The writer of the book of Hebrews
referred to those believers, the redeemed, of Old Testament
times as pilgrims and strangers on the earth. But what he says
concerning the Old Testament believers is true of all God's
children, in whatever day they may live in. I want you to listen
while I read just a portion of that scripture in Hebrews chapter
11, where they are thus described as pilgrims and strangers. The
writer says, By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out
into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance,
obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith
he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling
in a tabernacle with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of
the same promise. For he looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Does that not
ring a bell with you? Does that not sound familiar
in your own heart? And then on down in the chapter
he writes thus, these all died in faith, not having received
the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded
of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. Again, I ask you, does that not
ring a bell with you? For they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they
had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they
might have had opportunity to have returned or to have returned,
to gone back. But now they desire a better
country, that is unheavenly. Wherefore, God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he had prepared for them a city,
a city. And until we arrive at that heavenly
city that he has prepared for us, that Christ spoke about that
last night before he was crucified, he said, in my Father's house
are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. Now with that in mind, look again,
if you will, in Psalm 84. We want to take as our text just
a phrase, just some of the words in verse 11. But they are indeed
great and precious words. It says, for the Lord God is
a sun and a shield. That's what God is to his people. Then it tells us what God does. The Lord will give grace and
glory. That's my text. And you might
be thinking, well, that's a whole lot of text. That's a whole lot
of messages. And you're right. You're right.
The Lord will give grace and glory. Our Lord told his disciples
that same night in which he was betrayed. He said, if you were
of the world, the world would love his own. But, but, thank
God for that. You were of the world. That's
where I found you. You were no different than anybody
else, but that makes the difference. But because you are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, That's where
he found us. He extracted us by the hand of
omnipotent grace. This is what the prophet exclaimed,
look to the rock for whence ye were hewn and to the hole of
the pit whence ye were digged. And we didn't dig ourself out.
No, being in the world and children of wrath, even as others, God
by the mighty arm of his grace reached down and brought us out. And the prophet said, look back,
remember that, don't forget that. Look, if you will, at a couple
of passages here in the Psalms that speak of this very thing,
Psalm 40. Look at Psalm 40. Just as a reminder
before we come to our text, Psalm 40 verse 1. The psalmist writes, I waited
patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me and heard my
cry. What condensation or condescension
on the part of our great God that He, the high and lofty One,
the One that inhabits eternity, should hear the prayer on earth
of a needy sinner. But he does, doesn't he? And
David was overwhelmed by the thought, as indeed anyone should
be, that God would show such grace too. Verse 2. David says,
he heard my prayer, and this is what he did. He brought me
up also out of a horrible pit, out of the Mari clay. That's
where I was by nature. Christ said, that's where I found
you. You were in the world, but I chose you out of the world.
Before the world was, I chose you, and then in time, I brought
you out. out of a horrible pit, out of
the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, on Christ the solid
rock I stand. There's not a surer foundation,
a surer foundation than that, and established my goings." Look,
if you will, in Psalm 130. Psalm 130. There's so many of
these. We'll just look at this one,
then come back to Psalm 84. In Psalm 130, if I'm not mistaken,
Newton had an autobiography, I'm talking about John Newton,
and the title of it was Out of the Depths. This is exactly what
the psalmist says. Out of the depths, the depths
of my sin. the depths of this pit that I'm
in by nature with all other men. Out of the depths of my depravity,
out of the depths of my helplessness, hopelessness, out of the depths
have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Hear me. I'm not so far in the
depths that you can't hear me. I'm not so far fallen that you
can't reach down for me. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine
ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. Yes, the arm of the omnipotent
God of all grace reached down his hand for me. He reached way
down for me. I was lost and undone without
God or his Son when he reached down his hand for me. Larry, Chris, don't you ever
forget that. Don't you ever cease to be grateful
for that. Turn back if you will or if you
are already there. Psalm 84. I'm thankful to be
reminded of what we're promised in verse 11. The Lord will give
grace and glory. I need reminded of that, don't
you? We can say of this promise from
God what the hymn writer said concerning the love of Jesus
in the hymn in our psalm book, for his own. Oh, the deep, deep
love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free. Is it not so? He went on to say, it is an ocean
vast of blessing, vast of blessing. And on this side of that great
ocean, standing on this side of it, on the shore of now, in
this life here, our God promises to each of his own, I will give
you grace. all the days of your life, all
the days while I'm pleased to leave you here, I will give you
grace that will bring you to glory. The Lord says, I will
give grace and glory, real grace, real grace, Lonnie, real grace
