Grace - More Than a Doctrine

Q: What does the Bible say about grace?

The Bible teaches that grace is God's unmerited favor, bestowed upon us through Jesus Christ for our salvation and righteousness. Grace, as defined in the Bible, is the unmerited favor of God towards humanity. It is not something that can be earned or sought after; rather, it is freely given according to God's sovereign will. In Ephesians 2:8-9, we learn that 'by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.' This demonstrates that grace is essential for our salvation, as it is solely by God's grace that we are saved, justified, and made righteous. Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 15:10, Paul states, 'But by the grace of God, I am what I am,' affirming that grace is the foundation of our identity and the source of our transformation in Christ.

Q: How do we know God's grace is sufficient?

God's grace is sufficient because it enables us to overcome sin and hardship, providing us with the strength needed to fulfill His will. The sufficiency of God's grace is a recurring theme in the Scriptures, particularly highlighted in 2 Corinthians 12:9, where God tells Paul, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' This suggests that God's grace not only saves us but also sustains us in our weakness and struggles. When we lean on God's grace, we find that it empowers us to overcome our trials and to live in accordance with His will. It provides comfort and assures us that, regardless of our imperfections and failures, we can rely on God's infinite grace to support us through every circumstance.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to understand grace?

Understanding grace is crucial for Christians as it is the foundation of our salvation, justification, and relationship with God. For Christians, grasping the concept of grace is foundational to the Christian faith. Without a proper understanding of grace, one might fall into the trap of legalism, believing that they should earn their righteousness through works. However, Romans 3:24 teaches us that we are 'justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.' This highlights that our justification before God is solely through grace, emphasizing that we cannot add anything to our salvation. Furthermore, understanding grace fosters a deeper appreciation for God's love and mercy, and encourages believers to extend grace to others as they have received it, promoting peace and unity within the Body of Christ.

