Hello, I just want to go ahead and get started because I don't know how to say less than I'm going to try to say.
Which is the mark of a bad teacher, so just buckle up.
So let me pray for us and we'll get started.
Our Father in heaven, we have so much to be thankful for.
We're thankful for your son, Jesus, and that you made a way for us to be forgiven and be restored and to come home to you.
We pray this morning that you be here by your spirit as we discuss weighty things.
That you would lead us, give us submissive hearts.
In Jesus' name, amen.
So I would like to issue similar caveats to last week for those of you who weren't here,
which is what we're not going to be doing this morning is any kind of a comprehensive presentation on grace.
So this week we're going to be talking about the grace of God and our ongoing series and the attributes of God.
And, you know, in 45 minutes, there's just no way we can, you know, make this an academic study of grace.
My approach, rather, is going to be to just present some things that I think mostly we're going to be in agreement about
and then discuss and see if we can draw out some encouragements, actually, at the end of the day.
So with that said, the plan is to approach grace with these lenses.
The context of grace, the method of grace, the mystery of grace, the timing of grace, and the magnitude of grace.
That's a lot of lenses.
And so I'm going to try to push through because I think, you know, we have this beautiful mountain, as it were,
that we can look at from different angles.
And I didn't want to leave out any important angles.
So first thing I wanted to talk about is the context of grace.
And by that I mean we are, of course, not approaching the attribute of grace where God is merciful, God is gracious.
We're not approaching this idea in a vacuum.
It's not as if we found a rabbit in the woods and we put him in a cage and we studied him.
And, you know, now we found out, oh, he's a gracious thing.
It's it's there's the context of even talking about God's grace.
We have to start with sin and the wrath of God that is the result of our human rebellion and sin.
And otherwise, if we go on to talk about the other parts of grace without that backdrop, we are missing why grace is even necessary in the first place.
And it's rich and deep meaning.
So I wanted to just pose a question to you that I like to pose to my young children who aren't young anymore.
But I would say to them, so what's the worst sin a person can do?
Like and they love to play this game, right?
They're like, what is the worst or what is the best or what if what's the game they play?
The if would you rather you ever play?
Would you rather sort of in that vein?
And I'm like, no, I don't want to play.
Would you rather not with them giving the things?
Because it's like, would you rather eat a bucket of dead worms or like, no, neither.
But if I ask them and if I ask you, what is the worst sin a person can do?
What's just springs to mind right out of the gate?
Not believe in God.
So we have the theologically minded non six year old in the room.
Yes.
Well, right.
So go ahead.
Accusing Jesus as being demonic.
Wow.
Yeah, I think I think most ordinary people tend to think horizontally when you when you ask, like, what's the worst thing?
What's the worst sin?
Right.
Especially kids like what's the worst thing?
Oh, you kill somebody or, you know, it you it's man on man.
Crime is the the typical instinct of most people.
But I think Raul's right.
I think that what the Bible teaches is the vertical nature of human sin is what starts the wrath.
So I actually I want to read some of Romans one.
This is going to be familiar.
But I really want to get this out on the table before we move on to other aspects of grace.
It's a little bit of a lengthy passage, but I think it will be helpful for us.
So the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor give gave thanks to him.
But they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God.
He gave them up to a depraved mind to do what ought not to be done.
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.
They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.
And it goes on to the to the horizontal list.
Right.
But what we observe is.
The chief sin of man is to not acknowledge God as God and to not give him thanks.
Seems kind of appropriate for this week.
And in so doing elevate themselves as God.
And exercise their own autonomy against the God of the universe.
And because of that, we face the wrath of God as humankind.
And I just want to pause and make sure that we don't use church words and just skip on by without feeling the weight.
And to have the God of the universe that created everything pitted against you should give us pause.
And this is the backdrop of even discussing God's mercy and grace.
In the world that we live in now, which is the world that I want to talk about.
Not the theoretical world of did Adam and Eve receive mercy and grace before the fall and all that.
We could we could talk about all that.
But right now it doesn't matter because we said we want to be God.
And we all inherited that disposition.
And that's the dark backdrop.
Any one want to comment or thoughts or questions about the context?
We already ran the red light.
You can't go back and take it back.
Yeah.
And I mean, obviously, like I said, we're going to assume some things in this class this morning.
We could spend the whole class talking about that.
And there are obviously people out there that completely disagree with that.
And, you know, they disagree with that's the position that we're in.
