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What Good Is Grace- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Hi friends, I'm Max Locato. Welcome to Fresh Hope. I'm
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  Speaker 1: so glad you joined me. You know, I live in
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  Speaker 1: Texas and it gets hot here. And we are well
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  Speaker 1: acquainted with being thirsty. Just stop drinking water and see
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  Speaker 1: what happens. Coherent thoughts vanish and skin grows clammy. Vital
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  Speaker 1: organs can shut down. Deprive your body of necessary fluid,
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  Speaker 1: it will tell you. The same holds true with our soul.
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  Speaker 1: Without God's living water, our heart dehydrates. We feel worry, guilt, fear,
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  Speaker 1: and hopelessness. Could you use some refreshment? Please join me
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  Speaker 1: for this four-episode series entitled, Come Thirsty. I'm so glad
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  Speaker 1: to share some fresh hope with you. You're probably familiar
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  Speaker 1: with the story of the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15.
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  Speaker 1: A landowner's son cashed in his trust fund and trashed
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  Speaker 1: his family name, squandering the money on booze and women
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  Speaker 1: and tattoos. Sometime later, he was broke, alone, sick, and
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  Speaker 1: living in a pig pen. He returned to his father's estate,
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  Speaker 1: worrying the whole way. He was so focused on his penance.
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  Speaker 1: that he failed to hear the sound of his father running. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: running toward him. The dad embraced the boy as if
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  Speaker 1: he were a returning war hero. He commanded the servants
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  Speaker 1: to bring a robe, a ring, and sandals as if
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  Speaker 1: to say, no boy of mine is going to look
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  Speaker 1: like a pig-pen peasant. Meanwhile, big brother stood on the porch, sulking.
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  Speaker 1: The father tried to explain, but the Jealous son wouldn't listen.
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  Speaker 1: In Luke, this is where the story ends. But in
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  Speaker 1: my imagination, there's a second chapter. And in this chapter,
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  Speaker 1: the older brother reigns on the forgiveness parade. He taunts
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  Speaker 1: his little brother with rules. Nice robe, he says. Better
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  Speaker 1: keep it clean. One spot and dad will send you away.
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  Speaker 1: Nice ring, he says. Be sure to wear it on
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  Speaker 1: the right finger. Nice sandals. Don't let the laces get
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  Speaker 1: loose or dad will take them back. Keeping the robe spotless,
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  Speaker 1: the ring positioned, the sandals snug, who could meet such standards?
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  Speaker 1: The prodigal son avoids the father, afraid he can't please him.
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  Speaker 1: Wonder where my imagination found this story? Well, it's in
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  Speaker 1: the book of Galatians. Thanks to some legalistic big brothers,
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  Speaker 1: Paul's readers had gone from grace-receiving to law-keeping. Their Christian
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  Speaker 1: life had lost its joy. And the Apostle Paul was puzzled.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks to some legalistic big brothers, Paul's readers had gone
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  Speaker 1: from grace-receiving to law-keeping. And their Christian life had lost
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  Speaker 1: its joy. Paul was puzzled. In Galatians chapter 1, he says,
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  Speaker 1: I am shocked that you are turning away so soon
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  Speaker 1: from God, who in his love and mercy called you
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  Speaker 1: to share the eternal life he gives you through Christ.
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  Speaker 1: You're already following a different way that pretends to be
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  Speaker 1: the good news, but it's not the good news at all.
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  Speaker 1: You're being fooled by those who twist and change the
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  Speaker 1: truth concerning Christ. And yet we Jewish Christians know that
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  Speaker 1: we become right with God not by doing what the
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  Speaker 1: law commands, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we
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  Speaker 1: have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be accepted
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  Speaker 1: by God because of our faith in Christ and not
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  Speaker 1: because we have obeyed the law. For no one will
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  Speaker 1: ever be saved by obeying the law. Joy snatchers infiltrated
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  Speaker 1: the Roman church as well. Paul had to remind them
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  Speaker 1: in Romans 4 and verse 5, but people are declared
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  Speaker 1: righteous because of their faith, not because of their work.
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  Speaker 1: Philippian Christians had heard the same foolishness. Big brothers were insisting,
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  Speaker 1: you must be circumcised to be saved. That's in chapter
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  Speaker 1: 3 and verse 2. And in Acts 15, the non-Jewish
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  Speaker 1: believers in the Jerusalem church were being told the same.
