There is no other name but Jesus whereby we must be saved. Welcome to my blog: In Him Only. I hope you will be encouraged by what you read.

Sunday, January 14, 2024

Bring it into 2024 - Part Two

 

Bring it into 2024 Part Two

 

Last week I introduced the text in Acts 20:24 to enter the year 2024. We will continue with the same text for part two of that message. During Paul’s third missionary journey, he decided to bypass Ephesus so he could be in Jerusalem in time for Pentecost. So, he called for the clergy of the Ephesian church to meet him in Miletus, some 50 miles away – approximately 2.5 days travel if they walked.  Here is the text we are examining “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:17-24)

 

Last week as I focused us on this text, we looked more closely at the last words of that verse: “To testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.” And, as I said last week, the very concept of the gospel of the grace of God is so expansive that it is not possible to reduce that idea to one message, or two. Or even to a veritable lifetime of study. And so, today’s message is simply a continuation of last week’s message as we explore the concept behind the phrase, “The gospel – meaning, the ‘Good News’ – of the grace of God.”

 

Last week we looked two components of that good news: The first - God is Holy, and He demands of us holiness. He never changes, never dilutes His commandments, never compromises His requirements of His creation.

 

The second component of God's grace is His complete forgiveness of the penitent. You might remember the two categories into which all Christians fall with regard to God's forgiveness: The Magic Slate category and the Etch-A-Sketch category.

 

Sins written and then erased on the Magic Slate can still be seen in the indentations on the black waxy surface of the slate. But sins written and then erased in the Etch-A-Sketch are removed without a trace left behind. I used that illustration to bring out the Bible’s promise that God removes the sins of the penitent like those erased on the Etch-A-Sketch – they are completely gone, and further, God chooses to never again remember those sins.

 

And so today we look further into some additional qualities of the gospel of God's grace – a message which God PRIVILEGES sinners such as you and I – to bring to a world wandering in spiritual blindness.

Quality number three of the gospel of God's grace is . . . God's GRACE. The word ‘grace’ is defined as “God does NOT give any of us what we deserve” – which is eternal judgment for our continuous sins and rebellions against His commandments.

 

God's grace.

 

Consider King David as only one of a multitude of men and women noted in Scripture who were clearly worthy of God's judgment. You remember what he did: Adultery with Bathsheba, and to cover up his own sin, the murder of her husband, Uriah. And, according to God's law, there was no sacrifice David could have made that would have washed away his damnable sins. But listen to what Davud wrote in part of his confession to God in Psalm 51:

 

Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge.”

He continued his prayer this way: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. . . . .16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

 

God's grace. His undeserved favor toward penitent sinners – even the worst of sinners such as David – and such as Saul the religious terrorist. We know him best as Saint Paul. Before he met Jesus on that road to Damascus, the man murdered Christians wherever he found them and likely tortured them to force them to blaspheme God. Listen to what penitent Saul wrote to Timothy: (1 Timothy 1:15-16) “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” 

 

God's grace. His undeserved and unwarranted favor toward YOU. And ME. Listen to the Psalmist again remind us: Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. For He himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.” (Psalm 103)

 

He knows our frame. He knows what we’re made of. He knows our sins and our inclination toward rebellion. He knows how our hearts try to follow Christ – and how often we fail. And it is in those failures – more specifically in our ongoing repentance – that God extends to us His grace. It is that grace which sent His Son to that cross. It is that unmerited favor that moves Him to tell us: “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

 

God's grace toward the sinner. But let’s now make some personal application. What sins – perhaps especially, what are your most grievous sins for which God has graciously forgiven AND FORGOTTEN? Murder? Adultery? Fornication? Destroying the reputation of others in the workplace, in school, in the family? Are you guilty in the past of blasphemy against Christ? Only you and God know what horrible thing or things you’ve done in your past.

 

But Christian, listen! THIS is where the gospel of the grace of God embraces you and me and ALL who want a new life, a new slate, who want their sins – even the most contemptible and shameful sins – wiped off the face of the earth AND off the books of heaven.

