God's Mercy & Grace

Hello, I just want to go ahead and get started because I don't know how to say less than I'm going to try to say.

Which is the mark of a bad teacher, so just buckle up.

So let me pray for us and we'll get started.

Our Father in heaven, we have so much to be thankful for.

We're thankful for your son, Jesus, and that you made a way for us to be forgiven and be restored and to come home to you.

We pray this morning that you be here by your spirit as we discuss weighty things.

That you would lead us, give us submissive hearts.

In Jesus' name, amen.

So I would like to issue similar caveats to last week for those of you who weren't here,

which is what we're not going to be doing this morning is any kind of a comprehensive presentation on grace.

So this week we're going to be talking about the grace of God and our ongoing series and the attributes of God.

And, you know, in 45 minutes, there's just no way we can, you know, make this an academic study of grace.

My approach, rather, is going to be to just present some things that I think mostly we're going to be in agreement about

and then discuss and see if we can draw out some encouragements, actually, at the end of the day.

So with that said, the plan is to approach grace with these lenses.

The context of grace, the method of grace, the mystery of grace, the timing of grace, and the magnitude of grace.

That's a lot of lenses.

And so I'm going to try to push through because I think, you know, we have this beautiful mountain, as it were,

that we can look at from different angles.

And I didn't want to leave out any important angles.

So first thing I wanted to talk about is the context of grace.

And by that I mean we are, of course, not approaching the attribute of grace where God is merciful, God is gracious.

We're not approaching this idea in a vacuum.

It's not as if we found a rabbit in the woods and we put him in a cage and we studied him.

And, you know, now we found out, oh, he's a gracious thing.

It's it's there's the context of even talking about God's grace.

We have to start with sin and the wrath of God that is the result of our human rebellion and sin.

And otherwise, if we go on to talk about the other parts of grace without that backdrop, we are missing why grace is even necessary in the first place.

And it's rich and deep meaning.

So I wanted to just pose a question to you that I like to pose to my young children who aren't young anymore.

But I would say to them, so what's the worst sin a person can do?

Like and they love to play this game, right?

They're like, what is the worst or what is the best or what if what's the game they play?

The if would you rather you ever play?

Would you rather sort of in that vein?

And I'm like, no, I don't want to play.

Would you rather not with them giving the things?

Because it's like, would you rather eat a bucket of dead worms or like, no, neither.

But if I ask them and if I ask you, what is the worst sin a person can do?

What's just springs to mind right out of the gate?

Not believe in God.

So we have the theologically minded non six year old in the room.

Yes.

Well, right.

So go ahead.

Accusing Jesus as being demonic.

Wow.

Yeah, I think I think most ordinary people tend to think horizontally when you when you ask, like, what's the worst thing?

What's the worst sin?

Right.

Especially kids like what's the worst thing?

Oh, you kill somebody or, you know, it you it's man on man.

Crime is the the typical instinct of most people.

But I think Raul's right.

I think that what the Bible teaches is the vertical nature of human sin is what starts the wrath.

So I actually I want to read some of Romans one.

This is going to be familiar.

But I really want to get this out on the table before we move on to other aspects of grace.

It's a little bit of a lengthy passage, but I think it will be helpful for us.

So the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor give gave thanks to him.

But they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.

Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God.

He gave them up to a depraved mind to do what ought not to be done.

They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.

They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.

And it goes on to the to the horizontal list.

Right.

But what we observe is.

The chief sin of man is to not acknowledge God as God and to not give him thanks.

Seems kind of appropriate for this week.

And in so doing elevate themselves as God.

And exercise their own autonomy against the God of the universe.

And because of that, we face the wrath of God as humankind.

And I just want to pause and make sure that we don't use church words and just skip on by without feeling the weight.

And to have the God of the universe that created everything pitted against you should give us pause.

And this is the backdrop of even discussing God's mercy and grace.

In the world that we live in now, which is the world that I want to talk about.

Not the theoretical world of did Adam and Eve receive mercy and grace before the fall and all that.

We could we could talk about all that.

