The Attitude Of Grace

Our lesson this morning is going to be out of Judges chapter 8. Judges chapter 8. Now this is after the battle, after Gideon and the 300 men went down with their pitchers and lamps and trumpets. The Lord worked in the hearts of the host that was against them, and they slayed one another and took off running. They didn't know what they were doing. They're total confusion.

And after all that took place, it says in chapter 8, and the men of Ephraim said unto him, why hast thou served us thus, that thou called us not when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? And they chided with him sharply. Now, this is not talking about Ephraim. This is talking about the tribe of Ephraim.

These men have come down and meet Gideon. Gideon's going after the host, and they come down and meet him. And meanwhile, they had slayed the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeb. And then they come, here they come with these two princes' heads, and they meet Gideon in the way, and they start chiding with him, as though he was trying to rob them of the glory of the battle.

And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Ezer? God hath delivered unto your hands the princess of medium, Oreb and Zeb, and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him when he had said that. Now the lesson this morning is on the attitude of grace. And I hope this morning to draw from these first three verses of Judges chapter 8 a very needful, necessary lesson concerning the grace of God.

Grace, as it's defined in the scripture, it says it's not of works. Works is the direct opposite of grace. In Romans 11, 6, it said, and if by grace, then it's no more works, otherwise grace is no more grace. Now in this particular place, he's talking about the election of grace. But it doesn't matter if you're talking about the election of grace, or the calling of grace, or the spirit of grace, or whatever else you want to talk about. Grace is grace, and it's not of works. No matter what the application, it's not of works. And if it be of works, then it's no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. They're opposite.

Now listen to me. Salvation. I don't care what part of it you want to talk about. Salvation is 100% by the grace of God. If you have a hope of some kind this morning, and it's dependent on anything you do, it's not of grace. I don't care if it's a little tiny bit. It's not of grace. The minute it takes on that little dab of works, Grace is erased completely.

Now it's of worth. And salvation is 100% by the grace of God. And there's nothing of any man considered in God's election, his predestination, the redemption he accomplished in Christ, our sanctification by the Spirit, our calling, regeneration, preservation, or final perfection. That's of man. Everything is of God. and it's all of his grace. It's the free gift of God.

By grace, ye are saved. It says in Ephesians 2, 5, talking about our eternal union with Christ and all that Christ did for us and how it become applied to us. He said, by grace, ye are saved. And then he works his way down to verse 8, and he said, by grace are you saved. This something happens in time. Now this grace becomes active in the hearts of men. And by grace are you saved through faith. And what does that mean? That means that God saves chosen sinners for the glory of his grace. That's what that means.

He made full provision for his people in Christ, and that grace came. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And he did all these things that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

When he says not of works, he's talking about the meritorious part of salvation. What makes us acceptable to God? I'm not talking about the fruit of grace. The fruit of grace is works. It produces works in us. I'm not saying that. What I'm talking about is the meritorious part of this. You do this and God will save you. No he won't. No he won't. And what God considers sufficient to satisfy his judgment, justice, and wrath concerning our sins is Christ and Christ alone.

Listen to this over here in Romans 3.19.

Now, if you care to read that portion before this over in Romans chapter 3, he tells us that we're all under sin. There's no difference between the heathen and the Jew in this respect. that we're all under sin. And even though they had a great advantage, it didn't profit them anything because we're all under sin, they're sinners. And we know that what things whoever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world become guilty before God.

Are you listening? Therefore, By the deeds of the law, that he's talking about your obedience to the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. If your hope is in the law, here's what you're going to discover. You're a sinner. That's all the law's going to tell you, guilty. But I did guilty. But what about guilty? That's all you're ever going to hear from the law.

Guilty, guilty, guilty. Why can't a man just knuckle down, determined to keep the law and win God's approval? Romans 3.23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. What it takes to satisfy God is to be like God. And we can't produce it. We can't conjure it up. We can't knuckle down and produce it. Absolute, total, continual, spiritual perfection. That's what God demands. Cursed is everyone who continues not in all things written in the book of the law to do it. What is he? He's cursed. He's cursed.

A man told me one time, he said, I haven't always done the right thing, but one thing I can say. You ever notice how sinners always got this one thing? One thing I can say, alcohol never passed over these lips. I said, maybe you ought to get a drink. You don't have to mess up all the way. All you got to do is mess up one time. in thought, motive, or deed. But I'll tell you the truth, we messed up all the time. Not just one time, all the time.

