Psalm 84. Our text will be taken
from verse 11. The title of our message is Comfort
for God's Pilgrims. In Hebrews chapter 11, believers
in Old Testament times were referred to those who look for a city,
not of this world, not of this earth, but a city not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens, a city prepared by God for his
people. And God's believers, God's people,
are referred to as pilgrims and strangers in this world. But
I think that we need not confine that description of God's people
to those who lived in the Old Testament. The Lord's chosen,
those he has been pleased to call out of darkness into his
marvelous light, no matter when they may live in this world,
no matter when they're making their sojourn to the celestial
city, are all pilgrims and strangers, are we not? One old hymn writer
expressed it this way, this world is not my home. I'm just passing
through. I just can't feel at home, another
said, in this world any more. And during our journey here,
God promises to lead his dear children along, no matter what,
no matter what trials they may be called on to endure, no matter
what heartache. We know, we know through much
tribulation, through much tribulation we shall inherit the kingdom
of God, but we also know according to God's Word, promise upon promise,
that he will lead his dear children along. True, some through the
waters, some through the flood, some through great heartache,
some through, but all through the blood rather. God leads his
dear children along. Verse 7 says, every one of them,
Psalm 84, every one of them appeareth before God. Every one of them. Notice verse 11. We're told what
God is to his people. Then we're told what God gives
his people. What God is to his people? A sun and a shield. A sun to
give light, to guide us on our journey. Christ said, I'm the
light of the world. He that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. He's a sun
and a shield. A shield to guard and protect
us all along the way. A sun, the source of all good. A shield, a defense from all
evil. And then the psalmist tells us
what God gives to all of his people. You see that there? The Lord will. The Lord will
give grace and glory. That's not the privilege of an
elite few, no. That's not the privilege of just
a select few, but that's the promise. That's God's promise
to all of his sheep. He says, I will give you grace
and glory. I perhaps told you this before.
I thought of it when I was looking over this blessed passage of
Scripture. I was reminded of visiting a
friend in the hospital years ago. And when I went into his
room, it was during lunchtime, when they were serving lunch,
and he was eating or attempting to eat some sort of meat on his
plate. And finally, he just pushed it
away and said, Larry, I declare, the more I chew it, the bigger
it gets. And that's what I thought concerning
this promise of our God, that he shall give grace and glory.
The more I thought about it, The more I meditated upon it,
the bigger it got. But notice first of all, the
source of the grace and the glory, where they came from, this is
what makes it certain. The Lord will give. The Lord will give. If we possess
grace, the Lord must give it. Let me ask you, child of God,
How did you become a believer? How was it that you became a
believer? How was it that one day, one
day, you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? Who made you to
differ from another? Perhaps some in your very own
household went to the same place, heard the same message. They
haven't believed, they yet abide in darkness. Who made you to
differ? And the answer is not ourselves.
Oh, no, no. We can't rob God. No, no, not
unto us. Who made us to differ? The Lord
alone. Why do I believe? Why do I believe? Because God gave me faith. By grace are you saved through
faith. No man is saved without believing.
What must I do to be saved?" the jailer asked Paul. And he
said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But that faith by which
we embrace Christ, that faith that brings us to our Redeemer
is God's own gift. It's not of works. It's not something
worked up. It's not something you can reach
in and pull out of old fallen Adam. It's not there. It's not
there. Oh, it's a gift of God's grace. And we're told here by the psalmist
that one, the Lord, who gives grace shall also give glory. Grace being what it is, it must
be given. Is that not so? It is often defined
as unmerited favor. Unmerited favor. meaning it's
absolutely free. It can't be earned, or it wouldn't
be free grace, would it? I love that term, grace, God's
free grace. There's a hymn in our hymn book
with the title, Grace is a Charming Sound, and it is to every child
of God. One verse says, grace taught
my soul to pray and made my eyes overflow towards grace that's
kept me to this day and will not let me go. Peter, do you
want to follow the crowd? Do you want to go away? They're
the majority. They're the majority. Do you
want to go with them? And Peter said, I can't. I can't. This is grace. This is grace
that makes us to differ. Because by God's grace, we say,
we've got nowhere else to go, brother Lord. We've got nowhere
else to go. You've got the words of eternal
life. You're the Messiah. You're God's
anointed. You're the one He sent into the
world. We're convinced of it. We know it. And we've got nowhere
else to go, or no one else to go to. Yes, God leaves his dear
children alone. He gives, gives. Not earned, not deserved, not
bought. No, no, no. That's not grace. Turn, if you will, to Isaiah.
Here's a description of God's grace. The prophet describes
it as free. Absolutely free. Isaiah chapter
55, ho, the prophet says. Isaiah 55 verse 1, ho, everyone
that thirsteth, everyone that thirsteth, anyone thirsty? In John 7, we
read that last day of the feast, our Lord stood. after for seven
or eight days watching people go through the motions of just
vain, empty religion. Just going through the motions.
