Scripture: Acts 16:16 – 34; Ephesians 2:8
Subject: Grace/Salvation
Title: “I’m Thankful for … Grace.”
Sermon is dedicated to the beauty of Grace – 1. Grace is Unmerited 2. Grace is Unearned 3. Grace is Limitless 4. Grace is Transformative
INTRO:
Grace and peace this morning from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
Our story this morning takes place around 25 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Apostle Paul has come to faith and is now traveling with Silas, Timothy and maybe Luke on what has been usually called his Second Missionary Journey.
In our passage, the Apostle Paul and his company have been sharing the Gospel in the city of Philippi. One of the leading ladies of the area, a woman by the name of Lydia has fallen under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and has come to faith. She has repented of her sins, confessed that Jesus is Savior and LORD and has received the infilling presence of the Holy Spirit.
And she was not the only one. The Bible tells us that her whole household came to believe in Jesus. Her whole household was Born Again. Her whole household were baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And her home became for a short time Paul’s missionary headquarters as they shared the message of Jesus.
However, as we have read this morning, it didn’t take very long for Paul and his company to face some spiritual warfare. The Devil was not happy with the Apostle Paul and his company sharing the message of salvation. It all came to a head when Paul cast out the evil spirits that who were possessing a young girl who had the demonic gift of fortune telling.
Her owners went ballistic and demanded that Paul and Silas be arrested for preaching idolatry against the Roman gods by proclaiming that Jesus is the true and only King of Kings and Lord of Lords. For the Philippians, true worship was seen as worshiping Caesar (Claudius or Nero), Zeus or one of the other many gods/goddesses of the Romans, Macedonians and Greeks. That was what they had been raised to believe. They had never heard about Jesus or the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.
Now, these owners didn’t really care about the gods/goddesses. They really didn’t care what Paul and his friends were saying or promoting. What they cared about what the fact that their money ticket – this possessed girl was now free of her demons and believed in Jesus Christ. She was out of the fortune telling business which meant that they had lost their meal ticket.
These men caused such a disturbance that Paul and Silas were quickly arrested and just as quickly were beaten with rods. Now, what that mean was this; both Paul and Silas were stretched out and their legs, their backs and their sides would beaten with rods made out of oak, chestnut or beech tree wood.
By the time they were through, the men’s clothes had been torn; their back, legs and sides had been severely beaten and they found themselves chained up in the deepest part of the local prison. In a matter of minutes they had gone from being housed in one of the finest homes in Philippi to being in the muck and mire of a filthy prison floor, chained, bleeding and in inexorable pain.
It is there of course that one of the greatest acts of grace was experienced. Right at the time of midnight when their backs, their sides and their legs had to be screaming, the two men started a prayer, praise and worship session. The rest of the prisoner’s had to be thinking that these two Jewish men had gone crazy. Who sings in the middle of the night after their bodies have been badly beaten and their feet chained in stocks?
It was right about then that the Bible tells us that an earthquake happened that not only shook the ground but literally freed Paul and Silas. Everyone’s jail doors were opened and everyone’s shackles were loosened.
Now, let’s pause for a moment. If you don’t think that it was God at work; how were both the jail cells and the shackles affected? No one lost their lives – the ground shook a little but more importantly the doors and the shackles were loosened. That my friend was the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY at work; making a way for an even greater miracle to happen.
The earthquake not only got the jailer’s attention but it caused him to come under conviction. The Holy Spirit used the humility of Paul and Silas, the singing of Paul and Silas and the earthquake to create an evangelistic event.
In verses 29 – 32 we have the Apostle Paul leading the jailer and his family to faith. They wanted to experience the type of relationship with God that these men experienced. They wanted to be born again.
It all makes you wonder if over the last few weeks the jailer had somehow heard Paul preach. Had he heard about Lydia and her household? Did he know the true story behind the little girl and the evil spirits?
We don’t know. What we know is he did exactly what it takes for anyone to come to faith –
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Recently, I heard someone speaking on this passage and they asked the question is that all Paul and Silas said?*
Believe that Jesus is LORD! Believe in the LORD JESUS and you will find/experience salvation?
Or did Silas pull Paul over to the side and say:
What about the book? What about the book (the Law, the Prophets, the Writings, the Gospels and the rest)? Shouldn’t they have to spend a few years reading all that before they really be saved? Don’t they have to at least memorize a few scripture verses?
What about the other stuff? Don’t they have to do a bunch of other stuff? Like maybe his wife start wearing her hair a little differently? Instead of just letting if fall down on her shoulders wouldn’t it be better if she started putting it up in a little tight bun?
What about all those markings the jailer has on his arms? Doesn’t he have to at least cover them up all the time or at least tell everyone that they are of the devil?
Shouldn’t he go get his check book and start giving to our missions’ projects?
Does he know that he has to start going to the synagogue every Sabbath; regardless if he feels good or not?
And what about all that other stuff – the ones that show up in the Manual – no dancing, no going out to the theater, no watching sports on the Sabbath and all those other things?