Man's acceptance of work does not equate God's acceptance of it. Men are very satisfied with men's work. Go into any religion up and down this road and you're going to hear them brag on folks for what they did. And you get to thinking, you're hearing him doing this, and after a while you get to thinking God's pleased with your work. He's not. He's not. How come? All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Now watch this, Romans 3, 24. Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. What in the world is he talking about faith in his blood? That it's sufficient to put away your sin. That the death of Christ is absolutely sufficient to satisfy God. Through faith in his blood, why? To declare his righteousness for the remission of sins. God has to be righteous in his remission of sins. He's God.

And I know it talks here about the sins that are past, but he's not talking about your past sins, although they've been put away too. But he's talking about sins of these men who believed in God as he was set forth in the Old Testament. That's what he's talking about. These sinners from the past, that's what he's talking about.

They had faith in the coming Redeemer. We have faith in the Redeemer that's come. and we see much clearly than they did. God sent forth his Son and his redeeming blood all through the law and plain declaration of the prophets, all through the Old Testament.

And so Paul writes in Romans 3.21 that But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Both the law and the prophets set forth Christ. How did they set him forth? Crucified. Crucified. Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of or faithfulness of Jesus Christ, and it's unto all and upon all that believe, where there's no difference for all of sin and come short of the glory of God.

And then in Romans 3.26, he says to declare at this time, after Christ has come, after his sacrifice has been made, after he's been accepted and seated in glory, at this time and all times from this time forward to declare at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus, that is, as God has set him forth. Now, here's the conclusion. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

He's saved by grace, by grace through faith. He sees and understands redemption that's been declared to him through the gospel, and that justifying righteousness of Christ is applied to his conscience, he sees himself and believes himself to be justified freely by the grace of God. Otherwise, he couldn't look at himself in the mirror. When God convicts a sinner, the sinner gets on God's side on his own condemnation. And there's no way that that man can ever find relief until he sees his sins put away in Christ. Now he can rejoice and he can do it righteously because he sees his sins put away by God himself. God himself is satisfied.

Oh, but preacher, what keeps us in line? How or what are we governed by? Don't we need a little law? Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 14, For the love of Christ constraineth us. What does that word constrain mean? It means compelled, forced, pushed, oppressed, required to obey, rejoicing, held in check, obliged to walk, preserved. How? The love of Christ. The love of Christ. So how do we perceive this love? We perceive the love of God as God commended it.

He said, because we thus judge. This is 2 Corinthians 5, the very next verse. Because we thus judge, we thus understand, that if one died for all, then all were dead, and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. That's how the love of God, if you're looking for the love of God and a feeling, if a feeling is what it takes to satisfy you, pour some warm honey down your back.

That's not the love of Christ. The love of Christ is understood on the cross. He commended his love toward us, and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And salvation, by grace, is altogether God intervening in the lives of chosen sinners and doing for them what they could never do for themselves.

And where this salvation is perceived It leaves that man, that woman, that boy, that girl with a sense of gratitude and praise for the God of all grace. He's thankful. I don't know how many times I've read that in the scripture, being thankful, thankful. We thank God for you, beloved. Over and over and over, the apostle talks about thanksgiving.

When Peter had finished his first general epistle written to believing saints scattered all over the known world, at this time he penned these words, 1 Peter 5, 10, But the God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you suffered a while. When? After you suffered for a while. How's he going to suffer? Same way Christ did. Same reason. Same reason. Men hate the grace of God. They hate God. Christ said, I'll tell you why the world can't stand you because it can't stand me. It's not because you're so good that the world looks at you and despises you. It despises you because of me.

What's his suffering all about? Well, he's talking here particularly about the trials of the believer. Suffering trials. Accused wrongfully of this, that, and the other. Persecution. We suffer the weaknesses and limitations of the flesh. After you've suffered a while, he's going to make you perfect, established, strengthened, and settle you. What are you going to be settled in?

The grace of God. I'm just going to sit there being battered on all sides and just about ready to throw in the towel. And I'm going to remember, I'm saved by the grace of God. God separated me from this whole human race and saved me by the grace. Sent his son to die in my stead. sent his spirit to open my eyes and heart to the gospel of his sovereign grace. Did it work in me both the will and the do of his good pleasures? Huh? Grace, saved by grace, I'm going to remember that.

