Sermon Series: Abound

 

Sermon Title: Abounding in God’s Grace

 

Theme Verse:

 

2 Corinthians 9:8

 

 ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

 

What is Grace?

 

Grace (charis)

 

• of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues

 

• all earthly blessings, wealth, etc., which are due to divine goodness

 

Grace can be summarized as God giving us what we do not deserve.

 

• God grace is given to us for salvation

 

Ephesians 2:8-9

 

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

 

Gifts are not earned; they are simply given to the recipient as a token of generosity by the giver.  So, it is with salvation.  God has lavished upon us His bountiful love in giving us the greatest gift of all mainly His son Jesus to die in the place of our sins.  We cannot be good enough nor can we do enough good things to earn salvation; it is simply a gift from the father.

 

The way that we receive this gift of salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ.  We must Believe that He is the Son of the living God and that He died and rose from the dead.  We must believe that His sacrifice is sufficient to appease the wrath of God on our behalf.

 

Because of our sins we deserve death,

 Romans 6:23

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

 

His grace gives us that which we do not deserve.  He gives us Jesus. Through Jesus we have forgiveness of our sins and the removal of our guilt and shame.

For some people it is hard for them to wrap their minds around the fact that God would give such a gift so freely.  (it is also hard for them to understand why we as Christians are gracious)

 

Consider the parable of the Laborers (Matthew 20:1-16)

The master of a vineyard goes early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 

• The first group of people agree to work the vineyard for a certain wage.
• Then the master goes out four more times periodically throughout the day and acquires even more workers.
• At the end of the day the master of the vineyard pays his workers starting with the ones who were hired last.
• When they received a wage for the whole day, then those who had worked the whole day thought for sure they would receive even more. But they each received a full day’s wage as well after all it was the amount they had agreed So, when they had complained to the master of the vineyard he replies;

 

¹³ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. ¹⁵ Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?^’16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”

 

• The thing about God’s grace is that it is His to give and He gives it freely and generously to whomeverHe wants both to the Jew and the Gentile. So, if you happen to be a recipient of His grace, be thankful and receive it gladly through faith.

 

Furthermore, He gives what we do not deserve.  The workers that were hired on towards the end of the day did not deserve the same compensation as those who labored all day in the hot sun.  Well at least according to the way we see things. 

 

God sees things differently than we do for He searches the heart and sees that each person was willing to get off the sidelines and work for the master’s cause.  So each received their due reward.   He gives that which we do not deserve.

 

• God’s grace Keeps us on the right path

 

• His grace keeps us by giving us strength

 

Ephesians 3:14-19

 

¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶ that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

 

We talked about grace is God giving us what we do not deserve.  Now we see in addition to salvation, God gives strength according to the riches of His Glory.  As He abounds in strength, so He gives. 

 

The way that He gives strength is through the Holy Spirit and in your inner being. The strength He gives is spiritual by nature.  

 

The effect that His strength has on our lives:

            Christ would dwell in your heart

We are strengthened by God’s power through the spirit to have faith so that Christwould dwell in our hearts.  Even our faith comes from Him.

            That you would know (rooted and grounded) Christ’s love

We are strengthened by God’s power through the spirit to know Christ’s love for us. 

            That you may be filled with the fullness of God

We are strengthened by God’s power through the spirit to be filled with the fullness of God.

 

If we have Christ living in our hearts (we are not alone)

and we know His love for us (our identity)

and we also have the fullness of God abiding on the inside of us, what more do we need.  He graciously gives us what we need to keep going.

 

• Furthermore, His grace keeps us by training us in godliness.

 

Titus 2:11-12

 

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, ¹² training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives In the present age, 

 

It is by God’s grace that He is patient with us as we are being trained in righteousness.  I’m sure there is not a person in the room who could say “I lived this Christian life perfectly without sin.” 

 

But rather training implies a process.  A recruit does not become a soldier without training.

 

I’m sure you have fallen along the way.  Yet God is gracious.  He picks us up when we fall and gives us the tools to get us back on track. 

 

He gives a shoulder to cry on

He gives an embrace for the prodigal

He gives joy where there was sorrow

He gives peace to the anxious

He gives rest to the weary

He gives healing to the broken

God is a giver, and He gives grace to keep us on the right path.

1 Peter 5:10

 

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 

 

2 Corinthians 12:9

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

 

• God’s grace causes us to abound with Grace to others

 

Charles Spurgeon

 

Now observe, first, God loveth a cheerful giver, for he made the world on the plan of cheerful giving, and a great artist loves all that is consistent with his plan. I say God has made the whole world on this plan. I will show you. Look at the sun. What an orb of splendour! What a glorious creation of God! Why is it bright? Because it is giving away its light. Why is it glorious? Because it is scattering its beams on all sides. Imagine that it should say, “I will give no more light,” where would be its brightness? If it should say, “I will no more scatter my beams,” where would be its lustre? It is in the magnificent generosity of that great father of the day that his glory consists. It is the grandest of orbs to us because it gives us so much of that vitalising force which is heat, and light, and life. 

 

Now the Christian man, or the professed Christian man, who is no giver, or being a giver is not a cheerful giver, is out of order with the system which revolves around the covenant of grace and the cross of Christ; he is out of tune with the blood and wounds of Jesus; he is out of order with the eternal purposes of the Most High;

 

…then, the cheerful giver, made so by divine grace, keeps tune with redemption and nature after his own measure and calling, he is commended of the Lord.

 

Be gracious towards others by abounding in truthful and kind words

 

Ephesians 4:15

 

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

 

Ephesians 4:25

 

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

 

Ephesians 4:29

 

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

 

Be gracious toward others by abounding in forgiveness towards them

 

Ephesians 4:31-32

 

³¹ Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. ³² Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

 

 

Hebrews 12:15

¹⁵ See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 

 

Be gracious towards others by abounding in service

 

Mark 10:43-45

 

⁴³ But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

 

1 Peter 4:10

 

¹⁰ As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:

 

Let’s revisit our theme verse that we started with

 

2 Corinthians 9:8

 

 ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound to you

 

We have no reason to distrusts the goodness of God as He can make all grace abound to you.  So that the more grace you give, the more that He will make abound to you

 

God’s grace is given to us for salvation

God’s grace keeps us on the right path

            Giving us strength

            Training us in godliness

God’s grace causes us to abound with Grace to others

We are to abound in truthful and kind words

We are to abound in forgiveness

We are to abound in service