"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation has appeared unto all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world." — Titus 2:11-12
Tonight we're gonna be looking at grace, and the source of grace.
I got up and started with a scripture cause it reminds me a lot of Jim O'Connor. He always got up with a scripture. [He] didn't have a lot of introduction and just went straight to the scripture. And, since I'm basing this sermon off of some lessons that he had put together years ago in a book he called Sufficient Grace, I'll be covering, a chapter of that a month. I started last month [with God's Grace], and failed to give credit where credit was due. But, it's based in part on this book. I hope that if you go on Amazon, you can get a copy of the book for yourself. It's still in print or still available, I think it's an on-demand print, You can still get it in the ebook format. So I urge you, it's a good book.
Finding the Source of Grace
You think about, where did our early geographic knowledge come from? How did we find the headwaters of the Missouri River or the Mississippi River for instance? You know, a lot of that came because someone found a river and decided to follow it upstream all the way to the source. Their exploring brought us great benefits.
But, I wonder if when they reached that starting point when they reached those headwaters, did they look up at the clouds, which had brought the water to the earth, and did they look beyond to Him who created it? Kind of makes you wonder sometimes, you know, we stop short of giving thanks to Whom we really should. You know, we may give thanks to a brother in Christ or a sister in Christ who has helped us in some way in a time of need. But do we stop to thank God for that brother or sister and for giving them that ability and that desire to help us? You know, sometimes we stop too short. And when it comes to giving credit where credit is due, you know, it isn't unusual at all for folks to stop short of the actual source.
- Numbers 21:8-9
And so this serpent of brass that was made by Moses, done according to God's instruction, you know, the healing was not in the serpent of brass. It was not a brass salvation. So too the healing was in the faith that it took for them to go to the location where this thing was set up to look upon it, doing what God had said to do and receiving the blessing for it.
The source of this grace was beyond the serpent. The serpent was just something for men to look upon in order to receive the healing that God had set aside for them in that specific instance.
- 2 Kings 18:4
This is over 500 years later and is talking about King Hezekiah.
Nehushtan literally translates to a piece of brass. And yet, they were worshiping this piece of brass for 500 years. Again, they remembered that this brazen servant had healed, and had given the grace of healing, to those that were bitten by the snakes. But they failed to remember and give thanks where it was really due.
You know the Gentiles of old, they were charged with having "changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator."
- Romans 1:25, 21
"Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened."
You know, they knew God. They were recipients of the grace of God. You know, "He sends His sun, and His rain on the just and on the unjust," [Matthew 5:45], that is an aspect of God's grace.
They knew who God was, they knew Him. They had a relationship with Him, the patriarchs. We, on this earth, we're not gonna have that same kind of relationship, at least in the ability to, that God spoke directly to them. And so, they became unthankful and their foolish heart was darkened, and that's why they began to worship the creature and not the Creator.
It is interesting in India there are, are groups of Hindus that revere the cow, and they worship the cow. And one explanation I read recently from a Hindu website is that the cow is worshiped because it represents mother earth as it is a source of goodness. And its milk nourishes all creatures and so they say the milk gives life, and the cow gives the milk so they worship the cow.
But who made the cow? Why not worship Him? Who made the cow? That gives the milk, that gives life? Why stop so soon with praise and thanksgiving?
And so we're looking for the source of grace. And in order to do so, we've gotta go beyond the immediate connection to us, to its ultimate source.
Learning to Appreciate the Source of Grace
If we were to learn to appreciate the grace received and give honor to whom honor is due, you know, the origin of grace, the source of grace, is God Our Father.
- Genesis 6:8
You know God is the giver of grace.
- Psalms 84:11
He is the One who gives grace. It comes from God, the ultimate giver of grace.
Grace Comes from the Father
You know, the phrase grace of God is found 24 times in the New Testaments passages.
- Titus 2:11
- Hebrews 2:9
Do you want to know what grace is? There is the definition of grace. He tasted death for every man, He died so that we don't have to, that is grace.
- 1 Peter 4:10
- 1 Peter 5:20
Knowing this encourages us, then, ...to come boldly before the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.," [Hebrews 4:16]. Because He is the God of all grace. He is the one that cares for us.
Again, grace is defined as unmerited favor. The unmerited love and favor of God towards man, divine influence, acting in man to make him pure and morally strong. God's gift to man, which was not, and could not be merited. And again, there's an English acrostic.
- God's
- Riches
- At
- Christ's
- Expense
And so, the origin of grace is ultimately through the Father from the Father.
Grace Comes Through Jesus Christ
Grace also comes to us from and through Christ.
- Romans 1:7
- 1 Corinthians 1:3
- Philippians 1:2
- Colossians 1:2
- 1 Thessalonians 1:1
- 2 Thessalonians 2:1,5
- Philemon 1:3
"To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ." — Romans 1:7
Seven times in almost all of his epistles, Paul, offers this grace through, Jesus Christ, through the Father, and through Jesus Christ.
