Turn with me in your Bibles this
morning to the book of Psalms, chapter 45. I'll read just some
verses here, or a couple verses to start with, and then some
other verses. But the psalmist says, My heart
is indicted are full a good matter." Now what is this good matter? He says, I speak of the things
which I have made touching the King. So his heart is full concerning
the King, and that is the King, the Lord Jesus Christ. He says,
My tongue is a pen of ready writer. Then he says, Thou art fairer
than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips. Therefore God has blessed thee
forever. The book of Psalms sets out the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. It sets him forth as the anointed
prophet. It also sets him forth as the
anointed priest. And it sets him forth as the
anointed king. Look at verse number six. Thy
throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom
is a right scepter. So it sets him forth gloriously
that he reigns, and he reigns forever, and he is sovereign
over all things. This tells us this morning of
the Lord Jesus Christ, how excellent that he is, says he is farer
than the children of men. It also says, right here in these
verses, that he's blessed forever. And it says in verse number 7,
Thy God has anointed thee with oil of gladness above thy fellows. So we have the King, the Lord
Jesus Christ, and he says, Thou art fire. In the Hebrew, this
means double. This word does. It's beautiful,
beautiful, or fire, fire. And Samuel Rutherford then wrote
this. He says, O fire sun, O fire stars,
fire flowers, fire roses, fire lilies, but O ten thousand times
fire, Lord Jesus. Then he says, Alas, I have wronged
him in making the comparison this way. O black sun and moon,
But O fire, Lord Jesus! O black flowers and black lilies
and roses, but O fire, fire, ever fire, Lord Jesus! O black
heaven, but O fire, Christ! O black angels, but surpassingly
fire, Lord Jesus! The natural man, the natural
eye, the carnal mind discovers no beauty in the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 53 tells us this. He was hated. He was reviled. He was sent in likeness of sinful
flesh. And He experienced the very scorn
of this cruel world. That was the enmity, the enmity
of the natural man against Him. But here it speaks of His beauty,
His great beauty. There is the beauty of His perfect
manhood. We look at ourselves and our
origin and our birth. We look at our behavior and what
do we see? We see depravity, don't we? We
see deceitfulness. We see sin. We look a little
more, we see more sin, don't we? And Adam, David said this,
he says, I was shaped in a nickel and in sin did my mother conceive
me. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
sinless. The Lord Jesus Christ has sinless
perfection, and He is the only one. Innocence is not found among
the sons and daughters of Adam. But here is Christ, and here
is His beauty. He is spotless. He descended
into the midst of sin and defilement, yet He contracted none. He ate
up with sinners. The Bible says He is a friend
of sinners, and boy, I am glad of that, aren't you? That He
is a friend of sinners. He is the Holy One. There is
His birth. Here is something new upon the
face of the earth. He was born of a sinful woman.
Yet He has no taint of a sinful nature. From Bethlehem to Calvary,
there is no defilement in our Lord Jesus Christ. Look at this
beauty! On Calvary, He bore our sins. He made atonement for our sins.
The Bible even says over in Corinthians, made sin for us. There is the
beauty of this perfect One. There is the beauty of His righteousness. And righteousness is a beauty.
He perfectly obeyed the holy Word of God. He fully obeyed
God. We find that there has never
been one before. There's never been one after
that perfectly obeyed God. He's the only one. He said his
delight was to do the will of God. His meat, that was his meat. He came to finish the work. We
find that Christ said of Satan, he has nothing in me. Can he
find anything? Pilate's wife said he was a just
man. Pilate said, I find no fault
in this man. The dying thief says he's done
nothing amiss. The centurion said that he was
a righteous man. Peter said he did no sin. No
cow found in his mouth. Christ says, I always do those
things that please the Father. His obedience was pure and spotless. Ever thought of his heart? every
look of his eye, every word of his mouth, every action is righteousness. What beauty, what beauty in the
Lord Jesus Christ. This wrought robe, this beauty
is for all the election of grace. This righteousness. It tells
us here that the daughters of Zion, that they may appear before
the King. And He's my righteousness. He's
my salvation. And there's the beauty of His
lowliness. You know, we look at this and
we're lost in wonder. We're lost in love. We're lost
in praise as we think about Him coming from the heights of glory
down to this world. Oh, He was born. And there's
the Virgin Mary. She carried him in her arms,
but he's her Creator. He created her. Here's one that
is a possessor of all riches, unsearchable riches. Yet the
Bible says, for our sakes, he became poor. There's beauty in
this, isn't there? What self-denial that our Lord
went through. What meekness. The Bible says
he is oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth as
a lamb done before the shepherds there. Oh, he prayed, Father,
forgive them. We see the cross and the humiliation,
but we read in the Old Testament there that he has sat like a
flint to that cross. Sat like a flint toward it. Even
his disciples forsook him. But oh, the beauty we see of
this lowliness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the beauty of
His love, that covenant love before the world was framed.
What could bring Him from heaven's glory? Love. We see Him in Gethsemane. Love. We see Him at the cross. Love.