But right now it doesn't matter because we said we want to be God.

And we all inherited that disposition.

And that's the dark backdrop.

Any one want to comment or thoughts or questions about the context?

We already ran the red light.

You can't go back and take it back.

Yeah.

And I mean, obviously, like I said, we're going to assume some things in this class this morning.

We could spend the whole class talking about that.

And there are obviously people out there that completely disagree with that.

And, you know, they disagree with that's the position that we're in.

But for the sake of this class, we'll assume that we're kind of on the same page, that we're in big trouble.

Last week, when we talked about the holiness of God, we talked about the problem in terms of the chasm that opened up between sinful man and holy, perfect, righteous God.

And how Jesus bridged that chasm.

And this week, I think these are just words that are trying to describe some similar things where we face as humankind the wrath of God against our sin of autonomy, especially.

So quick definition, a simple definition of mercy and grace.

Mercy being not receiving the punishment you deserve.

And grace being receiving favor you don't deserve.

Again, we could spend an hour just talking about that, but we're not going to.

But I just want to say that without mercy, the flood of grace can't flow for the Christian.

Right.

We have to have the debt resolved.

And I want before we move on, I just want to say the obvious.

This is I feel like is such a hard thing for us to hold on to.

We do not deserve mercy.

By definition, we do not deserve mercy.

By definition, we do not deserve grace.

Just I'm planting a flag because as we move on, it's just a hard thing to hold on to.

And I'm speaking, you know, experientially for myself.

It's hard to not slip into.

Losing grip on the fact that we, by definition, don't deserve mercy and by definition, don't deserve grace.

All right.

So the method of grace, the method of grace.

Since we don't deserve grace.

By definition, again, God gives grace by his own free choice.

So.

So.

Moses says to God, after heinous sin of God's people, Moses says, please show me your glory.

And God said.

I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name, the Lord.

And.

I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

Interesting that.

The goodness of God is put right there in front of us.

Like here it comes.

I'm going to show you my goodness.

And it's mine to reveal.

To whom I choose.

Already.

Let's not forget the context.

Right.

Because if we can keep the context in front of us.

These.

Teachings of the scriptures, I think, can be put in their proper.

Light.

And we'll talk more about that.

Few verses for you.

These are familiar about.

How we cannot earn grace.

God must.

Give us grace.

Paul says.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

For by grace, you've been saved through faith.

And this is not your own doing.

It is the gift of God.

Now to the one who works.

His wages are not counted as a gift, but his due.

And to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly.

His faith is counted as righteousness.

So now I want to pause and just ask this question.

Why does the freedom of God irk us so much?

Raul.

Because we want to be autonomous.

We want to be free from God like Adam and Eve.

We want to be the captains of our own destiny.

We want to be the final reference point for all human predication.

We're God, not God.

Okay.

Anybody else?

When we encounter like the clear expression that God's free to show grace and mercy to whom he wills,

why does that bother us?

Because we wonder why he might show it to some and others.

Yes.

And then what's behind that that makes us like, ah.

It's not fair.

We don't want to be a kind of a living God.

Yeah, that's an interesting angle too.

Yeah, it also, framed that way, so much of life in the flesh is dependent on your capabilities

and your function and your diligence, your effort.

But God's statement there eliminates that.

It has nothing to do with you.

Yeah, apparently.

Yeah.

I think I'm going to just speak for myself now that we all encounter things in life where, you know,

like my family, it was a foster family, so I had a bunch of foster siblings growing up, a lot of them.

And some of them have been dealt a hand in life that was unimaginably bad.

And some of them were, could not receive the love of our family and my parents who were trying to, you know, love kids.

And, you know, the older you get, you encounter people and you feel like, is it really their fault?

Like they got so, such a, like you think of worst case scenarios, like some kid in the Sudan born behind a dumpster and no parents that love them.

And just like these horrible, horrific things we can cook up in our minds.

And we say, how is that fair?

And I think that I want to take a sidebar for a second, a hermeneutical sidebar, and just say that there are places where we don't, we aren't given satisfactory answers.

