Growing in Grace

The only real reminder on announcements was about clearing the area and back, so... Thank you for the beautiful music. There's Annie. That was lovely. And I hope you all are having a great day. Hello to those who are online. I know my son's on there. I don't know who else. Hopefully Mr. Canalco was able to dial in with the phone number we gave him, so hopefully everybody's doing well.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Why are we here? Why are we here today? I would argue that in large part it connects very closely to God's grace for us, action His grace is supposed to have in our lives. A month ago, many of you, most of you remember I gave a message on what grace is. So let me give you a little synopsis of that as a precursor, as a lead-in. We discussed that there are many meanings for the word grace.

Certainly God's goodness, it's His forgiveness, it's unmerited pardon to each of us as undeserving people. It's the word for gift, for thanks, the root of the word charisma. Grace means to be accepted, to be favored. Grace is God's in our lives and those of others. It's the law of God and it's the gift of eternal life. Grace is God's active love, care, and concern for His creation.

That's a definition just like divine favor is a definition. It's the family relationship and the kingdom of God and His rulership. The Bible very clearly says we are saved only by grace through faith. That's critical to understand. Salvation starts with judgment. And the understanding that we have all been found guilty, that's what this time of year is all about, right? That's what we're here to learn and to reflect on as an annual reminder. So as a result, we can't demand grace.

We can't obligate God to give us grace. God in His love, God in His mercy, was willing to look past our guilt and to extend us favor, divine favor. So no matter how much the Bible emphasizes the importance of obedience, obedience is never what saves us. Critical foundation. So even if we can live perfectly righteous and never make a mistake going forward, we have all sinned, we have all earned death, and God is of no obligation to give us salvation. But it's because of God's grace alone that we can be saved.

But again, this does not mean we will be saved automatically. Just because we've been given God's grace doesn't automatically guarantee salvation. Otherwise, everybody would be saved automatically. The gift of grace is predicated on our repentance from dead works, because repentance is a condition of forgiveness. Grace also requires faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, as that verse in Ephesians says, which is demonstrated through the commitment of baptism.

That's what makes salvation possible. And after we're baptized, the Bible says we're viewed as sinless. We are raised to a newness of life. We receive the Holy Spirit, as a helper, to guide us in ways that we can't on our own. So from then on, it's only common sense that God expects the pardoned individual to submit to His spiritual law. So during the Passover, during the first Holy Days of this feast, we reviewed the amazing generosity, the amazing sacrifice of Christ.

We discussed our need to remove sin, to remove loving. Today, I think we should focus on going on, going on living a new way, a new unlove and way of life. Otherwise, you can argue we're doing what Jude referred to as using grace as an excuse for immorality. In the message, we also talked about how grace is given to us by God to be a catalyst. A catalyst is something that stimulates a reaction. It's something that spurs us on or inspires us. So it's about God working in our hearts and in our minds, so ultimately it moves us to become something different, to change us.

It inspires us. God gave us this grace as an intended stimulant to cause a reaction, to change how we think. And that's important for us to keep in mind. See, yes, we are saved by grace through faith, but faith requires action. Faith and obedience are inextricably linked. They are tightly coupled. You can't separate the two. And that means we're required to change. We're required to stop doing wrong things.

The goal of grace is for us to be changed so that we become more like Christ. And we'll talk more about that through this message. And if we're letting God's Holy Spirit transform our lives, then when people see us over time, it should show. Right? If God's Spirit's working through us, we should be different now than we were five years ago or ten years ago.

We should exhibit a different way of living. We should grow in what we do. I shared the phrase and the concept that we grow in grace by the faith we develop. We express our faith by the works we do. They fit together. And as we think about the grace of God, God's kindness is never about the absence of judgment. God's kindness is about the absolute certainty of judgment. Ultimately, God will judge sin. And God expects us in baptism to sign up for more than just this emotional connection to Him.

