The Amazing Grace Of God

[0:00] As we come to the word of God this morning, I wanted to talk about the subject of grace, the grace of God. It's such a huge topic really isn't it? To try to articulate it in human language, what is the grace of God, what is it all about?

[0:19] And we read about it there in Titus 2 from verse 11. Titus 2 verse 11 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.

[0:44] 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.

[1:09] Don't you just love that? A peculiar people? I think some Christians are a bit more peculiar than others, but it's good to be a peculiar people, isn't it? In other words, a special people, that's what it means, isn't it?

[1:22] That you're special, that you're God's people. And it's telling us here about the grace of God. Think about grace, it's alike to the word gift, the word grace.

[1:35] The grace of God, it's given. He's brought it to us. It's appeared, it says, to all men. Now, I don't know about you, but every man needs grace.

[1:49] Every man needs grace. There's some people when we go witnessing, they don't see grace. They don't realise they need grace. They think they'll try it their own way. They'll climb up some other way.

[2:00] But they need the grace of God. And every man needs grace. Grace. How do you define it? Describe it? Measure it? What is it?

[2:12] Of course, it's been variously described. God's riches at Christ's expense. Grace. G-R-A-C-E. God's riches at Christ's expense.

[2:23] What is grace? Grace is God's mercy. It's his forgiveness. His love extended to we. Such as we. Even me. It's not earned, merited, or deserved.

[2:38] God's grace shows for us in Christ's work at the cross. That finished work that we've heard of already today. The gift of salvation. That he is offering to such as we.

[2:51] Through faith in him, Christ. As the song goes. Wonderful grace of Jesus. Greater than all my sin.

[3:02] How shall my tongue describe it? Where shall its praise begin? Taking away my burden. Setting my spirit free. For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

[3:16] Without grace we are lost. Thankfully, by grace we can be saved. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.

[3:29] Every man needs grace. Every man can access grace. Sadly, not everyone does. And we think about grace as you open your Bible. Grace is the theme of this book, isn't it?

[3:42] The Holy Bible. Grace is the theme. From cover to cover. It's grace. Grace on every page. We first hear about grace with Noah.

[3:54] The first mention. But Noah found grace. In the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6 verse 8. Of course, the context is. Of the wickedness of the world.

[4:07] Noah found grace. In the eyes of the Lord. What happened? God saved him. God saved him. Only eight were saved. Noah found grace.

[4:22] In a time of great judgment. Noah found grace. And God saved him. Lot was the second man mentioned. Who received grace. Of course, in the same context.

[4:33] Of judgment. Of God's wrath poured out. Yet God's grace extended to Noah. God's grace extended to Lot. God's grace is given. Thank God. And it still is being given.

[4:46] Grace comes from God. Our Lord is full of grace. We think of. How do you describe it? Look at Christ. Look at him. Look at him today.

[4:56] John 1 verse 14. Telling of our Lord. And the word was made flesh. And dwelt amongst us. And we beheld his glory. His glory.

[5:08] The glory as of the only begotten. Of the Father. And of Christ it says. He's full of grace and truth. If you want to know what grace looks like. Look at the Saviour today.

[5:19] Look at him. Look unto me. He says. Grace. Marvellous grace. Our Lord is full of grace. And who does God give grace to?

[5:29] James 4 verse 6. It tells us that God resisteth the proud. God. But giveth grace unto the humble. God. It's like we have to realise we need it.

[5:42] We have to realise. Our lack. Our need. Our emptiness. Without God. And his great gift of grace.

[5:53] God resisteth the proud. But he giveth grace unto the humble. And so the grace of God. It bringeth salvation. If we could just capture that one thought. For a moment.

[6:04] Grace saves. Isn't it? Our Lord is full of grace and truth. And grace saves. This is the great difference between Christianity and everything else.

[6:15] Isn't it? And true Bible Christianity. The true message of the Bible. The true salvation that is from God. Is through grace. As we humble ourselves.

[6:27] And receive it. It says in Ephesians 2 verse 8. That really lovely familiar one. I'm sure we all know it so well. Ephesians 2 verse 8. For by grace. Are ye saved.

[6:39] Through faith. That not. Of yourselves. It is the gift of God. You know we sing about it so often. Our hymn books are full of words of grace.

[6:49] Aren't they? Songs of grace. As we minister to one another. In psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound. That saved a wretch.

[6:59] A wretch. Like me. I once was lost. But now am found. Was blind. But now. I see. As another song goes.

