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Let's pray.
Father, we thank you that your presence, where
two or three are gathered, there you are.
Lord Jesus, you're here to bless.
Your presence is here to touch every heart.
Now, Lord, I thank you that there is
no work of the enemy, there's no power
of darkness that can rule or dominate over
any person here tonight.
Lord, whatever the devil tried to bring in
tonight with any person because of a lousy
week, he's been stopped at the door by
the presence of God.
Hallelujah.
And, Lord Jesus, tonight we thank you that
we are a people who are now open
to hear your word.
Now, touch us, change us, minister to us.
Hide me behind the cross, let your word
find its mark, I pray.
Lord, you put this into my spirit, and
I thank you tonight that you will deliver
according to the power of the Holy Ghost.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Turn with me to the book of John,
chapter 8.
This portion of scripture I'm going to read
to you tonight is just going to be
a backdrop.
We may get back to it tonight.
I'm not sure, but this woman needed grace.
And we're going to read this together, and
we're going to talk about the grace of
God tonight.
It's been in my heart all week, and
I know that grace is what God gives
to those who are in trial and in
trouble.
If you're in a trial, in trouble, in
fact, some of you don't even know why
you're here tonight.
Well, you knew that I've got to go
to church, and you're here, but you know
that you need a touch of Almighty God.
When your eyes are full to the top
with pain, there is grace available for you.
We're going to talk about God's grace tonight
and give you an understanding of it.
John, chapter 8, verse 1.
Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives, and
early in the morning He came again into
the temple, and all the people came unto
Him.
So this is early in the morning.
He's gone into the temple in Jerusalem, spent
the night outside Jerusalem.
He's back in early in the morning, and
He sat down and He taught them.
And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto
Him a woman taken in adultery.
And when they had set her in the
midst, they said unto Him, Master, this woman
was taken in adultery in the very act.
Now, you've got to understand that they have
brought this woman, they found her.
In fact, when the Scripture says in verse
3, the woman taken in adultery, it means
to have seized her unawares.
So she knew nothing about this.
You've got to understand that there has been
a plot in the heart of these men
to try and trap Jesus in the very
law of God.
And so He brings her into the very
midst, and they said to Him, Master, this
woman was taken in adultery in the very
act.
So they must have been there waiting to
take her in the act.
Now Moses, in the law, commanded us.
Now they are right.
They are right.
They are right in this.
This woman is rightly judged by the law.
You've got to know and understand this.
Moses, in the law, commanded us that such
should be stoned.
That's found in Leviticus, that anybody caught in
adultery.
The only thing that they omit here is
that when you take a look in the
book of Leviticus, it says both the woman
and the man should have been stoned.
But we don't see this here.
What sayest thou?
They said this, tempting Him that they might
have to accuse Him, but Jesus stooped down,
and with His finger He wrote in the
ground as though He heard them not.
So when they continued asking Him, so He's
just busy riding in the sand, and so
they keep asking Him, well, what do you
say?
What do you mean by this?
What do you think the Word of God
says?
What do you think should be done to
this woman?
So they continued asking Him.
Then He lifted up Himself and He said
unto them, He that is without sin among
you, let Him cast the first stone.
Now, beloved, you've got to think this thing
through.
These people are not convicted by innuendos.
These are hard-hearted Pharisees.
They are not convicted by innuendos.
Did I take ten feet longer of a
walk on the Sabbath day than I should
have?
Those kind of things don't convict them.
So when Jesus says to them, He that
is without sin among you, let Him first
cast a stone at her, and again He
stooped down and He wrote in the ground,
and they which heard it being convicted by
their own conscience.
Now, again, you've got to understand these people
are not convicted by some innuendo of missing
the mark on walking ten extra paces on
the Sabbath day or not washing the hands
before a meal.
They're not convicted by this kind of stuff.
These are hard-hearted people.
They are governed by what they want to
trap Jesus in, and I think what Jesus
is saying here, now this is just purely
speculation of my side, but I think what
He is saying here, any one of you
who have not slept with this woman or
one like her, let her cast the first
stone.
You see, because they knew the law.
The law said both need to die.
And so I think that Jesus speaks something
to them, and again it's just my own
speculation on it, but they are convicted in
their conscience, and they went out one by
one beginning at the eldest even unto the
last, and Jesus was left alone and the
woman standing in the midst.
Now, how many of you think that this
woman needs grace?
When Jesus had lifted up Himself and saw
none but the woman, He said unto her,
Woman, where are those thine accusers?
Hath no man condemned thee?
She said, No man, Lord.
And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I
condemn thee.
Go and sin no more.
You talk about grace.
This is one of the most marvelous, I
think in the New Testament, that this is
one of the most marvelous testimonies of the
grace of God, because she's rightly judged, she's
rightly sentenced by the law.
