Grace and Glory (1)

Q: What does the Bible say about grace and glory?

The Bible teaches that grace and glory are intertwined, as seen in the work of Christ, who glorified the Father through His life and sacrifice. In John 17, Jesus speaks of His mission to glorify the Father while also revealing the grace extended to humanity through His actions. He emphasizes that the ultimate purpose of creation is to glorify God, which is fulfilled in Christ's life, death, and resurrection. This grace is not only a gift but also a means by which believers are sanctified and prepared for glory. Thus, grace and glory reflect God's redemptive purpose for humanity, culminating in eternal life with Him.

Q: How do we know that Jesus' sacrifice was sufficient?

Jesus affirmed the sufficiency of His sacrifice by declaring 'It is finished' before His death, indicating the completion of His redemptive work. In the gospel of John, particularly in chapter 17, Jesus underscores His mission to complete the work given to Him by the Father, which included the perfect obedience to the law and the ultimate sacrifice for sin. His declaration 'It is finished' signifies that He accomplished everything necessary for redemption. This assurance is also supported by passages like Hebrews 10:10, which indicate that Christ's one sacrifice does not need to be repeated, as it perfectly fulfilled the requirements for our justification before God. Through His death and resurrection, He secured eternal life for His people, affirming the complete sufficiency of His work.

Q: Why is substitutionary atonement important for Christians?

Substitutionary atonement is essential because it reveals how Christ bore the punishment for our sins, satisfying God's justice and granting us salvation. Substitutionary atonement is fundamental to Reformed theology, as it posits that Christ died in the place of sinners, taking upon Himself the wrath due for our transgressions. This truth is articulated in passages like Isaiah 53:5, which states that He was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. It is through this substitution that believers can receive forgiveness and righteousness, as God's justice has been satisfied. The doctrine emphasizes not only the seriousness of sin but also the depth of God's love in providing a Savior who willingly took our place, thus making salvation accessible to us through faith. Understanding substitutionary atonement deepens our appreciation for grace and compels us to live in gratitude and obedience.

Q: What role does the Holy Spirit play in the life of a believer?

The Holy Spirit acts as a Comforter, teacher, and guide, empowering believers to live according to God's truth. According to John 16:7-14, the Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in the life of a believer by convicting of sin, guiding into all truth, and glorifying Christ. He dwells in believers, transforming their hearts and enabling them to grow in holiness and obedience. The Spirit's work includes teaching us God’s Word, assisting in prayer, and applying the implications of Christ’s atoning work to our lives. As believers yield to the Spirit, they experience not only personal sanctification but also community transformation, as the Spirit unites them in love and purpose, fulfilling Jesus' prayer for oneness among His followers.

