Not Enough Unearned Grace

What is up Shearer Hills. This is the last session I will be with you all and I hope and pray that God has been speaking to you throughout this weekend

The theme of the weekend is ENOUGH. The last two sessions we talked about enough misplace worship and enough misplaced bragging.

Session 1: Our Placement of Worship reveals what Matters Most in our Hearts.

Session 2: The value we place on our merits reveals how much we know about God’s economy.

However, tonight we are going to speak on a topic that we cannot ever get enough of.

That is grace.

Let’s pray and we’ll jump into the passage.

If you have your Bibles, meet me at 2 Cor. 11:16-33.

As you meet me there, let me share our main point:

Main Point: The way we see pain & weakness reveals how much we know about God’s character.

One thing that I often try to teach my students is to learn about God’s character.

Often times we do not want to follow God because we have the wrong understanding of who God is. There are definitely tough truths in the Bible but when you see them through the character of God, then you can understand how can a perfect, holy and eternal God does what he does, the way that he does it.

Here is principle #1

Principle #1: God’s plan is eternal.

2 Corinthians 12:1–5 (NLT)

1 This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. 3 Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know 4 that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell. 5 That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses.

Notice that Paul keeps talking about how boasting in our own strengths does no good but he gives us insight into an experience He had.

Heaven! What you and I believe has eternal consequences. Paul is basically saying that he has had experiences that could be used as a way of boasting but I want you to consider for a second.

Have you ponder about what heaven is like?

And by heaven I do not mean clouds and singing. (heaven pics) Way too often we have a perspective of heaven that is lacking. When you understand that we have hope for a redeemed heaven and earth.

Look at one of the descriptions that awaits us:

Revelation 21:1–5 (NLT)

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” 5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”

The reason I want to tell you this is because we need to keep an heavenly perspective in life.

Your life is not just about getting good career and saving for retirement for there is so much fulfillment in signing up to follow God’s plan while on earth and in eternity.

Paul is using this experience as a reminder that while he does use this heavenly perspective he has to boast, there is a benefit to keeping in mind as we get into the next idea.

Because:

Main Point: The way we see pain & weakness reveals how much we know about God’s character.

Principle #2: When God says “no” to our pain in the present, there is grace in our future.

Now, do not miss the point of an eternal perspective because we are very good at getting caught up in the struggles of life. Let’s keep reading to see a mind blowing reality.

2 cor 12:6-9 “6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

This is not easy to teach but it is biblical. God can use pain to remind us of our dependance of him.

Paul, the one man that was used by God in a tremendous fashion was kept in check by God with a “a thorn in the flesh.”

However, notice that Paul understands the reason. He knows that if everything was going smoothly in life, he could become conceited.

I want you to notice God’s response to Paul.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Essentially God just said no.

But God uses the word grace. What is grace?

Grace is an unmerited favor. Unearned gift.

Think about it this way.

Grace versus payment

Two gift cards (one earned vs one given)

God essentially says no. While this is what you want, it is not what you need. What you need is grace- to live in a perpetual dependance of God. Like we talked in our earlier session- this is counter-cultural but it is good.

It is normal of our sinful nature to begin to place us as the protagonist of our lives. To be in control of our lives but Paul thinks otherwise. Remember,

Main Point: The way we see pain & weakness reveals how much we know about God’s character.

Principle #3: We are not the most important person in our story.

2 Cor 12:9-10 “...Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Paul’s response is to gladly highlight his weaknesses for the glory of God.

Paul understood God’s character. God is a good God. What He does and what he chooses is always better. Even when our finite minds cannot understand, God in His infinite power can be trusted for what is best for creation.

When we maintain a heavenly perspective and seek to understand God’s character then we are not so concern with pain and weakness because we understand that God can use those for His glory.

This is call spiritual maturity.

Christian maturity requires a radical reordering of one’s priorities, changing over from pleasing self to pleasing God and learning to obey God. The key to maturity is consistency, perseverance in doing those things we know will bring us closer to God. These practices are referred to as the spiritual disciplines and include things such as Bible reading/study, prayer, fellowship, service, and stewardship. No matter how hard we might work on those things, however, none of this is possible without the enabling of the Holy Spirit within us.

When I see people that blame God for their pain, suffering and distress- I am compassionate because no of us likes to go through hard moments in life, but when I consider their spiritual maturity, I see that those who haven’t take time to understand the character of God are unable to see the goodness of God in the midst of pain and suffering, while those who are spiritually mature find their rest, their hope and their strength in God.

Main Point: The way we see pain & weakness reveals how much we know about God’s character.

If you see pain & weakness as a pointless exercise, then you might be missing the character of God.

Insecurity of my accent

If you all get anything this week is because of God’s power. I know that my communication skills are a weakness but I still pray and hope that God will use me to communicate His word faithfully.

Student, my encouragement today is to Embrace that pain or weakness in your life. God can and will use your pain, your suffering and your shortcomings for His glory.

I am not saying to embrace sin. If there are thing in your life that go against what the Bible says. You need to repent and turn to God but God can use those weaknesses for His glory. (Spiritual Maturity)

Literally, look at almost every character in the Bible. God uses flawed people to accomplish His flawless plan.

The only flawless character in the Bible is Jesus. He is our example.

I will end with this passage:

Eph 2:8-9 “8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Notice the last three words. The whole process of salvation is not dependent on you. It is a gift.

This is important because spiritual maturity begins by realizing that you are not the most important person of your story. Jesus is.

Therefore, Our whole life ought to be directed towards worship and surrender to King Jesus. Even when there is pain or weakness in our life. However, we will only surrender to Jesus when we learn more about God’s character.

Main Point: The way we see pain & weakness reveals how much we know about God’s character.

Challenge:

How will you learn about God’s character?

Is there sin in your life you need to confess? Is there pain/weakness in your life you need to embrace?

There is not ENOUGH unearned grace from God.