1 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:22,720 I'm going to talk to you about the grace of God and this I 2 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:26,760 taught a course on this topic before you were students at 3 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,320 Rheem. I taught it from 88 to 94. 4 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:34,560 I taught and we rotated courses and taught different courses at 5 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:38,640 different times, but I first taught on the topic of grace in 6 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:45,600 a single sermon in 1986. And the first time that I taught 7 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,960 on grace, it was kind of a the result of a journey. 8 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:54,360 I got filled with the Holy Spirit in 1977 and I was raised 9 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:58,640 in a mainline traditional denominational church. 10 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,040 To be honest, I didn't love church a lot. 11 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:04,640 I had church services were quite boring to me. 12 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,560 I respected God. I respected, you know, I'm, I'm 13 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:10,360 thankful for the things I learned. 14 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,600 Don't misunderstand me. I'm glad I learned the 10 15 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:15,240 commandments. How many of you think the 10 16 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:19,120 commandments are good? I mean, we're not saved by the 17 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,480 10 commandments, you know, but how many of you want your 18 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,320 neighbor to believe in the 10 commandments? 19 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:28,840 How many of you want your, you know, society's better if people 20 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,160 say, you know, God doesn't really want us killing each 21 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:34,360 other, stealing from each other, you know, lying to each other 22 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,120 and things like that. They they set a standard of 23 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:41,680 conduct and things like that that reflects certain godly 24 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:43,080 standards. But you're never going to get 25 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:46,320 saved by keeping the 10 Commandments. 26 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:50,200 I know when I was a little kid, before I even knew what the 10 27 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:52,280 Commandments were, I had three older brothers. 28 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:58,240 And before I even knew what Thou Shalt not covet meant, I'd 29 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:00,360 already coveted my brother's candy bar. 30 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:05,880 Before I ever knew what Thou Shalt not steal meant, I had 31 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:09,479 already eaten or stolen his candy bar in order to eat it. 32 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:14,080 And before I really knew much about what thou shalt not lie 33 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:17,160 meant, I'd already lied When my mom said did you at your 34 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,560 brother's candy bar, I said no. I'd broken three of the 10 35 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:22,800 commandments before I even knew what they were. 36 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,640 And so nobody, you know, I don't care how good you think you are. 37 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:32,440 You know you may be a good moral person by society standards, and 38 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,600 that's great. You know, I'm glad you're a good 39 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:40,640 person, but nobody's good enough to make it into heaven because 40 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:43,840 the Bible says we've all sinned and we've all come short of the 41 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:45,760 glory of God. And you say, well, I've kept 42 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,240 most of the commandments. Well, the Bible says if we keep 43 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:54,200 all the commandments and yet offend in one point, we're 44 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:56,560 guilty of the whole thing. You say, well, I don't like 45 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:58,200 that. Well, that's too bad. 46 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:00,440 That's that's that's how it works. 47 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:04,000 You may not like the law of gravity, but you know that it 48 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:05,480 works. That's how it is. 49 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:09,000 And so that's one of the reasons we're going to talk about the 50 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:14,160 grace of God. But I got spirit filled in 1977, 51 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:16,680 three weeks after I graduated from high school. 52 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:20,640 Friend took me to a meeting. People were acting a little bit 53 00:03:20,640 --> 00:03:23,920 like they're acting here in church today, which is real 54 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:27,800 different than the way we acted in, in our church growing up. 55 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:29,560 I mean, you, there's just no emotion. 56 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:34,600 No, I mean, we're ultra conservative, ultra reserved. 57 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:39,280 You know what, what hopping, bouncing. 58 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,440 I mean, we didn't sway, we didn't do nothing. 59 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:48,440 We just stood stiff as a statue. And and and that's I'm not, I'm 60 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:53,040 not here to get on anybody. But, you know, but to see people 61 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:55,680 raising their hands in church at this friend took me to a 62 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:58,240 meeting, People were raising their hands. 63 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,440 I mean, people did this outlandish thing that we didn't 64 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,520 even do in our church at all. They smiled, I mean, they 65 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:10,120 actually smiled in church and I thought, I don't think I've ever 66 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:15,200 seen anybody smile in church. I mean, just we were that, 67 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:17,519 that's how, you know, conservative we were and that 68 00:04:17,519 --> 00:04:21,240 type of thing. But, but Long story short, I got 69 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,880 filled with the Holy Spirit that night that was June the 9th, 70 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:31,120 1977 and got healed from a back condition supernaturally 71 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:34,120 instantaneously. My, I'd had a back condition for 72 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:38,280 two years, sports kind of type of thing. 73 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:41,400 I, my parents had sent me to three different types of doctors 74 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:42,720 trying to. And they all just said, you 75 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:46,440 know, that we, we don't know exactly why your back hurts like 76 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:48,320 it does. We can't do anything for it. 77 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:51,640 And in one instant, God healed my back. 78 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:57,560 And you know, in that night, my friend said, did you receive the 79 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,520 Holy Spirit tonight? And man, I'd heard of the Holy 80 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:04,800 Spirit, you know, because every, every time we left church, we 81 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:10,440 sang the doxology and every time we were in church, we recited 82 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,080 the Apostles Creed. I'm grateful for all these 83 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:15,600 things. I'm I'm great, but but somehow 84 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:18,680 these things I don't know. They stayed up kind of just 85 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,960 merely intellectual. And he said, did you receive the 86 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:26,000 Holy Spirit? And and to me that was just the 87 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,440 Holy Spirit was just somebody that we mentioned in a creed, 88 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:33,720 you know, have a relationship with him, receive him. 89 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:37,280 And I said, well, I don't even know exactly what that means. 