Este é o sermão que preguei no corpo de São Miguel, na reunião da salvação, na noite de 11 de julho de 2010. O tradução foi cuidadosamente editado por Gilmar, a quem sou eternamente grato. Este foi parte da minha série de mensagems sobre os 11 artigos de Doutrina do Exército de Salvação. Para a glória de Deus.
São Miguel Paulista Reunião de Salvação Corpo 11/07/10
Texto: Romanos 3:24
Leitura Bíblica: Romanos 3:21-26
Tema: A Igreja da Graça de Deus
Hoje à oite, a nossa leitura da Bíblia é de
Romanos 3:21-26
Introdução
Esta noite, eu quero falar com você sobre ser uma igreja da graça, uma igreja que é cheia de graça de Deus, uma igreja que respira e vive e age a graça do Deus. Creio que Deus quer que esta igreja seja uma igreja assim - uma igreja que está cheia da sua graça divina.
Mas é claro que nós sempre conversamos sobre a graça de Deus, mas, talvez, a verdade é que não entendo tão bem. E talvez que é porque a graça é algo que é muito mais fácil mostrar do que é falar. E, de fato, às vezes somos melhores em falar sobre as coisas que estamos vivendo-los.
Mas vamos passar algum tempo a pensar esta noite sobre a graça de Deus, o que é, eo que isso significa para nós.
Para nos ajudar, vamos voltar para as declarações do Exército da Salvação do que acredita, nossas doutrinas, e chegámos a número 8.
Por favor, ficamos de pé e ler juntos esta doutrina:
8. Cremos que somos justificados pela grace, mediante a fé em nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo, e que todo aquele que crê tem o testemunho em si mesmo.
Quero usar esta declaração para explicar o que eu acho que é graça de Deus, e eu vou usar três títulos. Estes três títulos todos descrevem quem somos como cristãos, que somos como membros da igreja de Cristo. Em primeiro lugar, somos filhos e filhas de Deus. Segundo, estamos destinatários da graça de Deus através da fé. E, finalmente, aqueles que são tocados pelo Espírito Santo.
1. Filhos e Filhas de Deus.
1 João 3:1
A primeira coisa que eu quero dizer hoje é que quando você recebe a graça de Deus, você se torna um filho ou uma filha de Deus. Agora, todos os seres humanos são filhos de Deus. Isso é verdade. Deus é o pai de todos os seres humanos, no qual ele os criou à sua imagem. Eles são seus filhos. E ele os ama. A Bíblia nos diz isso. Ela nos diz que amava toda a humanidade tanto que Ele enviou Seu Filho para morrer por eles.
Mas nem todos os seus filhos retornam esse amor. Isso pode ser por motivos diferentes. Alguns deles não sabem que ele é seu pai. Alguns deles sabem que ele poderia ser seu pai, mas não estão interessados em ter um pai, porque eles querem ser livres para fazer o que quiser, sem responsabilidade. Alguns deles sabem com certeza que Deus é o seu pai, mas o rejeitaram, eles se rebelaram contra ele.
Mas aqueles que acreditavam que Deus, o Pai enviou seu filho para salvá-los, para morrer na cruz e ressuscitou dentre os mortos para que eles possam ser perdoados por sua desobediência anterior, essas pessoas tornam-se filhos e filhas de Deus, pois eles são amados por ele e retornam esse amor.
Na passagem que lemos, Paulo está usando a imagem de ser declarado inocente diante de Deus, porque Jesus já pagou o preço pelos nossos pecados. Nossa crença de que isso é possível para nós, a nossa fé, faz com que essa inocência seja possível. Mas uma vez que ele proclamou nossa inocência diante dele por causa da nossa fé em Cristo, Deus, o juiz, não deixa o tribunal e nos não voltams para nossas vidas normais, para nunca mais ouvir falar dele. Uma vez que Jesus esteve no nosso lugar e recebeu nosso castigo, ele não apenas acenar e diz, ‘Por nada’, e vai embora e nos nunca o vêmos novamente. Uma vez que o Espírito Santo nos convenceu da nossa necessidade de salvação e trouxe-nos até ao ponto de fé, não apenas nos dá uma tapinha nas costas e diz 'boa sorte' e nós nunca mais sentimos a sua presença novamente. Não. Deus torna-se nosso Pai, mais uma vez, Jesus torna-se nosso irmão e Senhor, eo Espírito Santo torna-se o nosso companheiro e ajudador constante. Voltamos para o seio da família de Deus.
Para ser justificada por Deus não é uma transação legal. Para ser justificado por Deus é retornar a um relacionamento correto com Deus. Estar diante de Deus e saber e sentir que você é seu filho e que ele te ama. É para começar a viver uma vida de relacionamento com Deus.
Um outro dia, meu filho Andrew e eu estávamos jogando juntos e ele me acertou no nariz com um pedaço de um trilho de brinquedo. Foi um acidente, mas ele sabia que não deveria ter agido perigosamente. Ele pediu desculpas, e acho que ele quis dizer isso porque viu que ele tinha machucado meu nariz. E assim, porque eu o amo, eu o perdoei, mas é claro que com uma palavra de advertência sobre a não fazê isto novamente.
E assim é com Deus. Porque todos nós somos pecadores, todos nós temos feito algum dano a nós mesmos e aos outros, mas o pior de tudo, nós quebramos nosso relacionamento com Deus, como todo pecado, tudo o que fazemos de errado, é desobediente à lei de Deus e sua vontade.
