I'd like to begin the message
by reading a brief article by our dear friend, Brother Henry
Mahan. This was taken from one of his
bulletins when he pastored at 13th Street Baptist Church there
in Ashland, Kentucky. Henry wrote, if a man is nearsighted,
he only needs corrective glasses. But if he is blind, he needs
a miracle. Only God can give him sight. Only God can do that. If a man
is sick, he only needs medicine. But if he's dead, if he's dead,
he needs a miracle only God can perform. He needs life. And this is what the scriptures
tell us we are by nature. We're dead in trespasses and
sins. Adam, in the day that you eat
thereof, you're not going to stump your toe. You're going
to die. you're going to die. And that's
exactly what happened. If a man has a weak heart, Henry
wrote, perhaps choosing his diet or changing his diet and habits
will improve his condition. But if he has a stony heart,
a deceitful, desperately wicked heart, he needs this miracle. And the Lord says, a new heart
also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you.
And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I
will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within
you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, cause you to walk,
and ye shall keep my judgments and do them. Knowing these things
to be true, and knowing the desperate, depraved condition in which Adam's
fall has plunged all mankind, I believe, preach, and insist
upon one solemn certain fact. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. And
now let's look at this grace that brings such a great salvation
to needy sinners. Romans 5 verse 1 Therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. In Ephesians 2, Paul said, Christ
is our peace. The prince of peace himself makes
peace with God and gives believing sinners peace as well. Verse
2, by whom, that is Christ, by whom also we have access by faith
into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory
of God. The title of my message is Standing
in Grace. Standing in Grace. I've sometimes
been asked about my position. Where do you stand on certain
issues, politics and so forth? I'm really not that much interested
in that, but I am interested in this, standing in the grace
of God, that reigning grace that Paul speaks of throughout this
chapter, that grace that abounds over my sin, grace that only
such grace can help the sinner that stands before you now, grace
that reaches deeper than the stain is gone, grace that gets
the job done. In Acts chapter 20, Paul meets
with the elders of the church at Ephesus. And he tells them,
I'm going away, and I won't be back. This is the last time we'll
see one another face to face. And he said, when I'm gone, I
know that grievous wolves will come in among you, and they won't
spare the flock. They won't care. They won't spare
the flock. Their interest would not be to
feed the flock, it would be to fleece the flock. But Paul said,
nevertheless. And I thought of you when I was
preparing this message, of course, and I thought of what Paul said
to them. It must have been a great comfort
for them when Paul said these words, but it must have been
a great comfort to Paul as well. Even though they would never
see each other again in this life, Paul said, I commend you
to God. I commend you to God and the
word of His grace, which is able, which is able to build you up
and give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified.
I commend you to God. Oh, what more could a pastor
do than commend you to God Those of you that's going through difficulty
in trials, those of you whose heart is heavy this morning as
you sit here, those who have said goodbye to loved ones, such
as Bobby did with their mother Bess and Robin did with their
daughter Missy. Oh, what more can I say than
what Paul said to those elders of the churches of Ephesus? I
commend you to God and the word of his grace. Believers are sinners
that have been brought into a state of grace. Grace puts us in the
way, grace keeps us in the way, and grace is going to take us
all the way. All the way, my Savior leads
me. Grace put us in Christ. How else
would we be there? How else could we ever be in
that blessed, blessed place in Christ Jesus other than grace
puts us there? And grace keeps us in Christ.
