[0:00] I'm gonna talk to you this morning about capacity capacity how many times have you thought! or said to yourself I don't have the capacity I don't have the capacity to handle my my my business! my job I don't have the capacity to handle my marriage I have the capacity to handle single being single I know the capacity to handle all these kids I have the capacity to handle our church I don't have the capacity to handle my living situation I don't have the capacity to handle all the things wrong with my house I don't have the capacity to handle my health I don't have the capacity to handle I mean you guys keep going, you get the point?
[0:46] I don't have the capacity, we say this maybe we don't say it out loud but it's reverberating in our minds, right? Oh, I can't do this, I don't have the capacity it's like, I'm at the end of myself what's the definition of capacity?
[0:59] the maximum amount that something can contain, produce, or hold another way of saying it is, what someone can handle what this life, this person can handle and what happens is you feel like, oh more than I can handle just got put on my plate more than I can handle has been doled out to me and therefore, I can't handle it I don't have the capacity so what's your max?
[1:29] you know, what's what's what is the max that you can handle? how do you view your max being challenged and your weakness being exposed?
[1:41] do you freak out about that? do you avoid that? do you embrace that? let's look at 2 Corinthians chapter 11 24 to 30 2 Corinthians 11 24 to 30 speaking of capacity this is Paul five times I received at the hands of the Jews the 40 lashes less one okay, you could stop there I don't know if capacity wise five times the the the 40 lashes less one that's some intense lashing right there okay five times that happened to him one time would probably do us in okay five times it goes on three times I was beaten with rods how many times have you been beaten with rods?
[2:29] why not? three times or any time one time I was stoned three times I was shipwrecked a night and a day I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys in danger from rivers danger from robbers danger from my own people danger from Gentiles danger in the city danger in the wilderness danger at sea danger from false brothers in toil and hardship through many a sleepless night in hunger and thirst often without food in cold and exposure and apart from other things there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches who is weak and I am not weak who is made to fall and I am not indignant if I must boast I will boast of the things that show my weakness if I will boast I must boast I will boast of the things that show my weakness that's quite a list it's quite a list and you know when we talk about these kind of things over my many years of preaching
[3:36] I've observed that two people hear the exact same sermon and they have a completely different response what is one is burdened and one is challenged okay one is burdened and one is challenged and one is challenged why is that well it really depends on what we believe about what we can handle really believe it depends on what we believe about our capacity which really means it really depends what we believe about God okay 1 John 5 verse 3 says his commands are not burdensome how many times have we said the very opposite of what the word of God just says right there maybe you didn't say it out loud but in your heart you said oh I can't do this his commands are burdensome it's too much the preacher preaching the commands of God it's too much well what does the Bible say his commands are not burdensome which are you going to believe are you going to believe your feelings are you going to believe your thoughts are you going to believe what you see or are you going to believe what the word of God says his word says his unchanging unshakable word says his commands are not burdensome and then in 2 Peter 1 verse 3 reading from the NIV it says his divine power has given us everything we need for life and for godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness what has his divine power given us most of what we need some of what we need part of what we need no his divine power has given us everything we need for life and for godliness do you believe that this morning do you believe that do you believe it
[5:18] Monday morning do you believe it Friday morning do you believe it every day how many times do we wake up and we'll sometimes even say it out loud I can't do this right oftentimes Gina does is a dual a lot of times with people in their birth and at some point in time during their birth the wife the mom will say I can't do this right I can't do this but the truth is this crazy thing women do it all the time right they have babies but at some point in that process they say I can't do this and if someone looking from the outside in says that's not true you actually can and you will as many people before you have for thousands of years and yet so often we believe what we feel more than we believe what is true and I'm telling you you have everything you need for life and for godliness and where does it come from his divine power