Instead, we're to respond to the catalyst of God's grace shown to us by living in obedience and showing our commitment in a behaviorally changed manner. But that obedience, again, is never, ever what earns us salvation. Okay, so that's a fast run-through of my last message. But hopefully it helps as a springboard. One important point to learn from this feast is that God's loving mercy, His kindness, His gentleness, is supposed to stir us to remove love and from our lives, to remove sinfulness, remove the evil way, and we're to return the same loving, gracious action that He shows us to His kindness to Him and to others.

The purpose of grace is that we're to build this relationship with God. We're to develop an attitude like His. So it should. And it must be something that strengthens us so we exercise Godly virtue. Always keep in mind, you know, are we imitating Jesus Christ and how we show grace and how we exhibit that? Let me give you a human example, and maybe I'll help make this connection a little bit. How many friends do you have that the more they abuse you, the more you like them?

So if that doesn't work on a human level, why would we expect God to put up with it? If we continually choose to disobey God's instructions, then why should we continue, why should He continue to grant us grace? Let me use another analogy, and maybe it will help. Say I was to promise to all of you a full college scholarship, a full education. Pick your school, Harvard, wherever, hundreds of thousands of dollars, you can go for doctorate, it doesn't matter. It's yours.

It's a gift. The only criteria for you to keep this gift is you have to meet a certain grade point average.

So the gift is completely free, but it has terms to continue receiving it. Translate that God will not save a single person that He cannot govern, and if we're willfully disobeying on and on, He knows we won't allow Him to govern us. So this great God who created us, who designed us, who cares for us and shapes us and loves us, and always has done good to us, heals us, simply asks us to live in a certain way because He knows that will lead to an eternal and better life. That's the formula. It's about us not forgetting both the source and the purpose of our blessings. Because God's blessings are not about us. It's so easy for us to put that into our concepts. They're about Him. God is the possessor, and we are this planet. But all the areas around it have plants and animals. The Dead Sea has none. Nothing lives in it. No plants are around it. Animals stay away from it. It's lifeless. God does not pour into a person so that they can be self-focused. When we take in all God's blessings and we never give, we will become spiritually dead. If our vision is blocked by our flesh, which we all do at times, then we will only look out for number one. We neglect God's purpose and all He shares with us and all He has in mind for us. God doesn't want people to make the same mistakes Satan did. That whole example of looking the other way is Satan. It's what he does. So why should God continue to pour into a person who is stagnant and who is lifeless? These things are all we get. We understand that it's foolish to cling to this world at the cost of eternity. But we have to act on what we know. That's the test. Grace must radiate back through our obedience and obediently showing our love back to Him and to others throughout our lives. That God blesses us so that we can be His hands to touch people. He puts people in need in our lives so that we can exhibit His nature and we can glorify Him and it's done through us. That's the nature of what God intends. We do it for His namesake. And when we think that it's not about us, then it makes it easier to let go, right? Let's start learning about this concept now of growing in grace. Because that's step two. How do we grow in grace? And that's what this message is focused on. Turn to 2 Peter 3, verses 14-18. Now, as you turn there, let me give a little bit of context to where we're reading. 2 Peter was estimated to be written somewhere between 64-67 AD. What does that mean? You were talking a very short period of years before Peter was murdered and in 70 AD when Jerusalem was destroyed. That's the timing. What we're describing here is a context of persecution, a time period of false teachers, a time period where, as a result of that, unbelief. So this was not an easy time to live and absolutely not an easy time if you're a Christian. And we can look and we can say, I live in hard times. Oh, my friends, we don't live in hard times whatsoever. We live better than kings of those times. And we live in an age where we do have freedom. We do have freedom of religion. We do have freedom of choice. Yes, they may be limited at times, but nothing like it was. Alright, 2 Peter 3, verse 14. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by him, speaking of God, in peace, without spot and blameless. So again, this echoes what I mentioned from the earlier message, this concept about an ultimate judgment and God's grace being expected as a catalyst to have inspired change in our lives. So we will live unleavened. Purpose of why we go through and are reminded this each year. Verse 15.

