INTRO: In Max Lucado’s book In The Grip of Grace he writes: You know what disturbs me most about Jeffrey Dahmer?
What disturbs me most are not his acts, though they are disgusting. Dahmer was convicted of seventeen murders. Eleven corpses were found in his apartment. He cut off arms. He ate body parts. My thesaurus has 204 synonyms for vile, but each falls short of describing a man who kept skulls in his refrigerator and hoarded a human heart. He redefined the boundary for brutality. The Milwaukee monster dangled from the lowest rung of human conduct and then dropped. But that’s not what troubles me most.
Can I tell you what troubles me most about Jeffrey Dahmer? Not his trial, as disturbing as it was, with all those pictures of him sitting serenely in court, face frozen, motionless. No sign of remorse, no hint of regret. Remember his steely eyes and impassive face? But I don’t speak of him because of his trial. There is another reason. Can I tell you what really troubles me about Jeffrey Dahmer?
Not his punishment, though life without parole is hardly an exchange for his actions. How many years would satisfy justice? A lifetime in jail for every life he took? But that’s another matter, and that’s not what troubles me most about Jeffrey Dahmer. May I tell you what does?
His conversion.
Months before an inmate murdered him, Jeffrey Dahmer became a Christian. Said he repented. Was sorry for what he did. Profoundly sorry. Said he put his faith in Christ. Was baptized. Started life over. Began reading Christian books and attending chapel.
Sins washed. Soul cleansed. Past forgiven.
That troubles me. It shouldn’t. but it does. Grace for a cannibal?
Maybe you have the same reservations. If not about Dahmer perhaps about someone else.
-It’s hard to understand God’s grace when it is applied to such a monster/Lord willing over the next several weeks we will have a better understanding.
TITLE: Grace "The Lord’s Gift"
TEXT: Eph. 2:8-9
I. Explanation of term: grace - what are we saved by? A. Wide range of meaning for grace:
-A well-coordinated athlete or dancer.
-Good manners and being considerate of others. -Beautiful, well-chosen words.
-Consideration and care for other people. -Various expressions of kindness and mercy.
1. Jesus never used the word himself (he just taught it and lived it).
-To understand grace, we need to go back to an old Hebrew term that meant: "To bend, to stoop." In time came the idea of condescending favor. Donald Barnhouse said it best: Love that goes upward is worship. Love that goes outward is affection. Love that stoops is grace.
2. Meaning: Grace is to extend favor or kindness to one who doesn’t deserve it and can never earn it according to Chuck Swindol.
B. Illustrate: An old Indian, after living many years in sin, was led to Christ by a missionary. Friends asked him to explain the change in his life. Reaching down, he picked up a little worm and placed it on a pile of leaves. Then, touching a match to the leaves, he watched them smolder and burst into flames. As the flames worked their way up to the center where the worm lay, the old chief suddenly plunged his hand into the center of the burning pile and snatched out the worm. Holding the worm gently in his hand, he gave this testimony to the grace of God: "Me. . .that worm!"
-Justice is getting what we deserve. -Mercy is not getting what we deserve. -Grace is getting what we do not deserve.
C. Best Definition of Grace - does not come from a dictionary, but from the pages of our Lord’s life.
-Grace comes through the story of the women caught in adultery (deserved to be stoned to death). Jesus says he who has no sin cast the first stone.
-Story of the Good Samaritan or the Prodigal Son. II. What happens to us when we truly understand grace?
A. Greater appreciation for God and his gifts.
-We begin to get a better understanding of all that God does for us, and the longer we walk with him the more he reveals.
Col. 3:9-10 - "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self; which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator."
-The word renewed means: "renovated" (Have you ever been involved in renovating something, problems that arise are time and money. You either run out of time or energy and never have enough money to finish.)
-Good thing about God is he never runs out of time or money. (He will finish the renovation in your life if you will allow him.)
B. Another thing that happens to us when we truly understand grace is - spend less time and energy being critical of others.
1. When you begin to operate in context of freedom you will become less judgmental. -You will allow others to make their own decisions.
2. After all: Can the hungry accuse the beggar? Can the sick mock the ill?
Can the blind judge the deaf?
