Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Paul's first epistle to the
Corinthians and chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse
10. The first part of verse 10. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and the
first part of verse 10, to put into context the apostle writing
to the Corinthians here. In the first part of this chapter,
he gives a summary of the Gospel, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried and that he
rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Then he speaks
of those witnesses that had seen him after he rose from the dead,
and he speaks of Cephas, that is Peter, Then all of the 12,
and then after that, 500 brethren at once. He says some have fallen
asleep or some died, but most, they remain at the time of his
writing to the Corinthians. Then he says after he was seen
of James, then of all the apostles, and then he speaks of himself,
last of all. He was seen in me also as one
born out of due time. He wasn't one of the Apostles,
one that were with the Lord when he was on earth, but the Lord
appeared to him from heaven. And we must be clear on that,
that the wonderful vision that we read of, the conversion of
the Apostle Paul, is not a pattern that everyone that is converted
that that is what shall happen to them. What is very clear is
it was needed for the apostle to be an apostle, that the Lord
appear to him in a very special way, so that he is able to say
that he was seen of me. or so. And he says, for I am
the least of the apostles that am not made to be called an apostle
because I persecuted the church of God. He cannot forget what
he once did to the church and to the people of God. But then
he says in the words of our text, but by the grace of God, I am
what I am. We need to be reminded of what
grace is. The Oxford Dictionary, if we
look at the definition there, grace is the, and of course there's
many different ways that the word grace is used, but in the
context that is here, the free and unearned favour of God. Of course we're used to saying
if we have the blessing at a meal that will say grace. And so there's
many different ways that grace may be described, but in the
scriptures where grace is set before us and where the apostle
writing to the Ephesians says that by grace you're saved through
faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, that is
faith is the gift of God, The grace of God is said before us
as the free favour of God. The Apostle Paul did not seek
it himself. He was not the instigator of
his call, of him being saved. God saved him. Christ saved him. He was a Pharisee. He thought
he was saved. He thought he was a godly man.
But he wasn't a godly man and he wasn't saved. And yet the
Lord then appeared to him and through the law of God brought
him to know his need of saving. The commandment came, he says,
and sin revived and I died. Those things that he thought
that he was performing in a perfect way, the Lord showed was not
a perfect way and was not a title to heaven at all. And there are
many, many religious people on this world that are hoping for
heaven based upon their religious works, their deeds, their experiences
even, something that they have that recommends them to God,
instead of it being, by grace, a free, unearned favour of God,
that which God has for no cause in us whatsoever been pleased
to give us. The Lord passes by his people
when they are in their blood, and when they are in their blood,
he bids them live. He which hath begun a good work
in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. And the apostle, again when he
writes to the Ephesians, says that not only is it by grace,
but it is not of works, lest any man should boast. As soon
as we begin To open our mouth with anything to praise ourselves,
speak well of ourselves as a reason why God should bless us and save
us, you might as well be saying, I am still a lost sinner, I am
still in darkness, because I have not learnt that it is not of
works, but it is of grace. And it is a great mercy if the
Lord opens the eyes of those who, like the Apostle Paul, are
very religious people, but very lost people, people that are
trusting in what will never save them from sin, save them from
hell. And that's where the Apostle
was. But God's grace found him out, and God's grace was given
to him and he was saved, brought to magnify as he does in the
words of our text, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. So I want to, with the Lord's
help, three points. Firstly, that by grace he was
a believer, and every believer is a, every true believer, is
a believer by grace. And then secondly, by grace,
able to bear tribulation. In the account that we read of
Paul's conversion, saw that he was. He went very quickly from
being the persecutor to the persecuted, and he had afflictions and things
in his own body. and it was grace that sustained
him through those. So in the second place, by grace
able to bear tribulation. And thirdly, by grace perform
the office God had appointed for him and we may say every
one of God's children that are called to any office at all. Whether it is to be a member
of a church and everyone that is called and baptised and believer
is part of a church and they are to be a living part of that,
a part to perform in that church. And whether they are a deacon
or a minister, elder, whether they are a pastor, there needs
grace to perform that office. And the apostle, of course, was
an apostle, and he needed grace to perform that. So the whole
verse where our text is reads, But by the grace I am of God,
I am what I am, and His grace which was bestowed upon me was
not in vain. But I laboured more abundantly
than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with
me." And all the time he is putting the crown on grace. Firstly then, by grace a believer. This is obviously the very important
and the first work that grace could make in a sinner. No use
saying, well, by grace I'm able to bear tribulation or have an
office in the church of God, but you're not a believer. It's a solemn thing actually
to have something mask the fact that the root of the matter is
not there. When Job was being tried and
his friends were a trouble to him, they misjudged him. He says
to them, why persecute you me, seeing the root of the matter
is in me. He was a real believer. He was a real child of God. And that is to be really discerned. God's dear children are all different
characters. And though in many ways grace
tempers and softens a harsh, a rough character, yet that character
will still come through. And that's why in the Church
of God there's such exhortations to be forbearing and bearing
one another in love. We all have different habits
and ways and things to how we act and speak that can grate
with one another and yet still have the root of the matter and
still have the real grace of God. And we're not to look for
one that is perfect or sinless. and not in the body to be one
that is called by grace. The grace of God, it appears
to the people of God in conversion, in being born again of the Spirit,
in having their eyes opened in the gift of eternal life. What the Lord says, he gives
his sheep. I give unto them eternal life.