But for the sake of this class, we'll assume that we're kind of on the same page, that we're in big trouble.
Last week, when we talked about the holiness of God, we talked about the problem in terms of the chasm that opened up between sinful man and holy, perfect, righteous God.
And how Jesus bridged that chasm.
And this week, I think these are just words that are trying to describe some similar things where we face as humankind the wrath of God against our sin of autonomy, especially.
So quick definition, a simple definition of mercy and grace.
Mercy being not receiving the punishment you deserve.
And grace being receiving favor you don't deserve.
Again, we could spend an hour just talking about that, but we're not going to.
But I just want to say that without mercy, the flood of grace can't flow for the Christian.
Right.
We have to have the debt resolved.
And I want before we move on, I just want to say the obvious.
This is I feel like is such a hard thing for us to hold on to.
We do not deserve mercy.
By definition, we do not deserve mercy.
By definition, we do not deserve grace.
Just I'm planting a flag because as we move on, it's just a hard thing to hold on to.
And I'm speaking, you know, experientially for myself.
It's hard to not slip into.
Losing grip on the fact that we, by definition, don't deserve mercy and by definition, don't deserve grace.
All right.
So the method of grace, the method of grace.
Since we don't deserve grace.
By definition, again, God gives grace by his own free choice.
So.
Moses says to God, after heinous sin of God's people, Moses says, please show me your glory.
And God said.
I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name, the Lord.
And.
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
Interesting that.
The goodness of God is put right there in front of us.
Like here it comes.
I'm going to show you my goodness.
And it's mine to reveal.
To whom I choose.
Already.
Let's not forget the context.
Right.
Because if we can keep the context in front of us.
These.
Teachings of the scriptures, I think, can be put in their proper.
Light.
And we'll talk more about that.
Few verses for you.
These are familiar about.
How we cannot earn grace.
God must.
Give us grace.
Paul says.
So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.
For by grace, you've been saved through faith.
And this is not your own doing.
It is the gift of God.
Now to the one who works.
His wages are not counted as a gift, but his due.
And to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly.
His faith is counted as righteousness.
So now I want to pause and just ask this question.
Why does the freedom of God irk us so much?
Raul.
Because we want to be autonomous.
We want to be free from God like Adam and Eve.
We want to be the captains of our own destiny.
We want to be the final reference point for all human predication.
We're God, not God.
Okay.
Anybody else?
When we encounter like the clear expression that God's free to show grace and mercy to whom he wills,
why does that bother us?
Because we wonder why he might show it to some and others.
Yes.
And then what's behind that that makes us like, ah.
It's not fair.
We don't want to be a kind of a living God.
Yeah, that's an interesting angle too.
Yeah, it also, framed that way, so much of life in the flesh is dependent on your capabilities
and your function and your diligence, your effort.
But God's statement there eliminates that.
It has nothing to do with you.
Yeah, apparently.
Yeah.
I think I'm going to just speak for myself now that we all encounter things in life where, you know,
like my family, it was a foster family, so I had a bunch of foster siblings growing up, a lot of them.
And some of them have been dealt a hand in life that was unimaginably bad.
And some of them were, could not receive the love of our family and my parents who were trying to, you know, love kids.
And, you know, the older you get, you encounter people and you feel like, is it really their fault?
Like they got so, such a, like you think of worst case scenarios, like some kid in the Sudan born behind a dumpster and no parents that love them.
And just like these horrible, horrific things we can cook up in our minds.
And we say, how is that fair?
And I think that I want to take a sidebar for a second, a hermeneutical sidebar, and just say that there are places where we don't, we aren't given satisfactory answers.
God is not inviting us behind the curtain of Godhood and saying, hey, you know what?
Here's how it all works.
In fact, we have some explicit places in scripture where we get to the end of some arguments and reasoning and God says, here's the thing.
I'm God and you're just going to have to trust me.
But what we do have, I think, is we have places where we're making inferences that are perfectly logical, perfectly reasonable.
We see God choosing here and not choosing here and being God.
And we're like, maybe he's just capricious.
Maybe.
You know, but we have to also look at, we have to test our inferences against other clear passages in scripture.
Inferences meaning I take verse A, totally true verse.
I take verse B, totally true verse.
I add them up and deduce, well, maybe God's just, you know, not loving or good after all.
So we encounter passages on this topic of God showing grace to who he chooses.
We encounter verses like this.
We encounter, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord,
Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked,
but rather that they turn from their ways and live.
Turn, turn from your ways.
Why will you die?