We don't do that ourselves. We can no more keep ourselves
than we could save ourselves. We can no more keep ourselves
saved than we could save ourselves at the first. That same grace
that put us in Christ keeps us in Christ. Grace shall present
us without fault before the presence of God in Christ Jesus. Grace alone makes our standing
sure. Only grace can do that. Works
can never do that. That's why people you know that
think they're working their way to heaven, that think salvation
is a combination of their work and God's work, that it's a mixture
of their doing and God's doing. Years ago, Brother Donnie Bell
wrote an article And for one of the papers, it was printed
in one of the papers in Crossville. And he asked the question, is
your God a checker playing God? I mean, does what God do, what
God does, is it determined by what you do? Like playing a game
of checkers, does God wait for you to make your move and then
he makes his move? Is that what it's about? Oh no,
that's not salvation and that's not grace. Worse can never do,
can never give us a standing before God. Because works can
never give peace. They never can. Paul said in
Romans 10 concerning his kinsmen, his brethren after the flesh,
the Jews, he said, I bear them record, they have a zeal for
God. But they're going about trying to establish their own
righteousness. They think they're good deeds.
They're touch not, and they're taste not, and they wear not,
and they go not, and they do not. They think they're laying
a foundation of acceptance before the Lord God. They're ignorant
of what God demands. God demands not your best. God
demands perfection. It's not your best God accepts,
it's perfection alone that he will accept. It must be perfect
in order for God to accept it. Therefore, there are works never
done. They can never stop and say,
well, it's enough. It's enough. They can never rest
satisfied. They can never say, it's finished,
now I can be at ease. No, only grace can do that. Only
grace can enable a man to rest in the finished. Don't you like
that word? Finished. Finished. The finished work of Jesus Christ. Standing here in Christ, in grace,
is the only place a sinner like me can have any real assurance
of acceptance by God. My hope rests right here, for
Christ's sake. God forgives sinners for Christ's
sake. God preserves sinners for Christ's
sake. God will bring sinners all the
way to the Father's house for Christ's sake. We shall enter
heaven for Christ's sake. It'll never be based upon our
merit, but His merit. It'll never be due to our worth
or work, but His worth and His work for Christ's sake. God does
all that He does for the sheep of Christ and the beloved. What
a blessed, blessed place. in the Beloved, O children of
God, how blessed it is to lie down in your bed tonight and
to know, to know in the Beloved Oh, this marvelous place. God causes me to dwell by his
wonderful grace in the beloved, accepted in the beloved. We stand
in grace looking for glory. First, remember this. What grace
is? What grace is? All churches,
every church in Sylacauga this morning, Protestant, Catholic,
whatever you want to call it, Pentecostal? Free will Baptist? Free will Baptist. Someone said
it's the only country in the world where they advertise their
apostasy. Free will. It's not of him that
willeth, but of God that shows mercy. Free will. Oh no, it's
not a man's will, but of God. But all churches claim to believe
and teach that salvation is by grace. Ask them. Any church you
go in this morning, ask them, do you believe that salvation
is by grace? Well, I hear that salvation is
by grace. They say, oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And they'll quote
Ephesians 2, 8 through 10 for you. Salvation by grace alone.
But the grace, if you sat down and listened, if you just pay
half attention, and listen to the grace they preach, it depends
upon the will of man. It depends upon the works of
the flesh to make it effectual. And conditional grace, grace
that's conditioned on anything in the sinner, before he's saved
or after he's saved, is not grace at all. Not grace at all. The Scriptures assert throughout
that salvation in its entirety is by the free, unconditional
grace of God in Christ. Conditional grace is a denial
of the gospel of the grace of God. And that's the only thing
that gives a sinner a blessed, blessed hope. I read, oh, several
months ago, a brief article in David Edmondson's bulletin. He
pastors the church in Madisonville. Kentucky Bible Baptist Church. But he said one evening he arrived
for service, and he was the first one there, and he said there
was a mangy, stinking old dog lying right at the front door. And David said his first thought,
his first reaction was, man, that thing's repulsive. Where did it come from? I wish
it wasn't there. And David said, then he thought,
my soul, what am I? What am I other, John, than a
dead dog sinner before the throne of God's sovereign grace? Turn,
if you will, to 2 Samuel chapter 9. This is exactly what Mephibosheth
said concerning himself. In 2 Samuel chapter 9, David
is now seated upon his throne. Saul is gone. The one that tried
to keep David from taking the throne, David's enemy, he's gone
now. And in verse 9, after David sets
upon the throne the king, the king, David said in verse 1,
is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul that I may
show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? Now remember, Mephibosheth
didn't know this. When he was brought in before
the king, he didn't know David's intention. That I may show him
kindness for Jonathan's sake, for Christ's sake. And there
was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when
they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou
Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he.
