Oh, it's time? Okay, all right.
Well, happy birthday this week to Arlene. Again? How many times is that,
49? Remember those who requested
prayer, the Troiko family, Christy Sullivan's grandbaby had the
chemotherapy, but she had, but he, he had a, Anaphylactic shock
reaction, so they had to take him off that chemotherapy. We're
going to have to try something else. But the cancer is not as bad
as they thought it was, so we're thankful. But it's just an infant,
so remember them in your prayers. Also, the Shane Masterson family,
the loss of their father, and the Herbert Lossie family. Remember
these folks in your prayers. And Dean Parks will have his
second experimental treatment tomorrow. I don't know anything
about the first one. Sandy hadn't called me, so I
don't know. But we'll see. continue to remember him in your
prayers. Him number 477, At Calvary. Years I spent in vanity and pride,
Caring not my Lord was crucified, Knowing not it was for me He
died on Calvary. ? And there was multiplied to me
? There my burdened soul found liberty at Calvary ? By God's
word at last my sin I learned ? Then I trembled at the law
I'd spurned ? Till my guilty soul implored ? At Calvary ? Mercy there was
great and grace was free ? Pardon there was multiplied to me ?
There my burdened soul found liberty ? At Calvary ? Now I
give to Jesus I'm glad we own him as my king. Now my raptured soul can only
sing of Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace
? My burdened soul found liberty
at Calvary ? ? Oh, the Lord that drew salvation's plan ? ? Oh,
the grace that brought it down to man ? ? Oh, the mighty cup
that God did spend at Calvary ? After scripture and prayer we'll
sing hymn number 222. If you have your Bibles, turn
with me to 1 Corinthians 15. I'm going to read one verse of scripture.
Verse 10. 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 more abundantly
than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God, which was with
me. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven,
we come in the blessed name of Jesus Christ our Lord, the King
of kings, the majesty who sits at thy right hand, ever living
to make intercession for his people, having interceded for
them fully at Calvary, satisfying your law's demands, dying the
death that was due them, paying their sin debt, putting away
their sin as far as the east is from the west, and having
purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high. We're thankful, Father, that we can speak such things
as poor, wretched sinners who have nothing in and of ourselves
that could ever commend us or recommend us to God. But we are
thankful that our recommendation is at Thy right hand, that we
are seen in Jesus Christ, and therefore we even now sit in
heavenly places in Him. Father, we pray for those who
are sick. We pray for these families that have lost loved ones. We
ask Your help for them, Lord. your comfort that only you can
give. Continue to pray for Dave Parks as he's going through his
treatment, Christie Wheatley's young baby. We ask, Lord, you'd
be a help to them. For the others who've lost loved
ones, we ask your comforting peace in their hearts. For ourselves
this morning, Father, we ask that you'd be pleased to draw
our minds and center our hearts and fix our hearts on this grand
and glorious truth. that we are what we are by your
grace and nothing else. We thank you for that grace,
sufficient, effectual, sovereign, immaculate, wondrous grace that
set us in a right standing with thee. How wonderful. Give us grace to worship you
for that fact and that wondrous truth. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Hymn number 222, There
Is A Fountain Filled With Blood. There is a fountain filled with
blood, grown from Emmanuel's veins, Lose all their guilty stains. Lose all their guilty stains. Lose all their that flood lose all their guilty
stains. The dying thief rejoiced to see
that fountain Wash all my sins away. Wash all my sins away. Wash all my sins away. as he washed all my sins away. Dear dying Lamb, thy precious
blood shall Lord, the ransom Church of God. Be saved to sin no more. Be saved to sin no more. Be saved to sin no more. ? Will all the ransomed church
of God ? ? Be sent to sin no more ? ? E'er since, by faith,
I saw the stream ? ? Thy flowing wounds supply ? And shall be till I die And shall
be till I die has been my theme and shall be
till I die. When this four-leaf sphinx stand
returned A nobler, sweeter song. I'll sing thy part to save. I'll sing thy part to save. I'll sing thy part to save. I'll sing that part to save. Let's stand, Steve, to receive
the offering, please. Let us pray. Father, again we approach
in the name of Christ, that blessed, perfect, unspeakable gift. that you have given to your children
freely, and with him have given them all things, all things that
pertain to godliness and life, all spiritual gifts freely given,
bestowed, forgiveness, mercy, grace, faith, repentance, All
things necessary for our salvation are met in Him who is altogether
lovely. As we render unto thee that which
belongs to you rightly, which you have given us for a time,
let us do so with joy in our hearts. In thanksgiving we pray
in Christ's name, amen. Draw attention back to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15 and verse 10. The gospel of God's grace puts
everything in its proper place and in its proper order. This
single phrase here in verse 10, where Paul says, By the grace
of God I am what I am, covers all the bases in the matter of
our salvation and acceptance before God. This phrase strips
us bare, shuts up any and every avenue of merit and pride on
our parts. The salvation of our souls, the
keeping of our person, our eternal destiny, the accomplishment of
it must all be laid at the door of free and sovereign grace. Nothing may be added to this.
