If you would open your Bibles
with me to Colossians chapter four. Colossians, the fourth
chapter. There's a note here in the bulletin.
We'll just make sure everybody sees this. We will not have a
service Wednesday evening. Our conference begins Friday
at 7 p.m. We're very much looking forward
to that. Lord willing, I'll be preaching
Tuesday in Danville, Kentucky. Coverage your prayers as I preach
and travel. Brother Eric Floyd is preaching in Crossville this
morning. We want to remember him as he preaches, he and Abby
as they travel. Colossians chapter four, we'll
begin our reading in verse two. Continue in prayer and watch
in the same with thanksgiving with all praying also for us
that God would open to us a door of utterance to speak the mystery
of Christ for which I am also in bonds that I may make it manifest
as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward them that
are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be all the way
with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought
to answer every man. We'll end our reading there.
Let's stand together with Shawn Legeson singing our call to worship. Light up this house with glory,
Lord, the glory of Thy love, which calls and saves the church
below and makes our heaven above. We rear no altar that has died,
We deck no priestly shrine. What need hath we of creature
aid? The power to say is thine. We ask the rushing mighty wind
To glory His place find. Grant us, Thy Spirit, quick be
Thine, A fresh supply of grace. On us Thou hast bestowed Thy
grace, be to our children kind. Among the sheep give them a place,
and leave not one behind. If you would, turn in your songbooks
to number 431. I love to tell the story. I love to tell the story of unseen
things above, of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love. I love to tell the story because
I know it is true. It satisfies my longings as nothing
else can do. I love to tell the story. It will be my theme in glory. to tell the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. I love to tell the story, for
wonderful it seems that all the golden fancy Of all our golden
dreams I love to tell the story It did so much for me And that
is just the reason I tell it now to thee I love to tell the
story to tell the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. I love to tell the story, it
is pleasant to repeat. But seems each time I tell it,
more wonderfully sweet. I love to tell the story, for
some have never heard the message of salvation from God's own Holy
Word. I love to tell the story, it
will be my theme in glory. Tell the old, old story of Jesus
and His love. I love to tell the story for
those who know it best. Seem wondering and thirsty, To
hear it like the rest And when in scenes of glory I sing the
new, new song It will be the old, old story That I have loved
so long I love to tell the story will be my theme in glory to
tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love. You would please turn with me
to Romans chapter three. Romans chapter three. What advantage
then hath the Jew or what profit is there of circumcision? much
every way, chiefly because that unto them were committed the
oracles of God. For what if some did not believe,
shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
God forbid, yea, let God be true, but every man a liar, as it is
written, that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and
mightest overcome when thou art judged. But if our unrighteousness
commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God
unrighteous? Who taketh vengeance? I speak
as a man. God forbid. For then how shall
God judge the world? For if the truth of God hath
more abounded through my lie unto his glory, why yet am I
also judged as a sinner? And not rather, as we be slanderously
reported, And as some firm we say, let us do evil that good
may come, whose damnation is just. What then? Are we better
than they? No, in no wise. For we have proved,
before proved, both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under
sin. As it is written, there is none
righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good.
No, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher.
With their tongues, they abuse the seat. The poison of asps
is under their lips. Whose mouth is full of cursing
and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. and the way
of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. Now we know that whatever things,
so ever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become
guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by
the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. For there
is no difference. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at
this time, his righteousness, that he might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then,
it is excluded by what law of works? Nay, but by the law of
faith. Therefore, we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Is he the
God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. Seeing
it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith and
uncircumcision through faith. Do we then make void the law
through faith? God forbid, yea, we establish
the law. End our reading there. Let's
bow together, prayer please. Our holy, heavenly father, we're
thankful that you brought us to this place this morning. Thankful
for faithful pastor that you provided and other men Study
and read and prepare and preach the gospel to us. We ask that
you be with Frank in his worship service. Uphold him for this
awesome task of opening your word and preaching to us. Let
it be a true hour of worship. Let us receive the message prepared.
