The Bible’s First Promise (Spurgeon’s Faith’s Checkbook)

From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
The Bible’s First Promise
January 1
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15)

This is the first promise to fallen man. It contains the whole gospel and the essence of the covenant of grace. It has been in great measure fulfilled. The seed of the woman, even our Lord Jesus, was bruised in His heel, and a terrible bruising it was. How terrible will be the final bruising of the serpent’s head! This was virtually done when Jesus took away sin, vanquished death, and broke the power of Satan; but it awaits a still fuller accomplishment at our Lord’s second advent and in the Day of Judgment. To us the promise stands as a prophecy that we shall be afflicted by the powers of evil in our lower nature, and thus bruised in our heel; but we shall triumph in Christ, who sets His foot on the old serpent’s head. Throughout this year we may have to learn the first part of this promise by experience, through the temptations of the devil and the unkindness of the ungodly, who are his seed. They may so bruise us that we may limp with our sore heel; but let us grasp the second part of the text, and we shall not be dismayed. By faith let us rejoice that we shall still reign in Christ Jesus, the woman’s seed.

From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb

 

World Concord (Spurgeon’s Faith’s Checkbook)

From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
World Concord
December 15
And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Isaiah 2:4)

Oh, that these happy times were come! At present the nations are heavily armed and are inventing weapons more and more terrible, as if the chief end of man could only be answered by destroying myriads of his fellows. Yet peace will prevail one day; yes, and so prevail that the instruments of destruction shall be beaten into other shapes and used for better purposes.
How will this come about? By trade? By civilization? By arbitration? We do not believe it. Past experience forbids our trusting to means so feeble. Peace will be established only by the reign of the Prince of Peace. He must teach the people by His Spirit, renew their hearts by His grace, and reign over them by His supreme power, and then will they cease to wound and kill. Man is a monster when once his blood is up, and only the Lord Jesus can turn this lion into a lamb. By changing man’s heart, his bloodthirsty passions are removed. Let every reader of this book of promises offer special prayer today to the Lord and Giver of Peace that He would speedily put an end to war and establish concord over the whole world.

From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb

 

No Condemnation (Spurgeon’s Faith’s Checkbook)

From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
No Condemnation
November 22
In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve. (Jeremiah 50:20)

A glorious word indeed! What a perfect pardon is here promised to the sinful nations of Israel and Judah! Sin is to be so removed that it shall not be found, so blotted out that there shall be none. Glory be unto the God of pardons!
Satan seeks out sins wherewith to accuse us, our enemies seek them that they may lay them to our charge, and our own conscience seeks them even with a morbid eagerness. But when the Lord applies the precious blood of Jesus, we fear no form of search, for “there shall be none”; “they shall not be found.” The Lord hath caused the sins of His people to cease to be: He hath finished transgression and made an end of sin. The sacrifice of Jesus has cast our sins into the depths of the sea. This makes us dance for joy.
The reason for the obliteration of sin lies in the fact that Jehovah Himself pardons His chosen ones. His word of grace is not only royal but divine. He speaks absolution, and we are absolved. He applies the atonement, and from that hour His people are beyond all fear of condemnation. Blessed be the name of the sin-annihilating God!

From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb

 

Wait for the Finals (Spurgeon’s Faith’s Checkbook)

From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Wait for the Finals
May 11
Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last. (Genesis 49:19)

Some of us have been like the tribe of Gad. Our adversaries for a while were too many for us; they came upon us like a troop. Yes, and for the moment they overcame us; and they exulted greatly because of their temporary victory. Thus they only proved the first part of the family heritage to be really ours, for Christ’s people, like Dan, shall have a troop overcoming them. This being overcome is very painful, and we should have despaired if we had not by faith believed the second line of our father’s benediction, “He shall overcome at the last.” “All’s well that ends well,” said the world’s poet; and he spoke the truth. A war is to be judged, not by first success or defeats, but by that which happens “at the last.” The Lord will give to truth and righteousness victory “at the last”; and, as Mr. Bunyan says, that means forever, for nothing can come after the last.
What we need is patient perseverance in well-doing, calm confidence in our glorious Captain. Christ, our Lord Jesus, would teach us His holy art of setting the face like a flint to go through with work or suffering till we can say, “It is finished.” Hallelujah. Victory! Victory! We believe the promise. “He shall overcome at the last.”