God is not inviting us behind the curtain of Godhood and saying, hey, you know what?

Here's how it all works.

In fact, we have some explicit places in scripture where we get to the end of some arguments and reasoning and God says, here's the thing.

I'm God and you're just going to have to trust me.

But what we do have, I think, is we have places where we're making inferences that are perfectly logical, perfectly reasonable.

We see God choosing here and not choosing here and being God.

And we're like, maybe he's just capricious.

Maybe.

You know, but we have to also look at, we have to test our inferences against other clear passages in scripture.

Inferences meaning I take verse A, totally true verse.

I take verse B, totally true verse.

I add them up and deduce, well, maybe God's just, you know, not loving or good after all.

So we encounter passages on this topic of God showing grace to who he chooses.

We encounter verses like this.

We encounter, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord,

Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked,

but rather that they turn from their ways and live.

Turn, turn from your ways.

Why will you die?

The Lord is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish,

but everyone to come to repentance.

God, first Timothy, God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

All I'm trying to do here is just say,

if we're adding things up that equal,

God is capricious or he doesn't care or he's not loving.

That doesn't hold up against other things that scripture says about God.

What are we left with?

We're left with the same sort of place we're left when the Bible says,

Jesus is a fully God.

He is fully God and he's fully man.

You can't take that to the lab and figure that out.

He's God.

It's behind the curtain.

And what we're left with is

we must trust him

and we must test our inferences

against other clear passages

of scripture

to guard our own hearts.

Because Satan,

what does Satan do?

He twists

what God says.

He wants us to hate God.

He wants us not to trust God.

When God comes and says,

you can have everything,

all of this,

run around naked in the garden.

You just can't,

just stay away from this thing.

Why?

Why?

Why do we have to stay away from that thing?

Right?

It's,

it's,

so this is a tool.

That's all I'm saying.

This is a tool that we have in our toolbox

to keep our inner conversation on track

with what other things that God's revealed to us

about himself and his motives.

All right.

Method of grace.

Obviously,

if grace is given freely,

then how do we get it?

This,

this is just being Christian 101,

but someone talk us through.

How do we get grace

if it's a free gift?

Anybody,

put it out there for us.

Through faith

in the Lord Jesus

who gives us himself

by faith.

So we take hold of Jesus

and we're united together

and what he's done

for us.

Before the creation of the world

and the covenant of redemption

and the Holy Spirit,

Jesus

and God the Father

planned out

who would be called,

chosen,

predestined,

sanctified,

and justified.

Glorify all that.

That's my answer.

And I'm sticking to it.

You know,

I think that

the bottom line

is that

we know we can't earn grace.

We know by definition

we can't earn grace.

We must receive grace.

And that has

a lot of side effects

and I think we'll go on

to talk about some of those

a little bit later.

Alright,

the mystery of grace.

The mystery of grace.

So what I mean by

the mystery of grace,

there's actually a lot of mystery

but I just want to hone in

on one part here

which is

how does

a God

of perfect

justice

pass over

evil

and is still

a just

and perfect

judge

and a holy God.

Now,

maybe some of you

haven't gone down

this

line of

thinking

but it's important

I think it's important

that we

talk about this

because

let me put a passage

in front of you

that sort of

crystallizes

this dilemma

and then we'll

just talk about it

real quick.

So this is

Exodus 34,

6 and 7

back to Moses

saying he wants

to see God's glory.

Moses is begging

God not to leave

the people

because they made

the golden calf

and

recall that

moment.

and the Lord

passed before

him

and proclaimed

the Lord,

the Lord,

a God

merciful

and gracious,

slow to anger

and abounding

in steadfast love

and faithfulness,

keeping

steadfast love

for thousands,

forgiving iniquity

and transgression

and sin.

So that's

awesome.

Love that part.

but who will

by no means

clear the guilty,

visiting the

iniquity of the

fathers on the

children

and the

children's

children to the

third and fourth

generation.

salvation.

So at face

value,

we have God

telling

Moses

and telling

us,

here's what

I'm like.

Here's who I am

and here's what

I'm like.