So Paul is urging his readers to be steadfast here. Steadfast. Like today, he was looking around, he was seeing a Christian world that was turning the grace of God into an excuse to keep sinning. Peter exhorted them that since they knew they were going to be judgment and a judgment was coming, they needed to be where, lest they fall from their steadfastness. And he feared people being led away by what he called the error of the wicked, which means thinking they don't need to repent, thinking they don't need to change. People were told they were already saved because they accepted Jesus. They could just stay in their sins because they were saved automatically, the error of the wicked. Peter's point was the grace of God needs to lead us, needs to stir us to action, to change from the old man to the new man. Again, another analogy we use a lot around this holy daytime of year, to transform our minds. Otherwise, we're actually denying the purpose of why God gave us His grace. So, right near the end of this epistle, he's now getting to his crescendo. But grow, grow in what? Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. Now, first realize we're not being told to grow in just any kind of grace and knowledge. We're growing to grow in the knowledge about God through how Christ lived and what He taught. We're to grow to become more like Christ, to imitate Him.

And let's be realistic about this. As we walk in this unleavened way, right? Not a leavened sinful way. As we strive to let His Spirit lead us, we will occasionally stumble. And we will have to pick ourselves up. Then we'll move a couple more steps. And we'll stumble. Each time along the way, we need to ask God for His forgiveness. We need to ask Him for His favor, grace, so we can continue moving forward. But grace is not simply taking God's forgiveness and not changing. Grace is about living worthy of forgiveness and growing as we see additional sins in our life. It's about us becoming more like God and like His Father.

So that involves repentance. That involves obedience. That's us learning to love each other, right? In the ways that He exemplified for us. So let's review the two parts here, and we'll start with knowledge. We need to grow in knowledge. Last message I mentioned, John 1, verse 14. It says, Christ was full of grace and truth. Grace cannot be taught separate from truth. One doesn't recognize grace unless they recognize error.

Right? They need to be linked. I do want you to turn to Proverbs 12 and verse 1. Proverbs 12 and verse 1. When the truth is fully understood, when it's accepted, then grace can be applied. Another thing that's important to realize here is that truth also is not understood without a repentant attitude.

Because we need to be able to humbly admit what we don't know and what we need to change. And then God can reveal it to us. Proverbs 12 and verse 1, one of these very, very familiar verses, says, Whoever loves instruction, loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid. I remember when my parents said, Don't say the word stupid. I remembered that verse. But we need to love being instructed, even if it is correction.

And remember what Solomon, what Peter are both pointing us to is the correct knowledge from God. We need to be careful to filter what we're being taught through God's truth. 2 Timothy 3, 2 Timothy 3, 7 is just something I'll reference here. But it describes people who are always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Remember that verse? Remember, Christ was full of grace and truth.

Interesting contrast. Ask yourself if what you're learning is biblically true. If it's supported across the Bible. Or is it only supported by picking a favorite verse? Or is it only by picking a pet concept? Because anyone who's been in the church for a while knows people fall in love with a pet concept and grab their one-proof verse and ignore how everything fits together. I would like you to go back to Proverbs 9 and 10. So a couple of chapters.

But doing that pet concept is what Peter was recognizing others were doing with Paul's writing. Proverbs 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. So the knowledge of the Holy One, knowing there are consequences that result from our wrongful thoughts and our actions, should lead us in a whole different direction. But from there, I believe that understanding the fear of God opens the door to show us grace in a new way.

The grace of God is His incentive. It's His stimulus or motivation that leads us, that inspires us to do what is right for a reason far more than just fear. Make sense? So growing in knowledge is a start, but it's not enough. We must do the best we can with that knowledge by growing in grace as well. Knowledge should change our life so that we use it in this profitable way.

This graceful way. And it should inspire us to become better people. Think about the human example. Young Evelyn, six months old, close to being able to start crawling. And after a short period of time, she'll start walking. And before we know it, she'll start running. That's what we do as humans. But that same concept should apply spiritually. We must grow our spiritual capacities to others. That's the way it should flow through us, and others should see it radiate from us. God's motivation toward His dealing with humanity has always been motivated by His love.