[6:21] God's power has given you everything you need for life and godliness do you believe that you trust that will you believe that more than you believe how you feel will you believe that more than what you see with your eyes okay I want to look at five things that drive our capacity okay first one gospel driven capacity alright gospel driven capacity God's forgiveness an awareness of God's forgiveness knowledge of and experience of God's forgiveness expands our capacity Luke 7 47 Jesus says her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much but who forgives little loves little who's been forgiven little loves little so who's been forgiven much loves much whoever's been forgiven loves little what does that mean your your capacity to forgive your capacity to love is directly proportionate to how much you believe you've been forgiven does that make sense so when you feel like
[7:27] I can't love you need to go to the well of forgiveness and your your capacity will be expanded sometimes it's just like you know the story of the guy who gets forgiven so much and then he's like gets out of jail and he goes to that guy and he says basically give me my five dollars and if you don't pay me back everything I'm putting you in jail you just think what is wrong with that guy he lacks the capacity to love why because he did not realize and internalize how much he'd been forgiven it wasn't even excuse me wasn't even that he wasn't forgiven a lot is that he couldn't he didn't realize it he didn't internalize it he didn't experience it and this can happen as us as Christians it's not that you haven't been forgiven a lot it's that we just don't believe it we don't experience it or we experience it in the past but we're not experiencing it now we've forgotten that's just why we take the Lord's table every week right to remember what we've been forgiven of those have been forgiven much love much those have been forgiven little love little
[8:31] Luke 7 47 God's mercy expands capacity Romans 12 verse 1 and then he says I urge you brothers and sisters in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifice again it doesn't just say sometimes we think oh I gotta offer my body as a living sacrifice I have to sacrifice I have to give up things and we forget the first part of the verse it doesn't just say offer your bodies as a living sacrifice it says in view of God's mercy if you're trying to offer your body as a living sacrifice and God's mercy isn't in your view you're gonna you're gonna have the strong sense that I can't do this I can't sacrifice I don't want to sacrifice I can't sacrifice what's the problem God's mercy isn't in view when God's mercy is in view you all of a sudden have this gumption this motivation to sacrifice because of how much he sacrificed for you in view of God's mercy offer your bodies as living sacrifices okay
[9:33] God's mercy expands our capacity God's grace expands our capacity Titus chapter 2 11 to 12 how often do we try to live self-controlled upright godly lives in this present age without being motivated by the fact that God loves us when we were not self-controlled when we were not upright and not godly your ability your power to live self-controlled and godly and upright in this present age is directly proportionate to your revelation of how much he loved you and how he died for you when none of those things were there that he loved you for who you are not who you should be because none of us was as we should be he loved us because he is love because he is God and he shows mercy in who he shows mercy not because we were worthy of mercy we were not but if you try to do these things and God's mercy isn't in view or God's grace is not your motivating factor you'll burn out you won't have the capacity you won't have it it takes but God's grace expands capacity
[10:53] God's love expands capacity 1 John 4 19 we love because he first loved us okay if you're trying to love which is obedience 1 John 5 verse 3 says this is love for God to obey his commands you're trying to obey his commands you're trying to love God oh God I want to love you more and it's just like but I'm losing motivation I'm losing energy I'm losing strength well are you doing it because he first loved you or are you just trying to do it are you doing are you trying to love God to get God or are you getting God so that you can love God you got it you got it all twisted up and mixed up if you're trying to love God based off of yourself the motivating factor is God's love for you do you know how he loves you are you meditating on how he loves you are you experiencing how much he loves you do you wake up in the morning and instead of saying I can't do this you could say God remind me how much you love me I've forgotten once again have mercy on me
[11:55] I am a forgetful sinner and then you know that he loves you in that moment for who you are not who you should be and it love in your heart wells up for him and you want to obey him desire comes from that place 2 Corinthians 5 14 says Christ's love compels us there's a compelling nature to his love when you see it you view it you experience it okay especially when you believe his love never fails okay Psalm 135 verse 5 but I trust in your unfailing love my heart rejoices in your salvation do you believe that God's love is unfailing is that not what our fear is when we say we don't have capacity is that I don't know if God's love will be enough I don't know if it's going to be there for me Psalm 26 1 to 3 I've trusted in the Lord and have not faltered test me Lord and try me examine my heart and my mind for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness did you hear that is that us