90 00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:40,440 And he took me through the book of Acts and showed me and showed 91 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,240 me how the people spoke in other tongues when they received the 92 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:46,760 Holy Spirit. And so I said, well, if that's 93 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:50,120 kind of anything related to the power that came into my life, 94 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:53,520 when because I felt the power come into my body when my back 95 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:58,000 got healed, I said, if that's him, I want all of him there is. 96 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:02,400 And that night received the infilling of the Holy Spirit, 97 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:05,320 spoke in other tongues. And that radically changed the 98 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:08,840 course of my life, radically changed the course of my life. 99 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,880 And so that summer, my, my parents didn't quite know what 100 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:18,440 to do with me because they literally, you know, they, they 101 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:20,360 had battled getting me to church. 102 00:06:20,840 --> 00:06:24,600 You know, I just always wanted not to go to church until it's 103 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:26,200 boring. I don't understand it. 104 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:28,840 And all of a sudden, I'm going to multiple Bible studies a 105 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:32,080 week. And they didn't quite know what 106 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:34,800 to do with it. And so I was with my mom back in 107 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:37,760 her hometown in southern Indiana, visiting a friend of 108 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:39,680 hers she'd grown up in church with. 109 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:45,440 And this lady, very sweet lady, she's and my mom said she didn't 110 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:47,920 know how to describe it. So she just said, well, 111 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:52,440 Marjorie, she said Tony's really gotten interested in the Bible 112 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:55,000 in the last few months. That's all she knew how to say 113 00:06:55,000 --> 00:07:00,040 is I've gotten interested in the Bible and this lady that my mom 114 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,600 had grown up with said, well, Tony, maybe you can help me with 115 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,080 something. She said, I've been in church 116 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:09,920 all my life and she said I, I, I don't know. 117 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:16,560 They always talk about grace. She said, what is grace now? 118 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:18,680 I don't know. I was 18 years old. 119 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:21,120 I've been spirit filled a couple months. 120 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:26,200 I wanted to think I was smart, you know, because I've been, 121 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,520 I've been, you know, speaking in tongues and reading the Bible. 122 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,680 And I was really, I mean, I was learning and growing and really 123 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:36,600 in love with Jesus and really excited about the Lord and, and 124 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:39,720 things like that. But I didn't want to admit that 125 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:41,200 I really didn't know what it was. 126 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:45,920 And she said, can you help me understand what grace is? 127 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:49,800 And because I wanted to sound smart and because I wanted her 128 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:53,280 to think I knew things, you know, because of my deep 129 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:58,240 experience now of two months, I said, well, yes, I can help you 130 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,080 with what Grace is. And she says, well, what is 131 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:03,520 grace? And I'd heard somebody give a 132 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:07,640 definition. So I said, well, grace is 133 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:11,960 unmerited favor. And I thought I'd just really 134 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:14,560 hit a Grand Slam. I just thought I'd really just 135 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:17,720 like, she was just going to change her life and all that. 136 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:20,600 And then and then she said something I wasn't expecting. 137 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:28,200 She said, yeah, but what's that? And now I'm stuck because I'd 138 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:29,760 heard somebody. How many of you know, just 139 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,440 because you hear somebody say something and you can repeat 140 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:37,600 what somebody says doesn't mean you really grasp anything about 141 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,919 the magnitude or the depth of what it is. 142 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:45,480 And so I went from feeling pretty good about myself to 143 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:49,760 realizing I'm in trouble now because she's asked me to go 144 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:55,680 beyond the standard definition of grace and unmerited favors a 145 00:08:55,680 --> 00:09:01,120 fine definition, but it's not it's it's not a real profound 146 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:06,160 deep definition, she said. So I said grace is unmerited 147 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:09,520 favor. And she said, yeah, but what's 148 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:14,040 that? And I said I didn't want to tell 149 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:14,920 her. I don't know. 150 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:21,840 Should have, but I just said well, well, that's that's favor 151 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:27,960 that is not merited. And she said, yeah, but what's 152 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:31,120 that? And I was I pretty much had had 153 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:35,640 reached the depths of my understanding at that point. 154 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:41,840 And so that I, I, I lived with that, not that that was some 155 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:44,080 tormenting. I didn't wake up at night in a 156 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,160 cold sweat thinking, I can't define grace. 157 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:50,560 But but every time I'd read the Bible, I'd start looking. 158 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:52,760 I, I, I'd like to know what grace is. 159 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:57,000 How, how many of you have heard the song Amazing Grace? 160 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:00,080 You know, and that's what most people know about grace. 161 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,400 They know the song Amazing Grace, beautiful, beautiful, 162 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:06,280 beautiful song. And they know the definition 163 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:11,000 that grace is unmerited favor. But from that point on, over the 164 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:14,080 next several years, you know, ended up going to Bible school 165 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:18,360 and ended up even stepping into ministry and beginning to teach 166 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:21,720 and preach a little bit. I just still lived with that 167 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:24,400 fact. I don't really understand much 168 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:26,520 of what grace is, but I want to learn. 169 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:30,760 And I didn't teach on it. That was 77 when that happened 170 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:32,640 with that Lady asking me that question. 171 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:38,640 I didn't actually teach on grace until 1986, and I did a single 172 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:40,880 session. I felt like I'd learned enough 173 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:44,440 to teach at least one sermon, one full message on grace. 