The title of my message is God's
All-Sufficient Grace. For the last couple of months,
I have no idea how many times I have either sung in private,
of course, or listened to Judy's sweet voice singing again. That
great hymn written by Mark Webb, a pastor out in Olive Branch,
Mississippi, Oh, 35 years ago. The fearful days I remember when
I first saw my sin, saw the law I'd broken, saw my judgment so
grim. But then I cried out to Jesus
and his word came to me, child, my grace is sufficient, sufficient
for thee. Off the tempter accuses when
I fall on my face. How can you be a Christian? Oh,
you're such a disgrace. I know of only one answer, just
one thing I can plead, that his grace is sufficient, sufficient
for me. Oh, sometimes, how I fail him. Sins I hate, I embrace. Now I'm
sure I'm forsaken. and I've fallen from grace, but
as I bow down before him, I find his mercy so free, for his grace
is sufficient, sufficient for me. I was lost, but he found
me wandering far from my home, clothed in garments so filthy,
yet he made me his own, or he gave me his own. And through
eternity's ages, this my glad song shall be. Yes, his grace
is sufficient. Sufficient for me. Second Corinthians
chapter 12. It is not expedient for me doubtless
to glory. I will come to visions and revelations
of the Lord. Now you can mark this down. It needs to be emphasized in
this day of Pentecostal nonsense. All the visions and revelations
spoken of in Holy Scripture are visions and revelations of the
Lord. Now mark it down. All the visions and revelations
spoken of in Scripture are visions and revelations of the person
and work of God in human flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the
accomplishment of God's grace in him by blood atonement. All
of them. All of them. They're not visions
and revelations about Israel or about America and certainly
not about how much money you got in your bank account or what
kind of sickness you got in your bones. their visions and revelations
of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ, in Christ
because God put him there, in Christ by divine election from
eternity, in Christ by the gift of God's grace in the new birth. I knew a man in Christ about
14 years ago. That's just about 11 years after
God had saved the Apostle Paul. Whether in the body, I cannot
tell. or whether out of the body, I cannot tell, God knoweth."
He said, I don't know whether I was dead or alive. I don't
know whether I was taken up to heaven in a body like Enoch was
or whether I was taken up in the spirit. I don't know. I cannot
tell. Such an one caught up to the
third heaven. And I knew such a man, whether
in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell, God knoweth, how
that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words,
which it is not lawful for man to utter." Notice Paul uses the
word paradise and heaven interchangeably because they both refer to the
same place. The blessed state of abode where
our savior sits upon the mercy seat today, the throne of grace,
and where God's saints are gathered around him, the spirits of just
men made perfect. Verse 5, of such in one I will
glory. What's he talking about there?
I will glory in that man in Christ. That new man, Christ in you,
I'll glory in God's work of grace. Yet of myself, I will not glory,
but in mine infirmities. The only thing I'll speak of
about myself is my weakness, my infirmities. For though I
would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool. For I will say
the truth, but I now forbear, lest any man should think of
me above that which he seeth me to be. What's that? A sinner saved by God's free
grace. Or that which he heareth of me,
a sinner saved by God's free grace. And lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of the revelations There was
given to me, notice the language he uses, given to me. There was given to me a messenger
of Satan. Quite literally, the passage
should read a messenger, Satan. There was given to me a messenger,
Satan, to buffet me. to beat me in the face, lest
I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the
Lord thrice, three times, that it might depart from me. And
he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength
is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I
strong. I've often told you in the kingdom
of God, Everything is exactly opposite to the way the world
thinks. All spiritual things are exactly
the opposite of carnal reason. All things with regard to the
kingdom of God are just exactly different than the things that
men think are, ought to be, and must be. And this shouldn't surprise
us. Our Savior said, the world knoweth
me not, therefore, it knoweth you not. John told us the world
knoweth us not because it knew him not. In the world, the way
up is up. In the kingdom of God, the way
up is down. Our Lord will never exalt you
by his grace until he abases you in your own eyes. He will
