Grace & Peace: A Journey Through the Book of Colossians - Part 9: Grace for Life | Pastor Pablo Morales

Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is

an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,

with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.

We invite you to connect with us from wherever

you are through our website ecb .asia or our

mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed

by this week's sermon. Now we get to the meat.

of the time together, which is grace and peace.

Our last study in this series in the book of

Colossians. I do not know you, but I've enjoyed

this series. God has taught me so much. And just

to start thinking about his grace and his peace

in our lives through whole different angles.

So I pray that he has been a blessing to you.

And today we will conclude with the very last

section of the book. and expand a little bit

more deeply into it. Let's pray together. Lord,

your grace, your peace, what an amazing invitation.

Thank you for what you've done through these

studies. And even today, as you invite us to

experience your grace for the rest of our lives,

open our eyes to see what that looks like. And

if for some reason we are stuck, let it today

be the day in which we find the freedom to be

unleashed for you. So would you use me in your

power and your grace? I pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. In this last study of grace for life, We

will get to experience a little bit more what

the Apostle Paul experienced in his life when

he came to grace. But we are going to first review

some of the major concepts before we dig into

it. What we have learned in this study is that

the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to Christians

in the year 60 or so, which was the first generation

of Christians in the history of our civilization.

These were people who lived in a town called

Colossae or a small city. And they started following

Jesus, but they started being infiltrated by

deceptive teaching that was compromising their

experience of God's grace and his peace. So the

apostle Paul writes to them. about these important

things. And one of the things we learned was

that grace and peace are the two legs of the

Christian walk. God wants us to follow him, but

experiencing his grace and his peace along the

way. And if we're not experiencing it, it's because

we have to reframe the way we understand our

salvation and the way we see ourselves as channels

of God's grace. Because what we discover is that

if you are rooted in Christ and you really understand

what he has done for you, now you are free to

live in his embrace. And now you are a recipient

of his grace, you are a recipient of his peace,

but that grace and that peace are not meant to

stop with you, are meant to flow through you.

Flow through you into your social relationships,

into your home, into your work, into the world

in which God has placed you, into the teams that

God has called you to serve with. But also, God

wants you to experience grace for the rest of

your life. And to understand that this is indeed

the foundation for our relationship with God.

And this matters so much. Because if you do not

understand and experience God's grace as Paul

explains it in Colossians. then you will start

seeing God from a distorted perspective and you

will start seeing yourself from a distorted perspective.

In other words, let me ask you this way. How

do you see God today as you are here listening

to this study? Is God an angry God that you have

to work very hard at pleasing so that he won't

punish you? And that's a little bit exhausting?

Or do you see God as a loving father who has

reconciled you to himself and he will never leave

you nor forsake you? And he's inviting you to

love him, not to be afraid of him. Which one?

Ah, it makes a big difference what you think

of God. Because then what will start happening

is that the way you see yourself, if you think

that God is this angry God that you have to work

very hard at pleasing, then you never feel good

enough. You're trying hard all the time, but

you never know if your efforts are good enough.