While you're finding the Scripture,
1 Corinthians 15, let me announce my subject tonight. I'm going
to speak tonight from the book of 1 Timothy. If you want to read this afternoon
the Scripture for tonight, read 1 Timothy chapter 1, I'm going to begin speaking tonight
with verse 8. Now listen to this verse. We
know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully. That's
my subject tonight. The law is good. The law is good. I'll be speaking from the 1 Timothy
1 verse 8. through verse 16. Now, this morning,
1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. Paul says here,
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you, and
which also you have received, and wherein you stand. I preached
it to you, you received it, and you're committed to it and you
stand in that gospel. And that gospel is the gospel
by which also you're saved if you keep in memory what I preached
unto you unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto
you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ, Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures, according to
the Old Testament Scriptures, according to every promise and
pattern and type in the Old Testament. He died according to the Scriptures. And that he was buried and that
he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. And that he
was seen of Cephas, Peter, then of the twelve After that, he
was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the
greater part remain unto this present, but some have fallen
asleep. After that, he was seen of James,
and then of all the apostles, and last of all, I saw him. As one born out of due time,
I saw the Lord. One of the requirements For an
apostle was to have seen the Lord, to receive his gospel directly
from Christ, and to have seen the Lord. And Paul saw him on
the road to Damascus. The Lord appeared to him. He
said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus of Nazareth,
whom thou persecutest. I saw him. Verse 9, For I am
the least of the apostles that am not meet or worthy to
be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church. I wasn't
with the apostles in the early days. I persecuted the church,
hated the name of Christ. I'm not worthy to be called an
apostle. But, verse 10, by the grace of
God, I am what I am. And His grace, which was bestowed
upon me, was not in vain. It's His grace. What is grace? Unmerited favor, undeserved mercy,
unearned, unsought. What is grace? God bestows it upon whom He will.
He said, I'll be gracious to whom I will be gracious. I'll
be merciful to whom I will be sovereign. It's free grace. It's infinite grace. It's unchanging
grace. It's His grace. By the grace
of God I am what I am. By the grace of God. It's His
grace. And it's His grace which was
bestowed upon me. bestowed upon me, laid upon me,
given to me from eternity past. When he wrote to the church at
Ephesus in Ephesians 1, he said, Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies in Christ, according as He chose
us in Christ before the foundation of the world. bestowed upon us,
upon us, before we were born, back in eternity past. He bestowed
His grace upon us. Herein is love, not that we love
God, He loved us. We love Him because He loved
us. His grace was bestowed, given,
heaped upon me, laid upon me. upon me. I give thanks, he wrote
to the church at Thessalonica, for you, brethren, beloved of
the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth.
His grace, it's His grace, unmerited, unearned, unsought, undeserved,
His grace, richly infinitely, unchangeably bestowed upon me. Upon me. Now watch this. And
His grace was not in vain. It was not in vain. It shall
not fail. Known unto God are all His works
from the beginning. Christ said, All that my Father
giveth me, they shall come to me. Him that cometh to me, I'll
in no wise cast out. He said, I came down from heaven.
Not to do my will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this
is the will of Him that sent me, that of all which He has
given me, I'll lose nothing. Other sheep I have which are
not of this foal, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my
voice, and there shall be one foal. His grace bestowed upon
me was not in vain." Our Lord prayed in John 17. He
said, of all you've given me, I've lost nothing. It's not in
vain. But by the grace of God, I am
what I am, and His grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not
in vain. Was not in vain. Whom He foreknew,
He predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son. Whom
He predestinated, He called. Whom He called, He justified.
Whom He justified, He glorified. It's not in vain. It's not in
vain. Because of four things. Now watch
this. It's not in vain. We're saved
by that grace. Turn with me to Ephesians 2.
We're saved by the grace of God. Ephesians chapter 2. Listen to
what Paul wrote here. In Ephesians 2. Verse 8, for
by grace are you saved. By grace are you saved. Not without
faith, not apart from faith, through faith. It's by the grace
of God through faith. And faith's not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God. It's not of works, lest any man
should boast. We're saved by grace. We're delivered
from the curse of the law by grace. We're delivered from the
penalty of sin by grace. We're delivered from the power
of sin by grace. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
of the Lord, Spurgeon said, in its origination. It's of the
Lord in its execution. It's of the Lord in its application. It's of the Lord in its sustaining
power, kept by the power of God. It's of the Lord in its ultimate
perfection. Someday, the silver cord will
break, and I know more as now shall sing. But oh, the joy when
I awake within the palace of the King, and I shall see Him
face to face, and tell the stoving, Saved by grace. Saved by grace. Secondly, we're not only saved
