GRACE OF GOD SERIES PART 5 GRACE BY WHICH WE MAY SERVE2007 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching DetailsInformation Icon

Date: 2007-12-16

Title: Grace Of God Series Part 5 Grace By Which We May Serve

Teacher: Jerry B Simmons

Series: 2007 Grace Of God Series

Teaching Transcript: Grace Of God Series Part 5 Grace By Which We May Serve

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2007. This morning is part five of the Grace of God series. The title this morning is Grace by Which We May Serve. Grace by Which We May Serve, as we've been looking at the grace of God,

We've been learning over and over again that grace is unearned and undeserved favor. But of course, that doesn't quite capture the fullness of what grace is. And so we've been looking each week at different elements of grace. We looked at what grace means in regards to salvation. That grace is not just a form of grace.

That salvation is not based upon good works, it's not based upon being determined or having good motives, or salvation is not taken away because of, well, bad pasts and difficult histories and things that have gone on in our background. No, salvation is based entirely upon the grace of God. As we just read here in Ephesians 2.8, for by grace you have been saved.

Through faith. That salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ. And it's God's grace to us. That we can be saved. That we can be born again. That we can have new life in Jesus Christ. The following week we went on to talk about what grace means in regards to sin.

And grace in regards to sin means that, well, we are forgiven and that his grace is sufficient. And where sin abound, abounded, grace abounded much more. And where sin abounds, grace abounds much more that God covers and abounds.

washes away our sin by our faith in Jesus Christ, that it's not about good works. Well, if my good works outweigh my bad works, then God, you know, just washes away my sin. No, it's about faith in Jesus Christ. It's not about, well, I've done this so many times now that God's fed up with me. No, where sin abounds, grace abounds much more. We learned that through grace, we have complete and total forgiveness.

We're set free from the bondage to sin and death. Last week, in continuing our study on grace, we looked at what grace means in regards to hope. That as believers in Jesus Christ, you and I have an incredible hope.

That it's not based upon works. It's not based upon, well, if I'm good enough, then I have heaven to look forward to and wonderful things in eternity to look forward to. No, instead, by grace, God gives to us this hope that we have in him. The hope of salvation, the hope of being glorified with him, the hope of eternal life, the hope of things that...

really are indescribable and we cannot know because they're far beyond our ability to comprehend the wonderfulness that God has in store for us. Now, as we continue on here in part five, looking at grace by which we may serve, we're looking at the subjects of grace and ministry. What does grace mean when it comes to ministry or service for you and I? Serving God is part of his purpose for us.

And that's why we're starting here in Ephesians 2, 8, 9, and 10. Because Ephesians...

Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 we're familiar with. We've been looking at those. For by grace you save through faith. And that faith is not of yourselves. It's a gift of God. Not of works lest anyone should boast. That's going back to salvation. It's going back to the forgiveness of sins. We understand that. We've been looking at it over and over again. But the very next verse continues on to say, For we are his workmanship.

created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Not only have we been saved by grace, but we've also been created in Christ Jesus for good works. The walking in good works is

So there is this path ahead of you. And on this path, God has these areas and these scenarios set up and these scenarios set up.

situation set up that, well, all you need to do is arrive and do the thing that he's asked you to do. Everything else is already set. The stage is already set. And you just need to be obedient and do what God has asked you to do, because he's set up all of these good works before you throughout your entire life. He created you in Christ Jesus.

for good works. The salvation that God offers, the grace that God gives, the result of that, and one of the purposes of that is that you and I would walk in good works, walk in serving God, that we would be involved in ministry.

We saw this as well in Titus chapter two. That's where we started this series on the grace of God, looking at the overview of many of the things that we've been discussing here about grace, the grace of God, which brings salvation, has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age, looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We've taught and covered all those things up to that point. But then in verse 14, it says, who gave himself for us. Jesus Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify himself for himself, his own special people, zealous for good works.

Grace teaches us all these things. Grace has all of these impacts in our lives and it means all of these things to us. But he tells us that God did it to purify for himself his own special people who are zealous for good works. That's supposed to be you and me, that God's grace in our life should inspire us and convince us to be doing good works because it's part of the purpose for which Christ created us.

In Hebrews chapter 12, verse 28, the author of Hebrews says, It's from this verse that I grabbed the title for this message, Grace by which we may serve.

