Grace

Turn with me to the Gospel of John, chapter 1. John's Gospel, chapter 1. I was encouraged in that hymn twice over the mention of the word grace. We ended the morning session with the importance of doctrine, and Brother Brandon picked up as well on doctrine, and I want to look at the, it's a massive subject, but I just want to take some salient points about it. The doctrine of grace.

John chapter 1, and we'll just read some scattered readings, but it will be a topical message. John chapter 1 and verse 14, just for connection, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Verse 16, and of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace, for the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The book of Acts chapter 20. Actually, let's stop at Romans chapter 6 on the way there.

Actually, we'll go to Romans 6 first, then Acts 20. Romans 6. Romans 6 is telling us that we have died, and then at the end of the chapter, verse 18, being then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh, for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity, and to iniquity unto iniquity, that's their past lives, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death, but now being made free from sin and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life. So we're looking at fruits that grace bestows, righteousness, life.

Now let's go over to Acts chapter 20. This is the Apostle Paul's address to the Ephesian elders as he departs from them, Acts chapter 20. He has given them warning about a number of things as he leaves them.

He has labored with them for three years, night and day, and then verse 32. And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace. That's interesting.

He's warned them about wolves. He's warned them about the dangers to come. He's warning these men about things that he is greatly concerned about as he is departing from them, dangers to the testimony, dangers to within the oversight.

You would think he would give them a more militant response than this, wouldn't you? But he says, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. 2 Corinthians chapter 8. 2 Corinthians chapter 8. This is where I wish I was a little bit taller. I know we can't add to our height one cubit, but when you have bifocals, it's hard to see when you're this short.

But anyway, 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 9. Now in this section, just before I read this verse, chapters 8 and chapter 9, 2 Corinthians is a very autobiographical letter. It is very personal to the experiences of the Apostle Paul and what he has gone through. In this section, chapters 8 and 9, he is particularly elaborating on the subject of giving.

And in this chapter, you'll notice, just to go back just very quickly, notice verse 1, Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God, bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. Then he talks about liberality there. Then you go down to verse 4. The end of verse 4. That we would receive the gift.

That's actually the word grace. That we would receive the grace and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God.

Notice verse 6. Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also. The end of verse 7. You abound in this grace also. What is he going to lead them to as he is speaking about giving? Giving not only in a monetary fashion, not only financially, but first giving themselves to the Lord.

That's where it has to start. If there is ever going to be spiritual giving of our materials, there must be spiritual giving of ourselves. And so he brings in verse 9, one of the loftiest verses of our New Testament.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be made rich. Might be rich. Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 29.

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. Obviously the apostle is addressing our speech, our communication, how we talk to one another, how we address one another, how we communicate with one another, not only in terms of publicly before our faces of one another, but behind people's backs, what we say about them in terms of when they're not there, as well as when they are. All around.

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, of building up one another, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And then finally, Titus. Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2, verse 11.

He is already written to, he's writing to Titus to go and to establish churches, assemblies in the area, a recognition of overseers by their qualifications that are given to us in chapter 1. He is also clearly delineating the distinction between the Cretans and how they lived in that society versus what the Christians are to be and how we are to live in those societies. In verse 11 he says, For the grace of God that bringeth salvation. There are four times in our New Testament where salvation is an adjective.

This is one of the four times in terms of salvation. So he's basically, we could translate it this way, the grace of God that is salvation bringing, the salvation bringing grace of God, has appeared to all men. The word, therefore, appeared is an epiphany.

It was an epiphany. And this is the incarnation, the coming into the world of the Son of God. And that appeared unto all men.

What did the life of Jesus do? What did his presence among us do? It says, teaching us that denying, there's positive and negative, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should positively live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world, in this present age. Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Back to back advents of the Lord Jesus, his first coming into the world, his appearing, his epiphany, incarnation, his return in his second advent when there will be the appearing of the glory of the great God.

That's not the rapture, that is the revelation. And so we have these two appearings, but sandwiched in between that, he's telling them that the grace of God appeared. It manifested itself, seen in the life of the Lord Jesus.

Grace. It's a name. I know there's at least one here in the audience.