The Lord is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish,
but everyone to come to repentance.
God, first Timothy, God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
All I'm trying to do here is just say,
if we're adding things up that equal,
God is capricious or he doesn't care or he's not loving.
That doesn't hold up against other things that scripture says about God.
What are we left with?
We're left with the same sort of place we're left when the Bible says,
Jesus is a fully God.
He is fully God and he's fully man.
You can't take that to the lab and figure that out.
He's God.
It's behind the curtain.
And what we're left with is
we must trust him
and we must test our inferences
against other clear passages
of scripture
to guard our own hearts.
Because Satan,
what does Satan do?
He twists
what God says.
He wants us to hate God.
He wants us not to trust God.
When God comes and says,
you can have everything,
all of this,
run around naked in the garden.
You just can't,
just stay away from this thing.
Why?
Why do we have to stay away from that thing?
Right?
It's,
it's,
so this is a tool.
That's all I'm saying.
This is a tool that we have in our toolbox
to keep our inner conversation on track
with what other things that God's revealed to us
about himself and his motives.
All right.
Method of grace.
Obviously,
if grace is given freely,
then how do we get it?
This,
this is just being Christian 101,
but someone talk us through.
How do we get grace
if it's a free gift?
Anybody,
put it out there for us.
Through faith
in the Lord Jesus
who gives us himself
by faith.
So we take hold of Jesus
and we're united together
and what he's done
for us.
Before the creation of the world
and the covenant of redemption
and the Holy Spirit,
Jesus
and God the Father
planned out
who would be called,
chosen,
predestined,
sanctified,
and justified.
Glorify all that.
That's my answer.
And I'm sticking to it.
You know,
I think that
the bottom line
is that
we know we can't earn grace.
We know by definition
we can't earn grace.
We must receive grace.
And that has
a lot of side effects
and I think we'll go on
to talk about some of those
a little bit later.
Alright,
the mystery of grace.
The mystery of grace.
So what I mean by
the mystery of grace,
there's actually a lot of mystery
but I just want to hone in
on one part here
which is
how does
a God
of perfect
justice
pass over
evil
and is still
a just
and perfect
judge
and a holy God.
Now,
maybe some of you
haven't gone down
this
line of
thinking
but it's important
I think it's important
that we
talk about this
because
let me put a passage
in front of you
that sort of
crystallizes
this dilemma
and then we'll
just talk about it
real quick.
So this is
Exodus 34,
6 and 7
back to Moses
saying he wants
to see God's glory.
Moses is begging
God not to leave
the people
because they made
the golden calf
and
recall that
moment.
and the Lord
passed before
him
and proclaimed
the Lord,
a God
merciful
and gracious,
slow to anger
and abounding
in steadfast love
and faithfulness,
keeping
steadfast love
for thousands,
forgiving iniquity
and transgression
and sin.
So that's
awesome.
Love that part.
but who will
by no means
clear the guilty,
visiting the
iniquity of the
fathers on the
children
and the
children's
children to the
third and fourth
generation.
salvation.
So at face
value,
we have God
telling
Moses
and telling
us,
here's what
I'm like.
Here's who I am
and here's what
I'm like.
And by the way,
these two
verses
are the
most quoted
verses
in various
forms
in all
the Bible.
the
authors of
Scripture
picked these
verses up
and repurposed
them all
throughout
the Scriptures.
And so I
think it's
good that we
pause here
and just say,
what is going
on here?
How can
God
say,
I will by
no means
clear the
guilty
right after
He just
said,
I will
forgive
and show
mercy
and clear
the guilty.
That's what
showing mercy
is.
It's almost
like saying,
I am a
God that
will clear
the guilty
and offer
mercy
undeserved
and also
by no means
will I
do that.
So how
do we
make sense
of this?
And what
I'd like to
do is point
us to
Jesus
and say
that
Jesus
paid
and atone
for our
sins
vindicating
God's
mercy
and
grace.
The reason
that God
can say,
I'm not
just going
to clear
evil
and
pass over
it is
because He
had a
plan
to pay
for that
evil
Himself.
And I
know this
is not
unfamiliar,
but I
want to
pause and
meditate on
it a little
bit together
so that
we feel
the weight
of it
because we
must have
a perfectly
just God.
We must.
have a
God of
mercy
and
grace
or else
we have
no hope.
We don't
want a
God
that just
says,
you know,
you raped
someone's
mom,
but it's
okay because
you know
what,
I'm a
forgiving.