for real need, not imaginary. not make believe, not that that's
called grace, grace that requires my assistance, grace that can
only work if I allow it. Oh no, that won't help me. What good would that do me? No,
our Lord says, I will give grace. And you remember what we read
in Hebrews again, chapter four? Let us come boldly to the throne
of grace. I like that expression, don't
you? A throne of grace, the writer says, we don't have a high priest
that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He
was tempted in all points like as we are. He's not indifferent. He's not cold. He's not detached
from what we're going through. He's flesh of our flesh and bone
of our bones. And the writer said, therefore,
in light of that, seeing that we have such a high priest, Jesus,
the Son of God, that's passed into the heavens, let us come
to him. Let us come boldly to the throne
of grace. that we may find help and mercy
in time of need." In time of need. That's all the time. That's all
the time, is it not, for the child of God? Oh, I like the
picture that the writer gives. The throne of grace pictures
Christ setting upon his throne of grace, always able, in every
case, to give grace, grace that keeps me, just as the same grace
that called me. Look in verse 7 here of Psalm
84. Here's the result of real grace
for real need. We're told they go from strength
to strength, from strength to strength. As old Newton said,
His grace has brought me safe thus far. His grace has. Can there be any other explanation? Can there be any other explanation
why we continue in the faith? Can there be? Can there be any
other reason apart from His mighty keeping grace? His grace has
brought me safe thus far, right up to this very moment in time. It's His grace that's the reason
I've been brought thus far. That's the only explanation. This is why we continue in the
faith. This is why we continue to serve
God, not because of ourselves. No, no, no. What does self do
in this matter? What does self do in this matter
of serving God? Hmm? What help does it offer? Oh, no. His grace enables us. We're not saved because of ourself. We're saved in spite of ourself. In spite of self and sin and
the world and the devil. Is that not proof of His mighty
grace? He's able to keep us safe thus
far. Why have we not? during those times of heartache
and sorrow, when Satan has come to us, just like he did Joe,
and whispered in our ear, why don't you just throw in the towel?
Why don't you just quit? Why don't you curse God and die? Why die? Why haven't we? Why
haven't we? We've heard Him whisper, and
we've been tempted to do it. Why haven't we? The same reason
Job didn't, because the God of all grace, setting up on His
throne of grace, declares, I will give grace. sufficient grace,
conquering grace, mighty grace that enables them to go from
strength to strength. Every one of them, look at the
second part of that verse, verse 7. Every one of them in Zion
isn't that rich. Every one of them, God's people,
that multitude. Every one of them he chose and
purposed to save. Every one of them that the sun
came into this world for. Every one of them that he lived
for. Every one for whom he shed his
precious blood. Every one who in time is called
out of darkness into his marvelous light. Every one of them. And they're a multitude that
cannot be numbered. Every one of them appeareth before
God. My soul, what a demonstration
of the sufficiency of God's mighty grace. Considering what we are
by nature, what we're still prone to, what we would do apart from
God's grace, my soul, what a proof. What a proof and what a comfort
to know that His grace is indeed sufficient for a sinner like
me. Oh yes, every one of them go
from strength to strength and they appear in Zion, in heaven,
in glory itself, before God. Oh yes, this is grace that indeed
reaches deeper than the stain has gone. And that's the kind
I need. Nothing less is going to help
me, Senator Louie. I know it. I know what I am. I know that in me, I feel it
every day. In me, there is a nature this
downward tendency that Paul spoke about in Romans 7, this old man,
this fallen man that I struggle against, the flesh against the
spirit, the spirit against the flesh, and I cry out with the
apostle, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me? But he answered the question,
didn't he? He didn't stop there. He said
in the next verse, I thank God through Jesus Christ my Lord. And in the next breath, after
making that confession, of not what he used to be, Paul
didn't talk that way, he knew better, but what he was right
then as an apostle, as a believer, as a preacher of God's free grace. He said, oh wretched man that
I wasn't used to be, but I am right now, even while I write
these words under divine inspiration. But in the very next verse he
writes, Therefore, there is therefore now no condemnation. Isn't that wonderful? Paul, you
just said you're a wretched man. You just said you sin with everything
you do. You just confessed that there's
nothing you do that's not tainted with sin. Oh, but there's no
condemnation. Why? To those who are in Christ
Jesus. Oh, thank God for his mighty
grace. It reaches across the ocean of
time As the hymn writer said, to the shore we now stand on,
and it brings us all the way across to the other side. Oh, indeed it is an ocean vast
of blessing, is it not? It reaches from here to eternity. Our text says the Lord will give
what? Grace and glory. Grace and glory. brings me out of that pit, sets
me upon the solid rock as we read a moment ago, the solid
rock, the sure foundation of Jesus Christ himself, him being
the chief cornerstone upon that foundation himself of which he
said the gates of hell cannot They cannot prevail against my
church. That foundation and that same
grace that puts me up on Christ and in Christ will bring me all
the way to glory. Now that's grace. That's real
grace for a real need. Our Lord said on one occasion,
as the great shepherd of the sheep, Let us pass over unto
the other side, he told his disciples, because he had a sheep on the
other side of the shore, a demoniac, a man possessed of 2,000 demons. Let's cross over. Oh, great shepherd of the sheep.
