2 Corinthians 12. We're looking at verse 9 as our
text this morning. The title of my message this
morning is, My Grace. My Grace. And we get that from
verse 9 of 2 Corinthians 12, where the Lord Jesus Christ Himself,
answering the prayer of the Apostle Paul, said, My grace is sufficient
for thee." My grace is sufficient for thee. Let me give you a background
again. We just read this at the beginning of the service. I'll
give you a background again of where these words come from.
The Apostle Paul himself had been lifted up to the third heaven.
The Lord, by His grace, had lifted this man up to heaven itself
so that he might see things that were beyond recognition, that
were beyond utterance. He couldn't imagine how to even
speak the words that he heard in heaven. And when he came down
again, God gave him a thorn in the flesh. And this thorn, we
don't know exactly what it is. But he mentions here a messenger
of Satan to beat him so that he would not be exalted above
measure. And he asked the Lord, he said,
Lord, remove this from me. He prayed this three times. And
the Lord, not answering once, not answering twice, but on the
third time, He gives him an answer. And this is the answer of God
to the problems and infirmities of the Apostle Paul. My grace
is sufficient for you. My grace is sufficient for you. Well, then this begs the question,
what is grace? What is grace? What do we mean
when we say grace? We see it on the signs of churches
all over this country, don't we? You see it on the signs of
churches and you hear it from men and preachers, but what is
it? What is it when we mention this
word grace? What is this word? What does
Christ mean by my grace? Now, most men perceive grace
is like a sort of karma. This is the idea, so when you
are talking to someone else about grace, get an idea of what they
mean by grace. Usually, the carnal man has an
idea of grace being something like karma. It hovers over all
men, and if you're good, you get a lot of grace. And if you
aren't, well, you only get a little bit of grace. You see, they got
a different idea of what grace is. They think grace is given
to every man. False religion is no better.
For they speak of grace as an impersonal source of power. It's an impersonal force. And
just like the lost man, they view it as above all men. They view it as like floating,
kind of like a fog or a mist over the top of a congregation.
And in order for someone to get grace, all they have to do is
exercise their free will and reach up and grab it. That's
modern religion's idea of grace. So when they say grace, they
say that God gives grace to all men and it's up to man to grab
it. It's up to man to obtain it.
This is the idea of false religion. That's where you get the name
it and claim it group. They name it and claim it. I want God's
grace, I'm just going to reach up and grab it. Well, that's
not grace, my friends. That is not grace. What does
the word grace mean? The very definition of the word
grace means unmerited favor. That's what it means. Unmerited
favor. And therefore, if grace is an
impersonal force that is above all men, and so all men have
to do is reach up and grab it, do you not see that that totally
contradicts the whole meaning of the Word? If you have to do
anything for it, then it is no longer grace, it is merit. And
we're talking about if you had to lift your little finger for
it. It is no longer grace. It becomes
a work. That's what Paul says in Romans
11, verse 6. He tells us, if salvation is
by grace, then it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is
no more grace. He said, you've changed the definition.
You've changed the meaning of the word grace, if you add any
work to it. Now, there is a grace of men.
There is a grace of men. In other words, I may extend
my grace to you. I may not know you, I may not
know who you are, and I may have compassion on you for no reason
inside of yourself. I may extend grace to you, and
you may extend grace to me. But you see, this is not the
same kind of grace, is it? Because our grace is limited.
It's limited to physical things. I can only do so much with the
grace I have for you. In other words, if you were financially
down and out, I probably can only give you a cheeseburger.
You know, I really can't give you millions because I'm limited. I'm limited to the amount of
grace that I can give. And it can only be physical.
I can't do anything spiritual for you. I can't do anything
spiritual for you. But grace of men is being limited
to outward physical things that perish. But the grace that I'm
talking about this morning, the grace that I'm going to speak
about this morning of the Lord Jesus Christ, this grace is limitless
grace. Limitless grace. This grace is
infinite grace. God's grace is the focus of all
Scripture. Because His grace is not limited,
but is eternal and effectual. What do I mean by effectual?