Let us feed on Christ and see his name and his work magnified
and glorified in his place. Pray for Eric as he's away preaching. Pray for the, give him the safe
return trip back to us. Father, we pray for the upcoming
conference in this place we'll have this week. We pray that
each one comes here, is blessed by the preaching of your gospel
and Christ's work and his name is magnified each service and
he be glorified. Thank you for the precious gift
of your son. We've met here to worship him. Because of the work that he's
done to atone for sin, we thank you for the precious blood that
he's spilled. Pray that we be found in him, washed, dressed
in his righteousness. Each day causes us to be anchored
on Christ, to look less and less to ourselves, increase our faith
in him, Him alone. Again, Father, we pray for a
true hour of worship this morning. Help us to focus and listen and
receive the message and worship Christ this morning. These things
we ask and pray in His name. Amen. In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song This cornerstone, this
solid ground Firm through the fiercest drought and storm What
heights of love, what depths of peace When fears are stilled,
when strivings cease, My Comforter, my All in All, Here in the love
of Christ I stand. In Christ alone, who took on
flesh, fullness of God and helpless babe. This gift of love and righteousness,
scorned by the ones he came to save. Till on that cross, as
Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfied, for every sin
on Him was lain. Here in the death of Christ I
live. There in the ground his body
lay, Light of the world by darkness slain. Then bursting forth in
glorious day, Up from the grave he rose again. And as he stands in victory,
sin's curse has lost its grip on me. For I am his, and he is
mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ. No guilt in life, no fear in
death, this is the power of Christ in me. From life's first cry
to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of
man, Can ever pluck me from His hand Till He returns or calls
me home Here in the power of Christ I'll stand Till He returns
or calls me home Here in the power of Christ I'll stand My goodness. And we had a good
service already this morning. I mean, scripture reading and
prayer, Brady special, Sean, that song you picked, I love
to tell the story. Hope I'll be able to do it this
morning. Not ruin this. Preach Christ and get out of
the way. if you would open your Bibles with me to Colossians
chapter 4. I've titled the message this
morning, Speech Seasoned with Grace. I took my title from verse
6 where the apostle writes, let your speech be always with grace,
seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer
every man. Now, I would imagine that you're
like me when we think about speech being seasoned with grace, we
automatically think about how our speech ought to be seasoned
with grace as we talk to one another. And that certainly is
true. But our speech should be seasoned.
A believer's speech should be seasoned with grace every time
we open our mouth. It really should. And this morning,
I want to look at several ways that our speech could be seasoned
with grace. Number one is this. Let our prayers
Be seasoned with grace. In verse two, Paul says, continue
in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving. Now the word
continue that Paul uses there means be devoted to this matter
of prayer. Be steadfast in all times about
everything in prayer. Pray and pray and pray and don't
quit. Don't quit. feel like God's not
answering your prayer, don't quit. He hears, don't quit. And the word watch means be active
in prayer, be active in it. The scripture plainly teaches
us that we ought to pray about everything, about all matters,
whether we think it's something that's little or we think it's
something that's big. Our prayers are seasoned with
grace. when we pray about everything. Everything. Because you're praying
about everything. Praying about the things that
we would say, oh, that's a little thing. But we pray about it. That shows dependence on the
Lord. That's our speech being seasoned
with grace. And honestly, what can you handle
by yourself? I mean, there's not one thing
that we can handle by ourselves. So there are no little things,
are there? There are no little things. And
we pray about everything. That is having our speech seasoned
with grace. And I tell you, be active in
this thing. The word Paul uses there is watch. Be active in
real prayer. I'm talking about real prayer.
