Sermon 3 - God's Comforting Provision of Grace

Through God’s Grace we have a New Process for Our Development - (vv.3-4)

In the first two verses of Romans 5 Paul announces some great news concerning God’s grace! In verse one Paul reminds us that through faith we have been justified before God. He also reminds us of the peace that we have in the presence of God, we are no longer enemies of God, but we are the children of God by His grace, through faith, in Christ. He goes on and in verse two we are told about this open access that one has with the Father through Jesus. These are wonderful truths and an exciting reality for a Christian. These truths Paul speaks of are the peace, the principle and the promise of God’s grace.

But as we move into verses 3 & 4 Paul reveals the Christian’s process for development and it doesn’t sound near as good as what he has told us about in verses 1 & 2. However, these things are necessary for a Christian’s growth and maturity. These things are all through God’s grace. The test for us is how will we respond when faced with these realities?

Development from Tribulation to Patience - Someone has once said, “Don’t ever pray for patience because God will send you tribulation.” I will tell you that according to God’s word a Christian will encounter tribulation whether they pray for patience or not, because tribulation, Paul says is the first step in the process of our development as mature believers.

Patience means living under the pressure God has allowed and not to continually be looking for a way out. It means not ask, “Why did You allow this?” but to ask, “What do You want me to learn from this?”

1 Peter 1:6–7 “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”

Sometimes God does more than just allow trouble. He allows us to mess up and fall flat on our faces. He allows us to fall short in ways that we feel the damage is irreparable and that’s about the time He steps in and reveals to us His purpose. God sends these things into our lives to reveal our own self-sufficiency and to increase our dependence upon Him. That’s the only way we will learn that we don’t have all the answers. That’s the only way we will ever learn we are not who we thought we were. He reveals our lacking and our need for learning.

Development from Patience to Experience - Once patience has found a place in our lives and we begin to exercise this new developed strength our character then begins to develop. Character means we develop the characteristics of Christ, characteristics of godliness, which is the ability to respond to life with godly perspective and godly wisdom. The pressure in Jesus’ life moved Him to say this:

Luke 22:42 “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”

This pressure will do the same for us as well. Pressure is good. For it is through great pressure that a diamond is formed.

Development from Experience to Hope - Listen what Paul says to the Corinthians concerning this hope.

2 Corinthians 4:17 “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;”

Paul is reminding these Corinthian believers and us that our afflictions down here are light compared to the weight of glory that will one day be ours, and he says it is but for a moment when you compare it to the eternity of glory in Heaven. Our troubles down here are so small and minor in light of the great glory we will experience forever in eternity.

Romans 8:18 “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

We have all had our share of problems in this life. But if we will only look back we will be able to see how all those problems were used by the Lord to teach us patience, experience and hope. We certainly do not want to go through those things again, but we should thank God for those things everyday and that we are counted worthy to be refined for His glory here on earth. We need to be thankful for His plan in our lives. The key is to yield to the pressure and allow it to shape us into that which God is making us to be.

Conclusion

Are you at this moment being shaped by the Lord through tribulation? Is God revealing to you at this moment some characteristics that need be transformed in your life? What is the Lord speaking to you about today?