But we see Jesus Christ so full of
grace, comes to her and speaks into her
life and says, Go and sin no more.
Now, in the Old Testament, this word grace
is used on numerous occasions, and the Old
Testament gives you the greatest understanding of what
this word actually means, the Hebrew shen, and
it means condescending favor of a superior to
an inferior.
In other words, what He's saying throughout the
Old Testament is that when you find somebody
who has the goods, everything that you need
and have, or may have a need of
in life, someone comes along and, without cost,
bestows upon you what you have need of.
So the word grace in the Old Testament,
in referring to God, is saying to us
that I've got everything that you have need
of in life.
I'm the superior and you are the one
that's inferior.
I see you're stumbling.
I see you're falling.
I see how that you can't make it
in your own strength.
And so the grace of God throughout the
Old Testament reveals itself in this manner, that
God has everything that you have need of.
And He bestows it upon us.
And He bestows upon us freely.
And it means to bend.
It also means to bend.
It means to stoop.
It's the one who knows how to lift
up somebody who's stumbled and fallen.
It's the father who sees the child stumble
and fall and immediately bends down to pick
up because you've got the strength, you have
the ability with which to lift up this
person who has stumbled and fallen.
Now when you get into the New Testament,
it's just a little bit more difficult to
try to come and understand this word grace.
It's charis.
It's favor.
It's goodwill.
It's the pleasure of God.
It's God's good pleasure.
He wants to bless us.
It's the pleasure of God.
It's His goodwill to us.
What is it that causes God to stoop
down and to reach us in love?
It's grace.
Grace is that which God is.
It's His character.
Grace speaks to us of His immeasurable character
of love and mercy and wisdom and knowledge
and strength.
Anytime that we have a need in our
lives, you're going to see this in the
Scriptures today, God, who is so rich in
mercy, knows exactly what you have need of
every moment of every day.
And it's His grace.
He says, This is my character.
This is who I am.
It is my good pleasure to reach out
to you in your struggle and your trial
and give you what you have need of.
He says, That's grace.
You don't deserve it.
This woman doesn't deserve it.
None of us deserve it, but it's God's
goodwill.
It's His character.
It's His mercy.
It's His love.
He just wants to do it because He's
God and He's good.
No other explanation.
Why would God save you?
Because you were good at one time?
No, our hearts are desperately wicked.
God saves us and touches us because He
is inherently good and nothing about Him is
bad.
And so He likes to just give us
that goodness from His own personality and character.
Now, listen.
We're going to take a look at the
three main apostles in the New Testament to
give us an understanding of what this word
grace means.
We're going to take a look at Peter.
We're going to take a look at John.
And then we're going to take a look
at Paul and see how they term this
word grace to us tonight.
Turn with me to Peter.
Now, as we take a look at these
apostles, you're going to find that we're going
to take a look at the last words
that these men write.
At the end of their lives, end of
their ministry, these are the last recorded words
of these apostles.
And we're going to take a look and
see what they actually speak to us.
In 2 Peter 3, the whole of Peter
is a phenomenal book.
In fact, the two books speak to us
volumes of what is going on.
Let me just bring you up to speed.
In 1 Peter, he's writing to those believers
that were scattered.
Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia.
Bithynia, verse 5, who were kept by the
power of God through faith.
Verse 6, wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now
for a season, if need be, are in
heaviness through manifold temptation.
So, Peter is writing to the church and
they're going through trials.
They're going through tough times.
There's maybe no understanding of, I thought Christianity
was to get me out of problems, not
lead me into trials and difficulties.
But here is this church going through some
trying times.
And when you get to 2 Peter 3,
we see that it continues.
Look at verse 7.
This is what the apostle is speaking, 2
Peter 3, verse 7.
But the heavens and the earth which are
now by the same word are kept in
store reserved unto fire against the day of
judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
He says in the last days there are
going to be ungodly men, men who are
not going to care about grace and love
and peace, but they are going to be
ungodly men and they are going to bring
about havoc in this world.
So, Peter is speaking about the difficulties that
are reserved for the last days.
Look at verse 10.
But the day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night, in which
the heavens shall pass away with a great
noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat.
The earth also and the works therein shall
be burned up, seeing then that all these
things shall be dissolved.
What manner of persons ought ye to be
in all holy conversation?
Godliness.
So, the apostle is just laying this foundation.
He says, folks, it's not going to get
better in this world.
It's going to get worse.
And so, he's educating the church.
He's speaking to these believers.
He doesn't want any one of them to
know that life is just going to be,
you know, dancing around the tulips for the
rest of their lives.
Peter already knows that he's coming to the
end of his life.
In chapter 1 of 2 Peter, he says
in verse 14, knowing that shortly I must
put off this, my tabernacle, even as the
Lord Jesus Christ has showed me.
So, Peter is at the end of his
ministry.