and nothing may be taken from it. We can say it and use it
as a motto for all our days here upon this earth. I am what I
am. That's it. I am what I am by
the grace of God. We're just singing a song by
William Cooper. His name looks like it's Cowper,
but it's Cooper. And I was listening to the words
as I was saying them, and I was thinking of Cowper, Cooper. He was a man who suffered great
depression, anguish of heart and soul, ended up in a mental
institution. And I thought, bless his heart,
his only hope, and he knew it. was when this poor, lisping,
stammering tongue lies silent in the grave. Then, in a nobler,
sweeter song, I'll sing thy power to save. I bet if you were to
ask old Cooper, what's your hope? He'd say, I am what I am, by
the grace of God. By the grace of God. This is
the testimony of every child of God. This is the song of Zion,
the prose and poetry and lyric of the life in Jesus Christ.
Our text is the heartbeat of every believer in the bane of
freewill works religion. These are not the words of a
man who's trying to sound humble, nor are these the words of a
religious catchphrase or a stinger as the punctuation mark on some
sanctimonious prattle. These are the words of a man
who, though he was in ignorance, said he obtained mercy. In his
ignorance, he obtained mercy. These are the words of a man
who was one born out of season, who by his own declaration was
not fit to be called an apostle, called himself less than the
least of saints, and even called himself the chief of sinners.
And that wasn't in the past tense. In the past tense, he was before
a persecutor. Now he said, I am the chief of
sinners. I am the chief of sinners. How'd
he get that way? By grace. That's how he understood it.
That's how he grasped what he was. In verse 8 and 9 he says
this in this text. And last, verse 9 says, I am
the least of the apostles. I'm not meat. to be called an
apostle or suitable to be called an apostle because I persecuted
the church but by the grace of God I am what I am that's the
first words of verse 10 but though all those things declared in
verses 8 and 9 are true here I am he says an apostle a saint
and all by the grace of God I did not merit what I am. I did not
choose to be an apostle. I could never have earned the
right to be called an apostle. I do not deserve to be an apostle,
but I am what I am by the grace of God. I am an apostle by the
grace of God. By pure and powerful and effectual
and unmerited favor, God made me what I am. Oh, if we could
rehearse that in our heads every second of the day. He had been before a blasphemer,
a persecutor, an injurious, he said. But I obtained mercy, and
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ was exceeding abundant, exceeding
abundant. This redeemed sinner needed no
Westminster or Philadelphia confession of faith or creed. There is only
one suitable credo concerning his own faith and experience
and his experience of salvation. What is my experience of salvation?
And if you're a child of God, what is yours? By the grace of
God, I am what I am. That's it. Don't rise above that. Don't sink beneath it. and it
is equally the singular testimony of every sinner who's ever tasted
the free and sweet savor of sovereign saving grace of God in Jesus
Christ. As believers, all saved sinners
gladly attribute the entire work of salvation to the free grace
of God. All sinners saved by grace. That's their song. They
don't talk about free will except in a negative way. They don't
talk about works or merit. except to disown and disallow
them. When they talk about God's salvation,
it's to the praise of the glory of His grace, all of it. And if you are saved, you do
not owe your salvation to anything you have done. If you are saved,
you know this is so. If there are those here who are
not converted, if ever you are to be saved, It will not be because
of your goodness, nor will it be your vileness that will prevent
it. Because by the grace of God,
we are what we are. The source of God's goodness
to us resides altogether in His sovereign mercy toward sinners. When we talk about grace, and
when we talk about mercy, we're talking about that which only
is for sinners. Not for good people. For sinners. For ruined, undone people. And
when I say sinners, I'm not talking about somebody who smokes and
chews and don't mess around with people who does. Or go to the
movie show. I'm talking about somebody who
by his nature hates God. Hates God and would dethrone
God. Would stick his finger in God's
eye. Would rip God from his throne and set himself in place. Sin
is against God. Sin is a mockery to the holy
and righteous God. Christ alone accomplished everything
concerning salvation for us and in us. Christ chose us before
the foundation of the world. He redeemed us by His blood.