All right, so preacher, how are you going to walk? As you've received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. What's that talking about? That's talking about walking in the grace of God. This is grace incarnate. We walk in Him. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and we're complete in Him. All right, let's jump another group. Salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ leaves us with an attitude of grace. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus the Lord.

Here's a man who thought it not robbery to be equal with God. No man can say that except Christ. If ever there was one who truly could have a sense of entitlement, it was him. He's the creator of the universe. He's the manifestation of God. He's the accomplisher of our salvation. He sits on the throne of absolute sovereign power. He's the incarnate God. If ever there was one who should have had a sense of entitlement, it was him. But he didn't. How come? Because he wasn't here for him, he was here for us. He's here for us.

And everything he suffered, now hear me, Everything this man suffered, he suffered wrongfully, didn't he? Which of you, he said, accuses me of sin? Huh? And if you can't accuse me of sin, won't you listen to me? He did no sin, neither was gall found in his mouth. Everything he did, or everything that was done against him, was wrongful, was it not?

And Peter says he's our example. He's our example. Now what did the Lord do? This is a righteous man, totally righteous, but he's here on behalf of a people and he's accused and lambasted for things that he didn't do. What did Christ do? How did he handle that? Because we're going to be in the same boat sooner or later. So how are we going to handle this?

Here's what Peter says. He committed it unto the righteous God. He committed it to God who judges righteously. He said, I trust God. He'll take care of this. I don't have to take care of it. He's going to take care of it. Now, I'm going to go about my business. What was his business? The salvation of sinners. Same business we're left here. We have a minister in this church, don't we? This church ministers the gospel of God's sovereign grace to sinners.

I'd like to see this place filled up. And I wonder sometimes if we really believe what it is we say we believe. Well, I'll tell you how I know that when I start seeing people in here that haven't been here before. I tell you, you're going to know it. I'm going to know it.

When I see men accused wrongfully, turn that judgment over to the Lord. Here it is. It's in your hands. I'm going to just go about what you left me in this world to do. I'm going to go about this ministry. I'm going to go about preaching the gospel. I'm going to go about trying to...

Here's a congregation here in Louisville, Arkansas, and he's got us a place here to preach, a building to preach in. We've got a ministry here. I have a ministry personally, but this church has one. God's gathered together his elect and there's a ministry here. Hopefully the Lord will bless it when I'm gone. Hopefully the Lord will supply you with another pastor. But I know why I'm left here. I'm left here to minister to sinners. That's why we're here. And that's the business we need to be about and quit letting all these petty things draw us away.

He made himself of no reputation, it says, took on him the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men. My soul, what a coming down to appear in the body of a man. We're talking about Almighty God. And here he is in the body of a man, but he's not done. Watch this. As a man, being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself. You ever look at that? I saw it.

As a man, he humbled himself. He was a one-of-a-kind man, perfect man. Never a man spake like this man, but he humbled himself. How did he do it? He allowed men to say whatever they wanted to say. He went about his business, that's how he did it. He become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

The attitude of grace is born from gratitude, honor toward God, and I'm talking about the God of all grace. And I said all that to say this, when God called Gideon, he was trying to hide from God, he was trying to hide from the Midianites, he was trying to hide from his own evil nature, hide from any responsibility toward God. And he thought because his family was Jews, that entitled him to the blessings of God. And when God's ministering angel told him God was with him, here's what he said. He said, if the Lord be with us, why are we suffering all these things?

Am I getting home to anybody? Don't just ring a bell. Then you ask the same question. This happens, that happens, comes in, everything just going smooth, still. All of a sudden, boom, hammer comes down. Well, God's with us. Why am I suffering all this? Where's all the miracles that our fathers told us about? Well, let me tell you something.

Grace leaves men looking to God. That's what it leaves. Willing to submit, willing to obey, willing to give, thankful for all things. And when God was finished working in Gideon, he and these 300 men ran down the mountain with clay pots and lamps into this host. Huh? Ain't much of it. Well, I just don't think I can do this. You can't, but God can. And isn't that what God does? Leaves us looking to God. Shuts us up to the God of all grace.

