Consider Your Future

Consider Your Future

by Ian Biss 3/17/01 2bn

Intro...

In the early part of the twelfth century, in the Dark Ages, a haggard old sorceress went to the papacy with six envelopes that she claimed had within them God’s revelation for the Roman Catholic Church. She appeared before the pope and said, "I will sell this revelation from God to the church for $5000,000." Well, they groaned, like you would, on the inside. And the prelates, along with the pope, decided no, they wouldn’t buy. And so in front of them she burnt the first envelope to ashes.

With a measure of excitement and anxiety the pope watched it burn up and began to rethink his answer as she said, "Now I have five envelopes. And I will sell you the five remaining envelopes which contain the future for the church off Rome for $5000,000, My price has not gone down." They murmured and talked among themselves and decided no. And so she burnt the second envelope, leaving four.

With an increased sense of anxiety there was a sort of low roar up among The clergy. And she said, "Now I have four envelopes left and for $500,000 I’ll sell ‘em to you." And again, the answer was no. In predictable fashion she burned up the third envelope, leaving three. And then she did the same with the fourth, leaving two.

And finally she said, "Now, for $500,000 I’ll let you see the last two envelopes which contain the revelation of God." Well by that time they couldn’t hold back. So they agreed.

And wouldn’t you know it. The contents of the envelopes were written in Latin, and I can’t read Latin. So I can’t tell you what it said, I’m still wondering myself!

Quoted from The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, by Charles Swindoll.

Ah, the future, an intriguing subject, isn’t it? Probably the most talked about subject since God created man. Think about it, everyone here this morning has thoughts about the future each and every day. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Miller is thinking about the future right now. "Lord, how long will Ian preach today?"

We all think about the future more than we realize. When the aroma of the kitchen reaches our senses we ponder our enjoyment of the delicious meal yet to be served.

When we plant the posies in the springtime, we picture in our minds the beautiful blossoms that will come from the work of our hands.

On our way to church we anticipate the pastor’s sermon, hoping upon hope, that we may be able to stay awake the whole way through it this week.

We consider the future more often than we realize. However, do you ever consider your future?

You have a future beyond the short time you will spend on this earth, and this short time you have on earth is the only time you will have to consider your future.

Read Text: 2 Kings 1:1- 6

Exegesis

King Ahaziah was the son of King Ahab and Jezebel, two of the most wicked people the bible mentions. They served false gods, and caused the prophets of God much hardship, and in many cases, death.

Ahaziah was cut from the same cloth as his parents, he like his father,"did evil in the sight of the Lord." He served the false gods, and caused much trouble for those he should have been helping. We know little of Ahaziah other than what we read in this chapter 2Kings.

In our text we learn that King Ahaziah has a fall, a fall that has led to some illness or injury that appears to be life threatening, and because of this fall he desires to know what the future holds for him.

I. Accidents will happen. (Vs1-2)

Exposition

Israel was at war with the Moabites, and during this war, at home of all places, Ahaziah fell. His fall did not come as a result of some special circumstances, he wasn’t wounded on the battlefield, he wasn’t attacked by an angry mob, he simply fell down, at home.

And now he is very ill, so ill that he has dispatched messengers to the god of Ekron to enquire of his fate.

Application

Illustration

As she awoke this day, thoughts of Sunday danced through her mind, Nancy was looking forward to Easter, the whole family would be coming over to visit this year because they were all close to home. Now that the grandchildren were getting older, the Easter egg hunts became more lively with all the children searching and rushing to be the one to find the most eggs.

She was also looking forward to the birth of another grandchild, in fact, just last night she had spoken on the phone to her daughter who was pregnant and was planning a shopping trip for baby clothes. It would be easier to shop for this grandchild, because the ultrasound revealed the baby is a girl.