Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 2709 Rock Springs Road in Kingsport, Tennessee,
would like to invite you to listen to a message of Sovereign Grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. For information and service times,
visit www.ksgc.church. And now, Gabe Stoniker. If you would like to turn with
me to Psalm 27. Psalm 27. I have something that
I believe will be very enjoyable for us. I pray that this will
be very enjoyable for us. I would like for us to look at
this entire Psalm. but I want to dwell mainly on
verse four, which says one thing, have I desired of the Lord that
will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord. and to inquire in his temple. I would like for us to really
consider the beauty of the Lord. I've titled this message, The
Beauty of the Lord. That's an enjoyable subject,
isn't it? The Beauty of the Lord. Let's begin. reading in verse
one. All right. Verse one says the
Lord is my light. That's what David said. He said,
the Lord is my light. Think about that. Everything
that light is. Aren't we so thankful for light? David said, everything that light
is, that's what the Lord is to me. The sun is my sun. The capital S-O-N is my S-U-N. The Lord is my light. He is my
warmth. We get warmth from the sun. We get light from the sun. We
get health from the sun. We need the sun. We get happiness from the sun.
I feel a little happier when the sun is shining. David said,
that's what the Lord is to me. The Lord is my light. Verse one,
the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? David
said, the Lord is my all. He's everything to me. He is
my all and in all. He's all that I have. He's all
that I need. He is my strength. He is my safety. He is my courage. He's my life. He is my life. Verse 2 says,
When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to
eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though in host should
encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise
against me, In this will I be confident. He said, no matter
what happens in my life here on this earth, no matter what
happens. He said, I have this to hold
on to. This is all that matters. Verse
four. He said one thing, one thing. Have I desired of the Lord that
will I seek after. that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life, all the days of my eternal
life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His
temple." David said, no matter what happens here on this earth,
And I pray this will be a comfort to you. If you are looking to
Christ and trusting in him, I pray this will be a comfort to you.
No matter what happens on this earth, David said, there's an
end to it. There is an end to it. And he
said that glorious end is me leaving this earth to go dwell
in the house of my Lord with him forever. Isn't that so wonderful? He said, that end is my one desire. That's my one desire is come
the end of all this. I want to go be with him and
dwell with him in his house forever. That's my one true, ultimate,
eternal desire. And David said, that's what I
will seek after. That's what I want. And by God's
grace, by God's grace, that's what I will seek after. He said,
I want to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my
eternal life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in
his temple. David said, I just want to see
him. I just want to see him and I want to hear him. I want to
behold his beauty and inquire in his temple. I just want to
see him and hear him. That's all I want. He said, that
will be glory. That will be glory for me. That
will be glory for me. Can we say that with David? Can
we truly, in our heart, say that with David? There's a song, and
you may have heard it, it's an old song in our hymnal that we
sing from, That Will Be Glory for Me. That's Oh, That Will
Be Glory. I believe that's the title of it. It says, when all
my labors and trials are o'er, over, when it's all over, and
I am safe on that beautiful shore, just to be near the dear Lord
I adore will through the ages be glory for me." Just to be
near Him. When by the gift of His infinite grace I am accorded
in heaven a place just to be there and to look on His face
will through the ages be glory for me. People talk about going
to see golden streets and pearly gates and mansions and things
like that. The song says, friends will be
there. I have loved like long ago. Joy,
like a river around me will flow. It'll be wonderful. The song
says yet just a smile from my savior. I know just if I can
see him smile at me. will through the ages be glory
for me." Oh, that will be glory for me. Glory for me, glory for
me. When by His grace I shall look
on His face, that will be glory. Glory for me. That's what God's
people say. That's what all of God's people
say. Verse four says, one thing have I desired of the Lord, that
will I seek after. that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of
the Lord and to inquire in his temple." Now, Paul told the Corinthians
that, "'Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither hath
entered into the heart of man,' what glory will be like." What
the glory of Christ will be like. We right now can try to imagine
what it's going to be like to look at him. I'm sure that you
may be imagining it right now. I am too. And we can try to imagine
how beautiful he will be, but whatever we imagine, it will
not be close. It will not come close to comparing
to the beauty that he actually is. because I hath not seen,
whatever we've seen, pictures and ear hath not heard, neither
has ever entered into the imagination of a man or a woman, what it
will be like and what he will be like. But even though that's
the case, I acknowledge that that is the case, let's try to
enter into what the scripture has to say about his beauty. That's what I want us to look
at. What the scripture has to say about His beauty, what it
is about Him that makes Him so beautiful to His people. And before we get to that, I
need to say this. I want to acknowledge this. This
is important. He is not beautiful to everybody. We need to acknowledge this.