174 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:50,120 And then by 1988 it had turned into a 14 part series. 175 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:53,000 Tuesday, Thursday for eight weeks at Raymond. 176 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:58,920 And but I'm going to give you an understanding about Grace that 177 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:04,280 is not based on some theological, deep, profound 178 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:08,640 philosophical thing. How many of you as a kid, I, I 179 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:11,880 know we got people all different ages here, but how many of you 180 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:14,840 as a kid, maybe you're kind of toward my generation or 181 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:18,360 something. You know who Dennis the Menace 182 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:22,840 is? He was a cartoon character when 183 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:27,000 I was growing up. And we have a slide here with 184 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:31,960 Dennis the Menace, and that's Dennis and his little buddy 185 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:34,720 Joey. And in the background, that's 186 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:38,440 not his mom, that's his neighbor lady who who knows his neighbor 187 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:44,960 lady's name, Missus Wilson. She was the sweet, grandmotherly 188 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:48,960 type of neighbor who knows who Mr. Wilson is. 189 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:54,080 He was the cranky, grouchy, irritable old guy. 190 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:59,240 But Missus Wilson was the sweetest lady. 191 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:04,560 I mean the the epitome of the ideal next door neighbor for a 192 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:09,720 little boy because she is always making cookies for Dennis. 193 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:13,760 He's the blonde haired kid and that's his little buddy. 194 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:16,640 What's his little buddy's name? Joey. 195 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:21,960 And they're eating cookies because Missus Wilson has made 196 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:24,880 them cookies, which she was prone to do. 197 00:12:25,680 --> 00:12:29,800 And in another cartoon, not this one but another cartoon, they're 198 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:34,600 actually leaving her home with handfuls of cookies. 199 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:42,120 And Joey in that cartoon says to Dennis, Dennis, I wonder what we 200 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:46,000 did to deserve all these cookies? 201 00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:51,920 And Dennis says back, now listen to this because if you 202 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:56,760 understand this, you, you, you've got the rudiments of 203 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:03,240 grace. Dennis says, Joey, Missus Wilson 204 00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:08,320 doesn't bake us cookies because we're nice. 205 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:13,520 She bakes us cookies because she's nice. 206 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:22,680 Did you catch that? Missus Wilson doesn't bake us 207 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:28,480 cookies because we're nice. She bakes us cookies because 208 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:33,120 she's nice. Now I can take you to all kinds 209 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:36,160 of theological dictionaries. I can take you to all kinds of 210 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:38,640 commentaries. And I don't know that I've ever 211 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:42,240 found a better definition of grace than that. 212 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,120 It's, it's doesn't, it doesn't involve God, it doesn't involve 213 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:47,440 Jesus. That's an earth. 214 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:51,560 How many of you know Jesus used earthly things to illustrate 215 00:13:51,560 --> 00:13:55,160 heavenly principles? So if we want to make that 216 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:58,840 spiritual, which is certainly fine, we could say it this way, 217 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:03,800 God doesn't give us his blessings because we're good. 218 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:08,240 God gives us his blessings because He's good. 219 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:13,080 Everything that Jesus did for us on the cross, it wasn't because 220 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:15,160 we were good. Actually it was because of the 221 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:19,160 opposite. God did all that because He is 222 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:24,000 good. Now for most people, if people 223 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:28,280 know one Bible verse in the New Testament, I'm talking about 224 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:31,120 Christians, non Christians alike now. 225 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:36,080 Now for the whole Bible, a lot of people know Psalm 23, right? 226 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:40,160 Because they hear the 23rd Psalm at funerals and things of that 227 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:42,280 nature. If you're watching television 228 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:45,040 and there's a funeral, you know, they're standing out at a 229 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:48,720 gravesite or something, They'll often have the preacher saying 230 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,960 the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not beautiful, beautiful Psalm. 231 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:57,080 But if there's one New Testament verse, I mean, how many of you 232 00:14:57,080 --> 00:14:59,240 watch football games? I don't think they don't do it 233 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:00,760 as much or they don't show it as much. 234 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:04,040 Used to be there was always people in the end zone with a 235 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:10,240 sign that said what? John 316 And what a beautiful 236 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:13,600 verse that is. For God so loved the world that 237 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:17,040 he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever would believe on 238 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,880 him should not perish but have everlasting life. 239 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,040 And we're in Florida. So I think this is an OK 240 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:26,480 illustration to use. Didn't Tim Tebow when he played 241 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:30,320 for the Gators, didn't he used to have John 316 and his, I 242 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:32,880 don't even know what would call that black stuff under the eyes, 243 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:38,880 but so people know John 316. But if there's a second verse 244 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:46,400 that most Christians know about grace, it's Ephesians 28 and 9. 245 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:51,720 Let's look at this on the screen, Ephesians 28 and 9, and 246 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:53,560 we're going to be unwrapping this. 247 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:55,440 We're going to be unpacking this. 248 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:59,080 We're going to be expounding on this because so many times 249 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:04,840 people become content to have a really superficial knowledge of 250 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:09,080 something when God really wants us to have a better, deeper 251 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:12,480 understanding of things. I put some letters and caps 252 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:18,240 underline one word, Paul says, For by grace you have been 253 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:20,360 saved. How many of you know that it's 254 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:25,040 good to be saved? You know, people don't even know 255 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:28,960 save from what say, you know, people here saved and they 256 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,040 think, well, do you save your money? 