I think
this is how
I used to
approach this
question.
I would
conjure up
how I
forgive the
people in
my life
that have
wronged me,
but to be
honest,
no one's
kidnapped a
sibling of
mine and
murdered them
behind a
dumpster.
We can't
have a
God who's
not a
righteous
judge.
We don't
want a
God that's
not a
righteous
judge.
And
so there's
a tension
there.
So let's
turn back to
Romans for
a second and
listen to
this and
see if we
can feel
God telling
us how
this is
being resolved.
So this is
Romans 3
starting verse
23.
For all
have sinned
and fall
short of
the glory
of God.
There's our
context of
wrath.
And are
justified by
his grace
as a gift
through the
redemption that
is in
Christ Jesus
whom God
put forward
as a
propitiation
by his
blood to
be received
by faith.
So there
is the
gospel in
a nutshell.
Then Paul
goes on to
say,
this was to
show God's
righteousness
because in
his divine
forbearance
he had
passed over
former sins.
So I
take this
to mean
that God
has not
given evil
what it's
deserved at
every turn.
He has
shown real
grace and
real mercy.
And so
then how
is he
right to
do that?
Yeah.
And then if
we bring it
home to
ourselves,
it's like,
you know,
there's the
cheap,
there's,
you guys
know the
people that
grab their
spears against
cheap grace.
And look,
people fall
off the
horse of
truth so
easily,
including all
of us,
of course,
right?
But some
people are
like,
Jesus loves
me,
God forgives
us,
and they're
like,
they cheapen
the grace,
right?
Then other
serious people
that take
God seriously
are like,
you can't
do that.
You can't
just run
around like
all happy,
bubbly,
light,
evangelical
stuff.
And then
they're like,
well,
we want to
bring justice
back.
You know?
It's like,
okay.
But we have
to be careful
because we
can fall off
that horse
on either
side.
I think
I can
remember
going to
my children
and trying
to tell
them why
we talk
about Jesus
all the
time,
why we
sing about
Jesus all
the time,
why is it
always Jesus,
Jesus,
Jesus?
You know?
And I will
pull them
aside and I
will say,
look,
Jesus paid
for our
sins so
that God's
justice could
be satisfied
so that we
can step
into grace.
Without
Jesus and
without the
cross,
we have
no hope.
And it
also answers,
I'm
sidebar here,
but it
also answers
some of
the legitimate
questions of
our time,
which are,
how is
Jesus the
only way?
It just
seems so
narrow.
Right?
But if
we have a
divine
problem of
wrath,
then we
must have
a divine
solution
to the
wrath.
And the
exclusivity of
Jesus begins
to make
sense.
So,
why does
this matter?
Why does
this matter?
Why does
this
discussion
about
preserving
the justice
of God
and the
mercy of
grace of
God
matter?
So,
I want to
read just
one quote
for you,
and then
we'll move
on.
This is
Jerry Bridges,
actually,
who's a
kind of a
popular author,
as probably
most of you
know.
It is at
the cross
where God's
law and
God's
grace are
both most
brilliantly
displayed,
where His
justice and
His mercy
are both
glorified.
But it is
also at the
cross where
we are most
humbled.
It is at
the cross
where we
admit to
God and
to ourselves
that there
is absolutely
nothing we
can do
to earn
or merit
our salvation.
salvation.
Now,
real quick,
if we
rewind back
to Romans
1,
chief sin
of man is
we don't
acknowledge God
and we
don't give
Him thanks.
But can
you see the
flavor when
we begin to
realize what
Jesus has
done and
what God
has done
without giving
up His
justice and
without giving
up His mercy
and grace
that that
does lead
us back
to a place
where we
acknowledge
Him.
In order
to receive
this grace,
we acknowledge
Him and
we give Him
thanks.
Those two
things are
as natural.
As soon as
we cross
over and
receive,
we are
doing both
of those
things in
some measure.
They connect.
the timing
of grace.
The timing
of grace.
This has
been on my
heart for a
long time,
not just
through the
lens of
grace,
which is
where we
find ourselves
right now
in the
timeline of
redemption.
if we
don't get
that right,
if we
don't
understand
the season
that we're
in,
it results
in all
sorts of
unhealthy
spiritual
consequences.
Let me
read this
passage and
I'll try
to explain
it through
the lens
of grace.
So this
is from
1 Peter
chapter 1,
starting in
verse 10.
