Grace Before Grace

I'd like to look with you again
at Mark 4. Our Lord had given a parable, and someone had asked Him to
explain it. And beginning at verse 14, our
Lord explained the parable of the sower. I confess I have preached
from this text many, many times, and I believe I enjoy at least
a limited but profitable understanding of the application, the general
purpose of this parable. When I came to verse 15 and I
read these words, the Lord said, these are they by the wayside.
where the word is sown, but when they've heard, Satan cometh immediately
and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. We
stand to preach the gospel, as I am doing at this present time.
And there are people sitting in the congregation who are hearing
my word. You just heard me say the sentence,
who are hearing my word. You heard that. You heard me
read the scripture. You heard the psalm that was
just sung. And some impression may have been made, your thoughts
might for the moment have been given to those things, but as
soon as you step out that door and go out into the world, this
seed, and that's what the word of God is, it's seed. The word
is, the seed is the word. That seed is born away, you lose
it, it leaves your mind. Satan is subtle and deceitful,
crafty and powerful, and he has a kingdom. over which he reigns. People walk after the course
of this world according to the prince of the power of the air,
and he replaces that seed with something else. You just forget
it. It really makes no permanent impression on your heart. Now,
I understand that. I understand that there are people
who listen to me preach who have no interest in the gospel. They
have no interest in eternal life. They have no interest in a relationship
with Christ. Their interest just does not
go beyond this given moment. Tomorrow they will not go back
and read the scripture. They will not pray for an understanding.
They will not ask God to enter their hearts. They will not ask
Christ to redeem them. They will not plead for mercy
or ask for grace. They just hear. They just hear
indifferently and carelessly and it's gone. It's gone. They retain practically nothing. Then I understand the second
verse. Our Lord said, when the sower sowed, some of the seed
fell. along the wayside. That's the beaten path. That's
the beaten path. The seed falls there. And you
men have sown lettuce and turnip greens and kale and mustard and
things like that where you just broadcast the seed. You broadcast
it, and some of it falls over there on the ground that hasn't
been plowed. It hasn't been prepared. It just
falls on the path where your feet have walked, and you don't
expect it. You don't look for turnip greens
to grow over there, because the seed, the bird will come pick
it up, and it's gone. The place there, I will know
it no more. But this other, secondly, understand this, and these are
they likewise which are sown on stony ground. When they hear
the word, Immediately, they receive it with gladness. Now, I've experienced
this so many times. In fact, this right here is perhaps
most of the ground to which I pray. They, being brought up in America,
being surrounded with religion, most people have some idea of
God. And they have some, to some extent,
an awareness of sin. and to some extent a belief that
there is a hereafter, life after death. And there may be a judgment,
there may be a time when they shall have to give an account
to God. And so they are concerned about these matters. Jesus Christ,
they hear of him and his death and salvation and these things. So when you preach and you preach
these things and they hear the good news of the gospel, That's
good. That's it. I believe that. They get real enthusiastic for
a moment. They get real interested. It
may last a week. It may last two weeks. I've seen
it last a week. I've seen people come here to
the services and hear the gospel of Christ and hear the music
and the prayers of these blessed men. And go out and say, man,
that's where the gospel, I'm going to attend there. I'm going
to listen to that gospel. I'm going to worship those people.
They're back the next Sunday, and then maybe they're back the
next, but then they're gone. Some last for a week, some two
weeks, some six months, some a year, some two or three years.
Enthusiastic. This is good. They receive the
word with gladness immediately. Listen. When they heard the word,
immediately receive it with gladness. But there's, this is the seed
sown among the, in that real shallow ground. The rocks are
everywhere. It's shallow ground. They have
no root. The root doesn't go down. It just springs up quickly
and after a while the sun comes out and there's a little persecution,
a little misunderstanding, a little affliction, a little trial, a
little disturbance. Everything, the road to glory
is not as rosy as they thought. The way to God is not as as joyful
as they thought. This thing of religion and a
life with Christ is not as they thought. And so they drop along
the wayside. And I understand that. I understand
that. I see that happen, and I have
no trouble with that verse at all. It takes root temporarily. It springs up with zeal, but
it soon fails because it's not hard work. It's head work. It's an understanding of the
mind. The roots are planted in the loose dirt, and often Satan
will plant these seeds. There's no place that he works
more actively than in religion. He'll give a man a false hope.