[13:02] I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness saying you don't have capacity is like saying God's love is going to fail me I can't depend on his faithfulness he's not faithful his love fails no I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and I have lived in reliance on your faithfulness therefore I believe I have everything I need for life in godliness therefore I believe I have the capacity because your love has never failed me and your faithfulness can always be counted on Psalm 32 verse 10 says many are the woes of the wicked but the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him what are you trusting in maybe the reason you feel so incapacitated is because you woke up trusting in yourself and your tank was already low to begin with you went to bed with a low tank you think you're going to wake up with a much higher tank just because you got a little bit of sleep sleep might fill your physical tank but it ain't going to fill your spiritual tank you need to rest and trust in the unfailing love of the father do you wake and praise him and look to him and say God my love fails my strength fails my promises fail everything I look to fails you are the only one who is unfailing and the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him if you awake trusting in him say God
[14:33] I must trust in your unfailing love I cannot trust in my ability today it will not get me through it will not give me the capacity but his love will Psalm 33 18 to 22 the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him on those whose hope is in his unfailing love to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine we wait in hope for the Lord he is our help and our shield in him our hearts rejoice for we trust in his holy name may your unfailing love be with us Lord even as we put our hope in you put our hope in his unfailing love Psalm 147 verse 11 says the Lord delights in those who fear him who put their hope in his unfailing love when's the last time you experienced the delight of knowing that God delights in you putting your hope in his unfailing love not only is his love unfailing but when you put your hope in his unfailing love he delights in you he likes that he enjoys that not only can you experience his unfailing love but you can experience his delight in you trusting in his unfailing love it's like it's a double it's a double blessing his unfailing love is already pretty high on the list it's love that doesn't fail but then when you hope in unfailing love which is like the biggest no-brainer ever how often do we hope in things that fail so it's just like man it seems so easy to hope in things that fail but I have such a hard time hoping in the unfailing love and then you think about that you think what the heck am I thinking why is it so hard to hope in something unfailing and why do I so often gravitate for that which fails the fact that
[16:23] God would then delight in me hoping in something that's unfailing how hard is it to hope in something unfailing it's only hard if you don't see it you don't believe it you don't know it you haven't experienced it and you're not saturating yourself in this love Bible says keep yourself in the love of God keep yourself in the love of God and then 1 Corinthians 13 8 love never fails do you believe that do you believe that this morning do you believe it every day and are you a trumpeter of this what about to your brother and sister on the days when he he or she doesn't believe it are you telling him or her God's love never fails God's love never fails you failed your promise failed your strength failed your plans failed God's love never fails God's love never fails this is true this is true number two rest driven capacity okay there's rest in carrying his yoke
[17:28] Matthew 11 28 to 30 right we all know this verse come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest not I might not hopefully you will man that would be really nice if you did come to me all who labor and are heavy laden are you are you heavy are you laboring are you tired are you weary he says come to me come to me all who labor and are heavy laden I will give you rest I will give you rest and the devil whispers in your he's not going to give you rest it's not restful to come to him it's burdensome don't believe it don't believe it that's not true you tell that lie to go back to hell where it came from that's where it belongs and you quote the scriptures to the devil just like Jesus did you say no that's not true he said come to me all you are weary and heavy laden I am weary
[18:28] I am heavy laden he said you will give me rest he didn't put any conditions on it he didn't say if you got your life all put together if you have all the faith in the world if you made sure you had the right amount of quiet time and you didn't talk mean or harsh to your spouse no he said come to me that was the requirement that was what you needed to do just come to him you might be dragging yourself there you might be limping all the way there you might have barely any faith to get there but you have enough just to come and that's all that he requires of you and he says I will give you rest not I might give you rest you gotta count on it you gotta count on it like your life depends on it because it does because without it you're weary without it you don't have the strength to go on and you think life gets easier you think oh you know just the passage of time will make my life easier when has that ever been true that's never been true more things keep coming on do you believe his grace is sufficient if you do you have to come and that's the only requirement come as you are come beat up come bedraggled you just come and he says
