There is a hymn that says, Lord,
draw back the curtain of memory now and then, and show me where
you brought me from and where I could have been. Paul, since
that dramatic day on the Damascus road when he met not Jesus the
imposter, as Paul once thought, in his blindness and his religious
bigotry, But he met Jesus Christ, Lord over all, and he proved
it. Christ proved his kingship, his
lordship, every claim that he made while he lived, in the salvation
of the apostle. Paul knew. Paul knew, as our
text says, as Paul confesses there in verse 10, but in contrast,
in stark contrast, to what I was before. As I said, Paul never
forgot that. In contrast of not even being
fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church
of God, but, but, by the grace of God, I am what I am. By God's grace. Grace made me
the different. It didn't offer it, it made me
the different. That's what the grace of God
does. Paul's testimony is the confession
of every believer, every true child of God. They know that
the only difference between those who are saved and those who are
lost is the difference that grace has made. Oh, but what a difference. What a difference. In chapter
6 of this same epistle, let's look there for just a moment.
1 Corinthians chapter 6. Paul says in verse 9, know ye
not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Not everybody is going to heaven. Not everybody that makes a profession
of faith truly knows Christ. Be not deceived. God help us
not to be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor adulterers,
nor adulterers, nor infeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers,
nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God." And Paul
says, and what he says concerning the Corinthians is true of you
and I. And such were some of you. Such were some of you. You're
in that same condition. But, just like our text in verse
10 of 1 Corinthians 15, but you're washed You're washed. You're not unclean anymore. You're
washed. You don't have to stand afar
off like the leper who was condemned by God's righteous law was forced
to do and cry out, I'm unclean. I'm unclean. Don't come near
me. Don't approach me. I'm unclean. I'm an outcast.
You're not like that anymore. You're not afar off anymore.
You're washed. You're brought nigh by the blood
of Christ. You've been dipped in that fountain.
filled with blood, and everyone that's done so, everyone that
experiences that great salvation, they lose all their guilty stains,
they're washed. But you're sanctified, holy,
and you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the
Spirit of His grace, by the Spirit of our God. The only thing that
distinguishes you who are saved from the multitudes who are already
damned is the grace of God. I've told you before, one of
my favorite hymns since God saved me is old John Newton's Amazing
Grace. Amazing Grace. Old Newton wrote,
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like
me. I once was blind. But, now I'm found. I once was
lost and now I'm found, rather. I once was blind. But, but, by
the grace of God, now I see. I heard that hymn before I was
saved. I'd heard it many times all my
life. But I didn't have a clue what
it meant. But it was among those things that Paul said, Behold,
all things are passed away, all things become new. And it became
new to me. After God saved me by his grace,
when I first heard it, I said, well, my soul, he's talking about
me, John. That's my biography. Mr. Newton,
may I borrow those words? Because that's exactly how I
felt. That's exactly what God's done for me. It is nothing less
than amazing grace. Again, referring to Mr. Newton.
One time in his old age, when he was blind, no longer could
see, he heard somebody within his hearings, quote, or text,
but by the grace of God I am what I am." And he sat for a
little while and he said, oh, how true, how true. He said,
I'm not what I ought to be, I'm not what I want to be or desire
to be. And he said, I'm not what I'm
going to be one day, but he said, I'm not what I used to be. I'm not what I once was, an old
blasphemer, a slave trader. I'm not what I once was, but
by the grace of God, I am what I am. And nobody, nobody who
experiences God's grace, the true grace of God, is ever the
same again. Never. God's grace must be experienced. We can learn about election,
but we don't know we're elect until we experience God's grace.
We can know the doctrine of redemption, the true truth concerning the
redemption of Jesus Christ, how he obtained eternal redemption
for us. But we can't enter into it, we
can't know that he died for us before we experience his grace,
until that power of his might lifts us out, as Bobby just sang,
out of darkness into his marvelous light, until we taste and see
that the Lord is gracious. In 2 Corinthians, Paul wrote,
chapter 5, verse 17, Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature, a new creation. Old things are passed away, behold,
behold, all things are become new without exception. Paul said
any man, every man that's in Christ is a new creation. God's
grace makes him so. Grace has a 100% success rate. How about that? How about that? Grace, the true grace of God,
the grace that made Paul the dipper, that changed the apostle
Paul, that brought him down to the foot of Jesus Christ, it
never ever fails. It's never frustrated. It's never
defeated. Paul said it's never in vain.
