Advance Warning--Isaiah Series

Among students, few words inspire more fear and panic than the words “pop quiz.” We don’t like to be unprepared or caught off-guard, especially when something important like a grade is at stake. I know many adults still have nightmares about forgetting about a test—or how about those wacky dreams where you find out on the last day of the semester that you were enrolled in a class that you never attended!

 Most teachers are kind enough to announce major tests ahead of time so that students will have the opportunity to get ready for them. God acted in much the same way when He gave prophecies about the future in the Bible. God didn’t give us knowledge about future things so that we could impress our friends with charts about the end times! He revealed these details so that we can be prepared for these events and learn the right lessons from them—both before and after they take place.

 In Isaiah 44-48, God made some very specific prophecies about His plan for the Jewish people and the nations around them—prophecies that are so specific that critics of the Bible claim they must have been written after the fact. After all, the only other explanation is that the Bible is true and has a supernatural origin! Let’s read about these amazing prophecies and the lessons that God would have us learn from them. 

1. God offers specific prophecies about His plan for Israel (44:24-45:13; 46:1-7; 47:1-15)

 In this section of the book of Isaiah, God makes two very specific prophecies about His plan for Israel and the nations around them. First, He states that a man named Cyrus would one day act from a position of authority for the good of the Jewish people by allowing them to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple of God. Now remember, in Isaiah’s day, the city of Jerusalem and the Temple were still standing. The city’s downfall had not yet taken place; this prophecy told of events that would happen almost 150 years down the road! [READ 44:24-28]

 Second, the Lord declared that Babylon would be suddenly overthrown from a position of security and dominance over other nations. Both of these prophecies were fulfilled by a man named Cyrus the Great, who was the king of the Persian Empire. Cyrus invaded and defeated Babylon and then issued a decree that any Jews living in his empire were free to return to Jerusalem and rebuild it. Turn with me to Ezra 1, and we’ll read a record of this decree [READ Ezra 1:1-4].

 I want to spend a bit more time discussing this idea of prophecy because it shows us just how unique the Bible really is. The fact that the Bible has made such detailed prophecies that later came true sets it apart from all other books and individuals who have tried to predict the future. All other so-called prophets have encountered one of two problems with their prophecies—either their prophecies were so vague that they cannot be proven true or false, or their prophecies just flat-out did not come to pass and were thus false prophecies.

 Nostradamus is a good example of a so-called prophet whose prophecies were too vague to be proven true or false. Nostradamus was a Frenchman who lived in the 1500’s, and he wrote many four-line poems called “quatrains” that were supposedly predictions of the future. Here is one example:

The young lion will overcome the older one,
In a field of combat in single fight:
He will pierce his eyes in their golden cage;
Two wounds in one, then he dies a cruel death.

 Think for a moment about the kind of event to which this prophecy could refer. Fans of Nostradamus claim that this prophecy was fulfilled by two kings fighting in a jousting match. Now, after I gave you that interpretation, you could read these words again and say, “Yeah, okay. That kind of makes sense.” But you could only say that after I told you the supposed interpretation. As it stands, this prophecy is so vague that it could refer to several different events and people. Notice how different this prophecy is from Isaiah’s prophecy—Isaiah mentioned a specific person named Cyrus, a specific country, a specific city, and a specific building. Its not hard to prove whether or not Isaiah’s prophecy came true.

 Other so-called prophets have made predictions that were specific but which simply did not come true. The prophecies of Joseph Smith are a good example of prophecies that did not come true. Joseph Smith was the founder of the Mormon church, and he made many prophecies about specific events that simply didn’t happen. For example, in the early 1800’s, he predicted that the city with streets of gold described in Revelation would be built in Independence, MO within a generation. Well, I used to live not far from Independence, MO, and I can tell you that it looks nothing like the city described in Revelation! His prophecy simply did not come true, but if we consider Isaiah’s prophecy, we can look in the history books and see that history played out precisely as Isaiah predicted it would.

 The fact that the Bible has specifically and accurately predicted the future reveals just how unique this book truly is. God has given mankind glimpses of His plan before that plan has actually unfolded, and even today we are looking forward to prophecies about the future that still await fulfillment. But why has God revealed prophecies like these that we read in Isaiah? Well, God gives us an explanation for that question as well.