He is not beautiful to all of mankind. For man by nature, if
man is left in his natural state and the gift of God's grace does
not come to a sinful man or a sinful woman. Isaiah 53 says, naturally
for men and women in their sinful flesh, it says there is no beauty
that we should desire him. The natural flesh of man should
desire him. Naturally speaking, he's not
beautiful to man. When he came into this world,
he made himself to have no form nor comeliness. That means beauty
to man. And that's what makes him beautiful
to God's people. That's what makes him absolutely
beautiful to God's people, that he would humble himself in that
way. that He would be willing to come
to us in that way and do that for us as our substitute because
there's nothing beautiful in the flesh of man. Man sees other
men and women and we say, well, that's a beautiful woman or that's
a beautiful man, but not in the eyes of God. In man, there is
nothing beautiful. When God looks on man in all
of his sinful rot and decay, there's nothing beautiful in
man. And as our substitute for our sake, our Lord came in that
way. He came in the likeness of sinful
flesh. He laid His beauty aside. He laid His reputation aside. He laid His glory aside. And
in order to live for us, as us, He took upon Him the likeness
of us, the likeness of man, the likeness of sinful flesh. And
He allowed Himself to be despised and rejected of men, a man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief. He allowed Himself to come in
a way where men would hide their faces from Him and despise Him. and esteem him not. Now, why
did he do that for his people? Why did he come in that way?
He did it so he could bear the griefs and carry the sorrows
of his people. That's why he did it. He did
it so that he could be stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. That's why he did it. He did
it so that He could be wounded for the transgressions and bruised
for the iniquities of His people. He did it so that the chastisement
of His people that was owed to His people could be laid on Him. He did it so that with His stripes,
His people could be healed. That's what makes Him beautiful
to His people. to those who God has come to and revealed the
beauty of Christ to and given them faith to believe on Him
and cause them to truly see Him. That's what makes Him beautiful
to His people. He may be common to the world,
but to the redeemed child of God, He is altogether lovely.
He is truly altogether lovely. To the souls that are outside
of Christ, Men and women are going to stand before God one
of two ways, either in Christ or out of Christ. To the souls
who are out of Christ, outside of Christ, they may see nothing
in Him that's desirable to them. Just like in the Old Testament
that the tabernacle that was set up when they were out in
the wilderness. There was a brown badger skin tabernacle and all
who passed by, there was nothing in that actual tent that was
beautiful. It was just a brown badger skin tent. But on the
inside, on the inside was the glory of God. On the inside was
the mercy of God and the beauty of God's holy righteousness and
perfection and redemption. And to a soul in Christ, to a
soul outside of Christ, there's nothing beautiful that they should
desire it, but to a soul that's in Christ, who has seen the glory
of God in Christ, to a soul that has seen the mercy of God in
Christ, and the grace of God in Christ to that soul. Christ
is the most beautiful thing that soul has ever seen. That's so,
that's the truth. Christ is the most beautiful
thing that that soul has ever seen. Now let me show you just
a few scriptures to tell us what makes him beautiful. to us. If we're His people, I pray we're
His people. The first one is in Psalm 29. If you'd like to
follow with me here and look at these, Psalm 29 verse 2 says,
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. Worship the
Lord in the beauty of holiness. The beauty of holiness. His holiness
is what makes him beautiful to his people. Holiness means he
must do right. That's what holiness is. Holiness
means purity, spotlessness, no wrongdoing. He must do what is
right. His absolute justice, his absolute
judgment, That's what makes him beautiful. The seraphims cry,
holy, holy, holy. Our God is holy. He is so holy
and that makes him beautiful to his people. The moment that
we see him, when that day comes, that final day comes, the moment
that we behold him for the first time, have you ever imagined
what it will be like to behold him for the first time and see
his face for the first time? Well, the moment God's people
lay eyes on Him for the first time, this is what they will
physically behold. Absolute holiness. For the first time in the flesh,
with our eyes of flesh, we will see absolute holiness. We will see the holiness of the
Lord. And it will be beautiful. It
will be so beautiful. In Psalm 50, if you'd like to
turn to Psalm 50, verse one says, the mighty God, even the Lord
hath spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto
the going down thereof out of Zion, the perfection of beauty. God hath shined. His perfection,
the perfection of beauty. His perfection is beautiful. It is so beautiful. That's His
righteousness, His perfect works. He is holy in Himself. And He is perfect in everything
that He does. All of His righteous works. He's
perfect within and without. Everything that He does is perfect. And that makes Him so beautiful
to His people. Knowing that He will not and
cannot do anything that's wrong. Knowing that He only does all
things well, whatever He does. It's all perfect, it's all well,
as well as it can be. That perfection makes Him absolutely
beautiful to His people. Psalm 96, if you want to look
at Psalm 96, verse 6, it says, Honor and majesty are before
Him. Strength and beauty are in His
sanctuary. Beauty is in His sanctuary, His
worship. In a sanctuary, what are we doing?
We're worshiping. We are worshiping Him. His worship
is beautiful to God's people. The true worship of Him, the
true worship of Him, true worship of Him is not about buildings. It's not about money, it's not
about flash and flair. I know that's what man has made
it out to be. How big can we build our building?
How much money can we raise? How much wow factor can we give
people? True worship is not about any
of that. The true worship of Him, the beauty of worship in
Him to God's people, nothing more than a simple house where Christ is exalted and man
is abased. That's beauty to God's people.
