The NXR Podcast - QUESTIONS - Is God Ever Thankful Toward Us？

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00:00:21.300 A friend and I had a discussion over this question, is God thankful?

00:00:24.800 Is he thankful to those who obey his word or only pleased with their obedience?

00:00:31.360 Is he generally thankful for anything or does he have no reason to be?

00:00:37.100 That's a good question.

00:00:38.360 All right, let me look something up.

00:00:41.620 I think the text that I want to look at is Luke chapter 17.

00:00:49.180 It's a parable.

00:00:50.300 luke chapter 17 and we'd probably start in verse 7 let's see let me just read it could be the wrong

00:01:01.360 passage we'll see uh luke chapter 17 starting verse 7 through verse 10 will any one of you who

00:01:07.620 has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field come at once

00:01:13.400 and recline at table will he not rather say to him prepare supper for me and dress properly

00:01:18.420 and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink. Does he thank the servant

00:01:25.000 because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded,

00:01:30.820 say, we are unworthy servants. We have only done what is our duty. There you go.

00:01:39.860 Let me read it again. And remember, this is Jesus, right? This is a parable. It's talking,

00:01:43.960 in the parable, the characters at play are earthly servants and an earthly master.

00:01:48.420 but the guy who's telling the parable is the lord jesus christ the second member of the trinity

00:01:53.540 the son of god and jesus seems that he's not he's not now jesus uses different parables for

00:01:59.120 different purposes but in this particular parable it doesn't seem as though christ is saying

00:02:02.500 this is the way the world works but not so with me as the heavenly master not so with god who is

00:02:12.300 your ultimate true master, eternal master. It doesn't seem like that's the purpose of the

00:02:18.400 parable. It doesn't seem as Jesus is saying, this is what occurs in the earthly servant master

00:02:23.600 relationship, but that is entirely distinct and contrasted from the heavenly relationship between

00:02:32.440 Christians and God as their master. No, instead it seems like Jesus is saying, here's a scenario,

00:02:38.800 an illustration, if you will, that we can find on earth that is indicative of the relationship

00:02:47.040 that we find in heaven. The way that a master and servant relate to one another on earth is

00:02:55.780 similar, at least similar, not contrasted, but similar to the nature of the relationship between

00:03:02.240 Christians and their master who is in heaven, their relationship with God. I'll read it one

00:03:07.880 more time will any uh this is luke 17 verse 7 through 10 will any one of you who has a servant

00:03:13.860 plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field come at once and recline

00:03:19.360 at table oh you've you just got done working now have a seat take off your coat and stay a while

00:03:25.360 let me let me fan you to help cool you down get you a nice cold glass of lemonade does any does

00:03:31.600 that occur you know and the implicit answer is no no that's not how it works come at once and

00:03:36.660 recline at table. Verse eight now, will he not rather say to him, prepare supper for me and

00:03:42.280 dress properly and serve me while I eat and drink. And afterward you will eat and drink.

00:03:48.160 Does he thank the servant? And there's your question, Luke McLean. Does he thank the servant

00:03:54.160 because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded,

00:04:00.400 right? So now he's speaking to the disciples. So you also, when you have done all that was

00:04:04.300 commanded of your heavenly master, God, you should simply say, we are unworthy servants.

00:04:10.180 We have only done what was our duty. Meaning this, no man can say to God, I have done you a favor.

00:04:19.640 No matter what it is that we do in this lifetime for the Lord, no matter how we're remembered by

00:04:25.740 church history, whether we're a martyr, whether we're one of the most faithful people who have

00:04:29.880 ever lived, whether you're the apostle Paul or whatever it might be, the most sanctified man on

00:04:35.680 earth who lives his entire life towards the Lord Jesus Christ, not sinless perfection because no

00:04:41.560 man can do that but Christ alone, but he gets as close as you could possibly get, right? Let's say

00:04:46.160 that apart from Christ, you're the most sanctified man to walk the earth. You do much faithful

00:04:50.540 ministry for the Lord Jesus. In that scenario, you still could not claim when you stand before

00:04:58.520 jesus and he says well done good and faithful servant this is the master commending the servant

00:05:04.320 but that's not necessarily to be taken as the master thanking the servant there is a difference

00:05:09.860 between commending and gratitude that jesus will say well done good and faithful servant and jesus

