I have been blessed already tonight. It's hard for me not to put away
my notes and go verse by verse through Ruth 2. I enjoy that
so much. It's my desire this evening to
talk about grace. And I'll tell you where this
came to my mind. Sunday morning, two new babies came here to church
for the first time. Bill Hoxton, one of them is his
granddaughter, he was holding her after church. He pointed
out to me those two babies that came were Addison Grace and Lindsey
Grace. And he went on to point out we
have a Sydney Grace, we have a Savannah Grace, and we have
a Carrie Grace. We may have more, that's all
the two of us could think of. And Bill made this comment. He
said, you think there's some people around here who are interested
in Grace And you grandparents will understand, he looked at
that baby and he said, I hope it applies to these two. I hope
it does, because we are interested in grace. Now that's our prayer. We attend Ashland Grace Church.
We call ourselves sovereign gracers. When somebody asks what you are,
the denomination you are, it doesn't really fit what the world
knows as denominations. We're sovereign gracers. I looked
this up last night. The word grace is used in the
Bible 159 times. If you look at the other ways,
forms of the word gracious and so forth, it's used almost 200
times in the Bible. Sounds to me like if we're not
interested in grace, we ought to be. It's talked about that
much in God's Word. Now you go out in the world and
you hear people talk and they give credit to things, the good
things that happen in their life to God's grace. They are able
to survive some horrible ordeal and trial, and they give credit
to God's grace for that, and rightfully so. It's true of every
human being that we experience something of God's grace. Whether
they're believer or unbeliever, we experience God's grace in
this life. God gives us mind, gives us faculties
to be able to function in the world. He gives us the right
amount of sun and rain so we have a harvest and plenty of
food to eat. The ocean, we keep drawing fish
out of it. It keeps being full. It's God's
grace. Can you imagine how many millions
of cows have been slaughtered? You can go get your steak any
time you want. There's clean food. He's given us jobs and
families and homes to live in. He gives us health, gives us
healthy babies that we're so happy to bring out in the public
and show everybody off. And we're thankful for those
things. Believe me, I am not downplaying those blessings.
Those are blessings of grace. When we don't have health, we
pray the Lord would give it to us. There's nothing wrong with
that. That's blessings of God's grace. This is a hard, hard, hard world
to live in. People survive horrible tragedies
and difficulties in their life. It constantly amazes me So I
see so many of these women in 9-11 that in an instant became
widows. A lot of them young women, young children. Many, many, many
of them pregnant. It's surprising. And in an instant,
their life is destroyed. Everything they had, they thought
was happening for them and that they were looking forward to
the rest of their life is gone. And you think, it just crushed
you. And as far as I know, I'm assuming most of them are unbelievers.
They've been able to pick up and go on. I see them on TV and
things. Not only have they survived,
they've created generous non-profit organizations and tried to make
some good thing happen out of this bad ordeal. And the ability
to cope with those things, without doubt, is God's grace that He's
put in human beings. But that's not really the grace
I'm interested in. That's not the grace Bill Hodgson had in
mind when he looked at that granddaughter and said, I hope that it applies.
That's not the grace he was talking about. The grace I'm interested
in, and I suspect you're interested in, is grace that gives life
to a soul. Grace that gives life to a dead
sinner. Grace, God's grace, that is the
one thing needed Because that's where life comes from. That's
where we have it. And every spiritual blessing
comes from is God's grace. Now I did a lot of reading about
grace. I looked at the definition of
grace. And there's pages and pages and pages and pages. You
can read if you want to about the definition of grace. The
simple definition that I've heard growing up, as long as I can
remember, grace is getting what we do not deserve. A lot of the
writers talk about grace being the free favor of God. Gill defines
grace as unmerited, undeserved favor and generosity from God. Webster in the dictionary defines
grace this way, unmerited, divine assistance given to man for his
regeneration or sanctification. That's grace. If we're going
to define grace, we've got to be clear that grace is free. If it's not free, it's not grace.
If it's not free, it's something that you bought or something
that you earned. Pretty simple, right? Every week
my boss gives me a paycheck on Friday. And he gives me the check
and I take it and I say, thank you. But quite honestly, I'm not all
that thankful. I mean, I'm thankful he brought it to me. I didn't
have to go chasing down to get it. But quite honestly, I'm not
all that thankful because I've worked hard for that. I earned
that check. He's not giving me that check
out of the goodness of his heart. It's because I earned it. If
he don't give it to me, there are going to be legal repercussions.
