My subject tonight is grace. Grace coming to poor sinners
like you and me from God on his throne in saving power and efficacy. Grace. I'll give you my text
at the end of the message. Do it a little different tonight.
Text will be the last thing we look at. Now this message is
important for four reasons. First, Understand that salvation
by grace destroys all ground of human boasting. Boasting excluded,
pride I abase, I'm only a sinner saved by grace. If you and I
make any contribution whatsoever to our salvation, then we have
reason to boast. and boast before God. If we make
any contribution whatsoever, we have reason to boast even
before God, for there is no salvation of our souls without our contribution. And the scriptures absolutely
forbid that. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory if thou hast not received it? If you have
an idea with regard to salvation and grace that somehow, some
aspect, some part depends on you. is determined by you, that
some aspect of this salvation is your contribution to God,
then you do not know the God of grace or the grace of God. The gospel of God's free grace
forbids such. God's people know at the outset
that even their faith in Christ is God's gift. All the fruit
of the spirit we call grace within, love, joy, peace, and so on.
All the fruit of the spirit is the gift of God's grace. And
faith in Christ is the gift of God's grace. If God waits for
the dead sinner to choose to believe, there will never be
a sinner who believes. God gives life and faith by the
mighty operations of his spirit. We believe by the operation of
God, the Holy Spirit. That's true in the initial exercise
of faith. When first we believe on the
son of God, and that's true in every exercise of faith. We believe
God only as he gives us the measure of faith to believe him. Faith
is the gift of God. When I was 18 years old at Springfield,
Missouri, wherever I went, I tried my best to confront error and
heresy whenever I met it, and I did so publicly, and I did
so without any hesitancy at all. I remember once we were on some
kind of a trip going to some kind of evangelism thing. I don't
know what it was, but some fellows were yakking and got to mocking
God's grace. And I plainly spoke concerning
things and lady, young lady sitting behind me, I wouldn't really
call her a lady, but she was sitting behind me and she kept
getting more and more angry. And finally she stood up on the
bus and screamed. She said, yes, salvation's by
grace, but I believe that was my work and my choice. You can't
take that away from me. No, I can't, but God does. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Salvation is by grace alone. And understanding that destroys
all basis for human pride. We recognize this matter of grace,
then, is of primary importance. And this message is important.
Because salvation by grace, as it robs men of every ground of
boasting, it gives to God all the praise, all the glory, and
all the honor for all his salvation. Three times in the first 14 verses
of the book of Ephesians, as Paul describes for us God's great
mercy and grace in Christ Jesus, he tells us this is for the praise
of his glory. for the praise of the glory of
his grace, for the praise of his glory. God the Father has
all the praise for he planned and purposed our salvation. God
the Son, all the praise for he by his blood purchased eternal
salvation for us. And God the Spirit, all the praise
for he performs his work of grace in us, giving us life and faith
in Jesus Christ. Third, This message is important
because any mixture, I've said this so many times
in this congregation and around the world, but I want you to
get this. Any mixture of merit with mercy, any mixture of what
you do with what God does, any mixture of your works with God's
works and God's grace, is not just terribly evil false doctrine,
it is absolutely damning to those who believe it. Any mixture of
works and grace, it's not just an error where we differ about
how we ought to do things, we differ about church doctrine,
we differ about this, that, no, no. It's not just an error in
doctrine. It is absolutely damning to those
who believe it. Paul wrote to the Galatians and
said, if therefore you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. Christ is become of none effect
unto you, whosoever of you be circumcised. If you contribute
something to God's salvation, If you contribute something to
God's mercy, if somehow God's grace hinges on you, then that
doctrine, if you think such, that doctrine means you have
fallen from grace. You've missed the gospel of the
grace of God altogether. Now, that's precisely the meaning
of Paul's words in Galatians 5, 1 through 4. When he says
you've fallen for grace, he doesn't mean you once were real believers,
but now you're lost, no. He's saying you missed the gospel
altogether. You've just missed it. You've
just missed it. Salvation by grace means that salvation is
altogether God's work. This fellow who used to pastor
at the Campbellite Church in town, I was writing articles
in the paper regularly. He wrote an article, apparently
he'd listened to me preach, and I had just preached a message
on salvation by grace, and I'd written an article, Salvation
by Grace Alone. And he said in his next newspaper
article, people say salvation by grace alone, but the Bible
never says salvation by grace alone. And he's right. The Bible never says that. It
says it everywhere. Those words are not used, but
that doctrine is taught throughout the book of God. Now, any dependence
on yourself, any offering up of your works, any pleading of
your worth, of your merit, any pleading of your decision, your
choice, your will is an utter denial of God's saving grace. It's utter denial. I can't stress
the importance of this adequately. If I thought, if I thought for
a minute that God were actually building his kingdom and saving
sinners by Arminian works religion, I'd go join up with him. I'd
go join up with him. I wouldn't just defend the doctrines.