And no, they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of mine hand. And that grace that was given
was really given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. The first time that God, through
a free, unearned favour, blessed our souls. was when our names
were written in the Lamb's Book of Life from the foundation of
the world. When the Lord loved us with an
everlasting love, not when he called us, but when that love
was first set upon us. And then it is shown in time
by quickening us into life, giving us spiritual life, And then we
trace that grace and we trace it back and back and back and
we trace it to the eternal love of God. I've loved thee with
an everlasting love and therefore with loving kindness have I drawn
thee. And this is so emphasised in
the case with Jacob and Esau. that the purposes of God according
to election might stand, it is written that Jacob have I loved
and Esau have I hated. And it's emphasised in Romans
9 or 11 that it was before those twins had done any good or evil,
before they were born. And it's just these various ways
that this scripture makes it very clear that it is not works
of righteousness which we have done. It is not something that
we have instigated. It is the work of God. And it can't even begin with
that actual opening of eyes and quickening into life, but must
be traced back to the eternal love of God. So each one that
believes, believes by grace. Now, the Apostle Paul, sore that
he was, was not told that you are one of my elect. God does not make known his grace
in that way, but he was stopped in the way that he was going,
which was on the way to hell. His eyes were opened. He was
brought, instead of unbelief in the Lord Jesus, to believe
in Him. He was brought to love Him. He was brought then to preach
Him. But the important thing is, He
was brought to believe in that name that He once hated. What
is so emphasized in the passage that we read in Acts, is the
distinctive for those that were believers. They were those that
called on this name. They were the ones, that is how
it was described, that he persecuted those that called on the name
of Jesus. This is what Ananias said, that
he'd heard of Saul, that he was persecuting those that called
on this name. And then it is said that he was
preaching concerning that one of that name,
the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a name that was despised
and hated by the Jews who believed that he was an imposter, he was
not the Christ, he was not he that should come. And so it was
a despised name, it was a name of Jesus that was hated by the
Pharisees, the scribes, and they'd agreed, if you read John 9, with
the man that was born blind and given sight, that anyone was
to confess that Jesus was the Christ who was to be put out
of the synagogue. They felt that strongly. And
so when one is brought then to view that name as being, as Paul
sets it before the Philippians, that God has given him a name
which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, that is a great difference. from hating and fighting against
that name. And so by God's grace, a believer
is brought to view the Lord Jesus Christ as really none other can
really view him. We read, unto you which believe
he is precious. and everything centres in that
name, given him for the reason he shall save his people from
their sins. That is the reason why he was
given the name of Jesus, means saviour. And the grace of God
then that is given to a believer, it shows who the Lord is, what
the Lord is and brings that soul to trust solely in him for salvation. One of our hymns says, what think
ye of Christ is the test to tell both your state and your scheme. You cannot be right in the rest
if ye be not right in him. And it is in the Lord Jesus Christ
that the whole of a believer's profession rests. This is why Philip, he said to
the eunuch, if thou believest thou mayest, when he desired
to be baptised, and his testimony was, I believe that Jesus is
the Son of God, and it's centred around the Lord Jesus. That free grace of God reveals
and opens up what is hidden from the wise and prudent. It reveals
the Lord Jesus Christ as only the Holy Spirit can, magnifies
him above every name. And it is in that call that it
is so vital for us that that work, that saving work, that
saving belief is given to us. And we retrace that, we look
back and see that this is not because of what we have done,
it's not our upbringing, it is not our choice, it is God's work
in us. And then those many other Precious
texts, they are precious because bound up with being a believer
is how we began, how we came in the way. It is so vital that
we think of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and how that they came
in through the wicked gate, that is Christ. He is the straight
gate and into the narrow way But Bunyan pictures those that