I worked hard for that. When he gives me that check,
that's not grace. That's debt. Grace is undeserved. It's unearned. favor from God. So if it's going to be grace,
it must be free. It's something we didn't earn.
And the reason that grace is free is because the Lord Jesus
Christ bought it for us. He bought our redemption. He
paid the price that was on our head. He paid it with His own
blood so that grace can be free to His people because He bought
it. And He freely bestows it. It's His to give. I read about in the definition
of grace that God's grace is eternal because God's eternal. God's grace is immutable. It's
unchangeable. It will never change because
God's immutable. Grace allows us to rest in Christ
regardless of how sinful we are, regardless of how undeserving
we are. Grace is what allows us to rest in Christ. And if
we're going to define grace, we've got to understand this.
Grace is the opposite of works. Look in Romans chapter 11. Grace is the opposite of works. Romans chapter 11, verse 6. And
if by grace, then it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is
no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. Grace and works can never mix
because they are totally opposed to each other. Grace is the opposite
of works. And I read a lot. Believe me,
I could go on and on and on narrowing down and defining God's grace. I believe I could do it to the
point that I might take the glory out of it. I might take the awe
out of it by just putting it down in such fine print at the
bottom of a contract or something. I want to have a whole lot more
than a doctrinal discussion about grace. A few weeks ago, I was
up in Michigan. I told the folks there, a doctrinal
discussion is not what you need from me. That's not why you came
here tonight, to hear a doctrinal discussion. I could probably
impress you with you know, how much I've studied and, you know,
great big long words and theories that you get from John Gill that
you've got to read four or five times before you understand what
he's saying. I could probably impress you with those things, deep theological
thoughts. But that's not what we need.
I think frequently before I preach about that widow woman. Our Lord
and his disciples are standing there by the treasury. And that
widow woman came and dropped those two mikes in. He told his
disciples, he said, that woman right there gave more than all
the rest of them. If that poor widow woman came
here tonight, does she need me to stand up here for half an
hour and give you the definition of grace, what it is, what it
isn't? It's my desire. I told Janet,
I said, I hope this doesn't sound stupid, but I want us to be able
to worship the Lord. in awe and wonder at His grace,
and have a fresh appreciation and love for His grace in the
spirit of thanksgiving, how gracious the Lord has been to us to worship
Him for His unspeakable grace to us. Now, if you'll look first
in Genesis chapter 6, Mike asked me what my text would be, and
I said, well, we'll start out in Genesis 6, Grace is used 159
times in the Bible. We won't turn to all 159, but
I want us to turn to these so you see what God's Word says
now about grace. I want you to hear what I have
to say about it. Let's see what God's Word has
to say about it. We'll look first at Genesis 6.
I think everybody here knows the same thing I know about the
Law of First Mention. The Law of First Mention is that
you find the first time a word is used in Scripture. Find out
what it means in that place, and you can apply that meaning
to the rest of every time you see it in Scripture. In Genesis
6, here's the first time the word grace is used in Scripture.
Verse 5, And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in
the earth, and that every imagination or thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that
he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his And
the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from
the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing,
and the fowls of the air. For it repenteth me that I have
made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord." And here's my first point. Noah was a sinful man,
cut out of the same cloth as every other heart God looked
down and saw. He had the same sinful nature.
He had the same sinful thoughts, the same sinful desires. He's
the same in every way. He's the son of Adam, just like
everybody else. But God's grace is for the undeserving. Noah didn't deserve God's grace.
