GOD BELIEVES IN PREPARATION
1. GOD’S PREPARED FOR EVENTS INVOLVING YOU.
A. GOD PREPARED A REHABILITATION PROGRAM FOR HIS CHILDREN.
THEY CAN PASS OR FAIL. THEIR CHOICE. HE WILL CHASTEN THOSE HE LOVES. IF YOU DON’T GET ENROLLED IN THIS SCHOOL, YOU AREN’T ONE OF HIS CHILDREN.
Jonah 1:17 “Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”
Jonah 4:6-8 “And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.”
B. GOD HAS PREPARED FUTURE JUDGMENTS ON EARTH. THE WEATHER.
Psalms 147:8 “Who covereth the heaven with clouds, Who prepareth rain for the earth, Who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.”
Joel 2:30 “And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.”
Luke 21:11 “And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.”
C. GOD HAS PREPARED TO JUDGE HIS CHILDREN.
HE HAS MADE PREPARATIONS. HE HAS HIS THRONE. HE HAS PREPARED A PLACE, HE IS PREPARED FOR WHO WILL BE THERE, HE HAS PREPARED FOR THEIR TRANSPORTATION. HE KNOWS THE BASIS FOR JUDGMENT (what we have done), ETC.
1 Peter 4:5 “Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.”
2. GOD HAS PREPARED THINGS FOR OUR FUTURE WITH HIM.
A. GOD HAS PREPARED THINGS BEYOND OUR ABILITY TO IMAGINE THEM.
1 Corinthians 2:9 “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”
B. GOD HAS PREPARED PLACES FOR US TO LIVE.
–A CITY.
Hebrews 11:10 “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”
–A TABERNACLE, OR NEW HOUSING FOR OUR SOUL AND SPIRIT.
2 Corinthians 5:1 “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
–A HOUSE WHERE OUR NEW BODY CAN DWELL.
John 14:2-3 “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
3. WE MUST FOLLOW THE LORD’S EXAMPLE OF PREPARING.
A. GOD HELPED NOAH TO PREPARE BY GIVING INSTRUCTIONS ON WHAT WAS TO COME AND HOW TO PREPARE.
Hebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”
B. JESUS GENTLY REMINDED PETER THAT HE HAD WORK TO DO YET.
PETER THOUGHT HE WAS ALREADY STRONG ENOUGH, AND THOUGHT HE WAS READY.
Luke 22:32-34 “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.”
”God Believes In Preparation”
A Bible Study with Dr. Ed J. MacWilliams
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