Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: The Superiority of Christ

Just Thinking Part 2 of 2

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2012-02-08

Synopsis: In this sermon, Pastor John Weaver continues his message on musing upon the work of God's hands, focusing on the death of the saint. He contrasts the death of the believer with that of the sinner, emphasizing that for the child of God, the sting of death is removed, the fear and bondage of death are destroyed, and death ushers them immediately into the presence of Christ. Weaver then explores four discoveries believers will make upon death: the gloriousness of their Sovereign, the greatness of their sins, the graciousness of their Savior, and the grief of their service. He concludes with applications to love and serve Christ more faithfully now, and to grow in the knowledge of God, which is eternal life.

[John Weaver] Psalm 143, Psalm 143 and verse 5. And for those who are visiting here today, I'm going to tell you this is the second part of a message that I started last week, which I have entitled, Just Thinking. I will take just a few moments and review, and then we will take up where we are going to begin today. And let me just say today that I will probably quote most scriptures, I will ask you to turn to some. And the reason I'm going to quote most of them is because the message is rather lengthy. And I just want to make sure that we're able to get all the scriptures in. So Psalm 143 verse 5, David said, I remember the days of old.

[John Weaver] I meditate on all thy works. I muse on the work of thy hands. Now you remember I told you that the word muse means to think, to study, to meditate, to ponder, to concentrate upon. Whenever you take an alpha, which is the first letter in the Greek alphabet, or the A in the English, and put it in front of the word, it negates it. So if the word muse means to think, amuse means not to think and not to meditate, not to ponder, not to consider.

[John Weaver] And I pointed out we have amusement parks and how TV is nothing but amusement. You can sit there and be like a sponge and never think watching anything and everything. But David said, I amuse on the work of thy hands. And last week, by way of introduction, I pointed out how that creation is the work of God's hands. Certainly there's a lot that you could meditate on creation. Redemption is the work of God's hands. Providence is the work of God's hands. Many areas in which we could think there. However, the one part that I wanted us to consider is the providence of God in the work and in the area of death. That is when He comes for individual saints and sinners in death.

[John Weaver] And I took great pains to show you in the scripture where the Bible says that our days are numbered, He's appointed our months, and He's appointed our bounds that we cannot pass. So God's not only ordained the day of our birth, He's also ordained the day of our death. And last week I dealt mainly with the death of the sinner, with the death of the man who dies without Christ. What does he realize when he dies?

[John Weaver] What is his first awareness? And I was not necessarily talking about the torments of hell or anything like that. But what in the world does he realize? And of course I told you very obviously there are two presuppositions that the Bible clearly teaches. Number one is that God is, because nowhere in the Bible does the Bible try to prove the existence of God. It just assumes that in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the second presupposition is that God has spoken. Very obviously, he recognizes that God is and that the Bible is indeed the Word of God. But then I pointed out that he's going to face, first of all, an angry God. The Bible says that God is angry with the wicked every day.

[John Weaver] Death does not change that. God is still the sovereign, righteous, holy God. He is just and his anger still burns against sin and against sinners. It's just that simple. Then I pointed out, secondly, how the sinner would be overcome with terror. There would not only be the terror of his sins in the fact that he would remember each one distinctly and in detail, understanding that each one merited the death penalty, and understanding that God knew every sin that he ever committed, and God is a holy, just judge. I pointed out there would also be the terror of remembering all the sermons, all the invitations of the gospel, all the prayers, everything that had ever been prayed, and every time anyone had ever witnessed him, he would remember those in detail, and demonstrate what an absolute fool he was for not seeking God. Then I pointed out the fact how that he would face God as the judge, especially the Lord Jesus Christ, because God the Father has committed all judgment unto Him, and he would view Christ not as the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world, but he would view Him as

[John Weaver] the Lion of the tribe of Judah, who is now in fierce wrath and anger coming upon his wickedness and his sin. And then of course I pointed out lastly how that he would face an eternity of eternal despisement by God. For the Bible says in Psalm 73 and verse 20, As a dream when one awakeneth the Lord, when thou awakenest, so shalt thou despise their image. And I dealt with that and showed in detail what it meant to be despised by God.

[John Weaver] That basically covered the death of the sinner. Today I want us to muse upon the work of God's hands and when we consider the death of the saint.

[John Weaver] Now, like last week's message, let me point out that this message today cannot be exhaustive. It would take hours, it would take days in expounding and explaining the scriptures and then we still could not exhaust the teaching of scripture on these subjects.

[John Weaver] Now it is true that death comes to saint and sinner alike. For the Bible clearly says that the wages of sin is death. The Word of God says it's appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment. So it is true that saints and sinners die equally but there is indeed a difference in their deaths. That difference could be explained I suppose as Exodus chapter 11 and verse 7 states, where God then put the difference between the Israelites and the Egyptians.

[John Weaver] Let me just quote it. In Exodus 11 and verse 7, God says, But against any of the children of Israel, not a dog shall move his tongue against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.

[John Weaver] Now, it is true that saints and sinners die alike, but their deaths certainly are not equal. There is a difference. God places such a difference upon the death of the saints that he says in Psalm 116 in verse 15, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. And the word precious means splendid, honorable, glorious. So God says precious, splendid, honorable, glorious is the death of his saints in the eyes of the Lord. Well, since I said there are differences between the death of the sinner and the death of the saint, what are some of those differences? Well, let me give them to you. First of all, for the child of God, the sting of death has been removed because his sin has been washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. Please understand that it is sin that makes death so painful. The sting of death is sin, says the Bible in Romans chapter 7. But the Bible says in 1 John 1 verse 7, But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.

[John Weaver] And so we've been cleansed by the blood of Christ. In 1 Peter 1 verses 18 and 19, the Word of God says, For as much as you know, You were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without spot and without blemish. So first of all, for the child of God, the sting of death has been removed.

[John Weaver] Our Lord has taken away our sin. So for a child of God to die, there is no sting. Secondly, for the child of God, Christ has removed the fear and bondage of death. He has removed the fear and the bondage of death. Now, for the child of God, you should probably say something like this, I don't want to die, but I'm not afraid to die. I mean, who wants to die? No one wants to die. But for the child of God, the fear has been taken away.

[John Weaver] The Bible says in Hebrews 2 verses 14 and 15, listen carefully. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. So Christ then has destroyed not only sin but he's also destroyed Satan and in doing so he's destroyed for us the fear of death and the bondage of death. Death cannot hold the child of God anymore than it could hold the Son of God. So our Lord has destroyed the fear of death for the child of God.

[John Weaver] Thirdly, the scripture clearly teaches that when we die as believers, we're immediately ushered into the presence of Christ. Now, if you would hold Psalm 143, but look in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, and we'll begin reading there with verse 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, and look at verse 6. Notice what the Apostle Paul says, and this is important. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 6, Paul writes, Therefore, we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we're absent from the Lord.

[John Weaver] For we walk by faith, not by sight. We're confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. So for the child of God, as long as he's in this body, he's absent from the Lord. We're not in his presence. But the apostle Paul says, Here's the one thing that we're confident about and we're willing rather to be absent from the body. Why? That we might be present with the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now the word present is a very interesting word in the Greek. It is the word endimeo which literally means, listen carefully, to be present, to be at home, and to be among one's own people. If you will read the Old Testament, When the Old Testament saints died, men like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, even Moses and Aaron, you will always find this expression, and he was gathered unto his own people. What does that mean? It means he went home. So death for the child of God is like going home. How many of us are fearful about going home? None of us. How many of us are thankful when we get home? Alice and I travel a lot, and I enjoy traveling, but I'm going to tell you one thing, we're always thankful to be home. And that's the way it is for the child of God. So death then just simply ushers the child of God into the presence of Christ.

[John Weaver] Now let me show you how firmly the Apostle Paul believed this same truth. In Philippians chapter 1, Paul was in prison, and he was about to have his head cut off. In fact, that's how Paul died. He was in prison many times. But in Philippians 1, verses 23 and 24, he said this. And remember, he was facing death by beheading when he said this. He said, For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better, and you can put in parentheses there, for me.

[John Weaver] Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. Isn't that interesting? Paul said, in light of facing an axe, having his head severed from his body, he said, I'm in a strait, I'm in a dilemma, I've got to make a choice. He said, for me to depart and be with Christ is far better, that is for me. But nevertheless, he said, to abide in the flesh, to continue to live is far better for you, that way I can continue to teach and to preach. But here was a desire to depart this life and be with Christ.

[John Weaver] If you look in your Bible, since you're in the New Testament, to John 17 and verse 24, and you remember that John 17 is the high priestly prayer of Christ, and I certainly don't have time to cover that entire prayer, but if you look in verse 24, you'll see a request that Christ has made. John 17, verse 24, Christ is praying to His Father, and He says, Father, I will, they also who now has given Me be with me where I am that they may behold thy glory which thou hast given me for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world."

[John Weaver] Notice our Lord prayed that His people would be with Him where He was. Now let me ask you a question. Do you think that the prayer of Jesus Christ will be unanswered? Well, of course not. You know His prayer is going to be answered because He is indeed the Son of God. And so Paul said, When we depart this life, we're immediately ushered in the presence of Christ. He said he had a desire to depart and meet with Christ, which was far better with him. And now our Lord has prayed that we would be in his presence. Here are three differences.

[John Weaver] Now, what in the world will you and I discover upon our deaths? Again, let me remind you that this message is not exhausted by any stretch of the imagination. I'm not even dealing with the joys and the lights of heaven. But what I want to deal with today is what I think are going to be the most provocative thoughts and the most revealing truths that you and I will discover immediately upon our death. Because you have to remember that when we die, immediately we're ushered into the presence of Jesus Christ. So what will we discover? First of all, we will discover the gloriousness of our sovereignty. the gloriousness of our sovereign. I believe that based upon the scripture, we will be absolutely stunned and overwhelmed at the gloriousness of our sovereign God.

[John Weaver] Our eyes have not seen, nor have our ears heard the minutest amount of his glory. You remember when the queen of Sheba went to see Solomon? She said in 1 Kings chapter 10 and verse 7, after she had seen all of Solomon's glory, and by the way, our Lord acknowledged Solomon's glory. But when he said, consider the lilies of the field, he said, even Solomon and all of his glory was not a radius one of these. So Solomon had a very glorious reign, had a very glorious throne. But when the Queen of Sheba saw it, she said this, howbeit I believed not the words until I came, and mine eyes had seen it, and behold, the half was not told me." May I say this? We have never even seen nor understood the minutest amount of our Sovereign's glory, much less the half of it.

[John Weaver] I believe we will be absolutely so stunned, so overwhelmed. You remember it was Moses who wanted to see the glory of God. If you will go back in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 33 very quickly. Exodus chapter 33 and let's begin reading there with verse 18. Exodus 33 and verse 18. I want you to see what the scripture says. Exodus 33 verse 18. Moses is talking with the Lord and he says in Exodus 33 in verse 18, and he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And notice what God said, verse 19, and he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious unto whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And he said, thou canst not see my face, For there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me. Thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass while my glory passeth by.

[John Weaver] I will put thee in the cliff of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen. Moses only saw a minute amount of God's glory. God says, you can't see me in the flesh and live. It's just that simple. You remember in Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah saw the Lord's glory. He said, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.

[John Weaver] Above it stood the seraphim, and each one had six wings. With twain He covered His face, with twain He covered His feet, and with twain He did fly. And He ceased not saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. while the whole earth is full of his glory. And the post of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

[John Weaver] Then said I, Isaiah said, Woe is me, for I am undone. I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. Woe is me, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. And what happened? A seraphim had to take a coal from the altar and touch him and purge him. But notice he said, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the glory of God.

[John Weaver] Did he see all of it? No. But he saw enough to make him understand what a sinful, wicked wretch he was. Do you remember, without us turning there, how both Ezekiel and also the apostle John saw the glory of the Lord, and each one of them fell down as dead. and the Lord had to sovereignly lift them up. It was the hope of the Old Testament saints that they would see God's glory. You remember Job in all of his suffering said it like this in Job 19 in verse 26. And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. And Job was speaking of his resurrected glorified body, for he said, the worms destroyed this body, and he said there's going to be another one. And I shall see God.

[John Weaver] Likewise, David said in Psalm 17 and verse 15, As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied, I shall be satisfied when I awake, in thy likeness." Notice what David said, I will behold thy face in righteousness. Do you remember that passage in John 1 in verse 18, where our Lord said this, No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. Do you realize that Jesus Christ is God incarnate? Jesus Christ has revealed the Father totally, completely, fully. Now listen carefully. If God the Father appeared on earth, He would appear in and as and through Jesus Christ, for Jesus Christ is God.

[John Weaver] Now let me show you this. Listen carefully. In John 14, John 14. Go ahead and turn there. John 14. Look at verses 8 and 9. John 14. Notice, if you would, what Philip says to Christ. John 14, verse 8. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. That will be sufficient. Just show us the Father. Look at verse 9. Jesus said to him, Have I been so long time with you? And yet thou hast not known me, Philip. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? What did our Lord say? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. The Bible says in Colossians 1 and verse 15 concerning Christ, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. In 1 Timothy 3 and verse 16, the Bible says, and without all controversy, great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.

[John Weaver] Now Philip saw Him, but we have not seen Him. We have not looked upon him with our eyes yet. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 12, listen carefully. For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face, now I know in part, but then shall I know even as I am known. Notice what the Apostle Paul said. Right now we see through a glass darkly, in other words, We can make out some things because of the revelation of the Word of God. But then He said, face to face, and we shall know even as we are known.

[John Weaver] I've probably told you this before, but I like to say this because it's so true. I've had people ask me, Pastor, will we know each other in heaven? And my response to that is this, You won't be any more stupid there than you are now. Certainly you're going to know each other. We shall know even as we are known. We will know each other fully, totally, completely. Now, listen to this.

[John Weaver] When we die and we leave this veil of sin and sorrow, we will be made completely pure in Jesus Christ and we will have to remember the blessed promise that our Lord himself gave In Matthew 5 in verse 8, when he said, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. You know what the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 3 and verse 2? Listen carefully. He wrote, Beloved, now are we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be, But we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

[John Weaver] Did you hear what I just read? Beloved, now are we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be. In other words, we don't understand totally our glorified bodies. We don't understand totally about that, but we know He said that when He shall appear, We shall be like Him. Why? For we shall see Him as He is. In Revelation 22 and verse 4, the Bible says this. Listen carefully. And they shall see His face.

[John Weaver] And His name shall be in their foreheads. Now let me ask you. Can you muse? Can you think? Can you ponder just for a moment? what it will be like to gaze upon the glorious, holy, majestic, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, eternal, infinite, immutable God. Paul sang a hymn of praise to God in 1 Timothy 1 in verse 17. Let me just, let me quote it. Listen to what He says.

[John Weaver] Now unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory both now and forever. Amen.

[John Weaver] Now listen to what He said. Now unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible. We cannot see Him now. But we shall see Him then face to face in all of His splendor in all of His glory. What an overpowering, what an overwhelming sight and experience it will be when we realize who God really is. We will understand the gloriousness of our Sovereign. I've heard believers say this down through the years.

[John Weaver] Well, when I get to heaven, the first thing I'm going to do is run up to our Savior and kiss Him. I've got news for you. I believe we're going to be so overwhelmed and so overpowered and so overjoyed, we'll probably end up doing like John and like Ezekiel. We'll fall at His feet as one dead because of His glory and His splendor. I have not seen nor ear heard, not even the minutest amount, of the glory of our Sovereign God. And upon our deaths, we will understand and realize and recognize the gloriousness of our Sovereign. Now secondly, and I want you to listen carefully, upon our deaths, I believe, based upon the Word of God, we will discover the greatness of our sins. Now I want you to listen carefully to what I am about to say.