And that is not grace and peace. But if you realize

that God loves you and you can rest in His embrace

and He's asking you to enter into this relationship

with Him where not only He loves you, but He's

inviting you to love Him, now you can engage

in a whole different journey the rest of your

life. The Apostle Paul wants you to understand

that grace is meant to be experienced for the

rest of your life. But if you do not think of

God and yourself in the right perspective, you

will be held back. That's why as he writes this

letter, we must remember that he is now in the

last years of his life. We don't understand exactly

because there are some details that seem to be

unclear in the New Testament. But what seems

to have happened is that the moment the apostle

Paul went to prison, and this lasted a few years,

and he ends up being in Rome. He ends up being

under house arrest, but then he's free for a

period of time, and his case becomes finalized

and he's arrested again, but this time for a

time of final trial where he ends up being executed,

decapitated under the hands of the Romans. And

therefore, when he is writing Colossians, He's

writing this letter in the later stage of his

ministry. He has already preached the gospel

in all of these places. All of these new churches

were established. New people started following

Jesus. And because that was happening, then there

were some people that were trying to infiltrate

those places with distorted teaching. Have you

ever gotten a fake email? Like fake business

or something. They send you a link. Click here

and you're going to get free Netflix for a month

or something. And you look at it and it's like,

is this legit? Do I click on it or not? Please

don't click on it. But those emails are fake

emails. Sometimes there are emails that we call

fake news. Tendency to try to falsify information

and make you believe that it came from a source

that it was not. Didn't start with internet.

It started much earlier. And this is something

that the Apostle Paul is suffering from. Because

there are some people who are writing letters.

You know, you hire a scribe to write the letter.

You just dictate it. But then they will pretend

that this letter was from the Apostle Paul. And

they will send it to these Christians. So this

time, as the apostle Paul finishes the letter

to the Colossians, everything that he's saying

there is so important that these Christians understand

about God's grace and his peace that he's going

to make the point of saying in the very last

verse of the letter, here is my greeting in my

own handwriting, Paul. So no doubt, oh, this

was the apostle Paul writing this. And then this

scribe keeps writing the rest. Remember my chains.

And may God's grace be with you. And that's it.

That's the end of the letter. It's just identifying

that this is his letter. That the content he's

teaching is really his. And then he's also giving

the last call at the heart of the letter. Everything

that he's been trying to tell them, summarized

in a few words. May God's grace be with you.

If Paul was from Texas, he would have said, may

God's grace be with you all. Why does this matter

so much? And what does he mean? By grace. Well,

grace was a normal word that was used during

his time in the Greek culture. Remember, this

letter that we just read from Colossians was

originally written in Greek and translated into

other languages and we're reading in English.

But the word grace in Greek is the word kardes.

And the word kardes was basically used often

as a gift. Hey, you're my friend. I am giving

you a kardes, a gift. And what he wants us to

understand is that this relationship that God

is inviting us to have with him is not based

on your efforts, but is based on his love. It's

a gift that he has given us. And this relationship

which we talk about salvation as this relationship

with God is the core message that he's been preaching

throughout all of these churches and that he's

writing in his letters about. And if for some

reason you don't understand what this salvation

message is that is summarized in this word grace,

let me explain it to you in a short way. There

are key words that summarize what this is about.

This salvation that the Apostle Paul is talking

about, this relationship with God that he wants

you to walk on for the rest of your life, starts

by being summarized by the word love. God loves

you. He created you. You are not an accident.

And he wants you to love him. He wants to have

this relationship in which you see him for who

he truly is. But the second word is sin. There's

a problem. And the problem is even though God

loves us, ever since our first humans were created

to love God and they decided not to love God,

they became what the Bible calls sinners. It's

almost like, think of it like, just as if you

have a cancer that is taking over your body.

And it starts compromising your functions. Imagine

this cancer, but of your soul. That starts compromising

your ability to love God and be in relationship

with Him. Because now you start seeing God and

yourself and others through a distorted. And

then you start having desires that are distorted.

And we are all sinners. And that distortion leads

us to the third word, which is broken. Our relationship

with God is broken because of it. Our relationship

with ourselves is broken because of it. Our relationship

with other people is broken because of it. This

condition called sin is terrible. And that is

the very condition that God wants to heal so

that he can restore that relationship with you.

And that's why the next word is Jesus. Jesus

came to break the power of sin over your life

so that he can heal that from your life. And

therefore Jesus had to come to die to pay the

guilt that sin requires or sin costs. But also

so that through dying he could enter the domain

of the dead. And take the power that Satan had

established over that by introducing sin and

death into the world. And now that he resurrected

and overcame the power of sin and death. Jesus

has the power to restore that which was broken.