by grace, we're justified by grace. For by grace are you saved. Now watch this, Romans chapter
3. We're justified by grace. In
the third chapter of Romans, verse 23, the Scripture says,
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Every
person here is a sinner. We've come short of the glory
of God. We've sinned. But being justified. Now, my friends, being justified
is more than being pardoned. It's more than being forgiven.
Being justified is to be accounted not guilty. And we're justified
freely, without works, without cause. We're justified freely. How? By His grace. By His grace. Justice upon a dreadful throne
maintains the rights of God. But grace brings a pardon down,
bought with the Savior's blood. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Justified. Turn with me to Titus chapter
3. Titus, the third chapter, listen to it, we're saved by
grace, we're justified by grace. Titus 3, verse 7, listen, being
justified by His grace, that we should be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life. We have justification,
total, total forgiveness of all our sins. God said I'll remember
them no more by His grace. Now thirdly, we're saved by grace,
we're justified by grace. Now turn to 2 Corinthians 5.
We are made righteous by grace. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse
21. We are made righteous by grace. Now we're not We're not only
without sin before the justice of God. You see, we're saved
by grace, we're justified by grace. That means we're without
sin before the justice of God, not guilty. But not only that,
but in Christ we have a perfect righteousness before the law.
Here in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21, listen to what it says, For
he hath made him, Christ, For He's the Father, God the Father,
hath made Him Christ to be sin for us. Who knew no sin? Christ knew no sin. He had no
sin. Why did the Father make Him to
be sin for us? Who knew no sin? Here's the reason.
That in order that we might be made in Christ by grace, the
righteousness of God in Him, the very holiness of God. Now
Christ's death and the shedding of His blood before the justice
of God on the cross of Calvary saves us, justifies us. But Christ's perfect life, He
was tempted in all points as we are yet without sin, His perfect
life, His perfect obedience unto the law of God. He said, I didn't
come to destroy it, I came to fulfill it. And that perfect
obedience before the law of God gives us a righteousness. a holiness. So the law is honored, justice
is satisfied. And every believer before the
law of God is perfect. I know all of us would say, but
we're not perfect, we're imperfect. In ourselves we're imperfect,
in Christ we're perfect. It's not our righteousness, it's
His. Let me show you some scripture on that. Turn to Romans 5. Romans
5, verse 20. Now listen to this, Romans 5,
verse 20, we're saved by grace, we're justified by grace, we're
made righteous, holy by grace. Romans 5, 20, moreover the law
entered that the offense might abound. Where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. The word abound means what? Overflow,
abound, overflow. And where sin, and that's true
of all of us, sin just overflows of heart and imagination and
tongue and hands and walk, and sin did overflow. But His grace
much more overflowed. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign. Grace reigns, rules, has dominion. through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Grace reigns through righteousness. See, grace can't reign in unrighteousness. Grace has got to reign in keeping
with God's character. It's got to be a holy love. It's got to be a holy pardon.
It's got to be a holy salvation. And so Christ Jesus came to this
earth in the flesh as a man. And I know He did these things
for us, but He did them for God, to enable God to be just and
justify. And Christ was born a man, born
of woman, made under the law, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. And Christ walked this earth
perfectly, obeyed the law perfectly. In Him there was no sin. He knew
no sin. He was perfect. He was our representative. And He gave us, by His life and
obedience, a perfect holiness by grace. We don't earn it. It's
by grace. Saved us by grace through His
blood. Justified us by grace through His sacrifice. Made us
holy and righteous by grace through His life. Now then, fourthly,
We have an everlasting comfort and a good hope. Turn to 2 Thessalonians
2. 2 Thessalonians 2. Now, some of
us are getting older. We've been here a good while,
and life is coming to a close. Do we have a hope? Job said,
if a man dies, shall he live again? He said, ìThereís hope
of a tree. Cut down a tree.î I cut down
an apple tree over here at my house. Out in the backyard, cut
down the apple tree, smooth with the ground. I went out there
this spring, that thing was sprouting again. Thereís hope of a tree
if you cut it down, that it may live again. A little water and
a little sunshine. Those roots will sprout. But
a man, Job said, man dieth, and he wasteth away. And where is
he? Do we have a hope? Well, if we do, it's by grace.
Same way we're justified, same way we're saved, same way we're
righteous. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 16, Now our Lord Jesus
Christ Himself, and God even our Father,
which hath loved us, It doesn't say a whole lot about me loving
him, but he loved us. And hath given us, didn't sell
it to us, didn't loan it to us. He hath given us everlasting
consolation. I looked up the word consolation,
just means one thing, comfort. Look it up in your Greek lexicon,
comfort. Everlasting comfort, not temporary. and a good hope through grace. Through grace. It's all by grace. For by grace are you saved through
faith, being freely justified by His grace, made righteous
by His grace. And God hath given us an everlasting
comfort and a good hope through grace. Comfort your hearts. and establish you. Now what's
