:10:39.190 so here's the question. Has he given it? Right? 00:10:39.830 --> 00:10:45.070 Has God given us eternal life? Is eternal life 00:10:45.070 --> 00:10:49.710 just a human longing? Or has God actually answered 00:10:49.710 --> 00:10:56.190 that longing? Well, if you ask Jesus, the answer 00:10:56.190 --> 00:11:01.360 is yes. But maybe not in the way. that you expect, 00:11:01.639 --> 00:11:04.080 right? Jesus does speak about heaven. He does. 00:11:04.259 --> 00:11:07.340 He speaks about the resurrection. He speaks about 00:11:07.340 --> 00:11:11.259 a life in the world to come. But when Jesus speaks 00:11:11.259 --> 00:11:13.539 about eternal life, he talks about it totally 00:11:13.539 --> 00:11:16.279 differently than you or I would ever talk about 00:11:16.279 --> 00:11:19.120 it. And here's why, okay? Here's why. Because 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:25.299 for him, eternal life wasn't a life after death. 00:11:26.220 --> 00:11:30.899 For him, it was a kind of life that begins now. 00:11:30.899 --> 00:11:34.799 What? You say, no, I'm serious. It's right there 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:38.379 in our Bibles. If we actually read, when we hear 00:11:38.379 --> 00:11:40.539 the word eternal life, what do we think? We think 00:11:40.539 --> 00:11:43.500 of a future that goes on and on and on and on 00:11:43.500 --> 00:11:45.940 and on and on and on. And again, that's not necessarily 00:11:45.940 --> 00:11:49.919 wrong. But when Jesus uses the phrase eternal 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:53.500 life, especially when he uses the phrase in John's 00:11:53.500 --> 00:11:58.769 gospel, He is not talking about how long a life 00:11:58.769 --> 00:12:03.970 lasts. He is talking about the kind of life that 00:12:03.970 --> 00:12:07.730 you are living. For Jesus, eternal life is not 00:12:07.730 --> 00:12:12.730 about quantity. It is about the quality of your 00:12:12.730 --> 00:12:16.309 life. Here's what I mean. The phrase eternal 00:12:16.309 --> 00:12:20.820 life comes from two Greek words. Ionios. Zoe 00:12:20.820 --> 00:12:24.460 means life, but not just like biological life, 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:27.720 not just like breathing, eating, sleeping. There's 00:12:27.720 --> 00:12:30.720 another Greek word for that, bios. Zoe, no, Zoe 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:34.379 means abundant life. It means the kind of life, 00:12:34.419 --> 00:12:38.320 life as it was meant to be lived. That's what 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:40.639 Zoe means. And then there's that other word, 00:12:40.700 --> 00:12:44.139 Ionios, which our Bibles translate as eternal. 00:12:44.379 --> 00:12:47.240 But even when you look at it, you can see there 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:50.299 are other words in there. Words like Eon, or 00:12:50.299 --> 00:12:56.539 era, or age, whatever. So, zoeionios gets translated 00:12:56.539 --> 00:13:00.820 in our Bibles as eternal life, but it literally 00:13:00.820 --> 00:13:08.779 means life of the ages. Life of the ages. I love 00:13:08.779 --> 00:13:14.559 that phrase, okay? Eternal life is a life of 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:19.919 the ages. A life of the age to come. Imagine, 00:13:19.940 --> 00:13:22.480 if you will, history divided into two great ages. 00:13:22.539 --> 00:13:24.879 This present age, which is marked by sin and 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:28.320 death, and a future age that is marked by healing, 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:31.220 justice, and joy. The amazing claim of the New 00:13:31.220 --> 00:13:34.820 Testament is that the age to come has already 00:13:34.820 --> 00:13:41.289 come. Not fully, not completely, but truly and 00:13:41.289 --> 00:13:44.029 really. It's what scholars sometimes call the 00:13:44.029 --> 00:13:46.850 already but not yet. The kingdom of God is already 00:13:46.850 --> 00:13:49.629 here. It's not fully here yet, though. The eternal 00:13:49.629 --> 00:13:52.929 life has already begun, although we don't experience 00:13:52.929 --> 00:13:57.070 in its fullness just yet. New creation has already 00:13:57.070 --> 00:14:01.470 started, but the old creation is still groaning. 