The Meaning of Grace

Luke 4:22-27
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Pastor Colin recounts how Jesus, in His hometown synagogue, read from the scroll of Isaiah and declared His mission to preach good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, and release for the oppressed. Jesus announces the arrival of the Year of the Lord’s Favour, a time of divine grace that contrasts sharply with the unfulfilled Old Testament laws meant to provide relief every fifty years.

Emphasising the contrast between grace and law, Pastor Colin explains that while law demands, grace offers. Jesus proclaiming the Year of the Lord’s Favour meant that God is offering forgiveness, freedom, and restoration, not demanding them. This declaration was a radical shift from the usual religious messages of duty and morality.

Pastor Colin stresses that grace is something offered freely by God, who is not obligated to save anyone but is free to save anyone. This is illustrated through the stories of Elijah and Elisha, where God’s grace extends even to those who seem least deserving, like the widow in Sidon and Naaman the leper.

Concluding, Pastor Colin challenges the congregation to see their need for Christ and His grace, reminding them that coming to God with empty hands results in being filled. The sermon ends with a prayer for hearts to be open to receive Jesus’ grace, reinforcing the transformative power of His mission and message.

1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:05,760 In the run-up to Christmas, we’re looking at this question of why Jesus Christ came into the world. 2 00:00:06,400 –> 00:00:11,520 And particularly we’re looking at the answer that our Lord gives to that question in his 3 00:00:11,520 –> 00:00:20,639 own words from Luke’s gospel and chapter 4. We have come to this account of Jesus when he 4 00:00:20,639 –> 00:00:28,160 comes to his hometown of Nazareth. And we began last week, picturing Jesus, 5 00:00:28,160 –> 00:00:34,240 as Luke recounts the incident, coming back to his own hometown. He’s coming into a congregation 6 00:00:34,959 –> 00:00:39,520 where there were folks who grew up with him. A congregation where there are folks who 7 00:00:39,520 –> 00:00:44,160 were customers at the carpenter shop and so forth. Folks who knew him well. 8 00:00:44,720 –> 00:00:50,160 And now as the ministry of Jesus has been progressing for about a year in many other 9 00:00:50,160 –> 00:00:56,320 towns and places, Jesus is being spoken of everywhere. We saw in verse 14 of Luke and 10 00:00:56,320 –> 00:01:01,919 chapter four that a report about him went throughout all of the surrounding countryside. 11 00:01:01,919 –> 00:01:09,120 So everybody is talking about Jesus. And Luke records this remarkable occasion when Jesus for 12 00:01:09,120 –> 00:01:16,080 the very first time, comes back to his hometown Nazareth where he was raised as a boy. 13 00:01:16,639 –> 00:01:22,320 And we began last time to look at the story of what happened on that remarkable Sabbath. 14 00:01:22,320 –> 00:01:30,720 At one point during the service, Jesus stood up and he was given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah 15 00:01:30,720 –> 00:01:37,360 and in verse 18 Luke records the words that Jesus read, the Spirit of the Lord is on me 16 00:01:37,360 –> 00:01:44,000 because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He sent me to proclaim freedom 17 00:01:44,000 –> 00:01:49,279 to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind to release the oppressed and to proclaim 18 00:01:49,279 –> 00:01:55,199 the Year of the Lord’s Favour and we paused there last time to say now what is this Year 19 00:01:55,199 –> 00:02:00,639 of the Lord’s Favour that Jesus Christ came into the world to proclaim and we saw that 20 00:02:00,639 –> 00:02:06,080 in the Old Testament God had given to his people a marvelously compassionate law. 21 00:02:06,879 –> 00:02:14,720 Every 50 years the trumpet was to be sounded and it was to announce this Year of the Lord’s 22 00:02:14,720 –> 00:02:20,559 Favour that Jesus describes here, and this was a year in which God said all debts were to be 23 00:02:20,559 –> 00:02:27,919 cancelled, all slaves were to be set free, and all property that had been sold was to be returned to 24 00:02:27,919 –> 00:02:34,960 the original family of ownership. And we saw last time that these were marvellous laws, if you were 25 00:02:34,960 –> 00:02:41,839 a debtor it was a great break but of course if you were a creditor it was going to be pretty costly 26 00:02:42,559 –> 00:02:47,119 and I don’t think any of us were surprised to find that although this was commanded in the 27 00:02:47,119 –> 00:02:52,880 scriptures for Israel in the Old Testament as the very law of God, it was not obeyed once, 28 00:02:52,880 –> 00:02:58,800 not even one single time. And of course we all know why, the people with the power were the 29 00:02:58,800 –> 00:03:04,160 people with the money and when they worked out how much it would cost them to proclaim this year of 30 00:03:04,160 –> 00:03:09,440 the Lord’s Favour, they decided against it. So the trumpet never sounded, the year of the Lord’s 31 00:03:09,759 –> 00:03:15,919 had never once been implemented in all the centuries of the history of God’s people Israel. 32 00:03:15,919 –> 00:03:23,279 And then Jesus came to Nazareth and he said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me 33 00:03:24,479 –> 00:03:31,600 and he has anointed me to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. Then he rolled up the scroll, 34 00:03:31,600 –> 00:03:36,800 he sat down as the Rabbis always did when they were about to teach and with the eyes of everyone 35 00:03:36,800 –> 00:03:42,720 in the congregation, absolutely fixed on him, Luke says, Jesus says to them, 36 00:03:42,720 –> 00:03:49,279 today this scripture has been fulfilled right here in your hearing. 