All right, let's open our Bibles
now to John, chapter 17. John, chapter 17. I have one
message for you today, one message that I'll preach,
half of it this morning and the other half this evening. The title of the message is Grace
and Glory. Grace and Glory. Just one message. I've got it
prepared here and I'm going to preach this morning until my
time runs out and cut her off right there and pick it up tonight
and finish it up the Lord willing. No, I'll never finish it. I never
will. Grace and glory, how could a
man ever finish it? That would be like crossing the
Pacific in a canoe, wouldn't it? Grace and glory. Now, in chapters, turn to John
17. In chapters 13 through 16, our
Lord talks to his disciples, and you will go back and read
those at some other time, this afternoon or sometime this week.
But beginning in chapter 13, when he met with them at the
supper and washed their feet and had all these things to say
to them, he talks to them about his death, which they didn't
understand, which they couldn't comprehend, about his death. You know, Peter said when he
talked about, I must go to Jerusalem, I must suffer, and I must die,
and Peter said, Not so, Lord, not so. They didn't like that
idea at all. They liked the idea of an earthly
kingdom, a Jewish kingdom, restoring the glories of the kingdom of
David and taking the bondage away and the power of the Roman
government off of them, but they didn't like this death idea.
But he talked to them about his death and his departure. He would
leave them. And he commanded them to love
one another. He said, This commandment, a new commandment I give you,
that you love one another. You love one another as I have
loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man
lay down his life for his friends. And by this shall all men know
you are my disciples, if you love one another. And he declared
unto them that he was going to prepare a place for them. He
said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe in
me. I go to prepare a place for you. And I'll come again. I'll return. I'll return for
you. That where I am there you may
be also. And he tells them that he and
the Father are one. They said, well, show us the
Father. He said, well, have you seen me? You've seen the Father.
And then he told them he'd send the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. Look over at John 16 just a moment. And verse 7, he says to them
in John 16, verse 7, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It's expedient
for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come. But if I depart, I'll send him
to you. I'll send the Holy Spirit to
you. And when he's come, he'll convict the world of sin, of
righteousness, and of judgment. of sin because they believe not
on me, of righteousness because I go to my Father and you see
me no more, of judgment because the Prince of this world is just.
And I've yet many things to say to you. You can't bear them now.
You can't understand them. You can't enter into them. Howbeit
when he, the Holy Spirit, is come, the Spirit of truth, he'll
guide you into all truth. He'll be your comforter and he'll
be your teacher. And he'll not speak of himself,
he's not going to call attention to himself, but whatsoever he
shall hear, that shall he speak. And he'll show you things to
come. He'll be your comforter, he'll
be your teacher, he'll be your prophet. He'll show you things
to come, and he'll glorify me. That's the office of the Holy
Spirit, that's the work of the Holy Spirit, to glorify Christ.
For he shall receive of mine. and show it to you, and all things
that the Father hath of mine. And therefore said I, he'll take
of mine and show it to you." And then down here in verse 28
of chapter 16, he kind of sums up all these words that he said
to them about loving one another and about his death and his departure
and about where he's going and about his purpose and about the
Holy Spirit. And he says in verse 28 of John
16, now listen, I came forth from my father and I'm coming
to this world. Again, I leave this world and
I go to my father. The father sent me. I came into
this world from the father. A child is born, but the son
was given. The father sent me into this
world. I came into this world. I'm leaving this world. I'm going
back to my Father. And his disciples said to him,
Lo, now speakest thou plainly. He didn't say anything there
about dying, did he? About suffering. He just said, I came from the
Father and I'm going back to the Father. And they said, now
we can understand that. This death business, we can't
get a hold of that. It's dying. How can God die? How can the Messiah die? all
the promises about the Messiah, promises of glory and life and
eternal happiness, and you speak no proverb. Now, verse 30, are
we sure that thou knowest all things? And needest not that
any man should ask thee? By this we believe that thou
camest forth from God. We believe that. Jesus answered
them, Do you really now believe? Do you really believe? The holy
hour comes and now is, is that you shall be scattered. All of
you will be offended. Do you really believe? One of
you will sell me. One of you will deny me. The
rest of you will be scattered, be offended. Do you really believe? You see, he's talked to them
all these preceding chapters about suffering and dying, the
Lamb of God, the sacrifice, the atonement, all these things,
could not get a hold of that. That's what the world can't get
a hold of, substitution. You can talk to the world about
religion, about morality, about laws, about deeds, about works,
about kingdoms, about glory and about heaven and all these things,
but don't talk to them about substitution. Isn't that right? Don't be too hard on this world,
