Turn, if you will, with me back
to Psalm 84. We'll take our text from a portion
of verse 11. These words, the Lord will give
grace and glory. Grace and glory. That's a big,
big ocean. That's a vast ocean. And I've
got just a little boat. So pray for me, because I believe
that all I'll be able to do, if God allows me, is just to
skim around the surface and pray that He'll be pleased to bless
it to our good and to His glory. Anytime you see the word LORD
as it is here in our text, all in capital letters, it means
Jehovah. It should read that way. Jehovah
will give grace and glory. Jehovah, the eternal, everlasting
God. God above all. God over everything,
all the time. God who saideth, King, not sometimes,
all the time. All the time. Jehovah will give
grace and glory. That sort of makes it certain,
doesn't it? That makes it certain. If it's
in His hands, If it's up to Him, then that makes it sure. Who
else could give grace or glory except the God of all grace?
That's what Peter referred to Him as being the God of all grace. After you've suffered a while,
settle you down. Just calm you down. The God of
all grace. First, the psalmist tells us
what God is to His people. He's a sun and a shield. A sun. the source of all good, a shield,
a defense from all evil. And then he tells us what God
gives to his people. Grace here. Grace here and glory
hereafter. Grace now and glory to come. And that's our first thought.
Let's dwell on that. Let's start at the beginning.
That's the best place to start. Where does grace come from? What
is the source of grace and glory? And our text again tells us plainly,
Jehovah, it comes from Him. It comes from Him. Grace can't
be experienced except it comes through the Lord Jesus Christ,
God's mediator. The psalmist takes our minds
away from ourselves and that's always a good thing because we
spend far too much time thinking about ourselves. just too much
time occupied with self. But the psalmist takes our mind
away from ourselves and calls our attention to the Lord. Capital
L-O-R-D. Jehovah, our great God and Savior. We must not look to ourselves
in any measure for either grace here or glory hereafter. We must look to the source of
grace and glory and that's Christ himself. The security of grace
and glory is the Lord. Christ alone is the rock of our
salvation. To Him we must look for grace,
and to Him alone. And He'll never disappoint us.
Every sinner, every sinner that has been made to taste that the
Lord is gracious, has had the sweet experience. I know we live
in a day where folks seem to be fearful, fearful, nervous
about the word experience. But we must experience God's
grace. We must taste it for itself.
We must be enabled by the grace of God to say with the apostle,
I know whom I have believed. As John wrote, you know these
things. We know who we believe in. We
know the grace of God that's in Christ Jesus. Knowing that,
that he gives grace, we should also know this. Everyone that
experiences his grace will experience his glory. Billy, isn't that
a comforting thought? If I've tasted of His grace,
I'll be with Him in glory. If He's given me the one, it's
a foretaste. It's a forerunner, if you will.
It's the earnest, the down payment that I shall be with Him in glory. I remember hearing Brother Henry
Mahan tell the story many years ago. A lady had been listening
to his television broadcast. on Sunday afternoons, and she
wrote him a letter and said, Brother Henry, my pastor doesn't
preach the things that you preach. Just about every Sunday, after
Sunday, he tells us, this is his message, and isn't it sad?
Isn't it sad? I told my mother one time, I
wouldn't get out of bed for such as that. I'd just stay home and
sleep. But my pastor's always telling me, Brother Man, you
need to get your act together. Now isn't that good? Look in itself. God says, look
unto me. If you want to be saved, look
unto me. He tells us, you need to get
your act together. She said, Brother Mahan, I don't
even know what my act is. I don't know what my act is supposed
to be. Such is religion. Look to self. Oh no, we look to the God of
all grace. For grace, we're told here not
to do that, not to look to self, but to look to the Lord. Salvation
is of the Lord. Which part? Every part. It's all of the Lord from beginning
to end, so why look anywhere else? Who is it that will give
grace? Our text tells us plainly, the
Lord. The Lord will give grace. Grace
is the gift of God alone. You can't get it from yourself.
It's not there. Don't look for it. It's not there.
You can't get it from the church. You mean a Catholic church? I
mean a Baptist church. I mean any church. You can't
receive it from the hands of a so-called priest, or at some
imaginary altar, or from the law of God. If we would get grace,
we must get it from God alone. And the only way that God gives
grace is through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God will give
grace to His people in this world as a preparation for glory. And
glory in the other world as the perfection of grace. And they
both are the gift of God's free grace. John chapter 1, you know
this verse well. And the Word, speaking of Jesus
Christ. was made flesh and dwelt among
us, pitched tent among us, tabernacle, that's what the word dwelt means.