Concerning
this salvation,
the prophets
who prophesied
about the
grace that
was to be
yours,
searched
and inquired
carefully,
inquiring
what person
or time
the Spirit
of Christ
in them
was indicating
when he
predicted the
sufferings of
Christ and
the subsequent
glories.
God's
grace.
So I'm
going to
pause and
just say
this is
referencing
grace that
we have
received already
that we
now look
back to
in our
season
because we
have Jesus
came and
we have the
record of it
and we have
the Holy Spirit
attesting to it.
so we're
looking back
to that
part of
God's
grace.
Then he
goes on
verse 12.
It was
revealed to
them that
they were
serving not
themselves but
you and
the things
that have
now been
announced to
you through
those who
preach the
good news
to you by
the Holy
Spirit sent
from heaven.
Things into
which angels
long to
look.
Therefore
preparing your
minds for
action and
being sober
minded set
your hope
fully on
the grace
that will
be brought
to you at
the revelation
of Jesus
Christ.
What's he
talking about
there?
Do you
think?
What's the
grace that
will be brought
to us at
the revelation
of Jesus
Christ?
Do we have
that now?
No.
We don't
have that
grace.
Yes and
no.
No.
What this
is doing is
like teasing
apart for
our benefit
to sustain
us in the
here and
now with
the already
and the not
yet.
We're familiar
with the
already and
the not
yet like
theological
handles.
right?
So already
we in our
time and
place have
Jesus as
a thing,
a person we
can look
back to
and say
God fulfilled
his promise.
We have all
these amazing
scriptures that
shed so much
light on the
meaning of
what Jesus
did as we've
been talking
about.
But,
and,
we're told
that we
should be
sober-minded
now.
We should
be prepared
for action
now.
What that
means,
I mean,
part of what
that means
is that we
think rightly
about where
we are right
now on the
timeline,
setting our
hope fully
on the
grace that
will be
brought to
us at
the revelation
of Jesus
Christ.
In other
words,
when he
comes back.
When he
comes back.
When he
comes back.
Because,
before we
end today,
I'm going
to just
lay on
you the
magnitude
of grace.
Like,
it's too
good to
be true.
People say
that,
right?
But,
it almost,
it almost
is so good
that there's
that part
in my
heart,
maybe in
yours too,
and you're
like,
that just,
it just
can't be.
It just
can't.
Because we
have our
experience in
this life
where we
just get
hammered
and let
down and
our guards
up and
it ought
to be
up because
we're
living in
the wilderness
period.
And this
is my
point.
As
Christians,
it's super
important that
we are
self-aware
that we
are in
our
wilderness
season.
Christians
talk about
this in a
lot of
different
ways.
They call
themselves
pilgrims.
This isn't
our home.
We must
keep our
eyes on
our future
hope.
And with
regard to
grace,
we must
encourage our
own hearts
with God's
promise of
what's
coming.
Let's go
back to our
definition of
grace.
Mercy
wipes out
our debt.
But grace
is unmerited
favor.
Goodness.
And to
be honest,
I mean,
a lot of
Christians
debate,
right,
how much
of this
do we
have in
the here
and now.
And some
people will
say,
well,
you just
don't have
it because
you're not
drinking in
the Holy
Spirit enough
and that's
fair enough.
Like,
I don't know
that there's
any Christian
you could
come to
and say,
oh,
you're being
miserable?
It's because
you're not
submitting to
the Holy
Spirit enough.
You'd have
way more
joy.
Who could
say,
no,
that's not
me?
You know,
of course.
But the
description of
what's coming,
none of us
are,
we're not
there yet.
And this
may just
seem so
obvious,
but here's
another thing
I want to
say.
It seems
to me as
I observe
all of us
walking along
together as
Christians,
the big
obvious things,
it's like,
yeah,
that's what we
believe,
that's orthodox,
whatever.
And then it's
like,
boom,
we're like
focused on
some problem
God doesn't
give us the
answer to,
and we're
just like,
let's just
spend all
our time
worrying about
that,
or let's
chase after
this thing
of the world
that promises
us happiness.
And, you
know,
it's,
these big
truths,
they're so
big,
and they're
so grand,
it's like,
it's hard to
hold on to.
And so,
I just want
to say,
let's not
forget where
we are on
the timeline
of redemption,
and that
that applies
to how
God's
dispensing
grace.
It strikes
me that a
lot of the
metaphors that
the New
Testament uses
is about
farming,
gardening,
sowing seeds,
watering it,
the dog gives
the growth,
it.
