Sermonettes by Kathryn - The Riches of God’s Grace

Acts 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

This was the dawning of a new day, a new dispensation, known as “The Dispensation of Grace.” And I am so glad that we are living in it today.

I’m going to talk for a few minutes on, “The Riches of God’s Grace.”

In Eph. 2:8 it says, “…by grace are ye saved…“: and in Eph 2:7 Paul speaks of “…the exceeding riches of His grace…“

So it seems that grace is the most important essence in all the world. Without it we all are lost, and with it we are saved. It is just as simple as that.

How vital it is then, that we know how to obtain grace, first for our salvation and then for all our needs.

We’ve often heard it said that grace is the unmerited favor of God. Of course it is unmerited for none of us have ever done anything to deserve it, but that is only half of it. For that definition doesn’t tell us what it is that is unmerited.

I think a better definition of grace is, “The power God gives us to fulfill the will of God in our Lives.”

Of course we know this power is the power of the Holy Ghost. In Acts 1:8 Jesus said, “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.”

Before the outpouring of the HOly Ghost and the ushering in of the Dispensation of Grace the poeple were under the Law of Moses. The Law was a task master letting them know how sinful they were, but it didn’t give them the power to keep it. Just as people today don’t have the power to live, for God without the Holy Ghost.

John the Baptist said in Matt. 3:11, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to wear; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”

This is how Jesus bestows His grace upon us. It is the free gift of the Holy Ghost, and in it is power, the power of grace, the power God givces us to fulfill the will of God in our lives. This is what Jesus came to bring mankind, and it is the grace by which we are saved. We receive this power, this grace, by faith. Jesus said in John 7:38-39. “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit or Holy Ghost) which they that believe on him should receive.”

This was Jesus’ way of saying what Paul said in Eph. 2:8, “For by grace (or the power of the Holy Ghost” are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”

I thank God today for grace. It is the free gift of God in the Holy Ghost, received by faith, and it is God’s power which enagles us to fulfill God’s will in our lives.

I think we have a beautiful example of receiving anything we need from God by faith in II Kings, Chapter 4.
We all know the story about the widow woman whose sons were to be sold into slavery unless she paid her creditor. She had no money, but Elisha told her to borrow empty vessels from her neighbors, becasuse God was going to fill them with oil. “Borrow not a few,” he said. Now this is where faith comes in. She had to believe that God would do what he said and fill those empty vessels with oil. Then she must act on her faith and borrow the vessels. How many was she to borrow? I believe she borrowed to the extent of her faith. How many vessels could God fill with oil? How many vessels would God fill with oil? Now let me ask you, How many vessels did God fill?

I’m here to tell you that if God can fill one vessel, He can fill ten, a hundred, or any number, for there is no limit to the power of God. Once the oil started flowing, there was nothing to stop it but the limits of her faith. ANd that is exactly what stopped the oil.

II Kings 4:6 says, “And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.”

God had more oil to give; the limit to His giving was the limit of her faith in borrowing empty vesels. She actually had no room for the great blessing God was ready to give her. But when the last vessel that she had faith to borrow was filled, the oil stopped flowing. Her faith had brought her all she believed for.

I think that is the trouble with so many of us today. We limit the power of God and so miss out on receiving everything that he has for us.

I’ve quoted the scripture John 15:7 to myself so many times lately that says,**_“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

In Malachi 3:10 God said, “Prove me now.”_**

God is the same today. He delights in proving that His word is true.

Let’s remember that grace is the power God gives us to fulfill the will of God in our lives.

Aren’t you glad you know Him in the power of teh Holy Ghost and that you are a partaker of His grace?