2. God explains why He has given these prophecies (45:4-7; 48:3-5, 11, 17-19)

 First, in Isaiah 45:4-7, God states that He has revealed these events to show His unique identity as the one true God [READ 45:4-7]. When these events would come to pass and people would discover that God had prophesied them more than a century in advance, they would have clear proof that the God of Israel is unique—greater than all the other so-called gods whom people might worship.

The prophecies of Scripture can have the same effect today. Easter and Christmas give us a great opportunity to proclaim that Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection not only happened, but they were actually the fulfillment of prophecies that were made centuries in advance. The events of Jesus’ life were not only significant by themselves, they were also significant because they were part of a larger plan that God announced beforehand, so that when they happened, we could see His deity on full display.

Second, the Lord states that He announced these events in advance so that when they happened, the credit for them could not be given to any other so-called gods [READ 48:3-5, 11]. The scenario that the Lord describes here is not hard to imagine. Remember—the people of Israel lived with so-called gods all around them. It was normal at that time for people to worship any number of different gods. So when these events came to pass, the Jews could have been tempted to give credit for them to other so-called gods, and so God prophesied these things in advance so that when they happened, it would be obvious that He was behind them.

Third, the Lord stated that He had announced these events to His people so that He could bless them. God wanted His people to trust Him and obey Him so that He could bless them; thus, He gave them these prophecies so that they could change their ways and be ready for Him to act [READ 48:17-19]. Can you hear the grieving heart of God as He laments the blessings that His people had thrown away? Like a kind teacher who wants her students to succeed rather than fail, God had instructed His people and given them advance warning so that they could ace His test! He warned them about discipline to come so that they would repent, and He told them about blessings to come so that they would have the hope to stay on the narrow way.

The fact that God gives us advance warning about things to come shows us that He desires to save rather than condemn. If God simply wanted to condemn us, He could leave us totally in the dark about the future, and then one day His judgment would fall on us without any warning and that would be the end of the story. But God desires to save and forgive, and so we see Him in this passage extending a call far and wide for people to come to Him and be saved. 

3. God invites all people to embrace Him as the one true God (45:20-23)

Please follow along as I read 45:20-23 [READ 45:20-23]. Notice the boundless extent of God’s offer of salvation! He extends His invitation far and wide, inviting all people to embrace Him as the one true God, casting aside all other things that they may worship to be reunited with their Creator and pardoned by Him. Every other object of worship in this world is powerless to save us from the guilt of our sins; thus, it is absolutely crucial that we embrace God as the one and only source of salvation, for to place our hope in anything else is to place our hope in a mirage and a façade—an unreal imposter.

I think the apostle Paul really said it best in Acts 17 when he was calling for a group of philosophers to leave behind their idols and embrace the living God. Please turn there with me [READ Acts 17:22-31]. There has never been any excuse to doubt that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of the Bible—is the one true God, but now God has given us the ultimate demonstration of this truth through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And as Paul said, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, because God is going to judge the world by the Lord Jesus Christ. Your response to Jesus is the determining factor of your verdict from God. According to John 3:36, God’s criteria for judgment is very simple—“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

My friend, you must realize today that anything you may worship apart from Jesus cannot save you. He is the only one who can save, and you can receive His salvation from sin and from Hell by confessing how wrong you have been to sin against Him and acknowledging that He alone can save you on the basis of His death and resurrection. Confess your rebellion against Him, accept Him as the only God and Savior, and you will have His pardon today!

