Come in the Name of Jesus

🛐 Daily Prayer: "We must confess that we deserve your wrath and to be banished forever from your presence. But you have made a new covenant."

Author

SpurgeonBooks
March 10, 2025

Pray with Spurgeon

Daily Newsletter from SpurgeonBooks

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Our God, we do not stand far off as Israel did at Sinai, nor does a veil hang dark between your face and ours; but the veil is rent by the death of our Divine Lord and Mediator, Jesus Christ, and in his name we come up to the mercy seat sprinkled blood. Here we present our prayers and our praises accepted in him. We do confess that we are guilty; we bow our heads and confess that we have broken your law and the covenant of which it is a part. If you dealt with us under the covenant of works none of us could stand. We must confess that we deserve your wrath and to be banished forever from your presence. But you have made a new covenant and we come under its divine shadow; we come in the name of Jesus. He is our High Priest; he is our righteousness; he is the well-beloved in whom you are well pleased.

Amen.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR JESUS TO BE OUR HIGH PRIEST?

When I preached through the Letter to the Hebrews at my church, I studied the New Testament to better explain what it means for Jesus to be our great high priest. In the Old Testament, the priests represented the people before God (offering sacrifices on their behalf) and representing God before the people (showing them what he is like). The New Testament presents Jesus as a priest who stands before God, serving us in three ways:

  1. He SYMPATHIZES — Because he is fully man, he is able to sympathize with your weakness and suffering.

  2. He STANDS — Because he is fully God, he is able to stand before God for you.

  3. He SAVES. Because he is able to offer a perfect sacrifice (himself!), he is able to totally save you from sin.

I hope you’ll join me in praising Jesus for all of these things this week.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to our confession.” (Hebrews 4:14)

Not only do we read that there is a High Priest, but we read, “We have a high priest.” It would be a small matter to us to know that such and such blessings existed; the great point is to know by faith that we personally possess them. What is the great High Priest to me unless he is mine? What is a Savior but a word to tantalize my despairing spirit, until I can say that this Savior is mine?

PRAY FOR THE NATIONS

This week, we’re praying for the Dondo of Indonesia.

The Dondo is an ethnic group of 15,000 Muslims. There are no Christians among them. There are no churches in their area. There is no Bible in their language. They will never hear the hope of Christ unless someone from the outside comes to tell them about him.

Pray that God would send missionaries to the Dondo.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Discover Jesus as your Great High Priest in the Book of Hebrews

The wonderful reality that Jesus serves as our great high priest is a major theme in the book of Hebrews, a book that many Christians misunderstand, but has explosive power for today. When so many trends and forces would call us away from Christ, Hebrews reminds that he is better than anything, so don’t let go of him.

A great resource to help you study Hebrews is Hebrews For You by Michael Kruger. This is a simple commentary that will help any Christian understand and apply the message of Hebrews (Don’t be scared by the “commentary” label, this book is accessible to anyone).

Hebrews will fill your heart with love for Jesus and Hebrews for You will help you along the way, so I hope you’ll buy a copy today.

FAITH’S CHECKBOOK (NEW!)

Editor’s Note: Spurgeon’s devotional Morning and Evening is a great resource to point your heart to Christ every day. Spurgeon also wrote another lesser-known devotional, The Chequebook of the Bank of Faith. Spurgeon believed that God’s promises were like checks that any believer could “cash,” by faith, and receive great rewards. Each day’s reading takes one promise from God and encourages believers to “take it to the bank.”

This year, I’ve been working on updating the language in this devotional and adding reflection points. I wanted to share the fruits of my labor here while I continue this project.

“I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness.” (John 12:46)

This world is dark as midnight; Jesus has come that by faith we may have light and no longer sit in the gloom which covers the rest of mankind.

“Everyone” is a very wide term: it means you and me. If we trust in Jesus we will not sit in the dark shadow of death anymore, but shall enter into the warm light of a day which shall never end. Why do we not come out into the light at once?

A cloud may sometimes hover over us but we shall not abide in darkness if we believe in Jesus. He has come to give us broad daylight. Did he come in vain? If we have faith we have the privilege of sunlight; let us enjoy it. From the night of natural depravity, of ignorance, of doubt, of despair, of sin, of dread, Jesus has come to set us free; and all believers shall know that he does not come in vain. Does the sun rise and fail to scatter its heat and light?

Shake off your depression, dear brother. Do not abide in the dark, but abide in the light. Jesus is your hope, your joy, your heaven. Look to him, to him only, and you shall rejoice as the birds rejoice at sunrise and as the angels rejoice before the throne.

Something to think about today if you’re feeling like the darkness will not lift: Jesus is with you in the darkness; he will be your light.

LAST WORD FROM SPURGEON (NEW!)

“Be braver than lions, for God is with you.” — Charles Spurgeon