It's a description of movement and poise. We say someone is graceful or they are gracious in their movements. It's even been used as a reference to giving thanks for food.

I've heard people say, let's say grace, let's say grace. And I say, okay, say it, just grace. But it's not really giving thanks, but people will use that expression.

But in the New Testament, it is one of the greatest doctrines that we have. The grace of God. It is the basis on which God displays his love to those who believe without any restrictions or reasons coming from the recipients.

You understand that? It's free. It's unmerited. It can't be worked for.

It can't be earned. Then he is gracious unto him. The grace of God.

I think it's one of those doctrines, it's one of those terms that we seem to become unusually familiar with, but unappreciative of that we should be. We talk about the grace of God. Paul begins his letters with grace and peace to you.

And we read those epistles and we almost as by way of introduction, we say, well, that's the way he did it. That's what he did. We talk about grace in a number of ways.

But if we really appreciate what the grace of God is, I have been studying this and I have come to appreciate this. I want to pass on some things because this is not something that is wishy-washy. It's not namby-pamby.

It's not something that's very general and innocuous and, you know, it's something almost when we talk about the grace of God, it's like we can't really put a handle on it, can we? We reach for it and we appreciate it. But it's deep, brethren. It's tremendous.

It's eternal. It's eternal that in the ages to come, he will show, he will display the exceeding riches of his grace to us-ward. He will actually use us to further get glory for himself as he displays to the universe what he has done with us, through us, and all through his Son.

The grace of God. It really separates and makes a distinction between appreciation and obligation. The grace of God, if we really understood it, would bring us to the point of appreciation, of appreciating God for what he has done in an unmerited way.

There are times when we think we need to focus on a merit-based, performance-based Christianity. And we think of things in a way, but if there was appreciation in our hearts, it would be out of devotion, out of love. That's what God wants.

It would be like going to the White House for a dinner. It's becoming exceedingly hard to use illustrations about the White House. But I will just say this.

It's like, picture going to the White House for a dinner. And there it is. You now have been welcomed in.

And now the tables are loaded with food, and the building, and the presence, and all this. You have this structure, and here's the center of everything. And you have your dinner, and as you go out, you reach into your pocket, and you take a dime in your hand, and you kind of put it in the hand of the president, and you say, Hey, I really want to thank you for that dinner.

That was really good. Here's a dime. That is the equivalent of us trying to do something for God out of obligation rather than appreciation.

To actually do, to serve, to worship, to study, to learn, because we love Him because He first loved us without any reason. Without any reason. God, I say this, God had every reason not to love us, and He loves us without cause, freely.

That, my dear brethren, is the grace of God. Lewis Sperry Chaffer, if you don't have anything, get books. He wrote a six-volume systematic theology.

He wrote a book, Joel and I were talking about it during the break, Grace. It's about 347 pages, and it's still not exhausting, the subject, but it's a wonderful book. If you can get it, get it.

Lewis Sperry Chaffer said this, it is in its meaning in the New Testament, it is not unlike its meaning as employed in common speech, but for one important exception, in the Bible, what this word is often what is limitless, and it represents realities which are infinite and eternal. Infinite and eternal. In the Old Testament, there are two words that are closely intertwined, grace and mercy.

In the Old Testament, the idea of grace is, when it appears, is more of the idea of favor, to show favor, to show pity, and even at times to have supplication toward. It's often the idea of an action from a superior to an inferior who has no real claim for any gracious treatment at all. Mephibosheth is a tremendous example of it in the Old Testament, in 2 Samuel.

Ruth is another example of it in the book of Ruth. Why have I found favor in thy sight? Grace. No reason at all that Boaz should have shown favor to her.

If anything, in fact, he's the kinsman. She should have been showing favor to him, but it is the reverse, as the superior to the inferior, he shows her grace. And she responds, why have I found favor in thy sight? In the Old Testament, in social or secular contexts, it's interesting, the idea often carries the thought of, and I'm going to just go from the Old to the New, to show you a cohesiveness.

Because one thing, especially for younger men, when you study your Bible, remember this, you are reading a book that does not, listen, the Old and the New do not conflict with each other. The New complements the Old. The New builds upon the Old.