Now listen, every time I use the word effectual, because I
may use it in the course of this message, I want you to understand
what I mean. I mean grace is powerful. You see, grace is not
some impersonal force that floats over man. Grace actually works. It is a power that God gives. It is what God gives grace. It is powerful and effectual. And my friend, the grace that
God gives is irresistible. Irresistible grace. It's not
a grace that you can take or leave, my friends. If God gives
it, you'll take it, I promise you. I guarantee you, if God
gives you grace, you'll take it. You'll receive it with great
joy. You'll receive it because it's
irresistible grace and it's personal. You know, if I said, God's going
to have grace on someone, it's altogether different to say,
Bob, God's going to have grace on you. That's personal. Grace is personal. It is an act of God toward man,
and it's personal. The grace of God is a need of
every man, woman, boy, and girl in this room. Everybody in this
building needs grace. You need it. Whether you realize
it or not, you need it. I need it. I need grace. It's not a take it or leave it.
I must have grace. I must have it. I must have the
merit of God, the favor of God, which I cannot merit. You see,
I need the grace of God because I cannot merit God's favor. Cannot
merit God's favor. I tell you what, you can take
or leave my grace. Because I can only give you so
much. But my friends, because we are all sinners, we need grace. We need grace. We've sinned against
God and cannot merit His favor. This is the dark condition of
us all. God has sent all of Adam's fallen
race And we've been plunged into darkness by nature. In Micah chapter 2, God issues
to Adam's fallen race a woe. He says, Woe to them that devise
iniquity and work evil upon their beds. This, my friend, is the
woe of God's justice. God says, Woe to you! Now, if I say it, it don't mean
much. But my friend, if God says it, it means that altogether
different meaning. God says to all who have worked
iniquity, woe unto you. The justice of God demands satisfaction
from every person in this room. God demands satisfaction for
the guilt of your sin. You take, for example, a moral
man. This man's a man of a community, a good man. Walks uprightly,
goes to church every Sunday, was baptized when he was ten.
This man's a good man. Nobody can speak evil of this
guy. He's good in the eyes of all
around him. He loves his wife, loves his
children. And you take a vile man, a drunk,
a rapist, a murderer, The dreg of society. And my friend, there
is no difference between them both. They are both guilty before
God. You see, the man that was vile,
he acted out of what he had in his heart. While the man who
is good and moral, he only thinks about evil on his bed. If he
were to lay down his head and lust after the things of this
life, he just as might as well committed it. He did it in the
eyes of God, and he is guilty, guilty, guilty in the eyes of
God. God sees both of their sin and
says, Woe unto you. And in verse 3 of chapter 2 of
Micah, he said, Behold, Behold, against this family." Against
what family? Against the children of wrath.
Against those outside of Christ. God says, I will be against this
family to devise evil. You mean God devises evil? Yes. God devises harm against
all who have sinned against Him. God demands His justice. God's
justice demands that sin be paid for. And the Scripture says,
"...from which you shall not remove your necks." My friend, that's as plain as
I can possibly make it. You that are with sin. Is there anybody here without
sin? If we are with sin, if we have
sinned against God, then we cannot remove our own necks from the
justice of God's guillotine. We cannot do it. We cannot do
it. If you were to live a sinless
life from this moment forward, what would you do with all the
sin you did before? God's justice demands payment.
All men will stand before God, and while lost sinners walk in
their stiff neck against God." And that's all it is. It's rebellion.
Hatred to God. Candy-coated all you want to.
It's just utter rebellion. It's hatred of God. They will stand before God, but
then, in that day, my friends, it will be too late. It will be too late. No more solemn words will ever
be spoken than to those who have died and stood before the judgment
seat of Christ when Christ said to them, Depart from Me, you
that work iniquity. I never knew you." Can you think of any more solemn
words than that? Because from that there is no
reprieve. There's no parole. No such thing as purgatory. From
that is nothing but endless torture and hell. Yet. If I closed the
book and left, that would be a sad thing. That would be a
solemn thing if I had nothing more to say. But I've got more
to say. Yet. In Psalm 84, verse 11, the
Lord says this, I will give grace. I will give grace. That's what we need. We can't
merit God's favor, we need unmerited favor. We need favor that we
cannot merit. We need His grace. This is the
best and only hope for sinners, that God would show unmerited
favor. Therefore, by definition, the
grace of God, according to Abraham Booth, says this, the grace of
God is eternal. It's absolutely free favor of
God. Isn't that amazing? Grace is
free. Free. Without merit. This morning I want us to look
at three things. Three things concerning the grace
of God. The grace of God, first of all,
is determined grace. Second of all, the grace of God
is displayed grace. And third of all, the grace of
God is delivered grace. Delivered grace. First of all,
it is determined grace. Go to 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2
Timothy chapter 1 and verse 9. 2 Timothy chapter 1
and verse 9, speaking on the grace of God. Paul says, Christ
who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace. How were we saved? Not according
to our works, but according to His purpose and grace. Purpose and grace. which was
given us in Jesus Christ." When was this grace given us in Jesus
Christ? Read it. Before the world began. God determined and purposed to
