The Future is Worth Living For

1 Corinthians 2:9,10

Audio MP3

 

Jan 1, 2012 AM

Pastor Craig Ledbetter

Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland

www.biblebc.com

 

I.                   Introduction

 

A.    The truths we are going to learn this month:

 

1.      The Future is bright for the Christian

2.      Heaven will be Worth Living For – can’t earn it, but you can limit its rewards!

3.      The Judgment Seat is Serious Business

4.      A Long Life is Worth Having

5.      Nothing is Wasted When Done for The Lord

 

B.     God is good to His children! He is good to Christians

 

1.      Not usually monetarily, or with riches or great possessions

2.      Not with the greatest mind or smarts - 1Co 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

3.      But with things that are far more priceless! Like a great future!

 

C.     If you are a born again child of God, then your future is better than the greatest wealth this world has ever produced!

 

1.      What was the future of the very rich man in Luke 16? An eternity in hell because he lived only for himself and for now!

2.      What was the future of Judas Iscariot? He thought a bigger and bigger bag of money? He ended up hanging himself, and dying and going to hell!

3.      What was the future of the likes of Marylyn Monroe, or Judy Garland, or Michael Jackson, or Amy Winehouse, Steve Jobs, or countless thousands of others?

 

II.                Message – The Future is Worth Living For!

 

A.    Don’t Limit God’s Abilities (1Cor 2:9)

 

1.      We limit God by our experiences

 

a.       Our eyes have seen some pretty amazing things

 

1)      From seeing men walk on the moon

2)      To seeing the most beautiful pictures of galaxies and planets

 

b.      Our ears have head of some wild stuff

c.       Our minds have imagined some crazy inventions and possibilities

d.      But none of that can compare with what GOD has already prepared for His children!

 

2.      Our worst enemy can be our own expectations

 

a.       We expect a perfect marriage

b.      We expect to have a perfect church

c.       We look forward to perfect children

d.      We expect better and better jobs and pay

e.       And when it doesn’t happen like WE want, we get discouraged – we get angry

f.       We decide that it just isn’t worth the effort then!

 

3.      Do you realise that we should be trusting Him to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ever ask or even think about (Eph 3:20)!!!

4.      Aren’t you glad that God DOESN’T do what you and I want?

 

a.       That would be CRAZY

b.      At 9 years old you would be marrying your 3rd class teacher!!!

c.       At 14 you would have quit school and started work full time

d.      In a fit, you would have murdered your brother or sister a thousand times over

e.       It would be snowing over your house while raining on the field next to you, while sunny an 25 degrees Celsius just down the street!

 

B.     Trust God’s Work (1Cor 2:9) – Trust that He knows what He is doing!

 

1.      Job struggled with his circumstances (Job 23:8-12)

 

a.       Nothing in his life made sense on that ash-heap

b.      Everything that he held important and of value was gone

c.       Listen to his frustration (Job 23:8,9)…

 

1)      Behold, I go forward, but he is not there

2)      I go backward, but I cannot perceive him:

3)      I look to my left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him

4)      He hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him

5)      That’s frustrating!

 

d.      Listen to his faith (Job 23:10)…

 

1)      But he knoweth the way that I take

2)      When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

 

e.       Listen to Job’s determination (Job 23:11,12)…

 

1)      My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.

2)      Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

 

2.      People struggle with their past – it’s like a huge boulder holding them back!

 

a.       They believe God failed them, or wasn’t there at some important time in their life – yet He was there! There was never a time that he wasn’t there!

b.      Believing their failures are too many, and scars too deep

c.       They decide that THAT was their only time for success and now they will only and always be a failure!

d.      A Christian trusts God completely – even with all their past!

 

3.      People live way too much in “the now”

 

a.       Many a younger person runs from the past, and decides to just live for the now

b.      Spending themselves into financial ruin – we have a load of spoiled 30 somethings who have been living like there is no tomorrow – smoking, drugging, drinking – thinking none of it will ever matter

c.       “Now” is such a fleeting thing! How long is a “moment”? An hour? A week?

 

4.      Believers in this Book of books need to live for the future! Need to look forward to God doing greater that we could ever imagine!

 

C.    Invest in the Future – in the future that GOD has prepared!

 

1.      That means: look forward to what God has in store for those who love Him

a.       Look forward to having a family – and work towards that end – not just towards a career, or towards a new car

 

1)      But look forward to having a godly wife (Pr 18:22)

2)      Look forward to having a bunch of children

3)      Look forward to having grand children and even great grand-children

 

b.      Look forward to winning a soul – winning them and then discipling them! Personally helping them crawl and walk and then run as Christians instead of religious pagans!

c.       To living long and healthy on this earth

d.      Train for THAT future!