Not God's grace. It's never in vain. That is,
it's never futile. It's never useless. It's never
without purpose. It never fails. Now, religion
fails. Religion can get people to make
a profession. It's hard to find anybody that
hasn't. But only the grace of God can
make us new creatures in Christ. Man's works fail, but the grace
of God never does. Did you notice in your bulletin
the article by Todd Niebuhr, grace is not an offer? What good
would it be if it was? If grace was only an offer, what
good would it be? What good would it be? Grace
doesn't offer to save. Nowhere in this book do you find
such language as that. God never offers to save. God saves. Grace is not an offer. Grace actually saves. Grace doesn't
offer life. It raises dead sinners to life. It doesn't offer for Lazarus
to come forth. It raises Lazarus from the dead. Turn, if you will, a few pages
over in your Bible to Ephesians chapter 2. This is exactly what
Paul tells us here. And thank God that it's so. He
doesn't offer to raise us to life. He comes to us and gives
us life. Christ told his disciples, because
I live, ye shall live also. I give my sheep eternal life
and they'll never ever perish. Here in Ephesians chapter 2,
look at verse 4. But God, there's that little
word again, but. There's that divine intervention.
There's that reason why we're not what we once were. But God,
but God, who was rich in mercy, He delights to show mercy. He
never will refuse mercy to any sinner that sincerely comes to
Him for it. But God, who was rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, while we were dead, while we were still in that state,
dead, helpless, hopeless. But God, even when we were dead
in sin, hath quickened, given life, quickened us together with
Christ by grace ye are saved. Grace doesn't offer to give sight
to the blind. Grace gives light to the blind. Grace opens our eyes and gives
us sight, just like that blind man. Turn back, if you will,
to John's Gospel, chapter 9. John chapter 9. Our Lord healed
the man that was born blind. The Pharisees heard about it
and called him on the carpet and said, give us a reason. Explain
to us how, were you ever really blind to start with? He said,
oh yeah, I was blind. I know I was blind. Well, how
did you come to see? And he told them they didn't
like the answer. But here in John chapter 9, look
at verse 25. This same man, this is the second
time he's been called before them. They called him, they didn't
like his answers, they called his parents. And they said he's
old enough to speak for himself, ask him. And he answers this
blind man and said, whether he be a sinner that is Christ or
not, I don't know. I know not. One thing I know,
that whereas I was blind, but now I see, I know that. I know
that. I know I once was lost and now
I'm found. I was blind, but now I see. Then they said unto him again,
what did he do to you? How open he your eyes? He answered,
then I have told you already. and you did not hear, wherefore
would you hear it again? Will you also be his disciples?"
And they reviled him and said, Thou art his disciple, but we
are Moses' disciples. We know that God spake unto Moses,
but as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. The man
answered and said unto them, Why, hearing is a marvelous thing,
that ye know not from whence he is. And yet he had opened
my eyes. He didn't offer to do it, He
did it. Paul asked this church at Corinth
in chapter 4 this question because they had went off into factions
and one said, I'm of Paul and I'm of Apollos and I'm of Cephas
and Paul said, now wait a minute, wait a minute, stop, stop, enough
of that. Paul said, who made you different? It wasn't Paul and it wasn't
Cephas and it wasn't Peter. It was Christ. Who made you to
differ? How do you like those words?
Does that offend you? Oh no, it doesn't offend the
needy sinner to be told that God's grace makes them to differ. For who maketh you to differ?