And he is inviting you to experience now his

grace. So that you can experience that inner

healing. So that sin can start being healed from

your life. And now that relationship with God

can be restored. That's why the next word is

repentance. Because the only way in which I can

receive this transformation and this healing

from God is by repenting. I have to acknowledge

that indeed I am a sinner. And that my efforts

will never be good enough. I have to acknowledge

with a humble heart before God. That I need help.

And I want that help. And I want Jesus to restore

my broken life. And that's why the next word

is Holy Spirit. Because God says that anyone

that comes to Him with a repentant heart and

invites Jesus to save them, then Jesus is going

to give them His Spirit. The Spirit of God now

living in that person to start restoring from

within that which sin had broken. Only God can

reach that space of your life. No one else, no

effort, no discipline. It doesn't matter how

long you try. Only God can have access to that

space. And when the Holy Spirit comes to live

in you after you give your life to Jesus, he

starts a process of transformation in your life.

And that's why the last word is peace. Because

the Holy Spirit starts healing the power of sin

in your life and starts restoring things from

within, you will start experiencing peace. Peace

with God, peace with yourself, peace with others.

And this is the gospel. This is what salvation

is. And this salvation is a caress. It's a gift.

It's something given by grace. The only thing

that you need is to ask God for it so you can

receive it. And that is the foundation that the

Apostle Paul says. It's something that has to

stay with you for the rest of your life because

the moment you start missing it, then that grace

and that peace will be compromised. That's why

these words matter so much. Can you read the

very last words that he says as he concludes

the letter to the Colossians? It's highlighted

here in the screen for us. Let's read it together.

May God's grace be with you. Always. May God's

grace be with you. Always. The Apostle Paul had

lived his life. He had followed Jesus. He had

experienced many things. He shared about the

message of God's grace with people. He saw the

power of God's grace in their lives. But also

he had his own journey. And as a mature believer

that has gone through so much, when he says,

let God's grace be with you. Those words. Have

so much depth. Because at different places in

his life. He had to encounter God's grace. And

let that grace become now a place of flow from

his life into his circumstances. And in his journey

there's going to be four moments. That are very

specific in which he writes with his own words.

How. He was able to experience God's grace in

those spaces. And these are exactly the spaces

that I want to explore today. Because if we will

be able to do what he's telling us at the end

of the letter, to experience God's grace always

for the rest of our lives, we have to understand

what those moments in his life were and what

that looked like in experiencing God's grace.

But in order to understand that, we have to dig

a little bit deeper. Because he is going to write

about these things later to Timothy. Who was

Timothy? You heard about him last week. He is

the young guy that had to get circumcised when

Paul invited him to the mission trip. But then

they had a very important relationship and he

became a mentor for Timothy. But in case you

missed it, Let's go back to the very first verse

of Colossians. We just read the very last. Let's

go to the very first one and see what he says.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will

of God. And who else? Timothy was with him when

he was writing this letter to the Colossians.

To God's holy people in Colossae, the faithful

brothers and sisters in Christ, a grace and peace

to you from God our Father. I mean, he's saying

it all over the place, you know, from the very

beginning verse to the very last verse, God's

grace, God's peace. But because he had this relationship

with Timothy, Timothy eventually left. And then

Paul wrote a couple of letters to Timothy, which

are known as 1st and 2nd Timothy. And in them,

he is going to explain a little bit more about

what it was like to experience God's grace in

his life. And that's where we're going to go

next. 1 Timothy chapter 1. Timothy, I thank Christ

1 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

Jesus our Lord who has given me strength that

he considered me, me, trustworthy, appointing

me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer,

And a persecutor and a violent man. I was shown

mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly.

Along with the faith and love that are in Christ

Jesus. The more I think about my life, my experience

with God's grace, how can I put it? Let me say

it like this. Here is a trustworthy saying, Timothy,

that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came

into the world to save sinners, sinners of whom

I am the worst. But for that very reason, I was

shown mercy so that in me, The worst of sinners.

Christ Jesus. Might display his immense patience.

