to Exodus 22, the title of this message, Our God is Gracious. Our God is Gracious. I'm standing here looking at the graciousness of God this morning. The very fact that you want to be here, have a desire to be here, is a testimony to the graciousness of God, grace and mercy.

Now it takes one who has been saved by grace to truly know and understand how gracious God is. You have to be saved by it to know it. Even within these civil laws that I read to you that God gave to Israel for them to conduct themselves by with one another, even in these civil laws given by God, we see His tender mercy to His sinful people.

You know, when you read the history of Israel, You realize how sinful they are. You realize they're no better than the Philistines and the Ammonites and the Hittites, all those. You know what the difference is? God's grace. That's the difference. God's grace. Because even after they knew the truth, how many times did they turn and worship idols? How many times? And how many times did God turn them over to the ENEMIES WERE CHASTENING THEN WHEN THEY CRIED, HOW MANY TIMES DID GOD HEAR THEM? Every time. Every time.

So here in Exodus 22 we see the gracious character of God coming out. Especially in verse 27, for that is His covering only. If you take his coat or something for a pledge, that's his covering only. He's poor, just like us poor needy sinners here this morning. He's poor, it is raiment for his skin, wherein shall he sleep. And it shall come to pass when he cries unto me, that I will hear, for I am gracious. I'm gracious. God identifies Himself plainly. He says, I'm gracious.

You see, God's laws flow from His character. His laws are right. When just the average person, not a believer, reads these laws, they're going to say, that's too harsh. That's too harsh. No, it's only getting what you deserve, isn't it? That's all it is. I had mentioned to Vicki the other night, I've been reading this, I said, you remember the thief who had to give back five oxen if he stole one oxen, four sheep if he stole one sheep, if a thief gets caught with something he stole, he used to replace it double. I said, do you notice one thing that was missing? Jail time. I said, there's no jail time, just restitution. I said, God, when it's over, it's over. You know, if you get caught stealing something, you just have to repay it. You know, you can't repay it if you're in jail. No, he says, you go to work, you go to work and you pay back double what you took, which we looked at this last week and it's in reference to the gospel.

But speaking here of God's grace, we have to begin with God's sovereignty. NOW EVERYONE WHOM GOD SAVES, YOU KNOW WITHOUT A DOUBT THAT GOD'S GRACE IS SOVEREIGN. BY VERY DEFINITION OF GRACE, IT HAS TO BE SOVEREIGN. IT HAS TO BE. GRACE IS NOT EARNED. THE THIEF WHO PAID BACK DOUBLE DIDN'T EARN GRACE, HE JUST PAID BACK DOUBLE, HE DID WHAT WAS RIGHT. GRACE IS NOT EARNED, IT'S GIVEN ACCORDING TO HIS WILL.

It is unmerited, absolutely unmerited. In fact, it's unsought at first. It's unsought. Romans 10, 20, I was found of them that sought me not. I was made known, I was manifest unto them that ask not after me. That's as the old writers called grace before grace. That's grace before you really knew what grace was. Listen here to Exodus 33 19, I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. If he's going to be gracious, that's the only way it can come because no one deserves it. So God says, I'll be gracious. to whom I'll be gracious. Has God been gracious to you? Oh, I tell you what, when you really understand this, when you understand the grace of God, the sovereign grace of God, like Henry said to me one time, doesn't that make you want to walk softly before God? That makes you want to walk softly before the Lord, that He would have grace on me and pass by others.

Romans 9.16, It is not of him that willeth, that does away with our great big will, doesn't it? Not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth. Runneth, it's not his effort. Here it is, but of God who showeth mercy. Mercy. You see, grace flows from the character of God, it flows from who God is, not what we deserve.

and God's grace is toward His covenant people. In Nehemiah 9.17 it says, But thou art a God ready to pardon, ready, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, and forsookest them not. God hasn't forsaken this place, the gospel is still here. You know why? Because He doesn't change. His grace doesn't change. His mercy doesn't change. He said, I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob, you sons of election, are not consumed. That's why you're not consumed because God doesn't change.

Nehemiah 9.31, For thy great mercy's sake thou didst not utterly consume them. There was a remnant, just like there is today. There's a remnant that God's not going to consume. He's going to have mercy and grace. They're going to taste it. They're going to see it.

Job, it says this in Job 33, 24. Then He is gracious unto him and says, Deliver him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom. I found a ransom for him. I found a ransom to take his place. Deliver him from going down to the pit. I found a ransom and Jesus Christ is that ransom in my place and all of you who believe we know this and all who have believed and ever will believe the ransom is found in Jesus Christ that's where it's found

2nd Kings 13 23 and the Lord was gracious unto them and had compassion on them and had respect unto them because of his covenant with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and would not destroy them neither cast he them from his presence as yet and here's why Because of his covenant with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and you know what? Every believer is a part of that covenant They're a part of that covenant We are a part of this covenant that God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which He made with His Son first. He made it with His Son first before creation.

Covenant grace. And I tell you this, covenant grace is sure grace. It's sure grace. If God made a covenant concerning you, you can be sure you're going to taste of His grace. His mercy and grace will follow you all the days of your life, even before you knew Him. And even after, if you live to be old enough, even after you lose your mental faculties, He still is gracious to you. He's still gracious to you.

