God's Grace

[0:00] Grace, grace, wonderful grace, marvellous grace. God's grace is my topic tonight.! God's grace has been called the most powerful force in the universe,! God's grace, it fills us with his comfort and hope.

[0:17] Here's how someone has described, has defined grace. Grace, I quote, grace, you need it. You can't live without it, but you can't purchase it, and you cannot earn it.

[0:31] It only ever comes by means of a gift, and when you receive it, you immediately realise how much you needed it all along, and you wonder how you could have lived so long without it.

[0:44] Grace, God's grace. Grace is free and it's unmerited. In Genesis chapter 9, we read that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

[0:57] Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And it tells us that grace reaches you where you are and takes you, sorry, grace reaches you where you are and takes you where God wants you to be.

[1:13] Grace came embodied in the human form of Christ. We see that in John chapter 1, verse 14. As we read John 1, 14, And the word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

[1:32] He's full of grace and truth. And I was talking with some Muslims lately, me and another brother were talking with a man, and we went to John chapter 1.

[1:43] We talked about the word. The word was made flesh. The word dwelt amongst us. The word was with God. The word was God. And we read here that the word was full of grace and truth, the glory of God, the grace of God.

[1:58] He is full of grace. He is the source of grace. So grace, you can't live without it, but you can't purchase it and you can't earn it. It only comes by means of a gift.

[2:09] It's the sense of the word grace. It's a sense of it's a gift. It's given. It's graciously given. God's grace, it's unmerited favor. It fills us with God's comfort and peace.

[2:21] And the word tells us that he is full of grace and truth. John 1.14. And we read likewise in John 1.17. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

[2:35] Grace and truth. They go hand in hand, interlocked, intersecting, intertwined. One corresponding with the other, grace and truth.

[2:46] He is full of grace and truth. And grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. He is grace incarnate. Grace. Grace, it means that God is obliged to save no one.

[3:00] Grace means that God is free to save anyone. It's kind of a paradox, isn't it? He's not obliged to save anyone, but he is free to save anyone.

[3:11] And all praise to him. He grants us grace. That God in his grace would show and extend his saving grace to such as we. And again, when we were witnessing with someone yesterday, the thought came to mind of the thief on the cross.

[3:30] There was a woman there that was laboring under the understanding that she had to do some works to satisfy God. And it was faith plus.

[3:42] There had to be something to add, something to maintain, something to keep, something to sustain her salvation. In other words, she sustaining her salvation.

[3:54] She, by her works, saving herself in effect. When you really boil it down to the nub of it, it's what it means. But I highlighted to her the thief on the cross, the thief next to Christ on the cross.

[4:07] As someone has reckoned, he would never study the Bible, the thief on the cross. He would never attend church, the thief on the cross. He would not right any wrongs that he had done.

[4:19] He could do no works, zero, nada, nothing, zilch. There's nothing that he could do on the cross other than cry out, Lord, today, Lord, remember me.

[4:33] when you come into paradise, and when you come into your kingdom. And the Lord Jesus responded to him in grace. He spoke words of grace. He said, today you shall be with me in paradise.

[4:47] There's grace from the lips of the saviour, isn't it? Grace undeserved, grace unmerited, grace not worked for, grace not sustained by any doing or works of man.

[4:58] Grace, entirely grace, God's grace. Grace, marvelous grace. Grace is his power operating in our lives, his strength. We see that really fully pictured there at the thief on the cross.

[5:12] God saves us by grace, by grace, by faith. In fact, the spirit of God is called the spirit of grace. We see that in Hebrews 10 verse 29.

[5:22] The very name of the spirit of God is the spirit of grace. This is just such a characteristic, just such a feature of who the spirit of God is.

[5:35] It tells us in Hebrews 10 verse 29, it reads, of how much sore a punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the spirit of grace.

[5:51] The spirit of grace is the spirit of God. And grace is God working in us, with us, for us. Grace is God receiving us. Grace is his grace that shows in his promises to us.

[6:07] His grace sustains us. His grace empowers us. And as his agents, we are empowered to be agents of his grace. You know, I like to, I've got a little name on my Facebook profile that I'm a sacred agent.

