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God gives grace, and this is central to our faith in Jesus Christ. This graceful Jesus commands us to show grace to those around us.
Are we “Grace Full?” Do we understand what grace is and how to show it? Learn with us as Pastor Chris Fluitt shares 3 reasons why we may lack grace and how to have a grace revival.
Welcome back to Redemption Church in Plano TX. My name is Chris Fluitt.
We are in a calorie packed sermon series.
This Thanksgiving you are going to eat until you are full. It is one of the days each year most people just really go for it, and devour the food in front of them. No one should go hungry with a thanksgiving spread in front of them.
God has a table prepared for you and He intends you to fill up on all the good things He has prepared.
The first week we told you to be “thank” full.
Thank Full
Last week we told you to be “mercy” full.
Mercy Full
Mercy should change you, but as we studied the parable of the unmerciful servant we see a servant who receives an extraordinary amount of mercy, but refuses to be changed. After receiving compassion, forgiveness, kindness, and mercy, the servant was unmerciful to a fellow servant.
Because of the servant’s lack of mercy, he received the full burden of his debt back.
Scripture says “blessed are the merciful, they shall obtain mercy.” We obtain mercy, not by receiving, but by giving.
We need to be THANK-FULL, MERCY-FULL, and GRACE-FULL.
Grace-Full
God has grace for you at His table. He desires us to be FULL of grace.
What is grace? Last week we told you what mercy is.
Mercy is NOT receiving what you deserve (punishment)
Grace is receiving what you do NOT deserve (blessing)
Aren’t you thankful that God gives mercy & grace.
His mercy saves us from the punishment that we had deserved.
His grace blesses us with what we could never deserve.
Grace Full
Every moment of your life God has interacted with you through mercy & grace.
What does God’s grace look like?
We are saved by grace through faith!
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
Saved from sin, saved from hell, save from death…
God, by His grace, delivers us from problems we have caused ourselves.
Saved from failure, delivered from our past, healed of sickness,
Have you ever felt God’s presence? That was grace.
Ever have God answer a prayer? That was grace.
Did you wake up this morning? That was grace.
Did you have something to eat today, a place to lay your head?
Are you surrounded by loved ones?
You don’t have to look too far to see God’s grace!
James 1:17 (NIV) Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
God gives us grace! How much grace does He give? He gives grace on top of grace.
John 1:16-17 (KJV) And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
He gives grace on top of grace. The ESV translates this verse “grace upon grace.” He shows so much grace to this world… and then he shows even more grace when He sends His only son into the world.
This is how God treats us. He stacks grace upon grace in our lives. Before you ever met Jesus, God had already given you grace. BUT when you find Jesus it is stacking grace upon grace in your life.
Mercy is NOT receiving what you deserve.
Grace is receiving what you have NOT deserved.
We have filled up on his mercy & grace, so we should be mercy-full and grace-full. As we discussed last week, just because you have filled up on mercy & grace, it is not a given that mercy & grace are flowing from you.
Scripture commands us to give grace to others.
Hebrews 12:15 (NIV) See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Matthew 5:44-48 (NIV) But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Scripture is clear that we are to show grace. If the world was to describe Christianity, how many words would they say before they uttered “graceful?” Would people even use the word graceful to describe us? Are we in fact graceful?
I want to give you 3 reasons we may lack grace.
1 Puffed up Pride
There was a man in your Bible who received so much grace from God, but instead of walking in humility, he became puffed up with pride.
2 Chronicles 32:24-25 (NIV) In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the Lord, who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign. But Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the Lord’s wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.
King Hezekiah had received so much grace. He received so much from God, he could never have deserved.
-He was king.
-He won impossible victories. God often moved on His behalf.
-Others came to praise God through Hezekiah’s actions. Other nations honored the Lord and brought gifts.
– Great wealth & success.
…and yet Hezekiah is sick & about to die. He prays to the Lord. The Lord answers Him. The Lord gives him a miraculous sign. …But what does the king who had been greatly blessed by God do?
Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness of God… the mercy of God… the grace of God. He was no longer moved by God’s grace. It was no longer AMAZING grace to Hezekiah.
God’s grace will work in one of 2 ways. 1 way is the correct way, the other way is incorrect.
God’s Grace ought to cause you to be a better servant. Grace should make you humble & thankful. Because God has been so good to me, I ought to be like my Father in heaven and be good to others.
Matthew 10:8 (NIV) Freely you have received; freely give.
Jesus in His grace knelt down and washed his disciples feet… after he has done this act Jesus says this…
John 13:14 (NIV) Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
Receiving God’s grace ought to put you in the position to serve others. This is the correct way for grace to work.
1 Puffed up Pride
The wrong way is to become puffed up in your pride. If you aren’t careful you will forget that it was God who gave you your blessings… God who gave you your position… It was God who fought your battles.
Hezekiah was puffed up with pride and even when God spoke to him with miracles, it says his heart was proud and would not respond.
Pride will keep you from responding. I have seen pride keep people out of God’s presence during worship. I have seen pride keep people from receiving a message I know God specifically gave me for them. I have seen pride keep people away from an altar of repentance.
BE WARNED! If you walk away from His grace, you will walk right into wrath.
2 Chronicles 32:25-26 (NIV) But Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the Lord’s wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. Then Hezekiah repented of the pride of his heart, as did the people of Jerusalem; therefore the Lord’s wrath did not come on them during the days of Hezekiah.
Either grace is headed your way, or wrath is on its way. You are the one who decides this. Your heart decides.
When Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem repented, God’s wrath did not come… Instead God’s grace came and Hezekiah’s life was extended 15 years.
Is your heart proud today? Will you repent of puffed-up pride?
2 An Unwillingness to pay the cost
Grace costs. Grace is receiving the blessing you don’t deserve. In other words… someone bought it for you. Someone else experienced the loss, so that you could experience the gain.
That’s why the cross of Jesus is grace. Maybe you heard this song before…
“Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow.”
Jesus paid the cost for your forgiveness, salvation, healing, blessing, victory, an eternity in Heaven. Jesus paid it ALL.
He didn’t just waive the cost. He didn’t use a coupon and get it for free. Jesus did not shoplift. Jesus was willing to pay the cost.
The reason we may not be full of grace may be our unwillingness to pay the cost.
Being “grace full” will cost you… money, time, physical energy, emotional energy, spiritual energy, trouble, and your priorities will certainly shift.
Being grace-full is more than a title. It means there was a price had to be paid, and you were willing to pay it for someone else.
A great friend of mine… this friend remains nameless because they would not want to be named in this story and also because I am technically not supposed to know about this story… This friend was praying for someone else’s car situation. They prayed God help this family get a dependable car… and God said “You could answer this prayer.”
You could be the answer to some of the prayers you are praying, if you would be willing to pay the cost of ‘Grace.’
My friend prayed. “Ok God. Tell me what car to get them and what should it cost.” And God clearly told them what car, where to get it, and what it should cost. And when the final papers of that car were drawn up, it was $20 less than what the Lord had said.
I kid you not. My grace-full friend refused to pay less than the cost God set before him. He gave the car salesman that extra $20 and gave that car to the family in need. THAT IS PAYING THE FULL PRICE OF GRACE.
Are you looking to pay less than the cost? Aren’t you glad Jesus paid the full price!?
Grace costs you nothing to receive, but grace always costs something to give. There is such a thing as CHEAP GRACE.
Here is a story from your Bible in 2 Samuel 24.
David had messed up HUGE! He had taken a census without making an offering to the Lord, and now the Lord was set to destroy the people. No joke! Go read your Bible. God is serious about sin… all sin… every kind of sin…
2 Samuel 24:17-23 (NIV) When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family.” On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad. When Araunah looked and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” “To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.” Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. Your Majesty, Araunah gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.”
God says, “Go to Araunah and build an altar on his land… David approaches and Araunah willingly offers everything freely.
