WHAT GOD HAS IN
STORE FOR US
God’s Word is really inspiring.
A. I would like to cite a passage which makes all
kinds of sense.
Hebrews 11:39-12:29 (The Message)
Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their
hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith
would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart
from ours.
Do you see what this means...all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these
veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Start running...and never
quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began
and finished this race we’re in. Study how He did it. Because He never lost sight of
where He was headed...that exhilarating finish in and with God...He could put up with
anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now He’s there, in the place of
honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that
story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility He plowed through. That will shoot
adrenaline into your souls!
In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say
nothing of what Jesus went through...all that bloodshed! So don’t feel sorry for
yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards
you as His children?
“My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline,
but don’t be crushed by it either.
It’s the child He loves that He disciplines;
the child He embraces, He also corrects.”
God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear
children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of
children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you
prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us,
so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our
parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to
live God’s holy best. At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going
against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who
find themselves mature in their relationship with God.
So don’t sit around on your hands! No more dragging your feet! Clear the path
for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and
sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it!
Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you’ll never get
so much as a glimpse of God. Make sure no one gets left out of God’s generosity. Keep
a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a
whole garden in no time. Watch out for the Esau syndrome: trading away God’s lifelong
gift in order to satisfy a short-term appetite. You well know how Esau later regretted that
impulsive act and wanted God’s blessing...but by then it was too late, tears or no tears.
Unlike your ancestors, you didn’t come to Mount Sinai...all that volcanic blaze and
earthshaking rumble...to hear God speak. The earsplitting words and soul-shaking
message terrified them and they begged Him to stop. When they heard the words...”If an
animal touches the Mountain, it’s as good as dead”...they were afraid to move. Even
Moses was terrified.
No, that’s not your experience at all. You’ve come to Mount Zion, the city where
the living God resides. The invisible Jerusalem is populated by throngs of festive angels
and Christian citizens. It is the city where God is Judge, with judgments that make us just.
You’ve come to Jesus, who presents us with a new covenant, a fresh charter from God.
He is the Mediator of this covenant. The murder of Jesus, unlike Abel’s...a homicide that
cried out for vengeance...became a proclamation of grace.
So don’t turn a deaf ear to these gracious words. If those who ignored earthly
warnings didn’t get away with it, what will happen to us if we turn our backs on heavenly
warnings? His voice that time shook the earth to its foundations; this time...He’s told us
quite plainly...He’ll also rock the heavens: “One last shaking” means a thorough
housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable
essentials stand clear and uncluttered.
Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how
thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent
before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house,
torching all that needs to burn, and He won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is
Fire!
I see this passage divide, naturally, into three separate.....
but interrelated thoughts.
A. Those in the past suffered for their faith in God
and paid with their very lives.
B. We are running a race and need to train and run as
those who are running for their very lives.
C. Our prize is worth more than everything else that
We can obtain, in this present world.
Let us analyze these four thoughts, in depth.
I. Those who went before us suffered greatly for their faith
.......even to the giving of their lives....but never stopped
running the race.
Heb. 11:34-12:5 - 34quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the
sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the
armies of the aliens. 35Women received their dead raised to life again. And others were
tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
36Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and
imprisonment. 37They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were
slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being
destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38of whom the world was not worthy. They
wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. 39And all these,
having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,
40God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect
apart from us.
1Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us
lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with
endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you
become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4You have not yet resisted to bloodshed,
striving against sin. 5And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to
sons.
A. They were tortured and would not accept
deliverance.
1. They wanted to receive an eternal reward.
a. They looked to a “better resurrection”
1.) They did not hang on to this life...
or even comfort and freedom from
pain.
B. The world was not worthy of these men and
women.
1. They took nothing but gave everything........
because they loved God with their very lives.
a. And.....even at this point of dedication
and sacrifice....THEY DID NOT
RECEIVE THE PROMISE!
C. These very men and women are witnesses to our
race.
1. Men like Jeremiah.
2. Women like Rahab (describe her faith).
3. Daniel.
4. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo
a. Most importantly, of all, Jesus Christ.
** These men and women suffered so much more than we
have........and they are watching us.
1. We have not even suffered a trickle of blood, yet,
for the cause of Christ.....for the sake of sacrifice...
for holiness.....and the ultimate goal of salvation.
a. These are things that men of old dreamed of
seeing.
II. We are running a race......as such, we need to train hard
and run well.....we need to run this race as though our
very lives depended on our winning.....because they do!
Heb. 11:3-13 In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you,
to say nothing of what Jesus went through...all that bloodshed! So don’t feel sorry for
yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards
you as His children?
“My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline,
but don’t be crushed by it either.
It’s the child He loves that He disciplines;
the child He embraces, He also corrects.”