[John Weaver] I am not suggesting by any stretch of the imagination that we will be groaning and moaning over our sins because certainly we know that our sins are forgiven, we are pardoned, our sins will never ever condemn us. I'm not talking now about the condemnation of sin. I'm making a point that we will discover the greatness of our sin. Let me give you a quote. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said it like this. Listen carefully. What is this forgiveness of sins? Too often in popular talk, it is supposed that the chief and main thought of the forgiven sinner is that he has escaped from hell.

[John Weaver] Salvation means much more than this. And what it further means is too much kept in the background. But yet I will begin with the rescue from punishment. For if sin be pardoned, the penalty is extinguished. It would not be possible for God to forgive and yet to punish. That would be a forgiveness quite unworthy of God. It would indeed be no forgiveness at all. We are certain that the everlasting punishment of sin declared in scripture will never happen to the man who is forgiven. When transgression is removed from the soul, the soul stands clear at the bar of God, and there can be no further penalty. I absolve thee, says the great judge, and that carries with it weight, so that a man that is forgiven is clear of the punishment which he must otherwise have borne. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered, Psalm 32, there is therefore now no condemnation, to them who are in Christ Jesus, Romans 8 verse 1. So if our sins are pardoned, and they are, if our sins are forgiven, and they are, here's my question.

[John Weaver] How then will we perceive and discover the greatness of our sin? Well, please remember I am not alluding to condemnation at this point. But I am talking about that we will discover the vileness, we'll understand the wickedness of sin. I believe it's absolutely impossible for you and I to grasp the greatness and the graciousness of our Savior without understanding why He came as our sacrifice and our substitute.

[John Weaver] Have you ever thought about it like this? If there was no sin, we would not need a Savior. Why in the world did Jesus Christ come? And the answer is to save His people from their sins. You remember in Philippians 2, go ahead and turn there. I want you to see this. Philippians chapter 2. In the book of Philippians chapter 2, we have a tremendous statement concerning the glory of our Lord and His willingness in laying aside that splendor. Look in Philippians chapter 2, and let's begin reading there with verse 5. The Bible says, let this mind be in you, which also was in Christ Jesus. Verse 6, who being in the form of God, in other words, He was God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. In other words, it was not something to be seized at and gained. In other words, our Lord in all of His splendor and heavenly glory, did not seize and hold on to that and say, no, no, no, I will not give it up.

[John Weaver] No. He willingly laid aside all that splendor and glory. Look in verse 6, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery or something to be seized at to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in likeness of man and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death on the cross. Notice our Lord willingly laid aside his heavenly splendor and glory and humbled himself.

[John Weaver] This passage, we talk about the humiliation of Christ. That is when he left glory and became not only man, but a servant and even to death on the cross. You say that way meant brother Weaver. The Bible tells us that Christ died for his people. That is true, but you have to ask this question. Why did Christ die for his people? And the answer is because of their sin. Think with me just a moment about sin. How little do we see and understand the wickedness and the vileness of sin. We treat sin so flippantly and so lightly that we oftentimes countenance and condone sin. When God said in Jeremiah 44 and verse 4, talking about sin, Oh do not that abominable thing which I hate. God hates sin. Do we hate sin the way God does? The answer has to be no. In our present state, in our present state, we pretend to hate sin, yet we engage in it. We say we do not wish to sin, yet we seek it out. Our sinful natures are inclined to sin and rebellion, even though we're redeemed.

[John Weaver] We sin oftentimes without even considering who it is we sin against or who it is we rebel against. We do not understand or grasp the magnitude and the evilness and the wickedness of sin in this life. Everyone in this room will tell you that yes, sin is a destroyer of homes, it is a destroyer of lives, it is a destroyer of families, it destroys societies, it destroys nations, Everyone in this room will recognize the fact that sin brings sorrow and death and yet the truth of the matter is most of the time we know nothing concerning its foulness and its wickedness.

[John Weaver] Ralph Venning has a book. He was an old Puritan, been dead for many years. But the title of the book is The Plague of Plagues, and it is a book on Hermartology, which is the doctrine of sin. I want to read to you just a couple of paragraphs. I want you to listen to how this man describes sin. And I want you to understand, here is just a taste of the violence and the wickedness of sin.

[John Weaver] He writes, God is holy. All holy, only holy, altogether holy, and always holy. So sin is sinful, all sinful, only sinful, altogether sinful, and always sinful. In my flesh there dwelleth no good thing. As in God there is no evil, so in sin there is no good. God is the chiefest of goods, and sin is the chiefest of evils. And no good can be compared with God for goodness, so no evil can be compared with sin for evil. Sin is contrary to all the names and attributes of God.

[John Weaver] It sets itself in opposition to them all. It deposes the sovereignty of God as much as it lies. It will not that the king of kings should be on the throne and govern this world which he hath made. It was by this instinct that Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I know not the Lord. I recognize no Lord above me. I will not let Israel go. The voice and language of sin is our lips are our own. Who is Lord over us?

[John Weaver] It was from hints that the Jews of old said, we are Lords. We will no more come to thee. Thus it attempts to dethrone God. It denies God's all sufficiency. If there were not contentment and satisfaction enough to be had in the enjoyment of God, but that vanity and wickedness had more pleasure and profit than he, whose ways are all pleasantness and whose service is the help of man.

[John Weaver] Every prodigal who leaves the Father's house says, in effect, it is better to be elsewhere. It challenges the justice of God and dares God to do His worst. It provokes the Lord to jealousy and tempts Him to wrath. It disowns His omniscience. Pooh, they say, God does not see, nor does the Most High regard. It despises the riches of God's goodness. It turns His grace into wantedness. It will make bold with God and sin because grace abounds. In short, sin is the dare of God's justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, the contempt of His love.

[John Weaver] It is the upbraiding of His providence, the scoff at His promise, the reproach of His wisdom. It is said of the man of sin who is made up of sin, It opposes and exalts itself above all that is called God, and above all that God has called, so that it as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing itself as it were God.

[John Weaver] Now stop and think about this. Sin is the dare of God's justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, the contempt of His love. As awful as you and I can make sin, We still do not understand its ugliness. We still do not understand its wickedness and vileness. And we really will not understand how awful sin was and is until we reach glory. Now stop and think. In heaven, we will understand it was sin. It was sin. that brought the Son of God from heaven. It was our sin for which the Son of God came and died. It was our sin that placed the crown of thorns upon His head. It was our sin that nailed Him to the cross. It was our sin that pierced Him to His side. It was our sin that caused Him to suffer agony.

[John Weaver] Do you realize the greatest part of our Lord's suffering was not physical, but spiritual. I want to show you what I'm talking about. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5. 2nd Corinthians chapter 5. 2nd Corinthians chapter 5. And look if you would please at verse 21. 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 21. The greatest suffering of our Lord was spiritual. and not physical.

[John Weaver] Listen, I can go to Isaiah 53. I can describe the horrors of crucifixion. I could show you the physical suffering that our Lord went through. And it was horrible. It was bad. But let me show you something that's far worse. Look in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21. For He, that is God the Father, hath made Him, that is God the Son, to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." Let me tell you something, folks. Have you ever thought about one minute for one second what it was like for the sinless Son of God who never knew sin, who never had an inclination of sin, who never had any desire to sin? Have you ever considered what it was like for the sinless Son of God to be made sin?

[John Weaver] and have all that filth and trash and vileness and wickedness dumped upon His Holy Soul, that He may redeem us from all iniquity. What I'm trying to say is this, I believe that when we get to heaven, we will recognize the ugliness and vileness of sin in general, but our sin in particular, when we recognize that Christ died for me, for my sin. Jonathan Edwards said this, listen carefully, he said, any sin is more or less heinous depending upon the honor and the majesty of the one whom we have offended. Since God is of infinite honor, infinite majesty, and infinite holiness, The slightest sin is of infinite consequence. The slightest sin is nothing less than cosmic treason when we realize against whom we have sinned.

[John Weaver] When we see the greatness and the glory of our Sovereign, how can we help not understanding and knowing the greatness of our sin which brought Him? for our redemption. How can we not understand how it grieved Him and our rebellion against Him? But thankfully, thankfully, when we understand the greatness of our sin, it will only heighten our love and our praise and adoration and worship for such a wonderful, loving, forgiving Lord.

[John Weaver] There's a third thing that we're going to recognize, I believe, upon our death. Not only the greatness of our sovereign, not only the greatness of our sin, but thirdly, we're going to discover the graciousness of our Savior. Let me explain. Look in your Bibles, if you would, to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53.

[John Weaver] Isaiah 53 and look, if you would please at verse 11, once we understand the glory of our sovereign, the greatness of our sin. And we recognize how we have sent against him and hurting. We're going to understand his aggression is so much better. Look in Isaiah 53 and verse 11, the Bible says this, talking about Christ now, he shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied.

[John Weaver] By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Now I want to show you two things in this verse that really astound me. The first one is, he shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. I will be absolutely honest with you. I do not understand how our Lord could be satisfied with such a sinner as I am.

[John Weaver] But yet that's what the Bible says. He shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied. Each redeemed child of God will be a satisfaction for the Son of God. And look if you would in verse 11, By His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Now listen to me. If we see the glory of our sovereign and we understand the greatness of our sins, that it was you and I who have heard him, who sinned against him, who preferred sin above obedience, lust above love. And yet how he bore our sins and our iniquities.

[John Weaver] And in light of all of that, He lovingly and kindly and graciously pardoned us and forgave us. How in the world can we not recognize such wonderful graciousness? Certainly, I believe we'll have a better understanding of Psalm 86 and verse 5, where the Scripture says, For thou, Lord, art good, ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee. We'll understand Psalm 130 verse 4, But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared. We'll understand Hebrews 8 and verse 12 better, where God says, For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. And he said it again in Hebrews 10 and verse 17, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. And we've got to understand those two passages in Hebrews are taken from the covenant that is found back in Jeremiah 31 verses 33 and 34 where God said, but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, said the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people.

[John Weaver] And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For they shall all know Me from the least of them, even to the greatest of them, saith the Lord. And I will forgive their iniquity, and will remember their sin no more." Grace is simply God's unmerited, undeserved, and unearned favor. And God kindly and graciously forgave us when He was not obligated to do so. He created us. He redeemed us. He gave us Christ. He regenerated us. He converted us. He sanctified us. He glorified us all by His grace.

[John Weaver] How can we not recognize His graciousness? Now I want you to listen to what Spurgeon said. I love this. Spurgeon wrote, Besides, beloved, be this always remembered that it is in the application of redemption and the personal pardon of the sinner through the blood of Jesus, that the grace of God is best seen by the sinner. To each one pardon through the Lord Jesus comes not only according to grace, but according to the riches of His grace. Now listen to what Spurgeon said, I can understand that God should forgive you, all of you.

[John Weaver] I could hear it with full belief. And it would not astonish me, but that He should pardon me. That I should have forgiveness of sins and redemption by the blood, that does astonish me. And I believe that any person under a sense of sin sees more the grace of God in his own salvation than in the salvation of anyone else. He may be quite conscious that he's never been a thief, or a drunkard, or a murderer, and yet when he comes to look at it, he may see reasons why the pardon of sin in his case shouldn't be more remarkable than even in the case of a drunkard, or a thief, or a murderer. There may be elements in his own case which may make him seem to have sinned even more grievously than open transgressors because he sinned against greater light, with less temptation thereto, or with a dire presumption of rebellion against the Most High. That Jesus died is an honorable grace. But that He loved me and gave Himself for me, this is overwhelming grace.

[John Weaver] And makes the heir of heaven say with emphasis, Blessed be God that in Jesus I have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. I think when you and I understand the graciousness of our Savior, We'll probably learn to sing that chorus, Oh, what a Savior. Oh, what a Savior. Oh, hallelujah. His heart was broken on Calvary. His hands were scarred. His side was riven. He gave His life's blood for you and me. We'll learn to sing grace, grace, greater than all of our sins.

[John Weaver] It will be our song of praise throughout eternity. Stop and think. That grace was given to you. I know that the Apostle Paul said that he was the chief of sinners. But when we see the wickedness and the vileness of our sin and understand it, and we see the graciousness of our Savior in forgiving our sins, we might have a willingness to fight the Apostle Paul for first place. Because we'll recognize what a gracious Savior we truly have. One more thing today. We'll not only discover the gloriousness of our Sovereign, the greatness of our sin, the graciousness of our Savior. But I believe, fourthly, we'll discover the grief of our service.

[John Weaver] Now, what do I mean by that? I mean simply this. I believe that we will be grieved that we have served our Lord so little, loved Him so minutely, sacrificed for Him so infrequently and gave Him such unworthy service. How can we not understand this when we behold His glory? How can we not understand this when we see His graciousness and His goodness? How can we not understand that we should have loved Him with all our heart, mind, soul, body and being How can we not understand that's what He has commanded us to do? When we see His greatness and His glory and His graciousness, can we not understand that He was worthy to be served constantly and continually? And will we not be grieved that we served Him so infrequently and so ineffectively? Let me show you.

[John Weaver] Turn in your Bibles to Romans 14 and 2 Corinthians 5. Romans 14 and 2 Corinthians 5. I want you to notice what the Apostle Paul said in Romans chapter 14 and verse 10. I'm not going to be expounding this passage, but I'm going to take it and show it to you along with another passage. Romans chapter 14, look at verse 10. Paul asks these Roman Christians, but why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set it not thy brother?

[John Weaver] And then he makes this statement, for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Now, he's talking about believers. He's not talking about sinners. He says, why are you treating your brother so wickedly? We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. In other words, we're going to give an account as to how we treated each other. Look in 2 Corinthians 5, verses 9 and 10. 2 Corinthians 5, verses 9 and 10. The apostle says, Wherefore we labor, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Now the judgment seat of Christ, I believe, is where we must give an account of our lives and our service. The judgment seat of Christ has nothing to do with our sin, It has nothing to do with condemnation.

[John Weaver] You'll remember the parable that our Lord gave where He gave talents to men, and when He returned, He called those servants and said, give account of thy stewardship. Here's where we give an account of our stewardship. If you and I were not saved, we would not even be here. But I want you to note what the Apostle Paul said. Look in verse 9 again. Look what he said.

[John Weaver] Wherefore we labor, that is we're serving Christ, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him. Now the word accepted literally means well-pleasing. Literally what he says that we labor that we may be well-pleasing unto Christ. Christians should labor that we may please our Lord and certainly we want to please Him well.

[John Weaver] Now notice if you would that Paul says in verse 10 that we will give an account for the things done in everyone will give an account for the things done in his body according that he had done whether it be good or bad. Now the word bad in the Greek is the word phallos which literally means worthless or faulty. He's not necessarily talking about our sins here, whether it's good or worthless. Do you realize there are plenty of things that you and I do that are not positively sinful, but for all practical purposes, they're absolutely worthless.

[John Weaver] They do nothing for the service of Christ or the furtherance of His kingdom. They do nothing for His honor and His glory.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to think about this. How do you think it would be possible for you and I to understand the gloriousness of our sovereign, the greatness of our sin, the graciousness of our Savior, and not see the grief of our service? In other words, we will be grieved, I believe, that we did not serve Him faithfully, constantly, and continually. How many of you would be pleased right now to give an account to Christ of how you lived this past week? How about the past 24 hours? How many of us you think will hear the words from His lips that He uttered in Matthew 25 and verse 21 when the Lord said unto Him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." What did he say? Well done, thou good and faithful servant.

[John Weaver] So you have to ask yourself, have we used our talents effectively? Have we served Christ faithfully? Have we placed His kingdom and His glory above any and everything else? Have we loved Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, body and being? Will we be pained to see the expression upon His face when our service, our commitment, our faithfulness are brought up? I'm sure that there will be some regret, some remorse, and even some tears at our lack of service.

