-Transcript-
00:28 Amen. Glory to God. Welcome to the program.
00:33 Welcome to the cafe. Thank you for joining me. My name is Pastor Clark Covington, pastor of Heartland Community Baptist Church.
00:38 I’m so glad to have you here today. If it’s your first time joining us, welcome. If you’re a regular listener, again, thank you so much.
00:44 Today we are just going to talk about God’s blessings. That’s it. Amen.
00:50 God’s blessings. How good are they? How worthy are we to accept God’s blessings? We’re not worthy at all, but how good are they? And don’t we enjoy receiving those blessings, right? If you think about what God’s done in your life, where could you go with it?
01:07 If you think about the people that God has put in your life, imagining a sovereign, holy, powerful God and imagining those that He put in your life, don’t you just want to thank Him for that?
01:20 That mentor or friend, that sister or brother, that child or the grandchild, that husband or wife? If you just look around, I’m in my 40s now and I’m a family man, amen, and I love the Lord and nothing makes me happier than just spending time with my family. Just thinking about, man, look what you did, God.
01:47 I had kids a little bit later in life and the Lord gave us Jenny in 2016 and then CJ in 2017, really back to back as much as you could.
02:01 My poor wife, I didn’t love that pregnancy, I’m sure, but those two kids, at the time we could not figure out, hey, I mean, how are we going to have it?
02:10 We had trouble handling one little baby, now we got two. It was almost like twins, Amen, they’re so close together in age, yet in God’s mercy and His love, He knew that that would have been the best time to bring that child to us.
02:23 And so I just think of how blessed I’ve been to have a family and to have a good relationship with my wife. We’ve been married going on 10 years, it’ll be 10 years this July, Amen.
02:36 It’s incredible to think that, you know, it feels like yesterday that we went on our first date at a tea shop where she brought a cup of tea from somewhere else.
02:44 I said, oh boy, this is a tea shop, you’re bringing tea from work or wherever, but we’re in trouble, but we made it work, Amen. And, you know, again, you just think of those little stories in your life, you know,
02:56 things that the Lord has done for you that have just such profound meaning that looking back on, you really can kind of get clarity and say, that’s got to be God.
03:05 And of course, you know, how about, I used to love this in our old church, before Lord called me to plant a church, a lot of the members there, it was much bigger, a lot of the members there would talk about how, thank God I’m born in America, or thank God I’m born in North Carolina or live in America or live in North Carolina.
03:21 And you got to say, you know, that’s true. I mean, America, we are so blessed. We live in literally, I believe still the richest country on earth, certainly one of the most beautiful countries, if not the most beautiful country on earth.
03:37 My older brother used to give me a hard time because I didn’t like going overseas. I said, look, America is so big. I still just trying to explore America, you know, and that’s the truth.
03:51 There’s many states I’ve never been to that look beautiful, you know, Amen. So just being born in America and of course, living here in North Carolina, the buckle, the Bible belt, Amen. There’s so many great ministries based on North Carolina.
03:59 God has many of his people here. We’re still in a God-fearing, God-loving country. I believe that.
04:05 I took my kids to City Hall the other day for a homeschool field trip. And right there, smack dab in big letters on the building, it said, in God we trust. Now tell me how many states you’re going to see that really big letters, not that many states anymore, sadly.
04:19 So we think about where God put us. We thank him. We think about the people God’s put in our lives.
04:26 We thank him. We think about our family. We thank him.
04:30 We think about, um, the blessings that he’s given us. Maybe he’s given us a talent or skill that we can use at work. Amen.
04:35 Uh, maybe he’s allowed us to work in the ministry. Maybe he’s allowed us to stay home and be a parent or whatever God’s allowed you to do, you know, thank him for it. His blessings are rich.
04:45 His blessings are incredible. God is in the most minute details. God is sovereign and God is all powerful.
04:51 And if you look at close enough, you will see the most unbelievable details of God’s design, the way that He’s able to weave so many things together so perfectly in a way only He could.
05:03 1 Corinthians 2:9 is our text verse. But as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
05:16 Oh, I love this verse. 1 Corinthians 2:9. Ooh, I’m getting excited.