And by the way,

these two

verses

are the

most quoted

verses

in various

forms

in all

the Bible.

the

authors of

Scripture

picked these

verses up

and repurposed

them all

throughout

the Scriptures.

And so I

think it's

good that we

pause here

and just say,

what is going

on here?

How can

God

say,

I will by

no means

clear the

guilty

right after

He just

said,

I will

forgive

and show

mercy

and clear

the guilty.

That's what

showing mercy

is.

It's almost

like saying,

I am a

God that

will clear

the guilty

and offer

mercy

undeserved

and also

by no means

will I

do that.

So how

do we

make sense

of this?

And what

I'd like to

do is point

us to

Jesus

and say

that

Jesus

paid

and atone

for our

sins

vindicating

God's

mercy

and

grace.

The reason

that God

can say,

I'm not

just going

to clear

evil

and

pass over

it is

because He

had a

plan

to pay

for that

evil

Himself.

And I

know this

is not

unfamiliar,

but I

want to

pause and

meditate on

it a little

bit together

so that

we feel

the weight

of it

because we

must have

a perfectly

just God.

We must.

have a

God of

mercy

and

grace

or else

we have

no hope.

We don't

want a

God

that just

says,

you know,

you raped

someone's

mom,

but it's

okay because

you know

what,

I'm a

forgiving.

I think

this is how

I used to

approach this

question.

I would

conjure up

how I

forgive the

people in

my life

that have

wronged me,

but to be

honest,

no one's

kidnapped a

sibling of

mine and

murdered them

behind a

dumpster.

We can't

have a

God who's

not a

righteous

judge.

We don't

want a

God that's

not a

righteous

judge.

And

so there's

a tension

there.

So let's

turn back to

Romans for

a second and

listen to

this and

see if we

can feel

God telling

us how

this is

being resolved.

So this is

Romans 3

starting verse

23.

For all

have sinned

and fall

short of

the glory

of God.

There's our

context of

wrath.

And are

justified by

his grace

as a gift

through the

redemption that

is in

Christ Jesus

whom God

put forward

as a

propitiation

by his

blood to

be received

by faith.

So there

is the

gospel in

a nutshell.

Then Paul

goes on to

say,

this was to

show God's

righteousness

because in

his divine

forbearance

he had

passed over

former sins.

So I

take this

to mean

that God

has not

given evil

what it's

deserved at

every turn.

He has

shown real

grace and

real mercy.

And so

then how

is he

right to

do that?

Yeah.

And then if

we bring it

home to

ourselves,

it's like,

you know,

there's the

cheap,

there's,

you guys

know the

people that

grab their

spears against

cheap grace.

And look,

people fall

off the

horse of

truth so

easily,

including all

of us,

of course,

right?

But some

people are

like,

Jesus loves

me,

God forgives

us,

and they're

like,

they cheapen

the grace,

right?

Then other

serious people

that take

God seriously

are like,

you can't

do that.

You can't

just run

around like

all happy,

bubbly,

light,

evangelical

stuff.

And then

they're like,

well,

we want to

bring justice

back.

You know?

It's like,

okay.

But we have

to be careful

because we

can fall off

that horse

on either

side.

I think

I can

remember

going to

my children

and trying

to tell

them why

we talk

about Jesus

all the

time,

why we

sing about

Jesus all

the time,

why is it

always Jesus,

Jesus,

Jesus?

You know?

And I will

pull them

aside and I

will say,

look,

Jesus paid

for our

sins so

that God's

justice could

be satisfied

so that we

can step

into grace.

Without

Jesus and

without the

cross,

we have

no hope.

And it

also answers,

I'm

sidebar here,

but it

also answers

some of

the legitimate

questions of

our time,

which are,

how is

Jesus the

only way?

It just

seems so

narrow.

Right?

But if

we have a

divine

problem of

wrath,

then we

must have

a divine

solution

to the

wrath.

And the

exclusivity of

Jesus begins

to make

sense.

So,

why does

this matter?

Why does

this matter?