the disciples couldn't see it. The Lord was their teacher, the
Lord was their preacher, the Lord was with them, and they
still couldn't see it. Oh, he talked to them about a
kingdom, they could enter into that. One won't sit on the right
hand, one on the left, you know. They talk about crowns, they
understand all that, but this business of substitution, about
dying, about satisfying God's holiness and God's justice and
righteousness, they couldn't get a hold of it. And when he said to them finally,
he said, well, I came from God. I came from God. And some of
you understand that he came from God because We needed a substitute,
we needed a savior, we needed a redeemer. God demands righteousness
and we don't have it. God demands obedience and we
haven't produced it. God's justice demands death for
the soul that sinneth and we can't do that and live too. And
heaven is a holy place prepared for holy people by a holy God. And we don't have the holiness
with which to enter there. Who shall stand in his presence?
Who shall send him to the hill of the Lord? He that hath clean
hands and a pure heart, who has never lifted his soul to vanity. And a new kingdom won't change
that. It's just like a fellow said
about the people in the slums, you know,
you can build a new housing project and move them from there over
here, but after about six months, they made slums out of this.
What you got to do is change the person. If you change the
person, he'll change your surroundings. And that's the thing about heaven
and holiness. If God took us out of this environment
here and took us to a perfect environment, we'd turn that into
this. Because this was perfect when God put us here. That's
right. When God made the world, he said
it's good. Isn't that right? It's good.
Everything he made is good. He made man, said it's good.
Who messed it up? Why is it not now good? That
man he put here messed it up. And the same thing about heaven,
if he took us like we are, as we are, to heaven, that would
be this after a while. But what we've got to have is
a new holiness, a new nature, a new heart. We've got to have
a righteousness. We've got to have what we can't produce. And
that's the reason Christ said, I came from heaven to do this,
in my doing and dying, in my living and suffering, in obeying
the law, in obeying justice, in obeying the law and satisfying
justice. I did this for you. and was buried
and rose again. And they said, now we understand,
you came from heaven, you're going back to heaven. No, you've
missed substitution. Do your luck in verse 32. The
hour cometh and now is come that you shall be scattered, every
man to his own, and leave me alone. But that's what he had
to do anyway, he had to walk the winepress alone. And yet
I'm not alone, because the Father's with me. And these things have
I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In this
world ye are going to have tribulation, and troubles, and trials, and
conflicts, and sorrow, and finally death. But be of good cheer,
I have overcome the world." Look at verse chapter 17. These words
speak Jesus. What words? What he just said,
13, 14, 15, 16, to his disciples. These words speak Jesus. Now then, he lifted up his eyes
to heaven. He lifted up his eyes to heaven.
He's talked to the disciples, now he's going to talk to God,
the Father. What he said in the preceding
chapters, he said to his disciples. Now he lifted his eyes to heaven,
and he said, Father, Father, I tell you, this is the true
language of prayer. I want God to teach me to pray.
I wish I knew how to pray. I'll tell you this, we pray because
we sin. He prays because he never sinned. We have to say when we pray,
the things I should have done, I've left undone, and the things
I shouldn't have done, I've done. When he prays, he said, I always
do those things that please my Father. This is prayer. This is the Lord's prayer. This
is not the disciples' prayer, this is the Lord's prayer. I
hear people say, well, let's pray the Lord's prayer. Our Father
which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. That's not the Lord's
prayer, that's the disciples' prayer. The disciples said to the Lord,
Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples to pray.
And the Lord said, when you pray, you say, Our Father which art
in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. forgive us this day our daily
bread, and forgive us our sins." That automatically makes it not
the Lord's Prayer, because he didn't have any sins. He couldn't
pray, forgive me of my sins, he knew no sins. That's a disciple's
prayer. This is the Lord's Prayer. And
here the language is simple, and yet it's too profound for
the greatest mind. And here in this prayer you have
the eternal Son speaking to the eternal Father about the eternal
covenant. This is the Lord's prayer. And this prayer is the purest,
it's the sweetest outpouring of true devotion that's ever
been recorded. And this prayer here in John
17 is a sample. It's left on this earth as a
sample of the intercession of our great high priest. And it's
not possible for me to speak on this prayer as it ought to
be preached. It's not possible for me to preach
it in one, two, or ten thousand sermons. So we'll just take it
as we come to it, as God gives us some understanding, and preach
from it, and ask the Spirit of God to give us some ability to
enter into it, and faith to believe it. I want to read it, and then I'll
come back and point out some things about it. Father, the
hour has come. glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. This is life eternal, that they
might know thee, the only true and Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent." Now, Mark verse 4, this is one