It doesn't make any difference. I'm concerned for the building
of God's kingdom, the salvation of immortal souls, and the glory
of God in the accomplishment of that salvation. God doesn't
use religious lies to save his people. God saves men by the
knowledge of the truth. by the gospel of his grace. Faith
comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And this
is the word which by the gospel, this is the word which by the
gospel is preached unto you. Now once more, this message is
important because very, very few people, very few professing
Christians, very few good old-fashioned Baptists, very few people in
this world know what grace is. Very few, very few. Most people
imagine that grace is a passion, a great desire, a great yearning
in the heart of God to save men. They tell us that grace is something
that God offers to men. Grace is God giving sinners a
chance to be saved or that God somehow gives grace to men. so
that they can work out their own salvation. Now, nothing could
be further from the truth. The Bible never talks about grace
like that. Yes, grace is an attribute of
God as love and mercy and holiness and righteousness and justice
and truth are attributes of God. But grace, as is spoken of in
connection with our salvation, is not just an attribute of God.
It is an act of God. It is not just a desire in God
to show sinners mercy. It is the act of God whereby
sinners obtain mercy. It is the giving of mercy and
salvation. Grace is God's operation by which
he saves sinners. Whenever you think about grace
or talk about grace, always remember it as it is described in the
Bible. Now, let me give you four distinct
characteristics of God's grace. I'll give them to you briefly.
You can look up the scriptures for yourself. First, God's grace
is eternal. It's eternal. It doesn't begin
in time. It's eternal. God in eternity
saved his people. God in eternity saved his people
by covenant. God in eternity saved his people
by the sacrifice of his son. God in eternity saved his people
by his purpose of grace. Grace is eternal. It is that
which God did in eternity and that which brings us to enjoy
God forever in eternity to come, if I can use such feeble language. Grace is eternal. Second, grace
is immutable. It does not change and it cannot
be changed. It does not change in its objects,
it does not change in its purpose, and it cannot be changed. Those
who are the objects of God's grace from everlasting are the
objects of God's grace throughout time and shall be the objects
of God's grace unto everlasting. I am the Lord, I change not.
Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed. So God's grace
doesn't depend somehow on us before he saves us or after he
saves us. God's grace is immutable. You
can't gain it by something you do and you can't destroy it by
something you do. Oh, you can't say that. Well,
since I can't say it, let me try it again. You can't earn
it by something you do, and you can't lose it by something you
do. Grace is immutable. The gifts
and callings of God are without repentance. He gave his elect
every spiritual blessing he has to bestow upon guilty sinners
in Jesus Christ before the world began. And he will never change
his mind. God's grace is immutable. And
third, God's grace is sovereign. Now I want you to look in Romans
chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. I know there are preachers in
this town who Listen to what's preached in this pulpit regularly
And I'm going to issue a challenge. I Know there are folks all over
Danville and Boyle County who? Listen to this message preached
here and they go to churches where the gospel is not preached.
I'm give them a challenge. I Challenge you go ask your pastor.