I'm not talking about just going through the motions now. I'm talking
about talking to our heavenly father. Don't go through the
motions. Live in an attitude of prayer. An attitude of prayer before
our father. An attitude of prayer. Just about everything. I remember
when Holly was born, my mother told me, you're going to learn,
as a parent, you're going to learn how to talk and pray at
the same time. Your child's going to ask you a question, something's
going to come up, and you're going to learn to talk and pray
at all times. An attitude of prayer. Just as
we go through our day, you don't have to be stopping and bowing
your head and praying, but just an attitude of prayer. As we
go through our daily lives, that shows grace in the heart. It
shows that we're living in dependence upon our Savior, that this is
not just something that we say, oh, I believe we're saved by
grace. I believe we depend on God to save us and keep us. Living
in an attitude of prayer shows you mean it, shows it's in the
heart. And I'll tell you another way
our prayers could be seasoned with grace is by praying for
other people. You know, I always, pray that
the Lord would deliver me from praying selfishly, just thinking
about myself and the things that I need. Grace in the heart will
cause us to pray for other people. And there's something I read
this week I think is very good. If you talk to the Lord about
someone, the Lord just might enable you to talk to them about
Him. If you talk to the Lord about
someone, the Lord just might give you an opportunity to talk
to them and say something that'd be helpful. Here's another big prayer of
mine, that the Lord will not allow me to open my mouth and
be hurtful and cause stumbling for God's people. But the Lord
might give us something to say. If we talk to the Lord about
someone, he might enable us to say something to them that would
be helpful to them. And there's so many things in
life, so many things going on in our world that I would be
completely honest with you, I don't know how to pray. I don't know
what to ask. And a real good request in prayer
would be this, Lord, show us your glory. This is going on,
I don't know. I don't know how to pray, but
I don't know what to ask about it. I don't know what your will
is in this thing, but Lord, would you show us your glory? Now God's
told us, remember he talked to Moses that day. What's God's
greatest glory? God told Moses, it's this. I'll
be merciful to him, I will be merciful. I'll be gracious to
him, I will be gracious. God's greatest glory is showing
sovereign mercy to sinners. Can you think of anything you'd
rather see? I can't. I pray for it every
day. God's sovereign mercy that he'd
reach down among us and save his people. That's how God saves
his people. Sovereign mercy in a way that
is more glorious than we could have ever thought up. Isn't that
right? All right. When we're hurting and we have
specific problems, we have specific things that we take to the Lord
in prayer. It would be very wise for us
not to say, Lord, here's my problem, and would you do this to fix
my problem? We say that like the Lord needs
our suggestions, you know. We'd be much more wise and we'll
be much more blessed if we have this problem. We'd say, Lord,
show me your glory. The Lord was gonna deliver us
in a way He's going to comfort our hearts in a way that's much
more glorious than anything we could think or imagine. That's
the way he saved us in a way that's more glorious than we
could think or imagine. He's going to comfort and deliver
his people in a way, the same way, more glorious than we could
think or imagine. If Lord saves us that way, I'm
confident of this. He can lead us and guide us the
same way by his sovereign grace. And our prayers are seasoned
with grace when we don't offer any suggestions. We admit how
helpless we are. We admit how ignorant we are,
how short-sighted we are, and just say, Lord, show me your
glory. Show me your glory. Here's another way our prayers
are seasoned with grace. It's when we pray with thanksgiving. I have here in my notes that
all of our prayers should include Thanksgiving. I don't know that
necessarily that that's true. There are times when all we can
do is moan. You ever been there? All you
can do is moan. Brother Cecil Roach told me,
when the Lord brings you to that point, when all you can do is
groan, he said, that's when you're really praying. That's when you're
really praying. Sometimes, all we can do is like
Peter, cry out, Lord, save me. I'm sinking. Lord, save me. I
mean, I'm right now. Lord, save me. Lord, help me.
Lord, have mercy. Look at Psalm 130. When I thought
about this, we just cry, Lord, save me. Lord, help me. I thought
about David saying, out of the depths have I cried unto thee.
And I turned over to read it, read where David's out of the
depths of I cried unto thee. And even in that prayer where
David's out of the depths, I'm crying to thee, he included Thanksgiving. Look here, Psalm 130. Out of
the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? but there's forgiveness
with thee, that thou mayest be feared, that you might be worshiped.
I wait for the Lord. My soul doth wait, and in his
word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord
more than they that watch for the morning. I say more than
they that watch for the morning. So let Israel, let God's people
hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there's mercy, and with
him is plenteous redemption. He shall redeem Israel from all
of his iniquities. David came a long way in eight
verses, didn't he? From out of the depths of I cried
unto thee to the mountaintop, he shall redeem Israel from all
of his iniquities. There are times when all we can
do is groan, but typically speaking, our prayers should include Thanksgiving.