of my texts, one of the verses I'm going to speak from. I have
glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was. Mark verse 6, I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine
they were, and thou gavest them me. They have kept thy word.
Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given
me are thee. Mark verse 8, for I have given
unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received
them. and have known surely that I
came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst
send me, I pray for them. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they
are thine, and all are mine are thine, and thine are mine, and
I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world,
but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father,
O righteous Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou
hast given me, that they may be one as we are." Mark the twelfth
verse. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I
have kept. And none of them is lost but
the son of perdition, Judas, that the scripture might be fulfilled.
And now come I to thee, and these things I speak in the world,
that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them
thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are
not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not
that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou
shouldest keep them from the evil one. They are not of the
world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through
thy truth, thy word is truth. Now a little mark on this verse,
18. As thou hast sent me into the
world, even so have I sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify
myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. And neither pray I for these
alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their
word. that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me." Mark verse 22, "...and the
glory which thou gavest me I have given them." that they may be
one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they
may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me."
Father, I will. No human being has ever said
that to God before or since. I will. Don't try it. Only the God-man can will in
the presence of God. We pray thy will, not my will. But the God-man with authority
in heaven and earth says, I will. This is my will. This is what
I want. I will that they also, which thou hast given me, be
with me where I am, that they may behold my glory. Now he said,
I pray for them. I pray not for the world. I pray
for them which thou hast given me. And I will, this is my will. And I've got the right and the
authority to pray this way because he bought this world. He died
that he might be Lord of the dead and the living. I will that
they also, that they also whom thou hast given me be with me
where I am. They're going to be there too.
That they may behold my glory. in their sum, which thou hast
given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the
world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but
I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent
me. And I have declared unto them
thy name, and I'll keep on declaring it to them. They don't know everything
yet. I'll keep on declaring it, that
the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and
I in them. Now it's impossible for me to
speak this morning and tonight on that whole chapter, that whole
prayer. I could spend the rest of my
ministry on this practice. And so I've selected about seven
verses. in which our Lord used two words,
I have, I have, I have. He tells the Father what he has
done, I have done this, I have glorified thee, I have finished
the work, I have manifested thy name, I have given them thy words,
I have sent them into the world, I have given them my glory, I
have. What Christ has And oh, I tell
you, you tell me if you'll listen this morning and be here again
tonight, how encouraging are these words of our Lord Jesus
Christ. I receive such a blessing from
just looking at them and preparing this message, and I hope you'll
be blessed by them. Go down to verse 4 of John 17.
Our Lord said, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have glorified
thee on the earth." Here is the God-man, just as much man as
if he hadn't been God. I don't understand that. Two
natures in one person. Just as much God as if he had
never been a man, just as much man as if he had never been God.
But this man stood here and looked into the face of the Father and
said, I have glorified you on this earth. I have done it. Now, this is what man was created
to do, to glorify God. That's why Adam was made. When
God finished creating the heavens and the earth, the stars, the
moon, the sun, the clouds, the mountains, all the things that
he made, he said it's good. And then he put man down here
in his own image, and he said he's good. He created man holy
and upright. Over here in the book of Revelation,
chapter 4, let me just read it to you. Don't turn. Just write
it down in your notes and let me read it. Here is the purpose
of creation. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory, honor, and power, for Thou hast created all things,
and for Thy glory they are and were created." That's why they
were created, for Thy glory. Now, you can understand a little
something about this. I went out to Montana And I could
tell, I could give a hundred illustrations, right here a thousand,
but I went to Montana. And there was a man there who
restores old vehicles. An old model T. And I've ridden in model T's.
I saw them in their day. But they are awful now. That
was sixty years ago. Model T. But he had taken a model