As an example. For those who would believe in

him. And receive eternal life. I was a guinea

pig. So that others will see. That this actually

did work. If he could work in Paul. It can work

in me. Now. To the king eternal. Immortal. Invisible.

The only God. Be honor and glory forever and

ever. Amen. And these were the words that he

wrote after he wrote Colossians. As he is reflecting

in God's grace in his own life. And we start

discovering the journey that he has gone through.

And something emerges. The first thing that he

had to learn to experience God's grace in his

life was when he was dealing with his past. Because

before he came to know Christ, he had a past.

And God saved him from that. But that past, it

was not pretty. He says to Timothy, even though

I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and

a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted

in ignorance and unbelief. After you read the

letters of the Apostle Paul, after you hear all

these sermons about his letters, it's hard to

imagine an Apostle Paul that was a violent man.

I remember that day when I told you that I feel

anger here and I hate to hit the pillow or something.

Many people go, Pastor Pablo, I would never imagine

you that way. We are all humans. And the Apostle

Paul had a past. He says, look, I used to be

violent. And he wrote about this even more. In

fact, it is documented in the book of Acts by

his friend Luke who wrote the book. Everything

that he experienced. And actually, as you go

back and you see Colossians, as he's writing

it from Rome in prison, you rewind. How did he

end up going in prison to start with? And it's

like in the very beginning, as his journey into

prison began, he had the opportunity to talk

about this past. His history that he's referring

here in Timothy. And I want you to see it. Because

he went to Jerusalem at the end of his third

missionary trip. He went to Jerusalem to worship

at the temple. And that is when a riot happens

and all of these Jewish people in the temple

thought these guys were Gentiles and shouldn't

be there and they wanted to kill them. So the

Roman soldiers came. to try to rescue them and

put order in the riot in that area of the temple.

And they discovered that Paul is actually a Roman

citizen. So now they realize, oh, we need to

protect this guy. So they have to protect him.

But as they are trying to protect him from this

crowd that want to kill him, Paul says, you know,

give me a second. I want to address these people.

So they're speaking in Greek, you know, with

his Romans and everything. And then he turns

to the crowd and he starts talking to them in

Aramaic. And when the crowd starts hearing their

native language, they all quiet down. And Paul

starts saying to them, guys, listen to me. I'm

a Jew born in Tarsus. I'm not a Gentile like

you think I am. A city in Cilicia. And I was

brought up. and educated here in Jerusalem under

Gamaliel. Oh, Gamaliel was a big name. Highly

respected religious leader and teacher, rather,

in Jerusalem. As his student, I was carefully

trained in our Jewish laws and customs, and I

became very zealous to honor God in everything

I did, just like all of you today. Anah. He has

their attention. Oh, you're one of us. I persecuted

the followers of the way. The way, the followers

of the way was the name that was given to Christians

at the very beginning. Jesus was the way, the

truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father

except through me. And they were addressed like,

Oh, those are from the way. I persecuted those

people, hounding them, even some of them to death,

arresting both men and women and throwing them

in prison. You can ask the high priest about

this because he and the whole council of elders

can testify that this is so. He's telling them,

this is what I used to be. I used to persecute.

All these Christians, taking them to prison and

even to death. And as he's telling them all of

this story of what was his journey and who he

was and what he had done, he's going to tell

them how much he had really done before he himself

became a Christian. Would you help me for a moment

with the clicker because it stopped working for

some reason. Thank you. For I received letters

from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus

authorizing me to bring the followers of the

way from there to Jerusalem in chains to be punished.

That's what I did. And then after he's telling

them everything he did, he's going to tell them

how in that mission Jesus appeared to him and

that is why he became a Christian. And at that

moment, They couldn't take it. And they started

saying, oh no, kill this guy, kill this guy.