He justified us by His blood and His grace, and He has called
us. It is Christ alone who preserves
us into eternal glory. If any sinner is lost and goes
to hell, it'll be his own fault. There's no doubt about that.
You will have no one to blame but yourself if you perish, especially
once you've heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. But if anyone
is saved, it will be the work of grace alone. It won't be your
fault. You won't be involved. We will have no one to thank
for our salvation but God. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. And if by the grace of God I
am what I am, what am I by grace? I am a believing sinner, a forgiven
sinner, a son of God, a saint, a man of righteousness, a perfected
man, a blessed man. I'm a blessed man. Over in Psalm
32, David said, this is what a blessed man is, later quoted
in Romans chapter 4 by Paul. David said, Blessed, blessed,
that means honored, shown great kindness. Blessed
is he whose transgression is forgiven. whose sin is covered. Blessed
is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and whose
spirit there is no God." Paul said in Romans 4, quoting this
one verse of this passage, he said, what it is to be blessed
is to know that as you walk on this earth and you know what
you are inside and in your mind and heart by nature, to know
that God will never impute sin to you. God will never charge
you with sin. He won't do it. Why? Because
before Him, by grace, you have no sin. He remembers your sin
no more. What am I by the grace of God?
I'm an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. God's
grace, according to Scripture in Colossians 1.12, has made
me SUITABLE to be an heir of God, to join in the inheritance
of the saints. I certainly don't feel suitable,
but grace says I am. I am a stranger and a pilgrim,
a soldier and a man at rest, and liberated at the same time,
a new creation. Circumcision nor uncircumcision
availeth nothing but a new creation. According to scripture, I lack
nothing if God has bestowed His grace upon me. I am complete
in Him. He is the completeness of the
Godhead, and in Him dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
And ye, Colossian believers, all sinners saved by grace, ye
at Sequoia Church, all sinners saved by grace, ye are complete. I know we like to say, Well,
I'm a work in progress. No, you're complete. You're done. You're
a done deal. God done you. He's done you. You're complete. That is me. But by the grace of God, I am
what I am and nothing else. I am not what I am by my works
or by my will or by my worth, but by the grace of God, I am
what I am. by grace, sovereign grace, eternal
grace, effectual grace, covenant grace, redeeming grace, prevenient
grace, immutable, omnipotent, unconditional grace. This is my doctrine. That's the name of our church. Sovereign Grace, Baptist Church. This is the thing I know beyond
any shadow of a doubt. By the grace of God I am what
I am, only by His grace. Not only is this my beloved doctrine,
it is my experience as well. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. I know something of the depravity of my own heart. I
don't know the depths of it, and I don't really care to, thank
you. What I do know troubles me enough,
I think. Because I've been made to know
this about myself, I must, with eyes washed with tears, acknowledge
that I am what I am by the grace of God, because I know something
about myself. Knowing my horrible condition by nature, what I was
and where I was when the Lord interrupted my corrupt and hellbound
career. I'm constantly made to confess
this to myself and to others. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. When I feel the power of lust within and the temptations
from without, I'm compelled to confess, by the grace of God,
I am what I am. When I am preserved in the midst
of temptations to which my flesh so naturally is inclined, I'm
compelled to confess by the grace of God, I am what I am. When
I'm kept in numerous trials, which I have seen many others
overcome, I have to confess by the grace of God, I am what I
am. When I see others whom I esteem highly for the gospel's sake
fall and turn from the faith, I have to confess by the grace
of God, I am what I am. When after some fall, I am recovered
and find in my heart a modicum of revival and renewed interest
in Jesus Christ, I am constrained to confess, by the grace of God,
I am what I am. When after some spiritual declension
I find sweet fellowship in my Savior restored, I have to confess,
by the grace of God, I am what I am. When I am given pause to
rejoice at the fullness of God's blessings in Christ, I rejoice
to say, By the grace of God, I am what I am. When our Lord
rolls up the sky and sets this old blue orb aflame, when he
makes all things new, and at last I stand with him in glory,
I will confess with joy unspeakable and full of glory, by the grace
of God, I am what I am. This is my singular source of
gratitude. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. Who maketh thee to differ? And what hast thou that thou
hast not received? And what is your boast as if you not received
it? Who maketh thee to differ? What's the difference between
you and anybody else in the world? Go ahead, pick the worst kind
of person that you never want to be around. In your mind, picture
the kind of person that you would rather shoot than talk to. That's
you. It just is. There's no difference.