He can't give him a genuine hope, but he'll give him a false hope.
And they get taken up with religion to a point, and then The interest,
the heart is not there. No root. No root. And then you know verse 18. I
understand this. It says that the seed fell among
the thorns. It fell among the thorns. And
those that hear the word, verse 19, they hear the word, but the
cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and riches are deceitful. All of these fancy things that
we have bought with money are deceitful. They provide no happiness. They let you think they can,
but they can provide no lasting happiness. The rich young ruler
found that out when he said, I'll tear down my barns and build
bigger barns, and I'll say, soul, take thine ease. Eat, drink,
and be merry. And Christ said, thou fool, this night thy soul
shall be required of thee. Then who shall these things be
that you've accumulated? Riches are deceitful, they can
give no peace and no rest and no lasting joy. Yes, there's
pleasure in sin, no question about that, for a season. Nothing permanent about it, it's
all temporary. And these people, they hear the
Word, there's an interest in the Word, there is some kind
of growth. But after a while, the deceitfulness
of riches and the cares of this world, the cares of this world,
and these can be cares of responsible duties. You men in business,
your business can choke the word of God out. This is something
you have, well, I have to do this. Well, maybe you do if that's
your goal. It can choke the word of God,
but I have to be here and be there. All right, that's your
business, whichever is most important to you. Your family. Well, my
family's important. Well, put them in the proper
place of their importance. If they're that important to
you, it's all right by me. But that's what is the cares
of this world can be duties which are admirable. And the deceitfulness
of riches and the desire of other things. And anything that does
not glorify Christ and build you up spiritually is an other
thing. It can be anything. It can be
your charity work. It can be any service to mankind
which you think is important. But if it chokes the Word, if
it replaces Christ, if it diverts your attention from knowing Christ,
it's other things. And it enters in, but I'm busy. Well, that's one day you'll be
unbusy. And that's the day when you wish
you hadn't been so busy. And it chokes the Word and the
Word becomes unfruitful. Unfruitful. I understand that.
I see that. I see that. I see that. I see all three of these Illustrations,
but I have trouble with the 20th verse. I I see something here
I've never seen before I ran across something that I've read
many many times Now this the sower goes forth so And and the seed is the Word
of God The Word of God, but I thought not this morning this book this
word glories of Christ the deceitfulness of Satan the certainty of eternity,
the certainty of judgment, the meeting with God, what's right,
what's wrong, what's righteous, what's unholy. And who sow their
seed, and some falls upon in different ears, in different
hearts, they don't care, well, and some falls on that ground
and they listen, boy that's good, that's good, that's great! But
it's not so great after a while, and then Some falls among the
thorns, and here's a fella, he's important, and he's busy, and
he's got things to do, and money to make, and kids to raise, and
a family to educate, and all these things, and he got, he'll
take a little gospel, what he can, you know, with all these
other things, and he'll crowd God in somewhere, you know, the
Lord might have to stand in line, but he'll, he'll crowd him in
there somewhere, and I know about that, but verse 20, listen to
this, And these are they which are sown on good ground, Now,
my brethren, is there any such thing as good ground in human
nature? And we're talking about the Word
being sown in the hearts of people here. This good ground. Did that ever, did you ever,
and who is it, Brother Jeff, Luke calls it honest and good
ground. Good and honest ground. It's
honest ground. The Bible says there is no difference
all have seen. and come short of the glory of
God. Are not all depraved by nature? When I stand here to
preach the Word of God tonight and we talk about the wayside,
the hard ground, the depraved, fallow ground, that's man's lost
condition by nature. Or the stony ground. What are
the stones? Sin. That stony ground is the
ground of sin. Or the thorns. There were no
thorns to man's fail, that's sin. But here the Word falls
on good ground, good and honest soil. Now if all ground is bad
by nature and all hearts are corrupt by the fall, how do you
account for this good ground which receives the Word? Receives
the Word like a sponge receives a cup of water. How do you account
for this ground that that word as it's preached, and I'm talking
about preaching the word now, I'm not talking about preaching
a lot of foolishness like what we hear today, but I'm talking
about preaching God's word. How do you account for that?