I Challenge the preacher next Sunday Give a faithful exposition
of these verses. We're about to read in Romans
chapter 9 I promise you if I find somebody who's about to, I'll
go listen myself. This is a passage of scripture
you just, people ignore it. They take a pen knife. They just
cut it out and said, we won't fool with that. We won't fool
with that. And this passage of scripture is the pinnacle of
Paul's doctrine in the book of Romans, which is considered by
almost everyone that you read after. I hear speak about the
book of Romans. This is the pinnacle of the most
important of all the New Testament epistles. It's the pinnacle of
Paul's doctrine in the book of Romans. Romans chapter 9, verse
11. The children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God, according to election, might stand not of works, but of him
that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. Now, remember, this was said
before the children were born, before they had done anything
either good or evil. And the reason it was done before
they were born, before they could have decided to tell the truth
or lie, before they could have decided to steal an apple or
don't steal an apple, before they decided to go to school
or skip school, before they decided to murder or let somebody live,
before they did anything good or bad, it was done that the
purpose of God according to election might stand. Not of works, but
of him that calleth. Read on now. The elder shall
serve the younger, as it is written. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. Oh, that's hard to understand.
No, that's not hard to understand. That's about the easiest thing
I've read in my life to understand. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. If I looked at this congregation
and I were to say to you, I love Bob Potts and I hate Don Renieri,
everybody here would know exactly what I'm talking about. Would
anybody have any question about that? Is that language difficult? You young people, do you know
the difference between hate and love? Who doesn't know the difference?
God said, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. And he said it that way because
he meant it that way. Somebody say, well, I couldn't
worship a God like that. He's the only one you will worship.
You'll barter with another one. You'll bargain with another one.
try to earn the favor of another. But God said, Jacob, have I love? Esau, have I hated? And I said
that before they did anything good or bad. Read on. What shall
we say then? The spirit of God anticipates
man's reaction. How many times you spoke about
God's election or quoted this verse? Well, that's not right.
This is exactly what Paul says. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid, God forbid, who are
you? Who am I to challenge God's rightness
or God's righteousness in anything he does? If God hates Esau and
loves Jacob, that's God's prerogative, God's sovereign. Read on. For
he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. Now that's the Holy Spirit's
explanation of all this that transpired as God spoke to Rebekah
about Jacob and Esau. This is what it means. God says,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. Now here's the conclusion of
the matter. So then now if that's the case if all this is the case
it is not of him that willeth Nor of him that runneth. It's
not by your willing or by your doing It's not by your decision
or by your deeds Not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth
but of god that showeth mercy Well brother don if that's the
way it is We're in god's hand If that's the way it is, this
is altogether up to God. If that's the way it is, the
only hope anybody has is that God will have mercy on them.
That's the way it is. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore, hath he mercy. on whom we will have mercy, and
whom he will, he hardens. One fourth characteristic of
God's grace, look at Ephesians chapter 2, Ephesians chapter
2. The grace of God is eternal,
it's immutable, it's sovereign, and it's effectual. God's grace
always accomplishes its purpose. God's grace always accomplishes
its intent. God's grace always performs the
thing it sets out to perform. Now, with you and me, that's
never a consistent reality. We get done with something. We
start a project, we plan on something, and we get done with it. And
when we get done, we look at it and say, well, I should have
done that. I've never done anything that
I didn't look at it later and, man, I should have did that. I write a good bit and I don't
go over things more than a time or two. Because every time I
go over it, every single time I go over what I write, every
time there's I needed that word there. I needed to say this here. And I'd be correcting it until
I couldn't do anything except correct what I wrote the first
time. I never really accomplish anything I intend to accomplish.
God always does. God always accomplishes exactly
what He intends, especially with regard to grace. Ephesians 2
verse 8. For by grace are you saved through
faith. And that, now the single article,
singular article, refers to faith and grace and salvation. It refers to the whole package.