[John Weaver] Now I can hear you right now say, I didn't think there were going to be any tears in heaven. Let me show you something. I want you to turn to Revelation 7, Revelation 21. Revelation 7, Revelation 21. I want to just read two verses, then ask a question. We'll go to Revelation 7 first, and look at verse 17. Revelation 7 verse 17 for the lamb which is the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them into living fountains of waters and God Shall wipe away all tears from their eyes look in Revelation 21 and verse 4 Revelation 21 verse 4 Look what the Bible says And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away." Now here's my question. How can God wipe away tears from our eyes if there are no tears?

[John Weaver] Why do you think He is wiping away tears from our eyes? And my answer is this, because we have not loved Him the way He should be loved. We have not served Him the way He should be served. We have not honored Him the way He should be honored. And when we die and we see His glory and His goodness, His greatness. How could we not think?

[John Weaver] Look at our poor, puny lives. And how unfaithful we've been. And how gracious and loving and kind He's been. And when we realize that, it will grieve us. But then there is more grace and more graciousness. For our Lord then will wipe away those tears and there will be no more crying, no more sorrow, no more death as we enter the eternal state.

[John Weaver] Now let me make just a couple of applications. I want you to listen carefully. The first one is this. We should determine in our hearts today that we're going to love Him more. We're going to serve Him more. We're going to be more obedient, more godly, more holy. We're going to read and study that Word and find out what God would have us to do so that we may be well pleasing in His sight.

[John Weaver] We have to understand that we will give an account for our lives, how we labor for Him. We will stand before Him. Listen to this. This is amazing to me. Hebrews 6 and verse 10 says this, For God is not unrighteous to forget your labor of love, which you have showed toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister. Now listen, read that again. Listen. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and your labor of love, which you showed toward His name, and that you minister to the saints and do minister." Isn't it amazing? God graciously and kindly forgot each and every sin, and yet He remembers each and every act of service.

[John Weaver] Even those, you remember our Lord said, who gave a cup of cold water in His name. You don't have grace. He forgets our sins, but He remembers our service. The second application is this. We should in this present time begin to fill our hearts with all the knowledge of the person and attributes of our glorious Lord, so that we may now have a better grasp of His greatness and His glory.

[John Weaver] The more we know Him, the greater our love will be for Him. The greater love we have for Him, the more we will serve Him. Do you know what eternal life is? Don't tell me that eternal life is living forever. If you define eternal life like that, I believe the lost have eternal life like that because they're going to live forever in punishment, in hell. Eternal life is not living forever. Although we shall live eternally, our Lord told us exactly what eternal life was in John 17 verse 3. Listen carefully. Our Lord said, And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Eternal life is an intimate relationship with the sovereign God of heaven and earth, through Jesus Christ. He said, and this is eternal life, that they may know Thee.

[John Weaver] I've often said this, and I've probably said it here, but listen. Alice and I, of course, have been married 47 years. I loved her when I married her. But compared to the way I love her today, I didn't love her at all when I married her. At least I didn't think I did. The love I have for her now is far greater than when we began. Why? I know her. I know her. The more you know someone, the more you love them. And let me tell you, This is life eternal that they may know Thee. If we love our Lord, we should be learning everything about Him that we can, that is revealed in Scripture.

[John Weaver] And have you ever thought of this? Here's what eternity will be like, if you really want to know. Here's what eternity will be like. In glory, in eternity, we will be forever learning, knowing our gracious, sovereign God, yet never fully comprehending Him.

[John Weaver] Now let me explain that. In glory we will have a perfect mind, we'll have perfect understanding. Whatever we learn, we will grasp, we will know, we will understand it, we will never forget it! It will be ours! But only God can comprehend God. And we're not God, so eternity will be filled with learning and knowing more and more and more and more of our gracious, sovereign and holy God. And if you want to get a jump on eternity, you better start studying now. The more you learn now, the more you'll love Him.

[John Weaver] What an awakening we will have at our deaths. Our death is nothing more than our passport into glory. And when we get there, we shall see Him as He is. And we will understand as we've never understood before. We'll understand the gloriousness of our Sovereign God. The greatness of our sins. the graciousness of our Savior, and the grief of our service. So we ought to change now, and love Him while we can love Him, serve Him while we can serve Him, and live for His honored glory. Let's pray.

[John Weaver] Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we do bow to Thee this day, and we recognize, O Lord, How great Thou art. And Lord, how sinful we are. How inept we are. How powerless we are. And often how unholy we are. And yet Lord, we cry unto Thee, make us holy as Thou art holy. Thou has commanded us to be so. Help us, Father, to love Thee with all of our heart, mind, soul, and being. Help us to put Thee first and Thy Word first. Thou didst say, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all these things shall be added unto you. Father, we pray it should make us more conscious of our lack of service toward Thee and our lack of love toward Thee, our lack of dedication toward Thee, that we would determine in our hearts today that we would be Thine and only Thine. Thank you, Father. We ask for the love of God to be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Give us grace and mercy that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

[John Weaver] In thy name we pray, amen.

Just Thinking Part 2 of 2

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	Pl7MLw6b3bk
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: The Superiority of Christ
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-02-08
Dictation Name
Book	Book 171: Just Thinking — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	89

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Review

Weaver reviews the previous message on musing upon God's works, particularly the death of the sinner, and introduces today's focus on the death of the saint.

Psalm 143, Psalm 143 and verse 5. And for those who are visiting here today, I'm going to tell you this is the second part of a message that I started last week, which I have entitled, "Just Thinking." I will take just a few moments and review, and then we will take up where we are going to begin today. And let me just say today that I will probably quote most scriptures, I will ask you to turn to some. And the reason I'm going to quote most of them is because the message is rather lengthy. And I just want to make sure that we're able to get all the scriptures in. So Psalm 143 verse 5, David said, "I remember the days of old."

Scripture Reading — Psalm 143:5

"I meditate on all thy works. I muse on the work of thy hands."

Now you remember I told you that the word "muse" means to think, to study, to meditate, to ponder, to concentrate upon. Whenever you take an alpha, which is the first letter in the Greek alphabet, or the "A" in the English, and put it in front of the word, it negates it. So if the word "muse" means to think, "a-muse" means not to think and not to meditate, not to ponder, not to consider.

And I pointed out we have amusement parks and how TV is nothing but amusement. You can sit there and be like a sponge and never think watching anything and everything. But David said, "I muse on the work of thy hands." And last week, by way of introduction, I pointed out how that creation is the work of God's hands. Certainly there's a lot that you could meditate on creation. Redemption is the work of God's hands. Providence is the work of God's hands. Many areas in which we could think there. However, the one part that I wanted us to consider is the providence of God in the work and in the area of death. That is when He comes for individual saints and sinners in death.

And I took great pains to show you in the scripture where the Bible says that our days are numbered, He's appointed our months, and He's appointed our bounds that we cannot pass. So God's not only ordained the day of our birth, He's also ordained the day of our death. And last week I dealt mainly with the death of the sinner, with the death of the man who dies without Christ. What does he realize when he dies? What is his first awareness? And I was not necessarily talking about the torments of hell or anything like that. But what in the world does he realize? And of course I told you very obviously there are two presuppositions that the Bible clearly teaches. Number one is that God is, because nowhere in the Bible does the Bible try to prove the existence of God. It just assumes that in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the second presupposition is that God has spoken. Very obviously, he recognizes that God is and that the Bible is indeed the Word of God. But then I pointed out that he's going to face, first of all, an angry God. The Bible says that God is angry with the wicked every day.

Death does not change that. God is still the sovereign, righteous, holy God. He is just and his anger still burns against sin and against sinners. It's just that simple. Then I pointed out, secondly, how the sinner would be overcome with terror. There would not only be the terror of his sins in the fact that he would remember each one distinctly and in detail, understanding that each one merited the death penalty, and understanding that God knew every sin that he ever committed, and God is a holy, just judge. I pointed out there would also be the terror of remembering all the sermons, all the invitations of the gospel, all the prayers, everything that had ever been prayed, and every time anyone had ever witnessed him, he would remember those in detail, and demonstrate what an absolute fool he was for not seeking God. Then I pointed out the fact how that he would face God as the judge, especially the Lord Jesus Christ, because God the Father has committed all judgment unto Him, and he would view Christ not as the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world, but he would view Him as

the Lion of the tribe of Judah, who is now in fierce wrath and anger coming upon his wickedness and his sin. And then of course I pointed out lastly how that he would face an eternity of eternal despisement by God. For the Bible says in Psalm 73 and verse 20,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 73:20

"As a dream when one awakeneth the Lord, when thou awakenest, so shalt thou despise their image."

And I dealt with that and showed in detail what it meant to be despised by God. That basically covered the death of the sinner. Today I want us to muse upon the work of God's hands and when we consider the death of the saint.

Differences in the Death of the Saint

Three key differences are outlined: the sting of death is removed, the fear and bondage of death are destroyed, and believers are immediately ushered into Christ's presence.

Now, like last week's message, let me point out that this message today cannot be exhaustive. It would take hours, it would take days in expounding and explaining the scriptures and then we still could not exhaust the teaching of scripture on these subjects. Now it is true that death comes to saint and sinner alike. For the Bible clearly says that the wages of sin is death. The Word of God says it's appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment. So it is true that saints and sinners die equally but there is indeed a difference in their deaths. That difference could be explained I suppose as Exodus chapter 11 and verse 7 states, where God then put the difference between the Israelites and the Egyptians.

Let me just quote it. In Exodus 11 and verse 7, God says, "But against any of the children of Israel, not a dog shall move his tongue against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel." Now, it is true that saints and sinners die alike, but their deaths certainly are not equal. There is a difference. God places such a difference upon the death of the saints that he says in Psalm 116 in verse 15,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 116:15

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."

And the word "precious

Scripture Reading — Psalm 116:15

" means splendid, honorable, glorious. So God says precious, splendid, honorable, glorious is the death of his saints in the eyes of the Lord. Well, since I said there are differences between the death of the sinner and the death of the saint, what are some of those differences? Well, let me give them to you. First of all, for the child of God, the sting of death has been removed because his sin has been washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. Please understand that it is sin that makes death so painful. The sting of death is sin, says the Bible in Romans chapter 7. But the Bible says in 1 John 1 verse 7, "

But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin."

And so we've been cleansed by the blood of Christ. In 1 Peter 1 verses 18 and 19, the Word of God says, "For as much as you know, you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without spot and without blemish." So first of all, for the child of God, the sting of death has been removed. Our Lord has taken away our sin. So for a child of God to die, there is no sting. Secondly, for the child of God, Christ has removed the fear and bondage of death. He has removed the fear and the bondage of death. Now, for the child of God, you should probably say something like this, "I don't want to die, but I'm not afraid to die." I mean, who wants to die? No one wants to die. But for the child of God, the fear has been taken away.

The Bible says in Hebrews 2 verses 14 and 15, listen carefully.

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 2:14-15

"For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."

So Christ then has destroyed not only sin but he's also destroyed Satan and in doing so he's destroyed for us the fear of death and the bondage of death. Death cannot hold the child of God anymore than it could hold the Son of God. So our Lord has destroyed the fear of death for the child of God. Thirdly, the scripture clearly teaches that when we die as believers, we're immediately ushered into the presence of Christ. Now, if you would hold Psalm 143, but look in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, and we'll begin reading there with verse 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, and look at verse 6. Notice what the Apostle Paul says, and this is important. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 6, Paul writes, "Therefore, we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we're absent from the Lord."

"For we walk by faith, not by sight. We're confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." So for the child of God, as long as he's in this body, he's absent from the Lord. We're not in his presence. But the apostle Paul says, "Here's the one thing that we're confident about and we're willing rather to be absent from the body." Why? That we might be present with the Lord.

Now the word "present" is a very interesting word in the Greek. It is the word "endēmeō" which literally means, listen carefully, to be present, to be at home, and to be among one's own people. If you will read the Old Testament, when the Old Testament saints died, men like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, even Moses and Aaron, you will always find this expression, "and he was gathered unto his own people." What does that mean? It means he went home. So death for the child of God is like going home. How many of us are fearful about going home? None of us. How many of us are thankful when we get home? Alice and I travel a lot, and I enjoy traveling, but I'm going to tell you one thing, we're always thankful to be home. And that's the way it is for the child of God. So death then just simply ushers the child of God into the presence of Christ.

Now let me show you how firmly the Apostle Paul believed this same truth. In Philippians chapter 1, Paul was in prison, and he was about to have his head cut off. In fact, that's how Paul died. He was in prison many times. But in Philippians 1, verses 23 and 24, he said this. And remember, he was facing death by beheading when he said this. He said, "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better"—and you can put in parentheses there, "for me."

"Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." Isn't that interesting? Paul said, in light of facing an axe, having his head severed from his body, he said, "I'm in a strait, I'm in a dilemma, I've got to make a choice." He said, "For me to depart and be with Christ is far better, that is for me. But nevertheless," he said, "to abide in the flesh, to continue to live is far better for you, that way I can continue to teach and to preach." But here was a desire to depart this life and be with Christ. If you look in your Bible, since you're in the New Testament, to John 17 and verse 24, and you remember that John 17 is the high priestly prayer of Christ, and I certainly don't have time to cover that entire prayer, but if you look in verse 24, you'll see a request that Christ has made. John 17, verse 24, Christ is praying to His Father, and He says,

Scripture Reading — John 17:24

"Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world."

Notice our Lord prayed that His people would be with Him where He was. Now let me ask you a question. Do you think that the prayer of Jesus Christ will be unanswered? Well, of course not. You know His prayer is going to be answered because He is indeed the Son of God. And so Paul said, "When we depart this life, we're immediately ushered in the presence of Christ." He said he had a desire to depart and meet with Christ, which was far better with him. And now our Lord has prayed that we would be in his presence. Here are three differences.

Discovery of the Gloriousness of Our Sovereign

Upon death, believers will be overwhelmed by the glory of God, which they have only glimpsed dimly in this life.

Now, what in the world will you and I discover upon our deaths? Again, let me remind you that this message is not exhausted by any stretch of the imagination. I'm not even dealing with the joys and the lights of heaven. But what I want to deal with today is what I think are going to be the most provocative thoughts and the most revealing truths that you and I will discover immediately upon our death. Because you have to remember that when we die, immediately we're ushered into the presence of Jesus Christ. So what will we discover? First of all, we will discover the gloriousness of our sovereign. The gloriousness of our sovereign. I believe that based upon the scripture, we will be absolutely stunned and overwhelmed at the gloriousness of our sovereign God.

Our eyes have not seen, nor have our ears heard the minutest amount of his glory. You remember when the queen of Sheba went to see Solomon? She said in 1 Kings chapter 10 and verse 7, after she had seen all of Solomon's glory, and by the way, our Lord acknowledged Solomon's glory. But when he said, "Consider the lilies of the field," he said, "even Solomon and all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these." So Solomon had a very glorious reign, had a very glorious throne. But when the Queen of Sheba saw it, she said this,

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 10:7

"Howbeit I believed not the words until I came, and mine eyes had seen it, and behold, the half was not told me."

May I say this? We have never even seen nor understood the minutest amount of our Sovereign's glory, much less the half of it.

I believe we will be absolutely so stunned, so overwhelmed. You remember it was Moses who wanted to see the glory of God. If you will go back in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 33 very quickly. Exodus chapter 33 and let's begin reading there with verse 18. Exodus 33 and verse 18. I want you to see what the scripture says. Exodus 33 verse 18. Moses is talking with the Lord and he says in Exodus 33 in verse 18,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 33:18-23

"And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory."

And notice what God said, verse 19,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 33:18-23

"And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious unto whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me. Thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass while my glory passeth by."

"I will put thee in the cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen." Moses only saw a minute amount of God's glory. God says, "You can't see me in the flesh and live." It's just that simple. You remember in Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah saw the Lord's glory. He said, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple." "Above it stood the seraphim, and each one had six wings. With twain He covered His face, with twain He covered His feet, and with twain He did fly. And He ceased not saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, while the whole earth is full of his glory. And the post of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke."