[7:11] I know not why God's wondrous grace. To me he hath. Made known. I don't know why God. Would extend grace to me. But he has. And he does.

[7:22] Doesn't he? For you that know him. How can we express our appreciation of his grace? How did God give grace?

[7:33] God displayed grace at the cross. Hebrews 2 verse 9. It reads. Of our Lord. But we see. Jesus. Who was made a little lower than the angels.

[7:45] For the suffering of death. Crowned with glory and honour. That he by the grace of God. Should taste death. For every man.

[7:57] He tasted death. That bitter taste. That bitter experience of the cross. He tasted the full taste of it.

[8:10] Didn't he? The taste of death itself. And can you behold him there? This one who is grace. The embodiment of grace.

[8:21] God. In Christ. Grace incarnate. In the flesh. And think of grace. As you look at. What it was that he went through.

[8:31] For the suffering of death. Tasting death. For every man. For you. For you. For you. For me. For all of us. Every man. By the grace of God.

[8:43] He tasted. Tasted it. He swallowed it. Death. And we look at. What the cross means. If we can.

[8:53] But. Catch a glimpse. Of it. This morning. That grace. Gives. And gives. And forgives. Doesn't it? Grace looked out of his eyes.

[9:04] As the blood dripped down. From his thorn crowned brow. And he looked out. And grace looked upon the men. Who had whipped him. Who had nailed him. Who had pierced him.

[9:18] And what did grace say? Father. Forgive them. For they know not. What they do. The very killers. As he bled to death.

[9:28] He extended grace to them. Think of it today. He looked upon us. Who hurt him so. And caused him pain. The very pain. Of our penalty. That we should have suffered.

[9:40] That he took it. And grace spoke through. The words of the blessed. Beloved. Only begotten. Son of God. And grace prayed. Father. Forgive. Them.

[9:52] Grace. Isn't it? Isn't it grace today? How can we capture. Just a thought of it. The wonder of it. And God has given to us. His message. And it's the message of grace. It's the message of grace.

[10:04] Grace to the defiled. Grace to the guilty. To the condemned. Unmerited. Unmerited.

[10:15] Unmerited. We can't deserve any. Skerrick of it. None of it. Can we realise it. Appreciate it today.

[10:27] Marvellous grace of our loving Lord. Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt. Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured. There where the blood of the lamb was spilt.

[10:38] Marvellous grace. Grace. Of our loving Lord. Think of it people today. Do you know it today? I trust that you do know that grace today. By faith. How do you know it?

[10:50] How do you measure it? The boundless grace of God. How can you quantify it? Grace. Grace. God's grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse within.

[11:03] Grace. Grace. Grace. Grace. Grace that is greater than all my sin. There's no sin big enough. Foul enough.

[11:14] Evil enough. That God's grace cannot forgive. Think of the wickedness of man. The wickedness of man. I've been subject to that this last week.

[11:25] I'm the victim of a scam. Lost several thousand dollars. And I talked to the man on the phone. And he sounded like he was from my part of England as well.

[11:37] Thought I could trust a pommy. But no. A wicked, wicked man. Wicked man. Police are still looking into it. But we've lost multiple thousands of dollars.

[11:49] You think the wickedness of man. That they could be so brazen. That they could be so wicked. That they could be so deceitful. So evil. To steal. Blatantly steal from someone.

[12:03] But God's grace looks out at the most wicked. The most wicked of the wicked. And that's me too. Isn't it? And God's grace extends, doesn't it?

[12:17] An unnamed sinful woman entered the house of a Pharisee. Where our Lord was seated. Dining. And there she came unto our Lord. And she washed his feet with her tears.

[12:29] She wiped them with her hair. And anointed them with that perfume. That ointment. Filled the room. And Jesus forgave. Forgave her sins. Whatever they were.

[12:40] Whatever wickedness that it was. Because he demonstrates grace, doesn't he? And the Lord extended grace to the Samaritan woman. At the well in John chapter 4. She had lots of baggage.

[12:53] Lots of reasons why she was condemned. And could be looked down upon. And Christ reached the Gadarene demoniac. And he delivered him. And he became.

[13:03] And that man became a missionary. To his own hometown. You know, these people would have been discounted. Counted as too wicked. Too far from God's hand. There's many stories of grace.

[13:16] Your Bible's full of them. And you can have your own story of grace this morning. Can't you? Maybe you already have. You already have. Amen. Who can say amen? Think of the grace of God.

