promises

The Nearness of Heaven

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

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven…-Matthew 6:9

What is heaven? It is Paradise, or a garden. Walk amid your fragrant flowers and think of heaven’s bed of spices. Heaven is a kingdom: thrones, and crowns, and palms are the earthly emblems of the heavenlies. Heaven is a city; and there, again, you fetch your metaphor from the dwelling-places of men. It is a place of “many mansions”-the homes of the glorified. Houses are of earth, yet is God our dwelling-place. Heaven is a wedding-feast; and even such is this present dispensation. The tables are spread here as well as there; and it is our privilege to go forth and bring in the hedge-birds and the highwaymen, that the banqueting-hall may be filled.

Between earth and heaven there is but a thin partition. The home country is much nearer than we think. I question if “the land that is very far off” be a true name for heaven. Was it not an extended kingdom on earth which was intended by the prophet rather than the celestial home? Heaven is by no means the far country, for it is the Father’s house. Are we not taught to say, “Our Father which art in heaven”? Where the Father is the true Spirit of adoption counts Himself near. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1778.cfm

All of Creation Shall Be Redeemed

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

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away -Revelation 21:1

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. -Revelation 22:20

I shall not venture far into prophecy. Some brethren are quite at home where I should lose myself. I have scarcely yet been able to get out of the gospels and the epistles; and that deep book of Revelation, with its waters to swim in, I must leave to better instructed minds. “Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of that book;” to that blessing I would aspire, but I cannot yet make claim to interpret it. This much, however, seems plain,-there is to be “a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” This creation, which now “groaneth and travaileth in pain,” in sympathy with man, is to be brought forth from its bondage into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Blessed be the Lord Jesus, when He brought His people out of their bondage, He did not redeem their spirits only, but their bodies also: hence their material part is the Lord’s as well as their spiritual nature, and hence again this very earth which we inhabit shall be uplifted in connection with us. The creation itself shall be delivered. Materialism, out of which there has been once made a vesture for the Godhead in the person of Christ, shall become a fit temple for the Lord of hosts. The New Jerusalem shall come down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride is prepared for her husband. We are sure of this. Therefore unto this consummation let us strive mightily, praying evermore, “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1778.cfm

Thy Kingdom Restored

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, prophecy 2 Comments

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. -Matthew 6:10

“Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” It was so once. Perfect obedience to the heavenly upon this earth will only be a return to the good old times which ended at the gate of Eden. There was a day when no gulf was digged between earth and heaven; there was scarce a boundary line, for the God of heaven walked in Paradise with Adam. All things on earth were then pure, and true, and happy. It was the garden of the Lord. Alas, that the trail of the serpent has now defiled everything. Then earth’s morning song was heard in heaven, and heaven’s hallelujahs floated down to earth at eventide. Those who desire to set up the kingdom of God are not instituting a new order of things; they are restoring, not inventing. Earth will drop into the old groove again. The Lord is king: and He has never left the throne. As it was in the beginning so shall it be yet again. History shall, in the divinest sense, repeat itself. The temple of the Lord shall be among men, and the Lord God shall dwell among them. “Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.”

“Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” It will be so at the last. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1778.cfm

A Brave Prayer

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, prayer, promises 2 Comments

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. -Matthew 6:10

O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt. -Matthew 26:39

If the prayer of our text had not been dictated by the Lord Jesus Himself, we might think it too bold. Can it ever be that this earth, a mere drop of a bucket, should touch the great sea of life and light above and not be lost in it? Can it remain earth and yet be made like to heaven? Will it not lose its individuality in the process? This earth is subject to vanity, dimmed with ignorance, defiled with sin, furrowed with sorrow; can holiness dwell in it as in heaven? Our Divine Instructor would not teach us to pray for impossibilities; He puts such petitions into our mouths as can be heard and answered. Yet certainly this is a great prayer; it has the hue of the infinite about it. Can earth be tuned to the harmonies of heaven? Has not this poor planet drifted too far away to be reduced to order and made to keep rank with heaven? Is it not swathed in mist too dense to be removed? Can its grave-clothes be loosed? Can Thy will, O God, be done in earth as it is in heaven? It can be, and it must be; for a prayer wrought in the soul by the Holy Spirit is ever the shadow of a coming blessing, and He that taught us to pray after this manner did not mock us with vain words. It is a brave prayer, which only heaven-born faith can utter; yet it is not the offspring of presumption, for presumption never longs for the will of the Lord to be perfectly performed.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1778.cfm

“The will of the Lord be done.”