Why does

this

discussion

about

preserving

the justice

of God

and the

mercy of

grace of

God

matter?

So,

I want to

read just

one quote

for you,

and then

we'll move

on.

This is

Jerry Bridges,

actually,

who's a

kind of a

popular author,

as probably

most of you

know.

It is at

the cross

where God's

law and

God's

grace are

both most

brilliantly

displayed,

where His

justice and

His mercy

are both

glorified.

But it is

also at the

cross where

we are most

humbled.

It is at

the cross

where we

admit to

God and

to ourselves

that there

is absolutely

nothing we

can do

to earn

or merit

our salvation.

salvation.

Now,

real quick,

if we

rewind back

to Romans

1,

chief sin

of man is

we don't

acknowledge God

and we

don't give

Him thanks.

But can

you see the

flavor when

we begin to

realize what

Jesus has

done and

what God

has done

without giving

up His

justice and

without giving

up His mercy

and grace

that that

does lead

us back

to a place

where we

acknowledge

Him.

In order

to receive

this grace,

we acknowledge

Him and

we give Him

thanks.

Those two

things are

as natural.

As soon as

we cross

over and

receive,

we are

doing both

of those

things in

some measure.

They connect.

the timing

of grace.

The timing

of grace.

This has

been on my

heart for a

long time,

not just

through the

lens of

grace,

which is

where we

find ourselves

right now

in the

timeline of

redemption.

if we

don't get

that right,

if we

don't

understand

the season

that we're

in,

it results

in all

sorts of

unhealthy

spiritual

consequences.

Let me

read this

passage and

I'll try

to explain

it through

the lens

of grace.

So this

is from

1 Peter

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1,

starting in

verse 10.

Concerning

this salvation,

the prophets

who prophesied

about the

grace that

was to be

yours,

searched

and inquired

carefully,

inquiring

what person

or time

the Spirit

of Christ

in them

was indicating

when he

predicted the

sufferings of

Christ and

the subsequent

glories.

God's

grace.

So I'm

going to

pause and

just say

this is

referencing

grace that

we have

received already

that we

now look

back to

in our

season

because we

have Jesus

came and

we have the

record of it

and we have

the Holy Spirit

attesting to it.

so we're

looking back

to that

part of

God's

grace.

Then he

goes on

verse 12.

It was

revealed to

them that

they were

serving not

themselves but

you and

the things

that have

now been

announced to

you through

those who

preach the

good news

to you by

the Holy

Spirit sent

from heaven.

Things into

which angels

long to

look.

Therefore

preparing your

minds for

action and

being sober

minded set

your hope

fully on

the grace

that will

be brought

to you at

the revelation

of Jesus

Christ.

What's he

talking about

there?

Do you

think?

What's the

grace that

will be brought

to us at

the revelation

of Jesus

Christ?

Do we have

that now?

No.

No.

We don't

have that

grace.

Yes and

no.

No.

What this

is doing is

like teasing

apart for

our benefit

to sustain

us in the

here and

now with

the already

and the not

yet.

We're familiar

with the

already and

the not

yet like

theological

handles.

right?

So already

we in our

time and

place have

Jesus as

a thing,

a person we

can look

back to

and say

God fulfilled

his promise.

We have all

these amazing

scriptures that

shed so much

light on the

meaning of

what Jesus

did as we've

been talking

about.

But,

and,

we're told

that we

should be

sober-minded

now.

We should

be prepared

for action

now.

What that

means,

I mean,

part of what

that means

is that we

think rightly

about where

we are right

now on the

timeline,

setting our

hope fully

on the

grace that

will be

brought to

us at

the revelation

of Jesus

Christ.

In other

words,

when he

comes back.

When he

comes back.

When he

comes back.

Because,

before we

end today,

I'm going

to just

lay on

you the

magnitude

of grace.

Like,

it's too

good to

be true.

People say

that,

right?

But,

it almost,

it almost

is so good

that there's

that part

in my

heart,

maybe in

yours too,

and you're

like,

that just,

it just

can't be.

It just

can't.