And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul
that I may show the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said
unto the king, Jonathan, have yet a son which is lame on his
feet. Remember how dear a friend Jonathan
was to David. And the king said unto him, Where
is he? And Ziba said unto him, Behold,
he is in the house of Maker, the son of Emel in Lodabar. Then king David sent and fetched
him. That's what grace does. Grace fetches sinners to Christ. It doesn't just offer, it operates
upon their heart. Then King David sent and fetched
him out of the house of Macher, the son of Emel from Lodabar. And when Mephibosheth, the son
of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was coming unto David, he fell
on his face and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth?
And he answered, Behold thy servant. I just imagine Mephibosheth was
terrified, don't you? I mean, he knew what his grandfather
Saul had done to David. He knew how he had hounded him.
persecuted him, tried on more than one occasion to take his
life. What's he going to do to me? I'm one of the last survivors
and now he's going to just wipe the slate clean. Verse 7, and
David said unto him, fear not, fear not. Oh, depth of mercy,
can there be mercy still reserved for me? Can my God His wrath prepare
me the chiefest sinners spare? And David's son and David's God
says, fear not. Fear not. For I will surely show
thee kindness for Jonathan thy servants, thy father's sake,
and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father. And thou shalt eat bread at my
table continually. And he bowed himself, that is
Mephibosheth, he bowed himself and said, what is thy servant
that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? Oh my soul, have you ever been
there? Who am I? that you would have
such great mercy on. Who am I that you should extend
this kindness to? Who am I, such a dead dog as
I am, that you should even look up on? Oh, when I think that
God, his son not sparing, sent him to die, I scarce can take
it in. Who am I? Who am I? Oh, that all my sin, gladly bearing,
he bled and died to take away by sin. Now with this story of
Mephibosheth in mind, turn to John chapter 11, John's Gospel
chapter 11. We failed to read verse 13 in
2 Samuel 9. Then so Mephibosheth dwelt in
Jerusalem, for he did eat continually at the king's table. Now here in John 11, Look at
verse 14. Then said Jesus unto them plainly,
Lazarus is dead. Lazarus is dead. Verse 43. Put your name there. Larry Criss
was dead. He couldn't take the first step
to God. He couldn't believe. He couldn't
repent. He couldn't even make himself
willing. I was dead in trespasses and
sins. And this is what happened. That's
exactly where I would yet be, except for this. Jesus Christ,
who said, I'm the resurrection and the life, came to where I
was. Paul said, you had he quickened who were dead, dead in trespasses
and sins. Verse 43 in John 11, and when
he thus had spoken, that is Jesus Christ, he cried with a loud
voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth,
bound hand and foot with grave cloths, and his face was bound
about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, loose
him and let him go. Now look in chapter 12, verse
1. Then Jesus, six days before the
Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus, which had been dead,
whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper,
and Martha served. But Lazarus, where is he? He's
sitting at the table. He's sitting at the table with
the king. He's feasting with the king. But Lazarus was one
of them that sat at the table with him. Oh, the grace, how
great a debtor daily I am constrained to be. That's real grace, is
it not, for real sinners. Oh, child of God, do you not
feel as Mephibosheth felt when he was first brought in before
King David? Terrified? Oh, it was grace that
taught my heart to fear. John, I was terrified. I was
terrified. I was afraid to lay down at night
and close my eyes because I thought, surely, surely I'll awake in
hell before morning. Just terrified. God Almighty
got me lost. Got me lost. Hmm. Terrified. One hymn writer put it this way.