And he stood and said, is anybody thirsty? Is anybody truly thirsty? Does anybody really want to know
God? Is anyone fed up with just mere
religion, going through the motions? If you are, he said, come to
me and drink. Come to me and drink. The prophet
says the same thing. Oh, is anybody thirsty? Come ye to the waters. Well,
how can I come? Empty-handed, bankrupt, he that
hath no money, Religion says bring this, bring that. Oh, but
free grace, grace says you can only come empty handed. He that
hath no money, come ye, buy and eat, yea. Come buy wine and money
without, or milk rather, without money and without price. Wherefore, wherefore, oh I just
wonder, Does this fit the description of anyone here today? Wherefore
do you spend money for that which is not bread and your labor for
that which satisfieth not? Our Lord told the woman at the
well, drink of this water and you'll thirst again. Drink of
the wells of this world and you'll soon thirst again and you have
to go back and go back and go back because they cannot satisfy. Oh, but drink of the water that
I shall give you, our Lord said, and you'll never thirst again. Never thirst again. Wherefore
do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor
for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto
me. Herein your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with you, even the assured mercies of David." When David
lay upon his deathbed, he said, even though my house be not so
with God, not like I want, not like I desire, he said, yet,
yet. This hasn't changed. God has
made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure."
And he said, this is all my salvation. I lay my dying head upon this
pillow of God's sovereign grace and I sleep, the sleep of the
beloved, those who die in the Lord. The Spirit and the bride
say, come. And let him that heareth say,
come. And whosoever will. People hear us from time to time
mention election. sovereignty, predestination,
and they say, oh, you don't believe whosoever will. Oh, yes, I do.
Whosoever will. Let him take the water of life
freely. That's good news to needy, bankrupt
sinners. It's your poverty. It's your
poverty that qualifies you for his grace until you have nothing
to pay. Until you come empty-handed,
you'll never hear, I freely forgive you all. All your sins, which
are many, are all forgiven thee. Oh, that requires, does it not,
nothing less than reigning grace. Where sin reigns, grace must
reign. Grace that actually saves. Grace that gets the job done.
This is the grace we read of in God's Word. Grace that really
saves sinners from all their sins. Grace that calls them affectionately
out of darkness. Grace that works. Grace that
saves God's people from their sins, not grace that merely offers
to save. What good would that do? Of what
benefit would that be to a helpless sinner? Grace doesn't offer to
raise Lazarus. Oh, no, no. Grace raises Lazarus. personification of grace comes
to the tomb of dead sinners, those described in God's Word
as being dead in trespasses and sins, and He who is the resurrection
and the life says, live, live. That's what I pray for. I'm not
waiting for a dead sinner to take the first step to Christ.
Like someone telling an old farmer one time, about a so-called miracle
that occurred in the Catholic religion. A certain St. Dennis was beheaded and lo, a
miracle occurred because after being beheaded, he picked up
his head and tucked it under his arm and walked a thousand
miles to St. Peter's Square. And the old farmer
said, well, I declare it. I wouldn't have any problem at
all believing that. If you can convince me, he took
the first step. If he took the first step, he
walked a thousand miles. And if a sinner did, he trespasses
and sins, can take the first step to God, he doesn't need
grace. He can take all the steps. Oh,
but the truth is, the truth is, Being dead in trespasses and
sins, we must have Him come to where we are. And that's what
happens. Ezekiel, God asked the prophet,
after placing him in that valley of dead, dry bones, can they
live? Can they live? And religion says,
oh, it's easy. It's easy as can be. But God
says, no, it's impossible with men. Oh, but not with God. Not according to God's amazing
grace. Not when the Prince, our great
Lord and Savior, the Prince of life, when He comes, when He
comes, that's what I want, Lord, don't you? I don't want my children,
my sons and daughters, never have going somewhere and being
talked into a decision. being coaxed into walking up
an aisle. No, no, no. I want them to know
Christ. I want them to experience God's
grace. Nothing short of that. I want
them, as Paul said concerning himself, to know him. Or our
Lord himself prayed that they might know thee the only true
God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. That's what grace
does. The Lord David says, we'll give grace. No one else can. No one else
can. No one else has grace to give. A preacher can't give you grace,
this one or any other. A priest cannot give you grace. No church can give you grace.
a Baptist church or a Catholic church. Grace must come from
Christ. He has it and He gives it. He gives and gives and gives
more grace because He's the God of all grace. John said, we saw
Him. We saw Him. The only begotten
of the Father. We saw Him that created everything
that is. We saw Him that made everything
that is made. And lo and behold, that same
eternal Word, the very expression of the otherwise invisible God
was made flesh. What a wonder! What a wonder! Oh, that too is more than I can
chew. The more I attempt to chew it,
the bigger it gets. But he was God and didn't cease
to be God. He didn't cease being God. But
he became what he never was. He became like his brethren. He became flesh of our flesh
and bone of our bones. And John says, we beheld him.