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  Speaker 1: All of these churches suffered from the same malady, grace blockage.
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  Speaker 1: The father might let you in the gate, but you
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  Speaker 1: have to earn your place at the table. You can
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  Speaker 1: taste the water, but don't drink it. So what good
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  Speaker 1: is water if you can't drink it? And what good
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  Speaker 1: is grace if you don't let it go deep? Do you?
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  Speaker 1: Do you let grace go deep? What image best describes you?
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  Speaker 1: A drenched kid dancing in front of an open fire
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  Speaker 1: hydrant or a desert tumbleweed? Here's how you know. One question,
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  Speaker 1: does God's grace define you? Deeply flowing grace clarifies who
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  Speaker 1: we are. Ephesians 2 verses 4 through 9 says, God
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  Speaker 1: is so rich in mercy and he loved us so
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  Speaker 1: very much that even while we were Dead because of
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  Speaker 1: our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ
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  Speaker 1: from the dead. It is only by God's special favor
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  Speaker 1: you have been saved. For he raised us from the
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  Speaker 1: dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him
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  Speaker 1: in the heavenly realms, all because we are one with
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  Speaker 1: Christ Jesus. And so God can always point to us
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  Speaker 1: as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and
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  Speaker 1: kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done,
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  Speaker 1: through Christ Jesus. God saved you by his special favor
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  Speaker 1: when you believed, and you can't take credit for this.
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  Speaker 1: It is a gift from God. Salvation is not a
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  Speaker 1: reward for the good things we have done, so none
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  Speaker 1: of us can boast about it. Now look how grace
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  Speaker 1: defines us. Verse 5 says, he gave us life. We
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  Speaker 1: are spiritually alive. Verse 6 says, we are seated with
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  Speaker 1: him in the heavenly realms. We are heavenly positioned Verse
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  Speaker 1: 6 also says we are one with Christ Jesus. That
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  Speaker 1: means we're connected to God. Verse 7 says we are
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  Speaker 1: examples of the incredible wealth of His favor and kindness
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  Speaker 1: toward us. We're billboards of mercy. And verse 8 says
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  Speaker 1: God saved you by His special favor. We are honored children.
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  Speaker 1: As grace sinks in, earthly labels fade. Society labels you
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  Speaker 1: as stupid, unproductive, a quitter. But you aren't who they
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  Speaker 1: say you are. You are who God says you are.
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  Speaker 1: Spiritually alive, heavenly positioned, connected to the Father, a billboard
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  Speaker 1: of mercy, an honored child. Of course, not all labels
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  Speaker 1: are negative. Some people regard you as handsome, clever, or successful.
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  Speaker 1: But listen, even a White House office doesn't compare with
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  Speaker 1: your being seated with him in the heavenly realms. Grace
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  Speaker 1: creates the Christian's resume. It certainly did for Mephibosheth, one
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  Speaker 1: of my favorite stories. Talk about a redefined life. In
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  Speaker 1: 2 Samuel chapter 9, after the Philistines defeated Saul in battle,
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  Speaker 1: killing him and his son, David's best friend, Jonathan, David
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  Speaker 1: wondered if any of Saul's descendants were still alive. He
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  Speaker 1: wanted to extend mercy to them. A servant remembered saying
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  Speaker 1: to the king in verse 3, Yes, one of Jonathan's
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  Speaker 1: son is still alive, but he is crippled. No name offered,
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  Speaker 1: just a label of misfortune. What happened to this boy?
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  Speaker 1: When word of Saul's death and Jonathan's death Reached the capital,
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  Speaker 1: a nurse in Jonathan's house swept up his five-year-old boy
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  Speaker 1: and fled. But she stumbled and dropped him, crippling the
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  Speaker 1: boy in both feet. Where does such a child turn?
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  Speaker 1: How about Lodabar, Israel? Appropriate place for Mephibosheth. Dropped like
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  Speaker 1: a cantaloupe from a torn paper sack. How low can
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  Speaker 1: you go? Low enough to end up in the low-rent district.