And we beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten of
the Father. And oh, how glorious is He! He's
full of grace and truth. His grace has never diminished.
It never runs low. His grace is always sufficient.
His grace is able to save to the uttermost. His grace is able
to keep this sinner from falling. His grace is so wondrous that
it will present me before the throne of God without a spot,
without a wrinkle, without any trace that I was a sinner. Now
that's amazing grace, is it not? With the law again in John 1,
the law was given by Moses. But, oh but, grace and truth
came by Jesus Christ. And here's his promise to every
child of God. The Lord will give grace and
glory. Give. That declares that neither
grace nor glory can be earned. It can't be merited. It can't
be purchased by anything that a man can do. This text, Psalm
84 and 11, tells us, like the entire Word of God does, it puts
us upon the footing, and it's a good place to be, upon the
footing of God's free, unmerited grace. That's what I want. God cannot be obliged, cannot
be obligated to bestow His grace on man because of anything in
man. Remember what Peter wrote when
he closed his first epistle to those suffering, hurting Christians? In 1 Peter 5 he said, remember
this, don't forget this, I know you're suffering, I know you're
hurting, I know you're being persecuted, I know you're being
tormented, you're being chased, you're being put to death, but
remember this, none of that can change this, this is the true
grace of God in which you stand. I'd like to lay down on that
tonight. Oh, this is the true grace of God in which you stand. The unworthiness of man is no
hindrance to the free grace of God. It says the Lord will give
grace and glory. That pretty much settles it,
doesn't it? That pretty much takes care of
it. The Lord will give grace and glory, prevailing grace,
Christ told Peter, Peter I've prayed for you that your faith
fail not. And even while Peter cursed,
cursed and claimed he didn't know the Lord Jesus Christ, he
didn't believe. He couldn't quit believing because
the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance. That
means God doesn't repent of him. Once you're his, you're his forever. Nothing from his love can sever. J.C. Rowe made this observation. He said God knew what we were
before He saved us, but He loved us anyway. And God knew what
we would be after He saved us, and He loved us anyway. An everlasting
love. He's the God of all grace, and
He alone gives His grace to needy sinners, to those rare individuals
that have nothing to pay. I love that passage in Luke 7
where our Lord talked to that self-righteous Pharisee concerning
the woman that came in. That woman, the Pharisee said,
she's a sinner. Doesn't this man who claims to
be a prophet know that she's a sinner? And our Lord said there
was, he spoke to Simon and said there was a certain creditor
which had two debtors. The one owed 500 pence and the
other 50. And when they had nothing to
pay, when they had nothing to pay, remember when God brought
you down and you realized you owed a debt and you had no way
to pay it. You were bankrupt before him.
Justice cried for payment and you had nothing to satisfy it
with. When they had nothing to pay,
oh what sweet words, he frankly, that word is freely, he freely
forgave them both. That's what I need. Nothing less
than that would do this sinner any good. Nothing less than God's
free unmerited grace can help me. Grace that will not let me
go. Will not let me go. Grace that
would not take no for an answer. Come to me. I will not come.
Oh, but you will. You will come. You will bow.
You will seek me. You will call upon me. Oh, thank
God for such grace as that. The glory of God's grace is its
freedness, is it not? To those who have nothing, claim
nothing, and can do nothing. Like that leper. He's a good
example. That leper came to our Lord and
we're told that he knelt down before him and said, Lord, if
you will, if you will. People have the inbred, inborn
notion and it's fortified by the lies of preachers, that God
is obligated to save them, that God owes it to them, that God
is trying to save everybody, and if God doesn't do that, if
He doesn't offer salvation to everybody, then it's unfair on
God's part. Oh, nothing could be further
from the truth. That is so contrary to grace. And the leper knew
better. He said, Lord, if you will, if
you will, You don't have to do it. You don't owe it to me. You're
not obligated to do it. Oh, but if you will, if you will,
you can. If you're willing to do it, you
can make me clean. And he found out the Lord was
not only able, but also willing when he touched him and said,
be thou clean. There's another sinner sitting
by the wayside begging. He hears that Jesus of Nazareth
is passing by. And he begins to cry out, Jesus,
thou son of David, have mercy. Have mercy. Pure, sovereign mercy. Have mercy on me. And I love
what we read. I believe it's in Mark's account
of that miracle concerning blind Bartimaeus. Our Lord stood still. He stopped dead in his tracks
when he heard the cry of one poor, blind beggar in need of
mercy. He always does. He did for you,
didn't he? He did for you. He came to where
you were. He heard your cry. He had mercy
upon you." Another one, and all these miracles are simply pictures
and types of God's great grace and salvation. We read of a woman
that had an issue of blood, that had spent all of her living and
was never the better, but only grew worse. She heard of Christ
and came behind Him in this multitude Because she had thought to herself,
she had said to herself, if I can just get to him, if I can just
get to him, I'll be made whole. If I can just get through this
multitude, if I can get through this rabble, if I can just reach
forth no further than just the touch to him of his garment,
I'll be made whole. And that's exactly what happened.
