2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
SUPERNATURAL GRACE!
The first 4 months of 2025 is over! A third of the year is done, BUT God is not done with you yet! Turn to your neighbor and say: BE JOYFUL IN HOPE! (Be Patient in affliction! Be Faithful In Prayer!)
Please open your bibles to Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Let us pray:
We enter this new month of MAY with hearts yielded to CHRIST, obedient to His teachings, submitted to His will, desiring His grace over our lives!
I will be your teacher this morning! And we will be diving deep on a doctrine that is the LEAST understood subject in the BIBLE but clearly encapsulates the heart of GOD towards all people. And that is HIS GRACE! Say Gods Grace!
It is no coincidence that we are going to talk about the GRACE OF GOD this morning. See, the month of MAY is the 5th month of the year and the number 5 in HEBREW, signifies GRACE. Yes, and so we can say that this month of may is the month of GRACE! Hallelujah and in this lesson this morning, we will dive deep into the meaning of grace, the types of grace and how we can appropriate them in our lives! Are you ready? Fantastic!
GRACE is the free and unmerited love, mercy and favor given to man. Grace is free.
NOT COMMON GRACE!
Now understand that I’m not talking about common grace! Common grace is God’s Providential promise of blessing us for all that we need – food, water, the air we breathe – That’s common grace – without it, we will all be dead by now!
BUT I’m talking about GOD’s supernatural GRACE! Grace that springs forth from the Throne of Grace in the Throne of GOD! The throne of GOD is magnificently described in Revelation, at the center of this throne is GOD Himself, sitting in splendor and majesty –
I invite you to Revelation Chapter 4 – where this throne of GOD is explained by JOHN, he says in verses 1-4
After this I looked, and there before me
was a door standing open in heaven.
And the voice I had first heard speaking
to me like a trumpet said, 'Come up here,
and I will show you what must
take place after this'.
Johns gaze in prison shifts from his present environment to one that is glorious. From the natural to the supernatural. He hears a voice familiar to his ears, it is the voice of his master, Jesus Christ. The trumpet sound is symbolic to triumph. A triumphant entry perhaps to the destiny of the faithful and John is invited in. verse 2:
John says, "At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven."
A throne signifies power, kingship, authority. And in the following verses we will see that this throne is surrounded by other thrones – meaning it is at the center of everything.
John continues in Verse 3:
And the one who sat there had the appearance
of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like
an emerald encircled the throne.
God is at the center of EVERYTHING. He reigns in glory, He is sovereign, mighty and eternal. John, to the best of his ability tries to describe the splendor of God. And it’s incomparable to what he has seen on earth for GOD is like no other but John would use earthly comparisons like jewels and familiar colors to him to describe the heavenly radiance and magnificence of Adonai – master, owner, Lord.
He is Elohim – Creator of all. So John uses three gemstones to describe the glory of God before him – Jasper stone that maybe a diamond as it’s associated with the sea of glass, Jasper is the first stone on a priests breastplate.
Ruby on the other hand is a red stone and last on the breastplate suggesting that GOD is the first and the last, the all-in-all. The rainbow in the appearance of an emerald reminds us of Gods promise to Noah, Gods divine grace.
Now surrounding this throne of GOD were 4 living creatures - Among all created beings, Man is on top, Among all birds, the eagle. Among the cattle, it’s the ox and among untam\ed animals, the lion. As a scholar would put it: The characteristics of these four creatures unite to make a perfect picture of the spirit of true service, which should be brave as the lion, patient as the ox, aspiring as the eagle, intelligent as man.
Verse 8:
The four living creatures,
each having six wings, were full of eyes
around and within.
the creatures appear to carry facets of godly attributes: His omniscience, and His omnipresence. We see God's omniscience, His supreme knowledge, in that they were covered with eyes on the front and the back, which
gives the impression of exceeding knowledge of God. God knows everything. He sees all eternity. God is surprised by nothing. The God of what was, is, and is to come knows all that was, is, and is to come.
