Sermon for August 23, 2009
Sermon Series: Sermons about Grace:
Sermon #1: Saving Grace:
Scripture Ref: Psalm 145: 8
‘The Lord is gracious & full of compassion, slow to anger & of great mercy.’
Introduction:
Complete these common American phrases for me.
• If it sounds too good to be true…it is.
• There’s no such thing as a free ...lunch.
• There is no gain without …pain.
• God helps those who …help themselves.
Everything about the American way of life TEACHES US that you get what you EARN in life & that NOTHING is ABSOLUTELY FREE.
The PROBLEM with that WAY of THINKING is that GOD DOESN’T OPERATE that way.
It makes it DIFFICULT for us to RELATE to GOD because HE DOESN’T FOLLOW THOSE RULES.
GOD’S WAYS are so MUCH DIFFERENT from ANY OTHER WAYS we’ve known.
The PROBLEM is found in our text this morning.
Psalm 145:8 ‘The Lord is gracious & full of compassion, slow to anger & of great mercy.’
Circle that word GRACIOUS:
The writer proclaimed, ‘God is a gracious God.’
That means that GOD LOVES to BE GRACIOUS to us.
GOD LOVES to BLESS PEOPLE who DO NOT DESERVE to BE BLESSED.
That’s GOD’S NATURE.
Aren’t we THANKFUL that HE is that way?
I’m SO GLAD that the LORD BLESSES PEOPLE who DON’T DESRVE to be BLESSED.
If BLESSINGS were given out BY MERIT, then I wonder WHAT OUR LIVES WOULD BE LIKE this morning.
I’m so THANKFUL for JESUS CHRIST this morning, how about you?
But to UNDERSTAND the CHRISTIAN LIFE, then we have to UNDERSTAND GRACE.
GRACE is the HEART of our FAITH.
GRACE is the HEART of our RELATIONSHIP with GOD.
GRACE is the FOUNDATION of our EXPERIENCE with GOD & if you REMOVE GRACE we have NOTHING left to STAND UPON.
What is GRACE?
There’s no SINGLE DEFINATION:
• GRACE is GOD’S LOVE in ACTION:
• GRACE is GOD GIVING us WHAT we NEED & NOT WHAT we DESERVE.
• GRACE is the FACE GOD WEARS when HE LOOKS at our FAILURES.
I believe I can say without EXCEPTION; there is not ANYONE of us who GOD HAS NOT BEEN GRACIOUS unto.
The writer of our TEXT SCRIPTURE stated that GOD is BOTH GRACIOUS & MERICFUL.
<>MERCY is when GOD DOESN’T GIVE US WHAT WE DESERVE. PUNISHMENT
<>GRACE is when GOD GIVES US WHAT WE DON’T DESERVE. BLESSINGS
There are many RELATIONSHIPS of GRACE.
This morning I want us to LOOK AT the SAVING GRACE of GOD.
The SAVING GRACE of GOD:
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EVERY PERSON that is SAVED is SAVED by the GRACE of GOD. There are NO EXCEPTIONS.
Now we probably KNOW THAT but the QUESTION is, Do we ACT like it?
Many CHRISTIANS spend a LOT of TIME & EFFORT ACTING as if it was THEIR WORKS that SAVED them.
I need to make it CLEAR this morning that I am NOT REFERRING to HOW we LIVE our LIVES AFTER we become SAVED. WORKS are very much a PART of the SAVED LIFE.
WHAT I AM REFERRING to is WHAT it REQUIRES for GOD to SAVE us.
There are NOT ENOUGH WORKS we could EVER DO that would be SUFFICENT.
We could LABOR until our HANDS were RAW & BLEEDING & yet it would still NOT BE ENOUGH.
The CHRISTIAN’S LIFE is to be FILLED with GOOD WORKS but those GOOD WORKS are NOT WHAT SAVES us.
We CANNOT by WORKS become PERFECT ENOUGH to PLEASE GOD.
We CANNOT EARN the APPROVAL of GOD.
This morning I want us to look at 5 POINTS about the SAVING GRACE of GOD & I want to use each of the 5 LETTERS that spell GRACE for a point.
