So What’s This Grace Thing All About?
Have you ever been notified by an attorney that your presence was requested at the reading of someone’s will because your going to be receiving an inheritance? Well most people think this is a bittersweet time for obvious reasons. But for me, I can only imagine what it would be like because I haven’t experienced this yet, but for those who have, I’m told it is a pretty emotional time. When the reading of the will is over, a few days pass, and the excitement settles down, a realization settles in that, “wow... someone actually thought enough of me to leave me something they wanted to have.” And with that thought, they start to examine the relationship they had with this person whom they’re inheriting from.... and this reflection usually reveals three different types of relationships they had with the person their inheriting from.
The first relationship is a blood relationship where the heir and the dead person are family—and the heir receives everything because the dead person didn’t have anyone else to give it to. The second type of relationship is one that’s bound by an obligation where the heir had to take care of the dead person while he or she was still alive, and the heir is now being compensated for it. And the 3rd type of relationship well...that’s the really special one. That’s the one where the dead person is giving them a gift from beyond for no other reason -- except out of love. The heir is receiving something he didn’t work for and something they may not particular deserve. And this 3rd type of relationship is one that parallels the relationship that the Apostle Paul found himself in when he tells us of the inheritance he received, that was given out of pure love. It too was something he didn’t work for, and it was something he didn’t deserve -- but Paul was made an heir to the kingdom of God because the Lord’s grace was poured out on him. And from that point of grace, Paul was not only an heir to the kingdom, but he was also commissioned to begin preaching on behalf of the kingdom.
When we look at this passage where God’s grace was being poured out on Paul, we know that Paul was writing to Timothy, who as a young minister, was facing all sorts of pressures, conflicts, and challenges from the church in Ephesus. Since Timothy was struggling with his position as a minister, Paul writes to counsel and encourage him, and uses himself as an example of what God can do in someone’s life and especially in the ministry.
Looking at v. 12 Paul is giving thanks to the Lord for the gifts he has received from God; the first one is strength for the job that God called Him to, and the second was strength to keep him faithful and reliable. You see, God, by doing this, empowered Paul for his calling. Paul was sharing this with Timothy and basically said, “look at God’s faithfulness in my ministry, this is a result his mercy and grace…and I’d like for you to remember something else, my friend, not only did God save me and grant me mercy and grace, but He did something even more unbelievable -- He actually appointed me to His service! ...Me... me... ?? Who would believe it; I was persecutor and God made me a preacher -- I was a murderer too, and God made me a missionary!...and if this part of my testimony isn’t sufficient enough, then by golly, I’ll be glad to expose myself in humility so that people can see the depth of my depravity in order to behold the depth of God’s grace. I am living proof that the grace of God truly works!”
“So let me tell you about what I was doing with my life and what I was focused on when God’s grace covered me; it covered me at a time when ... I was blaspheming and denying the deity of Christ and forcing others to deny it too. I was graced by God at the time when I was a persecutor who used my physical power to destroy the Church. It was at a time when I made murderous threats that were the trademark of my religious life. It was when I was still persecuting the Christian Church, and when I consented to the stoning of the Lord’s servant, Stephen. The Lord saved me when I was insolent and proud and when I was a self-righteous bully throwing my authority around with violence. It was when I was living in a state of disbelief, and when I was a Gospel-ignorant Jewish leader. It was when I was a dedicated and a well-educated Jew who was so educated in the Law that my mind was blinded from the truth and my heart was impervious to the teachings of the Christ. It was at a time when I mocked the teachings of Jesus and had hunted down and imprisoned God’s people. My friend, behold the grace of God and know that is was poured out on me so that I would be saved, my eyes would be opened, and my faith would now be in Jesus the Christ... in the midst of the stench of my sin.”
Do you know what everyone? Paul surely needed this generous portion of grace because outside of God, there was nothing that he could have ever done to have a relationship with the Messiah that he had once persecuted.
So we have to ask ourselves if God demonstrated such an extreme act of mercy, what would follow it? Why did God do it? I mean really, why would a holy God ever grace and forgive such a self-righteous and arrogant sinner like Paul? There had to be a reason! Well, Paul tells us why as he gives us the heart of the Gospel message in this passage.... “Jesus came into the world to save sinners,”... which shows us that no sinner will ever be beyond His saving power!
