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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