God on Trial--Isaiah Series

In 2007, a state senator in Nebraska decided to make a point against frivolous lawsuits, so he decided to draw some attention to the issue by suing God. Senator Ernie Chambers, an agnostic, filed suit to force God to cease carrying out harmful acts of nature and making threats to send people to Hell. The first judge to hear the case dismissed it, saying that God could not be properly notified of the lawsuit since He has no home address. Chambers appealed the ruling by arguing that since God is supposed to know everything, He surely knew about the lawsuit. The lawsuit eventually died when the appeals court stated that it does not address abstract or hypothetical questions. People haven’t always taken God to court quite so literally, but through our actions people have often put God on trial and demanded proof that He is God and that His word can be trusted. So in Isaiah 41-44, God throws open the doors of His courtroom and invites the world to come in to settle the question about His deity. Is He truly the one and only God, or can the idols of the nations make a claim to be divine as well? Let’s take a seat in the courtroom as God makes His case! The Case for God’s Deity Exhibit A—God’s control over the nations (41:1-4, 11-13) Let’s read 41:1-4 [READ 41:1-4]. As we can see, God’s first claim is that He is in control over the nations. His words here refer to the power players of the Middle East who were building empires—like the Assyrians. As we have read previously in this book, these nations truly were seeking to advance their own agenda, but God claimed that they were actually carrying out His will. In these verses, God claims that He both stirred up the conquering nations and gave the other nations into their hands. Now of course, the other nations would have laughed at the idea that they were controlled by the God of Israel—especially since many of them were harassing Israel at this time. But the unique history of the nation of Israel shows God’s claim to be true. Throughout these chapters, God describes Israel as His chosen people, His servant, and His witnesses, whom He had established as a nation for Himself. Certainly no other nation could claim to have the miraculous origins and preservation that Israel had with their liberation from Egypt and conquest of the Promised Land. And if the nations would not accept the evidence of the past, God promised to give additional evidence of His control over the nations in the future [READ 41:11-13]. Exhibit B—God’s fulfilled predictions (41:21-29) Let’s read God’s challenge in 41:21-29 [READ 41:21-29]. The ability to accurately predict the future is clearly a divine power. Regardless of what you may hear from psychics on late-night TV, everyone knows that humans cannot predict the future with accuracy. So God’s challenge makes perfect sense—if these idols are gods, then they should be able to accurately predict the future, but as God states, they are utterly unable to do so. The Lord’s ability to accurately declare what will happen in the future is a powerful testimony to His deity, but honestly, it says even more about God than we normally think. We often think that when God predicts the future, He looks into the future and tells us what He sees—like a sailor looking through a submarine’s periscope and reporting on what he can see. But in reality, God knows the future because He plans the future and then carries it out. God is more like an architect showing us his plans for a building. An architect can tell you exactly what a building will look like because he has planned it out. That is the way that we should think about God’s knowledge of the future. So the idols of the nations are powerless to declare the future because they are powerless to do anything about the future. They cannot do good or harm, as God challenges them to do in v. 23. Thus, their weakness is put on full display. Exhibit C—God’s gracious redemption (43:1-2, 25; 44:21-22) With this point, we are talking about God’s response of grace and mercy to Israel’s sins. But how does redemption show that the God of Israel is the true God? Well, as the old cliché states, to err is human, to forgive is divine. Human beings are not naturally inclined toward grace and mercy—we are inclined toward revenge and ruthlessness. There is a scene in the movie Braveheart when the daughter-in-law of the King of England is trying to convince him that an act of mercy toward the rebellious Scots would demonstrate his greatness. He responds by saying, “My greatness will be displayed when Scotland lies in ashes!” That is how we as humans think, but God strikes a perfect balance between justice and mercy, and His true greatness drives Him to help His wayward creatures. Look at 43:1-2. God has just spoken of Israel’s sinfulness and the discipline that He carried out on them, then we read these words [READ 43:1-2]. In v. 1, the Hebrew text uses wording that calls to mind an Old Testament idea that is beautifully portrayed in the book of Ruth. The idea is that of the kinsman-redeemer. A kinsman-redeemer was someone who had the right