And it's important to realize also the very close connection between love and grace. I mentioned last time that the root words actually connect to each other. There is a distinct connection there. Remember, it's through grace that God revealed Himself. And as we grow in grace, a huge part of it is taking that forgiveness that's shown to us and extending it back to others. We're to grow in our capacity and our ability to show and extend the same grace that Christ has shown us to others. And that's how we grow in grace and favor from God.

That's how Christ grew in favor from His Father. All right. One of these ugly questions I don't want you to raise your hand on. But have you ever grown weary in well-doing? I think if we were to do that, we'd be doing one of those little stop-and-start things, and we'd all raise our hands, right? Because we all have. The catalyst of God's grace should inspire us to find joy in exhibiting His nature to others, regardless of if the conditions shown to us by them merit them deserving it.

Ouch. But that's the nature of it, right? Imagine if Christ would have just grown weary of doing good and only showed grace to us if we merited it. Oh, well. We're all lost. Or only based on if we deserved it and how much we showed it. See, grace is really not that complicated of a topic when we put it in the simple terms of God's love for us and our obedience to show love back to Him and to others. If you think about it that way, you see how we apply it, how He applies it to us, and there's this connection that happens.

Much of Christ's teachings and His examples had to do with this, and we'll talk a little bit about that in a bit. And again, I will remind you again, I hope to never leave this not clear within this message or the other message. A key point. None of our obedience is ever earning our salvation. That only comes through repentance and faith in Christ as our sacrifice. But salvation is the good news of God's grace, and all He's done for us is made possible by God's loving-kindness through Christ our Lord.

And because none of us deserve it, it's a gift. But He expects it to be given to us so that we don't hold it like the Dead Sea. But we exemplify that we understand that and we extend it toward others. Please turn back to 1 Peter 2, verses 1-5. 1 Peter 2, 1-5. And let's look at a couple examples from Peter about what this looks like in practice. It's all nice in theory. This stuff is all hard when you get into practicing this stuff. And remember that I discussed this inevitably bumpy road of Christianity.

That we're going to learn and we're going to make mistakes. Peter is speaking here an analogy of growing past being a baby and understanding what the proper milk is to grow spiritually. 1 Peter 2, starting in verse 1. Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

That's one of those phrases at the end of it. It's kind of like we're going to put it obvious to then make the other part obvious. We've obviously experienced that the Lord is gracious. Therefore, we must lay aside all malice, deceit, and blah, blah, blah. Our calling is a process. It's a process of growth, just like a baby. And we have to learn things by watching. And then we kind of mimic. You watch a kid try to mimic. And then they start to do it themselves and they start to express themselves. It's that same concept.

But with all this, there should be this point where we move beyond the milk because we're growing. An adult can't survive on milk just alone, right? We have to keep growing and expanding. And since we've tasted that the Lord is gracious, we're expected to grow and to change. Verse 4, coming to him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

I don't know about you, but I have not normally associated that concept about being living stones in God's spiritual house and his priesthood with grace. But it involves us living in a spiritually acceptable way before God because we've tasted his graciousness. That's what the verse before talked about. Move down now to verses 11-20, and we'll see more practical examples starting in verse 11.

Beloved, I beg you, as a sojourner and a pilgrim, a stain from fleshly lusts which wore against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works, which they observe, so you're exemplifying it, glorify God way in the future, in the day of visitation. That's one of those out scriptures. You read that one and you're like, oh!

We need to manage our lusts. We need to manage our pride. We need to live in an honorable way among our neighbors even when they falsely speak evil about or falsely accuse us. But didn't Jesus do that? Wasn't that the example that he set for us? Now, we're going to see a number of examples all talking about what we do when we're in authority relationships and when we're under authority primarily.

Verse 13, therefore submit yourself to every ordinance of man, for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme or to the governor, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. As free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bond-servants of God, honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.

Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. A big part of growing in grace is the application of how we live God's way of life. And this is talking a lot about what's going on in politics, in government structures. That's very relevant, as we're here in this political year. How well do you submit to authorities or ordinances you don't agree with? Is what we're exhibiting mirroring Christ? See, we're expected to grow in this ability, as this is being Christ-like. And it also speaks to servants and their relationship to their masters.