Can the sinner condemn the sinner?
No, only God can judge!
C. Third thing that happens to us when we truly understand grace is - we take a giant step in maturity.
1. Grace has a tendency to help you focus on God and his ways. It takes your eyes off other problems (whether they’re your own or someone else’s).
-New things begin to open up to you that maybe you’ve never seen before (that’s the wonderful thing about grace).
III. Talk about an enemy of grace: grace killers
A. Self-sufficiency: Please hear me. The Bible does not teach us to be lazy.
2 Thess. 3:10 - "Man will not work, he shall not eat."
-I’m talking about an attitude of you can do it all on your own without God.
1. It’s an emphasis on what we do for God instead of what God does for us.
ex Tower of Babel, (Gen. 11) people wanted to build a tower whose top would reach into heaven itself
-Living Bible calls this construction project "a proud eternal monument to themselves".
Q: Was God pleased with this? No, so he changed their language (project was not finished).
2. Might be thinking, "Oh, come on Pastor, self-sufficiency is not that bad!"
a. Danger: By exalting my own effort and striving for my own accomplishments, I insult His grace and steal the credit that belongs to Him alone.
Thought: We see so much of this today, athlete claiming how wonderful he is or actor, politician. -They could have done nothing without the grace of God.
b. Q: How can a violin take credit for sounding so good or a car for running so smoothly [it’s the builder].
John MacArthur: "As far as the way of salvation is concerned, there are only two religions the world has ever known.
1. Religion of divine accomplishment, which is biblical Christianity.
2. The religion of human achievement, which includes all other kinds of religion, by whatever names they may go under."
-All other world religions approach God on a bartering system.
B. They all fall under works (self-sufficiency)
1. Let’s pretend you could work your way to heaven.
-Imagine the pride and arrogance, why would we even need to thank God After all we’ve accomplished this. (It was by my blood, sweat, and tears).
ex Do you thank your boss for giving you your paycheck (no). You’ve earned it, he owes you.
Truth: Do you see how contradictory this is, but yet many of us think like this. (List some different ways).
1. I can’t go to church because I’m not good enough.
2. I can’t pray because I’m not good enough.
3. I can’t be saved because I’m not good enough.
Q: I always wondered how good was good enough.
C. Gospel was being spread in the early church. Gentiles began to get converted.
1. Jewish believers tried to add on some of the mosaic law.
-Yes, salvation is faith in God and also circumcision.
-These Judia7ers tried to mix grace and works. Some are still trying to do this today. (It’s by the grace of God you have been saved and nothing else.)
2. You can’t earn your way to heaven - no matter how hard you try.
ex The thief who died on the cross next to Jesus understood this. There was no way he could work his way to heaven (about to die), but Jesus said, "Today you will be with me in paradise."
Saints: Don’t pollute the gospel with anything (even if it looks good). It’s grace we’ve been saved by and nothing else.
-If you try to add something, you pollute it and make it no good.
Is this risky (people take advantage, yes, it is). A. List some (Chuck Swindol).
1. There is a lack of love for others (little care about anybody else).
2. There is a rationalisation of out-and-out sin.
3. There is an unwillingness to be accountable.
4. There is a resistance to anyone getting close enough to give them wise advice.
5. There is a disregard for one who is a new convert and therefore weak in faith.
-Is grace risky? Yes, there will be some who take advantage; but let us never pollute the message of the gospel to try to keep some in line (that’s the Lord’s job).
IN CONCLUSION: Grace is free to us, but let us never forget it cost our Lord everything. -Grace is hard to understand and grasp (Let me illustrate):
Let’s imagine you have a six-year-old son whom you love dearly. Tragically, one day you discover that your son was horribly murdered. After a lengthy search the investigators of the crime find the killer. You have a choice. If you used every means in your power to kill the murderer for his crime, that would be vengeance. If, however, you’re content to sit back and let the legal authorities take over and execute on him what is proper--a fair trial, a plea of guilty, capital punishment--that is justice. But if you should plead for the pardon of the murderer, forgive him completely, invite him into your home, and adopt him as your own son, that is grace.
-There are very few people who would do that, but that’s what God does every day. Remember: It’s by grace you have been saved, through faith.
