Grace Abounding: A Journey of God's Transforming Power - Grace Explained #GraceAbounding #GodsGrace

[0:00] Welcome as we come to the Word now, to the Word of God. Ephesians 2 is where we're going to start. Talking about grace, I love preaching about grace. You might say he's preaching about grace again.

[0:11] I don't think we can preach about grace enough, really. The grace of God, don't we need it? Do you need it this morning? Every day, don't we? And think about the grace of God, what the Word of God tells us about it.

[0:23] And people may know of the book Pilgrim's Progress, a famous book. Its author, John Bunyan, wrote another book where he tells of his own personal story of finding salvation.

[0:34] And that book is called Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. Bunyan tells about God's grace and of its transforming power and how it is available to even the chief of sinners, as Paul called himself in the Bible.

[0:56] And Bunyan writes of his sin and of his search. And he says this, I was in my mind like a man that is going to execution, even as if I had been tied up in the marketplace to be hanged.

[1:12] Then the Lord showed me my sin and the depths of it, and that even my best actions were sinful. Bunyan tells how he finally came to realise to rest that, quote, my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself.

[1:33] Bunyan came to see that salvation is a gift of grace, not of human effort. And Bunyan described God's saving grace like this, He hath given me rest by his sorrow, and life by his death, and peace by his blood, and heaven by his righteousness.

[1:51] If you're yet to be saved, there's a crying need today for your soul, whether you realise it or not, to call on his grace, to trust the grace of God. Think of the grace of God today. It's a fundamental Bible concept, and grace is at the heart of God's plan to save man.

[2:07] It's the foundation for salvation, for how to be saved, for how to live the Christian life. It's his unmerited favour. We can't deserve it. We can't earn it. His love and his kindness, he freely extends to unworthy ones still.

[2:24] And the Word of God tells us this in Ephesians 2, verses 8 through 9, it says, 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.

[2:39] By grace, saved, through faith, the gift of God. Grace has always been God's way to save people. God's way of salvation, right through the book.

[2:50] There's some that kind of hyper-dispensationalise things and say, well, it's only till Paul, the apostle of grace. But no, it's right through the book. Grace is from cover to cover.

[3:02] Grace extends from the garden to glory. Grace. It's right through the book. We see grace was there right in the beginning at the garden with Adam and Eve themselves.

[3:15] Instead of destroying them for their disobedience, God extended grace. Adam took of the forbidden fruit. God extended grace and tells Adam, there's a promised redeemer coming.

[3:28] God extended grace. He sought them and he offers them that hope. They call it the proto-evangelum, the first gospel, that there's going to be a coming redeemer.

[3:39] A coming redeemer. In Genesis 3.15, it tells of him in prophecy, the third chapter, the coming of grace in the one who is grace, incarnate, the redeemer himself.

[3:54] And then we see in Noah's time too, it says, Genesis 6, verse 8, it says that Noah, even in that time of judgment, it tells, he yet found grace, found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

[4:08] Noah found grace right there in that time of dread judgment. His salvation came by faith in God's promise of deliverance through grace.

[4:19] Abraham too, it tells of him, Genesis 15, verse 6, Abraham, it tells, believed in the Lord and God counted it to him for righteousness.

[4:33] Grace. Abraham knew that. Moses too, the lawgiver. Of course, there was that phase of law, but grace was still there. Grace was still there. Grace was there through the beginning to the end of the book.

[4:47] God graciously delivered Israel. It was grace. Through God's provision, salvation by the blood, saved Israel from slavery in Egypt.

[5:01] Of course, there were sacrifices, but they were not saving of themselves, they were shadows pointing to the saving of God in Christ, the fulfillment. pointing as shadows, as pictures, as little glimpses of what was to come, pointing forward to the Christ and his redeeming work.

[5:23] The sacrifices were not works that earned righteousness, but expressions of faith in God's provision of the atonement to come. Salvation has always been by grace through faith, not of works.

[5:36] We can't ever earn it, deserve it, certainly by our own goodness. And it extends, as Paul says, to the chief of sinners, he called himself. It's by grace we are saved.

[5:49] That's the wonderful, important truth. But it doesn't stop there. Grace saves, by grace he is saved, but grace keeps on doing stuff.

[6:01] Grace is a powerful reality that keeps on working in the day-by-day lives of every believer. Grace, his love, was poured out on sinners, making that way of salvation at the cross, providing transformation and eternal life.