We can all relate to that, right? We're all under some authority, if not many, many authorities. Being submissive and gracious needs to be done to the... See, Satan used that logic to leave being at the throne of God. We have to watch the excuses we give about equity to say, well, that justifies me not living correctly. But you can flip that around. We all, at different times, also are the authority figure. Even little kids, actually, are authority figures to other little kids at different times.

And remember, as God forgave and extended us grace, we are to extend that to others. I'm just a basic concept, is if we live in an eye-for-an-eye world, and if we use that approach, we are all going to end up blind.

There's no other way. There's no end. It's tit-for-tat. If we don't have God's mercy and grace to be upon us, then we should be willing and actively show grace to others. Next verse, verse 19. For this, what he's described up to it, this, is commendable if because of conscious toward God, one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. All right, let me add... Remember we talked about how there's a lot of uses of the word grace, and we don't catch it?

All the different uses that word commendable is chorus. That is the word grace that's used throughout the New Testament. It is grace, or divine favor, to God when we respond to us to respond. We gain favor with God doing this. And time after time, when Jesus Christ was unfairly tried and treated and accused, he didn't sin.

And as a result, he grew in favor with God. That's what's being described. And we also can grow in favor with God as we suffer through trials, even big ones. God is looking toward how we respond. I think that's just like a lesson of life. That's like a little bookshelf summary, but God is looking for how we respond. And we often look at life's challenges, and candidly, we look through human worthiness.

That's the lens we tend to look at things, and we tend to evaluate what the other person deserves. Frankly, the real issue is what our responsibility is before God. That takes away the excuses about the other person's worthiness. So how should we respond? Verse 20.

God says that if we're faithful, He will deliver us. We're told He always has our best interest at heart. But friends, that doesn't guarantee that we'll get our way. It doesn't guarantee that we'll get justice in this lifetime. That's not part of the terms that we see along the way. It means there's never a time to disobey or to break the commandments of God. We must obey God and not man. This is hard, right? This is a whole lot harder than removing loving from our house before this holy day or not eating it for seven days. But that's what our Christian journey is all about. Our tendency as humans is to be gracious to some infractions, to some people, and not to others based on our mood, how we feel, who they are, whatever else. Turn to Luke 6, verses 32-38. What kind of grace was it that Jesus lived by? I think if you ever want to get a feeling of what this is like, the best place to go is study the life of Jesus Christ. I can't do it in full. I can't do it in full justice. I'll give you a couple examples here during this sermon. But next time you read the Gospels, look at it strictly through what grace looks like being exhibited. It's a fascinating way to look at it. As we reflect on his life, we see that Jesus didn't extend grace to people only if he felt generous toward that person. Instead, grace was the catalyst when Christ was willing to eat with tax collectors or sinners or others who viewed him with derision like Romans and Pharisees. Grace was the catalyst when he healed, when he fed, when he taught sinners and his disciples. And he loved them. He loved them not because of their faults, but because of their potential. That same thing is true for us. He loves us that way. Now, Luke 6 is either an abbreviation of the Sermon on the Mount or most likely a separate message that's similar to thoughts. It's relevant for what we're talking about here, but what Jesus is providing is a description of what grace looks like when it's lived. Luke 6, verse 32.