He said, I go out and look, and I search, and I find, And I seek
and I save. I don't seek and fail, I seek
and save that which was lost. Let us pass over into the other
side." And he found him. And you know the story. What
happened when he found him? Exactly what he intended to happen.
He saved him. He saved that poor man. He saved him by his mighty grace. And then we see him. Talk about
a before and after picture. That's you and I. Before grace
and after grace. Before Christ and after Christ. Oh, they come to him and there
he sits. Before, when we're introduced
to him, he's running around those tombs. He's completely insane. Possessed by devils. Cutting
himself. Nobody would come near the man.
I couldn't blame them. He breaks the fetters they tried
to bind him with? Oh, but when he saw Jesus, we
read in Mark 5, and he that sets upon the throne of mighty grace
says, come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. Look what grace
has done. I see that man now. He's not
the same man. Can that be the same? Is that
him? Is that that guy who's out in
the tombs? Look at him now. He's sitting calmly, at peace,
peace in his soul, peace with God. He's sitting at the feet
of the Prince of Peace, clothed and in his right mind. That's
grace. Thank God for that grace. Our
Lord said, let us pass over unto the other side. Let us pass over,
he said. Don't think that you go alone. Don't think, brothers and sisters,
pilgrims and strangers in this world, that you're alone. The
captain of our salvation says, let us pass over. I'll never
leave you and I'll never forsake you. Who's going to prevent the
journey from being completed? Who's going to stop that journey
from reaching its destination when he says, let us pass over? The success of it depends not
on us, but upon him, the captain of our salvation. And if he says,
let us pass over to the other side, If He says, I will give
grace and glory, brothers and sisters in Christ, every one
of us that have experienced His grace, without a doubt, are going
to experience His glory. If His word is true, is it? If He's able to save to the uttermost,
is He? If He's indeed the mighty God,
the Prince of Peace, Is He? Yes, He is. And it's He that
says, let us pass over unto the other side. I'm in the boat of
grace with Him. I'm with Him. Several years ago,
Lindsey Campbell, I may have told you this. I'm at that age
now where I repeat myself. I don't remember, so bear with
me. Maybe you don't remember if I
did tell it before, but Lindsey, every year, a part of his family
reunion, he and his brothers and cousins and so forth have
a golf outing. And he invites some of us other
fellas. Well, I went one year. And one
of the places we played on a Saturday afternoon was at the country
club in Danville. That's a place for members only.
They've got a sign as you drive down the lane, members only.
I'd never been there before. I wasn't a member. They wouldn't
let the riffraff in, Terry. But I was with Lindsey. Lindsey
arranged to have us come. Lindsey's a member. I was with
Him. I was with Him. That's the only
reason I was there. If Christ says, let us pass over
into the other side, we shall. You know why? Because I'm with
Him. I'm with Him. I'll be ushered
into the very presence of God without spot or wrinkle or any
such thing. I will appear in Zion before
God, accepted looked upon with delight, satisfied in me. Why? Because I'm with Him. I'm with Him. Bless God. I'm with Him and I'm there based
upon His worth and His merit and what He did to please God.
