God's Distinguishing Presence and Grace

Q: What does the Bible say about God's grace?

God's grace is a divine favor that leads to salvation and distinguishes believers from others. God's grace, as seen in Exodus 33, is a profound favor granted by God, setting individuals apart for His purpose. It is not simply a chance or an opportunity, but the unmerited favor that is essential for salvation. Like Noah, who found grace in the eyes of the Lord, believers know that they are in Christ, enveloped in this grace, which leads to protection from judgment and a relationship with God. Moses understood that it was this grace and God's presence that separated him and the Israelites from all other nations, highlighting how essential divine favor is for the believer's identity and spiritual life.

Q: How do we know God's presence is with us?

We know God's presence is with us when we experience His grace and guidance in our lives. God's presence among His people is assured through His grace, as demonstrated in Moses' plea in Exodus 33. Moses recognized that the distinguishing factor for Israel was God’s presence, emphasizing that it is through experiencing grace that God's favor becomes manifest. When God promised to be with Moses, it reflected His grace toward His people, ensuring that they were set apart from others. Furthermore, the continual guidance and the effective prayer life alongside God assures believers of His presence. In our lives today, we can discern His presence through answered prayers, spiritual insights, and a transformed life that seeks to glorify God.

Q: Why is prayer important for Christians?

Prayer is important as it demonstrates our dependence on God and aligns our hearts with His will. In the life of Moses, we see a profound example of prayer's significance, especially in how he petitioned the Lord for guidance and grace. Prayer is not merely a ritual or a last resort; it is an open line of communication with God that reflects our complete reliance on Him. James emphasizes that the fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much, pointing to the power and necessity of prayer in the life of a believer. Prayer aligns our desires with God’s will and invites the manifestation of His grace in our circumstances. By praying, we acknowledge our inability to control outcomes and trust in God to fulfill His purposes in our lives.

Q: How does God's grace affect our prayers?

God's grace empowers our prayers, making them effective as we seek His will. God's grace shapes and empowers our prayers in fundamental ways, as seen in Moses' interaction with God. When Moses pleaded for grace, it was grounded in the understanding of God’s mercy and favor. This grace not only enables us to come boldly before the throne of grace but also teaches us how to pray according to God's will. The effectiveness of prayer, as indicated in James, relies on one's standing in grace—it is the righteous who can approach God with confidence. Thus, grace transforms our requests, leading us to seek what glorifies God rather than fulfilling our own desires. This understanding compels us to pray with gratitude and dependence on God’s sovereign will.