00:14:02.090 --> 00:14:04.590 Now, if you don't believe me on this, let's... 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:07.799 read how Jesus talks about this. I mean, you're 00:14:07.799 --> 00:14:10.360 going to be gobsmacked. Look, this is Jesus talking 00:14:10.360 --> 00:14:13.039 about eternal life. In John 5, 24, he says, very 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:17.840 truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:23.879 him who sent me will have eternal life? No. Might 00:14:23.879 --> 00:14:27.120 have eternal life? No. One day down the road 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:30.220 will get eternal life after they die if everything 00:14:30.220 --> 00:14:35.190 works out? No. Jesus says, anyone who hears my 00:14:35.190 --> 00:14:39.889 word and believes him who sent me has it. Like 00:14:39.889 --> 00:14:44.669 as in now. You have eternal life now. You are 00:14:44.669 --> 00:14:50.830 living it now. Or how about this one? Now this 00:14:50.830 --> 00:14:53.230 is eternal life, says Jesus. Oh good, thank you 00:14:53.230 --> 00:14:54.509 Jesus, because we're actually wondering what 00:14:54.509 --> 00:14:57.429 eternal life is. This is eternal life. That they 00:14:57.429 --> 00:15:01.740 know you, the only true God. and Jesus Christ 00:15:01.740 --> 00:15:05.080 whom you've sent. That's eternal life. Not a 00:15:05.080 --> 00:15:09.480 future place with harps and clouds. He says eternal 00:15:09.480 --> 00:15:16.480 life is knowing God. So eternal life, according 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:20.419 to Jesus, is not mainly about more time. It is 00:15:20.419 --> 00:15:24.179 about a life with God. Because let's be honest, 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:28.000 more time is not necessarily good news. If you 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:31.549 are miserable, then more time just means more 00:15:31.549 --> 00:15:34.470 misery. If you are lonely, then more time just 00:15:34.470 --> 00:15:37.309 means more loneliness. If you are anxious, bitter, 00:15:37.470 --> 00:15:40.190 afraid, or exhausted, then more of that, that 00:15:40.190 --> 00:15:42.570 going on and on and on, does not sound like heaven. 00:15:42.610 --> 00:15:46.429 It sounds like the other place. No. Eternal life 00:15:46.429 --> 00:15:50.370 is a different kind of life. It's a life with 00:15:50.370 --> 00:15:52.490 God. It's a life from God. It's a life shaped 00:15:52.490 --> 00:15:55.389 by the kingdom of God. It's zoeionios. It is 00:15:55.389 --> 00:16:00.070 the life of the age to come. That you can live 00:16:00.070 --> 00:16:04.490 now. That's what Jesus said. You can go back 00:16:04.490 --> 00:16:06.110 to your Bibles and you can read it. That's exactly 00:16:06.110 --> 00:16:08.870 what he is saying. In fact, John Ortberg wrote 00:16:08.870 --> 00:16:11.830 a book, and I love the title of it. Eternity 00:16:11.830 --> 00:16:16.289 is now in session. That is it. Eternity is not 00:16:16.289 --> 00:16:19.629 later. Eternity is not after. Eternity is not 00:16:19.629 --> 00:16:23.789 a someday. It's in session. It's happening. You're 00:16:23.789 --> 00:16:28.440 in it. Now, or at least you can be. And I know 00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:30.080 that it's really hard for us to believe this 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:32.340 because we look at our lives and we say, this 00:16:32.340 --> 00:16:36.559 is eternal life. My life does not look like the 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:38.539 life of the age to come, Rob. I get up every 00:16:38.539 --> 00:16:40.860 morning. I make coffee. I answer emails. I sit 00:16:40.860 --> 00:16:43.559 in traffic. I scroll on my phone and then I go 00:16:43.559 --> 00:16:45.960 to bed and I repeat the same thing day in and 00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:47.980 day out. And you're saying that's eternal life. 00:16:48.100 --> 00:16:51.779 Fair enough. Fair enough. But Jesus is not trying 00:16:51.779 --> 00:16:54.279 to say that every moment of your life is going 00:16:54.279 --> 00:16:57.570 to feel heavenly. What he is saying. is that 00:16:57.570 --> 00:17:00.549 there's a new kind of life that you can be living. 