"BRINGING MANY SONS UNTO GLORY"

Hebrews 2:10

As the Lord God brought Israel out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, through the wilderness, over the Jordan, and into the land of Canaan, so he will bring all his chosen unto glory by his own mighty hand of grace.

The ultimate destination of God's elect is glory, eternal glory. Not one of God's elect will fail to attain it. “Not a hoof shall be left behind!” Not one true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ will fail to attain perfect, complete salvation at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Wherever God gives grace, he will give glory. As he does not give grace by degrees, so neither will he give glory by degrees. There are no back settlements in the heavenly Canaan where "second class saints" live! There are no slums in the New Jerusalem. God is bringing his people into glory, not degrees of glory.

Whoever he was who devised that abominable notion that there are degrees of glory and degrees of heavenly reward to be given to the saints, depending upon their works on earth, knew nothing of the gospel of the free grace of God in Christ. John Blanchard was exactly right when he said, "Heaven is not a conditional reward, but a consummated relationship."

Glorious Place

Heaven is a glorious place. The Holy Spirit uses the word "glory" interchangeably with the word "heaven." He makes the two terms synonymous. Heaven is a glorious place. Countless books have been written about it. We sing hymns about it and preach sermons about it; but really we know very little about it. "As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Cor 2:9). We will never know the glory of glory until we are in glory.

Glorious Pursuits

In that glorious place everyone follows glorious pursuits. What are the saints doing in heaven? I will not attempt to guess. But this much I know - they are serving God and the Lamb. "And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads” (Rev. 22:3-4).

They cast their crowns at his feet, sing his praise, adore his grace, and make known to principalities and powers the manifold wisdom of God in redemption. They gaze upon the face of their beloved Redeemer, God, and Savior. All the pursuits of heaven are glorious. There will never be anything low, base, or selfish done in glory. There will never be any wearisome toil required. All is glory!

Glorious Pleasures

In that glorious place, with its glorious pursuits, there are glorious pleasures. There we will understand the meaning of David's words: "Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

In heaven we shall live! Did you ever try to imagine what the pleasures of God must be? What is that which is called "the joy of the Lord?" What is the infinite satisfaction of the eternal God? What can be the bliss of him who is blessed God? I cannot imagine such things with my puny brain. Yet, I know that it is this very joy, bliss, peace, and satisfaction into which we shall enter in glory, when our Master says to each of his ransomed ones, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” (Matt. 25:21).

Chrysostom wrote, "If one man should suffer all the sorrows of all the saints in the world, yet they are not worth one hour's glory in heaven.” Paul said, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom 8:18). Earth has no sorrow that heaven shall not heal. A. W. Pink wrote, "One breath of Paradise will extinguish all the adverse winds of earth.”

We are going to glory! Heaven is a place of glorious pleasure. As C. S. Lewis put it, "Joy is the serious business of heaven.” There are no regrets in heaven, no remorseful tears, no second thoughts, no lost causes, no sorrows of any kind. It is written, "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Rev. 21:4).

Glorious Persons

This glorious place, with its glorious pursuits and glorious pleasures, shall be inhabited by glorious persons. Read at Hebrews 12:22-24. "But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”

God is there, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Christ, the Lamb, is there. The holy angels are there. The spirits of just men made perfect are there. There all the saints of God shall be glorious, kings and priests unto God, arrayed as kings, holy as God himself is holy, glorious as Christ himself is glorious. Well does the writer of Hebrews use this word when he speaks of heaven - "glory." Heaven is GLORY!