That, this grace, this faith, this salvation, that, not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man
should boast. Whatever, wherever God bestows
His grace, salvation is the result. Wherever God bestows His grace,
salvation is the result. If God blesses, that's God's
salvation. If God is gracious, that's God's
salvation. If God is merciful, that's God's
salvation. If God bestows his grace, he
saves. Oh, I pray that God will this
night bestow his grace upon you who hear my voice. Now let me
show you seven Things the Word of God teaches concerning God's
grace. I won't be long. These are not
new things in this congregation, but they're so very important.
Number one, understand this. God's grace is covenant grace. Covenant grace. Turn to Ephesians
1, back one page. Ephesians 1. Verse 3. Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. in love having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 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 given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Salvation begins in covenant
grace. It's the result of a covenant
made between the three persons of the Holy Trinity before the
world began. A people were chosen to salvation. God chose you to salvation. Salvation is by divine election,
and God never saves anybody apart from divine election. Salvation
begins with somebody's choice, either yours or God's. This book
says it begins with God's choice. He chose you unto salvation in
Jesus Christ before the world began through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. He chose to save sinners
through the regenerating work of God the Holy Spirit, believing
the truth of the gospel as he gives us faith. When these people
were chosen, a ransom was found for them. So that God says, deliver
him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom. He said,
I've laid hell upon one that is mighty. I've exalted one chosen
out of the people. And that one who is our ransom
is Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God slain from the foundation
of the world. Now, I keep repeating this because
I keep on to reemphasizing it to myself and to you. Christ
Jesus was accepted of God as a sacrifice for sin, as our sin
atoning substitute, by His blood, the blood of His cross, shed
for sinners before the world began. Before the world began. Brother Don, how do you explain
that? How do you explain that? You know what? I gave up trying
to explain eternal mysteries a long time ago. That's what
the book says. That's what the book says. Now,
if that's confusing, it's confusing, but that's what it says. If that's
something you just can't get your mind around, join the club.
Me neither. But that's what the book says. Christ the Lamb was
slain before the world began and on the basis of his sacrifice
made before God in covenant mercy before the world began, we were
accepted in the beloved and blessed of God with all spiritual blessings
in covenant mercy. And the salvation of God's elect
was our, or the choice of God's elect was finished Was our salvation
in Christ finished before the world began? Justified and sanctified
and glorified. It's the language of the book. Look at Romans chapter 8. Romans
chapter 8. The salvation of God's elect
was planned. It was purposed. It was predestined. It was secured. But more than
that, in God's purpose, it was done. I don't mean it's just
as though it were done. I mean, it was done. This is
what the book says, Romans 8, 28. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. Now that does not mean what you
will go to the funeral home and hear somebody say. Next time
you go to the funeral home or you go to the hospital and you
visit somebody going through some real sorrow, some religious
fool will come in and say, well, everything turns out for good.
That's not what the book teaches. That is not what the book teaches.
Nothing turns out for good. Nothing does. All things work
together for good. There's a huge difference. There's
a huge difference. If I take a box of rocks and
throw them up in the air and they stack up and make a beautiful
ornament you want to sit on your mantel in the living room, that
turned out all right. That turned out all right. But
if I put them together and make a mantel according to plan, that's
a purposed thing. There's a huge difference. Nothing
turns out for good. Everything works together for
good to them who are God's elect, to those who are the called according
to his purpose. But what's his purpose? Read
the next line. You don't have to guess. For
whom he did foreknow, those whom he loved with an everlasting
love, those who he embraced in his loving knowledge, he also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, that's
not the end of the story, whom he did predestinate, then he
also called, whom he called, then he also justified, and whom
he justified, then he also glorified. Well, Brother Don, you need to
understand that when the scriptures speak prophetically, they speak
in the past tense. Find me a place. Find me a place. I'm not putting that out hypothetically.