Exodus 33, 12, And Moses said
unto the Lord, See thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people,
and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me.
Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found
grace in my sight. 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, and consider that this nation is thy people. And he 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. For wherein
shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in
thy sight. Is it not in that thou goest with us? So shall
we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are
upon the face of the earth. And the Lord said unto Moses,
I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken. For thou hast
found grace in my sight. And I know thee by name. Just
look at those five verses tonight. Moses praying to the Lord. for
four things in verse 13 that we'll look at. And the title of the message
tonight is God's Distinguishing Presence and Grace. Moses said, this is what separates
us from everybody else. You're with us. And the reason he's with us is
because we found grace in his sight. In Luke 11 1, it says, and it came to pass that
as he, our Lord Jesus, was praying in a certain place, when he ceased,
one of his disciples said unto him, now get this picture here,
our Lord was praying and they could hear him. And when he finished
praying, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to
pray. If you could hear the Lord pray,
you might think that same thing. It would make us realize we don't
know how to pray. As John also taught his disciples,
teach us to pray. This should be our prayer. And
here's the thing, though, too. The Lord has taught us to pray
in his word. What our prayer should be is
that he would make his word effectual to our hearts in this thing of
prayer. Teach us to pray. He's taught us in his word. Now,
cause it to sink into our hearts. Cause it to, cause us to understand
what prayer is. And teach us to pray. Have you
ever wondered what can I do? As a pastor and just as a human
being, I think about that quite a bit. What can I do? People
are in trouble. People are hurting. People are
sick. Somebody's dying, perhaps. What
can I do? Something life-changing is about
to happen, and I'm helpless to affect the outcome. Yeah, but here's the thing. If
you're a believer, In the Lord Jesus Christ, you know someone
who not only affects the outcome, he determines it. He absolutely
determines it. He's purposed it before it ever
came to pass. And it'll come to pass exactly
as he purposed it. There may be men who think they're
going to decide the outcome in serious matters. but they're just pawns in the
hand of God. God's working out his purposes
and using men to do that. When we crucified his son, it
says that in the scripture that we did what his hand and counsel
determined before to be done. It was sin to us, but it was
God's purpose of grace for his people. The one who determines
every outcome of every matter said this in his word. In James
5 16 listen to what James wrote under the inspiration of God
the Holy Spirit. He said confess your faults to
one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much. What can I do? What can I do? The effectual, fervent prayer
of a righteous man, a man who is righteous in Christ, who knows
the Lord Jesus, and calls Him the Lord my righteousness. God
said, availeth much. I've said this to you before,
but it's so common, and I hear it still all the time, and I've
said it myself. All we can do is pray like that's
a last resort. No, that's a first resort. Like, you know, that's all we
can do. It's not much, but that's all we can do. It is much. It
availeth much. Availeth much, God said. Now listen to what he said after
that. In verse 17 of that same passage, he said, Elias, Elijah,
was a man subject to like passions as we are. He wasn't any different
than we are. He's a sinner just like we are.
He wasn't any better than we are. That's what he's saying.
And he prayed earnestly that it might not rain. He asked God
to shut up the heavens and it rained not on the earth by the
space of three years and six months. And he prayed again after
three years and six months. He prayed again, Lord, let it
rain. And the heaven gave rain. You think that was a coincidence? God shut up the heavens. And
then three years and six months later, Elijah said, okay, Lord,
give us some rain. And the Lord caused it to rain
again. And the earth brought forth her fruit. That's how that
works. God in his great almighty providence
teaches us to pray and brings things to pass by that means
through the means of his people asking for it. And that's what
Moses is doing here in our text. He's asking God for some things.
James is also the one that wrote under the inspiration of God,
the Holy Spirit, that the reason that you do not have what you
need from God is that you haven't asked him for it. In James 4, 2, listen to this
now. He said, you lust and you have
not, you desire, that word lust doesn't mean what we commonly
how we commonly use it in society in the scripture. It means you