God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear
children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of
children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you
prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us,
so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our
parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to
live God’s holy best. At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going
against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who
find themselves mature in their relationship with God.
So don’t sit around on your hands! No more dragging your feet! Clear the path
for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and
sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it!
A. God is not “spanking us” so much as He is training
us to a discipline which will enable us to run
and finish the race with victory.
1. Athletic discipline is hard....it is work....it is
a learning experience...IT HURTS!
a. But when the race is won.....when the
game is won.......who thinks of howbadly
they hurt, in training.
1.) As a matter of fact.....those who
really want to win....rejoice in the
pain.
a.) They look beyond the pain to
the victory.
B. We, as Christians, need to understand that God is
our coach.....He is our Father....He wants us to
win.
1. All that we go through which might cause us
some pain.....for the moment.....is really
nothing.....compared to the crown that is
waiting for us.
a. If we respect our parents for training us
up.
b. If we respect the coach for putting us
through our “paces”........
1.) Why can’t we love and respect God
for taking the deep interest in us
that He does......so that we can
receive the crown that He has for
us?
C. With this all in mind, we are admonished to stop
sitting around and whining.
1. We are to lift up feeble hands.
a. Our hands and those of other Christians.
2. We are to be prepared by God’s Word.....to
run the race.......then we need to get into the
race AND STAY IN THE RACE!
a. It is as important that we also encourage
everyone around us to get in the race and
run it with endurance.
III. Our prize is worth more than anything and everything
else we could obtain in this present world.
Heb. 12:14-29 - 14Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without
which no one will see the Lord: 15looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of
God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become
defiled; 16lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of
food sold his birthright. 17For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the
blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it
diligently with tears.
18For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with
fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, 19and the sound of a trumpet and the
voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to
them anymore. 20(For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a
beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” 21And so terrifying
was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”) 22But you have
come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an
innumerable company of angels, 23to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who
are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks
better things than that of Abel.
25See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused
Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who
speaks from heaven, 26whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised,
saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27Now this, “Yet
once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that
are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28Therefore, since we are
receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve
God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29For our God is a consuming fire.
A. God’s word says that we don’t come to something
that is terrifying.
1. No.....we have come to a place which is
so much better.
a. We have come to a loving God....spiritual
Jerusalem....into the presence of the
host of heaven...to the church of the
firstborn (whose names are written in
heaven.
1.) Our reward is to be counted among
those whose spirits have been
made perfect.
** Such a small price.....such a wonderful prize.
B. All the present and physical things of this Earth
will be shaken and removed.
1. Only those things that are spiritual will
remain.
a. Even though many consider that God is
just an indifferent bystander......if He
exists at all...........God is very much
concerned and involved in everything
that is connected with this world and
especially the world to come.
CONCLUSION:
II Peter 3:9-18 - 9The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some
count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that
all should come to repentance.
10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will
pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth
and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11Therefore, since all these things will be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens
will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
13Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in
which righteousness dwells.
14Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in
peace, without spot and blameless; 15and consider that the long-suffering of our Lord is
salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has
written to you, 16as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are
some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own
destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. 17You therefore, beloved, since you
know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led
away with the error of the wicked; 18but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
What more appropriate conclusion can we make?
A. Others who did not see what we see.....or know
what we know.....or have been blessed as we are...
were faithful to God.....faithful even to death.
1. With these as witnesses, can we do any less?
a. We have been placed in heavenly
places.....even now....on this earth.
1.) If we are Christians, we have been
moved from the kingdom of
darkness and been placed in the
Kingdom of His Beloved Son.
2.) If we are Christians, we are in His
eternal and heavenly Church.
3.) Even now we are blessed with the
presence of God living within us.
4.) As Christians, we are already
feasting at His table as we partake
of the Lord’s Supper.
** We have been blessed beyond the wildest dreams of
our ancient ancestors.
Even now God is preparing......and has prepared us for an
everlasting victory.
A. His training may be hard, but we must understand
that it is done in love and with an eye to our
victory.
1. God is not our enemy because He causes us
to be tested and trained and disciplined......
Just the opposite....this only happens because
of His love for us.
a. We should never resent that discipline,
but rejoice that He thinks enough of us
to prepare us for eternal victory.
And what victory.....a home with God........not just around
His throne....BUT IN IT....(See Rev. 3:21).
A. All tears....all sorrow....all suffering....all fear....all
fleshly needs....all turmoil....any and every thing
that is bad shall be forever destroyed and never-
more mentioned or experienced.
1. If we could try and imagine what God has in
store for us.....and we worked all of our mortal
life to realize it......WE WOULD NOT EVEN
COME CLOSE TO UNDERSTANDING
WHAT IS IN STORE FOR US!!!!!
I Cor. 2:7-9 - 7But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our
glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they
known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9But as it
is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love
Him.”
