This sermon emphasizes the much more grace of God, highlighting the richness and unfathomable depths of God's grace. It warns against misusing grace as a license for sin and encourages believers to be good stewards of the manifold grace of God. The importance of coming boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace in times of need is emphasized, along with the call to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Well, we have arrived at study number six out of six on growing in the grace of God. The subject for our sixth and final study is the much more grace of God. That phrase much more comes right out of Romans chapter 5, tied into the grace of God. Well, let's pray together as we begin our study, shall we? Lord, again, we come with thanksgiving in our hearts toward you. We appreciate your glorious grace so much, and we're appreciating it more as the years go by. Lord, we pray now as we open your word, you'll speak to our hearts by your Holy Spirit. You'll enlighten our minds, renew our minds, and build us up in the faith. Lord, equip us for more effective and fruitful service. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Let's begin with 2 Peter chapter 1. This is where we ended up in our last study. Our last study was grace for knowing God. And this, of course, is about the much more grace of God. The grace of God. It is much more than any of us have ever yet experienced, more than any of us have ever yet understood. It's more than we'll ever need for abundant life and for victory in service and growth. Last time, grace for knowing God. God bringing his grace to bear in our lives, on our lives, through our lives, making his word our experience by the enabling influence of his grace. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 2 was about knowing God, but it also ties in to the subject matter for this study. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God, in the knowing of God and of Jesus our Lord. It is the will of God to multiply his grace in our lives. And he does that by this means, in the knowing of God. Since our God is the God of all grace, as we get to know him better and better and trust in him and look to him and count on him, he is just multiplying his grace into our lives. And this is one of those terms in scriptures that is much like the phrase much more. The much more grace of God, that's our study. In this verse, 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 2, grace is multiplied into our lives as we get to know the Lord. The much more grace of God. However much we've appreciated it, however much we have appropriated it by humble dependence upon the Lord, there's much more still available. And we'll look at some arenas of the much more grace of God. Grace for victorious Christian living is where we'll begin. Here we see grace as that which is much more than our sin, our death, our defeat, and our personal inadequacy. Romans 5.17 speaks of the grace of God in such term. For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more, there's that phrase, much more, those who receive abundance of grace, okay, much more is linked into grace right there, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life, we're talking about spiritual victory, will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. Before we knew the Lord Jesus Christ, death reigned over us. Now, we can learn to reign in life through Christ as we keep receiving the abundance of his grace, grace that is sufficient to give us victorious living in the Lord Jesus. Romans 5.17, it is by the one man's offense that death reigned through the one. Adam's sin and rebellion, and then everyone ever born after that, they're connected to that fallen, defeated life that's in Adam. That all happened by the one man's offense and then our connection with him. And doesn't the reign, the rule of death devastate lives? Jesus said, the thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. Here, the enemy personified through the term death and the reality of the spiritual death that comes in Adam and the deadness that the enemy wants to just keep pounding us with. Doesn't that devastate lives? Can't you see that? When you look at your own history and testimony, the years before we knew the Lord, the years before I came to know the Lord in my mid-20s, they were devastated years. My life was decimated. The enemy was in charge. He was reigning and ruling over my life. Perhaps your testimony as well. In one way or another, this is true for all of us. But here's the good news of grace. God's grace is the much more grace of God. Sure, that was an amazing amount of enrolling waves of sin and death that devastated our lives. In fact, you can picture this work of the enemy like just flooding us, just burying us in death and deadness. You could say it was like a mighty tidal wave of sin that just rolled over and captivated and put our lives in turmoil and distress. And oh, the death that comes with the reign of the enemy. You see it in lives. You see it in families. You see it in nations. You see it in groups of people within nations. Death is reigning the world, being shredded by the God of this world. Our lives were included in that. But the remedy is much more than the problem. Would you say the problem of sin and death is huge in individual lives and in this world collectively? It's overwhelming. It's beyond measure. Well, there's a remedy that is much more than the problem. And the problem is huge. The problem is enormous. But the remedy is the much more grace of God. In fact, God himself, here through the word, ties the phrase much more into the remedy, which is abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness. Let's read it again. For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more, much more, not just barely enough, not just a little bit more, but much more