We have much to ask the Lord for, and when the Lord taught
us to pray, he told us to ask. Ask for this, Lord, give us this
day our daily bread. Give us this day the provisions
that this flesh needs to live. Lord, I need daily grace. I need daily forgiveness. I need
forgiveness every moment, every second I need your grace. We
need the Lord's presence, don't we? We need his presence. How
tedious and tasteless the hours when Jesus no longer I see. I
need his presence. I need his guidance. Lord, don't
let me take a step by myself. Lead me, guide me. We need to
have our spirits renewed by the preaching of Christ. We ask for
these things. And as we ask, we need to remember
this. Oh, how much we have to be thankful for. You can't even
begin that count up all the Lord's blessings to us. I'm just talking,
just physically now. Brethren, we're rich. We're rich
compared to the way people lived in times past. I mean, King Solomon
would like to live in your house. Joyce told me this one time,
this is really smart. Solomon would love to live in
your house, have indoor plumbing. He'd think you're the richest
person he ever did. He couldn't even, what a great thing. Brethren,
we're rich. Compared to how people live in
other places of the world, we're rich. Look at Psalm 40. And that's nothing. I mean, that's
nothing compared to the spiritual blessings that God has given
His people in Christ. Psalm 40, verse 5. Many, O Lord my God, are thy
wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which
are to usward, they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee.
If I would declare and speak of them, they're more than can
be numbered." We can't even count God's blessings, His spiritual
blessings to His people. You think what Almighty God has
given His sinful people. God is holy. He requires perfection. and He's given us everything
He requires. God requires what we cannot give, what we cannot
produce, and He's given us everything that He requires of us in His
Son. Wayne mentioned it in his prayer.
God's given us the precious gift of His own Son. His own beloved
Son. God's given His Son to His people. He's given us everything in His
Son. The Father gave His Son The son
of his love, he gave him as a sacrifice to put away the sin of his people
so that a holy God could accept him. The sin of God's elect is
gone, put away under the blood of Christ so it can never harm
God's people again. They can't be charged with it
and condemned ever again because Christ was condemned in our place
because he shed his blood to pay that awful, awful sin debt
so that his people would never be separated from God. Christ
our Savior suffered that for us. We cried, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? He knew full well why the Father
had forsaken him. He cried that for our comfort.
If our substitute was forsaken of the Father in our place, you
never will be. Oh, he's given us everything.
And saying thank you is having your speech seasoned with grace.
There's just something wrong with somebody who doesn't say
thank you. Particularly when we think of God's blessings to
us, I don't deserve any of the blessings, any of these spiritual
gifts that God's given me, yet he's given them all to me freely.
I deserve just exactly the opposite of it. And he's given me what
Christ earned as a man. He's given them to me freely.
How can I not say thank you? I'm thankful that righteousness
is in Christ. That He's my righteousness, not
my obedience to the law. How thankful can you be that
Christ has made you holy? If you believe Christ, He's made
you holy. Without which, no man shall see
the Lord. He's made you holy, so you see the Lord. I'm thankful
for eternal life in Christ. Life that cannot be lost. I'm
thankful for the forgiveness of my continuing sins. The sin
I've committed just in the last second as I stand here preaching
the gospel of Christ, God still forgives my sin. I'm thankful
that God forgives my weak faith. I'm thankful. Oh, I'm thankful. The Lord remembers that we're
just dust. I'm afraid we often get too big for our britches
and we forget we're just dust. He doesn't. He remembers we're
dust. I'm thankful the Lord pities
his children. David often talks about his tender
mercies, his tender compassion. I'm thankful for the precious
promises of God's grace. I will never leave you nor forsake
you. Your father and mother will forsake
you and when they do, I'll take you up in my arms. My grace,
is sufficient for thee. I'm not saying the thorn doesn't
hurt. I'm not saying the trial doesn't
hurt. God says my grace is sufficient for thee. He said, I know your
sorrow. I'll come again to you. I'll
come again, take you. I go away. Yes, I go away. It's
expedient for you that I go away. And when I go away, I'll send
the comforter to you. You won't be alone. I'll send
the comforter to you. I'm thankful. You can just go
on and on and on. Go through every page of God's
Word. I'm thankful for you. I'm thankful for y'all. I thank
God for your faithfulness. For your commitment to the Gospel. I'm thankful for your love and
your kindness to one another. Just go on and on and on. You
just think up as many things as you want. Thankful. Saying thank you, Lord. That's