never lift you up by His grace until He lays you in the dust
before His feet. In the world, the man with the
greatest knowledge is the one who knows the most about the
most. In the Church of Christ, the person who knows the most
is the one who knows nothing. I didn't say that wrong. I did say wrong. In material
things, The person who has the most is the richest. In spiritual
things, the person who has the least is the richest. Blessed
are the poor. Blessed are the poor, the poor
in spirit. Those who have the least, they're
the richest. In natural things, he who has
the most strength is the strongest. In spiritual things, he who is
weakest is strongest. All of those things are so contrary
to us. We like to think ourselves strong. I'm 63 years old nearly,
and I still like to think about being strong. In my head, I can
still pump the iron. Spiritually, I thank God for
every increasing weakness. And I pray he'll make you weak. weak, utterly insufficient in
yourself. Now this is clearly the doctrine
of our text. Paul had been translated into
heaven, into paradise, caught up into the third heaven and
brought back again to the earth. Lots of people these days talk
about such experiences. They talk about dying, going
to heaven, seeing a great light and angels and all that. They give you funny stuff in
the hospital. Never happens. But it did with this man. It
did with this man. He saw things that could not
be described by human language. And if he could describe them,
he said, it's not lawful for me to utter. Hath not seen nor
ear heard neither hath it entered into the heart of man the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him We we have some
revelation of facts With regard to heaven some revelation of
facts with regard to the glory that awaits us, but it's never
Entered our minds one time borough what that glory shall be Imagine
how great. Imagine how wonderful. It's never
entered our minds or our hearts or our thoughts, not even once,
what God's prepared for us. It is indescribably above all
the revealed facts given in Holy Scripture. However, lest he be
exalted above measure, the Lord God sent a very painful Troublesome
affliction to his servant Paul We're not really told exactly
what the affliction was there lots of guesses but Paul describes
it as a thorn in his flesh a messenger Satan a messenger given to him
in the flesh by God a Messenger he calls Satan Every time he would lift himself
up a little pride to beat him in the face. Every time he would
think highly to beat him down. Every time his heart would swell
to beat him down. Messenger of Satan. To buffet
me. To buffet me. For this Paul prayed
three times. Begging God to relieve him. Begging God to set him free.
Begging God to take this evil from him begging God to take
from him this thing That kept him groveling in the dust at
the throne of grace This thing that kept him aware
that he's the least of all Saints the greatest of all sinners this
thing that that constantly pressed him down He said I begged the
Lord three times to take it from me to put an end to this horrible
beating of Satan that he had to live with. And the Lord said,
Paul, live with it. Live with it. And he told him
something better. My grace is sufficient for me. May God, the Holy Spirit, give
me your attention and enable me to show you four things in
this message. I want you to know, oh, I want
you to know God's all-sufficient grace. Hear me, poor, needy, lost, doomed,
damned, ruined, helpless sinner. Will you hear me? God's grace
is all-sufficient grace. He saved me. He saved me. He's able to save
to the uttermost all who come to God by him. And I want you,
my brothers and sisters, to know God's all sufficient grace and
rejoice in it. To that end, let me show you
these four things. First, understand this. God help us to understand it.
We never know best. We never know best. Never. None of us knows what's
best at any time for the glory of God the good of our own souls,
or the accomplishment of God's purpose of grace in Christ. Look
at verse 8. Paul says, For this thing I besought
the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. Now remember,
he's writing by inspiration. He tells us this messenger Satan
was given to me, this thorn in the flesh. given to me by our
God, given to me by my Savior, given to me by my Heavenly Father.
And I begged God three times to take you from me. That sounds
a lot like me. We never know what's best. You and I would never choose
the painful things we experience, or painful things for one another.
I said to Jeff and Sue there, I've never taken your daddy out
of this world. You wouldn't either. It never happened. It never happened. Until he was brought to absolute
miserable state of life. And we said, doctor, let him
die. Never take him out. Hang on as long as we can. Hang
on as long as we can. Because we never know best. We
never know best. Some of you are going through
some troubles. I'm aware of. Nobody else need be aware of.