For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemy, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return, and your reward will be great. And you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your father also is merciful. That is what God does. Right? That's what he exemplifies in all of our lives and throughout history. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure. Press down. Shaken together and running over will be put into your bosom. With the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. I'm going to give you a real fast-forward reading of some of the things from the Sermon on the Mount. Just, you know Matthew 5-7. But again, fit these into the context. Love your enemies. Don't look at a person in lust. Be kind to the unthankful and evil. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him too. Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you, and do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. Give to him who asks you and from him who wants to borrow from you. Do not turn away. Keep going. But that was the nature of Jesus Christ when he lived on earth. How many times was Christ slandered and falsely spoken about? But when that happened, what example did he show? I think it's a lesson for all of us. God gives a lot more grace than people deserve and than we'd ever imagine. And we should do the same. 11 bread is getting that 11 out, but it means putting something else in, right? A lot of us lose friends or make enemies because we seek justice. We seek retaliation or retribution for every slate, for every offense, whether real or perceived. Grace overlooks. Grace forgives. Grace moves on. And we want that from God, right? I mean, we're like, yes, that's my God. But we're supposed to exhibit the same. God didn't have to provide payment for a sin. But he did, and he does that willingly. He does it gladly. Turn to John 8, verses 7 through 11. We'll jump into another example from Jesus' life. John 8, 7 through 11. We're jumping into the very end of the story of the woman who was caught in adultery. Okay? And we have this bunch of people around ready to stone, her, apparently not her partner, which is total hypocrisy. Now we start John 8, verse 7.

See, Jesus decided not to make a final judgment on this. You can't have grace without truth. So he led her in this beautiful way of self-discovery. I'm guaranteeing, you know, we all have life moments where you won't forget when that happened. Oh, that's a life lesson in her life where that could probably be just she could fill up and down her spine just by the mention of it. Her in a way where she see the point to live differently. And throughout his examples, I find solace from the fact that Jesus really looked at people's attitudes. And if they had a reasonable level of contrition, of humility, of striving to change, then he seemed very happy to accommodate their results. To finish the thought, does Jesus require that sinners that he shows grace toward repent and turn to him in obedience? Of course he does. Everybody has to do that. But God extends grace to anyone without regard to them ever having followed the formula first. He does it in good faith. Or that this person is not going to go sin anymore. Of course not. He doesn't know that. In fact, he gives a person his Holy Spirit at baptism, forgives them of all of their sins without the assurance that they won't turn and sin a whole lot more and rebel against him. That's where our ultimate judgment comes into play. Turn next to Luke 23, verses 52-56. In this example of Jesus, think about what if somebody doesn't respond to you and I in a way that we want, or that's godly? How do we respond? Does that justify us having a tart response? Luke 9, verse 52.

He turned and rebuked them and said, You do not know what manner of spirit you are, for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them. Nothing was said of them, guys, let's go on to the next town, which is probably multiple miles away, up over hills, another exhausting journey. It doesn't talk about hours being spent grumbling and murmuring about these bad people and what they're like, and rah rah rah rah. No. Christ didn't come to destroy us but to save us, because he always viewed things from the long-term outcome, and we could benefit by doing the same. Turn to Ephesians 3, verses 17-19. Ephesians 3, 17-19. In this area, Paul is kind of reflecting on some of the lessons that he learned as he reflected on Christ's life. Ephesians 3, starting in verse 17. So your question, my question as we approach the end of this feast, this holy day, is are we growing to the point where we're expanding our understanding? And more importantly, our application of godly grace toward others?

Do we understand more this year than last? Hopefully. More importantly, are we continuing to grow not only in knowledge but in application about all these dimensions every year? Well, that's harder. But hopefully we also see evidence of that. Paul finished his letter in Ephesians 6, verse 24, by saying, I'm a beautiful way to put it, but we must love God in sincerity. That implies actively living out our beliefs and reflecting his nature. Turn next to Colossians 4, verses 2-6.

We'll find some more instructions on how God's grace should be a catalyst on how we interact with others. And again, nothing context is always important. As you read this, keep in mind Paul was in prison in Rome when he was writing this. Colossians 4, verse 2.

I mean, Paul is just amazing that way. His awareness and his gratitude for God shone through everywhere, even if he was in prison and chained.

