Sermon #902
Series: The Glorious State of God’s Saints in Heaven #1
Title: Grace and Glory
Text: Psalm 84:11
Reading:
Subject: Grace and glory as inseparable gifts of God
Date: Sunday Morning - February 18, 1990
Tape #
Introduction:
I promised you last week that I would
begin a series of messages this morning of The
Glorious State of God’s Saints In Heaven. What is heaven? Do God’s saints
go to heaven immediately when they leave this world? What is the condition, or
state, of the saints’ existence in heaven? Who shall enter into heaven’s glory?
Upon what grounds do the saints enter into heaven? These are the questions I
hope to answer for our edification and comfort in the next few weeks. When I
have finished this series of messages, I know that I will have only scratched
the surface. I have no hope of exhausting this subject. We will not become
involved with questions of curiosity. And we will avoid matters of vain
speculation. But I do want to show you some of those things which are plainly
taught in the Word of God about the glorious state of God’s saints in heaven.
May God the Holy Spirit be our Teacher. I pray that he may be pleased to use
these messages for the salvation of sinners, the comfort of believers, and the
glory, honor, and praise of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The title of my message today is Grace and Glory. Our text declares, “The LORD will give grace and glory.” At
the outset the Psalmist takes our minds away from ourselves and calls our
attention to “The LORD,” Jehovah, our
God and Savior. We must not look to ourselves in any measure for either grace
here are glory hereafter. The Source of grace and glory is the Lord. The
Security of grace and glory is the Lord. Christ alone is the Rock of our
salvation. To him alone we must look for grace and glory.
“The
LORD will give grace and glory.” That word “give” declares that neither
grace nor glory can be earned, merited, or purchased by man in anyway. Our text
puts us upon the footing of grace. God cannot be obliged by man to bestow his
grace. And he cannot be obliged by man to bestow glory. Both grace and glory
are the free gift of God. And where he gives one he is sure to give the other.
Proposition:
Grace and glory are inseparable gifts of God. Grace and
glory are the same thing. Grace is glory in the seed. Glory is grace in full
bloom. Glory begins in grace. And grace is completed in glory. “Grace is glory
begun, and glory is grace consummated. Grace is glory in the bud, and glory is
grace in the fruits. Grace is the lowest degree of glory, and glory is the
highest degree of grace” (Francis Burbitt).
Here are two great and marvelous gifts
which God bestows upon fallen men in Christ, grace and glory. the first thing
he gives is grace. The last thing he gives is glory.
I. FIRST OUR TEXT DECLARES THAT “THE LORD WILL GIVE GRACE.”
How
we love that word “grace.” Grace is God’s riches at Christ’s expense. In the
life, experience and hope of the believer everything is of grace, from the
beginning to the end. Every believer gladly confesses, “By the grace of God I am what I am.”
“Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace, Lord, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.”
Read
this promise in the boldest letters imaginable and rejoice. “The LORD will give grace!” The promise
comes from God the Lord. The LORD God Almighty, the great Jehovah, the triune
God will most certainly, by his own irresistible power, according to his own
sovereign will, give, freely and irreversibly, grace.
A.
To whom will the Lord give grace?
We know that he will give grace. It is asserted plainly.
Someone is going to get grace from God. But who?
1. The Lord will give grace to his own
elect (Rom. 9:15-16).
Grace belongs to God. It is his
sovereign prerogative to give it to whom he will. And there are some among the
fallen sons of men whom God has chosen to be the recipients of his grace (John
15:16; Matt. 11:25-27). And there is not one chosen in electing love before the
foundation of the world to be a vessel of mercy who shall fail to receive that
grace before passing out of this world.
2. The Lord will give grace to every
sinner he redeemed by Christ’s precious blood.
Every sinner redeemed and purchased by
Christ shall be his and shall obtain grace. Christ did not die for nothing! All
whom he redeemed by blood shall have the grace of forgiveness (Eph. 1:7; Col.
1:14). All whom he purchased shall have the grace of reconciliation (Col.
1:20). All for whom Christ was made a curse shall have the grace of free justification
(Rom. 8:34; Gal. 3:13). All for whom Christ was made to be sin shall have the
grace of righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). All for whom Christ died shall have the
grace of eternal life (John 10:8, 27).