We beheld him. The only begotten of the Father.
And John said, he's full of grace. Full of grace and truth. Always, always. All the grace, John, that you'll
ever need. All the graces that this needy,
helpless sinner will ever need. All the grace required to keep
me in this life. All the grace required to preserve
me and bring me before His throne where He will present me a product
of His grace, His workmanship, without a spot, without a blemish,
without any trace of sin whatsoever. Hallelujah, what a Savior. What
a Savior, full of grace and truth and all the grace. that all of
his people need every day, every step of their journey, every
pilgrim ever it needs, never lessens the supply of grace that
our Redeemer has. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that
amazing? My need will never outweigh his
supply. He's always full, always full
of grace and truth. He says, look unto me and what?
You might be saved. No. No, that's not good news. He says, look unto me and be
ye saved. Be ye saved. Every child of God
here can bear witness to the truth of that promise. When God
removed the scales from your eyes, As old Newton said, I was
blind. Just as blind as I could be.
I was blind to who God was. I was blind as to who I was.
I was blind as to my need. I was blind to eternity. I was
blind to heaven. I was blind to hell. I was blind
to all that. But one day, one day, the light
of the world came. And that same one who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, shined into my heart. He turned
the light on. And oh, I feared. My heart feared. For the first time in my life,
Louie, you remember? You remember? Oh, how I feared to lay down
at night. How I feared to wake up and face
another day. So thirsty. So lost. I thought, is this all there
is to it? Is this it? I'm going to live a little while
and then I'm going to die. That's it? Is there no more to
life than that? Is that all I had to look forward
to? And then after death, the judgment? And for the first time
in my life, I felt my need of his mercy. Nothing else mattered. Nothing
else mattered. At one time I thought, I want
this and I'll be happy. If I get this, I'll be happy.
If I can buy that, I'll be happy. And then I thought, it wouldn't
make any difference if it was all laid at my feet. What would
it mean? What's it worth? Oh God, I'm thirsty. I'm lost. I'm undone. Would you have mercy
on me? Would you have mercy on me? And bless his name. He said,
I will. I will be thou. Be thou cleansed. Be thou justified,
sanctified, redeemed, made righteous. Go home justified in the sight
of God Almighty. That brings rest, does it not?
Come unto me all ye that labor, he said, and I will. Not I'll
try to or I might. No, I will give you rest. And
there is no sweeter rest. this side of heaven itself, I
dare say, then living in this world, knowing that I have peace
with God, knowing that my sins are forgiven, that I've been
brought nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ. Yes, yes, I once
was far off, but now I've been brought nigh, nigh. by the blood of Christ. The hymn
writer expressed it right when he said it. He didn't go too
far when he wrote, near, so very near to God. Nearer I cannot
be, for in the person of his Son I am as near as he. As much loved, as much accepted
as the Son himself. What grace. The Lord will give
grace. Continually. Continually. He giveth, and he giveth, and
he giveth more grace. His grace is not measured by
man's standard, but by his own great namesake. For my glory,
he says. For my honor. Our Lord told Paul,
when Paul prayed for that thorn in the flesh, whatever it might
be, or was, rather. He doesn't bear it now. To depart
from Him, God spoke and said, Paul, I'll not do it, but I will
do this. I'll give you more grace. My
grace is sufficient for thee. Is that true for me, too? Is
God's grace sufficient for this sinner, too? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. He giveth grace. 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, he is multiplied
grace. Thank the Lord. He giveth more
grace. Children of God. Children of
God. cry of our heart not cease to
be one of gratitude and praise as we confess every day, every
hour, every minute as pilgrims making their journey through
this world, oh to grace how great a debtor. Daily I'm constrained
to be. Is that not so? But look, look
at the text. That's not all, is it? It says
the Lord will give grace, but it doesn't stop there, does it?