And then when he tells us that Jesus came into the world to save sinners, he adds a potent statement to it: “of whom I am the worst.” You see, Paul didn’t use the past tense and say, “I was the worst of sinners,” he’s saying that he’s still is a sinful person, but now, he’s also a saved person. The “Chief Sinner” had became the “Chief Example!” And this kind of testimony shows us that Jesus didn’t come just to show us how to live better lives or to challenge us to be better people, but He came to offer us salvation that leads to eternal life, through mercy and grace. You see, this demonstration also proves to us that God’s grace doesn’t give us what we deserve -- it gives us what we don’t deserve. And by showing this, God shows all people everywhere, just what’s so amazing about His grace.
Now when we look at Paul’s ministry that was conceived in grace, we know from biblical accounts that he was fiercely loyal to his ministry and was rabidly obedient to the very teachings of Christ’s that he tried so hard to once extinguish. But once grace, faith, and salvation came to Paul, he shows us a significant progression of what one starts saying and doing when they receive these gifts. In the passage that was read this morning, Paul points the reader toward something that’s distinctive and unforgettable! In four verses, four times he mentions something in particular. Now for those of you who know your Scriptures, I’m sure you already picked up on it. For those of us who know Paul, we should know what it was too. Can you recall what Paul did once he received his calling and completed his training? He went out and did it everywhere and couldn’t shut up about it......! Do you know what it was? Well, what he did was go out and preached Christ.
You see, the Apostle Paul beautifully proclaimed the Gospel message consistently and eloquently throughout his entire ministry. His faith in Christ as the Truth and the Way to God was grounded in the truth of who Jesus was, and that same grace that led him to the Savior. To Paul, it was all about Christ -- his preaching was filled with Jesus’ mercy, grace, forgiveness, sacrificial death, his resurrection, and the eternal life to was to come for those who would believe in Him. His fierce loyalty to Jesus was consistent throughout his entire ministry, and he never wavered. I mean, He wouldn’t even shut up about Jesus when it was in his own best interest! Paul was faithful till the moment of his death—and even that was on behalf of Christ.
Which one of us here today, can parallel that faithful ministry? Which one of us today can say that we have the same burning passion and dedication for our Lord? Can I ask you something personal? Does your heart ache to beat with God’s? Would you pick up and go serve the Lord somewhere that was inconvenient for you or your family? We’d like to think we would -- wouldn’t we? And well, if you really couldn’t go, you’d be sure to fulfill you Christian duties everyday right where your at -- wouldn’t you? I mean, you always do your best for the Lord, right? -- well, some of the time. Well, you make sacrifices for Him daily, don’t you -- um, only when it’s convenient. But you go the extra mile for Him, right -- well, time permitting. Do you know what, sometimes I think we fit Christianity into our lives instead of Christ being our life. And it always happens when we take our focus off of Jesus. And this usually happens when we become distracted by things in life that are not of God.
Can I ask you today…how many of you are side-tracked right now? Have many of you have lost sight of Christ in your lives? How many of you here this morning get so caught up in the busy-ness of life, that you forget to even pray daily and ask the Lord to even bless your life? How many of you here are so busy with your work that you’ve mistakenly thought that it’s a higher priority than people…and more important than God?
Well, you’re looking at someone right now, who did just that. I have been guilty of this very thing. At one point I was so focused on learning and so into my education, that ministry became a second priority on my list. At times there were people in the hospital that I knew I should visit -- and I didn’t. There were Youth Gatherings that I needed to be at, but I had my Course Work to do. There were people that called and wanted to talk, and I didn’t spend as much time with them as I thought I should have. But I’ll tell you something -- I have grieved over that and I have repented of that type of ungodly behavior. And afterward, I began to rearrange my priorities and put ministry first ... .and because I had done that, it was so much easier for me to just walk into my Greek class one morning to take my final exam, knowing full well that I was left with precious little time to study for it, and more than likely...I was going to bomb it. And do you know what -- for the first time since I went to seminary, I was OK with that. And guess what happened? I got a double blessing, because not only did I do the right thing by ministering to God’s people when the time called for it, but I also squeaked by with a 71 on that Greek exam....THANK YOU JESUS! But without His grace and forgiveness, I would not have been able to move from my stubbornness and selfishness, into freedom.