"Then said I," Isaiah said, "Woe is me, for I am undone. I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. Woe is me, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." And what happened? A seraphim had to take a coal from the altar and touch him and purge him. But notice he said, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the glory of God." Did he see all of it? No. But he saw enough to make him understand what a sinful, wicked wretch he was. Do you remember, without us turning there, how both Ezekiel and also the apostle John saw the glory of the Lord, and each one of them fell down as dead, and the Lord had to sovereignly lift them up. It was the hope of the Old Testament saints that they would see God's glory. You remember Job in all of his suffering said it like this in Job 19 in verse 26:

Scripture Reading — Job 19:26

"And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."

And Job was speaking of his resurrected glorified body, for he said, "the worms destroyed this body," and he said there's going to be another one. "And I shall see God."

Likewise, David said in Psalm 17 and verse 15,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 17:15

"As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied, I shall be satisfied when I awake, in thy likeness."

Notice what David said,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 17:15

"I will behold thy face in righteousness."

Do you remember that passage in John 1 in verse 18, where our Lord said this, "No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." Do you realize that Jesus Christ is God incarnate? Jesus Christ has revealed the Father totally, completely, fully. Now listen carefully. If God the Father appeared on earth, He would appear in and as and through Jesus Christ, for Jesus Christ is God.

Now let me show you this. Listen carefully. In John 14, John 14. Go ahead and turn there. John 14. Look at verses 8 and 9. John 14. Notice, if you would, what Philip says to Christ. John 14, verse 8.

Scripture Reading — John 14:8-9

"Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us."

That will be sufficient. Just show us the Father. Look at verse 9.

Scripture Reading — John 14:8-9

"Jesus said to him, Have I been so long time with you? And yet thou hast not known me, Philip. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?"

What did our Lord say?

Scripture Reading — John 14:8-9

"He that hath seen me hath seen the Father."

Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. The Bible says in Colossians 1 and verse 15 concerning Christ, "who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature." In 1 Timothy 3 and verse 16, the Bible says, "and without all controversy, great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh." Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.

Now Philip saw Him, but we have not seen Him. We have not looked upon him with our eyes yet. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 12, listen carefully.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 13:12

"For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face, now I know in part, but then shall I know even as I am known."

Notice what the Apostle Paul said. Right now we see through a glass darkly, in other words, we can make out some things because of the revelation of the Word of God. But then He said, "face to face, and we shall know even as we are known." I've probably told you this before, but I like to say this because it's so true. I've had people ask me, "Pastor, will we know each other in heaven?" And my response to that is this, "You won't be any more stupid there than you are now. Certainly you're going to know each other. We shall know even as we are known." We will know each other fully, totally, completely. Now, listen to this.

When we die and we leave this veil of sin and sorrow, we will be made completely pure in Jesus Christ and we will have to remember the blessed promise that our Lord himself gave in Matthew 5 in verse 8, when he said,

Scripture Reading — Matthew 5:8

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

You know what the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 3 and verse 2? Listen carefully. He wrote, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." Did you hear what I just read? "Beloved, now are we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be." In other words, we don't understand totally our glorified bodies. We don't understand totally about that, but we know He said that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him. Why? "For we shall see Him as He is." In Revelation 22 and verse 4, the Bible says this. Listen carefully. "And they shall see His face."

"And His name shall be in their foreheads." Now let me ask you. Can you muse? Can you think? Can you ponder just for a moment what it will be like to gaze upon the glorious, holy, majestic, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, eternal, infinite, immutable God? Paul sang a hymn of praise to God in 1 Timothy 1 in verse 17. Let me just quote it. Listen to what He says.

"Now unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory both now and forever. Amen." Now listen to what He said. "Now unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible." We cannot see Him now. But we shall see Him then face to face in all of His splendor in all of His glory. What an overpowering, what an overwhelming sight and experience it will be when we realize who God really is. We will understand the gloriousness of our Sovereign. I've heard believers say this down through the years.

"Well, when I get to heaven, the first thing I'm going to do is run up to our Savior and kiss Him." I've got news for you. I believe we're going to be so overwhelmed and so overpowered and so overjoyed, we'll probably end up doing like John and like Ezekiel. We'll fall at His feet as one dead because of His glory and His splendor. I have not seen nor ear heard, not even the minutest amount, of the glory of our Sovereign God. And upon our deaths, we will understand and realize and recognize the gloriousness of our Sovereign. Now secondly, and I want you to listen carefully, upon our deaths, I believe, based upon the Word of God, we will discover the greatness of our sins. Now I want you to listen carefully to what I am about to say.

Discovery of the Greatness of Our Sins

Believers will fully grasp the vileness of sin, not for condemnation, but to appreciate the magnitude of Christ's sacrifice.

I am not suggesting by any stretch of the imagination that we will be groaning and moaning over our sins because certainly we know that our sins are forgiven, we are pardoned, our sins will never ever condemn us. I'm not talking now about the condemnation of sin. I'm making a point that we will discover the greatness of our sin. Let me give you a quote. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said it like this. Listen carefully. "What is this forgiveness of sins? Too often in popular talk, it is supposed that the chief and main thought of the forgiven sinner is that he has escaped from hell."

"Salvation means much more than this. And what it further means is too much kept in the background. But yet I will begin with the rescue from punishment. For if sin be pardoned, the penalty is extinguished. It would not be possible for God to forgive and yet to punish. That would be a forgiveness quite unworthy of God. It would indeed be no forgiveness at all. We are certain that the everlasting punishment of sin declared in scripture will never happen to the man who is forgiven. When transgression is removed from the soul, the soul stands clear at the bar of God, and there can be no further penalty. 'I absolve thee,' says the great judge, and that carries with it weight, so that a man that is forgiven is clear of the punishment which he must otherwise have borne. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered, Psalm 32, there is therefore now no condemnation, to them who are in Christ Jesus, Romans 8 verse 1." So if our sins are pardoned, and they are, if our sins are forgiven, and they are, here's my question.

How then will we perceive and discover the greatness of our sin? Well, please remember I am not alluding to condemnation at this point. But I am talking about that we will discover the vileness, we'll understand the wickedness of sin. I believe it's absolutely impossible for you and I to grasp the greatness and the graciousness of our Savior without understanding why He came as our sacrifice and our substitute. Have you ever thought about it like this? If there was no sin, we would not need a Savior. Why in the world did Jesus Christ come? And the answer is to save His people from their sins. You remember in Philippians 2, go ahead and turn there. I want you to see this. Philippians chapter 2. In the book of Philippians chapter 2, we have a tremendous statement concerning the glory of our Lord and His willingness in laying aside that splendor. Look in Philippians chapter 2, and let's begin reading there with verse 5. The Bible says, "Let this mind be in you, which also was in Christ Jesus." Verse 6, "Who being in the form of God," in other words, He was God, "thought it not robbery to be equal with God." In other words, it was not something to be seized at and gained. In other words, our Lord in all of His splendor and heavenly glory, did not seize and hold on to that and say, "No, no, no, I will not give it up."

No. He willingly laid aside all that splendor and glory. Look in verse 6, "Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery or something to be seized at to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in likeness of man and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death on the cross." Notice our Lord willingly laid aside his heavenly splendor and glory and humbled himself. This passage, we talk about the humiliation of Christ. That is when he left glory and became not only man, but a servant and even to death on the cross. You say that way meant brother Weaver. The Bible tells us that Christ died for his people. That is true, but you have to ask this question. Why did Christ die for his people? And the answer is because of their sin. Think with me just a moment about sin. How little do we see and understand the wickedness and the vileness of sin. We treat sin so flippantly and so lightly that we oftentimes countenance and condone sin. When God said in Jeremiah 44 and verse 4, talking about sin, "Oh do not that abominable thing which I hate." God hates sin. Do we hate sin the way God does? The answer has to be no. In our present state, in our present state, we pretend to hate sin, yet we engage in it. We say we do not wish to sin, yet we seek it out. Our sinful natures are inclined to sin and rebellion, even though we're redeemed.

We sin oftentimes without even considering who it is we sin against or who it is we rebel against. We do not understand or grasp the magnitude and the evilness and the wickedness of sin in this life. Everyone in this room will tell you that yes, sin is a destroyer of homes, it is a destroyer of lives, it is a destroyer of families, it destroys societies, it destroys nations. Everyone in this room will recognize the fact that sin brings sorrow and death and yet the truth of the matter is most of the time we know nothing concerning its foulness and its wickedness. Ralph Venning has a book. He was an old Puritan, been dead for many years. But the title of the book is "The Plague of Plagues," and it is a book on Hamartiology, which is the doctrine of sin. I want to read to you just a couple of paragraphs. I want you to listen to how this man describes sin. And I want you to understand, here is just a taste of the violence and the wickedness of sin.

He writes, "God is holy. All holy, only holy, altogether holy, and always holy. So sin is sinful, all sinful, only sinful, altogether sinful, and always sinful. In my flesh there dwelleth no good thing. As in God there is no evil, so in sin there is no good. God is the chiefest of goods, and sin is the chiefest of evils. And no good can be compared with God for goodness, so no evil can be compared with sin for evil. Sin is contrary to all the names and attributes of God."

"It sets itself in opposition to them all. It deposes the sovereignty of God as much as it lies. It will not that the king of kings should be on the throne and govern this world which he hath made. It was by this instinct that Pharaoh said, 'Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I know not the Lord. I recognize no Lord above me. I will not let Israel go.' The voice and language of sin is 'our lips are our own. Who is Lord over us?'"

"It was from hints that the Jews of old said, 'we are Lords. We will no more come to thee.' Thus it attempts to dethrone God. It denies God's all sufficiency. If there were not contentment and satisfaction enough to be had in the enjoyment of God, but that vanity and wickedness had more pleasure and profit than he, whose ways are all pleasantness and whose service is the help of man." "Every prodigal who leaves the Father's house says, in effect, it is better to be elsewhere. It challenges the justice of God and dares God to do His worst. It provokes the Lord to jealousy and tempts Him to wrath. It disowns His omniscience. 'Pooh,' they say, 'God does not see, nor does the Most High regard.' It despises the riches of God's goodness. It turns His grace into wantonness. It will make bold with God and sin because grace abounds. In short, sin is the dare of God's justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, the contempt of His love."

"It is the upbraiding of His providence, the scoff at His promise, the reproach of His wisdom. It is said of the man of sin who is made up of sin, 'It opposes and exalts itself above all that is called God, and above all that God has called, so that it as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing itself as it were God.'" Now stop and think about this. Sin is the dare of God's justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, the contempt of His love. As awful as you and I can make sin, we still do not understand its ugliness. We still do not understand its wickedness and vileness. And we really will not understand how awful sin was and is until we reach glory. Now stop and think. In heaven, we will understand it was sin. It was sin that brought the Son of God from heaven. It was our sin for which the Son of God came and died. It was our sin that placed the crown of thorns upon His head. It was our sin that nailed Him to the cross. It was our sin that pierced Him to His side. It was our sin that caused Him to suffer agony.

Do you realize the greatest part of our Lord's suffering was not physical, but spiritual. I want to show you what I'm talking about. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And look if you would please at verse 21. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21. The greatest suffering of our Lord was spiritual, and not physical.

Listen, I can go to Isaiah 53. I can describe the horrors of crucifixion. I could show you the physical suffering that our Lord went through. And it was horrible. It was bad. But let me show you something that's far worse. Look in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21. "For He," that is God the Father, "hath made Him," that is God the Son, "to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." Let me tell you something, folks. Have you ever thought about one minute for one second what it was like for the sinless Son of God who never knew sin, who never had an inclination of sin, who never had any desire to sin? Have you ever considered what it was like for the sinless Son of God to be made sin?

and have all that filth and trash and vileness and wickedness dumped upon His Holy Soul, that He may redeem us from all iniquity. What I'm trying to say is this, I believe that when we get to heaven, we will recognize the ugliness and vileness of sin in general, but our sin in particular, when we recognize that Christ died for me, for my sin. Jonathan Edwards said this, listen carefully, he said, "Any sin is more or less heinous depending upon the honor and the majesty of the one whom we have offended. Since God is of infinite honor, infinite majesty, and infinite holiness, the slightest sin is of infinite consequence. The slightest sin is nothing less than cosmic treason when we realize against whom we have sinned."

When we see the greatness and the glory of our Sovereign, how can we help not understanding and knowing the greatness of our sin which brought Him for our redemption? How can we not understand how it grieved Him and our rebellion against Him? But thankfully, thankfully, when we understand the greatness of our sin, it will only heighten our love and our praise and adoration and worship for such a wonderful, loving, forgiving Lord.

Discovery of the Graciousness of Our Savior

Understanding the glory of God and the greatness of sin will heighten the believer's appreciation of God's forgiving grace.

There's a third thing that we're going to recognize, I believe, upon our death. Not only the greatness of our sovereign, not only the greatness of our sin, but thirdly, we're going to discover the graciousness of our Savior. Let me explain. Look in your Bibles, if you would, to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53.

Isaiah 53 and look, if you would please at verse 11, once we understand the glory of our sovereign, the greatness of our sin, and we recognize how we have sinned against him and hurt him, we're going to understand his graciousness is so much better. Look in Isaiah 53 and verse 11, the Bible says this, talking about Christ now, "He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied." "By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities." Now I want to show you two things in this verse that really astound me. The first one is, "He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied." I will be absolutely honest with you. I do not understand how our Lord could be satisfied with such a sinner as I am.

But yet that's what the Bible says. "He shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied." Each redeemed child of God will be a satisfaction for the Son of God. And look if you would in verse 11, "By His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities." Now listen to me. If we see the glory of our sovereign and we understand the greatness of our sins, that it was you and I who have hurt him, who sinned against him, who preferred sin above obedience, lust above love, and yet how he bore our sins and our iniquities. And in light of all of that, He lovingly and kindly and graciously pardoned us and forgave us. How in the world can we not recognize such wonderful graciousness? Certainly, I believe we'll have a better understanding of Psalm 86 and verse 5, where the Scripture says, "For thou, Lord, art good, ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee." We'll understand Psalm 130 verse 4, "But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared." We'll understand Hebrews 8 and verse 12 better, where God says, "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." And he said it again in Hebrews 10 and verse 17, "and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." And we've got to understand those two passages in Hebrews are taken from the covenant that is found back in Jeremiah 31 verses 33 and 34 where God said, "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people."

"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For they shall all know Me from the least of them, even to the greatest of them, saith the Lord. And I will forgive their iniquity, and will remember their sin no more." Grace is simply God's unmerited, undeserved, and unearned favor. And God kindly and graciously forgave us when He was not obligated to do so. He created us. He redeemed us. He gave us Christ. He regenerated us. He converted us. He sanctified us. He glorified us all by His grace.

How can we not recognize His graciousness? Now I want you to listen to what Spurgeon said. I love this. Spurgeon wrote, "Besides, beloved, be this always remembered that it is in the application of redemption and the personal pardon of the sinner through the blood of Jesus, that the grace of God is best seen by the sinner. To each one pardon through the Lord Jesus comes not only according to grace, but according to the riches of His grace." Now listen to what Spurgeon said, "I can understand that God should forgive you, all of you." "I could hear it with full belief. And it would not astonish me, but that He should pardon me. That I should have forgiveness of sins and redemption by the blood, that does astonish me. And I believe that any person under a sense of sin sees more the grace of God in his own salvation than in the salvation of anyone else. He may be quite conscious that he's never been a thief, or a drunkard, or a murderer, and yet when he comes to look at it, he may see reasons why the pardon of sin in his case shouldn't be more remarkable than even in the case of a drunkard, or a thief, or a murderer. There may be elements in his own case which may make him seem to have sinned even more grievously than open transgressors because he sinned against greater light, with less temptation thereto, or with a dire presumption of rebellion against the Most High. That Jesus died is an honorable grace. But that He loved me and gave Himself for me, this is overwhelming grace."

