salvation

We Shall Reign on the Earth

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

Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with Him for a thousand years. -Revelation 20:6

I believe all that the Bible says of a glorious future, but I cannot pretend to be a maker of charts for all time. Only this I gather as a positive fact, that the saints will one day reign on the earth. This truth appears to me clear enough, whatever may be the different views on the millennium. Now, the saints do not reign visibly; they are despised. They were driven, in old times, into dens and caves of the earth: but the time is coming when kings will be saints, and princes the called ones of God-when queens shall be the nursing mothers, and kings the nursing fathers of Christ’s church. The hour is coming when the saint, instead of being dishonored, shall be honored; and monarchs, once the foes of truth, shall become its friends. The saints shall reign. They shall have the majority; the kingdom of Christ shall have the upper hand; it shall not be cast down-this shall not be Satan’s world any longer-it shall again sing with all its sister stars, the never ceasing song of praise. Oh! I believe there is a day coming when Sabbath bells shall sprinkle music over the plains of Africa-when the deep thick jungle of India shall see the saints of God going up to the sanctuary; and I am assured that the teeming multitudes of China shall gather together in temples built for prayer, and, as you and I have done, shall sing, to the ever-glorious Jehovah,

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow.”

Happy day! happy day! May it speedily come! ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0010.cfm

Our Divine Service

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

Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to His name. -Hebrews 13:15

You are all priests, because you love His dear name and have a great sacrifice to perform; not a propitiation for your sins, for that has been once offered, but a sacrifice this day of holy thanksgiving. Oh! how sweet in God’s ear is the prayer of His people! That is the sacrifice that He accepts; and when their holy hymn swells upwards towards the sky, how pleasant it is in His ears; because then He can say, “My hosts of priests are sacrificing praise.”

And do you know, beloved, there is one point in which most of us fail in our oblations before God? We offer our prayer, we present our praise; but how little do we sacrifice of our substance unto the Lord!…As a priest of the Lord, will you not sacrifice something to the Lord this day? Here we have a great object before us (the church building); we want more room for the crowds who come to hear the gospel. It seems important, when such a throng is gathered, that none should go away. Ought we not to bless God that they come?…Now, ye priests, sacrifice to the Lord. Let the priests build the house of Lord; let those who worship in the sanctuary take up the trowel today; let the mortar and the brick be laid, and let this house be once more filled with the glory of the Lord, and an abundant congregation.~C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0010.cfm

We Enjoy Divine Honors

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

Because of Christ and our faith in Him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. -Ephesians 3:12

None but a priest might enter within the veil; there was a court of the priests into which none might ever go, except the called ones. Priests had certain rights and privileges which others had not. Saint of Jesus! heir of heaven! thou hast high and honorable privileges, which the world wots not of! Hast thou ever been within the veil in communion with Christ? Hast thou ever been in the court of the Lord’s house, the court of the priests, where He has taught thee, and manifested Himself to thee? Hast thou? Yes, thou knowest thou hast; thou enjoyest constant access to God’s throne; thou hast a right to come and tell thy griefs and sorrows into the ear of Jehovah. The poor worldling must not come there; the poor child of wrath has no God to tell his troubles to. He must not go within the veil; he has no wish to go: but thou mayest; thou mayest come to God’s ear, swing the censer before the throne, and offer thy petition in the name of Jesus. Others have not these divine honors. Thou art divinely honored, and divinely blessed.~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0010.cfm

We Are Priests at God’s Altar

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, prayer, promises, salvation 3 Comments

And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honor. He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was. -Hebrews 5:4

We are priests, because priests are divinely chosen persons, and so are we. “No man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.” But we have that calling and election; we were all ordained to it from the foundations of the world. We were predestinated to be priests, and in process of time we had a special effectual call, which we could not and did not resist, and which at last so overcame us, that we became at once the priests of God. We are priests, divinely constituted. When we say we are priests, we do not talk as certain parties do, who say they are priests, wishing thereby to arrogate to themselves a distinction. I always have an objection-I must state it strongly-to calling a clergyman, or any man that preaches, a priest. We are no more so than you are. All saints are priests. But, for a man to stand up and say he is a priest, any more than those he preaches to, is a falsehood. I detest the distinction of clergy and laity. I like scriptural priestcraft; for that is the craft or work of the people, who are all priests; but all other priestcraft I abhor. Every saint of the Lord is a priest at God’s altar, and is bound to worship God with the holy incense of prayer and praise. We are priests, each one of us, if we are called by divine grace; for thus we are priests by divine constitution.~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0010.cfm

