The Grace Of God

Brethren, do you realize that people outside of Christ have no assurance of salvation?! BUT YOU DO! You are standing right smack dab in the middle of God’s sustaining grace!

Romans 4:7-8 "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."

Why is it that the Lord will never count our sins against us at death nor the judgment? IT’S BECAUSE OF JESUS! And it’s because we’ve put our trust and our hope in Him and Him alone!

Our sins are covered by His blood! He bore our sins in His body on the tree! He became sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God!

God’s grace sustains us in this way and we need to learn to walk with our heads held high! And there should some leap in our walk and talk! We should live a joyous life because we know where we’re headed. AND IT’S ALL BECAUSE OF JESUS!

Now, God’s grace sustains us in another way.

ILL.- The story is told about a man who was walking across the road and was hit by a car. The impact knocked him down and he was in a coma for several days before regaining consciousness. When he opened his eyes, his loving wife was standing beside his bed, holding his hand.

He said, "You know, Judy, you’ve always been right by my side. When I was a struggling college student, I failed again and again. But you were always there with me, encouraging me to go on trying."

He said, "And when I got out of school and went for all my interviews and failed to get any of the jobs, you stayed right there with me, helping me to find a job."

"Then I started to work at this little firm and finally got the chance to handle a big contract. But I blew it because of one little mistake, and yet you were there beside me all the way.

"Then I finally got another job after being laid off for sometime. But I never seemed to be promoted and my hard work was never recognized. And so, I remained in the same position from the day I joined the company until now. And through it all, you were right there by my side."

At this point in the conversation his wife began to get tears in her eyes. He continued, "And now I’ve been in this accident and when I woke up, you’re the first person I saw. And there’s something I would really like to say to you...."

He said, "JUDY, I THINK YOU’RE JUST PLAIN BAD LUCK!"

Brethren, there are times in our lives when we think we experience nothing but bad luck. We may not necessarily blame it on our mates or even God, BUT WE FEEL AS THOUGH WE’VE BEEN DUMPED ON IN LIFE. And this is where God’s sustaining grace comes in. God’s grace can sustain us and keep us going if we will let it.

ILL.- It’s been said that "when the going gets tough, the tough get going." There may be some truth in that statement, but it’s not the whole truth for us who are in Christ.

When the going gets tough (and it does) that’s when we lean on the grace of God! It is not dumb nor sissy to ask for help, especially from God! It’s the smartest thing we could do.