"And makes the heir of heaven say with emphasis, Blessed be God that in Jesus I have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace." I think when you and I understand the graciousness of our Savior, we'll probably learn to sing that chorus, "Oh, what a Savior. Oh, what a Savior. Oh, hallelujah. His heart was broken on Calvary. His hands were scarred. His side was riven. He gave His life's blood for you and me." We'll learn to sing "grace, grace, greater than all of our sins."

It will be our song of praise throughout eternity. Stop and think. That grace was given to you. I know that the Apostle Paul said that he was the chief of sinners. But when we see the wickedness and the vileness of our sin and understand it, and we see the graciousness of our Savior in forgiving our sins, we might have a willingness to fight the Apostle Paul for first place. Because we'll recognize what a gracious Savior we truly have. One more thing today. We'll not only discover the gloriousness of our Sovereign, the greatness of our sin, the graciousness of our Savior. But I believe, fourthly, we'll discover the grief of our service.

Discovery of the Grief of Our Service

Believers will be grieved over their inadequate service and love for Christ, leading to tears that God will wipe away.

Now, what do I mean by that? I mean simply this. I believe that we will be grieved that we have served our Lord so little, loved Him so minutely, sacrificed for Him so infrequently and gave Him such unworthy service. How can we not understand this when we behold His glory? How can we not understand this when we see His graciousness and His goodness? How can we not understand that we should have loved Him with all our heart, mind, soul, body and being? How can we not understand that's what He has commanded us to do? When we see His greatness and His glory and His graciousness, can we not understand that He was worthy to be served constantly and continually? And will we not be grieved that we served Him so infrequently and so ineffectively? Let me show you.

Turn in your Bibles to Romans 14 and 2 Corinthians 5. Romans 14 and 2 Corinthians 5. I want you to notice what the Apostle Paul said in Romans chapter 14 and verse 10. I'm not going to be expounding this passage, but I'm going to take it and show it to you along with another passage. Romans chapter 14, look at verse 10. Paul asks these Roman Christians, "But why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set at nought thy brother?"

And then he makes this statement, "For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." Now, he's talking about believers. He's not talking about sinners. He says, "Why are you treating your brother so wickedly? We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." In other words, we're going to give an account as to how we treated each other. Look in 2 Corinthians 5, verses 9 and 10. 2 Corinthians 5, verses 9 and 10. The apostle says, "Wherefore we labor, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." Now the judgment seat of Christ, I believe, is where we must give an account of our lives and our service. The judgment seat of Christ has nothing to do with our sin, it has nothing to do with condemnation.

You'll remember the parable that our Lord gave where He gave talents to men, and when He returned, He called those servants and said, "Give account of thy stewardship." Here's where we give an account of our stewardship. If you and I were not saved, we would not even be here. But I want you to note what the Apostle Paul said. Look in verse 9 again. Look what he said. "Wherefore we labor," that is we're serving Christ, "that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him." Now the word "accepted" literally means well-pleasing. Literally what he says that we labor that we may be well-pleasing unto Christ. Christians should labor that we may please our Lord and certainly we want to please Him well.

Now notice if you would that Paul says in verse 10 that we will give an account for the things done in everyone will give an account for the things done in his body according that he had done whether it be good or bad. Now the word "bad" in the Greek is the word "phaulos" which literally means worthless or faulty. He's not necessarily talking about our sins here, whether it's good or worthless. Do you realize there are plenty of things that you and I do that are not positively sinful, but for all practical purposes, they're absolutely worthless. They do nothing for the service of Christ or the furtherance of His kingdom. They do nothing for His honor and His glory.

Now, I want you to think about this. How do you think it would be possible for you and I to understand the gloriousness of our sovereign, the greatness of our sin, the graciousness of our Savior, and not see the grief of our service? In other words, we will be grieved, I believe, that we did not serve Him faithfully, constantly, and continually. How many of you would be pleased right now to give an account to Christ of how you lived this past week? How about the past 24 hours? How many of us you think will hear the words from His lips that He uttered in Matthew 25 and verse 21 when the Lord said unto him, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." What did he say? "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

So you have to ask yourself, have we used our talents effectively? Have we served Christ faithfully? Have we placed His kingdom and His glory above any and everything else? Have we loved Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, body and being? Will we be pained to see the expression upon His face when our service, our commitment, our faithfulness are brought up? I'm sure that there will be some regret, some remorse, and even some tears at our lack of service.

Now I can hear you right now say, "I didn't think there were going to be any tears in heaven." Let me show you something. I want you to turn to Revelation 7, Revelation 21. Revelation 7, Revelation 21. I want to just read two verses, then ask a question. We'll go to Revelation 7 first, and look at verse 17. Revelation 7 verse 17: "For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them into living fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Look in Revelation 21 and verse 4. Revelation 21 verse 4. Look what the Bible says: "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away." Now here's my question. How can God wipe away tears from our eyes if there are no tears?

Why do you think He is wiping away tears from our eyes? And my answer is this, because we have not loved Him the way He should be loved. We have not served Him the way He should be served. We have not honored Him the way He should be honored. And when we die and we see His glory and His goodness, His greatness, how could we not think? Look at our poor, puny lives. And how unfaithful we've been. And how gracious and loving and kind He's been. And when we realize that, it will grieve us. But then there is more grace and more graciousness. For our Lord then will wipe away those tears and there will be no more crying, no more sorrow, no more death as we enter the eternal state.

Applications and Conclusion

Weaver urges believers to love and serve Christ more faithfully now, and to grow in the knowledge of God, which is eternal life.

Now let me make just a couple of applications. I want you to listen carefully. The first one is this. We should determine in our hearts today that we're going to love Him more. We're going to serve Him more. We're going to be more obedient, more godly, more holy. We're going to read and study that Word and find out what God would have us to do so that we may be well pleasing in His sight.

We have to understand that we will give an account for our lives, how we labor for Him. We will stand before Him. Listen to this. This is amazing to me. Hebrews 6 and verse 10 says this, "For God is not unrighteous to forget your labor of love, which you have showed toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister." Now listen, read that again. Listen. "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and your labor of love, which you showed toward His name, and that you minister to the saints and do minister." Isn't it amazing? God graciously and kindly forgot each and every sin, and yet He remembers each and every act of service.

Even those, you remember our Lord said, who gave a cup of cold water in His name. You don't have grace. He forgets our sins, but He remembers our service. The second application is this. We should in this present time begin to fill our hearts with all the knowledge of the person and attributes of our glorious Lord, so that we may now have a better grasp of His greatness and His glory. The more we know Him, the greater our love will be for Him. The greater love we have for Him, the more we will serve Him. Do you know what eternal life is? Don't tell me that eternal life is living forever. If you define eternal life like that, I believe the lost have eternal life like that because they're going to live forever in punishment, in hell. Eternal life is not living forever. Although we shall live eternally, our Lord told us exactly what eternal life was in John 17 verse 3. Listen carefully. Our Lord said, "And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Eternal life is an intimate relationship with the sovereign God of heaven and earth, through Jesus Christ. He said, "and this is eternal life, that they may know Thee."

I've often said this, and I've probably said it here, but listen. Alice and I, of course, have been married 47 years. I loved her when I married her. But compared to the way I love her today, I didn't love her at all when I married her. At least I didn't think I did. The love I have for her now is far greater than when we began. Why? I know her. I know her. The more you know someone, the more you love them. And let me tell you, this is life eternal that they may know Thee. If we love our Lord, we should be learning everything about Him that we can, that is revealed in Scripture.

And have you ever thought of this? Here's what eternity will be like, if you really want to know. Here's what eternity will be like. In glory, in eternity, we will be forever learning, knowing our gracious, sovereign God, yet never fully comprehending Him.

Now let me explain that. In glory we will have a perfect mind, we'll have perfect understanding. Whatever we learn, we will grasp, we will know, we will understand it, we will never forget it! It will be ours! But only God can comprehend God. And we're not God, so eternity will be filled with learning and knowing more and more and more and more of our gracious, sovereign and holy God. And if you want to get a jump on eternity, you better start studying now. The more you learn now, the more you'll love Him.

What an awakening we will have at our deaths. Our death is nothing more than our passport into glory. And when we get there, we shall see Him as He is. And we will understand as we've never understood before. We'll understand the gloriousness of our Sovereign God. The greatness of our sins. The graciousness of our Savior, and the grief of our service. So we ought to change now, and love Him while we can love Him, serve Him while we can serve Him, and live for His honored glory. Let's pray.

Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we do bow to Thee this day, and we recognize, O Lord, how great Thou art. And Lord, how sinful we are. How inept we are. How powerless we are. And often how unholy we are. And yet Lord, we cry unto Thee, make us holy as Thou art holy. Thou has commanded us to be so. Help us, Father, to love Thee with all of our heart, mind, soul, and being. Help us to put Thee first and Thy Word first. Thou didst say, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all these things shall be added unto you." Father, we pray it should make us more conscious of our lack of service toward Thee and our lack of love toward Thee, our lack of dedication toward Thee, that we would determine in our hearts today that we would be Thine and only Thine. Thank you, Father. We ask for the love of God to be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Give us grace and mercy that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

In thy name we pray, amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The Death of the Saint vs. the Sinner

Summary: God puts a difference between the death of the saint and the sinner; for the saint, death's sting, fear, and bondage are removed through Christ.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'God places such a difference upon the death of the saints that he says in Psalm 116 in verse 15, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.' He then lists three differences: sting removed, fear destroyed, immediate presence with Christ.

The Glory of God Revealed in Death

Summary: Upon death, believers will be stunned by the full revelation of God's glory, which they could not fully perceive in life.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'I believe we will be absolutely so stunned, so overwhelmed... Our eyes have not seen, nor have our ears heard the minutest amount of his glory.'

The True Nature of Sin

Summary: In heaven, believers will understand the true vileness and wickedness of sin, especially as it necessitated Christ's sacrifice.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Ralph Venning: 'Sin is the dare of God's justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, the contempt of His love.'

The Graciousness of Forgiveness

Summary: Seeing God's glory and sin's greatness will magnify the believer's appreciation of God's gracious forgiveness.

Evidence: Weaver cites Spurgeon: 'That He should pardon me. That I should have forgiveness of sins and redemption by the blood, that does astonish me.'

Regret Over Inadequate Service

Summary: Believers will grieve over their lack of faithful service and love for Christ when they see His glory and grace.

Evidence: Weaver asks, 'How can we not understand this when we behold His glory? ... Will we not be grieved that we served Him so infrequently and so ineffectively?'

Eternal Life as Knowing God

Summary: Eternal life is defined as an intimate, growing knowledge of God through Jesus Christ, which begins now and continues forever.

Evidence: Weaver quotes John 17:3: 'And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.'

Key Arguments

Death for the saint is fundamentally different because of Christ's work.

Summary: Christ has removed the sting of death (sin), destroyed the fear and bondage of death, and ensures immediate presence with Him.

Evidence: Weaver cites 1 Corinthians 15:56, Hebrews 2:14-15, and 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 to support each point.

Believers will be overwhelmed by God's glory at death.

Summary: Scripture shows that no one can see God's full glory and live; in heaven, the pure in heart will see God face to face.

Evidence: Weaver references Exodus 33:18-23, Matthew 5:8, 1 John 3:2, and Revelation 22:4.

Understanding sin's greatness is essential to appreciating Christ's sacrifice.

Summary: In heaven, believers will see sin as cosmic treason against an infinitely holy God, making Christ's atonement all the more gracious.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Jonathan Edwards: 'The slightest sin is nothing less than cosmic treason when we realize against whom we have sinned.'

God's grace in personal forgiveness will be most astonishing in heaven.

Summary: Each believer will see their own sin as uniquely heinous and thus be overwhelmed by the personal nature of God's pardon.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Spurgeon: 'That He should pardon me... that does astonish me.'

The judgment seat of Christ will reveal the worthlessness of much of our service.

Summary: Believers will give an account for deeds done in the body, and many works will be shown as worthless, leading to grief.

Evidence: Weaver explains 2 Corinthians 5:10, noting the Greek word 'phaulos' means worthless or faulty.

Tears in heaven are real and will be wiped away by God.

Summary: Revelation 7:17 and 21:4 indicate there will be tears, likely from regret over inadequate service, which God will comfort.

Evidence: Weaver asks, 'How can God wipe away tears from our eyes if there are no tears?'

Eternal life is knowing God, which begins now.

Summary: John 17:3 defines eternal life as knowing God; believers should pursue this knowledge now to love and serve Him more.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Eternal life is an intimate relationship with the sovereign God of heaven and earth, through Jesus Christ.'

Scripture References

Psalm 143:5

Context: Introduction: David muses on God's works; the sermon title 'Just Thinking' is derived from this.

Psalm 73:20

Context: Review of sinner's death: God will despise the image of the wicked.

Exodus 11:7

Context: God puts a difference between Egyptians and Israel, illustrating the difference in death between saint and sinner.

Psalm 116:15

Context: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

1 John 1:7

Context: The blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin, removing the sting of death.

1 Peter 1:18-19

Context: Redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.

Hebrews 2:14-15

Context: Christ destroyed the devil and delivered believers from the fear and bondage of death.

2 Corinthians 5:6-8

Context: Absent from the body, present with the Lord; immediate presence with Christ at death.

Philippians 1:23-24

Context: Paul's desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

John 17:24

Context: Christ's prayer that believers be with Him and behold His glory.

1 Kings 10:7

Context: The Queen of Sheba said the half was not told her of Solomon's glory; similarly, we cannot grasp God's full glory.

Exodus 33:18-23

Context: Moses could only see God's back parts; no man can see God's face and live.

Isaiah 6:1-5

Context: Isaiah saw the Lord's glory and was undone by his sinfulness.

Job 19:26

Context: Job's hope to see God in his resurrected body.

Psalm 17:15

Context: David's satisfaction in beholding God's face in righteousness.

John 1:18

Context: No man has seen God; the Son has declared Him.

John 14:8-9

Context: Jesus says, 'He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.'

1 Corinthians 13:12

Context: Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.

Matthew 5:8

Context: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

1 John 3:2

Context: When He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Historical References

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Context: Quoted on the nature of forgiveness and the personal astonishment of being pardoned.

Ralph Venning

Context: Puritan author of 'The Plague of Plagues,' quoted extensively on the vileness of sin.

Jonathan Edwards

Context: Quoted on the heinousness of sin as cosmic treason against an infinite God.

Important Quotes

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

Significance: Establishes the central theme that God values the death of believers differently from that of sinners.

For the child of God, the sting of death has been removed because his sin has been washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Significance: Summarizes the first key difference in the death of a saint.

We're confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Significance: Key verse showing immediate presence with Christ at death.

Our eyes have not seen, nor have our ears heard the minutest amount of his glory.

Significance: Highlights the overwhelming discovery of God's glory at death.

Sin is the dare of God's justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, the contempt of His love.

Significance: Vivid description of sin's true nature, quoted from Ralph Venning.

Any sin is more or less heinous depending upon the honor and the majesty of the one whom we have offended. Since God is of infinite honor, infinite majesty, and infinite holiness, the slightest sin is of infinite consequence.

Significance: Jonathan Edwards' quote explaining why sin is so serious.

That He should pardon me. That I should have forgiveness of sins and redemption by the blood, that does astonish me.

Significance: Spurgeon's expression of personal amazement at grace, illustrating the discovery of graciousness.

And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Significance: Defines eternal life as knowing God, the ultimate application of the sermon.

Discussion Questions

How does understanding that God puts a difference between the death of the saint and the sinner affect your view of death?

Context: Weaver emphasizes that while death is common to all, its experience is fundamentally different for believers.

