Grace Poured Out

Introduction

Not just because we need to be reverent, but because I’m going to talk to you this morning about the grace of God. Don’t let that get out. Sometimes members of churches of Christ are treated as if we don’t believe in the grace of God. I’m here to tell you. That’s not so of the true people of God. I believe in the grace of God. And I’m not ashamed to say it. Or for others to know that about us. The Decker Prairie Church believes in the grace of God. And if we did not believe in the grace of God, then we would reject the gospel. Because it is the gospel of his grace. The good news that God has extended his grace to man. The grace of God has appeared to all, bringing salvation.

1. The Offer of Grace Is Universal in Scope

Titus chapter 2 and verse 11. It says it very clearly. This message of grace is extended to everyone, but we must keep on reading in that context to know that grace instructs us to deny lust and to live sensibly and righteously and godly in this present age.

He is urging them to not sin. But if any one of them did sin, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous. And then verse 2. He is the propitiation for our sins. He satisfied God’s anger towards sin. That’s what propitiation means. He is the propitiation for our sin and not for our sins only. Not just Christians, but for the sins of the whole world. That’s the grace of God. It’s like John 3 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but should have everlasting life. Grace has been extended to everyone here this morning. Grace has been extended to all the people of the United States of America. Grace has been extended to all six billion people in our world.

The offer of grace is universal in scope. I want you to turn to Acts chapter 2. We’re going to be looking at several passages in Acts today. In Acts chapter 2 and verse 21, when Peter preaches that sermon on the day of Pentecost, and he quotes Joel chapter 2, the end of that quotation in verse 21 of chapter 2, and it shall be that everyone, there’s the offer. Everyone. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Everyone who appeals to God on this basis and on his terms receives the full benefits of his grace. This offer could not be more clearly explained than in chapter 10. When Peter preaches to Corinius, and he says, God is not a respecter of persons. But in every nation, it’s extended to everyone.

2. Embraced by the Faithful, Forfeited by the Slothful

But in every nation, he who fears God and does what is right is welcome to him. And so we’ve already seen an inkling as we’ve talked about the grace of God being extended to every man in Titus chapter 2, in 1 John chapter 2, in Acts chapter 2, and Acts chapter 10, that this grace must be embraced to receive its full benefits by God’s design. It is embraced by the faithful. Now the passage that comes to mind.

Through faith. That’s the first part of Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8. We talked about that at length in our study of the book of Ephesians. So many people misunderstand what that passage is saying about salvation and the response that is necessary to embrace the wonderful provisions of grace. But I want you to go also to John chapter 1. When it speaks of Jesus coming into the world, and it says that the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten from the Father, verse 14. And then it says what? This word who became flesh was full of grace and truth. For the law was given through Moses, verse 17, grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

And so when we see these early believers in the book of Acts, like on the day of Pentecost, and later in the city of Antioch. Remember how the word of the Lord was growing there. And they send Barnabas down, the son of encouragement, to Antioch. And it says, when he came that he witnessed something. You know what he witnessed? As the gospel was flourishing in those people, he witnessed the grace of God. Acts chapter 11 and verse 23. In Poseidon Antioch on Paul’s first missionary journey, he urged the brethren there in chapter 13 and verse 43 to continue in the grace of God. And so this grace extended to everyone is embraced by the faithful, but we must also be cautioned, and this is why we get accused of not believing in it.

But this is what the scriptures say that it can be forfeited by the slothful. Continue in the grace of God. Paul said in Acts 13 and verse 43. In 2 Corinthians chapter 6, when he’s writing to the Christians at the church in Corinth, he says, work together with him, with Jesus, and he’s just talked about in chapter 5, this great message of reconciliation. God has brought man who had been alienated from him. He has brought man into fellowship with him through Jesus Christ who bore the curse of sin for us. And so he’s talking about this great reconciliation, and he says, and working together with him, we urge you. What? Do not receive the grace of God in vain. I want you to mark that verse, circle it.

Get to know that verse. You’re going to need that in discussions that you have with people in regard to grace and salvation. Here are people who have received the grace of God and yet it becomes vain to them, empty. And some people try to explain that while they still didn’t lose their salvation. Look, vain is nothing, nada, zero. We urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. It is forfeited by the slaughterful. And again, in Romans chapter 6, while the book of Romans is talking about being justified by faith and how all of that works, when he comes to the explanation of being buried with Christ and rising to walk in newness of life, he says, Now don’t go back to the practice of sin.

