Dr Charles Stanley - Grace On Display Part 1

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
In order for me to see myself as a servant,
I have to forget myself. My motivation can't be so
somebody will think I'm doing well, so I get somebody's approval,
of somebody's accolade. No, I want to serve somebody else,
because Jesus Christ save me. The grace of God is
living within me, and I want to give away to

(00:23):
other people what He's given to me. When you understand grace,
you can't keep it to yourself. You just cannot.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Welcome to in touch. The teaching ministry of doctor Charles
Stanley and his continuing series on Grace. The Apostle Paul
was used by God to write a large portion of
the New Testament. Before that, his name was Saul, and
he hunted down and killed Christians. But even at his
worst moment, he was never beyond the reach of God.

(00:55):
We have much to learn from Paul's life today. In
Part one of Grace on Delay.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
You're not a Christian, you don't even claim to be.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
You know that you're living in sin, and you just
keep on heading that direction. There have been times when
you wish you could do something else, you could change
your life, but somehow.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
You haven't figured that out yet.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
In fact, sometimes you think, I think I'll just not
believe in God anymore and just forget the whole thing.

Speaker 3 (01:23):
You can't do that.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
You look back in your life and you see what
you've left behind, heartache, troubles, difficulty, hardship, the way you've
treated people, mistreated them, money, you've wasted, time, you've wasted,
and you think, how could God ever do anything with
a person like me? And I want to tell you

(01:46):
don't have to give up, because I'm going to share
with you the most awesome news any person can ever hear.
You may have heard about it before, but you're going
to hear about it maybe a.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Little different way today.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
And it's my prayer that you're listen careful, and whatever
else you may be doing, I hope you lay it down,
laid aside, and sit down and listen carefully, because this
could be the most important.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
Hour in your whole life.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
God could transform your circumstance and your situation no matter what.
Because what I want to talk about is this grace
on display. And if you have a Bible, I want
you to turn, if you will, to first Timothy.

Speaker 3 (02:28):
And so.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
I want us to begin with verse twelve a first
Chapter one, Timothy. I think Christ Jesus, our Lord, who
has strengthened me because he considered me faithful, putting me
into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and
a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown
mercy because I acted ignorantly and unbelief, and the grace

(02:53):
of our Lord was more than abundant. With the faith
and love which you're found in Christ Jesus. It is
a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners, among whom I am
foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy,
so that in me, as the foremost Jesus, Christ might

(03:15):
demonstrate his perfect patience as an example for those who
would believe in him for eternal life. Now to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible,
the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
Amen. Now, what I want us to do in this
message is this.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
I want us to look at life before grace, and
I want us to look at life by grace, and
I want us to look at life in grace. So
I want us to think, for just a moment I
want you to turn, if you will, to Ephesians chapter
Look in Ephesians chapter two, because here is an example

(03:52):
of what life is like before grace with everyone. You say, well,
I would say when I was in a very part
of my life. Well that's fine. That doesn't mean that
you are in a sinner. And so look at what
he says in Ephesians two, beginning in verse one. He's
writing to Christians now, and here's what he says. And
you were dead in your trespasses and sins. That means

(04:15):
you had no spiritual life, and you were dead to
the things of God in which you formerly walked according
to the course of this world.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
That is, you were just doing what the world does.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
According to the Prince of the power of the air
of the spirit that is now working in the sons
of disobedience, which is Satanic power among them.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
Listen to what Paul says.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
We two all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh,
he says, indulging the desires of the flesh, of our
carnal nature and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath. Even as the rest that's life before grace,
all of us have been there, and all of us

(04:57):
would have to acknowledge in our life that before we
trusted Jesus Christ as our personal savior, you know, we
were not the kind of person we ought to be.
And so what I want you to see now, that's
life before Grace.

