prophecy

The Clouds

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

Ascribe ye strength unto God: His excellency is over Israel, and His strength is in the clouds. – Psalm 68:34

“Ascribe ye strength unto God: His excellency is over Israel, and His strength is in the clouds.” This was the royal token given by Daniel, the Prophet, in his seventh chapter, at the 13th verse, “I saw in the night visions and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of Heaven.” The clouds are meant to set forth the might, as well as the majesty, of His coming. Not less than Divine is the Glory of the Son of God who once had not where to lay His head! The most sublime objects in nature shall most fitly minister to the manifest Glory of the returning King of men! “Behold, He comes,” not with the swaddling bands of His Infancy, the weariness of His Manhood, the shame of His death, but with all the glorious tapestry of Heaven’s high chambers!

The clouds denote the terror of His coming to the ungodly. His saints shall be caught up together with Him in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. But to those that shall remain on earth, the clouds shall turn to their blackness and horror of darkness. Then shall the impenitent behold this dread vision—the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven. The clouds shall fill them with dread and the dread shall be abundantly justified, for those clouds are big with vengeance and shall burst in judgment on their heads! …Think clearly for a moment, until the meaning becomes real to you. Jesus Christ is coming, coming in unknown splendor! When He comes, He will be enthroned far above the attacks of His enemies, the persecutions of the godless and the sneers of skeptics. He is coming in the clouds of Heaven, and we shall be among the witnesses of His appearing! Let us dwell upon this Truth of God! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1989.cfm

The Sign of the Son of Man

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

Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. – Revelation 1:7

We are told that His coming will be attended by a peculiar sign. “Behold, He comes with clouds.” We shall have no need to question whether it is the Son of Man who has come, or whether He is, indeed, come. This is to be no secret matter—His coming will be as manifest as yonder clouds! In the wilderness, the Presence of Jehovah was known by a visible pillar of cloud by day and an equally visible pillar of fire by night. That pillar of cloud was the sure token that the Lord was in His Holy Place, dwelling between the cherubim…So it is written, “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory.”

Is it not to show that His coming will be majestic? He makes the clouds His chariots. He comes with hosts of attendants and these of a nobler sort than earthly monarchs can summon to do them homage. With clouds of angels, cherubim and seraphim and all the armies of Heaven He comes! With all the forces of nature, thundercloud and blackness of tempest, the Lord of All makes His triumphant entrance to judge the world! The clouds are the dust of His feet in that dread day of battle when He shall ease Him of His adversaries, shaking them out of the earth with His thunder and consuming them with the devouring flame of His lightning! All Heaven shall gather with its utmost pomp to the great appearing of the Lord and all the terrible grandeur of nature shall then be seen at its fullest. Not as the Man of Sorrows, despised and rejected of men, shall Jesus come, but as Jehovah came upon Sinai in the midst of thick clouds and a terrible darkness, so shall He come, whose coming shall be the Final Judgment! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1989.cfm

The Day Shall Come

Sherry Character of Jesus, promises, prophecy, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

And they that had laid hold on Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. – Matthew 26:57

Come we to the hall of Caiaphas. After the mob had dragged our Lord from the house of Annas, they reached the palace of Caiaphas, and there a brief interval occurred before the High Priest came forth to question the prisoner. Luke shall tell the pitiful story: “And the men that held Jesus mocked Him and smote Him. And when they had blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face, and asked Him, saying, “‘Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?’ And many other things blasphemously spake they against Him.” Observe how they insult His claim to the Messiahship! In effect, they mock Him thus: “Thou claimest to be a prophet like unto Moses; Thou knowest things to come; if Thou be sent of God, prove it by discovering Thy foes; we will put Thee on trial, and test Thee, O Thou man of Nazareth.” They bind His eyes, and then, smiting Him one after another, they bid Him exercise His prophetic gift for their amusement, and prophesy who it was that smote Him. Oh, shameful question! How gracious was the silence, for an answer might have withered them for ever. The day shall come when all that smite Christ, shall find that He has seen them, though they thought His eyes were blinded. The day shall come, blasphemer, worldling, careless man, when everything that you have done against Christ’s cause and Christ’s people, shall be published before the eyes of men and angels, and Christ shall answer your question, and shall tell you who it is that smote Him. I speak to some this morning who have forgotten that Christ sees them; and they have ill-treated His people; they have spoken ill of His holy cause, saying, “How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?” I tell you, the Judge of men shall ere long, point you out, and make you, to your shame and confusion of face, confess that you smote the Savior when you smote His Church. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0495.cfm

Treasured Sacrifice

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

And led Him away to Annas first; for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year…Now Annas had sent Him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest. – John 18:13,24

The brook Kedron was that into which all the filth of the sacrifices of the temple was cast, and Christ, as though He were a foul and filthy thing, must be led to the black stream. He was led into Jerusalem by the sheep-gate, the gate through which the lambs of the Passover and the sheep for sacrifice were always driven. Little did they understand, that in so doing they were again following out to the very letter the significant types which God had ordained in the law of Moses. They led this Lamb of God through the sheep-gate, and they hastened Him on to the house of Annas, the ex-high priest, who, either from his relationship to Caiaphas, from his natural ability, or his prominence in opposing the Savior, stood high in the opinion of the rulers. Here they made a temporary call, to gratify the bloodthirsty Annas with the sight of his victim; and then, hastening on, they brought Him to the house of Caiaphas, some little distance off; where, though it was but a little past the dead of night, many members of the Sanhedrim were assembled… Brethren, as the Lord gave commandment concerning even the ashes and offal of the sacrifices, we ought to think no matter trivial which stands in connection with our great burnt offering. My admonition is, “Gather up the fragments which remain, that nothing be lost.” As goldsmiths sweep their shops, to save even the filings of the gold, so every word of Jesus should be treasured up as very precious…Things which were purposed of old, prophesied by seers, witnessed by apostles, written by evangelists, and published by the ambassadors of God, are not matters of secondary interest, but deserve our solemn and devout attention. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0495.cfm

