GOD’S WORD FOR SEPTEMBER 25~ ~ 1John 1:3 Amp ~ ~ “….. And indeed our fellowship [which is a distinguishing mark of born-again believers] is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
From the book, “We Shall See God” with sermons by Charles H. Spurgeon and comments by Randy Alcorn.
“To Enjoy Heaven is to Enjoy God”
Spurgeon:
If you’ve ever felt torn between a desire for heaven and a desire for God, this text will calm your concerns. These yearnings are properly intertwined. The more we love God, the more we will love the place He has prepared for us. And the more we long for that place, the more we will find ourselves longing for Him.
Heaven is the place of fellowship with God, and this is a blessed feature in its joy. But in this we are now participants for “indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” The fellowship of the Holy Spirit is with us all. It is our joy and our delight.
Having communion with the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—we are uplifted and sanctified, and it is appropriate that the will of the Lord should be done by us on Earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10)
“Up there,” says a brother, “they are all accepted, but here we are in a state of probation.” did you read that in the Bible? For I never did. A believer is in no state of probation. He has passed from death into life and shall never come into condemnation. We are already “accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:6) and that acceptance is given in a way that can never be reversed.
The Redeemer brought us up out of the horrible pit of depravity, and He has set our feet on the rock of salvation, and there He has established our paths. Therefore should we not, as the accepted of the Lord, do His will on earth as it is done in heaven?
“Yes,” says one, “but heaven is the place of perfect service, for His servants shall serve Him.” but is not this the place, in some respects, of a more extensive service still? Are there not many things which perfect saints above and holy angels cannot do? If we had a choice of a sphere in which we could serve God with widest range, we should choose not heaven, but earth. There are no slums and overcrowded rooms in heaven to which we can go with help, but there are plenty of them here. There are no jungles where missionaries may prove their unreserved consecration by preaching the gospel at the expense of their lives.
In some respects this world has a preference beyond the heavenly state as to the extent of doing the will of God. OH, that we were better men, and then the saints above might almost envy us! If we did but live as we should live, we might make Gabriel stoop from his throne and cry, “I wish I were a man!”
It is ours to be in the forefront in daily conflict with sin and satan, and at the same time it is ours to bring up the rear, battling with the pursuing foe. God help us, since we are honored with so rare a sphere, to do His will on earth as it is done in heaven.
Then you say, “but heaven is the place of overflowing joy. Yes, and have you no joy even now? A saint who lives near to God is so truly blessed that he will not be much astonished when he enters heaven. He will be surprised to behold its glories more clearly, but he will have the same reason for delight as he possesses today. We live below the same life which we shall live above, for we are made alive by the same Spirit, are looking to the same Lord, and are rejoicing in the same security. Joy!! Do you not know it? Your Lord says, “My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11).
You will be larger vessels in heaven, but you will not be fuller; you will be brighter, doubtless, but you will not be cleaner than you are when the Lord has washed you and made you white in His own blood.,
Do not be impatient to go to heaven. Hold lightly to the things of earth, yet, count it a great privilege to have a long life in which to serve the Lord on earth. Mortal life is but a brief interval between the two eternities, and if we judged unselfishly and saw the needs of earth, we might almost say, “Give us back the old days of human life, that through a thousand years we might serve the Lord in suffering and in reproach, as we cannot do in glory,.”
This life is but the entrance to glory. Clothe yourselves in righteousness of Jesus Christ, for this is the royal robe of earth and heaven. Now begin the song which your lips shall sing in paradise, or else you will never be admitted to the heavenly choirs.
None can unite in the music but those who have rehearsed it here below.
(We’ll see what Randy has to say….tomorrow)
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Is 41:13 For I, the Lord your God, will keep hold of your right hand, Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’
Ps 72:12 For He will deliver the needy when he cries, The poor also, and him who has no helper.
Is 44:21 ….Thou shalt not be forgotten of me.
Ps 54:4 Amp Behold, God is my helper and ally; The Lord is the sustainer of my soul [my upholder].
Ps 121:7 The Lord will…keep my soul
Ps 95:7 I am the sheep of His hand