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WEEKLY
Volume 4 Number 38
14 February 2010
God’s Amazing Grace
(Message delivered by Rev Hien Nguyen at the
Worship Service, 2:00 pm, Feb 14, 10)
Text: Rev 22:21
Today is the Lunar New Year Day, and
on this special Day, the Chinese and the Vietnamese usually exchange
their best wishes with a hope that those wishes will come true during
the year; for example, good health, success, peaceful settlement,
prosperity, wealth, joy, happiness, longevity, etc. However, not many
highly value and seek God’s grace, which is so vital for their souls,
their salvation and their lives! The last verse of the last chapter of
the last book of the Holy Scriptures is a prayer for grace, “The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (Rev 22:21).
May God help you and me highly value God’s amazing grace, grow in His
grace and humble ourselves before God to enjoy His sufficient grace in
our lives and ministry each day, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth
grace unto the humble” (James 4:6) and “But grow in grace, and in
the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both
now and for ever. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18). Are you and I really humble
before God and growing in His grace?
God’s Grace: Meaning
“Grace” in Greek is charis; and
with 156 occurrences, the KJV translates as “grace” 130 times, “favour”
six times, “thanks” four times, “thank” four times, etc. Grace is “a
favor done without expectation of return; the absolutely free expression
of the loving kindness of God to men finding its only motive in the
bounty and benevolence of the Giver; unearned and unmerited favor”
(Zodhiates). Grace indicates favor on the part of the giver, and
“thanks” on the part of the receiver (Vine’s). Then, God’s grace is
God’s love, mercy, favour, help, and blessings toward mankind (common
grace) and toward His children (special grace) regardless of their
merits. We are to be grateful to God for His common grace or general
blessings toward us on this earth and in this universe such as the rain,
the sunshine, seasons, fruitful crops, etc. (Matt. 5:45; Acts 14:17), as
well as for God’s sovereign control over human history and over
everything, especially God’s greatest gift for mankind: His only
begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who came into the world as a perfect God-Man
to die for the sins of all mankind including yours and mine and to rise
again for the justification and salvation of everyone who believes and
receives Him as his personal Lord and Saviour (John 3:16). When sinners
reject God’s common grace, especially God’s salvation in Christ, God is
righteous and vindicated to condemn them to Hell due to their
accountability. Even though God has shown His common grace toward
mankind, the total depravity and rebellion of human hearts hinder them
from sincerely believing in and submitting to God and His Word. As a
result, we see that if we are cast into Hell due to our unbelief and
rebellion, we do deserve it.
God’s Amazing Grace
However, we do give thanks to God for
His special grace, saving grace or irresistible grace (Calvin’s TULIP).
When we reflect on God’s grace upon us and our lives, our schooling, our
jobs/career, our family, our salvation in Christ, our ministry, etc., we
shall be amazed at God’s grace, “the grace of our Lord was exceeding
abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 1:14).
It is amazing that while we were dead
in sins, by His grace alone that He has quickened us together with
Christ, “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (Eph 2:5). It is amazing that
while we rebelled against Him and wanted to run away from Him, by His “election
of grace” (Rom 11:5), He has drawn us to Himself, “No man can
come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John
6:44, 65). It is amazing that while we were blinded and enslaved to
Satan and his power of darkness, by God’s grace alone, He has opened our
spiritual eyes and delivered us and brought us into His kingdom of
light, “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness
of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that
is in me” (Acts 26:18). It is amazing that while we do not have
faith in Him and in His divinely inspired and divinely preserved Word,
by His grace alone, He has granted us faith to believe and to be saved,
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8). It is amazing that while we could
not stand before the holy and righteous God due to our sins and
trespasses, by God’s grace alone, He has justified us in Christ,
“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:24). It is amazing that while we had no
strength to follow the Lord, to keep His Word, and to overcome our
sinful nature, temptations, and worldliness, by God’s grace alone that
He has given us victory in Christ, “Now thanks be unto God, which
always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour
of his knowledge by us in every place” (2 Cor 2:14; cf. Rom 7:24-25;
Gal 2:20). It is amazing that while we are living in this sinful world
full of snares, temptations, hatred, opposition, etc., by God’s grace
alone that our hearts are established, “For it is a good thing that
the heart be established with grace” (Heb 13:9), and we are kept
safe and faithful unto the end, “And I give unto them eternal life;
and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my
hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is
able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:28-29). Truly,
God’s amazing grace is always sufficient for us, “My grace is
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2
Cor 12:9) to carry us through all the trials of life, difficulties,
infirmities, troubles, hardships, testing, temptations, and so on as
long as we humbly rely on Him and hide ourselves in Him.