We see Him under a load of sin for His people. What was it?
Love. Oh, John, the 15th chapter says,
as a father, love of me, so I have loved you. Isn't that our beautiful
Lord? Fire, Lord Jesus. What love! Oh, this love has sought us. This love has found us. This
love has delivered us. This love has washed us. And
this love clothes us. And this love is going to carry
us to glory, as you sung while ago. It's a rich love. Everlasting love. Unchanging
love. Then the Scripture says this,
grace is poured into thy lips. Grace. Hawker said this, it's like honey
that it might drop upon his people, this grace to cheer and enrich
them. to cheer his people. Grace is
a precious word. Not only is it a precious word,
it's something special, isn't it? Grace is God's favor to the
hell-deserving. His grace can't be earned, it
can't be merited, and it can't be bought. But it's grace to
the hopeless, It's grace to those that are
dead in trespasses and sin. It's free. It's sovereign grace. It is grace that put us into
Christ. It is grace that we are chosen
in Christ. It is grace that we are accepted
in Christ Jesus. And His people, His elect, His
chosen shall know the grace of these field lips. Turn with me
over to Ephesians chapter number 1. I want you just to look at this
verse 13. Now here's these lips of grace
pouring honey, flowing. Look what it says, "...in whom
ye trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth." Now, don't
ever tell me that truth's not important. A lot of people say
it's not important. But here it says, "...after ye
heard the word of the truth." Now, notice this. The gospel
of what? Of your salvation. Oh, have you
heard these lips of grace one day tell you of your salvation? Tell you what Christ has done.
Here it is, the gospel! Not the gospel for somebody else,
the gospel for you! It tells you what Christ has
done for you! The gospel of your salvation,
in whom also after that you believed. Then you are sealed. for the
Holy Spirit of promise. Oh, I hear these lips, these
grace-filled lips. You know one thing they tell
me? I've loved you with an everlasting love. In loving kindness, I've
drawn you unto myself. Oh, what grace that flows! Loves
you before heaven and earth was framed, before it was called
into existence. I hear these lips say, in love,
having predestinated you unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ Himself. In this love, oh, I hear Him say, I love you
to the end. I'll never forsake you. I hear
these lips say, and here's this grace, and it says, that you
was lost, but now I've found you. I'm the shepherd. I came to seek
and to save the lost. I hear this shepherd say, you
were gone astray. We've all went our way, the scripture
says. We've wandered far away. But
he says, I've found you. I've found you. I hear these
lips say, Come unto me. Come. Come. Peter says, To whom
cometh? I believe that's what the Christian
life is. It's coming to Christ. It's coming to Christ. It's coming
to Christ. It's coming to a continual thing. Oh, he says, I have found you.
Isn't that a beautiful picture where he goes out and finds a
sheep, puts it on his shoulders? The lamb puts him on his shoulder.
He says, I have laid you on my shoulder. What a place. He says, I have drawn you with
cords of love. I have effectively drawn you,
effectually drawn you. You know, He said, I am John.
It says, if I be lifted up. Now, what was this lifting up?
It was the cross. That's what it was. Right before that, He says, the
cross. He says, I'm going to draw all unto Me. He's going
to draw all His people unto Him. All these lips of grace, they
speak life. Life. He says, My life I've given
you because I live, you live. I've chosen you out of this world
because I chose you from the beginning before the world. Now
I've called you out of this world. I hear these lips say, I've redeemed
you. I've bought you. I've obtained an eternal redemption.
I paid in full whatever justice demanded. Whatever is demanded,
He says, I paid. I paid it all. Oh, what grace! What grace! This grace, this free, sovereign
grace. It says, I've been gracious unto
you. I'll be gracious and I'll be
merciful. He says, I have forgiven you
these sins. That's grace, isn't it? Hear these lips of grace. He says, I have forgiven you.
Oh, our sins had been heaping up from the day we were born. But He says, I put cleanses from
all sin. Cleanses. He says, I put it away. What grace! I put it away as
far as the east is from the west. I put it in the very depths of
the sea, never to be remembered anymore behind my back. And He's took it out in the wilderness,
never to be seen again, hasn't He? Took it out. Oh, these lips
of grace that say, I am your salvation. I took your place
on the cross. Substitutionary atonement. Oh, how great it is. Christ took
our very wrath. It's poured out on Him. He bore
it. He says, now you're free. You
know what the Lord calls His people? A free man. They're a
free man. And we're free. We've been made
free to serve the Lord. I want to serve Him. We've been
free to worship Him, and I want to worship the Lord of Glory.
