The Power Of Grace - Part 2

And today on Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhart challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ.

Muslims in the Ninevites. See we have all classes of people. I got some magic to be more generalized to be rich people could be poor people could be your sister and brother-in-law, your ex-boss, your ex-husband describe you, you find it a lot easier to be happy about receiving the grace of God, you have no interest still joining us today on this additional Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhart Fellowship in the Words the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible church located in Metairie, Louisiana when Pastor Bill Gebhart now is once again he shows us how God's word are Laurel chapter 6 through real we learn the grace is so powerful that it can erase your own labels and give you new ones through David we learn that grace is so powerful that in spite of all your persistent sitting is without limits. Now we run into another character. Character a lot of us can identify with is known as one of the great judges of Israel, God raised up men and women at this period of time to judge the nation to protect them from their enemies on the outside and apostasy on the inside and one of them was known as Gideon, you probably have seen his Bibles is a very very famous guy is not very impressive verse well the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and they said to him, the Lord is with you. Oh valiant warrior, there's a new label understand getting setting in the Army and the angel of the Lord you see the angel of the Lord. The funny son of God, O Lord is with you. Oh valiant warrior now watch this response. Gideon said him all my Lord if the Lord is with us, then why has all this happened to us and where all the miracles that our fathers told us about and then the Lord bring us up out of Egypt, but now the Lord has abandoned us is in the land of Midian, wine, wine, wine, wine, wine, how would you become a presidential Lords talking to you a lot of things on my mind here. Just amazing. Now with notice Lord looked at him and said go in this.

Your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. I not sent you. You see, when the Lord says you're going to do something. Guess what you're going to do it and he said Lord how my deliver Israel, behold, my family is the least and Manasseh, and I'm the youngest of my father's house think I can do this when I met one of my going to do here. I'm not adequate for this. The Lord said to him shortly. I will be with you and you show the feed. Midian is one man let me be clear about this one more time. So Gideon said what were okay how about this and if I found favor in your sight. Any sale favored one but I'm not so sure you know what you talking about so I found favor in your sight, he says, then show me a sign that it's usually speaking to me. Please do not depart from. Mary says, until I come back to go make an offering him and make a right in front of you would see what you can do with it. So verse 21.

The angel the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand touched the meat and the unleavened bread and fire spring up from the rock and consume the meat and the unleavened bread in the hands of the Lord vanished from the site.

When Gideon saw that it was the angel of the Lord.

He said alas, O Lord God, for now, I have seen the angel of the Lord face-to-face and the Lord said to him, peace be with you. Do not fear you shall not die, so he knew what was bothering him.

He's afraid now that sounds like it's going to be a great story and I would wish right there. Everything went great, but it doesn't. Verse 36 then Gideon said to God it if you will deliver Israel through me, as you said you would notice the if if you're going to deliver Israel through me like you said you would. He said, behold, I have put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor and if there is due on the fleece only, and it is dry and all the Grahn. Then I will know that you will deliver Israel through me as you have said how about this, I'll put out a fleece you could do over, but I want to bring around the ground drive because otherwise you to be just doing morning and he would even know there was you because not doing morning is due everywhere but this is due only on the fleece. When we learn about him beside the fact of his excuses and a faith assessment have, how does your faith stack up to his. You gotta feel pretty good about yourself. You have to well and it was so when he rose early next morning to squeeze the fleece. He drained the dupe in the fleece a bowl full of water. It was dry everywhere else that would do it right now. Then Gideon said to God, I do like do not let your anger burned against me. You think you see. He says that I may speak once more. Please let me make a test once more with the fleece. Let it now be dry only on the fleece and let her be due all over the ground and God did so, that night and it was dry only on the fleece in the doing the when you learn from Gideon. You learn this grace is so powerful that in spite of all of your inadequacies and your lack of faith God can still do great things. Grace is so powerful that in spite of all of your inadequacies and your lack of faith God can still do great things through you by the grace of God. He went from being a coward to conquer even have to use Gideon. I could abuse Moses remember when the burning bush came to Moses, but Moses do. I don't think I can do this. He said hi.

I lack integrity.

I don't have a message. I don't have the ability.

I don't have much faith what your excuse what your excuse don't go all pious on me because boil boy if I could have accumulated all of your excuses for not doing ministry over the years when believe it. I would love to have a church service I just putting up the projector just the excuses I've heard you people make not to do ministry.