I'm thankful that God does that. That gives me hope. John, if
God's grace doesn't make me to differ, If God's grace only offers
to save me and doesn't save me, if God's grace doesn't do everything
necessary to bring me to heaven, I don't have a hope. Oh, but
if God's grace makes me the different, then I have hope for myself and
for my loved ones. For my loved ones. Ask that woman
at the well. Asked the woman at the well,
does the grace of God that's in the Lord Jesus Christ matter? Does it make a difference? She
said, let me tell you something. Let me tell you about a man that
knows all about me. Let me tell you about a man that
I met. I met at the well today, and
he gave me a drink. He did for me what none else
could do. He changed me. His grace has
made me to differ and I'll never be the same again. It's amazing
grace. He gave me a drink that I'll
never thirst again. I thirsted all my life long,
as the hymn said, all my life long I thirsted. Thirsted, and
every drink I took from every earthly stream, be it what it
may, fame, money, it doesn't matter. I thirsted again, but
this man, he gave me a drink. Everlasting life, that water
from which I shall never thirst again. Ask that demoniac, does
grace make you to differ? Oh, he would say, let me tell
you. I'm glad you asked, he would
say. Because our Lord told him, you go home. He had wanted to
go to be with the Lord. And the Lord said, no, no, no.
He said, you go back home and you tell them, you tell your
family, you tell your friends, tell them what great things I
have done for you and have had mercy on you. You go home and
tell them, and we read in Mark 5, that he went and began to
publish abroad. He broadcasted, is the word.
Broadcasted what great things the Lord had done for him. Their answer would be the same
as the blind man's was, the same as Paul's is, and the same as
every sinner who's tasted that the Lord is gracious. It's all
of him. Grace begins salvation. Paul in 1 Timothy 1 and 9 wrote
who has saved us, that is God who has saved us and called us
with the holy calling. Not according to our works, it's
not the reason, but according to his own purpose and grace
which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. And grace that brings salvation,
Paul in writing to Titus said, now the grace of God that brings
salvation doesn't offer salvation but brings salvation, actually
saves sinners, that same grace that begins the work carries
it on. Paul writing to the church at
Philippi said, being confident of this very thing, that he which
had begun a good work in you will perform it, will carry it
on until the day of Jesus Christ. Oh yes, grace is the alpha and
omega of our salvation from the first to the last. Grace gives
life. For his anger, the psalmist wrote,
for his anger endureth but a moment, and his favor is life. Weeping
may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. The same
grace that gives life preserves that life. For thou, Lord, wilt
bless the righteous with favor, wilt thou compass him as with
a shield. And grace will keep us from finally
falling. He brought me up also out of
a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a
rock, and established my goings. And grace, this grace that makes
us the different, is directly opposed to works. And if by grace,
Paul wrote, then it is no more works. If it is, then grace is
no more grace. But if it be of work, then it
is no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. All the attributes
of the triune God are displayed in the salvation of a sinner.
What does it take to save a sinner? It takes the purpose of God.
It takes the life and death of Jesus Christ. It takes regeneration
by the Holy Spirit. It takes grace, all grace. All
the attributes of the triune God are gloriously displayed
in the salvation of a sinner. But grace is the fountainhead. Grace shines above them all.
Grace is the most conspicuous thing throughout the whole work
of a sinner's salvation. Grace is to be seen in election.
in election. There is a remnant, Paul said,
according to what? Foreseen faith? Oh no. There is a remnant according
to the election of grace. Grace is evident in our redemption. We have been justified freely
by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Grace
is the basis of our calling. God who has saved us and called
us with a holy calling. Certainly all who are born of
God know that we're justified, pardoned, adopted, accepted,
and blessed of God according to the riches of his grace toward
us in Christ Jesus. I read just yesterday, as I was
studying and preparing this message, a story of a man who fell on
hard times. many years ago and he decided
just to pull up roots and go elsewhere. So he took what money
he had and bought him a ticket on a steamboat and was going
up the Ohio River. Before he left, he took what
food he had and in his coat pockets he had some crackers and cheese.