It’s an AROSTIC.
Before I begin, I read a story a few days ago of a professor at YALE UNIVERSITY, who on the 1st day of class talked to the class about the DESCRIPTION of a YALE STUDENT. He made 4 POINTS using the letters of YALE for each point.
For example:
Y stood for YOUTH.
A stood for ADVENTUROUS
L stood for LOYALTY & lastly
E stood for ENTHUSIACTIC.
Even though there were only 4POINTS, the professor talked for over 2 hours.As the bell rang dismissing the class, the professor asked the young man sitting in the 1st row. ‘Son, how did you like my lecture today?’
The student replied: It made me thankful I did not attend the Massachusetts’s School of Technology.
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1: The Letter G Stands for:
GOD’S GIFT TO US:
Romans 3:24 ‘Being justified freely by HIS GRACE through the redemption that is in CHRIST JESUS.’
GRACE is a FREE GIFT from GOD.
Many people think they can EARN or WORK their way into HEAVEN. They seem to think all they have to do is BE GOOD ENOUGH & then the LORD will say, “Well done, thy good & faithful servant.’
So many people think that just by BEING GOOD that is ALL that is REQUIRED.
WE CANNOT BE GOOD ENOUGH.
There was only ONE PERFECT & TOTALLY GOOD PERSON & that was JESUS CHRIST.
GOOD DEEDS are NOT ENOUGH.
Some people think that IF there are MORE GOOD DEEDS than there are BAD DEEDS then they will go to HEAVEN.
They think their ETERNITY is DETERMINED by WHICH STACK is the HIGHEST, GOOD DEEDS or BAD DEEDS.
Then some people think they can BUY THEIR WAY into HEAVEN.
There is NOT ENOUGH WEALTH in the ENTIRE WORLD that would BUY US ETERNAL LIFE:
According to FIGURES that were RELEASED August 17, 2009 about BILL GATES, he is the richest man in the world once again in 2009. Warren Buffet is the 2nd richest man in the world.
• He has an estimated wealth of over 40 billion dollars.
• That is over $184. For every person in the United States.
• That is $3.86 to every person on the planet.
• That equates to about 1 million dollars per hour or $300 per second.
• He has earned since his birth $32.31 per heartbeat.
• It would have paid Michael Jordon’s salary for 1,394 years.
• •He could afford to fly from Seattle Washington to Paris France 45,258, 621 times.
• He could buy at McDonald’s over 9,150, 326, 797 happy meals.
• If he laid 1$ bills in a row it would stretch 3.8 million miles which would be to the moon & back 8 times.
• If he were a country he would be ranked #17 in wealth.
Not bad for someone who dropped out of college.
Yet as extremely wealthy as Bill Gates is, his wealth could not purchase the GRACE of GOD.
SALVATION is ABSOLUTELY, 100% FREE!
Circle the word FREE:
SALVATION is GOD’S GIFT to us.
You don’t WORK for a GIFT.
You don’t BUY a GIFT.
There is the GREAT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHRISTIANTY & OTHER RELIGIONS.
There is always 1 WORD that DESCRIBES CULTS or other RELIGIONS.
The WORD is “DO.”
But in CHRISTIANITY the WORD is “DONE.”
The SALVATION of the LORD is FREE, FREE, FREE INDEED!
JESUS has already DONE ALL that NEEDS to be DONE. NOTHING ELSE needs to be ADDED. When JESUS said on the CROSS: “It is finished.”
HE did NOT mean HE was FINISHED. No, the LORD MEANT that HIS WORK on EARTH was FINISHED. The Blood SACRIFICE had been PAID.
John 3:16 ‘For GOD so loved the world, HE gave HIS only SON, that whosoever believes in HIM< should NOT PERISH but have EVERLASTING LIFE.
#2: The Letter R stands for:– RECEIVED BY FAITH:
God’s GIFT is RECEIVED by FAITH.
Ephesians 2:8-9 ‘For by GRACE are ye SAVED through FAITH, & that not of yourselves, it is the GIFT of GOD. Not of works lest any man should boast,’
FAITH is the KEY that unlocks the door to heaven.
