Christian Life

There is Yet a Future Time of Rest

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, prophecy, salvation, Sovereignty of God 26 Comments

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. – Hebrews 4:9

Here on earth the believer enters into rest by faith; the Christian enjoys rest even in the wilderness; the promise is fulfilled. “They shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.” God giveth to His beloved sleep; there is a peace that passeth all understanding, which we may enjoy even in this land of turmoil, strife, and alarms, a peace which the worldling knoweth not of, nor can he guess it.

“A holy calm within the heart,
The pledge of glorious rest.
Which for the church of God remains,
The end of cares, the end of pains.”

But beloved, drink as we may of the cup of peace, the good wine is kept until a future time. The peace we drink to-day is dashed with some drops of bitter. There are disturbing thoughts; the cares of this world will come, doubts will arise; live as we may in this world, we must have disquietudes; thorns in the flesh must come. But oh! the “rest that remaineth for the people of God.” What good wine shall that be! God hath a sun without a spot, a sky without a cloud, a day without a night, a sea without a wave, a world without a tear. Happy are they who, having passed through this world, have entered into rest, and ceased from their own works, as God did from His, bathing their weary souls in seas of heavenly rest. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0226.cfm

Better Wine to Come

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, prophecy, salvation 8 Comments

But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom. – Matthew 26:29

Beloved, …there is better wine to come…God has given us a brighter and a clearer day than they had; theirs was but the twilight of the morning, compared with the noon-day which we enjoy. But think not that we are come to the best wine yet. There are more noble banquets for God’s church; and who knoweth how long, ere the best of the precious wine shall be broached? Know ye not that the King of Heaven is coming again upon this earth; Jesus Christ, who came once and broached His heart for us on Calvary, is coming again, to flood the earth with glory. He came once with a sin-offering in His hand: behold, He comes no more with a sin-offering, but with the cup of salvation and of thanksgiving, to call upon the name of the Lord and joyously to take unto Himself the throne of His father David. You and I, if we be alive and remain, shall yet set that cup to our lips; and if we die, we have this privilege, this happy consolation, that we shall not be behind hand, for “the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,” and we shall drink of that millennial wine which Christ our Saviour hath reserved to the last. Saints! ye cannot tell what golden goblets those are of which ye shall drink in the thousand years of the Redeemer’s triumph. Ye cannot tell what wine, sparkling and red, that shall be, which shall come from the vintage of the hills of glory, when He whose garments are red with treading the wine-press, shall descend in the great day and stand upon the earth. Why, the very thought of this cheered Job. “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” Let this rejoice and cheer thee, Christian, that the good wine is kept even unto that time.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0226.cfm

 

The Good Wine

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, prophecy, salvation, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit 9 Comments

The governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse; but thou hast kept the good wine until now. – John 2:9-10

My dear friends, this is a great fact, that Christ’s feast increaseth in sweetness. When first the Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed a feast for the sons of men, the first cup He set upon the table was but a very little one, and it had in it but few words of consolation. You remember the inscription upon that ancient vessel, the first cup of consolation that was ever held to the sons of men-“The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head.” There was to them but little sweetness there: much to us, because we can understand it better, and some to them, because God’s Spirit might help them to understand it, but still in the revelation of it there seemed but little promise. As the world went on, there were greater cups of precious wine brought forth, whereof patriarchs and ancient saints did drink; but beloved, all the wine they ever had under the Old Testament dispensation was far behind that of which we drink. He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is more highly favoured than he who is chief under the Old Testament dispensation. Our fathers did eat manna, but we do eat the bread that came down from heaven; they did drink of water in the wilderness, but we drink of that living water whereof if a man drink he shall never thirst. It is true they had much sweetness; the cups of the ancient tabernacle had precious wine in them; there was in the outward symbol the sign and the shadow, much that was delightful to the faith of the true believer; but we must remember that we are drinking to-day of that wine which prophets and kings desired to drink of, but died without a taste thereof. They guessed its sweetness; they could by faith foresee what it would be; but lo! we are allowed to sit at the table and quaff full draughts of wines on the lees well refined, which God hath given to us in this mountain wherein He hath made a feast of fat things for all people.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0226.cfm

Our God Singing!

