My subject tonight is Six Great Privileges Of Grace. It seems that the Apostle John never got over the astonishment of grace. The more he saw, the more he was amazed. The more he experienced, the more he adored. The more he knew the more he wondered. John adored God for his amazing grace (I John 3:1-3)!
When this beloved Apostle saw satan bound by Christ and the saints of God reigning with Christ, his heart broke out with wonder, adoration, and praise. And in his praise to God John sets before us Six Great Privileges Of Grace. "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."
Are you born of God? Do you trust the Lord Jesus Christ? If you do, these six great privileges of grace belong to you.
Proposition:Faith in Christ makes you an heir to all the promises of God in the covenant, all the blessings of grace in time, and all the joys of heaven in eternity.
Divisions:We will take our text word by word and draw the precious milk of Divine nourishment out of every word.
I. First, John declares that You Are "Blessed"!
Child of God, lift up your heart. Lift up your head with joy. Why should the children of the King spend their days mourning and weeping? If Christ is mine, God is mine, heaven is mine, time is mine, eternity is mine, I am blessed!
In Ephesians 1:3 the Apostle Paul tells us that God, our Father, "hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Then he gives us a long list of spiritual blessings.
These fifteen blessings of grace are sure to all God's elect. If you are in Christ, they are yours.
A. All These Blessings are Unconditional Blessings of Grace.
B. They are all Eternal, Covenant Blessings – (II Tim. 1:9).
C. They are all In Christ.
In Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, all that God can give and will give to man has been given to all God's elect (Rom. 8:32; I Cor. 3:21). We are "Blessed!"
II. Secondly, John assures every believer that, You Are "Holy."
Nothing is of greater concern to the child of God than holiness. We know that God is holy. We know that without holiness no man shall see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). The great desire and concern of every believing heart is to be holy, even as the Lord our God is holy. But here John declares that holiness is one of these great privileges of grace. Holiness is not something we do. Holiness is what we are in Christ. If you are "Blessed" of God, you are also "Holy." What does this mean?
A. To be holy is to be Purged of All Sin by the precious Blood of Christ (Heb. 1:5; 9:26).
B. To be holy is to be Perfectly Righteous before God by the Imputation of Christ's righteousness in Justification (Rom. 5:19).
C. To be holy is to have The Righteous Nature of Christ Imparted To Us in Regeneration (II Pet. 1:4; I John 3:9).
D. If we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, justified by his righteousness, and regenerated by the power of his Spirit, We Shall Be Made Completely Perfectly, Eternally Holy In Glorification (Eph. 5:25-27; Col. 1:22; Jude 24-25).
Can you grasp this? – We are, in Christ Jesus, by his righteousness, his blood, and his grace "holy."
III. Thirdly, being born again by the grace and power of God the Holy Spirit, You Have Part In The First Resurrection.
When John speaks of "the first resurrection," he is not implying that there will be two resurrections of men, one for the lost and another for the saved. The Bible nowhere suggests such a theory! The first resurrection is a spiritual resurrection. It is the new birth. It is a resurrection from spiritual death to spiritual life in Christ Jesus (John 5:25; Eph. 2:1-4).
A. We were Resurrected from the Dead Representatively when Christ arose from the dead as our Substitute (Eph. 2:5-6; Col. 2:13).
B. We have been resurrected from the dead Spiritually by the power and grace of God the Holy Spirit in The New Birth (John 3:8; 6:63).
C. The Believer's Soul is raised from the Death of Earth to the Glorious Life of Heaven when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved (II Cor. 5:1-9).
D. And we shall be raised from the dead when our Bodies are called to life again by Christ at his Second Coming (John 5:28).
If you belong to Christ, you have part in the first resurrection and you shall live again in the resurrection at the last day (Job 19:25-26).
IV. Fourthly, if you are among these blessed, holy ones, who have part in the first resurrection, then Upon You "The Second Death Hath No Power."
This second death is eternal damnation (21:8). But upon those who are in Christ Jesus the second death has no power (Rom. 8:1-3; 34).
V. Fifthly, in Christ, You And I Are "Priests of God And of Christ."
Throughout the Book of Revelation we have seen the saints of God rejoicing because of this priesthood of all believers - (1:6; 5:10).
Read Leviticus 8 and you will see that certain things are necessary for all who would be priest unto God.
VI. Here is the sixth great privilege of grace, You "Shall Reign With Christ A Thousand Years."
Christ Jesus has made us kings as well as priests. Kings are rulers. And believers are men and women who rule over their passions and their enemies by the Spirit of Christ.
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