Mas, se estamos arrependidos e queremos que a relaçâo seja restaurado, então Deus como nosso Pai encontra uma maneira de nos perdoar por nossa fé através Jesus. Deus graciosamente nos perdoa e através de seu perdão sua relação conosco é restaurada. Não há mais nenhuma rebelião ou desobediência, ou pecado, que possa criar um abismo entre nós e Deus. Isso é o que significa ser justificado.
2. Os destinatários da graça de Deus através da fé.
Mas isso só pode acontecer por causa da graça de Deus. Nós não podemos exigir que Deus restaure o relacionamento entre ele e nós. Nós somos incapazes de fazer algo, o que significa que Deus vai ser obrigado a restaurar esse relacionamento. Algumas pessoas pensam que se eles tentarem ser bom, então, que irá levá-los a Deus. Mas sabemos todos que ser bom sem a ajuda de Deus é muito difícil. Jesus e Paulo, ambôs fizeram claro este ponto na Bíblia. Não, Deus em seu amor surpreendente é o que vem a nós. Ele fala conosco através da Bíblia, através das testemunhas que ele colocou na igreja, e ele diz que, se você acreditar no meu filho, eu perdoarei tudo, e você pode ser meu filho, minha filha novamente. É tudo uma iniciativa de Deus, e seu perdão e amor é um dom que ele oferece completamente de graça, sem amarras. Só temos que acreditar que sua oferta é genuína, que suas palavras são verdadeiras. Temos que ter fé.
Considere a história no evangelho de João sobre a mulher pega em adultério. Vamos ler juntos
João 8:3-11
Agora este é um exemplo da incrível graça de Deus. Jesus estava certo ao apontar que nenhuns destes homens tinham o direito de condenar à morte uma vez que eles mesmos são culpados do pecado, e merecia ser punido. Jesus ele mesmo tinha o direito de condenar o seu pecado de adultério, porque era contra a lei de Deus, e, afinal, ele era o Filho de Deus. Mas ele não o fez. Essencialmente, ele a perdoou. Talvez ele pense que ela tem sofrido bastante por causa de sua humilhação pública. Mas ele a perdoou e a aconselhou contra o pecado novamente.
Os fariseus e os professores da lei não agiram com graça, mas com raiva e ódio contra Jesus e contra uma mulher pecadora. Mas Jesus deu graça a esta mulher, uma segunda chance, uma oportunidade para tentar novamente. Ela não merece isto. Ela provavelmente não esperava isto, mas naquele dia, ela conheceu a graça de Deus.
Algumas semanas atrás, alguns dos nossos jovens organizaram e proporcionaram uma noite de cinema aqui na igreja. O filme foi baseado em uma história verdadeira sobre um garoto americano que foi um atleta talentoso, mas ele era muito pobre e não é bem educado. Uma mulher rica e cristã, que teve um filho na mesma escola que o menino, encontrou o menino e decidiu ajudar-lo e cuidar dele, e ela acabou legalmente adotado ele porque sua mãe era um viciado em drogas e não podia cuidar dele. Esta mulher rica era também branca e este rapaz era negro, que nos Estados Unidos é ainda muito significante. A história tem um final feliz porque este rapaz passou a ser uma grande estrela no futebol americano.
Mas esta era uma história sobre graça. Por que deveria esta mulher que tinha tudo - riqueza e status e da família - por que ela deve oferecer carinho e ajuda para este pobre, ignorante, inábil, menino negro de um fundo problemático e carente? Eu vou te dizer por que eu acho que ela fez isto: a graça de Deus. Eu acho que ela acreditava na graça de Deus. Ela acreditava que ela tinha recebido a graça de Deus, quando ele a perdoou, e ela acreditava que ela deve mostrar que a graça de Deus dentro de si aos outros.
E assim é para nós, se somos cristãos aqui esta noite. Nós recebemos a graça de Deus. Ele demonstrou seu amor para conosco, enviando-nos o evangelho de Jesus Cristo e nos pedindo para acreditar nele. Ele demonstrou seu amor por nós, perdoando-nos quando nos arrependemos. Ele demonstrou seu amor para conosco, dando-nos o seu Espírito Santo para nos ajudar a sermos filhos obedientes. Ele demonstrou seu amor para conosco, respondendo às nossas orações. Nós somos beneficiários da Graça de Deus, porque nós acreditamos que esta oferta de graça, fornecida por nós através de Jesus, era verdade. Nós acreditamos; tivemos fé. E a graça de Deus nos foi dado.
E os amigos, depois de ter experimentado a graça de Deus, realmente experiente, realmente senti que os teus pecados estão perdoados, que Deus te ama e cuida de você, e que Jesus caminha ao seu lado na viagem da sua vida, então você achar que você tem um desejo profundo de ver outros experimentam esta graça, este perdão, este amor. Você tem um desejo profundo de partilhar a sua experiência da graça de Deus. Você tem um desejo profundo de ver outras pessoas reconciliadas com Deus seu Pai. Porque a experiência da graça de Deus é simplesmente a melhor experiência que a vida pode oferecer.
Você já teve essa experiência? Você conhence a graça de Deus? Você sentiu o seu perdão, amor e cuidado? Você quer? Então, acredito que Jesus traz a graça de Deus para você, através do seu sacrifício para você. Acredite que seu sacrifício tem lidado com o pecado que o separa de Deus, e então você vai experimentar a graça de Deus em sua vida.