He says there, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And so we looked at last week what grace means in regards to hope. We know that we have this hope. We are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, an inheritance that will not spoil, that cannot be corrupted.

An inheritance that will last. And so since we are receiving, since we have this hope, he says, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. And so I would ask you this morning, what are you doing for the kingdom of God? What are you doing to serve God? What are you doing for his glory? What are you doing in obedience to him?

I would ask you that on an ongoing basis. What are you doing for God? And I would ask you this last week, what did you do for God? What did you do for his kingdom? What have you accomplished for his purposes? Since we have such great hope, since we have this eternity waiting for us, the author of Hebrews says, let's serve God by his grace. We have the grace now.

From God that allows us and gives us the opportunity to serve him. And that's what we want to look at as we finish off our study this morning, looking at four different things about the grace of God in relations to ministry or in relation to us serving God. And for the first one, turn with me now to first Corinthians chapter 15.

I'll have you jumping around again a little bit this morning. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And the first point we're looking at here in 1 Corinthians 15 is that by grace we have a role in the body of Christ. We have a role in the body by grace. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 says,

Verse 9 and 10, Paul says, For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Here in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul is talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and how Christ has appeared to all of these people. And then he ends just prior to verses 9 and 10 saying, and last of all, he appeared to me. And he's kind of talking down about himself who was born out of season and stuff. And so he goes on to explain what he means by that.

And that's what we find here in verses 9 and 10. He shares with us that he is the least of all the apostles. He's not worthy to be called an apostle because of his prior actions, because he persecuted the church of God. But then grace comes into the picture. And three times he uses the word grace in verse 10. That it's by grace.

That he is able to be an apostle. It's not because he deserved it. It's not because he earned it. His calling, his role in the body of Christ was by grace. And we find that our role in the body of Christ is by grace as well. No matter who you are, if you are born again, you are part of the body of Christ.

You're a part of his body, of his church, both universally as well as locally, that God has placed you within a body. He has a place for you within a local body of believers. Now, this is important and you need to know God does not call anyone to simply be a spectator. You know, if you enjoy sports, you often will go and you'll be a spectator at a sporting event.

If you go watch some baseball or some football, you'll be in the stands most likely. I don't think any of you are professional players or anything. And on the field will be all the players. But

Even all of those who are professional and paid to play the sport, not all of them are on the field. There's some of them who are warming the bench. There's some of them who are kind of backup just in case something happens. And so there are the players, but even not all of the players are playing all the time. But the body of Christ is not like that.

God does not call any Christian to be a spectator when it comes to the kingdom of God. There's no Christian spectators in God's purpose and plan. There's no benchwarmers in God's purpose and plan. God calls every one of us onto the field.

Again, what are you doing for the kingdom of God? What are you accomplishing for God's purposes? Paul, in looking at himself, determines, hey, I'm not worthy to be on the field. I'm not worthy to be called an apostle.

But I am called an apostle by his own estimation. He's not worthy, but God called him to be an apostle. God appointed him and gave him that role. He called him to fulfill that function within the body of Christ, not because Paul was so great, but because God's grace is so great.

In verse 10, he says, by the grace of God, I am what I am. And every time I read that verse, I think of Popeye. I can't help it. I am what I am. By the grace of God, Paul says, I don't deserve it. I haven't earned it. I'm not worthy to be called an apostle. But because of God's grace, I am an apostle of Jesus Christ.

Paul, looking at his own life, says, I don't get it. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't add up. I'm not worthy. I persecuted the church. I'm the least of all the apostles. Why would God want me to be an apostle? It doesn't make sense. But it's by God's grace. And that's important. You know, if you or I can look at where we are in life or perhaps in ministry and understand it, something's wrong.

If we could say, yep, I'm here because, well, you know, I've just been so good and I've worked real hard and I've been diligent and faithful and I went to school for this and I got here because I did that. And if we can add up and our life makes sense because of our own selves, there's a problem. We're missing out. We have a role in the body of Christ.

A function to fulfill in the ministry and in the purposes of the kingdom of God. And it's by God's grace, which means it's not earned. It's not deserved. It's given by God on no account of us at all. You are a part of the body of Christ, but not because you deserve it. I am a part of the body of Christ, not because I've earned it, but it's by the grace of God that you are what you are.

