Morning By Morning #10

There is in store for me the crown of righteousness.

2 Timothy 4:8

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

O doubting Christian, you have often said, “I’m afraid I’ll never enter heaven.” Fear not! All the people of God will enter.

I love the refreshing statement of a dying man who exclaimed, “I have no fear of going home. I’ve sent everything on ahead of me. God’s finger is on the latch of my door and I’m ready for Him to enter.”

Yet he was asked, “Are you not afraid you may miss your inheritance?”

“No,” he responded, “there is one crown in heaven the angel Gabriel cannot wear. It will fit no one’s head but mine. And there is one throne in heaven even the apostle Paul could not fill. It was made for me—and I will have it!”

O Christian, what a joyous thought! Your inheritance is secure: “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God” (Heb. 4:9). But do you still ask if it can be forfeited somehow? No! It is guaranteed to God’s descendants. If I am a child of God I will never lose it, and it is securely mine as surely as if I were already there.

Come with me, believer. Let’s sit atop Mount Nebo and view God’s Promised Land—even Canaan. Do you see the river of death glistening in the sunlight? Yet across it do you see the spires of the eternal city? Do you see the thriving countryside with its joyful inhabitants?

Then know that if you could fly across to it, you would see written upon one of its many mansions these words: “This is reserved for someone special and is being held for him alone. Someday he will be caught up to dwell with God forever.”

Poor doubting soul, look at your wonderful inheritance. It is yours—if you believe in the Lord Jesus, if you have repented of your sin, if your heart has been renewed. You are one of the Lord’s people and there is a place reserved just for you. A crown has been stored up for you and a harp has been specially provided for you.

No one else will take what is yours, for it is reserved in heaven for you. And throughout eternity it will be yours, for there will be no vacant thrones in glory once all of God’s chosen have been gathered in.

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

How many of us hope against hope for a heavenly inheritance! Yet our inheritance is more real and secure than anything here on earth! In fact, three times the apostle Paul tells us of its guarantee:

He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22

Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are always confident…

2 Corinthians 5:5 – 6

Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:13-14

Father, thank You for “the deposit” of Your Holy Spirit—the very life of Jesus Christ in us—“the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27)!