Grace first contrived a way to save rebellious man and all the
steps that grace display which drew the wondrous plan. Who am
I? Grace first inscribed by name.
Imagine that. David said, such thoughts are
just too wonderful for me that God should think of me. That's
too high. That's too high. David said,
I just can't wrap my little mind around that. I can't reach that
high. God first inscribed my name,
or grace rather, first inscribed my name in God's eternal book. It was grace that gave me to
the Lamb who all my sorrows took. Who am I? Who am I? God loved me with an everlasting
love. put me into the hands of Christ
before the world was ever created. And then in time, in time, grace
taught my soul to pray and made mine eyes overflow. It was grace
that's kept me to this day and will not let me go. The Lord
asked his disciples one time when the majority turned their
back on him and walked away, he turned to the few remaining
and said, do you want to join them? Will you also go away?
And Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? We got nowhere else
to go. That's a great place to be in,
isn't it? Got nowhere else to go. I won't go away. If you can,
you will. But Peter said, oh, I can't.
I can't. You've got the words of eternal
life. I'm convinced. You're the Messiah. You're the
Son of the living God. Grace all the works shall crown
through everlasting days. It lays in heaven the topmost
stone and well deserves the praise. Grace doesn't offer to save sinners. That's not the grace I'm talking
about. That's not the grace that Paul speaks of here in Romans
5. The grace wherein we stand. Grace
doesn't offer to save sinners. Grace saves sinners. By grace
you are saved. Grace says don't offer to go
get him. Grace says go get him. Fetch
him. Fetch him. Grace is unmerited
favor. You can't earn it. You can earn
it. It's not of works. You can earn
it. And you can buy it. Grace is not for sale. It's free.
It's free. That's what it means unmerited.
Oh, is anybody thirsty? The prophet said, anybody thirsty?
Anybody tired of religion? Our Lord in John 7, on that last
day of the feast, He stood, he had been observing that for 7
or 8 days, people just going through their religious motions,
traditions, and he stood and said, is anybody out there really
thirsty? Anybody really want to know the
true and living God? Anybody want a drink of water?
Come unto me and drink. Oh, is anybody thirsty? Come,
buy wine and milk without money and without price. No, you can
never buy grace. On the contrary, grace only comes
to those who don't have any money. Grace only comes to the bankrupt
sinner. Grace only comes to those who
don't have anything to pay. Oh, not the righteous but the
unrighteous, but the sinner. Not to wail, but to sit. Turn if you will to Luke chapter
7. This is one of my favorite portions
of scripture. I love this picture here. Here
in Luke chapter 7. Our Lord was invited by a Pharisee,
Simon, to come to his house. And our Lord went to the house
of this Pharisee. And while they were there, this
woman, that had already experienced the grace of God. This woman
who knew herself to be a bankrupt sinner with nothing to pay came
into the house. Can you just picture this scene?
Simon looks down at her and he says, man, who let her in? Who
let her in? This is an embarrassment to me.
This is just embarrassing. How did she get in here? I did
invite her. Verse 36 of Luke 7, and one of
the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he
went into the Pharisee's house and sat down to meet. And behold,
oh behold, what comfort can a Savior bring to those who never felt
their woe? A sinner is a sacred thing. The
Holy Ghost has made them so. Behold, a woman in the city which
was a sinner." Oh, she didn't need Simon to say that. She didn't
need Simon to tell her that. She knew it. She knew she was
a sinner. When she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's
house by an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet
behind him weeping, and began to wash her feet with tears,
and to wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet,
and anointed them with the ointment, Simon would never think of doing
such a thing. Now when the Pharisee which had
bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if
he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of
woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner. She is a
sinner, like the fine woman. And Jesus answering said unto
him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he said, Master,
say on. There was a certain creditor
which had two debtors. The one owed 500 pence and the
other 50. And when they had nothing to
pay, when they had nothing to pay, oh, thank God, for that grace that convinces
you that you owe a debt before the Lord God. And John, you've
got nothing to pay. You've got nothing to pay. Thank
God for that grace that speaks from the throne of sovereign
majesty and says, fetch that sinner. Fetch that sinner. Go get him. Go get him. Bring
him down. Nothing to pay. And when they
had nothing to pay, he freely, that's the word, he freely forgave
them both. Freely. Oh, my soul. Larry Criss, all your sins, all
your sins are all forgiven you. Go in peace. That's what he said
to this woman. Go in peace. I imagine she left
that house that day singing something like, only a sinner saved by
grace. I can almost hear it, can't you?