Oh, can you see that poor woman? Was she on her hands and knees?
Was she trying to squirm through that crowd? And Jesus is walking
by, and she reaches forth, and that's a demonstration of the
hand of faith, the hand of the soul. She touches the hem of
his garment, and just like that, oh, the vilest offender that
truly believes that very moment from Jesus, a pardon received. You're looking at someone that
proved that. Not just when I first believed, but every day since
I believe. A recipient of His grace. The Lord does not sell grace.
That's not what the text says, does it? The Lord will give grace. He doesn't sell it. He doesn't
put it up on the auction block to the highest bidder. He gives
grace and glory. Oh, God is a great giver, isn't
He? A great giver and forgiver. He
gives grace and glory without money. and without price, without
any merit in the receiver, the Lord gives. There's nothing freer
than that. Nothing freer than His grace. The gift of God is eternal life. Eternal life sums up these two
things, does it not? Grace and glory. It's His glory
to give His grace, and because of His graciousness, He says,
I will give glory. That's the place where grace
comes to a center. That's the place for guilty,
worthless sinners. It's in the place of those who
merit wrath and deserve nothing else. There God will meet with
them. There God will meet them in mercy.
and prove the text, the Lord will give grace." Oh, listen.
Listen to these gracious words. These are from God himself. This
is God's word to thirsty sinners. Ho! Ho! Stop! Stop! What's your rush? Stop! Ho! Everyone that thirsts, come ye
to the waters. He that have no money. That was
me. Come ye, buy and eat. Ye come
and buy wine and milk without money and without price. It's
free! If you can't buy it, you can't
purchase it, you can't earn it, it's free. Wherefore do you spend
money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which
satisfyeth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness." Joseph Hart expressed it better than I can. Come ye
sinners poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus
ready stands to save you, full of pity, love, and power. Come ye thirsty, come and welcome.
God's free bounty glorify. True belief and true repentance,
every grace that brings you nigh. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor a fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requires is
the field your need of Him. Come ye weary, heavy laden, lost
and ruined by the fall. If you tarry till you're better,
you will never come at all. And by grace, we read, I will
arise and go to Jesus. He will embrace me in His arms.
In the arms of my dear Savior, oh, there are ten thousand charms. Will He receive me? Will He have
mercy on me? Will He forgive such a sinner
as I am, such a rebel as I am? Arise and come to Jesus and prove
the sufficiency, the willingness, the power of our mighty Savior,
rich in mercy, great in grace, able to save to the uttermost.
Be empty and He will fill you. Be naked and He'll clothe you.
Be hungry and He'll feed you. Be spiritually bankrupt and He
will deliver you from all your liabilities and enrich you with
the balanced wealth of His grace. It has pleased the Father that
in Christ all fullness should dwell. Therefore, the fullness
of God's grace abides in Christ. That's where it's at. That's
where God's deposit is. It pleased the Father that in
Him should all fullness dwell. If you want grace, You must go
to Christ for it. Remember, that's what Pharaoh
said to those who came to Egypt looking for corn, didn't he?
Go to Joseph. Leave me alone. You want it?
Go to Joseph. I'll put him in charge of that.
And that's what God says to every needy sinner. Go to Jesus Christ. Go to my son. He's in charge
of all that. He's that golden pipe through
which the mercy of God flows to the guilty. And he delights
to show mercy. God, people hear of election
and sovereign mercy and predestination and they get all nervous as though
God doesn't want to save sinners. God delights to save sinners.