What benefit, verse 21, were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification and the outcome, eternal life. Something else. Paul said in the book of Acts in chapter 20. Tells us about the importance of the role that grace plays in our salvation and in motivating right behavior. Acts 20, verse 32, as he’s speaking and concluding his words to the elders at Ephesus that he has met. It says in verse 32, and now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace. Then notice this, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

3. The Grace of Our Lord Was More Than Abundant

Look at what grace is able to do. It is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. We learn some important things about grace. And Paul knew those things because his very conversion to the Lord was a testimony to the power of his grace. And so, for a few moments, I want you to look at what Paul has to say about what grace did in his life as it was poured out for him and poured out for us. Let’s look at 1 Timothy chapter 1 for a few minutes this morning, make some observations, and we’ll be done. 1 Timothy chapter 1, verses 12 through 17. Listen to the words of Paul. Profusely thankful, he says, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord.

We need to do that on a consistent and frequent basis, friends. Those of us who are in Christ, those of us who are the faithful who have embraced the grace of God, we need to thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me because he considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor, and yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was more than abundant. With the faith and the love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. And yet for this reason I found mercy.

In order that in me, as the foremost Jesus Christ might demonstrate his perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in him for eternal life. Now to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God. Be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. I have always loved those verses. What does Paul say about the grace of God? He says, it is more than abundant. Everything that God has done for man, and particularly those of us who have embraced the provisions of his grace, is extravagant. It’s splendid. It’s wonderful. He has lavished upon us. I love that word in Ephesians 1. As we were studying into the book of Ephesians, I never get tired of hearing that word. He lavished upon us. He has given us exceeding great, precious, and magnificent promises, 2 Peter chapter 1, that we should be partakers of the divine nature.

Precious, magnificent promises. What have we sung this morning? God is the fountain wits. 10,000 blessings flow. Do you feel like that? I think sometimes because we’re so used to the message of salvation and the gospel of grace and hearing these words. Look, grace is a word that gets richer to the faithful as time goes on. Do you feel like you are the recipient of 10,000 blessings? As we sung this morning, the comforts he affords are neither few or small. He is the source of fresh delights. He is my portion and my all. Do we realize the abundant grace that we have embraced as the people of God? What can I compare it to? I struggled with that. This is the best I could do. We have a lot of young ladies in our audience who were married not very long ago.

You know, showers are out of control these days.

They are so extravagant. And you have these wedding showers, and you go and you have all these people that you invited. The more people you invite, the more gifts you get. And so you walk into this wedding shower and you see all of this mountain of gifts that people have wrapped, and they’re so beautiful, and your eyes get big and wide. Wow, look at all this stuff. And so we call them showers. God showers us. It’s so much more than that. It’s a wedding feast, as He describes it in Matthew chapter 22. Where the invitations are sent out. And then when it’s time, actual time, no, they’re not as they didn’t do things the way we do them, where we set a time three months in advance.

You know, this thing could all come together rather hurriedly, so the messengers are sent out to everybody to come. It’s time for the wedding feast. And God, no, I’m not coming, I’m busy. They don’t pay any attention. And he goes, go out of the highways of the Bible, by ways and invite people. And even some of them really didn’t give it a whole lot of effort, and they come in poor clothes, and that person has to be cast out because he didn’t come properly prepared. And what’s the moral of the story that Jesus told? What’s the meaning of the parable? Many are called, but few are chosen. Only those who appreciate what God has done. Now I want to go back to a thought that I began with at the very beginning, went away.

4. Grace Is Our Word; Grace Is Motivating

Grace is our word. Just because the denominational and religious world today abuses that word. And let me tell you, they are abusing it right and left in the justification of lawlessness. Let us not be ashamed to speak of the grace of God. It is our word. It is for those who are faithful. And because it is our word, this word is to be very motivating in our lives. It’s fuel for your gas tank as a Christian. That’s why we should not be ashamed of the concept. It enlivens us spiritually. It promotes zeal for God’s things and enthusiasm for worship. And look, if you’re languishing spiritually, you need to get back to the concept of the grace of God that has been poured out for you. The concept of grace is motivating.

And we see that in the life of Saul of Tarsus. Here he was opposing the very cause that gives life. He was trying and brought death to those who believed in the way that brought life. And when he realized that, when he was on the road to Damascus, and that light shone from heaven, and he says, Saul, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. This man who breathed threats and killed people, including the wonderful evangelist Stephen, consenting to his death. Great havoc. Men and women went everywhere preaching the word. You can’t stop the grace of God from being proclaimed. But when he realized that he was kicking against the goats, he said, What shall I do, Lord?