05:24 But as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him. And so we have not seen, heard, or understood exactly what God’s prepared for us in heaven. And here is the point of the message.
05:42 If we’re able to be grateful and have that unbelievable gratitude towards God for what he’s done here on earth, can you even comprehend how good it’s going to be up there in heaven?
05:59 Think about it. If God is so good and so generous that he sends people in time of need, I mean, I’ve got so many ways I could brag on God today. I don’t have the time.
06:08 Literally, if I had a hundred episodes, it’s not enough time to brag on what God has done for me. Little, like just little things that are so incredible. I mean, I’ll have a really long night.
06:18 I’ll be working my job. I’ll be trying to do ministry stuff and I’ll be teaching the kids or helping the kids. And the next day, I don’t know, something will happen where an appointment will cancel or my wife will say, hey, I’m going to take our son to school or whatever it is.
06:32 And I’ll get a couple extra hours of sleep or something. I’m just praising God because it came at just the right time. And I know that that’s God’s providence and his provision.
06:41 Amen. And I know there’s many people listening today, at least I hope so, that are in the car or wherever they are saying amen, knowing that God has done the same in their life, whatever it may be, you know, just the littlest of things. You know, maybe it’s a financial blessing.
06:55 Maybe it’s a way to do something you wanted to do and you never thought you could do it. And God somehow makes it happen. You know, it’s incredible what God does.
07:03 He is a good God. And he, again, imagine God being in the details and then imagine us ignoring the details. God’s in the details.
07:08 And here we are ignoring the details. God’s in the details doing all these incredible things. And all we are doing is busy coveting for this thing we don’t need.
07:19 We don’t want and won’t make us happy. Okay. Won’t bring fulfillment.
07:24 It’s got to frustrate the Lord. You know, he’s over here. I believe that’s one reason why maybe we don’t receive more blessings in life is because God wants us to focus on the ones that we do receive and truly understand what He’s doing, how He’s at work.
07:39 Amen. And so we see that in heaven we’ll be rewarded for what we’ve done here on earth. Because of course, all of these blessings are in the context of living in a broken, fallen world, a sinful world where there is great suffering.
07:50 If I’ve preached 50 messages this year, probably 40 of them are on suffering. Amen. Suffering is prevalent.
07:59 Suffering is everywhere. Amen. Uh, but yet there’s rewards in heaven for serving God.
08:06 So we see in 1 Corinthians 2:9 that we can’t even imagine how great heaven is. And then we see that there’s rewards. What are the rewards? There are many, but one would be sharing in Christ’s reward.
08:16 So Christ is rewarded for his obedience and he’s highly exalted above all. He’s King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is on high for an eternity.
08:25 Amen. He is the precious, sinless, spotless lamb of God. Amen.
08:30 He is everything that we ever could desire to be. And here we have Christ telling us, Hey, yeah, you’re going to share my reward. Romans 8:17.
08:37 If children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. So Romans eight 17 tells us very plainly,
08:46 Hey, if you’re living in this world and you’re going through suffering and you’re doing it for the right reason, you’re suffering for the Lord, then guess what? In heaven, you’re going to have reward for that suffering for the Lord. You’re going to share in Christ’s reward.
09:01 The Bible literally says we will sit on the throne with Christ, that we are co-heirs with Christ. I think some people think we’re going to get to heaven and kind of be on our own down some side street. No, we’ve got a mansion waiting for us.
09:19 And beyond that, the Bible tells me that we’re going to sit on the throne with Christ, that we will sit down and that he will gird himself up, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and that he will serve us. And Oh, when he serves us, we’ll see those nail scars in his hands. Amen.
09:30 What a sight, what a day, what a precious hope we have in Jesus. How can this not get you excited today? How about this? The suffering we have here will no longer be there.
09:37 Revelation 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.
09:48 Amen. There is no pain in heaven. There’s no suffering in heaven.
09:53 Guess what? My kids don’t like the dark. They don’t like when it gets dark. Hey, you know what? I don’t love the dark either.
09:58 Guess what? In heaven, there is no night. Amen. In heaven.
10:03 We don’t even need a son because Jesus Christ is a light. Amen. That thing is lit up brighter than we can imagine.