God delights to show mercy. Whatever is to come upon a child
of God, we don't know what tomorrow might bring. Oh, how recently
we were made to remember that yet once again with our dear
sister. I'll tell you the truth. I really
did. I thought I would see her again
by then. I thought Pat would come. I think we all did. We wanted
it. But God wanted her to be with him. But whatever is to
come upon a child of God, grace shall come with him. If God brings
you to it, he's going to bring you through it. Hasn't he already? Hasn't he already? Old Newton
said, it's grace that brought me safe thus far. And will God
forsake me now? Will He cast me off now? After
so much mercy passed, will He let me sink at last? Oh, grace
has brought me safe thus far, and that same grace will lead
me home. That same grace will keep me.
That same grace will preserve me. That same grace will bring
me to glory. Remember this promise from God?
Fear thou not, this is to you, believer. Fear thou not, for
I am with thee, I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee, with the right hand
of my righteousness. You remember when your children
were small, and you would be somewhere, and you'd be crossing
the street, and you would reach down and take their hand, and
they would grip your hand, and theirs so tight. God said, I'm
with you, I'm with you, I'll hold to your hand. I'll hold
him as over this river you go. He giveth more grace, Bobby would
sing this to us. He giveth more grace as our burdens
grow greater. He sendeth more strength as our
labors increase. To added affliction he addeth
his mercy. To multiplied trials his multiplied
peace. His love has no limits. His grace
has no measure. His power no boundary known unto
men. For out of His infinite riches
in Jesus, He giveth and He giveth and He giveth again." Over and
over and over again. He giveth and He giveth and He
giveth more grace. Here's the second thought. Grace
is the forerunner of glory. I've already said it. If you've
tasted His grace, you'll be with him in glory. Glory never comes
without grace coming first. But grace never comes without
glory following after. The two are bound together. And
what God has put together, joined together, let no man put asunder.
They can't be put asunder. Glory is really nothing more
than grace fully developed, fully realized. Grace and glory are
inseparable gifts. And what more can the Lord give?
What more can we receive, or need, or desire than grace? Grace is glory in the sea. Glory
is grace in full bloom. Glory begins in grace, and grace
is completed in glory. Someone said 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. In the life,
experience, and hope of every believer, everything is by grace,
is by grace, and of grace. And from the beginning to the
end, every believer gladly confesses. Doesn't have a problem with it.
Doesn't stutter. It's not a bad word to him. By
the grace of God, I am what I am. If free will has made you what
you are, you can have it. Oh, but a child of God is a debtor
to grace. Oh, to grace how great a debtor,
daily I am constrained to be. Oh, let thy grace, O Lord, like
a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee, prone to wander. Hmm. I feel it. I feel it. Prone to leave the
God I love, here's my heart I'll take and seal it, seal it for
thy courts above. The promise comes from God the
Lord. The Lord God Almighty, Jehovah,
the Triune God, will most certainly by His own irresistible power Believers don't have a problem
with that. The rebel hears that. Irresistible grace? Well, I'll
not have it. I'll not have it. Oh, but a needy
sinner, they'll have it. They'll have it and be thankful
for it. They're glad that God didn't leave them to their will.
They're glad that God didn't let them have their way. They're
glad for his irresistible power and grace. According to his own
sovereign will, he'll give grace freely and irreversibly. He'll
never retract it. He'll never take it back. We
know that He will give grace. It tells us there plainly. Someone
is going to get grace from God. Wow! Think about that. Look out on this world in darkness,
in the grips of useless tradition and religion, but God's going
to have mercy on somebody. God said, I'm going to have mercy.