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, The Father, The Holy Spirit 1 Comment

The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing. – Zephaniah 3:17

Did you ever get into your hearts the idea of the Lord God singing? God singing over His church, over His Jerusalem, over His new creation! God singing! I can understand the angels singing for joy over God’s work, but here is God singing over His own work. I will tell you something more wonderful than that: it is that you should be a part of that work, and that God should sing over you. And yet it is not so very wonderful, for is He not the Father, and doth not the Father sing over His prodigal son that wandered and is come back? is He not the Savior, and will not the Savior, who bought us with His blood, sing over us who are the purchase of His agonies? He is the Spirit, and shall not the Spirit, who has striven with us, and wrought all our works in us, sing when His work is done, and we are sanctified? Father, when Thy eternal purposes are all fulfilled, Thou wilt joy over Thy people! Son of God, Redeemer, when all Thy agonies shall have received their recompense in the salvation of Thy redeemed, Thou wilt rejoice over Thy chosen! Holy Ghost, when all Thy condescending indwelling within us shall have accomplished Thy design, Thou wilt rejoice in Thy people! Come now, beloved, rejoice in sympathy with the divine heart! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2211.cfm

Nothing is to be Feared by Christ’s Own

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, prophecy 3 Comments

The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever. – Revelation 11:15

I know not when, nor exactly how, but the day shall come when Christ shall reign from pole to pole. And what a joy that will be! We shall indeed be glad in that which God creates, as the islands of the sea shall ring out His praise! Then Christ the Lord will come, and what joy and rejoicing there will be in that day when He has fully fashioned the new earth and the new heavens! His ancient people, the seed of Abraham, shall be gathered in with exultation. We will clap our hands when the long wandering nation shall turn unto the true God, and own the rejected Messiah of the house of David! And the Gentiles will not be jealous. They will rejoice as the Jew comes in; and then will the Jews rejoice over the Gentiles, as they see them worshipping Abraham’s God. Everything that is to come in the eternal future flashes light into the eyes of believers, and calls upon them to rejoice in anticipation. Nothing prophesied should be dreaded by us. There is nothing foretold by a seer, or beheld in a vision, that can alarm the Christian. He can stand serenely on the brink of the great eternity, and say, “Come on! Let every event foretold become a fact! Pour out your vials, ye angels! Fall, thou star called Wormwood! Come, Gog and Magog, to the last great battle of Armageddon!” Nothing is to be dreaded: nothing is to be feared by those who are one with Jesus. To us remains nothing but joy and rejoicing, for God hath made His people a rejoicing; yea, His people a Joy.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2211.cfm

Be a Joy to Others

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, repentance, salvation, The Father, The Holy Spirit 3 Comments

But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. – Isaiah 65:18

Alas, there are heady, hard-hearted persons abroad who, by their wilfulness and pride, would crush every flower in the garden beneath their wicked hoofs! Wherever they go, everything is despised, ridiculed, and kicked by them! This is the spirit of the evil one. Oh, do not so! Christian people, you dare not be so; you shall not be so: God will not let you be so: you must be gentle, compassionate, generous, kind, gracious. Wherever you go, try to make others happy; for God creates Jerusalem a rejoicing, and His people a joy: a joy to others who have no joy, a source of happiness to the saddest of our race. Help the widow, comfort the fatherless, succor the poor, cheer the desponding, tell the glad news to the weary heart…When the creation of God goes on, and a man is helped to conquer sin, when the work of grace in his soul grows and increases, he cries, “Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory,” and he gets increased joy in his soul over every conquered sin. When you and I see sin subdued, do we not feel happy? Whenever the news comes to me that a man has been reclaimed from drunkenness, or a woman is saved from the streets, or when I hear of a hard-hearted sinner repenting, I rejoice in the Lord. Conversion-days are our high holidays. Revivals are our jubilees.

In the Father’s hands, in Christ’s hands, in the Spirit’s hands, seek to break the prisoner’s fetters, and to bring him out into the light of liberty: you, too, are anointed to proclaim liberty to the captives. May the God of infinite mercy help you and help me so to do!~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2211.cfm

Be Happy! And Share the Happiness

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, promises, salvation, The Holy Spirit 10 Comments

But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. – Psalm 68:3

God always intended that His chosen, called, and converted people should be a rejoicing people. He created you on purpose that you should yourselves be happy, and bring happiness to others. Do you not know that His name is the happy God, and nothing gives Him greater happiness than to give happiness to His creatures? Do you think you were chosen to be a groaner all your days? Were you called to misery, dear brother? Does Jesus Christ say, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will make you doleful”? Does He say, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, and ye shall find agony in your hearts”? No; but He talks about rest, and peace, and joy, and blessedness.

Different people have different ways, you know; and some love to be comfortably wretched. But I find myself miserable only when I keep away from my Lord and His work of new-creation. I have always found hitherto that when I can get under the shadow of His wings, my soul is at rest, and I look upon that restfulness and happiness as the work and fruit of the Spirit-“the fruit of the Spirit is joy and peace.”

He has created His people a rejoicing: yea, His people to be a joy. Ours is a heritage of joy and peace. My dear brethren and sisters, if anybody in the world ought to be happy, we are the people. How large our obligations! How boundless our privileges! How brilliant our hopes! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2211.cfm