So what you have is progressive revelation. You have truth that unfolds and unfolds and unfolds and it builds upon itself from the Old Testament to the New Testament. You have that truth in headship, for example.

When you have Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 11, he goes back to the foundation of creation and headship with man and woman and how God originally created and then he builds upon that to take it to the congregation. And so there's progressive revelation. So when you go to the Old Testament and you're looking at the subject of grace and favor, it's interesting in social and secular context.

For example, Job, he's speaking with his friends and he talks about, he says, show me pity, show me pity in chapter 19. In Genesis 42, you remember that Joseph's brothers recall how he pleaded with them from the pit. He was pleading, crying out, show me favor, please.

Elijah, in relation to, remember the captain of the host in 2 Kings chapter 1. Remember there were three groups of men or so that they came to the prophet and they told him to come. And he said, man of God, come. And he said, I'm not going to come.

He says, if I'm a man of God, let fire come down from heaven on you. And of course, that was it and they were toast. That was it, right? They burned up.

And then another group comes and they're saying, finally the third group, the one man says, you know, please don't burn me up, please. And so he's asking for favor, show favor, show grace. It wasn't that he deserved judgment.

He's saying, please be kind to me. In the book of Esther, she implored the king with tears to be gracious to her. The psalmist, you go through the book of Psalms, he asks the Lord to show him favor or be gracious to him, in light of various circumstances such as loneliness, distress, even transgression.

The Lord graciously gave Jacob his children in Genesis 33. That's what we read, right? The tribes. He was gracious to him.

At times, men even use the idea of grace and supplication to God. So that you remember Moses, he begs to see the promised land. He's asking God to be gracious to him, to see that.

Solomon in his dedication of the temple. Jacob in his appeal to the angel who wrestled with him. These are all instances of grace, grace, favor, pity.

What I thought was very interesting was, you remember that in the Old Testament, individuals would often name their offspring in the hopes of the development of truth or events in their life. Right? You remember? And so it's interesting to me that in the Old Testament, there are at least 51 individuals whose names are linked with derivatives or components of the idea of grace. It was the hopes of their parents that either they would be gracious individuals or that God would show grace, favor to them.

It's a tremendous hope for us with our children, isn't it? And it's, it's theological usage. It was in relation to what men are or what they give in terms of possessions, positions, but follow me on this one. Purpose.

God showed grace in relation to His purpose. Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord. Why? Because God's going to destroy the world.

The seed is going to have to come through eventually. There's going to need preservation. Noah found grace.

It wasn't because of how he lived. Because then it would be meritorious. It was on the basis of God fulfilling His purpose through Noah.

You'll notice then Moses found grace in the eyes of Pharaoh's daughter. That's the idea. She had compassion on him in Exodus chapter 1, is it? And so, the idea there is grace.

What was going to happen? God was using a deliverer. He wanted a deliverer for His people. There's the purpose of God there.

It was the Lord who caused Joseph to find favor with the chief jailer. Why? Because he was imprisoned wrongfully? No. Because God had purposes for that man.

He's going to be Zaphnath-Penea. He's going to be the Savior of the world. He's going to deliver His people.

And the Israelites, you remember, found favor or grace with the Egyptians. There's nothing meritorious about the Israelites that Egypt should have given them favor. It was the purpose of God.

It's interesting. Grace is often independent of others' actions. Got it? Mercy is often linked with others' actions.

There's the distinction. Mercy is something that is usually withheld from someone. Judgment that is withheld.

Grace is often something that is bestowed upon someone. So that grace is not linked with our actions. Mercy is, in the showing of God, kindness in the sense, I'm not going to judge you for that.

I'm going to be merciful to you. Mercy basically gets us to ground zero. But mercy does not put anything positive into our accounts.

Mercy doesn't make deposits. Mercy doesn't give us a balance. That is for grace, if I can put it that way.

But I'll tell you this. Grace can really only be seen on the heels of mercy because God must deal with our sin. Job, right? Deliver him from going down to the pit for I have found a ransom.

But what does it say? Then he is gracious. Then he is gracious. God is gracious unto us on the basis of mercy because sin must be dealt with first.

Ephesians chapter 2. We could have read that. For by grace are you saved. Who isn't familiar with that? If you're not, well then stay for the gospel meeting.