have grace before the world began. That's when He decided to have
grace. In eternity, God Himself said,
I will have grace. The grace of God is not according
to our works, but according to His purpose, which He has chosen
us before He created the world. God moved only by His love and
mercy, by His own free and sovereign will, says, I will have grace. He said, I will show grace toward
an elect people, a people of my choosing. He purposed to show them His
grace. My friend, the only reason we
as believers are here today, you believers, hear me, is it
not because of God's grace? Would you not be somewhere else
this morning had God not saved you? Had God not purposed in
eternity to show you grace, would you ever have come here? Would
you have ever come here? No, you wouldn't. Now to the
unregenerate soul, listen to me, to the man that is not saved,
this is offensive. This message reeks to his nostrils. It's offensive to think that
God determined before there was ever a creature, before there
was ever an earth, God determined to save an elect people. This, my friends, is offensive
to the natural man. Arthur Pink says this, Nothing
more riles the natural man and brings to the surface his hatred
against God than to press upon him the eternal freeness of absolute
sovereignty and divine grace. That God should have formed his
purpose from everlasting without any wise consulting the creature
is too abasing for the unbroken heart. It is the clay shaking
his fist at the potter saying, why have you made me thus? I remember talking to my wife's
grandmother last night. We had spoken about one of our
relatives. And I remember a conversation
we had many years back, and these were elderly people at that time,
And her and her husband were sitting at the table, and I mentioned
about God's sovereignty and God's grace. I was young and arrogant
and foolish. I didn't know much better. But
I mentioned it nonetheless. We started talking about the
sovereignty of God, and I'll tell you what, I could see the
veins in those people's foreheads, and if they could have jumped
across that table and killed me, they would have. My friends,
they worship another God. It is not the same. It's not
the same. My friend, our God is sovereign. And praise be to His name. He determined to show grace before
the world began. He determined to show grace. And regardless of the rage of
man against the sovereignty of God, it is still true, God says,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. Now, a person devoid of hope,
a person devoid of hope within themselves, sees that the fitness of this
world and the religion of this world cannot help his eternal
soul, this person sees grace altogether differently. This
person sees grace altogether differently. It's like a man
with cancer. If a man had cancer from his
head to his feet and he could not have any hope, the doctors
give him no hope. They said, you're going to die
and there is no treatment to cure your disease. And yet he
hears of one. He says, hey, there's somebody
with a cure. Would that not instill some hope? In his heart? Would that not instill hope in
your heart? You see, but a man who's got
treatment options, that really don't matter to them, does it? If you've got treatment options
for your sin, other than the grace of God, you'll go to it.
But it won't be until you do away with all of your hope, that you'll ever come to Christ
seeking grace. Seeking grace and mercy. This is so with sinners. You
mean, preacher, that God will show grace upon me? Yes. Yes. Because God says, I will
have grace. God says He would. So I can tell
you, yes. I tell you that God will have
grace. How do I know He will have grace? Because He determined
before the world began to have grace. Shall He not accomplish
it? Shall God, who purposes all things,
shall He not accomplish that which He had purposed to do?
Yes, He shall. He shall. How do you know? Because this grace is not only
determined, it's displayed. Number two, it's displayed grace. God Himself not only purposed
to show grace to the unworthy, ungodly sinners, but He also
provided the means by which He could show grace. Look at this
back in Timothy, verse 10. Chapter 1, 2 Timothy 1, verse
10, "...but now is made..." What
is made? The grace that he mentions in
the preceding chapter. "...but now the grace of God,
which He planned and purposed, is made manifest by the appearing
of Jesus Christ Our Savior, who hath abolished death and hath
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. It was not enough that God purposed
to have grace. You know that? If God just determined
to have grace, but did not display the means by which or provide
the means by which He could have grace, it wouldn't do us any
good. But see, God who purposed grace
also provided the means by which He can have grace upon us. Election, my friends, is not
salvation. But election is always unto salvation. Always. Always. If God has chosen
a person, He will bring them. He will bring them. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13 says,
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Praise God for His electing grace,
which was accomplished by His redeeming grace. You see, electing
grace was accomplished by redeeming grace. The grace of God cannot be seen
in anything in creation. You know that? You can't look
around you and see the grace of God. Now, you can look around
you and see the mercy of God, can't you? It is by His mercies
we are not consumed. Isn't that right? Think about a blasphemer. Why
is he not consumed at the moment he blasphemes God? God extends
mercy out there. His mercy is upon all creation
in that sense, but His grace is very particular. It's very
particular. It's not upon all men. It cannot
be seen in creation. The mercy of God is only shown
in one place, in one person, and by one work, Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. You want to know anything about
the grace of God? You can't know anything about the grace of God
apart from Christ. Because it is displayed in Christ. It's made manifest in Christ.