3. Tocado pelo Espírito.
Mas você pode dizer para mim, Pastor, eu acho que eu tenha feito isso. Eu quero acreditar em Jesus. Eu orei com ele. Pedi a lhe para me perdoar. Eu quero acreditar que a morte de Jesus ea ressurreição significa que Deus me perdoou e agora me aceita como seu filho obediente. Mas como eu sei com certeza que eu recebi a graça de Deus, como eu sei que ele me aceita como um filho obediente? Como eu sei?
Encontramos a resposta a esta pergunta na Bíblia em vários lugares. Mas nós estamos indo olhar em Atos 15:7-9. Nesta passagem, vemos Pedro falando com o conselho da igreja em Jerusalém. Eles vêm discutindo a questão de saber se aqueles na igreja que não eram originalmente judeus devem se tornar judeus, mantendo as leis judaicas antes de serem cristãos. Isto é o que Pedro diz: (Atos 15:7-9)
Lá encontramos. Qual foi a prova de que os gentios, os cristãos não-judeus, tinham recebido a graça de Deus? Deus deu-lhes o Espírito Santo!
Agora, a partir da história da igreja, esta doação do Espírito Santo pode ter dois significados. Em primeiro lugar, o Espírito Santo foi testemunhado claramente agindo sobre estes crentes gentios por testemunhas. E em segundo lugar, estes crentes gentios se sentiram o Espírito Santo. Nesse sentido, a prova de que alguém tem fé e recebe a graça de Deus é que o Espírito Santo está dentro deles. E se o Espírito Santo está dentro deles, então eles e os outros serão capazes de percebê-lo, a experiência dele.
Agora, o que exatamente quero dizer com a experiência do Espírito Santo?
Bem, deixe-me dizer-lhe minha própria experiência. Creio que o Espírito Santo está comigo o tempo todo, mas eu nem sempre o sinto, ou tenho essa experiência com ele. No entanto, quando eu sinto o Espírito, a sensação para mim é por vezes um arrepio físico. Em outras vezes eu sinto o Espírito Santo está agindo, porque eu experimentar uma corrida inesperada de emoção. Mas esta não é a única maneira que o Espírito pode ser experimentado. Diferentes pessoas possuem diferentes tipos de experiências do Espírito Santo. O Espírito Santo também traz à memoria o pensamento e as idéias e imagens que, creio, só poderia ter vindo dele. O Espírito Santo me deu uma premonição da morte de meu pai e de recuperação de Andrew da doença e de um ou dois outros eventos. Para mim, isso é Deus me dizendo que eu sou seu filho e que eu sou justificado diante dele por sua graça, trabalhando através de minha fé em Jesus.
E outras pessoas podem, eventualmente, dar testemunho do Espírito Santo agindo em mim. Tenho quase a certeza que quem me conhece há muito tempo poderia dizer que eu mudei e sou um homem melhor do que era. Outros talvez pudessem testemunhar o fato de que Deus tem me dado palavras proféticas, que Deus me usou para curar as pessoas, que Deus me usou para dar orientação às pessoas, que Deus respondeu às minhas orações.
Novamente, existem milhões de pessoas que demonstraram publicamente que o Espírito Santo tem trabalhoado neles, para fazer milagres, para conduzir as igrejas e organizações, para evangelizar, para ajudar os pobres e assim por diante. E esta é a prova de que eles receberam a graça de Deus através da fé em Jesus Cristo.
Agora, é claro, temos de ser cuidadosos. A Bíblia é clara que existem falsos profetas e falsos messias, e as pessoas que parecem que estão ministrando no poder do Espírito Santo, enquanto na verdade eles estão ministrando no poder do diabo. E nós precisamos do Espírito Santo para nos ajudar a perceber a diferença. E ele fala através da Bíblia sobre este assunto. O Espírito Santo diz claramente, eu não dou os dons sem fruto, e eu não dou poder sem amor, sem graça.
E esta é a verdade vital. Algumas igrejas tornaram-se embriagado com o poder: obcecado com o poder. O Espírito Santo não demonstrar o seu poder entre nós para mostrar o quão poderoso ele é. Ele não mostra o seu poder para nos entusiasmar e emocionar-nos e nos entreter. Então o que podemos dizer, ei, olhe para nós, o nosso Deus é mais poderoso do que o seu, o nosso Deus é mais poderoso e surpreendente do que você. Estamos legais porque nós estamos com Deus e com vocês não ésta. Não, o Espírito Santo vem a nós e nos toca com poder para demonstrar a graça de Deus, para mostrar o quanto ele nos ama, nada mais. As manifestações do Espírito Santo, ambos os dons e os frutos, são sua maneira de mostrar o quanto ele nos ama.
O Espírito Santo mostra-se a nós e trabalha através de nós por duas razões apenas - para nos mostrar que Ele nos ama, e amar outras pessoas através de nós. Deus o Pai escolheu para amar seus filhos através de nós através do Espírito Santo. O Espírito Santo ama os outros através de nós. O Espírito Santo dá a graça para os outros através de nós.
Isso é o que significa ser cristão. Um cristão é uma portadora da graça de Deus; nós experimentamos o amor de Deus e então levá-lo aos outros - a seu favor, a sua gentileza ea bondade e misericórdia. Trazemos sua graça para os outros. E porque o Espírito escolhe nos dar dons diferentes, muitas vezes, de acordo com nossas personalidades diferentes, nós podemos trazer a graça de Deus para os outros de forma mais eficaz quando nós trabalhamos juntos como uma igreja.