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  Speaker 1: of Lodabar. Are you acquainted with the streets? If you've
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  Speaker 1: been dropped, you are dropped from the list, dropped by
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  Speaker 1: a friend, dropped off at the orphanage. People don't remember
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  Speaker 1: your name, but they remember your pain. Oh, he's the alcoholic,
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  Speaker 1: she's the widow, and you live labeled. So did Mephibosheth
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  Speaker 1: until something Cinderella-like happened. the king's men knocked at his
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  Speaker 1: Lodabar door, and they loaded him in a wagon and
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  Speaker 1: carried him into the presence of the king, and they
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  Speaker 1: set him at the king's table. Verse 11 says, And
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  Speaker 1: from that time on, Mephibosheth ate regularly with David, as
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  Speaker 1: though he were one of his own sons. From Lodabar
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  Speaker 1: to the palace, quite a move from Mephibosheth, and quite
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  Speaker 1: a reminder for us. He models our journey. God lifted
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  Speaker 1: us from the dead end street of Lodabarville and sat
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  Speaker 1: us at his table. Again, remember Ephesians 2, 6, we
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  Speaker 1: are seated with him in the a testimony in his
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  Speaker 1: gallery of grace. Over a hundred years ago, a group
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  Speaker 1: of fishermen were relaxing in the dining room of a
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  Speaker 1: Scottish seaside inn. One of the men made a big gesture,
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  Speaker 1: depicting the size of a fish that got away. His
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  Speaker 1: arm struck a server's tray, sending a teapot flying into
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  Speaker 1: the wall where it left an irregular brown splotch. The
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  Speaker 1: innkeeper surveyed the damage and declared that the whole wall
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  Speaker 1: would have to be repainted. A stranger appeared and said,
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  Speaker 1: perhaps not. Let me work with it. The man sketched
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  Speaker 1: lines around the stain. In time, an image began to emerge,
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  Speaker 1: a stag with a great rack of antlers. The man
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  Speaker 1: inscribed his signature at the bottom, paid for his meal,
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  Speaker 1: and left. His name was Sir Edwin Landseer, the famous
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  Speaker 1: wildlife painter. In his hands, a mistake became a masterpiece.
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  Speaker 1: Who determines your destiny? What defines you? The day you
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  Speaker 1: were dropped or the day you were carried to the
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  Speaker 1: king's table? Receive God's work. As grace sinks deep into
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  Speaker 1: your soul, Lodabar will become a dot in the rearview mirror.
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  Speaker 1: And the next time Big Brother starts dispensing more rules,
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  Speaker 1: quote the Apostle of Grace from 1 Corinthians 15 10.
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  Speaker 1: By the grace of God, I am what I am.
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  Speaker 1: Until next time, drink deeply from God's well of grace.
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  Speaker 1: No heart is too dry. for his touch.
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  Speaker 2: Loving you alone feels so beautiful. And yet it hurts
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  Speaker 2: the most.
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  Speaker 3: You became my quiet sunrise The dream I never dared
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  Speaker 3: to say Every smile you gave so freely Took my
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  Speaker 3: breath a little away I.
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  Speaker 2: Held this love like fragile glass So precious, soft and
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  Speaker 2: true But every beat inside my heart Was only reaching
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  Speaker 2: out to you Unspoken love is sweet and painful Like
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  Speaker 2: honey mixed with rain A tender hope I hold so
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  Speaker 2: tightly While it slowly breaks me Loving you from just
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  Speaker 2: one side now Leaves my soul in silent blue Cause
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  Speaker 2: the deeper.
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  Speaker 4: That I fall alone.
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  Speaker 2: The lonelier I do I can blame my heart for
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  Speaker 2: choosing someone it could never keep. So I smile through
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  Speaker 2: hidden heartache and love you quietly. Unspoken love is sweet
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  Speaker 2: and painful like honey mixed with rain. A tender hope
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  Speaker 2: I hold so tightly while it slowly breaks me. Loving
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  Speaker 2: you from just one side now leaves my.
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  Speaker 1: Soul in silent bloom.
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  Speaker 4: Cause the deeper that I fall alone, the lonelier I do.
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  Speaker 5: Maybe loving you in silence is the closest I can stay.
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  Speaker 2: Though it leaves behind a sorrow that may never fade away.
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  Speaker 4: Unspoken love is sweet and.
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  Speaker 2: Painful like honey mixed with rain. A tender hope I
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  Speaker 2: hold so tightly while.
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  Speaker 5: It Slowly breaks me loving you from just one side now.
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  Speaker 5: Leaves my soul in silent blue. Cause the deeper that
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  Speaker 5: I fall alone
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  Speaker 3: The lonelier I do.