Grace for Every Need
Notes
Transcript
Handout
2 Corinthians 9:8
Every one of us knows what it feels like to face a need.
Sometimes it’s a small need—a little strength for a difficult day or wisdom for a decision you’re unsure about.
But sometimes, life brings us face to face with a need so overwhelming that it takes our breath away.
A need that strips us of every ounce of self-sufficiency and forces us to our knees.
I think of a Christian couple who faced that very kind of need at one point in their life.
Their teenage daughter was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.
The doctors told them that the treatments would be grueling, the outcome uncertain, and the financial cost staggering.
In a matter of days, their lives turned upside down.
Nights were spent in hospital rooms, listening to the beeping of machines and watching their daughter grow weaker as the treatments took their toll.
The father confessed that he would sit in the hospital chapel at night and cry, “Lord, I don’t have the strength for this. I don’t even know how to pray anymore.”
The mother said that she often felt like she was carrying the weight of the world every time she tried to smile for her daughter while silently wondering if she could endure another day.
Their needs were endless.
They needed strength.
They needed wisdom.
They needed peace.
They needed hope.
They needed money.
And by every human measure, it was too much.
But in that valley, they discovered something incredible—that God’s grace was not only sufficient, it was abundant.
One day at a time, one step at a time, He gave them what they needed.
It was like manna in the wilderness.
Never more than they needed, never less.
Always enough.
And that is exactly what Paul was telling the church at Corinth when he wrote in 2 Corinthians 9:8
8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
Did you notice how many times Paul says “all”?
All grace.
All sufficiency.
All things.
God’s grace is not partial provision—it is complete provision.
It is not barely enough—it is more than enough.
It is not sometimes—it is always.
This morning we’re going to see how God’s grace meets us in every need: as our source, as our sufficiency, and as our supply for every good work.
I. The Source of Grace
I. The Source of Grace
Paul begins this verse with a simple but powerful phrase: “And God is able.”
Those four words change everything.
We often begin with what we lack—I don’t have enough strength, But I don’t have enough resources, or I don’t have enough wisdom to make this decision…I just don’t know what to do.
But Paul reminds us not to start with ourselves.
Start with God.
He is the source of every good and perfect gift.
If we are going to find grace for every need, we must first recognize where that grace comes from.
A. Grace Comes from God Alone
A. Grace Comes from God Alone
Paul doesn’t point us to positive thinking, self-reliance, or human strength.
He points us to God Himself.
Philippians 4:19 says,
19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Notice it doesn’t say “out of” His riches, but “according to” His riches.
If a millionaire gave you a few dollars, that would be “out of” his riches.
But if he gave you according to his riches, that would look very different.
God supplies according to the measure of His infinite riches, and that is inexhaustible.
James 1:17 tells us,
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Every bit of grace we experience in life flows down from the heart of a God who delights to give.
Someone once said, “God’s ability is the measure of His grace, and His ability is infinite.”
B. Grace is Rooted in God’s Character
B. Grace is Rooted in God’s Character
Grace is not simply a thing God dispenses, as if it’s a commodity.
Oh, look I have plenty of grace on the shelf…I can spare some for you.
No, It’s an expression of who He is.
He is gracious…it is who He is.
Exodus 34:6 describes Him as
6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
God was about to tell Moses in Chapter 34, all about His expectation for His people.
But before He started giving the commandments, He told Moses who He is…He is merciful, gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth.
Praise God!!!
Psalm 103:8 says,
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
Do you need God to be slow to anger, like I do?
When you and I come to God with our needs, we are not twisting His arm or convincing Him to help us.
We are simply coming to the One whose very nature is to show grace.
This means we can come with confidence, because grace is not based on our merit, but on His unchanging character.
Not only that, but …
C. Grace is Backed by God’s Power
C. Grace is Backed by God’s Power
Paul says, “God is able.”
That phrase appears throughout Scripture as a declaration of His limitless power.
Ephesians 3:20 reminds us,
20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
He is able to do far more than we can do!