than that problem is this remedy. Much more those who receive abundance of grace, along with that gift of righteousness, will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. Really, people should ask, who am I connected with? Adam or Christ? If we're only connected with Adam, we've only been born once naturally, and we just have a fallen natural life, we're under the reign of death. The people we minister to, if they're only connected to Adam, they're under the rule, the reign, the domination of spiritual death. But those who turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, they find that there's a remedy that's much more than their previous problem. And it's about the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. A new connection with the Lord Jesus Christ, a new life from him that is not fallen, that is not inadequate, that is abounding grace upon us. And here's where it hinges. Why is it that there are Christians who stagger around in defeat? Now, we are all prone to momentary stumblings of defeat. But sometimes it just seems to typify a Christian's life. They're no longer in Adam as far as God is concerned. They were far off. They've been brought near by the blood of Christ. They are connected with Christ. He is their Lord and Savior. They've trusted in him for forgiveness and new life and justification, saved by grace through faith. And yet, they're not walking in victory. Here's the issue. It hinges on this, much more those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. They're the ones who experience this great blessing and provision from the Lord of reigning in life through the one Jesus Christ. Now, of these two things, abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness, actually, every Christian has the gift of righteousness. Every true believer has the gift of righteousness, where Christ's righteousness is applied to us, given to us as a gift. It's imputed to our account, you could say. We have, in heaven above, a fully righteous account, giving us a standing acceptable before the Lord God Almighty. But still, those who have a thoroughly righteous, acceptable standing in heaven above through Christ are sometimes staggering around in defeat in their walk on the earth below. So the real variable here is the abundance of grace. It is the will of God. It is the plan of God. It is the way of God that His children live in this position, receiving abundance of grace. These are the ones who reign in life, who grow in a pilgrimage like a Christ-like overcomer, living in the victory ground that Christ has given us through the cross and the resurrection. Many a Christian appreciates the grace of God. They would say, that's how I was saved. That's how I was forgiven. That's how I was born again. Yes, but how about today when it comes to victorious Christian living? You know, a Christian living by his own resources, a Christian walking according to the flesh, is drawing upon the same resource, really, that the world is drawing upon to try to put together a life through their connection with Adam and natural birth and all of the things that come with just natural humanity. God wants His children to walk victoriously. He has provided victory for us. Are we receiving abundance of grace? Receiving, that again is the language of grace. God gives grace to the humble. Are we receiving abundance of grace? In other words, day by day, are we looking to the Lord Jesus Christ, asking Him to pour out by His Spirit abundant measures of grace for strengthening us, for protecting us, for keeping us walking with Him in the victory ground? Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ. Are we letting the Lord lead us and work His mighty abundant grace in and through our lives? I mean, that's where victory is settled right there. It's not a circumstantial issue, though it will be worked out in light of our circumstances. It's a relational issue. Are we looking to the Lord Jesus Christ for abundant grace? God's grace is sufficient to bring us victory, a reigning in life, a ruling victoriously in the name of Christ, by the grace of Christ, enjoying the life that is in Christ. For if by the one man's offense death reign through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of, or along with that gift of righteousness, will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. Romans 520 uses this language again. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. Here again, the phrase much more is tied into the grace of God. And it addresses the issue of the law. Why did the law come? You know, we had all these promises to Abraham and the blessings of the Messiah to come and all. It just needed to be believed. Why was the law added? Was it replacing the promises of God? No, of course not. It was because of sin. The law entered that the offense might abound. The law was given so it'd be more obvious to us what sin is and the fact that we have sin in our lives so that people would be convicted of such things and turn to the Lord. And here's the beautiful thing. The offense abounded when the law came in and sin was described in particular terms. Oh, my goodness. Now people knew more clearly than ever. They always had that conviction in their hearts. You know, Romans 2, the holy law of God, the standards of God written on the conscience and lying pricked the conscience before a commandment, thou shalt not lie, was ever given. But when the law entered, oh, the offense abounded, it was so visible, it was so obvious. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. And here is specific language that fits this picture of a wave rolling over people's lives or over the globe. Sin abounded, the sin of man, the individual sin of a person. You could picture it almost like a tidal wave. It just decimates and destroys and just rolls and rolls, nation after nation, life after life, generation after generation. But here's the great news, the good news of God's grace. Where sin abounded and it really rolled high and strong, where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. If the devastating sin of our own and others was a hundred foot tidal wave crushing lives, the remedy is what, 500 feet tidal wave of grace, a thousand foot, no, you can't even see the crest of the wave. Sin abounded, yes, but grace abounded much more. That's what happened in our lives and that's what can happen day by day. As the effects of sin, as the condemning reminders of sin from the enemy, maybe stumbling and falling and failing in sin, where sin abounds, grace can abound much more. God's grace is the remedy for man's sin. And God's grace is the path to victory day by day. However high sin has abounded individually or collectively, grace can abound much more. We're talking about the much more grace of God. Grace, which is able to do whatever is necessary and the transforming, enabling, victory providing work of God in our lives. And then 1 Corinthians 15, great resurrection chapter of the Bible, speaks of this grace for victorious Christian living. 1 Corinthians 15, 57, look at victorious Christian living here. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Victory is a gift of God's goodness and God's grace to us. Spiritual victory is not something we achieve. Spiritual victory is something we're to learn to receive. That's not natural thinking. Natural thinking, I've got to be victorious. I'm going to be victorious. I'm going to do this and avoid that, you know, and I'm going to walk on the victory ground. Well, praise the Lord for those good intentions. But let's not neglect God's better provision. You see the language in verse 57? Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, give is part of the precious biblical vocabulary of grace. Earn is what the law is about. Give and receive is what grace is about. And we can give thanks to God because he gives us, and it's present tense, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. It's available day by day, step by step, battle by battle, issue by issue. We look to the Lord. Lord, here's the challenge, here's the battle. Here's where I'm feeling inadequate or overwhelmed or attacked or stumbled or failed or doubted and on and on it goes. But I'm coming to you, Lord, and I see in your word that you give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the conqueror. Christ is the victor. He rose victorious over sin and death, and he gives us a participating share in that victory. Lord, Father above, through your Son Jesus, my Lord and Savior, I'm trusting you. You grant me victory in this situation, victory in what I'm facing this day, victory in this opportunity, victory in this battle and challenge, whatever it is. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, verse 58, therefore, tied into the reality and availability of that victory in Christ, this exhortation is appropriate. My beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. What a great verse that is. Don't forget where it's anchored, though. It's anchored in the resurrection victory of Christ. It's applied to us by seeking the Lord, asking, trusting, and seeing that he gives it. Therefore, on that ground, here's how we can live. We can be steadfast. We can be steady. We don't have to fade out or fall back or fall aside. We can be immovable, no matter how much impetus of attack the enemy throws against us. We can be immovable, standing on that victory ground. And we can be always abounding in the work of the Lord. I love that phrase, don't you? Always abounding, and again that word of just, you know, just rolling, rolling ocean waves. And when you look at them closely in this case, why, it's the work of the Lord we're talking about, just rolling through our lives, rolling over our lives. The work of the Lord. Not just work done for the Lord, though that certainly is a part of it. But it's the work of the Lord. And not only is it the work that the Lord has ordained, so it's His work, it's a work He is working in us, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. It is really the work of the Lord, God at work in and through our lives. And in that position, we can know that our labor is not in vain. Knowing that your labor is not in vain, and here's the key phrase again, in the Lord. Those who are striving in Christian service according to the flesh, just doing the best they can, I think it all depends on them, and they're doing it with very good motivations of devotion and appreciation. There's a lot of vanities going to be there because though you might be trusting in the Lord at given moments, if the focus is not on the Lord, it's very easy to be striving according to the flesh. But standing on that victory ground, looking to the Lord each day to grant us that victory in our daily walk, we can be steady and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord and absolutely convinced that the labor we're involved in is not in vain. It's not futile. It's not fruitless if it's labor in the Lord, counting on the Lord, looking to the Lord. Brethren, when we are in ministry and service, it's good to remember that say we're ministering the gospel to the unsaved, as desperately as that unsaved person needs the Lord and what only the Lord can do and no one else can do to bring him into salvation, to bring him out of Adam into Christ. We who are ministering to that person, we need the Lord just as much to be effective in our ministry to that person. Another way to put it is every Christian needs the Lord as much today to live the Christian life as we needed him back at the start to begin the Christian life. And verses like this make that very clear. Phrases like this, the work of the Lord, your labor in the