Creio que Deus quer que as igrejas estejam cheias de sua graça, que estão cheios do tipo de perdão e de tolerância, paciência e amor que ele mostra para seus filhos. A pergunta que devemos fazer hoje a noite é esta: é esta igreja uma igreja cheia de graça? Eu sou, você está cheio da graça de Deus? Nós acreditamos plenamente em Jesus Cristo? Não estamos plenamente de aceitar que Deus perdoou os nossos pecados e nos aceita como seu filho? Será que a experiência do Espírito Santo como prova de que somos perdoados e redimidos? Nós sentimos um enorme desejo de partilhar a nossa experiência da graça de Deus com os outros?
Queridos amigos esta noite a graça de Deus pode ser suas. Se você não tem nenhuma experiência da graça de Deus, então você pode experimentá-lo aqui neste lugar hoje à noite. Se você tem lutado para acreditar em Jesus como seu Salvador, então você pode acreditar, esta noite, pelo poder do Espírito Santo. Se você ainda não experimentou o Espírito Santo, e assim provado o seu perdão de Deus, você pode experimentar esta noite.
Você pode experimentar todas estas coisas, a fé, a graça, o poder ea sua presença do Espírito Santo, hoje a noite, aqui, neste lugar de oração: só orando.
Se você acha isso difícil, então alguém vai virá e orará com você. Por favor, não perca esta oportunidade. Na sexta-feira, tive o imenso privilégio de participar no funeral do pastor Benedito da Igreja Ebenezer aqui em São Miguel. Ele tinha apenas 55 anos. Mas ele tinha experimentado uma vida da graça de Deus ea presença do Espírito Santo através de sua fé em Jesus. Agradeço a Deus a graça que ele deu ao Pastor Benedito e da maneira que encheu sua vida. E eu agradeço a Deus a graça que ele me mostrou, porque ele foi melhor do que qualquer outra coisa que eu experimentei em minha vida.
Se você quiser experimentar a graça de Deus, se você quiser ter fé em Cristo, se você quiser receber o Espírito Santo, por favor, venha agora até a frente e ajoelhe-se aqui e peça a Deus em oração.
Tuesday 23 November 2010
Article 8 - Justified by grace through faith.
This is the original English version of a sermon preached in Portuguese on the 11th July 2010 at Sao Miguel Paulista Corps, Sao Paulo. It has been simplified a little for greater ease of translation.
(All the bible readings are from the New International Version.)
Sao Miguel Paulista Corps Salvation Meeting 11/07/10
Bible Reading: Romans 3:21-26
Theme: A Church of Grace
Our reading tonight is from Romans 3:21-26
21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Introduction
Tonight, I want to talk to you about being a church of grace; a church that is full of God’s grace; a church that lives and breathes and acts out the grace of God. I believe that God wants this church to be a church like that – a church that is full of his divine grace.
But of course, we often talk about God’s grace, but perhaps the truth is we don’t understand it so well. And maybe that is because grace is something that is much easier to show than it is to talk about. And indeed, sometimes we are better at talking about things than we are at living them out.
But let’s spend some time tonight thinking about God’s grace, what it is, and what it means to us.
To help us we are going to return to the Salvation Army’s statements of what it believes, our doctrines, and we have reached number 8.
Please, let us stand and read this doctrine together:
8. We believe that we are justified by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and that he that believeth hath the witness in himself.
I want to use this statement to explain what I think God’s grace is, and I’m going to use three headings. These three headings all describe who we are as Christians; who we are as members of Christ’s church. Firstly, we are sons and daughters of God. Secondly, we are recipients of God’s grace through faith. And finally, we are those who are touched by the Holy Spirit.
1. Sons and Daughters of God.
1 John 3
1How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
The first thing I want to say tonight is that when your receive the grace of God, you become a son or a daughter of God. Now all human beings are children of God. This is true. God is the father of every human being, in that he created them in his image. They are his children. And he loves them all. The bible tells us this. It tells us that he loved all humanity so much that he sent his son to die for them.
But not all his children love him back. This can be for different reasons. Some of them don’t know that he is their Father. Some of them know that he might be their father but are not interested in having a father because they want to be free to do what the want with no accountability. Some of them do know with certainty that God is their father but have rejected him; they have rebelled against him.
But those who have believed that God the Father sent his son to save them, to die on a cross and rise from the dead so that they might be forgiven for their previous disobedience, those people become sons and daughters of God; they are loved by him and they love him in return.
In the passage we read, Paul is using the image of being found innocent before God because Jesus has paid the penalty for our sin. Our belief that this is possible for us - our faith - makes this innocence possible. But once he has proclaimed our innocence in his eyes because of our faith in Christ, God the Judge doesn’t leave the coutroom, and we go back to our normal lives, never to hear from him again. Once Jesus has stood in our place and received our punishment, he doesn’t just wave and say, no problem, and walk away and we never see him again. Once the Holy Spirit has convinced us of our need for salvation and brought us to the point of faith, he doesn’t just pat us on the back and say ‘good luck’ and we never feel his presence again. No. God becomes our Father again, Jesus our brother and Lord, and the Holy Spirit our companion and constant helper. We return into the heart of the family of God.
To be justified by God is not a legal transaction. To be justified by God is to return to a correct relationship with God. It is to stand before God and know and feel that you are his child and that he loves you. It is to begin to live one´s life in relationship to God.