Here's the man who couldn't care less. Here's the man who's stony
ground. He pops off a whole lot and grows
up like a mushroom, disappears just as quick. And here's the
man, you know, he's busy. Get him if you can, catch him
on the run, you know. He'll wind it up to pretty soon.
But here's a man sitting there, and that word comes in, and it
starts growing. And it produces the fruit of
the Spirit. Some thirtyfold, some sixty,
some a hundred. There are degrees of love, there
are degrees of grace, there are degrees of revelation, there
are degrees of growth. God gives gift as it pleases
him, but this man, he becomes a man who produces what you pray,
who's a living embodiment of the gospel. He's not just a doctrinalist,
he's not just a talker, he is a doer of the word of God. Now
how come? Well, I say this is the answer.
There is grace before grace. In other words, there was a preparation
work performed on this ground before that seed was ever sown.
There was a preparation work. This sowing of the seed, when
I stand to preach in the power of the Holy Spirit, or any man
preaches in the power of the Spirit of God, that's grace.
And if it finds a lodging in your heart and convicts of sin
and brings you to Christ, that's grace. If it regenerates you
and brings to you true heart repentance and true heart faith
and a true heart love for Christ and a true new nature, that's
grace. This seed sown in the good ground
is grace, but there's some grace took place before this grace.
God actually, now listen, here's what I'm preaching. God actually
deals in grace with his people. Long before he deals with them
in regenerating grace, in quickening grace. The old timers used to
call it prevenient grace. P-R-E-V-E-N-I-N-T, prevenient
grace. That's common grace before regenerating
grace. That's mercy before mercy. In
other words, God's grace is operative toward his people and in the
lives of his people before the living seed ever comes in. I'm
not saying that they're quickened to life apart from the seed.
I'm saying there is a work of grace performed on these people
that brings them to that place where they are receptive to the
Word, where they are hungry for the Word, where they will receive
the Word. There's a work of grace before,
and I'm going to show you that. For example, turn, if you will,
to John chapter 1. John chapter 1. Let me show you
some illustrations of this from God's Word. In John chapter 1,
verse 43, listen to this. John 1, 43. What I'm saying,
and let's make it as simple as we can, so you can understand,
at least in your head, and I can, that if a man comes here tonight
and sits down and listens to this gospel, and there's a permanent
work of grace, regenerating, quickening grace, where God makes
him a person of faith, brings him to Christ, there's some grace
that has gone on before he came here. There's some preparatory
work that has gone on before he came here. Just like the land
out there, you're going to do some planting in May, May the
1st. But I guarantee you, in the month
of April, you're going to do some plowing. And you're going
to do some preparatory work. So that when you put that seed
in the ground, it'll bring forth fruit. And in John chapter 1,
verse 43, the day following, Jesus would go forth into Galilee,
and he found his Philip and said to him, follow me. Now Philip
was our best savior, the Seder, city of Andrew and Peter. And
what's this? Philip found it in Nathanael
and said to him, we found him, we found him, of whom Moses and
the law and the prophets did write. He's Jesus of Nazareth,
the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said, can there
any good thing come out of Nazareth? And Philip said, well, you just
come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him. And he said, Behold
an Israelite in whom there is no guile. And Nathanael said,
Whence knowest thou me? Whence knowest thou me? And Jesus
answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called you when you
were under the fig tree, I saw you. I saw you. My eyes were upon you. My hand
was upon you. You belong to me. Before you
ever met Christ, He met you. Before you ever saw me, Nathaniel,
I saw you. There under the fig tree, I saw
you. Look at Galatians 1, 15. Listen to this. Paul, most of
you can quote it without even looking it up. because I use
it so frequently. Paul said in Galatians 1 15,
when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by his grace. Now there was a day when God
called Paul on the road to Damascus. There was a day when God Almighty
spoke to Paul and revealed himself to Paul. But God had already
done a work of grace on Paul's behalf, he said, from his mother's
Jeremiah, the Lord came to Jeremiah and said, Before I formed thee
in the belly, I knew thee. Before you came out of the womb,
I sanctified you. Turn to Acts chapter 18. Here's
an interesting scripture. The Apostle Paul, everywhere
he went, encountered opposition because of the gospel. He wasn't
preaching what men wanted to hear, he was preaching what God
sent him to preach. And wherever he preached the
truth, he encountered opposition. The natural man receiveth not
the things of God, but foolishness to him. And men aren't going
to listen to foolishness without rebelling against it. And the
natural mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can it be. So when natural men hear
that which is of God, they're going to rebel against it. They're
going to hate it. That's the reason Christ said
to his disciples, marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate
you. The world can't do anything else but hate you. Men hate the
light, and they don't come to the light lest their deeds be
reproved. They love darkness. And when
light is brought, spiritual light, They're going to object to it.