[6:17] And grace is most fully revealed in the person of Christ and his work to save sinners. We see that in Romans 5, verse 8, but God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

[6:32] God commands his love. It's by the grace of God that while we were sinners, he died for us. And the grace of God, it doesn't just save us, it sustains us. Grace is about how we relate to God and relate to one another, to others.

[6:48] Grace empowers us to live a life that reflects his love and his righteousness. I was blessed lately to receive a text message from a fellow preacher who had expressed some problems with us as a church and somewhat critical.

[7:03] He made some critical remarks and I've always sought to respond with a brotherly spirit to this man and he texted me back just on Friday and one of the things he said was, you are a very gracious man.

[7:16] So that's a nice compliment that he paid. Now I have to tell you that I'm not always such a man. I'm not always such a gracious man but by the grace of God I want to be more like Jesus, don't you?

[7:30] I want to be more like him, the one who's full of grace and truth. Don't we want to be like him? I want to be more gracious, more and more, to know more of his grace and to show more of his grace.

[7:43] It got me thinking of how as God's grace saved people, we ought to be more such a people. Amen? And so I wanted to share some thoughts, some thinking about grace, a message of grace and how we can grow in grace, such grace and manifest it even more so in the short earthly space of time that we all have.

[8:09] How much time have we got? It's a big question, isn't it? We really don't know what time, what time have I got left? If only we knew we might be a little bit more serious about living out our faith, wouldn't we?

[8:22] If we only knew, wow, only that much. It might make us think, well, maybe I'd better smarten up and get on with living the life he wants me to live.

[8:33] What does it look like when God's grace is actively working in us? The Bible shows us that we can live out grace. We're saved by grace, but we can live it out and walk it out in our shoe leather each and every day by the grace of God we can and we can reflect God's love and kindness in all that we do.

[8:54] So, some thoughts today, some thought-provoking thoughts I pray that how we can reflect God's love and kindness, how does that grace show up in our everyday lives?

[9:05] I put to you this morning four ways grace abounding works in us. Grace abounding works in us.

[9:16] First point, grace comes out of our mouth. Grace comes out of our mouth. Now, grace starts in the heart. We know Ephesians 3, 17 that Christ dwells in our heart by faith.

[9:26] We thank God as we're saved. Christ comes and lives within. Christ in you. It's a wonderful truth. And the Bible teaches us that what is in our heart will come out of our mouth.

[9:38] We see that in Luke 6, 45. The good man out of the good treasury's heart bringeth forth that which is good and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil.

[9:48] For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. So, it's a wonderful truth that grace shows and it shows in what we say oft times.

[10:00] God's transformative power is at work in us and it can show in what we say. Of course, there's many scriptures about such a truth. Colossians 4, 6. Let your speech be always with grace.

[10:13] All the time. Seasoned with salt that you may know how you ought to answer every man. Our speech should be filled with grace. That grace should be that predominant feature of what we say.

[10:27] And we've received God's grace. Let's extend it to others. So, think about that in our workplace, in our relationships, in our homes, in our communities.

[10:37] Your words have power. Every word you say. Use those words to build up, not to tear down. And the wonderful thing is that we can minister grace to other people.

[10:48] Wouldn't that be good? That they can know the grace of God. We can do that most especially by witnessing, sharing the gospel of his grace. We see, it says, Ephesians 4, 29. Let no corrupt communication.

[11:00] Zero. Zero. None. No corrupt communication. Proceed out of your mouth. But that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

[11:11] So, God calls each one, all of us, to minister grace to other people. Let grace be extended to others through your lips. Be an agent of grace.

[11:23] Think of it. Friends, believers this morning, brother, sister, how can I be such a one that I'll minister grace to the people that hear me say things? Look for ways to do that.

[11:33] Look for opportunities to bless, to edify, to uplift, to encourage, to speak kindness, to speak compassion, to speak life, to speak truth, speak the gospel, speak the truth in love, speak words that will bless and use wisdom with your words.

[11:51] We know it tells us a soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. Avoid destructive words, criticism, gossip, choose our words carefully as the point.

[12:05] Do we want to stir up or do we want to bless? Do we want to be encouraging? I know I stirred up a little bit of debate lately about what you could refer to or call minced oaths or euphemisms and if you like they're a substitute swear word.