It's an amazing thing it would be funny until you sell yours. We do this all the time. I just don't think I could do it and I don't have a message I got. I can't. I just can't. I can't talk to them. I don't have the words I don't know the Bible well enough. I know Jesus I'm not, but I don't know I don't. I just don't know what to do. I just can't.

Well that's what I love about the grace of God is so powerful that in spite of all your inadequacies real and perceived lack of faith, you can still do great things through you to an amazing thing to watch. When I was in high school. I enjoyed high school.

I enjoyed all the aspects of it. I was to have anything that I really worried about much didn't have to didn't study very hard and doing like that God through just fine. No you know any thing about high school was enjoyable to me and came easy except one thing. There was one thing I hated I had trepidation about. I didn't want to do in both of my sophomore and junior years, I can remember just hating every moment preceding it. And that was to give an oral book report and I thought there's one thing I'm never going to do. I hate standing in front of people and saying anything. That's the way I felt so God's grace can be pretty ironic, to say the very least the sea when it comes to God, it doesn't work like that. That's the power of his grace, and so powerful that, in spite of our inadequacies. Even our lack of faith God will use us in a great way so Rahab teaches us that he can take your old label race.

It give you new one.

David teaches is that no matter how insistent your sin is and how persistent it is his grace of limitless.

We learn from Gideon that his grace is so powerful that in spite of your inadequacies, and even your lack of faith in God he can do great things to enter just one more year.

The end of the Old Testament turn to the book of Jonah. The book of Jonah right near the end of the Old Testament again a very familiar story, but I want you to see the idea of grace in this in verse two of the book of Jonah chapter 1 God says the Jonah arise and go to Nineveh, the great city and cry against it for their wickedness is come up before me. Nineveh is the capital of the Assyrian Empire. The Assyrians are as bloodthirsty and cruel as any dominant empire in the ancient world ever was. As I told you before the Assyrians. One historian wrote that 30 miles outside of Nineveh along the side of the road to take the main drag in the Nineveh they would take people they had conquered impelled them on a single state through their crotch and stand them up along the road the whole length so that you knew you were dealing with when you got the Nineveh that's the Assyrians. Jonah hated everybody did. And so what you have here, he says, arise, and go to Nineveh that would be northeast. Verse three. But Jonah rose up and fled to Tarsus.

That's as far west as a human can go God said go East young man young man went west when find out later. Why we know the story gets out there and is in the boat and now there's a big storm and or when things are going to die in a very superstitious group of sailors and Jonah finally has some insight understands the situation in verse 12 he says, he said to them, pick me up throw me into the sea and then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm is come upon anyone to do that there were good men but Jonah said look, throw me into the city by the weather. Something that about Jonah Jonas is I'd rather die right now if I I'd like go to Tarsus but if I can go to Tarsus. I'd rather die than go to Nineveh to kill me. Well, he finally just phoning you know that God prepared a great fish and he spends three days and three nights in that that has a way by the waves of changing your attitude about some things and he prays in verse two of chapter 3, God says, arise, go to Nineveh, the great city and proclaim to with the proclamation, which I'm going to tell you. So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh is on his way and he gets there is a great city. Jonah rights as the three days walk across the city enormously. Then Jonah began to go through the city one days walk one day and here's a message.

He cried out. He said yet 40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown. That's it. I just imagine this. This is the Nineveh, the pagan Assyrian capital. The coolest people on the planet. He's a Jewish prophet. He walks in one day and all he does is yell out yet 40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown and then the people Nineveh believed in God. So what's your excuse, but you don't have all the words of talk your brother-in-law by Jesus, I need to know more. Really, how much that he's what they tell 40 days and you can get it and said all the people Nineveh believed in God, and they called a fast they put on sackcloth and the greatest the least of them and and one the word reach the king of Nineveh. He arose from his throne.

He laid aside his robe from him and he covered himself sackcloth and he said on the ashes and using the proclamation. He said in Nineveh by the degree the king and his nobles do not let man beast herd or flock takes the thing with a fast, do not let them eat or drink water but both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth. By the way that's not easy getting sackcloth on every animal Nineveh that would be easy and let the men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way, and from the violence which was in his hands. The greatest revival ever led by Jonah is one God saw their deeds. In verse 10, he turned that they turn from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which he had declared he would bring upon them, and he did not do it and sign things can be a happy story done it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. I notice what is angry about.