Grace is for the undeserving. Noah was just as sinful. What
he deserved was the judgment and the wrath and the destruction
that God was sending on the rest of the earth. That's what he
deserved. But this undeserving man was spared in the ark because
of God's grace. And to prove that Noah is just
as sinful as everybody else, what's the first thing Noah did
when he got off that ark? He got drunk and sinned against
the Lord. He's a sinner. And he didn't deserve for God
to put him in that ark, did he? Well, why didn't God just destroy
him and start over? Because grace is for sinners,
for the undeserved. You can't be too sinful for grace. You'd be too self-righteous,
but you can't be too sinful for grace. Look at Romans chapter
5. Hold your finger there, we're
coming back here in just a second. Romans 5. You cannot be too sinful for
grace. Mike just sang it. Romans 5 verse 20. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. Why wasn't Noah destroyed? God's
grace. Oh, he's a sinner. But where
sin abounded, grace did much more abound. And he was not any
different than the rest of that generation he lived in. The only
difference between Noah and all those, how many ever there was
that perished in the flood, the only difference is God's grace.
He found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The second thing I
know about grace is God's grace is sovereign grace. Noah found
grace where? In the eyes of the Lord. He didn't
find it underneath a rock somewhere. He found grace in the eyes of
the Lord. Grace is an attribute of God. God is a sovereign king and anything
that comes from him is going to be sovereign. His grace will
be sovereign grace. We see that in Exodus chapter
33. God's grace is sovereign grace. Exodus 33, verse 18. And Moses said, I beseech thee,
show me thy glory. And God said, I will make all
my goodness pass before thee. And I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before thee. And I will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious. And I will show mercy on whom
I will show mercy. God's grace His sovereign grace. He bestows it sovereignly where
He will, when He will. I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. The third thing there in Genesis
6 I see about God's grace is God's grace brings a calling
from God. He's not going to just leave
you in the dark that you're an object of His grace. God's grace
brings a calling from the Lord. And there in Genesis 6, verse
13, And God said unto Noah, here he knew that it was God's purpose
to destroy the world. And then God called to Noah.
And he said unto Noah, the end of all flesh has come before
me, and the earth is filled with violence through them. And behold,
I will destroy them with the earth. And then he told Noah,
you make an ark. God's grace always brings a calling. And it's no different today.
Look at 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy 1 verse 9, who has saved us and called us
with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. And when God calls a sinner through
the preaching of the gospel, That time is a time of grace. Maybe tonight, maybe the Lord
called someone, called one of His sheep, called them to Himself.
If He does, that calling is of grace. It's of His free, unmerited,
unearned, undeserved grace. And all of God's dealings with
His people are dealings of grace from eternity to eternity. When
was this grace given us? before the world began. From eternity past, all through
human time, to eternity future. God's dealings with his people
are dealings that are done in grace. Now back in Genesis 6, here's the fourth thing I see
about God's grace. God's grace always leads to faith
in God. The faith in Christ. Paul said
in Hebrews 11, by faith Noah, being warned of God of things
not seen as yet, moved with fear and prepared an ark to the saving
of his house. Noah acted in faith because of
God's grace. Look here in Genesis 6 verse
22. This is after the Lord had given
the command to Noah to build the ark and put the animals in
the ark. Thus did Noah according to all that God commanded him.
So did he. Noah did exactly what God told
him to do because he believed God. Noah began building that
ark before the first rain cloud ever appeared in the sky. He
didn't hurry and start building an ark when he saw the storms
start building up. He built the ark at God's word, when God told
him to because he believed God. And Noah and his family, when
the time came, entered that ark willingly. Genesis 7 verse 1,
And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into
the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Noah and his family willingly
entered the ark because there it is again, God's calling them,
come into the ark. And they were saved from wrath
because of a gracious call, they went into that ark. And that
ark, you know, is a picture of Christ. God calls every one of
his elect, because of his grace, he calls them into Christ. He says, come unto me. And we
come willingly, by faith, because of God's grace. Fifth, I see here in Genesis
6 about God's grace. God's grace always brings salvation. In this case, this is a picture
that brought the salvation of their bodies from the flood.
God's grace always brings salvation of souls in the Lord Jesus Christ. Noah and his family were saved
from wrath in that ark. And all those in Christ, all
of them that God calls, are saved from their sin. They're saved
from wrath to come. Because of grace. Look over in
Ephesians 2. You know, when I thought about
this, I was going over my notes, sitting over here this evening.
It's not just that we're saved. We talked about being saved.
Saved from what? Well, saved from the wrath to
come, certainly. But saved from sin. That's what
we need to be saved from, is sin. And that's what God's grace
saves us from, from our sin. Ephesians 2, verse 4. who is rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ." By grace you're
saved. Look at verse 8, for by grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. Our salvation comes from God's
grace. God's grace always leads to the
salvation of His people. And God's grace is for everyone.