Because we

have our

experience in

this life

where we

just get

hammered

and let

down and

our guards

up and

it ought

to be

up because

we're

living in

the wilderness

period.

And this

is my

point.

As

Christians,

it's super

important that

we are

self-aware

that we

are in

our

wilderness

season.

Christians

talk about

this in a

lot of

different

ways.

They call

themselves

pilgrims.

This isn't

our home.

We must

keep our

eyes on

our future

hope.

And with

regard to

grace,

we must

encourage our

own hearts

with God's

promise of

what's

coming.

Let's go

back to our

definition of

grace.

Mercy

wipes out

our debt.

But grace

is unmerited

favor.

Goodness.

And to

be honest,

I mean,

a lot of

Christians

debate,

right,

how much

of this

do we

have in

the here

and now.

And some

people will

say,

well,

you just

don't have

it because

you're not

drinking in

the Holy

Spirit enough

and that's

fair enough.

Like,

I don't know

that there's

any Christian

you could

come to

and say,

oh,

you're being

miserable?

It's because

you're not

submitting to

the Holy

Spirit enough.

You'd have

way more

joy.

Who could

say,

no,

that's not

me?

You know,

of course.

But the

description of

what's coming,

none of us

are,

we're not

there yet.

And this

may just

seem so

obvious,

but here's

another thing

I want to

say.

It seems

to me as

I observe

all of us

walking along

together as

Christians,

the big

obvious things,

it's like,

yeah,

that's what we

believe,

that's orthodox,

whatever.

And then it's

like,

boom,

we're like

focused on

some problem

God doesn't

give us the

answer to,

and we're

just like,

let's just

spend all

our time

worrying about

that,

or let's

chase after

this thing

of the world

that promises

us happiness.

And, you

know,

it's,

it's,

these big

truths,

they're so

big,

and they're

so grand,

it's like,

it's hard to

hold on to.

And so,

I just want

to say,

let's not

forget where

we are on

the timeline

of redemption,

and that

that applies

to how

God's

dispensing

grace.

It strikes

me that a

lot of the

metaphors that

the New

Testament uses

is about

farming,

gardening,

sowing seeds,

watering it,

the dog gives

the growth,

it.

And I,

I think a

lot of times

we're not

patient the

way farmers

are,

where we

scatter seed

and go to

sleep,

and it's

up to God

whether he's

going to

give that

growth,

and we

know it's

not going

to receive

its fullness

until that

grace that

was revealed

at the day

of the

revelation of

Jesus Christ.

I know,

to your

point,

a lot of

people have

been burned

out in

ministry.

It's like,

I've been

preaching for

10 years,

and my

congregation

hasn't

grown at

all,

and God

must have

failed.

But I

think across

New Testament,

the measure

of success

is faithfulness.

Are you

being faithful

when God

has given

you now?

And God

hasn't promised

that over-realized

eschatology.

You're going to

experience all

the blessings,

and you're not

going to reap

all now.

You're going to

have to wait

until that

day.

So,

I'm not a

farmer,

I'm not a

gardener,

but I

know Paul

uses the

sowing the

seeds all

over the

place.

It seems

like that's

what he

wants us

to realize

what you're

saying.

You're not

going to

experience it

all now.

Your point

is to

sow seeds,

let God

do the

rest.