00:17:01.009 --> 00:17:05.250 It's a life of the ages and it's available in 00:17:05.250 --> 00:17:09.589 the middle of your ordinary life. It's a life 00:17:09.589 --> 00:17:12.829 where forgiveness is possible, where joy can 00:17:12.829 --> 00:17:16.950 survive suffering, where peace can exist in the 00:17:16.950 --> 00:17:21.740 middle of chaos. It's a life where love is stronger 00:17:21.740 --> 00:17:24.980 than fear. Love is even stronger than death, 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:27.619 where your limited little life can somehow connect 00:17:27.619 --> 00:17:30.000 with God's eternal purposes, and you can start 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:35.680 living that life now. You know, N .T. Wright 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:38.000 uses this great analogy, and I've often referred 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:40.200 to it. He says, eternal life is like this. It's 00:17:40.200 --> 00:17:43.819 like someone learning a new language before they 00:17:43.819 --> 00:17:46.680 go and live in the country where they speak that 00:17:46.680 --> 00:17:50.890 language. You learn the language now so that 00:17:50.890 --> 00:17:54.150 you'll be at home there when you get there then. 00:17:55.480 --> 00:17:57.759 So, for example, if you're going to go live somewhere 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:00.180 else someday, you don't wait until you arrive 00:18:00.180 --> 00:18:03.579 in that place to begin preparing. No, you start 00:18:03.579 --> 00:18:05.140 learning the language now. You start learning 00:18:05.140 --> 00:18:07.980 the customs now. You start learning the culture 00:18:07.980 --> 00:18:11.619 now so that when you arrive, you actually feel 00:18:11.619 --> 00:18:15.160 completely at home. And many people, I would 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:17.480 say, if you were, not you personally, but many 00:18:17.480 --> 00:18:20.359 people, if they were to show up in heaven right 00:18:20.359 --> 00:18:24.750 now, they would not like it. And they would not 00:18:24.750 --> 00:18:28.369 want to stay because they're not prepared for 00:18:28.369 --> 00:18:31.150 it. And it would seem strange. And it would seem 00:18:31.150 --> 00:18:34.410 foreign and uncomfortable to them. But for those 00:18:34.410 --> 00:18:38.470 who start living eternal life now, they will 00:18:38.470 --> 00:18:43.210 feel right at home. And that's why we need to 00:18:43.210 --> 00:18:48.309 start practicing eternal life. Learning forgiveness 00:18:48.309 --> 00:18:51.210 now. Learning holiness now. Learning worship 00:18:51.210 --> 00:18:54.400 now. Learning generosity now. Learning peace 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:58.180 now. Learning love now. We don't wait for eternity. 00:18:58.940 --> 00:19:04.740 We begin practicing eternity. This is why the 00:19:04.740 --> 00:19:06.740 Christian life is not just about believing the 00:19:06.740 --> 00:19:08.220 right thing so that you can go to heaven when 00:19:08.220 --> 00:19:10.799 you die. It is about becoming the kind of person 00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:14.369 who could live the life of heaven. right now. 00:19:14.430 --> 00:19:16.490 That's what discipleship is. That's what spiritual 00:19:16.490 --> 00:19:18.789 formation is. That's what communion is. That's 00:19:18.789 --> 00:19:22.569 what prayer is. These are all practices of eternal 00:19:22.569 --> 00:19:27.329 life, which means this. If eternal life actually 00:19:27.329 --> 00:19:30.549 starts now, then your Monday mornings can actually 00:19:30.549 --> 00:19:34.589 be a little slice of eternal life. Dinner with 00:19:34.589 --> 00:19:38.869 your family tonight can be a taste of the age 00:19:38.869 --> 00:19:43.720 to come. Caring for someone in need can be the 00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:48.700 zoe ionios. It can be a sign of the age to come. 