Many of us can easily quote Ephesians 2:8 – For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” 

 

Yes, God's grace – His unwarranted favor and forgiveness and compassion and love and mercy – all those things are His GIFTS wrapped up in the gospel of His grace.

 

But until we really understand within the very warp and woof of our spirits the very depth and breadth of what His grace has done for you and me PERSONALLY – how can we hope to really appreciate what John 3:16 is all about? And how can we ever hope to understand His grace unless the Holy Spirit reveals it to us?

 

And so the prophet teaches us: (Jeremiah 33:2-3)  “Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it, the Lord is His name, Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

 

Christian! Call to Him. Ask Him to teach you and guide you into His truth. He promises – He promises – to teach you and to guide you.  And HOW – we might ask – will He tell you and me great and mighty things which we do not know? I think you know the answer: Through the word of God, which is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.

 

Now let’s move on once more in our examination of that text in Acts 20:24 – ‘The gospel of God's grace.” What else do we know of God's grace? Well, it is this: God has conquered Death. Not just Death in general, but through Christ He has conquered OUR death.

 

Listen to St Peter’s proclamation to the crowds on the Day of Pentecost of Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 2:23-24) “[T]his Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”

 

And the whole witness of Scripture assures the true Christian that just as Death could not hold the Prince of Life, even so, Death cannot hold those who belong to Christ.

 

THAT unchallengeable promise of the resurrection to eternal life applies to me and to all who love the Lord Jesus with obedient faith. The ungodly cannot look to this promise with even an iota of hope, for even as the Psalmist warned long before Jesus died and rose again on our behalf: (Psalm 1:4-6) “The ungodly are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore, the ungodly will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly will perish.”

 

No wonder Scriptures assures us that we have NOTHING to fear from that enemy. Listen to Hebrews 2:14-15 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

 

I’ve seen many people die during my eight and a half years of ministry here at Ashwood. Some, God called His ‘saints’ – not because they wore halos around their heads, but because they’d placed their faith in His Son. Others, I cannot be sure of their current and forever location because I do not know what their relationship with Christ was – or if they even had one.

 

But for the Christian in this room today – death is no longer for us an invincible enemy. Jesus defeated death, and because He defeated that palpable darkness, ALL who die in Christ have ALSO defeated Death with Christ.

 

Listen to God's word in 1 Corinthians 15:50-57 “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

As I just said, I’ve known many of God's children die who have been buried during my ministry here at Ashwood. And so, on this second Sunday of January 2024 I need to say this to all of us gathered here this afternoon – including myself and my wife: No one but God knows who – if any – here in this sanctuary AND in that dining room beyond those doors – who if any He will be called to their eternal reward in 2024.

 

But I am here this day to tell you and remind you and to ASSURE you – on the unshakeable Rock of God's word – that if He calls you or me to His side through death, we have no reason to fear the grave. Christ’s death on our behalf AND His resurrection from Death’s grip has forever crippled Death’s stranglehold on the faithful follower of Christ Jesus.

 

And if God closes our eyes in the sleep of death sometime in 2024, we have His VOW that He WILL open our eyes in the morning of our New Day in the presence of the Sun of Righteousness.  

 

Listen to God's promise through Micah: “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts. (Micah 4:2-3)

 

Oh! And hear this one again from the Song of Solomon as the Holy Spirit makes His promise to the Christian: ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along. ‘For behold, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. ‘The flowers have already appeared in the land; The time has arrived for singing . . . Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along!’”
(Song of Solomon 2:10-13)

 

Let me close this message with this final word: St Paul told the Ephesian clergy: But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:17-24)

 

Christian, the gospel of the grace of God is an unshakeable hope given to us by our God who cannot lie – or change. Last week’s message, along with today’s, focused on His PLEDGE to all those who belong to Him through their obedient faith in Jesus their Savior, Lord, and God. The gospel of God's grace, which encompasses His unchanging and uncompromising holiness, His promise to totally erase from the penitent every trace of sin, His undeserved and unwarranted favor toward you and me, and His promise that Death can never hold the Christian in its grip – THESE promises are all part of the gospel of God's grace.

 

How can we say anything other than, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

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