God's grace saves all kinds of sinners. I remember once, years
and years ago, Brother Henry warned us, don't limit God's
grace now. Just be mighty careful about
limiting how far God's grace will go. Because God's grace
is for all kinds of sinners. Look in Acts 15. God's grace
isn't just for religious folks. You know, it's the religious
people that go to church on Wednesday night. God's grace isn't just
for religious people. God's grace is for all kinds
of sinners. Acts 15, verse 11. Here's Peter. He's talking with the disciples. The apostles have come together
to talk about this matter of the Gentiles. And Peter says
in verse 11, that we believe that through the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved. We Jews shall be saved,
even as they. even as the Gentiles. God's grace
is for the heathen, for the Gentiles. And we are going to be saved
the same way that God saves the heathen in Africa. The exact,
or the heathen in Africa. No matter where you find them,
you know, they're all heathen. Under God's sky, they're heathen.
We're going to be saved the same as they. By God's grace. How
are we going to be saved? The only way God ever saves anybody
is by grace. And His grace always brings salvation. And those things we learn about
God's grace, they're in Genesis. You take it through the rest
of the Bible. That's what it means every time you see it. You know, every spiritual blessing
that we have comes from God's grace. Sin being forgiven is
a spiritual blessing, right? Well, our sin is forgiven under
the blood by grace. Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1 verse
7. In whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of His grace." The riches of His grace. God showers His people
with the riches of grace. The reason that we're sin abounded,
grace did much more abound, is because of the riches of His
grace. Too many for us to count. We
can't imagine how sinful that we are by nature. How many times
a day, a minute, an hour, a second we sin. We can't imagine. All
of that sin is forgiven under the blood by the riches of His
grace. That's why I'm interested in
grace. Justification. Justification is a spiritual
blessing. He made just as if I'd never
seen, wiping that sin completely away so that the record never
shows any sin in me or done by me. Justification. That's a spiritual
blessing. And we're justified by grace. Look at Romans chapter 3. Romans 3 verse 24. Being justified freely, how? By His grace. Through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. Look over at Titus chapter 3.
This is a good one. Titus chapter 3. Titus 3 verse 5. not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which
he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that
being justified by his grace we should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life. We are justified by his grace
and we are made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Well, Scripture says we have
a good hope. How? Through grace. What makes your
hope different than the hope of those out there in the world?
Your hope is a hope of grace. That's a good hope through grace. And it's a hope of eternal life.
Where does eternal life come from? God's grace. For the wages
of sin is death, but the gift The free gift of God's grace
is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. By grace. Eighth, here's a blessing, a
spiritual blessing, election. God's election, God's choosing
of people, is because of God's grace. Scripture plainly teaches
that before the world was ever created, the Father chose a He
chose them out of Adam's fallen race. He chose to redeem them.
He put them in his son. His son, in eternity past, stood
assured to those people. He agreed to die for those people.
Those were the people whose names were written on his breastplate
when he went to Calvary. God chose them unto salvation. Why did God do that? Why did
he look down at that mass of wretched sinners that come from
Adam's and decide to save any of them. He didn't do it because
he saw, well, this one's going to have faith, so I'm going to
pick him. No. He chose them before they'd done anything good or
evil. And they didn't do anything good. In spite of who they were,
God chose them. Why did He do that? Grace. His grace. Romans chapter 11. Verse 5, Even so, at this present
time also, there is a remnant, according to the election of
grace. When Paul talks about election,
he says it's the election of grace. And that seems to be a
battle point, a battleground in our day. You know, the unregenerate
man says election is cruel. You believe election, you think
God sends babies to hell. You know, all kinds of wild things. Because the unregenerate man
sees it as cruel. They say, well, that's a cruel
choice that God would choose some and pass others by. That
some, you know, election, what you're saying, means that the
election keeps some men out of heaven. No, men keep themselves
out of heaven through their own sin. The regenerate man sees
God's choosing of people to redeem as an unspeakable act of God's
grace. Because I know I never would
have chosen him if he didn't choose me first. That's God's
grace. And I love election. I love to read about the God
who sovereignly elected a people simply because it seemed good
in his sight. Because that's an act of grace.