He knows that it's coming time where he
is going to be taken and crucified as
the Lord had spoken to him.
And so, he's laying this foundation for the
church.
And then in verse 17 of chapter 3,
2 Peter 3, verse 17, Ye, therefore, beloved,
seeing ye know these things before, beware, lest
ye also, being led away with the error
of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.
So, these are the last words of the
apostle Peter as recorded in the word.
And then he gets down to this last
verse.
Now, look what he says in the last
verse.
You'd think to yourself, what would be the
very last things that this man wants to
communicate?
These are the last recorded words that we
have of this great apostle to the church.
Going through trying times, struggles, things aren't going
to get better, things are going to get
worse.
What do you think he wants to communicate?
What is it that's on his heart that
he says, you need to know?
He says in verse 18, he says, but
grow in grace.
The last words of this apostle, grow in
grace.
And in the knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, to him be glory both
now and forever.
You see, beloved, this isn't just a casual
cliché, a Christian cliché, grace, peace, like we
often do when we say to one another,
we'll see you later.
You know, I catch myself all the time
with these little clichés.
God bless you, I'll pray for you.
See, I've been convicted of lying on that
kind of stuff.
I'm not going to pray, unless I stop
there and then and say, God just blessed
him now in Jesus' name.
But we end up as Christians with these
clichés of saying things we don't really mean,
or we're not even going to follow through
on.
But it becomes part of our terminology, how
we speak.
But this is not what the apostle is
saying here.
He's not closing this letter off with some
kind of a cliché.
He says that we need to grow in
grace.
Now, this word grow here, it's a rare
word, and it means to grow to the
limit.
It's almost like super grow.
It's like miracle growth.
You get this plant, and it's not just
letting this thing grow on its normal way
of coming to fruition, but it's sowing into
this thing, miracle grow.
I've got some of that stuff, and I
put that in the plants.
And my wife thinks I've got a green
thumb, but it's really miracle grow.
You see, this is what the apostle Peter
is saying.
He says, in the last days, when we
understand all of these things are coming, one
thing that you need to do, if you're
going to go through the days that lie
ahead, if you're going to make it to
the other side and remain steadfast all the
way through to the end, he says, then
you have got to come to the place
of acknowledging, I have got a growing grace.
It's got to be the first and foremost
thing in your heart and mind.
That means to grow to the limit, attain
to the power that God has for you,
to achieve to the highest place that he
has, to grow, to promote, to raise one's
position, or to rise in power, to increase.
So the apostle Peter is saying that God's
purposes and plans for you, you need to
reach them.
You need to say, God, I want everything
that you have.
This is what he's virtually saying to this
young church.
He says, you're going to go through trying
times and when these times come, make sure
that you are reaching into everything that God
has planned for you.
Set your heart on it.
Don't set your mind on anything else.
Grow in grace.
Get up and read, pray, seek the face
of God, walk down the street, talk to
Jesus.
Say, God, what do you have for my
life?
Let everything that he has for me come
to pass.
Grow in the things that God has for
you.
Take a hold of the things that God
has.
Shake everything else loose and just grow, grow,
grow, grow in the things of God.
If you take a hold of the things
that God has for you and grow in
them, he says, you'll be able to go
through and meet every day as it comes
towards you.
Difficult times or not, grow in the grace
of Almighty God.
Now, turn with me to, I think, some
of the central words of this word grace
that the Apostle Peter talks about in 1
Peter 1.
So Peter's last words to the church, you
grow.
Take everything that God has and just give
your whole heart to it.
Give your mind to it.
Give your heart to it.
Give your life to it.
Just grow.
Keep growing.
Don't stop.
Say, God, I want everything that you have
for my life.
God, help me to shake these things loose
and let me just grow in everything that
you have.
And he says, you just grow in grace.
Now, look here what he says in 1
Peter 1, verse 6.
He says, Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now
for a season, if need be, ye are
in heaviness through manifold temptations.
Now, the word manifold means multiplicity.
It just means various.
It means multifaceted.
It means multicolored.
It means that the enemy doesn't have one
way of attacking.
Simply in our normal language, what Peter is
saying here, he says, I want you to
understand that the manifold temptations of the devil.
In other words, the devil just has one
way of attacking.
He's got multiple ways.
He comes in.
When you think you've got him beat on
one side, he's coming in on another side.
When you think you've got that thing beaten,
prayed down, he's coming in through the roof.
He's coming in over here.
So, Peter says, you come under heaviness because
there are manifold, all kinds, various shades of
attack from the enemy.
He comes in one way and then another
way, then another way.
If he's not trying to get at your
family, he's getting at the job.
The boss doesn't like you and suddenly something
else happens.
And you turn around and something else is
going on.
And you just see one attack after another
attack.
And you say, well, God, where are you?
How can we get through if this is
true about the devil coming in from every
angle, every attack, multifaceted, multicolored, this way, that
way, another way.