It is a GIFT but we have to RECEIVE it by FAITH.
If I have a GIFT for you & I say, “Here’s your GIFT. It’s $100, Come & get it.”
That $100 will just sit there UNTIL you decide to come & RECEIVE it.
You have to have FAITH that I am going to GIVE you the $100.
PAUL says because SALVATION is a GIFT no one has the RIGHT to BOAST or to BRAG about WHAT they have done to RECEIVE IT.
If we could WORK OUR WAY into HEAVEN, think how MISERABLE it would be in HEAVEN.
Everybody would be BRAGGING by HOW they got there.
We’d be BRAGGING about WHAT GREAT PEOPLE we were on earth.
GOD says, “It is a GRACE GIFT, our SALVATION.
I just give you FORGIVENESS FREE. I give you HEAVEN FREE.’
So WHAT do you do with a GIFT?
We CANNOT BRAG about it. We CAN BRAG about the GIVER. But all we can DO with the GIFT is to RECEIVE IT & be GRATEFUL for it.’
Romans 4:16 ‘Therefore it is of faith, that it might be of grace, to the ends the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.’
SALVATION is not based on our PERFORMANCES. It is based on GOD’S PROMISE.
It is not based on our GOODNESS. It is based on GOD’S GRACE.
We’re getting to heaven NOT BASED on our MERITS but on GOD’S MERCY.
That’s WHY HE gets ALL the GLORY & ALL the CREDIT.
There’s NOTHING for us to do. It’s a TOTALLY FREE GIFT that is RECEIVED by FAITH.
The BIBLE is filled with STORIES that illustrate the PRINCIPLE of GRACE.
One of my favorites is found in the Old Testament, II Samuel chapter 9.
There is a young crippled boy named MEPHIBOSHETH.
How would you like to be called that name? All your friends call you “FIBBY” for short.
MEPHIBOSHETH was the son of JOHNATHAN & the grandson of KING SAUL.
When SAUL was KING he was very jealous of young DAVID & he tried to have him killed for a long time. But SAUL’S son, JOHNATAHN, & DAVID were the closest of friends.
When DAVID became KING of ISRAEL all of SAUL’S FAMILY thought he would have them KILLED.
One day DAVID sends for MEPHIBOSHETH. When he was a baby the nurse dropped him & now he was a cripple for the rest of his life.
You can imagine the FEAR that must have went through MEPHIBOSHETH when he arrived at the palace.
But when he met the KING, DAVID said to him:
‘Because of your father, JOHNATHAN, I want to show you KINDNESS. You shall set your feet around my table & all I have is yours for as long as you live.’
Now that’s GRACE.
The BIBLE says that GOD comes to us when we too are CRIPPLED & BROKEN. GOD brings us into HIS FAMILY & we become HIS CHILDREN, sitting around HIS TABLE. We’re TREATED like ROYALTY. It’s all because of HIS GRACE. We don’t DESERVE any of it.
REMEMBER the STORY JESUS told of the PRODIGAL SON?
A man had TWO SONS.
The youngest of the sons got anxious & approached his father & said: “Give me my portion of my inheritance now.’
So the father gave the son his part of his inheritance & the young boy split town.
He went over into a far land & started parting his life & his money away. Life was one big party.
He enjoyed a life of wine, women & song. & as long as he had money he had friends.
But one day his money ran out & so did his friends.
Stranded in a far land with no money & no friends.
He has hit bottom spiritually, morally & financially.
He ended up feeding the pigs which was as low as a Jewish young man could go.
He became so hungry he thought about eating the stuff he fed the pigs.
One day in the midst of his mess, the younger brother said to himself: “What am I doing here. The servants in my father’s house fare much better than this.
I’ll just return to my father &tell him that I have sinned & am no more worthy to be called his son & ask him to take me in as one of his hired servants.
& that’s what he did.
Before he arrives home the father saw him coming from a long way off.
He runs to embrace the prodigal son & the son goes through his rehearsed confession. “Father, I have sinned against you & I am no more worthy to be called your son. Could I please be one of your hired servants.’