to help a family member out of a desperate situation. If a person had to sell some property because of financial hardship, the kinsman-redeemer could step in and buy back the land for his relative. If a man died without having any children, the kinsman-redeemer could marry his widow to ensure her well-being and raise a child who would carry on the deceased man’s name. Now in the book of Ruth, you may remember that when Naomi returned to Israel with Ruth, these two widows were destitute. They had no way to provide for themselves except through Ruth’s labors to pick up grain that fell on the ground during harvest. You may also remember that when Naomi found out that Ruth had run into Boaz, she was thrilled because Boaz was a kinsman-redeemer—he was a relative who was in a position to help them out of their desperate situation. So when God says in Isaiah 43:1, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine,” He is describing himself as our kinsman-redeemer. He has treated us like His own relative and has lovingly helped us out of our desperate situation. Now the centerpiece of God’s redemption is always—always—the forgiveness of sins. No matter what circumstance we find ourselves in, our greatest need is always to be at peace with God by having our sins forgiven, and so God emphasizes forgiveness in these chapters. In 43:25 He says, “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” Then, in 44:21-22, He says [READ 44:21-22]. Now if we only look at the evidence that God presents, we have an open and shut case for His deity. God is obviously different from the lifeless idols of the nations. The only reason that anyone had to doubt this conclusion is that God’s people were not serving as good witnesses. God’s redemption was not on full display because God’s people were not living like redeemed people. His control over the nations was constantly being doubted by His own people as they ran around making alliances with anyone who would have them. So God describes in chapter 42 a servant whom He would send who would express all the actions of deity that He describes in this section. We can look back on this now and see that it was a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Servant of the Lord as God’s Witness (42:1-9) Notice in the first four verses how the servant will show God’s control over the nations [READ 42:1-4]. The servant is described as having governing power over the nations to establish and execute justice in the earth, and the nations are pictured as eagerly waiting to hear His commands. Next, notice how the servant functions as a redeemer to save people out of a desperate situation [READ 42:5-7]. Finally, in vv. 8-9, we see that when the servant arrives and carries out his ministry, he will fulfill prophecy and thus show God’s ability to declare the future [READ 42:8-9]. In the person of Jesus the Christ—the Messiah—we have the perfect witness to all that God is. Colossians 1:15 states that “He is the image of the invisible God.” People in ancient times were tremendously confused that Christians had no statues—no visible images—of their God. They actually called the Christians “atheists” because they didn’t worship a God whom you could see. But the truth is, we do have an image of our God, it just isn’t a dead piece of wood or stone—it is a person who lived among us and showed us what God is like. Many people over the years have said, “If God wants so desperately for us to believe in Him, why doesn’t He come down out of the clouds and show Himself? Why doesn’t He just appear?” What these people are choosing to ignore is that God already has!! He was here, He lived with us, and we have a record of it in the Bible! The God whom we worship as the only God is guilty as charged! He is the Lord of all—the Creator, the Sustainer, and the Redeemer. So how should we respond to a God like this? These chapters spell it out for us. First, we do not need to fear in this life because of who our God is. Nine times in these chapters, God tells us not to be afraid because He is with us, He will help us, He has redeemed us, He has chosen us, He is one true Rock—a solid foundation on which to build. Second, we are to praise Him and give Him glory—that is, we are to declare His incomparable worth and status, and thus exalt Him. As I stated earlier, the only reason that people really have to doubt that our God is the one true God is that God’s people don’t live like it. If we are God’s witnesses, what kind of case can be made for His uniqueness and divinity? If someone examined your life to determine if the God that you worship is the one true God, what verdict would they reach? Would they conclude that your God must be powerful because you display so much confidence in Him? Would they conclude that He must be in control because you do not live in fear of what may come? Would they conclude that He alone has the power to redeem from sin because you are not burdened with guilt and sinful behavior does not rule your life? What is the verdict? The court is in session all around you right now. Let’s see to it that we are good witnesses!