From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb

 

Close Fellowship (Spurgeon’s Faith’s Checkbook)

From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Close Fellowship
April 11
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 31:34)

Truly, whatever else we do not know, we know the Lord. This day is this promise true in our experience, and it is not a little one. The least believer among us knows God in Christ Jesus. Not as fully as we desire; but yet truly and really we know the Lord. We not only know doctrines about Him, but we know Him. He is our Father and our Friend. We are acquainted with Him personally. We can say, “My Lord, and my God.” We are on terms of close fellowship with God, and many a happy season do we spend in His holy company. We are no more strangers to our God, but the secret of the Lord is with us.
This is more than nature could have taught us. Flesh and blood has not revealed God to us. Christ Jesus had made known the Father to our hearts. If, then, the Lord has made us know Himself, is not this the fountain of all saving knowledge? To know God is eternal life. So soon as we come to acquaintance with God we have the evidence of being quickened into newness of life. O my soul, rejoice in this knowledge, and bless thy God all this day!

From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb

 

Tears Shall Cease (Spurgeon’s Faith’s Checkbook)

From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Tears Shall Cease
January 28
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. (Revelation 21:4)

Yes, we shall come to this if we are believers. Sorrow shalt cease, and tears shall be wiped away. This is the world of weeping, but it passes away. There shall be a new heaven and a new earth, so says the first verse of this chapter; and therefore there will be nothing to weep over concerning the Fall and its consequent miseries. Read the second verse and note how it speaks of the bride and her marriage. The Lamb’s wedding is a time for boundless pleasure, and tears would be out of place. The third verse says that God Himself will dwell among men; and surely at His right hand there are pleasures forevermore, and tears can no longer flow.
What will our state be when there will be no more sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain? This will be more glorious than we can as yet imagine. O eyes that are red with weeping, cease your scalding flow, for in a little while ye shall know no more tears! None can wipe tears away like the God of love, but He is coming to do it. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Come, Lord, and tarry not; for now both men and women must weep!

From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb

 

Because of Us (Spurgeon’s Faith’s Checkbook)

From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Because of Us
October 26
For the elect’s sake those days be shortened. (Matthew 24:22)

For the sake of His elect the Lord withholds many judgments and shortens others. In great tribulations the fire would devour all were it not that out of regard to His elect the Lord damps the flame. Thus, while He saves His elect for the sake of Jesus, He also preserves the race for the sake of His chosen.
What an honor is thus put upon saints! How diligently they ought to use their influence with their Lord! He will hear their prayers for sinners and bless their efforts for their salvation. He blesses believers that they may be a blessing to those who are in unbelief. Many a sinner lives because of the prayers of a mother, or wife, or daughter to whom the Lord has respect.
Have we used aright the singular power with which the Lord entrusts us? Do we pray for our country, for other lands, and for the age? Do we, in times of war, famine, pestilence, stand out as intercessors, pleading that the days may be shortened? Do we lament before God the outbursts of infidelity, error, and licentiousness? Do we beseech our Lord Jesus to shorten the reign of sin by hastening His own glorious appearing? Let us get to our knees and never rest till Christ appeareth.

From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb

 

Bible Verse…I Peter 4:7-19

1Peter 4:7-19
7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. 8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. 9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging. 10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. 16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
� KJV