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:53.039 Moments when God's future is showing up in the 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:56.059 present. Guys, this is a radical, radical claim, 00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:58.240 and I hope you're getting it, but eternal life 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:04.980 starts now. You're in it, or at least you could 00:20:04.980 --> 00:20:08.230 be. But here's where I think your mind is actually 00:20:08.230 --> 00:20:11.650 going to get really, really blown. Today's Pentecost 00:20:11.650 --> 00:20:15.410 Sunday. And yes, Pentecost is the moment when 00:20:15.410 --> 00:20:17.930 the church is born, when all the different languages 00:20:17.930 --> 00:20:20.769 were spoken, when that little band of scared 00:20:20.769 --> 00:20:22.990 disciples who were hiding behind closed doors 00:20:22.990 --> 00:20:24.930 went out into the world and told everybody about 00:20:24.930 --> 00:20:27.230 the good news of Jesus Christ. But Pentecost 00:20:27.230 --> 00:20:32.509 is even more than that. It is the moment when 00:20:32.509 --> 00:20:39.160 the life of the age to come, got poured out into 00:20:39.160 --> 00:20:43.480 the present. It is the moment when the eternal 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:49.279 life of God got poured into human hearts by the 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:52.579 Holy Spirit. Let me show you what I mean. Acts 00:20:52.579 --> 00:20:56.029 2. When the day of Pentecost came, they're all 00:20:56.029 --> 00:20:58.430 together in one place and suddenly a sound like 00:20:58.430 --> 00:21:01.130 the blowing of a violent wind came from where? 00:21:01.390 --> 00:21:04.789 Heaven. And they saw tongues of fire and all 00:21:04.789 --> 00:21:06.829 of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. Notice 00:21:06.829 --> 00:21:12.119 the direction of flow here. From heaven. This 00:21:12.119 --> 00:21:14.880 is not a story of humanity reaching up, trying 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:19.839 to grasp at things eternal. No, this is God reaching 00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:24.799 down to give it. The Spirit comes from above. 00:21:26.519 --> 00:21:33.299 Pentecost is God's answer to our ache for eternity. 00:21:34.099 --> 00:21:37.140 We long for forever, but we can't create it. 00:21:37.869 --> 00:21:41.250 We sense there must be more, but we can't manufacture 00:21:41.250 --> 00:21:46.809 it. So God pours the life of heaven into ordinary 00:21:46.809 --> 00:21:50.710 people, not someday after they die, but right 00:21:50.710 --> 00:21:53.450 here in the middle of history, in the middle 00:21:53.450 --> 00:21:56.869 of your ordinary life through the Holy Spirit. 00:21:57.029 --> 00:22:02.950 God pours eternity. Into the present. The Holy 00:22:02.950 --> 00:22:05.309 Spirit is not just this vague spiritual feeling 00:22:05.309 --> 00:22:07.809 you get. It's not just the goosebumps that you 00:22:07.809 --> 00:22:10.730 get when you're singing worship songs. It is 00:22:10.730 --> 00:22:15.390 the zoe, ionios, within us. It is the spirit. 00:22:15.430 --> 00:22:20.470 It is the power of the age to come. Arriving 00:22:20.470 --> 00:22:27.309 ahead of schedule. So you see, eternity is not 00:22:27.309 --> 00:22:30.789 just something. that we long for. Eternity is 00:22:30.789 --> 00:22:34.589 someone who lives within us. Do you remember 00:22:34.589 --> 00:22:38.589 Ecclesiastes? God has put eternity into the hearts 00:22:38.589 --> 00:22:41.609 of humankind. Well, quite literally at Pentecost, 00:22:41.670 --> 00:22:45.589 that is what happens, right? God places his eternal 00:22:45.589 --> 00:22:49.289 spirit into human hearts. Paul writes, when you 00:22:49.289 --> 00:22:51.569 believed, you were marked in him with a seal, 00:22:51.650 --> 00:22:55.390 the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing. 00:22:55.819 --> 00:22:57.680 Our inheritance. You know what a deposit is? 00:22:57.740 --> 00:23:00.220 It's a payment. It's a payment of something greater 00:23:00.220 --> 00:23:02.960 still to come. I put a deposit on a house. What 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:04.940 does it mean? It means, yes, I don't have the 00:23:04.940 --> 00:23:07.119 whole house yet, but what I do have is real. 00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:09.700 It means that the rest is coming. It is a pledge. 