Okay? For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast.

It tells us in Ephesians that we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies. We are blessed. That's the goodness of God.

His blessing. We are with every or all spiritual blessings. That's the greatness of God.

And that it's in the heavenlies. That's fear. The gloriousness of our God.

And why? All because of grace. All because of grace. Seated with Him in the heavenlies.

Ages to come. All of this is by grace. Grace.

Listen. This is what I would like to get through. If I can wet the appetite for people in this meeting to go home and study your Bibles and get into the subject of grace and even in this meeting appreciate it, my exercise will have been fulfilled.

Grace more than any other word. Any other single word is the expression of the sum total of all that enters into Christianity. Salvation.

Grace. Grace cannot incur debt. Grace cannot pay a debt.

Grace cannot recognize guilt. Grace cannot recognize merit. Grace cannot recognize obligation.

And grace is not lessened because of demerit. Nor is it withheld because of demerit. Grace finds its source in the heart of God.

The heart of God. Paul says to the Ephesians in that epistle of grace, if you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, we talk about the dispensations. The Bible gives us an unfolding of the program of God from creation.

Right? To the eternal state. And there are dispensations of how God deals with the human race, deals with the earth, the world at any given time. This is called the dispensation of the grace of God.

Why is that? Isn't it true that every dispensation, all of God's dealings ultimately had grace involved with them? That's true. So why is this day and age that we are in right now specifically referred to as the dispensation of the grace of God? A stewardship, if you will. How God operates.

Because God is dealing in unmerited favor to all. It is that which profoundly characterizes this age in which we are. So the next time you wish, as a believer, that you wanted to go back in the Old Testament and live in the days of Elijah, think again.

Because you're living, you and I are living in the best possible time. The dispensation of the grace of God. Now, grace makes all conformity to the will of God voluntary.

Service arises from within. From an expression of free choice. You say, where do you get that from? Well, because isn't that the example that we have? When we came to 2 Corinthians 8, we have several mentions of grace.

Grace. They first gave themselves. Then they gave what they had, their possessions.

And then it takes us to Christ Himself. How did He give Himself? Wasn't that the idea? It was voluntary. There was a willingness.

No one could make Him come. There was a love that proceeded out of His heart. There was a desire that sprung from within.

The Lord Jesus. We are to be like Him. In fact, Luke chapter 2 in verse 40, at the birth of Christ, it says this, and He grew, He waxed strong in spirit, it says, and the grace of God was upon Him.

That's tremendous. We are complete in Him. We're a new creation in Christ.

This is why, when we look at this, I just want to make a few comments on contrasts between the law and grace. Old Testament, New Testament. People of the old creation were ruined by sin.

We're a people of the new creation, and we're renewed by the Spirit. People of the old creation are entirely lost. In Adam, all die.

The people of the new creation are perfectly saved for all time because the people of the old are doomed forever. And we are forever safe in Christ. You say, are you preaching the gospel? In a way.

But I want to get to one thing I want to say about the gospel. We can, without a real appreciation of grace, without a real appreciation of the fact that what God's intention is for your life and my life now, as a believer, to display the grace of God now, can contribute to a distortion of our preaching the gospel. Now, follow me on this, especially those of you who preach the gospel.

If we constantly tell people, and we preach the gospel, and we tell people, and I've made comments about this in other places, but constantly about where are you going to be when you die? Where are you going when you die? You ever think about where you're going when you die? And we tell stories about people who die, and these tragic accidents, and people, listen, in the epistle to the Galatians, Paul is addressing that very truth, that there was a distortion of the gospel. Does he, and I challenge you, now I am not saying, and I want to be careful, I am not saying that what I just said isn't true. And it is a good question to ponder, where are you going when you die? But the emphasis on the gospel, especially when you come to the book of Acts, you come to the epistle to the Galatians.

Paul is really telling us that there are our lives, as we are part of an old, fallen creation, are incapable of doing, of keeping, of being, anything. We are absolutely incapable in ourselves to please God. And God wants to save a person so that they will be able to please Him, to live for Him, to worship Him, to be a new creature in Christ, a new creation.