But the father reacted not with vengeance but with loving grace, something the son never expected.
The father gave the orders. ‘Kill the fatted calf. We’re going to have a welcome home party for my son who has returned. & go get my robe & my ring & put them upon him. ‘
Now the boy didn’t deserve grace , he deserved at the very least punishment. But that’s not what he received.
That is a beautiful picture of the Grace of God & it is RECEIVED by FAITH.
It is UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
The 3rd letter is A & it stands for: AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE:
God doesn’t play favorites.
Regardless of our BACKGROUND, or of the SINS we have been involved in, GRACE is AVAILABLE to EVERYONE.
Romans 4:16 ‘Therefore it is of faith, that it might be of grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all.’
Those people who lived under the law during Abraham’s time of course were the Jewish people.
They were known as GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE.
GOD was GRACIOUS unto the JEWISH PEOPLE & HE will ALWAYS BE GRACIOUS to them.
But now we LIVE TODAY in the NEW TESTAMENT DISPENSATION.
JESUS came to the JEWISH PEOPLE but sadly they REJECTED HIM & because of their REJECTION, GRACE was EXTENDED to EVERYONE.
EVERYONE. Circle that word. EVERYONE.
Romans10:13 ‘For whosoever (everyone) shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved.’
There are no specific quotas in heaven. Example 144,000
Sorry, you cannot come into heaven, your # 144,001.
It’s NOT what we have done in the PAST that DETERMINES whether GOD is GRACIOUS or not.
If you committed 1 of the TOP 10SINS then you CANNOT BE SAVED.
It matters NOT to GOD!
Neither is GOD LIMITED to certain DENOMINATIONS.
You may be a BAPTIST, or a METHODIST, or a CHURCH of CHRIST, or a CHURCH of CHRIST or a LUTHERN or a CHURCH of GOD or WHATEVER the case may be. We don’t have a MONOPOLY on GRACE. GOD’S GRACE is to ALL that will do the following things:
• CONFESS to GOD. I John 1:9 ‘If we CONFESS our SIN, HE is faithful & just to FORGIVE our SIN & to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• REPENT, involves CONFESSING but also includes TURNING AWAY from SIN, doing a 360 turn
II Peter 3:9 ‘It is not GOD’S WILL that ANY should perish, but that ALL should come to REPENTANCE
The letter C stands for: GRACE COMES THROUGH CHRIST:
John 1:17 ‘For the law was given by Moses, but GRACE & TRUTH came by JESUS CHRIST.’
Why is CHRIST the ONLY WAY we can be SAVED?
Why is CHRIST the ONLY WAY to HEAVEN?
Why not BUDDA or somebody else? Why does it have to be through JESUS CHRIST?
Because JESUS PAID the PRICE for our ADMISSION into HEAVEN.
Nobody else has done that for us.
It COST SOMETHING for our SALVATION:
JESUS SUFFERED & then DIED on a CROSS so that a SACRIFICE, PERFECT & WITHOUT SPOT could be offered for our sins.
JESUS paid for our sins.
GRACE is FREE but it by all means is not CHEAP!
GRACE puts us on the ROAD, the STRAIGHT & NARROW WAY.
& WHEN we get off track it is GRACE that RESTORES us once & puts us back on track again.
Romans 5:15 ‘But now as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one (ADAM), much more the GRACE of GOD, & the gift by GRACE, which is by one man, JESUS CHRIST, has abounded unto many.’
In the BIBLE the FAVORITE DESCRIPTION for someone who has ACCEPTED GOD’S GRACE, for someone who is SAVED, is this term: “IN CHRIST” & it is used over 120 TIMES in the New Testament. It refers to someone who has RECEIVED SALVATION through JESUS CHRIST.
ILLUSTRATION:
Let’s say this BULLETIN is our life. The BIBLE represents JESUS CHRIST.
In MY LIFE there are a lot of things we have done wrong. These are SINS that disqualify us from heaven. No unclean thing shall enter into heaven. There are some things there that we are terribly ashamed of & some things that no one knows but GOD & ourselves. There are things we wish we could do over again. There are words we have spoken. There are thoughts we have thought. There are been actions that have been hateful toward others. There have been deeds that have broken the heart of GOD. & the more we look at this life, then more convinced we become that there is no way we can get into heaven. We are bound for an eternal hell.