It's by the grace of God that we have a role in the body of Christ.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul deals with the body of Christ in more detail. I'm not going to go into that, but you can spend some time in chapter 12 and look more about the importance of each part and how Paul goes to great lengths to make sure, hey, you need to know there's no insignificant part of the body of Christ. There's no unimportant part. Again, God calls us all to the field.

It's by the grace of God that you are what you are. First Corinthians chapter 12, verse 18 tells us that God has set the members, each one in them or each one of them in the body just as he pleased. He has placed you and designed the body of Christ to have a spot just for you, for a function that only you can fulfill, a role that only you can play.

Again, in chapter 12, verse 27 of First Corinthians, Paul says, you are the body of Christ and members individually. You are a member. You're a vital part of the body of Christ. You have a role to play, a function to fulfill. You're called by God into the ministry. So what are you doing for the kingdom of God? What are you accomplishing for him and his purposes?

I think there's some typical objections or excuses that we could offer at this point. Probably ones that we've all used from time to time. Well, I didn't ask to be a part of the body. It's not really what I signed up for. I want salvation, but...

This whole service thing and being involved and stepping out. And I just I just want the salvation. And it's just me and Jesus. And that's enough. And when it comes to other people, you know, let God reach them. But I didn't really ask to be a part of this. I didn't ask. I didn't sign up for this. And maybe not. You probably didn't. But you were created in Christ Jesus for good works.

It was the purpose of your salvation for good works. It's the purpose of being born again for good works to do the work of the kingdom of God. Another objection or excuse perhaps would be, you know, I don't deserve to be a part like Paul. I have this past. I have this history. Or perhaps as we even studied looking at the grace of God in sin, I have this present part.

These issues I'm dealing with, these issues that I face, these things that I've just been going through, and I don't deserve to be a part of the body of Christ. Hey, that's correct. You don't deserve it. It's by God's grace. No one deserves it. No one's earned it. No one has the right except by the grace of God.

We could also say, well, hey, I'm not qualified to be a part of the body of Christ to have this role and this responsibility. It's too much. I'm really not qualified. And that's correct as well. Again, it's by God's grace. Nobody is qualified to be a part of the body of Christ. Well, I'm not really equipped. You know, I don't have the tools necessary or I don't have the training that that's needed. And to be able to handle this type of role and responsibility is.

Hey, that's not true. That's incorrect. You know why? As we often say, God's calling is his enabling. Look at verse 10 here in 1 Corinthians 15 again. His grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all. Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Paul says, by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace toward me was not in vain. What does that mean? That means grace.

He did his function. He was fulfilling his role. God gave him the grace to be called an apostle, to have a role in a function. He fulfilled that function. So the grace wasn't in vain. He says, I labored more abundantly. I was actively involved in the calling which God had placed in my life. Yet not I, but the grace of God, which was in me. Highlighting and emphasizing the point here.

Even though I was actively at work, I realize and understand it's still not me. It's not my abilities or talents. It's not my energy even. It's the grace of God that supplies all of those things to me. It's the grace of God that enables me to do the ministry that I've been called to do. Remember 1 Timothy 1.12? Paul there was saying, hey, I thank Jesus Christ to...

Counted me faithful, enabled me and put me into the ministry. That's what God does for every one of us. We have a role within the body of Christ. We're enabled and equipped for it by God's grace. We're not qualified, but it's by God's grace. We don't deserve it, but it's by God's grace. And it's for this purpose that we have been created. And again, it's by grace, which means that it's not earned.

You don't have a role in the body of Christ because you've been so faithful to read the Bible. You don't have a role in the body of Christ because, you know, you're so faithful on Sunday mornings or that you're so diligent or because you have such a love for God or because of whatever else that we may think of. You have a role in the body of Christ because of God's grace.

Because he gives it to us whether we earn it or deserve it or not. And you have a role in the body of Christ that cannot be taken away because of falling short. It's not based upon our works. It's not based upon how good we do or how far short we fall. That's, I think, a way to say it. How bad we do. It's based upon God's grace. Your role. Ephesians 2.10 says that God is prepared beforehand for.

These works to accomplish these things to do the things for which you were created in Christ Jesus to accomplish. Now, what are those things you might be asking? What is my role in the body of Christ? Well, God has prepared them beforehand. You have a relationship with God. So spend some time with him and find out what it is. It's between you and the Lord. I can't tell you what your role is, but God can.