That's beauty. Nothing is more beautiful than
gathering together with the people who have been given light, precious
faith, in a heart that reverences and bows the knee to Christ the
King. As you worship, if you go to
a place, there are houses of worship all over the place. As
you worship, ask yourself this question, is Christ really being
reverenced here? Is Christ really being worshiped
here? Or is it all about the building,
and all about how much money are we going to raise, and all
about the pageants, and all about the plays, and all about the
music, and all about everything else? Is it about Christ or not? Is He really being worshiped?
Because if He is not, if He is not the central, reverent focus
of worship, it's not beautiful to God's people. It's not beautiful
at all. True worship of Christ, the person,
in the finished work of Christ. That's what's beautiful to God's
people. Worship that bows the knee to a King, the true King
of glory. That's beautiful. To God's people,
His worship, the worship of Him is absolutely beautiful. Psalm
149, Psalm 149, verse one says, praise ye the Lord. Sing unto
the Lord a new song. and His praise in the congregation
of saints. Let Israel rejoice in Him that
made Him. Let the children of Zion be joyful
in their King. Let them praise His name in the
dance. Let them sing praises unto Him
with the timbrel and harp. For the Lord taketh pleasure
in His people. He will beautify the meek with
salvation. He will beautify the meek with
salvation. For God's people, His salvation
is beautiful. So beautiful. His salvation,
not my salvation. Not me saving myself and me coming
up with my own salvation and making my decision. Yes, I'm
finally going to decide I'm going to do the work to save myself.
That's not the salvation that this is talking about. His salvation. That's the beautiful salvation.
In Exodus 33, Moses said, Lord, show me your glory. Show me your
beauty. Show me your goodness. And the
Lord said, here it is. I will be merciful. I'll show
mercy to whom I'll show mercy. It's a sovereign mercy. Mercy
is of the Lord. He said, I will be gracious to
whom I will be gracious. It's a sovereign grace. Who God
reveals that to and gives that to, that's of the Lord. Grace
is of the Lord. Mercy is of the Lord. Grace is
of the Lord. He said, I will have compassion on whom I will
have compassion. Compassion is of the Lord. To
give it to whoever he wants to show it to. And He said, I will
hide you in the rock and I will spare your eternal soul. He said,
that's my glory. That's my beauty. God's people
hear that and they say, truly, that's beautiful. That's glory. That's what glory with Christ
will be. Holiness, perfection, righteousness,
worship, and salvation. And it's going to be beautiful.
Back in Psalm 27, where our text is, verse 4 says, One thing have
I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold
the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. For in
the time of trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the
secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. He shall set me up
upon a rock." David said, he is going to hide me in himself. That's his pavilion. That's the
secret of his tabernacle. It is the person of himself. David said, he is going to set
me up on himself. hide me in himself, set me up
on himself. He's my rock. Verse six says,
and now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about
me. The scripture says he is the
head of his people. His people are the body of him. We are the body. He is the head. His people are under Him, and
He's the one who's lifted up. As the head of His people, all
of God's people cry, thank God. Thank God. He is the one who
will be lifted up. Lifted up was He to die. It is
finished was His cry. Now in heaven, exalted high.
Hallelujah, what a Savior. God's people don't want to be
lifted up. They want Him to be lifted up. They want Him to be
glorified. Verse six says, now shall mine
head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me. Therefore
will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I will sing,
yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when
I cry with my voice, have mercy also upon me and answer me. When thou saidst, seek ye my
face, my heart said unto thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek.
David said, because Christ offered the sacrifice of blood, I'll
offer the sacrifice of joy and thanksgiving. And he said, when
I cry to him, please hear me. He said, I know that the only
reason I'm crying is because he told me you cry to me. I know that. He said, when I
cry, verse eight, when thou saidst, seek ye my face, my heart said
unto thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek. Verse 9, hide not thy
face far from me, put not thy servant away in anger. Thou hast
been my help, leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother
forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. He said, please don't
leave me and don't forsake me. And then he said, I know he'll
never leave me and never forsake me. My mother and father might,
but not him, not him. Verse 11 says, teach me thy way,
O Lord, and lead me in a plain path because of mine enemies.
Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies, for false
witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. I had fainted unless I had believed
to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. And
that word goodness right there means beauty. I would have fainted
unless I believed to see the beauty of the Lord in the land
of the living. So verse 14, David ended this
with encouragement for himself. He said, wait on the Lord. Be
of good courage and he'll strengthen your heart. Wait, I say on the
Lord. Wait on the Lord. If Christ is
our light, we will behold his beauty. We will. If God the Father
has made Christ to be all of our desire, if He's the one thing
we desire, then we will have the desire of our heart. David
said, that's the one thing I desire. And then he comforted himself
by saying, wait on the Lord, you'll receive it. I pray that
is an encouragement to us. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message, or to hear other messages of sovereign grace, you can call
or write to the number and address on your screen, or visit www.ksgc.church. Tune in at this same time next
week for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.