Scripture for March 4th: II Cor. 4:7-11, 17-18; 12:7-10

Sermon Title: The Confusing Paradox of Grace

II Cor. 4:7-11

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body

II Cor. 4:17-18

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

II Cor. 12:7-10

...or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Why do we suffer and live with such great physical problems if we have God’s grace? This is a question that can be answered in many ways, but let’s look at it from the standpoint of God’s grace. We know that God’s grace empowers us to live for God, transforms our hearts and minds, and most importantly, allows us to experience a relationship with God. But it does not make our lives perfect while we live in a sin-filled, fallen and broken world. In other words, God’s grace does not take us away from a world of sin, but rather it allows us to live in it in a greater, more powerful way – as a child of God.

Dr. David Jeremiah, in his book, “Captured By Grace,” speaks to this when he writes the following: “We are common clay pots made valuable by the presence of God in us. And we are subject to difficult times in this world. Most people experience more problems after becoming a Christian than they did before because they are now going against the world and against their old nature. A lot of people were surprised several years ago when I fought cancer, thinking pastors weren’t supposed to get sick. The reason I got sick is that I’m human. Sickness is a human condition. Sometimes clay pots crack and sometimes they break, and only the grace of God can help you deal with it when it happens.”

We will speak more about how God’s grace provides power, perspective and perseverance in our lives this coming Sunday as we continue the sermon series, “Captured By Grace.” Hope to see you then!

Devotion: What Is Grace?

Here's a devotion by Dr. John MacArthur answering the question, "What is grace?"

“The Lord, the Lord God, [is] compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth.”
EXODUS 34:6

God’s grace is His undeserved favor shown to sinners.

God’s grace has always been a focus of praise for believers. Today’s verse is quoted several times in the Psalms and elsewhere in Scripture (for example, Neh. 9:17, 31; Ps. 86:15; 103:8; 145:8). Paul is grateful for God’s abundant grace in 1 Timothy 1:14, and John writes, “For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace” (John 1:16). Today some of our favorite hymns are “Amazing Grace,” “Marvelous Grace of Our Loving Lord,” and “Wonderful Grace of Jesus.”

What exactly is grace? It is simply God’s free, undeserved, and unearned favor. It is a gift given by God not because we are worthy of it, but only because God, out of His great love, wants to give it.

Grace is evident to Christians in two main ways. The first is electing, or saving, grace. God “has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity” (2 Tim. 1:9). “By grace [we] have been saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8). This is God’s grace to sinners, for “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom. 5:20).

Another grace in our lives is enabling, or sustaining, grace. We didn’t just receive grace to be saved; we now live in grace. It is the grace of God that enables us to live the Christian life. When Paul asked that some debilitating “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7) be removed, the Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (v. 9). Paul elsewhere says, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).

Remember, we have earned neither saving nor sustaining grace. Nothing we can do can make us worthy of one more bit of grace. God says, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious” (Ex. 33:19). This truth should make us all more grateful because He saved us and sustains us despite our sin. It should also make us humble because we have no worthiness to boast about (Eph. 2:9).

Suggestions for Prayer: Thank God for His grace in saving and sustaining you.

For Further Study: Read Genesis 9:8–19. How did God extend grace to Noah and his family? What was the visible sign or symbol?

Scripture for Feb. 26th: Acts 9:1-9

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

What makes a Christian? For some, church membership makes a person a Christian. Others would say their baptism or association with a religion. What made the Saul in our text a Christian? Certainly we would say his faith. But notice that he was not going after God; in fact, he was doing things that God would despise. But just as Saul was “hunting” for Christians to kill, God was “hunting” for Saul, wanting his very soul. And so God appeared to Saul, calling out to him, moving in his life in a very powerful way. It was through this event that Saul found the faith to believe in Christ; Saul’s faith was not the creation of his own heart, but a gift that God gave him through His pursuit of Saul.

What makes us a Christian? We would be correct in saying it’s not our good works or membership that makes us a Christian, but rather it’s our faith in Christ. However, we need to understand that even that faith that we express is a gift from God and is due to His work in our lives.