[12:21] Now, some would count them harmless, substitute blasphemies. So instead of using the Lord's name in vain, we use words that sound like his precious name, as if that's acceptable, but deep down we know that it's not.

[12:36] It's not really. And I've got to watch my words because I'm the worst, at times I'm the worst at it. I know coming from Mother England, they routinely use words that are euphemisms.

[12:55] I don't even want to talk about them to tell you what they are, but they sound a bit like a swear word or a bit like a blasphemy, but they're kind of harmless. Well, we would think that they're harmless and I long thought that they were harmless, but deep down I know that they're not right.

[13:10] And there's the truth that God cares about every word, every word, every idle word that we say. It says in Matthew 12, 36, what are some idle words, hasty words, thoughtless words, careless words, doubtful words, if in doubt, don't.

[13:27] It's a good motto, isn't it? One of the things that even marked our Lord in Luke 4, 22, it says, all of the people wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.

[13:40] That's a good thing, isn't it? Wouldn't it be better that you'd be known for gracious words rather than grievous words? Wouldn't that be better? And so may the Lord help us.

[13:51] I know I need to pray that way. I need God's grace to help me think before I speak. May we let the Spirit guide our heart and our tongue. So number one, grace comes out of our mouth.

[14:03] Number two, grace shows in how we treat other people. Act with kindness. Act with kindness. How much span of life have we got? Better that we sow seeds of kindness than other seeds.

[14:16] Act with kindness. We see in Ephesians 4, 32, be kind one to another. Be kind one to another. Tenderhearted, forgiving one another.

[14:27] Even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. As God has forgiven you, we ought to forgive. That's a tough one, isn't it? That's a big call. And we mirror God's forgiveness by forgiving others as He forgives us.

[14:42] Of course, we know the Scriptures like that as in the Lord's Prayer. Matthew 18, Peter came to the Lord and said, How often shall I forgive my brother? How often shall I let him off the hook?

[14:55] Seven times. Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until 70 times seven. In other words, don't stop forgiving.

[15:06] Keep on forgiving. It reminds us of the endless grace of God, doesn't it? That is, grace is so, 70 times seven, how much has He forgiven us? How many times have we sinned?

[15:17] How many times has He forgiven? Think about the endless, endless grace of God that is for you, that He shows us through Christ. And so think of it. Brother, sister, are we holding grudges and bitterness that's eating us up from the inside?

[15:33] Rather, let it go. Let go of the past hurts. Is there someone you need to forgive? Then pray for the strength to forgive them and let it happen. Extend grace. Extend it to those that God has shown you in your life, in my life.

[15:47] Of course, the Lord's Prayer reminds us, forgive as God forgives us. And our Lord calls us to love our neighbour and enemies. Enemies, even them.

[15:59] Even the ones who do you harm. He says, do good to those who cannot repay us. Grace doesn't only extend to those who treat us well, but also to those who are difficult or hostile.

[16:12] That's hard, isn't it? That we love like Jesus loves while we were yet sinners, while we were enemies. We're called to share the gospel too because they're enemies of God. They need the saviour.

[16:23] They need Christ. To share the gospel is the best thing you can do to love, to understand. It's the most loving thing you can do is to warn that someone is lost and they need a saviour.

[16:37] And it's by the grace of God that we care enough to do that. That's why we love soul winning in this church, in every department of our church. We're told, Peter says, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

[17:00] Have that readiness to speak the gospel, that readiness to give an answer, to share that gospel hope that we have. Grace prompts us to share the truth of salvation.

[17:10] It's the most precious thing we can impart to another is the message of the saviour, isn't it? And to do it with compassion. So this is truly the most loving thing we can do for anyone else is to be ready to give an answer.

[17:24] So number one, grace comes out of our mouth. Number two, grace shows in how we treat others. Number three, grace is a new way of thinking. It's a new way of thinking. It's a new mindset that we have grace as that overarching consideration grace in our attitude, that we're gracious in our attitude as our Lord.

[17:47] It tells of him Philippians 2, 3, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Think of it.

[17:59] What hinders grace? Pride hinders grace. Let it go. Let it go. There's none of us more deserving or more worthy than another. Even what knowledge we have, we can get puffed up about that.

[18:12] Even if it's sound doctrine, we can get knowledge that puffs up. Pride hinders grace. Let it go. In what areas of our lives are we struggling with pride? Is there some pride? Ask God to give a humble heart that relies on his grace.