Lord, victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Every time you find a phrase like that in scripture, it's a reminder to a believer. I need the Lord as much today to serve him as I needed him back then to be forgiven and get started with him. We never outgrow our need for the Lord and our need for the Lord never diminishes. It's daily, it's constant, it's comprehensive. This is grace for victorious living. And God's grace gift of victory through faith in the resurrection victory of Christ, his victory over sin and death is much more than enough to produce a steady, solid, overflowing, effective ministry in all of our lives. So the much more grace of God for victorious Christian living. Our next heading, the much more grace of God changing lives and drawing lives. This is about the grace of God which is more than able to transform people and then knit lives with those who are transformed. The wonderful picture of God changing us and then reaching through us in light of that change to give others interest in the things of God. 1st Timothy, 1st Timothy, chapter 1, verse 12, And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me, Paul wrote, because he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor and an insolent man, but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly and unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant. There is another phrase like the much more grace of God. The grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Gratitude pours out of the apostle's heart here, verse 12, 1st Timothy 1. He describes the Lord as the one who enabled him. Oh, no one can get into effective ministry apart from the enabling work of God. And part of that is related to God counting us faithful, pronouncing us faithful, considering us faithful, even though he sees all of our shortcomings. He looks upon our heart, sees our heart for him, and he knows that he's going to be faithful and working on our behalf. He counts us faithful and puts us into the ministry, the service of the Lord. We're not talking here about religious professionalism. Religious professionalism is the scourge of the church, is the scourge of ministry. We're talking about being humble, dependent servants of the Lord God Almighty, genuine servants of the King of kings. And he is the one who puts us into ministry. Sure, men might recognize that God has been in the process of doing that, but ministry is not really, really fundamentally, essentially, innately given to us by man. Though man may invite us into it, they're but instruments in the hands of God. The Lord puts us into the ministry, the service of his kingdom. And look, look who he'll do this for. Verse 13, Although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man. It didn't sound like Paul was qualified to be a servant of the Most High God, did it? Paul was a very accomplished religious man. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews. But see, that's not what qualifies for service in ministry. It's heart and life and walk in relationship with the Lord. Look where he started out. Maybe this is where you started out. I sure see myself, before Christ came into my life, in each of these three phrases. Paul says, I was formerly, before I was saved, before I came to Christ, I was formerly a blasphemer. A blasphemer is one who says awful, insulting things and does awful, insulting things against the Lord God. That was Paul. He said, I was a persecutor. He opposed those. He mocked those. He tormented those. He drug off to jail those who were serving the Lord Jesus Christ. And he was an insolent man. An insolent man. He was a petulant, self-confident, self-righteous know-it-all. Boy, this man will be mighty in the kingdom, won't he? It sounds like he would never ever qualify. Oh yes, the grace of God might be sufficient to save his soul and wash away his sin, yes. But to be used of God? No way. No way. I remember once, after I was saved, I was sitting down on an interview at a theological seminary because I was hungry for the Word. And I assumed that if you study the Word, you've got to go to a seminary because the church that my wife and I were saved in didn't really teach the Word. They got the Gospel out sometimes, and praise the Lord, people got saved. That's wonderful. But they didn't teach us the Word of God. And I just assumed, I guess you can't go to church if you're going to learn the Bible. You've got to go someplace else. And I was sitting down with this very well-known, much-respected man whose books, I've had many of them in my library. If I mentioned him, you'd remember his name, though I think he is with the Lord now. And he looked at my application, and he listened to my testimony, and he said, Bob, we're not going to be able to take you in around here. We have more than our quota of probationary students. My heart sunk. And he actually added, he said, in fact, you know, you might as well know the facts here. He says, we don't know of one church that is affiliated with our organization that would accept a man like you who's had a history like you've had. Oh, I just went out of there. Didn't even have to open the door to let me out. I just crawled right through the crack. And I don't say any of that in anger about that man or resentment or anything. I respected him then. I love the memory of him now. I've been greatly blessed by his books. But I must say, that perspective is not the focus of these verses, is it? I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man. But, oh, that's a wonderful word in the Bible. It's amazing what builds up to that word that will just bury you forever, you know? And then, but. Oh, there's more to the story? Please, tell me the rest. The first part's killing me. But, I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. Oh, the mercy of God. The provision He's made in Christ to hold back from us the awful judgment that we deserve because of our sin and rebellion. And, not only mercy, but grace. Verse 14. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is how Paul got into the ministry. This is how God qualified him. And this is how he became effective. The grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant. Yeah, it's the much more grace of God. And, that grace of God working in Paul's life brought with it that which produces faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Oh, and these are huge things. Serving God is the constant challenge and test of faith. Serving God necessitates every day the love of God being poured out in our hearts and then poured out toward others. And see, these are the things which are in Christ Jesus. For those who are in Christ and not in Adam, these are the things they have access to. These are the things they can draw upon. These are the things they can expect God to build into their hearts and lives. The grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant. I know, I know, God's convinced me personally through His Word that the only way I could possibly be serving the Lord these last 42 years was exceedingly abundant grace. Well, that's what our Lord has for us. Not only forgives what we did and who we were, it changes who we are and it gives us a whole new supply of resource. Mercy and grace bringing the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. The much more grace of God changes lives. Changes lives. Brethren, though the enemy may condemn, though the enemy certainly will attempt to accuse, we are not the people we once were before we came to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is the ground where God works. That's the ground where He counts us faithful. That's the ground where He changes our lives. That's where we have found mercy and ongoing grace and that qualifies us to serve God, to be His humble dependent servants. And you know, people who are changed by grace, they can't stop talking about the grace of God. Paul was changed by grace. His writings are replete with references to the grace of God. The places he ministered, the churches he ministered to, he started out, grace, mercy and peace be to you and he ended with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you and he expounded on grace in his epistles time and time and time again. And people who are impacted by the grace of God, their lives are not only changed, but God draws other lives to them. Speaking here about truth revealed in verses like 2 Corinthians 9, 14. And by their prayer for you, who long for you, because of the exceeding grace of God in you. So there were believers that prayed for Paul. Paul prayed for believers. There were other believers who prayed for the saints at Corinth. And these saints, hearing of the grace of God at work in each other's lives, prayed for one another. And when they prayed, there was a yearning toward one another. Who long for you, who yearn after you, who were drawn to these saints by what? The exceeding grace of God in you. As we allow the grace of God to work in our lives in an ever increasing manner, which is totally available in the much more grace of God, our lives are changed. They're marked by His grace. They're transformed by His grace. And then other lives that get acquainted with us and us with them, other lives are drawn to us by that grace. See that? Who long for you. Why did these other praying saints long for these believers? Because of the exceeding grace of God in you. Other lives are drawn to lives that are touched by grace. And that allows us to minister to them that same grace of God that is constantly at work and changing our lives as we seek the God of all grace. The much more grace of God. Yes, it changes lives. It changes enemies of God not only into friends of God, but into actual servants of God. And as we appreciate that grace and seek God for much more of that much more grace of God, those we become acquainted with and pray for one another, there's a yearning that develops. You know, every time I read this verse, every time I teach on this verse, my mind just sweeps across the country, across the years, really across the oceans, to saints of God, children of God, that the Lord has let me get to know and let me observe the exceeding grace of God at work in their lives. You just get knit with such lives. You want to hang around such people. You want to hear more of their testimony. You want to hear more of their insight on what the grace of God is given for us to do. What a way to enter ministry. What a way to minister. Enter ministry how? By the mercy and grace of God at work, washing away our past, changing who we are, equipping us to serve Him effectively, and then just minister that to other people, get to know other people, let other people get to know us, and there's that drawing that is innate to the grace of God. I mean, the grace of God is the satisfaction of the depths of a human heart. The great things we yearn for and want to walk in and become, they're all tied up in the grace of God. They all become real in the grace of God. And as you taste of that grace and boast in that grace and boast in the God of all grace, it touches lives. But it's the much more grace of God. It does much more than that. It draws lives to those who have been changed by it. Then a sobering word that's good to humble us before the Lord. Our next heading, warnings concerning grace. We do not want to relate wrongly to the grace of God. It's too important. It's too precious. It's too essential. It's too vital. We do not want to relate wrongly to the grace of God. So the Word warns us about a wrong attitude, perspective, or relationship with the grace of God. Verses like Jude 4. After verse 3 calls believers to contend earnestly for the faith to the message of the Word of God. Here's the faith, the