When we say God is the source of grace, we are saying the One who spoke the world into existence, who parted the Red Sea, who raised Christ from the dead—that is the One supplying what you need.
A child could be worried about how to pay for dinner, but when he sits at the table, he never doubts his father’s ability to provide.
He could sit there and worry…”how am going to pay for this?”
He could plead with the manager to have mercy on his bill…He’ll even wash the dishes.
But really all along the Father is sitting there ready to give what the child needs.
In the same way, when we remember who our Father is, we realize we never have to wonder if there will be enough grace.
If God is the source of grace, then we never have to fear running out.
If God is the source of the grace, then the extent of His power (Which there is no end) is the extent of His grace!
But knowing the source is only the beginning.
Paul also tells us that this grace is sufficient—it is enough in every situation of life.
II. The Sufficiency of Grace
II. The Sufficiency of Grace
Paul continues: “That ye, always having all sufficiency in all things.”
This is where the verse becomes deeply personal.
It’s one thing to say that God is the source of grace, but what about when life presses in on every side?
What about when the bank account is empty, when the diagnosis is grim, or when your heart feels like you can’t carry one more burden?
Paul declares that in those moments, God’s grace is sufficient.
Not barely enough.
Not occasionally enough.
Always enough.
In all things.
A. Grace is Sufficient in Weakness
A. Grace is Sufficient in Weakness
Paul knew what it was like to feel weak.
He pleaded with the Lord three times to remove the thorn in his flesh.
God’s answer was not the removal of the problem, but the promise of His presence:
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Grace does not always take away the trial, but it gives strength to endure it.
Joni Eareckson Tada, who has lived as a quadriplegic ever since a diving accident when she was a teenager said in her book: A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain, and God’s Sovereignty,
“God has chosen not to heal me, but to hold me. The more intense the pain, the closer His embrace.”
When our weakness is overwhelming, His grace proves to be enough.
B. Grace is Sufficient in Every Circumstance
B. Grace is Sufficient in Every Circumstance
Paul says we have sufficiency “in all things.”
That means there is no situation where grace runs short.
In famine, grace will sustain.
In sickness, grace will comfort.
In trials, grace strengthens.
In temptation, grace empowers.
empowers us to do the right thing.
But the secret is to seek for the grace and mercy that we need.
Hebrews 4:16 reminds us:
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Hudson Taylor once said, “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”
That supply may not be in the form we expect, but it will always be enough.
Look at this lamp, it is connected to the power source.
The lamp has no light on its own, but as long as it remains plugged in, the light never fails.
So it is with us.
As long as we stay connected to Christ, His grace never fails to shine through us.
But even when faced with impossible situations, God’s power can flow through us to accomplish what He wants done.
God’s grace is sufficient in every circumstance.
thirdly notice…This grace is not just for special, big moments in our life…no…
C. Grace is Sufficient for Daily Living
C. Grace is Sufficient for Daily Living
Sometimes we look at tomorrow and think, “How will I ever make it?”
But God does not give us grace for tomorrow, today.
He gives grace for this moment, this hour, this day.
Our theme verse for this year speaks to this...Lamentations 3:22–23 tells us…
22 It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Grace is like the manna in the wilderness—It was fresh every day, but it was also sufficient for each day.
Just enough.
A woman once said that during her husband’s long illness, people would ask, “How do you do it?”
Her answer was simple: “God gives me strength for today. Tomorrow’s grace will be here tomorrow.”
That’s the testimony of sufficiency of God’s Grace.
If God is the source of grace, and His grace is sufficient in all things, then the question remains—what is that grace for?
Paul tells us: it is so that we may “abound to every good work.”
God’s grace is not just to hold us up; it is to send us out.
III. The Supply of Grace
III. The Supply of Grace
Paul ends the verse with this purpose: “that ye…may abound to every good work.”
God’s grace is not given just to carry us through life; it is given to equip us for service.
He meets our needs, but He also makes us channels of His grace so that His goodness flows through us to others.
Grace does not stop with sufficiency—it overflows into abundance.
There is a purpose beyond surviving!