[19:45] I will give you rest and then you take his yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light take my yoke upon you you say oh my yoke is too heavy this is too much then you lay it down before him and say give me your yoke give me your light and easy yoke give me your light and easy yoke and he says and you will find rest for your souls do you believe that again these are promises this is the word of God I am speaking to you the word of the Lord you want a prophetic word for you you will find rest for your souls if you come to him that's really prophetic you bet it is it's the word of God you'll find rest for your souls you can take that to the bank there is nothing that can get in the way of that that is true today tomorrow in the pouring rain in the noonday sun it is always true it has always been true and it always will be true will we believe him to go to him though or will we go to other things will we go to other things to try to find rest
[20:52] Netflix isn't your rest doom scrolling on social media isn't your rest working more isn't your rest okay drowning it out with food or alcohol or pick your poison that is not your rest Jesus is your rest his yoke is your rest take it upon you and you will find rest for your souls his yoke is easy and his burden is light Psalm 46 10 says it this way in the NASB it says cease striving and know that I am God cease striving give up striving I'm not going to strive anymore I'm not going to strive to be something what did we just sing what did we say is the power in us Christ in me right is holiness remember we were just saying that it's easy to sing it do you believe that or are you is striving in me your holiness if I just try hard enough if I just push myself hard enough then I'll be holy no that's not true holiness in you is Christ in you holiness in you is Christ in you cease striving and know that I am God cease striving and just let him be who he is not that you can stop him from being who he is in general but you can definitely get in the way of him being who he is in you and we can't do that you have to cease striving and that cease striving isn't a rebuke as much as it's good news stop fighting stop striving release it let go of it and know that I am God there's rest in his finished work
[22:36] Romans 4 3 to 8 says what is the scripture saying Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness not of the one who works his wages are not counted as a gift but as is due make sense and to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly his faith is counted as righteousness man that is such good news to the one who does not work meaning does not work for salvation does not work to be seen differently before the Lord the one who does not work for his righteousness but the one who has ceased from his work and who believes in him who justifies the ungodly isn't that awesome that he justifies the ungodly isn't it awesome that it doesn't say that he justifies the godly because if he said that he justifies the godly then he wouldn't justify anybody do you understand that there is no godly there is no one who does good there is no one not even one it says if he didn't say that he justifies the ungodly and said no I only justify the godly there would be no hope for us all when he says
[23:44] I justify the ungodly he says I justify people like you and me the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly his faith is counted as righteousness just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works is your righteousness apart from works or does your lack of works or your evil works come against you and cause you to believe that your righteousness is somehow at stake that your righteousness was somehow dependent upon your works so much so that you can't tell people your weaknesses you can't voluntarily offer up your weaknesses and if someone confronts you in your weaknesses you have to defend yourself and not let it be exposed because I'm counting in my own righteousness and if someone exposes my unrighteousness it's a direct assault on that which I find my identity and my worth in this verse is an affront to that mentality and guess what it's in all of us there's a little bit of self-righteousness in all of us that says no it's Jesus plus my efforts that's what it is no it never was it isn't now and it never will be it's not Jesus plus your efforts it's Jesus plus his efforts plus his work plus zero view zero
[25:11] Jesus plus nothing equals everything okay you don't add to it you can't add to it and your attempts to add to it are disgusting the Bible calls it like a filthy rag like a filthy menstrual rag is your attempts at righteousness but we should be the ones who cease from our works the ones who believe and trust and the one who justifies the ungodly and then our faith is counted as righteousness just as David speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin amen and amen to that Hebrews 4 9-10 says so there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God for the one who has entered his rest has himself also rested from his works as God did from his some of us need to take a rest from our self-righteous attempts at being enough everyone wants to say you're enough you're not you're not enough there's a song