[13:27] That should visit me. God's grace is real. Isn't it? It's real. It's real for you. It is for you. The gospel. And think of it, brothers and sisters, today.

[13:39] The gospel is the grace of God, isn't it? It's the grace of God. Acts 20, 24. Paul tells how he testified of it. He wanted to witness of it. He wanted to share it.

[13:50] He wanted to impart it. What was the message? It wasn't the wrath of God. It was the grace of God. Mind you, the wrath of God is real too. But the grace of God overwhelms the wrath of God, doesn't it?

[14:02] The grace of God counteracts the wrath of God. The grace of God answers the wrath of God. Such that we can know his grace. Even though we are guilty of his judgment. Yet we can have his grace extended, his pardon.

[14:15] And Paul says, I've come to testify the gospel. The good news. And what is it? It's the grace. It's the grace of God. That we can be saved. The gospel is the grace of God abounding.

[14:27] Abounding to the unworthy. The unworthy sinner. You've got to humble yourself to receive it though. Some would say, oh, I'm alright Jack.

[14:38] I'll make it my own way. I'm not as bad as the rest of them. But we've got to humble ourselves to receive it. The prideful, the proud can't receive it.

[14:49] You've got to come on a bended knee to realise that, yes, Lord, I need a saviour. I need my sin forgiven. And we can testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

[15:00] Paul could, couldn't he? He was a Christ killer. He was unworthy of the grace. Certainly, wasn't he? He was the chief of sinners. He caught himself.

[15:11] And yet the grace of God came to him too. And God's word itself is called the word of his grace. Acts 20, 32. It reads, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace.

[15:29] Which is able to build you up. And to give you an inheritance among all of them which are sanctified. What did they preach?

[15:40] They preached the word of his grace. The word of his grace. That was the emphasis. That's not to discount.

[15:50] There's judgment. That's not to discount. We should tremble at the word. It's not to discount. We should flee from the wrath to come. But where do we flee? We flee to grace, don't we?

[16:02] That's where we go. That's where we get grace. Forgiveness. His mercy. Go to grace today. If you're outside of God's will. If you're outside of his salvation.

[16:14] Run to him. Run to his open arms of grace. And he'll enfold you. And receive you. The early church knew the grace of God. It was evident.

[16:25] It was one of the hallmarks of the early church we see in Acts 4, 33. When they looked at this church. When they looked at this people. Great grace was evident. Great grace was evident.

[16:37] And it says, And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. The church was a people of grace. You know, some would look on some churches and say, Oh, there's no grace there.

[16:54] It's kind of the opposite. It might depend on who's preaching at the time. People get that impression of churches. You might get a good impression of the church today.

[17:06] And a bad impression next week. Or vice versa. You know. But God helping us that we'll be a church. A people. A fellowship. An assembly. Where there's grace.

[17:16] You think, Well, but for the grace of God. I would be damned. And lost. But great grace is upon us.

[17:28] I pray. And the church was a people of grace. What does it look like when God's grace touches human lives? Can we be such a people?

[17:39] That people would look at you. And you'd look like Jesus. You know, wouldn't that be good? You know, some of you ladies might have trouble growing a beard. But, you know. But the people would look at you.

[17:49] And they would see Jesus. Amen. Amen. I do look at some of you and I see Jesus. Amen. Thank God for you. That Jesus is glowing. And women and men alike. That Jesus is glowing.

[18:01] Out of your faces. Out of your eyes. That you've got the love of Jesus. You've got the love of God in you. You've got the grace of God in you. Something happens when God's grace touches people, doesn't it?

[18:11] Something changes on the inside of us. Grace affects how we live. It's real. It's not just a theoretical grace 101 at Bible school.

[18:23] It's actually in the shoe leather that we walk it out in our lives, don't we? That grace is in us. And we walk it out. And grace changes our lifestyle.

[18:34] It should. As our text reads on. As Paul tells, The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should rather live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world.

[18:53] Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. The grace of God teaches us. So we should be learning and applying and making grace live in our lives.

[19:10] How to live graciously. We need to learn to stop doing some things. Ungodliness and worldly lusts. Deny that. It's denying your natural human instinct, isn't it?

[19:26] Ungodliness, worldly lusts. We could be filled with bitterness and hate. We could carry that hurt, that wound, that resentment. We could eat ourselves up with all of that.