have a strong desire for something, but you don't have it. You kill
and desire to have and cannot obtain. You'll do anything. You'll remove people out of your
way. You'll murder people in your
hearts to get what you want. It's a dog eat dog world. And
when you're climbing the ladder, you'll knock people off to get
it, to get what you're climbing for. You fight and war, yet you
have not because you hadn't asked God for it. You're trying to
get it with your own strength and by your own will. And here's
what he said now, now listen to this. You have not because
you ask not, and then in verse three he said you ask and receive
not because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your
own lust. So here's what he's saying, what
you truly need, you don't have because you don't ask for it.
That's not what you're after. You're after what you want, not
what you need. And what you don't need, you
ask for that, but you don't get that either, because you ask
amiss. You ask just to fulfill your
lust, and you have no thought for the glory of God, for the
will of God, for the ministry of Christ in this world. It's
just to consume it on your own lust. You don't have the grace that
you really need because you don't ask for that. Most people don't
have any desire for that. And you do not have what you
do ask for because you ask amiss. And that word means improperly,
wrongly. You're asking wrong. Why? Because you're asking just for
stuff to fulfill your lust, not for stuff that's good for you
or those that you love or is according to God's will. You
have no desire to please God or to see his cause furthered
in this world. It's all about you and you're
not going to get that. You're not going to get that.
I want to know how to ask properly. Asking a miss is to ask improperly. I want to know how to ask properly.
These Israelites had, had need, had desperate need. God had told
him, I'm not going to be with you. I'm not going to go with
you anymore. You're stiff neck and rebellious. And if I, if
I'm with you, I'll destroy you. And Moses as their representative
here is pleading with the Lord for them and for himself. And let us learn from this prayer
tonight that God granted, by the way, God gave Moses what
he asked for. So that's, that's interesting
to me. Because I know this, if I ever get anything worth having,
it'll come from God. Every good and perfect gift cometh
down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. And I'll tell you this, Moses
asked for some big things. Big things. And God gave them
to him. May God teach us to pray. Let's
learn, first of all, to pray. The disciples said, teach us
to pray, not just how to pray, but to pray. I don't think that's
what he meant, but that's what we need to know. Because I've
got a real strong feeling that you're a whole lot like me. And
we don't pray much. Scripture says, pray without
ceasing. Pray without ceasing. And I don't
doubt for a second that this means that we ought to always
have a dependent attitude toward God. And what we call an attitude
of prayer. That's not a scriptural term,
but I think that's intended here. To always have a dependent posture
before God and not be so high and mighty all the time. I think
we can control things. We control nothing. Christ said,
without me, you can do nothing. And when We start boasting and
say, I'm gonna go do this tomorrow. I'm gonna buy, I'm gonna go into
such and such a town and buy and sell and get game. James
said, wait a minute. Who are you to boast of tomorrow?
You don't know what a day is gonna bring for them. What you
ought to be saying is if the Lord will, we shall live. We may not even be alive tomorrow
much less do what we plan to do. We'll live if the Lord is
willing. And if he's willing that we live,
We might do what we plan to do if he's willing for us to do
that. If the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. If
the Lord will, that's what we ought to be saying. But let's
learn to ask, to pray without ceasing, to have an attitude,
a dependent attitude, even when we're not thinking or saying
actual words, our hearts. ought to be pleading with God.
We ought to know in every situation that God's going to determine
the outcome. He's going to bring it to pass. We ought to, our
hearts ought to go out that things might happen for His glory primarily
and for our good. He does everything for our good,
our eternal good. All things work together for
good. And we desire that and pray for it and depend upon Him
for it. But also It's not just an attitude of prayer. We must
specifically and often make our actual requests known unto God. With thanksgiving for those things
that he's already given us. If we're ungrateful for what
God has given us, why in the world would he give us anything
else? He's gracious to do so anyway, even when we are ungrateful,
but that ought not to be so. If I bought one of my children
something that cost me a lot of money and they tossed it in
the closet and said, here's what, can I have this? You think I'd
get it for them? We're to ask with thanksgiving
and ask for specific things like Moses did here. Paul said in