By His own sovereign will, He chose to be the Redeemer and
Savior of those whom God elected. He took upon Himself human flesh
and united Himself with it. Why did He do that? Why did Christ
become a man? Why did He have to do such a
thing as that? Because sin came by man. Therefore, righteousness must
come by man. Adam represented every person
in this room. And when he died, you died. He was our federal head. And
therefore, we need one to represent us. One to represent us in righteousness
before God. And Jesus Christ, by His grace,
said, I will represent them. I will become a man." We could not do that, could we?
Is there anybody in here that could represent us before God? Anybody? Is there anybody in
here that can represent us before God? Are you good enough? No man of Adam was ever good
enough. We were all fallen. But Christ,
because of grace, said, I will represent them. I will be their
mercy seat. I will be their righteousness.
Remember when Jesus went to the doctors and was teaching the
doctors at 12 years of age? This 12-year-old child went in
there and started teaching the doctors of the law, and his parents
couldn't find him. They finally found him and said,
where did you go? How dare you leave us? As I would
say to my children, how dare you leave me and be upset and
hurt and angry? And he looked at her and he said,
wish you not I should be about my father's business. Hey, I'm
here. Didn't God tell you this? He
told you this when I came. But nevertheless, what did he
do? He subjected himself to his earthly parents. You know, I love my parents.
But as a grown man, it would be very difficult and humiliating
to subject myself under their authority again, wouldn't it?
Imagine if you could subject yourself under your parents'
authority. How would you like that? Wouldn't that be comfortable
to you? It would be humiliating, wouldn't
it? It's humiliating for a grown
man to live with his parents. My friend, the God of the universe,
subjected Himself to these parents for you, for me who believe. He humbled Himself and being
found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient
even to the death of the cross. Why? Why? One word. Grace. That's it. Grace. There is no other answer. Grace. But this was not all He
did, for He must deal with our sin. You see, God cannot manifest
His grace without sin being taken away. You know that? God could
not embrace one of us or accept one of us had not all of our
sin been taken care of. All of it. Therefore, Jesus Christ, He became
a man so that He might take sin out of the way. He might take
sin out of the way, like that veil that separated them from
God in that house in the tabernacle. The veil that separated God from
everyone else has been ripped in twain, and God says, now you
have free access to Me. How? by the blood of Jesus Christ. He took the justice of God on
that cross. Listen to me. If any man here
takes the justice of God lightly, I challenge you, look at the
cross and see how God deals with His justice. See how seriously
God deals with His justice. You want to toy with it, toy
with it. But I tell you, God doesn't. When God took my sins
and He put them on His own Son, when God saw my sins, His justice
came down and killed His own Son. What do you think He's going
to do to you? What do you think He would do to me if He found
my sin on me? Oh, my friends, don't toy with the
justice of God. Look at the cross and see. that
in grace for His elect, God took our sins and puted them to Jesus
Christ, so that He was made sin for us, made a curse, so that
the justice of God could be satisfied on our behalf. You know, a man could burn in
hell forever and God would never be satisfied. But, Jesus says, My grace is
sufficient for thee. His grace is sufficient. The
Scripture says in Isaiah, He shall make His soul an offering
for sin. He shall see the travail of His
soul and be satisfied. And my friend, when God displayed
His grace on that cross, He made Christ an offering for our sins. Where were we? Where was I when Christ did that? I was in Christ. when they nailed
Him to that cross. And therefore, my sins and my
sorrows and my shame were nailed to the cross and taken out of
the way, abolished the thing that separated me from God. God's grace was displayed and
opened for all to see when God took the knife of His justice
and killed His own Son. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory
died, my richest gain I count but loss
and poor contempt on all my pride. See, see from His head, His hands,
His feet, Sorrow and love flowed, mingled
down. Did e'er such love and sorrow
meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown? See the cross of Christ and see
the grace of God that He determined and displayed by the gospel that
is now preached to you. You know, this is the means that
God has determined to display the gospel to you. Not movies
or picture shows or any entertainment like that. God has determined
by the foolishness of preaching to save them which believe. Do you know that this is, according
to the education of this world, that this is the most foolish
method of delivering a message? You know that? This is the most
foolish method. But this is the method that God
has chosen. This is the means by which the
display is set before you. And I point you to Jesus Christ
and say, look to the Lamb of God. It's been displayed. You know, a lost man can understand
my words. He can get a picture in his mind
of what I'm saying. I believe every child in here
could get a picture of what I just said. You can get a picture of
that in your head. When I say, Jesus Christ, in Him crucified,
I'm sure you got a picture of a cross. I'm sure you got a picture
of a figment of a man on that cross. Every man can do that. But you see, it's only the grace
of God that will apply to your heart to see Him as your only
hope. It takes grace. And number three,
that means it must be delivered. Grace was determined. Grace was
displayed. And now grace is delivered. Delivered. The gospel is the
means by which God has chosen to call His elect for whom Christ
died to life and faith. Make no mistake about it, He
won't call anybody else but those whom He's chosen. But my friends,
it pleases my heart to know this, He shall call whom He's chosen.