00:23:09.799 --> 00:23:13.500 It is a guarantee. It is a promise. The Spirit 00:23:13.500 --> 00:23:17.900 is God's deposit of eternity. Through the Spirit, 00:23:18.119 --> 00:23:22.039 we are receiving now a taste of what one day 00:23:22.039 --> 00:23:24.220 we will experience in its fullness. Not everything 00:23:24.220 --> 00:23:26.299 happens yet. Resurrection hasn't happened yet. 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:29.319 People still die now. But it's a down payment. 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:32.960 And it's the first installment of heaven. The 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:36.819 first installment of forever. Paul actually says 00:23:36.819 --> 00:23:39.640 elsewhere, he says, if anyone is in Christ now, 00:23:39.740 --> 00:23:42.720 there is a new creation now. The old is gone 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:48.000 and the new is here now. Not will come eventually. 00:23:48.619 --> 00:23:56.619 The new is here. Eternal life has arrived. The 00:23:56.619 --> 00:23:58.579 last question we have to ask then is, well, then 00:23:58.579 --> 00:24:05.440 have you received it? Have you begun living eternal 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:09.160 life? And I guarantee most of us sitting here 00:24:09.160 --> 00:24:11.900 would say, yes, I want that. I want that deposit. 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:16.180 I want the Zoe Ionios living in me. I want that. 00:24:16.220 --> 00:24:19.799 How? How? How do I get it? Well, Jesus already 00:24:19.799 --> 00:24:22.240 told us. He told us. He says, remember, he said, 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:26.299 this is eternal life. That you know the one true 00:24:26.299 --> 00:24:30.059 God and Jesus Christ, his son. Do you know God? 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:34.980 Have you trusted in his son, Jesus Christ? Do 00:24:34.980 --> 00:24:38.980 you believe that he died and that he rose again? 00:24:39.059 --> 00:24:40.799 And I'm not talking about Harry Potter here. 00:24:40.839 --> 00:24:44.740 I'm talking about really. When we put our faith 00:24:44.740 --> 00:24:51.450 in Christ, eternal life begins. And secondly 00:24:51.450 --> 00:24:53.950 then, you will start seeing signs that eternity 00:24:53.950 --> 00:24:57.369 is breaking into your life. When the Spirit gives 00:24:57.369 --> 00:24:59.569 you peace in the middle of anxiety, that is eternal 00:24:59.569 --> 00:25:01.609 life breaking into you. When the Spirit gives 00:25:01.609 --> 00:25:03.710 you courage to forgive, that is eternal life 00:25:03.710 --> 00:25:06.509 breaking in. When the Spirit gives you power 00:25:06.509 --> 00:25:09.890 to resist sin in your life, that is eternity 00:25:09.890 --> 00:25:11.950 breaking in. When it gives you compassion for 00:25:11.950 --> 00:25:14.670 someone who you would normally ignore, that is 00:25:14.670 --> 00:25:19.230 eternity breaking into your life. And you will 00:25:19.230 --> 00:25:21.109 know that it is. Eternity is breaking into your 00:25:21.109 --> 00:25:23.750 life when it changes like the way you spend your 00:25:23.750 --> 00:25:28.049 time, right? Prayer no longer is just like wasting 00:25:28.049 --> 00:25:30.750 time. It's practicing for eternity. Going to 00:25:30.750 --> 00:25:33.369 church is not just a Sunday habit. It is practicing 00:25:33.369 --> 00:25:36.170 for eternity. Forgiveness isn't just good manners. 