were found in the narrow way or found in the profession of
religion, but they never came in at the straight gate. They
didn't come in through Christ. They didn't come in by God's
work in them. They tumbled over the wall. They got into religion. They
got into the way and passed off as a believer. But the Lord's
grace was not in their heart, and didn't begin that work in
them. The Apostle Paul and every believer
will, with their eyes open, realize day by day that in me that is
in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. We will not have to look
back to unregeneracy or to conversion. to be reminded that we are sinners,
that we have no righteousness of our own, that we rely on God's
grace, not only to begin the work, but to continue it on. When Paul writes to the Romans,
he says, if while we were yet sinners, we were reconciled to
God by the death of his son, How much more, being reconciled,
shall we be saved by his life? In other words, if, when we were
total enemies to God and weren't even looking to be saved, that
the Lord saved us, how much more when we are saved and we do love
God, will he then save us from our sins that plague us and trouble
us and try us? And where we realise now for
the first time what great sinners we are, and God by grace has
revealed that, how much more when he has done that will he
save us from our sins? and give us to see more and more
clearly that it is Christ that died, yea, rather, risen again,
that our hope is in what Christ has done, not what we have done,
the payment that Christ has made, not what supposedly we shall
make. and the debt that is paid is
fully paid, not partially paid, and the righteousness that Christ
has wrought out in his life on earth and that is given to believers
is sufficient for us. Yes, it'll make us to want to
love holiness and love the ways of the Lord and do that which
is pleasing to him, but our trust for our salvation will be solely
on God's grace. And as we go on, the hymn writer
says, O to grace, a mighty debtor, daily I'm constrained to be. And it will be. If grace is real
with us, then it will be daily. It will not be proud religious
people, proud of their faith, proud of their works, proud of
their service, their worship, know when the true grace is with
a soul, they will see that all their righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. That is, all their best works,
their good works, are as filthy rags. So the grace of God in
a believer, that by grace they are believers, The grace is seen
not just in a positive way of making a believer in Christ,
but it is also making one a believer in what we are as fallen, and
a believer in our indebtedness and dependence on Christ and
on his grace. And so the grace that free a
merited favour of God supplies in a believer several different
tokens of being one of his children. With the Apostle Paul, one token
was given to Ananias, behold he prayeth. And yet it would
be a strange token to be said of a Pharisee because a Pharisee
was well known to make long prayers. And yet Ananias, I believe, rightly
understood Christ said, behold ye brave, then it was real prayer. It was a prayer like the publican
who went down to his house justified rather than the Pharisee. A prayer
squeezed out from one who fell to be as a sinner. Another one
of our hymns says, sinners can say, and none but they, how precious
is the Saviour. And it is by grace we feel our
sinnership. It is by grace we feel the preciousness
of the Saviour. Natural man does not feel his
sinnership. And often if the truth were told
them, they rise up against it. They do not like the idea they've
been told that their works are not acceptable in God's sight. does not receive that, and to
bow before it, to humble ourselves before the Lord, these are the
tokens and evidences of the true grace of God. Saving grace, converting
grace, grace that is absolutely vital, the root of the matter,
the secret of the Lord, which is with them that fear Him, and
brings a soul to rest solely on Christ's work, Christ's work
before the world, Christ's work on Calvary, Christ's work in
their hearts and in their lives, in every step of the way. The
apostle says, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. Paul,
what are you? I'm a believer, I'm an apostle,
I'm a preacher, I'm a poor sinner that endures much tribulation
and trial, but what I am, I am by the grace of God. So our second
point, is by grace able to bear tribulation? We are told that
the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. The Apostle Paul had many things
that he was called to go through. We read some of them in the account
in Acts, but he gives a long list in his second epistle to
the Corinthians in chapter 11, from verse 24 through to 33. And he lists all of those things
that he endured Of the Jews, five times received I forty stripes,
save one. It's easy to read, isn't it?