[19:39] What's been done wrong to us? You know, we saw someone on the doorstep yesterday. And obviously she'd seen some things. She'd seen some bad things. And she was all eaten up on the inside of her.

[19:50] And some people get like that. But we should deny that human way of reacting and hating and rather have grace.

[20:01] And we should live soberly. We should live righteously, godly. So how do we learn that? By grace. We learn how to live soberly, righteously, godly. Just unpacking that a little. Soberly.

[20:12] ! And some of those are those who are nuts.

[20:22] And the laws they're making are nuts. And these are sobering times. We've got the world on the verge of world war. And people think that's almost inevitable now.

[20:37] Sobering times. And in such a time, shouldn't we be sober? Shouldn't we be awake? Shouldn't we be alert? Shouldn't we have complete control of our faculties? soberness. It's a mindset. We should have it. Despite facing numerous trials, including betrayal by his brothers and unjust punishment or imprisonment, think of Joseph. What did Joseph do? He acted soberly, didn't he? He maintained that clear and focused mindset, his commitment to moral integrity, to self-discipline. Joseph had that soberness that led him from the pit to the palace. And in Potiphar's house and later in prison, Joseph was straight and true. He was sober. He was sober. He was showing that wisdom, that resilience to go through the tests of the time to live a sober, a steadfast life. Think of righteously. How do we live righteously? The days we live in are wicked. Wicked. There's wicked people out there.

[21:42] I was talking to the police station when I reported what happened to us and they said that someone locally has been ripped off through a scam, $111,000 through crypto. And I know we know someone who's a neighbour of one of the folk in our church. He's lost his house because, wasn't that the right Peter? He got into cryptocurrency and he's lost his house.

[22:13] He's lost everything. There's people out there that are wicked who will do that to people. No, what moral fibre have they got to take someone's living, their livelihood to steal, to kill? You know, it basically killed them, isn't it? It's destroyed them. And there's people like that. This is a world that's wicked. It's wicked. The days we live in are wicked, aren't they? And we should live soberly. We should live righteously. In other words, we should live right. We can do the right even though others do the wrong. And we can get right with God. Think of Daniel and his unwavering faith. His commitment. He did right even though he faced great danger, death. He was committed to do right in unwavering faith. Despite the cultural pressures, he did not compromise. And grace teaches us how to live righteously, doesn't it? And do right even when others are doing wrong. And we don't have to repay the wrong. Sometimes you've just got to let it be, don't you? You may never get justice. However you've been wronged, you may never get justice from it. But it says he shall repay, doesn't it? He shall repay. And then we see thirdly that we should live godly. Grace teaches us how to live godly. In other words, have God's character. We see, for example, David. David was the one who lived godly. He had his moments when he didn't. But we think of David.

[23:46] He lived godly for the most part. He was a worshipper. His love was for God. His worship was of God. And despite his shortcomings, yet he yearned to do God's will. He wanted to live godly, to do what would honour God. And he did that. Grace teaches us how to live soberly, righteously and godly. And think of it, friends, today. Grace has transforming power. So it's but for the grace of God, we could be doing something wicked if we had no moral, no moral compass, no qualms about just do what pleases you, no matter how it hurts other people. But for the grace of God, we could be there too, couldn't we? Grace has a transforming power power that it changes how we live, how we think. It's real. And grace avails today, people.

[24:44] And grace is an important part of our new life in Christ. So grace saves us. Grace, the salvation has appeared to all men by grace. Not only does grace save us, but grace transforms us to live graciously, to live by grace. It's part of our new life in Christ. And God wants us to serve well. How can we serve well? With grace. It says, wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace. Hebrews 12, let us have grace. Whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

[25:21] How do we serve God? With grace. We don't do it because we have to. We don't do it because we're asked to. We don't do it because we feel obliged to. We do it because we want to serve God graciously, don't we?

[25:36] Acceptably. And we can all sometimes feel inadequate. What can I do to serve God? I'm weak. I'm lacking. Yet God's grace is for us. God's grace will enable you. God's grace is here even for the weak, even more so.

[25:53] As Paul was told by the Lord, as he sought the Lord to take some things away, God says, my grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. So, the Lord tells Paul specifically that my strength is made perfect in weakness. As we are weak, as we are humble, that God's grace steps in, isn't it?