Speaker 3 (05:12):
I want you to see.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
What life was like before Grace in a particular person,
and that is in the Saul of Tarsus. We call
him Paul the Apostle, but I want us to see
what life was like before Grace in his life. And
when you begin to think about that, and you begin
to look at his life and the first time you

(05:33):
see Paul will come to in just a moment. He's
the Saul of Tarsus at that time, and he's into
something that his life began to be a part of
in the most awful way. And I'm going to show you.
I'm going to read a few passages of Scripture with you,
and then I'm going to show you just how awful
this man was because.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
We don't usually think about that.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
We think about, well, he was a missionary and he
understands the truth of God's word and the understanding as
he did that he wrote these letters for us. Now
we're blessed But what was he like before the grace
of God came into his life? Because you see, many
of you may feel in your heart that God could
never forgive you of your sins because of all the
things you've done. And you can list a few things

(06:15):
that you think are absolutely terrible, and you know that
it's a violation of the word of God, and you say, well,
you know, how could I be forgiven of my sin
having done all these things? Well, I'm going to answer
that question. Well, let me tell you something about him.
Paul was born in Tarsus, and it was a small city,
but it became a big city about ten miles inland

(06:37):
in the Mediterranean. And he was educated by one of
the finest educators, by Kamelia. And he was a tent
maker by trade, because the Jews believed that every young
man should have some kind of trade in case he
needed at some time in his life whatever he may
be doing. And he was wrapped up in Judaism, that is,
he knew it. And he says in one passage we'll read,

(06:59):
he says that he was really above and beyond all
of his peers. He exceeded them in every way, and
his steadying, his understanding and knowledge of the Old Testament.

Speaker 3 (07:08):
So this is the kind of man he was.

Speaker 1 (07:09):
He was a very religious man, religious but blind, religious
but lost, religious but truly separated from God.

Speaker 3 (07:19):
Now, he was that kind of man.

Speaker 1 (07:21):
And what I want you to notice here is if
you look at his life, what kind of life he developed? Religious, educated, leader,
all that. But listen to what the scripture says. And
all of these things that I'm going to say are
confessions of the apostle Paul himself. It's not that somebody
else is accusing him of this. This is what he

(07:42):
himself is saying about himself. And so I want you
to begin with turning to the eighth chapter of Acts.
We're going to stay in Acts for a few moments
and look in this eighth chapter, and here we find Paul.
But I want you, I want us to go back
to the seventh chapter from moment, and here is Stephen,

(08:02):
one of God's servants, being stoned to death. And the
scripture says in the fifty eighth verse of the seventh chapter,
but when they had driven him out of the city,
they began stoning him, and the witnesses laid aside than
robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. Look,
if you will, now in chapter eight, verse one, Saul

(08:23):
was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And
on that day a great persecution began against the Church
in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions
of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Some devout men
buried Stephen and made loud lamentations of him. Watch this,

(08:43):
but Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house
and dragging off men and women.

Speaker 3 (08:50):
He would put them in prison.

Speaker 1 (08:52):
Now with that passage, I want us to look at
chapter nine for a moment and look how it begins.
This is a conversation here about his salvation. But just
want us to read this first part. Now, sauls still
breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,
went to the high Priest and asked for letters from

(09:14):
him to the Synagogue and Dabascus, so that if he
found any belonging to the Way, both men and women,
he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. And I want
you to turn, if you will, to the twenty sixth chapter.
And now he is defending himself before a gripper and
confessing his past. And here's what he said in verse nine.

(09:36):
So then I thought to myself that I had to
do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
And this is just what I did in Jerusalem.