[18:27] We need that all the time. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but let things be done by grace. Let things be done with humility. Humble yourself to serve, to rely on his grace.

[18:39] Think of it, of grace, it enables us to be patient with others, the ones who get under our skin. We can have grace there, even in difficult situations.

[18:50] We think Ephesians 4.2 tells us, with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love. Grace. It's all about that, isn't it?

[19:00] The interactions of life, the getting on with others, to have that long suffering, that forbearing, that extending patience. Be patient, don't be snappy.

[19:11] Keep calm and considerate. And another thing about grace, grace is generous as well. It tells us that every man according as he purposed in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth the cheerful giver.

[19:30] There's a sense where grace is about giving, isn't it? It's about generosity. Of loving. And the grace of God is the love of Christ in action, isn't it? To have that generous spirit.

[19:42] So by grace we can reach out, each one of us, to the people in our lives. Reach out and don't be afraid to put yourself out, to not count the cost when it's something that you've got to, there's a cost to you, whether it's emotionally, physically, materially.

[19:59] Grace just gives. It just gives and keeps on giving. And it's not a begrudging giving, it's a cheerful giving. And God's great grace, think of how he's given to us, it enables us to live, to give, joyfully, without compulsion.

[20:13] And the thing about grace is grace keeps on giving. Grace helps us have that generosity of spirit, that mindset, that lifestyle. And we can share our time, our talents, our life, our resources to invest our lives in others, to benefit others, to be generous with what resources we have, what talents.

[20:33] Is there someone you can bless today with the grace that you've been given? So the thing about grace, it extends to others, it motivates us to serve, to give and keep on giving, to walk with others in their struggles, to have that heart, to love, and whether through prayer or being present, extending time, to be with others, to exercise grace, to share with others.

[21:04] And as I say, grace is that new way of thinking. The world doesn't know it. The world doesn't know it. Of course there's generosity in those who don't know the Saviour, but it's generosity with strings attached, there's generally some self-motive, but grace is that new way of thinking as in God's giving, God's grace.

[21:23] It's God's way of thinking, that new way of walking and it transforms really every dimension of our lives. Grace helps us to walk with God and it's by His grace at work that our lives are always learning more.

[21:38] We see that, I love this scripture, Titus 2, 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.

[21:53] Of course, looking for the blessed hope. There's the grace of God, it brings salvation and it's training us, it's teaching us, it's showing us how to live. By grace we're saved and we live like it.

[22:05] We talk like it, we walk like it. Grace breaks the power of sin. It makes us new creatures. It's by God's grace we can honour our Lord in the daily choices we make that they'll bring Him honour.

[22:19] Choices that will glorify God, that will line up with His will. And grace, friends, believers here, grace impacts really every dimension, every day of our lives in so many ways.

[22:31] It's Christ in you. Really, that's what grace looks like. If you think, well, what does grace look like? It looks like Jesus, doesn't it? It's Him. It's God in us. It's Christ in you. So we see the wonderful grace of God.

[22:46] Another truth is that grace keeps on sustaining us. Thank God for that. Amen? Here's some good news. It's a relief when we think, well, this grace you're talking about, preacher, it almost sounds too hard.

[23:00] It comes out of my mouth. I know the things that come out of my mouth. They're not always sweet and kind. The words, the way that I live, the way that I interact, the way that I get on with others or don't get on with others.

[23:16] I need grace for that. That way of thinking that actually grace is that predominant thought that is the overarching truth that I want to live out.

[23:29] That's not always the case for me. But thank God, grace keeps on giving to us, doesn't it? God's grace. When we mess up, grace still keeps on giving, keeps on working, doesn't it?

[23:40] Grace keeps on helping us. When we've blown it, preachy, don't know how I acted last week. The things I said, the things I did, the foolish stuff I've done, the way I've hurt people, God's grace yet abounds.

[23:54] God's grace keeps on abounding. And God keeps on pouring out his grace graciously and everything that we do, really, in the Christian life, it's by God's grace.

[24:05] It flows from his grace. Even Paul said this, he says, as he talks about the life that he did live and how he persecuted the church of God and he looks back to the man that he was, but then he says, but by the grace of God I am what I am.

[24:21] I'm not that man anymore. I'm a new man. And his grace, which was bestowed upon me was not in vain. He says, but I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

[24:34] He says, the grace of God was with me. That's what sustained him. That's what kept him going. Paul says, it's grace that made him the man that he was. He says, where sin abounds, God's grace did much more abound.