Dr. David Jeremiah, in his book, “Captured By Grace,” speaks to this when he writes the following: “Men and women who do the pursuing can only capture empty air. Nothing satisfies. This indeed is the definition of religion. What sets apart our Christian faith is the story told in reverse—one of a loving Father who pursues us because we are too foolish and too sin-stained to go to Him. Read the thoughts of all the great people of faith through the ages, and you’ll find that common denominator. God pursued them “down the nights and down the days.” For example, C. S. Lewis writes, “I never had the experience of looking for God. It was the other way round: He was the hunter (or so it seemed to me) and I was the deer. He stalked me … took unerring aim, and fired. And I am very thankful that this is how the first (conscious) meeting occurred. It forearms one against subsequent fears that the whole thing was only wish fulfillment. Something one didn’t wish for can hardly be that.” Saul saw himself as the relentless hunter. Yet he must have begun to realize that he had become the hunted. “All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.”

Through God’s grace He goes after us – He pursues us like a hunter pursues his prize. Today, He goes after us through the circumstances, events and people in our lives, even as we at times run away from Him. Through His grace He never stops pursuing us. On Sunday, we will talk more about this aspect of God’s grace as we continue the sermon series, “Captured By Grace.” Hope to see you then!

Scripture for February 19th: Romans 5:1-11

Sermon Title: The Comforting Provision of Grace

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we[ also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

“What do you have when you have Jesus?” Dr. David Jeremiah, in his book, Captured By Grace, attempts to answer this question. As I read his answers, I thought about what I have in Jesus: security, peace, purpose and hope. Those may seem like trivia words to many, but to me those words speak to who Jesus has become to me. He has allowed me to feel secure in a troubled world, provided peace when there is so much to worry about and to have purpose in life that that seems to have so little meaning. No, I haven’t stopped worrying, struggling and sometimes I seem to find myself still living aimlessly – but how much better to have God helping to navigate my life than to be trying to do it alone.

One of the greatest things that Jesus brings to my life is hope. Life without Jesus is to see a start and finish – it starts at birth and ends at death. What matters is between the dash – life that is lived now – and nothing more. This seems very bleak to me – if my life is nothing more than the time spent on earth, and it has no meaning, no purpose beyond what happens today, then there appears to me that there is little hope. Gone is the hope for a better world, hope for a greater tomorrow, hope to experience life in a greater and fuller way – all the hope that Christ brings to us as we place our faith in Him.

Dr. Jeremiah makes this point when he writes: “Paul tells us, “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4). The glory is in Christ alone, but we will share in its riches in an ultimate way. This will be the culmination of all our hopes and the joy to which our whole lives have pointed. Have you noticed that the sweetest joys sometimes come in the anticipation of something? It’s Christmas morning for a child, the wedding or future home for the young couple, even the simple anticipation of a hot bath when you’re out shoveling snow in freezing temperatures. These are joys yet to come, and that sends a little shudder of pleasure through the frame.”

Jesus brings to us great hope in our future – that it will be glorious and grand, so much better than what we experience today. We will talk about this great hope, as well as the other things that Jesus gives to us through His grace, as we continue the sermon series, “Captured By Grace” this coming Sunday. I will look for you then!

Scripture for February 12th: Romans 2:1-11

Sermon Title: The Clear Perspective of Grace

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.

“God is love.” Many people will make this statement to raise objection to the idea that God would ever judge people. Certainly a God of love would not judge us, they reason. However, the Bible speaks of judgment – in fact, part of the message of the Gospel is that because we fall short of God’s standards (yes, we are sinners), we must face God’s judgment. Of course, the rest of that message (and what makes it “Good News”) is that we don’t have to suffer the judgment of God for our sins – Jesus Christ has already done so through His death on the cross. But as Christians, who have received God’s forgiveness through grace by way of the cross, we cannot forget that God is not only a God of love, but a God of righteousness and He does not tolerate sin.

Dr. David Jeremiah writes the following concerning God’s judgment:

“Jesus said, “The Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works” (Matthew 16:27). As a matter of fact, your Bible is packed with reminders that an hour of accounting is coming. If your Bible were an appointment book (as in a way it is), it would have yellow Post-it notes falling from every page, reminding you to be ready for your appointment with destiny. If your Bible were a clock (as in a way it is), its alarm would be sounding every few minutes to remind you to start getting ready. But you and I tend to hit the snooze button. We mumble, “Just a few more moments to relax.”

Are you ready for God’s judgment? Do you live in light of God’s judgment? Or do you ignore that it will come one day, “snoozing” while you focus more on the temporal things of life? This coming Sunday we will talk more about the judgment of God and how the grace of God impacts it as we continue the sermon series, “Captured By Grace.” Hope to see you then!