Glorious Sights to See

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, prophecy, Sovereignty of God, The Holy Spirit 2 Comments

“…He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me…” – John 16:13,14

May the Holy Spirit show unto you Gethsemane, and Gabbatha, and Golgotha! and then, may it please Him to give you a sight of what our Lord is now doing! Oh, how it would cheer you up at any time when you were depressed, only to see Him standing and pleading for you! Do you not think that if your wife is ill, and your child is sick, and there is scant food in the cupboard; if you were to go out at the back door, and you saw Him with the breastplate on, and all the stones glittering, and your name there, and Him pleading for you, you would go in and say, “There, wife, it is all right. He is praying for us”? Oh, it would be a comfort if the Holy Ghost showed you a pleading Christ!

Best of all, may the Holy Spirit give you a clear view of His coming. This is our most brilliant hope: “Lo, He cometh!” The more the adversary waxes bold, and the less of faith there is, and when zeal seems almost extinct, these are the tokens of His coming. The Lord always said so; and that He would not come unless there was a falling away first; and so, the darker the night grows, and the fiercer the storm becomes, the better will we remember that He of the lake of Galilee came to them upon the waves in the night when the storm was wildest. Oh, what will His enemies say when He comes? When they behold the nail-prints of the Glorified, and the Man with the thorn Crown-when they see Him really come-they that have despised His word, and His ever-blessed blood, how will they flee before that face of injured love! And we, on the contrary, through His infinite mercy, will say, “This is what the Holy Ghost showed us; and now we behold it literally. We thank Him for the foresights which He gave us of the beatific vision.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2213.cfm

Once a Curse but Now a Blessing

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

“And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel, so will I save you and ye shall be a blessing…Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.”—Zechariah 8:13, 22

The day is coming, yea it dawns already, when the whole world shall discern the true dignity of the chosen seed, and shall seek their company, because the Lord hath blessed them. In that day when Israel shall look upon Him whom they have pierced, and shall mourn for their sins, the Jew shall take his true rank among the nations as an elder brother and a prince. The covenant made with Abraham, to bless all nations by his seed, is not revoked; heaven and earth shall pass away, but the chosen nation shall not be blotted out from the book of remembrance. The Lord hath not cast away His people; He has never given their mother a bill of divorcement; He has never put them away; in a little wrath He hath hidden His face from them, but with great mercies will He gather them. The natural branches shall again be engrafted into the olive together with the wild olive graftings from among the Gentiles. In the Jew, first and chiefly, shall grace triumph through the King of the Jews. O time, fly thou with rapid wing, and bring the auspicious day!..I think we do not attach sufficient importance to the restoration of the Jews. We do not think enough about it. But certainly, if there is anything promised in the Bible it is this. I imagine that you cannot read the Bible without seeing clearly that there is to be an actual restoration of the Children of Israel . . . For when the Jews are restored, the fullness of the Gentiles shall be gathered in; and as soon as they return, then Jesus will come upon Mount Zion with His ancients gloriously, and the halcyon days of the millennium shall then dawn; we shall then know every man to be a brother and a friend; Christ shall rule with universal sway. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://thejerusalemconnection.us/blog/2011/08/01/charles-h-spurgeon-and-the-restoration-of-israel/

Jehovah-Jesus

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

“He shall feed in the strength of Jehovah.” – Micah 5:4

Do not fail to discern that the empire of Christ in His Church is effectually powerful in its action; “He shall feed in the strength of Jehovah.” Wherever Christ is, there is God; and whatever Christ does is the act of the Most High. Oh! it is a joyful truth to consider that He who redeemed us was none other than God Himself; He who led our captivity captive was Jehovah-Jesus; He who stands to-day representing the interests of His people is very God of very God; He who has sworn that every one of His people whom He hath redeemed by blood shall be brought safe to His Father’s right hand, is Himself essential Deity. O my brethren, we rest upon a sure foundation when we build upon the Incarnate God; and O ye saints of God, the interests of each one of you, and of the one great Church, must be safe, because our champion is God; Jehovah is our Judge, Jehovah is our Lawgiver, Jehovah is our King, He will save us. How can He fail or be discouraged? When He maketh bare His arm, who shall stand against Him? Let us rehearse the mighty deeds of the Lord and tell of His wonders of old. Remember how He got Him victory upon Pharaoh and the pride of Egypt! With a high hand and an outstretched arm did the Lord bring forth His people from the house of bondage. When the proud high stomach of Egypt’s king again rose against the Most High, the Lord knew how to lay His adversary lower than the dust…”Let us sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and His rider hath He thrown into the sea.” Surely it shall be so at the last day with Jesus our King, and all His saints; we also shall sing “the song of Moses, the servant of God, and of the Lamb,” in that day when the arch-enemy shall be overthrown, and the hosts of evil shall be consumed, and they who hate the Lord shall become as the fat of rams, into smoke shall they consume, yea, into smoke shall they consume away. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0560.cfm