This is what Paul says in Romans 8. If God be for us, who can
be against us? What shall we say to these things,
the apostle asked? What things? These things. Whom he did foreknow. He did
predestinate. And whom he predestinated, he
called. And whom he called, he justified. And whom he justified, he glorified. What are we going to say to those
things? Let's say this. If God be for us, who can be
against us? And Paul issues a challenge to
everything present. anything past, anything in the
future that might be invented. He says, what can separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus? And he concludes,
nothing, nothing. Why? Because I'm with Him. I'm with Him. In Ephesians chapter
2, we're told that we who once were dead have been quickened
quickened by the grace of God, that in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding riches of His grace." The exceeding riches
of His grace. No one name is sufficient in
Scripture, in human language, to serve as a name for our great
God. That's why he reveals himself
by different names. One's not enough. That's why
God, by different names, describes his person, his glorious character,
his great attributes. Those names mean those things. The Lord God says, the Lord God,
our sun and shield, the Lord, the mighty God says, I will give
grace and Glory. That's comforting. Who's going
to stop Him? Who's going to stop Him? Me? My sin? Oh no. Where sin abounded,
His grace doth much more abound. Paul again in Ephesians 2 says
he's rich in grace. He'll never run short. The recession
won't touch this. It won't affect the riches of
God's grace. Turn if you will to 1 Kings,
1 Kings chapter 10. Here you have the record of the
Queen of Sheba visiting Solomon in 1 Kings chapter 10. This is
a picture of the riches of His grace. Kingdom of Sheba, she'd heard
about Solomon, his rule, his reign, his riches. There was
none richer. His wisdom, there was none wiser
on earth. And she said, this is just too
good to be true. This has got to be an exaggeration. So I'm going to go see for myself. So that's exactly what she did.
Look at verse 4 of 1 Kings 10. So when the queen of Sheba had
seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built,
and the meat of his table, and the setting of his servants,
and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers,
and his assent by which he went up into the house of the Lord,
there was no more spirit in her. She found out everything she'd
heard in her own country was true, was true, was more than
what she had heard, verse 6. And she said to the king, it
was true, it was a true report that I heard in mine own land
of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit, I believed not the words
until I came. until I came, and mine eyes had
seen it. And behold, the half was not
told me, thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the thing which I heard."
Oh yes, Solomon was a wise man, but our Lord said, Behold, a
greater than Solomon is here. Because not of Solomon, but of
Christ is it spoken, God has made him to be unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Behold, a greater
than Solomon is here. Yes, he was wise. He was wise,
but I'll tell you what, he couldn't answer this question. The Queen
of Sheba, we're told in verse 1, came to prove Solomon. In
1 Kings 10, she came to prove him with hard questions. I'll just test him. I'll see
how wise a man he is. I'll see if these rumors are
so. But I'll tell you what, I don't know what she asked. Said all
the things that are hard. But there's a question that Solomon
in all his wisdom would never have been able to answer. would
have never been able to furnish the solution to. How can a man
be just with God? Who can answer that? Who can
answer that? None but the Lord Jesus Christ. Solomon couldn't for himself
or anybody else justify himself, but again, Hear the words of
our Lord. Behold, a greater than Solomon
is here. I tell you, this man, he said,
goes home justified, our Lord said concerning the publican.
And you remember what the publican prayed. Lord, be merciful. You know the word he used for
merciful? Lord, be propitious to me. He had his eye toward the mercy
seat. And our Lord said, He goes home
justified. And bless God, our Lord is faithful
and just to forgive us of our sins, because our sins were placed
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Psalm 85, just the psalm
below the one we read. Look what it says in verse 10.
Behold the greater than Solomon is here because only he answers
this question. How can a man be just with God?
Mercy and truth are met together. Where did they meet? At Calvary. At Calvary. Mercy there was great
and grace was free. There God exacted justice upon
the Son of His love. He made Him to be sin for us. Oh yes, mercy and truth are met
together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. You remember when our Lord was
on the Mount of Transfiguration? We're told that two men appear
to talk to Him, Moses and Elijah. And they talked about not Moses'
exodus from Egypt, but they talked about our Lord's exodus, His
decease that He should accomplish at Jerusalem. My, what a feat! What an accomplishment! There
and then upon the cross, He bore all the sins of all of His people
away for Ever! No wonder when Peter said, let's
build three tabernacles, one for you, and one for Moses, and
one for Elijah, the Lord said, the Lord God from heaven spoke
and said, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased,
not Moses, not Elijah, but him, Peter, hear ye, him. And when the cloud had departed,
We're told they saw no man save Jesus only. Lester, that's perfect
vision. I don't have it now. Oh, but
one day I will. I'll see him as he is and love
him with an unsinning heart. Our text says the Lord will give