Word of God, in which we are to place our faith. After warning us, exhorting us, urging us to contend earnestly for the faith, once for all delivered to the saints, we're given kind of a descriptive warning why we must do this. For certain men have crept in unnoticed who long ago were marked out for this condemnation. Ungodly men. Here's what they were doing. Who turned the grace of our God into lewdness or lasciviousness or licentious indulgence. Some wrongly relate to the grace of God. Some people wrongly relate to the grace of God because they turn it into a license to sin. They turn it into lewdness. God's grace, hey, yeah, what I'm doing you might not think is the highest Christian standard, but hey, don't worry about it. The grace of God will cover it. Oh, God help us not to change grace into something it isn't. Some people sometimes say, boy, can't you go too far with this grace message? Well, how far do you want to go, glory? How far do you want to go? Glory came down and filled my soul. You can't go too far with the true grace of God. Now you can go off on tangents and you're already too far. And here's one, turning grace into lewdness. Grace of God does not produce indulgent, carnal behavior. That's what the flesh produces. The mouth might be saying grace, but if it's a lewd life a person's living, they don't really draw upon the grace of God. They're not living by the grace of God. They're just talking about it to excuse their wrong. Related to this, Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? This is tied in with the thought in verse 20, that where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. So what shall we say to that? Hey, sin abounded, grace abounded much more. I've got an idea. I'll just sin more so grace can abound more. You know, flesh, that didn't come from the spirit of God. That didn't come from the word of God. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not. May it never be. God forbid. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? You know, how can we who died with Christ on the cross to that old life of sin now live day in and day out as the core of our new religious philosophy just sin and sin and sin so more grace can abound? May it never be. May it never be. 2 Corinthians 6 also gives a warning concerning grace. 2 Corinthians 6. Grace is not lewdness or a path to it. Grace is not an excuse to walk in sinful indulgence. And 2 Corinthians 6, 1 and 2. We then as workers together with Him, you know, working together with God, He's the Master, we're His servants. He's the ultimate source of the building of the Kingdom of Heaven. We're the instruments that He has chosen to use. We then as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. We're workers with God. We're not just workers alone for God. We go do a work and hear God. I hope you're pleased with this. We're workers together with God. True ministry is done in spiritual partnership with the Lord God Almighty. You cannot separate us and our service from the Lord and His presence in our lives. He's in us, we're in Him. We're joined together, we're united as Romans 6 puts it. And here we're told as workers together with Him we're not to receive the grace of God in vain. We're not to say, oh yes, the grace of God is great and then go off and live as though it weren't even available anymore to us. It involves on the one hand limiting the grace of God just to justification and initial salvation and ignoring it for transformation and progressive sanctification and growth and victory and fruitfulness and all of that. It also has to do with talking about grace but in our heart the grace of God has never really deeply been embraced or it isn't being embraced day by day for service. This is important, for He, God says in an acceptable time I've heard you and in the day of salvation I have helped you. This is a quote, a messianic passage from Isaiah 49.8 and it's the father speaking to his son, the Lord Jesus. In an acceptable time I've heard you in the day of favor when Jesus went forth to initiate the day of grace in His mission of salvation to this earth. And in the day of salvation speaking of this age of grace for the church that Jesus initiated in His mission to the cross, death, burial and resurrection. And in the day of salvation I have helped you, I the Father have helped you, my chosen one, the Messiah. The rest of the verse says I give you as a covenant to the people. The ultimate example of working in proper partnership with the Lord God is how Jesus humbly functioned as a servant depending on the Father and here the Father promised I've helped you. Prophetically speaking, your mission to go down and purchase salvation on this earth I have been sustaining you through all of that. It's the ultimate partnership. We then as workers together with God that's the line we're to walk in. That's how we're to serve the Lord. Oh, we don't want to wrongly relate to the grace of God. We're workers together with God not merely for God. We must not receive His grace in vain. Accept it for less than it is. Acknowledge it but not rely upon it. Especially here ignoring it in service and growth. Then our next heading Dimensions of God's Grace Ephesians chapter 2 Dimensions of God's Grace God's grace is so much greater than we yet think. We could also call this section The Magnitude of God's Grace Ephesians chapter 2 verse 7 After being told that we've been made to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, to what end? That in the ages to come He, God, might show the exceeding riches of His grace. There's terminology again like the much more grace of God. His grace exceedingly rich. He wants to demonstrate that in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus forever and ever showing great kindness toward us pouring out the exceeding riches of His grace. Remember chapter 1 