Are You Paralyzed by Grace

Introduction

Good morning and welcome back.

This morning if you will, start turning in your Bibles to .

In just a few minutes I will be reading from a very familiar passage in , starting in verse 14 that talks a great deal about maturity and being “mature in the Lord.”

And this goes hand in hand with what we have been talking about for the last two weeks regarding God’s saving and sustaining grace.

If you remember from last week, we talked about God’s sustaining grace and how that empowers us to be the people God has called us to be.

Also, that same sustaining grace teaches us and is patient with us as we learn and navigate through this Christian walk.

However, one of the points we also made was that this same grace, also calls us to do something with what God has blessed us with.

We are called to get up out of the pew and go out into the community and be the hands, the feet, the mouth of Jesus to those all around us.

A clear indication of this is our great commission that tells us . ..

Matthew 28:19 NIV - Anglicised

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

The key word is “go.”

We cannot be unless we are willing to go.

However, often-times there is something that holds us back, that prevents us for actually going and doing as we have been called to go and do.

And this is often fear.

Fear of failure.

Fear of rejection.

Fear of this....

Fear of that ....

But another thing that can sometimes, and often does, for believers is that the grace of God actually paralyzes us into inaction.

And what I mean by that is that we get very comfortable with saying, “God loves me just the way I am,” and forget that God also loves us so much he won’t let us stay the way we are.

We get stuck in God’s saving grace and zero in on salvation and only salvation in our Christian walk, which limits our understanding and view of God’s grace and the power it has to transform, not only us, but also everyone around us as well.

But when we are stuck, it makes it impossible for Jesus to be our example of not only how to receive grace, but also how to live in grace and depend on God’s grace.

Richard Foster, a wonderful Christian author and theologian writes that “in most pulpits there is a disconnect between the good news of Jesus’ sacrifice and our calling to become the light of the world. Hearing the same message, week after week, along with the same remedy, they remain in the same place. Having been saved by grace, these people have been paralyzed by it.”

And you will notice here that Foster doesn’t blame the congregation for this condition, he blames the pastors.

The congregation only does what it is taught and if it is taught the same thing week after week and no one ever takes the next step, then everyone gets stuck and paralyzed where they are.

There is no spiritual growth in the congregation.

And the congregation becomes a glorified social club.

Dallas Willard, another Christian author and theologian writes that “the low level of spiritual living among professing Christians is to be regarded as ‘only natural,’ and only what is to be expected,” meaning that we get into the mindset that our destiny is to be in constant failure and that Christ’s ministry is nothing more than an unending string of one forgiving episode after another.

We have experienced the new birth in Jesus Christ, but think that we are to forever be a “babe in Christ,” never growing and never maturing.

Never overcoming and never gaining victory in this life.

Which brings us our Scripture for this morning.

So, if you have found in your Bibles, I’d invite you to stand with me, as I read, starting in verse 14.

Paul writes this . . .

Scripture Focus

Ephesians 4:14–16 NIV - Anglicised

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Ephesians 4:

Babes in Christ (Ephesians 4:14-16)

And I know that we have been in this passage before.

Point One

And I know that we have been in this passage before.

But we also still need to be constantly reminded that God expects more from us.

God expects us go beyond that moment when we accepted Jesus Christ and came to not only know who Jesus is but also actually know Jesus himself.

And I love this passage because Paul has such a gentle way with words.

After all he calls them a bunch of babies and tells them to “grow up.”

One of my favorite sayings is “suck it up buttercup.”

And it says the same thing really that Paul is saying here.

We need to stop acting like spiritual babies and we need to grow up.

Now, what does this look like?

Paul tells us one way this manifests itself.

He writes . . .

Ephesians 4:14 NIV - Anglicised

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

ephesians 4:

Infants are:

Tossed back and forth by the waves.

Blown here and there by every wind of teaching.

They are deceived by cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

In other words, they are very gullible and and susceptible to whatever the “new and exciting” thing is.

Kind of like a baby with a shiny new toy.

They will play with it and are curious about it until the newness wears off, and then they move to the next thing.

We hear it in things like “I’m going to find another church because I’m not being fed here.”

And there are actually two reasons for this:

Your not being fed because maybe you are still on the infants milk when you should be on the meat (as Paul actually puts it).

Your not being fed because you are wanting to have your entire Christian walk spoon-fed to you when you should be feeding yourself.