[6:23] A sacred agent. That's what we're meant to be, isn't it? Not secret agents. We shouldn't be secret Christians, but we should be sacred agents. We should be agents of the, the holy one.

[6:34] Agents of his grace. Agents of the holy spirit. Of the spirit of grace. And his grace should show through us, in such that, that grace should be a feature of our personality.

[6:45] That we should be gracious people. You know, I like to, I'd like to think that, uh, I'm, I'm growing that way. Uh, as much as I know I'm very ungracious, you know, Julie can tell you all my faults.

[6:56] Uh, not that there's many of them, but, but no, I'm sure if Julie was, uh, really mean and nasty, not that she is, but that she could make a big, long list of how ungracious I am.

[7:09] But we thank God that his grace sustains us. His grace overcomes our own inclinations to evil. And flesh and his grace, uh, empowers us, equips us, emboldens us to be his witnesses.

[7:22] And friends, I'll tell you tonight, grace is not something static. It's not something that is, uh, stagnant. We're meant to grow in grace. We read, we're commanded to.

[7:32] In fact, we read that in two Peter three, verse 18, where it says, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ to him, be glory both now and forever.

[7:45] Amen. Peter says, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. It's telling us there, we're meant to grow, not to stay as it were stagnant and static and stuck in the mud, but to be growing, extending, flourishing, abounding, abundant, growing, extending as a fruitful vine.

[8:08] God's grace moves us. It moves us such that we don't say stuck, but we're willing to be transformed by his grace and grace moves us. it, it fashions us, it molds us, it shapes us such that Christ is formed in us.

[8:24] Further, we see that grace trains us. You know, we, we, we should be going to the Bible school of grace, the Bible school of grace. I know that Barry, you went to such a Bible school, didn't you?

[8:37] The name of your Bible school. We should go to the Bible school of grace, shouldn't we? We should be gracious people. That grace will train us how to live for Christ, such that when we interact with other believers, there'll be grace coming out of our lives.

[8:51] That grace will be extended. That grace will be portrayed in our actions, in our words, in our interactions, in our interrelationships.

[9:03] And grace trains us. We read that in Titus two from verse 11. We have to be a teachable people. God wants us to be a teachable people. He says, learn of me, the one who is grace, full of grace and truth.

[9:16] Titus two, verse 11 through 14, it says, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness, and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing, of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself, a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

[9:49] You know, when grace realises its full potential, we ought to be such a peculiar people, a purified people, zealous of good works. And grace should be the characteristic, that is evident.

[10:03] By God's grace, we learn, and we get stronger. And I put to you, there's kind of a scale of grace, if you like, and we could all maybe take stock, and take that personal assessment, as it were, and examine ourselves, what stage are we at of grace?

[10:20] A scale of grace, if you like. Is my grace weak, or is it strong? Or am I somewhere in between? Paul tells Timothy, 2 Timothy 2 verse 1, Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace, that is in Christ Jesus.

[10:37] Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace, that is in Christ Jesus. Now some people think, that you can, you become a Christian by grace, and then you continue by works.

[10:49] No, it's all of grace. It's really all of grace, because his grace enables us, to do any works. So any works we can do, or are able to do, is only by his enablement anyway.

[11:02] It's really, it's not that we start by grace, and continue by works. No, it's by grace from the beginning, to the end. It's all of grace. It's all of grace, from the beginning, to the end.

[11:15] Such that we can't claim any credit, for what we can do, or have done. Now, sadly, some people come to church, to a fellowship meeting, a Bible teaching meeting, and they leave feeling worse, than when they went in, because the grace isn't there.

[11:33] She's left the building. Grace has left the building. And we need to exercise grace. We need to have grace, in our fellowshipping together. Such as, I love the scripture, let brotherly love continue.

[11:45] I think sometimes we lack that. And the Bible commands us, let brotherly love continue. And grace should identify, our fellowship.

[11:57] The Bible speaks of the riches of his grace. The riches of the grace, that is in Christ. And thank God, he grants grace to the humble. You know, you might feel, I'm just a humble, weak, ordinary, average, pretty, inadequate, Christian.

[12:17] Well, you're just the candidate for grace. Because he gives grace to the humble, doesn't he? Not the ones that say, oh, I've, I'm a cut above, or I've, I've, I've arrived, and I'm, I'm ahead of the pack, and I'm, I'm more, a skillful, or knowledgeable.