They're going to rebel against it. And Paul ran into this rebellion
everywhere, and then the Lord came to him one night in a vision
in Acts 18, verse 9. The Lord spake to Paul in the
night by vision and said, Now listen, be not afraid, but speak,
and hold not your peace, for I am with you, And no man's going
to sit on you to hurt you, for I have much people in this city. They don't know me, but I know
them. They don't know me, they don't
know the gospel. They don't believe the gospel,
but they're my people. And you stay here, you're my
instrument to preach the gospel to them. And they're going, you
stay right here. And Paul stayed there almost,
what, two and a half, two years? And God saved many, many people.
But he already had the people. They were there waiting on Paul
to bring them the gospel. And this is God's method of grace. The Lord has to bring his people
into an encounter with the truth. You shall know the truth, and
the truth shall set you free. You can't be set free by error. You've got to hear the truth.
God has got to cross your path with a revelation, not of a Jesus,
but of THE Christ. the Son of the Living God. They
couldn't have brought but one baby and put that baby in the
arms of Simeon and heard him say, I've seen thy salvation. Simeon saw Christ, not a Christ,
not some Christ, not any Christ, but the Christ. That's what I'm
saying, God is going to encounter his people with the truth. And
that day that you meet Christ, that's no surprise to God, He
brought you to that place. And He brought that preacher
to that place. And that preacher. Ethiopian music, traveling from
Jerusalem down to Ethiopia. Before he ever heard the gospel
or met Christ or believed the gospel, God said to Philip, you
go over here to a country called Gaza, there's a fellow over there
I want you to preach the gospel to, he's mine, you see, I've
set my love on him. God had already done it. You
hear that man had been to Jerusalem, he'd been to a religious feast,
he was reading the Bible, the good ground, that's what we're
talking about. And Philip came to him and told
him of whom the prophets spake. in Isaiah chapter 53. And he
saw it, he believed it. But the work, the preparatory
work was done long years, months, weeks before God ever brought
him to meet Philip. Five things I want to say briefly.
My time is almost gone, but I can give them to you and you can
jot them down if you want to and later think about them. There is grace before grace.
There is, first of all, there is covenant grace. Now I want
you to understand exactly what I'm preaching here. I don't believe
in camouflaging the message because God won't bless deceit, deception,
slipping up on folks. What I'm saying is this. Before
thy hands had made the sun to rule by day, or earth's foundations
laid or fashioned Adam's clay, what thoughts of love and mercy
flowed toward me in Christ, O my God." I'm saying that everybody
whom God saves in time, he purposed to save in eternity. That's what
I'm teaching. Turn to 2 Thessalonians 2, verse
13. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. Now, if the Spirit of God dwells
in you, and the Spirit of God wrote this book, you're going
to believe it. If the Spirit of God dwells in
me, and the Spirit of God gives me a message to preach, and the
Spirit of God dwells in you, you're going to hear that message
and believe it. God's Spirit doesn't fight God's Word. 2 Thessalonians
2 verse 13 says, We are bound to give thanks always to God
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. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1.
Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 and 4. Paul said, Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
he hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ for
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved." That means just what it says. "'Twas with an
everlasting love that God his own elect embraced, before he
made the worlds above, or earth, on her huge columns placed.' Those who are quickened under
the preaching of the gospel, those who are awakened under
the preaching of the gospel, those who are brought to faith
under the preaching of the gospel, back before this world began,
God gave them to his Son. Scripture says he gave his Son
a people countless beyond number, out of every tribe, nation, tongue
unto heaven. And Christ said, All that my
Father giveth me will come to me, and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven not to
do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this
is the will of him that sent me, that of all which he hath
given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day."
God loved them, God chose them, God purposed to save them, God
predestinated them to be like Christ. And the Son became their
surety, became their representative. The firstborn stood right then
in eternity past in the eternal covenant of mercy. The firstborn
stood for all of the newborn. The first elect bore in him all
the rest of the elect. The first begotten represented
right then all who would be begotten. As we have borne the image of
the first Adam, we shall bear the image of the second Adam.
And the Holy Spirit was commissioned at that time and sent into this
world to call these elect of God to repentance and faith.
And what the Spirit performs, the Son has purchased. And what the Son has purchased,
you can write it down, the Father has purposed. There's no disunity
in the Trinity. There's one. They're one. What the Father hath purposed,
the Son hath purchased. What the Son hath purchased,
I guarantee you, the Spirit will perform. There's not one given
to the Son, redeemed by the Son, that the Spirit will not one
day, in God's good time, bring to Christ. That's covenant grace. Then secondly,
there is formative grace. Now watch this. Turn to 2 Timothy
3. But there is formative grace.
Now, my friends, every step you've taken since you were born, God,
Paul said, Saul of Tarsus said, God who separated me from my
mother's womb. One day when he was 40 years
old, God called him by his grace. Forty some odd years old. I guarantee
you, every step he took from the time he was born, every class
he studied, Every step he took, everything he learned, every
contact he made was God predestinating and working these things to bring
him to that hour. Paul's ministry was mainly among
the Jews. That's the reason God put him
through the school of Gamaliel. That's the reason God made him
a Pharisee. That's the reason God taught him the original tongue,
the language that he spoke. You remember that day he spoke
that original tongue and God used it to deliver him? They
said, well, he speaks in our language. Well, do you think
it was an accident he learned that? A Hebrew, a tribe of Benjamin? All of these things, God was
bringing him to that moment when he would meet Christ. And he
says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3 verse 15, and that from a child,
he doesn't say from a child you were saved, he doesn't say from
a child you were regenerated, he doesn't say from a child you
were a believer, he said from a child you have known the holy
scripture. which are able to make thee wise
unto salvation through faith which is in Christ. The only
way a man be saved is through faith in Christ. But the only
way a man have faith in Christ is through Scripture. And this
boy Timothy, his mother and grandmother taught him the Scriptures. You
parents, some of you have children that are rebellious. They're
rebellious against you, against the gospel, against the word
of God. And you're mournful in your spirit and you're broken
hearted and join the club. But God is able to bring forth
that seed that was sown in early days. His word will not return
unto him for he may not. I'm not saying it's a guarantee.
I'm not saying that if you bring up a child in church that one
of these days he'll come back. I'm not saying that at all. If
he's one of God's own he will. If he's one of God's own. If he's one of God's own. You
remember old John Mark. He walked off and left Paul.
He left him. He left him in a huff. But he
came back. He was one of God's own. And
that's true. And I have all the confidence
in the world in that, that whatever takes... Have you ever traced
the work of God in your life? What brought you to hear the
gospel? What were all of the complicated things that God worked
out? Wasn't it a whole lot like Joseph's
route to the throne in Egypt? My goodness alive, Joseph from
his father's house to the pit, from the pit to slavery, from
slavery to Potiphar's house, from Potiphar's house to the
prison, from the prison up to the palace, from the palace finally
to the throne. But I guarantee you one person
designed that whole route, and that's the Heavenly Father. And
you know a lot of times we grumble over the very providence of God
that he sent into our lives to bring us to a certain place. I wasn't born in China, born
in America, by God's grace. I wasn't born to parents who
were totally indifferent to the gospel. Thank God I wasn't. But
I was born to parents who, while not knowing a whole lot about
the gospel, still they took me to church. And I was born, and
there's another thing too, feeling religiously inclined and all
these other things. I came up here to Ashland. And
then went down to school at Chattanooga and pastor of a church down there.