And glory. And glory. The Lord will give
grace and glory. One is as certain as the other. Grace is the forerunner of glory. Glory. The Lord will give, not
grace and purgatory, that imaginary halfway house, or not grace and
soul sleep, as the so-called witnesses tell us, oh, but grace
and glory. They're inseparable. They cannot
be torn apart. What God is doing together cannot
be torn asunder. If I ever partake of His grace,
Oh, child of God, isn't this good news? If I ever partake
of his grace, I shall partake of his glory as well. That's
what we're told. Grace is the firstfruits of glory. Grace is the firstfruits and
glory is the full harvest. Grace is the bud and glory is
the flower. Glory is the consummation of
God's grace. Turn if you will to Romans chapter
8. What is glory? What is glory? Paul tells us
in Romans 8 verse 18. He says, Romans 8 and
18, 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. For the earnest expectation of
the creature waited for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature
was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him
who had subjected the same in hope. because the creature itself
also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into
the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the
whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And
not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits
of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting
for the adoption to wit, the redemption of our body. Glory is to be where he is. Will that not be glory? Will
that not be glory? Father, I will that those whom
thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory. All of heaven, whatever it includes,
whatever it includes, will be ours. Paul said, the Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout. with the voice of the
archangel and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall
rise first, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught
up together with them in the clouds, and so shall we ever,
so shall we forever be with the Lord. Are you still in Romans
8? Look what Paul says at verse
16. The Spirit itself bear witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. If children
are then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together. Glory. Glory. To be with him and to be like
him. To be like him. Oh, will that
not be glory? To be with him. Oh, what glory. but to be like Him. John said,
Behold. Behold, I show you a wonder.
Behold, I show you a miracle, a marvel of God's grace. Behold,
what manner of love the Father had bestowed upon us that we
should be called the sons of God. And John said, It does not
yet appear what we shall be, but we know this. When He shall
appear, we shall be like Him. For we shall see him as he is,
like him, never again tempted, never a heart of unbelief, never
another sorrow or pain or death, no more sinful nature." I can't
imagine what that would be like. No more sinful nature. To love what he loves. to want what He wants, to will
what only He wills. Oh, that will be glory for me.
The psalmist in another place said, I will be satisfied when
I awake in His likeness. Go to sleep and wake up in His
likeness. I got an email last night. Bruce
Gresham. Some of you know. I never met
him. I've communicated with him by email and phone. I think Tommy
knew him and Robin. But God called him home yesterday.
His wife went out to the grocery store. Wasn't gone long. When she came back, he was gone. He passed out in Marigold, Mississippi. Bruce Gresham. He went home. He went home to be forever with
the Lord. Now notice again in our text
the order, the order of these blessings. The Lord will give
grace and glory. Glory is first. Or rather grace
is first, I'm sorry. Grace is first and glory after.
Grace now and glory to follow. Grace prepares us for glory.
Paul said in Colossians 1 and 12, God had made us meet, fit
to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Paul
said in 1 Corinthians 15, I am what I am by the grace of God
and his grace which was given me was not in vain. It never is, Joe. It never is. God's grace is never in vain,
never. If we don't have grace here,
there'll be no glory hereafter. If we don't know Him now, He'll
not know us then. You can't be preached into glory.
I know the custom is every time someone dies, they get Perry
Mason to preach the funeral. He never loses a case. Everybody
goes to heaven to hear them tell it, but not so. Only those who
have experienced his grace here shall enjoy glory hereafter. Remember what our Lord said?
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out." He says, they shall
come. And they shall all come. Every
one of them. And they'll come to me, he said.
They'll come in time. He said, the sheep will hear
the voice of the shepherd and they'll follow me. They'll follow
me all through life. And they'll follow me to glory. They'll follow me to glory in
eternity. Last Sunday morning, you may
recall, we preached from Luke 18. The publican and the Pharisee,
the title was Going Home Justified. We'll never be glorified if we're
not first justified. You'll not be with Christ in
glory if he doesn't reign in you now by his grace. Oh, but
God's grace. Paul said he had given us a good
hope through grace. That's the only thing that does.
Only thing that does. There's never been a day since
God saved me that I've looked back on the end of a day without
regret. Regret at what I did or didn't
do, the sinful thoughts, if not actions, and have in honesty
to cry out, oh, wretched man, that I am. Oh, but when I'm allowed,
when I'm enabled to take my eyes off myself, Lester, and look back to Him. Oh, I have
a good hope. I have a good hope. I can roll
the weight of my immortal soul over on Him. I can fall into
His everlasting arms. And I've got a good hope. A good hope through grace because
My hope doesn't rest upon me, but him. Not what I've done,
but upon what he's done on my behalf. Paul in Acts, in his sermon on
Mars Hill, told them, God has appointed a day in which he will
judge the world in righteousness by that man which he had raised
from the dead, Jesus Christ the Lord. In that day, in that day,
the hymn writer said, O when he shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found, dressed in his righteousness
alone, faultless, faultless to stand before the throne. When Linda Stoniker, Marvin's
wife, When it became obvious that she was leaving this world
in a matter of hours, Marvin asked her, he asked Linda, tell me, what
has God taught you during this illness? He said, I want to know. And
Linda said, well, Marvin, I've never before seen, as I do now,
the complete utter insufficiency of my righteousness and good
works before God. And I've never seen before, as
I do now, the complete and absolute sufficiency of Christ and His
righteousness. to be found in Him, wrapped up
in His righteousness, faultless to stand before the throne. In verse 7, and we close, they
go from strength to strength. Every one of them in Zion appeareth
before God. Amen.