“Until I come.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. – 1 Corinthians 11:26
At the Lord’s Supper, there is no discerning the Lord’s body unless you discern His First Coming—but there is no drinking of His cup to its fullness, unless you hear Him say, “Until I come.” You must look forward as well as backward! So must it be with all our ministries—they must look to Him on the Cross and on the Throne. We must vividly realize that He, who has once come, is coming again, or else our testimony will be marred and one‐sided. We shall make lame work of preaching and teaching if we leave out either advent.
And next, it is to be unquestionably asserted. “Behold, He comes!” It is not, “Perhaps He will come,” nor “Perhaps He may yet appear.” “Behold, He comes,” should be dogmatically asserted as an absolute certainty which has been realized by the heart of the man who proclaims it. “Behold, He comes!” All the Prophets say that He will come. From Enoch down to the last that spoke by Inspiration, they declare, “The Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints.” You shall not find one who has spoken by the authority of God who does not, either directly or by implication, assert the coming of the Son of Man when the multitudes born of woman shall be summoned to His bar to receive the recompense of their deeds! All the promises are travailing with this prognostication, “Behold, He comes!” We have His own word for it, and this makes assurance doubly sure. He has told us that He will come again. He often assured His disciples that if He went away from them, He would come again to them—and He left us the Lord’s Supper as a parting token to be observed until He comes. As often as we break bread, we are reminded of the fact that though it is a most blessed ordinance, yet it is a temporary one and will cease to be celebrated when our absent Lord is once again present with us! ~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1989.cfm
“Behold, the Bridegroom comes!”
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
It is not a monarch in her jubilee, but the King of kings in His Glory! That same Jesus who went up from Olivet into Heaven is coming, again, to earth in like manner as His disciples saw Him go up into Heaven! Come and behold this great sight! If ever there was a thing in the world worth looking at, it is this. Behold and see if there was ever Glory like His Glory! Hearken to the midnight cry, “Behold, the Bridegroom comes!” It has practically to do with you. “Go you forth to meet Him.” This voice is to you, O sons of men! Do not carelessly turn aside, for the Lord God, Himself, demands your attention—He commands you to “Behold!” Will you be blind when God bids you behold? Will you shut your eyes when your Savior cries, “Behold”? When the finger of Inspiration points the way, will not your eyes follow where it directs you? “Behold, He comes!” O my Hearers, look here, I beseech you! …I think I see John. He is in the spirit, but all of a sudden, he seems startled into a keener and more solemn attention. His mind is more awake than usual, though he was always a man of bright eyes that saw afar. We always liken him to the eagle for the height of his flight and the keenness of his vision. Yet all of a sudden, even he seems startled with a more astounding vision! He cries out, “Behold! Behold!” He has caught sight of His Lord! He says not, “He will come by‐and‐by,” but “I can see Him! He is coming!”
My imagination has often set forth that dread scene—but better still, my faith has realized it! I have heard the chariot wheels of the Lord’s approach, and I have endeavored to set my house in order for His reception. I have felt the shadow of that great cloud which shall attend Him, dampening the ardor of my worldliness. I hear, even now, in spirit, the sound of the last trumpet, whose tremendous blast startles my soul to serious action and puts force into my life. Would God that I lived more completely under the influence of that august event! ~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1989.cfm
“Behold, He comes with clouds!”
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
Brothers and Sisters, do not your souls take fire as you think of the praises of Immanuel? Gladly would I fill the universe with His praise! Oh! for a thousand tongues to sing the glories of the Lord Jesus!
“Behold, He comes with clouds!” (John’s) adoration awoke his expectation, which all the while was lying in his soul as an element of that vehement heat of reverent love which he poured forth in his doxology. “Behold, He comes,” he said, and thus he revealed one source of his reverence. “Behold, He comes,” he said, and this exclamation was the result of his reverence… “Behold, He comes,” or is coming—he means to assert that He is even now on His way! As workmen are moved to be more diligent in service when they hear their master’s steps, so, doubtless, saints are quickened in their devotion when they are conscious that He whom they worship is drawing near. He has gone away to the Father for a while and so He has left us alone in this world—but He has said, “I will come again and receive you unto Myself”—and we are confident that He will keep His word! Sweet is the remembrance of that loving promise. That assurance is pouring its savor into John’s heart while he is adoring and it becomes inevitable, as well as most meet and proper, that his doxology should, at its close, introduce him to the Lord, Himself, and cause him to cry out, “Behold, He comes!” Having worshipped among the pure in heart, he sees the Lord. Having adored the King, he sees Him assume the Judgement Seat and appear in the clouds of Heaven! When once we enter upon heavenly things, we know not how far we can go, nor how high we can climb! John, who began with blessing the Churches, now beholds His Lord! ~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1989.cfm
Loved, Washed, and Made Kings
“Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood and has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.”- Revelation 1:5-7.
