Ruled by Grace

Just Grace

Introduction Joke

I heard about this husband and wife... They’d been arguing and now they were giving each other the silent treatment. The man had to catch a flight early the next day and he needed his wife to wake him up at 5 in the morning. Not wanting to break the silence, he wrote a note and put it on her side of the bed that said, "Please wake me up at 5." The next morning he got up at 8. He missed his flight. He was so upset he went in to ask why she didn't wake him up and he noticed a piece of paper on his side of the bed. He opened it up. It said, "Get up its 5."

Ha-foke-bah

Last week we started this new series on grace. The maid idea of this whole series is simply this:

Ha-foke-bah

Pasco, Don. Joel Osteen Jokes - Hilarious Collection of Joel Osteen Jokes (You Can You Will, Break Out, I Declare, Become a Better You, It's Your Time, Every Day a Friday) (Joel's Gems) (Kindle Locations 344-355). Unknown. Kindle Edition.

Where the grace of God is cherished, the life and love of God is found.

This week I want us to build and a new idea to this:

If we are going to grow in relation to God, we must know who God is and that He is for us and not against us.

Me: When I was trying to loose weight my view of God was the one thing stopping me from loosing weight.

It was predictable what happened until I owned the truth and sought grace.

God was more for me then I was for myself even when...

We: We have natural tendency to live under the law instead of by grace and truth.

It is easy to fall under the snare of living by the Law.

You will say things like just give me time God, just give me one more chance, don’t punish me, you will beg for forgiveness but you are really saying is, “If I do better God will be more pleased with me.”

You will feel guilty and condemned and constantly live with a sense that you are in a prison trying to get parolled by God.

Or, you will become proud and arrogant and be ready to judge others lack of performance.

S. Lewis Johnson, Jr. wrote these words in “The Paralysis of Legalism”: “One of the most serious problems facing the orthodox Christian church today is the problem of legalism. One of the most serious problems facing the church in Paul’s day was the problem of legalism. In every day it is the same. Legalism wrenches the joy of the Lord from the Christian believer, and with the joy of the Lord goes his power for vital worship and vibrant service. Nothing is left but cramped, somber, dull and listless profession. The truth is betrayed, and the glorious name of the Lord becomes a synonym for a gloomy killjoy. The Christian under law is a miserable parody of the real thing.” *S. Lewis Johnson, Jr., “The Paralysis of Legalism,” Bibliotheca Sacra, April-June 1963, p. 109 As quoted by Charles Swindoll in “The Grace Awakening.” pp. 76-77] 

The Law Dog vs. the Grace Dog

"For those who care, and I understand if you don't: Today I quit being a Christian. I'm out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being 'Christian' or to being part of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to 'belong' to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else." - Ann rice

Intro to John’s Gospel

Bible: The only way to grow in grow in relation to God, is to know who God is and that His for us and not against us.

John 1:14–16 TLV

And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We looked upon His glory, the glory of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testifies about Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘The One who comes after me is above me, because He existed before me.’ ” Out of His fullness, we have all received grace on top of grace.

John testified about a person who had been actually been with God and

John 1:18 TLV

No one has ever seen God; but the one and only God, in the Father’s embrace, has made Him known.

- John the Apostle testified that Yeshua did something no one else had ever done.

John 1:16 TLV

Out of His fullness, we have all received grace on top of grace.

- JTA testified that there was a new and amazing work that Yeshua gave us.

The Law is not in contrast but in relief.

John 1:16 TLV

Out of His fullness, we have all received grace on top of grace.

The Law can do lots of things but it cannot ultimately change a person.

Illustrate: Israel’s History

Illustrate: Nasa Scientiest

Yeshua was full of grace and truth at the same time.

You:

The Law can do many wonderful things but it cannot ultimately change you.

The Law can do a lot of things good:

Expose Sin in Your Heart -

Confront Others -

Foretells Messiah -

Warn Us with Wisdom -

The law can also empower us to be like Ahab. It empower us to be like those with rocks. Empower us to avoid fellowship with other believers.

We: We want to create a community where people know God is for them and not against them.