Go into Damascus, it’ll be told you what you should do. And when this story is initially told by Luke in Acts chapter 9, it’s actually told on three occasions, a couple by Paul himself. But the historical reference in Acts chapter 9, when Luke is telling the story of what happened to Saul of Tarsus, he goes in and Ananias says to Saul in verse 15, Go. He is a chosen instrument of mine to bear my name to the Gentiles of the kings of the sons of Israel. God has a plan for this Saul of Tarsus. And when in Acts 22 he talks about that conversation with Ananias, in Acts 22, Paul would say, or Ananias says to Paul, why do you delay? Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.

5. Grace Motivates Faith and Love

And so here he is, the persecutor, washed and cleansed by the blood of Christ and put into this ministry. And he goes from persecutor to apostle to excelling example of Christ. And one of the greatest sacrificial servants. The Lord’s cause has ever known. Grace is motivating. And motivates us toward two things. What are they? In 1 Timothy chapter 1, did you read this? In 1 Timothy chapter 1, the grace of our Lord was more than abundant with the faith and the love which is in Christ Jesus. Any real reception of the grace of God in our lives will eventuate in these two things. I want you to get 1 Timothy 1 and verse 14 this morning. If we embrace the grace of God, two things result faith and love.

And they are essential to the proper acceptance of his grace. What exactly are these things? What exactly is the faith that is in Christ? I think sometimes we take that for granted. It’s a fundamental concept, right? For by grace have you been saved through faith. What does that mean? What does faith mean in your life? Let me give you something really simple. As I thought about this week, what exactly is faith? And perhaps this is borne out after many years of preaching and trying to live the life that I’m called to live as a disciple of the king. But here’s what I think it is. If I could give an all-encompassing definition of what faith is, it would be simply my trust in God in all that he is and in all that he says.

That’s the anchor for my life. When the difficult times come when I grow weary and weak.

Moving forward, fixing what needs to be fixed, and keep progressing and worshiping among the people. You know what keeps me going? I know who God is. I know what he has done. And my belief in those things do not ever waver. My confidence in him. And not just the things that he did. You know, I look at these stories, I don’t ever question, did this happen? Any of it? From Genesis to Revelation. I don’t ever, well, did that really happen? I know these things happen. And not only do I know this God is real, that he did these things, and everything that I read about Jesus of Nazareth is true, and that he sits right now at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and he’s watching over his people right now today as we worship him.

I don’t question that for one second, but it goes further than that. It’s not just trusting who he is and what he has done. It is, I believe these are the words of life. This is wisdom. This is goodness. This exalts my being when I pursue these things. That is the faith that is in Jesus. And it coincides with truth. Grace and truth is in Jesus. The one who dwells in Zion is said in Psalm 15 and verse 2. It says, He speaks truth in his heart. And did you see this in Ephesians when we were studying this? Those in him are dedicated to the one faith, Ephesians 4 and verse 5. We are taught in Jesus, just as truth is in Jesus, Ephesians 4 and verse 21.

We have been, we put on the new self three verses later. We put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. And then our final identity. The soldier portrait. His loins are girded with truth. He has taken up the shield of faith. His feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. He has put on the breastplate of righteousness. Thus Paul speaks of the obedience of the faith in Romans chapter 1 and verse 5 that this grace has motivated him to preach. Grace motivates faith. A trust in all that God is and all that God has said. And love. What is love? As I read those passages that speak of the love of God and describe love for us, 1 Corinthians chapter 13.

This is my summary of it. It is the most productive and the highest way to regard and treat others. This is the way in which we walk in his likeness. That’s why Jesus says such things as he does in the Sermon on the Mount when he says, if someone compels you to go with him a mile, go with him too. If someone slaps you on the cheek, turn the other and let him hit it also. If he asks for your shirt, give him your cloak. And he talks about praying for the unrighteous, just like God rains upon the just and the unjust. Love your enemies, pray for them. And then the question is asked, I love this. What do you do more than others? You know what makes us unique as the people of God?

6. Now to the King, Eternal, Immortal, Invisible

You know what makes the grace recipients different? We look at people entirely different than the rest of the world does. We’re not interested in using people and getting something from them. We’re giving, we’re elevating. The message of the gospel teaches us how to regard and treat people and make their circumstances better and help them as many as we can. And it promotes selflessness so that we can do that. Paul’s transformation into this person of faith and love in Christ served as an example of others who would believe. And then he concludes. Now to the king. Eternal.