Before we let him get “saved” and baptized and think that he has got it all made shouldn’t we tell him about all that other stuff? Shouldn’t we tell him at least about circumcision?
For too many people that is what makes us Christians – the obedience to a particular set of rules and regulations. They believe that there are certain things that someone has to do in order to be saved. And then they believe that there are even more things that a person has to do in order to continually be saved.
You have to have tithing envelopes. You have to have your Bible underlined all over the place. You have to cut your hair a certain way and wear a certain type of clothes. You have to only listen to a certain genre of Christian music. You have to abide by this tradition or that tradition. You can only worship on certain days. You have to obey all the rules – rules that someone made up somewhere in some office, library or at some convention.
Unless you do that then of course you are not really saved. You are still going to Hell in a hand basket. Unless you do what we say you have to do then you are in great danger of losing whatever is you think that you have found.
Was Paul a liar?
Was he trying to deceive this man?
No, by no means – the Apostle Paul was talking about God’s amazing grace. And that is what I would like for us to talk about this morning – Grace.
I. Grace is first and foremost an Unmerited GIFT
Grace – salvation – is a Gift. Being Born Again – a Gift. Being redeemed – justification, regeneration, sanctification – all of them a Gift. Plain and simple; salvation is a gift. It has always been a gift.
Pastor Robert Morris (Gateway Church) shares that Grace is a Gift that we receive and not a goal that we obtain ( or achieve ). Wow!
Those words are so true. Grace is a gift – Salvation is a Gift that we receive. It is not something that we can obtain or achieve on our own. We can’t get it on our own merit.
Grace is unmerited.
What that means is there is nothing you and I can do to merit salvation. There is nothing in our nature that shouts out to the LORD that we are worthy of salvation. There is nothing that we can do to approach God and say – “Hey, God I am so good that I deserve salvation”.
No, when Adam and Eve fell in the Garden we all fell. We all came under the curse of sin and we all sin. We sin in our thoughts. We sin in our actions. We sin in our deeds.
No one here this morning can testify that they have never broken one of God’s commandments.
The Apostle Paul says it best in Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God.”
“For all have sinned” not just a half a dozen or those who live across the tracks or even those who live a half a world away. Every boy, every girl, every man and woman have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. No one in their own right can look at God and say – I deserve salvation for the way that I have lived. No one – not Adam, not Enoch, not Abraham, Issac or Jacob. Not Moses, Joshua or King David or even King Josiah. Not Isaiah, Jeremiah or Ezekiel. Not Sarah, Deborah or Esther. Not even Mary the mother of Jesus.
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
But that is not the end of the story.
For as Paul shares in Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Did you hear that? Death is ours because of our sin. That is the gift that we have given ourselves – the promise of a physical and spiritual death. We have gifted ourselves a life bound for the fires of Hell. We have gifted ourselves a life of being without God forever and ever and ever.
But God desires to take our gift, remove it forever and in return give us the gift of salvation. God takes on the wages of our sin – this is what Jesus did on the Cross – and in place of our sin the LORD gifts us the unmerited grace of salvation.
Now, I know inside of many of you there may be a war going on – But, but – don’t you have to do something - you can’t just get saved can you?
Well, hold on to that thought - we will get to that in a moment. Let’s first look at some other wonders about grace and salvation.
II. Secondly, Grace is an Unearned Gift
There are no Spiritual Martha’s in the Kingdom of Heaven who can approach the Lord’s Throne and say “God, look at all I did. I deserve to be saved by all my works.”
There are no Works Righteousness Folks in Heaven’s play ground.
Oh, we may think that if we are good enough – if we do things well enough then at the end of the day our good deeds will in fact save us.
But again, the Bibles shares with us some great truths. This time it’s from the pen of the Prophet Isaiah:
“We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.” – Isaiah 64:6
And again the Apostle Paul helps us with these words:
“As it is written: There is none righteous, no not one:” – Romans 3:10
“And you, He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath, just as others.
But God who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly paces in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” – Ephesians 2:1-9
In this world you might be able to earn quite a few things. By the sweat of your brow you might be able to earn a job, earn the wages to buy a house and a car. You might be able to earn enough to pay for your groceries and put a little aside for retirement. But all of that is earth bound.
We don’t have the means to earn salvation. There are no heaven dollar bills that we can earn and go up to the LORD and buy our salvation.
It can’t be done. It doesn’t matter how many years we serve on a Church Board, how many dollars we put in the plate or how many times we teach a class. It doesn’t matter how many women you haven’t looked at or how many times you have bit your tongue and not said anything. It doesn’t matter how much you have sacrificed or have done without.
All those things are good for the nurturing of the soul and the cleansing of the heart and mind but the reality is no human has the ability to get their way into heaven by their own merit or by their own good works. It just cannot be done. It is impossible. I didn’t say that – God did. And God’s words are the only ones that matters.
III. Thirdly, Grace is a Gift that is Unlimited
Not only is Grace unmerited and not only is Grace unearned, the Bible tells us that Grace is limitless.