Had a fairly respectable congregation, but up here one day the pastor
of Pollard Baptist Church called me and said, won't you come back
up here as my assistant? And my deacons met that night
and I talked to them. One of them said, why on earth
would you want to resign as pastor and go somewhere and be an assistant
pastor? But I said, I don't know, but somehow I feel like I ought
to go up there. And you know, I came up here
that Monday, and a fellow named Ralph Barnard was here preaching
the gospel. And God crossed my path with
this message of grace. But all of this background, I
don't know how complicated and how it reaches to so many different
lives. It brings us to that hour God
wants us to hear something. And we'll hear it. My sheep will
hear it, my Lord. Now, that bunch to the wayside, it's just going
to roll off. It'll roll off. You push them
when they're down, it'll still be rolling off. And those thorns
Choking it out, they'll be choking them out until they die and perish,
and no stones without any root. They'll get happy today and lost
tomorrow, and happy next week, lost the next week. They'll keep
springing up here and there. But those people of God whom
He knew in covenant grace, whom He brought to Him in formative
grace, they'll hear His Word. And then there's restraining
grace. I want you to turn to 1 Samuel 25. 1 Samuel 25. This is one of the most beautiful
stories in the Bible, and I'm not going to try to read it all
tonight, but I'm going to read some of it. Restraining grace. Or another word might be preventive
grace. But David, let me give you the
background, and I'm going to read you something beautiful.
David was the king. He wasn't on the throne, but
God had ordained him to be king. Saul was still king. But David's
out there running from Saul, going from cave to mountain to
different places. He had about 600 men with him. And, uh, cause here he took 400
with him, left 200 at home. So that means he had about 600
men with him. And there was a fella named Nabal,
N-A-B-A-L, who lived in the Carmel area. And he was rich. He had
3,000 sheep and 1,000 oxen and all this stuff, you know, just
everything. And David's men protected his shepherds and protected his
sheep. And so David's men were hungry.
They were living like fugitives from Saul's wrath. And David
sent some of his men down to Nabal, sent ten young men down
to Nabal, down to this rich fellow, and he said, sent us, that's
verse 8 and 9, David sent us and asked you to give us a little
something to eat, to send to his men. We've protected your
crops and protected your shepherds and protected your sheep, and
David's watched out for them, and he said, send him a little
something to eat. And old Nabal said, verse 10, Who is David?
Who is the son of Jesse? There may be many servants nowadays
that break away every man from his master. Shall I take my bread
and water and flesh that I have killed for my share and give
it to men whom I know not which they be? And David's young men
turned and went back. Look at verse 13 now. And they
told David what Nabal said, and old David said to his men, Every
man put him on a sword. And they girded every man his
sword, and David put on his sword. And these were the orders. You'll
read it on later in verse 20, 22 or 21, 22. David said to his
men before they left, said, We're going down to visit Mr. Nabal.
And he said, When we leave his household, I don't want a male
alive. I don't want Nabal alive. I don't
want his sons or his son-in-laws. I don't want his babies. I don't
want any male in that household to be left alive. I want them
all dead on the ground, their blood running on the ground.
And he started down there. Well, Nabal's wife, Abigail,
it says in the Word that she was a very wise woman and a very
beautiful woman. And she heard about this. And
verse 18, Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and
two bottles of wine and five sheep ready dressed and five
measures of parched corn and a hundred clusters of raisins
and two hundred cakes of figs and laid them on Ashes. And she
said to her servants, Go before me. Behold, I come after you.