37 00:03:50,479 –> 00:03:56,399 What you would not do for each other God is now going to do for you. In my coming Jesus says God 38 00:03:56,399 –> 00:04:04,080 is ready now to relinquish and release and cancel all debts. He’s ready to set prisoners free, 39 00:04:04,880 –> 00:04:12,399 he is ready to restore the lost inheritance of life in paradise itself, forfeited by your 40 00:04:13,360 –> 00:04:18,559 Father Adam in the garden, God is ready now to restore that in all of its richness and all of 41 00:04:18,559 –> 00:04:24,480 its wonder to you. Now this is why Jesus Christ came and we saw this last week stated in Jesus’ 42 00:04:24,480 –> 00:04:32,160 own words and it is good news. Now today we want to take up the story in verse 22 and I 43 00:04:32,160 –> 00:04:40,799 want you to notice at the beginning of the response. Verse 22, and all spoke well of him 44 00:04:42,239 –> 00:04:50,079 and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. 45 00:04:51,679 –> 00:04:56,480 Now it’s always worth remembering your first impressions of a person 46 00:04:56,559 –> 00:05:05,119 or a place because your first immediate impression is the thing that tells you what is immediately 47 00:05:05,119 –> 00:05:11,279 obvious, what is most forceful, what cannot be missed. You may have other thoughts. You may have 48 00:05:11,279 –> 00:05:16,720 other reflections that come in due course. We look at these as we continue later in this series, 49 00:05:16,720 –> 00:05:21,279 but what I want to focus on today is the most obvious thing about Jesus. 50 00:05:22,279 –> 00:05:27,920 the first thing that impressed people who heard him for the very first time. Because remember he 51 00:05:27,920 –> 00:05:35,640 had not publicly spoken in Nazareth before this occasion and Luke records for us here that they 52 00:05:35,640 –> 00:05:43,880 marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. This is indeed an almost subconscious 53 00:05:43,880 –> 00:05:50,399 or unconscious testimony to the most striking thing about Jesus, the thing that was most 54 00:05:50,839 –> 00:05:58,119 immediately obvious to these people, what impressed them first was that when this man spoke what he 55 00:05:58,119 –> 00:06:06,679 said could be summed up in the word grace. They marveled at the gracious words that were coming 56 00:06:06,679 –> 00:06:13,220 from his mouth and of course it’s not surprising that this was so or difficult to tell why, what 57 00:06:13,220 –> 00:06:19,600 had he been speaking about? He said I’ve come here to declare the year of the Lord’s favor. That 58 00:06:20,040 –> 00:06:24,799 word favor is a synonym for grace. Another way of saying the year of the Lord’s favor would 59 00:06:24,799 –> 00:06:30,019 simply be to say the year of the Lord’s grace and so it’s not surprising that as 60 00:06:30,019 –> 00:06:34,299 Jesus expounded on this theme, we’re only given the first word of what he said here, 61 00:06:34,299 –> 00:06:41,260 but as he expounded on this theme people were impressed that this person was all about grace 62 00:06:41,260 –> 00:06:47,540 and they marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. Now this is very 63 00:06:47,540 –> 00:06:56,040 striking and it is very important. Here’s why. If you were to travel the world today 64 00:06:56,040 –> 00:07:06,660 and you were to listen to what is being preached in mosques, in synagogues, and in many churches, 65 00:07:06,660 –> 00:07:15,420 you would find that the message that is heard is largely about what you should do for God. 66 00:07:15,420 –> 00:07:23,480 What you should be. What you ought to do. An exhortation to duty. An exhortation to 67 00:07:23,480 –> 00:07:35,339 morality. The kind of life you ought to be living. People of religion of all stripes 68 00:07:35,339 –> 00:07:40,940 experience that as the regular diet whether they worship on a Friday, or a Saturday, or 69 00:07:40,940 –> 00:07:43,000 a Sunday. 70 00:07:43,000 –> 00:07:46,920 And if you ask this this week, you might to try this out actually, ask some people who 71 00:07:46,920 –> 00:07:51,779 are not in church this weekend why they did not come. And you’ll hear a number of answers. 72 00:07:51,779 –> 00:07:57,320 But what I suggest is likely to be some variation along the following lines. I don’t need someone 73 00:07:57,320 –> 00:08:03,540 telling me how to run my own life. And there are thousands of people in the Greater Chicago 74 00:08:03,540 –> 00:08:08,519 area today, who have the idea that when folks gather for worship, that’s what it’s all about, 75 00:08:08,839 –> 00:08:14,480 laying down the law and telling us what we ought to do and so forth and so on. Nobody 76 00:08:14,480 –> 00:08:20,920 thought that when they listened to Jesus. Suddenly, they were amazed, they marveled. 77 00:08:20,920 –> 00:08:24,220 That’s the word that’s used. Why? Because they knew that when they listened to Jesus, 78 00:08:24,220 –> 00:08:29,179 this was something completely different from their normal diet that was served up in the 79 00:08:29,179 –> 00:08:37,880 synagogue. Gracious words were coming from His mouth and the people were so surprised 80 00:08:38,580 –> 00:08:43,219 because this was not what they were used to hearing that they were indeed amazed. 81 00:08:43,219 –> 00:08:48,700 Now, this speaks immediately into our world today. Some of you, having been raised with 82 00:08:48,700 –> 00:08:54,619 traditions and trappings of religion, church was part of your life. But you may well have 83 00:08:54,619 –> 00:09:01,460 found that it was more associated with harshness than it was with grace. 84 00:09:01,460 –> 00:09:07,619 And so here you are this weekend. You feel that it’s a good thing for you to be here, 85 00:09:07,619 –> 00:09:12,979 but as you look at your past experience, you – harshness comes more to mind when you 86 00:09:12,979 –> 00:09:18,520 think of church and of preaching than grace does. 87 00:09:18,520 –> 00:09:23,299 You went to worship, and you’ve had the experience of feeling worse at the end of 88 00:09:23,299 –> 00:09:30,200 it than when you went in, because what it felt like was simply as if more demands – more 89 00:09:30,200 –> 00:09:38,359 demands were being added to your already overflowing plate. 