[26:24] I can hear it in my head right now and he just says over and over again you're enough you're enough you're enough I'm like no you're not you never have been you never will be and the good news is it doesn't matter if you're in Christ because he's enough but you're not enough your efforts aren't enough your attempts at being righteous aren't enough all your best attempts always end up in despair because you can't do it only God can do it and that's why we wholly trust in Jesus name I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus name on Christ the solid rock I stand right all the ground is sinking sand this is true also in marriage I call this married scary authority rest okay married scary authority rest okay going to your husband while hoping in God and adorned with gentleness and quietness 1 Corinthians 14 35 says if there's anything they desire to learn but the master husband is at home it's so easy for a wife to be scared that the husband isn't going to have what it takes or isn't going to have the answers or isn't going to have the leadership or isn't going to be able to do what needs to be done and the tendency is then to go elsewhere besides husband but 1 Peter 3 4-6 speaks of the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit and how this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves by submitting to their own husbands as Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him Lord and you are her children if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening there's a rest even in a marriage where you feel like your husband's dropping the ball that your husband's not taking the leadership that he should take where you can rest because your hope is in God not in your husband and because you are gentle not trying to fight for your way you're quiet not trying to have people hear your case and to go outside of your husband so much because you don't believe he's going to hear your case but that you can gently and quietly adorn yourself with the trust in God that the women of old used to adorn themselves with and that you're not frightening that you're not fearing that which is frightening which goes to say that it is frightening to submit to a man it is frightening but you don't have to fear that which is frightening because your hope was never in that man your hope is in God and there's a certain rest in that in marriage when you are not being gentle and you're trying to force your way or you're not being quiet and you're trying to verbally manipulate your way this is evidence of not resting in the Lord on the flip side there's a married men's scary authority rest as well okay this is a husband responding with understanding gentleness and honor when the responsibility to lead weighs heavy and your wife is scared let me say that again responding with understanding gentleness and honor when the responsibility to lead weighs heavy and your wife is scared
[29:31] I get an F at this one for sure okay not good at this one but I I can rest in this I can rest in knowing my I can understand understand I can be an understanding husband even when the weight of responsibility on my husbandry causes me to lash out at my wife for being scared because of course she's scared I'm overwhelmed by the weight what's the problem I'm not at rest I'm overwhelmed with work or I'm overwhelmed with family I'm overwhelmed with relationships or I'm overwhelmed with this that or the other drama or whatever it may be and so then wife coming to me scared by what's already being scary because I'm overwhelmed causes me to lash out in lack of understanding well what's the problem the problem is I'm not resting I'm not resting in him I'm not finding my peace and my rest and that light and easy yoke in him and so then if wife comes to me scared with one more thing
[30:38] I get angry I snap not good I gotta rest I gotta rest in the Lord 1 Peter 3 7 likewise husbands live with your wives in an understanding way showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel since they are heirs with you of the grace of life so that your prayers may not be hindered I don't want my prayers to be hindered number 3 experience driven capacity okay this comes from what you've done and what you've seen in others so having a history in God where you see God come through for you over time is inspiring to believe that you can handle things meaning if you've handled if you've ever handled something worse than what you're handling now you think I can handle this right this is the worst I've ever experienced we've been through worse we've been through harder right that's just a practical but sometimes you've got to remind each other of that right you've got to look and say hey come on you've been through worse you've had harder seasons