Find me a place. When the scriptures speak prophetically,
they speak of that which shall be done. When the scriptures
speak of past, they speak in the past tense. And these are
all verbs in the past tense. You mean God named his sons and
justified them and glorified them? Before the world began,
that's what the book says. That's what the book says. The
works were finished from the foundation of the world. Not
only is God's grace eternal, God's grace is prevenient grace.
Turn to Hosea chapter 2. Hosea chapter 2. How God graciously overrules
all things in prevenient grace. Prevenient grace is that grace
of God that precedes and prepares the way for his saving grace. Prevenient grace is secret grace. Prevenient grace is unknown grace. Prevenient grace is that grace
that gives the angels charge over you. That's what Hebrews 1.14 says,
isn't it? What are angels? They're ministering
spirits sent forth to minister to those who shall be the heirs
of salvation. I can't think of this without
just excited thanksgiving to God. I lived for 16 years with
my fist shoved in God's face. flirting with hell, playing with
death, courting damnation every day of my life. If it were beneficial, I could
take you to experiences, things that any man look at it and say,
well, Don Fortin's fixing to die. He's fixing to go to hell
right now. But God wouldn't permit it. He sent his angels to watch over
me. Well, God could do that without angels. Yes, he could. He sure
could. But he created a whole race of heavenly beings called
the angels of God to minister to those who shall be the heirs
of salvation. Prevenient grace is that grace
of God that kept us in the days of our rebellion and provided
for us all the while until the day of our calling. Prevenient
grace is that grace of God by which God works to bring his
elect to faith in Jesus Christ. Prevenient grace is that grace
of God by which God prepares the heart to receive his word
by the convicting work of his Holy Spirit. Read the 107th Psalm,
and you read a psalm about God's prevenient grace. A particle took his father's goods and wasted
his substance in riotous living. But all the while, all the while,
the father's watching over his son. I read it between the lines. When the son came home, the father
knew he was coming and already had things prepared for him.
All the while, he had one of his servants watching over that
boy. Go ahead, lay the reins on that wild ass's neck and let
him run just wild as he will. Let him run till he comes to
nothing. Let him run till he comes to
nothing. And when he comes to nothing,
he'll come to himself and I'll fetch him home. Prevenient grace
is the grace of God seen in a man by the name of Onesimus. He stole
his master's goods, ran away down to Rome. He had heard this
man called Paul, the apostle, preach in five demons house.
How many times? I have no idea. Paul was a guest
in five demons house and Onesimus right there, right there. But
he, he couldn't hear. He couldn't hear because he was
in no condition to hear. He wasn't about to hear. So one
day, this trusted servant did something out of character for
him. He took everything he could get his hands on and ran off.
Stole his master's goods and ran off and thought he could
hide himself among the folks in the masses in the streets
in Rome. And there he's found and arrested. And as luck would
have it, as luck would have it, He winds
up in a cell right beside this fellow called Paul. And Paul
preached the gospel to him again. And now he's anxious to hear
what this man's got to say about mercy and grace. And Paul wrote
back to Philemon. He said, perhaps he departed
from you for a season that you might receive him forever. Had he not departed, He'd have
never returned. Look here in Hosea chapter 2.
You know the story. Gomer has abandoned her family. She's abandoned her three children.
She's abandoned her husband. And Hosea found her. But he didn't bring her home.