[24:49] Think of that. That's Romans 5, verse 20. So, believer this morning, you might say, preacher, I know that I'm failing in that department of grace. I know that grace isn't always in me.

[25:01] It's not always lived out by me. Well, the Bible says where sin abounds, grace does. Grace does. Much more, much more abound. Romans 5, 20.

[25:12] So, God's grace can work in you. And even in me, God's grace enables us to brave the storms that keep on coming. Life's curveballs are going to come.

[25:23] And you're going to think, where did that come from? And sometimes grace goes out the window when the curveball comes. And we get steamed up and the smoke comes out of our ears and we say things we shouldn't say and we act ways we shouldn't act.

[25:37] But God's grace enables us and sustains us. And the truth is that God's grace is sufficient. That is the bottom line. As our Lord urges Paul at the time where he prayed for the thorn in his flesh and he says, I've got this thing that's eating away, that's bugging me, this thing, take it Lord.

[25:57] And God says, my grace is sufficient. My grace is sufficient for thee. Thee, personal. For my strength is made perfect, he says, in weakness. Most gladly, Paul says, therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities and all my weaknesses.

[26:12] I'm going to glory in that, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. When I'm weak, I'm strong and he's going to make me strong in all of my weakness and all my frailties and all of my infirmities. The power of Christ, that's what I need, the grace of God.

[26:26] And friends, for you believers here today, God's grace is sufficient for you. That's the point. God's grace is sufficient for every challenge, for every weakness, for every situation that's coming Monday morning.

[26:40] Grace is there too. Amen. And it enables us to endure the trials and to grow in our faith, to rely not on our strength, but his strength, his grace. Because God's grace is most evident in our weakness.

[26:52] That's the truth of it. And when we face trials and sufferings, it's his grace that sustains. It's his grace that enables us to endure with faith, with hope.

[27:03] It's God's grace that strengthens us. When we're at our weakest point, rather than removing our trials, he says, okay, you've got trials, but my grace is with you.

[27:14] My grace is for you. My grace is upon you. My grace will strengthen you at your weakest point. Instead of taking away, removing our trials, he says, I'm going to give you grace to endure.

[27:26] I'm going to give you grace that's necessary for you getting through that. I'm going to give you grace to grow through this situation, through these tough things. And his all-sufficient grace is always with us.

[27:38] It's always for us. And it's sustaining grace. It's empowering grace. And what's more, grace is always as close as a prayer away. We might think, well, preacher, I know I'm failing every day in this living out the grace of God.

[27:53] I know it's not always in me. But we can go to a throne that is always available. Amen. There's a throne where you can get some more grace. All right. And that's the wonderful thing.

[28:04] And friends, you've got access to the throne just like me, just like anyone, just like Elijah, just like Moses, just like Joshua, just like all the disciples. They can go to the throne.

[28:16] And friends, you can go to that same throne. Amen. The throne of his grace. Amen. Don't you believe it? Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

[28:28] So friends, be encouraged. Know his grace today that grace is always as close as a prayer away. It's not some concept that's airy-fairy that you can't realise it, that you can't claim it and know it and receive it.

[28:44] You can receive it as you come to the throne. So know his grace that grace will help you meet every need. In time of need, where should we go? Ring the pastor. No.

[28:55] Go to the throne. Go to the throne first. You can ring me if you want. But that's where the grace supply is. That's where the grace supply is. It's at the throne.

[29:05] At his throne. And grace will meet every one of your needs. So think of it as we close. But being gracious is more than just a polite gesture or a show of things or of kind words.

[29:19] It's a lifestyle. You live it out. It's lived out in the 24-7, in the workplace, in the home place, in the community place. It's a lifestyle that you live out grace.

[29:30] Day by day, it's the heart of God that you reflect it. The one who is rich in mercy and love, that he would fill you with his grace. That's something, isn't it? And Peter winds up his second letter with these words.

[29:43] He says, 2 Peter 3, 18, But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever.

[29:54] Amen. So it's telling us here that grace is not something static. It's something growing and snowballing, hopefully. So hopefully it's increasing and increasing.

[30:05] That it's something that's active and abounding. And as we grow in grace, we can become instruments of God, of his hand. Channels. It's like the song goes, channels only, isn't it?

[30:18] We're just channels. We're only channels. It's his grace. We're just really a vessel to share it, to extend grace, to minister grace to others.