From every angle he's attacking us.
God, where are you?
How do you come through?
Well, turn with me.
I want to show you a powerful verse
of Scripture here in 1 Peter chapter 4.
This verse 10, I believe, is the central
word of grace that the apostle Peter has
laid hold of.
In verse 10 he says here, As every
man hath received the gift.
Now, the word gift there is grace.
It's the same root.
So, you can say it this way.
As every man hath received the grace from
God, unmerited favor, love, strength, power.
Even so, minister the same one to another.
So, he says, have you been blessed?
Have you been touched by God?
Do you know what it is to walk
in His wisdom and His knowledge when you've
been up against a wall and God gave
you just a thought and you walked out
that thought and it was God.
And so he says, if you've been ministered
to, then turn around and begin ministering it
to somebody else.
Take someone else by the hand and say,
you know what, I see the struggle you're
going through, but I want to tell you
what God did for me.
And you begin sharing what God did.
You see, we start picking up one another.
So, instead of gossip going in the church,
we have men and women turning around.
How can I help you?
I want to tell you something.
Last week God just brought me through.
I was praying and He brought me through.
Can I help you?
Can I stand with you?
Can I pray with you?
See, this is what Peter is saying.
He says, if you've received grace from God,
he says, then turn around and minister to
somebody else.
Just love on them.
But that's not where I'm going.
He says, as stewards, now here comes the
word, of the manifold grace of God.
You see, right in the beginning of the
book, He tells us, the devil is going
to come at you from every single angle.
But when the devil comes in like a
flood, God raises up a standard.
He says, he might come from this way,
this way, behind you, from the top, underneath.
He might come from every direction.
But whatever direction he comes, there is a
manifold or a multiplicity or a multifaceted, multicolored
grace to meet every attack of the devil.
You will never be caught by surprise.
That's what Peter is saying.
He says, church, you will never, you will
never have to be caught by surprise by
the devil.
Because every single attack that comes against you,
God has a grace.
God has a strength.
God has a power.
God has a wisdom.
So when the devil is getting you down
and you just don't know where you're going
with your mind, God comes through with the
word of knowledge and He just, boom, and
God speaks to your heart.
How many times have you been in the
house of God and one of the pastors
gets up and says, you know, God has
just been speaking to me that there's somebody
here who's just about to commit suicide.
If that's you, God wants you to know
that He loves you.
See, that's a multifaceted part of grace.
That was God knowing the heart of every
single person and in His grace reaching out
and touching somebody and just loving them with
all His heart.
So Peter is saying, yes, it is true
that the enemy will come in from multiplicity
of directions at you.
But in every single direction that the enemy
comes in, there is a grace from Almighty
God.
So the person who believes in the Lord,
walking with Jesus in honesty, not perfection, but
honesty, saying, God, You've got to help me.
Every single attack, I'm telling you, at every
point, every attack of the devil, there will
be a word of knowledge, a word of
wisdom.
There will be a power rising up on
the inside.
Some days you'll be just worshipping the Lord
and the devil flees.
Other days you have to go in your
home and say, devil, I command you get
out.
And authority rises up on the inside by
the power of the Holy Ghost.
That's grace.
That's the grace of Almighty God giving you
the power and the grace and the strength
to come through.
You can tell I'm just a little excited
about this message.
All right.
John.
Let's take a look at John.
Go with me to the last chapter in
the book of Revelation.
Revelation chapter 22 verse 21.
Again, John has had this revelation of the
end times.
And what does he say?
He says to the church, verse 21, the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
you all.
Now, remember, Peter, he knows that his time
is under trial.
He's on his way at this point in
time shortly to give up his life to
be crucified.
The apostle John, when he gets this revelation,
is on the Isle of Patmos.
He is there.
He's exiled.
He's in destitution.
He's lonely.
But yet, as we heard Pastor David one
time preach, he belongs to the church of
one.
I was in the spirit on the Lord's
day.
See, church can be with you where you
are at.
It doesn't matter where you are, where you
find yourself.
God knows where you are, and he shows
up to touch your life.
And so he says at the end of
the book of Revelation, the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Now, go to chapter 1 of Revelation.
Chapter 1 of Revelation.
He begins in verse 4.
Revelation chapter 1 verse 4.
John to the seven churches which are in
Asia.
Grace.
So before we enter in of what you're
going to see, what's going to take place
in this world, understand that it's going to
begin with grace.
And at the very end, it ends with
grace.
In other words, whatever you face in life,
God's goodness, God's strength, his wisdom, his nature,
his character, his love, his mercy.
Remember, it's multifaceted grace.
Whatever you have need of at that given
time, God shows up with exactly what you
have need of.
So what someone else has been ministered to
over here by the grace of God is
not necessarily touching your heart because you have
a need of grace on something else on
this side of your life.