[12:35] Really, we can miss the boat, because he gives grace to the humble. And, and it's amazing when we see Christ, in his interactions with people, that it was the humble that he went to, and he ministered to, and they were the ones who received the message.

[12:52] Spurgeon tells the story of a great man, who was once taken to see the French galley slaves, in the days of the slaves, in the, rowing the boats, below deck.

[13:04] And, these were the criminals of the day. They were really hardened criminals. And, they were sentenced to an awful life. Imagine, just pulling the oars all day long, down in the, below deck.

[13:16] And, he was given authority, to grant a pardon. A free pardon, to one man. It could be anyone that he chose. And so, this, this, noble man, went down to the slave ship, and he went to a slave, and he, he went and met some of these slaves, as they were, trudging through the, the, the driving of the ship, pulling the oars, and, in that awful, dank, dark, and dismal place, of the, below decks, as the galley slaves.

[13:49] And, he went to one slave, and he asked him about his crime. And, this slave said, oh, that he had been treated very unfairly. And, the charges, against him, had been greatly exaggerated.

[14:00] And, although he had done some bad, others were worse than him. And, and, that he had done a great deal of good. So, the noble man, passed him by. This slave, was too good, to receive a free pardon.

[14:13] He just, obviously, he was, you know, just a hard done by sort of guy. So, he claimed. And, then he went on, he spoke to a second slave, who told him that he was completely innocent.

[14:26] Completely innocent. And, so the great man passed him by. This man is innocent. What he needs is justice, a free pardon. It's not for him. Then, he came to a third man.

[14:37] And, this third slave, he said, I have a long sentence to serve, and I fully deserve it. If they knew the full extent of my crimes, I would have been condemned to death.

[14:50] And, this noble man said, a free pardon is the only hope for this man. This is the man to whom I will grant it. And, it's a picture really of grace, isn't it?

[15:00] That, we, we come to him, we bow the knee, we, we realise our sin, our, our failing, our need of Christ. We realise our need of pardon, our need of forgiveness.

[15:13] And, we don't come as the ones that would try to excuse, I'm not so bad, or I'm, I'm, there's nothing that I need to sort. But, the ones, the ones who come to Christ, who humble themselves, who receive his grace.

[15:27] And, many people feel that God owes them. And, it's, if you come to him like that, you'll go away empty handed. But, rather, when we come to God, we ought to come as one who is humble of heart.

[15:41] And, tell him, if you should condemn me, I would deserve it completely. And, we realise the charges laid against us, the wages of sin is, death. death. We're guilty before God, condemned, rightfully, facing, the sentence, of the death penalty, of eternal death, of the second death.

[16:03] And, rather, let us come unto him, as humble, men and women, not seeking to impress him, with the good that we have done, or, try to excuse, our, errors of life, by the problems we faced, or the difficulties.

[16:22] But, come as the worst sinner must come. Cast yourself upon his mercy. Put your trust in his, sacrifice on your part, for your sin. Trusting in his shed blood, for your saving, on the cross.

[16:37] And, ask him to deal with you, not on the basis of any rights, or obligations, but on the basis of free grace. We come, resting on his grace. We come, not with our, hands full, because we'll go away empty, but we come with our hands empty, to go away full.

[16:56] To realise, I'm a lost man, I need the saving grace of God. As we come with hands empty, he will, we will receive. As the song goes, nothing in my hands I bring, simply to, thy cross I cling.

[17:11] Amen. In 1 Peter 5 verse 5, it says, yea, all of you, be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility. For God resistes the proud, and he gives grace to the humble.

[17:26] Again, he resists the proud, he gives grace to the humble. And we do well to be humble before God. Amen. You see, the moves of God in yesteryear, were when the people of God humbled themselves and prayed.

[17:38] When the people of God humbled themselves. When we realise our inadequacy, you know, we realise, those that have been going witnessing, we realise we're inadequate. When we come to pray, we realise, we plead for his mercy, we rest on his grace, we cry out to him.

[17:55] Whenever we serve in any capacity, we must recognise our lack, our need of Christ, do the work through us, in us, and not rest on any merit, or any ability of our own, but entirely in his gift.