But that's a lot of beatings. Thrice was I beaten with rods,
once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day
I've been in the deep, in journeys often in perils in waters, of
waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen,
in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils
in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false
brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger
and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness, beside
those things that are without that which cometh upon me daily,
the care of all the churches." He speaks of all these things
that he has endured enough to discourage any person, enough
to make anyone say, if this is what a believer is, I don't want
to be a believer. If this is how God treats his
people, then I don't want to be one of his people. But how did he endure it? By
grace. Our Lord says, you must, in the
world you shall have tribulation, in me you shall have peace. And
then the apostles, they take it up in Acts as well, and they
say that he must, through much tribulation, enter the kingdom. It is appointed that God's people
in this world, that they have great troubles, afflictions,
and trials, and God chooses that out. Some of them are hidden. We can look upon brethren and
think, well, what trials have they got? But we don't see the
hidden trials that they have. Others are more open to view.
Some are in our own bodies, and some are in the bodies of our
loved ones. But you can be sure that there
shall be those things with the people of God that really, they
need grace, they need God's help, they need being supported. This is another aspect of that
grace of God. And we have this with the apostle
when he had the messenger of Satan within him, a thorn in
the flesh, the messenger of Satan, to buffet him. He says in his
second epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 12 and verse 8, for this
thing, I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me.
And he was linked with his conversion. He had a wonderful conversion
experience. And to balance that, God gave
him this messenger of Satan, this thorn in the flesh, deliberately
to bring him down from being lifted up above measure. He tells
us that that was the reason why it was given. some ballast, something
to take the edge off those wonderful revelations. But the Lord wouldn't
take it away, but says in verse 9, He said unto me, My grace
is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. And how does the apostle feel
about that? Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. That takes a lot of grace to
even say that, doesn't it? To actually say that we view
those things that are our infirmities or trials, the things that we
would really pray that we would not have them, and actually look
upon them as an occasion that God gives us strength and grace
to be able to bear it. Maybe we've got those Christians
that we look upon and we think, how do they keep going? What
is their secret? With all the troubles that they've
had, all the things that they've gone through, all the discouragements,
how do they keep going? Why do they keep going? And the
secret is the grace of God. It's not in them at all. My grace
is sufficient for thee. And whatever is that tribulation,
we can be very easy tempted. We can think we'd rather the
path of another, one of the Lord's people. We could bear that better. And yet the Lord has chosen out
what is our path. And we can be sure of this. If
the Lord has chosen us, And if He is sovereignly chosen to give
us grace, then surely we can trust Him to choose out our path
or what trial we have, and we can trust Him to give us the
inner strength and health, the grace to be able to bear that
without murmuring, complaining, fretting, deserting the faith,
speaking evil of Him and evil of His ways. And we had to look
for that grace. And again, I'd put it in the
other way, because if we are to be convinced it's by grace,
there'll be times that we do feel the old nature rise up. We do fret. We do reply. We are angry with the Lord. And the Lord knows how to deal
with that. Doest thou well to be angry,
the Lord said to Jonah. So we don't have to just imagine
or think back to unregeneracy to realize that it is God's grace
that is our sufficiency. We do know those times that it
is withdrawn, as it were, for a little. We feel our own weakness. We feel what we are and have
to cry to the Lord for more grace. I love that in the scriptures
where it says, He giveth more grace. and grace for grace, that
is, gives the grace of a spirit of prayer and supplication, and
in answer to that grace, that grace then opens up for more
grace. We're given the grace of supplication,
and as we supplicate for strength of body and mind and able to
endure, he gives us that grace too. And it all comes from the
Lord. We can't say to our brethren,
you poor things, why are you so troubled and having trouble?