But God knows that.
And so he says that it's by grace
to grace.
Look down here in verse 9.
He says he's also the companion of tribulation
in the kingdom and the patience of Jesus
Christ.
So he's going through tough times and what
comes out of his mouth is grace.
Now go with me to John chapter 1.
I'm not going to spend a lot of
time on John.
John is the apostle closest to the heart
of Jesus.
He uses this word the least amount of
times.
But yet he is the most profound in
his usage of this word grace.
It's almost like, well, I've got a handle
of it.
I'm going to say it once and that's
all you need to know.
Peter explains it.
The apostle Paul uses it over and over
again and he's got such a handle on
it.
John, he just kind of sees it for
what it is, says it, and he moves
on.
Look in John chapter 1 verse 14.
Well, verse 1 says, In the beginning was
the Word, the Word was with God, and
the Word was God.
Verse 2, the same was in the beginning
with God.
Verse 14, and the Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us.
And we beheld his glory, the glory of
the only begotten Son, begotten of the Father.
What?
Full of grace and truth.
Look at verse 16.
So Jesus is full of grace.
He is the grace of God.
He is the wisdom of God.
He is the knowledge of God.
He is the love of God.
The mercy of God.
He's the power of God.
Everything that you want to see God, you
see in the face of Jesus.
He's full of grace.
It exudes from Him.
He sees this woman who's rightly condemned and
then He stoops and He lifts her up
by grace.
You're rightly condemned.
You and I are rightly condemned to hell.
But it's grace that saves us.
Grace comes to us and says, I'll save
you.
And so, look here, he says verse 16,
And of His fullness, and of His fullness.
So the full grace of God is embodied
in Jesus Christ.
Fully God, fully man.
Verse 16, and of His fullness.
So this is an amazing thing.
And of His fullness have we all received.
So that means whatever was in Jesus was
of God.
And whatever is in Jesus is in me.
And that He is fighting every battle on
my behalf.
Whenever I have a need, it's Jesus that
is speaking into my heart and life.
So John says, and of His fullness have
we all received.
And grace for grace.
Zacharias says, when the temple is built, he's
going to say, grace, grace.
John picks up the same thing and says,
absolutely.
It's never going to be anything else but
God's goodness, God's power, God's love, God's wisdom,
God's knowledge towards mankind who doesn't deserve it
but gets it.
And so he says, grace, grace.
For the law was given by Moses but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
So John, he just says, you know what
grace is?
Grace is Jesus.
If you want help, call on Jesus.
That's what John is saying.
That's why in the beginning of Revelation, which
is the revelation of Jesus, he says it's
grace and at the end it's grace.
John knows it.
He says, you want help?
Say Jesus.
You need to be delivered?
Say Jesus.
You want God to guide you through a
set of storms?
Cry out to Jesus.
So he just brings grace right down to
the person of Jesus Christ.
Now, I want you to go on now
and take a look at the Apostle Paul.
Turn with me to the last words of
the Apostle Paul, and that is in 2
Timothy, chapter 4.
2 Timothy, chapter 4, verse 22.
And again, he's writing to Timothy and this
young man, full of fear, and yet in
all of this instruction that Paul gives to
him, look what he ends up with.
Now remember, Paul is in the Roman Memantine
prison, which is a dungeon.
Paul is waiting the sentence to be executed.
He's in this time of waiting.
He's in the worst prison that Rome has,
and we know the end result was that
the sentence of death did come, and shortly
afterwards, Paul is executed.
And so we understand this.
So here we have this Apostle, like Peter,
in the last of his days, in trials
and difficulties, the end word that he says
is grace.
The Apostle John, when he comes to the
end on the Isle of Patmos, in trying
and difficult times, the end word that he
uses in the book of Revelation, grace.
And here we have Paul at the end
of his life in this dungeon, and you
would imagine it would be easy to preach
grace if we were all just living in
luxury and we had all kinds of money
and no problems.
But these are the men who say, no,
it's in the trying times of life.
It's in the most difficult, arduous situations that
God shows up.
And with him comes an amazing grace to
comfort and to strengthen every heart that calls
upon his name.
And so here he says, the Lord Jesus
Christ be with thy spirit.
Grace be with you.
When he speaks to Timothy in chapter 2,
verses 1, he says, Thou therefore, my son,
be strong in the grace that is in
Christ Jesus.
That's 2 Timothy 2, verse 1.
When you look up that word strong, it
is, again, it's a very unique word.
And Paul is saying here, he says, Timothy,
I want you to understand that the power
that God, God raised me up as an
apostle.
He said, in this lifetime I want you
to be one of my apostles.
That's the task that he gave to me.
And then this word strong here in the
original language, what it says and means to
us, that Paul is saying that God gave
me this calling and then he gave the
adequate power, wisdom and knowledge to fulfill that
which he's called to me to do.