Now, what is this grace? What is it? What is God's grace? Well, first of all, it's PREVENIENT GRACE. As I said, it's grace before grace. You know, there's a lot of things God prevented you and me from doing. Even things we don't even realize. God prevented us. He didn't let us go down that road. He prevented us from doing a lot of things. That's PREVENIENT GRACE. That's grace before grace.

It's PRESERVING GRACE. You know that the scripture tells us in Jude 1 that we were preserved in Jesus Christ and called. You notice how that goes? You're preserved and then in time you're called. God called you in time, but He preserved you in Christ before creation. That's preserving grace. Look over in Psalm 121. Psalm 121, let me get to there. This is one that should be, and I know it is, one of our favorite Psalms.

In verse 7, the Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. You and I have no idea of the demonic spirits that would take us if God let them. That s true, that s not fiction, that s true. Satan desired Peter. The Lord says, Peter, Satan hath desired thee to sift thee as wheat, but I prayed for you. Let your faith fail not. He said, I'm going to let him sift you. I'm going to let him, I'm going to let him, but it's going to be for your good. And it's going to be for God's glory, just like Job.

But the Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. That's what I am. I am a soul and I'm preserved, kept by God. The Lord shall preserve that going out and that coming in. from this time forth and even forevermore. By His grace He'd bring us back, and if not, we're still preserved in Christ. We're still preserved in Him. God's hand is on everything we do, and every place we go, and everything that comes our way. God's grace is on us. His grace is PROVIDING grace. What do you have that He didn't give you? Paul said, what do you have you didn't receive? There is sufficient grace.

I have never survived one trial by my own strength. I have looked back and I have looked at all the things that have come my way and our way as a family and I acknowledge that it is God's grace that has brought me through it and brought me and my family through it. God's grace has done that. You say, Oh, I ain't going to make it. I don't feel like I'm going to make it another day. Oh, you will. You will. You know, I've learned this. The Lord said that He would not put anything upon us that we couldn't bear. But you know, anything He puts upon us, He can enable us to bear it. He does enable us to bear it if He puts it upon us.

And God's grace is abounding grace where sin abounded. Grace doth much more abound. Grace doth much more abound. And the Scriptures testify, all through the Scriptures, Old Testament, New Testament, testify to the grace of God to His people. Listen to this, Genesis 6, 8. First time grace is mentioned. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He didn't earn it, he found it in the eyes of the Lord. Psalm 86 15 that the Lord is full of compassion and gracious this is the testimony of His saints. Psalm 116 5 Gracious is the Lord and righteous they are God's merciful. Psalm 145 8 The Lord is gracious and of great mercy. I could have put scripture after scripture of the graciousness of God to us And here the Scriptures testify to this and we this morning testify to this, don't we? We're here by the grace of God. I believe by the grace of God. I love Christ by the grace of God. I do.

God's grace is not a random act of kindness. It's not a random act of kindness. IT IS CONSISTENT, FOR IT REIGNS THROUGH THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST ON EVERY ONE OF HIS CHILDREN FOR TIME AND ETERNITY.

Now this grace is not only declared, but it's experienced. There is a real experience of grace. Titus 2 11 and 12 for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men all sorts of men that's what that is all sorts of men high low rich poor it doesn't matter all sorts of men men women and every kindred tongue and nation on this earth. God's grace has appeared to them and God's grace is TEACHING, it's a TEACHING grace, listen, Teaching us that denied ungodliness and worldly lust we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. We not only experience the grace of God, we live it, we live it.

It says in Ecclesiastes 10, 12, the words of a wise man's mouth are gracious, gracious. We know Christ, Christ is that wise man. And it says grace poured from his lips, but we are also made wise in Christ. And when you and I have experienced grace, now listen, it'll change the way we speak. It'll change the way we live. It'll change even the way we respond to every situation. Grace will do that. Grace is very powerful. It's very powerful.

And here's something that's so profound here. I call it waiting grace, waiting grace. God patiently waits to be gracious to those who trust Him. He waits to be patient. Listen to this scripture in Isaiah 30.18, Therefore will the Lord wait that He may be gracious unto you. He waits to be gracious to you. God has a people and there is a set time for them to experience His grace when it best serves His glory and our good, but He waits to be gracious unto you. He waits to be gracious when the right time and He'd be gracious.

And then true repentance comes from the experience of grace. You know when a sinner truly repents, Whether he really knows it, I don't think he knows it at first, but he's experiencing the grace of God. He's experiencing grace. Listen to Joel 2.12. Therefore also now saith the Lord, Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning. And rend your heart, not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God. For he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. He says, Turn to me. I'm gracious, I'm merciful, come to me.

Christ said, Come unto me, all you labor heavy laden. I'll whip you, I'll straighten you out. No, I'll give you rest. I'll give you rest. And we preach to sinners because God is gracious. I'll tell you what, I don't preach to anybody hoping that they'll understand what I'm saying and believe. No, I preach to sinners because God delights to show mercy. I preach to sinners because God is gracious. I have tasted that grace and I want others to taste that grace. The message goes forth because God delights to show mercy. Grace is the reason we proclaim the gospel to sinners. Christ said, I didn't come to save the whole, I came to save the sick. I didn't come to call the righteous to repentance, I came to call sinners to repentance.

