Sermon: "Being Penetrated By Grace"
Last week we looked at, “God’s Cure for Sin.” We saw that all of us have been infected with sin. What are …
The Results of Sin
Forgetting God – living as if God doesn’t exist
Self-centeredness
Impurity
Locked out of Heav
An eternity of misery
Thankfully God didn’t abandon us and so we looked at …
God’s Cure for Sin
JESUS – the Sinless One was made sin for us.
The question was, and is … will you accept God’s work? Have you, or will you, receive Jesus as your Lord and allow God to pardon you for your sins.
If you have never accepted God’s cure for sin, you can do that by praying from your heart a prayer similar to this:
“Lord, I receive your work. I believe in Jesus. I want my sins pardoned.”
Once you have taken that step you are ready to be penetrated by grace – to receive and enjoy God’s abundant grace.
Are you, as a believer in Jesus, just barely surviving, or are you truly enjoying all the wonderful benefits of God’s abundant grace?
You can accept God’s work and live the abundant life he desires for you to live by “Living by Grace.”
Let’s begin by looking at one of Jesus’ parables which demonstrates …
I. THE TENDENCY TO TURN AWAY FROM GRACE
LUKE 15:11-32 – 11Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and go back to my father and say tohim: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ 20So he got up and went to his father.
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”
Everything his father had belonged to the older son, but he never learned to enjoy what was his.
Many of God’s children live their entire lives like the older son, and they in turn try to keep others from being penetrated by God’s grace.
This is not something new. The Apostle Paul dealt with this same problem. Listen to what he wrote to the Christians in the churches in Galatia.
GALATIANS 1:6-7, 2:15-16 – 6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – 7which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.
15We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ 16know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
Why is it that after we are saved by the grace of God, we have a tendency to not live by grace, and as a result, not enjoy our salvation, but instead have a faith that is barely surviving . First because …
A. CHRISTIANITY’S STANDARD IS HIGH
There is no doubt that Christians are called to a life of obedience. We are to love God with all our heart, soul and mind. We are to love others and reach out to them. We need to be willing to give up our rights. We are not to be selfish, rude or quick to get angry. We are not to be involved in any type of sexual impurity and that includes pornography and our thoughts.
James realized that the standard for those who followed Jesus was high and he wrote …
JAMES 2:14-17 – 14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
The sad thing is that if we don’t truly understand God’s grace, those words can bring us to the point where …
B. WE TRY TO EARN OUR SALVATION
Wasn’t that what the older son was trying to do? Yes, the older son was doing what he should have been doing. Yes, Christianity’s standard is high, and as James says, our faith should be evident in how we live our lives.
However, it is very easy for us to forget that we are not saved from our sins by what we do, but by what God has done for us. We also forget that the good that we do is done through the power of God’s Spirit who lives in us.
Just like the Christians in the churches in Galatia, we turn away from God’s grace and start depending on our works.
Another reason we tend to turn away from grace is because …
C. RELIGION OFTEN TRAMPLES GRACE
I have been actively involved in a local church most of my adult life and have spent most of my waking hours for the past 19 years serving our local church. I believe in the ministry of our local church. I believe in the ministry of most churches, but if we aren’t careful we can allow our religion or the religion of a local church or denomination to trample on grace.
Again, this is not something new. Listen to what Paul had to write to the Roman Christians.
ROMANS 4:4-5 – 4Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
It is easy for us to start judging a person based on our religion.
When I first became pastor I would watch to see how faithful our Deacons and Church Board members were in attending Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday evening services. Wasn’t that a good way to judge how faithful they were to Jesus. It was easy for me to think that the people who were really spiritual were the ones who could humble themselves and wash another person’s feet at our Feet Washing Services. Of course, if a person became part of a prayer group or attended our monthly prayer hours they were the true prayer warriors in our church. And those who volunteered to serve in some capacity in the church were those who really loved Jesus.
Hopefully, 19 years later, I have learned not to allow my religion to trample on God’s grace by judging people based on how I choose to live out my faith.
It is not easy to do. If we aren’t careful we can cause people to become discouraged and lose the joy God intends them to have because God’s grace to them has been trampled down by our religion.