verse 7 you can add here We found redemption through His blood forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. Chapter 2 verse 7 The exceeding riches of His grace. Then chapter 3 of Ephesians verse 8 To me who am less than the least of all the saints This grace was given that I should preach among the Gentiles among the nation the unsearchable riches of Christ. Or you could translate that word the unfathomable riches of Christ. I love that translation the unfathomable riches. Oh, unsearchable is true. You can't search them out to exhaustion. There's always more. But I love that term the unfathomable riches of Christ because it's a nautical term. It's an ocean, an oceanic term. You know, a fathom, six feet. And it brings to mind the oceans of the world. We're not far from the Pacific Ocean. What an awesome thing just to stand there and look at the majesty of God's creation especially if waves are abounding crashing in. And often I've thought of this verse when looking at the oceans of the world because God's grace is unfathomable. You know, you can add fathom to fathom and you can fathom the bottom of every ocean on this planet. Though in some places you have to go like seven miles of fathoms to hit the bottom. But you can hit the bottom majestic though they are. But the riches of Christ they're like an ocean without a bottom. The riches of the grace ocean of God it's unfathomable. It's the much more grace of God. In reflection and conclusion a couple of verses not only for this study but all six of our Growing in the Grace of God studies. 1 Peter 4.10 As each one has received a gift minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. We are stewards of the manifold grace of God. A steward He's one who is accountable to a master to use the resources of the master for the master's will, the master's pleasure the master's glory, the master's purpose. And we are stewards of the manifold grace of God. The manifold grace of God. The many faceted aspects of the grace of God. It's like a heavenly diamond the grace of God is and without limit and everywhere you take up your stance to view it there's another facet. The light of heaven shines off that grace of God. Oh, I hadn't thought of that aspect of the grace of God. We are stewards of that. And we are stewards of grace gifts the next verse goes on into as each one has received a gift and it talks about speaking gifts and action gifts. We're stewards of these gifts. We're stewards of the grace of God. We're to minister the grace of God to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. We're not only blessed immeasurably by the much more grace of God having it revealed to us imparted to us we're now stewards to minister that to other people. To boast in the grace of God to point to the grace of God to open the word the word of His grace and give out the grace of God. And for that we'll be needing to come to the throne of His grace. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16 Oh what a great verse this is. We're living in and ministering the grace of God. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. An invitation to come boldly to the throne of grace. Boldly. Not presumptively not with cockiness and arrogance not that. But boldly. Yes. Humbly and meekly. Yes reverence toward the Lord but boldly. How can you do all that boldly? Just know that you have guaranteed access. I think through the years of our kids and grandkids bursting into my office when I'm in very important meetings or counseling or ministry whatever you know. They just came in boldly. Why? Because they knew daddy or grandpa was in there. They knew they had access to my heart. And we're to come to the throne of grace that way. That's our Abba Father on that throne. We're not cocky. We're not irreverent. We're just certain of guaranteed access. So come boldly to the throne of grace. The throne that rules the universe from whence grace is dispensed from the heart of God. What are we coming looking for? That we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Obtain mercy. Lord again by your merciful work and heart would you hold back the consequences of my failure or foolishness. To obtain mercy. But not only obtain mercy, find grace to help in time of need. There's another reminder that grace is not just about forgiveness and new life and new birth. It's about day by day pilgrimage. Here called help in time of need. How often should you come to the throne of grace? Well if we came every time we were needy we would be coming quite regularly wouldn't we? Really every time is a good time to come. But especially when you're aware of personal need or the needs of others. And then last of all 2 Peter 3 18 2 Peter 3 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to him be the glory both now and forever. Back where we started. A call to grow in grace. Here grace and growth are tied together. We're to grow in the grace and knowing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Grace is for growing. Yes thank the Lord it's for birthing. There's no other way to enter the family of God. But for those who are born again by grace this is more good news. There's grace for growing. For maturing. For being equipped. Being transformed. Being enabled. Being made practically personally day by day victorious and effective and fruitful in service. Why don't we pray together to the Lord about this. Lord thank you for this opportunity to consider these great truths in your word. The word of grace. We thank you. The God of all grace. And Lord we just humbly bow before your throne of grace. We have many needs in our lives. The church world has many needs. The world around us is desperate in needs. Lord work on us, in us and through us. By your life giving, life transforming, Christ honoring, God glorifying grace. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.