It's me and you. I wouldn't put you there. I wouldn't
do that to you. I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't
do it. That's because I don't love you like God does. And I'm not as wise as your Heavenly
Father. We never know what's best. Because we don't know what's
best, we don't know how to pray for anything as we ought to.
It's written, we know not what we should pray for as we ought.
Do you reckon that statement in Romans 8 26 is given just
to fill up space? We know not what to pray for
as we ought. Prayer is not is not just seeking for God to
gratify our fleshly lust. Prayer is not God's gift to us
by which we're able to get anything we want from God. I don't know
if we'll ever learn this or not. Prayer has something to do with
the will of God. Prayer has something to do with
the will of God seeking God's will. bowing to God's will, asking
God to do his will. Not our will, his will. Not our purpose, his purpose. Not our desire, his decree. David said, after the Lord told
him how he was gonna build his house and his kingdom forever,
set Christ on his throne, David said, Lord, do as thou hast said. Therefore thy servant found it
in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee, because you told me
you're gonna do it. Now do what you said you'd do.
Do what you said you would. Prayer has something to do with
bowing to God's will, praying like our Savior prayed, not my
will, thy will be done. If I'm God's child, if I truly
know him and trust him, I want what He's purposed. My pleasure is His glory. My desire is His will. If I'm His. Our Lord Jesus taught us thus
to pray. And because we don't know how
to pray as we ought, when we pray in our ignorance, The Holy
Spirit cleans up our prayers and presents to the Father the
true groanings of our hearts. Turn to that passage in Romans
8 for just a second. Romans 8, 26. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth
our infirmities. This is what Paul is talking
about, my infirmities, my weakness. For we know not what we should
pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession
for us with our groanings, or with groanings, which cannot
be uttered. The Spirit of God speaks the
groanings of our hearts, which are often suppressed in our hearing
by the words of our mouths. Lord, I'm asking that you will
heal my brother, but what I really want is your will. I'm asking
that you'll dry these tears, but what I really want is your
kingdom. I'm asking that you will take
away this pain, but what I really want is your glory. I'm asking,
Lord, that you'll do this. What I want, God, is your will
be done. You understand that? Prayer's
got something to do with seeking God's will, and we never know
what's best. We do never do. Number two, look
at verse nine. God's grace in Christ is sufficient
to meet our every need. He said unto me, my grace is
sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Here, God's elect are assured
of his grace in Christ and the absolute sufficiency of it always
and in all things. One of the names of our God is
El Shaddai, God all sufficient. God's grace is always sufficient
because God's grace is always effectual. People talk about
grace, the grace of God trying and the grace of God offering
and the grace of God providing. They don't know anything about
grace. Grace, God's grace is always effectual. Always. My sister one time heard me use
that term several times in a message years ago. And sadly, she didn't
go to church much, but she she said to me, I said, what does
that word effectual mean? I said, it means it gets the
job done. That's exactly what it means. God's grace always
gets the job done. You got that? God's grace always
gets the job done. God doesn't try to do anything. God doesn't just want to do anything. God doesn't just desire anything. He does all his pleasure. His grace is effectual. Grace
that is not effectual grace is no grace at all. Let us ever
remember that God's grace in Christ is sufficient for everything
at all times. Sometimes I think it's best just
to state things and leave it at that. God's grace is sufficient
to accomplish all his saving purposes, sufficient to pardon,
justify, regenerate, sanctify, and preserve all his elect. sufficient
in every time of need, sufficient in health, and sufficient in
strength, and sickness, and in death, sufficient in the birth
of a darling child, sufficient in bereavement of a cherished
loved one, sufficient in life, sufficient in death, sufficient
in judgment, sufficient at last to present us faultless before
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Our Savior's name
is Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will provide. The name actually means more
than that. The Lord will see. He always sees everything you
need. and the Lord will provide and
the Lord will be seen in the provision he makes oh now that's
sufficient grace God sees our need he provides our need and
as he provides we see him his hand and his work number three
look at verse nine again the second part of the verse our
savior declares that his strength is made perfect in weakness.