There is no floor or ceiling to salvation or to grace. There is no one so bad that they cannot be saved.
There is no one so addicted to drugs that cannot find both salvation and freedom.
There is no one who has committed the worst crime that cannot be forgiven by the LORD.
Oh, the world may not forgive and forget but then again the world is not God.
Jesus teaches us the limitlessness of Grace:
+The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)
+The Teaching of Forgiveness – 70 x 70 which means limitless (Mt. 18:22)
Unlimited grace is not just for the sinner it is also for the saint.
Let me say that again another way:
+Grace isn’t just the way sinners experience salvation; it is also where we who have been born again live. Grace is our homeland.
Grace isn’t something that we take one time and that is it – no more. No, we who have accepted and believe with all our heart, mind and soul that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords live in a place called grace. We know that our very existence is dependent on God’s Grace. We know the very breath we breathe is grace. We know that everything we have, everything we are able to do is because of God’s amazing grace.
And because God’s grace is unlimited it compels us to do our best to create an environment of grace around us at all times. It is grace that we read about in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. It is grace that compels us to forgive one another. It is grace that leads us to building a community of unity. It is grace that causes us to reach out to a world that hates us and hates our Savior. It is grace that causes us to love and then love some more and after that love even more.
IV. Finally, Grace is Transformative
Grace is free to us but it cost Jesus everything. Grace is not cheap. Our salvation cost God everything. He took on all our sins – every bad word, every evil thought, deed or action – He took it all – all the lies, all the stealing, all the adultery, all the fornication, all the idolatry, all the greed, all the shaming and the shunning. He took everything that looked like, felt like and smelled like sin and he took it all upon Himself. He paid the price. There is no more prices to pay. Jesus paid it all.
And through that price He made the way for a transformation.
That is the beauty of the resurrection. Jesus showed us physically and spiritually what can happen to us humans when we receive God’s grace – we are reborn – both physically (one day) and spiritually (today and fully on the day of our glorification).
How transformative?
Well, let’s turn to Titus 2:11 – 14
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”
When God saves us – redeems us – we are reborn – we are born from above – we are transformed – we are no longer the same people. Sin has been removed and our hearts are made holy and pure.
The Apostle Paul repeatedly used the word “metamorphosis” to explain what happens to us when we are Born Again.
And the best illustration to think about metamorphosis is of course what happens when a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.
When the caterpillar comes out of its cocoon it is changed.
How changed?
Comparison Chart
Caterpillar Butterfly
The larva of a butterfly, leafworm, and moth is a caterpillar. The butterfly is the flying insect having diurnal activity and brighter color.
Food
Feeds on solid food by chewing and biting Feeds on liquid food by drinking nectar from a flower
Legs
Thousands of legs Have only six legs
Antennae
Simple antennae Long club-shaped antennae
Eyes
Simple eyes Have compound eyes
Wings
No wings Have wings used for flying
Move
Walk minimally on its stubby legs on branches and leaves Flies in the air for visiting many flowers
See
Only black and white color Able to see colors
We all know that the change is nothing short of a miracle. It’s even hard to imagine that the beautiful butterflies that we see flying around where once earth bound. That this wonderful little creature that shines in the sunlight once spent most of its life chewing leaves and living in the dirt.
That image – the image of a butterfly is the image that God wants us to understand about us. That is why in Colossians chapter 3 the Apostle Paul tells us that we are no longer to live the way of the world but to stretch our New Born Wings and be clothed in compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. To be clothed in forgiveness and peace along with joy.
The real question of what do we have to do after we are saved is the wrong question.
The real question is – Are we going to be who God has now made us to be?
In other words – are we going to live in grace, live in the fullness of God’s Holy Spirit and become the wonder of what it means to be Born Again?
Or are we going to go back and live like a spiritual caterpillar? Living below where God wants us to live, messing around in the world’s dirt when we can soar in God’s Heavens?
This morning – God’s Grace is Amazing.
It is amazing in what it can do and wants to do in our lives.
If we allow God’s grace to be like “yeast” in our souls then we will find ourselves becoming the people of grace, goodness, joy and love that God has always wanted us to become.
Adam and Eve enjoyed the Garden. They enjoyed creation. They enjoyed one another. They enjoyed their walks with God. In many ways if we had been able to see them they would have reminded us of children – not having a care in the world but enjoying every moment of the day; singing, laughing, playing, sharing, talking and resting in God’s beautiful garden.
That is the life of grace God wants to give us.
Oh, I know we no longer live in a Garden and there are things that cause us stress, there are bills to pay and work to be done. But the more we live in grace the more we see that Our Heavenly Father is in charge, He is the one who really takes care of us and life is to be lived as a person who is Born Again and not as One who is Earthbound.
I end this morning by sharing this passage:
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:37-38
This morning accept God’s Grace, live in God’s grace and allow God’s grace to live through you and you will discover a life that is beyond imagination.
Closing prayer
*Pastor Robert Morris preaches a wonderful message on grace -