Well, “preacher that’s not nice.”

Sometimes, “nice” is not the “truth.”

And as Paul puts it, my job, and the job of every mature believer is to . . .

Ephesians 4:15 NIV - Anglicised

15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

Ephesians 4:

Speak the truth in love, which sometimes stings a little.

But in the end, it helps all of us to “grow up in him” (in Christ).

That’s the main purpose.

But this same immaturity that causes us to be tossed back and forth, “to and fro,” as Paul puts it also causes us to be very sensitive to absolutely everything.

When someone challenges us to grow, we resist it because it is uncomfortable.

When someone tells us that we do not have to live in sin, that we can choose not to sin, we get very uncomfortable because it shatters our excuse of “I can’t help it,” or “the devil made me do it,” or “I try but I’m just to weak.”

Because it really calls into question how hard we are trying.

And I do not know what most people in here struggle with, but I do know this.

I know that week after week, altar service after altar service, for the most part the only people who are willing to come and pray.

The only ones that are trying to do things differently are our teenagers.

We struggle but we don’t seek.

We are not serious about the Lord.

And we are not serious about growing up in the Lord.

We are comfortable with the “Jesus saved me and God loves me just the way I am,” and unwilling to see that God loves us so much that he is trying to get us to grow up into who He has designed us to be.

When we do this, we reduce Jesus to nothing more than an Old Testament priest who had to go to the altar year after year, sacrificing the lamb for the atonement of the people.

Jesus is so much more than that.

Jesus ended all of that.

We can have true victory, today, if we will accept it.

If we will move past our paralyzing fear, and move toward Jesus Christ.

The Law As A Shadow (Hebrews 10:1-18)

Point 2

Listen to what the writer of Hebrews has to say.

Hebrews 10:1–4 NIV - Anglicised

1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshippers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

And skip down to verses 11 . . .

Hebrews 10:1-

Hebrews 10:11–14 NIV - Anglicised

11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13 Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect for ever those who are being made holy.

Hebrews 10:11-

Do we hear what he is saying here?

Hebrews 10:3–4 NIV - Anglicised

3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Our constant struggle with the same sin, the same issues, the same powerlessness, is nothing more than a reminder of our sin.

We cannot gain victory in Christ because we have not claimed the victory that is given through the Holy Spirit.

Instead, we do as the priests and . . .

Hebrews 10:11 NIV - Anglicised

11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

Hebrews 10:11

What is our religious duty?

“Lord forgive me, I have sinned.”

Come to church because we feel guilty.

Give a $1 in the offering plate because we feel obligated.

We are missing the big picture.

Repentance is not bringing the same sacrifice and same prayer to God day after day, year after year, because we have “messed up again.”

Repentance is sincerely wanting to be different, going to God and asking God to forgive us, leaving that sin, whatever it is, on the altar, giving ourselves over to the Holy Spirit, to deliver us from that sin, and when temptation comes, drawing on the power of the Holy Spirit, to deal with that temptation and gain power and victory.

And we learn by doing this in the small things and as we grow and mature, it becomes easier to do the same thing with the big things.

Resting in Christ (Matthew 11:28-30)

But it’s hard.

I know and yes it is.

However, God doesn’t just throw us out there and say “do it,” either.

As we talked about last week, God has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And also, Jesus tells us this . ..

Matthew 11:28–30 NIV - Anglicised

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-

Jesus tells us, “bring it to me.”

“Let me teach you…Let me help you.”

We do not have to carry these burdens alone.

And we also do not have to grow up in Christ alone.

He is there every single step of the way, if we will let him in.

Altar Call

But we have got to come to the realization that we cannot stay the same forever.

We cannot remain “babes in Christ.”

We have got to mature, if we are going to make it and if we are going to help others make it.

And even if we are here this morning acknowledging and realizing it, we still have to do something about it.

We can acknowledge and understand all day, but are we willing to do something?

Are we willing to get up and allow God to teach us?

Are we willing to take a chance and change?

That’s are altar service this morning.

What are we willing to do?

Do we want to be mature Christians, capable and available to help others to Christ, or are we paralyzed by the saving grace of God?

Unwilling to move to the sustaining grace?

What is it that the Holy Spirit is speaking to you about this morning?

Are you willing to step out and take a chance on Jesus?

Are altar is open, will you use it today?