That is all part of the grace of God. And when you come to that truth in Ephesians chapter 2, he tells us that we are his workmanship. Why? For by grace are you saved.

There's the preaching, we preach that verse, right? Grace are you saved through faith, not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Why? Because you can't do those works.

You can't do a thing for God. That's the whole point. You cannot work.

You cannot do. You cannot be. What we are in ourselves at this moment, in terms of lost individuals, is absolutely incapable, rebellious, ungodly, dead.

Wicked works producing. No works able. So what does salvation do? What does the grace of God that comes do? We are his workmanship.

Created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Is that in heaven? When you die? That's now. That's the whole point.

And we need to tell sinners that. That's what God wants them to know. So I want to look at four things very quickly.

Grace and growing. Just going to move through these now. Now that I've given you a really big porch, I'm just going to point out four things.

We read in Titus chapter 2 about the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. And it teaches us. It teaches us several things here.

We cannot grow apart from grace. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared teaching us. Grace is what fuels your sanctification.

You got that? Grace is what fuels your sanctification. God's desire is for your sanctification in this life. For you to be set apart in your devotion, in your pleasing him.

Set apart from a world that cannot please him. Now by the grace of God you can please him. Brother Brandon was telling us about things added to the pattern.

Well if you don't know what the pattern is, you'll add a lot of things without any problem. So if you don't know how to live for God, how do you find out? We hear about the grace of God. What does that produce? Paul is telling us to Titus.

The grace of God has appeared to all men teaching us. We grow from what we are, or we learn from what we are taught. We learn from what we are taught.

Then what we learn we do. You can't do rightly until you learn. So we need to be taught.

That is the importance of right teaching. You will not behave until you believe properly. Belief and behavior are intimately intertwined.

So Paul in Titus is telling him when you go to Titus, when you go to Crete, Titus, you remember to teach them these things. That the grace of God has appeared to all men and it's teaching us. So it's an epiphany.

It's appeared. The salvation bringing God. And then it's teaching us.

That's an interesting word. That's not the normal word for teaching. That's not the idea of, there's a Greek word, didaskalo, and that has the idea of to teach.

But this is the idea of to teach children. Almost the idea of channeling them in their behavior, young children, so that they will walk rightly, so that they will do the right things as taught by the parent. So he says, his teaching here are the things being taught.

Then he says, you've got positive and negative. What we should not do. Ungodliness and worldly lusts.

Have you been taught that? Where do you get that teaching from? The grace of God. Look at the life of the Lord Jesus. The grace of God was upon Him.

The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared. The epiphany of Christ coming into the world. His life teaches us.

We are to be like Him. How do you know what He's like? Read about Him in His word. And so he says, this teaching, what we should not be, ungodly, worldly lusts.

What we should be, soberly, righteously, godly. Soberly has the idea of grace of God teaches us to have a sound mind. Listen, if there's any day in which we need a sound mind, it's today.

We are being bombarded by teaching, by perversion, by twists of logic and thinking and acceptability of alternatives and differences and deviations. Soberness. A sound mind.

How do you get that? From the word of God. Looking at the life of the Lord Jesus. Study of the scriptures.

A sound mind. It literally means to save the mind. Our minds need saving.

Some more than others. Righteously, without prejudice, without partiality. That's the idea there.

To be righteous, godly, doing well the idea and being devout, being well-pleasing to God. I touched on the speech. I'll just give you three verses because our speech is very important.

The grace of God teaches us to have right speech. Colossians 4, 6 says, Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt. Gracious words seasoned with salt? What does salt do? Well, it tastes good.

It adds flavor, right? It also preserves so that our speech should be flavorful. Some people have colorful speech. I don't know about flavorful, but, okay, it should be a preservative.

It can be the means. The effects of our words to others can destroy or build up. James tells us that.

So I want to challenge everyone here, myself included. How's your speech? What are the things you talk about all the time? How about are there substitute words in your vocabulary that you throw out instead of using other words? Or is there someone here and you use bad words? You use wrong words. That shouldn't even be.

But what about the positive effect of good words? Words that are seasoned with salt, gracious words to build up, to establish, to edify. How often do believers here talk to one another about the Word of God? You can only do that in the measure that you're in the Word of God. Proverbs 16.24, gracious words.