And you have a relationship with him by grace. There's a couple of general things that we know. Matthew 28, 19 and 20. We know that we're all called to make disciples. As we discussed in going through First Timothy, we're all called as Timothys to be ministers and to be reaching out and be making disciples of the people around us. I like the way David Downs expressed it on Wednesday evening.

He was talking about how we think oftentimes that a missionary is the one who goes out and goes on to some foreign field or something. But he said, in reality, I'm just being a Christian in Italy. And that's the truth. Whether you're here in the United States or in Italy, the purpose of our lives is to be a Christian. And we're missionaries wherever we go. We're called to make disciples by Jesus Christ.

So you have a call to make disciples. You have a call within a local body of believers. I would encourage you taking a step back real quick. I've been on jury duty for the past week.

And I got called on a case again. And so right now we're in the middle of deliberation and going back and forth and having some fun. But one thing I like about jury duty is I get opportunity to read a lot of books that have been stacking up on my shelf because you have a lot of time where the judge has to do something. And so you're just sitting there. And so one of the books I was able to read this past week was.

a book called Stop Dating the Church by Joshua Harris. And it's a book I would encourage you to pick up. It's a light read. It's not real technical or difficult or long. And he goes into really the concept of how important is the local body of believers to God? What value does he place upon that? And therefore, since...

As we understand the value and the importance that God places upon it, then that needs to be the same value and importance that we place upon the local body of believers. And that means that we need to be involved and be serving within the church. I would encourage you to pick it up and check it out. It was a very challenging book even for myself.

And so we have a role within the body of Christ. Generally, as a part of the universal church, the body of Christ, out on the workplace and in our families, in our neighborhoods, wherever we go, we have a role. What are you doing for the kingdom of God? You're called to make disciples. What are you doing for the kingdom of God? You have a role within a local body of believers. What are you doing for the kingdom of God? By God's grace.

He's given to us the opportunity, the role to fulfill a function, to play a part and to accomplish the good works that he has prepared before us. Going on to the second thing, not really a portion that goes specifically with this point, but the second point is that we also have spiritual gifts by grace, spiritual gifts by grace. First, we have a role in the body by grace.

And then we have spiritual gifts by grace. And the reason why I don't have a corresponding passage is just that there's too many and it's too much to get into. And so I'll make reference to a few in just a moment. But to go along with the role that God has given to you, there are spiritual gifts that God gives you to help you fulfill your role within the body of Christ. Now, to me, this makes sense. I can see this need because God,

Going back to what we've already looked at, we cannot earn or deserve the role that God has given to us. Within his body, we have a role, a responsibility, a part to play, and we can't earn or deserve that role.

Not only that, but we're not qualified for that role. So we don't even have the exactly what we need to be able to fulfill that role and do what God has given us responsibility to do. So since we can't earn it, since we're not qualified, since it's all by God's grace. Well, I'm going to need some extra help to accomplish what God has set before me. If you could picture it this way.

Picture that you've been hired for a job that you're not qualified for. Now, this almost happened to me once. There was an opportunity and I submitted a resume and it was someone who is familiar to me. And so we kind of worked both together, exaggerating a little bit the qualifications and experience. And it came to the point that I was pretty much offered the job. And at that time, I started to freak out because then I realized, hang on.

I don't even think I can do this job that I'm being offered. So I'm going to come on and there's going to be all this expectation and responsibility. And I'm not sure that I can do what they want to hire me to do. And that's where we find ourselves in the body of Christ. And that is why spiritual gifts are so important.

Because here we are, God has given us opportunity, responsibility. He's prepared good works before us. He's got this path planned out for us. He created us in Christ Jesus to accomplish these things that we didn't earn, that we're not qualified for. And so there's help that we need. There's things that we're lacking. And we must have then some type of supernatural aid to accomplish his purposes.

And that comes to us in the form of spiritual gifts. Now, again, I can't do a whole teaching on spiritual gifts right now. It would be quite lengthy. But I would encourage you on your own. We've done this in other studies as well.

Romans chapter 12, 1 Corinthians chapter 12 through 14, Ephesians chapter 4, 1 Peter chapter 4. Again, that's Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 through 14, Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 4. All of those go through and talk about spiritual gifts in the life of a believer. You need to know them. You need to know what God has for us.

If you want an outside resource, another book I read this last week on jury duty was Touched by His Spirit by Jim Hesterly. It's a great book, very simple. It just goes basic, basic about the gifts of God, giving down-to-earth examples in biblical times as well as today and defining what all of the gifts are. It really gives a good insight and good grasp on what spiritual gifts are and how to use them in your life.

