Sola Gratia (Grace Alone)

1st Century Jewish Funeral

Jewish funerals in the first century were quite a bit different than our funerals today.

We might have special music, and some hymns or choruses.

In first century Israel, they had professional mourners.

flutes were especially good at playing a sad dirge

the more wealthy the family, the more musicians would be present

We might try to hide emotion, or we might cry.

In first century Israel, your display of emotion was a meaningful way to express your loss.

People were hired to simply mourn, cry, and give an example for the kind of loss that was felt due to the passing of the deceased.

We embalm and bury our dead. Taking the time to plan a funeral properly.

They did not embalm, and so they buried the dead on the same day that they died.

(sometimes they weren’t even quite dead yet, and very rarely they might make a sound or a noise, and then be found to be alive.)

Why do I tell you all of this? Because I want for you to have some understanding for the context of . This is the chapter in the Bible where we read about the well to do family with the siblings Mary, Martha and Lazarus.

Lazarus was incredibly sick. The sisters sent word to Jesus that he was going to die, and that Jesus should come as quick as he could.

But Jesus was in Northern Israel at the time, approximately 150 kilometres away, and on foot. The average healthy person could have travelled at a rate of 40 to 45 kilometres a day.

That means that by the time that the messenger got to Jesus, the message was already 4 days old.

But Jesus didn’t leave that day for Bethany, where Lazarus was. Instead he stayed where he was for another 2 days. He says to his disciples, “Let’s go to Judea again”.

The disciples immediately think of what happened the last time that they were down south. “Rabbi, just now the Jews tried to stone you, and you’re going there again?”

He says, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m on my way to wake him up.”

But Jesus is confident that he is obeying his Father, God. He is confident that what will happen in Jerusalem will bring God glory. He says, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m on my way to wake him up.”

Now that is an interesting thing for Jesus to say. His friend Lazarus, who is a 4 days journey away, is sleeping, and so he is going to travel all that way just to wake him up. Seems silly, right?

But if you read on in , you know that Jesus knew that Lazarus was dead. Let the 4 day journey begin.

John 11:17 HCSB

When Jesus arrived, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

Jesus arrives along with his followers. It turns out that he was right, Lazarus was dead.

The musicians were playing their sad songs. The mourners were wailing. Friends and relatives had come to Bethany to be with the family.

The

One of the disciples must have let Martha, Lazarus’ sister, that Jesus had arrived, but was not yet in town. She came out to the place where Jesus was.

John 11:

John 11:21–27 HCSB

Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. Yet even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.” “Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her. Martha said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die—ever. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” she told Him, “I believe You are the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world.”

What faith she has. She trusts Jesus. She hopes in Jesus. She is in the middle of mourning her brother, but she has Jesus.

Martha sends for Mary. Mary gets the message that Jesus is calling for her, and she gets up to go out and meet him. All of the mourners who are there consoling her thought that she must be headed out to the tomb to go cry their. And so they went with her.

She got to where Jesus was, and she fell at his feet. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

She’s not mad at Jesus. Don’t read anger into her words. His love is not in question. She’s just wishing that he could have been there 4 days ago, instead of this day.

But do the math with me. Lazarus had been dead for 4 days. Jesus had received the message, waited 2 days, and then started on the 4 days journey. There was no natural way that Jesus could have been there before his death. He was always going to be at least 2 days late. Why the delay?

Jesus had a plan. Mary just didn’t know what it was yet. But there she was, fallen at his feet, mourning the loss of her brother, Lazarus.

John 11:22 HCSB

Yet even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.”

John 11:33 HCSB

When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, He was angry in His spirit and deeply moved.

Why the anger? Why the raw emotion from Jesus?

I’m going to venture a guess here, and say that he’s not mad at the mourners, and he’s not mad at the sisters. I think that Jesus anger has to do with death.

Death is ugly. Death seems so wrong. It takes loved ones away.

I think that Jesus is angry with death itself. I think he is angry at what sin does to people. How it robs them of the life that God created them for.

But Jesus, the son of God, is a worthy opponent of death. He goes to the cave where Lazarus was laid to rest four days ago.

John 11:39 HCSB

“Remove the stone,” Jesus said. Martha, the dead man’s sister, told Him, “Lord, he’s already decaying. It’s been four days.”

John 11:39–40 HCSB

“Remove the stone,” Jesus said. Martha, the dead man’s sister, told Him, “Lord, he’s already decaying. It’s been four days.” Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

John 11:39-

John 11:

That is why the delay was necessary. So that the glory of God would be on display. What Jesus was about to do would not be mistaken for anything, but an act of God. That’s why he waited the two days. It was to give glory to God, no one would think that Lazarus had been mistakenly buried. What was about to happen, would point these people, and all who heard the story, to God.

Lazarus was buried in a cave. There was a stone that had been rolled across the opening. There would have been an indent in the ground for that stone to sink into. So that it wouldn’t accidentally go away. That is the stone that they rolled away. Now the tomb is open. The stage is set. What is Jesus going to do?