Yeah,

and you

know,

like the

worst-case

scenario

thinker

in me,

like whenever,

like so

long as what

you're saying

accounts for,

you could

get on your

face before

God and

say,

I've got

nothing,

I just have

to receive,

and I'm

going to

repent,

I'm going

to be in

a pattern

of repentance,

I'm going

to strive

to love

you and

love other

people,

and you

could be

dealt

eye

cancer,

you could

be,

like let's,

I'm a

worst-case

scenario

guy,

like I

don't,

anyone else

in here

are a

worst-case

scenario

thinker,

like basically

test your

philosophy

against the

worst-case

scenario,

right,

which is

does that

hold up,

and I

think it

does,

right,

like because

sometimes,

because God's

free,

sometimes,

like for

example,

I'm the

most cynical

person,

this isn't

good,

I'm just

being honest

for a

second,

I'm a

cynical

person that

I trust

God,

but I'm

like probably

I'm going

to get,

it's going

to be

terrible,

but God's

given me

five children,

you guys

know,

many of you

know many

of them,

beyond my

wildest hopes

would all

of them be

professing

faith in

Christ,

okay,

all of

them are

professing

faith in

Christ,

beyond

my,

like,

it's,

what if

they weren't,

what if,

I mean,

I have

friends whose

children,

friends that

were just

in my

circles,

and their

children hate

God,

I don't mean

they're just

neutral,

I mean,

they hate

God,

they're writing

stuff online,

they hate

their parents,

and my

philosophy

has to be

work for

that scenario

too,

which is

why this

promise

of

future

grace,

that's a

loaded term,

I don't mean

it loaded,

I mean

literally the

grace that's

coming that's

not here

yet,

is so

important,

I think,

so that

when we

encounter

people who

are suffering

worse than

us,

who are

believers,

we can

encourage

their faith,

and it's

not trite,

and it's

not trivial,

the world's

going to

come along,

and we're

like,

yeah,

just hold

on,

in a

short while,

all this

is going

to be

over,

and the

world's

going to

be like,

they've

got the

this is

all there

is

goggles

on,

and we

look like

idiots,

we look

like fools,

and as

Paul says,

if Jesus

is not

raised,

we are

idiots and

fools,

right,

but we

know we're

on the

right track

if even

our own

leaders,

apostles,

are telling

us our

day-to-day

hope ought

to make

us look

like fools

for what

we're trusting

in that's

coming,

and maybe

this is

just

over

simple,

like maybe

I struggle

with this

more than

you guys

do,

but I

struggle

with that,

I struggle

with trusting

in what's

coming,

and with

actually

recognizing

where I

am on

the timeline,

and setting

my actual

expectations

for tomorrow

morning when

I wake up,

like this is

another day

in the

wilderness,

God's

with me,

he's

given me

things to

sustain me,

but,

I mean,

we're all

going to

die,

I mean,

we talked

about this

last week,

like,

the wrath,

it's,

we're not in

heaven yet,

let's put it

that way,

no one

disputes that,

right,

I mean,

we're not

home yet,

obvious,

but I think

important,

okay,

magnitude

of grace,

the

magnitude

of grace,

so,

we got

ten minutes,

and really

what my

hope is

for our

hour,

is that

you leave

encouraged,

and your

faith is

encouraged,

and my

faith is

encouraged,

and so,

I'm going

to put

some things

in my

own words,

and then

I'm going

to read

some

scriptures,

and then

I hear your

thoughts,

and we'll

close,

Christians

are

forgiven of

all sins,

past,

present,

and future,

Christians

are counted

as clean,

holy,

and righteous

before

God,

Christians

are restored

to fellowship

with God,

and

we are

adopted

as sons

and daughters,

co-heirs

with Christ,

mysteriously

looking forward

to an

inheritance

that the

scriptures

themselves

say

are beyond

the imagination

of what

we can

even

dream up.

Christians

are invited

into

the glory

of God,

and as we

talked about

last week,

mysteriously

Christians

are invited

to be

partakers

of the

divine

nature.

I backed

this up

with scripture

last time,

I'm not

doing that

now.

We have

new bodies

coming,

all of

this is

going to

last forever

and ever,

and all

of this

is secured

by God

himself

because

he's

freely

giving the

grace,

and he's

the guarantor

of that

grace.

it's the

flip side

of us

not being

able to

earn it.

Have you

thought about

these passages

that vex us

so much

about God

choosing?

The other

side of that

coin is

that you

can't earn

it.

You cannot

earn it,

but God

can give

it and

secure it,

not by you

earning it.

how amazing

is that?

Because if

it ends up

depending on

you earning

it,

it's in

jeopardy.

But we

test our

inferences

against the

scriptures.

Now I'm

going to

read a few

passages

for you.

1 Corinthians

2.9

No eye

has seen

nor ear

heard

nor the

heart of