I posted these verses from my time with God the other day after reading many articles about current events going on in the United States and Israel.  It is evident the the world is in a tail spin, headed quickly into the days when the Tribulation will happen.  As a believer there are many things I believe as truth besides knowing that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and that he rose again then ascended into Heaven to prepare a place for those who are His.  I know I am one of those, and that it won’t be long whether through my death or the Rapture that I will be with Jesus there in Heaven.  But there are many other things that I know from the prophecy in the Bible about what is to come.  For one, the rising persecution of Christians and Jews, and for another that there will be a chain of events that will happen before Jesus comes back to end all the evil on Earth and judge all people.  There will be great roaring of the seas that will cause men’s hearts to fear.  There will be wars and rumors of wars.  Another list of things is famine, earthquakes, and pestilence.  In the last years we have seen those things growing, and during the Tribulation these things will be far worse than even what we see today.  One thing we know as Christians is that we don’t know the day, nor the hour, not even the very moment of the 2nd coming of the Lord Jesus, but we know what he tells us to look for so that we will know it is close.  In Matthew 24 Jesus, himself, gives us many of these signs to look for in his answer to the disciples question about what would be the signs of His coming.  Jesus gave us these signs so that as his children we would know what to watch for.  i can tell you that I’ve been watching, as are many other Christians and those times are upon us.

Some believe that the trumpet sound the Rapture, or the moment when Jesus will take all true believers to Heaven so we won’t live through the Tribulation, that we will just pop out of here and never have to face any trials at all.  Others, like me, know that God doesn’t promise that we won’t see any of these trials, but that we won’t see the worst of them that will come in the Tribulation, when the Antichrist (False Messiah) rules the Earth under a One World Government.    We already see some of those near future elements of the Tribulation being put into affect.  For example, Agenda 21 of the U.N., which will have many effects on all the world, from education, to confiscation of guns, even those liscensed and registered to personal owners, which will leave only criminals and governments to have them.  It will also put all economics, all personal records including medical records under one government.  It will put so much control on the people of the world that ultimately we will all be slaves to those in power, forced to worship the AntiChrist or face death.  People will be executed for not denying Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and those who do not take the Mark of the Beast (AntiChrist) will not be able to buy or sell, get food, or live in homes like we do now.  It will be a terrible time, of what will be a global dictatorship, with a global one world religion, and a time of great persecution of anyone who doesn’t conform, especially Christians and Jews.  It will also be a terrible time of environmental upheaval as storms become even deadlier than they are now, great food shortages, greater earthquakes and volcanic activity, and plagues like we have never seen.

As I said, these things are already on the rise.  I read an article the other day that coined the term “Christianopobia”, which is the hate and fear of Christians.  A week doesn’t go by that I don’t read comments on articles or hear how someone on the news is calling Christians “haters”.  I read articles weekly about churches all over the world being bombed or attacked and Christians being imprisoned, persecuted, and killed.  Of course these aren’t reported on the mainstream media as much, but there are articles coming out of news sources around the world that report these attacks.  There is a group called “Voice of the Martyr” that acts like an advocate for those Christians who are being persecuted around the world.  In the U.S. there is a growing hatred for Christians coming from many different groups from Athiest, Muslims, Gays, Communists, Socialists, Marxists, Anarchists, and many groups on the Left.  It seems like every terrible event that happens the left rushes to blame it on Conservative Christians, even though it isn’t true.  Our own government under Barack Obama has gone as far as calling all those who disagree with his agenda as Homeland Terrorists, including those who are Pro-Life, Pro-Marriage, Conservative, Christian, Stay-at-Home Moms, Military Men and Women, Military Vets and Retirees.  They have even installed security measures to spy on us like we are no more than common criminals.  They allow Leftists Protestors speak out, and even allow their acts of vandalism, but threaten anyone who gathers peacefully to protest Obama’s wicked agenda which includes the killing of millions through his Healthcare Plan, and through abortion.  Recently there was a pastor who was jailed for holding a Bible Study in his own home.  As we near the Tribulation more of these attacks on Christianity will rise.

As I said earlier, we do not know the day, the hour, nor the very moment that Jesus will call us home.  But I can tell you this as this time approaches we will see more attacks on Christians, on freedom, and on truth, and my friends, things could get a lot uglier than we ever dreamed of until the day of our Rapture.  But we don’t need to be afraid, because there are so many verses in the Bible that God has given us to see us through, just like tese found in I Peter.  God gives us instructions on how to stand strong, how to overcome, and reminds us that in the face of these trials and tribulations, in times of great fear and adversity, God will always be here for us.  He will see us through if we just keep holding on to him.