And invisible. The incredible qualities of our gracious God. We need to dwell upon them often. I think one of our biggest problems is the very last thing there. That he is invisible. And sometimes we go about living in our lives and he’s invisible to us, all right. We hardly give him a thought. But we need to remember that our King is indeed invisible, but he is very real. And he is the only God. He has no rival. There is no salvation in anyone else or in anything else. And yet people keep trying. They want to find their salvation in anything but this message. This is a crutch for the emotionally weak. People who have sacrificed reason. Oh, no. This is the only source to immortality.

See, he’s immortal. Have you noticed we’re mortal? Everybody I’ve ever met. I think we’re mortal. Have you met anybody that’s 200 years old, really? Nobody. Nobody makes it that long. Immortality is brought to light through the gospel. He is it. And so when we reject it, we say, no. See, that’s a problem in faith. I don’t really think this message is for me. I don’t want to live this. I want to do my own thing. Okay, you’ve embraced your mortality and you’ve forsaken immortality. And you’ve forgotten something. The only, when there’s something that’s the only, that’s it. And in the days of Jeremiah, when the people of God were doomed for destruction, he says, My people have committed to evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters.

And they have hewn themselves out cisterns. Broken cisterns that can hold no water. What a compelling and tragic statement that is in Jeremiah chapter 2 and verse 13. And so we understand that he is eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God. And thus, because of his magnificent grace toward us, that he deserves honor and glory forever and ever. God in the fountain wince, fills our hearts with joy. My lips attunes for praise. To his glory I’ll devote the remnant of my days. What a wonderful song. That’s our mission. To him be the glory in the church, both now and to all generations. Amen. Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 21. Singing his praises, acknowledging his perfection and power, his beauty and character will be my theme through the endless ages of eternity.

And the amazing thing about that is that in the process, I am enlivened. Whatever heaven will involve, I won’t be wishing for it to be over so I can go watch television. Not going to be any of that. Or do some other inferior thing. Heaven. Unceasing thrill and bliss. To the king, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. I love the conclusion. I was going to use this verse as an introduction to a prayer once. Because it says lofty things about God, and I was going to start my prayer like that. The problem is I shouldn’t have quoted the last verse. The last word of the verse. Because I said, now that the king, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God deserves honor and glory forever and ever.

Conclusion

Amen. When you say amen, your prayer is over. That was it. Song’s done. Short prayer. What does that word mean? So be it. It’s derives from a Hebrew word, Amen, which means truth. This is true. This is real. What Paul has said about the grace of God that has motivated his conversion to Jesus Christ, the faith and love which are in Christ, because we have been brought in the service of this great king. Amen. So be it. And as we said, this grace fuels our obedience. It motivates and drives us to repentance. And thus, when Paul and Peter and the apostles preached the message of grace, they concluded by saying such things as repent and be converted, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins.

And times of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord. And it will cause us to be baptized into Christ. To be identified in likeness of Jesus, death, burial, and resurrection, so that we can walk in newness of life and be marvelously, incredibly, as Paul has gone from this opposer of the great cause, the persecutor, to now a great servant to the new creation. Just as magnificent as the original. And in many ways, exceeding it. You know, we look at creation marvelous. In six days, God made all of these things, and we enjoy the beauty still of God’s magnificent creation. And as wonderful as it is, this new creation even exceeds it. That’s what we are in Christ. That we have been redeemed from our sin and molded into the likeness of God Himself.

May that motivate us to live for Him in the midst of a decadent world. Unto the glory of God. Well, you’ve listened well. Why did the sun come up today?

We didn’t even think about it. Because it came up the day before that, the day before that, the day before that. But why did the sun come up today? Do you know the answer to that question? This. That’s why the sun came up. God is awaiting more people to embrace his marvelous grace. That’s the only reason.

Count the patience of our Lord as salvation. He’s waited another day for someone else to say, wow, this is a good deal. This is an awesome deal. The likes of me, like Saul of Tarsus, the likes of me receiving God’s lavish gifts. The undeserving? Me? Yeah. Saul Tartarus says if it happened to me, it can happen to you. He’s the example. And the reason why this Son is up today is giving every one of us within earshot of the gospel of grace an opportunity to embrace it for the first time or to say, you know what? Sort of lost my way a little bit. I’ve lost my focus as a Christian. Wow am I blessed by the grace of God and all that it means in my life.

And so if you’re subject to his call, everyone is called. Many are called, but few are chosen. Will you be one of the elect and embrace the provisions of his grace while we stand and say?