90 00:09:38,359 –> 00:09:44,400 There are some sentences that stay with you all your life. 91 00:09:44,400 –> 00:09:55,159 One for me, dear friend, who had gone through great suffering, a man whose wife had died 92 00:09:55,159 –> 00:09:57,080 early in his life. 93 00:09:57,080 –> 00:10:00,919 He had served God very well. 94 00:10:00,919 –> 00:10:07,200 Found it very difficult going through this awful experience. 95 00:10:07,200 –> 00:10:14,840 I found at one point that he had stopped going to church, and knowing that he had a faith 96 00:10:14,840 –> 00:10:19,760 in Christ, I said, what’s the deal. 97 00:10:19,760 –> 00:10:24,440 This is what he said to me, it shaped my life, and I hope my ministry. 98 00:10:24,440 –> 00:10:30,559 He said, you know, I just couldn’t take it anymore. 99 00:10:30,559 –> 00:10:36,840 He said, every week it felt like being clubbed over the back of the head with a two-by-four. 100 00:10:36,840 –> 00:10:43,119 I just couldn’t take it anymore. 101 00:10:43,119 –> 00:10:49,640 Now, some of you have been discouraged by an authoritarian harshness, an unyielding 102 00:10:49,719 –> 00:10:54,440 moral superiority that holds sinners in contempt. 103 00:10:54,440 –> 00:10:59,419 That was not what these people heard from Jesus. 104 00:10:59,419 –> 00:11:04,320 I want to open up your mind and your heart to the fact that when you come to Jesus, there’s 105 00:11:04,320 –> 00:11:05,719 something different. 106 00:11:05,719 –> 00:11:14,719 I have a friend who was brought up in a particularly strict church tradition and when he was talking 107 00:11:14,719 –> 00:11:18,840 with me about it, he said with a smile, well, he said, it was pretty much like this, he 108 00:11:18,840 –> 00:11:24,320 said, everything was forbidden, except for what was compulsory. 109 00:11:24,320 –> 00:11:27,520 That does not leave you with an awful lot of room for maneuver. 110 00:11:27,520 –> 00:11:31,440 Everything forbidden except for what was compulsory. 111 00:11:31,440 –> 00:11:39,820 And when my friend eventually encountered Jesus, he found that he was transported into 112 00:11:39,820 –> 00:11:42,760 an altogether different world. 113 00:11:42,760 –> 00:11:46,880 If you listen to Jesus, you will be amazed by his grace. 114 00:11:46,880 –> 00:11:49,619 That’s the principal. 115 00:11:49,619 –> 00:11:53,479 And of course, people who were really awake in the synagogue that day, and people who 116 00:11:53,479 –> 00:11:59,140 knew their Bibles, their Old Testament well, they would have picked up on this not only 117 00:11:59,140 –> 00:12:05,239 from what Jesus said about the year of the Lord’s favor, and his exposition of grace, 118 00:12:05,239 –> 00:12:10,679 they would have picked it up not only from what he’s said, but from where he ended, in 119 00:12:10,679 –> 00:12:13,280 the reading from Isaiah the prophet. 120 00:12:13,280 –> 00:12:18,979 I don’t know if you have noticed this or picked it up, but the section that Jesus read on 121 00:12:18,979 –> 00:12:25,679 that day in the synagogue, actually he chose to end in the middle of a sentence. 122 00:12:25,679 –> 00:12:28,880 Why would you end in the middle of a sentence when you’re doing the reading from Scripture? 123 00:12:28,880 –> 00:12:34,320 Well, if you look at the sentence in Isaiah chapter 61, it’s full of significance. 124 00:12:34,520 –> 00:12:42,679 The Spirit of the Lord is upon Jesus to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of 125 00:12:42,679 –> 00:12:45,159 the vengeance of our God. 126 00:12:45,159 –> 00:12:46,520 And Jesus stops mid-sentence. 127 00:12:46,520 –> 00:12:47,520 Why? 128 00:12:47,520 –> 00:12:58,679 There is a day of God’s vengeance for sure, but that is not what He came to proclaim. 129 00:12:58,700 –> 00:13:04,140 God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through 130 00:13:04,140 –> 00:13:05,359 Him might be saved. 131 00:13:05,359 –> 00:13:06,840 That’s how John says it. 132 00:13:06,840 –> 00:13:07,840 So, He stops mid-sentence. 133 00:13:07,840 –> 00:13:13,799 Oh there is a day of judgment, but that is not why I am here, I am here to open the door 134 00:13:13,799 –> 00:13:15,679 of grace for you. 135 00:13:15,679 –> 00:13:18,200 That is what you must hear. 136 00:13:18,200 –> 00:13:21,719 And it’s all the greater in the light of the day of judgment that is yet to come. 137 00:13:21,719 –> 00:13:30,940 And marveled at the gracious words that were coming from His mouth. 138 00:13:30,940 –> 00:13:35,619 So since this was Jesus’ great theme, since it’s quite clear that this was the most obvious 139 00:13:35,619 –> 00:13:43,900 thing about Him, since it is evident that this was what He was all about, I want simply 140 00:13:43,900 –> 00:13:46,460 to be asking the question then, well, what is grace? 141 00:13:46,460 –> 00:13:47,460 What is the meaning of grace? 142 00:13:47,619 –> 00:13:52,820 So I want simply to offer these three observations today. 143 00:13:52,820 –> 00:13:58,000 Number one, grace means that something is offered. 144 00:13:58,000 –> 00:14:00,080 That’s what it means. 145 00:14:00,080 –> 00:14:03,919 So, taking us to the very heart of why Jesus came into the world. 146 00:14:03,919 –> 00:14:05,419 It’s all about grace. 147 00:14:05,419 –> 00:14:08,340 And grace means that something is offered. 148 00:14:08,340 –> 00:14:14,000 Now, that’s of huge importance because, of course, in that sense it stands in contrast 149 00:14:14,119 –> 00:14:19,080 to law, because law means that something is demanded. 150 00:14:19,080 –> 00:14:25,000 Law is demand, grace is something offered or something that is given. 151 00:14:25,000 –> 00:14:30,280 And, of course, God has every right to lay down the law. 152 00:14:30,280 –> 00:14:38,640 God is God, so God is free to make any demand of you and of me that He may choose to make. 153 00:14:38,640 –> 00:14:44,359 But grace is amazing because this is telling us that God, who has the right to demand anything 154 00:14:44,359 –> 00:14:49,340 that He wishes of us, is choosing instead to come to us and to offer something to us. 155 00:14:49,340 –> 00:14:55,080 He’s coming as it were an open hand, a full hand, and He is saying I have something for 156 00:14:55,080 –> 00:14:56,080 you. 157 00:14:56,080 –> 00:14:58,140 And here it is. 158 00:14:58,140 –> 00:14:59,500 Jesus expounds it. 159 00:14:59,500 –> 00:15:07,799 It is to cancel all your debts, all your debts towards God, wiped clean. 