Speaker 1 (09:46):
Not only did I lock up many of the saints
in prisons, having received the thorityan from the chief priest,
but also when they were being put to death, I
cast my vote against them, that is, put them to death,
he says. And as I punished them often in all
the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme, and

(10:07):
being infuriously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them, even
to foreign cities. Now look at this man. Here has
one goal eradicate the Christian faith. Blasphem the name of Jesus,
destroy the church, remove it from the face of the earth,

(10:27):
so that there's not only no influence, but no evidence
of it. Now, usually when you think about the Apostle Paul,
you think of this very godly man. This is Paul,
the apostle before Grace. And I want to say this
to you, many of you who may be listening. You
look back at your life and you've never trusted Jesus
Christ that your savior. So you're in the stage of
before grace. Look at your life. You may have done

(10:51):
none of those particular things, but you've disobeyed God, You've
transgressed the law of God. You've lived in sin, You've
done many many things. I won't name your sins. I
don't know what they are. That's not of my business.
But you know what they are, and you know that
you've violated the law of God. You may have criticized
the laws of God. You may have laughed at the

(11:11):
Bible in church, and you may have set in your
own mind there's nothing to any of that. I want
no part of that my life. That's just a bunch
of weak folks who go to church. The church shouldn't
even be around. Maybe you'd fall in the category of
those who before grace. Now listen, The scripture says he
assisted in the death of Stephen. He consented to it.

(11:36):
He destroyed people. He intruded into their homes, dragging them out,
husbands and wives and probably children, imprisoning them, threatening them,
killing them, binding them, persecuting them, punishing them, beating them,
opposing them, voting for their death, torturing them to recant
of their faith, raging against them, blaspheming and injuring.

Speaker 3 (12:01):
And this man's in the Bible. This man's a Christian.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yes, And here's the reason, Because you see, the grace
of God can reach out to anyone no matter who
they are, no matter who you are. You could never
say I've done all those things. Very few folks are
going to be accused of that. And what I want
you to see is that nobody accused Paul of that.
He is the one who confessed his own sinfulness, and

(12:28):
he says, this is how wicked and vile and sinful
and murderous that he was murdered people, dragging families out
of their homes and hauling them off to prison, either
taking the children or leaving them alone.

Speaker 3 (12:46):
You see, that's what sin does.

Speaker 1 (12:49):
Sin reaches into a person's life to many different degrees.
And while all those things would never be a part
of your life, think of the things that are that
ought not to be.

Speaker 3 (13:00):
And the question is there any hope?

Speaker 1 (13:03):
And the truth is yes, there is hope. And here's
what I want you to notice. You listened and save in.
Paul did not have one single thing to do with
his salvation. God changed him in a few moments. He
didn't work for it because all his work had been treacherous, horrible,

(13:27):
destroying people in the Church of God.

Speaker 3 (13:30):
And so what happened.

Speaker 1 (13:32):
God reached down, got his attention, parentheses, scared him to death,
got his attention, revealed himself to him as the very
Lord and Savior whom he hated and despised and was
trying listen at the threat of death. If they did
not recan't turn away from Jesus Christ, say they don't

(13:54):
believe anymore. He put him to death. Something had happened
to this man. And here's what happened. The grace of God,
his goodness and love and favor looked down upon this man,
who is the ring leader of the church assassinations, and
did what. He broke his will, He broke his heart,

(14:17):
He broke through his blindness, and revealed himself to him
and saved him. Listen to me carefully. You can never
take credit for being saved. It's something that God has done.
You say, well, but so and so told me about it.
That may have been the channel. But it's God who
spoke to them and got you saved. It is an
act of the goodness and love and kindness of Almighty God.

(14:40):
And here's what happened to him. He was saved and
as a result, God made him. This is what he says.
He says back in the first him, but he says,
God's made me an example, and this is exactly what
he did do. He says, for this reason, I found
the mercy so that in me, the foremost of since
Jesus Christ, might demonstrate his perfect patience as an example

(15:04):
for those who would believe in him for eternal life.

Speaker 3 (15:08):
But the truth is all of us should be an example.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
Every believer should be an example of the grace and
goodness and love and mercy of God. Because you and
I have trusted Him as our savior. We ask him
to forgive us of our sins, and he did. And
the person says, well, but you know what, You just
don't know how wicked and sinful I've ben.