grace. Give. Give, oh yes, it must be
given because grace itself is unmerited. It's always a gift,
always a gift. It's unmerited favor. When I
first received it, it was unmerited. There was no reason in me that
God gave it. Therefore, there's no reason
in me that God doesn't continue to give it. Oh yes, it remains
the same, on the same grounds, given freely, or else it would
cease to be grace. It would cease to be grace, wouldn't
it? If it could be merited, earned,
oh no, it would cease to be unmerited favor. Don't you find that comforting? When our hearts are heavy, and
they are, And our tears are blurred, or rather, I'm sorry, our eyes
are blurred by tears. And we're just not seeing clearly. Just not thinking right. At those
times with heavy hearts and tearful eyes, we wonder, will he always
give grace to me? We wonder. I'm just being honest. I wonder, will His grace be sufficient
for this? Can He bring me through this? Oh, yes. James says, He giveth,
and He giveth, and He giveth more grace. We don't measure
free grace by the hand of a man. Oh, no. It doesn't come to us
through the hands of a man. It comes to us through the hands
and the mediator, Lord Jesus Christ. And He's not restricted. He has all the grace that I'll
ever need. And think of this, all the grace
that's required to keep us this one day Think of that. All the
grace that's been necessary to keep all of his people. Oh, a
day is too long. How much grace is required to
keep all of his people for one hour? Oh, that grace will keep
them all the hours of all their lives, every one of them. And think of this, that supply
is never He giveth and he giveth and he giveth more grace, but
he never has less grace. It's always full, it's always
running over to the hearts and needs of all of his people. No wonder the writer said, he
sets upon a throne of grace. Oh, in those times when I doubt,
God give me that grace to look away from sin and look away from
self and to behold Him. To behold Him. That's the remedy
for a troubled heart. This afternoon I sat at my desk
looking over my notes and I had the computer on just a few inches
from me. And I heard this humming sound.
I thought, well, I don't know what that is, why that thing's
making that noise, but I'm going to turn it off. It's bugging
me. Then I looked up. It wasn't the computer. It was
the fan, the ceiling fan that I had turned on just a few minutes
ago making that humming noise. And I didn't even realize it
until I looked up, until I looked up. God give me grace to look
up, not to look down at this, oh, but to look up. I will lift
up mine eyes into the hills, from whence cometh my help. My
help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. And it's he that says, I will
give you grace and glory. He that promised it also says
glory, does he not? Oh, amazing grace, sufficient
grace, grace that is greater than all my sin. Listen to the testimony of one
old sinner. This is what he wrote. He said,
I am Magdalene. I am Zacchaeus. I am the thief. I am the harlot. I am the publican. I am the prodigal and one of
Christ's murderers. That's me. Yea, worse than any
of these. And yet God was so far off from
rejecting me, as I found afterwards, that there was music and dancing
in his house for me, and for joy that I was come home unto
him." An old sinner by the name of John Bunyan wrote that, and
I expect it was taken from Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners.
And he didn't go too far. Our Lord said, when I find one
of my sheep and put up on my shoulders and
I bring it home, there's rejoicing in heaven, he said. Isn't that
amazing? Isn't that amazing? Rejoicing
in heaven over one sinner that repenteth by God's grace. But then he says also, I shall give glory, grace and
glory, and I'll be brief. Glory. Glory. I have to be brief. Lester, I don't have a choice.
What can I say about glory? How can I describe glory? What
do I know about glory? Just the glimpse that our Lord
has been pleased to give us. Glory. Listen. This is it. This is it. Listen. Father, I
will also, are you listening to our high priest that night
in the garden? Father, I will also that those
whom thou has given me be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory. Look, look, Revelation 22. And they shall behold his face. Oh yes, he that gives grace promises
to give glory. You know, when I get an email on the computer, and I got several
this morning, they had attachments with them, attachments. This
is God's attachment to grace, glory. To whomever God gives
grace, it comes with this promise, this attachment, I will give
glory. Grace comes before the sinner,
and grace comes behind this sinner, and it leads me, and it follows
me. I can say with the psalmist,
surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life. It already has. And God promises
that it always will. He's done all these things well
for this sinner. And grace will be consummated.
It will be complete in glory. And I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. Glory to be with Him. Glory to be like Him. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. and it doth not yet appear what
we shall be." Not yet. When He shall appear, when He shall appear, oh, I'm
looking forward to that. When He shall appear, we shall
be like Him. for we shall see him as he is. Oh, that will be glory, will
it not? That will be glory for me. Fear not, little flock, the great
shepherd and bishop of our souls said. Fear not, little flock,
it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Isn't that something? God says,
I delight to do this. I take pleasure in this. It's my good pleasure to give
you the kingdom. And when life's journey is over,
and I, the dear Savior, shall see, I'll praise Him forever
and ever for saving a sinner like me. God bless you.