[26:25] God's grace takes over. God's grace can so extend to the very weakest, the worst. And think of it today, people, that the grace of God is patient, isn't it? The long-suffering of God. Grace expands and grace extends. The long arm of grace reaches to the furthest, to the lowest, the weakest. And God's strength can be your portion. You might say, well, preacher, I'm not much of a Christian. I'm a bit of a weak Christian. Well, God's strength is made perfect in you. Because you realise your inadequacy.

[26:59] You realise your weakness. It's even more that God's strength can be yours today. You can receive it. And you might say, preacher, I'm not worthy of such grace to extend to me. Think of the examples in the word of God's grace. Who did it come to? The undeserving. Rahab. Rahab. She had a name.

[27:19] She had a reputation. Rahab. It's like her surname was Rahab the prostitute. Rahab the harlot from Jericho. What did she have to offer? Nothing but sin and unworthiness. Yet God in grace, extended pardon, spared her as she expressed faith. Essentially, she trusted God's promise.

[27:47] And she was honoured to be included in the line of Christ himself. Rahab the harlot. Saved. Saved. Gloriously saved. Gloriously saved. By the grace of God. God extends grace towards David.

[28:01] Despite his grievous sin. People would have written him off. Oh, beyond redemption. But God says, no. My redemption avails. My grace avails. Our Lord treated the woman caught in adultery. In John chapter 8. How? With mercy and grace. Condemned. Caught in the act.

[28:20] Red-handed. There's no doubt about it. Should be worthy of stoning. But grace extended to her. The dying thief on the cross. He received Christ's forgiveness. Christ's promise.

[28:33] By faith. Didn't he? Grace. What did he have to offer? He couldn't do any works. His hands were nailed. He couldn't be baptised. He couldn't go to church. He couldn't really do much at all.

[28:44] Yet trust. And trust he did. And saved he was. Amen. The prodigal son. What another picture of God's grace extended, isn't it?

[28:55] He was deserving of nothing. Yet was given everything. He was welcomed back by his father with open arms. As much as he smelt like a pig. Literally.

[29:07] Yet God, in the father, received him and embraced him and kissed him. That's what God does to you, doesn't he? It's grace. Isn't it? Peter had denied his Lord.

[29:18] Yet the Lord graciously restored him. Gave him responsibility to serve. He'd blown it. He denied his Lord. He'd openly denounced his faith. Yet God, in grace, moved in Peter and used Peter for the glory of God.

[29:36] Wonderful grace of Jesus. Reaching the most defiled by its transforming power, making him God's dear child.

[29:47] Purchasing peace in heaven for all eternity. And the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. What's more, we can share this hope, friends.

[29:59] This grace that you've received. This grace that saves. This grace that transforms. It's a grace you can share. It's a grace you can live out. We can share this hope, this grace, this life, this new life with others that need it so.

[30:15] I was blessed this morning when I spoke to a brother. So they've been preaching the gospel. They've been sharing their faith. They've been telling others of the Saviour. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[30:26] We can share this hope, this glad hope, this grace. We can minister grace to the others in our lives. Ephesians 4.29 it reads, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of thy mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

[30:49] Let that come out of your mouth that is grace. Let it come out. It'd be easy to react, wouldn't it? To get angry, to get hateful, to use foul language.

[31:01] That's the old me. That's where I was. Mind you, it still sometimes shows up. And it's wrong. And I'm ashamed.

[31:13] But the Bible says, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. Friends, rather watch you come out of this mouth, this voice box, these lips, your lips, words, that minister grace unto the hearers.

[31:30] They're the kind of words we should spout. It's easy to spout other words, isn't it? Words that we shouldn't say. Things we shouldn't say. We can react in the flesh.

[31:42] And there's people that have hurt us, wounded us, grievously, treated us unjustly. we could think of words we might want to say to them.

[31:53] But rather minister grace. Think of it, brother, sister, the people in your circle, people you know, ah, he's a scoundrel. he deserves nothing but condemnation.

[32:08] That's the flesh, isn't it? Isn't it? I was there once. I deserve nothing but condemnation. And now there's no condemnation in Christ.

[32:19] I'm set free. He's taken all my guilt and shame away. And God helping you, you can minister to even the ones that have done you wrong. I know Julie's planning to write a letter to this scammer.

[32:30] Words of grace. Words of forgiveness. While we still, while his email's still valid. Goes against the grain, doesn't it? To act like that.

[32:43] To extend grace to the ones who deserve nothing but condemnation. Mind you, I hope the police catch up with him. Talking honestly.