Well, I tell you, I wish I could just get a hold of a sinner. Do it and get a hold of a sinner. And I would tell that sinner, God is gracious. The Pharisees took that adulterous woman and threw her at the Lord's feet and said, you know what the law says, don't you? Stone her, stone her. What did the Lord do? He stooped down. He stooped down. He came down and then he stooped down. HE GOT DOWN ON OUR LEVEL AND HE WROTE WORDS OF MERCY. GRACE. GRACE FOR THE GUILTY. IT'S JUST FINDING SOMEBODY THAT'S GUILTY. YOU CAN'T EVEN FIND THEM IN PRISON. YOU TRY TO FIND A GUILTY PERSON IN PRISON. THEY HAVE AN EXCUSE FOR WHY THEY DID WHAT THEY DID.

EPHESIANS 2.8 SAYS, FOR BY GRACE ARE YOU SAVED THROUGH FAITH, THAT NOT OF YOURSELF. THAT FAITH IS NOT OF YOURSELF. That faith is given by the grace of God. You ever wonder why you believe and someone over across the aisle or even beside of you does not believe? GRACE! Oh, the super abounding grace of God. Grace is the reason repentance is even possible because God has provided a way for fallen sinners to come back, to come to Him.

he says in Isaiah 44 22 I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions and as a cloud thy sin return to me come to me I have redeemed thee where is this grace found it's found in one place the Lord Jesus Christ And of His fullness have all we received, grace for grace, grace upon grace. Grace poured from His lips, it dripped from His hands. I think of that Shulamite woman when the Lord knocked on the door and she said, I've washed, I don't have time for you. That's what she said. And He put His hand in by the hole of the door and it dripped with myrrh. It dripped with grace and it melted her heart. It says she opened the door and he was gone and she said, he's gone, he's gone. That's because he's the master. He's the sovereign. When he speaks, we answer. You see, he doesn't wait for us to respond. We wait on him.

Now he waits to be gracious, I know. But now when he calls, you answer. He's the master. He teaches us. The Lord teaches us His sovereignty in this manner. How many times have you called upon the Lord, and called upon the Lord, and you just felt like you couldn't get anywhere? You felt like you asked for forgiveness, and you ask, and you ask, and you just feel like you feel just as guilty as ever. He's teaching you, first of all, He's sovereign. And we don't take His grace for granted. We don't take His mercy for granted, He's Sovereign.

In Luke 4.22 it says this, They wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And I'm going to close with this, Have you tasted the grace of God in Christ? Have you tasted it? In Romans 5, 1 and 2, Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we also have access by faith into this grace. Without faith you'll never taste it. It can only be tasted by faith. Christ said, He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood. That's tasting, isn't it? That's tasting, that's experiencing grace.

I think it's 1 Peter 2 verse 3, chapter 2 verse 3, If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Have you tasted that the Lord is gracious? After almost 50 years I can say I've tasted that the Lord is gracious. He is gracious and He'll always be gracious. That's who He is. And I have His word on it that He'll always be gracious and He'll never change. I go through a lot of changes, don't you? In 70 years, me and Paul Mahan was talking about this the other day. He said, it's still hard to say 70. I mean, it is just, I'm just, when I turned 40, I turned 50, I turned 60, it was turning 40, turning 50, but 70? I told him, I said, that's our three score years in 10. I said, it's just astounding to me to say that. But I can say in all these years, I've tasted the grace of God. I'm still here. I'm still preaching the gospel.

I told that to Henry some years ago when I was preaching at Paul's. I said, Henry, you know what is astounding and what is so humbling to me? And at that time I said, after 40 years, here we are. We still believe the gospel, still love the gospel, still preach the gospel. I said, the Lord has kept us. I said, that's astounding. After all these years, the Lord has kept us and he's kept us by his grace. He's kept us by his grace. From the law to the prophets, from Christ to the sinner, God is gracious. God is gracious.

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO CRY UNTO HIM, RETURN TO HIM, TRUST HIM, AND TASTE WITH THEMSELVES THAT THE LORD IS GRACIOUS."

And all those laws, and all those laws He gave, the world can say, He's mean. As that girl said to my granddaughter, God's mean. No, God's not mean, you're just evil. You're just flat evil is what it is.

Someone said, the law is a hard husband. I heard a man say this. He said, the law is harsh, a hard husband. I said, no, just the fact is his wife's a hussy. I said, that's the problem. The problem's not with the law. He said, no, he's a hard husband. No, he's not. The law is holy. The problem is the wife is very, very simple. The wife's a harlot. That's the problem. It's not with the law, it's with us. It's with us.

And when we understand that, then we'll say that the law is good and holy and God is gracious and merciful. And then for the first time, you and I will be able to worship God in spirit and in truth.

Alright, now we're going to, of course, I think everybody knows here we're going to eat downstairs after this, so everybody go down there and eat.