The same God who said, let there be light, and light was. Light
is, and light was. Someone's going to taste God's
mercy. Someone's going to experience
His grace. Imagine that. Wow. Imagine that. God's going to
bestow grace through His Son upon worthless, needy sinners. He's purposed it. He's determined
to do it. And everyone that experiences
His grace are going to be with Him in glory. Wow! That's His
will that cannot be resisted. Grace belongs to God. It's His
prerogative to give it to whom He will. And there are some among
the fallen sons of men whom God has chosen to be recipients of
His grace." My, so isn't that something? Not one of those chosen
in electing love before the foundation of the world to be a vessel of
mercy shall fail to receive that grace before they pass out of
this world. God's going to call them. You're
mine. You're mine. Christ said, I'll
seek my sheep. and I'll find my sheep, and I'll
raise my sheep up, I'll put my sheep on my shoulders, and I'm
gonna bring that sheep all the way home, and we're gonna rejoice. There's gonna be rejoicing in
heaven when I do. Grace belongs to God. And he
says, I'm gonna grant it. Grant it to sinners. You've not
chosen me, our Lord told his disciples. You've not chosen
me. Here's a jawbreaker for the freewheelers. You've not chosen me, but I've
chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth
fruit and your fruit should remain. That whatsoever ye ask of the
Father in my name, he may give it you. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
you have hid these things from the wise and the prudent and
has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father. And no man knows the Son, but
the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
but the Son. And he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal Him. The God of heaven is just and
true, righteous and holy, and He is determined to give grace
to every sinner redeemed by Christ's precious blood. Every sinner
redeemed, and we're going to remember that in a few moments.
Every sinner redeemed and purchased by Christ shall be his and shall
obtain grace. Christ didn't die in vain. Christ
didn't die for nothing. He shall not fail. The death
of Jesus Christ, as Don used to say, will not be proven a
miscarriage. He shall see of to develop his
soul and he'll be satisfied. All whom He redeemed by His blood
shall have the grace of forgiveness. All of them. All of them. In
whom, Ephesians 1 and 7, in whom we have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His
grace. In whom we have redemption through
His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. All who were purchased
by Christ at Calvary shall have the grace of reconciliation in
Christ in time. They'll come to know, yes, we
are His, been His from eternity. God entrusted us into the hands
of Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world. We knew nothing
about that. We knew nothing about that until
He calls us in time. And we learn, yes, I am His. Yes, I am His. And He is mine. All who were purchased by Christ
at Calvary shall have the grace of reconciliation to Christ in
time, Colossians 1 and 20. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross by him, to reconcile all things unto
himself, by him I say, whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven, all for whom Christ was made sin shall have the grace
of righteousness. That's exactly what Paul said.
For He hath made Him, God hath made Christ, to be sin for us,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteous of God
in Him." Oh, wrapped up, just wrapped up, just wrapped up in
the righteousness of Jesus Christ, with His spotless garments on
His holy, as God's own Son. The redemption which Christ accomplished
is an effectual redemption. which it infallibly secures grace
for all those he redeemed. Not one, not one of those Christ
has redeemed from among men shall perish. They shall never perish.
Not one of his blood-bought sheep shall ever be lost. Not one member
of his body shall be ruined. Not one part of his bride, his
church, shall ever be destroyed. Those whom Christ has redeemed
shall most assuredly obtain grace and glory. Grace and glory. Oh, my soul, brothers and sisters,
don't we have something to look forward to? This now is just
temporary. This is just temporary. What
we see, it's just temporary. There's going to be an end to
this. There's going to be the end to every tear, to every heartache,
to every trial. It's coming to a close swiftly.
Oh, but eternity, eternity, being with Christ, being in the Father's
house, being before the throne of God without a trace of sin,
that's going to be forever. That's going to be forever. Oh,
that'll be glory for me. Ephesians 5 and 25, husbands
love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave
himself for it. It was a particular love. that
he might sanctify it and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself, a glorious church,
not having a spot, a wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it
should be holy and without blemish." Again, is that not what we remember
in observing the Lord's Supper? We're remembering an accomplished
redemption. We're remembering that He obtained
eternal redemption. He didn't make a stab at it. He didn't make it conditional
on something I'll do on down the road. No, no, no. He obtained,
Paul says. He obtained. He obtained. Hmm. I could camp out there.
He obtained eternal redemption for us. Glory to His name. He got the job done. If he has
begun to bear our souls up toward himself in glory, he'll never
turn from his purpose until he's finished the work. He who has
commenced this building will not cease to work till the headstone
is brought forth with shoutings of grace, grace unto it, being
confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. My dear wife sometimes has to
remind me that I've left things unfinished. You can identify
with that, can't you, John? She'll say, Mary, don't you remember
you were going to do this? Oh, my soul, you're right. I
completely forgot. I'll try to get around to it.
Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ, the work that His grace has begun,
He'll perform it. He'll carry it on. until the
day of the Lord Jesus Christ, when we're with Him in glory.