He shall call them by the foolishness of preaching. See the grace of
God in this application. We all by nature did not seek
God. You know, I wasn't seeking God
when He found me. Were you? The Scripture says, no man seeketh
after God. And if you're seeking God today,
know this, it's grace that you're seeking Him. If you're seeking
Him at all, it's by grace. No man seeks after God. But yet
God says, I have come to seek and to save that which was lost. That's grace. That's grace. And when the gospel of God's
grace in Christ reaches the sinner's heart, it moves him to seek God's
grace in Christ when once he had no interest. And now he sees
that he not only needs grace, but he sees that he must have
it. I like that song that says, you
can have all this world, but give me Jesus. You can have
all this world, but give me grace. I must have grace. I must have
it. Do you must have it? Is that the attitude of your
heart? This is one that has been delivered
grace. The ones that need it. The ones
that must have it. And what does this grace deliver
us from? Well, my friends, it doesn't
deliver us from the devil. Don't buy that. It delivers us
from the wrath of God. Isn't that what grace delivers
us? God delivers us from Himself. Isn't that right? He does. He
delivers us from His wrath. He delivers us from death to
life. He delivers us from unbelief
to faith. He delivers us from darkness
to light. And translates us into the kingdom
of His dear Son. How does this take place then?
How does grace come upon the heart of an unbeliever? One that's
not seeking God. How does that happen? In a setting
like this, the Gospel goes forth and the Spirit of God takes the
Gospel and applies it to the heart of an unbeliever. And when that happens, life. Life is not a process, is it?
You're either alive or you're not. Isn't that right? You're either alive or you ain't.
There's no middle ground. My friends, when God the Holy
Spirit comes with this Word to your heart, you will see your
need of grace and you will come willingly. The Scripture says,
"...He hath made us willing..." When? "...in the day of His birth."
in the day of His power. And we that have seen Christ,
can you not testify this morning that His grace is sufficient?
Is it sufficient? Is it lacking in anything? Will you stand before God in any amount of your sin? No. God looks at you and He says,
innocent, justified, free of all charges. Why? Grace, grace,
grace. Have you been delivered by God's
grace? Examine your heart this morning.
Have you, not your parents, grandparents, friends, relatives, have you
been delivered by God's grace? If not, may God arrest you this
morning. May God stop you in your tracks that you may bow before the Lord
Jesus Christ. And if you have believed, then
take recurring refreshment from the river of God's grace. God's
grace is still sufficient. You that have been with the Lord
a long time, is that not so? How many times do we doubt His
grace? How many times do we doubt whether
we know Him at all? And yet His grace was sufficient
yesterday, and the day before, and the day before, and the day
before, and it shall be sufficient tomorrow, and the next day, and
the next day, and the next day. All the way to glory. Christ's grace is sufficient
for us. Is there anything more that you
have need of? Is there anything more than you
desire than the grace of Christ? I pray that God would take that
away, whatever it is. If there's anything we desire
more than Christ, may God remove it from our presence, so that
we may bask in the glory of His grace, seeing that it's enough.
It's enough. Let's stand. Wait, we're going
to do the Lord's Table, I'm sorry. We'll have the men come forward
for the Lord's Supper.