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait--Isaiah Series

People have often been fascinated by the thought of what they might tell themselves if they could travel back in time and give themselves some advice. That is an interesting thought, isn’t it? Imagine if God allowed you to go back and speak to a younger version of yourself after you arrived in heaven. What do you think you might say to yourself? Since you had already seen Heaven, would you tell yourself to worry less and trust God more? Would you have some words of comfort for yourself? I suspect you would. In Isaiah 40, we read about Isaiah speaking to his people from a similar kind of vantage point. He is delivering a message to his people about the coming of the Lord, and we can picture him looking back in time at his people and saying, “Wait ‘til you see this!” Isaiah 40 represents a rather dramatic shift in this book toward messages that focus more on comfort and hope. The book of Isaiah has sometimes been called, “The Bible in a nutshell,” and the comparison really is uncanny. Isaiah has 66 chapters, and the Bible as a whole has 66 books. By counting the chapters, chapter 40 would begin the so-called “New Testament” portion of this book, and this chapter begins with a passage that John the Baptist claimed for himself in the Gospels—which are the first books of the New Testament. In chapter 53, we have a detailed prophecy of the crucifixion of Christ, and then in the last chapter of Isaiah the prophet writes about a new heaven and a new earth—which is the same subject matter as the last two chapters of Revelation. In chapter 39—you may remember—Isaiah delivered a prophecy about some difficult days ahead for the people of Judah. If they were ever in need of some comforting words, now was the time, and that is precisely what we find in chapter 40. These words are a tremendous message of comfort for us as well. God offers us comfort for this life… 1. …in light of His coming (40:1-5) [READ 40:1-2] In these verses, God is speaking from a vantage point in the future and He is basically saying, “Enough! My people have suffered enough for their sins, and now I am putting an end to it.” And when will that time be? When the Lord comes to rule in the world! [READ 40:3-5] In these verses, the Lord is pictured as a traveling dignitary whose path of arrival is being prepared for Him. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to see President Bush’s motorcade as it traveled through Kansas City. As he went, the local police went ahead of him and closed off the road to all other traffic so his trip would be smooth and steady. In ancient times, workers were actually sent ahead of traveling dignitaries to repair the road ahead of them so there would be no obstacles slowing them down. So the Lord is pictured here as having no obstacles in His way when he comes, so nothing will stop Him. We have already read several prophecies in this book about the Lord reigning from Jerusalem as king over the earth, and the reminder that He is coming is the first message of comfort that Isaiah gives. It is no coincidence that 1 Thess. 4:18 tells us to encourage one another with reminders about the Lord’s coming. The fact that Jesus is coming again tells us that God’s children can always look forward to better days ahead. No matter what a day may hold for us, it is always a true statement that there are better days ahead, and with each day that passes we are one day closer to those better days. So with each day you can say, “Was today a good day?” If it was—great! But remember—there are even better days still to come. Or was today a bad day, with some grief and pain? If so, there may be some legitimate sorrow, but don’t despair; don’t lose hope. There are better days ahead. We can cling to this truth on the sure testimony of the Word of God. 2. …in light of the enduring power of His Word (40:6-8) [READ 40:6-8] These verses offer a clear contrast between the frail and temporary nature of human life today versus the established and enduring power of the Word of God. These verses certainly remind us of our own mortality, but they also remind us of the mortality of anyone who may trouble us. Chapter 39 just predicted days of trouble that the people of Judah would suffer at the hands of the Babylonians, but as mighty as their enemies would appear, they would simply be like grass in a field that flowers one day and is all but dead the next. But standing like a mighty redwood is the enduring Word of God, which will never fail until all of its promises have been fulfilled. Many people have predicted the demise of the Bible, but the Bible continues to stand despite all of the attacks against it. In the 1700’s, the French philosopher Voltaire stated that there would not be a Bible on the earth within another century. Well, by Christmas’ Eve 1933, the Bible was still around, and it was so beloved and valuable that the British Government paid half a million dollars for an ancient copy of it called the Codex Sinaiticus. On that same day, a first-edition copy of Voltaire’s writings sold for 11 cents. The Lord’s promises will not fail; He will do everything that He has said He will do. If God seems to be delaying, don’t be fooled—Peter reminds us in 2 Peter 3:9 that the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise but is patient, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 3. …in light of His compassionate care (40:9-11) I think we can all testify to God’s compassionate care in our lives today, but when the Lord comes to establish His kingdom, it seems that we will experience it in a whole new way [READ 40:9-11]. Shepherds were a common sight in Judah at that time, but they’re certainly not very common around here. However, I suspect that many of you who have cattle have probably bottle-fed a calf at some point in time. That’s the kind of compassionate care that we’re talking about here. God exercises tender love toward His people, and we will never see that more clearly than when Jesus rules in this world. 