Ephesians 3, 14, for this cause, I bow my knees unto the father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in that context there, he
asked God, for some great things for the church at Ephesus, that
he might reveal the depth and height and width and breadth
of his love to them. That they might know the love
of God which passeth knowledge. If you're going to have what
you need from God, you're going to ask for it. Sooner or later,
you're going to ask for it. We're going to take our place
at his feet, dependent upon him, mercy beggars, if we're going
to have what we need. Now, God does at times give us
what we need, even when we don't have sense enough to ask. But
that's the exception. In the beginning, you will ask.
If you ever get mercy from him for your sins, you're going to
ask for it. And all through your life as
a believer, you'll ask. Ezekiel 36 37 listen to what
the Lord said thus saith the Lord God I will yet for this
be inquired of By the house of Israel to do it for them. I Will
increase them with men like a flock. Did you hear what God just said?
Before any of it ever happened. God said they're gonna ask me
for it and I'm gonna give it to them That's how God does things
You have not because you asked not Now look at the way Moses pleaded
with the Lord in verse 12 in our text. He had a concern here.
He said, now you, you've told me Lord to bring up this people.
You haven't let me know who you'll send with me. God said, I'm not
going to go up with you. He said, I'll send an angel,
a created angel to take you into the land of Canaan that I've
promised to you, but I'm not going with you. But as we see
in verse four of chapter 33, when God said that, that was
evil tidings to the people. And to Moses, especially, I would
imagine. Moses had gotten used to the Lord being there. He could
cry unto the Lord when he got in trouble. When the people began
to murmur and tried to kill him, that he could call upon the Lord.
And the Lord said, now I'm not going with you. And Moses is
worried about that. Lord, you haven't said who you'll
send with me. You've told me to go up. God
had always personally been there with Moses and the people and
spoken with Moses. And so Moses is saying in a delicate
way here, and we know this is true because of verse 15, what
Moses is saying. What Moses is saying in his heart
is, Lord, won't you go with us? Won't you go with us? That's
what is the desire of his heart. Look at verse 15. And Moses turned, I'm sorry,
I'm looking at verse, chapter 32, verse 15 of chapter 33. And he said unto him, if thy
presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. After the Lord
replied to his prayer and said, I'll go with you, Moses drew
a sigh of relief. Don't you imagine? He said, oh
Lord, if you don't, I don't want to go without you. That's what
was in his heart all along here. The chapter started with God
saying, I'm not going to go with you. And now Moses is praying,
Lord, you haven't said who you'll send with me. And God said, I'm
going to go with you. And he and Moses said, that's
that's what I want. That's what I want. That's what
I got to have. I don't want to go. I'll just stay here with
you wherever you are. That's where I want to be. We
also know this now from verse 14. I'm not speculating here
about what was in Moses heart. Look at verse 14. in verse 13, he said, you haven't
said who, uh, who you'll send with me, Lord in verse 12. And then in verse 13, he asked
for these four things that we'll look at in a minute. And then
in verse 14, the way God answered all that, everything that Moses
said was answered this way. My presence shall go with you.
Moses never came right out and said those words, Lord, go with
us, go with us. He never said those words in
his prayer. And yet the Lord answered the
prayer this way. I'll go with you. You know why?
Because the Lord knows what's in your heart. That's why. He
knows what you're asking for when you ain't got the words
to ask it. There are groanings that cannot
be uttered that are nevertheless heard by God. Romans 8 26. Likewise,
the spirit also help with our infirmities, for we know not
What we should pray for as we all, but the spirit itself make
it the intercession for us with groanings, which cannot be uttered. There's no words for it. The
Lord knows what's down in here when you're praying. And that's
what Moses was talking about the whole time. He said, Lord,
that's the difference between us and everybody else is you're
with us. If you go away, then where are
we? We might possess the land, but what good is the land without
your presence? Look what Moses does in his prayer
in verse 12. He said in verse 12 You haven't
told me who you will send with me yet you said You see that
yet thou has said You said you said That's a good way to pray
my children have an uncanny knack for remembering things that I've
promised them some of those things only exist in their minds and
Some of them are real, and they're not going to forget it. And when
it comes time, they'll say, you said that, you said. Why can't
we do that when we pray? You know why I'm afraid that