 

All the Kingdoms of the Earth Are Ours

Sherry Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation, The Holy Spirit 3 Comments

…and we shall reign on the earth.”- Revelation 5:10

Jesus, our Lord, is to be King of all the earth, and rule all nations in a glorious spiritual, personal reign. The saints, as being kings in Christ, have a right to the whole world…Some persons say, “Keep to your own place and preach,” and I have heard the advice, “Do not go out of your parish.” But Rowland Hill used to say he never went out of his parish in his life; his parish was England, Scotland, and Wales, and he never went out of it…When we see a city full of sin and iniquity, what should we say? That is ours, we will go and storm it. When we see a street or some crowded area, where the people are very bad and wicked, we should say, “That is our alley, we will go and take it.” When we see a house where people will not receive the gospel, we should say, “That is our house, we will go and attack it.” We will not go with the strong arm of the law; we will not ask the policeman, or government to help us; but take with us “the weapons of our warfare.” which “are not carnal, but spiritual, and mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds.” We will go, and by God’s Spirit we shall overcome. There is a town where the children are running about the street, uneducated; we will go and take those children, kidnap them for Christ…There is a part of the world where the inhabitants are sunk in ignorance and superstition: we will send a missionary to them. Ah! those who do not like missionary enterprise, do not know the dignity of the saint. Talk of India; talk of China.; “it is mine,” saith the saint. All the kingdoms of the earth are ours. “Africa is my washpot-I will triumph over Asia. They are mine! they are mine!” “Who shall bring me into the strong city?” Is it not Thou, O Lord? God shall give us the kingdom of Christ. The whole earth is ours; and by the power of the Holy Ghost, Bel shall bow, Nebo shall stoop, the gods of the heathen, Buddha and Brahma, shall be cast down, and all nations bow before the sceptre of Christ. “He has made us kings.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0010.cfm

Thou Art a King!

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

And have made us unto our God a kingdom and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. -Revelation 5:10

…some persons will say, “I wish you would prove what you affirm, when you say that saints are kings; for, if we were kings, we should never have any sorrows; kings are never poor as we are, and never suffer as we do.” Who told you so? You say if you are kings, you would live at ease. Do not kings ever suffer? Was not David an anointed king? and was he not hunted like a partridge on the mountains? Did not the king himself pass over the brook Kedron, and all his people weeping as he went, when his son Absalom pursued him? And was he not a monarch when he slept on the cold ground, with no couch save the damp heather? O yes, kings have their sorrows-crowned heads have their afflictions.

“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”

Do not expect that because you are a king, you are to have no sorrows. “It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink.” And it is often so. The saints get but little wine here. It is not for kings to drink the wine of pleasure; it is not for kings to have much of the intoxicating drink and the surfeits of this world’s delight. They shall have joy enough up yonder, when they shall drink it new in their Father’s kingdom. Poor saint! do dwell on this. Thou art a king! I beseech thee, let it not go away from thy mind; but in the midst of thy tribulation, still rejoice in it. If thou hast to go through the dark tunnel of infamy, for Christ’s name; if thou art ridiculed and reviled, still rejoice in the fact, “I am a king, and all the dominions of the earth shall be mine!” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0010.cfm

God’s Honorable Ones

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

Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. 1 Chronicles 29:12 

Kings are considered the most honorable amongst men. They are always looked up to and respected. If you should say, “a monarch is here!” a crowd would give way. I should not command much respect if I were to attempt to move about in a crowd; but if any one should shout, “here is the Queen!” every one would step aside and make room for her. A monarch generally commands respect. Ah! beloved, we think that worldly princes are the most honorable of the earth; but if you were to ask God, He would reply, “My saints, in whom I delight, these are the honorable ones.” Tell me not of tinsel and gewgaw; tell me not of gold and silver; tell me not of diamonds and pearls; tell me not of ancestry and rank; preach to me not of pomp and power; but oh! tell me that a man is a saint of the Lord, for then he is an honorable man. God respects him, angels respect him, and the universe one day shall respect him, when Christ shall come to call him to his account, and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” You may despise a child of God now, sinner; you may laugh at him; you may say he is a hypocrite; you may call him a saint, a methodist, a cant, and everything you like; but know that those titles will not mar his dignity-he is the honorable of the earth, and God estimates him as such.~ C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0010.cfm