What's this? Most gladly, therefore, will
I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest
upon me. Obviously, our weakness contributes
nothing to Christ's power. Understand that? So the obvious
meaning of the statement is this. Our Savior's strength is made
manifest. It is showed, it is displayed
through the weakness of those sinners who are saved by His
grace. Paul writes in the book of Romans,
when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. I have no strength to atone for
my sin. Christ atoned for my sin. I have
no strength to obey God's holy law. Christ obeyed God's law
for me. I have no strength to perform
righteousness. Christ is the Lord my righteousness. I have
no strength to give myself life. Christ gives me life and he is
my life. I have no strength to resist
temptation. Christ is my preserver. I have
no strength to draw near to God. Christ is my way of access and
he brings me to God. I have no strength. to make myself
holy. Christ is my holiness, my sanctification. I have no strength to resist
the devil. Christ has bound the dragon for me. Read this last
sentence of verse nine one more time. Most gladly, therefore,
will I glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. It is only when we are brought
to acknowledge our infirmity, our weakness, our frailty, our
nothingness, our insufficiency, that the power of Christ and
his all-sufficient grace rest upon us. The moment we begin to flex our
muscles and straighten our backs and say, I can do this, I can
handle this, David, you're in trouble. Doesn't matter what it is. And
so further down, that's what we all do. That's the reason
we all stay in trouble all the time. We all like to think we are sufficient
and we can do. God, teach me. I'm weak, infirm,
incapable, insufficient. and teach me thus to lean all
upon my Savior. Now, let me deal with Paul's
statement here a little bit. Therefore, I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I
strong. Joel 3 verse 10 reads like this. Let the weak say, I am strong. Let the weak say, I am strong. He that is weak sees himself
to be weak and sees himself weak. knows he's strong in Christ.
He who has the blessed privilege by God's grace of knowing his
nothingness sees everything in Christ. And this is by the blessed
experience of grace given him day by day. Clearly, there are
some things to which the statement does not apply. There's not a
suggestion here that Weakness and ambiguity and doctrine will
make you strong No, this book is taught is given us to teach
us the doctrine of Christ and The more we know of that which
this book teaches Concerning our Savior in his grace the more
we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Certainly,
this is not a suggestion that when I'm weak in prayer and devotion
that I'm strong No, no, no No, God in his grace by making us
aware of our weakness sweetly forces us to pray. And when he
sweetly forces us to pray, sweetly forcing us into the arms of his
mercy, then we find strength. And certainly this is not an
excuse for avoiding that which we know to be our duty. Yeah,
I've been using that word a good bit recent weeks. I hope what
I do I do from something greater than duty and a sense of duty. And yet there's nothing more
dishonorable than willful disobedience to our known duty before God
and men. One of our noblest patriots,
Robert E. Lee, made this observation. Duty is the sublimest word in
our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more and you should
never wish to do less. Weakness in neglecting duty,
responsibility doesn't make you strong. Weakness in character
and conduct and attitude doesn't make you strong. Such sinful
weakness is only further weakening of your own self, weakening your
witness and your testimony, your influence and your usefulness.
Don't ever get the idea that your character, your conduct,
your behavior doesn't matter. It matters a great deal. I used
to say to our daughter, Faith, I said it to her many times when
she started going out. She's a little younger than Audre
Grace is now, about Will's age, started going out and going out
with friends, different places, going to spend the night here
and there. When we weren't around, almost every time she left the
house, until she married you, almost every time she left the
house, I said, don't you forget who you are and whose you are. Don't forget who you are and
whose you are. You're Faith Fortner. Don Fortner
is your daddy. He's pastor of Grace Baptist
Church, and we represent God in this world. Don't forget who
you are and whose you are, because everything you say and everything
you do and everywhere you go reflects upon you, your parents,
this church, and our God. Don't forget who you are and
whose you are. And I say that to Bobby Estes.