00:05:16.440 right now he's giving us our cue he's saying when you step into the pearly gates and when you see

00:05:22.000 me and i say well done good and faithful servant here's your response we are unworthy servants we

00:05:27.580 have only done what was our duty. We did not do you a favor, Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, God,

00:05:34.780 our heavenly Master. We did not do you a favor. We simply did what we owed. And in fact, in fact,

00:05:41.700 because we don't reach sinless perfection in this life, we would have to say we have only done what

00:05:49.300 was our duty and in some degree or another, in this way and in that, we actually failed

00:05:56.580 to do our duty. We did less than our duty would be the biblical teaching. So no one does God a

00:06:04.700 favor. The best that a Christian can do by grace through faith in Christ in obedience is not doing 0.77

00:06:11.220 God a favor above and beyond, but simply doing their duty. And because we don't believe in sinless

00:06:17.400 perfection in this life, right? First John chapter one, verse eight and nine, if we say we have no

00:06:21.660 sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful

00:06:26.880 and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So every single

00:06:31.520 Christian, the best that we can say when we stand before Christ and he says, well done,

00:06:35.640 good and faithful servant, we can respond by saying we have only done what was our duty and

00:06:40.320 we are deeply repentant for all the ways that we did less, not more, but less than our duty

00:06:46.740 because we are sinners saved by grace.

00:06:51.000 He doesn't thank them.

00:06:52.520 So I don't know.

00:06:53.520 I mean, you could read into it a little bit more.

00:06:55.180 That's it.

00:06:55.480 That's my hot take, right?

00:06:56.940 That's my hot take.

00:06:57.660 But in terms of what I can tell,

00:07:00.120 biblically speaking,

00:07:01.360 I don't think that God thanks us for our obedience.

00:07:04.680 I do believe that God rewards us for obedience,

00:07:07.440 but this is grace.

00:07:08.960 And I believe that God commends us for obedience.

00:07:12.320 I do believe in heavenly rewards, right?

00:07:13.980 That's a highly debatable thing.

00:07:15.160 I don't believe in final justification, another John Piper-ism.

00:07:19.360 So I don't believe in final justification.

00:07:21.740 I would stand against other things that are similar to that, federal vision.

00:07:27.280 So I don't believe in final justification.

00:07:28.680 We're justified by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone.

00:07:32.700 That's it.

00:07:33.620 That's it.

00:07:34.140 But I do believe that we will be rewarded in heaven, not with salvation.

00:07:39.580 Salvation is received by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone.

00:07:43.960 That's it.

00:07:44.480 That's it. Justification is all of grace. But I do believe that as we seek in our Christian

00:07:51.020 lives post-justification, as we seek to obey God, that we will receive certain heavenly rewards.

00:07:57.640 There's a lot of debate as to what those are. Jonathan Edwards, I'll just, I'll do this real

00:08:02.600 quick, as quick as I can. But Jonathan Edwards talks about, you know, people's capacity for

00:08:06.660 enjoying God, right? Westminster catechism, shorter catechism, first question and longer

00:08:14.660 is, you know, what is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever, right? So it's

00:08:19.760 to glorify God. We do that by obeying God. That's one of the ways we bring him glory, trusting in

00:08:24.860 God, faith in God, obedience to God, but also to enjoy God forever, right? John Owen talks about

00:08:30.800 that. The heart of the gospel is justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone,

00:08:35.140 but the end of the gospel is eternal and perfect, satisfying communion with the triune God, right?

00:08:42.720 So enjoying God is the chief end of man. It's part of the chief end of man. And what Edwards argues

00:08:48.620 is that people in heaven will have varying, right? Because again, it's not egalitarian.