He found her. And what he did was he provided
for her while she was in the arms of her lovers. Every night,
Hosea would sneak up to her cheap hotel room, and while she was
in the arms of another man, he'd set a bag of groceries by the
door and leave it. And she'd get up in the morning
and she'd say, look what my lovers gave me. And she'd take it and
sacrifice it to Baal. She didn't know. I provided for
her. Now, God said this is according
to the love of the Lord for the children of Israel. Look at chapter
2, verse 8. She did not know that I gave
her corn and wine and oil and multiplied her silver and gold,
which they prepared for Baal. And then he says, I'm going to
return and I'm going to take away your corn. and your wine,
and your oil, and your joy, and your strength. And I'm going
to strip you naked, and I'm going to dig you into the wilderness,
and I'm going to speak to your heart." And he goes to the auction
block, and he bids for Gomer, and he brings her home, and he
tells her what he's done for her. The wrath of man shall praise
thee, and the remainder of wrath wilt thou restrain. Prevenient
grace orders the steps of the righteous man. That doesn't just mean that a
man who does right, God orders his steps. In fact, I rather
doubt that's what it means at all. Many women made righteous
by God in covenant mercy before the world began. God in his grace
orders every step of their lives. That means you were born right
where God purposed for you to be born. Raised in exactly the
circumstances God intended for you to experience life and brought
through all the sorrow or gladness, pain or pleasure, desperation
or delight that you have experienced, if you're his, to bring you to
him. And that means, Tom Bryce, there's
no other way you could or would come to him. Oh, to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be. Third, God's grace is regenerating
grace. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and in sins. God's grace gives sinners life. It takes more than the experiences
of providence, more than outward circumstances of judgment, more
than being brought low in your outward circumstances for a sinner
to live. It takes regenerating grace.
It takes God giving life to the dead. You see, regeneration is
a resurrection from the dead. It is a resurrection from the
dead. You can't do that. Blessed and
holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection on such
the second death hath no power Regeneration is the first resurrection
the resurrection of our bodies at the second coming of Christ.
That's the second resurrection We were raised from the dead
by the power of God giving life to the dead I passed by thee
and I spread my skirt over thee and I said unto thee live and And when he said, live, you live.
And thou becamest mine. The Lord Jesus came to Lazarus
too. And Lazarus had been dead for
four days. And the Lord Jesus waited in
Jerusalem until Lazarus was dead before he ever came. He said,
this death is for the glory. This sickness is for the glory
of God. The whole purpose was to display God's glory in salvation,
picturing the resurrection of a man from the dead. And he comes
to the tomb and he says, take away the stones. Well, if he's fixing to raise
a man from the dead, Don, he could get rid of that rock. That
wouldn't be a problem. Oh, my soul, wouldn't you like
to bend the feather and roll away that stone, though? Oh,
what an honor that he would use such things as we are to roll
away the stones. No, I can't raise the dead, but
I can move the rocks. He said, take away the stones.
And then he said with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth
bound in grave clothes. Why, Brother Don, that defies
explanation. You're right, it does. So does
the new birth. So does the new birth. Our God
gives life to whom he will. He raises the dead, and nobody
can explain it. No one can even anticipate it.
There's no movement in the dead body before life comes. The regeneration
is God's sovereign work accomplished by the power of his spirit through
the preaching of the gospel. We are born again by the power
of God, by the power of God, and born again by the word of
God, by the gospel of his grace. Fourth, God's grace is justifying grace. We're justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. Justified. Justified. Brother Mark was asking
me this morning about the meaning of that word propitiation. I'll be dealing with Tuesday
night, the Lord willing. And it's not defined very clearly
by anybody. And justification is not defined
very clearly by anybody. Books written about it, but not
clear definitions given. Justified. Justified. Just as
if I'd never sinned. No, that's not it. That's not
it. Justified means I never sinned.
That's what justified means. I never sinned. I never sinned. How can you say that? You don't
do anything but sin. You're right. That's all I ever
do. Well how can you say you never sinned? Because I'm justified.
And God in his son removed my sins from me as far as the east
is from the west. He cast them behind his back. Now when you can find God's back,
you can find my sins. When you can find the east pole
or the west pole, you can find my sins. Not till then. I'm justified. What does that mean? Everything
that God is and everything that God requires I am in his sod
Justified by his blood and by his righteousness. I've given
it to you many times. I can't think of a better illustration
Some of you didn't hear it the first time You young people don't
have any idea what it is to see something not justified Here's
your right hand margin I'm sorry left-hand margin Here's your
left-hand margin. And used to be, we'd type things out, and
the typewriters left them just as jagged on the right hand as
they were on the left hand. And if you wanted to justify
them, you had to do it manually. Shelby would take those things
after I wrote an article, and she'd type it out, and then you'd
have all kinds of these, nothing matched up over here as far as
looking at it, just jagged edges. And she'd take a straight line,
measure it, and count the letters missing to get to the end. And
then she'd space out the words so that the left side was exactly,
the right side was exactly justified with the left side of the piece
of paper. So it looked pretty like this. Now listen. Here is
God Almighty. In all His holiness, in all His
purity, in all his righteousness. Here's God's law. Here's God's
demands for satisfaction. God's demand for propitiation.