Now that we have seen why we have a tendency to turn away from God’s grace, let’s look at …
II. WHAT GRACE DOES FOR US
We will do that by looking at our scripture lesson for this morning.
EPHESIANS 2:4-9 – 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions- it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches ofhis grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9not by works, so that no one can boast.
Here we see that …
A. GRACE GIVES US OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES
The Bible says …
EPHESIANS 2:5 – God made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions- it is by grace you have been saved.
We didn’t do anything to save ourselves. We didn’t make ourselves a new creation. We did not cause ourselves to be born again. We need to keep reminding ourselves that it was God’s grace working in us that gave us our spiritual lives.
If you will keep soaking up that truth you will better be able to live the joyful, abundant life that is yours because of God’s grace.
Our lesson also tells us that God’s …
B. GRACE GIVES US A PLACE IN HEAVEN
EPHESIANS 2:6 – And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
When you come to really believe that, you are well on your way to enjoying your salvation as much as a child enjoys playing in a fountain on a hot summer day.
When you accept God’s cure for sin, he immediately raises you up and seats you in the heavenly realms. Yes, we must live out the rest of our days here on earth, but in God’s mind heaven is our home. That’s why Jesus said …
JOHN 14:2-3 – 2In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
If you will allow your soul to be penetrated by the truth that heaven is your home, based not on what you have or have not done, but based on God’s grace, you will be filled with joy.
Listen again to part of our scripture lesson.
EPHESIANS 2:8-9 – 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - 9not by works, so that no one can boast.
Next we see …
C. GRACE ENABLES US TO DO GOOD WORKS
So often we want to get the cart before the horse. We want to do good works so God will forgive us. We want to do good works so we will be sure to have a place in heaven.
It doesn’t work that way. God loves us while we are sinners. His grace to us gives us our spiritual lives and causes him to prepare a place for us in heaven. That is enough to cause us to be as joyful as a child dancing in the waters of a fountain.
It is this grace that God extends to us that then enables us to do the good works. Our lesson says …
EPHESIANS 2:10 - For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
God’s children should, indeed, be involved in good works, but they just naturally occur as you allow God to live through you. Yes, you must bring discipline into your life or your old sinful nature will control you. That’s why the Apostle Paul wrote …
I CORINTHIANS 9:26-27 – 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
We, too, must beat our bodies into subjection so that God’s grace can bring forth good works out of our lives. This is so much easier to do when you know what God’s grace has already done for you.
Let’s close our lesson this morning by looking at …
III. LIVING A LIFE PENETRATED BY GRACE
To demonstrate what it means to live a life penetrated by grace, I am going to tell you a true story that happened over a hundred years ago that involved a young waitress and a man by the name of Edwin Landseer.
A group of fishermen were relaxing in the dining room of a Scottish seaside inn, trading fish stories. One of the men raised his arms depicting the size of a fish that got away. His arm struck the waitress’ tea tray sending the teapot flying into the newly painted wall where its contents left a brown splotch on the wall.
The innkeeper looked at the damage and sighed, “The whole wall will have to be repainted.”
“Maybe not,” offered a stranger. “Let me work on it.”
Having nothing to lose, the proprietor consented. The man pulled pencils, brushes, some jars of linseed oil, and pigment out of an art box. He sketched lines around the stains and dabbed shades and colors throughout the splashes of tea. In time, an image began to emerge: a deer with a great rack of antlers. The man inscribed his signature at the bottom, paid for his meal, and left. His name: Sir Edwin Landseer, famous painter of wildlife. (You can still buy copies of his paintings today). In his hands, a mistake became a masterpiece.
That’s what God’s grace does for us. He takes our sin blotched lives and turns them into a beautiful expression of his love.
Drink deeply from God’s well of grace. Say with the Apostle Paul …
I CORINTHIANS 15:10 – But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
That is living a life penetrated by God’s grace.
CONCLUSION
Remember, God’s grace …
- Gives you your spiritual life
- Gives you a place in heaven
and
- Enables you to do good works.
Go, and live a life penetrated by grace and you will be both joyful and content with all the situations you must experience in this life.