00:08:53.680 There's hierarchy in heaven, right? They're a cherubim and seraphim. There's four living

00:08:57.880 creatures covered with eyes, with six wings, with two they fly, two they cover their feet,

00:09:02.720 too. They cover their faces and they cry out, holy, holy, holy. There's 24 elders. And then

00:09:08.280 there's a lot of angelic beings that are not elders. 24 elders sitting on thrones, casting

00:09:13.000 their crowns, right? But then there are, you know, so there's a pecking order. There's a hierarchy

00:09:18.720 in heaven and God has created hierarchy on earth. There is no Marxism in the Christian faith

00:09:24.520 anywhere, not even in hell. Jesus literally talks about how one will be given a severe beating and

00:09:31.960 one will be given a lesser beating hell will be no picnic for anyone hell will be bad for everyone 0.90

00:09:38.040 but it will not be equally bad right jesus says when he's pronouncing woes on jewish cities on

00:09:44.320 on cities in israel he says it will be worse for you than it was for sodom and gomorrah for if the

00:09:49.620 miracles that i performed in you were performed in sodom and gomorrah they would have repented long

00:09:54.700 ago meaning what when there is there are degrees of sin not all sins are equal all sins are equal

00:10:00.880 in their ability to separate us from God,

00:10:03.380 to send us to hell for eternity,

00:10:05.220 and all sins are also equal for the redeemed

00:10:07.620 in the sense that a little sin or a big sin

00:10:09.980 still merits, if we are to be saved,

00:10:12.480 it merits the death of Jesus on the cross.

00:10:14.720 So all sin is equal in that regard.

00:10:16.920 But there are sins that God detests

00:10:19.020 and sins that God hates.

00:10:20.860 God hates all sin, but he does not hate all sin equally.

00:10:24.600 And all sin does not have equal consequences

00:10:27.760 in earthly terms, in physical terms.

00:10:30.680 Some sins will ruin your life.

00:10:32.840 The Bible even says there are sins that lead to death, right?

00:10:35.700 So sin is not equal, hell is not equal, heaven's not equal, and earth is not equal.

00:10:40.260 And so getting to heaven, everyone who's in heaven has been equally justified.

00:10:45.500 There are no degrees of justification.

00:10:47.580 There are degrees of sanctification.

00:10:49.920 Yet God is sovereign, not only over our justification, but also our sanctification.

00:10:54.640 So if someone is more sanctified than someone else, even that is still of grace.

00:10:59.680 It's God's doing.

00:11:01.220 God creates by his grace.

00:11:02.780 God performs, I should say, by the spirit and his grace, a greater degree of sanctification

00:11:07.420 for one than the other.

00:11:08.640 And then God rewards in heaven with a greater reward.

00:11:12.160 God is ultimately graciously rewarding his own gracious work of sanctification.

00:11:18.040 But some will get greater rewards because God graciously performed a greater degree

00:11:22.640 of sanctification in one than the other.

00:11:24.500 Edwards says that what those rewards may look like is that everyone will be satisfied in heaven.

00:11:30.440 There will be no lack.

00:11:31.280 There will be no discontentment.

00:11:33.140 Everyone will be satisfied.

00:11:35.040 Everyone will be, right, the chief end of man to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

00:11:41.460 Everyone will be fully enjoying God.

00:11:44.620 But we will have varying capacities for enjoying God.

00:11:49.280 So think of it like, don't think of it

00:11:51.980 as like a bunch of cups set up on a table

00:11:54.860 and one is half full and one's three quarters full,

00:11:57.400 one is a fifth full and one is completely full.

00:12:00.580 Don't think of it like that.

00:12:01.700 Think of it like balloons, all right?

00:12:04.940 And think of all these balloons.

00:12:07.320 Is there any square inch, cubic inch

00:12:10.880 inside of the balloon that's not filled with air, right?

00:12:13.380 They're all full, but think of balloons

00:12:15.840 that one is, they're all full of air.

00:12:18.340 There's not one space inside of the balloon that doesn't have air in it, right?

00:12:22.420 But think of some balloons are this size and some are this size, right?

00:12:26.000 So those of you who are listening on the podcast, some balloons are larger and some are smaller,

00:12:31.080 meaning that there's no space inside of the small balloon or the large balloon that's

00:12:36.100 not filled with air, but some balloons have more air blown into them than others, right?

00:12:42.000 That the cup grows, to switch it back to that illustration, the balloon expands.

00:12:46.640 And so Edwards argues that varying rewards,

00:12:50.960 heavenly rewards for obedience on this earth,

00:12:53.280 which is still brought about by God's grace,

00:12:55.120 it's he who wills and works in and through us,

00:12:57.940 that which is good and pleasing in his sight,

00:12:59.880 but God rewarding his own grace,

00:13:02.580 God rewards not equally,

00:13:04.140 but there will be a variance in God's rewards

00:13:07.360 for that same variance of God's sanctification

00:13:10.220 that he brings about by grace in this life,

00:13:12.480 but nobody is empty.