[18:12] Grace. It's God's great generosity, isn't it? His great generosity. It's his character. And he is called, not only the spirit of grace, but he is called the God of all grace.

[18:24] You know, he's called the God of peace, and other titles, but the word tells us that he is the God of all grace. We read that in 1 Peter 5, verse 10 through 11.

[18:36] And the context is a time of trial, of testing, of the church, of the people of God, of the testing times, of tribulation. And it says in 1 Peter 5, verse 10, but the God of all grace, who hath caught us unto his eternal glory, by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

[19:00] The God of all grace. Isn't that a wonderful name of our Lord? The God of all grace. And we think as we read through the gospel accounts, the God of all grace, incarnate in the flesh, as he came to the woman, caught in the very act.

[19:16] Now, they let the man off. If they were caught in the very act, where was the man? They just zeroed in on her, on her alone. And we're about to kill her, to discharge the full penalty against her.

[19:32] And he says to her, as he says to the crowd, as we know, the story goes, he that is without sin, let him cast the first stone. And she says, as they all went off, the oldest to the youngest, because the older ones realise, maybe not so prideful as maybe the young and plucky ones, who might think that they are okay.

[19:56] But the older ones realised the weight of their sin, of the misdeeds that they had done, that they were not without sin. And it came down to that there was no one there, but Christ and the woman.

[20:10] And he says, woman, where are thine accusers? And he says, or no man condemns you, neither do I condemn you. I'm paraphrasing somewhat, because I don't have that in front of me here.

[20:22] But we know, then he says, go and sin no more. She has been saved. He's extended grace to her. We see in his dealings, he extended grace to so many, didn't he?

[20:33] As he extended grace to the lepers, as he extended grace to those that the world would consider outcasts and rejects, to the sinful, those openly sinful, were the ones he reached out to, with his hand of grace, and he touched them.

[20:50] And they touched him. They reached out and touched him. The grace of God. And it's wonderful to read the accounts of the word, that he redeemed those who hated him. When we see, as we touched on earlier today, the great grace of God.

[21:06] In Acts 4.33, it reads of the early church, with great power, gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them.

[21:18] There was great grace that made this church great. Amen. Great power, great witness, great grace was upon them, upon them all. And we see, as we read further, of the amazing testimony, that the one he would consider the most undeserving of grace, was the one he selected.

[21:40] As we see, that God granted grace, even to Saul, even to Saul, who became Paul. A persecutor of Christians. If, if they'd been on any reckoning of man, on any, basis of merit, then Saul was a man, who was most undeserving, of God's grace.

[22:01] A persecutor of Christians, such that, Ananias, described him as, or come to. And, we see at the time that, Saul was, he encountered the risen Christ, on the road to Damascus, as he was going there, to slay the Christians, to haul them, to, charge them, imprison them, and ultimately, slay them, that, the Lord arrested him, on the road to Damascus.

[22:29] And, and, he was, he was, he had that dramatic encounter, with the risen Lord. And, the Lord told him, look, you're resisting.

[22:42] You're, you're fighting. You're fighting me. And, Saul said, Lord, who are you? And, and he says, I am Jesus, that, that you, you persecute.

[22:54] Again, I'm ad-libbing a bit, on the exact words there, but, but, essentially, he said, I am, I am the Lord Jesus. And, and so, and then Paul was directed, to Damascus, and Ananias, at the same time, was getting a revelation, from God.

[23:09] And the Lord told Ananias, a disciple in Damascus, of his saving of Saul. As Ananias prayed to the Lord, in Acts 9, 13, it says, then Ananias answered, Lord, I've heard much, I've heard by many, of this man, how much evil, he hath done to thy saints, in Jerusalem.

[23:26] And here he hath authority, from the chief prince, to bind all that call, on thy name. We see, that Ananias, this man has done much evil, to the people of God.

[23:38] And now he's got authority, to bind all that call, on the Lord's name. And yet, we see the grace of Ananias, in the 17th verse, of Acts 9, when Ananias met Saul, he could call him brother.

[23:52] He called him brother, in Acts 9 verse 17. And that's interesting, because we know, those who claim, you have to be baptized, to be saved, would say, that he wasn't a brother.