We have to redeem the time. Living this life of grace requires that we're vigilant, that we don't waste opportunities to teach, to be an example of how we conduct ourselves. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each other. Well-known phrase, right? Our speech. That concept of our tongue and managing it and what we say is a challenge. Our speech should be such that we engage people with words that are graceful, that are kind, that are uplifting, encouraging, yet when needed, just have the right amount of salt in them, too, right? When you stop and you think about it, the right way to do this also has a lot to do with how we listen. But as you'll notice, Paul mentions that we know how we ought to answer. That means you're listening, right? There's also this important part of listening well. And remembering when we're speaking, we're only speaking to what God thinks the other person really should hear, not what this little well of pride inside of us thinks the person should be told along the way. We must always do it with grace seasoned with salt. I don't know about you. If I don't reflect back on my life, there's so many examples of this. I think of some kind, amazing, wonderful, wise, tremendous friends after Renee's death. Close to nine years now, tomorrow. But who would give me a little time for a pity party? But then would check my logic, would check my priorities by saying, can I ask you a question? To point out what really should matter most in my life, or my responsibility as a single parent. I think of the speech of some great, great leaders who I've had the pleasure of working with over time, who can encourage and give perspective, right? Provide uplifting words that makes you overcome and face challenging situations. We've all heard words, or songs, frankly, from people that motivate us to be better people, better parents, better friends. Or give us perspective. Still, it's a challenge how often, you know, probably like 30% of the time I hear the song, Blessings, by Laura Story, that it doesn't bring tears to my eyes because of the powerful concept of what that shares and the painful realities of it. But it's a powerful song. That's what it means to have words of grace seasoned with salt. Because God's grace is very uplifting. It's a happy topic. The idea that we can have this positive, this warm and friendly relationship with the Creator of the universe, that should make us feel good. I mean, that's remarkable. And when we display His nature toward others, it makes God feel good. It brings favor with Him. So we all need to give, and we need to receive gracious words more and more. God is infinitely merciful and forgiving to us. And so, this time of year is where we reflect. Do we mirror that toward others? Something to think about. Next time you start losing your temper, or one of those little, tense, rigid situations. Turn to 1 Peter 5 and verse 10. That's review one final verse as we close out. Grace was generously given to us by our living Creator. And God showed us how to express grace, to exhibit it as a catalyst for us to mirror His nature to others. 1 Peter 5 and verse 10. But may the God of all grace who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus. We'll stop there. Who is our God? Is our God the God of some grace?

No. He's the God of some grace. After you have suffered a while, the Bible just slips those things in. It's just like, alright, keep constant, keep perspective, keep humble. It never pulls punches. We're not promised an easy road because we have faith. Because we have faith in the grace of God. That doesn't say, and no, that's all. But we're told that the sufferings of this life are nothing compared to the glory that shall be revealed at Christ's return. So now we're given four encouragements that the God of all grace will do for us. May the God of all grace perfect you. The word here means to restore, to rip the one and two things together so they're locked. The purpose of suffering is not so God can see how much stress we take before we break. This is not a mental test that God is doing in that way. Instead, you can reflect back to what it says in James 1, where we're going through diverse trials. That's because they help perfect us. We're gaining and growing in the image of Christ, in His nature. That's the purpose. The purpose of suffering is so that the end result will be us coming to the point where we praise God, where we honor Him, we reflect His nature. See, God wants His nature with ours, so that we come to the point where we choose to live and act like Him out of our lives. That's the purpose of what this whole journey is about. Next it says, may the God of all grace establish you. This means to take something firmly and place it in a certain direction or to set it fast, depending on the use of it.

So, are you feeling maybe it's a challenge to withstand the pressures you're going through or something else that's going on? Whatever Satan's throwing at you, God's grace can't help establish you to do that. May the God of all grace strengthen you. This means adding the energy, the enthusiasm, the ability to make it all the way to the end. That's why we have all the stories in the Bible of these Bible heroes. You know, next time you face your giant, remember David faced a giant. That's why these are in the Bible. May the God of all grace settle you. Now, this relates to a foundation being laid and settled firm. To this God, the God of all grace, be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. So, what is the grace of God? The grace of God is God's gracious gift for us to be able to enter into his royal family. As sons, as daughters of God, we're justified freely by the grace of God. Upon repentance, upon faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and baptism, and when we do that, we are cleansed of our sins. We're given the helper, the Holy Spirit. But now that we're forgiven, now that we're unlove-ened, we must change. We must be stirred to action. That is what we symbolize by removing love-en from our houses and our lives.

Amen.