And she didn't tell her husband, Nabal. And it was so, as she
rode on the ash, that she came down by the culvert of the hill,
and, behold, David and his men came against her, and she met
him. Here comes David. He's mad. He is mad. David said, Surely in vain have
I kept this fellow in the wilderness, and so forth. Now, verse 23,
When Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ash, and
fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
and fell at his feet, and said, Now listen how beautiful this
is. Unto me, my Lord, upon me, my Lord, upon me let this iniquity
be. Let Thine handmaid, I pray Thee,
speak in Thine audience, hear the words of Thy handmaid. Let
not, my Lord, I pray Thee, regard this man of Belal, even Nabal,
for as his name is so is he. The name Nabal means fool, and
she said he's just like his name. His name is fool and folly is
with him. But I, thine handmaid, saw not
the young men of my Lord, whom you did send. Now therefore,
my Lord, as the Lord liveth, as my soul liveth, Seeing the
Lord hath withholding thee from coming to shed blood, and from
avenging thyself with thine own hand, let thine enemies, and
they that speak evil to my Lord, be as nable." In other words,
let God handle him. David, don't avenge yourself.
Don't shed blood to avenge yourself. Don't do that. And verse 32,
she went on to talk some more, you can read it later, but in
verse 32, David said, Abigail, blessed be the Lord God of Israel
which sent you to me this day to meet me, and blessed be thy
advice, and blessed be thou which hast kept me this day from coming
to shed blood and from avenging myself with mine own hand. For
in very deed, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, which hath
kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hast tasted and come
to meet me, surely there hath not been left undenabled by the
morning light any that pisseth against the wall, or any male.
So David received of her hand that which she had brought him,
And said to her, you go in peace to your house, I've listened
to you. That's restraining grace. You
know, let me ask you a question. Where would you be tonight if
it wasn't for God's restraining grace? What would you be tonight
if it wasn't for God's restraining grace? What crimes would be on
your soul? What a price would be on your
head? How many times, unknown to us, God has sent an Abigail. God has sent a messenger. God has sent a hand of restraint. When the gasoline and the fire
come together, there's an explosion, but how God in his restraining
grace keeps them apart. How many close calls you've had
with death? And God gave his angels charge
over you and kept you and protected you. That's the fourth grace,
protective grace. Turn to Psalm 91. Psalm 91. Listen to this. In Psalm 91,
protective grace, he shall give his angel charge over you. Let
me show you this, Psalm 91, start with verse 2. I will say of the
Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in him will
I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee
from the snare of the fowler, from the norsome pestilence.
He will cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou
trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler Thou shalt
not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that
flies by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor
for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall
fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand. It shall not
come nigh thee." You're immortal till God sees fit to take you
home. And he's not going to take you home till you have a home.
He's not going to take you away from this earth until you have
Christ. If He's gone to prepare for you
a place, He's going to prepare you for that place. That's protective
grace. Listen to what this old songwriter's
written. Determined to save me, he watched over my path. When
Satan's blind slave, I sported with death. Though dark be my
way, since he is my guide, no foe can destroy me because he
will provide. His love in time past forbids
me to think that he'd leave me at last in darkness to sink. Each sweet Ebenezer, Ebenezer's
hitherto hath God brought me. Each sweet Ebenezer I have in
review confirms his purpose to see me straight through. The heirs of salvation I know
from his word will never see death till they've seen their
Lord. That's so. Protective grace. All right, last of all, regenerating
grace, Ephesians 2. Now this is the quickening grace. This is the regenerating grace.
This is when the seed is put in the ground. This is when the
life is given. This is when the Lord Jesus Christ
is created in the heart, the new nature, the new birth. You,
verse 1 of Ephesians 2, hath he quickened who were dead, and
trespasses in sin. Of his own will begat he us through
the word of truth, the word of truth, the seed sown. He hath
begotten us again unto a living hope, and not through corruptible
seed, but incorruptible seed, the word of God. But there's
grace before grace. A man just doesn't walk in off
the street and decide he'll go to heaven. He may walk in off
the street and listen to the gospel and be convinced of his
sins and brought to faith in Christ. But I'll guarantee you
that street on which he walked had many different streets that
brought him there. And God brought Philip to Nathanael,
and God brought Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch, and Christ
Jesus to the Samaritan woman, and Christ Jesus to Zacchaeus,
and Christ Jesus to blind Bartimaeus. How do you suppose blind Bartimaeus
just happened to be on that corner that day? How do you suppose that? Well,
God put him there. God put him there. And all of
this covenant grace, formative grace, restraining grace, enlightening
grace, protective grace, and then quickening grace. Good ground. Not by nature, but by grace.

Grace Before Grace

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