this? In every good word and work. Oh, here's what I'm getting to
now. Go back to the text. Back to
1 Corinthians 15. And I noticed something here
in studying for this message. My text, 1 Corinthians 15, verse
10. Paul said, But by the grace of
God, I am what I am, and His grace which was bestowed upon
me was not in vain. But I labored. But I labored. I labored more
abundantly than they all. Yet not I, but the grace of God. Here we come to this This grace
principle flows in all things. We're saved by grace. We're justified
by grace. We're made righteous by grace. We have comfort and a good hope
by grace. And we work by grace. It's grace
that constrains me. It's grace that motivates me.
It's grace that inspires me. It's grace. It's not me. It's
grace. You see, my friend, what's this?
The last line, yet not I, Paul labored, founded churches, preached
the gospel, did all. He said it wasn't I, it was the
grace of God with me. You see, grace is more than a
doctrine. Grace is more than a creed. Oh,
I believe in the doctrines of grace. I do too, but it's more
than a doctrine. Well, I'll tell you my creed
is the doctrines of grace, mine too, but it's more than a creed.
Well, I believe like the old Puritans, like the Calvinists
of old, I do too. Oh, I do too. If God is God,
He's a sovereign God. I don't doubt about that. But
I tell you, grace is more than a theological system held by
Puritans and Calvinists. Paul said, the grace of God was
upon me. Don't stop there. He said, the
grace of God is with me. It's with me. It's with me. And then he said this, the grace
of God is in me. Not only upon me, not only with
me, but on two occasions he said, the grace of God is in me. In
me. He said, God who separated me
from my mother's womb and called me by His grace, was pleased
to reveal His grace, His Son, in me. In me. And when we stop with the doctrines
of grace, we don't understand grace at all. Grace is more than
a doctrine. It's more than a creed. It's
more than a system. It's more than a religion. It's
a heart experience. Grace is. Let me show you that.
Turn to Hebrews 13. It's a heart experience. Hebrews 13, God said, in grace
I'll take away that old stony heart and give you a new heart. I'll give you a heart of flesh,
a heart of grace. You know, in Hebrews 13, I'll
read this in a moment, but when Philip was talking to the eunuch,
they were riding along in the chariot, and Philip was preaching
the gospel to him from Isaiah 53, the eunuch said, here is
water, what doth hinder me from being baptized? I believe what
you're saying. I believe in the Messiah. I believe
Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. I believe these things. Now,
what does hinder me from being baptized?" And Philip said, well,
if you believe in your heart, you may. This is a heart principle. It's a heart principle. Look
at Hebrews 13, verse 9. Be not carried away with different
strange doctrines. It's a good thing that the heart
be established with grace. Grace in the heart. Grace in
the heart, not with meats. Whether it's right to eat this
meat or that meat, touch not, taste not, handle not, that's
not the issue. It's grace in the heart. Which have not profited them
that have been occupied with these things. Occupied with meats
and days and rules and regulations and doctrines. Let your heart
be established with grace. We have an altar. People argue
about an altar, whether an altar is supposed to be here, there,
young. We have an altar. Where is it? It's in here. Christ
is our altar. It's a good thing for the heart
to be established with grace. Grace is a heart principle. Grace
is a ruling principle. It reigns in the heart. Turn
to Romans 6. Listen to this in Romans 6. It's a heart principle. It's
a ruling principle. Romans chapter 6. Now often we emphasize the fact
we're not under law. And we're not under the law.
That's true. But we're under grace. And we
ought to be as strong in our emphasis of being under grace
as we are in our emphasis not being under law. You see what
I'm saying? People, back when Paul wrote
to the Thessalonians, he said, you turn from your idols, but
that wasn't the end of it. He said, you turn to the living
God. Now look at Romans 6, verse 12. Let not sin therefore reign
in your mortal bodies. that you should obey it in the
lust thereof. Neither yield you your members
as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield them unto
God. As those that are alive from the dead, your members as
instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have
dominion over you. What does have dominion over
you? Grace. You are not under the law, but
you are under something else. What are you under? Grace. Our Lord gave this story. He said that a man came in to a great
ruler, a great king, who owed him a huge amount of money, owed
him much gold and silver, a huge astronomical debt. And he pleaded
with the ruler. He said, forgive me. pleaded
with him, have mercy on me. And the great king did. He said
to his scribe there, he said, counsel his debt, let him go
free. And our Lord said, this fellow
went outside after he had asked for mercy and received it, after
this man had shown him mercy and relieved him of his debt,
he went outside and he found a fellow out there that owed
him a small amount of money, just a little bit. And he grabbed
him by the throat. And he said, you pay me what
you owe me, or I'll cast you into debtor's prison. Now then,
our Lord said, when the king heard that, he called him back
in. And he said, you're a wicked servant. He said, you owe me
a huge amount, and I forgave you. And you went outside and
encountered this man who owed you a little bit, and you wouldn't
forgive him. He said, I'll put your debts
back on you. Now this fellow acted in his rights, didn't he? That
fellow owed him, didn't he? The man outside. He owed him that
little bit. And he ought to have paid him.
And he had a right to expect him to pay him, did he not? But