He said, everything that I've ever had need
of, God has given to me.
But he's using it in the context of
Timothy, who's not an apostle.
He's a fearful young man, but he's saying
to Timothy, he says, the same power, the
same strength, the same wisdom, the same knowledge,
the same grace, everything that you have, Timothy,
of need of, of God, will be given
to you so that you can fulfill everything
God's called you to do.
He says, God is going to give it
to you, the same as he put me
in that slot that gave me the power
to live it, so God is giving you
the same exact power.
So he's saying to the whole body of
Christ that God has a grace and a
strength and a wisdom from the youngest to
the oldest, no matter what your calling is.
Moms, single moms, if your whole calling is
to raise this kid up to be a
giant in the kingdom of faith, then God's
going to give you grace to do it.
Oh, he'll give you wisdom, he'll show you
how to cut that kid off at the
path before they get to ruin his times.
God will give you wisdom, knowledge.
See, these are the things that come down
to where our meat and potatoes are.
He'll give you wisdom on the job, you've
got a lousy boss who picks on you,
you hate him.
Listen, I remember those days when I was
working, there was this man, his name was
Mr. Gun, and I tell you, appropriate name
because he always gunned for me.
But he hated me, he hated me.
This man, there was no concealing his seething
hate towards me.
And I remember, just a brand new babe
in Christ, and I did aggravate the situation
as I've told you before with big signs,
you know, eternal burn on t-shirts.
And so I did aggravate the situation on
the job slightly.
And I witnessed to everybody that moved, anything
that breathed got Jesus.
And this man, he hated me.
But I want to tell you, I remember
so clearly that God would just have me
stand and he would be breathing in my
face things that I cannot repeat from this
pulpit.
And he was just, he hated me.
But in my spirit, there was just a
rising up.
Jesus, you love this man.
Jesus, you love him.
God, give me wisdom how to reach him.
God, show me how to love this man.
God, and there was this rising up of
God's wisdom.
I remember being in so much debt because
I'd come to Christ after an automobile accident
on my motorcycle and I owed thousands of
dollars because I was in the wrong.
I was on drugs and got nailed by
this car because we were dumb.
Plain dumb.
And I owed thousands of dollars for this
automobile.
Didn't have any insurance.
And here's this newborn babe in Christ.
I know nothing about the Bible.
And I've got all this debt and these
creditors calling and saying, you owe us all
this kind of money.
I've just got a job for the first
time in months.
How do I get this money?
But I remember just praying, God, you have
to come through.
You have to come through.
I don't know how to do this.
Just simple prayers.
You see, the grace of God is not
compounded by great statements that people don't understand.
I'm sure God doesn't understand.
But prayer from the heart is simple.
And I remember standing and saying, God, you
have to come through with this money.
Please, God, help me.
I get a call from my father and
a man says, you want this other man
restores motorcycles.
And I had this antique BMW that got
messed up.
And he saw this motorcycle.
And he says, he wants to pay top
dollar for this motorcycle.
And really, it's a bunch of junk.
And the guy says, he wants to pay
me so much money for this motorcycle.
I said to my father, sell it.
Sell it.
Just get the money today.
Sell it.
It was to the exact penny what I
owed the creditors.
You see, beloved, it's just a simple illustration.
But all I want to say to you
is that the grace of God comes to
anybody, anytime.
And it's multifaceted.
What you have need of, God knows.
And he says, I will help you and
I'll walk with you.
I'll give you the wisdom, the knowledge, the
strength, the grace, the mercy.
Whatever you have need of, I know it.
Just call upon me and I will answer
you.
Now, I want to share with you one
of the most momentous prayers that the apostle
prayed.
Don't turn there for time's sake.
Listen to this.
In 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, verses 9 and
10.
Just look at me.
I'll read it to you.
This is one of the most momentous prayers
that the apostle prayed.
And he said unto me, my grace is
sufficient for thee.
You see, the apostle Paul had this thought
in the flesh, and we won't even get
into trying to figure out what this thought
in the flesh was.
It doesn't matter.
The fact is, it was bothering the apostle.
So much so, he prayed once, oh God,
take this thorn out of my flesh.
And he prayed a second, oh God, take
this thorn out of my flesh.
And by the time he prays the third
prayer, the Lord answers him.
Now, I want to show you something here
tonight.
God speaks to this man and he says,
now listen, my grace, my grace.
Everything that I have, everything that I am,
everything that you'll ever have need of is
sufficient.
It's sufficient.
You don't have need of anything else in
this life.
My grace, multifaceted, I'll be there with you.
And when you need a touch, you need
protection, you need wisdom, you need knowledge, it's
there.
It's sufficient.
And so the apostle Paul, you see, I
believe that this portion of scripture is set
in a context of choice.
I think this is what Jesus is saying,
it's in the context of choice.