The other day my son Andrew and I were playing together and he smacked me in the nose with a piece of toy railway track. It was an accident, but he knew he should not have been waving it around dangerously. He said sorry, and I think he meant it because he saw that he had hurt my nose. And so, because I love him, I forgave him, but of course I also added a word of warning about doing it again.
And so it is with God. Because we are all sinners, we have all done some damage to ourselves, and to others, but worst of all, we have broken our relationship with God, because all sin, everything we do wrong, is disobedient to God’s law and will. But if we are sorry and want that relationship to be restored, then God as our Father finds a way to forgive us through our faith in Jesus. God graciously forgives us and through his forgiveness his relationship with his us is restored. There is no longer any rebellion or disobedience or sin that can create a rift between us and God. That is what it means to be justified.
2. Recipients of God’s grace through faith.
But this can only happen because of God’s grace. We are unable to demand that God restores the relationship between him and us. We are unable to do something which means that God will be obliged to restore this relationship. Some people think that if they try to be good, then that will bring them to God. But we all know that being good without God’s help is very difficult. Jesus and Paul both make this point clear in the bible. No, God in his amazing love, is the one who comes to us. He speaks to us through the bible, through the witnesses he has put in the church throughout its history, and he says, if you believe in my son, I will forgive you everything, and you can be my son, my daughter again. It is all God’s initiative, and his forgiveness and love is a gift he offers completely free, no strings attached. We just have to believe that his offer is genuine, that his words are true. We have to have faith.
Consider the story in John’s gospel about the woman caught in adultery. Let’s read together
John 8:1-11
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
Now this is an incredible example of the grace of God. Jesus is quite right to point out that none of these men have any right to condemn her to death given that they themselves are guilty of sin and deserve to be punished. Jesus himself does have the right to condemn her sin of adultery because it is against God’s law, and after all, he is the Son of God. But he doesn’t. Essentially, he forgives her. Perhaps he thinks that she has suffered enough because of her public humiliation. But he forgives her and warns her against sinning again. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law did not act out of grace but out of anger and hatred against Jesus and against a sinful woman. But Jesus gave this woman grace, a second chance, an opportunity to try again. She didn’t deserve it. She probably didn’t expect it. But that day, she met the grace of God.
A few weeks ago, some of our young people organised and hosted an evening of cinema here at the church. The film was based on a true story about a young American boy who was a talented athlete but he was very poor and not well educated. A rich Christian woman, who had a child at the same high school as this boy, met this boy and decided to befriend him and look after him, and eventually she adopted him legally because his own mother was a drug addict and couldn’t look after him. This rich woman was also white and this young boy was black, which in the United States is still very significant. The story has a happy ending because this young boy went on to be a big star in American Football.
But this was a story all about grace. Why should this woman who had everything, wealth and family and status, why should she offer kindness and help to this poor, uneducated, awkward, black boy from a troubled and deprived background? I’ll tell you why I think she did it; the grace of God. I think she believed in the grace of God. She believed that she had received God’s grace when he forgave her, and she believed that she should show that grace of God within her to others.
And so it is for us, if we are Christians here tonight. We have received God's grace. He has shown his love to us by sending us the gospel of Jesus Christ and asking us to believe in him. He has shown his love to us by forgiving us when we repented. He has shown his love to us by giving us his Holy Spirit to help us to be his obedient children. He has shown his love to us by responding to our prayers.
We are recipients of the Grace of God, because we believed that this offer of grace, provided to us through Jesus, was true. We believed it, we had faith. And the grace of God was given to us. And friends, once you have experienced the grace of God, really experienced it, really felt that your sins are forgiven, that God loves you and cares for you, and that Jesus walks by your side on your life’s journey, then you find you have a deep hunger to see others experience this grace, this forgiveness, this love. You have a deep hunger to share your experience of God’s grace. You have a deep hunger to see other people reconciled to God their Father. This is because the experience of the grace of God is simply the best experience that life can offer.
Have you had that experience? Do you know the grace of God? Have you felt his forgiveness and love and care? Do you want to? Then believe that Jesus brings the grace of God to you, through his sacrifice for you. Believe that his sacrifice has dealt with the sin that separates you from God, and then you will experience the grace of God in your life.
3. Touched by the Spirit.
But you may say to me, Pastor, I think I have done this. I want to believe in Jesus. I have prayed to him. I have asked him to forgive me. I want to believe that Jesus' death and resurrection means that God has forgiven me and now accepts me as his obedient child. But how do I know for sure that I have received God's grace; how do I know that he accepts me as his obedient child? How do I know?
We find the answer to this question in the bible in several places. But we are going to look in Acts 15:7-9. In this passage, we find Peter speaking to the council of the church in Jerusalem. They have been discussing the question of whether those in the church who were not originally Jews should become Jews by keeping the Jewish laws before they can be Christians. This is what Peter says:
7After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.
There you have it. What was the proof that the Gentile, the non-Jewish Christians had received God's grace? God gave them the Holy Spirit!
Now if we look at the history of the church, this giving of the Holy Spirit can have two meanings. Firstly, the Holy Spirit was clearly seen acting upon these Gentile believers by witnesses. And secondly, these Gentile believers themselves felt the Holy Spirit. In this sense, the proof that someone has faith and receives the grace of God is that the Holy Spirit is within them. And if the Holy Spirit is within them, then both they and others will be able to perceive him, to experience him.
Now what exactly do I mean by experience the Holy Spirit?