He starts off with prayer.

John 11:41–42 HCSB

So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You heard Me. I know that You always hear Me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so they may believe You sent Me.”

And after Jesus prays, he shouts out, “Lazarus, come out!”

Lazarus would likely have been laid to rest on something like a stone shelf in that cave. He had been dead for days. He was without natural hope. How can a dead man even hear the shout of Jesus? How can a dead man come to life?

Yet, in spite of the fact that he had been dead for 4 days, Lazarus is obedient to the command of Christ.

John 11:44 HCSB

The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him and let him go.”

I tell you that story from , so that I can teach you about grace.

Grace

Grace is more then the word for a prayer before you eat.

Grace is more than a good feeling, or an act of kindness.

God’s grace takes a person from death to life.

Like 4 day dead Lazarus, that person had no power, no ability to save themselves, but God calls to them, and they respond to his words of life, and they are brought from death to life.

And so, we join in with those in the reformation who say that we are saved by Grace alone. There was no work that we could have done to save ourselves, for we were spiritually dead in our sins. It is by God’s grace alone that we are brought to life through Jesus Christ.

Let me show you from God’s word how to understand Grace a little better.

Ephesians 3:1–10 HCSB

For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— you have heard, haven’t you, about the administration of God’s grace that He gave to me for you? The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above. By reading this you are able to understand my insight about the mystery of the Messiah. This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: The Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and partners of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of His power. This grace was given to me—the least of all the saints—to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of the Messiah, and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things. This is so God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.

Romans 3:23–25 HCSB

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Ephesians 2:1–3 HCSB

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.

Ephesians 2:1–10 HCSB

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, 5 made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! 6 Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens, 7 so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

Dead in your trespasses and sins

Its easy to minimize the effect of sin through self-justification.

its just a little lie

it wont hurt anybody OR nobody got hurt

I can fix this

i’m only human

But Paul, the author of Ephesians, shows us that sin is a serious problem.

Sin is when we go outside of God’s rule or will.

We are all sinners, because we come from a long line of sinners. Adam and Eve started the chain, and the human race has been going against God ever since.

Maybe its because we are surrounded by sinners that we don’t fully appreciate the consequences of sin.

Paul, under the power of the Holy Spirit, says that sin makes us spiritually dead.

Your sin made you spiritually dead, just like Lazarus was physically dead. You were unable to save yourself, just as Lazarus was unable to raise himself from the dead.

This is why we need Grace. We are dead, and without any power to bring ourselves back to life. Not only has sin made us spiritually dead, but it has also made us completely deserving of the wrath of God. Sin has made us his enemy. Its a terrible, terrible place to be.

But on the way, Paul was a recipient of God’s mercy. For God stopped him on that road with a blinding light, and Jesus himself spoke to Paul. Paul received God’s mercy, because God intervened in his life, showed him the truth, and forgave him of his sin. Paul received mercy because his life was transformed by the Grace of God alone.

This is why we need Grace. We are dead, and without any power to bring ourselves back to life. Not only has sin made us spiritually dead, but it has also made us completely deserving of the wrath of God. Sin has made us his enemy. Its a terrible, terrible place to be.

Ephesians 2:4–5 HCSB

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, 5 made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!

Ephesians 2

The “But” at the start of verse 4 shows us that we are now talking about a contrast. Verses 1-3 talk about the sinner who is dead in their sins, and fully deserving of God’s wrath.

BUT

Vs 4 is talking about God. What can we learn about him here?

God is rich in mercy

What is God’s mercy? Lets take a look at the life of Paul to see. Remember that Paul had originally grown up as a Pharisee. He was intent on putting as many Christians in Jail as possible. When he had done a great job of that in Jerusalem, he received an authorizing letter from the High Priest, and took off for Damascus to arrest the Christians who lived there.

But on the way, Paul was a recipient of God’s mercy. For God stopped him on that road with a blinding light, and Jesus himself spoke to Paul. Paul received God’s mercy, because God intervened in his life, showed him the truth, and forgave him of his sin. Paul received mercy because his life was transformed by the Grace of God alone.

God’s mercy does that same work in all those who are called to faith in Jesus. He sees us in our sinful condition, and he has pity on us. He sees that we are living in darkness, that we aren’t even aware of our own depravity, and he calls us to faith in Jesus.

Remember, we were dead in our trespasses and sin…BUT, God, who is rich in mercy, steps in and changes everything. Why does God do that?

Because of God’s great love.

God loves you. God delights in you. Your sin breaks his heart BECAUSE he loves you.

We have the Bible, because God loves us. Jesus,

God’s son was sent to earth, because God loves us.

Jesus gives us life, because God loves us.

God loves you so much, he has made a way for you to cross from being spiritually dead to being alive in Christ. Its all because he loves you.

God’s love is greater than we can dream.

God is rich in mercy, and because of His great love that He had for us...

God is rich in mercy, and because of His great love that He had for us...