257 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:34,720 Do you have a bank account where you're saving money and things 258 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:37,120 of that nature? But if, but if you've ever, for 259 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:41,520 example, had a near drowning experience and somebody came and 260 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:43,840 rescued, you know what it is to be saved. 261 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:48,520 And people many times, because they're in darkness and they're 262 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:51,440 in blindness and they're in deception. 263 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:57,320 They don't realize that what it is to be lost, separated from 264 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:02,640 God and, and, and how much they need to be rescued with 265 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:05,720 forgiveness and mercy and things of that nature. 266 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:09,480 So many people, they're just, you know, kind of living life 267 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:13,880 oblivious to the fact that without God in their life, 268 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:18,160 they're lost and without hope. And then sometimes people will 269 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:22,240 have some kind of experience where they realize, I, I need 270 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:24,839 forgiveness. I need mercy. 271 00:17:25,319 --> 00:17:31,120 So, so everybody needs to be saved in, in a spiritual sense, 272 00:17:31,120 --> 00:17:34,040 in an, you know, we understand temporal sense. 273 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:37,520 You know, if somebody has a, you know, they're choking on 274 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:41,280 something and somebody, they're about to die, pass out and, you 275 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:44,960 know, die of asphyxiation and somebody comes along and gives 276 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:48,400 them the Heimlich maneuver and they, you know, spit out 277 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,280 whatever was they're choking on. You saved me. 278 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:56,000 You know, people can be saved in a physical temporal sense, but 279 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,920 the ultimate salvation being saved that everybody needs is to 280 00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:03,560 be saved from eternal separation from God. 281 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:07,720 And just looking at this one verse, we really should just 282 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:10,440 look at the whole chapter. But just for this morning. 283 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:16,920 Paul says for by grace you have been saved through faith and 284 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:20,160 that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. 285 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:25,160 It is not of works, lest anyone should boast. 286 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:30,240 All of that is so I mean, we could take each and every single 287 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:34,080 one of these words. Somebody said that grace it is 288 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:38,680 can be, you know, spelled out as an acrostic, an acronym that 289 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:46,160 grace is God's riches at Christ's expense. 290 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:53,400 God's riches at Christ's expense. 291 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:58,520 So Grace, if you remember back going to the dentist, the menace 292 00:19:00,120 --> 00:19:05,360 story illustration, Dennis said Missus Wilson doesn't bake us 293 00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:09,280 cookies because we're nice. She bakes us cookies because 294 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:15,040 she's nice. Meaning that God's grace is that 295 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:21,440 God did things for us not because of how good we were, but 296 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:27,240 because of how good he is. Not because we earned it, not 297 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:32,600 because we deserved it. Got enough brownie points, got, 298 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,200 you know, enough attendance check marks for church. 299 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:39,840 Got enough gold stars. You know, I've actually heard of 300 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:45,120 people who think that if they're going to go to heaven when they 301 00:19:45,120 --> 00:19:50,440 die, it's because they did more good works than bad works. 302 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:55,000 And there have been people, intelligent people, seemingly 303 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:58,440 intelligent people, who actually, at the end of every 304 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:04,400 day, if they felt like they were pretty nice, you know, like they 305 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:08,240 braked instead of running over a cat or a dog, that's a pretty 306 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:10,040 good thing. They didn't run over the dog. 307 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,680 And they were nice to somebody at work or something like that. 308 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:17,680 And they didn't, you know, do something horrible that day. 309 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:20,600 At the end of that day on their calendar, they would give 310 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:24,320 themselves a Gold Star. I'm not talking about a 311 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:27,080 kindergartner. I'm talking about an adult. 312 00:20:28,120 --> 00:20:31,880 But if they were bad that day, like if they cussed and chewed 313 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,200 somebody out, oh man, I shouldn't have done that. 314 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:37,080 So they wouldn't give themselves a Gold Star that day. 315 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:41,440 And they literally felt that at the end of their life, if they 316 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:47,320 had more gold stars on their calendar than not, they would go 317 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:51,480 to heaven because they were better most of the time than 318 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,480 they were worse. But if they had more days 319 00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:58,680 without a Gold Star, then maybe they wouldn't go to heaven. 320 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:06,480 See, that idea is my going to heaven is entirely based on my 321 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:09,920 performance. What did I do? 322 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:15,600 And see, that's the antithesis. That is the opposite of grace. 323 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:23,240 Grace means it's not about what you do, it's about what he did. 324 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:30,360 And so Paul says, for by grace, by God's riches at Christ's 325 00:21:30,360 --> 00:21:34,080 expense, you have been saved through faith. 326 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:37,760 And again, we're not going to take time to teach all this in 327 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:39,720 depth, but I love the song we sang earlier. 328 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:46,640 Yes, Lord, Yes Lord, Martin Luther said this faith is the 329 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:51,240 yes of the heart. Now I know, I'm sure your pastor 330 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:54,240 and other people here, guest people and different ones have 331 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:58,280 taught on faith and wow, what an important topic. 332 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:03,680 We're saved by faith, we walk by faith, we live by faith. 333 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,920 We're justified by faith. Without faith, it is impossible 334 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:10,880 to please God. So faith is huge. 335 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:17,480 And, and again, we all went to a school that has a 20 foot faith 336 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:19,920 shield up on top of the main building. 337 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:22,800 We, we have a background in faith. 338 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:29,240 Faith, what Martin Luther said is simply the yes of the heart. 339 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:32,480 It's when your heart says yes to God. 340 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,640 Now you can amplify that. You can teach many different 341 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:38,320 facets and angles of it, which is all great. 