She leaves Simon's house, only a sinner saved. This is my story,
that God be the glory. Only a sinner saved by grace. Fetch that sinner, and listen
to this. Once you have this grace, You
can never ever lose it. It was freely given to you at
the start and it will be freely given to you throughout your
journey here. You can never lose this grace
of God in Christ Jesus. Not today, not tomorrow, not
forever. The wise man said, Lord, I know
whatever you do. shall be forever. What if I? You can't lose it. But what if
I? You can't lose it. But what if
I do? You can't lose it. Oh, grace,
all the works shall crown. Is that not good news? That message
that declares salvation is of the Lord? Grace alone, through
faith alone, in Christ alone. The grace of God is eternal.
Not by works of righteousness we have done, Paul wrote to Timothy,
but according to his mercy and grace, he saved us. He saved
us. The grace of God is free, being
freely. freely justified through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The grace of God is sovereign. Where sin abounded, grace doth
much more abound. And the grace of God is distinguishing
who made you that differ from another. Who made that difference? That's what grace is. Now what
does grace do? What does grace do? The grace
of God saves sinners to the uttermost. I like that word. Concerning
our Lord Jesus Christ who sits upon the throne of grace, we're
told that because He ever liveth, He's able to save to the uttermost. From the guttermost to the uttermost. All that come unto God by Him.
He saves all that come, but more than that, Grace causes them
to come. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest. Psalm 65 and forward. And causes
to approach unto thee. Grace didn't offer to save Lazarus. Grace raises Lazarus. Grace doesn't offer to save.
Grace saves with an everlasting salvation. Saves completely. Saves eternally. Grace calls
us out of darkness and grace gives us eyes to behold Christ. Simon Peter, you're a blessed
man because I'm going to give you riches more than anybody
else. I'm going to give you fame. Oh, no, no, no. Peter, you're
blessed. You're blessed. My Father in
heaven has blessed you, Peter, because he has revealed to you
who I am. He's given you faith to behold
the Lamb of God. Grace brings us down. It must
do so. Oh, but grace lifts us up. Grace
strips us. But grace says, put on him the
very best robe. Grace gets us lost, but grace
finds us. Grace calls and converts and
preserves, and grace does everything needed to bring us to glory. Every one of them, the psalmist
said, in Zion appeareth before God. In the previous verse it
says, yes, they go through the valley of weeping, but nonetheless,
every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. as the article in
today's bulletin says, they which came out. Who are these, John? Where did they come from? These
are they which came out. Oh, amazing grace. Reigning grace. Conquering, preserving, keeping
grace. It brings them all out on the
other side. Grace makes us different. Paul
asked that question, didn't he? The Corinthians had gotten the
big head. So he says, y'all forgot something. I mean, y'all were
discussing your favorite preachers. I'm of Paul, I'm of Paulus, I'm
of Cephas. Paul, Cephas, or of Paulus didn't
give you grace. Didn't make you the different.