Well, let me tell you my own experience. I believe that the Holy Spirit is with me all the time, but I don’t always feel him or experience him. However, when I do feel the Spirit, the sensation for me is sometimes a physical tingling. At other times, I feel the Spirit is acting because I experience an unexpected rush of emotion. But this is not the only way that the Spirit can be experienced. Different people have different kinds of experiences of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit also brings to mind thought and ideas and images which I believe could only have come from him. The Holy Spirit gave me a premonition of my Father’s death and of Andrew’s recovery from illness and of one or two other events. To me, this is God telling me, that I am his child and that I am justified before him by his grace working through my faith in Jesus.
And other people can possibly testify to the Holy Spirit at work in me. I am fairly sure that those who have known me a long time could say that I have changed and am a better man than I was. Others could perhaps testify to the fact that God has given me prophetic words, that God has used me to heal people, that God has used me to give guidance to people; that God has answered my prayers.
Again, there are millions of others who have demonstrated publically that the Holy Spirit has been at work in them to do miracles, to lead churches and organisations, to evangelise, to help the poor and so on. And this is proof that they have received the grace of God through their faith in Jesus Christ.
Now of course, we must be careful. The bible is clear that there are false prophets and false messiahs, and people who look like they are ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit whilst in fact they are ministering in the power of the devil. And we need the Holy Spirit to help us to tell the difference. And he speaks through the bible about this. The Holy Spirit says clearly, I do not give gifts without also giving fruit, I do not give power without also giving love, without giving grace.
And this is the vital truth. Some churches have become drunk on power: obsessed with power. The Holy Spirit does not demonstrate his power amongst us to show how powerful he is. He does not show his power to excite us and thrill us and entertain us; so that we can say, hey look at us, our God is more powerful than yours, our God is more powerful and amazing than you; we are cool because we are with God and you are not. No, the Holy Spirit comes to us and touches us with power to demonstrate God’s grace; to show how much loves us; nothing more. The manifestations of the Holy Spirit, both the gifts and the fruit, are his way of showing how much he loves us. The Holy Spirit shows himself to us and works through us for two reasons only – to show us that he loves us, and to love other people through us. God the Father chooses to love his children through us by means of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit loves others through us. The Holy Spirit gives his grace to others through us.
This is what it means to be a Christian. A Christian is a bearer of God’s grace, we experience and we carry to others God’s love, God's favour, his kindness and goodness and mercy. We bring his grace to others. And because the Spirit chooses to give us different gifts, often according to our different personalities, we can bring God’s grace to others most effectively when we work together as a church.
I believe that God wants churches that are full of his grace; that is, full of the kind of forgiveness and tolerance and patience and love that he shows to his children. The question we must ask tonight is this: is this church a church full of grace? Am I, are you full of the grace of God? Do we fully believe in Jesus Christ? Do we fully accept that God has forgiven our sins and accepts us as his children? Do we experience the Holy Spirit as evidence that we are forgiven and redeemed? Do we feel an overwhelming desire to share our experience of the grace of God with others?
Dear friends, tonight the grace of God can be yours. If you have no experience of God’s grace then you can experience it here at this place tonight. If you have struggled to believe in Jesus as your saviour then you can believe tonight, by the power of the Holy Spirit. If you have not experienced the Holy Spirit, and so confirmed your forgiveness by God, you can experience this tonight.
You can experience all these things; grace, faith, the Holy Spirit’s power and presence, here tonight at this place of prayer: just by praying. If you find this difficult, then someone will come and pray with you. Please do not miss this opportunity. On Friday, I had the immense privilege of participating in the funeral of a pastor at another church here in Sao Miguel. He was only 55 years old. But he had experienced a lifetime of the grace of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit through his faith in Jesus. I thank God for the grace he gave to this pastor and the way this filled his life. And I thank God for the grace he has shown me, because it has been better than anything else that I have experienced in my life.
If you want to experience God’s grace, if you want to have faith in Christ, if you want to receive the Holy Spirit, please come forward now and kneel here and ask God in prayer to give it to you.
(All the bible readings are from the New International Version.)
Sao Miguel Paulista Corps Salvation Meeting 11/07/10
Bible Reading: Romans 3:21-26
Theme: A Church of Grace
Our reading tonight is from Romans 3:21-26
21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Introduction
Tonight, I want to talk to you about being a church of grace; a church that is full of God’s grace; a church that lives and breathes and acts out the grace of God. I believe that God wants this church to be a church like that – a church that is full of his divine grace.
But of course, we often talk about God’s grace, but perhaps the truth is we don’t understand it so well. And maybe that is because grace is something that is much easier to show than it is to talk about. And indeed, sometimes we are better at talking about things than we are at living them out.
But let’s spend some time tonight thinking about God’s grace, what it is, and what it means to us.
To help us we are going to return to the Salvation Army’s statements of what it believes, our doctrines, and we have reached number 8.
Please, let us stand and read this doctrine together:
8. We believe that we are justified by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and that he that believeth hath the witness in himself.
I want to use this statement to explain what I think God’s grace is, and I’m going to use three headings. These three headings all describe who we are as Christians; who we are as members of Christ’s church. Firstly, we are sons and daughters of God. Secondly, we are recipients of God’s grace through faith. And finally, we are those who are touched by the Holy Spirit.
1. Sons and Daughters of God.
1 John 3
1How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
The first thing I want to say tonight is that when your receive the grace of God, you become a son or a daughter of God. Now all human beings are children of God. This is true. God is the father of every human being, in that he created them in his image. They are his children. And he loves them all. The bible tells us this. It tells us that he loved all humanity so much that he sent his son to die for them.