But it is true. This was his past. He was a violent

man who had persecuted Christians. He was instrumental

in the initial effort to put Christianity to

the ground. And then he reflects about these

things. In fact, the book of Acts tells us that

as he went back from Damascus to Jerusalem to

start preaching the gospel there, the Christians

were afraid of him. When Saul arrived in Jerusalem,

he tried to meet with the believers, but they

were all afraid of him. They did not believe

that he had truly become a believer. How could

that be? This might be an undercover operation

of some sort. So they were trying to avoid him.

And it was Barnabas that came and took Paul and

took him to the apostles to corroborate, no,

no, this is the real thing. He's really a follower

of Jesus. Jesus appeared to him and now has called

him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. This

was his background. So as he writes about these

things to Timothy, there's another moment in

which he's writing to the church in Corinth about

these things. How he felt, you know? And he says,

you know, guys, I know that people call me the

Apostle Paul, you know, but I am the least of

the apostles. I do not even deserve to be called

an apostle because I persecuted the church of

God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am.

And his grace to me was not without effect. And

this is where it shifts for him. Because for

a long time, especially as he began following

Jesus and meeting Christians, can you imagine

the weight that he carried? I was the very person

that was behind killing all of these people.

I was taking them to prison. I grabbed some of

them from their hair. It didn't matter whether

they were men or women. I grabbed them. For me,

these people didn't deserve to live. I was violent

with them. And now he's meeting some of them.

He's meeting the apostles. He struggled with

his past. Until he came to the point in which

he had to trust his past and his story to God

and to his grace. And he's able to say, by the

grace of God, I am what I am. Because in this

part of the journey of following Jesus, what

happens, go to the next slide please. What happens

is that regret. Can start becoming so strong

in your life that keeps you from experiencing

God's grace. Because you look at your past with

so much regret. And you have not allowed the

grace of God now redeem that altogether. Many

years ago I was discipling a new believer. He

was in his 50s. He already had adult children.

He had already concluded his career as an engineer.

And he was like in a second career now. And he

had a very good career, but a destroyed marriage.

And as we were talking and reflecting on that

journey, he says, you know, Pastor Pablo, I just

wish the more I learn about God's grace and what

God has done, I look at my life and the more

I wish I would have known about this when I was

a child. So many mistakes would have been avoided.

So many years wasted. And it's in that moment

that we find ourselves. And it's in that moment

that I have to tell him. I said, you know what?

When God saves you, there's no such a thing as

wasted years. He's going to redeem your story.

All those years, God will use now to lead people

to the knowledge of Christ. He has the power

to turn your wounds into scars. and those cars

into tools that can have kingdom impact. But

you have to start by letting God's grace enter

that space. Are you living in regret as you look

back? Or have you allowed God's grace to enter

that space and redeem that story? The Apostle

Paul did, and he tells us about it. The second

part of his journey that he had to learn, he

had to encounter God's grace in that space, is

that as he was pursuing Jesus and following Jesus

now, he really believed in this because it's

not that he heard the gospel from somebody. It

was Jesus himself that appeared to him and proved

him wrong from being an instrument to destroy

the church, now became an instrument to build

the church. But as he's following Jesus, he realizes

that there's a reality within him. And he's not

very happy about it. He's experiencing some desires

and things that are just not right. And he's

very aware of his sin. And that's why he writes

to Timothy what we just read. Here's a trustworthy

saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ

Jesus came into the world to save sinners of

whom? I am the worst. There's a very interesting

effect. The more you know God, the more you know

his word, the more intimacy we have with the

Lord, the more you realize how much a sinner

you are. And the opposite is also true. The less

you understand the gospel, the less you know

the Lord, the less intimacy you have with God,

the more you think that you are holier than thou

and you are, you know, the man. I remember I

experienced that when I finished my master's

in theology. You know, I finished my undergrad.

Okay, I finished a degree. But then when I went

to do my master's at Dallas Theological Seminary,

that was four years of a lot of study, a lot

of study. And I was like, done. My last semester

finally finished everything. And the weirdest

thing happened. You might imagine that after

studying four years, you know, the Bible and

theology, you may leave thinking, oh, I know

so much now. I am ready to preach, you know.