How to Obtain God’s Grace and Grow
in His Grace
God commands you and me, “But grow
in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”
(2 Peter 3:18). Then, how can we grow in His grace and receive more of
His grace day by day?
Appreciate God’s Grace with a Humble
and Thankful Heart:
Many ungodly and arrogant people despise God’s love and grace for them,
“ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and
denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 4). May
God help you and me appreciate His grace with a humble and thankful
heart. It is a great blessing that “Noah found grace in the eyes of
the LORD” (Gen 6:8), that God said to Moses, “thou hast also
found grace in my sight” (Exod 33:12, 17), that God delivered Joseph
“out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour (grace) and
wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Acts 7:10), that the
angel said to Mary, “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour
(grace) with God” (Luke 1:30), and that the Lord said to Paul,
“My grace is sufficient for thee” (2 Cor 12:9). Dear friends, do you
and I truly appreciate God’s grace? “God resisteth the proud, but
giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:6), so it is always good and
wise to acknowledge that we greatly need God and His grace, love and
mercy so that we may humbly turn to Him, trust in Him and appreciate
God’s grace with our thanksgiving and praise, “To the praise of the
glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved”
(Eph 1:6).
Come to the Lord in Prayer:
God is “the God
of all grace” (1 Peter 5:10), our Lord Jesus Christ is “full of
grace and truth” (John 1:14), and the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit
of grace” (Heb 10:29), so grace comes from the Lord our God alone
(Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:3). Truly, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield:
the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from
them that walk uprightly” (Ps 84:11). Coming to the Lord in prayer
is a means to receive God’s grace, so let us come to the Lord Himself in
prayers to obtain His grace, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in
time of need” (Heb 4:16). Do you and I humbly come to the Lord in
prayer each day and always?
Read and Keep God’s Word with a
Reverent Heart:
As God’s Word is “the word of his grace, which is able to build you
up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified”
(Acts 20:32; cf. 14:3) and His gospel is “the gospel of the grace of
God” (Acts 20:24). Reading and keeping God’s Word is a means to
receive God’s grace, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in
all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col
3:16). Do you and I read and keep God’s Word each day and always?
Trust in the Lord’s Sufficient Grace
and Be Strong in Him:
As God’s grace is great (Acts 4:33), exceeding (2 Cor 9:14), and
sufficient (2 Cor 12:9), and God “giveth more grace” (James 4:6),
we should not be self-complacent but keep on growing in His grace (2
Peter 3:18) and receiving more of His grace each day. It is not enough
to receive God’s grace for our salvation and justification, we must
continue in God’s grace (Acts 13:43) and receive more of His grace for
our sanctification, for our victorious life in Christ, and for our
service, ministry and good works. God commands you and me, “be strong
in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 2:1). May God help you
experience, “And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for
grace” (John 1:16) and “And God is able to make all grace abound
toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may
abound to every good work” (2 Cor 9:8).
Conclusion
Dear friends, we do need God’s grace
from the beginning to the end. Without God’s saving grace, we are lost
and condemned forever due to our sinful, depraved and rebellious nature.
Let us give thanks and praise to the Lord for “by the grace of God I
am what I am” (1 Cor 15:10). May God help you and me appreciate
God’s grace with a humble and thankful heart, come to the Lord in
prayer, read and keep His Word, trust in His sufficient grace, be strong
in His grace and grow in His grace each day until our Lord comes,
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen” (2 Cor 13:14).
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