But the point I'm making here about spiritual gifts is that they are also by grace. Spiritual gifts are by grace. They're not earned. They're not deserved. And we know this because of the word that is used when describing spiritual gifts. The word for grace in the Greek, the original language, is the word charis or charis.

C-H-A-R-I-S. That's the word that we've been studying this past five weeks, looking at grace. The word for gift, when it's used about talking about spiritual gifts, as well as the gift of salvation and other things. But the word that is used is the same word, charis, just adding M-A at the end. Charisma. Charisma. Charisma.

Now, charisma, adding that M.A. at the end, we think of charisma as, you know, someone who's really kind of boisterous and, you know, got lots of energy and real lively. But but adding that M.A. on the Greek on the end of that in the Greek means that this is something that is the result of grace, isn't it?

It's the product of grace. Spiritual gifts are not the result of, well, being so good and being so faithful and earning so much and those types of things. But spiritual gifts are the product of grace. It's God's grace in our lives that gifts us supernaturally to be able to fulfill the role that he's called us to fulfill. That means that spiritual gifts are

are not given to people because they're so spiritual. It's not because they're so religious or so righteous. Spiritual gifts are not given to those, not only given to those who have been Christians for a long time. Well, you've passed the mark, you've gone long enough, so now you can have some spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are not given because a person is so holy.

Spiritual gifts are the result of grace. They're the product of grace. They're not earned. They're not deserved. It's not by works. They're not taken away by falling short. Spiritual gifts are given to us by grace. 1 Corinthians 12, verses 7-10 talk about some of the spiritual gifts.

The word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, healings, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues and interpretation in tongues. Nine things listed there in First Corinthians 12, seven through 10. All by grace. These are the things that God gives to us to supernaturally enable us and equip us for the role that he's called us to fulfill.

He equips you with these spiritual gifts with supernatural help for you to fulfill your role. So there you are in your office and God speaks to you about talking to someone. You don't have to get freaked out by it. You don't have to get all petrified. Well, what am I going to say? And what if they say this? And what if they come back with this? And what if that happens? Hey, God's given you the role and he supernaturally gifts you for the things that he calls you to do.

And so when he is prompting you, when he is placed a person upon your heart or whispered in your ear, hey, you need to go and share with this person. You don't need to freak out.

You don't need to freak out because, well, oh, man, Lord, I didn't read today. What am I going to say? I mean, what if they ask what I read today? Then what am I going to say? You know, I'm not being a good witness then. Or, Lord, I haven't been to church lately. Or, you know, I stumbled. Lord, you know what the freeway was like this morning and what I did. And, Lord, you know these things. And I can't go talk to that person. Hey, your role, God's gifts, they're by grace. You need to go in faith. So God tells you to start a Bible study. Okay?

Perhaps in your neighborhood or at your workplace or at the park or wherever. Oh Lord, you know, I didn't go to Bible college. I didn't go to school. I'm not really qualified or there's other people that could do it better or I don't like to speak. I stutter a lot like Moses and on and on and on we could go.

Well, Lord, I can't start a Bible study because look at my family life. And, you know, I got these struggles and these kids are rebellious sometimes. And I have these other issues and these difficulties and these things. And we just keep going around and around with all of our excuses and reasons why we can't. It's because we don't know about God's grace. It's because we don't realize and believe that he has given us a role that he has gifted us by his grace. Start the Bible study. Go forward.

Not because you earned it, not because you deserve it, not because you're worthy, but because of God's grace. And don't not do it because of all those other issues and things that you think you got going on. Do it by God's grace. So you volunteer to help in children's ministry. Oh man, how am I going to share with the kids? I don't know what to say. All of the things that we can say, all of the things that we can add up, all the excuses that we have are just objections saying that we do not believe in the grace of God.

We don't believe that he'll gift us supernaturally. We don't believe that he's given us the role and responsibility. We don't believe that his calling is his enabling. We don't believe in God's grace. Grace for salvation is received how? By faith. For by grace he is saved through faith. Ephesians 2.8. Grace for forgiveness is received the same way. By faith. Grace for hope, as we saw last week, is received... What do you think? It's by faith.