And it was completely the opposite. I felt like

there's so much I do not know. Am I really even

equipped to be able to do this ministry and serve

God, you know? It's like I discovered that the

most education you get, the more you realize

how much you do not know. But the less education

you have, the more strong opinions you have about

everything and you think you are right and everybody

else is wrong, you know? And spiritually, it

was something like that. Because the apostle

Paul came from a background where he was taught

self -righteousness. It's your effort that makes

you right before God. So he thought he was the

man. He was able to obey the whole law, so he

thought. And now that he has encountered the

grace of Jesus that says, actually you're not

the man. You're a sinner and you need me to forgive

you because your efforts are not good enough.

That message of God's grace opened his eyes for

him to see that he had a reality within him called

the sinful nature. And he had to learn to experience

God's grace in that space. That's why when he

writes about this in Romans chapter 7, a classic

Romans 7 · chapter mention

passage, he says, look guys, I love God's love

with all my heart. But, and that's a big one,

but there is another power within me that is

at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave

to the sin that is still within me. Can you believe

it? I still struggle with sinful desires in my

life I'm not proud of. And I don't like that.

It's just a tension. Oh, what a miserable person

I am. I just want to be free from all this stuff,

you know? Who will free me from this life that

is dominated by sin and death? And then, not

even a second later, he gives the answer himself.

Thank God. The answer is who? Jesus Christ, our

Lord. Because he is the one. That has paid for

all my sin and all my struggles. And he is the

one that gave me the Holy Spirit. And he is going

to heal me all these things along the journey

until the day of Jesus Christ. Thank Jesus for

his grace. So you see, this is how it is. In

my mind, I really want to obey God's law. But

because of my sinful nature, I'm a slave to sin.

So now, there's no condemnation for those who

belong to Christ Jesus. I belong to Christ. He

already paid for my sins. Therefore, I'm free

from condemnation, but I'm not free from struggle.

And that's a difference. I don't have to live

in fear that God is going to think less of me

because I'm struggling with some sort of sin.

He already knew that. That's why Jesus came.

But the Holy Spirit is not interested in fixing

me. Done. Okay, now it works. No. The Holy Spirit

is interested in loving me through healing. And

that's an invitation for the rest of my life,

which means that for the rest of my life, I have

to stand in God's grace. Thank be to God for

our Lord Jesus Christ. When we don't understand

that, then we start struggling with shame. Because

the thought of, but I've been a Christian for

a long time now. How come I'm struggling with

this? I think I was already done with this thing.

How come I'm having these thoughts? How come

I'm having these desires? God, I don't want these

desires. Boy, people would just know. And now

you start struggling with all that shame. That

is not God. God doesn't want you to be living

in shame. If you are struggling with sinful desires

that you're not proud of. If you are struggling

in your thinking life with thoughts that you

are ashamed of. Welcome to the kingdom. We are

sinners. Endowed by the Holy Spirit in a journey

of transformation that will last the rest of

our lives. But what a difference does it make.

When you're able to be in a safe space with people

that understand grace and understand the journey.

Well, now you can open up about those struggles.

Because one of the things that we have learned

is that typically the struggles that we have

are just the symptom, not the problem. I often

see it this way. If you're struggling with sexual

addiction, for instance, pornography and things

like that. If you are struggling with alcohol

and drinking too much and all the social drinking

and then you feel drawn to it. Every time I have

to sit down with someone in the privacy of the

counseling space and we start digging into the

story, I always have to remind them, look, that

is a symptom. That is not the root. So let's

start talking about. Where the roots are. And

when the Holy Spirit leads us into those spaces.

And he starts revealing all these things. That

have shaped you. That he wants to heal. Suddenly

a whole journey begins. And your relationship

with God. And intimacy with God takes a whole

new level. That is because. God's grace is meeting

you in that struggle. He doesn't want you to

be living in shame. He wants you to experience

his grace. Let his grace be with you always.