T. and restored it, and he couldn't
wait to show it to me. He wanted me to see what he had
done. Why? Why did he show me that? For
his glory. And that's alright. There's nothing
wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that. A man
that God's given a gift to do something, I love paintings.
I love good books. If you've got an ability to write,
now that's wonderful. It's good for your glory. Now,
I walk in. What did he take me in there
for? his glory. He's proud of what he's done.
He worked hours, Tom. I mean, he worked months. You
know what I'm talking about. I mean, 18 coats of paint, that
sort of thing, you know. What if I had spit on it? Or kicked the door in? Or just
ignored it? Or just walked away? He would have been offended.
And I'll tell you, that's what Adam did to God's God made everything
beautiful, wonderful, perfect. What did Adam do? He said, I'm
going to run this show. I'm going to be God. I'm going
to get the glory. I'm going to change things. I
don't like the way you're doing it. I'm going to change it. And
that's when man fell and the whole earth plunged into darkness.
We are unwilling. The cheap end of man, the old
Presbyterian confession of faith says it's the glory of God. That's
the chief end of creation and man, and man receives. That's it. He just said, I will
not. I will not have this God reign over me. I will not submit.
And when he died, the whole human race died in him, and the whole
creation was subject to vanity. Let me show you that. I do want
you to turn to Romans 8. The whole creation, the whole
creation was plunged into corruption. Man wasn't created to die, he
was created to live. The trees weren't created to
die, they were created to live. All things, God's not death,
God's life. And God said glorify me, obey
me. Man said no, I'll do it my way.
And we plunge this whole thing into corruption and confusion. Look at Romans 8, verse 18. I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us by the earnest expectation
of the creature. That word is creation. You can
change it. The translators said creature
there, and it is the creature in the sense that it's the creation.
But the creation waited for the manifestation of the sons of
God. By the creation. was made subject to vanity, not
willingly, but by the reason of him who has subjected the
same in hope. Because the creation itself shall
be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation,
and they did it right here, don't ask me why, groaneth and travaileth
together until now. And not only they, but we ourselves
also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we groan within
ourselves, waiting. For what? The adoption for what? The redemption! The new heaven
and new earth, new life, when things will never die. When the
forces of evil shall be completely banished, and he shall destroy
every enemy, death being the last enemy. But one day there
will be a new heaven, new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
God's going to make all things new, and he's going to be glorified. But you see, Christ Jesus was
not a private person. He was a representative. He came
into this world, sent from God to glorify God on our behalf,
for us. We wouldn't do it, we didn't
do it, and we couldn't do it. But Christ did. He came to glorify
God. And when he finished his life,
he said, I glorify thee on this earth. I glorify thee. I glorify thee. The first Adam
sinned, and all of his descendants fell in him. The second Adam
stood, and all his chosen stood with him. Turn to 1 Corinthians
15. 1 Corinthians 15, beginning with verse 21. Listen to this. In 1 Corinthians 15, 21, For
since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of
the dead. For in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be
made alive. I have glorified thee on the
earth." That's what our Lord did. God put a man down here,
a man and a woman, in this perfect creation, gave them a law, Now
live and glorify God. No, they rebel, they sin, they
fail. Almighty God sent the second
Adam as the first Adam. He sent the second Adam. The
first Adam is of the earth, earthy. The second Adam is the Lord from
heaven. He sent the second Adam, made of a woman, made under the
law, in human flesh, and that second Adam walked this earth
from birth to death in perfect obedience, in perfect righteousness,
in perfect love. and did everything that the law
required and that God demanded, and when he came to the end of
his life, he said, I've done it. I have glorified thee on
the earth. Notice the second thing that
he said in verse 4. He says, and I have finished
the work you gave me to do. If I may, and you'll allow me,
I can shed some light on this profound statement. I finished
the work you gave me to do." But I must divide it into three
parts. I have finished the work you
gave me to do. Finished. Now, the first part
is this, whose work is it? He said, I finished the work
you gave me to do. Whose work is it? It's the Father's
work. What's the first word? the first
recorded words that Jesus of Nazareth spoke on this earth.
The first recorded words. When he opened his mouth the
first time, by the Holy Spirit's recording, what did he say? Well,
Mary and Joseph had gone to Jerusalem. The Lord Jesus Christ was about
twelve years of age, eleven or twelve, and had gone up there
to fulfill certain requirements of the law. And that's what Christ
did. He not only not only obeyed God's moral law and the Levitical
law, but the Jewish law and all the laws for us. He didn't come
to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. When he was baptized, John
said, I've got no right to baptize you. You should be baptizing
me. And Christ said, suffer it to
be so to fulfill what? All righteousness. And so he