They didn't question the outcome of the battle. They didn't debate over the means. They all knew that salvation was of the Lord and they willingly submitted to His ways and means. And they all adapted an attitude of grace and were all convinced of the sovereign grace that they experienced in this battle. And now they were on their way after the host.

And here in Artax, God's going to try Gideon's faith and attitude of grace. That's what he's going to do. He's going to try it. And here comes Ephraim. Now, Manasseh is the other son of Joseph. And that's the tribe that Gideon's from. He's the younger son. Ephraim's the older son. The older son, he gets the priesthood. He gets the inheritance. He gets everything. It's up to him to minister to his whole family. And Gideon was of the tribe.

But here comes Ephraim, the older son, represented here. It's very obvious that Ephraim has an ungracious attitude. They chide with him sharply. Why didn't Gideon call him at the beginning of the initial assault? He was jealous of the glory given to Gideon. Well, let me tell you something about God's ways. He called Jacob as a figure, as an example, as a manifestation of God's sovereign grace in election.

And he told his mama before he was ever born, he said, the elder is going to serve the younger. Ephraim is going to serve Manasseh. How come? Because there's two covenants involved, the old covenant and the new covenant, and the old covenant is going to serve the new. That old law is going to serve the gospel. Those old prophets are going to serve the apostles and the doctrines of grace, the gospel. The elder is going to serve the younger.

And I'm going to tell you something. This goes through all scripture. It goes through the birth of God's elect. Go back and check me out and see if what I'm telling you ain't so. The elder is going to serve the younger. You can't hardly find an example contrary. The elder is going to serve the younger.

Well, that ought to give us some hope. And Gideon has this attitude of grace now. He knows this whole thing's of God. And so Ephraim's pride is sticking in his throat. He comes up and they start chatting with him. And what's he do? He had every argument in the world to justify himself, but he didn't even try to justify himself. He said, well, what have I done? Look at you. You stand here holding two heads of two princes. He said, you outdid me. You outdid me, all I did was run down a mountain with a picture and a lamp. You standing there with two heads of the enemies in your hands.

And he built him up. You want your pride? You can have it. And he just let him have it. Right away, boom. They calmed right down. Anger was abated. They began to talk, began to get together, began to go ahead. My wife often tells me. A soft answer turneth away wrath.

That's what it takes. That's what it takes. And it ought to be a natural reaction for us. But it's not. And I'll tell you why. Because we spend 90% of our time in the world and 10% in the word of God and in the things of God. That's why. Grace didn't fear being overlooked or wrongfully charged. Grace is not looking to possess. Grace already possesses. And all it possesses is the gift of God and it satisfies all their needs. They don't need anything else.

Actually, what's being shown here is what God said to Rebekah before Esau and Jacob was ever born. The elder is going to serve the younger because of the covenants. And all through the book of Hosea, the Lord's dealing with Israel and he's showing them their whoredoms, mixing of their religious ideas with the heathen. And he's going to show this too. That's what the book of Hosea is all about. And Ephraim is who he picks out to represent Israel. All through the book of Hosea. I never noticed it when I was reading through Hosea until I started studying our text.

Ephraim, he said, is joined to his idols. Ephraim committed whoredom and Israel is defiled. Ephraim shall fall into iniquity. be desolate in the day of rebuke. Ephraim is oppressed, broken in judgment. Ephraim looked to a crooked king for the healing of his heart. He went to the Assyrians and he was disappointed. But then at the end, he uses Ephraim now to talk about spiritual Israel. And watch what he says. In Hosea 11 verse 9, God says, how shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I make thee as Zoboam? My heart is turned within me. My repentings are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness of my anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim. I am God and not a man, the Holy One in the midst of thee, and I will not enter the city."

What in the world is that talking about? That's talking about entering the city the way he did Sodom and Gomorrah. I was talking about entering in and destroying everybody in the place. He said, I'm not going to do that, Ephraim. I'll tell you what I'm going to do to you. I'm going to enter the city like I did Nineveh when I sent Jonah. Then you go open the door. And my man is going to walk into your heart with his gospel, and you're going to hear and repent and believe. Maybe I should say hear, believe, and repent because that's the order. Oh, our great God in heaven, give us an attitude of grace and separate us from this world.

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The Attitude Of Grace

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