[24:04] But Ananias, called him a brother, before he was baptized. So, it's a good example, to use, of how, the false doctrine, of baptismal regeneration, is wrong.

[24:16] Because, Ananias called Saul, who became Paul, brother, Saul, before he was baptized. And so, we see the grace, extended by Ananias, to this man, who's done much evil, that he's, come to bind, those who call, on the name of Jesus, that he would call him brother.

[24:37] So, God extended grace, through Ananias, to Paul. And later, Paul could write, from his heart, in Philippians 1 verse 2, for example, grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

[24:50] Grace be unto you. That's one of his phrases. And in fact, all of Paul's letters, begin and end, with the mention of grace. If we count Hebrews, that might be an exception.

[25:00] But all of Paul's letters, begin and end, with the mention of grace. Grace filled, Paul's vocabulary, such that he began, and ended his letters, with grace.

[25:12] God's mighty grace. And when we think of grace, we think how grace, is for now. It's for here and now. The grace, that God extended, the grace that, as the first mention of grace, that Noah found grace, in the eyes of the Lord.

[25:29] It's been extended, right from Noah, before Noah really, but right through, to the present day. There was one occasion, where a pastor of a church, saw a man, who'd been sentenced, to prison.

[25:44] A burglar, as he came to the altar, to minister, to be ministered to, to pray. And as he was, kneeling there, the very judge, who some years before, had dealt with his case, and sent him to prison, was kneeling alongside him, in the same church.

[26:03] The burglar, and the court, the judge, from the court. And the pastor, was deeply moved, when he saw these two men, praying, and seeking the Lord.

[26:16] And he was thinking, how God's grace, had touched, the burglar's life, and the wonderful transformation, that had come. And after the service, the pastor caught up, with the judge, and he said, did you see, who was kneeling beside you, in prayer this morning?

[26:30] And the judge said, yes, it's a miracle of grace, a miracle of grace. And yes, said the pastor, it really is marvellous, to think, how he has been converted, from that life of crime.

[26:41] Oh no, said the judge, I wasn't talking about him, I was talking about me. It's no surprise to me, that the burglar, came to Christ, he knew the extent, of his need. But the judge said, I was taught, from early infancy, to live like a gentleman, that my word, was my bond, that I was to say my prayers, and go to church, and I went through Oxford, and obtained my degrees, was called to the bar, and eventually became a judge.

[27:06] People like me, almost never see, their need of Christ. My miracle was greater, than his miracle. What a wonder it is, and that should be, our same heart, shouldn't it?

[27:17] As we come to Christ, the foot of the cross, the ground is level, we're all likewise, in need, of his marvellous grace, and no one, needs it more than another, we all equally need, the grace of God, to save us.

[27:32] And it's about, seeing our need, and realising, and calling on, the one who is the God, of all grace, to reckon and stop, and reckon and wonder, how abundant, is his grace.

[27:43] In 1 Timothy 1.14, it reads, the grace of our Lord, was exceeding abundant, with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 1.14, the grace of our Lord, was exceeding abundant.

[27:57] It still is, isn't it? It still is, exceeding abundant. And God's grace, is all sufficient. As we read, as Paul struggled, with his thorn in the flesh, and he besought the Lord, to take it three times, and the Lord said, in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9, and he said unto me, my grace is sufficient, for thee, for my strength, is made perfect, in weakness.

[28:21] Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory, in my infirmities, that the power of Christ, may rest upon me. God's grace, is exceeding abundant. God's grace, is all sufficient.

[28:32] And grace impacts us. It impacts us now, in the here and now. It helps us to serve. We don't serve, out of a works mentality, but out of a grace mentality.

[28:44] Don't we? We ought to. We don't serve, because there's no one else, to do it. We don't serve, because we've been badgered, and hounded, and harassed, and pressured, and made to feel, that we have to.

[28:58] We serve, we fellowship, we worship, we bless God, because we've been given grace. And grace impacts us, and it helps us to serve, because if we were serving, out of a drudgery, out of a compulsion, then it would be wearing, and it would be draining.

[29:20] Now, I was glad tonight, when someone, who I put out tonight, to ransom errands for the church, said, it's no hassle, it's the Lord's work. Amen. What a blessing.