we don't often? Because we don't much remember
what God said. Anybody? God doesn't need to be reminded
what he said. His word is eternal and he's
omniscient. He don't forget. But this is
good prayer. Lord, you said, here's what you
said. You know what that shows God? He already knows it, but
it shows it openly. It's a testimony before God that
his promises are precious to you. That you haven't just taken
them for granted. You remind God what He said to
show your respect and your appreciation, your gratitude that He would
promise it. And to plead those promises before
Him shows our dependence upon Him. It shows that those promises, we
cling to them like life itself. The promises of God are all yes
and so be it in Christ. Claim God's promises. He's promised
to never leave us nor forsake us. He's promised that we might cast
all of our cares upon Him because He cares for us. He's promised that He's faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When your sins, as David said,
they're ever before me, when they loom in large before you, Remind God of that promise. He's promised to send us the
comforter who will take the things of Christ and show them to us.
That's what will comfort us. If we see Christ in his gospel,
his truth, what he's done for us, our security in him, then
we'll be comforted. Moses said you said that you
know be by name and that I found grace in your sight And the implication
in that won't you go with us Lord? You said I found grace
in your side. And now you're saying I won't
go with you That's the context here The Lord said I'm not gonna go
up with you Moses said Oh Lord you said I found grace in your
sight You said you know me by name Does God know your name? What does that mean? God knows
everything. There's a sense in which God
does not know those who do not know him. Matthew 7, 23, he said
to those who in the end, he said in the, in that day, many will
say unto me, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name
and in thy name cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful
works. In other words, in that day, there's going to be some
Instead of claiming his mercy, his promises of grace in Christ,
instead of trusting in the gospel, they're gonna be saying, look
what I did. Let me in, I deserve it, I earned it. And he said,
I'm gonna say to them, depart from me, you that work iniquity. Everything you did, every sermon
you preached, every song you sung in church, every good work
that you say you did, it's all iniquity. Never knew you That's what the
Lord is saying here to Moses just the opposite of that I know
you by name He said I know my sheep and I call them by their
name Here's our hope 2nd Timothy 219 the foundation of God standeth
sure having this seal the Lord knoweth them that are his I So
he said, you know my name, or you said, you know me, my name.
And he said, I found, you said, I found grace in your sight.
What does that mean to find grace in God's sight? Well, it's life. It's life from the bed. When
God destroyed this whole world and everybody in it, and he said
in the last days, that's the way it's going to be. Everybody's
going to be eating and drinking and having a great time and judgment's
going to come. So this is a picture of the end
of the world and when God destroyed this world with rain with water
It says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and God
put him in the ark So what is grace in the side of the Lord
it's life It's protection in judgment. It's to be in Christ
Christ is the ark now think with me tonight God put Noah in that ark. And here is the spiritual application
of that. 1 Corinthians 1.30, but of him
are you in Christ Jesus. I'm going to quote this verse.
1 Corinthians 1.30, it begins this way, of him are you in Christ
Jesus. In other words, God put you in
his son, Christ Jesus. Is that what happened to Noah?
In Genesis 7.1, it says that God said unto Noah, come thou
into the ark. He didn't say that to everybody.
He said that to Noah and his family. And in verse 16 of Genesis
7, that same chapter, it says that when he, when Noah and all
of his family and all the animals were in there that the Lord told
him to bring in, it says this, the Lord shut him in. Who? Noah. Why? Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. God commanded him to come into
the ark and brought him in there and shut him in. Of him are you
in Christ Jesus, who is made unto us wisdom. Was Christ made
unto Noah wisdom? Noah was mocked. He was ridiculed. He was the laughing stock of
the town when he's building this ark and talking about the judgment
of God is gonna come in a flood. It had never rained on the earth
before. They were saying to him, I'm
sure, rain, what's that? And laughing in his face. But
who's wise now and who's a fool when God's judgment begins to
fall? Of him are you in Christ, and he's made unto you wisdom
and righteousness. Why did God send a flood to begin
with? Because the wickedness of man was great in the earth.
But Noah was taken out of them and put in the ark. Christ is
made unto us righteousness. and sanctification. You know