4. …in light of His power, wisdom, and sovereignty (40:12-26) One lesson that we must remember about God is that He not only has good intentions toward us, but He also has the power to act on those intentions. Good intentions are fine, but if a person cannot act on their intentions, then they don’t really benefit anyone. But here God again reminds us of His greatness that allows Him to act [READ 40:14-17]. Its important to remember that v. 17 is not describing the importance that God assigns to humanity—it is describing the wisdom and power of humanity when compared to God’s wisdom and power. God doesn’t treat us like nobodies, but if we compare ourselves to Him, that’s how we look! Not only is humanity like nothing compared to God, but the false gods that we make are like nothing as well [READ 40:18-20]. The idea of v. 20 is that the idol must be well-built so that it doesn’t accidentally topple over! The idol has to have a good foundation so it doesn’t fall down! But by contrast, God founded all of creation and controls it all—including the rulers in this world who seem to be so strong and powerful [READ 40:21-26]. Those last two verses emphasize the individual attention that God gives to everything in His creation. His power and knowledge are limitless, yet they are also very personal. God calls all of the stars by name, and He knows all about you and me as well—and the plans that He has for us. Elizabeth Elliot once recounted the story of Gladys Aylward, who was a missionary to China. In her early life, Ms. Aylward hated the fact that she had black hair and was relatively short—only about 4’10’’. But when she arrived in Shanghai, she looked around and saw that everyone there had black hair and was relatively short. She was then able to praise God and say, “Lord, you know exactly what you’re doing!” God has an intimate knowledge of everything about us, but that truth is so easy to forget, and we see next that the people of Israel were struggling with that kind of forgetfulness. 5. …if we will simply wait for Him to do all that He has promised (40:27-31) Here we find the response that is required from us if we want to enjoy the blessings of God’s comfort [READ 40:27-31]. What powerful words! God offers us a spiritual strength that is even greater than the physical strength of young people in their prime! But how can we tap into this spiritual strength? How does it become active in our lives? Isaiah says here that it comes from waiting for the Lord—but waiting for the Lord to do what? I think this waiting has a short-term and a longer-term focus. The short-term focus involves waiting each day for God to work out His plan for our lives. Waiting like this means that I will refuse to walk a sinful path in order to get what I want or to take what I think is my right. The longer-term focus involves waiting for Jesus to return to this world. Waiting like this means that I won’t love the things that the unbelieving world loves. I will keep my mind focused on the priorities that Jesus has laid out and remember that my ultimate happiness will come when He returns. Its also important to understand what kind of waiting we’re talking about here as we wait for God to do His will and as we wait for God to return. This is not a put-your-feet-up-and-drink-iced-tea kind of waiting. It is not a take-a-nap-while-you-wait-for-the-fish-to-bite kind of waiting. We’re talking about the way that a child waits for Christmas! This is a grandma-and-grandpa-are-coming-over-with-presents-kind-of-waiting! This is a run-to-the-window-every-fifteen-seconds kind of waiting! We’re talking about the way that a housewife waits for company to arrive by dusting everything three times right up until the doorbell rings! In other words, this is the kind of waiting that makes us say, “I can’t wait for this to happen!” Now how do we cultivate this kind of attitude in our hearts—the attitude which Isaiah says will allow us to tap into supernatural strength? Well, in order to have this attitude, we must be convinced of two things: 1) that Jesus definitely will come, and thus our hope will not be in vain, and; 2) that when Jesus comes, what we experience will have been worth the wait. So first, we must be convinced that Jesus definitely will come. It’s virtually impossible to maintain a strong expectation for something if you’re not sure that it’s going to happen, because eventually your heart will want to shield itself from disappointment, and thus it will give up hope. So if we want to wait for Christ’s return the way that a child waits for Christmas, we must be absolutely certain that it will happen. The best way that I know of to cultivate this certainty is to look back at the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in His first coming. Look—how do you come to know that you can take someone at their word? By seeing that in the past, they have done exactly what they said they would do! Now when we look at Jesus’ first coming into this world, we see that He has already fulfilled so many prophecies from the Old Testament. This teaches us that God is a man of his word, so when He says that Jesus is coming again, you and I can take it to the bank! Second, we must believe that when Jesus returns, what we experience will have been worth the wait. Again—why does a child have so much excitement while waiting for Christmas? Because he knows that his patience will be rewarded! He knows that what he will experience will have been worth the wait. So how do we cultivate this attitude? I believe it comes by understanding two biblical doctrines—the doctrine of heaven and the doctrine of rewards. I think many of us aren’t really that excited about living in heaven. We’re excited about leaving pain and suffering behind, but we’re not very excited about heaven because most of us don’t have the foggiest idea what it will be like. We think we’re going to float around on clouds and strum harps or something like that! We figure we’ll be at peace because we’ll be in something like a coma out of sheer boredom! My friends, we have got to learn what Scripture actually says about heaven if we want to really look forward to it. We also must understand the doctrine of rewards—that we will be rewarded for faithful service to Christ in this life. We will never endure in faithful service unless we understand that we will be rewarded for it! We may have spiritual passion for a little while, but we will soon become apathetic if we think that there is no point in making sacrifices for Christ—that there is no reward for it. Hebrews 11:6 gives us this lesson: “without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” My friend, are you spiritually weary today? There is strength available to you if you will wait for the Lord like a child waits for Christmas. There is comfort to be had if you will look toward His coming and remember the power He has which makes His promises a guarantee. Look to His Word and cultivate your certainty in His coming and your conviction that it will be worth the wait!