[29:31] That someone would have, that hard attitude, it's no hassle, it's the Lord's work. And that should be our heart, shouldn't it? When, as much as I did kind of pressure, that person, to do something, but, God forgive me for that.

[29:45] But you know, sometimes I do have to say, hey there's a need here, we really are struggling here, but no pressure, no pressure. We want to serve the Lord, because we love him, because we've got grace, and if only we would serve, like Jesus wants us to.

[30:00] Amen. If only. You know, I know, some while back, there was a vacancy, in the Sunday school department, and no words were said, but the Harveys said, we're in.

[30:13] Amen. You know, there was no pressure, and I thank God for, Stuart and Jackie Harvey, that they took that, that ministry opportunity, and they blossomed, and bloomed, and God's used them mightily, because it's no hassle, it's the Lord's work.

[30:28] That should be our heart, shouldn't it? And if only we would serve, like Jesus, the one who said, of him it says, he is full of grace, and truth, isn't he?

[30:39] And what, what can we not do, but serve him? What can we not do, but bless, and minister, and rejoice, and be glad, for the glad privilege, in these fleeting moments, of life that we have, when we can do something, while we have breath, let's do what we can, and not out of drudgery, not because the pastor is saying, do this, or do that, I'd rather, in some ways, I'd rather, say nothing, and people just open their eyes, and see, where the needs are.

[31:13] But yet, it's sad in a way, many Christians display the opposite, that they would rather, not do anything.

[31:26] And look, we've got the grace of God, not to do anything too. But, or if we do something, we might do it, pridefully, which would be, a lacking thing to do too, wouldn't it?

[31:41] In Luke 17, 10, we've got the, the parable of the, the, of the, of the servants, who've done, what the Lord had, the master at the time, had commanded them to do.

[31:51] And, after they'd done all these things, it says, Luke 17, verse 10, so likewise, ye, when you have done all those things, which ye are commanded you, say, we are unprofitable servants, we have done that, which was our duty to do.

[32:06] Now that should be our heart, when, when all is said and done, and we've, we've, we're on our deathbed, and the, the death, the, how does the song go?

[32:17] The death dew, lies cold on, on our brow, and, this stammering tongue, is going to come, to, to stammer its last words, that, you know, we'll be just glad, that we've been able to do something.

[32:30] And, it's like the woman, in the Bible, she have done what she could, she have done what she could. You might think, preacher, look, I'm, I'm pretty, I've only got so much, ability, just do what you can.

[32:46] Do what you can. And, it says, of this woman, was that the woman, who, who gave the, the ointment, she have done what she could.

[32:56] Something, relatively, I suppose, simple, yet, a sacrifice. Something, that seemed, maybe, just a, a light thing to do, in some ways, anointing him, but, the sacrifice was, was, out of the, out of her, out of her, out of her substance, she gave, so sacrificially.

[33:22] And, the commendation was, that she had done, what she could. And that, that's really all, that we can do, isn't it? He's not asking us, to do what we cannot do, to do what, we can do.

[33:35] And, having done all, we've just, we're just unprofitable servants, we're just unworthy servants. We're not really, we can't lay any claim, or praise, or get any, kudos, or credit, from people.

[33:50] We may not get, any acknowledgement, to speak of. We, we might be, unseen, unheard. We might be, silent achievers. You know, we might be those, that are silent, givers.

[34:04] Those that, those that are, are quietly praying. Those that are, quietly, going out witnessing, just faithfully, passing out tracks. Reaching out, in your own individual ways, to people in the circle, of your life.

[34:20] And, we don't, then come to God, and say, oh look what I've done, look at all these wonderful works, that I've done. But, rather say, we've done, that which was our duty to do.

[34:33] We've done the least, that we can do. And, we are really, unworthy servants. And, this is grace, isn't it? Shouldn't that be our heart? And, this grace energises us. And, friends, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

[34:47] Romans 5 verse 20. Grace energises us. It just, it sets our feet in motion. Grace energises us. That, where sin abounds, grace does much more abound.

[34:59] You might think, as again, I would reflect, that look, I've, I've fouled up, my life is a mess, I've, I've done bad things, I've been a poor testimony, I've, I've failed as a Christian, and I feel very, very, I feel like, I'm just not good enough.

