The Perseverance of Grace
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Good Morning, and welcome again to Fellowship. WE are so glad you’re here!
We are on a Christmas Journey together, studying this beautiful Season - as we have seen, is full of God’s grace.
Several weeks ago, we started our journey with an emphasis on our need for Grace as we studied Genesis 2-3 and the fall of Adam and Eve.
1. Sin is severe and results in judgement
2. Sin separates us from a Holy God
3. Sin has been defeated by Jesus
Then in week 2 we looked at the provision of Grace in Jesus
He was not a plan B to man’s mess up in the garden, But how He was the plan from the foundation of the world.
It was God’s plan for Christ to come and die and rise again for the redemption of the lost.
Man was and is in need of grace, and God met that desperate need in the person of Jesus.
Last week, we enjoyed the beautiful cantata our choir presented and focused on our response to this wonderful grace of God extended through Jesus.
And how it is not enough to simply know the facts about the Gospel, but that we must personally and genuinely respond to it. That response is two-fold:
Repentance
Faith
So, we have looked at:
Our desperate need for Grace
God’s provision of Grace - through the Gospel
Our response to this Grace - repentance and faith
NOW WHAT?
Now that God has reached down and woken you up to your need of Him and you have responded to the Gospel - what now?
Do we continue to live like before the Gospel confrontation?
Is our relationship with the Lord initiated by God, but then we continue on our own?
Now What?
Well, the Christmas story is particularly helpful with answering the question, and we will look into and learn from the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, to find a good example of what’s next.
So today, I’d like for us to consider our response to this grace.
That response is perseverance.
Look with me this morning in the Gospel according to Luke.
1 Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us,
2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us,
3 it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus,
4 that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.
Luke’s purpose in writing is to give an orderly account of the life of Christ and to present the Lord’s perfect blend of divinity and humanity to strengthen the faith of believers and challenge the misconceptions of unbelievers.
from vv. 5-25 we learn of a lady named Elizabeth and her husband Zacharias who weren’t able to have children.
They are old and for the most part, have accepted the reality of not being able to have biological children. However, as they were living their lives, and as Zacharias was serving in the temple, an angel appeared and told him about God’s plan - they would indeed have a child and it would be the forerunner of the Messiah - His name was to be John.
Pick up with me now in Luke 1:26
26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.
30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Pretty shocking events going on! Can you imagine all the thoughts and quetions… Mary had one.
34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.
37 For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Now, in my mind that didn’t answer all of my questions. I’m thinking:
What is Joseph going to think?
Who’s going to throw the babyshower?
At this point, why haven’t they invented disposable diapers yet?
There are a host of unanswered questions for a young lady to consider, but notice her response in v. 38
38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
In essence, “Ok.” “Whatever you say I will do.”
If this is God’s plan, I am all in.
Although I don’t have all the answers, I don’t need all the answers.
God knows what He’s doing, therefore I will trust Him.
Her response of faith is the result of God’s grace.
So Mary went to visit Elizabeth, and stayed for through the first trimester - then returned home.
Everything is moving right along, progressing like normal and:
1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.
3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.
As Caesar Augustus thinks he is flexing His political muscles - but is actually just fulfilling prophecy from centuries before in Micah 5:2 - which states that the Messiah would be born there.
6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
And just as if things don’t happen for a reason, Mary is ready to deliver. The town is full and so is the inn. Joseph should have used the Holiday Inn App, right!?!
So Mary is led to deliver this baby in a humble stable, wraps him in pieces of cloth to keep Christ warm, and lays Him in a feeding trough.
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”
16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.
18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Two words to take note of:
Kept (treasured - preserved - stored up)
Pondered (meditated)
Mary held on to all that was going on, and spent some time thinking about it.
In spite of all the extraordinary details of what is going on, she perseveres. She continually lives by faith in God’s revealed plan to her.
Day by day, moment by moment, step by step - she is continuing to have faith in God.
Despite the change of plans:
Her plans were to marry Joseph and start a family - by natural means
Her plans were to settle down in Nazareth
Her plans were to faithfully live out God’s plan (within the constraints of normalcy)
God changed her plans - and her response was here I am.
And throughout the narrative of her pregnancy, delivery, and post-natal account - the faith continued.
And as she continued, she preserved the actions of God and pondered on them.
And that is where we will take home this example to help as we depend on God to help us persevere.
In all of God’s grace to you this past year, spend some time this Christmas season to store them up.
Perhaps it’s with pen and paper. Maybe it is digitally typing it up. Perhaps you have a good memory and you can just remember back and treasure it there.
Whatever that looks like for you, spend some time consciously making notes of God’s grace and:
Spend some time thinking on it.
In all of the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Season, take some time throughout the day and reflect on God and His grace to you.
Has it been a trying year?
Reflect on it, but not separate from God’s grace that sustained you through it.
Paul said in romans 5:
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
The reality of what Mary experienced and what Paul is attesting to is the sustaining, perseverant grace of God.
Dear friend,
Do you see your need for the grace of God?
Do you understand that God’s plan to meet your deepest need is found in Jesus?
Have you yet to respond in repentance and faith to the Gospel?
Will you choose to respond to His continual grace and keep trusting Him?
—Spurgeon once said, “By perseverance the snail reached the Ark.” And as cute as that is, I believe that is true! But we can’t forget that God was enabling that conquest - and God will enable you.
So: treasure God and His grace to you this Christmas - store it up and keep it.
And spend some time pondering on Him. Through all the continued busyness of the next few weeks, plan to purpose to dwell in Him.