[30:30] So friends, I urge you to be encouraged this morning to know that God's grace avails for you and that you can grow in God's grace. It's something we can increase in and abound in.

[30:42] That we can have more of a fullness of his grace. That day by day we'll have more of it. That God will enable us to grow in his grace and live lives that glorify our master.

[30:53] It is possible because his grace is all sufficient. All sufficient. And we all need it. All we need is to exercise it. Is to maybe stop and think, actually, rather than acting in the flesh, I'm going to act in grace today.

[31:10] Rather than speaking in the flesh, I'm going to speak in grace today. I'm going to actually deliberately have that mindset. Does it apply in road rage?

[31:21] All the time. There's no getting out of this. There's no... You don't kind of have a... You don't switch off the grace. It's meant to be full time, isn't it? And we know...

[31:32] Look, I know grace isn't always exercised by me. But God helping us will want to be more such a people, won't we? That even when someone annoys us, we get frustrations of life, all of the day-by-day troubles, and we get annoyed with ourselves even.

[31:50] That God's grace will help you. Amen. God's grace is amazing, isn't it? It's the foundation of our salvation. It's the power behind our daily living too. We're saved, and He's sustaining us.

[32:01] He's enabling us. We can know the grace of God today, every day, day by day, hour by hour, in our own lives. And I love how it says that He gives grace to the humble.

[32:13] That's a real blessing, isn't it, to think of that. How do we get it? Come on bended knee and receive it. Come on bended knee. But He giveth more grace, James 4, 6.

[32:24] Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the plan... Got a tongue twister here. God resisteth... I can't even say it. God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace.

[32:36] Answer the humble. All right? God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace. Answer the humble. Even preachers stumble. Don't you just love that? More grace? More grace?

[32:46] Amen. More grace, Lord. More grace, Lord. Every day we need more grace, don't we? The good news is that His grace won't run out. Isn't that something? That God's grace always prevails, it always avails.

[32:59] We just need to ask for it. Don't we? Let's commit, brother, sister, to be more gracious, by the grace of God, more gracious in our speech, our actions, our forgiveness, our sharing the gospel, our attitudes, so that others may see Christ in us.

[33:17] Let's commit, living our life, that we will reflect His grace, that we've received even the chief of sinners, grace abounding for the chief of sinners, that even the chief of sinners can say, look, the man that I was, why did grace come and visit my home and come to my heart?

[33:40] Why did grace come and save my soul? Let's know the grace of God. It saves, it sustains, and to walk in it, grace is abounding, isn't it? Even to the chief of sinners, grace is still abounding to you and me in all of our unworthiness, because that's grace.

[33:57] It's to the unworthy. And the Lord will fill our hearts with His grace. Let us pray. Lord, help us to have that knowledge, that saving grace, first of all, that we would know, yes, Lord, you died for my sin, and as an enemy, yet you came and poured out your blood to save such a wicked sinner.

[34:20] Lord, that we can know your saving power by your mercy and call upon you in faith, knowing you're saving, knowing you convert us.

[34:30] Lord, you change our heart, our mind, our thinking, our living. You make us more like you. You take our sin and pay for it, and it's wiped away. It's blotted out by your blood. Lord, we thank you for that grace that extends to us, such as we.

[34:44] Lord, and help us in that vein to extend your grace to all that we meet, to continually reflect your love to others, to reflect your love. Lord, in our words, that people might say, yeah, that's gracious words, not grievous words.

[35:01] That's a way of living, a way of thinking that's right with God. Lord, for all of our faults, we'll try to be measuring up to your measure, Lord, the full stature of the measure of Christ.

[35:14] Lord, help us that it will be said of us that that grace is evident. Lord, help us to be led by your Spirit in every department of our life.

[35:25] Lord, help us when we fail. Help us to know that we can go at any time. There's no clocking off. We know, as it were, in heaven, that the door is always open to your throne.

[35:38] And we can enter in with boldness even to the very throne of God, to your throne. And we can enter in, Lord, with boldness, not with brashness, not with any presumption of our own goodness, but we can enter in with confidence and assurance knowing that we're blood-bought people and we can come and know that your ear is always open to hear our prayer.

[36:00] Lord, we can come and bend a knee in humility and know that your grace extends to the weakest, to the worst. Lord, we pray, help us to come and find that grace to help in time of need.

[36:12] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.