342 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:45,880 But by grace, which is basically God reaching out to you, you've 343 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:50,440 been saved through faith, which is you're saying yes to what 344 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:54,160 he's offering you for. By grace, you've been saved 345 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:59,040 through faith. And that not of yourselves. 346 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:06,000 It's not of your initiation. It didn't start with you. 347 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:11,120 You didn't generate it. You're not the alpha. 348 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:17,640 It's not of yourselves. It is the gift. 349 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:21,960 Everybody say gift. If you want to understand grace, 350 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:28,240 you have to understand gift because a gift is not something 351 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:33,680 that you earn when when you go to work and you work all week. 352 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:38,080 And what Can you imagine if your boss called you into the office 353 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:39,600 and said, I've got a gift for you? 354 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:44,280 And you say, oh, that's so nice. And you say, what is it? 355 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:49,120 And he says it's a paycheck. And you're thinking, that's not 356 00:23:49,120 --> 00:23:54,840 a gift I earned that. See, so many people think that 357 00:23:54,840 --> 00:24:00,000 salvation being saved or really receiving any blessing of God is 358 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:04,240 something that we earn that is based on our human effort and 359 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:08,440 human performance. So if your boss gives you your 360 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:13,000 paycheck and says I have a gift for you and hands you the 361 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:16,960 paycheck, in your mind you're saying, you know, I'm not, I'm 362 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:18,200 not going to get an argument with you. 363 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:21,040 But that's not a gift. I earned that. 364 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:26,600 A gift is something that somebody gives you that you did 365 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:31,480 not work for or earn. There's a difference between 366 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:38,760 compensation wages versus a gift, a gratuity. 367 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:43,280 OK. So by grace you have been saved 368 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,600 through faith and that not of yourselves. 369 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:50,600 It is the gift. Everybody say gift again, it is 370 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:56,280 the gift of God. It is not of works or human 371 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:59,840 effort, lest anyone should boast. 372 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:05,000 So let's establish this, that when you and I stand before the 373 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:09,040 Lord and you know he has said well done, thou good and 374 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:12,440 faithful servant, and so on, enter into the joy of the Lord. 375 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:19,320 None of us are getting into heaven based on our works or our 376 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:22,360 efforts here on earth. It's a gift. 377 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:26,400 Now there's a second dimension of this, and this is where many 378 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:30,320 people become confused. There's a separate, separate 379 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:35,600 dimension of this where people are rewarded and there are our 380 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:40,840 works do play a role there. The Bible says multiple times we 381 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:47,480 will be rewarded according to our works, but we are saved by 382 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:52,360 grace through faith that not of ourselves. 383 00:25:52,360 --> 00:25:56,400 It is the gift of God. You're not going to meet anybody 384 00:25:56,400 --> 00:26:01,600 in heaven who says, hey, I got here because I did so many great 385 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:05,680 things for God. Everybody in heaven is going to 386 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:09,720 say, hey, I got here because even though I was a Sinner, even 387 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:13,400 though I had sinned and come short of God's glory, I'm here 388 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:18,280 because of what Jesus did for me, because of what Jesus did on 389 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,400 the cross. I'm here because of the grace of 390 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,960 God. Grace was God reaching out 391 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:28,960 through Jesus on the cross, dying, shedding his blood, and 392 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:30,720 so on, being raised from the dead. 393 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:37,960 And faith is our saying yes. Faith is our accepting a gift 394 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:43,720 from God that is not based on our works or our human effort. 395 00:26:44,120 --> 00:26:46,960 OK, so I want to tell you a story here. 396 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:50,800 This is just a couple weeks old. I told Pastor Earl and Marcy 397 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:54,960 this last night I've got a brand new story that I think 398 00:26:54,960 --> 00:27:00,600 illustrates grace really nicely. My wife and I just a few weeks 399 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:07,320 ago, we preached in England and Netherlands and Switzerland, and 400 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:09,480 while we were there we popped into Scotland. 401 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:13,800 I didn't preach in Scotland, but I wanted to visit some historic 402 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:16,680 sites. I love history and I went to 403 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,880 Scotland because I wanted to explore some of the sites 404 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:23,080 related to John Knox. How many of you were anybody 405 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:26,320 here raised Presbyterian? Anybody here raised 406 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:29,280 Presbyterian? Not a single Presbyterian here. 407 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:32,840 You were raised Presbyterian. Thank you. 408 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:36,240 We have one former. We have two. 409 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:41,960 Is it 22 Presbyterians in here? Actually, we have three. 410 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:46,720 I was raised Presbyterian. John Knox. 411 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:49,040 Let's look at him. He's the guy that founded 412 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:52,680 Presbyterianism. And I went there. 413 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:57,080 These are two pictures I took. One's a stained glass window. 414 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:00,160 One's actually a statue. The one on the right is a statue 415 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:04,960 of John Knox. And he was the founder of 416 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:09,400 Presbyterianism. And I, I really, even though I, 417 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:12,240 I was raised in that denomination, I really didn't 418 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:17,640 know a lot about him. But he had a real, I think he 419 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:22,160 had a real relationship with God and he had a real consecration 420 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:26,000 and dedication to God. And he had been a Roman Catholic 421 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:31,680 priest and had switched into what we call the Protestant 422 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:35,760 movement. And back then how that would 423 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:38,360 have been in the 1500s. How many of you know, church 424 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:42,680 history gets pretty rough at some places because it's not 425 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:45,760 just a history of what God did, it's a history of what people 426 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:49,800 did in God's name. And sometimes the lot there are 427 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:53,040 a lot of people were very misguided and misdirected and, 428 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:58,560 and so people would kill each other for believing differently. 