And I,
I think a
lot of times
we're not
patient the
way farmers
are,
where we
scatter seed
and go to
sleep,
and it's
up to God
whether he's
going to
give that
growth,
and we
know it's
not going
to receive
its fullness
until that
grace that
was revealed
at the day
of the
revelation of
Jesus Christ.
I know,
to your
point,
a lot of
people have
been burned
out in
ministry.
It's like,
I've been
preaching for
10 years,
and my
congregation
hasn't
grown at
all,
and God
must have
failed.
But I
think across
New Testament,
the measure
of success
is faithfulness.
Are you
being faithful
when God
has given
you now?
And God
hasn't promised
that over-realized
eschatology.
You're going to
experience all
the blessings,
and you're not
going to reap
all now.
You're going to
have to wait
until that
day.
So,
I'm not a
farmer,
I'm not a
gardener,
but I
know Paul
uses the
sowing the
seeds all
over the
place.
It seems
like that's
what he
wants us
to realize
what you're
saying.
You're not
going to
experience it
all now.
Your point
is to
sow seeds,
let God
do the
rest.
Yeah,
and you
know,
like the
worst-case
scenario
thinker
in me,
like whenever,
like so
long as what
you're saying
accounts for,
you could
get on your
face before
God and
say,
I've got
nothing,
I just have
to receive,
and I'm
going to
repent,
I'm going
to be in
a pattern
of repentance,
I'm going
to strive
to love
you and
love other
people,
and you
could be
dealt
eye
cancer,
you could
be,
like let's,
I'm a
worst-case
scenario
guy,
like I
don't,
anyone else
in here
are a
worst-case
scenario
thinker,
like basically
test your
philosophy
against the
worst-case
scenario,
right,
which is
does that
hold up,
and I
think it
does,
right,
like because
sometimes,
because God's
free,
sometimes,
like for
example,
I'm the
most cynical
person,
this isn't
good,
I'm just
being honest
for a
second,
I'm a
cynical
person that
I trust
God,
but I'm
like probably
I'm going
to get,
it's going
to be
terrible,
but God's
given me
five children,
you guys
know,
many of you
know many
of them,
beyond my
wildest hopes
would all
of them be
professing
faith in
Christ,
okay,
all of
them are
professing
faith in
Christ,
beyond
my,
like,
it's,
what if
they weren't,
what if,
I mean,
I have
friends whose
children,
friends that
were just
in my
circles,
and their
children hate
God,
I don't mean
they're just
neutral,
I mean,
they hate
God,
they're writing
stuff online,
they hate
their parents,
and my
philosophy
has to be
work for
that scenario
too,
which is
why this
promise
of
future
grace,
that's a
loaded term,
I don't mean
it loaded,
I mean
literally the
grace that's
coming that's
not here
yet,
is so
important,
I think,
so that
when we
encounter
people who
are suffering
worse than
us,
who are
believers,
we can
encourage
their faith,
and it's
not trite,
and it's
not trivial,
the world's
going to
come along,
and we're
like,
yeah,
just hold
on,
in a
short while,
all this
is going
to be
over,
and the
world's
going to
be like,
they've
got the
this is
all there
is
goggles
on,
and we
look like
idiots,
we look
like fools,
and as
Paul says,
if Jesus
is not
raised,
we are
idiots and
fools,
right,
but we
know we're
on the
right track
if even
our own
leaders,
apostles,
are telling
us our
day-to-day
hope ought
to make
us look
like fools
for what
we're trusting
in that's
coming,
and maybe
this is
just
over
simple,
like maybe
I struggle
with this
more than
you guys
do,
but I
struggle
with that,
I struggle
with trusting
in what's
coming,
and with
actually
recognizing
where I
am on
the timeline,
and setting
my actual
expectations
for tomorrow
morning when
I wake up,
like this is
another day
in the
wilderness,
God's
with me,
he's
given me
things to
sustain me,
but,
I mean,
we're all
going to
die,
I mean,
we talked
about this
last week,
like,
the wrath,
it's,
we're not in
heaven yet,
let's put it
that way,
no one
disputes that,
right,
I mean,
we're not
home yet,
obvious,
but I think
important,
okay,
magnitude
of grace,
the
magnitude
of grace,
so,
we got
ten minutes,
and really
what my
hope is
for our
hour,
is that
you leave
encouraged,
and your
faith is
encouraged,
and my
faith is
encouraged,
and so,
I'm going
to put
some things
in my
own words,
and then
I'm going
to read
some
scriptures,
and then
I hear your
thoughts,
and we'll
close,
Christians
are
forgiven of
all sins,
past,
present,
and future,
Christians
are counted
as clean,
holy,
and righteous
before
God,
Christians
are restored
to fellowship
with God,
and
we are
adopted
as sons
and daughters,
co-heirs
with Christ,
mysteriously
looking forward
to an
inheritance
that the
scriptures
themselves
say
are beyond
the imagination
of what
we can
even
dream up.