was up there in Jerusalem at this time to fulfill certain
requirements of the types of prediction. And they left him
up there, not unknowingly. They left Jerusalem and started
home, and when they got a day's journey, they said they realized
he wasn't with them. Jesus wasn't with them. So they
went back to hunt him, and they found him in the temple, talking
with the lawyers and the doctors and the Pharisees and the teachers
of scripture. He was talking with them, and
they came up to him, and Mary spoke. She said, your father,
Joseph, and I have sought thee sorrowing, don't you realize
that? And he said, this is his first
words recording, wished he not that I must be about my father's
business. I must be about my father's business.
So it's God's word. It's God's word. That's the first
words he spoke. Turn to John 5 a moment, and
I'll show you what he says over here about that. In John 5, verse
36, listen. He's talking about all the different
witnesses of his deity. In John 5, verse 36, he said,
I have greater witness than that of John, the works that the Father
hath given me to finish. The same works that I do bear
witness of me that the Father has sent me. Whose works? The Father's works. Now, the
second part of this, what is this work? He said, I finished the work
you gave me to do. The work is solely and wholly
the Father's work. He said, the words that I speak
are not my words, the words of him that sent me, the works that
I do are not my works, but the works of him that sent me. Now,
what is this work that he came to do, this business, my Father's
business? What is this work? Hebrews 10,
let's turn around and see what this work is, what this work
the Father sent Jesus Christ to do. It's the Father's work,
it's the Father's business. Now, what is this work? In Hebrews
10, verse 7, it talks about the law, back here in these preceding
verses in Hebrews 10, and verse 5 says, wherefore when he cometh
into the world, He came, I came from the Father, I came to do
the will of my Father, I came on my Father's business, he cometh
into the world, he said, verse 5, sacrifice an offering thou
wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In other words,
Christ is saying all these Jewish sacrifices, all these turtledoves
and lambs and rams, bulls and goats and atonements and all
these sacrifices. Thou wouldest not. That never
gave God any pleasure. Satisfaction. That never fulfilled
the law. You can't kill an animal for
a man. Animal blood can't suffice for
a man's blood. Verse 6, "...in burnt offerings
and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure." Then he
said, I, Lord, I come. Why? In the volume of the book
it's written of me." What book? Well, this book, but there's
another book. In the volume of the book it's
written of me, I come to do thy will, O God, thy work. God's
work is God's will. God's work is God's business.
The Father's will is his work, and I come to do it. I finish
the work you gave me to do. What is the work? Verse 8, above,
when he said, Sacrifice and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering
for sin, thou wouldst not neither have any pleasure thereof which
are offered by the Lord. Well, then said I, then said
he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first,
that he may establish the second. He taketh away the first. What
is the first? The first Adam, the first man,
is the man of the earth. Second Adam is the Lord from
heaven. In Adam we die, in Christ we are made alive. The first
nature, we are born with a sinful nature. In Christ he gives us
a new nature. The first covenant is a covenant
of works. He said to Adam, do this and live. He didn't, he
broke it. The new covenant is a covenant of grace. The first tabernacle, It stood in the wilderness, Christ's
tabernacle among us, his body, he dwelt among us. The first
priesthood is gone, Christ is our great high priest. The first
sacrifices, God never had any pleasure in those, they were
but pictures, Christ shed his own blood. The first heaven will pass away,
there will be a new heaven and new earth. All of these things,
he taketh away that first, establishes the second, his sacrifice, his
priesthood, his life, his righteousness. And verse 10, by the witch will,
by the will of God, by the work of God, we are sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every
priest, all these Old Testament priests, there were many of them,
they stood, they standed daily, they never sat down because they
never finished their work. I told you, when a man's seated, it indicates by his being seated,
he has nothing to do. He's finished his work. So Christ
sat down at the right hand of God. These Old Testament priests
never sat down. They stood daily, ministering,
offering all times the same sacrifices which can never take away sin.
But this man, after he'd offered one sacrifice for sin forever,
sat down. at the right hand of God, from
henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool,
for by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified."
What was the Father's work? What was the Father's will? To
redeem a people. To redeem a people. And Christ
came down here and to redeem those people, he obeyed the law
for them, giving them a perfect righteousness. He went to the
cross and died, giving him a right standing before the law. He was
buried and rose again, giving them victory over the grave.
He ascended to the right hand of God as our forerunner. He
entered into the Holy of Holies and sat down, and we are seated
with him." Now, that book he talked about,
turn to Revelation 5. Revelation 5, just a moment.
This is very important. He said, and the volume of the