429 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:00,920 How many of you know, we don't need to kill each other if we 430 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:03,960 believe differently And but people, I mean, they just killed 431 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:07,440 each other left and right. They had wars over these things 432 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:15,560 and so that's a sad part of it. But John Knox when when he 433 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:23,080 really understood some truth and embrace this Protestant faith 434 00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:28,640 that we are saved by faith alone through the grace of God and not 435 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:32,360 by religious works, church works, etcetera. 436 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:40,120 He, he was, he was mentored by a guy, another preacher named 437 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:43,920 George Wishart, and they burnt him at the stake. 438 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:49,200 They they burnt his mentor at the stake for what he believed 439 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:57,720 and then they made John Knox a slave prisoner on a French 440 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:03,120 galley ship rowing a a galley boat for 19 months. 441 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:06,480 Can you imagine being a galley slave at all? 442 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:11,480 But for 19 months he had to row a boat chained to oars as a 443 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,400 slave. And all this because of his 444 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:18,720 faith in Jesus. And then when he finally got 445 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:27,160 out, there was an English queen who burnt 278 Protestants at the 446 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:34,480 stake as Bloody Mary and, and, and John Knox spent 12 years in 447 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:39,000 exile out of his own country, you know, to stay alive. 448 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:42,440 And then at a certain point he was able to come back into 449 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:47,080 Scotland and lead what we call the Protestant Reformation in 450 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:50,680 Scotland. And so he lived for Jesus. 451 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:55,760 He saw his closest friends burnt at the stake for their faith in 452 00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:58,800 Jesus Christ. He was exiled from his own 453 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:02,720 country for a dozen years because of his faith in Jesus 454 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:06,240 Christ. And and I read about his last 455 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:12,960 hours and when when he was getting ready to pass away, he 456 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:16,880 asked his wife to read him two passages of Scripture. 457 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:22,240 He said, I want you to read to me First Corinthians chapter 15. 458 00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:26,040 And that's all about the the dead being raised. 459 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:29,520 How many of you know we celebrated resurrection a couple 460 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:33,600 Sundays ago, right? Not only is Jesus raised from 461 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:37,880 the dead, but guess what, because he was raised, we get to 462 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:41,480 be raised and, and not just in the future, but we get to live a 463 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:46,240 resurrection lifestyle even now. We get the power of the 464 00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:49,680 resurrection before the full resurrection. 465 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:54,480 And then he asked his wife to read to him John chapter 17. 466 00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:58,480 And both of those passages were a great comfort to him. 467 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:02,200 And, and they knew he's just hours away from dying. 468 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:07,040 His life is slipping away. His physical life is ebbing 469 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:10,480 away. And then they said that he kind 470 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:14,680 of sort of went kind of unconscious, but, you know, kind 471 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:17,400 of half conscious, half not conscious. 472 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:22,560 And they said he was struggling, he was moaning. 473 00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:27,960 He was, they said it was like he was in a battle of some kind 474 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:32,280 and, and like he was fighting something, like he was resisting 475 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:35,160 something. And they, they just kind of let 476 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:40,320 him alone. But then when he came to, they 477 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:42,360 said what, what, what just happened. 478 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:47,520 And this is what he said. He said, I'm quoting him. 479 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:49,760 So it's kind of that flowery old English. 480 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:58,000 He said I have indeed sustained many contests in this frail life 481 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:05,880 and many assaults from Satan, but now the roaring lion has 482 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:11,840 most furiously attacked me and and he kind of describes some of 483 00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:15,360 the different temptations and challenges he had faced in life. 484 00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:21,440 And he said, But now he just attacked me in a different way. 485 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:27,800 For the cunning serpent has endeavored to persuade me that I 486 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:36,160 have earned heaven itself and a blessed immortality by my 487 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:41,800 faithful discharge of the ministry that has been committed 488 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:44,920 to me. And, and he, and, and what it 489 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:49,680 boils down to is that Knox, what he really described as his 490 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:55,200 greatest temptation in life was to believe that he had earned 491 00:33:55,200 --> 00:34:00,320 heaven by his own good works. And the enemy was trying to 492 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:05,160 persuade him at that last moment that it was his efforts, his 493 00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:09,080 human efforts that had earned him a place in heaven. 494 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:14,000 And, and it's just amazing that he would be attacked by that at 495 00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,880 probably what was his most vulnerable moment. 496 00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:21,159 But he had to come back. And one of the verses he came 497 00:34:21,159 --> 00:34:26,800 back to at that point was by grace We are saved through 498 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:30,000 faith, and that not of ourselves. 499 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:34,960 It is the gift of God. It is not of human works or 500 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:38,920 human merit, lest any of us should boast. 501 00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:42,440 So I want to take you back to my early study. 502 00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:46,560 When I began to study grace in earnest. 503 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:49,840 Here's what I did. There were no such things as 504 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:53,760 computer programs. How many of you pastoral, do you 505 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:55,840 remember the old Strong's Concordance? 506 00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:59,960 It was about that thick and it listed every word in the Bible 507 00:34:59,960 --> 00:35:04,240 and every place that was used. I maybe I'm kind of glad we 508 00:35:04,240 --> 00:35:07,920 didn't have computers back then because it really made us, it 509 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:13,280 forced us just to dig in. It's so easy today to study and 510 00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:18,080 I'm, I'm all for that, but I just went through and found 511 00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:23,720 every time that grace is used in the Bible because I realized I, 512 00:35:23,720 --> 00:35:27,200 I know that grace is unmerited favor, but I don't really know 513 00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:30,600 what unmerited favor means. And, and so I went through and 514 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:32,920 began to study everything I could find. 515 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:36,880 And, and this, these are all the references I found. 