And each evening as the people filed in to have a meal up on
the steamboat in the dining area, he would find him a corner and
sit alone with his cheese and his crackers. One evening a fella
saw him and he said, what are you doing? Come in and have a
meal. He said, man, there's all you
can eat. Here's a buffet. And he said, oh, I can't go in
there. He said, I just had money for my ticket. I'll just have
my cheese and crackers. He said, man, pull out your ticket
and look at it. The man pulled out his ticket
and at the bottom it said, all your meals are included. All's
included. Children have got everything
you need from here to Global Bank is included. If you have
Christ, you have everything. If you have Christ, your meals
are included. God had made Him to be unto us
righteousness, wisdom, sanctification, and redemption. We're complete
in Him. Grace, the hymn writer said,
first inscribed to my name in God's eternal book. Man, think
about that. Think about that. Grace first
inscribed to my name In God's eternal book was grace that gave
me to the Lamb, who all my sorrows took." Think about that. Old
Spurgeon has said when he would sit and ponder God's election,
and he would take the wings of faith and fly as high as he could,
but then he would think chosen in Him before the foundation
of the world, and down he would fall at the feet of his Savior
and say, hallelujah, what a Savior. Chosen was grace that gave me
to the Lamb, who all my sorrows took. Grace taught my soul to
pray. Saul of Tarsus prayed before
he was saved, if you could really call it a prayer, but actually
you couldn't. His prayer was like that Pharisee in Luke 18. Lord, I thank you that I'm not
like other men. I've made myself to differ. Oh,
but grace truly taught him how to pray and made my eyes overflow
So it's grace that's kept me to this day and will not let
me go. None other grace can help this
sinner. None other grace can help me.
Grace that will not let me go. Grace that refuses to turn me
loose. The hymn writer went on to say,
grace all the works your crown. Through everlasting days it lays
in heaven the topmost stone. and well deserves the praise.
Is it any wonder that Paul said, but by the grace of God, I am
what I am. I'm not what I am by works, or
by will, or worth, but by the grace of God. Sovereign, electing
grace, eternal covenant grace, redeeming grace, protecting grace,
preserving and keeping grace, effectual saving, immutable,
indestructible. Paul said in Romans 5, God's
grace is reigning grace. It reigns over my sin. It rides
in wondrous triumph over my sins. It's abundant grace, grace unchanging,
grace indestructible, grace reigning. Oh, grace amazing has made us
the dipper. Now secondly, secondly, where
this grace is, anybody interested? Want to know that? Anybody feel
their need of such grace as this? Romans 5 verse 15. Paul tells us exactly where it
can be found. The only place it can be found.
But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through
the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God and
the gift of grace which is by one man, Jesus Christ have abounded
unto many. Perhaps the most blessed thing
about this exceeding riches of God's grace is this. It's shown
to us through Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ sets up
on the throne of grace and able to save to the uttermost all
that come unto God by him. The place of grace is Jesus Christ. We see his precious blood flowing
on every blessing that grace has bestowed. Go wrong here and
nothing else much matters. Miss Christ and you miss grace. Miss grace and you miss salvation.
Grace doesn't come through anyone but Christ. Not through a priest,
but not through a preacher. Not through a Catholic church,
oh, but not through a Baptist church either. Not through angels,
not through men. Grace by one man The Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what the angel told Joseph,
didn't he? Don't you just love that verse?
People just quote it during Christmas season. Oh, we rejoice in it
every hour of every day, all the year through. Joseph called
his name Jesus, for he, capitalized he. Nobody else can. He's mighty to say. He's the
great God and Savior. Joseph called His name Jesus
for He by Himself shall save His people from their sins. He
by Himself shall purge our sins. He shall be made sin for us who
knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him. That's why He came. To save His
people from their sins. To put away sin. Did He do it? Did He get the job done? Either
he did or he didn't. He obtained, we read in God's
word, eternal redemption for us. For the law was given by
Moses. But grace and truth, oh grace,
saving grace, eternal grace, everlasting grace, it only comes
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God for such grace. Wherefore he is able, also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing that
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. I like that, don't
you? He is able. He is. Present tense. He's always able to save every
sinner that comes to God by him. Did he ever fail? Read the four
Gospels. Did any ever come to him seeking
mercy who were turned away. Did he not cry again and again,
come unto me all ye that labor? All ye that labor, like Bunyan
represented the pilgrim Christian with that burden upon his back,
his guilt and his sin, and he couldn't get rid of it. He couldn't
get rid of it. No matter what he did, it was
always there just weighing him down until that day. Oh, happy
day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away and he spoke peace
to my heart, proving to me that my sins had been washed away.
I experienced it. I experienced his amazing grace.