book is written of me. I come to do thy will. Well,
I know that's written of him in the Scripture, Old Testament
Scripture. But Revelation 5 mentions another
book. In Revelation 5-1, look, and
I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne, a book,
written within, on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And
I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who's worth
it to open the book? Who's worth it loose to seal? What is this book? This book
is God's eternal purposes and plans and God's will and everything
redemption and why God does what he does. Everything's written
in this book, inside and outside and all about it. It's the will
of God. It's the volume of the book.
It's in the hand of God. It's the name of every one of
his elect, all the sheep. It's their righteousness. It's
what God's going to do. All these preachers on television
talk about what's going to happen in the future. They don't know.
That's in that book. Paul went to the third heaven
and came back and he said, I heard things I can't even tell you.
It's in that book. Everything about God and man
and eternal kingdoms and glory and heaven and future and all,
it's in that book. And who's going to open it? Who's
going to read it? Who's going to fulfill it? Who's going to
bring it to pass? Who's going to accomplish it? And verse 3
says, No man in heaven nor on the earth or under the earth
was able to open that book even to look upon it. And I wept much. And you've got a right to weep,
and I have too. because no man is found worthy
to open that book, and to read the book, neither to look thereon,
because we are all sinners. And one of the elders said to
me, Don't you weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe
of Judah. The Lion of the tribe of Judah.
He shall be of the tribe of Judah, of the root of Jesse, of the
family of David. The root of David, which hath
with he hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven
seals. And I beheld, and lo, in the
midst of the throne of the four beasts, and in the midst of the
three elders, stood a Lamb." This Lamb came out of the throne
of God, in the midst of the throne. Jesus Christ is God. God was
in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. This lamb came
from the throne. He didn't come from out here
somewhere. The lamb, and it was a slain lamb, a sacrifice, substitution,
that's what I've been telling you. And I beheld, and lo, in
the midst of the..." This is figurative language, of course.
"...and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, there
stood a lamb, as it had been slain, having seven horns, That's
the power of God, horn is power, seven is perfection, seven eyes,
that's God's omnipotence and omniscience, which are the seven
spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came literally
and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on
the throne. My soul, that's awesome. That
makes my flesh crawl. God in his awesomeness and power,
the throne, the throne of heaven and earth and the universe, and
this person, this lamb, as it had been slain, had the audacity
to walk right up and take it out of the hand of God. That's
my Lord. That's the Son. I don't understand the Trinity,
Father, Son, Holy Spirit, they're one. If I understood them, it
wouldn't be God. Martin Luther said, I don't need
a God I can comprehend. You say, I don't understand.
Of course you don't. Did you expect to? I don't understand. That's language I don't understand.
Well, did you expect to? You understand God? Won't you
tell me how he made the world? Tell me how electricity operates. Tell me it comes from the sky
somewhere. Take it out of the hand. But
that's Christ, out of the hand of God. He took that, and when
he'd taken that book, The four beasts and the four and twenty
elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps
and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the
saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take
the book, and to open the seals, for Thou wast slain, and hast
redeemed us to God by Thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue,
and people, and nation. And hast made us unto our God
kings and priests, and we shall reign." And Jesus Christ said,
What's the third question? Did he finish it? Whose work
is it? The Father. What work is it? To redeem. Did he finish it? I finished the work you gave
me to do. What were the last recorded words of Christ before
he died? I finished. It is finished. That's it. It is finished. Oh, what pleasure do these glorious
words afford heavenly blessings without measure flow to us through
Christ our Lord. Finished all the types and shadows
of the ceremonial law. Finished all that God purposed. And saints from this all comfort
draw. It's finished. Isn't that something? All right, I said when my time
was up, I'd quit. And I'd keep my promises. Most
often. But I'll start with number three
tonight. You'll be back tonight. We'll go on. I hope the rest
of it's as good for us as that. I've glorified you on this earth,
and I'll finish what you gave me today.

Grace and Glory (1)

What does the Bible say about grace and glory?

How do we know that Jesus' sacrifice was sufficient?

Why is substitutionary atonement important for Christians?

What role does the Holy Spirit play in the life of a believer?

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Grace and Glory (1)

What does the Bible say about grace and glory?

How do we know that Jesus' sacrifice was sufficient?

Why is substitutionary atonement important for Christians?

What role does the Holy Spirit play in the life of a believer?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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