And this is the last sweet thought. Grace, our text tells us, must
follow, or rather glory, must follow grace. It has to. It has to. God never gave grace
without giving glory. Someone said, and I think I've
told you this before, we read concerning Enoch, that he wasn't
found because God took him. He just walked with God, we're
told, and he just walked right into glory. It's as though God
said, you know, come up here and spend the night. And he never
came back. Because there's no night there.
There's no night there. God never gave grace without
giving glory. You can't have the one without
having the other. The two go together. The text
doesn't say the Lord will give grace in perdition or the Lord
will give grace in purgatory. No, the Lord will give grace
and glory. If you have grace, we'll have
glory too. God will not give one without
the other. Grace is the bud. Oh, but glory is the flower.
Grace is the fountain. Oh, but glory is the river. Glory
is the full harvest. If you have the one, we'll never
perish until we realize Now, now, oh how true this is in our
experience daily. We look through a glass darkly,
so much we don't understand. God, how can this be working
together for my good? How can it be? But we long one
day to see Him face to face when all the clouds of darkness are
swept away. Nothing to hinder our view, nothing
to obscure our vision of Him. And we'll know that when we enter
into glory. In the serene atmosphere of heaven,
we shall not only see the King and His beauty, but we'll possess that glory.
The glory which the Lord will give us is the glory of a perfect
nature. Think about that. I told you
we could only skim the surface of this great ocean. Now unto
Him that is able to keep you from falling. and to present
you faultless before the presence of His glory, with exceeding
joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty,
dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. This is the
purpose and goal of God in predestination, in election, in redemption, and
in regeneration. And God's work will not fail
to accomplish its purpose. And heaven will have a perfect
nature sinless, incorruptible, bodies without weakness or sickness
or decay or death, souls incapable of even being tempted, no sin,
no care, no trouble, hearts free of unbelief, sorrow and pain,
wheels in complete harmony with God's will. There's one verse,
there's one verse I think that most definitely declares that
Christ's sheep must be with their great shepherd in glory. He wants
them there. Christ wants them there. He purchased
them with His own blood. They belong to Him. Therefore,
He says, Father, I will. I will. That they also whom Thou
hast given Me be with Me where I am. That they may behold My
glory which Thou hast given Me for Thou lovest Me before the
foundation of the world. Thine eyes shall see the King
and His beauty. With Job, every believer can
say, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand
at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I
shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another."
In another psalm, Psalm 73, David said, Thou shalt guide me with
Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Oh, what a sweet
afterward. That's what our text tells us
here, doesn't it, in Psalm 84. Afterward. After all the labor
and all the toil, after all the crosses and the afflictions,
after all the doubts and fears that we should never receive
it, after all the clouds and darkness have passed over us,
And after all the battles, oh, how sweet will be the reception
of this reward that will guide me without counsel and afterwards
receive me to glory. Oh, what a blessed, blessed afterwards. When all your doubts and fears
are over, when all your battles have been fought, then ye shall
receive the reward. C.H. Spurgeon said this, 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. Oh, that's
rest, isn't it? That's glory. We'll have, we'll
want only what our Savior wants. We'll love only what our Savior
loves and wills. We'll live for our Savior's glory
perfectly. I think a good illustration of
being in glory is in John chapter 1. There were two disciples of
John the Baptist remaining with him after our Lord appeared on
the scene. One was Andrew, one was perhaps
John, but one was definitely Andrew. We're told that. But
they stood with John one day, and Jesus Christ walked by. And
John told them, Behold, the Lamb of God. Behold, the Lamb of God. And they left John and followed
him. And the two disciples heard him
speak, they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned and said unto
them, saw them, rather, following, and said unto them, What seek
ye? They said unto him, Master, which
is to say, Rabbi, Master, Where dwellest thou? Where do you live? He said unto them, Come and see. Come and see. That's what we're
doing. We're going to see. They came
and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day, for it was
about the tenth hour. But when we follow the Lamb of
glory, it will not be for a day, but it will be for eternity.
Paul said, I reckon I reckon that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. The Lord will give grace and
glory. God, keep that on our hearts
as we make our journey through this world, both in due time,
both as needed, both to the full, and both with absolute certainty.
The Lord has both grace and glory in an infinite abundance. Jesus
is the fullness of both, and as His chosen people, we will
receive both as a free gift from God, the great God of our salvation. Grace all the works your crown
through everlasting days. It lays in heaven the topmost
stone, and well deserves the praise. Amen. Amen. Lord bless you.