what that word means? It means to be set apart by God.
What was the one difference as God reigned his judgment down
upon this earth? What was the one difference between
everybody else in the world and Noah? The ark. That's what set him apart from
everybody else. The ark. Christ is made unto
us. Sanctification. He is what, who
sets us apart from everybody else. redemption. In Genesis 6 14 when God was
telling Noah how to build the ark he said this, thou shalt
pitch it within and without with pitch. And we've talked about
this before that word pitch it means to cover and it also means a ransom, the
price for a life. Christ has made unto us redemption.
He was the price for my life. He paid the price to redeem me,
to ransom me from my sins, from the condemnation of God's law
for my sin. Christ paid the price. You and
I are ransomed, redeemed with the precious blood of Christ
as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. of him are
you in the ark. And that ark is wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Noah had provision, he had protection,
and he was distinguished from all mankind in and by that ark. And why was Noah in the ark?
Because he found grace in the eyes of the Lord. That's what
Moses is claiming here. He said, Lord, You told me I'd
found grace in your sight. And now I need you. I need you. There are two things that distinguish
us, God's sheep, God's elect, God's people, from everybody
else in this world. God's presence and God's grace. And Moses begged for both. He
begged for both. And the one is the evidence of
the other. If he's with us, it's because
we found grace in his sight. Look at what he said in verse
16. Wherein shall it be known here
that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Have we found
grace in your sight? How is it going to be manifest?
Is it not in that thou goest with us? What is it that distinguishes
this church from all the religious organizations all around this
city, this country, and this world that's just in the business
of promoting the flesh, promoting the will and works of man, in
the business of, as I think Paul or maybe Peter said, for filthy
lucre's sake. They just want to build and build
and build and get more of your money and more of your money
and build things. That's what it's all about. What makes us
different from that? Are we just another Christian
country club? Or the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ? And how do we know? I'll tell you why we're different,
it's because of His grace. And I'll tell you how we know,
it's because He's with us. He's with us, He's so obviously
with us. Sometimes I wonder how in the
world did I get here, where I am right now? And often I wonder how did we
get here? And I wonder quite a bit what
Paul did. Who is sufficient for these days? Do you know the answer? Who is
sufficient? The one that the Lord is with.
That's who. His grace is sufficient and His
grace is manifest by His presence and His favor. Paul said in 2
Corinthians 3, 5, our sufficiency is of God. There's one thing
that distinguishes God's people from all other people. He's with us. And we know that the distinguishing
grace of God is behind that. That thief on the cross There were two thieves that were
crucified on either side of the Lord Jesus Christ. What was the
difference between them? The Lord said to one, you today
are going to be with me. In paradise. That's what paradise
is. It's being with him and him being
with us. This is my will. He prayed to
the father in John 17 that those who Those who've you've given
me be with me where I am. That's our prayer too. That's my desire too. Moses gets specific in verse
13. He says, first of all, if I have
indeed found grace in your sight, show me that way that I may know
thee. To know God's way is to know
Him. And this is paramount. This is
the first thing that Moses asked for, specifically. And the Lord
Jesus in that same prayer in John 17, He said, This is life
eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. That's life. Life is to
know God, and so that's what He prays for. To find grace in
God's sight. We already saw His life. That
was life for Noah. To have found grace in the sight
of God was life. And that grace is manifest in
all of these ways. That He reveals Himself. That
I may know Thee. Paul's great desire was the same
as Moses. Philippians 3.10, that I may
know Him and the power of His resurrection. Well, Paul, don't
you know Him? You've been preaching the Gospel for years. Yeah, but
this is still my desire that I might know him. Those who know
him will know him. Our Lord Jesus prayed that prayer
for us in John 17 and told us what life is. And
if we know him, we desire to know his way. Show me your way,
Moses said. Show me your way. This is his
way of holiness. No doubt about that. I wanna
know God. I wanna know the holy God and his way, the right way
as opposed to our way. Our ways are not his ways, the
Bible said. Lord, show me your way. I know
my way and I know what the end of my way is. I know what the
result of my way. Show me your way. That's the