[31:47] God God has kept you through other things and I always think this I thought this this hit me so hard when I had cancer 10 years ago when I had testicular cancer 10 years ago I thought oh this is bad news I have cancer and I don't know how bad it is could be stage 4 I'm really old for testicular cancer what if it's all over my body what if this is it right this could be it this is bad news but you know what it's not the worst news I've ever gotten I've had worse and guess what no matter what bad news you get in this world there's always one thing for Christians that is worse than the bad news that you've gotten okay what is it you were justly and rightly under the sentence of hell for all eternity that's bad news way worse than cancer you have cancer that's bad news you're going to hell way worse news and if God came to you in your worst news when you were going to hell and he intervened and saved you how much more will he come to you in way less bad news like cancer okay so your experience tells you hey
[32:55] I've been through worse and a Christian always has the trump card I was destined for hell and God came to me in that if he came to me when I was destined for hell how in the world do I think that he's not going to come help me when my kids are overwhelming it's like well you don't know my kids well yeah they're not as bad as hell right they're not as bad as hell it's a good thing to remember so experiencing experience can remind you but also seeing in others okay there's there's a there's this thing that happens and we see it a lot now where people think that they can't handle certain things because everyone around them can't handle the same things and then sometimes you like talk to an old grandparent you know or you watch a documentary of someone who went through world war ii or who was in a concentration camp or any of this kind of stuff and you think oh oh yeah maybe we can handle more you know maybe we've grown soft maybe we've grown to think that we're that we can handle stuff but we actually can't and so you look at other people you look at the ones who've gone before you hebrews 13 7 says remember your leaders those who spoke to you the word of god consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith so first of all look are there any leaders in your life who are able to handle things more than you can look at them and then what's it to say and imitate their life no no it says consider the outcome of their way of life and then it doesn't say imitate their life it says imitate their what their faith that is such an important detail we think oh man that guy can handle a lot or you listen to some podcast oh he can handle a lot or you know you see you meet someone you hear someone you watch a video about someone you think they can handle a lot
[34:53] I'm gonna do whatever they're doing no that's not what it says imitate their faith imitate their faith believe like they do believe in what they believe they believed in God they trusted God they came to him and received the easy and light yoke imitate their faith where's your faith let me give you an example of an old school guy who's dead sometimes you just need to look more to dead guys and get a little inspiration for our current culture George Mueller let me just give you a little list here just to help maybe help you think what's possible kind of the four minute mile right everybody said you can't run a four minute mile scientists and doctors are saying nobody can run a four minute mile it's not even physically possible and then this guy Roger Bannister comes by and breaks the four minute mile and for years no one could break a four minute mile Bannister comes and breaks the four minute mile and immediately what happens people like crazy are beating his under four minute mile what happened did he discover some wonder drug did he discover some new training technique no he believed it could be done when everybody said it couldn't and then when someone saw that it was done then everybody started breaking it so I want you to look at George
[36:17] Mueller the guy who broke the four minute mile right here okay listen George Mueller he built five orphanages he started when he was 28 okay so he got a little bit late start but he still built five orphanages he cared for 10,024 orphans he preached three times a week while caring for orphans he had four children two stillborn his son Elijah died at one year old and his daughter died at 57 okay he married twice his first marriage to Mary was for 39 years the second marriage was to Susanna for 23 years he became a missionary at the ripe young age of 70 so after doing all that he said you know it's time to retire I'm gonna become a foreign missionary okay at 70 he became a missionary and for 17 years traveled to 42 countries preaching on average once a day to about 3 million people total he read his bible 200 times from beginning to end he brought in an estimated 150 million dollars through prayer and never took a salary for the last 68 years of his ministry and never asked for money or took out a loan now listen don't imitate what George
[37:40] Mueller did but you know what you should imitate his faith his faith I'm not telling you to do what George Mueller did I'm not telling you to start five orphanages and help 10,000 orphans I'm telling you to imitate his faith and you do whatever God's called you to do but start with imitating his faith and believe that you could probably do more than you think that you can do now by looking at all the people around you maybe that's not a good standard maybe that's a soft standard maybe that's a low bar maybe it's time for us to imitate the faith of those who went before us have we grown soft has the bar been lowered D.L.