160 00:15:07,820 –> 00:15:10,580 It is to set you free from the oppression of Satan’s power. 161 00:15:10,580 –> 00:15:15,140 It is to restore this inheritance that Adam has lost. 162 00:15:15,140 –> 00:15:25,159 The law which places demands came by Moses but grace, in which God gives, comes through 163 00:15:25,159 –> 00:15:28,760 Jesus Christ. 164 00:15:28,760 –> 00:15:36,859 Now when you make an offer, you have to possess what you promise to give. 165 00:15:36,859 –> 00:15:38,859 You can’t give what you don’t have. 166 00:15:38,859 –> 00:15:41,799 We all know that. 167 00:15:41,799 –> 00:15:47,239 And therefore this offering of grace, this self giving of Jesus Christ in itself points 168 00:15:47,239 –> 00:15:51,039 us to how great and how marvelous he is. 169 00:15:51,039 –> 00:15:58,500 I was very struck recently, just coming across a quotation from the writing of Charlotte 170 00:15:58,500 –> 00:16:06,500 Bronte, in a book that some of you will have read, her famous book, Jane Eyre. 171 00:16:07,059 –> 00:16:12,380 The character Jane, as you will know, sometimes at least perhaps often reflects Charlotte 172 00:16:12,380 –> 00:16:17,539 Bronte’s own experience, which of course makes the writing all the more interesting. 173 00:16:17,539 –> 00:16:25,219 And at one point, she describes the experience of going to church and hearing a very gifted 174 00:16:25,219 –> 00:16:28,359 young preacher. 175 00:16:28,359 –> 00:16:32,400 And this is what Jane Charlotte Bronte says. 176 00:16:32,479 –> 00:16:35,440 I quote, it’s beautifully written, 177 00:16:35,440 –> 00:16:43,780 “‘The heart was thrilled, and the mind was astonished by the power of the preacher, 178 00:16:43,780 –> 00:16:47,960 but neither was softened. 179 00:16:47,960 –> 00:16:56,340 Throughout there was a strange bitterness, an absence of consolatory gentleness. 180 00:16:56,340 –> 00:17:02,320 And when he had done, instead of feeling better and calmer and more enlightened by his discourse 181 00:17:02,320 –> 00:17:07,339 I experienced an inexpressible sadness. 182 00:17:07,339 –> 00:17:12,699 For Jane Eyre says, “‘It seemed to me that the eloquence to which I had been listening 183 00:17:12,699 –> 00:17:20,680 had sprung from a heart where lay turbid depths of disappointment, where moved troubling impulses 184 00:17:20,680 –> 00:17:27,900 of insatiate yearnings and disquieting aspirations.’ 185 00:17:27,939 –> 00:17:37,359 I was sure that the preacher, pure-minded, conscientious, zealous as he was, had not 186 00:17:37,359 –> 00:17:42,979 yet found the peace of God that passes all understanding. 187 00:17:42,979 –> 00:17:50,640 He had no more found it, I thought, than I.’” 188 00:17:50,640 –> 00:17:54,619 I wonder how often that has been experienced by a Christian congregation. 189 00:17:55,260 –> 00:18:00,939 Here’s a man talking about peace, but what does he know of it himself? 190 00:18:00,939 –> 00:18:07,780 A man talking about faith or humility or patience but little evidence of these things in his 191 00:18:07,780 –> 00:18:08,780 own life. 192 00:18:08,780 –> 00:18:12,959 That’s what J. Ayer is describing. 193 00:18:12,959 –> 00:18:23,439 And I’m wanting you to see this point, that Jesus has what he offers. 194 00:18:23,800 –> 00:18:27,660 Jesus has what he offers. 195 00:18:27,660 –> 00:18:33,920 By the way, what that means of course is that a faithful preacher is one who is looking 196 00:18:33,920 –> 00:18:42,579 to Jesus himself, one who is trusting in Jesus himself, one who is clinging to Jesus himself 197 00:18:42,579 –> 00:18:47,939 and therefore does not see his work to get people’s eyes fixed on him as the Speaker, 198 00:18:47,939 –> 00:18:57,599 to get all of our eyes fixed on Jesus who holds in his hand all that all of us need. 199 00:18:57,599 –> 00:19:01,979 And in Christ, God offers himself to us. 200 00:19:01,979 –> 00:19:05,880 The fullness of God lives in him. 201 00:19:05,880 –> 00:19:12,439 We read in Colossians, in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge. 202 00:19:12,439 –> 00:19:13,439 And he says, 203 00:19:14,439 –> 00:19:17,479 I am the good shepherd and I give my life for the sheep. 204 00:19:17,479 –> 00:19:22,180 The self-giving of Jesus Christ, he is the one who has what we need. 205 00:19:22,180 –> 00:19:23,739 And he has it in himself. 206 00:19:23,739 –> 00:19:29,199 And he is able to make this gracious offer to us because he has what he promises. 207 00:19:29,199 –> 00:19:37,079 And in the world of demands, with so many people who are asking things of you. 208 00:19:37,079 –> 00:19:39,699 God comes to you as the great giver. 209 00:19:39,719 –> 00:19:44,979 I don’t know what it’s like in your house but here is what it’s like in ours at Christmas 210 00:19:44,979 –> 00:19:45,979 time. 211 00:19:45,979 –> 00:19:52,040 The mail comes and my wife wonderfully sorts the mail into two piles. 212 00:19:52,040 –> 00:19:59,239 The Christmas cards on one side and the rest, which is ninety percent bills, on the other. 213 00:19:59,239 –> 00:20:02,699 And then when they are neatly sorted into two piles, she says, she picks up the Christmas 214 00:20:02,699 –> 00:20:07,219 cards, she says, I’ll open these and you can open these. 215 00:20:07,219 –> 00:20:09,439 Yes. 216 00:20:09,439 –> 00:20:12,260 The Christmas cards are gifts. 217 00:20:12,260 –> 00:20:16,699 The rest are all demands or needs. 218 00:20:16,699 –> 00:20:19,599 Take away Christmas and what we have is what? 219 00:20:19,599 –> 00:20:24,260 A list of needs, a list of demands. 220 00:20:24,260 –> 00:20:27,380 Everyone wants something from you. 221 00:20:27,380 –> 00:20:31,500 Christ comes and offers something to you. 222 00:20:31,660 –> 00:20:35,280 Grace means that something is offered, and it is offered freely. 223 00:20:35,280 –> 00:20:44,199 Mercy, forgiveness, cleansing, strength, power, release, hope, peace, joy. 224 00:20:44,199 –> 00:20:47,099 And as people heard it from the lips of Jesus they were amazed. 