516 00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:40,360 Well, some of them, it's not all, but I, I found out and 517 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:42,320 there's a scripture for every one of these. 518 00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:48,320 The Lord is gracious. He is the giver of grace. 519 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:56,200 He is the God of all grace. His throne is a throne of grace. 520 00:35:56,720 --> 00:36:03,720 The prophets of old prophesied of the grace that should come to 521 00:36:03,720 --> 00:36:07,560 us. This grace came by Jesus. 522 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:09,760 Every single one of these is a Bible verse. 523 00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:15,920 He was full of grace, and it is from His fullness that we 524 00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:23,440 receive 1 grace after another. The grace of God was upon him, 525 00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:27,440 and gracious words proceeded out of his mouth. 526 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:34,560 It was by grace that He tasted of death for every man. 527 00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:38,920 The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of grace. 528 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:47,280 We are told to continue in grace, to abound in grace, to be 529 00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:52,080 strong in grace, and to grow in grace. 530 00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:58,600 The Bible talks about great grace, the abundance of grace, 531 00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:06,400 the exceeding grace of God, the glory of His grace, the riches 532 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:12,560 of His grace, the gift of grace, the grace of life, the manifold 533 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:16,040 grace of God, the true grace of God. 534 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:21,160 Our message is called the Gospel of the grace of God and the Word 535 00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:25,280 of His Grace. We are saved by grace and 536 00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:28,840 through grace. It is through grace that we 537 00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:33,320 believe. Grace builds us up and gives us 538 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:37,320 an inheritance. We are justified by grace. 539 00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:44,560 We have access by faith into the grace of God in which we stand. 540 00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:48,400 Grace reigns through righteousness. 541 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:51,240 Didn't you tell me you're doing something on reigning here 542 00:37:51,240 --> 00:37:54,920 recently? The Bible says that grace reigns 543 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:58,200 through righteousness and produces eternal life. 544 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:03,000 We are under grace. We have gifts differing 545 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:07,160 according to the grace of God. It is the grace of God that 546 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:12,440 makes us rich. God's grace is sufficient for us 547 00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:20,240 and causes us to reign in life. We are called by grace into 548 00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:23,840 grace. Grace enables us to preach the 549 00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:28,200 unsearchable riches of Christ. Grace is given to every 550 00:38:28,200 --> 00:38:31,520 believer. Our words can impart grace to 551 00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:35,760 other people. We are partakers of grace. 552 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:39,320 We are to sing with grace in our hearts. 553 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:42,880 Our words are to be seasoned with grace. 554 00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:47,880 Grace gives us everlasting comfort and hope. 555 00:38:48,240 --> 00:38:54,320 Grace brings salvation to us. Grace helps us in the time of 556 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:58,840 need. Grace enables us to serve God 557 00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:03,600 acceptably, and grace establishes our hearts. 558 00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:09,280 Every single one of those is a, is a scripture phrase, a 559 00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:12,600 scripture, a statement in the New Testament. 560 00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:15,320 I think one or two might have been Old Testament at the very 561 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:18,280 beginning. And, and when I began to realize 562 00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:21,680 this, I thought, I thought I didn't know what grace was. 563 00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:24,720 I really didn't know what grace was. 564 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:31,080 Grace does so much more than I could have ever imagined. 565 00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:34,640 And one of the things I realized I kind of understood, and I 566 00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:41,080 think most believers understand that God saves us by his grace. 567 00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:46,800 That's God's nature, his disposition, which results in 568 00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:52,360 his actions. God is gracious toward us 569 00:39:52,720 --> 00:39:59,320 because of his gracious nature. It's not some theory that God 570 00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:02,080 has. It's not like some passive 571 00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:07,560 attitude that God has compassion on us, but he doesn't do 572 00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:11,880 anything compassionate. It's both his attitude and his 573 00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:14,920 actions. I'm going to use a really 574 00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:21,360 natural illustration to illustrate what Grace is. 575 00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:25,480 And let me just tell you this right now, every illustration 576 00:40:25,680 --> 00:40:29,720 fails at some point. OK, it falls short at some 577 00:40:29,720 --> 00:40:32,880 point, but it but it also conveys a message. 578 00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:36,160 How many of you appreciate electricity? 579 00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:42,920 How many of you are glad you live in the 21st century and and 580 00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:48,880 that you weren't born in 1800? Can you imagine living in 1700 581 00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:54,000 whenever and in St. Augustine, FL and not having 582 00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:59,240 electricity? Even some of the countries that 583 00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:03,320 I'm sure Pastor Earl's been to, I've been to their electricity 584 00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:06,120 even now isn't dependable. You know, it'll go out 585 00:41:06,120 --> 00:41:08,160 sometimes. You know, they have brownouts 586 00:41:08,160 --> 00:41:11,760 and blackouts and some states in the country, you know, the power 587 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:13,920 grid gets overwhelmed and that type of thing. 588 00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:18,240 And I know when you guys have had hurricanes in Florida, 589 00:41:18,240 --> 00:41:20,880 different parts, you know, that get hit sometimes. 590 00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:23,800 What what are some of the places that have been hit in recent 591 00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:25,240 decades? How long are they without 592 00:41:25,240 --> 00:41:29,280 electricity? A week or two sometimes, you 593 00:41:29,280 --> 00:41:33,560 know, we had a, an ice storm in Tulsa back in 2007. 594 00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:37,800 We were without electricity from a Sunday to a Thursday. 595 00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:42,600 And I could not, I, I really felt ashamed of myself. 596 00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:48,560 What a whiny. I mean, it's just kind of like 597 00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:52,720 this is the end of the world. And, and I know, I remember the 598 00:41:52,720 --> 00:41:54,800 night that the electricity came back on. 599 00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:58,560 We didn't know when it was going to come on and it came on that 600 00:41:58,560 --> 00:42:02,960 night, Thursday night and it was cold in the house because the 601 00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:06,640 heater wasn't working. And, and I told my wife, I said 602 00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:12,000 it has to be 38° in here. And you know, I was complaining 603 00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:15,000 and everything. Well, the, the electricity came 604 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:18,480 on and I immediately went to the thermostat to see because it's 605 00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:20,120 all electric. You can't, it doesn't do 606 00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:25,880 anything if the IT was 58 in the house, you know, sure, yeah, 607 00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:29,280 that's a little chilly, but you know, you know, couple 608 00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:32,120 sweatshirts and you're not going to die in 58°. 