God isn't imposing his will upon Paul.
God isn't just saying, I'm going to impose
this grace upon you and you're going to
get it if you like it or not.
No, this is in the context of a
choice.
You prayed, I want to answer this prayer
for you.
I want to speak into your life.
You get a choice, Paul.
Do you want the thorn out of your
flesh?
Do you want life to be easier?
Do you want to have just a nice
time?
Do you want to go your way?
Do you want those kind of, is that
the kind of lifestyle that you want, Paul?
Do you really want me to take the
thorn out of your flesh and let you
go your own way so your life is
so pretty and nice and with little bows
and ribbons and you can have this great
life?
Or do you want to know what it
is in God that I can impart to
you in every trial and circumstance?
It's your choice.
What do you want?
Do you want to know me who can
come into every situation where you are and
quicken you by the power of the Holy
Ghost and give you life?
It's your choice.
So the Apostle Paul, when he sees this,
he says, Oh, he changes his mind.
He suddenly realizes.
He understands grace.
It's wisdom, knowledge, power.
He understands all of that.
He says, for my strength.
And Jesus goes on to say, for my
strength.
The dunamis, the power of God is made
perfect in weakness.
So when you get to the place where
you can go on, I kick in.
I'm there.
Now power comes in.
Wisdom, strength.
Is that what you want?
Or do you want the other?
Do you want to have a nice little
house?
Do you want to have little bows, ribbons?
Do you want this, Paul?
Nothing wrong with that.
Or do you want to know what it
is when God meets you at every turn?
At every part of the road?
No wonder Peter says, go in this, go
in this, go in this.
Set your heart, set your mind.
Say, God, I want to go in this
grace because it means everything that God has.
God is going to take me to the
highest plane where I could never reach in
my own strength.
God is going to take you there.
If you're willing, it's a choice.
And Paul, he reads, he listens to God.
He says, so then Paul replies in his
heart.
He says, most gladly, therefore, will I rather
glory in my infirmities.
Oh, God, I suddenly, it's almost like a
revelation.
God, I'm praying for this to leave and
God is saying, if that's what you want,
then do it.
But I've got something else for you.
He suddenly sees this and then he begins
to say, oh, man, I glory in those.
Yeah, let me be weak every day.
Hallelujah.
That the power, the dunamis of Christ might
rest upon me.
Yes, that's what I want.
I want every day the power of God
resting on my life.
Yes, that's what I want.
That's what he's saying.
That's what I want.
That's my choice.
I don't want this other stuff.
Yes, it's nice.
I don't want it.
I want to know what it's like to
have the power of God resting on me,
motivating me, moving me, encouraging me, giving wisdom,
helping me in every situation.
Give me a word of wisdom and knowledge
on these tough situations.
That's what I want.
So then he goes on and he says,
infirmities in reproaches, in necessities.
I looked up that word necessities.
It means things that are pressed, that you
are pressed into and you didn't have a
choice.
That's what it means.
Someone else made a bad decision and you
happen to be in the middle of it.
And suddenly you are in circumstances over your
head.
You had nothing more to do with it.
You are just found in a situation pressed
into something that you had no say, no
choice in the matter, but you find yourself
in the middle.
He says, Paul says, I rejoice in that.
Don't you understand?
Even if I had nothing to do with
it and I am in the midst of
this pressure, this cooking pot, this pressure pot
and the steam, the lid is about to
explode.
I had no choice of being there, the
apostle says.
But he says in his heart, he says,
oh, I take pleasure.
And he's not masochistic, folks.
It's just a joy of saying, you know,
I choose to have the anointing of almighty
God resting on me.
Persecutions, distresses for Christ's sake.
For when I am weak.
Now he's delighted in weakness.
He says, when I'm weak, then someone else
is strong.
When I'm strong in my own way, strong
in my own mind, when I've got my
own wisdom and my own mindset up, Christ
takes a diminished role.
But oh God, when I find myself in
those situations, my choice is, yes, Lord.
Oh, he forgot that prayer of the silly
thorn in his flesh.
He said, put another one in.
He didn't say that, but virtually he said
it.
In the sense of all these other things,
he said, all these things, he says, it
doesn't matter to me.
He says, let these things roll on because
there is a multifaceted grace of God.
No matter which way the devil comes in,
there is God.
When I'm down, he's up.
When I'm weak, he's strong.
My choice tonight, I'm going with God.
I'm going with God.
That's my choice.
So his grace, his strength can rest on
me.
Father, we just bow in your presence.
I know I've preached your heart.
I know that this is what you have
wanted to communicate to this congregation tonight.
A word of encouragement.
For, Lord, there are truly some who are
praying and have been praying, God, get me
out.
Get me out of the marriage.
God, get me out of this home.
God, get me out of this job.
Get me out of this relationship.
Get me out of where I'm at.
God, get me out.
