Grace in His Eyes

[0:00] What's the most important doctrine? The doctrine of grace Ephesians 2, 4-10 But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with him, with Christ.

[0:52] By grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

[1:16] For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.

[1:32] For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them.

[1:45] Let us pray. Lord, Jesus, our Saviour, we praise you, we thank you for your grace. Help us to think of it today, to be amazed by it today, to be in awe of that grace today, that you should choose us, that you should bless us with that gift of your love and grace.

[2:10] Lord, we thank you for it. Help us, Lord, to be reminded, and to apply that grace, to live in that grace. In Jesus' name we ask.

[2:20] Amen. It's a word that conveys God's character and comfort for us all. It's a word that is our hope and joy and rejoicing.

[2:34] Grace. God's saving grace. God's saving grace. We can't talk enough about grace, about what it means for us, about what it means for you and I, unworthy as we are to receive it as a gift.

[2:52] And God wants to display his grace through you. That verse in verse 7, that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus.

[3:08] Think of it today. You're a trophy of his grace. You're a trophy of his grace, snatched out of that escalator to hell, that snatched out of that inevitable place that you deserved.

[3:29] He's taken you by his nail-scarred hand. He's reached down out of the muck and mire that is your sin and mine. And he's taken us out of that mud and filth and scum and mire that is our sin, that quagmire that is our sin.

[3:51] And he set our feet on the rock. That is what he has done. And how deserving are we of it? Not a scarrick, not an eensy-weensy bit, not a little bit.

[4:07] Are you deserving of it? We deserve none of it. Every believer is a trophy of his grace. Grace and peace to you. That's how Paul starts every one of his letters.

[4:21] And in his parting words to the Ephesians at the beach in Acts 20, 32, he urges the Ephesians as he leaves them, he says, And I commend you to God, brethren, and to the word of his grace.

[4:37] Which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. He says, I commend you to this message, to this word, this grace.

[4:50] I commend you to it. The message of grace. Grace, it's our salvation. Grace is your salvation. It's nothing of your own. Nothing of our own doing.

[5:01] As we've read there, nothing of your works. Not a bit of it. Not anything of your works. Lest any man should boast. We've got nothing to boast of.

[5:14] Only of his grace. Grace is our salvation. It's our life in Christ. It's his grace. It makes us. It shapes us. And grace should grow.

[5:24] It shouldn't be stagnant and static. Grace should be growing, abounding, increasing. Grace is everything that God is free to do and does for man on the basis of what?

[5:37] On the basis of Calvary. It's on the basis of the cross. That is grace. It's on the basis of his work. The finished work of the cross. And it's a resource that can never be earned or deserved or merited by anything that man can do.

[5:55] It's God's work on behalf of mankind. And grace, it's absolutely free. That's the wonder of it, that it's free. You know, some would think, well, I must do something to deserve it.

[6:07] I must do something to merit it. But no, it's nothing of you. It's everything of him. And it's our joy to receive it, to be gifted his grace.

[6:18] It's entirely of his character, of his attributes, of who he is, apart from all human works or merit. And grace, it's used 170 times in the Bible.

[6:34] Saving grace, amazing grace, transforming grace, God's grace. And as the song goes, grace that is greater than all my sin.

[6:46] That's the wonder of it, isn't it? Brother today, that's the wonder of Calvary's grace. And we see it first in Genesis 6, verse 8, in the life of Noah. It says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

[7:01] Noah found grace. He saw grace in the eyes of the Almighty, in the eyes of God. God's grace was there, shining out of his eyes.

[7:13] And God is totally generous. Totally generous that he would give grace to the undeserving. And can you see his grace today?

[7:23] Can you turn with me to John 8? As we see grace in the eyes of Christ, grace, his look of grace, he still looks with grace.

[7:34] He still looks out at sinful humanity, at sinful man, and sinful woman. And he looks with grace. In John 8, verse 1 through 12, Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives, and early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him, and he sat down and taught them.

[7:55] And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. Taken in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

[8:14] Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned. But what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him.

[8:27] But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted himself up, and said unto them, He that is without sin, among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

[8:47] And again he stood down and wrote on the ground, and they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out, one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last.

[9:01] And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted himself up, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers?

[9:15] Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more.

[9:29] It's interesting, isn't it, that he stooped down, and wrote in the ground. The Pharisees were there saying, The law commands this woman should be stoned to death.

[9:46] They continued asking him. He lifted himself up, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast the stone at her. And he looked up, and he looked at the Pharisees.

[10:01] But there wasn't grace in his eyes to them. And again he stooped down, wrote on the ground. And then they left, the eldest to the last, the older ones know.

[10:12] I mean, we that are older know how vile and helpless we are. You know, maybe a young, a young king, zealot for the law, might think, you know, they've got it all together.

[10:25] But as you get older, you realise how unworthy you are, of every bit of his grace, of every bit of salvation. And then, verse 10, when Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman.

[10:38] He lifted up his eyes, and he saw the woman. He looked at her. He looked at her with grace, didn't he? There was grace in his eyes, when he looked at that woman. She had nothing to commend herself.