We see God's omnipresence, His all-presence, in the fact that each of these creatures had six wings rather than the typical two that you see in most flying creatures, suggesting unlimited mobility. These creatures also seem to represent the span of God's created order -- the wild represented by the lion, the tame represented by the ox, the sky represented by the eagle, and then mankind who was created in God's image.
And now we come to what these creatures do all day – And its not what we have in mind about what there were created for. Instead, they lay aside all their gifts, their power, their abilities and they Praise and Worship God! The whole day and the whole night, unceasing worship. They proclaim
"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come."
In Hebrew, the repeating of a word adds emphasis; but a 3-fold repetition is rare and so this signifies that something is of the highest order – one that is reserved to GOD! Some scholars believe that the three holy words are said to acknowledge the – trinity, three-in-one – God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit. God is infinitely holy. Entirely without sin, God remains utterly distinct from His creation in every possible way. He is holy in all His attributes.
And then after this three statements of holiness, three names of God is mentioned – LORD -- GOD -- ALMIGHTY.
• He is LORD, Jehovah. The great I AM. Ruler over all!
• Then HE is GOD – Elohim, the creator of all. Elohim brought being out of nothing.
• Finally He is ALMIGHTY – El Shaddai, the Almighty One. Supreme in every way, powerful over everything. HE is Lord over all, creator of all, mightier than all.
and finally, the last - three fold statement – Who was, and is, and is to come!
HOLY is He "who was"; "Holy," is He "who is" and "Holy," is He "who is to come." He showed Himself an object of holy worship in the past creation of all things: more fully He shows Himself so in the governing of all things in the present and He will, in the highest degree, show Himself so in the consummation of all things.
Three statements of holiness, Three names of God, and the three fold statement of his eternal nature.
God is PERFECT, ALL-Powerful, All Authority Belongs To HIM, To Him is the glory and honor and power forever and ever!
AND From HIM my dear brothers and sisters is where GRACE comes from!
As I have just described the magnificence of the throne of God in Heaven – I really wanted you to have a glimpse of GOD to know the source of GRACE! HE is like no other, And just like the 4 creatures --- our proper response is WORSHIP, HUMILITY and Thanks Giving for here is a TRUTH:
WE CAN DO NOTHING TO EARN OR DESERVE GOD’S GRACE. YET, in all His splendor, and might, and power and glory – GOD looks down to mankind and in His love, mercy and goodness HE gives out HIS Supernatural Grace FREELY to those who ask for it in humility!
Because let me tell you this – listen up – Humility is the key to appropriate God’s Grace in our lives!
Grace cannot be given by GOD when we are full of ourselves. Grace cannot be appropriated by the self-sufficient, self-focused and self-centered. Your accomplishments, your accolades, your worldly achievements – cannot access the throne of Gods Grace! NO.
GOD Activates the Gifting of His Grace at the point when we realize we need GOD.
God’s grace meets us as we come to the end of ourselves and admit how much we need Him.
God’s Grace is poured out to the ONE who humbly admits HIS need for GOD to step in.
Because, we cannot call GRACE - GODS unmerited favor when we think we deserve it! NOR can we call Gods grace FREE when we think we have worked hard for it.
No no, GODS Grace is activated when come before the throne room of God in Humility and say to HIM – Lord, I need your GRACE! And what does God do? Well He draws near and pours out His GRACE!
GOD’s GRACE is four fold! Say four fold! And HIS GRACE is poured out to His sons and daughters in different seasons in their lives!
GOD GRACE:
SAVING GRACE | SANCTIFYING GRACE | STRENGTHENING GRACE | SUSTAINING GRACE
Are you ready to unpack this: Lets get started:
1. SAVING GRACE
Ephesians 2:8-9.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
Life was perfect in the Garden of EDEN. Man was living under the supernatural GRACE of GOD everyday, favor and blessings everyday. Out of disobedience and pride, man was banished from the presence of GOD, devoid of His supernatural GRACE because of SIN. SIN cut through the fabric of our union with GOD and we became separated from HIM. Man found himself in a world that is tainted by SIN. This world we live in now. A world marred with PAIN, Sufferings, Calamities, War, Injustice. You see SIN not only affected Man, SIN infected the whole world.