00:13:14.860 Everyone's full, but people have a varying degree of capacity for fullness.

00:13:20.020 And full of what?

00:13:21.960 Satisfaction, fulfillment, enjoyment of God.

00:13:25.480 And personally, I believe that in heaven, we will evolve, right?

00:13:30.180 Not like Darwin evolution, but we will continue to grow.

00:13:35.780 We will continue to develop.

00:13:37.600 When we go to heaven, we will immediately be sinless, but we won't be omniscient.

00:13:43.100 We will always be creatures.

00:13:44.360 So even after glorification, we are still creaturely.

00:13:47.940 We are not ever going to be infinite.

00:13:50.240 So we'll still be finite.

00:13:51.820 Now, will we die in heaven?

00:13:52.940 No.

00:13:53.500 Will we get sick in heaven?

00:13:54.560 No.

00:13:54.940 Will we sin in heaven?

00:13:55.980 No.

00:13:56.380 So there's a minimum bottom, a baseline entry into heaven that comes with glorification.

00:14:03.840 First John says, when we see him, we'll be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

00:14:07.700 We'll be like him in what way?

00:14:09.660 He's divine.

00:14:10.300 So when we see him in his divinity, we'll be like him, we'll also be divine.

00:14:14.240 No, that's a heresy.

00:14:16.200 No, it's speaking of his sinlessness.

00:14:18.260 When we see Christ in his sinlessness, we will be like him in that regard, also sinless.

00:14:25.360 But my point is we will develop in heaven in terms of learning, right?

00:14:29.920 We will know certain things 10,000 years into heaven that we did not know upon our first

00:14:37.320 entry into heaven.

00:14:38.460 And I also think not only will we increase in our knowledge, well, knowledge of what?

00:14:43.680 Knowledge of a myriad of things, but the chief knowledge being knowledge of God.

00:14:47.060 And as we know more of God, that increases our capacity for enjoying God.

00:14:51.520 And I think that some people will enter heaven, the starting baseline, there's a minimum bottom

00:14:57.200 line, sinlessness, glorification, done with sickness, done with death, we won't grow weary,

00:15:02.880 all those kinds of things that the Bible teaches.

00:15:04.640 That's the minimum baseline for all Christians, regardless of degrees of sanctification, because 0.99

00:15:09.240 there are no degrees of justification.

00:15:10.960 You are fully justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

00:15:14.800 You have his righteousness, and his righteousness doesn't vary.

00:15:18.420 It's the full righteousness of God, and that's the basis of our justification.

00:15:22.000 So everyone will enter heaven with a bottom baseline, as I've already said.

00:15:26.880 But upon entry, those who have been more sanctified in their obedience, I think will receive greater

00:15:31.900 rewards.

00:15:32.340 And one of those rewards is, I think, starting out in heaven with a higher capacity for enjoying

00:15:37.860 God, knowing God and enjoying God.

00:15:40.560 But everyone, regardless of where they start, I think will be growing in heaven.

00:15:44.700 I don't think that we'll be still, that we'll be stagnant, that we'll be stuck, right?

00:15:49.580 That you get into heaven like this and that's where you stay.

00:15:52.480 I think we'll all be increasing in the knowledge and glory of God.

00:15:56.060 We'll all be developing.

00:15:57.240 We'll all be improving.

00:15:58.640 We'll be growing in wisdom.

00:15:59.940 never infinite, never omniscient, always creatures, but glorified creatures and developing

00:16:06.200 creatures. I believe that the Bible speaks to that. Now I've gotten way off, I guess, but Nathan,

00:16:11.760 can you pull that question up one more time? The question that I was already answering. I just

00:16:15.240 want to make sure that I actually got to it. Is God thankful? Beautiful. Yep. So all that being

00:16:21.060 said, rewards, heavenly rewards. Yes. Final justification. Heck no. But heavenly rewards.

00:16:27.160 Yes. Commending faithful servants. Yes. Thanking. No, I don't think so. And I would base that off

00:16:35.200 of Luke chapter 17 verses seven through 10. All right. All right. All right. Stop twisting my

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The NXR Podcast - November 23, 2022

QUESTIONS - Is God Ever Thankful Toward Us？

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