- John 1:14-17
Notice here, in verse 14, that He is full of grace, and in verse 16, that we received grace for grace. I like how the English standard version translates that passage right there, grace upon grace. And so, grace multiplied by grace is basically what it's saying there. And so, the law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ. It's not saying that there was no grace during the time of Moses any more than it is saying that there was no law that came from Christ.
But the emphasis of Moses was the law and the emphasis of Christ is grace and truth.
- Romans 5:13-17
The gift of grace is said there, to abound unto us through Christ. And then also, it says that we receive an abundance. And really, the word here is a superabundance of grace by Jesus. And so, death came upon all because of the sin of Adam. And life is possible because of the death of Christ and because of the grace imparted to us thereby.
- Galatians 6:18
This is an expression of goodwill and desire for their continued blessing. Really you can't ask for anything better for another person, and let the grace of God be with their spirits. The Apostle Paul expressed the same thing in the very last verse of the Bible, the beautiful closing thought.
- Revelation 22:21
So grace comes through Christ.
Grace is Revealed Through the Bible
Grace comes to us through the Bible. You know, grace comes to us by the Word of God. Remember Paul, in closing his earthly fellowship with the Ephesian elders there at Miletis, notice what he says.
- Acts 20:32
- Acts 14:3
- Acts 20:20
- Romans 5:21
You know, grace reigns through righteousness, but what reveals to us the righteousness?
- Romans 1:16-17
And I love that phrase in verse 17, from faith to faith, it literally translates from the Greek out of faith, into faith; out of the faith, into my own personal faith. But the righteousness of God is revealed to us through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- Ephesians 2:8
He says, by grace, we are saved through faith. Where does faith come from?
- Romans 10:17
Grace is Demonstrated through Mankind
And then, we receive grace through people. We can't overlook the fact that God comes to us or that grace comes to us as individuals through those people of God who practice the what?
The word of God teaches. Yet, I can always look back and think [about], and I'm very thankful for those that led me, helped lead me to Christ, for those that took the time to study with me so that I could learn that I might know the grace of God. You know, to teach the Word of God is to open the way whereby the grace of God may do its work.
Again, it is revealed to us by the Word of God that needs to be taught. It is up to us to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. To fail to teach the Word of God is to withhold God's grace from those that need it. Sometimes, just the demonstration of grace in one's life will have an effect on the lives of others.
- 1 Peter 3:1-7
It may be the case that you know you have the influence in the life of another person, one who is not a Christian without even the word being taught, without the word even being proclaimed.
They see by your life, maybe they see a great change in your life, and that might be what leads them to. You know, I can think of when I was converted, I was very zealous as a young Christian, a new Christian. And it wasn't long before my mom started noticing and it got her interested in studying the gospel.
And over a period of a couple of years, she studied herself into the church and I was blessed to be able to baptize her. And then, she was faithful for 15 years attending a local congregation, my dad sometimes going with her, sometimes not. More often than not, he stayed home. But, over the course of those years, it had an impact on my dad. And my dad obeyed the gospel about four years ago, and in fact, he preached a sermon this morning. He preaches at least twice a month at the little congregation where they attend.
You think about the influence that someone has just by the way they live their lives. Many hard hearts and obstinate minds have been penetrated by the good life of a godly man or woman.
Paul spoke of the effect the grace of God had on the churches of Macedonian, and how that grace led them to give abundantly to the needy saints of Judea.
- 1 Corinthians 1:1-4
Notice, they were great recipients of the grace of God and out of the grace of their hearts, they saw the need of those needy saints and Jerusalem, though they themselves were pretty needy as well, and they gave more and beyond what was expected of them. They gave beyond their power to give. Why? Why were they able to do that?
- 1 Corinthians 1:5
You know, their example is really meant to inspire all Christians to abound in the grace of giving notice.
- 1 Corinthians 1:6-8
He urges the Corinthian brethren. He urges us to follow their example in that grace of giving.
- 1 Corinthians 1:9
How to Receive Grace
Grace comes to us. Ultimately, the source is from God. It comes to us through and from his Son, through His Word, and sometimes through other people. And so let us be thankful for those that that have influenced us in our lives. Let's be thankful for the Bible, for the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father whose grace makes hope.
- Titus 2:11
[Grace,] it is available to each and every person.
- Titus 3:3-8
God shed his grace abundantly on us through the grace extended to us in the death of Jesus Christ, His Son.
In order to be a recipient of that grace. We must believe, we must believe the Word of God. Again, it reveals the righteousness of God. It reveals the grace of God to us. We must hear the word of God and believe in the Word, believe in God, believe in the Son. Believe that he died for your sins. Repent of your sins. Be baptized to wash away your sins.
That's how one becomes a recipient of God's grace. Then we must continue to be faithful. Jesus said, "...be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life.," [Revelation 2:10].
Perhaps you haven't been faithful, though, as a Christian. God's grace can still be applied once more to you if you'll repent of your sins. If you'll confess to God that you have sinned and return to Him, you can be restored into the grace of God.
If you want to become a Christian or you want to study more about what it takes to become a Christian, we invite you to contact us.
If we can assist you in understanding the source of grace and what God wants you to do to obey Him, please contact us.
Sermon Adapted from the book Sufficient Grace by: Jim O'Connor.