But not all his children love him back. This can be for different reasons. Some of them don’t know that he is their Father. Some of them know that he might be their father but are not interested in having a father because they want to be free to do what the want with no accountability. Some of them do know with certainty that God is their father but have rejected him; they have rebelled against him.
But those who have believed that God the Father sent his son to save them, to die on a cross and rise from the dead so that they might be forgiven for their previous disobedience, those people become sons and daughters of God; they are loved by him and they love him in return.
In the passage we read, Paul is using the image of being found innocent before God because Jesus has paid the penalty for our sin. Our belief that this is possible for us - our faith - makes this innocence possible. But once he has proclaimed our innocence in his eyes because of our faith in Christ, God the Judge doesn’t leave the coutroom, and we go back to our normal lives, never to hear from him again. Once Jesus has stood in our place and received our punishment, he doesn’t just wave and say, no problem, and walk away and we never see him again. Once the Holy Spirit has convinced us of our need for salvation and brought us to the point of faith, he doesn’t just pat us on the back and say ‘good luck’ and we never feel his presence again. No. God becomes our Father again, Jesus our brother and Lord, and the Holy Spirit our companion and constant helper. We return into the heart of the family of God.
To be justified by God is not a legal transaction. To be justified by God is to return to a correct relationship with God. It is to stand before God and know and feel that you are his child and that he loves you. It is to begin to live one´s life in relationship to God.
The other day my son Andrew and I were playing together and he smacked me in the nose with a piece of toy railway track. It was an accident, but he knew he should not have been waving it around dangerously. He said sorry, and I think he meant it because he saw that he had hurt my nose. And so, because I love him, I forgave him, but of course I also added a word of warning about doing it again.
And so it is with God. Because we are all sinners, we have all done some damage to ourselves, and to others, but worst of all, we have broken our relationship with God, because all sin, everything we do wrong, is disobedient to God’s law and will. But if we are sorry and want that relationship to be restored, then God as our Father finds a way to forgive us through our faith in Jesus. God graciously forgives us and through his forgiveness his relationship with his us is restored. There is no longer any rebellion or disobedience or sin that can create a rift between us and God. That is what it means to be justified.
2. Recipients of God’s grace through faith.
But this can only happen because of God’s grace. We are unable to demand that God restores the relationship between him and us. We are unable to do something which means that God will be obliged to restore this relationship. Some people think that if they try to be good, then that will bring them to God. But we all know that being good without God’s help is very difficult. Jesus and Paul both make this point clear in the bible. No, God in his amazing love, is the one who comes to us. He speaks to us through the bible, through the witnesses he has put in the church throughout its history, and he says, if you believe in my son, I will forgive you everything, and you can be my son, my daughter again. It is all God’s initiative, and his forgiveness and love is a gift he offers completely free, no strings attached. We just have to believe that his offer is genuine, that his words are true. We have to have faith.
Consider the story in John’s gospel about the woman caught in adultery. Let’s read together
John 8:1-11
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
Now this is an incredible example of the grace of God. Jesus is quite right to point out that none of these men have any right to condemn her to death given that they themselves are guilty of sin and deserve to be punished. Jesus himself does have the right to condemn her sin of adultery because it is against God’s law, and after all, he is the Son of God. But he doesn’t. Essentially, he forgives her. Perhaps he thinks that she has suffered enough because of her public humiliation. But he forgives her and warns her against sinning again. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law did not act out of grace but out of anger and hatred against Jesus and against a sinful woman. But Jesus gave this woman grace, a second chance, an opportunity to try again. She didn’t deserve it. She probably didn’t expect it. But that day, she met the grace of God.
A few weeks ago, some of our young people organised and hosted an evening of cinema here at the church. The film was based on a true story about a young American boy who was a talented athlete but he was very poor and not well educated. A rich Christian woman, who had a child at the same high school as this boy, met this boy and decided to befriend him and look after him, and eventually she adopted him legally because his own mother was a drug addict and couldn’t look after him. This rich woman was also white and this young boy was black, which in the United States is still very significant. The story has a happy ending because this young boy went on to be a big star in American Football.
But this was a story all about grace. Why should this woman who had everything, wealth and family and status, why should she offer kindness and help to this poor, uneducated, awkward, black boy from a troubled and deprived background? I’ll tell you why I think she did it; the grace of God. I think she believed in the grace of God. She believed that she had received God’s grace when he forgave her, and she believed that she should show that grace of God within her to others.
And so it is for us, if we are Christians here tonight. We have received God's grace. He has shown his love to us by sending us the gospel of Jesus Christ and asking us to believe in him. He has shown his love to us by forgiving us when we repented. He has shown his love to us by giving us his Holy Spirit to help us to be his obedient children. He has shown his love to us by responding to our prayers.
We are recipients of the Grace of God, because we believed that this offer of grace, provided to us through Jesus, was true. We believed it, we had faith. And the grace of God was given to us. And friends, once you have experienced the grace of God, really experienced it, really felt that your sins are forgiven, that God loves you and cares for you, and that Jesus walks by your side on your life’s journey, then you find you have a deep hunger to see others experience this grace, this forgiveness, this love. You have a deep hunger to share your experience of God’s grace. You have a deep hunger to see other people reconciled to God their Father. This is because the experience of the grace of God is simply the best experience that life can offer.