Now, since for salvation, forgiveness and hope, all of those things, the grace of God is received by faith. How do you suppose the grace for serving God is received? It's OK. You can answer out loud. It's by faith. The grace for serving God is received by faith. That means that you and I, we need to take steps of faith.

Faith is obedience to God at his word. You need to do the things that God puts upon your heart. The only way you will receive the grace of God to serve is if you take the step of faith. If you believe God and are obedient to him at his word, you're not going to receive the grace of God to serve. If you're sitting there waiting. OK, when God deals with all of these issues in my life and finally I'm perfect, then I can serve. You're never going to see it. Receive the grace of God to serve him. No, it's by grace.

That we're able to serve God. Grace by which we may serve him. Don't offer excuses. Don't disqualify yourself. Do it in faith. And you know what will happen? As you serve God, as you're obedient, this is point number three. You glorify God by grace. His grace in your life brings glory to his name. You don't have to turn there, but I'll read it to you. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1.

Verses 11 and 12 says,

Here, essentially, Paul is saying this, look, guys, I'm praying for you so that God would fulfill in you your calling, your role in the body of Christ and every act that's prompted by your faith, as the New International Version phrases it.

I pray that God will fulfill that. I'll count you worthy of his calling. That is your role within the body and that he'll fulfill every act that's prompted by your faith. That's what we've just been talking about, stepping out and allowing God's grace to work in our lives. And he goes on to say that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you. Jesus Christ, his name will be glorified in you and you in him alone.

And he says, and that is according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, counting you worthy of his calling again, we're not worthy, but he counts us worthy. That's his grace that he gives us a role in the body of Christ to fulfill every act that's prompted by your faith. It's not because we're so great and we have such great faith. But again, by his grace, he fulfills the steps of faith that we take. He fulfills the things that he prompts us to do.

As you're doing your role, as you're taking those steps of faith, God will fulfill them. And the result of that is Jesus Christ is glorified. We have the awesome honor and privilege of glorifying his name, even though that we've done things to shame his name.

He still gives us the opportunity to glorify the name of Jesus by his grace. Now, this may not mean a whole lot to you, but I would ask you if it doesn't mean a whole lot to you that you have the opportunity to glorify the name of Jesus. Then the hard question is, do you really love Jesus? If it doesn't matter to you, if you glorify his name or not, have you really grasped hold of the grace of God? Do you really love Jesus? If it doesn't matter to you,

If you glorify his name or not, do you understand what he did for you? So much more there, but I'll leave that for you to meditate on with the Lord. The fourth and final point this morning is be a good steward of grace. Be a good steward of grace. We've been given a role within the body of Christ. We've been supernaturally equipped to fulfill that role. And we have the opportunity to bring glory to his name all by grace.

And so you and I, as responsible believers, we need to be good stewards of this grace that has been given to us. Now, when it comes to understanding this element of grace that we've been looking at this morning, I think it's important to recognize who benefits when you receive this grace. We've been talking about in the previous week, salvation, sin and forgiveness, as well as hope last week.

And in all of those areas, as you receive the grace of God by faith for those things, for salvation, forgiveness and hope, you personally and directly benefit. Salvation is for your benefit. You get saved. You're rescued from hell.

Hey, you're set free from your sin. You can't do it for anybody else. You can't be saved for anybody else. This is something directly for you. God's grace impacts your life. Now, indirectly, the people around you are.

are affected as well, because now you're saved. Now you're forgiven. Now you have hope. Now you're a new creature in Christ. And so you become a better father, a better mother, a better husband, a better wife as you're walking with God and drawing close to God. And so the other people around you are blessed. But indirectly, when we come to ministry, on the other hand, the things we're talking about in serving God this morning, when you receive the grace of God for ministry to serve him,

When you step out in faith and use the gifts that God has given to you and fulfill the function that God has given to you, the persons who receive the benefits are the people around you that God has called you to serve. You're impacting their life. Now, indirectly, you benefit. Indirectly, you're blessed. God works in you and does incredible things as you reach out and minister to others. But primarily, God is using you by his grace.

to benefit others, to impact their lives, to change things for eternity in some cases. Be good stewards of grace. Look at someone next to you for just a moment. You have a part to play in that person's spiritual growth. If they don't grow, you're partly at fault. If they grow really well, hey, you've taken part in that.

You have a part to play. Ephesians chapter 416 talks about when every part does its share, it causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. The person next to you is dependent upon you doing your share, fulfilling your role, doing the things that God has called you to do. And as you do, the people around you, the rest of the body grows. We're all necessary. We're all needed here.