 

1)      Some of you have spent countless hours studying and preparing for a career

2)      Some of you have worked so hard to attain a measure of success

3)      Let’s get into the habit of asking the God who is already in our future – how we should prepare for what he has prepared for us

4)      Know this Bible – inside and out

5)      Serve others – minister the truths of this Book

6)      Learn HOW to make your marriage LAST

7)      Learn what foods are right to eat so you live longer

8)      Put up with every hardship – because Jesus says it will be worth it all!

 

2.      I hope that you realise that God has always been there for us – He is the “I AM” – the ever present One!

3.      But the wildest truth is that He is also way out in the future, working everything together for good (Isa 46:9,10)

4.      According to Eccl 3:10, He is making everything BEAUTIFUL – in His time!

5.      So, no matter your past… and no matter your current circumstances, a Christian’s future is going to be good (Ps 31:19)!

 

a.       It makes it so that our “now” is not so bad! Even suffering is not so bad for the Bible believer (Philp 1:29; Rom 8:16-18) – The Lord jesus will make it all worth while!

b.      The Rapture is worth waiting for! If you are the generation that gets to experience the rapture, I don’t think any of us will complain!

c.       If not the rapture, even death is going to be awesome for the believer (Philp 1:21; 1Cor 15:55-57) – to be absent from this body, means I will be instantly present with the Lord!

d.      The Rewards of the Judgment Seat (Mt 5:11,12; 2Cor 5:10) will be worth it

e.       The Second Coming – we will be WITH Him – the wildest ride we will ever experience!

f.       The reign of Jesus Christ for 1,000 years with us reigning WITH Him! Don’t we realise that the FUTURE has just barely begun for us!!!

g.      The new heaven and new earth starting eternity

h.      And according to Ephesians 2:4-7, that is just the beginning!

 

D.    Do you know what our challenge needs to be? What is OUR Part?

 

1.      Love Him (Rom 8:28; James 1:12; 2:5)

2.      Quit living by only OUR imagination

3.      Quit bringing up and struggling with our past – mortify it – bury it and don’t ever bring it up again!

4.      Listen to God’s Holy Spirit (1Cor 2:10)!!!

 

a.       And take these things seriously

b.      Do you ever wonder why SOME Christians don’t get discouraged?

c.       It probably is because they are able to hear God constantly revealing to them how good He is, and how good the future is going to be!

d.      God hath revealed the future things to us by His Spirit!

e.       Have you listened to him today?

f.       The most encouraging time you will have in your day will be when you just sit and listen to God!

g.      Discern the difference between the “spirit of this world” and the Spirit of God

 

1)      One is all about your happiness and fulfilling your expectations…

2)      The other is all about showing you GOD’S will and design for your day, and what He has prepared for you!

3)      Better than you deserve – for sure

4)      But better than you could ever imagine!!!

 

h.      If we would be honest, our lives now, as Christians are BETTER than we ever could have wished for!

 

1)      Yes, you could have married some “beautiful” blond, and then 2 years later end up divorced and on depression medication

2)      Yes, you could be working for that big-name company, making hundreds of thousands of euros, but in ten years, could be struggling with burn-out, and stomach ulcers, and insomnia, and no family!

 

5.      Trust God with your future – no matter how “bleak”

 

a.       He took very good care of Job!

b.      He carried Joseph through every trial and then set him up as prince of Egypt (Act 7:10). God showed Joseph a greater future than he could ever have imagined! And then God gave it all to him!

c.       He took very good care of Daniel in the lion’s den!

d.      He too great care of Shadrach, Meshach and Abendego in the fiery furnace

e.       He too superb care of David in the caves and forests of Judea

f.       He took care of Peter, and John through the persecutions and imprisonments

g.      He protected Paul through all his hardships (2Tim 3:11)

h.      If there is anything the Bible is there for, it is to convince us that WE too can trust God with all our hearts!

 

6.      Start investing in that future

 

a.       Not YOUR will, but God’s will – not your own any more – it can’t compare!

b.      Live God’s way – the Bible way – not the catholic way, or the protestant way, or the modern way, but the way Jesus lived and taught!

c.       Give of your BEST for God – not the left-overs!

d.      Stay pure in mind and body, in preparation for a long life!

e.       See beyond the visible, physical, and emotional (Heb 11:13; 11:27; 12:2; Ps 16:8; 2Cor 4:18)

 

7.      Starts with the new birth (John 3:3)!