Christians
are invited
into
the glory
of God,
and as we
talked about
last week,
mysteriously
Christians
are invited
to be
partakers
of the
divine
nature.
I backed
this up
with scripture
last time,
I'm not
doing that
now.
We have
new bodies
coming,
all of
this is
going to
last forever
and ever,
and all
of this
is secured
by God
himself
because
he's
freely
giving the
grace,
and he's
the guarantor
of that
grace.
it's the
flip side
of us
not being
able to
earn it.
Have you
thought about
these passages
that vex us
so much
about God
choosing?
The other
side of that
coin is
that you
can't earn
it.
You cannot
earn it,
but God
can give
it and
secure it,
not by you
earning it.
how amazing
is that?
Because if
it ends up
depending on
you earning
it,
it's in
jeopardy.
But we
test our
inferences
against the
scriptures.
Now I'm
going to
read a few
passages
for you.
1 Corinthians
2.9
No eye
has seen
nor ear
heard
nor the
heart of
man
imagined
what God
has planned
for those
who love
him.
Blessed is
the man
who preserves
under trial
because when
he has stood
the test,
he will
receive the
crown of
life that
God has
promised to
those who
love him.
Jesus
speaking in
John,
my sheep
hear my
voice and
I know
them and
they follow
me.
I give
them eternal
life and
they will
never perish
and no one
will snatch
them out of
my hand.
My father
who has
given them
to me is
greater than
all and
no one is
able to
snatch them
out of
the father's
hand.
And the
prophet Isaiah,
for behold,
I will
create new
heavens and
new earth and
the former
things will
not even be
remembered nor
will they
come to
mind.
All of
this is
undeserved
favor.
All of
this is
secured by
sovereign God
who's
setting
his
love and
favor and
forgiveness
on us.
And so
how do we
respond to
this?
You know,
maybe we
just spend a
couple minutes
talking about
that and
then we'll
close.
How do
we respond
and how do
we maybe
not?
how do
we avoid
how do
we not
respond?
Thoughts?
tell as many
people as
you can
about it,
about this
wonderful
news.
How do you
guide it?
That's it.
don't respond
by saying,
well, of
course God
is going to
be merciful.
That's his
job.
He's a
gracious
God.
Taking it
for granted.
But take that
context in
mind always.
This is what I
truly deserve.
This is what I
be given.
This is all
grace.
So,
remembering
that we
were once
far off,
strangers and
exiles without
hope,
without the
promise,
but we
even brought
near by the
crisis.
So,
keeping that
context
to mind.
As a
young person
brought up
in a loving
family,
I took it
for granted
and I
thought I
was pretty
good.
As an
older person,
I look
back,
so that's
one thing
not to do,
not to take
it for granted.
Now, as an
older person,
I look back
and I think
of all my
failures.
Oh, I
should have
done this.
I could have
done that.
And then
God
reminds me
of his
grace.
That's
why I
need
Jesus
and I'm
secure in
him
and
loved
in
him.
Commit
yourself
to a
lifestyle
of giving
thanks for
his
grace.
Set a
goal
twice a
day,
morning and
night,
to give
thanks.
And remind
yourself that
faith is the
assurance of
things hoped
for,
the evidence
of things
not seen.
And if you
have faith,
no matter how
weak it
is,
that verse
applies to
you.
I think
as a reminder
that grace is
always available.
I think in
Hebrews it
says,
let us draw
near,
I don't
obtain mercy,
I do me in
favor in time
of need.
I think
sometimes we
forget it
is always
available,
actually.
it's not
Jesus said,
how many
times should
you give
your brother?
There's
something to
mere morals,
right?
70 times
7.
So how
many times
is God
willing to
give grace
even when
we own
them?
It's a lot
more.
I think
grace is always
available from
God.
I say from
God in the
sense that
there's a
verse in
Jonah,
when he was
in the belly
of the
whale,
saying,
those who
cling to
worthless
idols,
forsake the
grace that
could be
theirs.