Don't forget. I say it to Sherry Walter. Don't
forget. Don't forget. Why somebody big
monkey to put on child's back? I decided a long time ago, children
need a big monkey on their back all the time. All the time. Don't don't presume that your
behavior is meaningless. It's called we're saved by God's
free grace. Indeed, the fact that we're saved
by God's free grace makes us aware that our behavior is meaningful. We may very properly conclude
from our text, however, When I'm weak, then I'm strong. That
the Apostle Paul is speaking about his own spiritual infirmity,
his own weakness in the flesh. Something to do with this warfare
in his soul, this constant struggle between flesh and spirit, this
messenger of Satan that keeps beating him in the face. Every
time you think about knowing things. All right, just imagine this.
Just imagine this. Just imagine that you are the only person
in this building, the only one in this building, who has been
to glory and seen what he saw and come back here. And then
I start to talk to you about heaven. Just imagine. Just imagine. Imagine,
Bobby, you're the only person here. The only person here who
understands really by divine revelation. Romans 8, 28. And then I start to talk to you
about God's mysterious providence. Shoot. I know about that stuff. What's he doing talking to me?
What's he doing talking to me? Paul said, I had visions. and
revelations of the Lord above all the apostles. He knew full
well, Alan Kibbe, that God had revealed things to him concerning
the gospel of his grace and the mystery of his will, sending
the gospel to the Gentiles, that not one of the other eleven apostles
understood. Not one of them understood it.
Not one of them. He knew full well, and he was
a man of sinful proud flesh. And every time he began to think
about these wonders God revealed to him, speak of it right away,
Satan would beat him in the head, smash him in the face, crush
his heart with swollen pride. And he begs God to take him because
he hates his pride. He hates his filthy, ungodly,
vile pride. Hates it. Hates it. And the Lord
says, my grace is sufficient for them. So Paul said, I'll
glory in my weakness. That is, I'm going to tell you
unceasingly about my weakness. I'm going to make my boast in
this. I'm nothing. Christ is everything.
I want to make my boast in this. I am insufficient. He is all
sufficient. I'll make my boast in this. I
am sin. He is holiness. That's all. Now, let me show you seven things
here, and I'll wrap this up. When I'm weak before the glorious
majesty and holiness of God, then I'm strong. Because my weakness
forces me to flee away to Christ, the Lord, my righteousness. God
says, walk before me and be thou holy. That's what he said. Walk
before me and be perfect. That's what God requires. I can't
do that. I can't do that. I can. I can
put on a pretty good show and behave in an impressive manner
if I'm in circumstances where it's required. Our friends in
England don't set a table exactly like we do in the South. You know, if we're going to have
soup beans, we can put a bowl out and a spoon to eat soup beans with.
Over there, wherever you go in a restaurant, they have a place
setting, starts out here and works in. Got something else
over the top, I don't even know what all those spoons are. And I can, I can
act like I was raised refined. I just sit and just wait. And
once you placed your order, before I ever pick up anything, once
you placed your order, the waiter or waitress comes and starts
picking up stuff you're not going to use. And I act like I knew
that. just everybody's impressed. Well,
I do the same thing with religious stuff. I do the same thing with
what's considered a spiritual thing. I can act good and impress
you, but not God. You know the difference, don't
you, Don? I can act good and impress you, but not God. I can't
impress God. Isaiah said, I saw the Lord.
high and lifted up. And when I saw him, I cried,
woe is me. I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean
lips. And the Lord came, sent one of
his angels with a live coal from off the altar and touched his
lips with the burning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus and said, your
iniquity is purged. Your sin is purged. Your iniquity
is taken away. Number two, when I'm weak before
God's holy law, When I see what it requires. When I realized
that my best righteousness is. The best things I do. The best things I do. Prayer. Giving. Reading the scriptures. Preaching. The best things I do. study it,
give my life to serve your souls, the best things I do, the best
things I do are just filthy rags in the nostrils of a holy God.