having your speech seasoned with grace. Telling each other thank
you. That's having your speech seasoned with grace. And when
you pray, and I've asked you this often, and not purely for
selfish reasons, but for God's glory and for your good, when
you pray, I covet your prayers. Pray for the preacher. Pray for
these men. Wayne, pray for these men who
are coming to preach at a conference. When you think of these men,
pray for them. Pray for them. Look at what Paul says in verse
three in our text, With all praying also for us, that God would open
to us a door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ for
which I'm also in bonds, that I may make it manifest as I ought
to speak. It'll be good when you pray,
your speech is seasoned with grace when you pray and ask the
Lord to give God's preacher a message, a message of truth, a message
of Christ, and enabling to preach it and a message that you can
hear that will benefit your soul. Lord, give your servant a message
that I need when we meet on Sunday and Wednesday. Pray that the
Lord give the preacher and you an understanding of the mystery
of Christ. What a mystery that Almighty
God would love people like you and me. What a mystery that God
would send His Son sacrificing him, shed his blood to put away
the sin of people the likes of us. That's a mystery. What a
mystery that God uses the preaching of the gospel from the lips of
a sinful man to the ears of sinful people through the stumbling
and bumbling of the preacher and God still blesses his word
and saves his people, feeds their soul. Pray. Pray that the preacher
will speak as he ought to speak. Because I'm telling you, he can't
unless the spirit opens his mouth. But Bob Coffey said this years
ago, and I remember it well and think of it almost every week.
Here's the thing that frightens a man by standing up in front
of a group of people and opening his mouth to preach the gospel.
The new man is scared to death what the old man's gonna say. And praying for the preacher,
that's your speech being seasoned with grace. Because when you
pray for the preacher, you know what you're admitting? I need
to hear from God. I need to hear from God. I need to hear Christ preached. And if I'm gonna do it, I need
God to open the lips of a man and they will be to hear a message.
that will give life to my heart, that will give comfort to my
soul, that will point me to Christ. No preacher can preach unless
God enables him, unless God opens his mouth. And Paul mentions
specifically here, pray that the Lord will open doors. Give
us, open a door of utterance. I might, we might be able to
go preach to preach to the law. So, so the laws can hear the
Savior. Do you want the Lord to open
doors so your loved ones, your friends, your family, your neighbors,
people in your community can hear the gospel? Asking the Lord
to open doors so His people could hear of Christ. That speech being
seasoned with grace. I want others to hear of Christ
like I have. I want the Lord to save others
like He saved me. Lord, give us an open door of
utterance. And if you want a prayer to be
answered, here's a good prayer. This prayer will be answered
every time. Lord save your people. Save your
people. I sure would like for the Lord
to save his people here. I sure would like it. I sure
would like it if the Lord saved my loved ones. But this is what
I do know. God will save his people. God has blessed this congregation. He's blessed us with his gospel. This blessing is just untold.
Let's not hoard it up until I keep it to ourselves. No, God's given
it. With this blessing, this great
blessing comes great responsibility to preach the gospel to our generation. Oh, I want to be faithful. I
want to be faithful to our generation, don't you? Let's pray God give
us an open door of utterance. And ask in the Lord to be gracious
to others. Let others hear the gospel like
we have. That's your speech being your prayer, being seasoned with
grace. Here's the second thing. Let our preaching be seasoned
with grace. In verse four, Paul says that
I may make it manifest as I ought to speak. Let me speak like I
ought to speak. I was going over my notes this
morning. I thought, Frank, where have you been? Our preaching
cannot just be seasoned with grace. Brethren, if we're gonna
preach the gospel, we can't just throw in a little grace here
and a little grace there. Like, you know, you're cooking, you
ladies cooking, you put a little salt in, you put a little of
this or, you know, put a little bit of that in, whatever it is.
You know, I can't cook nothing, so I don't know, but whatever
you put in, season stuff, make it taste good. We can't just
throw a little grace here, a little grace there. Our preaching, if
it's gonna be true, if our preaching is gonna glorify God, if our
preaching is gonna do any good to the hearts of God's people,
It's got to be all grace. All grace. Not seasoned with
grace. All grace. God help us from being so legalistic
and telling people what to do and what not to do and how to
live and you got to do this. That's not gracious. It's just
not gracious. It's not gracious. It's mean
spirited. Because nobody can do it. Nobody can do it. I know what I ought to do, what
I ought not to do. Everybody knows how to live.