225 00:20:47,099 –> 00:20:48,560 We never heard anything like this. 226 00:20:48,560 –> 00:20:53,140 Where else could you find such a thing? 227 00:20:53,140 –> 00:20:54,339 Grace means that something is offered. 228 00:20:54,339 –> 00:20:56,859 Here’s a second observation. 229 00:20:56,859 –> 00:20:59,719 Grace means that we have no rights. 230 00:21:00,199 –> 00:21:03,439 Now, this is of huge importance, friends. 231 00:21:03,439 –> 00:21:09,400 Obviously, it’s the case that by definition if something is given freely, if it is offered 232 00:21:09,400 –> 00:21:15,599 freely, then by definition you cannot claim it as a right. 233 00:21:15,599 –> 00:21:17,800 Very important to understand this. 234 00:21:17,800 –> 00:21:21,680 And of course we have rights and freedoms within this country and within this world 235 00:21:21,680 –> 00:21:29,500 for which we are thankful, but remember this, that all rights are on the basis of law. 236 00:21:29,579 –> 00:21:37,380 You may have—says optimistically—you may have a right to a tax refund sometime next 237 00:21:37,380 –> 00:21:43,739 year if you’ve paid too much, but the only reason that you might have a right to a tax 238 00:21:43,739 –> 00:21:51,119 refund would be that taxes are paid on the basis of law! 239 00:21:51,119 –> 00:21:54,719 Nobody says that they have a right to a gift at Christmas. 240 00:21:54,780 –> 00:21:58,839 How can you have a right to a Christmas present? 241 00:21:58,839 –> 00:22:03,359 That’s a thing that’s given freely. 242 00:22:03,359 –> 00:22:06,640 And when you’re in the world of grace, there is no such thing as rights. 243 00:22:06,640 –> 00:22:09,900 As soon as you want to raise the issue of rights, you’re throwing yourself back into 244 00:22:09,900 –> 00:22:11,839 the world of law! 245 00:22:11,839 –> 00:22:16,640 Now, this was where the people in Nazareth got themselves into problems, and it’s where 246 00:22:16,640 –> 00:22:19,780 many people still get themselves into problems today. 247 00:22:19,780 –> 00:22:23,040 Remember, Nazareth was Jesus’ hometown. 248 00:22:23,099 –> 00:22:25,579 And here’s these people, and you can imagine the situation. 249 00:22:25,579 –> 00:22:30,500 They’ve been hearing that Jesus has been doing miracles in other places, Capernaum 250 00:22:30,500 –> 00:22:32,099 and so forth and so on. 251 00:22:32,099 –> 00:22:37,300 And they felt that because he came from Nazareth, hey, he came from our town, well, he owes 252 00:22:37,300 –> 00:22:42,060 it to us to do at least a few miracles here. 253 00:22:42,060 –> 00:22:47,300 And so, it’s quite clear that these people from Nazareth, they feel that in some sense 254 00:22:47,520 –> 00:22:51,260 they have a special claim upon Jesus. 255 00:22:51,260 –> 00:22:56,920 That he sort of owes them, because after all, they are his hometown folk and they feel that 256 00:22:56,920 –> 00:22:57,920 he has an obligation. 257 00:22:57,920 –> 00:23:01,800 And so, verse 23, you’ll see that Jesus knew that this was what they were thinking, and 258 00:23:01,800 –> 00:23:05,780 so he says to them, now surely you’re going to quote this proverb to me, physician heal 259 00:23:05,780 –> 00:23:06,780 yourself. 260 00:23:06,780 –> 00:23:07,839 Here’s what you’re saying. 261 00:23:07,839 –> 00:23:15,819 Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum. 262 00:23:15,819 –> 00:23:17,839 And guess what? 263 00:23:17,839 –> 00:23:22,920 Jesus does not do miracles on demand. 264 00:23:22,920 –> 00:23:25,459 You can’t demand grace. 265 00:23:25,459 –> 00:23:26,780 It’s contradiction in terms. 266 00:23:26,780 –> 00:23:28,959 It’s an oxymoron. 267 00:23:28,959 –> 00:23:31,339 You can’t. 268 00:23:31,339 –> 00:23:33,839 You cannot be owed it. 269 00:23:33,839 –> 00:23:36,540 And God gives it freely, that’s what it means. 270 00:23:36,540 –> 00:23:39,280 It cannot be earned, it cannot be deserved. 271 00:23:39,280 –> 00:23:44,520 It’s what makes it grace. 272 00:23:44,520 –> 00:23:48,540 So I’ve spoken over the years and sometimes been moved by people whose lives have been 273 00:23:48,540 –> 00:23:53,959 extremely hard and they have stated in as many words about how much God owes them, but 274 00:23:53,959 –> 00:23:58,540 as soon as you’re talking about what God owes you, you’ve gone straight into the 275 00:23:58,540 –> 00:24:02,839 world of law, and the last place you want to take your stand in the presence of God 276 00:24:02,839 –> 00:24:09,280 is on the basis of law, because if any of us was taking our stand in the presence of 277 00:24:09,280 –> 00:24:13,900 Almighty God on the last day, on the basis of law, then the searchlight of His law would 278 00:24:13,900 –> 00:24:17,900 leave us utterly exposed and utterly lost forever. 279 00:24:17,900 –> 00:24:23,500 Come to God on the basis of law and He’ll deal with you on the basis of law, nobody 280 00:24:23,500 –> 00:24:27,380 wants to be there. 281 00:24:27,380 –> 00:24:32,839 This was the problem in Nazareth, and it is very significant that no miracles where done 282 00:24:32,839 –> 00:24:33,839 there at all. 283 00:24:33,839 –> 00:24:36,680 The place was passed over, though Jesus visited it. 284 00:24:36,680 –> 00:24:38,300 Why was it passed over? 285 00:24:38,359 –> 00:24:47,459 Because in that place people felt they had a right, that Jesus owed it to them. 286 00:24:47,459 –> 00:24:55,579 CH Spurgeon tells a marvelous story about a great man who on one occasion was taken 287 00:24:55,579 –> 00:24:58,180 to see the French galley slaves. 288 00:24:58,180 –> 00:25:06,380 Here are these criminals, and they’ve been sentenced to this awful labor as galley slaves. 289 00:25:06,500 –> 00:25:12,839 And this great man who was taken to see them, he was given the authority to grant a free 290 00:25:12,839 –> 00:25:18,359 pardon to one man, whoever he chose. 291 00:25:18,359 –> 00:25:24,420 So he decided to go and talk to these slaves, and he went to a first slave, and he asked 292 00:25:24,420 –> 00:25:31,819 him about his crime, and the slave said, well, he said, I’ve been treated very unfairly. 