GOD’S WORD FOR JULY 30~ ~ Ps 103:1 ~ ~ “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!”

From the book, “We Shall See God” with sermons from Charles Spurgeon, 19th century preacher and writer, and comments by Randy Alcorn

“Making Certain of Heaven”

Randy:

Many people view heaven as an uncertain gamble, spending their lives wondering if they will arrive at their desired destination.  But it doesn’t have to be this way.  Through Christ, we can be assured of eternal life!

“Bless the LORD, O my soul;

And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

Bless the LORD, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits:

Who forgives all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases,

Who redeems your life from destruction,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

Who satisfies your mouth with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s”

Ps 103:1-5

Spurgeon:

Do we not wish to mount above and fly away, to enter into the rest which awaits the people of God?

This glorious rest is to be best of all commended for its certainty.  “There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9) 

Oh Christian!  What a joyous thought!  If you have been born again by God, your portion is secure!  If you believe in the Lord Jesus, if you have repented of your sin, and if you have been renewed in heart, then you are one of the Lord’s people, and there is a place for you, a crown for you.  No one else shall have it but you.

Come, wings of faith.  Come, leap with all power.  Come, eternal ages.  Come, and you shall prove that there are joys that the eye has not seen, which the ear has not heard, and which only God can reveal to us by His Spirit.

My earnest prayer is that none of you may fall short of this rest.  May you enter into it and enjoy it forever and ever.  God give you His great blessing, for Jesus’ sake!  (meaning, because of the sacrifice Jesus’ made of His life, so we may go to heaven in His name)

Alcorn:

Not only did Spurgeon have a passion about the heaven he had seen in his mind’s eye, he also had an overwhelming longing for his congregation to come to faith in Christ and know for certain that heaven awaited them when they died.

Can we really know in advance where we’re going when we die?  The apostle John, the same one who wrote about the new heavens and new earth, said in one of his letters, in 1 John 5:13;

 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that YOU MAY KNOW THAT YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.”

What would keep us out of heaven is universal:

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

“Sin separates us from a relationship with God” (Isaiah 59:2)

God is so holy that He cannot allow sin into His presence:  “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.”  (Habakkuk 1:13)

Because we are sinners, we are not entitled to enter God’s presence as we are.

We can’t just cross our fingers and hope that our names are written in the Book of Life (Revelation 21:27) (and no amount of good works, prayers, or church rituals and sacraments will help us, according to the Word of God, the Bible).

We can know—We SHOULD know, before we die, and because we may die at any time, we need to know NOW.

The goal of getting to heaven is worthy of greater advance planning than we would give to any journey, yet some people spend more time preparing for a trip to Disney World.

Only when our sins are dealt with in Christ can we enter heaven.  No other prophet or religious figure—only Jesus, the Son of God—is worthy to pay the penalty for our sins demanded by God’s holiness (Revelation 5:4-5, 9-10).  when Christ died on the cross for us, He said, “It is finished” (John 19  :30).  The Greek word translated, “it is finished” means “PAID IN FULL”).  Christ died so that the certificate of debt, consisting of all our sins, could once and for all be marked, “paid in full”.

Because of Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross on our behalf, God freely offers us forgiveness.   Psalm 103:10-12)

“He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;(respect, and worship Him)

As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

Forgiveness is not automatic.  If we want to be forgiven, we must recognize and repent of our sins.  Forgiveness is established by speaking our sins to God (not to a priest, but directly to Christ).

1John 1:9  “If we confess our sins, (and turn from them), He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Christ offers to everyone the gift of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life; 

Revelation 22:17   “Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.”

This is the text Spurgeon often quoted, and the one each of us should ponder carefully.

This gospel gift, offered to us by God’s sovereign grace, cannot be worked for, earned, or achieved in any sense.  It’s not dependent on our merit or effort, but solely on Christ’s generous and sufficient sacrifice on our behalf.

Ultimately, God’s greatest gift is Himself.  We don’t need just salvation; we need Jesus Himself, the Savior, and Lord.  It is the person, God, who graciously gives us the place in heaven.  A place purchased by His blood.

(Even though it is free, and nothing we can do will “buy it”, we need to fully submit to the Lordship of Jesus. He is Lord of all, and He can’t be Savior to us without being Lord to us.  We need to turn from sin, and turn to Him.  It is very well worth it.  The comparison is never-ending torment and pain, if you’re not saved, or never-ending peace and joy if you are.   If you aren’t sure, ask Him to show Himself to you—-to draw you to Himself.   He said that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws him…pray for that from your heart, and read His Word).

John 6:44

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

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