It's like this, MAN once lived in a 10 star resort. Have you ever wondered why there is no 10 star hotel or resort in the world? Well because no human being can replicate the Garden of Eden. The average rate of a 7 star resort per day is about 7,000USD or about 400,000 per day. Now, in comparison, Man was living in a 10 star resort FOR FREE!
SEE, God only wants what is best for us! The creator of all things Loves us so much that HE want to restore what was lost; and so HE sends His one and only SON, HIM who holds the KEYS to paradise.
BY GODs grace, He sends his son to free us from the penalty of SIN, to rid us of of the curse of DEATH and usher us into the eternal presence of GOD and all we have to do is BELIEVE! Believe that JESUS, the son, Lord of All, resident of HEAVEN, died, was buried and on the third day HE rose to LIFE to show us that in Him and through HIM we will also be freed from the clutches of sins curse of DEATH to live life everlasting with GOD!
Acts 16:31 - Believe in the LORD JESUS and you will be…… SAVED!
That my dear brothers and sisters is the SAVING GRACE of GOD! Hallelujah!
BUT GRACE doesn’t end there!
Many Christians believe the saving power of Gods Grace and so we limit His grace to salvation alone. And so it clearly seems we are limiting Gods grace – Gods gift – to that only of salvation by grace through faith and that’s it. AND so once we become Christians, once we understand that we are saved by GRACE, we feel that we have reached the greatest measure of Gods grace by being saved.
AND so some Christians fall back to their old ways because they still live life by their own performance, their own skillset, experience etcetera – devoid of the GRACE of GOD because we think it has been limited to our salvation.
Listen Church – GODs GRACE – his unmerited favor – is not a ONE TIME Gift! No, Grace does not end once we receive a life freed by Christ by grace through faith. IT IS MORE THAN that.
We often stop at saving grace, but grace doesn’t stop working when we come to Christ.
God’s grace continues to shape us, mold us, and make us holy.
This is what we call sanctifying grace—grace that transforms us daily into the image of Christ.
2. SANCTIFYING GRACE:
Titus 2:11–12 (NIV)
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”
Did you catch that? Grace is not limited to just SAVING — GRACE Sanctifies.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” This transformation—from glory to glory—is the process of sanctification.
God is calling you to live out the identity that is already yours in Christ.
What do I mean by that? Let me explain. The very moment you put your faith in Jesus, and receive HIS SAVING GRACE - something supernatural happened—you were freed from sin’s grip, and God declared you righteous.
In that instant, by His grace, you were positionally set apart—SAY SET APART - separated from the world and made holy unto God.
And now, for the rest of your life, God is calling you to walk in that reality—to grow into the person He has already declared you to be. This lifelong transformation is called sanctification.
If you want a formal definition, sanctification is the believer’s progressive growth in holiness—becoming more and more like Christ. Simply put, it means that every single day, God is shaping you, refining you, and molding you into the image of His Son, who is fully, perfectly, and eternally set apart from this world.
This means that Day by day, little by little, the By the SANCTIFYING GRACE OF GOD, His spirit is at work within you—shaping your priorities, transforming your perspectives, renewing your thoughts, and refining your desires.
The way you think, the way you speak, the way you act—all of it is being aligned, not with the pattern of this world, but with the standard of Jesus Christ.
• More and more, your thoughts will be marked by purity, not lust. THAT’S GRACE
• More and more, your words will be marked by peace, not anger or outrage. THAT’S GRACE
• More and more, your actions will be marked by generosity, not selfishness or greed. THAT’S GRACE!
3. STRENGTHENING GRACE:
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NIV)
“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”
Understand church that Grace Is the Source of Strength
Paul doesn’t say, “May God give you strength because you earned it.” He says God “by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope.” That means our strength—our real, lasting strength—doesn’t come from effort. It comes from GRACE. Freely given, you just need to ask for IT!