But according to the BIBLE, JESUS CHRIST takes OUR LIFE with all of its many scars & messes we have made, with all the taters of life, & with all the horrible things we have done & when we come to JESUS asking for HIS FORGIVENESS & DIVINE RESTORATION, THEN GOD puts us IN JESUS CHRIST.
Now we have a TICKET into HEAVEN.
Not on any of our merits or deeds but in JESUS’ MERITS & DEEDS.
JESUS did for us what we could not do for ourselves.
GOD looks at us with EYES of GRACE & rather than seeing OUR SIN FILLED LIVES HE rather see the PERFECTION of JESUS CHRIST.
WE ARE IN CHRIST.
Galatians 2:21 ‘Do not frustrate the GRACE of GOD as meaningless. For if we could be saved by keeping the law, {by doing good deeds} then there was no need for CHRIST to die.’
If we could be SAVED & get into HEAVEN through our good deeds & merits then JESUS dying on the CROSS was a TOTAL WASTE.
We must have the HELP of GOD. We must have the GRACE of GOD or we are ETERNALLY DOOMED.
If there had been ANY OTHER WAY don’t you know that GOD would have found it. But there was NO OTHER WAY.
It is ONLY THROUGH CHRIST & HIS CROSS.
How can we ever read the story of the cross or sing a song about the cross & not be touched?
The letter E stands for IT IS EXTENDED THROUGHOUT ALL ETERNITY:
Romans 6:23 ‘For the wages of sin is death but the gift of GOD is eternal life through JESUS CHRIST our LORD.’
Circle the words: eternal life
The results of GOD’S GRACE doesn’t END here in this life but it goes on & on & on & on, forever, ETERNALLY.
GOD saves the BEST for LAST & the BEST is yet to come.
It gets sweeter & sweeter as the days go by.
Every day with JESUS is sweeter than the day before.
The BIBLE says that the FREE GIFT of GOD is ETERNAL LIFE through JESUS CHRIST our LORD.’
Have you ever thought of what HEAVEN WILL BE LIKE:
It is a place of eternal reunion where we are reunited with our loved ones & friends who have also received the GRACE of GOD.
It is a place of eternal reward. We will be REWARDED for the life we have lived & for all the faithful acts we have done in service & in honor to GOD.
It is a place of an ETERNAL RELEASE from all sickness & pain & disease & heartaches & trials & tests & tribulations & sadness & grief & depression & discouragement & despair& loneliness & broken marriages & family squabbles & misunderstandings etc;
& no more DEVIL in heaven. No hospitals, no jails, no nursing homes, no courthouses, no drug centers, no abortion clinics, no street gangs, no murders, no abused children, no hunger or thirst or malnutrition
What won’t be there is PRECIOUS.
Oh the ½ has never yet been told.
It is going to be a wonderful place. & it is the GIFT of GOD.
There’s only 1 CATCH.
We have to ACCEPT IT. If we have a GIFT & you NEVER UNWRAP IT or NEVER USE IT then it is a WORTHLESS GIFT.
We’ll NEVER get a BETTER DEAL than the GRACE of GOD.
One night over at the parsonage someone came under such a heavy load of condemnation & conviction. After a while of weeping & talking we prayed together & the LORD GRACIOUSLY SAVED her & FORGAVE of her sins.
She REJOICED for while & then suddenly it was like someone had turned the light off. The rejoicing was gone. I asked her what was wrong. I thought the devil was trying to tell her she wasn’t forgiven or something like that.
I asked, “What’s so wrong, so soon?”
She replied; “Now that I am saved I guess I have to start paying TITHES.’
I wish we could place MORE VALUE on WHAT GOD has FREELY GIVEN US than upon MONATARY & MATERIAL THINGS of this short earthly life.
I explained to her: “We never out give the LORD. For all that we give & for every sacrifice we may make HIS REWARD is MUCH- MUCH MORE.’