And God has given to us by his grace these roles, these good works laid out that he's prepared in advance for us. He's supernaturally equipped us for us all by grace. We need to be good stewards of grace because other people are depending on us. Other people are impacted as we're obedient. The idea of stewardship in regards to grace comes from 1 Peter 4, verse 10.

Where Peter says, as each one has received a gift, again, everybody's been supernaturally equipped. He says, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. I like that phrase, the manifold grace of God, the many folds of the grace of God. And that's what we've been doing week by week, just turning over another fold and another fold and another fold, looking at different elements of God's grace. He says, in regards to gifts,

You need to be a good steward. And how do you be a good steward with the gift that you've been given by the grace of God? He says, minister it to one another. Minister it. The way that you be a good steward is you use it in all of the portions in the Bible that talk about gifts and grace. The point is to use them.

He says, minister it to one another. Romans chapter 12, verse six, also talking about the gifts, he says, having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us. Again, the gifts that we have are according to God's grace. He says, let us use them, put them to work, put them in practice. Again, I would ask you, what are you doing for the kingdom of God?

Are you fulfilling your role? Are you putting into practice what God has given to you? Because you were created in Christ Jesus for good works that God has prepared beforehand. What are you doing for the kingdom of God? Are you fulfilling those works that God has laid before you? And if you say, what are you talking about? I don't even know what you're talking about. There's no good works. I don't remember God saying anything about good works beforehand. And I don't see that on a day-to-day basis. You're missing out.

God knows what they are. You have a relationship with God. You need to find out. Be a good steward. God has all of these opportunities. Now, the good works that God has before you in advance, the grace of God and all that he's given to you. It's not for a once in a while type of event only. Not limited to that, I should say. God wants to use you every day. It's not always in a preaching type of sense.

We're a Bible study type of sense. One-on-one sharing. Living an example. Yes, that's definitely a part. But God has given you grace. Function within his body. A role to fulfill. Be a good steward of God's grace.

And use the gifts that God has given to you. Fulfill the role. Do the good works that he has prepared in advance for you. Be doing the work of God. Don't disqualify yourself. Oh, I had a bad day or this happened or that happened. It's God's grace that he gives you these opportunities. Don't disqualify yourself and take yourself out of the ministry. Don't disqualify yourself and skip over some of those good works. No, fulfill those things. It's by God's grace. You don't earn them. You don't deserve them.

Just because you blow it, it doesn't mean that those opportunities are now gone. God, by his grace, gives you that role, that function, that gift to be able to accomplish that work. By grace, it's not earned or deserved. And so grace in regards to ministry means that I have a role to play in the body of Christ. Something specific that only I can do. There's no unimportant part in the ministry, in the body. You have that.

role by the grace of God. Grace in regards to ministry means that I have spiritual gifts by grace, gifts that will help me supernaturally to equip me to fulfill the role that God has asked me to fulfill. I can't do it on my own. It's not because I have all this natural talent. No, if it's not supernatural, it's not the work of God. As we're obedient, as we're faithful, as we take advantage of these opportunities.

We glorify the name of Jesus Christ. His name is magnified. Does that ever bug you? When something happens, there's a situation and people don't glorify God with it. Hey, you have the opportunity to glorify his name. You can make up for those times. Be active. Be doing the work that God has laid before you. Be a good steward of God's grace. That means take the steps of faith. Can I challenge you? Can I encourage you? Everything that God puts upon your heart and presses upon you,

Do it. Let God be glorified in you as he shows himself strong by his grace in your life over and over again. You are what you are by the grace of God. He's given you such great honor, privilege and responsibility. Be about the business. Do the work of the kingdom of God. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, again, we can't thank you enough for your grace.

Lord, that you would desire and choose to use us to impact people's lives for the rest of eternity, to glorify your name, to accomplish your work. God, it's amazing what you have done, the way you have chosen to use us, not based on our merit, not based on our good works, our longevity, our faithfulness, not based upon us at all, but by your grace, you give us a role and a function.

In the body of Christ. And then you equip us Lord. To fulfill that role. God may we not disqualify ourselves. Help us Lord not to be so caught up in. Our own lives. That we miss the opportunities. But Lord since we are receiving a kingdom. That cannot be shaken. Lord help us to have grace. By which we may serve you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.