So if you're in a space where you are struggling

like that, remember, freedom in Christ is, of

course, for you. But sometimes you may need to

make an appointment with your counseling ministry

to be able to meet with someone and really explore

things. These are things that feel like external.

It's a struggle that is like, I don't know why

I'm struggling with this. I don't want it. But

it feels as if it's like something that is just

attacking me or something. I don't understand

it. If that is your case, contact our counseling

ministry. Because God wants you to experience

freedom as you encounter his grace in that space.

But the third part of his journey for the Apostle

Paul, as he learned that following Jesus is not...

A journey of perfection. He started serving God.

Now he was the apostle Paul. Not just a Christian.

And God started using him. With power. I mean.

He even prayed for people. And people became

healed. He was able to experience God's power.

As he pursued his calling. In serving the Lord.

And it's in that space. That he tells Timothy.

What we already read. But for that very reason,

I was shown mercy so that in me, the words of

sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense

patience and an example for those who will believe

in him and receive eternal life. God wants me

to be a channel of his grace and his peace so

that people will come to know him. And that was

going to be now his role. He had to stay in that

place of flow because if that place of flow became

compromised, then that power will become compromised.

But there was a struggle. We don't really understand

it, but he writes about it. A struggle as he

pursued this calling in serving God, that he

also had to experience God's grace in a very

unique way. And he writes about this to the church

in Corinth. Listen to the struggle as he puts

it. To keep me from becoming proud, guys, I know

you think highly of me. I know I'm the apostle

Paul. I mean, I cannot help it. But you know

what? To keep me from becoming proud, I was given

a thorn in my flesh. What do you mean, Paul?

What thorn in your flesh? Well, a messenger from

Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming

proud. Tell me more about it. No, no, I'm not

going to tell you more about it. I just experienced

a moment of spiritual oppression. And three different

times I begged the Lord, take it away, Lord.

Each time he said, my grace is all you need.

Don't worry about it. My power works best in

weakness. I was like, what? Did I hear you right,

Lord? I'm going to pray again. Lord, please take

this away from me. And God says, nah, don't worry

about it. My grace is enough. But I don't understand.

I don't want this experience. I'm not sure why

this is happening to me. You have the power to

remove it. Would you please remove it? I don't

want it. It's hard to serve you while at the

same time I'm feeling this opposition from the

enemy. Can you do something about it? No. It's

just resting my grace. So by the third time he

got it. So now I'm glad to boast about my weakness

so that the power of Christ can work through

me because that is what at the end this whole

thing is about. God's grace, his peace flowing

through me. So if God is not going to remove

this thing, okay, he's not going to remove it.

But I'm not going to take that into an opportunity

to compromise that flow. Because in that moment,

when you're asking God to remove this thing,

and he says, no, I won't. I want you to live

with it. At that moment, confusion can come in.

And the oppression that you're experiencing,

the struggle that you're experiencing, that you

think God could fix just like that, and he's

choosing no to, can cause you to start doubting

God and his heart and his love for you. And in

that place of doubt, the apostle Paul had to

learn, God, I have no idea why you're not going

to remove this from me. I prayed about it. I

repeatedly asked you, but if you are not going

to remove this from me, I'm just going to learn

to trust you with it. And I'm going to continue

to serve you with full commitment and let your

power continue flowing through me. I'll just

trust you with it. That is God's grace in that

place. If you are struggling in that place where

God is not doing this and solving the whole situation,

and he's asking you to go through that passage,

even though he could have the power to fix it

in a moment, and he's choosing not to. It's a

place in which you will have to rest in his grace,

rest in his heart, and not fall for the attack

of the enemy that is asking you and wanting you

to doubt the goodness of the Lord that you are

serving. And the final moment that can only be

experienced at the final stage of his journey

in which he's experiencing God's grace. It's

as he is becoming face to face with dying. When

you think of dying, do you have peace about it?