The redemption which Christ
accomplished is an effectual redemption, which infallibly secures grace for all
his redeemed ones. Not one of those whom Christ has redeemed from among men
shall perish. Not one of his blood bought sheep shall be lost. Not one member
of his body shall be ruined. Not one part of his bride, the church, shall be
destroyed. Those whom Christ has redeemed shall most assuredly obtain grace
(Eph. 5:25-27; John 10:16).
NOTE:
God’s sovereign election and Christ’s effectual redemption inspire us to
preach the gospel fervently to every creature, because we know that “the LORD will give grace” to his
chosen, blood bought people (Isa. 53:9-11). Illustration: Farmer, fisherman.
3. The Lord will give grace to every
believing sinner.
We do not know who God’s elect are, or
who Christ has redeemed, except as they believe the gospel. But we are assured
by God that every believer is both elect and redeemed, because God promises
grace to all who believe (Mk. 16:16; John 1:12-13; 3:14, 15, 36; Rom. 10:9-13).
The long and short of the gospel is this:
If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, if you trust his precious blood alone
for your salvation and eternal acceptance with God, he will give you grace.
NOTE:
I know that you cannot believe unless you have grace. But I also know that
you cannot have grace unless you believe. And I know that if you believe “the Lord will give grace.”
B. What is
this grace which God promises to give?
The text does not say, “The Lord will give some grace,”
“graces, “ or “a grace.” But “the Lord
will give grace.” The implication that wherever the Lord gives any grace he
gives all grace. “The Lord will give...”
1.
Regenerating
grace (Eph. 2:1-5).
2.
Justifying
grace (Rom. 5:1-9).
3.
Sanctifying
grace (Heb. 10:10-14).
4.
Preserving
grace (Phil. 1:6).
5.
Instructing
grace (John 16:13).
6.
Directing
grace (Prov. 3:5-6).
7.
Comforting
grace (John 16:7; Lam. 3:24-25).
8.
Reviving grace
(Isa. 57:15).
9.
Sufficient
grace (2 Cor. 12:9).
“He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added affliction He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials His multiplied peace.”
C.
How does the Lord give us his grace?
1. God gives his grace to sinners mediatorially.
a. He gives his grace to us through
Christ our Mediator.
b. He gives his grace to us through
the use of means.
·
Prayer.
·
His Word.
·
The
ordinances.
2. God gives us his grace seasonably.
3. God gives us his grace readily.
4. God gives us his grace constantly.
“At home, or abroad, on the land and the sea,
As thy days shall demand shall thy strength ever be!”
Read this promise as broadly as you
will. It is to you, child of God, in every condition and circumstance of life, “The Lord will give grace”...
·
To serve him.
·
To suffer for
him.
·
To die in him.
D.
Who is it that will give grace?
How I want us all to see this. “The Lord will give grace!” Grace is the gift of God alone. You
will not get grace...
·
From yourself.
·
From the
church.
·
From the
priest.
·
From the
preacher.
·
From the law.
If
you would get grace you must get it from God alone. And the only way God gives
grace is through Christ (John 1:16-17). Look to Christ! Trust Christ! Believe
Christ! Cling to Christ! Christ, “the
Lord, will give grace!”
II. Secondly, our text promises, “THE LORD WILL GIVE GLORY.”
The text reads, “The Lord will give grace and glory.” That little, connecting word,
“and,” is more precious than gold. It is an indestructible rivet, forever
uniting grace and glory. There are many who seem determined to take the rivet
out; but they cannot. The text does not say, “The Lord will give grace and
perdition,” or “grace and purgatory,” but “The
LORD will give grace and glory.” And the text does not promise glory
without grace. You can no more have glory without grace than you can have grace
without glory. The two are riveted together. And what God has joined together
let no man put asunder.
If we have grace, we shall have glory
too. God will not give one without the other. Grace is the bud. Glory is the
flower. Grace is the fountain. Glory is the river. Grace is the firstfruit.
Glory is the full harvest. If we have grace, we shall never perish, we shall
have glory. But those who do not have grace here shall never have glory
hereafter. It is not possible for any to be glorified who have not first been
justified. You cannot reign with Christ in glory if Christ does not reign in
you by grace. Grace and glory are inseparable gifts of God. “The LORD will give grace and glory.”
