By The Amazing Grace of God
1 Corinthians 15:1-14; Ephesians 4:7; Psalms 84:11
Well today I’m not really going to preach to you. God let me know very clear that I was not to preach. I just want to talk to you about some things I’ve been thinking about.
I’ve been thinking about grace all week long. You’ve probably already picked that up from the songs and scriptures in today’s service. The whole service is a message to us about the grace of God. And I’m defining the grace of God as that undeserved free gift of love that he gives us in our life. This week, as always has been a week full of encounters with God’s grace. It seems that I’ve spent more time than usual though, on the phone and in face-to-face conversation. But after every single phone conversation, every single meeting over lunch or breakfast, every single contact and visit that I have had this week, I have reflected on and recognized the grace of God at work.
And as I lived with, thought about, talked about, wrote about, and read about grace this week, I was continually brought to tears. On one occasion this week, after a series of phone calls and visits, I found myself on my face in my office praying and thanking God for his grace, and pleading for his continued mercy in my life. As I look back over my life, I see God’s grace at work in my life in such ways that I cannot describe to you even how it is I am standing before you today. I am quite serious when I say I do not in any way deserve to be your pastor – or anyone’s pastor. I get quite uncomfortable when people praise me for what I do, knowing that it is only by the grace of God that I am who I am! It would help me this morning if someone would just say out loud, “By the grace of God, pastor!”
By the grace of God, indeed!!
As I look back on my life, I recognize what the old-timers used to call prevenient grace – that amazing grace of God that goes before, protecting from harm and paving the way to make it possible for us to accept the saving grace of God, which I found when quite young, and found again upon returning from a period of time when I had turned away from that grace. (It was after that time of being away and then returning that I realized I had been frustrating the grace of God, as Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20-2, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ has died in vain.)
It was amazing and prevenient grace that kept me from harm at the age of 1 ½ from the vehicles whizzing past me as I wandered out into the middle of a busy intersection. It was prevenient grace that kept me from danger from the pedophile that lived on our street and from the one that tried to pick me up while walking to school in the 3rd grade in Houston, Texas.
God’s grace went before and allowed me to come to him. I see many, many occasions when God spared my life, changed the direction I was headed by a conversation, by illness, by depression, by the love of my wife and family and were it not for the grace of God, I could not say with the Apostle Paul, “By the grace of God, I am what I am!”
I’ve learned a couple of things about amazing grace – I’ve learned that every time the grace of God is active, the Holy Spirit is present. On each occasion this week, as the grace of God has become evident, I look back and see that the precious Holy Spirit has been physically present and active. God’s grace is applied in our life by the present workings of the Spirit.
I’ve learned that the amazing grace of God is not to be understood as a scientific fact or legal description. It is not to be understood as a mere fact of knowledge – it is to be understood through a relational experience. It is not something we talk about and teach about without living in it. And that is the reason I’m not preaching today. You don’t need more knowledge. You don’t need more facts. You don’t need more teaching – even about the Bible. You need to know this grace through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Those of you under the sound of my voice today need to come to know Christ, not know more about Christ!
I asked Bob C to share some of his testimony – especially as it relates to the grace of God in relationship. Before he came to the grace of God, Bob says, “I knew there was a God - however; I did not know that I had to have a personal relationship with CHRIST. It was only after I found Jesus Christ that I found new purpose and meaning in life. I went to church as a boy once in a while at my mothers request but, it wasn’t until I met (my wife) that I started to go to church. After a time of hearing the word of God I realized my life was misdirected. I accepted Jesus at the age of 25. It was my pastor of the (Christian Missionary Alliance) church of Grove City, PA who led me to Christ. I have never been the same since that time. My purpose in life now is to embrace my salvation and serve him the best I can. Jesus gives me new hope. He has guided me through my work life and my church life. I believe the thing that helped me most was being involved in the church. I started teaching a teenage boys class shortly after I was saved. I’m still teaching in a great Sunday school class, with God’s help. Before teaching I couldn’t get up and speak in front of anyone. However, If we are willing he is able to help us do what we think is impossible. GOD IS GREAT - SERVE HIM - HE WILL REWARD YOU WITH SUCCESS.”
Isn’t that great? By the grace of God, Bob is who he is today.
I’ll have to be honest – I have actually asked the question – this week and other times in my life, “What’s so amazing about grace?” And what I’ve come to discover is that the “A” (amazing) factor in grace is the resurrection. It is the reason grace is so amazing. It is the power behind God’s grace. It is what makes Paul’s urging to Timothy so hard to ignore as he commands in 2 Timothy 2:1, “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” How can you be strong without the power of the resurrection? How could John conclude the Revelation of Jesus Christ with the words, “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all” except for the resurrection? How is it even possible for that grace to be with us all without the power of the resurrection?
Susan B. has been working on a project recently at my urging – the project of writing down her testimony. She gave me permission to share some of her testimony about that amazing power of the resurrection in the grace of God. Susan writes, “ _______________
_______________________________”
Isn’t that great? By the grace of God, Susan is who she is today.
You know, I am somewhat haunted by the words Paul used in 1 Corinthians 15:10 where he said, “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain…” because I understand that all it would take for that great and free gift of grace to be in vain, to become of no effect in my life, is for me to chose to ignore it, and live outside of it. Has the grace of God been given to you in vain?
Oh, but I don’t think I’ve been given what you’ve been given, pastor! Well – I was afraid you’d say that! But seriously, according to Ephesians 4:7, we have all been given the same grace. Listen, “Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift of grace.” And yes, we could chose to live outside that grace, and chose to not have a relationship with Jesus, and chose to ignore the gift. In fact, I think some of you are doing that very thing. You need to know you are in a dangerous place if you are living outside the saving grace of God. God’s grace has not been given so that it would be of no effect in our life.
Mike F. shares his story about accepting the grace of God… “I was a college student with a strong religious background. In general I was "happy" and "successful", but I was really searching for meaning in life and a way to have peace with my own sense of never living up to what I knew I should be. I searched for the answers in "popularity", the typical exploits of college students, but also several spiritual sources (from reading the Bible to meditation and yoga).”
“In college I met some Christians who presented the basic story of the gospel -- I was interested but felt that while tried to find God, I continually fell short and was not growing close to Him. We talked many times about this and they challenged me to invite Jesus into my heart -- which I had no objection by this time. There was no immediate lightening bolt, though.”
“Weeks later, I was walking across campus through a puddle-filled soccer field, and it suddenly hit me that I was assured of a relationship with God now and forever - regardless of my ability to live up to the perfect standards of God. I literally was jumping up and down and praising God as I walked across that field (and I am sure that several of my fellow students thought I was nuts).”
“Since then, there have been two major decisions: first I came to a place of realizing that to serve Jesus meant to follow him 100% with nothing held back -- of course that doesn’t always work out in practice, but the decision has been made and each day is an exercise of living out that decision. The second decision was to fully accept God’s grace and His plan to bring blessing into my life rather than the disaster I deserve… There are so many things that God has done, but if I had to pick one I would say that experiencing the presence of God is the single greatest gift -- it makes life (which can be painful) a joy.”
Isn’t that a wonderful story? By the grace of God, Mike is who he is today – because he learned to accept and live in the grace of God.
My desire as your pastor is that you come to know Christ – as he is. I do not care if you never learn anything more about him UNTIL you come to know him. Because I know when you come to know him, then you will have a desire to know more about him. And if you do know him today, my desire is that you introduce others to him before you try to teach them about him.
You see, my prayer is this - that you would “…grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever.” 2 Peter 3:17-18
Now, may “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Revelation 22:21