In what ways do you think seeing God's full glory will change your understanding of Him?

Context: Weaver argues that we cannot grasp God's glory now, but at death we will be overwhelmed.

Why do you think we will discover the greatness of our sins in heaven, even though they are forgiven?

Context: Weaver clarifies this is not about condemnation but about appreciating Christ's sacrifice.

How does the quote from Spurgeon about personal forgiveness challenge your view of God's grace?

Context: Spurgeon said he is more astonished that God would pardon him personally than others.

What do you think it will feel like to grieve over your inadequate service at the judgment seat of Christ?

Context: Weaver suggests believers will experience regret and tears over their lack of faithful service.

How can we begin now to 'fill our hearts with all the knowledge' of God to prepare for eternity?

Context: Weaver applies the message by urging believers to study God's Word and know Him more.

What does it mean that eternal life is knowing God, and how should that shape our daily lives?

Context: Weaver defines eternal life relationally, not just as endless existence.

Applications

Determine to love and serve Christ more faithfully now.

Summary: In light of the coming judgment seat and the grief of inadequate service, believers should resolve to love and serve Christ more.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We should determine in our hearts today that we're going to love Him more. We're going to serve Him more.'

Pursue the knowledge of God as eternal life.

Summary: Believers should fill their hearts with the knowledge of God's person and attributes now, as this is the essence of eternal life.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'We should in this present time begin to fill our hearts with all the knowledge of the person and attributes of our glorious Lord.'

Live to be well-pleasing to Christ.

Summary: Believers should labor to be accepted (well-pleasing) to Christ, knowing they will give an account of their deeds.

Evidence: Weaver explains 2 Corinthians 5:9: 'Wherefore we labor, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.'

Remember that God forgets sins but remembers service.

Summary: God graciously forgets our sins but remembers every act of service, encouraging faithful labor.

Evidence: Weaver cites Hebrews 6:10: 'God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T03:16:22Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T16:13:31Z

