GOD’S BEST IS YET TO COME (Outline)
November 15, 2009 --
SAINTS TRIUMPHANT / 3RD SUN. OF END TIME --
Isaiah 65:17-25
INTRO: Just as much as one knows about the future in the same way no one knows much about the future. The world views the future with great uncertainty. The believer views the future with God’s great certainty. All around us are many who worry much about what might happen or not happen in the future. As believers there is comfort in knowing that God controls the future of all things, especially the blessings for his believers. "However, as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’-- but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit" (1 COR. 2:9, 10a). Physically looking ahead we cannot comprehend all God’s glory yet to be revealed. By grace God reveals that heaven is our home. Believers look ahead to the best of God yet to be enjoyed.
GOD’S BEST IS YET TO COME.
I. Jubilant joy. II. Perfect peace.
I. GOD’S BEST – JUBILANT JOY
A. Isaiah was God’s prophet. God called Isaiah. God sent Isaiah to God’s people with his word.
1. Many chapters in Isaiah warned Israel of God’s judgment. Their time of grace was short.
2. Verse 17. Isaiah brings to Israel a message of joy and hope. God is patient.
a. Everything will be new the old will be gone. b. Sins will no longer be remembered.
B. Verse 18a. God is revealing to his people through Isaiah the blessings of eternity, heaven.
1. Earthly praises come to end. Man is mortal. People can only rejoice forever in heaven.
2. Verses 18b, 19a. The Lord will delight in Jerusalem. God’s people will be a joy to him.
a. This can only happen in heaven. b. On earth mankind is sinful, not a joy to God.
C. Verse 19b. There will be joy upon joy upon joy in heaven. The old order of things is gone.
D. On this side of heaven all our joys are tempered with sorrow. Why is that? Why do we not always experience jubilant joy? The main reason our joy is diluted is because of sin. All of our thoughts and words and actions are contaminated by sin. We cannot escape sin. When Adam and Eve sinned the perfect creation of God changed forever. Thorns, thistles, pain, suffering, and sorrow entered into the once perfect world. Our world is no longer perfect. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Even in laughter the heart may ache, and joy may end in grief" (PROVERBS 14:12, 13).
We like to think our plans will bring us joy. We want our efforts to work out for our good. Everything earthly eventually leads to death. Heartache and grief infects our lives even in the midst of joy.
E. God’s promise of joy is the very opposite of everything evil. God’s best is yet to come. We ought to rejoice when a believer dies. For that believer has left behind all sorrow and sadness. That believer enjoys the perfect, jubilant joy that every believer desires. In the midst of that joy there is still sorrow at the loss of a loved one. Sin robs us of the joy that is always to be ours. We survive sorrow. We put grief behind us by looking ahead to what is yet to come. "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (REVELA-TION 21:4). Heaven is beyond what we can imagine. Our thinking is finite and very limited. In heaven all things will be new. There will only be joy upon joy upon joy for every believer forever and ever.
F. Can we have any joy here on earth? Yes, definitely! God’s true joy for us on earth is tainted with sin. We cannot escape that. But God is greater than sin. God reminds us that not only will heaven be our home but also heaven is even now God’s gift to and for every believer. The joy of heaven is ours to enjoy and rejoice in here and now. "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand" (PSALM 16:11). We look forward to the day of seeing God face to face. Until that time we already enjoy eternal pleasures from God’s right hand.
GOD’S BEST IS YET TO COME.
We have joy upon joy upon joy today and eventually forever.
II. GOD’S BEST – PERFECT PEACE
A. Verses 17-19 point ahead to heaven. Verses 20-25 point to God’s church on earth.
1. Verse 20. Earthly church: no one dies or is born in heaven, and nothing is accursed in heaven.
2. Verses 21, 22. Israel will enjoy some time of peace, prosperity, and stability in the land.
3. Verse 23. This was a welcome message compared to the previous chapters of warnings.
B. Verse 24. Israel may have felt forsaken. God is always with his people. God always listens.
C. Verse 25. Isaiah describes God’s perfect peace that only he can accomplish.
1. Will the wolf and lamb lie together? Will the lion eat straw? God can make it happen.
2. Really there is more: This is God’s perfect peace that surpasses all human understanding.
3. At times our limited worldly thinking cannot grasp the mind of God. God’s peace is perfect.
D. Perfect peace may seem like a term that belongs to believers in heaven. It is. But God’s perfect peace is also already another blessing to benefit believers in this world during our earthly life. Jesus gathered his disciples together in the upper room on Maundy Thursday. Jesus gives his very body and blood to them in the Lord’s Supper. Jesus’ body and blood in, with, and under the bread and wine was given for them for the forgiveness of sins. The next day, Good Friday, Jesus would be crucified. Jesus explains all these things to the disciples. Jesus gives to them a peace — the peace that the world does not and cannot give to them. "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (JOHN 16:33). Perfect peace is ours.
E. The perfect peace that our gracious God freely gives to every believer is the assurance of the forgiveness of sins. God’s perfect peace is ours by grace through faith. The whole world around us is troubled. There are and always will be wars and rumors of wars. Every other news story tells about how “the sky is falling”. One industry after another fails. What next?!? The world does not give anyone the peace that they truly need. By grace we have been saved. By grace God’s peace is ours. By grace God’s peace is perfect because of the innocent sufferings and death of Christ our Savior. "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (ROMANS 5:1). We have peace with God through Christ – Christ alone. Jesus Christ is our perfect peace today.
F. But we may not always feel as if we have God’s joy in our hearts and lives. We may feel that we are missing out on God’s perfect peace. Satan is alive and well. Satan wants us to doubt God’s grace. Satan wants us to forget just how much our heavenly Father loves us. The world is no help either. Our world offers only empty promises. What can we do? Isaiah reminds us that God hears and answers our prayers. "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (MARK 11:24). Pray to God for his peace and joy – for yourselves and especially, for others.
CONC.: YES, God’s best is yet to come. God reveals his best to us and for us daily. We do not have to wait until we are in heaven to enjoy God’s best. Right here, right now God’s best is revealed. "Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness"(LAMENTATIONS 3:22,23). God’s love never fails. God’s mercies are new every morning. God’s faithfulness is great. Day after day after day GOD’S BEST IS YET COME. Each day our lives can be filled with the jubilant joy. That jubilant joy is ours because heaven is our home. Each day we have the perfect peace of the perfect sacrifice of our perfect Savior, Jesus Christ. Every day, every week, month and year, generation after generation we experience God’s best. GOD’S BEST IS YET TO COME daily and eventually eternally. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
3rd END TIME rdgs:
DANIEL 12:1-3;
HEBREWS 10:11-18;
JOHN 5:25-29;
(PSALM 118)
SERVICES: 1:00pm @ NCF Min. (Sat)/12:00pm @ NCF Medium (Sun) / 9:30am @ Redeemer (Sun) / 7:00pm @ Hays (Sun)
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