Proverbs 16.24, gracious words are like a honeycomb. Sweet to the soul, healing to the bones. Who at different times doesn't need healing? We all do.

How can we do that effectively? Someone's down. Someone's depressed. I use that word guardedly.

Someone is going through difficulties. They need healing. What do you do? Come alongside them.

Give them encouragement from the Word of God. Give them something that you've got that you can share with them. That's edifying.

That's building up. Ephesians 4.29, we read that. That it may minister grace to the hearers.

Grace in our growing. Let me move on. Grace in our groans.

2 Corinthians 12, I didn't read it, but maybe we can just go there for a few moments, just very quickly. 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Sorry.

2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 2. I knew a man in Christ about fourteen years ago, whether in the body I cannot tell, whether out of the body I cannot tell. God knoweth such a one caught up to the third heaven, and I knew such a man, whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell, God knoweth, how that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one will I glory, and of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.

For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool, but I will say the truth, but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. So here he is, the messenger of Satan, coming against the apostle Paul, buffeting him, beating him.

We're not sure exactly what it was. Some have conjectured it was his eyesight. Some have conjectured it was something having to do with the assemblies that he had planted.

We're just not sure. But whatever it was, it was satanic, it was against him, it was difficult, it had buffeted him. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me, and he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect, if you'll allow me to add, in your weakness.

Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. My grace is sufficient. Grace is always enough, no matter what the trial, no matter what the task, no matter what the test.

Grace was more than enough for our sin. Where sin did abound, grace did much more abound. And brethren, that does not mean that where we had so many sins that God had so much grace and it just canceled it out.

That's not what that means. We had someone one time, we were having a gospel meeting back in Canada, and there was a man that came and he had a Reformed background, Calvinistic background. And I remember he was speaking on the platform, and he said, God knows exactly how many sins that you've done, and how many sins in the whole world that everyone will commit.

And he says, and the death of Christ cancels out all those sins. The death of Christ for all those sins. He says, equal measure for what Christ did for those sins.

I looked over at one of the elders and I said to him, did you hear that? So he said, yeah, I heard it. I says, well, maybe you should speak to him. He said, yeah, that's a good idea.

So he says, you come with me though as a witness. So I said, yeah, okay, sure. So we went to the door and we went up to him and shook his hand and my friend, one of the elders there, he turned to me and he says, Frank has something to say to you.

So I said, thanks a lot. So I said, listen, it's not that one for one cancellation. Where sin did abound, grace did much more abound.

It will always be enough. There will never be a bottom. There will never be a top.

There will never be sides. That's exactly what God is saying to Paul here. My grace will always be enough.

So let me say, I do not know you in my audience, all of you. I know some of you, most of you. I don't know what you're going through and you don't know what I'm going through.

But the grace of God, God says, my grace. It's wonderful when Christians are gracious to one another. But I'll tell you what, God says, my grace is sufficient for thee.

And it's interesting that the man who begins so many of his letters with grace be unto you. Now this is not the grace of salvation. That's grace for daily Christian living, is the man now who finds himself in need of it.

And God says, my grace is sufficient for you. And you know why? Because it's not merely going through it now. Now get this, because this is important.

We heard a little bit about trials this morning. It's not a matter of going through it and enduring it and going, whew, you know, I made it out of that one. Wow.

Phew, it's done. I'm glad. No, it's the idea that the understanding, the appreciation of the grace of God in my situation and the availability of it, the sufficiency of it will mature me and make me what God wants me to be.

You see where grace is coming in? This is not some nebulous thing just out there. This is personal. This is real.

This is effectual. The grace of God. It makes us greater.

It makes us better. It makes us more Christ-like. The Lord Jesus defined and demonstrated grace.

That's why he gives the Beatitudes. Blessed, blessed, blessed, right? F.W. Borum in his book is another wonderful book. If you can get it, it's called The Heavenly Octave.

Eight Beatitudes. The blessednesses. Matthew chapter 5, Sermon on the Mount.

But what does the Lord Jesus say? Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Blessed are the mourners, they who mourn. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are those who are persecuted.