Clean Transcript

Just Thinking Part 2 of 2

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Psalm 143, Psalm 143 and verse 5. And for those who are visiting here today, I'm going to tell you this is the second part of a message that I started last week, which I have entitled, "Just Thinking." I will take just a few moments and review, and then we will take up where we are going to begin today. And let me just say today that I will probably quote most scriptures, I will ask you to turn to some. And the reason I'm going to quote most of them is because the message is rather lengthy. And I just want to make sure that we're able to get all the scriptures in. So Psalm 143 verse 5, David said, "I remember the days of old."
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"I meditate on all thy works. I muse on the work of thy hands." Now you remember I told you that the word "muse" means to think, to study, to meditate, to ponder, to concentrate upon. Whenever you take an alpha, which is the first letter in the Greek alphabet, or the "A" in the English, and put it in front of the word, it negates it. So if the word "muse" means to think, "a-muse" means not to think and not to meditate, not to ponder, not to consider.
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And I pointed out we have amusement parks and how TV is nothing but amusement. You can sit there and be like a sponge and never think watching anything and everything. But David said, "I muse on the work of thy hands." And last week, by way of introduction, I pointed out how that creation is the work of God's hands. Certainly there's a lot that you could meditate on creation. Redemption is the work of God's hands. Providence is the work of God's hands. Many areas in which we could think there. However, the one part that I wanted us to consider is the providence of God in the work and in the area of death. That is when He comes for individual saints and sinners in death.
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And I took great pains to show you in the scripture where the Bible says that our days are numbered, He's appointed our months, and He's appointed our bounds that we cannot pass. So God's not only ordained the day of our birth, He's also ordained the day of our death. And last week I dealt mainly with the death of the sinner, with the death of the man who dies without Christ. What does he realize when he dies?
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What is his first awareness? And I was not necessarily talking about the torments of hell or anything like that. But what in the world does he realize? And of course I told you very obviously there are two presuppositions that the Bible clearly teaches. Number one is that God is, because nowhere in the Bible does the Bible try to prove the existence of God. It just assumes that in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the second presupposition is that God has spoken. Very obviously, he recognizes that God is and that the Bible is indeed the Word of God. But then I pointed out that he's going to face, first of all, an angry God. The Bible says that God is angry with the wicked every day.
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Death does not change that. God is still the sovereign, righteous, holy God. He is just and his anger still burns against sin and against sinners. It's just that simple. Then I pointed out, secondly, how the sinner would be overcome with terror. There would not only be the terror of his sins in the fact that he would remember each one distinctly and in detail, understanding that each one merited the death penalty, and understanding that God knew every sin that he ever committed, and God is a holy, just judge. I pointed out there would also be the terror of remembering all the sermons, all the invitations of the gospel, all the prayers, everything that had ever been prayed, and every time anyone had ever witnessed him, he would remember those in detail, and demonstrate what an absolute fool he was for not seeking God. Then I pointed out the fact how that he would face God as the judge, especially the Lord Jesus Christ, because God the Father has committed all judgment unto Him, and he would view Christ not as the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world, but he would view Him as
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the Lion of the tribe of Judah, who is now in fierce wrath and anger coming upon his wickedness and his sin. And then of course I pointed out lastly how that he would face an eternity of eternal despisement by God. For the Bible says in Psalm 73 and verse 20, "As a dream when one awakeneth the Lord, when thou awakenest, so shalt thou despise their image." And I dealt with that and showed in detail what it meant to be despised by God.
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That basically covered the death of the sinner. Today I want us to muse upon the work of God's hands and when we consider the death of the saint.
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Now, like last week's message, let me point out that this message today cannot be exhaustive. It would take hours, it would take days in expounding and explaining the scriptures and then we still could not exhaust the teaching of scripture on these subjects.
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Now it is true that death comes to saint and sinner alike. For the Bible clearly says that the wages of sin is death. The Word of God says it's appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment. So it is true that saints and sinners die equally but there is indeed a difference in their deaths. That difference could be explained I suppose as Exodus chapter 11 and verse 7 states, where God then put the difference between the Israelites and the Egyptians.
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Let me just quote it. In Exodus 11 and verse 7, God says, "But against any of the children of Israel, not a dog shall move his tongue against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel."
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Now, it is true that saints and sinners die alike, but their deaths certainly are not equal. There is a difference. God places such a difference upon the death of the saints that he says in Psalm 116 in verse 15, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." And the word "precious" means splendid, honorable, glorious. So God says precious, splendid, honorable, glorious is the death of his saints in the eyes of the Lord. Well, since I said there are differences between the death of the sinner and the death of the saint, what are some of those differences? Well, let me give them to you. First of all, for the child of God, the sting of death has been removed because his sin has been washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. Please understand that it is sin that makes death so painful. The sting of death is sin, says the Bible in Romans chapter 7. But the Bible says in 1 John 1 verse 7, "But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin."
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And so we've been cleansed by the blood of Christ. In 1 Peter 1 verses 18 and 19, the Word of God says, "For as much as you know, you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without spot and without blemish." So first of all, for the child of God, the sting of death has been removed.
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Our Lord has taken away our sin. So for a child of God to die, there is no sting. Secondly, for the child of God, Christ has removed the fear and bondage of death. He has removed the fear and the bondage of death. Now, for the child of God, you should probably say something like this, "I don't want to die, but I'm not afraid to die." I mean, who wants to die? No one wants to die. But for the child of God, the fear has been taken away.
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The Bible says in Hebrews 2 verses 14 and 15, listen carefully. "For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." So Christ then has destroyed not only sin but he's also destroyed Satan and in doing so he's destroyed for us the fear of death and the bondage of death. Death cannot hold the child of God anymore than it could hold the Son of God. So our Lord has destroyed the fear of death for the child of God.
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Thirdly, the scripture clearly teaches that when we die as believers, we're immediately ushered into the presence of Christ. Now, if you would hold Psalm 143, but look in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, and we'll begin reading there with verse 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, and look at verse 6. Notice what the Apostle Paul says, and this is important. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 6, Paul writes, "Therefore, we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we're absent from the Lord."
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"For we walk by faith, not by sight. We're confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." So for the child of God, as long as he's in this body, he's absent from the Lord. We're not in his presence. But the apostle Paul says, "Here's the one thing that we're confident about and we're willing rather to be absent from the body." Why? That we might be present with the Lord.
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Now the word "present" is a very interesting word in the Greek. It is the word "endēmeō" which literally means, listen carefully, to be present, to be at home, and to be among one's own people. If you will read the Old Testament, when the Old Testament saints died, men like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, even Moses and Aaron, you will always find this expression, "and he was gathered unto his own people." What does that mean? It means he went home. So death for the child of God is like going home. How many of us are fearful about going home? None of us. How many of us are thankful when we get home? Alice and I travel a lot, and I enjoy traveling, but I'm going to tell you one thing, we're always thankful to be home. And that's the way it is for the child of God. So death then just simply ushers the child of God into the presence of Christ.
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Now let me show you how firmly the Apostle Paul believed this same truth. In Philippians chapter 1, Paul was in prison, and he was about to have his head cut off. In fact, that's how Paul died. He was in prison many times. But in Philippians 1, verses 23 and 24, he said this. And remember, he was facing death by beheading when he said this. He said, "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better"—and you can put in parentheses there, "for me."
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"Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." Isn't that interesting? Paul said, in light of facing an axe, having his head severed from his body, he said, "I'm in a strait, I'm in a dilemma, I've got to make a choice." He said, "For me to depart and be with Christ is far better, that is for me. But nevertheless," he said, "to abide in the flesh, to continue to live is far better for you, that way I can continue to teach and to preach." But here was a desire to depart this life and be with Christ.
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If you look in your Bible, since you're in the New Testament, to John 17 and verse 24, and you remember that John 17 is the high priestly prayer of Christ, and I certainly don't have time to cover that entire prayer, but if you look in verse 24, you'll see a request that Christ has made. John 17, verse 24, Christ is praying to His Father, and He says, "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world."
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Notice our Lord prayed that His people would be with Him where He was. Now let me ask you a question. Do you think that the prayer of Jesus Christ will be unanswered? Well, of course not. You know His prayer is going to be answered because He is indeed the Son of God. And so Paul said, "When we depart this life, we're immediately ushered in the presence of Christ." He said he had a desire to depart and meet with Christ, which was far better with him. And now our Lord has prayed that we would be in his presence. Here are three differences.
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Now, what in the world will you and I discover upon our deaths? Again, let me remind you that this message is not exhausted by any stretch of the imagination. I'm not even dealing with the joys and the lights of heaven. But what I want to deal with today is what I think are going to be the most provocative thoughts and the most revealing truths that you and I will discover immediately upon our death. Because you have to remember that when we die, immediately we're ushered into the presence of Jesus Christ. So what will we discover? First of all, we will discover the gloriousness of our sovereign. The gloriousness of our sovereign. I believe that based upon the scripture, we will be absolutely stunned and overwhelmed at the gloriousness of our sovereign God.
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Our eyes have not seen, nor have our ears heard the minutest amount of his glory. You remember when the queen of Sheba went to see Solomon? She said in 1 Kings chapter 10 and verse 7, after she had seen all of Solomon's glory, and by the way, our Lord acknowledged Solomon's glory. But when he said, "Consider the lilies of the field," he said, "even Solomon and all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these." So Solomon had a very glorious reign, had a very glorious throne. But when the Queen of Sheba saw it, she said this, "Howbeit I believed not the words until I came, and mine eyes had seen it, and behold, the half was not told me." May I say this? We have never even seen nor understood the minutest amount of our Sovereign's glory, much less the half of it.
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I believe we will be absolutely so stunned, so overwhelmed. You remember it was Moses who wanted to see the glory of God. If you will go back in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 33 very quickly. Exodus chapter 33 and let's begin reading there with verse 18. Exodus 33 and verse 18. I want you to see what the scripture says. Exodus 33 verse 18. Moses is talking with the Lord and he says in Exodus 33 in verse 18, "And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory." And notice what God said, verse 19, "And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious unto whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me. Thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass while my glory passeth by."
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"I will put thee in the cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen." Moses only saw a minute amount of God's glory. God says, "You can't see me in the flesh and live." It's just that simple. You remember in Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah saw the Lord's glory. He said, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple."
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"Above it stood the seraphim, and each one had six wings. With twain He covered His face, with twain He covered His feet, and with twain He did fly. And He ceased not saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, while the whole earth is full of his glory. And the post of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke."
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"Then said I," Isaiah said, "Woe is me, for I am undone. I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. Woe is me, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." And what happened? A seraphim had to take a coal from the altar and touch him and purge him. But notice he said, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the glory of God."
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Did he see all of it? No. But he saw enough to make him understand what a sinful, wicked wretch he was. Do you remember, without us turning there, how both Ezekiel and also the apostle John saw the glory of the Lord, and each one of them fell down as dead, and the Lord had to sovereignly lift them up. It was the hope of the Old Testament saints that they would see God's glory. You remember Job in all of his suffering said it like this in Job 19 in verse 26: "And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." And Job was speaking of his resurrected glorified body, for he said, "the worms destroyed this body," and he said there's going to be another one. "And I shall see God."
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Likewise, David said in Psalm 17 and verse 15, "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied, I shall be satisfied when I awake, in thy likeness." Notice what David said, "I will behold thy face in righteousness." Do you remember that passage in John 1 in verse 18, where our Lord said this, "No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." Do you realize that Jesus Christ is God incarnate? Jesus Christ has revealed the Father totally, completely, fully. Now listen carefully. If God the Father appeared on earth, He would appear in and as and through Jesus Christ, for Jesus Christ is God.
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Now let me show you this. Listen carefully. In John 14, John 14. Go ahead and turn there. John 14. Look at verses 8 and 9. John 14. Notice, if you would, what Philip says to Christ. John 14, verse 8. "Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us." That will be sufficient. Just show us the Father. Look at verse 9. "Jesus said to him, Have I been so long time with you? And yet thou hast not known me, Philip. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?" What did our Lord say? "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. The Bible says in Colossians 1 and verse 15 concerning Christ, "who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature." In 1 Timothy 3 and verse 16, the Bible says, "and without all controversy, great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh." Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.
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Now Philip saw Him, but we have not seen Him. We have not looked upon him with our eyes yet. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 12, listen carefully. "For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face, now I know in part, but then shall I know even as I am known." Notice what the Apostle Paul said. Right now we see through a glass darkly, in other words, we can make out some things because of the revelation of the Word of God. But then He said, "face to face, and we shall know even as we are known."
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I've probably told you this before, but I like to say this because it's so true. I've had people ask me, "Pastor, will we know each other in heaven?" And my response to that is this, "You won't be any more stupid there than you are now. Certainly you're going to know each other. We shall know even as we are known." We will know each other fully, totally, completely. Now, listen to this.
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When we die and we leave this veil of sin and sorrow, we will be made completely pure in Jesus Christ and we will have to remember the blessed promise that our Lord himself gave in Matthew 5 in verse 8, when he said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." You know what the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 3 and verse 2? Listen carefully. He wrote, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."
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Did you hear what I just read? "Beloved, now are we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be." In other words, we don't understand totally our glorified bodies. We don't understand totally about that, but we know He said that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him. Why? "For we shall see Him as He is." In Revelation 22 and verse 4, the Bible says this. Listen carefully. "And they shall see His face."
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"And His name shall be in their foreheads." Now let me ask you. Can you muse? Can you think? Can you ponder just for a moment what it will be like to gaze upon the glorious, holy, majestic, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, eternal, infinite, immutable God? Paul sang a hymn of praise to God in 1 Timothy 1 in verse 17. Let me just quote it. Listen to what He says.
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"Now unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory both now and forever. Amen."
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Now listen to what He said. "Now unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible." We cannot see Him now. But we shall see Him then face to face in all of His splendor in all of His glory. What an overpowering, what an overwhelming sight and experience it will be when we realize who God really is. We will understand the gloriousness of our Sovereign. I've heard believers say this down through the years.
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"Well, when I get to heaven, the first thing I'm going to do is run up to our Savior and kiss Him." I've got news for you. I believe we're going to be so overwhelmed and so overpowered and so overjoyed, we'll probably end up doing like John and like Ezekiel. We'll fall at His feet as one dead because of His glory and His splendor. I have not seen nor ear heard, not even the minutest amount, of the glory of our Sovereign God. And upon our deaths, we will understand and realize and recognize the gloriousness of our Sovereign. Now secondly, and I want you to listen carefully, upon our deaths, I believe, based upon the Word of God, we will discover the greatness of our sins. Now I want you to listen carefully to what I am about to say.
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I am not suggesting by any stretch of the imagination that we will be groaning and moaning over our sins because certainly we know that our sins are forgiven, we are pardoned, our sins will never ever condemn us. I'm not talking now about the condemnation of sin. I'm making a point that we will discover the greatness of our sin. Let me give you a quote. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said it like this. Listen carefully. "What is this forgiveness of sins? Too often in popular talk, it is supposed that the chief and main thought of the forgiven sinner is that he has escaped from hell."
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"Salvation means much more than this. And what it further means is too much kept in the background. But yet I will begin with the rescue from punishment. For if sin be pardoned, the penalty is extinguished. It would not be possible for God to forgive and yet to punish. That would be a forgiveness quite unworthy of God. It would indeed be no forgiveness at all. We are certain that the everlasting punishment of sin declared in scripture will never happen to the man who is forgiven. When transgression is removed from the soul, the soul stands clear at the bar of God, and there can be no further penalty. 'I absolve thee,' says the great judge, and that carries with it weight, so that a man that is forgiven is clear of the punishment which he must otherwise have borne. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered, Psalm 32, there is therefore now no condemnation, to them who are in Christ Jesus, Romans 8 verse 1." So if our sins are pardoned, and they are, if our sins are forgiven, and they are, here's my question.
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How then will we perceive and discover the greatness of our sin? Well, please remember I am not alluding to condemnation at this point. But I am talking about that we will discover the vileness, we'll understand the wickedness of sin. I believe it's absolutely impossible for you and I to grasp the greatness and the graciousness of our Savior without understanding why He came as our sacrifice and our substitute.
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Have you ever thought about it like this? If there was no sin, we would not need a Savior. Why in the world did Jesus Christ come? And the answer is to save His people from their sins. You remember in Philippians 2, go ahead and turn there. I want you to see this. Philippians chapter 2. In the book of Philippians chapter 2, we have a tremendous statement concerning the glory of our Lord and His willingness in laying aside that splendor. Look in Philippians chapter 2, and let's begin reading there with verse 5. The Bible says, "Let this mind be in you, which also was in Christ Jesus." Verse 6, "Who being in the form of God," in other words, He was God, "thought it not robbery to be equal with God." In other words, it was not something to be seized at and gained. In other words, our Lord in all of His splendor and heavenly glory, did not seize and hold on to that and say, "No, no, no, I will not give it up."
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No. He willingly laid aside all that splendor and glory. Look in verse 6, "Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery or something to be seized at to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in likeness of man and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death on the cross." Notice our Lord willingly laid aside his heavenly splendor and glory and humbled himself.
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This passage, we talk about the humiliation of Christ. That is when he left glory and became not only man, but a servant and even to death on the cross. You say that way meant brother Weaver. The Bible tells us that Christ died for his people. That is true, but you have to ask this question. Why did Christ die for his people? And the answer is because of their sin. Think with me just a moment about sin. How little do we see and understand the wickedness and the vileness of sin. We treat sin so flippantly and so lightly that we oftentimes countenance and condone sin. When God said in Jeremiah 44 and verse 4, talking about sin, "Oh do not that abominable thing which I hate." God hates sin. Do we hate sin the way God does? The answer has to be no. In our present state, in our present state, we pretend to hate sin, yet we engage in it. We say we do not wish to sin, yet we seek it out. Our sinful natures are inclined to sin and rebellion, even though we're redeemed.
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We sin oftentimes without even considering who it is we sin against or who it is we rebel against. We do not understand or grasp the magnitude and the evilness and the wickedness of sin in this life. Everyone in this room will tell you that yes, sin is a destroyer of homes, it is a destroyer of lives, it is a destroyer of families, it destroys societies, it destroys nations. Everyone in this room will recognize the fact that sin brings sorrow and death and yet the truth of the matter is most of the time we know nothing concerning its foulness and its wickedness.
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Ralph Venning has a book. He was an old Puritan, been dead for many years. But the title of the book is "The Plague of Plagues," and it is a book on Hamartiology, which is the doctrine of sin. I want to read to you just a couple of paragraphs. I want you to listen to how this man describes sin. And I want you to understand, here is just a taste of the violence and the wickedness of sin.
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He writes, "God is holy. All holy, only holy, altogether holy, and always holy. So sin is sinful, all sinful, only sinful, altogether sinful, and always sinful. In my flesh there dwelleth no good thing. As in God there is no evil, so in sin there is no good. God is the chiefest of goods, and sin is the chiefest of evils. And no good can be compared with God for goodness, so no evil can be compared with sin for evil. Sin is contrary to all the names and attributes of God."
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"It sets itself in opposition to them all. It deposes the sovereignty of God as much as it lies. It will not that the king of kings should be on the throne and govern this world which he hath made. It was by this instinct that Pharaoh said, 'Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I know not the Lord. I recognize no Lord above me. I will not let Israel go.' The voice and language of sin is 'our lips are our own. Who is Lord over us?'"
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"It was from hints that the Jews of old said, 'we are Lords. We will no more come to thee.' Thus it attempts to dethrone God. It denies God's all sufficiency. If there were not contentment and satisfaction enough to be had in the enjoyment of God, but that vanity and wickedness had more pleasure and profit than he, whose ways are all pleasantness and whose service is the help of man."
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"Every prodigal who leaves the Father's house says, in effect, it is better to be elsewhere. It challenges the justice of God and dares God to do His worst. It provokes the Lord to jealousy and tempts Him to wrath. It disowns His omniscience. 'Pooh,' they say, 'God does not see, nor does the Most High regard.' It despises the riches of God's goodness. It turns His grace into wantonness. It will make bold with God and sin because grace abounds. In short, sin is the dare of God's justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, the contempt of His love."
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"It is the upbraiding of His providence, the scoff at His promise, the reproach of His wisdom. It is said of the man of sin who is made up of sin, 'It opposes and exalts itself above all that is called God, and above all that God has called, so that it as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing itself as it were God.'"
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Now stop and think about this. Sin is the dare of God's justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, the contempt of His love. As awful as you and I can make sin, we still do not understand its ugliness. We still do not understand its wickedness and vileness. And we really will not understand how awful sin was and is until we reach glory. Now stop and think. In heaven, we will understand it was sin. It was sin that brought the Son of God from heaven. It was our sin for which the Son of God came and died. It was our sin that placed the crown of thorns upon His head. It was our sin that nailed Him to the cross. It was our sin that pierced Him to His side. It was our sin that caused Him to suffer agony.
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Do you realize the greatest part of our Lord's suffering was not physical, but spiritual. I want to show you what I'm talking about. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And look if you would please at verse 21. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21. The greatest suffering of our Lord was spiritual, and not physical.
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Listen, I can go to Isaiah 53. I can describe the horrors of crucifixion. I could show you the physical suffering that our Lord went through. And it was horrible. It was bad. But let me show you something that's far worse. Look in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21. "For He," that is God the Father, "hath made Him," that is God the Son, "to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." Let me tell you something, folks. Have you ever thought about one minute for one second what it was like for the sinless Son of God who never knew sin, who never had an inclination of sin, who never had any desire to sin? Have you ever considered what it was like for the sinless Son of God to be made sin?
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and have all that filth and trash and vileness and wickedness dumped upon His Holy Soul, that He may redeem us from all iniquity. What I'm trying to say is this, I believe that when we get to heaven, we will recognize the ugliness and vileness of sin in general, but our sin in particular, when we recognize that Christ died for me, for my sin. Jonathan Edwards said this, listen carefully, he said, "Any sin is more or less heinous depending upon the honor and the majesty of the one whom we have offended. Since God is of infinite honor, infinite majesty, and infinite holiness, the slightest sin is of infinite consequence. The slightest sin is nothing less than cosmic treason when we realize against whom we have sinned."
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When we see the greatness and the glory of our Sovereign, how can we help not understanding and knowing the greatness of our sin which brought Him for our redemption? How can we not understand how it grieved Him and our rebellion against Him? But thankfully, thankfully, when we understand the greatness of our sin, it will only heighten our love and our praise and adoration and worship for such a wonderful, loving, forgiving Lord.
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There's a third thing that we're going to recognize, I believe, upon our death. Not only the greatness of our sovereign, not only the greatness of our sin, but thirdly, we're going to discover the graciousness of our Savior. Let me explain. Look in your Bibles, if you would, to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53.
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Isaiah 53 and look, if you would please at verse 11, once we understand the glory of our sovereign, the greatness of our sin, and we recognize how we have sinned against him and hurt him, we're going to understand his graciousness is so much better. Look in Isaiah 53 and verse 11, the Bible says this, talking about Christ now, "He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied."
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"By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities." Now I want to show you two things in this verse that really astound me. The first one is, "He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied." I will be absolutely honest with you. I do not understand how our Lord could be satisfied with such a sinner as I am.
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But yet that's what the Bible says. "He shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied." Each redeemed child of God will be a satisfaction for the Son of God. And look if you would in verse 11, "By His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities." Now listen to me. If we see the glory of our sovereign and we understand the greatness of our sins, that it was you and I who have hurt him, who sinned against him, who preferred sin above obedience, lust above love, and yet how he bore our sins and our iniquities.
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And in light of all of that, He lovingly and kindly and graciously pardoned us and forgave us. How in the world can we not recognize such wonderful graciousness? Certainly, I believe we'll have a better understanding of Psalm 86 and verse 5, where the Scripture says, "For thou, Lord, art good, ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee." We'll understand Psalm 130 verse 4, "But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared." We'll understand Hebrews 8 and verse 12 better, where God says, "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." And he said it again in Hebrews 10 and verse 17, "and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." And we've got to understand those two passages in Hebrews are taken from the covenant that is found back in Jeremiah 31 verses 33 and 34 where God said, "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people."
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"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For they shall all know Me from the least of them, even to the greatest of them, saith the Lord. And I will forgive their iniquity, and will remember their sin no more." Grace is simply God's unmerited, undeserved, and unearned favor. And God kindly and graciously forgave us when He was not obligated to do so. He created us. He redeemed us. He gave us Christ. He regenerated us. He converted us. He sanctified us. He glorified us all by His grace.
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How can we not recognize His graciousness? Now I want you to listen to what Spurgeon said. I love this. Spurgeon wrote, "Besides, beloved, be this always remembered that it is in the application of redemption and the personal pardon of the sinner through the blood of Jesus, that the grace of God is best seen by the sinner. To each one pardon through the Lord Jesus comes not only according to grace, but according to the riches of His grace." Now listen to what Spurgeon said, "I can understand that God should forgive you, all of you."
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"I could hear it with full belief. And it would not astonish me, but that He should pardon me. That I should have forgiveness of sins and redemption by the blood, that does astonish me. And I believe that any person under a sense of sin sees more the grace of God in his own salvation than in the salvation of anyone else. He may be quite conscious that he's never been a thief, or a drunkard, or a murderer, and yet when he comes to look at it, he may see reasons why the pardon of sin in his case shouldn't be more remarkable than even in the case of a drunkard, or a thief, or a murderer. There may be elements in his own case which may make him seem to have sinned even more grievously than open transgressors because he sinned against greater light, with less temptation thereto, or with a dire presumption of rebellion against the Most High. That Jesus died is an honorable grace. But that He loved me and gave Himself for me, this is overwhelming grace."
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"And makes the heir of heaven say with emphasis, Blessed be God that in Jesus I have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace." I think when you and I understand the graciousness of our Savior, we'll probably learn to sing that chorus, "Oh, what a Savior. Oh, what a Savior. Oh, hallelujah. His heart was broken on Calvary. His hands were scarred. His side was riven. He gave His life's blood for you and me." We'll learn to sing "grace, grace, greater than all of our sins."
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It will be our song of praise throughout eternity. Stop and think. That grace was given to you. I know that the Apostle Paul said that he was the chief of sinners. But when we see the wickedness and the vileness of our sin and understand it, and we see the graciousness of our Savior in forgiving our sins, we might have a willingness to fight the Apostle Paul for first place. Because we'll recognize what a gracious Savior we truly have. One more thing today. We'll not only discover the gloriousness of our Sovereign, the greatness of our sin, the graciousness of our Savior. But I believe, fourthly, we'll discover the grief of our service.
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Now, what do I mean by that? I mean simply this. I believe that we will be grieved that we have served our Lord so little, loved Him so minutely, sacrificed for Him so infrequently and gave Him such unworthy service. How can we not understand this when we behold His glory? How can we not understand this when we see His graciousness and His goodness? How can we not understand that we should have loved Him with all our heart, mind, soul, body and being? How can we not understand that's what He has commanded us to do? When we see His greatness and His glory and His graciousness, can we not understand that He was worthy to be served constantly and continually? And will we not be grieved that we served Him so infrequently and so ineffectively? Let me show you.
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Turn in your Bibles to Romans 14 and 2 Corinthians 5. Romans 14 and 2 Corinthians 5. I want you to notice what the Apostle Paul said in Romans chapter 14 and verse 10. I'm not going to be expounding this passage, but I'm going to take it and show it to you along with another passage. Romans chapter 14, look at verse 10. Paul asks these Roman Christians, "But why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set at nought thy brother?"
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And then he makes this statement, "For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." Now, he's talking about believers. He's not talking about sinners. He says, "Why are you treating your brother so wickedly? We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." In other words, we're going to give an account as to how we treated each other. Look in 2 Corinthians 5, verses 9 and 10. 2 Corinthians 5, verses 9 and 10. The apostle says, "Wherefore we labor, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." Now the judgment seat of Christ, I believe, is where we must give an account of our lives and our service. The judgment seat of Christ has nothing to do with our sin, it has nothing to do with condemnation.
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You'll remember the parable that our Lord gave where He gave talents to men, and when He returned, He called those servants and said, "Give account of thy stewardship." Here's where we give an account of our stewardship. If you and I were not saved, we would not even be here. But I want you to note what the Apostle Paul said. Look in verse 9 again. Look what he said.
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"Wherefore we labor," that is we're serving Christ, "that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him." Now the word "accepted" literally means well-pleasing. Literally what he says that we labor that we may be well-pleasing unto Christ. Christians should labor that we may please our Lord and certainly we want to please Him well.
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Now notice if you would that Paul says in verse 10 that we will give an account for the things done in everyone will give an account for the things done in his body according that he had done whether it be good or bad. Now the word "bad" in the Greek is the word "phaulos" which literally means worthless or faulty. He's not necessarily talking about our sins here, whether it's good or worthless. Do you realize there are plenty of things that you and I do that are not positively sinful, but for all practical purposes, they're absolutely worthless.
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They do nothing for the service of Christ or the furtherance of His kingdom. They do nothing for His honor and His glory.
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Now, I want you to think about this. How do you think it would be possible for you and I to understand the gloriousness of our sovereign, the greatness of our sin, the graciousness of our Savior, and not see the grief of our service? In other words, we will be grieved, I believe, that we did not serve Him faithfully, constantly, and continually. How many of you would be pleased right now to give an account to Christ of how you lived this past week? How about the past 24 hours? How many of us you think will hear the words from His lips that He uttered in Matthew 25 and verse 21 when the Lord said unto him, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." What did he say? "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
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So you have to ask yourself, have we used our talents effectively? Have we served Christ faithfully? Have we placed His kingdom and His glory above any and everything else? Have we loved Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, body and being? Will we be pained to see the expression upon His face when our service, our commitment, our faithfulness are brought up? I'm sure that there will be some regret, some remorse, and even some tears at our lack of service.
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Now I can hear you right now say, "I didn't think there were going to be any tears in heaven." Let me show you something. I want you to turn to Revelation 7, Revelation 21. Revelation 7, Revelation 21. I want to just read two verses, then ask a question. We'll go to Revelation 7 first, and look at verse 17. Revelation 7 verse 17: "For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them into living fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Look in Revelation 21 and verse 4. Revelation 21 verse 4. Look what the Bible says: "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away." Now here's my question. How can God wipe away tears from our eyes if there are no tears?
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Why do you think He is wiping away tears from our eyes? And my answer is this, because we have not loved Him the way He should be loved. We have not served Him the way He should be served. We have not honored Him the way He should be honored. And when we die and we see His glory and His goodness, His greatness, how could we not think?
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Look at our poor, puny lives. And how unfaithful we've been. And how gracious and loving and kind He's been. And when we realize that, it will grieve us. But then there is more grace and more graciousness. For our Lord then will wipe away those tears and there will be no more crying, no more sorrow, no more death as we enter the eternal state.
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Now let me make just a couple of applications. I want you to listen carefully. The first one is this. We should determine in our hearts today that we're going to love Him more. We're going to serve Him more. We're going to be more obedient, more godly, more holy. We're going to read and study that Word and find out what God would have us to do so that we may be well pleasing in His sight.
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We have to understand that we will give an account for our lives, how we labor for Him. We will stand before Him. Listen to this. This is amazing to me. Hebrews 6 and verse 10 says this, "For God is not unrighteous to forget your labor of love, which you have showed toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister." Now listen, read that again. Listen. "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and your labor of love, which you showed toward His name, and that you minister to the saints and do minister." Isn't it amazing? God graciously and kindly forgot each and every sin, and yet He remembers each and every act of service.
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Even those, you remember our Lord said, who gave a cup of cold water in His name. You don't have grace. He forgets our sins, but He remembers our service. The second application is this. We should in this present time begin to fill our hearts with all the knowledge of the person and attributes of our glorious Lord, so that we may now have a better grasp of His greatness and His glory.
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The more we know Him, the greater our love will be for Him. The greater love we have for Him, the more we will serve Him. Do you know what eternal life is? Don't tell me that eternal life is living forever. If you define eternal life like that, I believe the lost have eternal life like that because they're going to live forever in punishment, in hell. Eternal life is not living forever. Although we shall live eternally, our Lord told us exactly what eternal life was in John 17 verse 3. Listen carefully. Our Lord said, "And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Eternal life is an intimate relationship with the sovereign God of heaven and earth, through Jesus Christ. He said, "and this is eternal life, that they may know Thee."
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I've often said this, and I've probably said it here, but listen. Alice and I, of course, have been married 47 years. I loved her when I married her. But compared to the way I love her today, I didn't love her at all when I married her. At least I didn't think I did. The love I have for her now is far greater than when we began. Why? I know her. I know her. The more you know someone, the more you love them. And let me tell you, this is life eternal that they may know Thee. If we love our Lord, we should be learning everything about Him that we can, that is revealed in Scripture.
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And have you ever thought of this? Here's what eternity will be like, if you really want to know. Here's what eternity will be like. In glory, in eternity, we will be forever learning, knowing our gracious, sovereign God, yet never fully comprehending Him.
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Now let me explain that. In glory we will have a perfect mind, we'll have perfect understanding. Whatever we learn, we will grasp, we will know, we will understand it, we will never forget it! It will be ours! But only God can comprehend God. And we're not God, so eternity will be filled with learning and knowing more and more and more and more of our gracious, sovereign and holy God. And if you want to get a jump on eternity, you better start studying now. The more you learn now, the more you'll love Him.
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What an awakening we will have at our deaths. Our death is nothing more than our passport into glory. And when we get there, we shall see Him as He is. And we will understand as we've never understood before. We'll understand the gloriousness of our Sovereign God. The greatness of our sins. The graciousness of our Savior, and the grief of our service. So we ought to change now, and love Him while we can love Him, serve Him while we can serve Him, and live for His honored glory. Let's pray.
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Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we do bow to Thee this day, and we recognize, O Lord, how great Thou art. And Lord, how sinful we are. How inept we are. How powerless we are. And often how unholy we are. And yet Lord, we cry unto Thee, make us holy as Thou art holy. Thou has commanded us to be so. Help us, Father, to love Thee with all of our heart, mind, soul, and being. Help us to put Thee first and Thy Word first. Thou didst say, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all these things shall be added unto you." Father, we pray it should make us more conscious of our lack of service toward Thee and our lack of love toward Thee, our lack of dedication toward Thee, that we would determine in our hearts today that we would be Thine and only Thine. Thank you, Father. We ask for the love of God to be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Give us grace and mercy that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
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In thy name we pray, amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T03:16:22Z