Have you had that experience? Do you know the grace of God? Have you felt his forgiveness and love and care? Do you want to? Then believe that Jesus brings the grace of God to you, through his sacrifice for you. Believe that his sacrifice has dealt with the sin that separates you from God, and then you will experience the grace of God in your life.
3. Touched by the Spirit.
But you may say to me, Pastor, I think I have done this. I want to believe in Jesus. I have prayed to him. I have asked him to forgive me. I want to believe that Jesus' death and resurrection means that God has forgiven me and now accepts me as his obedient child. But how do I know for sure that I have received God's grace; how do I know that he accepts me as his obedient child? How do I know?
We find the answer to this question in the bible in several places. But we are going to look in Acts 15:7-9. In this passage, we find Peter speaking to the council of the church in Jerusalem. They have been discussing the question of whether those in the church who were not originally Jews should become Jews by keeping the Jewish laws before they can be Christians. This is what Peter says:
7After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.
There you have it. What was the proof that the Gentile, the non-Jewish Christians had received God's grace? God gave them the Holy Spirit!
Now if we look at the history of the church, this giving of the Holy Spirit can have two meanings. Firstly, the Holy Spirit was clearly seen acting upon these Gentile believers by witnesses. And secondly, these Gentile believers themselves felt the Holy Spirit. In this sense, the proof that someone has faith and receives the grace of God is that the Holy Spirit is within them. And if the Holy Spirit is within them, then both they and others will be able to perceive him, to experience him.
Now what exactly do I mean by experience the Holy Spirit?
Well, let me tell you my own experience. I believe that the Holy Spirit is with me all the time, but I don’t always feel him or experience him. However, when I do feel the Spirit, the sensation for me is sometimes a physical tingling. At other times, I feel the Spirit is acting because I experience an unexpected rush of emotion. But this is not the only way that the Spirit can be experienced. Different people have different kinds of experiences of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit also brings to mind thought and ideas and images which I believe could only have come from him. The Holy Spirit gave me a premonition of my Father’s death and of Andrew’s recovery from illness and of one or two other events. To me, this is God telling me, that I am his child and that I am justified before him by his grace working through my faith in Jesus.
And other people can possibly testify to the Holy Spirit at work in me. I am fairly sure that those who have known me a long time could say that I have changed and am a better man than I was. Others could perhaps testify to the fact that God has given me prophetic words, that God has used me to heal people, that God has used me to give guidance to people; that God has answered my prayers.
Again, there are millions of others who have demonstrated publically that the Holy Spirit has been at work in them to do miracles, to lead churches and organisations, to evangelise, to help the poor and so on. And this is proof that they have received the grace of God through their faith in Jesus Christ.
Now of course, we must be careful. The bible is clear that there are false prophets and false messiahs, and people who look like they are ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit whilst in fact they are ministering in the power of the devil. And we need the Holy Spirit to help us to tell the difference. And he speaks through the bible about this. The Holy Spirit says clearly, I do not give gifts without also giving fruit, I do not give power without also giving love, without giving grace.
And this is the vital truth. Some churches have become drunk on power: obsessed with power. The Holy Spirit does not demonstrate his power amongst us to show how powerful he is. He does not show his power to excite us and thrill us and entertain us; so that we can say, hey look at us, our God is more powerful than yours, our God is more powerful and amazing than you; we are cool because we are with God and you are not. No, the Holy Spirit comes to us and touches us with power to demonstrate God’s grace; to show how much loves us; nothing more. The manifestations of the Holy Spirit, both the gifts and the fruit, are his way of showing how much he loves us. The Holy Spirit shows himself to us and works through us for two reasons only – to show us that he loves us, and to love other people through us. God the Father chooses to love his children through us by means of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit loves others through us. The Holy Spirit gives his grace to others through us.
This is what it means to be a Christian. A Christian is a bearer of God’s grace, we experience and we carry to others God’s love, God's favour, his kindness and goodness and mercy. We bring his grace to others. And because the Spirit chooses to give us different gifts, often according to our different personalities, we can bring God’s grace to others most effectively when we work together as a church.
I believe that God wants churches that are full of his grace; that is, full of the kind of forgiveness and tolerance and patience and love that he shows to his children. The question we must ask tonight is this: is this church a church full of grace? Am I, are you full of the grace of God? Do we fully believe in Jesus Christ? Do we fully accept that God has forgiven our sins and accepts us as his children? Do we experience the Holy Spirit as evidence that we are forgiven and redeemed? Do we feel an overwhelming desire to share our experience of the grace of God with others?
Dear friends, tonight the grace of God can be yours. If you have no experience of God’s grace then you can experience it here at this place tonight. If you have struggled to believe in Jesus as your saviour then you can believe tonight, by the power of the Holy Spirit. If you have not experienced the Holy Spirit, and so confirmed your forgiveness by God, you can experience this tonight.
You can experience all these things; grace, faith, the Holy Spirit’s power and presence, here tonight at this place of prayer: just by praying. If you find this difficult, then someone will come and pray with you. Please do not miss this opportunity. On Friday, I had the immense privilege of participating in the funeral of a pastor at another church here in Sao Miguel. He was only 55 years old. But he had experienced a lifetime of the grace of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit through his faith in Jesus. I thank God for the grace he gave to this pastor and the way this filled his life. And I thank God for the grace he has shown me, because it has been better than anything else that I have experienced in my life.
If you want to experience God’s grace, if you want to have faith in Christ, if you want to receive the Holy Spirit, please come forward now and kneel here and ask God in prayer to give it to you.
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