What is he saying? He's saying that the value system that the world has is very different than the value system that God has. And God is going to give you, has given you, the grace so that you will become effective for him. You will become what he wants you to be.

Not what the world wants you to be. The world knows nothing. Mourning? Peacemakers? Hunger and thirst after righteousness? Poor in spirit? Meek? I'm not going to let you walk on me.

I'm not going to let you. I've got my rights. The value system of God is fueled by the grace of God.

Grace and guarding. Acts chapter 20. Paul is leaving these men and he says, I commend you to God, to the word of his grace.

The only thing that is on level with truth being unguarded is truth being guarded without grace. I'm going to say that again. The only thing that is on level, and it's not a good level, with truth being unguarded is truth being guarded without grace.

And at times truth is guarded without grace. Paul's warning to these elders this day as he stands on the banks of the Mediterranean is, I commend you to God in the word of his grace. Why? Because there were dangers of not holding it in such a way that the results could be where it could be used by the enemy.

Where it could become self-destructive. Where it could be harmful to the sheep themselves. Legalism.

Harshness. Cruelty. Paul sums up and he's telling them, you men are shepherds.

He says, I am commending you. After I'm giving you these warnings, I am commending you to the word of his grace. You know what is interesting? That very assembly in Revelation 2 did exactly just that.

They left their first love. The Lord says, you've done this, you've done this, you've done this. But I have against you.

Take out the word somewhat. It's not in the original. He wasn't lessening the thud of what he was saying.

He didn't say, I have somewhat against you. He says in Revelation 2, I have against you. You have left your first love.

You are keeping these truths. Trying to keep them without the recognition that they are my truths. That they revolve and relate to me.

The grace of God. The law came by Moses. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Biblical truth must move in the environment of grace. And vice versa. Grace must move in the environment of biblical truth.

You can't have one without the other and carry it out spiritually. Love rejoices in the truth. And so he commends them to the word of his grace.

And if we do not do that, brethren, I issue a warning. We can go from the affectionate to merely the academic. We can go from what should be a proper course to carrying a club.

We can go from the heartfelt to the hollow. In effect, we can be holding onto a carcass. I choose my words carefully.

Grace and giving. 2 Corinthians 8, verse 9. He holds out the example of the Lord Jesus as the great example. I will end with this.

We've already gone over time. He is holding Christ as the supreme example. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. He's giving them the principle of giving. Giving whatever without the thought of getting back.

There's no ulterior motive. Some give with the idea of getting. Some give with the idea of actually buying.

That's not giving. That's not biblical giving. That's making people debtors.

That's trying to gain position. This is giving freely without thought. Without the idea of remuneration.

Without the idea of payback. There's the principle of giving. There's the priority of giving.

It was told to us, the first fruits in the Old Testament. This is a priority to give. The person of giving.

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We should always have a reputation for being fair. In our business dealings.

In our dealings with one another. Giving of yourself has a much wider sphere than simply giving money. Giving financially.

It's giving of yourself. It's sacrifice. Giving is sacrificial.

And Christians should always have a reputation for being fair. But you know what they should have more of a reputation of? Playing favorites. Yeah.

I knew that'd get your attention a little bit. The problem is this. Playing favorites with everyone else but ourselves.

That's what the Lord Jesus did. Others. Others.

Others. Five hundred, I'll close with this illustration, five hundred thousand tons of water rush over Niagara Falls each minute. Some of you have seen it.

Every time I go there and look at it, I stand there in awe. Five hundred thousand tons a minute. But on March 29th, 1948, Niagara Falls stopped.

People living within the sound of it were awakened by the overwhelming silence of it. They actually, some of them believed the world was ending. Thirty hours later, the rush of water resumed.

What had happened? What stopped it? Heavy winds set the ice fields of Lake Erie in motion. And what had happened was tons of ice had actually jammed the Niagara River at the entrance near Buffalo. It stopped the flow of the river until the ice shifted again.

The flow of God's grace in our lives can be blocked by cold indifference, by frozen dispositions, cold attitudes, a lack of love and appreciation for the wonderful unlimited supply and truth of the grace of God. God help us. God help us.

In our growth. In our groanings. In our guarding.

In our giving. And always keep before us that we know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.