It is a wonderful doxology which John has given us— “Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood and has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” “Unto Him that loved us and washed us.” Loved us and washed us—carry those two words home with you—let them lie upon your tongue to sweeten your breath for prayer and praise. “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us, be glory and dominion forever and ever.”
Then John tells of the dignity which the Lord has put upon us in making us kings and priests. And from this he ascribes royalty and dominion unto the Lord, Himself. John had been extolling the Great King, whom he calls, “The Prince of the kings of the earth.” Such, indeed, He was and is and is to be! When John had touched upon that royalty which is natural to our Divine Lord and that dominion which has come to Him by conquest—and by the gift of the Father as the reward of all His travail—he then went on to note that He has “made us kings.” Our Lord’s royalty He diffuses among His redeemed! We praise Him because He is, in Himself, a King and next, because He is a king‐maker, the fountain of honor and majesty! He has not only enough of royalty for Himself, but He hands a measure of His dignity to His people. He makes kings out of such common stuff as He finds in us poor sinners! Shall we not adore Him for this? Shall we not cast our crowns at His feet? He gave our crowns to us—shall we not give them to Him? “To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” King by Your Divine Nature! King by filial right! King‐maker, lifting up the beggar from the dunghill to set him among princes! King of kings by the unanimous love of all Your crowned ones! You are He whom Your brethren shall praise! Reign forever and ever! Unto You be hosannas of welcome and hallelujahs of praise! Lord of the earth and Heaven, let all things that are, or ever shall be, render unto You all glory in the highest degree! ~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1989.cfm
For God’s Honor
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. – 1 Corinthians 6:19,20
Let us remember that by men who profess to be “bought with a price,” the name of Christ is compromised if their behavior is unseemly. If we are not holy and gracious, ungodly men are sure to say, “That is one of your believers in God; that is one of your Christians.” Do not let it be so. Every soldier in a regiment ought to feel that the renown of the whole army depends upon him, and he must fight as if the winning of the battle rested upon himself. This will cause every man to be a hero. Oh, that every Christian felt as if the honour of God and the church rested upon him, for in a measure it certainly does!
May we so seek God, that when we come to die, we may feel that we have lived for something; that although our hope has rested alone in what Jesus did, yet we have not made that an excuse for doing nothing ourselves. Though we shall have no good works in which to glory, yet may we bring forth fruit that shall be for the glory of our Lord. I feel I so desire to glorify God, body, soul, and spirit, while I breathe, that I would even do so on earth after I am dead. I would still urge my brethren on in our Lord’s cause…Let us so live that when we die, we live on, like Abel, who being dead yet speaketh. The only way to do this is to live in the power of the Immortal God, under the influence of His Holy Spirit: then out of our graves we shall speak to future generations. When Doctor Payson died, he desired that his body should be placed in a coffin, and that his hearers should be invited to come and see it. Across his breast was placed a paper bearing these words, “Remember the words which I spake unto you, being yet present with you.” May our lives be such that even if we are not public speakers, yet others may remember our example and so may hear what our lives spake while we were yet on earth. Your bodies and your spirits are God’s: oh, live to God, and glorify Him in the power of His Spirit as long as you have any breath. ~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1004.cfm
Because You Are God’s
For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. – 1 Corinthians 6:20
Beloved Christian friends…because you are God’s, you will be looked at more than others, therefore, glorify Him. You know it is not always the thing itself, but the ownership that causes curiosity. If you were to go to a cattle-show and it were said “such and such a bullock belongs to Her Majesty,” it may be it is no better than another, but it would be of interest to thousands as belonging to royalty. See here, then, such and such a man belongs to God; what manner of person ought he to be? If there be any one in this world who will not be criticised, depend upon it, Christian, it is not the Christian; sharp eyes will be upon him, and worldly men will find faults in him which they would not see if he were not a professor. For my part I am very glad of the lynx eyes of the worldlings. Let them watch if they will…I am glad the world observes us. It has a right to do so. If a man says, “I am God’s,” he sets himself up for public observation. Ye are lights in the world, and what are lights intended for but to be looked at? A city set on a hill cannot be hid.
Moreover, the world has a right to expect more from a Christian than from anybody else. He says he is “bought with a price,” he says he is God’s, he therefore claims more than others, and he ought to render more…So when I hear men say, “Here is a body of Christians”, What! those Christians? Those cowardly people, who hardly dare speak a word for Jesus! Those covetous people who give a few cheese-parings to His cause! Those inconsistent people whom you would not know to be Christian professors if they did not label themselves! What! such beings followers of a crucified Savior? The world sneers at such pretensions; and well it may. With such a leader let us follow bravely; and bought with such a price, and being owned by such a Master, let us glorify Him who condescends to call such poor creatures as we are His portion, whom He hath set apart for Himself. ~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1004.cfm
He Hath Said 