Bunyan said, until that day, he came up to the mount and there
was a cross. And he said it was an amazing
thing. At the sight of the cross, John, the burden fell off his
back. That load of guilt and shame
and sin, it fell off his back and began to tumble. And just
kept tumbling until it fell into a sepulchre below. And he said,
I saw it again no more forever. And he went on his way rejoicing. Rejoicing over that one who is
able to save all that come unto God by him. Does any man thirst? Christ said. Is anybody thirsty? Come unto me and drink. I'm the
fountain of living water. No, Christ never turned away
any sinner that came to him truly seeking mercy, and he never will. He didn't turn you away, did
he? He didn't turn you away, did he? He didn't turn this sinner
away, and he never will. He saves with an uttermost salvation. I like that word, uttermost.
I was reading about that the other day. Oh, it has various
meanings, but it means a complete salvation, uttermost. Is there
an end to uttermost? Is there an end to uttermost?
Does it ever stop? No. As long as mercy is needed, mercy
is given. As long as grace is needed, grace
is given. Uttermost salvation. Complete
salvation. It also means an eternal, everlasting
salvation. What God does shall be forever. All things come to us through
Jesus Christ. He's that golden channel of God's
everlasting love. He's the window through which
grace shines. He's the door by which grace
enters. Look at the kindness of God toward
us through Christ and never cease, like Paul, never cease to praise
him. Don't ever get over it. Paul
didn't. His kindness is demonstrated
in all of his works for us. For us, he became a man. Amazing. For us, he lived a life of suffering
and obedience. For us, Christ fulfilled all
righteousness. For us, he died at Calvary. For
us, he rose from the dead. For us, he intercedes in heaven.
Has he not dealt in kindness to us all of our lives? Christ
Jesus receives sinners in kindness. He provides for our every need
in kindness. Oh, with what great kindness
he intercedes for us in heaven. Forgive them, oh, forgive thee,
Christ, nor let that ransomed sinner die. In ages to come,
we read in Ephesians 2, Heaven's endless glory, through Heaven's
endless glory, the triune God will show to wandering worlds
the riches, the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness
toward us through Jesus Christ. Imagine that. Imagine that. In Jude chapter, Jude verse 24,
now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, to keep
you from falling. prone to wonder, Lord, I feel
it, prone to leave the God I love, there's one able to keep me from
falling. And not only that, to present
me faultless, mmm, faultless, bring forth the best robe and
put it upon my son, cover his field, cover his stance, put
on that perfect robe of righteousness, and with his holy garments on,
as holy as God's own Son. to present you faultless before
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise
God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power both
now and forever. Children of God will never know
until we've reached the eternal glory, our debt to the exceeding
riches of God's grace. Then we'll stand before God to
the amazement of angels. My soul Look what He's done. Look what God has done. Behold,
John said, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us that we should be called the sons of God. The sons of God. It doth not now appear what we
shall be, but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like
Him. We shall be like Him, for we
shall see Him as He is. When this passing world is done,
when it's sunk, yon glaring sun, when we stand with Christ in
glory, when we stand with Christ in glory, Father, I want them
with me where I am. With me. What a description of
heaven, to be with Christ. When we stand with Christ in
glory, Father, I and all the children that you gave me, I
lost none. When we stand with Christ in
glory, looking o'er life's finished story, then, Lord, shall I fully
know, not till then, how much I owe. When I hear the wicked
call on the rocks and hills to fall, when I see them start and
shrink on the fiery deluge brink, then, Lord, shall I fully know,
not till then, how much I owe. And when I stand before the throne,
dressed in beauty not my own, When I see thee as thou art,
and love thee with unsinning heart, then, Lord, shall I fully
know, not to then, how much I love. What grace does, where grace
is. Let me ask you, do you have this
grace that brings salvation? Do you need this grace that brings
salvation? Anybody lost, blind, helpless,
anybody thirsty. Will nothing less than this amazing
grace that's in Christ Jesus do for you? Christ says, come. Come to Christ. Come as you are. And the Spirit and the bride
say, come. And let him that hears say, come. And let him that is
a thirst, come. And whosoever will, whosoever
will, Christ says, come. Let him take the water of life
free. But by the grace of God, I am
what I am. Thank God for his amazing grace. Lord bless you.