HEBREWS 12:2 “COMING JOYS FOR THE CHRISTIAN”
A) Joy: Cheerfulness; Delight; Gladness ... What was the joy that was set before Him?
* It was the redemption of creation through doing His Father’s will.
* Jesus endured the cross, He didn’t enjoy it! * He despised the shame of it .......
* But He came into this world to do the will of the Father, and that was His one desire!
* The joy that was set before Him pointed to that happy day when He would receive honor, glory,
majesty, and power at the right hand of God, the Father where He is now seated!
B) The Son was with the Father from the beginning .......
* And part of that joy set before Him was His reunion with the Heavenly Father and with the
heavenly host.
* Therefore, for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the agony and shame of the cross, and
is now seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven!
C) There are some coming joys for the Christian too ... Let’s look at a few of them .......
(1) THE JOY OF SIGHT! * 1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth ...”
A) We are redeemed now ... We do not pray, “Lord, at last, save us in heaven!”
* We are sons of God now ... We are members of the body of Christ now ... Our citizenship is in
heaven now ... We sit together in heavenly places now ... “Beloved, now are we the sons of ...”
B) Every truly born again believer knows he is born again!
* It’s impossible to be saved, washed in the blood, indwelt by the Spirit, and not know it!
* You ask some people are they saved, and they’ll say, “I hope so.” * “Are you married?”
C) Notice what else John said ... “And it doth not yet appear what we shall be ...”
* What we shall be hereafter is not fully revealed, but we know that we are the sons of God now!
* And we are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son – Rom. 8:29.
D) “But we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him ...”
* What is involved in this tremendous declaration, we do not fully know now!
* Even if God revealed it to us, we couldn’t understand it with our feeble, finite minds!
* Why do I say that? * Because of Luke 24:33-44, and John 20:19-28 .......
E) After His resurrection, He ascended back to the Father and back to earth again, perhaps in
a matter of seconds! * He entered into a room, where the doors was shut .......
* We can’t understand a body like that, therefore God didn’t explain in detail what it meant to be
like Jesus ... We’ll just wait and let Him show us on that glorious resurrection morning!
* To be like Christ is too wonderful for words ... It would require heaven’s language to explain!
F) But we know by assurance of God’s Word that, “We shall be like Him, for we shall see ...”
* Beloved, weigh those words ... What a glorious, magnificent moment that will be when we
experience our first sight of Jesus, our Savior! * We’ll have to have glorified bodies to stand it!
(2) THE JOY OF MEETING HIM!
A) Meet: To encounter, to come upon suddenly, to meet face to face!
* Meeting people ... Jack Roper ... Phil Mickleson ... Tiger Woods ... President of the U.S.
* On our honeymoon, I met Vern Gosdin, the country singer.
* But there is nothing to be compared to meeting Jesus! * 1 Thess. 4:17 “Then we which ...”
B) This will be an unexpected meeting for some! * 1 Thess. 5:2 .......
* “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”
* 2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also
and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” * Turn to Matthew 24:36-44 .......
* TO THE SAVED, IT WILL BE A JOY TO MEET JESUS CHRIST!
(3) THE JOY OF RECEPTION! * John 14:1-3 “Let not your heart be .......”
A) “Receive” means “to take, accept, to welcome and entertain as guests!”
* We have already received our wedding invitations!
* Marriage supper of the Lamb – Rev. 19:7-9 “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him:
for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was
granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the
righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the
marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”
B) In Matthew 22:1-14, Jesus tells a parable of the marriage feast!
* A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning! * This marriage supper is real!
* You ask, “What will we have at this marriage supper?” * Oxen and fatlings!
* These are steer that has been grain fed! * Illustration: Doug White in Kinston .......
C) We’ll even have dessert ... Banana Pudding! * Fruit Trees ... Manna (wafers) Milk and honey.
* We’re gonna eat in heaven at the reception after the wedding!
* We won’t eat because we’re hungry ... But because it tastes good!
(4) THE JOY OF REWARD! * Matthew 25:23 ... Parable of the talents. “Well done, good and ...”
A) Rev. 22:12 “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man
according as his work shall be.”
* 2 Cor. 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may
receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
* Let’s turn to 1 Cor. 3:11-15 and read these verses together .......
B) What are the rewards? I believe there are many! * Crowns .......
* Crown of Life ... James 1:12 “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried,
he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”
* Rev. 2:10 “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of
you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto
death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”
C) An Incorruptible Crown ... 1 Cor. 9:25 .......
* “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a
corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.”
* Crown of Rejoicing ... 1 Thess. 2:19 “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are
not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?”
* Crown of Righteousness ... 2 Tim. 4:8 “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only,
but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
* Crown of Glory ... 1 Peter 5:4 “And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a
crown of glory that fadeth not away.”
D) Will we wear these crowns? Yes, if we want to!
* But do you know what we’ll do with them? * The same thing the 24 elders do with theirs!
* Rev. 4:10-11 “The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and
worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all
things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
E) But that’s not all the rewards ... There are more!
* Rev. 21:25 “And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.”
* Rev. 22:5 “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun;
for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”
* Rev. 21:4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are
passed away.”
* But the greatest is Rev. 3:21 “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne,
even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”
CLOSE
A) Coming joys for the Christian ... Are you a Christian?
* If not, you can be ... TELL HOW ... Then all these joys can be yours!