Ephesians 5 HCSB

1 Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children. 2 And walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. 3 But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints. 4 Coarse and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks. 5 For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of the Messiah and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for God’s wrath is coming on the disobedient because of these things. 7 Therefore, do not become their partners. 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light — 9 for the fruit of the light results in all goodness, righteousness, and truth — 10 discerning what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret. 13 Everything exposed by the light is made clear, 14 for what makes everything clear is light. Therefore it is said: Get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead, and the Messiah will shine on you. 15 Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17 So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit: 19 speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music from your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord, 23 for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. 27 He did this to present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. 28 In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 since we are members of His body. 31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. 32 This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

Ephesisans 5

Ephesians 2:5–6 HCSB

5 made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! 6 Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens,

Ephesians 2:5 HCSB

5 made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!

Ephesians 2:

We are talking about a moment in time here. You were dead, but in that moment, God made you alive in Christ. That is salvation.

You are alive, because God made you aware of your sin, you responded with faith in Jesus, repenting of your sin and trusting in him for your righteousness, and now you have become alive in Jesus Christ. This all is a work of God’s grace.

That moment is not the end of Grace. God’s grace goes with you from now to forever. What is the role of Grace past the moment of salvation?

Ephesians 2:6–9 HCSB

6 Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens, 7 so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:6–10 HCSB

6 Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens, 7 so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:6–7 HCSB

6 Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens, 7 so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:6

Eph 2:6-

Trophies of God’s Grace

A trophy is given to the winner. If you are playing a sport, and are awarded a trophy, you might put it on display at your house. And then when a guest comes over and sees it, you can tell them the story of how you got the trophy.

Christians are trophies of God’s grace. You look at their life, and you can see the story of God’s grace at work. They are saved. God is doing amazing, transforming work in them and through them to others.

We are the proof of God’s grace. We were dead, and now we are alive.

We were stuck in sinful rebellion and slavery, now we are free in Christ.

We were living for our own selfish means, now we live to the glory of God alone.

We are trophies of Gods’ grace. That’s what Paul means when he says that, “He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” His grace, his love, his mercy, his righteousness are written on our hearts. We are the display of God’s love, mercy and righteousness.

Lazarus was raised to life, and the crowds gave God glory.

Sinners are made right through Christ, and those who witness this miracle should give god the glory.

God gets the glory, because God does the work. Its his mercy. Its his love. Its his sacrifice. Its his power. Its his work. The glory belongs fully to God, and God alone.

Grace restores us

That means that

God created you for

Through grace, and because of his mercy, God has created you for good works. These works are good because God himself has prepared them. It falls to us to walk in these good works.

Ephesians 2:10 HCSB

10 For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

Those of us who have been made alive are restored to good works.

We can do the right things for the right reasons.

We can show people love, not so that they will return the favor, but so that they will know that there is a God that loves them.

We can help the poor, not so that we will be seen and applauded, but so that they will know that there is a God in heaven who cares for them.

We can serve our neighbor. Not to build up good will, but to build bridges in relationships where we can share this amazing news about Jesus and the grace that he has.

We can serve the church. Not because it is our duty, but because Jesus has gifted each one of us so that together, we can function as the body of Christ on the earth.

We can

All of this happens by the grace of God.

I want to conclude today by talking about people who you might think are a lost cause. You’ve prayed, and hoped, and loved, but they still seem completely turned off to Jesus.

You look at them and you wish that it could be different, but it seems that no matter how hard you work, or how much you care, no progress seems to be made.

Maybe you see yourself as the lost cause. Too far gone to come to Jesus. Too lost to ever been found.

Lost causes are who God’s grace is for. Grace takes a person from fully dead, to fully alive in Christ.

Lazarus was dead. Dead dead, 4 days a goner. But Jesus called to him, and when Lazarus was completely helpless to help himself, Jesus spoke life to his body.

God’s grace raises the dead to life. God’s grace can save anyone. God’s grace is powerful enough to take a lost cause, speak life to a lifeless heart, and transform that person into one who has abundant life in Jesus Christ.

Our culture is asking, how can this happen, and why is this happening. How could anyone be so cruel, and evil.

Jesus hates death more than anyone else. Jesus is the only one of us, who can stand up to death.

Remember Jesus words to Martha.

Jesus died in our place on the cross and was buried. He was in tomb, sealed by a heavy stone. But the grave could not hold him. He was raised on the third day.

God’s grace

If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, who died on the cross to take the punishment for your sin, and if you put your life into his hands, then you will be saved from your sins and made to be a member of God’s own family.

The sting of death has been removed.

Confess your

John 11:25–26 HCSB

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. 26 Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die—ever. Do you believe this?”

John 11:

Maybe you here that call of God today. Maybe you see your sin for what it is. Today is your day to respond to Jesus. He is your resurrection and he is your life. There is no other one who is strong enough to save, but Jesus Christ. Trust in him for all your righteousness, for you cannot save yourself. Call on his name, and come to life, out of sin and out darkness. Jesus is calling.