Speaker 3 (15:27):
Did you see that list? And God saved him.

Speaker 1 (15:31):
If God would save him, he will save you if
you will acknowledge him and turn your life over to him,
and surrender yourself to him and confess your sins, confess
your wickedness, repent of your sins, turn away from that
and trust him to forgive you and to cleanse you
and to make you a brand new person. He's willing,
he's ready, because you see, that's who God is. And

(15:54):
as I think about many people who say, well, I've
tried to do better, tried to please God, listen, you
can't please God until the grace of God has been
received by you in the gift of salvation. You can't
please him because you're operating out of a sinful nature.
And you see, you can't be good enough. You cannot

(16:15):
earn it. It's something you have to receive, not something,
but somebody. It is forgiveness you receive, but it's the
person also that you receive. That's the person of Jesus Christ.
You may have been the church for years and years
and years, You've done a lot of good things, given
a lot of money, done a lot of this, that
and the other. But until you personally acknowledge your sinfulness,

(16:36):
that you may be saying, well, I'm not so bad
compared to who you see, all of us can find
somebody that we might think we're better than. But listen,
you're comparing yourself with Jesus Christ. He's the only sinless one.
And because he was willing to lay down his life
at Calvary, shedding his blood, which was the payment for

(16:57):
your sin. Now you can be forgiven and cleanse to
have a brand new life. Listen, what grace is all
about is taking people like you and me and forgiving
us of our sins, rescuing us from a life of sin,
making as a whole, brand new person, giving us a
whole new future, giving us a way of life that

(17:17):
is pleasing and honorable, and giving us the gift of
eterm life. That's what grace is all about. It's not
about church, it's not about organizations. It's about a relationship.
And some of you have probably said, well, you know,
I've been to church and that didn't work. Your church
where you visited may not have worked. But the grace
of God works. The gospel of Jesus Christ has always worked.

(17:39):
Sometimes people just don't believe, and sometimes maybe they've been misled,
and sometimes they've been told things that are not true.

Speaker 3 (17:45):
But I'm here to.

Speaker 1 (17:46):
Tell you here's what the Bible says. For God's soul
love the world includes you and me. Whosovil believes in
him should not perish but have everlasting life because he
gave his only begotten son at Calber. That's what this
cross business is all about. It's about the grace of
God paying your sin debt in full because you can't
pay it. The cross is all about God's love. It's

(18:06):
all about his redeeming you. It's all about his transforming
your life. It's all about making you a brand new person.
That's what grace is all about. And this is what
happened to the apostle Paul on the Damascus Road. God
reached down in his loving favor and did what transformed
his life. And listen, this murderer became a missionary, and

(18:29):
this man who plotted against the church became a preacher
of the Gospel of the Church. He absolutely totally revolutionized
and transformed his life. He can do the same thing
to you, because God is in the process of doing so.
That's what God is up to all over the world,
changing people's lives, making them godly, making them His servants,

(18:52):
transforming them for all eternity. And you may be thinking, well,
could he do that to me?

Speaker 3 (18:57):
Yes he can. There's no such thing as next exception.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
When somebody says, well watch this, somebody says, well, now
I know God could do that for so and so.

Speaker 3 (19:05):
But you know what, I you know what you just did.

Speaker 1 (19:08):
You just expressed the most awesome sense of pure pride.
You mean you are an exception to the grace of God.
You're an exception.

Speaker 3 (19:17):
Listen.

Speaker 1 (19:17):
You're an exception to this awesome gift of salvation that
God has provided for every single person. And the truth
is this that when Jesus went to the cross, he
offered listen, he paid the sin that the whole world, past, present, future,
and he made it possible for everyone to be saved
if they would receive Him as their lord and save you.

(19:40):
You cannot have sinned so badly that God won't save you.