293 00:25:31,939 –> 00:25:37,180 He pointed out that the charges against him had been greatly exaggerated, that although 294 00:25:37,180 –> 00:25:42,239 he had done some bad, there were certainly many other people on the ship who had done 295 00:25:42,239 –> 00:25:48,680 a great deal worse, and that he had, after all, done a great deal of good in his life, 296 00:25:48,680 –> 00:25:51,479 and the great man passed the first slave by. 297 00:25:51,479 –> 00:25:59,359 He said, no, no, no, this man is too good to receive a free pardon. 298 00:25:59,359 –> 00:26:06,060 He then went and spoke to a second slave, who told him that he was completely innocent. 299 00:26:06,060 –> 00:26:08,579 Not just that charges were exaggerated. 300 00:26:08,579 –> 00:26:10,900 This man said, no, I am completely innocent. 301 00:26:10,900 –> 00:26:14,040 Well, the great man immediately passed on. 302 00:26:14,040 –> 00:26:16,439 He said, look, this man is innocent. 303 00:26:16,439 –> 00:26:18,319 He needs justice. 304 00:26:18,319 –> 00:26:22,060 A free pardon is certainly not the thing for him. 305 00:26:22,699 –> 00:26:30,819 He came to a third slave who said to him, I have a very long sentence to serve and I 306 00:26:30,819 –> 00:26:34,319 fully deserve it. 307 00:26:34,319 –> 00:26:43,099 And if they knew the full extent of my crimes, they would have given me the death penalty. 308 00:26:43,099 –> 00:26:51,099 The great man said, a free pardon is the only hope for this man. 309 00:26:51,099 –> 00:26:57,400 And this is the man to whom I will give it. 310 00:26:57,400 –> 00:27:01,239 Many people feel that God owes them. 311 00:27:01,239 –> 00:27:07,420 But if you come to Him like this, you will go away empty-handed. 312 00:27:07,420 –> 00:27:15,060 When you come to God, make it clear that you don’t think you have any claim to make upon 313 00:27:15,060 –> 00:27:18,760 Him at all. 314 00:27:18,760 –> 00:27:22,439 Spurgeon suggests this following up the story that he narrates. 315 00:27:22,439 –> 00:27:25,619 He says when you come to God, tell Him this. 316 00:27:25,619 –> 00:27:32,839 Tell Him, if you were to condemn me, I could have no complaint. 317 00:27:32,839 –> 00:27:34,939 Tell Him that. 318 00:27:35,359 –> 00:27:37,219 You see that? 319 00:27:37,219 –> 00:27:43,239 Make it clear that you’re not coming to Him with any thought in your mind whatsoever that 320 00:27:43,239 –> 00:27:48,099 somehow He owes you. 321 00:27:48,099 –> 00:27:53,400 Stop trying to impress God with the good that you have done, or the problems you have faced, 322 00:27:53,400 –> 00:27:56,859 or the difficulties you have had to overcome, and so forth. 323 00:27:56,859 –> 00:28:01,520 Come to Jesus Christ as the worst sinner must come. 324 00:28:01,579 –> 00:28:04,040 That’s how you come to God. 325 00:28:04,040 –> 00:28:07,479 Cast yourself upon His mercy. 326 00:28:07,479 –> 00:28:13,880 Put your trust in His atoning sacrifice as He shed His blood on that cross. 327 00:28:13,880 –> 00:28:22,219 And ask Him to deal with you not on the basis of any rights or any obligation but only on 328 00:28:22,219 –> 00:28:30,479 the basis of free grace in which He offers to you a free pardon that will leave you glorifying 329 00:28:30,979 –> 00:28:35,020 and rejoicing in Him forever and forever and forever. 330 00:28:35,020 –> 00:28:38,119 Listen when we come to Jesus Christ with our hands full. 331 00:28:38,119 –> 00:28:41,439 trynna’ tell Him, look what I have done, look what Im offering to you, look at all 332 00:28:41,439 –> 00:28:45,880 my faith, look at all my service I’ve been a preacher and so forth and so on. 333 00:28:45,880 –> 00:28:48,560 Come to Jesus Christ like that with your hands full, guess what? 334 00:28:48,560 –> 00:28:52,359 You go away with your hands empty. 335 00:28:52,359 –> 00:28:56,180 Come to Jesus Christ with your hands empty, guess what? 336 00:28:56,180 –> 00:28:59,239 You go away with your hands full. 337 00:28:59,819 –> 00:29:06,719 Putting in my hands I bring simply to Your cross I cling. 338 00:29:06,719 –> 00:29:12,739 Grace means that we have no rights. 339 00:29:12,739 –> 00:29:18,599 It comes to the presence of God and I urge you if you have been going through life with 340 00:29:18,599 –> 00:29:24,300 a sense of God owing you and you having done enough to impress Him, get of this basis of 341 00:29:24,300 –> 00:29:27,420 trying to come to God on the foundation of law. 342 00:29:27,420 –> 00:29:33,280 It will kill you and I mean that literally, eternally. 343 00:29:33,280 –> 00:29:36,540 Come to Him on the basis of grace and of mercy. 344 00:29:36,540 –> 00:29:40,939 Nothing in My hand I bring, simply to Your cross I cling. 345 00:29:40,939 –> 00:29:43,180 So, grace is so wonderful. 346 00:29:43,180 –> 00:29:47,219 It means that something is offered. 347 00:29:47,219 –> 00:29:50,579 Grace means that we have no rights. 348 00:29:50,579 –> 00:29:53,339 And here’s the third and the last observation and it’s just this. 349 00:29:53,400 –> 00:29:57,819 Grace means that God has no limitations. 350 00:29:57,819 –> 00:30:02,459 Grace, because it’s free, means God can do whatever He wants to do. 351 00:30:02,459 –> 00:30:05,119 Nobody tells Him what to do. 352 00:30:05,119 –> 00:30:12,900 Nobody requires, demands and nobody can limit what God is able to do. 353 00:30:12,900 –> 00:30:16,479 Our God is in heaven, and He does whatever He pleases. 354 00:30:16,479 –> 00:30:22,099 Now, Jesus reminds the people of Nazareth of this wonderful truth, through two stories 355 00:30:22,119 –> 00:30:25,020 from the Old Testament that would have been very familiar to them. 356 00:30:25,020 –> 00:30:28,640 We’ll just touch on it here and come back to it next week. 357 00:30:28,640 –> 00:30:37,119 They’re the stories of Elijah and of Elisha, Elijah and the widow, and Elisha and the leper. 358 00:30:37,119 –> 00:30:41,420 And the two stories really teach the same wonderful truth, that God’s grace can never 359 00:30:41,420 –> 00:30:45,619 be tied down to a particular group of people. 360 00:30:45,619 –> 00:30:49,859 Grace means that God is obliged to save no one. 361 00:30:49,859 –> 00:30:54,660 And grace means that God is free to save anyone. 362 00:30:54,660 –> 00:30:55,680 Wonderful. 