What great luck for David! David is going to get what he needs and it isn’t going to cost him anything… BUT DAVID, the man after God’s own heart says “no.” David chooses instead to be willing to pay the cost of grace.
2 Samuel 24:24-25 (NIV) But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them. David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.
Grace will cost the giver. David was willing to pay the cost. AND WATCH THIS OFTEN OVERLOOKED PART OF THE STORY. Read the last sentence one more time…
Because 1 man was willing pay the cost the entire land was blessed and the plague stopped. 1 man felt the pain of giving, and an entire nation felt the blessing of grace.
If you are willing to pay the cost, there is no telling how many people will be blessed.
- Connect Group leaders… You service is blessing countless people.
- Sunday school teacher… your cost is blessing many more than what is able to be held in your class.
- Worshipper & prayer warrior… keep paying the cost.
- Giver… the cost you are paying is blessing any nations.
Will you pay the cost for someone else’s breakthrough? Grace will pay the cost.
1. Puffed up Pride
Pride will keep you from being graceful.
2. An Unwillingness to pay the cost
An unwillingness to pay the cost will keep you from being graceful.
Finally, the transactional mentality of works will keep you from being grace full.
3. Transactional mentality of works
You know how the law of supply and demand works. It is the foundation of business. Where there is demand, people will rush to set up a shop supplying for that demand. The greater the demand… the greater the price charged in the transaction.
This is how business works. If you want something, you have to earn it… deserve it… buy it.
Business is built on supply and demand. Where there is more demand, there is less supply… You will know this all too well while trying to find the in demand Christmas gift… (btw I heard the Baby Yoda doll is going to be difficult to find)
Grace says, “where there is impossible demand… I will supply.”
Don’t have enough money? Grace pays.
Not worthy, undeserving…? Grace gives you the gift and declares “you are worthy.”
Don’t have the ability? Grace says “my love is able.”
We can only operate in grace if we step away from the business model of our world.
3. Transactional mentality of works
The business model says, “in order to receive what I have, you must earn it… pay for it with your work.”
Religion often falls into the mistake of thinking “in order to receive from God I must earn it, be deserving, pay for it, and work for it.” This is wrong.
Also wrong, is when we refuse to give grace, because the other people don’t deserve it.
A friend of mine worked in a Church. The Senior Pastor would preach every Sunday morning about hell & sin. People would leave depressed… and the attendance started to sag in the church. The Senior Pastor asked my friend “what should I do? I am preaching the truth, but these no good people, blah…” And my friend very carefully said, “Well have you considered preaching grace?”
The Senior Pastor, without a bit of irony, looked at my friend and said “I’d preach grace, if those people deserved it.”
You can be a Christian… a pastor even… and not really understand grace. We can fall into that same trap and say,
“I would pray for them if they deserved it…”
“I would help them if they deserved it…”
“I’d forgive them if they deserved it…”
“I’d call them, but they don’t really deserve it…”
GRACE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH DESERVING.
Jesus tells us to love our enemies. They don’t deserve our love, but it is the gift of grace.
Jesus tells us to pray for those who use us… abuse us… Not because they deserve it, but because of grace.
Jesus tells you to love your neighbor… not because they deserve it. Freely give them grace.
Musician
Are we Grace Full?
Are we puffed up with pride? Receiving from God should make you a more willing servant. Is that you today, or are you full of false pride?
Are we willing to pay the cost? Grace costs. Grace is not cheap. Are you willing to give?
As in the story of David, 1 man’s gift can bless many people.
Have you been withholding grace from those who do not deserve it? Repent of that today in this altar.
The last thing I will say before we open this altar is this:
A Revival of Grace
We speak a lot about the Acts chapter 2 revival. We all want that kind of move of God. We want the Spirit of God. We want massive amounts of people being saved.
That Acts 2 church was marked by supernatural miracles, signs, wonders, and outpourings of the Spirit… but it was also marked with grace.
Acts 2:41-46 (NIV) Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
The Spirit is at home in a graceful church… graceful family… a graceful house.
Lord give us a revival of grace. Let us be willing to show grace to the world around us.