[35:19] Simply, trust him. That, where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. And, no, God doesn't write people off, as it were, while you've still got breath to breathe, there's still, that, that turning of your heart.

[35:34] There's still that, that, refreshing of your faith, of your love, of your zeal. And, you can make, the latter days, better than the, former days.

[35:45] He can restore that, which the canker worm has eaten, as it were. There's a sense where, don't let the past stop you, from the future. Where, where you might feel inadequate, you might feel unqualified, you might feel like, God's grace, wouldn't even, come into your life.

[36:04] But, you can have that turning point, where you realise, his grace is sufficient for me. His grace, is abounding. It's exceeding abundant to me. His grace, is such that, it is the great grace, that was upon them all.

[36:19] His grace, is the grace of God, that brings salvation. The grace of God, that teaches us, how to live. The grace of God, that I can be strong in. The grace of God, that I can grow in. And such that, I'll be more like him, who is the full of grace and truth.

[36:33] Who is, the one, who brings grace and truth. And when, all is said and done, it'll all be to the glory, and praise of his grace. That motivates us, to serve, to live, and to be gracious.

[36:49] To be gracious. When we realise, the richness, of God's abundant grace, towards us. I believe, it motivates us, to extend grace, to other people. You know, I know in my life, as my wife, constantly extends grace, towards me.

[37:06] And she's so, absolutely gracious. We should have that, same heart, shouldn't we? We should have that, same heart, shouldn't we? To the people in our lives, that are hard for us, to cope with.

[37:18] Not, not saying that I'm hard, to cope with. But, you know, honestly, really, it's true, isn't it? That we sometimes, we don't always, extend grace, to the people, in our lives.

[37:29] And, it's almost like, we find excuses, to fall out, with other Christians. It seems, there's a lot of, a lot of such things, happening. Whereas, a real lack of grace, a lack of grace, and God helping us, we can grow in grace.

[37:45] So, it's not only God's grace, to us, but our grace, to others. We should grow, in God's grace, shouldn't we? And friends, just to, to close this message, I trust, there's been something, of benefit here tonight, that, the grace of God, is abundant, and it's exceeding abundant.

[38:03] And, he's extended grace to us, that know him. And you might say, I'm not sure that I know the grace. I'm not sure that I've, that I've met him.

[38:14] That I know his grace to me. His grace was extended, at the cross, wasn't it? Where, God's grace did everything, everything possible. To save you, to save your soul.

[38:26] And, you simply have to trust, that he has done it all. You simply have to trust, and believe him, and receive his gift. It's grace, gift, the gift, the grace, it's synonymous, really, the gift of God's salvation.

[38:41] It's very much grace. It's grace from beginning to end. It's grace, all of grace, the God of all grace. And if we know him, whom to know his life eternal, that grace transforms us, that grace teaches us.

[38:55] You might say, preacher, I've heard all this before, and look, I just think I'm not a religious person. We got these sort of, people say this sort of thing at the door, as we know, when you're talking to anyone about Christ, they say, oh, I'm not religious.

[39:10] Well, you don't have to be religious. You just have to come to the cross. You just have to come, and acknowledge, and humble yourself, and say, I know I have sinned, and I need a savior.

[39:21] I need him to save me. Come to that place of trusting him, to save your soul, to trusting his sacrifice on your part, to trusting his grace, that he would extend his grace to you.

[39:32] And it happens when you humble yourself, and you humble yourself. Let's pray. Our God and King, Lord, we want to humble ourselves, unto your mighty hand. Lord, that we want to be a people, that are gracious to others.

[39:44] And Lord, as you've been gracious unto us, help us, Lord, to extend grace, to be a church, where there is great grace, and there's great power, there's great witness, there's the great unction, of the Holy Spirit, on this church of God.

[39:56] Let us be such a gracious people, Lord, that will take the gospel of your grace, that will take the one, who is full of grace and truth, and introduce others to him. Lord, help us to be such a people, we pray, that you would be glorified in us, and such that when we do anything, we'll still have the attitude, the hard attitude, of humility, that inadequate as we are, we have only done that which was our duty to do, and we've done that which we could do.

[40:22] Lord, help us to be such a people, receive our inadequate efforts, Lord, receive our inadequate service, and make it, Lord, such that it will be to your praise, and your glory, in Jesus' name, Amen.