363 00:30:55,680 –> 00:30:59,520 Obliged to save no one, but free to save anyone. 364 00:30:59,520 –> 00:31:04,859 And that’s why, for His own glory and for the sake of His own grace, He often surprises 365 00:31:04,859 –> 00:31:10,900 and amazes us in wonderful ways where His grace breaks through, in the most unlikely 366 00:31:10,900 –> 00:31:11,900 of circumstances. 367 00:31:11,900 –> 00:31:16,819 That’s why there’s hope for every person. 368 00:31:16,819 –> 00:31:21,699 Grace means that God is subject neither to demands that may come from us, nor restrictions 369 00:31:21,699 –> 00:31:23,300 that anyone may try to place. 370 00:31:23,300 –> 00:31:24,760 God is not like the government. 371 00:31:24,760 –> 00:31:25,859 Thank God for that. 372 00:31:25,859 –> 00:31:29,239 That’s an Amen moment, by the way, isn’t it? 373 00:31:29,239 –> 00:31:31,839 The government is put there by us. 374 00:31:31,839 –> 00:31:33,359 The government is of us. 375 00:31:33,359 –> 00:31:35,239 The government exists for us. 376 00:31:35,239 –> 00:31:39,540 Ultimately, the government is accountable to us, but God was not put there by us. 377 00:31:39,540 –> 00:31:40,760 God is not of us. 378 00:31:40,760 –> 00:31:44,319 No, we’re accountable to Him. 379 00:31:44,319 –> 00:31:45,319 ACTUALLY the other way around. 380 00:31:45,319 –> 00:31:46,520 God is the one who’s free. 381 00:31:46,520 –> 00:31:53,099 He doesn’t have to operate within a set of rules that we want to set out for Him. 382 00:31:53,099 –> 00:31:59,359 Jesus reminds these people he felt that somehow God owed it to them. 383 00:31:59,359 –> 00:32:03,199 Jesus just reminds them of these stories—the widow of Zarathustra. 384 00:32:03,199 –> 00:32:07,520 You remember we had this series on Elijah earlier in the year, and there’s this great 385 00:32:07,520 –> 00:32:08,920 famine. 386 00:32:08,920 –> 00:32:13,119 God sends Elijah to the home of a woman where in Sidon. 387 00:32:13,959 –> 00:32:20,180 Sidon was where that wicked Queen Jezebel was from. 388 00:32:20,180 –> 00:32:24,180 It was the heartland of idolatry. 389 00:32:24,180 –> 00:32:30,880 Yet God sends Elijah there, and God’s grace comes into the home of the most unlikely person—a 390 00:32:30,880 –> 00:32:32,520 widow in Sidon. 391 00:32:32,520 –> 00:32:37,260 Who would have predicted salvation for her? 392 00:32:37,260 –> 00:32:42,420 But she is the one who experiences the miracle of grace, in which the jug of oil does not 393 00:32:42,420 –> 00:32:47,459 run dry and the jar of flour does not run out, and Jesus says, there were many widows 394 00:32:47,459 –> 00:32:52,900 in Israel in the days of Elijah and Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath 395 00:32:52,900 –> 00:32:57,479 and to the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow there. 396 00:32:57,479 –> 00:32:58,979 Why? 397 00:32:58,979 –> 00:33:00,260 Because grace has no limitations. 398 00:33:00,260 –> 00:33:06,640 You can’t tell God you don’t go saving people in the heartlands of idolatry—He does whatever 399 00:33:06,640 –> 00:33:09,380 He pleases. 400 00:33:09,380 –> 00:33:14,099 The same truth is also emphasized by the story of Naaman and the leper. 401 00:33:14,099 –> 00:33:17,160 You can read that in 2 Kings 5. 402 00:33:17,160 –> 00:33:22,719 The contrast is interesting because, while the widow in Sidon was the poorest of the 403 00:33:22,719 –> 00:33:26,900 poor and was down to her last meal and she and her son thinking that they were about 404 00:33:26,900 –> 00:33:31,880 to die, Naaman was at the opposite end of the economic spectrum. 405 00:33:31,880 –> 00:33:37,339 He was the commander of the Syrian king’s army, a man with a stellar career. 406 0:33:37,380 –> 00:33:41,599 Can you imagine him in his uniform and all his rows and rows of medals and all of his 407 00:33:41,599 –> 00:33:43,020 accomplishments? 408 00:33:43,020 –> 00:33:45,599 But he was a leper. 409 00:33:45,599 –> 00:33:51,160 The dreaded disease had stricken him down and he knew that he was in trouble. 410 00:33:51,160 –> 00:34:00,579 He heard about a prophet in Israel and so he comes to Elijah, Elijah’s successor, who 411 00:34:00,579 –> 00:34:03,699 tells him to go and wash in the River Jordan seven times. 412 00:34:03,719 –> 00:34:07,939 The man nearly takes offense and nearly walks off, you’re insulting me? 413 00:34:07,939 –> 00:34:12,219 What do you think, I’m a great man, you’re telling me to go and wash in a dirty old river. 414 00:34:13,399 –> 00:34:16,340 And someone said to him, well if you’d been asked to do something hard you would have 415 00:34:16,340 –> 00:34:18,860 done it, why didn’t you just go and do what the prophet tells you to do? 416 00:34:18,860 –> 00:34:23,540 He washes in the river and he comes out and his skin, the Bible says, is like the skin 417 00:34:23,540 –> 00:34:24,540 of a child. 418 00:34:24,540 –> 00:34:31,379 He is beautifully, miraculously, wonderfully, graciously healed. 419 00:34:33,820 –> 00:34:40,479 Who would have thought that God would have saved the commander of the armies of the enemies 420 00:34:40,479 –> 00:34:41,600 of Israel. 421 00:34:42,600 –> 00:34:44,199 But that’s what he did. 422 00:34:46,300 –> 00:34:50,699 You may have thought, coming to church in this Christmas season, you know, I’m probably 423 00:34:50,699 –> 00:34:53,739 the most unlikely person ever to become a Christian. 424 00:34:53,739 –> 00:34:59,360 That man who was speaking on the platform really knew the truth about my life, he would 425 00:34:59,360 –> 00:35:02,979 never think it was even possible for me to be a Christian. 426 00:35:04,600 –> 00:35:11,939 And I’m saying to you that grace means that God specializes in redeeming the most unlikely 427 00:35:11,939 –> 00:35:12,879 people. 428 00:35:15,360 –> 00:35:25,300 And, He stands before you and grace means that He offers Himself to all who will receive 429 00:35:25,300 –> 00:35:27,439 Him. 430 00:35:27,439 –> 00:35:29,679 Grace means something is offered. 431 00:35:29,679 –> 00:35:32,679 Grace means that we have no rights. 432 00:35:32,699 –> 00:35:35,979 Grace means that God has no limitations. 