I didn't deserve it. That's an act of God's sovereign
grace. And it shows his power. He chose
those to redeem and he redeemed them by his son. And the only
reason this world is spinning around right now, people are
just enjoying sunshine today, and they're so happy. Tomorrow
might not be that way, but today it was sunny and nice, and you
know, for January, pretty warm, everybody's happy. You know the
reason everybody got to enjoy that today? Because God's still
calling out His sheep. Maybe it's one of those two babies,
whose middle name is Grace, maybe. Could be, I don't know. Ninth, God's adoption. God's
adopting a people into his family is an act of grace. That's a
spiritual blessing that we have from God's grace. Look at Ephesians
1. Ephesians 1 verse 5. Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ, to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted and beloved." God
doesn't need any other sons. He didn't adopt children because
he couldn't have children, because he didn't have any other children,
and that's why we adopt because we can't have children. God adopted
out of his good will. He already
had a perfect son. He already had the son in whom
he's well pleased. He already had the son in whom
he's delighted from eternity past. He already had the son
of his eternal love. He already had the son who came
to do his will. He didn't need another son. And
he certainly didn't need a rebellious, sinful, depraved enemy, a wretch
like you and me, to be his sons and daughters. Why did he choose
people like that? Why did God choose to give some
of those rebels a new nature and adopt them into his family?
Grace. That's the only possible explanation,
is grace. And besides that's the only possible
explanation, that's what scripture says, to the praise or the glory
of his grace. That's why he did it. It was
God's grace. that moved him to make a covenant
with his people. We refer to it as the covenant
of grace. Look in Exodus chapter 34. Exodus
34 verse 9. And he said, If now I have found
grace in thy sight, O Let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us,
for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our
sin, and take us for thine inheritance." He's asking for grace for people
that don't deserve it. A stiff-necked people full of
iniquity and sin. God said, Behold, I make a covenant
before all thy people, I will do marvels such as have not been
seen in all the earth, nor in any nation. And all the people
among which thou art shall see the work of the Lord. for it's
a terrible, it's a great thing that I will do with thee." God's
covenant caused him to do all these marvels for his people.
God became a man. God became a man so he could
be our substitute. God's holy Son was made sin for
his people. God's Son, the Prince of Light,
Died. Suffered. He didn't just die.
He suffered. Unspeakably how he suffered and
died as a substitute for sinners. And when he died, all that sin
that was laid to him was put away forever. He brought in true
righteousness for his people. Peace was made between God and
men because of grace. All part of that covenant of
grace. God promised to do it, and he did it. Grace brings his
presence to his people. If you're still there in Exodus,
look over at chapter 33, verse 13. Moses says, Now therefore
I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now
thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy
sight, that I might continue to find grace in thy sight. And
consider that this nation is thy people. And God said, My
presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And
he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not
up hence. And God the Holy Spirit comes
to his people, and mercy and grace he never leaves. God said,
Wherever you go, I'll go with you. There's nothing more precious
to the believer than the presence of the Lord. Nothing more precious.
Nothing brings more peace to the believer, to the child of
God, than the presence of the Lord. And we have His presence
because of His grace. He said, I will never leave thee
nor forsake thee. You know, I don't want to be
around me half the time. Why wouldn't He leave me? I can
understand why He'd leave me. But He doesn't because of grace.
And I say to the child of God, when you're alone in the darkness,
in the quiet, when you're all alone by yourself, it seems like
at night, when it's dark outside, that's when the trial is the
darkest, and it's just gripping you in its grasp. And you think
it's just going to absolutely crush you. And you've never felt
so alone. You remember, child of God, you
are never alone. He said, I will go with you. I'll go with you. And if I would say this, if you
ever find yourself faced with a decision, why do I go here
or do I go there? Should I do this or should I
do that? We'd be wise to follow Moses'
example here in verse 15. If thy presence go not with me,
don't let me go. I might want to go over here.
Seems like a good idea to me. But Lord, if you don't go with
me, don't let me go. Because nothing will allow us
to have more peace and more rest than the presence of the Lord.