You just do what I did. I prayed to the Lord and I got
help and you can do the same. And as if to say, well, my prayers
to the Lord, that's me. I did that. Instead of saying
that the Lord gave me the grace to cry to him. And in crying
to him, the Lord then gave me the blessings. There's no stamp
where we would lift up ourselves against brethren or think that
any grace or any blessing came to us. in any other way but by
grace and through the precious blood of the Lord. The hymn writer
says that every blessing comes to us through Jesus' precious
blood. And the scriptures say that all
the promises of God are yea and amen in him. They are blood-bought
blessings and promises that are purchased and they are given
freely by God, debt-free, if you like. I want to then, Lord,
in the third place, by grace perform the office God had appointed
for him. He was an apostle, one that had
seen the Lord, apostle to the Gentiles. He is very clear of
that commission that he had. In fact, there's several times
in the scriptures that He mentions it when he writes to the Romans,
he says in chapter 11 and verse 13, for I speak to you Gentiles
inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine
office. his office and he was able clearly
to say that he was the apostle to the Gentiles. When he writes
to Timothy, his first letter, he says in chapter 2 and verse
7, he says, whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and if we go back
a couple of verses, for there is one God and one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. who gave himself a ransom for
all to be testified in due time, whereunto I am ordained a preacher
and an apostle. I speak the truth in Christ and
lie not, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity." And he
sees that God had ordained him to that position. And when he writes to Timothy
again in the second epistle, he says in the first chapter
in verse 11, whereunto I am appointed a preacher, again it's of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles,
for the which cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I
am not ashamed For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded
he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against
that day. He had a clear commission, the
same as Moses had a clear commission, the same as each of his servants,
the prophets, and each minister has a clear commission. And where the Lord stands, then
he will sustain and give grace for that office as a distinctive
grace to perform that office, taking away the fear of man. Jeremiah was told to not fear
the faces of those that he was sent to. We think of Elijah,
how he could stand before Ahab and testify the word of the Lord
to him. And yet we see the other side
when it seems to be almost taken away when he fled from Jezebel
when she threatened his life. If the Lord has given us an office,
yes, there are exhortations associated with that and diligence required,
but he will give freely that grace to be able to perform it. And again, in such a way that
It should take away pride. It should be that one minister
of the Gospel doesn't lift himself up above another and despise
a brother or think that he somehow preaches better or the Lord uses
him more. Yes, the Lord does use some of
his servants a lot more than others, but how the Lord uses
his servants is solely at his discretion. is not in their hand. And it is a blessed thing to
be able to say to the Lord, here I am, and to use me as thou seest
fit, whether it be for little things or great things, whether
it be for a long life of ministry, or whether it be like Machene
just for a few years. and yet so greatly blessed through
his writings over many, many hundreds of years. It is that
same grace, the free unmerited favour of God that does all these
things, that calls, that gives the grace to walk the path of
tribulation that all the Lord's people have, and where an office
is given to perform that office. strength for our day, the provision
from the Lord that helped to do what he'd have us to do. And we could extend that right
down. We think of whether we are an
employee or whether we're an employer, whether we are a father
or a mother, we're a Sunday school teacher, whether we are an auntie,
whatever. influence or teaching others
and guiding others. Where the Lord has appointed
these ways, we're to look for grace, his help, his strength
to do these things. And in that way, yes, we might
think of people and you say, they don't take any pride in
their work. It's good to have pride in your
work. Now naturally speaking it is so. But you know pride
is an enemy of a true child of God. But if we did, as the scriptures
say, whatsoever ye do, do as unto the Lord and not unto man,
then when we've done what we have done, and we've done it
to the best of our ability, we'll look at it and we'll say, well
we can see all the imperfections, And it is not perfect, and that will humble us. It will
keep away pride, but it will enable us to do the best job
that we ever could do, and deliver us from carelessness, slapdash,
and doing things that wouldn't glorify the Lord. If we sought
in all that we would do, we'd do it to the best of our ability,
And then we could say that the apostle, by the grace of God,
I am what I am. I am an engineer and I do my
work. I am a gardener or I'm a draftsman
or whatever it is, a seamstress, and I am what I am. God gives me grace and help to
do that, to look after, the elderly, to look after the
sick, whatever it is. And some that are not called
to a profession, I know there are professions I see and look
at and think, I could never do that. I would never have the
patience. I would never have the grace
that I see in some others. We might say then, well, what
about those who never profess the law? How is it that it may
be said that God's people need grace for office and these things
like this, but those are in the world of some other secret source? No. The Lord is the saviour of
all men, especially of them that believe. And when we think of
those that are sick, we think of the nine lepers were healed,
they asked to be healed, the Lord healed them. But they never
gave glory to God for the healing, only one return to give glory
to God. We must never think there's different
hierarchies in the world. The Lord gives to all, their
food, their bread, their health, their strength. He gives healing,
the blessing on means. He gives grace. But for God's
people, they acknowledge the grace of God. They acknowledge
his help. They acknowledge it's not in
them. And so that grace in conversion, it permeates right through their
lives. They say, it's not I, but it's
the Lord. I laboured, says the apostle
here, more abundantly than them all, yet not I, but the grace
of God. and there is the glory to the
Lord. There is a tracing, every blessing
unto him. May the Lord teach us to speak
the same language as the Apostle. My grace is sufficient for thee,
or in the words of our text, by the grace of God. what I am. The Lord add his blessing. Amen.