But I,
I think it
says,
will look to
your temple
and proclaim
salvation
amongst
God.
And sometimes
in the middle
of our
trials,
I think we
will look
to other
things for
grace,
but that
verse reminds
us that
grace is
always available
and especially
from God.
And when
we don't
look to
God,
we forsake
the grace
that the
verse is.
It's
always
available
to us.
This
grace is
like a
treasure
where
someone
sold all
you have
to buy
the field
where you
can find
this ultimate
treasure of
Christ.
And it's
really,
it's a
treasure that
should be
more precious
to us
than all
the riches,
all the
money in our
401k account.
This grace
is ultimately
precious in
our treasure
for every
Christian to
treat it as
such.
And not
take it for
granted.
I can't take
it for granted
not when our
elder,
our past
elder,
walked away
from the
faith,
who was
baptized,
who played
the drums
in front of
us,
and now
he's gone.
That scares
me to death.
So,
that scares
me to no
end.
Lord,
we did all
these things
in your name.
John,
I think
it's so
interesting
how
things get
back to
gratitude.
It's like,
how do we
respond?
Well,
I think
it's obvious,
but you
never encounter
a brother or
sister and
they're kind
of off
the rails
and it's
easier to see
in other
people than
yourself,
of course.
you don't
hear
thankfulness,
you hear
bitterness,
maybe.
And,
it's just
so interesting
you go back
to Romans
1 and
it's
acknowledge
God as
God,
and for
us,
that means
receiving
Jesus,
that means
setting our,
it means
acknowledging
that God
is holy
and we're
not,
and he's
provided a
savior and
we receive
him and
then we
give thanks.
It's not
complicated,
it's just
hard.
It's,
it's,
and I
find it
so,
you know,
the older
I get,
the gratitude
being the
key to
a joyous
life while
we're in
the wilderness
journey
fueled by
this
undeserved
grace,
the
undeserved
favor of
God
is what
we have
to keep
pointing
each other
back to
and encouraging
each other.
And I
loved what
someone said
too,
where
every day
is a new
day to
go and
recalibrate
and go
receive,
like,
don't stay
away from
God because
you had a
terrible week
and you
did a
whole bunch
of terrible
stuff.
And it's like,
well,
maybe I'm not
even a
Christian now.
Whoa,
well,
that's how you
got in the
door in the
first place.
Grace is
still grace.
It's not like
after you've been a
Christian for five
years,
now it's the
you show plus
grace.
And there's
some mystery
there.
We can look
to scriptures
and say,
hey,
if you're
saying that
you're tasting
the grace
and there's
no evidence
in your
life,
then that
should be
a pause
time.
But it
doesn't
change that
you're saved
by grace
all the
time.
And to
me,
I find that
so encouraging
because
someone said
it,
the doors
always open
and we
have an
enemy
who
wants us
to paralyze
us and
sideline us
for going
back to
that grace
to fuel
our
submissiveness
to God
and our
thankfulness.
Go ahead,
Raul.
For me,
it's the hard
part is
when is
God doing
everything
and when
is it
monergism,
when is it
that I can't?
When exactly
do I get
my act
together under
the hospices
of the
Bible?
Lord and
my brothers
in my
church
where it's
me working
and then
I'll just
stop because
I don't want
it to be
just me,
I want
it to be
God.
But it
ends up
looking like
it's me
and God
and if
it's that
then I
can't do
this.
It's just
so confusing
to me.
My whole
Christian walk
has been
like that.
Yep.
Let's pray
about that
because I
feel that
and we
got to
close and
that could
be,
that's a
whole other
thing.
But let's
pray.
Our Father
in heaven,
we do
pray that
you would
bolster our
faith and
that Holy
Spirit,
we pray that
you would
continue to
show us
Jesus and
show us our
ongoing need
for Jesus
and help us
to repent
and turn away
from evil
and turn
away from
our self
sufficiency
and our
autonomy
and turn
to you
with open
hands and
receive
our salvation.
And Father,
we do pray
that you would
help us to
not make
peace with
our sin,
that we
would strive
to please
you with
our lives,
that we
would fight
the fight
of faith
and pray
that everyone
here would
be,
that we
would all
be encouraging
each other
towards the
finish line
and we
would run
the race
well.
And we
do also
pray,
Father,
for the,
for our
witness
to these
things.
So we
thank you
for your
grace and
we thank
you for
your undeserved
forgiveness
and favor
on us.
In Jesus'
name,
Amen.