If there is a difference, what is the possibility of the difference?
by the grace of God. I am what I am. Every believer
realizes that the only distinction between us and all other men
is the distinguishing grace of God and nothing else. When you
peruse the Midnight Black catalog, the enumeration of human sin
and depravity, remember those words of Paul to the Corinthian
church. He said, And such were some of
you, but now by grace. By the grace of God, and only
by the grace of God, you are washed, you are justified, and
you are sanctified by the grace of God. Coming to a verdict about
what we are and having revealed to us what God has done for us
in Christ, what else can we say? But with a heart of thanksgiving
and praise, I am what I am by the grace of God. In this text,
in verse 10, it says this, but by the grace of God, I am what
I am. And His grace was not bestowed
upon me. His grace that was bestowed upon
me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all,
yet not I. A phrase that Paul often uses
in scripture, yet not I. But the grace of God which is
with me, yet not I. That's what it is to deny self,
you see. Most people think denying self
is self-denial, and it's not. Self-denial is not doing something
you want to do. Self-denial gave power to the
idea of Lent season for the Roman Catholic Church, where people
say, For 40 days I'm not going to
eat ice cream and that's going to please God. Okay. Okay. I remember one priest writing
in the newspaper up in Michigan that he loved the Bible. He loved
it so much that he was going to give up reading the Bible
for 40 days for God. What is self-denial? Denying
yourself. Denying you. Denying yourself
as having any part at all to do with the salvation of your
soul. Denying YOU! Saying, Yet not I! Yet not I! Like it was when you was a kid
and your mom said, Did you do that? And you said, No! Not me!
Not me! Not me! Did you have anything
to do with your salvation? No! Not me! Not me! I didn't do it! Yet not I! By the grace of God, I am what
I am. He said this grace was bestowed
upon me. That means it landed on me. It
was put on me. I didn't ask for it. I didn't
desire it even when it came. I didn't know that it was coming.
I didn't desire for it to come. I was quite happy in my religious
Calvinism and was a preacher and was going on and doing quite
well. People were mad. All kinds of
people were mad at me because I used the doctrine of grace
as some sort of blunt instrument to bludgeon people upside the
head with. And then God. in his mercy bestowed
grace on me. And it stripped me of everything
I was and everything I had. It shut me down in my seat and
I was frozen in my place. And since that day, this is my
motto, by the grace of God, I am what I am. He said this grace
bestowed on me was not in vain. But here I am, by His wondrous
grace, an apostle chosen of God to preach the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's how it works. You see,
God has not chosen many wise or many noble. God has chosen
the foolish things of this world, things that are not, the nothings
of this world, to confuse and confound those that think they
have the answer. of who God says, so that no flesh
would glory in His presence, so that it was written in Jeremiah,
If you're going to glory, glory in the Lord by the grace of God. We are here by grace. Read Ephesians
chapter 2, verses 1 through 7, and you'll find that this is
the language that Paul uses in reference to our salvation. First,
starting out as what we were in nature, as the ones who are
predestinated unto salvation, chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world, forgiven of our sins, accepted in Jesus Christ,
given faith to believe the gospel, sealed with the Holy Spirit of
promise because we are God's purchased possession. And he
goes and says, you were quickened. raised from the
dead. You were quickened who were dead
in trespasses and sin. And that's where you lived, wherein
you walked. In times past walked according
to the course of this world. How many of you are walking to
the course of this world? How many people have walked to
the course? How many people believe everything is coming down to
pain? Have their ideas molded by the world which is against
God? according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air. Most
people think that Satanism and the worship of Satan has to do
with gold heads and sacrifices in the wilderness and pentagrams
and stupid stuff like that. According to Scripture, according
to the words of our Lord Himself, if you don't trust Him, you trust
Satan. If you don't trust Him, You're
demon possessed. Oh, it don't sound good. Don't
worry, there ain't no priest gonna come turn your head around
360 degrees. Don't worry about that. There ain't no exorcism unless
God exercises that demon by taking him over and taking you from