Y'all had forgotten who made you the different. The word is,
who distinguished Who made this change in you? There's no self-made
men or women in the kingdom of God. Every one of them confessed,
I am what I am by the grace of God. They all sing, O to grace,
how great a debtor. They all sing, amazing grace,
how sweet the sound. Sinners, saved sinners are products
of God's free grace. Grace fetched sinners to Christ. I remember I said, oh so proud,
so bold, I won't come to Christ. I won't come to Christ. Anyone
that tried to witness to me, I said, I won't do it. I won't
come. But Christ said, you will come. You will come. All that the Father
giveth me. All that the Father giveth me,
she'll come to me. And Christ in mercy said, fetch
that rebel. Fetch that rebel in grace. All
the long arm of omnipotent grace reached down and fetched me and
brought me back to the Father's house. Made me willing in the
day of God's power. You've heard this before, but
I thought it was worth sharing. Old John Newton, in his old age
he became blind. He could no longer read. And one day he heard someone
in his in the company recite this text. By the grace of God
I am what I am. And that old ex-slave traitor
remained silent for a while and then as if speaking to himself
he said I'm not what I ought to be. I'm so deficient, so imperfect. And I'm not what I wish to be.
I abhorred that which is evil, and I would cleave to that which
is good. I'm not what I hope to be. Soon, soon I shall put
off mortality, and with mortality all sin and imperfection. But
I'm not what I ought to be, what I wish to be, what I hope to
be, yet I can truly say, yet I can truly say, I'm not what
I once was. a slave to sin and Satan. I can
hardly join with the apostle and acknowledge, but by the grace
of God, I am what I am. Last of all, where does grace
come from? This grace that saves. Where
can a sinner find such grace? What Paul told us in the text
throughout the Word of God. Verse 1 again, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also we have access
by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope
of the glory of God. through our Lord Jesus Christ. The true grace of God is in Christ
Jesus, nowhere else. God's grace flows from only one
fountain, only one channel, that God's grace comes to sinners
and it's through Jesus Christ himself. The law was given by
Moses, John said, all but grace and truth came by the Lord Jesus
Christ. I like our church's name. Fairmont Grace Church. That means when people come here,
they're going to hear about God's grace, about the grace of God,
nothing else. We preach here and we don't have
any ambition of ever changing. It's going to be the gospel that
concerns the Lord Jesus Christ, the gospel of God's grace. That's
the only good news there is. But we can't confer grace. We can't bestow grace. We can
only point to the one who does. Turn, if you will, to Psalm 45.
Psalm 45, and we'll bring this to a close. Psalm 45. Let's begin reading in verse
2 of Psalm 45. Now, this is speaking of the
Lord Jesus Christ. David writes, Thou art fairer
than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips. Therefore, God hath blessed thee
forever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh,
O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty
ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness and righteousness.
And thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows
are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, whereby thy people
fall under thee, come down sinner. Thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is
a right scepter. Thou lovest righteousness and
hatest wickedness. Therefore, thy God hath anointed
thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Grace is poured
into thy lips. Oh, hear him speak. What did
that poor blind beggar say? Lord, son of David, have mercy
on me. What do you want, the master
said? Oh, that I might see. Receive thy sight. Oh, indeed,
grace is poured into his lips. To the death, he said, hear. To the lame, take up your bed
and walk. To the diseased leper, be thou
clean. And even to the dead, he said,
live. Truly, never a man spake like this man. He's the God-man. Yes, grace is poured into his
lips, but was there ever a sweeter word spoken by him to any sinner
than these words? Thy sin are all forgiven thee. O come, thy fount, of ever-blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy, never singing,
call for songs of loudest praise. Let me close the message as David
closed, or rather as Paul closed his epistle. The grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. I commend you to God
and the word of his grace. Don, one of Don's hymns goes
like this. If God begins his work of grace
in any sinner's heart, that sinner he will keep secure. From Christ
he can't depart. The objects of eternal love shall
persevere, I know. Chosen, redeemed, and called
by grace, God will not let them go. God will not let them go.
Frustrated grace can never be. Christ did not die in vain. All those through whom he shed
his blood eternal life must gain. Grace shall complete what grace
began. All glory to the Lord. Eternally
we'll shout his praise. Salvations of the Lord. Thank God that it is. Lord bless
you.