You come into the world with a conscience that tells you what
you ought to do, what not to do. You just can't do it. That's
the problem. That's not preaching grace. It's
putting a burden on people. Like I mentioned this in the
lesson this morning, that Peter said, neither we nor our fathers
can bear. That's just unkind. It's ungracious. When we preach
the gospel, this is what we're supposed to do. Take the burden
off. The Savior said, are you weary? Are you burdened? Come unto me,
I'll give you rest. Not come unto me and I'll make
you work and put this heavy burden on you. Come unto me, I'll give
you rest. My yoke is easy. My burden's light. What a light
burden to come rest in Christ. What a light burden, what an
easy yoke to come and depend on Christ to do everything for
you. Take the burden off people. That's preaching grace. The message
of the gospel is grace. By grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves. You don't have to conjure it
up. It's the gift of God. The message of the gospel says
the father elected a people in grace and love and those people
shall be saved. Not one of them will perish.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that
cometh to me I'll in no wise cast out. The message of the
gospel is man is totally depraved. That's you and that's me. We're
totally depraved. Everything in us is sin. We're lost in sin. We're dead
in sin. And the message of the gospel
is God saves sinners by grace. by his free grace. I'm telling
you, it's a good thing because here's one thing a dead man can't
do. He can't work. He can't do work. He can't do
anything to earn. God saves his people by grace. Wayne read it early. All have
sinned to come short of the glory of God, but God justifies his
people freely through the grace that's in Christ Jesus. Our message
is salvation by grace. And that lets people's heart
be established with grace. This thing is sure, and it's
certain. Therefore, Paul said, it is of
faith that it might be by grace to the end. This is the purpose,
that it's by grace, through faith, that the promise might be sure
to all to see. This thing of salvation by grace
is sure. And I tell you, don't ever think,
well, All's lost. I mean, there's nobody worshiping
God anymore. I mean, how many people live in the tri-state
area? And it's a pretty good crowd, but when you think of
how many people live here, not very small percentage, isn't
it? But don't think, well, I'm just gonna give up, because everything's
lost. Even so, at this present time
also, there's a remnant, according to the election of grace. God
has a people. He's calling them out by His
grace. He's feeding them by His grace. He's keeping them by His
grace. He'll glorify them by His grace.
Just keep preaching grace. They'll be called out. Believers
owe everything that we are and everything that we have to God's
grace. God just keeps showering His
grace upon us so that we are constant debtors to God. I am
what I am. by the grace of God. I know what
I am in Adam. It's too shameful to mention.
And this is also true, I believe God. I know it's weak faith,
but I believe God. I do, I believe God. I love to hear the message of
grace, the message of Christ that thrills my heart. That's true. Not as much as it
ought to, but it does. My mind wanders sometimes. I'm
here, I know, but it does. I am what I am. I have that faith. I can feed on Christ that way
by the grace of God. I am what I am by God's grace.
Yes, we're great sinners. We think we're great sinners,
and brother, we hadn't even started to scratch the surface of the
mountain of our sin. But we're redeemed from all that
sin by grace. in whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sin, according to the riches
of his grace, of his grace. We're elected by grace, called
by grace. We're saved by grace. We grow
in grace by grace. That makes sense. We grow in
grace by grace. We're kept by grace and we're
going to be glorified by grace. This thing of salvation of a
sinner is all of grace. Look with me at 1 Peter chapter
5. If salvation is by grace, this
is how this thing's gonna end. 1 Peter 5 verse 10. But the God of all grace, who
hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after
that you've suffered a while, establish, strengthen, settle
you. To him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen. That's preaching grace. That's preaching grace. So let
your prayers be seasoned with grace. Let your preaching be
all grace. And thirdly, let your speech to unbelievers, to those
that are without. Let that speech, when you talk
to them, let your speech be seasoned with grace. Back in our text,
in verse five, Paul says, walk in wisdom toward them that are
without. Redeeming the time, let your speech be always with
grace, seasoned with salt that you may know how you ought to
answer every man. Now talk like, when you talk
to those that are without, here's how you let your speech be seasoned
with grace. Talk like a person who's dependent
on God. Talk like a person. You don't
have to sound all religious all the time, but just talk like
a person who's dependent on Christ. Be kind. If you want your speech
to be seasoned with grace to those that are without, to the
unbeliever, be kind to an unbeliever. They're dead and they're blind,
I know, but show grace. Let your speech be seasoned with
grace by being understanding. They can't help it that they're
blind. They're born that way. They can't help it that they're
dead. They're born spiritually dead. And I tell you what, a
former blind person sure ought to be understanding to somebody
who's blind right now, shouldn't they? If you were born blind
and you remember being blind and now you've received your
sight, boy, you sure ought to be understanding somebody who's
still blind, shouldn't you? I warn you, this bothers me a great
deal. Be very, very careful. of making
fun of people in false religion. I know they do crazy stuff. I know it's just crazy religious
ceremony. I know they're just grasping
at straws. I know. But making fun of them
is not gracious. I know that they're on Mount
Carmel. Elijah kind of mocked the prophets
of Baal. That was one time. And that was
Elijah, not you and me. I think we just stay off that
field of play right there. It's not gracious. It's just
ungracious for a former blind person to make fun of another
blind person when they stumble into something they can't see.