What is the glory that he shall give? I am fully aware that
no puny, earthly brain can comprehend it. And certainly no heavy tongue of
flesh can proclaim it (1 Cor. 2:9). But God has revealed something of the glory
that awaits us, that our hearts may be drawn to it (1 Cor. 2:10). Spirit of
God, be our Teacher now, that we might learn what God has prepared for us in
glory. Open our eyes, that we might see the glory that awaits us.
A.
The glory we are to receive is the glory of heaven.
Having said that, I have said more than I comprehend.
Whatever heaven is, God will give. It is a place of indescribable beauty. It is
a state of indescribable bliss. Whatever may be meant by the figurative
language that describes it, (the streets of pure gold, the gates of pearl, the
walls of jasper, the crowns, the palms, the harps, the songs, the river of the
water of life, the trees bearing fruit, the tree of life, all that these things
describe, all that heaven is), all of heaven shall be ours forever! The Lord
will give the perfection of glory without measure to all to whom he has given
grace without measure. You and I who trust Christ shall sit down with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob at the throne of Christ the Lamb in the kingdom of God.
B.
The glory God will give is the glory of eternity.
Eternity! Who can define it? No one on earth can fathom the
meaning of the word “eternity.” We always confound eternity with time. We speak
of the “endless ages of eternity.” But there are no ages in eternity. Eternity
will never pause, decline, or draw near to a conclusion. We will never grow
weary of eternity. And we will never grow weary in eternity. Eternity is
unchanging, unending bliss!
C.
Moreover, the glory God will give his saints is the glory of Christ, our
Mediator, Surety, and Covenant Head (Rom. 8:17; John 17:22).
Whatever that glory is which Christ
has as our Mediator, as the reward of his perfect obedience to God, we shall
have when we see him as he is in heaven! My heart pants to know, by actual
experience the meaning of what I am preaching! Oh, to know the glory that
awaits us! Now we look through a glass darkly. But I long to see him face to
face, to have the clouds of darkness swept away, that I may know and enter into
his glory! In the serene atmosphere of heaven, we shall not only see the King
in his beauty, but also possess his glory!
D.
This glory will be the glory of total victory.
·
Victory over
sin!
·
Victory over
the world!
·
Victory over
satan!
·
Victory over
death!
E.
The glory which the Lord will give us is the glory of a perfect nature (Eph.
5:25-27; Jude 24-25).
This is the goal of God in
predestination, holiness, election, redemption, and regeneration. And God’s
work will not fail to accomplish his purpose. In heaven we shall have a perfect
nature, spotless, sinless, incorruptible; bodies without weakness, sickness,
decay, or death; souls incapable of temptation, sin, care, or trouble; hearts
free of unbelief, sorrow, and pain; wills in complete harmony with God’s will.
Imagine that! In glory we will possess perfect natures!
F.
The glory promised in our text is the glory of perfect rest (Heb. 4:11).
Heaven’s glory shall be a perpetual
sabbath, an endless day of perfect peace, perfect happiness, perfect security. “It shall not be possible for a man to
have a wish ungratified, nor a desire unfulfilled...Every power shall find
ample employment without weariness. And every passion shall have full
indulgence, without so much as a fear of sin” (C. H. Spurgeon).
This is rest! This is glory! We shall
want what our Savior wants, do what our Savior wills, love what our Savior
loves, and live for our savior’s glory perfectly.
G.
This glory is a gift of God’s rich, free, abundant grace in Christ.
“The LORD will
give grace and glory.” There is not a
soul in heaven that came there by merit. There is not a crown in heaven earned
by the works of men. There is not a note of self-righteousness to mar the song
of the redeemed. Glory is the gift of God!
H.
When will the Lord give us this glory?
Some will receive glory very soon. For some it will,
perhaps, be a while yet. But of this we can be absolutely sure: The Lord will give glory...
1.
As soon as our
work here is done, no sooner and no later.
2.
At the hour he
has purposed from eternity, no sooner and no later.
APPLICATION:
1.
Comfort one
another with these words - “The LORD will
give grace and glory.”
2.
Our trials and
troubles here are not worthy to be compared with the glory that awaits us (Rom.
8:18).