10:07 It’s a beautiful day outside. It’s about 72 degrees and sunny and just gorgeous outside. I said to myself, this is beautiful.
10:11 I imagine heaven is like that times a hundred million thousand. Okay. You can’t even imagine what heaven is going to be like.
10:19 And the point is there’ll be no suffering, you know, and I’ll think about this in this life, we are pressured, right? We were put under pressure. If you are red blooded person, that’s of a, I don’t know, 17, 18 years or older or whatever it may be 15 or older. You have pressure every single day throughout your life.
10:39 You’re dealing with pressure, right? You have pressure and there are problems. There are temptations. There is suffering.
10:45 There are bills to pay and there are arguments to settle and you don’t have to forgive someone and you don’t even want to, but you’ve got to, or you have jobs that you have to do, or you’re made fun of and you’re mocked, you’re ridiculed at school or at work, you’re sick all the time, whatever it is, you have these things that just plague you.
11:03 You know, Paul himself had that thorn in the flesh that God did not take away from him. Revelation was written by John on the Island of Patmos.
11:11 He was basically exiled. He was exiled. Amen.
11:15 God is so good that he is shaping and molding us. Amen. So that when we get to heaven, the context of heaven will be so overwhelmingly great that we won’t ever have to worry about suffering anymore.
11:28 Now, can the angels say they understand suffering? Can the angels say that they understand, uh, overcoming temptation? They cannot. And that’s why they are not on the same level. Amen.
11:41 As those overcomers is that remnant of those that have trusted in the Lord for salvation and have made him King in their hearts and in their lives. Think of this. God’s goodness is eternal.
11:53 The suffering and hardship is temporal. Never forget that God’s goodness is eternal. It’s everlasting.
11:59 The suffering and hardship is temporary. It’s temporal. Okay.
12:03 If you imagine this, you, you start to understand God’s program a little bit, because what do we do when we suffer? What do we do? We say, this is never going to resolve itself. What is fear and anxiety? It’s not knowing the future. Right.
12:16 And so we say, well, what’s going to happen in the future? This isn’t going to resolve itself on its own. I can’t imagine what’s going to be like, you know, in the future. You’re worried, you’re worried.
12:26 That’s how you’re up all night or whatever’s going on. You’re stressed out. You don’t know how this bill’s going to get paid or whatever it is.
12:30 Job will get done. And what God’s telling us through his word is these things are temporary. And eventually they’re all resolved.
12:38 And if you have been saved, then you have eternal security in Jesus Christ, our Lord. And you have a wonderful, eternal place in heaven that no one can take away. Your name is written down in the Lamb’s book of life, never to be blotted out, never to be erased.
12:55 And you have a position in heaven. It’s already been done, past tense. It’s not up for discussion.
13:01 Talk about Christians going to get a reward. Are they going to be judged? Well, they’ll be judged for what they did for the Lord at the Bema seat, but they’re not going to face condemnation. Amen.
13:07 They’re not going to face judgment like the white throne judgment where the unbeliever goes, and that’s why it’s so important to work your salvation out with fear and trembling, to make sure that you’re saved, to understand what it means to be saved, identify the fact that you are a sinner, that I am a sinner in need of a savior, understand that Jesus Christ died for your sins as he died for mine,
13:31 and that when we accept Christ as savior and we accept him as Lord, then, and his himself being risen from the grave after the third day, we believe on Jesus Christ, the death, burial, and resurrection were saved and we’re eternally secure with Christ. And this, whatever we’re going through now is temporal. Last thing to wrap it up here.
13:49 If you have suffering in your life, that’s a good sign because to serve the Lord is to suffer. To suffer is to be like Christ. And if life is comfortable and a whole bed of roses and everything is great, then you really need to check what’s going on because Christ called us into this world to be a light in a very dark world.
14:09 And if we love the Lord, people will hate us because they first hated him. Understand this principle, count your blessings and know that the same God that has provided all those wonderful blessings has eternity planned out for you better than you ever could imagine.
14:24 Thank God for that.
14:26 I thank you so much for listening till next time. Take care. God bless and Amen.