And that's not living in an attitude of grace. It's not. Do we say this or do we really
believe it? I'd do the same thing if it weren't for God's grace.
Not only would I do the same thing, I'd do worse, I'd be the
leader of the pack, if it were not for God's grace. That's just
being ungracious. And I was typing out my notes
yesterday and I just, on my Word program, I looked for synonyms
of this word ungracious, because I thought, is that the word I
want to use, ungracious? Here's what the word, synonyms for this
word ungracious. It's ill-mannered. Didn't your
mama spank you for being ill-mannered when you were little? It's ill-mannered.
It's unseemly, it's rude. It's unseemly for the believer,
and it's uncivil. Now I think the least we could
be is civil, don't you? At least that. And when you're
speaking to everyone, whether it's a believer or an unbeliever,
just let everything that you say be in keeping with grace. Don't say something that's contradictory
to grace. Say things that are in keeping
with grace, That's letting your speech be seasoned with grace.
I was in high school. First time I remember Brother
Henry saying this. Henry thinks that's a hundred
years ago when Frank was in high school. A hundred years ago,
but it was a long time ago. But I remember this. And this
is what he said. I was in high school when he said this. And if you
were there, you remember this. He's talking about letting your
speech be seasoned with grace. He said that everything comes
out of your mouth past this threefold test. First, is it true? If it's not true, don't say it.
But if it passes this test, is it true? Second, is it kind? And if it passes those two tests,
is it true? Is it kind? Third thing, is it
necessary? If it passes all three of those,
go ahead and say it. If it fails one of them, don't say it. And
40 years later, I've never found anything later that's not been
100 years. It's been 40. 40 years later, I haven't found anything
better than that. This is speaking with grace.
Let your speech be seasoned with grace. Some might be true. You
know, it might be, maybe it is true, but it's unkind to repeat
it. So don't, that's like when you
hold that back, that's letting your speech be seasoned with
grace. Something may be true, but it's, it's unnecessary for
one of our little ones to know. It's unnecessary for a weaker,
younger believer to know it. It's just there's things you
parents know you just don't talk about in front of your children,
because it's not necessary for them to know that yet. They're
going to learn all the gross, ugly things of this world on
their own. It's unnecessary. Holding that
back is like your speech be seasoned with grace. All right, here's
the fourth thing. Let your speech to others in
the church be seasoned with grace. Now, we speak to each other.
We say we're sovereign gracers. Hurricane Road Grace Church.
Well, now, let's speak like that. Let's speak of grace to one another
and speak in grace to one another. You know, we're still in the
flesh. We need grace. We need grace from God. We need
we need grace from each other. Let's be gracious with one another.
And here's a subtle trap somebody could fall into. Don't give the
impression, I'm blessed in this. You know, God's blessed me recently.
Things are going so well. You know, I'm blessed because
I've just done it. I've done it right. You know,
I've done it right. My children, oh, look how they're
prospering. Look how they're... It's because
I raised them right. You know, I followed all God's
instruction. I raised it right. You know?
Somebody hear that. Maybe they're going through a
tough time. Maybe it's not going so well for them right now. Maybe
their children are struggling. Their children are having troubles.