he didn't act on the principle of grace by which he was forgiven. He wanted the king to deal with
him in grace while he dealt with others in righteousness. By what measure you meet, it
will be measured to you. So what I'm saying is this, is
that grace, grace is not just a doctrine. It's not just a creed. It's not just a theological position
or system by which God deals with me. It's a system and principle
by which I deal with others. And if I don't, Then I don't
know anything about His grace. It's a heart principle. It's
a ruling principle. And thirdly, it's a manner of
speaking. Turn to the book of Colossians.
It's a manner of speaking. Grace is a heart experience. It's a ruling principle. It's
a manner of speaking. In Colossians chapter 3. Gracious. Gracious. He's gracious. In Colossians 3 verse 16, listen,
before the Lord. Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord. Grace in your heart to the Lord.
And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of
the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God. and the Father by him. I'm not talking about this phony,
phony religious clichés everybody's going around saying, praise the
Lord and hallelujah and glory to God and all of this sort of
thing for effect. I'm talking about, and he's talking
about here, rejoicing in the Lord. in a spirit of thanksgiving,
in a spirit of praise, in your own language, in your own words,
giving thanks unto God. Affectation and put on is not
pleasing in the sight of the Lord. And you say, well, I'm
just not able to talk that way. Well, I'm glad. I'm glad. Just talk like you talk, but
let it be with grace in your heart to the Lord. And now before
me, and look at Colossians 4, verse 5 and 6. Listen, walk in
wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time, and let your
speech be always with grace. Not harsh speaking, cruel speaking,
critical speaking, but gracious speaking. We know what that's
talking about, don't we? Grace is a heart experience,
it's a ruling principle, it's a manner of speaking. A man who
has a gracious heart will talk graciously and kindly. Be kind one to another, tender-hearted,
forgiving one another as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven
you. And let your speech be always, always with grace when we address
one another, when we're talking to one another. And we don't
have any trouble around church here where we have troubles at
home. And in those places, speaking graciously, kindly, seasoned
with salt. You know, you got a tomato or
an egg. I just can't eat a tomato or
an egg or anything else hardly without just putting a little
salt. It tastes bland. I don't know, I just need a little
salt on it. I need something to perk it up, something to make
it taste better. And this is what is in your speech
and your conversation between wives and husbands, parents and
children, children and children, people with whom you work, your
neighbors and friends. Let your speech be with grace. Put a little salt on it. Make it taste good. Make it hear
good. Make it sound good. You don't
need to be so harsh. This grace business, what I'm
saying, grace is more than a doctrine. Grace is more than a doctrine.
More than a doctrine. More than a creed. It's a hard
experience. It's a ruling principle. It's
a manner of speaking. A person that's harsh in his
speech is not gracious, and it's questionable if he knows grace.
You can have a lot of grace up here in doctrine, and none down
here. Fourthly, true grace grows. Thank God for that. It grows. Let's turn to 2 Peter. Chapter 3. True grace grows. Give a fellow space to grow,
because true grace does grow. In 2 Peter 3, verse 18, it says
here, but grow in grace. You see now, grace as a doctrine
doesn't grow. It's the same. It's everlasting.
My grace as a doctrine is infinite, unchangeable, sovereign. The
grace that God bestowed on me. You understand that, George?
That doesn't change. That's the same. But grace in you and grace with
you, that grows. The fruit of the Spirit grows.
You grow in love, you grow in faith, you grow in patience,
you grow in meekness, you grow in humility, you grow in temperance,
you grow in kindness, you grow in grace. But grow in grace and
in the knowledge. of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul
said, I haven't arrived, I'm not perfect, I don't know everything, but I press forward, reach out,
God help me to grow, help me to grow in grace. You know, when Paul wrote to
the church in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, he deals with giving, generosity. And he said, as you abound in
faith and utterance, And these things, see that you grow in
this grace also. See that you abound in this grace.
Abound. The grace of God with me, the
grace of God upon me never changes. But the grace of God with me
and in me better change or it's not the grace of God. It grows. Grow in grace. Desire the sincere
milk of the word that you may grow thereby. Now let me have
a word to the preachers here this morning. The ministry is
a ministry of grace. We're not ministers of the law.
We're not ministers of the letter of the law. We're not ministers
of rules and regulations. We're ministers of grace. Let
me show you some scripture. Turn to Acts 20. Acts chapter
20, verse 24. Paul's talking about his ministry. in Acts chapter 20 verse 24,
but none of these things move me. Neither count I my life dear
unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and
the ministry, finish it with joy, and the ministry that I've
received of the Lord Jesus. I want to finish it. And that
ministry I've received of the Lord is to testify the gospel
of the grace of God. That's what he called me to do,
to testify the gospel of grace. It's just one gospel. The gospel
of God, the gospel of His grace, the gospel of His glory, the
gospel that cannot fail, the gospel which is good news. Now,