his grasp. The spirit, you and I by nature
were of the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
that's the rebels against God, among whom also, among whom,
this is where we lived, we who are the chosen of God, we who
are predestinated to be holy, all those things spoken of in
chapter one, we were among all those who despised God. among
whom also we had our walk, our conversation, our life, and times
past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, and were by nature, undermining those
two little words, because they're very important to the understanding
of what this means, we were by nature the children destined
to go to hell, the children of wrath, even like everybody else,
we were exactly the same by nature, but not by grace. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, this a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. And if you're a child of God
today, you were born exactly like every other rotten, filthy
sinner in this world. There may I, though vile as he,
wash all my sins away I am what I am by the grace of
God in that beautiful little word in verse 4 says but God
who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved,
who did he love? those that walked according to
the course of the world according to the prince of the power of
the air Children of disobedience who followed the lusts of their
flesh and the fulfilling of the desires of the flesh and the
mind and were by nature the children of wrath even as others. But
God loved some of them. He did. With a great love wherewith He
loved us even when we were dead in sins. hath quickened us together with
Christ by grace, ye are saved." By grace, ye are saved. Is this your testimony? Is this
what you've experienced? If it is by the grace of God,
I am what I am, I can walk before God in the full assurance of
faith, understanding, and hope. This is not a matter of feeling,
but of faith. My feelings and emotions can
never rise above the source from where they come. And that source
is me, so there ain't a whole lot to it. Faith has to do with
God and his eternal word. Faith is a living link connecting
the heart that has faith with the God who gives faith. My feelings
and emotions, no matter how intense and real, can never connect my
soul with God. They can never connect my soul
with God. My feelings are neither divine
nor eternal, but are human, deceptive, and fleeting. They are like Jonah's
gourd, which sprang up in the night and perished in the night.
Not so with faith. Feelings are occupied with self.
Faith is occupied with Christ. Feelings look inward. Faith looks
outward and upward. Feelings leave my soul in doubt.
Faith gives my soul peace. Feelings have to do with my fickle,
fluctuating condition. Faith has to do with God's enduring
sacrifice. and God's revealed truth. We don't see God in reference
to our circumstance. We see our circumstance in reference
to God. What should be the result of
this knowledge? By the grace of God I am what I am. One result
should be true humility. true humility, and I'm not speaking
of posture or countenance or downcast affectation. I speak
of one who has been humbled by the fact that by the grace of
God I am what I am. Such knowledge should result
in a charitable and liberal spirit, even with those who hate me,
because the only difference between me and them is grace. Nothing about me. Do you believe
it? By the grace of God. Nothing
else. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. Such glorious truth should create in me a heart of thanksgiving.
I should walk around thanking God all the time. I don't do
it. I'm ashamed of myself. But in the moment, I see it. In His Word, or He calls it to
my mind, I become a thankful person. So we're always thankful. No, we're not. God wouldn't have
to tell us to be thankful. He's always thankful. He tells
us to be thankful a whole lot. Be thankful. Why? Because we're
not. But when we see that our salvation, our life, our destiny,
everything involved is by the grace of God, it'll make us thankful
people. If by the grace of God I am what
I am, I should be a man consecrated and devoted to his gospel. If by the grace of God I am what
I am, I should never despair of the salvation of anyone I
meet, of my children whom I pray for,
of those to whom I am privileged to preach, because it is true
that by the grace of God I am what I am. I can preach the gospel
to you with great confidence and joy and beseech you now by
the mercies of God. to flatter Christ. Come to Christ. Trust Him. What God has done
for me, if I'm no different than anybody else, He is able to do
for you. According to one of the Psalms,
He's ready to show mercy. He's ready. By the grace of God,
I am what I am. How will I come? Well, if you
do, it'll be by grace. Father, bless us to our understanding.
We pray in Christ's name. Amen.