And you know what they're going to think? They're going to think
I'm not blessed like them because I just didn't do as good as them. Brethren, that's works, not grace.
Let's not speak that way. That's not gracious because you
know what? It'll discourage our brethren.
If they're not having a time, you know, this is just as good
as ours is right now. Let's be gracious to one another.
That's not in keeping with grace, is it? Saying I'm blessed because
I did so good. That's not in keeping with grace. And let's
speak in grace to each other, graciously. Be kind, be forgiving,
be tenderhearted with one another. I'm telling you, people get a
mouthful of harshness and selfishness and self-promotion and ugliness
and divisiveness out there in the world. Let's not have it here. Give
people a mouthful of grace. Mouthful of grace. I'm telling
you, it tastes better. A spoonful of sugar helps the
medicine go down. Speaking grace to one another.
And when there's differences in the way we see things or the
way we want to do things or you disagree with ways things ought
to be done out there in the world, brother, leave it at the door.
There's differences, but I'm telling you, God's grace should
overcome it. And it bothers me when it doesn't.
Don't you? It bothers me when it doesn't.
If we ever get this through our head, we're going to be better
off. Grace is more important. There are things that I hold
dearly out there in the world. I have things I hold dearly. Well, grace is more important.
Somebody else might not think that. It's all right, we don't
even have to talk about it then. Grace is more important. I might
have real opinions about how this government ought to be run,
how this country ought to be governed, but very, very, very,
very, very shortly, that's not gonna matter one whit, and all
that's going to matter is Christ. That's gonna come to you and
me much faster than we can possibly imagine. It's coming so fast. God our Savior and His glory
is a whole lot more important than my ways and my desires. Then let's leave our ways and
our desires out there in a parking lot, and it'd be better if you
could leave them at home. You come here seeking Christ, seeking
the glory of God our Savior, seeking the good of His people.
Not seeking my good, seeking your good. Let me ask you, what's
more important than God saving, keeping grace to sinners? Is
there anything as important as that? The answer, by the way,
is no. What's more important than the glory of Christ our
Savior? What's more important than lifting up Christ our Savior?
If we lift Him up, His people just won't have time to think
about anything else. It is utterly amazing how well
God's people will get along if we just stay focused on Christ. Isn't it? Your heart's calm. You feel peace. You're able to
love one another if we're all just looking at Christ. If we're
all seeking to promote the Savior and not ourselves, then let's
do that with one another. By having our speech seasoned
with grace. Be gracious. I just think, how
could I not be gracious to you? after God's been so gracious
to me. That's letting your speech be seasoned with grace. God help
us to do it. Let's bow together. Our Father, how we thank you
for your mercy and your grace. Oh, how we thank you for your
free grace in our Lord Jesus Christ. We can't even imagine
how lost, how far gone we'd be if it wasn't for your electing
calling, saving, keeping grace. Father, I beg of you that you'd
enable us to have our speech be seasoned with grace, to talk
frequently about God's grace to us. Enable us, Father, to
be gracious to one another, to be gracious to those that
are without. And as a church body, have our
focus our attention, our heart's desire on lifting up, together
lifting up Christ our Savior. It is in his precious name, for
his sake and his glory we pray. Amen. I hate to even say anything else.
I want us to focus on that message, but if some of you men could
set up the three tables that we have out there that we serve
food on and so forth. and a row of folding chairs in
the back. After you're done, I'll appreciate
it. All right, Sean. Okay, if you would, turn to song
number 304 and stand as we sing, Save Your More Than Life to Me. Savior, more than life to me,
I am clinging, clinging close to Thee. Let Thy precious blood apply
Keep me ever, ever near Thy side Every day, every hour Let me
feel Thy cleansing power May Thy tender love to me Bind me
closer, closer, Lord, to Thee Through this changing world below,
lead me gently, gently as I go. Trusting Thee, I cannot stray. I can never, never lose my way. Every hour let me feel Thy cleansing
power. May Thy tender love to me find
me closer, closer, Lord, to Thee. Let me love Thee more and more,
Till this fleeting, fleeting life is o'er, Till my soul is
lost in love In a brighter, brighter world above. Every day, every
hour, let me feel Thy cleansing power. May Thy tender love to
me, find me closer, closer, Lord, to Thee.