[10:49] She had everything to condemn herself. His look of grace, a woman caught in the act. utterly undeserving.

[11:01] Utterly unworthy of it. Luke 7, there's another account. Verse 36, he's in, again, the context of being with Pharisees.

[11:14] And verse 36 of Luke 7, verse 36 of Luke 7, verse 36 of Luke 7, and kissed his feet and anointed them with ointment.

[11:49] Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner.

[12:09] And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he said, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors, the one owed 500 pence and the other 50.

[12:24] And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore of them which will love him most. Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most.

[12:39] And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house.

[12:51] Thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet.

[13:06] My head with oil thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.

[13:19] But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

[13:30] And they that sat at meet with him began to say with him themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee.

[13:41] Go in peace. It's interesting, isn't it? Again, he looked at Simon, and he put it in that context of great sins and little sins or few sins.

[13:56] And he says, Oh, this woman, you know, they referred to her as, as it says in verse 37, a woman in the city which was a sinner. And they referred to her, the Pharisee referred to her as, He would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner.

[14:23] This woman is a sinner. Yet Christ says, This woman, she's bathed my feet with her tears.

[14:34] This woman has wiped my feet with her hair. This woman has kissed my feet. This woman has anointed my hair with oil.

[14:47] This woman loves much. And he said unto her, when he looked at her, he would have said unto her, with love, with grace, he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven, and thy faith hath saved thee.

[15:05] Go in peace. The look of grace. The look of grace. Don't you want that look? Amen. Don't you want that look? You need that look. You need that look today. Because one day, his eyes will burn with wrath and fire and fury and vengeance and judgment.

[15:25] One day, his eyes will be aflame of fire to look at you and your sin that you've not repented of. To look at you and your state of lost condition today.

[15:36] Look to him now. Look to him now. Look to his grace now. Look to his eyes of grace now. While you're still time. And look, not in pride or in puffed up.

[15:50] How great am I? Look with humility. Look with repentance. Look like this woman. Look, she had nothing to commend herself. Look like the other woman.

[16:02] She had nothing to commend herself. They that commended themselves were condemned. And it says in James 4 verse 6 that he gives grace to the humble. He gives grace to the humble.

[16:13] The Pharisees didn't get it because they didn't have humility. They were full of pride. Puffed up thinking they had it all together. Don't come to God thinking you've got anything to commend yourself today.

[16:26] You've got nothing but filthy rags of your own righteousness. There's nothing about you that merits heaven. There's nothing in you that is deserving of heaven.

[16:39] It's only his grace. That's all that we can plead. That's all we can cry out for today. He gives grace to the humble. Amen. He gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up.

[16:54] Repentance. Now is the time to repent. Now is the time. Friends, we've got no tomorrow to be guaranteed of. There is no tomorrow that we can be assured of.

[17:05] We may not see the sunrise tomorrow. He gives grace to the humble. Repent now. Vance Havner, a preacher of old, said repentance, he defined it, it's a change of mind about sin and self and the Saviour.

[17:22] A change of mind about sin, about self and the Saviour. It's got to happen. That transformation. And grace, what is it? Grace saves.

[17:33] Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, not of works, nothing of works, not of skerrick of works, lest any man should boast. It's the gift of God.

[17:45] The gift of God. It's by His grace that we save, not of works. By grace, through faith. And all that God does in saving us, it's on the basis of His grace.

[17:57] He takes a fallen man, an unworthy man, a sinful man, like me, and He makes us a son of God, righteous, holy, glorified, fit for heaven, not through any doing of our own, but everything He has done.

[18:14] He saves our soul, He saves our spirit, our mind, our will, not of our works. It's His gift. Romans 5 says, Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace.

[18:38] Access by faith into this grace, wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. We access God's grace by faith.

[18:50] We see them tied together. There's some 12 verses where faith and grace are found together. Grace and faith. We have access by faith unto this grace.

[19:05] You are saved through faith, for by grace are you saved through faith. They come together. And it's interesting, the word grace is allied to the word forgiveness.

[19:18] There's different words for forgiveness, but one of the words for forgiveness or forgiven in the word of God is the same word, is based on the root word, grace.

[19:29] So, out of grace flows forgiveness. Out of grace comes forgiveness. Don't you want to be forgiven? When you stand before the judge of the universe and you have nothing to commend yourself, all you can trust is His grace.

[19:45] All you can trust is that forgiveness of His grace. There was a missionary lady called Rosalind Goforth. She was a missionary to China along with her husband Jonathan Goforth.

[20:00] And Rosalind, one day, she felt often oppressed by a burden of sin. She felt guilty and dirty. One evening, when all was quiet, she settled at her desk with her Bible and concordance and she searched the scriptures to determine, to find out what is God's attitude towards the failures, the faults and the sins of His children.

[20:28] And she put these words at the top of the page that she was writing, what God does with our sins. What God does with our sins. She searched the scriptures.

[20:39] Here's some of them that she wrote down. He lays them on His Son. Isaiah 53, 6. Christ takes them away.

[20:52] John 1, 29. They are removed an immeasurable distance as far from the east as from the west. Psalms 123, 12.

[21:03] When some of them died in a