SO It’s really not about working harder; it’s about tapping into the unquenchable grace of GOD from the throne of GRACE for this Supernatural Strength isn’t something we comes from our own effort; it’s something that God HIMSELF pours in!
Think about it. The same grace that saved you is the grace that strengthens you.
God doesn’t love us from a distance with vague positivity. He actively steps in, encourages our hearts, and supplies the power we need when our own runs out.
NOW Understand that grace doesn’t just give you comfort for your soul—it gives you fuel for your calling.
We’ve all had moments where we knew what the right thing to say or do was… but we just didn’t have it in us. You wanted to be patient, but you snapped. You wanted to be generous, but you were tight. You wanted to encourage someone, but you felt discouraged yourself.
This is where grace steps in—not to shame us, but to equip us. It gives us strength to speak life. to act in love. To shine Jesus even when we’re under pressure.
NOW Let’s not forget who Paul was writing to—the Thessalonian church was going through serious persecution. They weren’t just tired—they were targeted. And Paul doesn’t tell them to “stay strong” by themselves. He points them straight to the grace of God.
2 Corinthians 12:9
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me
Perhaps some of your here are in the middle of something really difficult to handle. You’ve been trying to hold it together, but inside, you’re worn out. BE Encourage: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.”
God Grace shows up when you are at the end of yourself. He encourages your heart and strengthens your hands for what’s ahead.
So, The GRACE of GOD begins the restoration of Humanity – That’s the SAVING GRACE of God. Then God, through the power of the Holy Spirit teaches us, molds us to be like Christ – That’s the SANCTIFYING GRACE of GOD, then God fuels our walk with HIM by encouraging us and pouring out is STRENGTHENING GRACE and finally, until our very last breath – we are filled and nourished by GODs SUSTAINING GRACE!
4. SUSTAINING GRACE:
Philippians 1:6 (NIV)
“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
The entire Christian life—from salvation to glorification—is sustained by God’s grace.
He’s not the kind of Father who starts something and then leaves you to figure it out. No, our God is a SUSTAINER. The same grace that saved you is the same grace that’s going to grow you, carry you, and finish the work He started in you.
THAT’S THE KIND OF FATHER WE SERVE. A Father who doesn’t flinch at our failures. Who doesn’t walk away when we stumble. Who doesn’t get tired of holding us up.
He is always ready—ready to step in, to encourage, to teach, to empower, to strengthen, and to build us up – ALL WE have to do is enter into HIS Throne of Grace and ASK!
I’m certain man of us need to hear that today. Because maybe you’ve started to wonder if you’re too much of a mess… too inconsistent… too broken. But Philippians 1:6 is God’s gentle, unwavering reminder:
He who began the good work in you, will carry it on to completion until the return of King JESUS!
GOD is telling you my dear brother, my dear sister - “I’m not finished with you yet. And I won’t let go.”
That’s sustaining grace. That’s love that carries. That’s the heart of our Father. That’s Gods Favor!
So if you’re tired, discouraged, or unsure of where you stand—know this: You’re not being held together by your effort, your goodness, or your record. You’re being held together by His grace.
As we come to a close, Let’s live in light of that grace. Let’s rest in the truth that we’re not just saved by grace—we’re carried by it. Every step of the way.
Let’s all stand….
Let’s enter the throne room of GODs grace in prayer. As you close your eyes, As you bow down before HIM. Let me ask you this question – are you in right standing with GOD? Perhaps this is the day that you want to surrender everything to GOD and ask for HIS Saving Grace? You can do that today.. If that is you, Raise Your Hand so I can pray for you.. It’s okay, it’s just you and God …..
Romans 10:9 says this:
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile —the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
If you want to experience the goodness and love of GOD in your life today and for eternity.
LORD, I surrender my life to you today. I am a sinner in need of your help. Forgive me LORD for my sins and I confess that only you LORD JESUS have died on the cross for me, and rose from the dead for me. Thank you Jesus for reconciling me back to GOD. Thank you JESUS for the gift of eternal life with GOD. Amen!
Welcome to the kingdom of GOD! God’s Supernatural Grace is available to you!
Praise Be To God!