433 00:35:36,699 –> 00:35:42,020 Whoever you are, whatever you have done, you cannot have sinned to a point yet where you 434 00:35:42,020 –> 00:35:45,459 are beyond the reach of His grace. 435 00:35:45,459 –> 00:35:49,500 He offers Himself to you so that you can come to Him. 436 00:35:49,500 –> 00:35:51,219 One story and then we’re through. 437 00:35:51,219 –> 00:35:53,179 And to me it’s a very moving story. 438 00:35:53,179 –> 00:36:01,959 It’s told by Kent Hughes about a large and prestigious church in my home country of Great 439 00:36:01,959 –> 00:36:02,959 Britain. 440 00:36:02,959 –> 00:36:10,280 This large church, and this is many years ago, gave oversight to a number of mission 441 00:36:10,280 –> 00:36:14,659 halls, as was often the case in the UK in past centuries. 442 00:36:14,659 –> 00:36:21,399 And the mission halls tended to exist in some of the poorest communities of the city. 443 00:36:21,399 –> 00:36:27,159 And so I want you to picture a very prosperous church and a number of these mission halls 444 00:36:27,159 –> 00:36:31,679 that in some way were sponsored, I suppose, kind of early multi-site, you might say. 445 00:36:31,679 –> 00:36:38,280 And here’s what happened every year on the first Sunday of the year. 446 00:36:38,280 –> 00:36:43,919 All of the folks in the church, and then all of the folks from the mission halls gathered 447 00:36:43,919 –> 00:36:49,520 in one service, and they shared communion together. 448 00:36:49,520 –> 00:36:56,959 And out of the mission halls, there were some very, very remarkable stories, striking stories 449 00:36:57,040 –> 00:37:03,620 of people with extraordinary pasts, crime and so forth, who had been wonderfully and 450 00:37:03,620 –> 00:37:07,080 had been radically converted. 451 00:37:07,080 –> 00:37:14,479 And on one of these occasions, first weekend in the year, the pastor of the church, with 452 00:37:14,479 –> 00:37:18,600 all his own congregation and all the mission halls gathered together, and it’s a church 453 00:37:18,600 –> 00:37:23,760 where people come up and they kneel at the rail to receive communion and so forth. 454 00:37:23,979 –> 00:37:29,879 And as people are coming up from various parts of the congregation and kneeling down, the 455 00:37:29,879 –> 00:37:37,899 pastor noticed and he was deeply moved by it that a man who had been a burglar and had 456 00:37:37,899 –> 00:37:44,560 been sentenced to prison was there kneeling at the communion rail and was about to receive 457 00:37:44,560 –> 00:37:45,560 communion. 458 00:37:45,560 –> 00:37:52,899 The person who just happened to come up and kneel absolutely next to him was the very 459 00:37:52,899 –> 00:38:01,860 judge who had dealt with his case and had sentenced him to his time in prison. 460 00:38:01,860 –> 00:38:05,699 And here the pastor as you can understand is incredibly moved because there are these 461 00:38:05,699 –> 00:38:12,820 two folks who are kneeling together at the communion rail, and there has been this remarkable 462 00:38:12,820 –> 00:38:19,439 transformation in the life of the man who at one time had been a burglar. 463 00:38:19,439 –> 00:38:26,860 Well the pastor was deeply moved and afterwards as they’re leaving the church he catches up 464 00:38:26,860 –> 00:38:33,919 with the judge and says to him, did you see who was kneeling beside you at the communion 465 00:38:33,919 –> 00:38:35,340 rail this morning? 466 00:38:35,340 –> 00:38:39,719 Yes, said the judge. 467 00:38:39,719 –> 00:38:42,780 It’s a miracle of grace. 468 00:38:42,800 –> 00:38:45,280 It’s a miracle of grace. 469 00:38:45,280 –> 00:38:51,320 Yes, said the pastor, it really is remarkable to think of how he has been converted from 470 00:38:51,320 –> 00:38:53,340 a life of crime. 471 00:38:53,340 –> 00:38:57,479 Oh no, said the judge. 472 00:38:57,479 –> 00:38:58,979 I’m not talking about him. 473 00:38:58,979 –> 00:39:01,239 I’m talking about me! 474 00:39:01,239 –> 00:39:06,760 He said, it’s no surprise to me that the burglar came to Christ. 475 00:39:06,760 –> 00:39:08,340 He knew the extent of his need. 476 00:39:08,340 –> 00:39:13,179 But he said, look at me pastor. 477 00:39:13,179 –> 00:39:16,679 From my earliest years I was taught to live like a gentleman. 478 00:39:16,679 –> 00:39:18,179 My word was my bond. 479 00:39:18,179 –> 00:39:21,659 I was to say my prayers and I was to go to church. 480 00:39:21,659 –> 00:39:24,060 He said I went to Oxford. 481 00:39:24,060 –> 00:39:25,459 I obtained my degrees. 482 00:39:25,459 –> 00:39:26,659 I was called to the bar. 483 00:39:26,659 –> 00:39:28,739 Eventually I became a judge. 484 00:39:28,739 –> 00:39:34,280 He said people like me almost never see their need of Christ. 485 00:39:34,719 –> 00:39:38,479 That’s what I meant when I said it’s a miracle. 486 00:39:38,479 –> 00:39:42,040 My miracle was greater than his. 487 00:39:42,520 –> 00:39:45,479 Have you seen your need of Christ? 488 00:39:45,479 –> 00:39:48,679 You understood grace? 489 00:39:48,879 –> 00:39:52,100 Let’s pray together, shall we? 490 00:39:52,719 –> 00:39:55,679 Father, believing that your Holy Spirit 491 00:39:55,679 –> 00:39:58,639 operates when your word is preached in 492 00:39:58,639 –> 00:40:03,159 a very special way, we ask that seeing 493 00:40:03,159 –> 00:40:05,199 our need and being drawn by 494 00:40:05,199 –> 00:40:08,899 the grace that is in Christ, and Christ alone, 495 00:40:08,899 –> 00:40:12,360 we may come afresh, empty-handed, 496 00:40:12,360 –> 00:40:15,479 receiving from the one whose hands are full, 497 00:40:15,479 –> 00:40:18,439 Jesus our Saviour and Lord. 498 00:40:18,439 –> 00:40:21,360 To his glory and for our eternal good, 499 00:40:21,360 –> 00:40:22,560 we pray these things in 500 00:40:22,560 –> 00:40:26,679 Jesus’ name and reference said, Amen.

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Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Colin Smith is the Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near – So Far. Colin is the Founder and Teaching Pastor for Open the Bible. Follow him on X formerly Twitter.

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