[38:22] Moody said one of my favorite quotes he said the world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him and by God's help I aim to be that man number four spirit driven capacity okay I don't know if you just had the first three I feel like you're getting we're doing pretty good with capacity right I got two more and these two are probably the best ones so are you ready for this okay number four spirit driven capacity spirit driven capacity we haven't even talked about the Holy Spirit yet right that's a pretty big deal Acts 1 verse 8 the promise of the Father remember this one you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you okay what happens when you are filled continually with the Spirit of God what happens when you're led by the Spirit of God empowered by the Spirit of God when it's not you doing it but the Spirit working in you not by might nor power but by my
[39:24] Spirit says the Lord 2 Timothy 1 6 to 7 says for this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying out of my hands for God gave us a Spirit not of fear but of power and love and self control you believe that Romans 8 11 if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead lives in us and I can't even right I can't even handle this I can't do this I can't do that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives inside of you and me what a gift the Bible calls that a gift I don't think there's a better one right 2 Corinthians 1 8 to 9 we do not want you to be unaware brothers of the affliction we experienced in Asia listen to him
[40:26] Paul's having a bad day here okay you think well Paul's kind of a super Christian I can't really relate to Paul he's got it all pulled together so that's cool Paul but I can't really relate well read this verse we don't want you to be unaware brothers of the affliction we experienced in Asia for we were so utterly burdened!
[40:49] beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself sounds pretty low indeed we felt that we had received the sentence of death but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead when was the last time you thought that way?
[41:07] you're thinking my life is so hard my life is so tough this thing is breaking me I can't sleep I'm stressed I'm anxious when was the last time you said but that was to make me rely not on myself but on God who raises the dead you believe that?
[41:23] do you thank God for those trials so that we don't rely on ourselves but we rely on God who raises the dead? on those days when you feel so utterly burdened beyond your strength that you despair of life itself?
[41:35] that's what Paul said Luke 11 11 the 13 says which of you fathers if your son asks for a fish will give him a snake instead? or if he asks for an egg will give him a scorpion?
[41:47] if you then though you're evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? I know most of you parents have had your kid ask for an egg at one point in time and you've probably never thought of giving them a scorpion you know son instead of an egg this morning I'm just gonna give you a live scorpion like you'd never do that you think you're not that great of a father compared to God like you compare yourself to God like you're nothing and even you in your lack of good fathering would never give a scorpion to a kid asking for an egg how much more do you think God is going to give the Holy Spirit to you when you ask it from him?
[42:30] how much more? how much more? why do you doubt that God's gonna give you your spirit? his spirit I mean well I you know I'm not worthy I haven't done hogwash that's that none of that is even required none of that's in here you gotta believe he's your father you gotta believe you're his son that you're his child you have the rights to be called a child of God and then when you ask your father for the spirit you know what he does?
[42:58] he gives it to you he gives you his spirit he pours out his spirit upon you why? because he's a good father not because you're a good son because he's a good father that's his word lastly number five grace driven capacity grace driven capacity the bible talks about I think you could argue with me on this but I think there's two kinds of grace that are talked about in the bible number one the one that we think of a lot of times it's the ephesians 2 verse 8 god's undeserved forgiving love you know it's grace you have been saved through faith this is not of yourselves the gift of god not by works that no one can boast like grace you're saving grace that was undeserving that came to you and saved you from your sins right?