And we have his presence because of grace. If God's grace that
strengthens us in Christ, that establishes us and causes us
to grow in grace. Grace causes us to grow in grace. Paul said in Hebrews 13, it's
a good thing that the heart be established with grace. Not with
means, not with the form and ceremony of religion, but with
grace. Look at Acts chapter 20. This
is interesting. And good instruction. Acts chapter
20, verse 32. I promise I'm about done. I told
Jan I'm afraid this is going to last 10 minutes and I've run
up on my time, but bear with me just a minute more. Acts 20,
verse 32. Paul speaking to the Ephesian
elders. He's leaving them. He knows they're
never going to see him again. Verse 32. And now, brethren,
I commend you to God and to the word of His grace. which is able
to build you up and give you an inheritance among all them
that are sanctified. Paul tells them, brethren, I'm
not going to be here anymore. I'm not going to see you anymore.
But that's alright. Because I'm not the one that
strengthens you anyway. I'm not the one that feeds you
anyway. I'm not the one that does anything for you anyway.
I commend you to the Word of God's grace. That's where we're
strengthened. It will strengthen you and build
you up. Look at 1 Peter chapter 5. Peter
knew the exact same thing. 1 Peter 5 verse 10. But the God of all grace, who
called us, see there it is, grace brings that calling unto his
eternal glory by Christ Jesus. After that you suffered a while,
make you perfect, mature, establish, strengthen, and settle you. You just watch a believer over
time. You see the Lord. Call them out. Give them life.
They first confess Christ. And you know how we are. We kind
of bounce around a little bit. We're not real settled. You just
wait a number of years go by. They become established in Christ.
They're strengthened. They're mature. What happened?
God's grace. God's grace enabled them to grow
in Christ. God's grace is all we need in
every time and every situation. My grace is sufficient for thee. Wherever you're at, whatever
you're doing, my grace is sufficient for thee. And look over in Revelations
22, verse 21. The Bible ends with grace. Revelations 22, verse 21. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. Amen. Right after John says,
he gives us a warning. Don't you add anything to this
book. Don't you subtract anything from this book. He seals it with
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's just like it's sealed in
His grace. Now that's God's grace. I love
it. Oh, how I cherish His grace.
This is the grace that we're interested in. If I have one
final question, and it's an important question. If you're interested
in God's grace, we need to know where is it found. Where do I
find God's grace? This is what I need. He is what
I need. Where do I find this grace? God's
grace is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where you find
grace. How many of the epistles start this way? Grace, mercy,
and peace. from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. It comes to us. Grace, mercy,
and peace from the Father to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. Look in John chapter 1. If you
want to find grace, you go to Christ. Because that's where
you find it. All grace is found in Him. John 1 verse 14. And the Word. was made flesh and dwelt among
us, and we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth." That's where all
grace is found. Look over in verse 16. And of
his fullness have we all received grace for grace. For the law
was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Christ came incarnate, he became
a man because of God's grace. That's what the angel is saying.
Oh, peace on earth, good will, grace toward men. Because here
he is, God's Son, who is full of grace and truth, has come
incarnate because of God's grace. Christ died as a sacrifice for
sin because of grace. Hebrews chapter 2. Verse 9, But we see Jesus, who was made
a little lower than the angels, for a little while He was made
a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death. We
see Him now crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace
of God He should taste death for every man. That He should
taste death for every son that the Father has adopted into His
family. That He should taste death for every son that the
Father gave Him. If you're interested in God's
grace, go to Christ. Go to Him and beg Him for grace,
because that's where all grace is found, is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. You'll never find it anywhere
else but in Him. In Christ, we find the riches
of God's grace. There's plenty for you and me
both of the riches of His grace. And last, do you know why the
Lord has done, all these marvelous works that He has given us so
many displays of His grace. Why is it that God's done that?
So His grace will be glorified. Last scripture, Ephesians chapter
1. I hope I didn't weary you in turning
to these. I think it's good we see what
God's Word says. Ephesians 1 verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings and heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace. wherein He hath made us accepted
and beloved. The reason He did all that is
to the praise of the glory of His grace. I think it would be
very appropriate if Mike would come and we would sing about
His grace. May we sing it, not just a song
we've known from the time we were little teeny tiny, but because
we've been made objects of His grace. Alright, Lord bless you.