But I don’t’ want you to make that same mistake. Think about prioritizing every day—and make Jesus at the top of your list, and do not let anything else come before Him or get in the way of you and Him. So I want to talk to you about something in closing because it needs our attention being so serious. Now this things that I’m talking about has the power to ruin us at any given time, and if we don’t have control of it, it will control us. And the thing I’m talking about is your favorite sin.
Take a second and reflect inward and ask yourself, “what is my favorite sin that I keep going back to?” Whatever it might be that you just named, that sin if left unchecked, will be your worst nightmare. It will be poison to your heart where the Spirit of God is supposed to be living. It will become the bane of your existence. And make no mistake about it—if you don’t conquer it—it will conquer you! Now if you’re human like everybody else, there’s usually one sin in particular that you just don’t deal very well with, isn’t there? And if that weren’t bad enough, well, it could be a sin that you might particularly enjoy, right? Well we don’t have to confess our sins today to each other, but if it were temptation of some kind, think about how much time out of each day and night that gets wasted just by opening the door and considering the temptation. All that time is wasted; it’s valuable time that could be spent working on behalf of God’s kingdom, but instead, we’d rather pollute our “holy temples” by letting our favorite sin reign over us.
And this will happen every time when our focus is on us and not on Christ. We fall further and deeper into our sins, and rob our Lord, His Church, and His Kingdom of the primary gifts God delivers through us. But ....all is never lost. There’s God’s divine grace, remember? Do you remember the Apostle Paul and the divine grace that covered him? Recall that divine grace doesn’t require perfection on our part -- just a willingness to change. Recall that God’s mercy is as abundant as His grace. Recall that God does forgive bad behavior when we are really sorry!
If you know this, then know that none of us need to worry again that our case is too hard to plead before God. We are not all that good, but we’re not all bad either -- and if God would use Paul as an example for ministry and His measure of grace, as His heirs, we too will receive the same portion! And so, if God’s moral law fulfills its purpose by convicting us that we are sinners, then God’s mercy fulfills its purpose by convincing us that we too, can continue to be saved and used by God. Because really, that’s what grace is all about. We no longer need to be chained to our failures, inadequacies, or sins .... we are forgiven.
And do you know the perfect place where we can see this happening? In our prayers of confession. Each of you know you have the distinct privilege of coming before God to present yourselves and bare your souls when you pray. And the perfect time to experience God’s grace and mercy is during our prayers of confession. Do you ever think about how meaningful this type of prayer is? Praying and confessing can really give us an image of what divine grace is all about.
So, let’s go there. Imagine with me for a minute a prayer of confession ...close your eyes and imagine this scene. You’ve started to pray, your eyes are closed, and the outside world slowly fades away. You can see yourself coming into the presence of God and your heart is heavy because of the sins you’ve committed. You see His Holiness seated upon His throne and now it’s just the two of you. But as you get closer to Him, your head is hanging low and you’re your heart is racing because He already knows the wrong you have done. And as you try to stand upright when you come before Him, you can’t help but fall to your knees. You want to seek His face for He is your God, but your eyes cannot bear to look at Him, for He is burning with holiness.
Your hands come up to hid your eyes as you turn away burning with shame because the sins you’ve been committing have caused Him to grieve on many occasions. And as you’re on your knees burning with shame and you’re trying to look away... He gently reaches for you … and He puts His hand under your chin and gently lifts your face to meet His … and He looks you in the eye with His most benevolent and compassionate smile and says...“Look at Me… I Love You…I… Love You.” You see, that’s God’s divine grace. It’s something we don’t deserve, and it’s something we haven’t worked for. It’s given to us simply because He loves us.
And because we are sinners saved by grace, we can also serve through grace (Rom. 12:3-6) so that we, like Paul, can be examples of God’s mercy and unlimited patience...because that’s what grace is really about, Amen.
