Just Around The Corner – Is Victory!

JUST AROUND THE CORNER – IS VICTORY!

1 John 5:4-5

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. One day a big Hulk of a guy got onto a bus. Standing 6'8" tall and built like a wrestler, with arms hanging down to the ground, he glared at the driver and said, "Big John doesn’t pay!"

2. Naturally, the bus driver, being only 5'3" tall, thin, and basically meek, didn't argue with Big John.

3. This continued everyday throughout the spring. The bus driver started losing sleep.

4. He signed up for body-building courses, karate, judo, and other sparring sports. By the end of the summer, he had become quite strong, and what's more, he felt really good about himself.

5. So the next time that Big John got on the bus and said, "Big John doesn't pay!", the driver stood up and glared back at him and yelled, "And why not?"

6. With a shy look on his face, Big John replied, "Big John has a bus pass."

7. OFTEN WE LET OURSELVES BE BULLIED FOR NO REASON!

B. TEXT

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”—1 John 5:4-5.

C. THESIS

1. Some “just around the corner” is:

a. something out of sight;

b. something you haven’t gotten to yet;

c. it’s a change of direction, maybe a new direction for your life;

d. it’s a new hope, new dream, new purpose for your life.

2. Wouldn’t we all like to peer into the future? Wouldn’t it be awesome if you knew there was something wonderful in your future, so wonderful it would take your breath away, make you cry? So good it would alter your outlook from glum and hopeless to joyful and carefree?

3. Well, according to Scripture - FOR YOU – there is such a hope! The title of this morning’s message is “Just Around the Corner – Is Victory!”

I. MANY ARE AT THE POINT OF DESPAIR

A. LOOKING AT CIRCUMSTANCES

1. Many people have been at the point of despair. They can see little or no light. Events keep going the wrong way.

2. People in the Bible had this experience:

a. David said, “It’s been useless, all my watching…!” (NIV); “What a waste of time!” (CEB), 1 Sam. 25:21. David, though starting with high hopes, had found all his efforts as a waste of time and effort.

b. Joseph told the Cupbearer, “Remember me and show me kindness…get me out of this prison” Gen. 40:14. But Verse 23 tells us, “The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.” How devastating to Joseph!

3. Neither David nor Joseph knew that “right around the corner” they would be out of their troubles and seated on thrones!

4. So it is with us. We only see our troubles now. We only see our weakness, our mistakes and our faults. BUT IF YOU’RE IN CHRIST, ALL THAT HAS CHANGED!

5. You’re PREDESTINED TO GLORY! You have a future so bright, so awesome that your mind can’t even conceive it!

B. DESPAIR TURNED TO JOY: BIG JOHN

1. ‘Big John’ had been living on the streets of London for over ten years. Before that he’d spent nine years in prison. Most of his teeth were missing. He was addicted to methadone. His nickname on the streets of London was ‘Big John’ because he was a big guy who had once boxed for the Army.

2. ‘Big John’ walked into a mission for the homeless and was touched by the Christians who cared for him. He started attending services and encountered Jesus. He was filled with the Holy Spirit. He came off the drugs. God turned his life right around – from despair to joy.

3. He started telling his friends on the streets about Jesus. Each week he would turn up at church with more friends. His nickname, on the streets, changed from ‘Big John’ to ‘John the Baptist’!

4. A dentist in our congregation volunteered to replace all his missing teeth. He has been reconciled with his mother and his daughter and he now has a relationship with his grandchildren, whom he had never met before.

5. Following Jesus is life-changing. God is a God of new beginnings and transformation. He turns despair into joy (Psalm 30:11). https://www.bibleinoneyear.org/bioy/commentary/2100

II. YOU’RE A NEW CREATURE!

A. YOU ARE NOT AN ACCIDENT!

1. “I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born.” Isaiah 44:2a (CEV)

2. You are not an accident. Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He was not at all surprised by your birth. In fact, he expected it.