Filthy rags. Filthy rags. A stitch that knocks God backwards. Filthy rags! When I understand
that, then I'm forced to flee again to Christ, my Redeemer, my perfect, righteous representative,
my justice-satisfying surety, my sin-atoning Redeemer, my all-prevailing
advocate with the Father. When I'm weak before my trials
and temptations in this world, then I'm strong because my weakness
forces me to Christ. You mamas and daddies make too
many excuses for your children. These babies are yours. It's
all right. Y'all, I still call her babies in it. These babies
are yours. Face the very same temptations
you face when you were their age. There's not any difference.
Things are so much worse today. No, they're not. You're fooling
yourself. They're not any different. They're not any different. Oh,
no. No. What do you do in temptation?
Flee away to the Redeemer. There hath no temptation taken
you, but such as is common with man. But God shall with the temptation
make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. And the
way of escape is Christ. When I'm weak, before my responsibilities
as God's messenger to you. And I am. I am. I know you think
otherwise, and I appreciate the honor you heap upon me. But I can't tell you how I tremble
when I get ready to stand here and preach to you. I can't tell you how fearful
it is to preach to eternity bound men
and women. Two or three, or two or three thousand, doesn't change. I'm telling you, it doesn't change.
I have no greater fear when I preach to a congregation of two thousand
than I do preach to a congregation of two or three. No greater.
The fear is the same. I've got to speak for God. I've
got to speak God's word truthfully. I've got to speak a fresh word
from God to your heart this hour. Got to minister to your soul's
needs. By God, the Holy Spirit. And
I cry like Paul, who is sufficient for these things, and I respond
like Paul. and every prophet and apostle
throughout the ages, and every preacher of the gospel throughout
the ages, our sufficiency is of God. You remember what Brother Vance
prayed for me? Brother Don's just a man. Preach
him, Lord. Oh, how I pray you preach me. that He will speak through this
empty, dirty pipe to your soul's everlasting good. Number six. When I'm weak in my soul, in
all things spiritual, weak with the infirmity of this body of
flesh, and sin and death, weak in faith, weak in repentance,
weak in contentment, weak in commitment, weak in devotion,
weak in love to my Redeemer. When I'm weak, then Christ my
Shepherd watches over me and He graciously takes this one
whose spirit is willing but whose flesh is weak and picks me up
and carries me with Him to Calvary. and again gives me his strength.
Oh, how weak is my flesh. Oh, how great the warfare in
my soul. Oh, how darkness the darkness
with my savior hides his face. But when I'm weak, when I'm weak,
I'm forced to flee to him. And then I'm strong. And I'll
probably be weak when time comes for me to die, more than likely. I'd like to think I'd be able
to call you in and say, you folks come gather around me. Be assured,
if I get sick, don't y'all think I want to be alone. I want everybody
out and get around me. You come visit me as often as
you want to and stay as long as you want to. And if I get
to wanting you out of the room, I'll let you know pretty quick.
But I'd like to think. Time comes me to die and lay
on my deathbed, I call you and say, come watch a man die in
the Lord. But I read a story by Mr. Spurgeon once years ago.
One of the finest, most faithful men in his congregation had four
boys, all of whom were unbelievers. And he wanted so much to give
his boys an example of what it is to die in faith. And he sent
notice when he knew he was dying for his boys to come visit him.
He was dying and he wanted to see him. And by the time they
got there, such darkness overcame him. Such dread, such fear, such
terror, as no one could believe this insane man. He wanted his
boys to see him die strong, that it might be God's pleasure thereby
to give them faith in Christ. His boys saw him die trembling
and full of fear. And after they'd buried the old
man, the older son called his four brothers together and he
said, I've never known a man like our daddy. I've never known such a strong
believer. I've never known such a faithful man. If dad died in
such a state as we saw him die, how shall it be for us? And over
the course of the next couple of years, one by one, God saved
those four boys because that's God's way of doing things. And if you come to see me die
and I start to put my feet in Jordan's chilly waters and I
tremble with weakness, That's all right, I'll still be strong.
Because Christ will carry me on his broad shoulders right
into glory. He says, the Lord God our Savior
says, to this man will I look. To him that is poor and of a
contrite spirit and trembleth at my word. Oh God make me such. and make you such and give you
faith in the Redeemer that you may be strong. Amen.