God's demand for righteousness. Here it is, all of it. Perfect! And here I am in Jesus Christ. Justified. Justified. Just as Jesus himself is. Justified you got that and that's
by grace by grace not by works by grace Justified in eternity
by the decree of God Justified at Calvary by the shed blood
of God's Son justified by faith in the experience of God's grace
so that the blood of Christ shed for me at Calvary and justified
me and now speaks peace to my heart by God the Holy Spirit
declaring me right with God. Fifthly, God's grace is sanctifying
grace. God's grace gives us that holiness
without which no man shall see the Lord. We are sanctified in
Christ Jesus by his blood. by His grace and sanctified in
the new birth in regeneration. This is what happens when God
saved you, Bob. He put Christ in you. He put a new man in you. You may partake of the divine
nature, sanctified, sanctified, made holy inwardly, made holy
within, given a new nature, a righteous nature that cannot sin, sanctified
by grace. And God's grace, sixthly, is
that grace of God by which we are given sufficiency all the
time. He said to Paul, my grace is
sufficient for thee. My grace is sufficient for thee. What's that mean? God's grace
is sufficient for whatever your trial is. for whatever your trouble
is, for whatever your temptation is. God's grace is sufficient
for whatever God calls you to do. I've been preaching the gospel
of God's free grace now since I was 17 years old. And there's no man walking on
this earth with less natural ability than the one talking
to you. No man walking on this earth
who was less prepared for this work than the one preaching to
you. And God opened the door. First time somebody asked me
to teach some young people, I thought, my soul, who am I? Who am I to teach anybody? I dare not do otherwise. I dare
not say no to a door God opens. I dare not. You might call me
to preach. Me? I can't do that. But I dare not say no. I dare not refuse. And you know
what God's done for me all these years? He's proved himself sufficient
for the task. My grace is sufficient for thee.
And soon I'm going to stick my feet into Jordan's chilly waters
and cross over to the other side and I fully expect to hear God
my Savior say, my grace is sufficient for thee. And I fully expected
to speak to his believing people, my own family left behind, and
say, my grace is sufficient for thee. And I fully expect to find
it so. Why shouldn't I? Bill, I've been
finding his grace sufficient every day for over 45 years. Every day. He's never taken me
where his grace wasn't sufficient for me. He's never put me where
his grace wasn't sufficient for me. He's never led me where his
grace wasn't sufficient for me. And God's grace is keeping grace. I fear presumption. I fear presumption. I fear presumption. But I do believe that you're
going to find this sinner believing God to the end. I do fully believe you're going
to find this sinner following Christ to the end because the
Lord God declares we're kept by the power of His grace. Kept by the power of His grace. I promised you a text. Turn to
Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4. This is grace. This is grace. Verse 16. Let us, us poor sinners saved by God's free
grace, let us, us who need grace, therefore come boldly, come with
complete freedom and confidence of acceptance to the throne of
grace. that we maintain mercy. Oh, I don't feel fit to pray. That's a good time to pray. I
don't feel close enough to God. That's a good time to pray. I
feel so unworthy. That's a good time to pray. You
won't pray any other time. Let us come boldly to the throne
of grace that we maintain mercy. and find grace to help every time you need it. As often as you need grace, grace
abundant flows through the blood and righteousness of Christ from
the throne of grace to your soul. Let us therefore come boldly
to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace
to help in time of need. Amen.