Or there's fear and anxiety. The Apostle Paul

now is in prison. The last stage of his imprisonment.

Now he knows his case is coming to a close. And

he writes the last letter to his friend Timothy.

The very last thing he ever wrote from prison.

And he tells him these words. Timothy. My friend.

Wow. After all of these years. Following the

Lord. Telling people about his grace. Peace.

About experiencing God's grace. Flowing through

me. At all of these different experiences. Now

that I'm in this stage. I can see that my life

has already been put out as an offering to God.

The time of my death is near. And I can tell

you, I have fought the good fight. I have finished

the race and I have remained faithful to the

Lord. And if you were to ask me how I feel about

these things, I have peace. Because I know my

Savior. Yes, my Lord will deliver me from every

evil attack. And he will bring me safely into

his heavenly kingdom. He will do it. I don't

have to worry about it. He'll do it. He already

covered all my sins. He already gave me his spirit.

He has already walked with me throughout my journey

of life. His grace met me at every intersection.

And now that I'm in this final intersection,

His grace is meeting me too. I have peace. And

I know that He will bring me safely into His

kingdom. So if I can say anything, Timothy will

be this. All glory to God. Forever. And ever.

Amen. He is the beginning and the end of everything

I am. The day will come in which you will be

face to face with death or the potential of it.

The day will come where you will hear a diagnosis

that you were not expecting. And you will realize

that you are mortal and finite. And at that moment,

may the grace of God be with you. Because God

did not save you so that you will be in fear.

And start feeling anxiety and an anxiety, a panic

attack. Because death for us, who are followers

of Jesus, simply means an invitation. To encounter

Jesus to the fullest. Like the Apostle Paul said

to the Philippians. I do not know which one to

choose. To stay alive or to go. And die because

to die for me. Is to be with Christ which is

better by far. Is the fear of death. Holding

you back. If it is. Remember the words of the

Apostle Paul. May his grace. Be with you. So.

Now you can see. What the apostle Paul has done.

Is an invitation for us. To let the grace and

peace of God meet us. In that place of regret.

So that regret can be broken. To meet us in that

place of shame. So that shame can be broken.

To meet us in that place of oppression so that

oppression and victimhood can be broken. To meet

us in that place of fear so that fear can be

broken. And you can be now free. To live from

a place of flow. Where God's grace and his peace.

Not only have changed you and transformed you.

And keep to change you and transform you. But

also where they are flowing from you. Into the

calling that God has given you. And may God's

grace. Meet you at every intersection of the

journey. So that you can remain faithful until

the very end. And say the same words that he

said. I've been faithful. And I count on one

thing. He got this. So would you please stand

up and read aloud with me the very last words

of the book of Colossians that we conclude with

today. May God's grace be with you. So, are you

trusting in God's grace? If for some reason Jesus

is not your savior. You have never given your

life to him. Would you do that today? Today the

day you come with a repentant heart. Acknowledging

that you are broken. And that Jesus wants to

meet you with his grace in that place. If that

is you. Come to the front. So that we can pray

with you. Whether through the worship or at the

end. We'll be here. Lord, thank you for your

grace and your peace that have changed everything,

everything for our lives. And if any of us here

today, Lord, have been held back in any of these

intersections that we discover today, that the

Apostle Paul was able to experience your grace.

Help us experience it in this place. Here and

now. So that the power of fear, regret and shame.

And the spiritual oppression. And the attitude

of victimhood. And all of these things Lord that

come along the way. Will be broken today in your

presence. Because we stand in your presence.

Resting and trusting in your grace. And your

grace alone. In Jesus name. Thank you for tuning

in to the ECB sermon podcast. Whether near or

far, if you are looking for community or are

in need of prayer, we welcome you to engage by

sending us an email to office at ecb .asia. If

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you will find giving options on our website.

And remember to join us next week. God bless

you.