Ephesians 3. Ephesians 3. Listen to this.
Paul again, verse 7. He said, I was made a minister.
Verse 7, Ephesians 3, whereof, I was made a minister according
to the gift of the grace of God, given unto me by the effectual
working of His power unto me, whom I am less than the least
of all the saints. Is this grace given? Grace! That
I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. That's grace. And then 1 Peter 4, I want to
read this. 1 Peter 4, listen. 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 7, listen
to this. But the end of all things is
at hand. 1 Peter 4, 7. We're about ready
to wind it up. Be ye therefore serious and watch
unto prayer. And above all things have fervent
love among yourselves. That's grace. For charity will
cover a multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another
without grudging. As every man hath received the
gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards
of what? The manifold grace of God, stewards of the
grace of God. A fellow listened to a preacher
preach one time, and he wasn't real happy with
the preacher's attitude. presentation of the gospel. So
he invited the preacher out to dinner. The preacher went out
to his house for dinner. The man was a farmer. And he
said to the preacher, he said, I want you to go out with me
to feed the chickens. He said, to feed the chickens?
He said, yeah, I want you to go with me to feed the chickens.
So they went to the barn and they got whatever you feed chickens. He got a bucket of it, and the
preacher followed the man. He went out there, and here the
chickens came. And he took the corn or whatever
he had there, and he kind of put it all right out there in
front, and the chickens just gathered all around him. They'd
go between his legs and around him, and he kept dropping that
corn. He said, watch here, preacher.
He said, I can even drop it on my shoe. They'd eat off my shoe. He said, you see that? He said,
yeah, I see what you're doing. He said, now, but when I take
the same corn and the same chickens and throw it at them, they run from me. He said, I see what you mean.
You can take the gospel, the truth of God, and preach it graciously,
because that's what we're objects of grace. I am what I am by the
grace of God, and the grace of God bestowed upon me was not
in vain. People say, some have made the
comment, as I get a little older, I get a little easier. Thank
God for that. We need to grow in grace. I've
learned to feed chickens. And there's no reason for you
to come the same route I did. Don't throw it at them. Lay it
down. God didn't throw it at you. You see what I'm saying? This
ministry is a ministry of grace. You don't compromise. You feed
the sheep. You feed them the Word of God.
You feed them the truth. But you know, a lot of times
folks object not so much to what we say as the way we say it. And I tell you this, it's a work
of grace. You know, you're not going to
change anybody's heart. God has to change it. You're
not going to give anybody faith. God's going to give it. You're
not going to persuade anyone. You can preach the truth, but
salvation is of the Lord. I believe that. And we have to
leave it to Him. And then grace, the grace of
God is a provision. It's a provision. He said, my
grace is sufficient. My grace is sufficient. It is
sufficient too. My grace is sufficient. It's
not a trial, it's not a trouble that His grace is not sufficient.
Back in 1851, When did the Civil War start?
Sixty-two? Sixty-one. A little boy was born down in
Georgia, a little black boy, born to a slave mother and daddy. Ten years before the Civil War
started, he was born to the slave, slave mama and daddy. They named
him Charles Albert Tindley. And then the war came on, and
after the war, when he was about twenty years old, This is a true
story. Charles Albert Tinley left the
South and went North. He couldn't read and he couldn't
write. Twenty years old. And he got different jobs up
in Philadelphia. And he went to night school so
he could learn to read. He especially wanted to learn
to read because he'd come to a knowledge of the gospel. He
believed the Bible. He wanted to read his Bible.
He belonged to a black church in the big city. And he labored
and he got to read. He got to where he could read
pretty good. He could write. And he got a pretty good job.
And then the church, the church where he was a member when he
was in his late thirties, early 40s, made him the janitor. He
became the church custodian. And he served, it's a true story,
he served, Charles Albert Tinley served as church custodian until
he was 50 years old. 50 years old. And the pastor died. And that
church called Charles Albert Tinley to be their pastor. And
he pastored there for 32 years, till he was 83 years old, 82
years old. Had one of the greatest ministries
of any black preacher in the entire North. And he wrote several
hymns, one of which I want you to turn to this morning. It's page 353. Now this is what
the grace of God can do. Here's this boy, Charles Albert
Tenley. He not only wrote the words,
he wrote the music. You see over there on the left
is his name, on the right is his name. On the left in your
book is the author of the words, on your right is the author of
the music. He wrote that song, Nothing Between
My Soul and My Savior. I tell you, my friend, God's
grace is sufficient. God's grace, what God's grace
can do. is what Charles Albert Tenley
revealed right here.

Grace - More Than a Doctrine

What does the Bible say about grace?

How do we know God's grace is sufficient?

Why is it important for Christians to understand grace?

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Grace - More Than a Doctrine

What does the Bible say about grace?

How do we know God's grace is sufficient?

Why is it important for Christians to understand grace?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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