desire of those who found grace in his sight. and who he's present
with, his way of salvation. Show me your way. Show me how
you can be with me and I with you and you not consume me. He
talked about their sinfulness and how that if I'm with you,
I'll have to kill you. I'll have to put you in hell or show me
how you can go with me and yet not put me in hell. There's only
one way. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth and the life. Because Christ lived for me as
my representative and died for me as my substitute, my sin offering,
my lamb. God can go with me and be well
pleased with me in Christ because of what he did and who he is
for me. His way of salvation. The Lord
said, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. You'll know God's
way if you learn of Christ. Christ is the way. He's the way
to God and he's the way of God. And we never stop learning this
if we ever start. And you know what the Lord said
in Matthew 7, 14? There's very few that find this
way. Moses prayed, Lord show me your
way. Very few, very few ever found
it. Because straight is the gate
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life. And few there
be that found it. And Moses said, oh Lord, let
me be one of them. Let me be one of them. Is that
your prayer? Let me be one of those few. So he has to know God, to know
his way. And then the third thing he asked
for in verse 13 is grace. Did you notice that? He said,
if I have found grace in thy sight in the beginning, and then
he said, then may I find grace in thy sight. If I found grace
in your sight, then let me find grace in your sight. Those who have experienced the
grace of God never want to be without it for one second. We
know that if he lets us go for a moment, we'll fall forever. Some want God to just give them
a fair shake. Just give me what's coming to
me. Is that what you want? I want grace. That's what Moses
is asking for, grace. Some want a chance to be saved.
I want grace. I want grace because you see
grace don't just give me a chance. I've had a lot of chances. And I don't need another chance.
I need grace. Grace is fetching grace. Grace
comes after you. Grace comes where you are, like
the good Samaritan. And does everything necessary
to save you. Everything at his own expense. when David found out about Mephibosheth. Do you remember what he said?
Why was David asking about Mephibosheth to begin with? Turn to 2 Samuel.
We've got a few minutes. Look at 2 Samuel 9. This will
be a blessing to you, I believe. David had made a covenant with
Jonathan, Saul's son, before Jonathan died, that he
would take care of his family, He would show grace and mercy
to his family when the Lord made him king. The Lord had already
promised David that he was going to be king. It didn't much look
like it. Saul was king and Saul was trying to kill David and
had every means to get it done. But Jonathan apparently believed
him, and he made David make a covenant with him. When you're king, bless
my family. Have mercy on my family. And
look at what David said as a result of that covenant. In verse 1
of chapter 9, 2 Samuel, David said, Is there yet any that is
left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's
sake? You want to know something about
the grace of God now instead of whatever you're talking about?
And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was
Siba. 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 kindness, the kindness of God unto him? And
Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame
on his feet. And the king said unto him, Where
is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house
of Macub, the son of Amiel in Lodibar. Then King David sent
and fetched him. David had made a covenant. He
made a promise that he's going to have mercy, and he was looking
for somebody to have mercy on. He was anxious to show mercy.
Isn't there somebody? Isn't there somebody of the house
of Saul that I can show mercy to? And when he heard about Omaphibosheth,
he was sent and fetched him out of the house of Maccabee, the
son of Amiel from Lodabar. Now when Mephibosheth, the son
of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell
on his face and did reverence. He worshiped him. He bowed himself,
is what it means. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, behold, thy
servant. What did Moses say? You said
you know me by name. Mephibosheth. I know my sheep,
and I call them by their name. Mephibosheth. Behold thy servant. And David said unto him, fear
not, for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's
sake. Mephibosheth was expecting to
be killed because Saul was an enemy of David and showed it
in every way you could show it. And now that David's king, Mephibosheth
thought he's going to take revenge on me. I'm one of Saul's sons.
But no, David said, don't be afraid. I'm going to show you
mercy for the sake of somebody else. The Lord said, you forgive one
another as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. For Jonathan, thy father's sake,
I want to restore thee all the land of Saul, thy father. You're
going to be a wealthy man. You're going to have everything,