A. Grace Equips Us to Serve
A. Grace Equips Us to Serve
Ephesians 2:10 says,
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
God saves us by grace, sustains us by grace, and then sends us out to serve by grace.
Every good work you do for the Lord—whether it’s teaching a class, raising children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, witnessing to a neighbor, or simply enduring hardship with faith—flows out of His grace.
Paul recognized that it wasn’t his power that was able to do the great things that he did…He said in 1 Corinthians 15:10
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
Even our service, all of our labor, is energized by His grace.
Think of a runner receiving water at a race.
The water isn’t run the race for him, but without it, he couldn’t continue.
He would collapse of heat exhaustion or dehydration.
God’s grace equips us with exactly what we need to keep going and to keep serving.
B. Grace Flows Through Us to Others
B. Grace Flows Through Us to Others
God never intended His grace to stagnate in us.
He intended it to flow outward.
4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
Paul tells us here that God comforts us in all our tribulation (our trials, and hardships), so that we may be able to comfort others with the same comfort that we ourselves were comforted by God.
When you share the grace you’ve received, you multiply its impact.
Grace is like a river: if it is dammed up, it grows stagnant, but when it flows, it brings life.
As one preacher said, “God shovels it in, and I shovel it out—but God has a bigger shovel.”
The more you give, the more God supplies.
Proverbs 11:25 echoes this truth:
25 The liberal soul shall be made fat: And he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
Don’t worry we aren’t talking about politically liberal…it is the idea of being generous
When you pour out grace to others, God continues to pour more into you.
C. Grace Abounds in Every Good Work
C. Grace Abounds in Every Good Work
Paul doesn’t say “some” good works, but rather “every” good work.
That means there is no act of obedience too small and no act of service too great that God’s grace cannot empower it.
From sharing the gospel with the lost, to forgiving someone who has wronged you, to faithfully enduring suffering—His grace supplies what we need.
When you feel inadequate, remember His promise: He will make all grace abound toward you.
Do you remember the story in Mark about the widow who gave her last two mites in the temple (Mark 12:41–44).
41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:
44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
It was all she had.
It seemed so small, but Jesus said she gave more than all the others because she gave out of faith.
Grace supplied her with courage to give, and her act of obedience became an eternal testimony.
God’s grace does the same for us—it turns our simple obedience into eternal impact.
Conclusion
Conclusion
We’ve seen today that grace begins with God as its source.
It proves to be sufficient in every circumstance.
And it overflows as the supply we need to abound in every good work.
Paul’s words remind us that no matter what the need is—God is able.
I think back to the couple I told you about at the beginning of the message.
Their teenage daughter was facing aggressive cancer.
They were facing bills, sleepless nights, and an uncertain future.
By every measure, it was more than they could handle.
But what they found in that dark valley was that God’s grace really was enough.
When the bills piled up, God provided.
When their strength failed, His peace carried them.
When they were afraid of tomorrow, His promises sustained them.
And they would later testify that it wasn’t their own strength or will power that got them through—it was the grace of God, one day at a time, like manna in the wilderness.
That is not just their story—that can be your story.
Maybe you are facing something today that feels impossible.
It may not be cancer, but it might be a financial burden, a broken relationship, a temptation you can’t seem to shake, or a fear that keeps you awake at night.
The enemy whispers, “You don’t have enough.”
But God says, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”
The world says, “There’s no way.”
But God says, “I am able.”
Elisabeth Elliot once said, “God has promised to supply all our needs. What we don’t have now, we don’t need now.”
And that’s exactly what Paul is teaching us here.
Grace for today.
Grace for tomorrow.
Grace for every need.
So the invitation is this: will you bring your need to Him?
Stop trying to carry it in your own strength.
Stop trying to generate your own light like that magic bulb in your hand.
Plug into the true source.
Let His grace flow through you.
Let His grace be your sufficiency.
Let His grace supply you with everything you need to keep shining for Him.
Maybe today you just need to kneel and say, “Lord, I can’t, but You can. I don’t have enough, but You are enough.”
And when you do, you will find that He is able to make all grace abound toward you—that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.
