1
T’was Grace that Taught My Heart to
Fear
Subject: The
fear of the Lord.
Theme: The
place God’s grace plays in the fear of the Lord.
Proposition:
God’s grace is not a license to get away with sin, but the enabling of God to
overcome it.
Introduction:
This week we are going to look at the relationship between the fear of the Lord
and the grace of God.
I have a question for you this morning, what is grace?
According to Eph 2:8-9 grace is pretty important.
Eph 2:8-9 For
by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is
the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. NKJV
Text:
Phil 2:12-13
Dearest friends, you were always so careful to follow my instructions when I was
with you. And now that I am away you must be even more careful to put into
action God's saving work in your lives, obeying God with deep reverence and
fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the
power to do what pleases him.
NLT
Transitional
Sentence: In today’s message, let us
look at the truth that God’s grace is not a license to get away with sin, but
the enabling of God to overcome it.
I.
What is grace? vv. 12
A.
Earlier I asked you what
is grace, and these are some of the answers I received. Undeserved favor,
Unmerited favor
B.
The definition of grace
is in the text. And now that I am away you must be even more careful to put into action
God's saving work in your lives. What is God’s saving work in your life? Grace! You are
saved by grace through faith (and that not of yourselves but it is the gift of
God.
C.
Expound on the moment of
conversion.
2
1.
The Bible says in
2 Cor 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed
away; behold, all things have become new. NKJV
2.
The moment I put my faith in
Jesus: I believe in Him and what he did in His death and resurrection, and I
receive Him as my Lord, then God does something in me.
3.
He recreated my spirit in His
image after His likeness, and that is where we get the term born-again or born
from above.
4.
This is not something we work
for or something we can buy. God does this for us by His favor, just because we
believe.
D.
Paul said I am what I am
by the grace of God. Paul said imitate me as I imitate Christ.
E.
Illustration: Remember
the old television show called The Millionaire? Each week an anonymous
millionaire would give a one-million-dollar gift to someone. The gift was always
free-but the gift always made a big change in the recipient's life. That's how
grace is. You don't change in order to receive God's grace: you change as a
result of experiencing God's grace. Grace is like corrective surgery. We are
helpless-but God gives us grace, and God's grace changes what we ourselves
cannot change.
F.
Application: The only
thing required to experience God’s grace is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
II.
How does grace express
itself? vv. 13
A.
13 For God is working in you, giving you
the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him.
1.
This is the Biblical
definition of grace.
2.
God working in me, giving me
the desire to obey and please Him.
B.
Perverted grace,
Rom 6:1-2
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By
no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? NIV
C.
Illustration: Overhead of
the bulls eye target.
3
1.
Sin by definition is missing
the mark or the target.
2.
Grace is the power of God
working in us to be able to hit the target.
3.
Perverted grace believes I
don’t even have to aim at or even come close to the target and it’s not a big
deal.
4.
Example from scripture,
Rom 8:12-13
So, dear brothers and sisters, (Paul is
addressing believers) you have no obligation
whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if (this word is conditional) you keep on following it,
you will perish. But if through the
power of the Holy Spirit you turn from it and its evil deeds, you will live.
NLT
5.
Example from scripture,
1 John 2:1-2
My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if you
do sin, there is someone to plead for you before the Father. He is Jesus Christ,
the one who pleases God completely. 2 He
is the sacrifice for our sins. He takes away not only our sins but the sins of
all the world. NLT
a.
Who is writing this? John is,
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
b.
Who is the Word? Jesus is.
c.
What is the purpose of the
Word? So that you will not sin.
d.
The bulls eye is the mark we
are aiming at. If we miss the mark, which we sometimes do, Jesus is there to
plead for us before God.
D.
Illustration: Grace
cannot wipe out the law of sowing and reaping. -Rod
Parsley
1.
Gal 6:7-8 Don't be misled.
Remember that you can't ignore God and get away with it. You will always reap
what you sow! 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful desires will
harvest the consequences of decay and death. But those who live to please the
Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. NLT
2.
Jesus said if you do not
forgive, you will not be forgiven.
E.
Application: A perverted
view of God’s grace says that if I do not forgive then God’s grace will cover
that. A Biblical
4
view of God’s grace says, “By the grace of God and the power
of the Holy Spirit within me I will forgive that person.”
1.
One says God’s grace lets me
circumvent the Word of God and the other says God’s grace will enable to perform
the Word of God.
III.
What about the fear of
the Lord?
A.
obeying God with deep reverence and
fear.
B.
A quote from R.T.
Kendall, “All of us must come to terms with the unchanging fact: none of us is
above God’s Word. We all like to think we are God’s favorites. Even David, a man
after God’s own heart, was not exempt from God’s awesome jealously for the
truth.”
1.
Paul tells us in 1 Cor 6:9-10 Don't you
know that those who do wrong will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who
indulge in sexual sin, who are idol worshipers, adulterers, male prostitutes,
homosexuals, 10 thieves, greedy people, drunkards, abusers, and swindlers — none
of these will have a share in the Kingdom of God. NLT
2.
How many of you have
witnessed the downfall of someone because of alcohol, or the breakup of a family
because of an affair?
C.
God’s discipline
1.
The Bible says God
disciplines those that He loves.
2.
Why do we discipline? For one
reason and one reason only, to change behavior.
3.
1 Cor 11:31-32 But if we examine ourselves, we will not be
examined by God and judged in this way. 32 But when we are judged and
disciplined by the Lord, we will not be condemned with the world.
NLT
4.
Example of Jim Bakker: Jim
said if he would have kept living like he was even though he knew the Lord he
was on his way to hell.
5.
Jim lost the fear of the
Lord; he was not making good decisions. Unless he changed, the way he was living
he was going to be lost for eternity.
5
6.
Application: Everyone who
falls, either has lost or has never had the fear of the Lord.