[43:43] there's that kind of grace but the bible also talks about another kind of grace John Piper puts it this way he describes it as an influence or a force or a power or an acting of god that works in us to change our capacities for work and suffering and obedience Paul Tripp says it this way grace reaches us where we are and takes us where God wants us to be you see God's not simply content to give us salvation and then leave us alone until eternity rather he wants us to become more like his son and work for the furtherance of his kingdom right here right now but remaining sin leaves us lame and weak and unable God's grace intervenes to give us power and strength it gives us the ability to do what we're called to do but what sorry it gives us the ability to do what we're called to do but what we could never do on our own it gives us the ability to do what we're called to do but what we could never do on our own that kind of grace and we often will you ever hear someone say I don't have grace for that
[44:52] I don't have grace for that 2 Corinthians 12 9-10 says speaks right into that he said to me my grace is sufficient for you my power is made perfect in weakness therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me that is why for Christ's sake I delight in weaknesses and insults and hardships and persecutions and difficulties for when I'm weak then I am strong saying I don't have capacity is the opposite of this verse says my grace is sufficient for you my grace is enough you're not enough but my grace is my grace is which is it when you think of weaknesses insults hardships persecutions and calamities and difficulties are they excuses or delights well I can't do this because I'm weak I can't do this because I'm insulted it's hard persecutions calamities
[45:56] I can't do this is it your excuse or is it your delights Paul says that is why for Christ's sake I delight in weaknesses and insults and hardships and persecutions and difficulties for when I am weak then I am strong you delight in your weaknesses when you know that they're the pathway to strength this is an upside down kingdom this is a counterintuitive thought but it's true Hebrews 4 16 says then let us with confidence draw near to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need you hear that phrase grace to help grace to help is a different kind of grace than grace to save there's a grace to save that saves you from your sins and then there's a different kind of grace that is there to help it's God's power it's like this spiritual stuff that's given to you that gives you the ability to do what God's called you to do that you couldn't do on your own okay this is grace to help you go to his throne that he called grace to get grace to help in your time of need second
[47:05] Corinthians 8 1 to 2 says we want you know brothers about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia for in a severe test of affliction their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part that's the kind of grace I'm talking about you would think what the heck affliction severe test of affliction and it's over in extreme poverty and it's overflowing in a wealth of generosity what's that called grace grace it's 2 Corinthians 9 6 to 8 he's talking about giving he says the point is this whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully each one must give as he has decided in his heart not reluctantly!
[47:53] or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver and most often the you're not going to have enough if you give and if you give first before paying all your other bills what if I don't have enough money to pay my bills it's a grace issue it's a faith in grace issue because verse 8 says God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times you may abound in every good work that's capacity that's capacity do you hear all the all's in there God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times you may abound in every good work that's capacity do you believe that you have that do you believe that that's yours in Christ Jesus do you believe that that is the grace that is available at his throne to help you your time of need it's yours it's yours 1
[48:53] Corinthians 15 10 Paul says by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace towards me was not in vain on the contrary I worked harder than any of them though it was not I but the grace of God that is within me that's what I'm talking about it's grace that's not the saving grace that's the doing grace grace to do grace to be grace to work harder than anybody else Paul is not saying I'm working harder than everybody else be like me work like me you saw me do my thing now you do what I do he's saying it's not me it's the grace working in me you want to be like me get the grace that I have and guess what the same grace I have is available to you same grace given to George Mueller is available to you same grace that was given to any Christian in all time in history is available to you even the same grace and power that raised Jesus from the dead that's available but when the son of man returns will he find faith on earth will we find people who believe that!
[49:57] 2nd 2nd 2nd you then my child be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus grace strengthens you it gives you strength where you don't have it Hebrews 13 9 do not let be led away by diverse and strange teachings for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace not by foods which have not benefited those devoted to them listen we could change our diets and a lot of us great I shouldn't have this a long time ago but even that is not going to get you over the finish line you need grace grace Acts 433 with great power the apostles are giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and what does it say great grace was upon them all great grace was upon them all that is why I pray!
[50:50] for Christ church may great grace be upon Christ church on all of us not some not most all that's what Stephen had right what did it say of Stephen did it just say that Stephen had great power no Acts 6 8 Stephen full of grace and power was doing great wonders and signs among the people he wasn't just full of power although he was he was also full of grace are you Acts 11 21 to 24 says the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number of believed turned to the Lord the report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem and they sent Barnabas to Antioch and when he came and saw the grace of God he was glad grace is something that's so evident you can see it with your eyes you can see it on people Barnabas came and saw the grace of God and he was glad is the grace of God on you in such a way that you can see it it can be if
[51:53] God's grace is sufficient if it's enough do you believe that it's enough do you believe that his love never fails Romans 8 31 if God is for us then who can be against us amen let's stand