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises Leave a comment

“Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”- Matthew 6:10

Our Father’s will shall certainly be done, for the Lord “doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth.” Let us adoringly consent that it shall be so, desiring no alteration therein. That “will” may cost us dear; yet let it never cross our wills: let our minds be wholly subjugated to the mind of God. That “will” may bring us bereavement, sickness, and loss; but let us learn to say, “It is the Lord: let Him do what seemeth Him good.” We should not only yield to the divine will, but acquiesce in it so as to rejoice in the tribulation which it ordains. This is a high attainment, but we set ourselves to reach it. He that taught us this prayer used it Himself in the most unrestricted sense. When the bloody sweat stood on His face, and all the fear and trembling of a man in anguish were upon Him, He did not dispute the decree of the Father, but bowed His head and cried, “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” When we are called to suffer bereavements personally, or when, as a holy brotherhood, we see our best men taken away, let us know that it is well, and say most sincerely, “The will of the Lord be done.”

God knows what will best minister to His gracious designs…for the will of the great Father is the sum of wisdom. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1778.cfm

Copy Christ

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, The Father 1 Comment

Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. -Romans 6:4

We cannot possibly get to be like Christ except by being with Him. I wish that we could rise to be so much like the Saviour that we should resemble a certain ancient saint who died a martyr’s death, to whom the world said, “What are you?” He said, “I am a Christian.” They asked,, What trade do you follow?” And he said, “I am a Christian.” They inquired, “What language do you speak?” And he said, “I am a Christian.” “But what treasures have you?” said they; and he replied, “I am a Christian.” They asked him what friends he had, and he said, “I am a Christian;” for all he was, and all he had, and all he wished to be, and all he hoped to be, were all wrapped up in Christ. If you live with Christ you will be absorbed by Him, and He will embrace the whole of your existence: and, in consequence, your walk will be like His.

Take care that you do not in all things copy any but Christ; for if I set my watch by the watch of one of my friends, and he sets his watch by that of another friend, we may all be wrong together. If we shall, each one, take his time from the sun, we shall all be right. There is nothing like going to.the fountain-head. Take your lessons in holiness, not from a poor erring disciple, but from the infallible Master. God help you to do so. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1732.cfm

A Nature Like Christ’s

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, The Holy Spirit Leave a comment

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. -2 Corinthians 5:17

It is needful to have a nature like that of Christ. You cannot give out sweet waters so long as the fountains are impure. “Ye must be born again.” There is no walking with Jesus in newness of life unless we have a new heart and a right spirit…A new creature is essential to likeness to Christ: it is not possible that the carnal mind should wear the image of Jesus.

That being done, the next thing that is necessary is a constant anointing of the Holy Spirit. Can any Christian here do without the Holy Spirit? Then I am afraid that he is no Christian. But, as for us, we feel every day that we must cry for a fresh visitation of the Spirit, a renewed sense of indwelling, a fresh anointing from the Holy One of Israel, or else we cannot walk as Christ walked.

And then, again, there must be in us a strong resolve that we will walk as Christ walked; for our Lord Himself did not lead in that holy life without stern resolution. He set His face like a flint that He would do the right; and He did the right. Do not, I pray you, be led astray by thoughtlessly following your fellow-men: it is a poor, sheepish business, that running in crowds. Dare to be singular dare to stand alone. Stand to it firmly that you will follow Christ. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1732.cfm