Thinking @ how communion reminds us of our future

Spurgeon AM today.

"The hope which is laid up for you in heaven."
- Colossians 1:5



Our hope in Christ for the future is the mainspring and the mainstay of
our joy here. It will animate our hearts to think often of heaven, for all
that we can desire is promised there. Here we are weary and toilworn, but
yonder is the land of rest where the sweat of labour shall no more bedew
the worker's brow, and fatigue shall be for ever banished. To those who
are weary and spent, the word "rest" is full of heaven. We are always in
the field of battle; we are so tempted within, and so molested by foes
without, that we have little or no peace; but in heaven we shall enjoy the
victory, when the banner shall be waved aloft in triumph, and the sword
shall be sheathed, and we shall hear our Captain say, "Well done, good and
faithful servant." We have suffered bereavement after bereavement, but we
are going to the land of the immortal where graves are unknown things.
Here sin is a constant grief to us, but there we shall be perfectly holy,
for there shall by no means enter into that kingdom anything which
defileth. Hemlock springs not up in the furrows of celestial fields. Oh!
is it not joy, that you are not to be in banishment for ever, that you are
not to dwell eternally in this wilderness, but shall soon inherit Canaan?
Nevertheless let it never be said of us, that we are dreaming about the
future and forgetting the present, let the future sanctify the present to
highest uses. Through the Spirit of God the hope of heaven is the most
potent force for the product of virtue; it is a fountain of joyous effort,
it is the corner stone of cheerful holiness. The man who has this hope in
him goes about his work with vigour, for the joy of the Lord is his
strength.
He fights against temptation with ardour, for the hope of the next world
repels the fiery darts of the adversary.
He can labour without present reward, for he looks for a reward in the
world to come.