I want to bow before Him. Oh, these lips of grace. It says,
I give you eternal life. None shall pluck them out of
My hands. Oh, these lips say, You're justified. You're made righteous. I'll spread
my righteousness, my perfect, whole, pure, complete over you. I'll put it over you. How are
we going to stand? It's His righteousness. That's
how we're going to stand. Doesn't it say you're justified
from all things? You know, we're saved in such
a way. Now, this is how great salvation
is. that we are saved in such a way, the Scripture says, that
none can bring a charge against God's elect. Now, you figure
that out. That's a great salvation, isn't
it? There's no condemnation to those that are in Christ. Oh,
these lips of grace says, I've sent my Spirit. I've sent my Spirit to set you
apart. You've been set apart already
in the purpose of God from the beginning. But now I've come
to set you apart in the world, set you apart in this world,
to sanctify you. Oh, I've given you a new nature,
a holy nature, a nature that John says cannot sin. Jude says we are sanctified because
the Father preserved in Christ Jesus. Then he says, cold, doesn't
he? Remember what he says? Oh, these
lips of grace says, I have blessed you and you have been blessed. He has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places. I flipped on the television one
day and I heard a girl read this verse. And he just got through
reading it, and then he says, well, if you'll let him, he'll
bless you. After he just read the verse, oh, he hath blessed
us. He hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places. And he goes on and says he's
abounded toward us. We have obtained an inheritance
this morning. Just think about the spiritual
blessings that have been given unto us. Everything we have has
been given to us. Listen, everything. Oh, to His
praise! Praise of His glory! Everything
has been given to us this morning. We have been blessed in the purpose
of God. We've been blessed in the power of the Spirit. We've been blessed by the Word.
The Word is the common Word only. But it came in power. It came
to our very hearts. And we are blessed with the very
promises of God. Precious promises. Exceedingly
great and precious promises. Oh, these lips of pure grace. They speak this morning of abounding
grace. It says sin abounded, but grace
did much more abound. Super abounding grace. The Bible
speaks of overflowing grace. It speaks of grace heaped up
on grace. It speaks of rivers of grace. It says God is of all grace. God of all grace. These lips
say to us this morning, rest, rest. Christ is our resting place. He's our Sabbath. That's the
only resting place. You can't rest this morning in
a works religion. No way. It's like they do this
and that and say, well, God's going to look, I'll get a star
for this and I'll get a star for that and God's going to take
notice of all of this. Oh, you can rest in grace. You can rest in what Christ has
done. I can't rest in what I've done, but I can rest in what
He's done. Our Lord Jesus Christ. You know these lips says, Rejoice.
Rejoice. For the dawn preacher, you're
completing Christ. Rejoice. You're completing Him. Here's something he says, and
I don't quite understand it. Maybe Brother Todd and some of
these other fellows can tell you. He says, all is yours. All
is yours. Rejoice. He says, peace. I'll give you peace. Not like
the world gives you. You know, the world, that's all
they talk about is peace. Never have any. It's a false
peace. It's a vaporizing peace. It just
comes for a little short time and it goes. But Christ, He's
our peace. And that's an everlasting peace.
Christ in Him, it's alright. And it's going to be alright.
And it's going to be eternally alright. In Christ. Amen. Amen. Oh, here's something
that helps these lips. It says, I pray for you. I pray
for you. I want my brothers and sisters
to pray for me. Oh, Christ says, I pray for you.
I receive for you. I'm your advocate. Him before the throne. Turn with
me over to John, the seventeenth chapter. Oh, here's this whole chapter. It's a grace. Here's our Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, you would have thought it
had been something to be beside of Christ when you prayed this.
He was there. God's recording it for us. Here
it is. Here it is, right here for us.
Oh, look at this this morning. Look what he says here in verse
number 24. Look what grace says. Father,
I will. I don't care a whole lot about your will and my will, but I
care about Christ's will. A man says he's going to do this
and that, and he may perhaps do it, and he may die, and a
lot of things can happen, but Christ says, I will. He says,
Father! Now here's these grace-filled
lips. Here's what Harker says, honey
to cherish. Honey to enrich us. He says,
I will that they also whom thou hast given me. Those that are given me. Look
at verse 2. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh. That's one gift. That He should
give eternal life. Second gift. To as many as thou
hast given Him. Here's another gift that people
has given unto Him. And He's the giver of eternal
life. But He says, I will, verse 24, that they also whom thou
hast given Me be with Me where I am. He says, I will. that they may behold my glory
which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation
of the world. Look at verse 23 at the end of
it. And has loved them as thou hast loved me. I just can't get
over those words, can you? He says you've loved them as
thou hast loved me. He says, You love with me before
the foundation of the world. He says, I will. Here is his
prayer. I will. Then our text, as we go back
to it, it says, Therefore God has blessed thee forever. He
has blessed our Lord forever. He is a blessed shepherd with
his sheep, and he enfolds them And I hear Him say, I must bring
them. Don't you? I must bring them. He is blessed to have a possession
of a people given to Him of His Father, redeemed by His blood,
quickened by His Spirit. And these shall praise and worship
and bless Him throughout all eternity. I say to you this morning,
we owe him everything. To his love, to his blood, to
his obedience. There's a host that's going on. There's another host. Many times
they go one by one. There's a host coming. And this
host is going to worship the Lamb throughout all eternity. Worship the Lamb of God. Thou
art fire. Beautiful, beautiful art thou
than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips. that he might grace us. God has
blessed thee forever. Amen. Thank you.