[32:55] But mind you, when I talk to the police, they say, even though they had, just by the, as an aside, he had an 03 number, so a Melbourne number. But when I talk to the police station, they said, well, it could be overseas. You don't even know where they are.

[33:07] They could be in some other country. They can use an Australian phone number, an Australian email address, an Australian website, and they could be in some other country.

[33:20] Never going to see, be able to chase them down. But Julian wants to write words of grace, words of grace. Maybe the gospel, that would be the most important thing, wouldn't it?

[33:33] This man gets the gospel before he dies. One of the greatest things we can ever do is tell others about the grace of God, isn't it? To bear witness to the God of all grace, that's one of his names, isn't it?

[33:45] Are the people in your lives, you think, wow, they deserve nothing from me. Well, maybe God might extend grace to them while they've still got breath. They can get saved.

[33:57] That person could become your brother in Christ, your sister in Christ. Wouldn't that be something? To the glory of God, our blessed saviour, by his cross, by his blood, can save the foulest.

[34:10] We can minister grace to the hearers, minister forgiveness. Joseph is one who showed forgiveness, didn't he? When his brothers were there, he could have imprisoned them in chains.

[34:21] He could have sentenced them to hard labour, to death. But Joseph was an example of grace, wasn't he? What forgiveness he extended to the brothers who had so hurt him.

[34:34] What about you? What about you? It's counter-cultural, isn't it? Minister grace, what, even to, yeah, even to minister grace, minister grace.

[34:46] And you can speak with grace. It says, let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man, always with grace. We think of it in the church context, avoid murmuring and gossiping.

[35:01] You know, let your words be gracious words, let they be uplifting words, let they be words that edify and encourage. and it tells us we can be strong in grace as well.

[35:13] As Paul tells Timothy, 2 Timothy 2 verse 1, thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. How can we act towards others?

[35:27] And is our grace limited or is our grace such that it extends widely? As an example of this, we can think of Stephen.

[35:40] While he was being stoned to death, the same spirit that Christ had, as he was being stoned to death, what did he pray? He prayed for forgiveness for the people that were killing him.

[35:53] Think of that. However, someone's wronged you or hurt you and maybe badly hurt you and you're still wounded, Father, forgive them.

[36:06] Father, forgive them. Pray for forgiveness. Will you apply God's grace in your daily life, in your relationships? Or will you limit the work of grace to only those you want to give it to?

[36:18] Will you hinder the grace of God? Think of it, grace is powerful, isn't it? It's powerful. You might extend grace and forgiveness and show love and kindness and it may not be reciprocated.

[36:33] But at least you've done your part. You've done your part of the equation of the transaction. Grace is powerful. Grace goes beyond expectations, doesn't it? Think, why would God give grace to me?

[36:45] What have I brought? I'm just like the thief on the cross. What can I do? Grace is supplied by God's own power. And it's wonderful to think that God wants us to strengthen our grace, that your grace would be stronger.

[36:59] And how do we get that? Grace is supplied by God's power. We can access grace by prayer. And you can find grace to help, it says, in time of need. Hebrews 4.16, it reads, grace to help.

[37:12] Of prayer, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Think of it, friends, today, grace is a reality that we can access now, here and now, right here, right now, in our life, in our world.

[37:32] Grace is accessible, grace avails, and grace is tangible, we can receive it. Grace is within reach, and grace reaches us, even me, teaches us how to live.

[37:43] And grace shows us where to look too, the blessed hope. There's a better home awaiting, amen, there's a better hope, there's a glad hope, there's a certain hope, because the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back, and all the rights, all the wrongs will be righted, all the hurts will be healed, everything will be sorted, and the one who is the source of grace and salvation is the one we can come unto.

[38:05] And one more thing about grace is grace is meant to grow. It's meant to grow, to keep on growing in grace. You might say, well I'm saved, but there's no way I'm going to sort that out, that problem with that person, or this or that.

[38:20] Grow in grace, it says, grow in grace, it says in 2 Peter 3, 18, but grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, to him be glory both now and forever, amen.

[38:32] Grace isn't meant to go only so far. How far did God go with his grace? Such that his long arm reached to the furthest, the foulest, to me, the deepest, the darkest place.

[38:46] God's grace has extended his arm of grace, his arm of salvation. Grace isn't meant to go only so far. Show grace, show grace. There might be people in your life that you think, well, oh, not that person.

[39:02] I can't take it up with that person. God's grace is, how does it say when he was on the cross, how big is God's love?