and you're going to eat bread at my table. You're going to eat
with the king continually. Continually. And he bowed himself
and said, what is thy servant that thou shouldest look upon
such a dead dog as I am? And the king called unto Ziba
Saul's servant and said unto him, I have given unto thy master's
son all that pertain to Saul and to his house. Thou therefore
and thy sons and thy servants shall till the land for him and
shall bring him the fruits that thy master's son may have food
to eat. But Mephibosheth thy master's
son shall eat bread always at my table. Ziba had 15 sons and
20 servants and they were all at Mephibosheth's service. You're going to tell his land
for him and bring in the fruits for him. Then said Ziba unto the king
according to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servants
so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth said the
king he shall eat at my table as one of the king's sons. Behold
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we
should be called the sons of God. And Mephibosheth had a young
son whose name was Micah. And all that dwelt in the house
of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem,
the city of peace, not Lodibar. Lodibar means no pasture, no
bread. He's going to dwell in the city
of peace for he did eat continually at the king's table and was a
worthless cripple. Is that you? Couldn't do anything
for himself. But David said, it's all going
to be done for you. It's taken care of because I made a covenant
and I'm going to have mercy on you. What a picture. God didn't
wait on me to do something in order that I might be saved.
He made a covenant. an everlasting covenant that
I had an interest in before I was ever born. David said, that's
all my salvation that God made a covenant with me. And he one
day, according to the terms of that covenant, he showed me kindness
for Christ's sake. The one with whom he had made
that everlasting covenant and with me in him in Christ and
everlasting immutable covenant. And according to the terms of
that covenant, my Lord Jesus Christ came and lived and died
for me and then one day God sent a preacher and fetched me from
my way and told me about that covenant that I had an interest
in. And now because of that covenant
of grace, I'm sitting at the king's table. That's the grace
of God. And the last thing Moses prayed
in verse 13 is, Lord, consider, remember, regard us as your people. Whatever else we are, stiff-necked,
yes. Rebellious, yes. Idolatrous,
dancing around a golden calf, bunch of idiots, yes. But we're
your idiots. We're your rebels, Lord. We're
your people. Whatever else we are, if we're
his, we are blessed and shall forever be blessed. This is that covenant of grace
we just talked about. We're your people. That new unconditional
covenant of grace. God said four things in that
covenant in Hebrews 8, 10 through 12 that he was going to do for
his people under the unconditional covenant of grace. He said, first
of all, I'm going to do a work in your heart. I'm going to write
my law on tables of stone and say, do this and live. Don't
do it and die. I'm going to write it in your
heart. I'm going to cause you to love my law. You're still
not going to be able to obey it in your flesh, but you're
going to love it. You're going to love me, the
one who wrote it. You're going to love holiness.
You're going to love righteousness. You're going to hunger and thirst
after it because I'm going to do a work in your heart. And
secondly, I'll be your God and you'll be my people. Moses is
praying that the terms of that covenant would be honored by
God and knowing that he would, knowing that he'll honor his
covenant. I'll be your God and you'll be
my people. And the third thing is, he said, I'll reveal myself
to you. You all from the least to the greatest are going to
know me. You're all going to know me. And then fourth, he
said, I'll be merciful to your transgressions and remember your
sins and iniquities no more. So when you pray, pray for God's
distinguishing grace and presence, like Moses did. Lord, let me
find grace in your sight. And how am I going to know, and
is anybody else going to know that I have found grace in your
sight? except that you're with me. Lord,
be with me. Go with me. Stay with me. Remind him of his covenant. Not
because he forgets, but to show him that that is all your salvation
and all your desire. Christ and all the blessings
that are ours in him. May the Lord teach us to pray.
Let's bow in prayer tonight.

God's Distinguishing Presence and Grace

What does the Bible say about God's grace?

How do we know God's presence is with us?

Why is prayer important for Christians?

How does God's grace affect our prayers?

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God's Distinguishing Presence and Grace

What does the Bible say about God's grace?

How do we know God's presence is with us?

Why is prayer important for Christians?

How does God's grace affect our prayers?

Sermon Transcript

About Chris Cunningham

Comments

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