But tonight, and you've prayed it, and you've
been earnest in your prayer, but God tonight
is answering your prayer.
You have a choice.
You can get the divorce.
You can go on.
You can get out that home.
You can get out that job.
You can go on.
Or, you can choose to walk with me.
There's some here tonight, you've never accepted Jesus,
and life is hell for you.
Tonight, God is saying to you, I can
change that hell.
I can give you peace, because I'm God.
Now, Father, I pray that every heart that
you've spoken to, because it's multifaceted, every heart
that you've spoken to, where there is a
genuine need for God to show up, then,
Lord, let this altar be for them tonight.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Let me take the liberty just to take
a couple minutes here to share a story
with you that I asked Pastor Carter yesterday
or Sunday.
You see, Pastor Carter and Sister Teresa were
given a dog, and this dog had been
abused in life.
I think I've got the story correct, but
this dog was abused, and whenever you went
out to pet it or touch it, it
would just go to the bathroom right there
on the floor, because it just responded because
of all the heavy abuse that had come
down.
So when visitors and guests would come to
the house, Pastor Carter would say, don't touch
the dog, because it would immediately react and
respond in the only way it knew because
of the tremendous abuse that it had received.
And Pastor Carter was praying.
He was telling me that he was on
a campaign, on revival meetings at one point,
and he was praying, and God spoke to
his heart and said that God is the
lifter of our head, and immediately he thought
of the dog.
And when he got back, instead of coming
this approach to the dog, he did this
approach.
And as he just put his hand underneath
and came under the chin of the dog,
the dog did not respond like it normally
did, and responded in kindness.
And so from that time onwards, Pastor Carter
just lifted the head up of the dog
this way, and healing came to this dog.
The dog never did that again, just because
of the approach of God.
You see, grace is like that.
You see, in my heart, we can have
revelation of what Jesus did when he got
down.
The woman was standing in the midst, but
you see, in my heart, I'm so practical.
I think of things like this, that she
was so oppressed and so condemned, people coming
over her, condemning her, saying rotten things all
the time.
But I think Jesus' approach was the approach
of grace.
He went down on his knees, and then
he came up, and he says, Grace will
reach you where you're at.
See, I think that's what he did.
I think it's just a simple approach that
nothing Jesus ever did was without significance.
It was always significant what he did.
And I was praying, and I was saying,
God, I don't need any more greater revelation
on this.
And he just spoke to me.
He says, No, this is how I come
to people.
I don't come and just impose things on
you.
I come to where you are, and I
come underneath, and I just lift you up
by my grace.
And I impart to you my love, my
mercy, my wisdom.
I come underneath, and I just lift you
up.
Tonight, I think there's some people here that
you just need to be lifted up.
You've been so oppressed and so heavy laden
with the words of people and the actions
and attitudes.
But tonight, Jesus is just coming underneath and
just saying, I'll lift you up.
Will you receive it tonight?
Then pray this with me tonight, would you?
Lord Jesus, I need grace.
I'm not going to tell you exactly what
I need.
You know what I have need of.
But in a simple prayer, I ask for
grace.
Whether it be wisdom, knowledge, power, authority, kindness,
mercy.
Lord, you know, I reach out to you.
I reach out to your response.
And I receive from you tonight, by faith,
the promise of your mercy and your love
and all that I have need of.
Comfort my soul.
Strengthen my walk.
I commit to you my heart.
Help me to grow in all that you
have for me.
In Jesus name.
Now let me pray for you.
Lord Jesus, we could never fully explain this
marvelous word because we can't.
We are finite.
You are infinite.
But tonight, we've got a glimpse.
As John, that great, beloved apostle said, grace
is Jesus.
And tonight, Lord, we give people Jesus.
And we walk out of the house with
Jesus.
And that you will give us grace and
strength.
In our jobs, in our homes, in our
families.
Remove the pain right now.
Remove the hurt.
Lord, I just, there's pain here tonight.
Now, Lord Jesus, let the healing balm of
Gilead just move away the pain right now.
Just move the pain away, Father.
And let healing flow into those that are
aching from the top of the head to
the sole of the hip.
Lord, just minister right now grace and healing
and love and the comfort and the mercy
of Jesus.
Lord, just satiate us now with your presence.
Let us know that we're loved.
Lord, I just feel someone here tonight.
You just need to know that God loves
you.
God is just putting his arms around you
by the word tonight and saying, My daughter,
my son, I do love you.
I love you.
I'm not condemning you.
I'm just loving you.
Just respond to the love of Jesus.
Now, he's filling you, touching you.
He's making you whole.
And his words to you are the same
to this woman.
Go.
Just sin no more.
Just go in my grace, my forgiveness, my
love.
Now, Father, I thank you for your work
tonight.
In Jesus' name, amen and amen.
God bless you, Times Square Church.
This is the conclusion of the message.