He prayed to the Lord. He said please Lord, was this not what I said why was still in my own country.

Therefore, in order to forestall this.

I fled to Tarsus for I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.

Therefore, now, Lord, please take my life for me for death is better for me than life.

I knew you'd do something like this. I just know you would is a great lesson we can learn from Jonah by grace. Grace is so powerful that God will still bestow grace on you when you refuse the bestow grace on others but to someone from Jonah notice.

The Lord said to him in verse four Jonah, do you have good reason for anger give any reason for being this angry and Jonah went out of the city and set east of it and there he made a shelter for himself and he said hundred in the shade until he could see what would happen to the city. He still hoping against hope maybe they won't get it right. Maybe will still get all burned. Maybe God will hit them with fireballs made Nubia, Sodom and Gomorrah vet and I get to see all so the Lord appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be shade over his head, to deliver him from his discomfort.

What is that grace he deserves that grace and Jonah was extremely happy about the plan, how I love this number to find out a minute. There's a probably hundred 20,000 children in this city. Some historians say as many as 600,000 people with their they're not going to be destroyed by God.

They repented to have relationship with God. You think that make him happy it made him angry, but he got a plant he got a plant that gave them some shade on a hot sunny day and that made him really happy in an amazing what makes you happy in that amazing.

And yet God will often not withhold it from what you have it. But notice something happens in when he saw him being so happy about the planets is God appointed a warm wind became the next day it attacked the planet weathered everyone wants to see the great fish I want to see the warm as some warm and it came about when the sun came up. The God appointed a scorching east when in the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint. Any bag with all his soul to die saying that is better than life. What a doofus. Always foolish man he is. I want to die.

Now this is hot. God said the Jonah. Jonah, do you have good reason to be angry about the plant.

Notice how patient God is trying to teach them something and he said I have good reason to be angry even to death. It's amazing how childlike we can talk to God and I mean in an immature way and then the Lord said you had compassion on the planet for which you did not work in which you do not cause the grow which came up overnight and perished overnight. It was all grace that was me and he said, and should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who did not know the difference between the right hand and the left hand to an idiom which could be for children, as well as many animals. In other words, Jonah. If you learn something receiving grace is often a lot easier than bestowing it and that question for you, who are the Ninevites in your life for the Ninevites in your life.

Muslims then the minute Ninevites you see, we have whole classes of people like that's alleged to be more generalized to be rich people could be poor people could be your sister-in-law, your brother-in-law, your ex-boss, your ex-husband, your ex-wife, see that describe you, you find it a lot easier to be happy about receiving the grace of God that you have no interest in bestowing the grace of God.

Philip Yancey says this, the gospel of grace begins and ends with forgiveness and people write songs with titles like amazing Grace for one reason. Grace is the only force in the universe powerful enough to break the chains that enslave us as human beings is right. No disrespect to those scientists that Cesar Obama was the greatest, most powerful demonstration of power that the world is ever seen. I disagree. It's the grace of God.

You know why because the grace of God is the only power that can change the world. The only power that can change you. Which of those characters you most identify with Rahab, David getting Jonah amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me I once was lost in the home found was blind, now I see Sprint father, I thank you for your patient grace that you give it to us in spite of ourselves. Never because of ourselves is unmerited favor. It is your riches at Christ's expense father how I thank you for that. Father I pray for all of us who do we identify with what we people like Rahab, who have a label that we have trouble overcoming. And yet, if we would allow the grace of God to work in our life.

We can overcome that label and live up to the new labels that we have for some of his father. It is the persistent sin in our lives feeling so guilty and unworthy, and yet we learn from David that your grace has no limit was a Gideon that we feel inadequate that we really can't do what you've asked us to do we have such little faith that we keep throwing out the fleece in one way or the other for you to prove yourselves the loss you do because you can do great things for them through us the power of your grace in spite of ourselves and father.

I know there are some of the site.

Jonah that we love receiving grace, but we don't like bestowing it on anyone else, especially those who hurt us. Those who made our lives miserable and yet father that is the true message of grace. Grace is bestowed on the undeserving that the all of us. Father, I think for your amazing grace.

I thank you for saving us pastor broke apart on the radio ministry of fellowship in the world.

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