Speaker 2 (19:47):
You're listening to in Touch, the teaching ministry of doctor
Charles Stanley. Those of us who have trusted in Jesus
Christ for salvation have been eternally forgiven and adopted into
God Odd's family. That truth should motivate us to honor
him with our obedience, confident that He will never reject
a son or daughter. We'll hear more about this tomorrow,

(20:11):
and if you'd like to listen again, click on today
on radio at in touch dotorg. From our homepage begin
your search for free online resources that will explain more
about what it means to trust in Jesus. If you
open our store page, you can order a copy of
today's complete message Grace on Display, or order the entire

(20:33):
teaching set How Grace Changes Everything Again. That's in touch
dot org or call one eight hundred in Touch. You
can write to us at in Touch Post Office Box
seventy nine hundred, Atlanta, Georgia, three zero three five seven.
Would you have to say that you compromise your convictions

(20:56):
more than you'd like to admit? We'll hear some probing
questions just ahead. In Today's Moment with Charles Stanley.

Speaker 4 (21:03):
Do everyday challenges ever leave you feeling the weight of
the world on your shoulders. No matter what we go
through in life, sometimes prayer can be a struggle. But
there is nothing too big or small for God. In
doctor Stanley's book, when you don't know what to pray,
learn to overcome the obstacles you face when praying through
life's challenges and victories. With one hundred essential prayers, you'll

(21:27):
find the words to guide you as you pour out
your heart to the Lord. Visit in Touch dot org
Slash books.

Speaker 5 (21:34):
Even though life might take turns you never expected. God
created you with a plan to fulfill an important role
in His kingdom. You may not realize how profoundly God
desires to work in you and impact others through you,
but he does. Just imagine what your life might look
like a year from now after connecting daily with your
heavenly Father, God's purpose for your life. A year long

(21:57):
devotional from doctor Charles Stanley, order yours today Call one
eight hundred in Touch.

Speaker 2 (22:06):
You're listening to in Touch whose opinion matters to you
the most? With a challenge for believers. Here's a moment
with Charles Stanley.

Speaker 1 (22:17):
Do you know one of the primary reasons people compromise
fear of rejection. Oh if I don't join them, if
I don't participate, they're not gonna like me anymore. So
what listen, careful that hits It all boils down to this.

Speaker 3 (22:31):
Watch this.

Speaker 1 (22:33):
Let's say that somebody wants you to participate in something
that you know is absolutely wrong. They'll say, oh, come on,
I mean, we're all just gonna have a good time.
Come on, I listen, you're one of those religious people.
You have church goers, Come on now, look, everybody else.

Speaker 3 (22:49):
Is here's the decision. And here's the bottom line. Do
you choose.

Speaker 1 (22:55):
To obey God and to please him and to have
his favor, or do you choose to please those who
are living in an ungodly life and have their favor?

Speaker 3 (23:08):
Oh, you say, well, it's not that cut and drat, Oh,
yes it is.

Speaker 1 (23:12):
You see, compromise to do evil is always the wrong thing.
And what it all boils down to you see, the
truth is that believe us who are following Jesus, we
have peace with God, we have Joe in our heart,
we have confidence, we have assurance, we have boldness, we
have hope, and I was we could just go on
and on and on.

Speaker 3 (23:31):
The unbelieve it doesn't have any of that.

Speaker 1 (23:34):
And so they've also always got to be participating in
something to do what to fill up this emptiness in
their life.

Speaker 3 (23:41):
So any time you attempted.

Speaker 1 (23:43):
To be disobedient to God, here is the question what
matters to me most?

Speaker 3 (23:48):
His opinion, Almighty God or their opinion.

Speaker 2 (23:53):
Learn more about living a life that puts God first
at in Touch dot Org. Tomorrow on in Touch will
continue examining the apostle. Paul's response to grace. His life
is an example for each of us to follow and
we'll hear more about it Thursday on in Touch, the
teaching Ministry of doctor Charles Stanley. This program is a

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presentation of in Touch Ministries Atlanta, Georgia and remains on
this station through the grace of God and your faithful
prayers and gifts