Just Thinking Part 2 of 2

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this sermon, Pastor John Weaver continues his message on musing upon the work of God's hands, focusing on the death of the saint. He contrasts the death of the believer with that of the sinner, emphasizing that for the child of God, the sting of death is removed, the fear and bondage of death are destroyed, and death ushers them immediately into the presence of Christ. Weaver then explores four discoveries believers will make upon death: the gloriousness of their Sovereign, the greatness of their sins, the graciousness of their Savior, and the grief of their service. He concludes with applications to love and serve Christ more faithfully now, and to grow in the knowledge of God, which is eternal life.

Introduction and Review

Weaver reviews the previous message on musing upon God's works, particularly the death of the sinner, and introduces today's focus on the death of the saint.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 143:5

"I meditate on all thy works. I muse on the work of thy hands."

Scripture Reading — Psalm 73:20

"As a dream when one awakeneth the Lord, when thou awakenest, so shalt thou despise their image."

Differences in the Death of the Saint

Three key differences are outlined: the sting of death is removed, the fear and bondage of death are destroyed, and believers are immediately ushered into Christ's presence.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 116:15

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."

And the word "precious

Scripture Reading — Psalm 116:15

" means splendid, honorable, glorious. So God says precious, splendid, honorable, glorious is the death of his saints in the eyes of the Lord. Well, since I said there are differences between the death of the sinner and the death of the saint, what are some of those differences? Well, let me give them to you. First of all, for the child of God, the sting of death has been removed because his sin has been washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. Please understand that it is sin that makes death so painful. The sting of death is sin, says the Bible in Romans chapter 7. But the Bible says in 1 John 1 verse 7, "

But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin."

The Bible says in Hebrews 2 verses 14 and 15, listen carefully.

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 2:14-15

"For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."

Scripture Reading — John 17:24

"Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world."

Discovery of the Gloriousness of Our Sovereign

Upon death, believers will be overwhelmed by the glory of God, which they have only glimpsed dimly in this life.

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 10:7

"Howbeit I believed not the words until I came, and mine eyes had seen it, and behold, the half was not told me."

May I say this? We have never even seen nor understood the minutest amount of our Sovereign's glory, much less the half of it.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 33:18-23

"And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory."

And notice what God said, verse 19,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 33:18-23

"And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious unto whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me. Thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass while my glory passeth by."

Scripture Reading — Job 19:26

"And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."

And Job was speaking of his resurrected glorified body, for he said, "the worms destroyed this body," and he said there's going to be another one. "And I shall see God."

Likewise, David said in Psalm 17 and verse 15,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 17:15

"As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied, I shall be satisfied when I awake, in thy likeness."

Notice what David said,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 17:15

"I will behold thy face in righteousness."

Now let me show you this. Listen carefully. In John 14, John 14. Go ahead and turn there. John 14. Look at verses 8 and 9. John 14. Notice, if you would, what Philip says to Christ. John 14, verse 8.

Scripture Reading — John 14:8-9

"Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us."

That will be sufficient. Just show us the Father. Look at verse 9.

Scripture Reading — John 14:8-9

"Jesus said to him, Have I been so long time with you? And yet thou hast not known me, Philip. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?"

What did our Lord say?

Scripture Reading — John 14:8-9

"He that hath seen me hath seen the Father."

Now Philip saw Him, but we have not seen Him. We have not looked upon him with our eyes yet. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 12, listen carefully.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 13:12

"For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face, now I know in part, but then shall I know even as I am known."

Scripture Reading — Matthew 5:8

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

Discovery of the Greatness of Our Sins

Believers will fully grasp the vileness of sin, not for condemnation, but to appreciate the magnitude of Christ's sacrifice.

Discovery of the Graciousness of Our Savior

Understanding the glory of God and the greatness of sin will heighten the believer's appreciation of God's forgiving grace.

Discovery of the Grief of Our Service

Believers will be grieved over their inadequate service and love for Christ, leading to tears that God will wipe away.

Applications and Conclusion

Weaver urges believers to love and serve Christ more faithfully now, and to grow in the knowledge of God, which is eternal life.

In thy name we pray, amen.

Just Thinking Part 2 of 2

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	Pl7MLw6b3bk
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: The Superiority of Christ
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-02-08
Dictation Name
Book	Book 171: Just Thinking — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	89

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Review: Weaver reviews the previous message on musing upon God's works, particularly the death of the sinner, and introduces today's focus on the death of the saint.
Differences in the Death of the Saint: Three key differences are outlined: the sting of death is removed, the fear and bondage of death are destroyed, and believers are immediately ushered into Christ's presence.
Discovery of the Gloriousness of Our Sovereign: Upon death, believers will be overwhelmed by the glory of God, which they have only glimpsed dimly in this life.
Discovery of the Greatness of Our Sins: Believers will fully grasp the vileness of sin, not for condemnation, but to appreciate the magnitude of Christ's sacrifice.
Discovery of the Graciousness of Our Savior: Understanding the glory of God and the greatness of sin will heighten the believer's appreciation of God's forgiving grace.
Discovery of the Grief of Our Service: Believers will be grieved over their inadequate service and love for Christ, leading to tears that God will wipe away.
Applications and Conclusion: Weaver urges believers to love and serve Christ more faithfully now, and to grow in the knowledge of God, which is eternal life.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Death for the saint is fundamentally different because of Christ's work.

Christ has removed the sting of death (sin), destroyed the fear and bondage of death, and ensures immediate presence with Him.

Weaver cites 1 Corinthians 15:56, Hebrews 2:14-15, and 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 to support each point.

Believers will be overwhelmed by God's glory at death.

Scripture shows that no one can see God's full glory and live; in heaven, the pure in heart will see God face to face.

Weaver references Exodus 33:18-23, Matthew 5:8, 1 John 3:2, and Revelation 22:4.

Understanding sin's greatness is essential to appreciating Christ's sacrifice.

In heaven, believers will see sin as cosmic treason against an infinitely holy God, making Christ's atonement all the more gracious.

Weaver quotes Jonathan Edwards: 'The slightest sin is nothing less than cosmic treason when we realize against whom we have sinned.'

God's grace in personal forgiveness will be most astonishing in heaven.

Each believer will see their own sin as uniquely heinous and thus be overwhelmed by the personal nature of God's pardon.

Weaver quotes Spurgeon: 'That He should pardon me... that does astonish me.'

The judgment seat of Christ will reveal the worthlessness of much of our service.

Believers will give an account for deeds done in the body, and many works will be shown as worthless, leading to grief.

Weaver explains 2 Corinthians 5:10, noting the Greek word 'phaulos' means worthless or faulty.

Tears in heaven are real and will be wiped away by God.

Revelation 7:17 and 21:4 indicate there will be tears, likely from regret over inadequate service, which God will comfort.

Weaver asks, 'How can God wipe away tears from our eyes if there are no tears?'

Eternal life is knowing God, which begins now.

John 17:3 defines eternal life as knowing God; believers should pursue this knowledge now to love and serve Him more.

Weaver states, 'Eternal life is an intimate relationship with the sovereign God of heaven and earth, through Jesus Christ.'

Scripture References

Psalm 143:5: Introduction: David muses on God's works; the sermon title 'Just Thinking' is derived from this.
Psalm 73:20: Review of sinner's death: God will despise the image of the wicked.
Exodus 11:7: God puts a difference between Egyptians and Israel, illustrating the difference in death between saint and sinner.
Psalm 116:15: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
1 John 1:7: The blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin, removing the sting of death.
1 Peter 1:18-19: Redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.
Hebrews 2:14-15: Christ destroyed the devil and delivered believers from the fear and bondage of death.
2 Corinthians 5:6-8: Absent from the body, present with the Lord; immediate presence with Christ at death.
Philippians 1:23-24: Paul's desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
John 17:24: Christ's prayer that believers be with Him and behold His glory.
1 Kings 10:7: The Queen of Sheba said the half was not told her of Solomon's glory; similarly, we cannot grasp God's full glory.
Exodus 33:18-23: Moses could only see God's back parts; no man can see God's face and live.
Isaiah 6:1-5: Isaiah saw the Lord's glory and was undone by his sinfulness.
Job 19:26: Job's hope to see God in his resurrected body.
Psalm 17:15: David's satisfaction in beholding God's face in righteousness.
John 1:18: No man has seen God; the Son has declared Him.
John 14:8-9: Jesus says, 'He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.'
1 Corinthians 13:12: Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.
Matthew 5:8: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
1 John 3:2: When He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Historical References

Charles Haddon Spurgeon: Quoted on the nature of forgiveness and the personal astonishment of being pardoned.
Ralph Venning: Puritan author of 'The Plague of Plagues,' quoted extensively on the vileness of sin.
Jonathan Edwards: Quoted on the heinousness of sin as cosmic treason against an infinite God.

Important Quotes

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

Establishes the central theme that God values the death of believers differently from that of sinners.

For the child of God, the sting of death has been removed because his sin has been washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Summarizes the first key difference in the death of a saint.

We're confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Key verse showing immediate presence with Christ at death.

Our eyes have not seen, nor have our ears heard the minutest amount of his glory.

Highlights the overwhelming discovery of God's glory at death.

Sin is the dare of God's justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, the contempt of His love.

Vivid description of sin's true nature, quoted from Ralph Venning.

Any sin is more or less heinous depending upon the honor and the majesty of the one whom we have offended. Since God is of infinite honor, infinite majesty, and infinite holiness, the slightest sin is of infinite consequence.

Jonathan Edwards' quote explaining why sin is so serious.

That He should pardon me. That I should have forgiveness of sins and redemption by the blood, that does astonish me.

Spurgeon's expression of personal amazement at grace, illustrating the discovery of graciousness.

And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Defines eternal life as knowing God, the ultimate application of the sermon.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does understanding that God puts a difference between the death of the saint and the sinner affect your view of death?

[Context]

Weaver emphasizes that while death is common to all, its experience is fundamentally different for believers.

[Question]

In what ways do you think seeing God's full glory will change your understanding of Him?

[Context]

Weaver argues that we cannot grasp God's glory now, but at death we will be overwhelmed.

[Question]

Why do you think we will discover the greatness of our sins in heaven, even though they are forgiven?

[Context]

Weaver clarifies this is not about condemnation but about appreciating Christ's sacrifice.

[Question]

How does the quote from Spurgeon about personal forgiveness challenge your view of God's grace?

[Context]

Spurgeon said he is more astonished that God would pardon him personally than others.

[Question]

What do you think it will feel like to grieve over your inadequate service at the judgment seat of Christ?

[Context]

Weaver suggests believers will experience regret and tears over their lack of faithful service.

[Question]

How can we begin now to 'fill our hearts with all the knowledge' of God to prepare for eternity?

[Context]

Weaver applies the message by urging believers to study God's Word and know Him more.

[Question]

What does it mean that eternal life is knowing God, and how should that shape our daily lives?

[Context]

Weaver defines eternal life relationally, not just as endless existence.

Applications

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T16:13:31Z