609 00:42:32,280 --> 00:42:36,560 And I just, I am such a, you know, so spoiled and and that 610 00:42:36,560 --> 00:42:42,440 type of thing. But so electricity, you know, 611 00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:46,400 you have electricity most likely in your home, your apartment, 612 00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:48,960 your condo, wherever you live and that type of thing. 613 00:42:49,240 --> 00:42:51,800 I just want you to help me out in this message a little bit, 614 00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:56,880 one by one. I want you to name one thing 615 00:42:57,400 --> 00:43:03,160 that electricity energizes in your place of residence. 616 00:43:03,160 --> 00:43:07,280 Name one thing everything coffee. 617 00:43:07,320 --> 00:43:09,600 But I thought you guys were going to say air conditioning. 618 00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:14,600 I guess today coffee is more important than air conditioning. 619 00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:19,440 OK, so who said coffee pot? Who said coffee pot over here? 620 00:43:19,720 --> 00:43:23,240 OK, that's good enough. All right, so electricity makes 621 00:43:23,240 --> 00:43:27,560 your coffee pot make your coffee hot, right? 622 00:43:28,080 --> 00:43:33,920 OK, what's the next thing that electricity does in your place 623 00:43:33,920 --> 00:43:39,560 of residence? AC air conditioning. 624 00:43:40,160 --> 00:43:45,800 OK, what else does electricity produce in your house or what 625 00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:49,840 instrument does it go into telephone. 626 00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:52,920 OK, I got to charge your phone and that type of thing. 627 00:43:53,080 --> 00:43:54,920 Or maybe a landline, I guess maybe. 628 00:43:54,920 --> 00:43:57,720 I don't know if you have to have, I don't haven't used a 629 00:43:57,720 --> 00:44:02,720 landline in years. But what else does electricity 630 00:44:02,720 --> 00:44:10,520 power in your house? Refrigerator, lights, Wi-Fi, 631 00:44:11,440 --> 00:44:16,360 stove. Everything. 632 00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:22,320 What about a ceiling fan? What about a microwave? 633 00:44:23,240 --> 00:44:27,320 What else? Hot water tank, Water heater? 634 00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:34,440 Television. I can't believe nobody said 635 00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:37,880 television until now. You got a really spiritual 636 00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:45,320 church, Pastor Earl? All right, OK, so here, here's 637 00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:46,880 the point. We're we're going to make this 638 00:44:46,880 --> 00:44:49,000 point, we're going to make this point and then we're going to 639 00:44:49,160 --> 00:44:53,840 wrap up and pick up tonight at 6:30 Electric. 640 00:44:53,840 --> 00:44:56,200 What if I just made this statement? 641 00:44:56,200 --> 00:45:00,160 Electricity is electricity. Is that a true statement? 642 00:45:01,200 --> 00:45:05,200 Electricity is electricity. Is that true? 643 00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:09,240 It's true. We also understand that 644 00:45:09,240 --> 00:45:19,560 electricity can power and enable many different results depending 645 00:45:19,560 --> 00:45:23,840 on what receives the electricity. 646 00:45:26,200 --> 00:45:30,680 Did you know that somebody could live, let's just say they'd 647 00:45:30,680 --> 00:45:34,040 grown up, you know, because Can you imagine somebody coming to 648 00:45:34,040 --> 00:45:40,240 America, Saint Augustine, from a, a nation where they lived, 649 00:45:40,320 --> 00:45:45,520 you know, primitively and didn't have any appliances, didn't have 650 00:45:45,520 --> 00:45:49,640 electricity, didn't have any modern conveniences, whatever. 651 00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:55,840 And they show up and they maybe they come into your house and 652 00:45:56,840 --> 00:46:02,120 they notice the temperature so cool and it's so hot outside. 653 00:46:02,120 --> 00:46:07,800 And they say, how is this so cool, so, so cool in this house? 654 00:46:08,520 --> 00:46:10,080 And you say, well, it's air conditioning. 655 00:46:10,080 --> 00:46:12,280 Well, how's that work? And well, you don't know how to 656 00:46:12,280 --> 00:46:14,240 explain unless you're an electrical engineer. 657 00:46:14,360 --> 00:46:16,800 You just say, well, air conditioning works because of 658 00:46:16,800 --> 00:46:19,520 electricity. And they look up and they see a 659 00:46:19,520 --> 00:46:22,280 ceiling fan moving that cool air around. 660 00:46:22,280 --> 00:46:23,640 What's that? That's a ceiling fan. 661 00:46:23,880 --> 00:46:26,200 How does that work? There's nobody spinning it. 662 00:46:26,520 --> 00:46:30,080 Well, it's electricity. And you take them to the kitchen 663 00:46:30,080 --> 00:46:33,360 and you open the refrigerator and wow, it's even cooler yet 664 00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:37,360 and keeps the food cold. I said, how does that work? 665 00:46:37,800 --> 00:46:40,880 And you say, well, it's, it's, it's air conditioning. 666 00:46:41,440 --> 00:46:44,320 And then you pull something out of the oven or, or the coffee, 667 00:46:44,320 --> 00:46:47,600 you give them a cup of coffee. How did this get so hot? 668 00:46:48,360 --> 00:46:53,760 And he said, well, electricity. Can you see how that would kind 669 00:46:53,760 --> 00:46:58,920 of be confusing to them? See, a lot of people, even 670 00:46:58,920 --> 00:47:05,040 Christians, think that electricity only does one thing, 671 00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:09,160 grace. I'm sorry, a lot of Christians 672 00:47:09,160 --> 00:47:13,800 only think grace does one thing, which would be like a person 673 00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:18,440 coming from a an undeveloped nation thinking that electricity 674 00:47:19,160 --> 00:47:24,040 would only do one thing. Let's go to this next slide. 675 00:47:24,040 --> 00:47:29,240 If if we can. When we come back tonight, I'm 676 00:47:29,240 --> 00:47:35,720 going to talk about 5 different expressions of grace, just like 677 00:47:35,720 --> 00:47:40,840 we talked about different expressions of electricity. 678 00:47:41,160 --> 00:47:47,680 You know, heat through an oven, cold through an air conditioner, 679 00:47:48,040 --> 00:47:52,400 motion through a ceiling fan. I'm going to talk about 5 680 00:47:52,400 --> 00:47:58,080 different expressions of grace, saving grace, strengthening 681 00:47:58,080 --> 00:48:05,760 grace, sanctifying grace, sharing grace, and serving 682 00:48:05,760 --> 00:48:09,320 grace. Tonight you see that diamond? 683 00:48:09,760 --> 00:48:14,520 What is that diamond full of facets? 684 00:48:15,280 --> 00:48:20,480 Different, you know the cuts, different surfaces that are all 685 00:48:20,880 --> 00:48:22,440 there. How many of you know it's 1 686 00:48:22,440 --> 00:48:27,160 diamond, but it has many different facets? 687 00:48:28,280 --> 00:48:31,840 Grace is is is like that diamond? 688 00:48:32,400 --> 00:48:39,360 The diamond is 1 stone, but it has many different facets and 689 00:48:39,360 --> 00:48:44,000 the facets of grace that we're going to look at starting 690 00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:46,240 tonight. Saving grace. 691 00:48:46,240 --> 00:48:50,400 What does that mean? That grace saves us from sin, 692 00:48:50,920 --> 00:48:57,680 from separation from God? What is, what is strengthening 693 00:48:57,680 --> 00:49:00,720 grace? What is sanctifying grace? 694 00:49:00,720 --> 00:49:04,200 What is sharing grace? What is serving grace? 695 00:49:04,440 --> 00:49:09,040 Starting tonight, we're going to be examining those things. 696 00:49:09,560 --> 00:49:14,200 So I want you to be back at 6:30 because what we've done just 697 00:49:14,200 --> 00:49:18,280 this morning, as we've just laid a real simple foundation to be 698 00:49:18,280 --> 00:49:22,120 able to build into some deeper and more profound things. 699 00:49:22,120 --> 00:49:25,760 Father, in the name of Jesus, I want to thank you for this time 700 00:49:25,760 --> 00:49:30,000 together, want to thank you for every person that's here today. 701 00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:34,320 And Lord, I just pray that you'll open all of our hearts to 702 00:49:34,440 --> 00:49:40,840 say yes, Lord, not just yes, Lord, to some temporal blessing. 703 00:49:40,840 --> 00:49:44,200 Although we, yes, Lord, we want every blessing that you have for 704 00:49:44,200 --> 00:49:47,600 us in this life. But Lord, we want to say yes to 705 00:49:47,600 --> 00:49:52,800 you in every single area of life, starting with forgiveness. 706 00:49:52,800 --> 00:49:58,160 Yes, Lord, we need your forgiveness, your help in life 707 00:49:58,160 --> 00:50:00,440 to live a strong and victorious life. 708 00:50:00,680 --> 00:50:04,600 Yes, Lord, we need your life in every area.