[39:17] It's as wide as his arms were on the cross, isn't it? That's how great his grace is, isn't it? He's lavished upon us. Grace went to the cross, the Lord Jesus, in grace, he was pierced by the guilty.

[39:31] His spotless blood was poured out for our redemption. That grace, we can know and we are witnesses of it. And that's why we go witnessing, isn't it? Not to big know ourselves, not to brag on, not to say, I'm holier than thou, not to be condemning the lost, but rather snatching them like a brand that's burning from the fire, like a fire rescue operation, that they're in this danger of this burning house and we're going to take them, pulling them out of the fire is the picture of it, isn't it?

[40:05] Because we were in the fire once too. And some are in the fire and they don't even know it, but grace would extend to them. And your hand is the one that's going to pull them out of the fire, brother, sister, and grace is growing.

[40:20] It's growing. It says, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Peter exhorts, grow, grow in grace. Grace, the sense is continually, be continually growing, is the sense of it.

[40:35] Be continually growing. Grace isn't such that you do Rodney's new Christian class and then that's it. You know, that you know it all now, I've done Rodney's class.

[40:46] No, that's just an easy first step, isn't it, brother? And Torrin as well. That's just a little inch on that race course of your life, that running race of your Christian walk, isn't it?

[40:59] Just the beginning, just scratching the surface. But that growing in grace is lifelong, isn't it? It should be. Grace isn't meant to just go only so far.

[41:11] Grace is growing, growing more like Christ, that you would be more like him. I like to say how some of you, I know Brother Don Harvey's looking more and more like Christ. I just see Christ in you, brother, that Christ is in you.

[41:25] When I first met you, you didn't look so much like Christ. But as we get closer and closer to glory, amen, as we get closer and closer to seeing his face, that we will be like him, we shall be like him.

[41:37] And grace grows and it keeps on growing. There's increasing in grace. And fact is, we need grace. Every man. It's appeared to all men. You might be hearing all this and say, well preacher, I don't know that I'm saved.

[41:51] I don't know that I'm even started on that little inch of that first step of the faith. I haven't even begun the race. You can trust him now.

[42:04] Grace extends to you. You might say, I'm too far gone, I'm too far away. God's grace extends to the every soul, to every soul that will have ears to hear.

[42:18] Grace saves. Without grace, we're due wrath. So if you don't have grace today, you're under wrath. You might not know it, but you're under wrath. But you can get out of that.

[42:29] You can know salvation. Do you know the grace of God in your own life? And that grace that would transform us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust, to rather live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope?

[42:45] Do you know the grace of God in your own life, such that you're growing in it, that it's transforming you from the inside out, that you're speaking grace, that you're ministering grace to others, grace to the ones that probably may least deserve it in your own mind, yet you can still extend it, because that's the grace that you are shown, matchless, infinite, matchless, infinite grace.

[43:14] Freely bestowed on all who believe, it's marvellous, isn't it? All who are longing to see his face, will you this moment his grace receive? The closing verse of the Bible leaves us with this challenge, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, amen.

[43:32] The Bible, it's grace. Often Paul's letters were open and closed with grace, and we see the book, the last words of the book, the last verse of the book, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

[43:49] It's grace from cover to cover, isn't it? And it's still true, salvation is by grace, from the beginning to the end. You can't say, well I deserve to be saved because I've done this or done that.

[44:02] No, none of it. If you're thinking like that, you're not saved. It's grace from beginning to end. He's the author and the finisher of your faith. Grace, undeserved, unworthy as I am, he's given it.

[44:18] And you can know it, you can know it for sure today. Let's pray. Our Lord, we thank you that your grace is sufficient for the weakest, the foulest, the furthest. You reach, you teach us, you train us, you give us grace.

[44:32] You want us to extend it to those that are the hardest to give it to. Lord, give us the grace to do that, to forgive those that have wronged us, to heal the relationships if we can, even if they don't receive it.

[44:45] We can do our bit, Lord. Help us to go against the grain, to do what you would do, what you have done, what you do do constantly for us. Show us such grace, Lord, we thank you.

[44:57] Lord, we pray that each one might have that heart's trust that knows by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Lord, we thank you for the wonder of it.

[45:08] Lord, help us to share the message of it such that we'll minister grace to others that will hear it, such that we'll extend grace to the ones in our lives that are outside of it. Lord, such that we, as they, can know you've taken the wrath and you've given us grace.

[45:25] Lord, we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.