“In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33, NKJV).
Those words from our Lord are almost a truism—something so obvious it need not be stated. We are all intimately acquainted with the troubles of this life. On a personal level, we physically decay with each passing moment, even if we’re healthy (2 Corinthians 4:16). On a societal level, we see the effects of sinful decisions all around us. John MacArthur observes, “We are watching our country [America] freefall into godless darkness, sexual perversion, gender insanity, crime of all kinds, the breakdown of law and order, family destruction, and above all, the constant flood of lies and efforts to silence the truth.” In light of this individual and institutional decay, even Christians may be tempted to despair.
One way to combat this temptation is to remember our place in the plan of redemption: predestined, regenerated, and justified, but not yet glorified. In his sermon “The Believer's Glorious Inheritance,” John MacArthur explains why Ephesians 1:11–14 is a comfort for those who feel overwhelmed by the troubles of the world. In these four verses, Paul writes,
[In Him] also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
John MacArthur explains,
Paul is really calling on these troubled believers living in the worst life of their day to suffer patiently and wait with hearts full of praise for the eternal inheritance that was promised to them. He’s calling for them to understand the spiritual heavenly blessings that were already secured for them by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and the elective purpose of God in eternity past, and they were just waiting for the full realization of them when they entered glory.
The apostle Peter also reminded suffering Christians of their “inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4; cf. Colossians 3:24).
Because of this, we know that our best days await us beyond this life. Again, John MacArthur says, “This is not our best life, not by any means. To all who are in Christ, our best life is yet to come. Our best life is the glory of heaven.” This is our great comfort in tumultuous times—our hope is not in this world, but with Christ in the world to come.
To be further encouraged in this glorious truth, listen to “The Believer's Glorious Inheritance” by John MacArthur.