00:25:36.210 --> 00:25:39.309 It is practicing for eternity. Being generous 00:25:39.309 --> 00:25:42.869 isn't just supporting the budget. It's practicing 00:25:42.869 --> 00:25:47.079 for eternity. And you will finally know that 00:25:47.079 --> 00:25:50.299 eternity is broken into your life when it changes 00:25:50.299 --> 00:25:54.079 how you see death. Because if eternal life starts 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:57.259 now, then death is not the beginning of eternal 00:25:57.259 --> 00:26:00.180 life. Death is not the door where Christians 00:26:00.180 --> 00:26:03.799 finally say, okay, great, now the real thing 00:26:03.799 --> 00:26:07.400 begins. No. In Christ, the real thing has already 00:26:07.400 --> 00:26:13.059 begun. Death is just this moment when we... move 00:26:13.059 --> 00:26:16.500 from what's already begun to that thing in its 00:26:16.500 --> 00:26:20.619 fullness. Near the end of his life, Dallas Willard, 00:26:20.660 --> 00:26:24.559 the great spiritual writer and speaker, he was 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:26.660 talking to one of his friends. He was literally 00:26:26.660 --> 00:26:30.259 on his deathbed. And at one point, Willard, he 00:26:30.259 --> 00:26:32.519 said something fascinating. He said, I think 00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:36.839 when I die, it may take me a while to realize 00:26:36.839 --> 00:26:41.079 it. And at first, I was kind of startled by that 00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:43.970 statement, but he's right. For someone who had 00:26:43.970 --> 00:26:46.569 already begun living the life of the age to come, 00:26:46.690 --> 00:26:50.670 death is not an abrupt beginning to eternal life. 00:26:50.769 --> 00:26:52.789 It's simply a continuation of a life that is 00:26:52.789 --> 00:26:55.109 already underway. Death's not the end. Death 00:26:55.109 --> 00:26:57.670 is real. It is painful. It sucks. It is still 00:26:57.670 --> 00:27:01.180 the enemy. But it doesn't get to define the horizon 00:27:01.180 --> 00:27:04.180 of our life anymore because eternal life has 00:27:04.180 --> 00:27:07.259 already begun. And Pentecost means that we don't 00:27:07.259 --> 00:27:09.220 just have the promise waiting for us in the future, 00:27:09.299 --> 00:27:10.940 that we have the presence of God living with 00:27:10.940 --> 00:27:12.680 us now. And Pentecost means that we do not merely 00:27:12.680 --> 00:27:15.059 have a hope for another world, but we have God's 00:27:15.059 --> 00:27:17.500 new world breaking in right now. And Pentecost 00:27:17.500 --> 00:27:20.720 means we do not have to wait for heaven. Heaven's 00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:26.019 begun to work in us already. Guys, isn't this 00:27:26.019 --> 00:27:29.119 so much better? than the old version of eternal 00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:31.079 life. The old version says, hang on till you 00:27:31.079 --> 00:27:33.000 die, and then you'll start living. The gospel 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:36.460 says, in Jesus, by the Spirit, you can start 00:27:36.460 --> 00:27:40.559 living that life now. The old version says, eternal 00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:42.539 life is later, but Jesus says, no, no, eternal 00:27:42.539 --> 00:27:45.700 life is now. Old version says, heaven is somewhere 00:27:45.700 --> 00:27:49.500 else. Pentecost says, no, no, eternal life in 00:27:49.500 --> 00:27:53.359 heaven, right here. And so maybe the best way 00:27:53.359 --> 00:27:56.380 to end today and to end this series, Remember 00:27:56.380 --> 00:27:58.400 we began with that prayer. Lord, teach us to 00:27:58.400 --> 00:28:02.299 number our days. But on Pentecost, we should 00:28:02.299 --> 00:28:05.720 perhaps pray, Holy Spirit, help us to fill our 00:28:05.720 --> 00:28:11.480 days. To fill our days with eternal life. Life 00:28:11.480 --> 00:28:14.680 is short. Yes. Life is limited. Yes. Time is 00:28:14.680 --> 00:28:17.240 running out. Yes. Our days matter. But in Jesus, 00:28:17.339 --> 00:28:21.000 by the Holy Spirit, those limited days can be 00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:22.940 filled with the life of God. So don't spend your 00:28:22.940 --> 00:28:25.789 life waiting for eternity. Let God fill your 00:28:25.789 --> 00:28:30.950 days with eternity because forever starts right 00:28:30.950 --> 00:28:37.990 now. Thanks be to God. Amen. Thanks for tuning 00:28:37.990 --> 00:28:40.390 in to this week's episode of Trinity Sermons. 00:28:40.390 --> 00:28:43.390 This sermon was recorded at Trinity Church, Streetsville 00:28:43.390 --> 00:28:48.150 in Mississauga, Ontario on May 24th, 2026.