Grace for Grace

Grace for Grace John 1:1-17

A man walking down a muddy road in North Missouri with two bags of groceries under his arms was approached by Sister Mills, a lady minister in that area, and asked to come to church. He battled with this the rest of the way home. The story is told to me that, Mr. Harding would put the bags down and declare he was not going to church, pick them up and start home again, over and over that was repeated till he got home. Mr. Harding went to that church that night and was later saved, the grace of God reaching out to lost humanity. Our scripture talks about Jesus being full of grace JFB wrote, “it should read: “He dwelt among us full of grace and truth”; or, in Old Testament phrase, “Mercy and truth,”… in one great word, “the SURE MERCIES of David”… In His Person all that Grace and Truth which had been floating so long in shadowy forms, and darting into the souls of the poor and needy its broken beams, took everlasting possession of human flesh and filled it full. By this Incarnation of Grace and Truth, the teaching of thousands of years was at once transcended and beggared, and the family of God sprang into Manhood.”

I tried and failed to explain this morning what grace is tonight I’d like to talk about how it filled Christ and how it is extended to us in various ways. We see in verse 16, “Of this fullness we have received grace for grace.” You might translate that grace upon grace or Wesley worded it “One blessing upon another.” You might look at your life and see some of the following points of grace.

I. Prevenient Grace – Or you might call it preparing grace. Prevenient means “comes before” This grace come before salvation, in fact before conviction. A. When we look back and see how God worked on our behalf, bringing us to a crisis point in our life when we would have to either try it on our own or what he wanted to turn to him. B. I’m glad that Mr. Harding the gentleman I was talking about earlier, turned to God and found Saving Grace. Mr. Harding had fourteen children and his thirteenth girl became a young lady and married a young man who had just come home from the Vietnam war. She had been saved before but had gotten bitter, her brother had passed away in his sleep one night unexpectedly. After a few years the new wore off the marriage, things were getting bad, fights getting pretty rough, the marriage was on the rocks, when a young minister knocked on the door, he was holding a revival down at the local church would they like to come? The young lady hadn’t heard from God in a long time, as she closed the door there was just a little stir in her heart. They went to that revival and were saved.

II. Saving Grace – Grace that saves us

III. Sanctifying Grace – Grace that sanctifies us

IV. Sustaining Grace – Grace that keeps us

V. Dying Grace – Grace that holds us in the throes of death