Aaron McKee – The Relenting and Unrelenting God – Class 2 – The God Of All Grace (Dan. 9v1-18)

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This is class two.
Overall subject is the relenting

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and unrelenting God.
Our speaker is Brother Aaron

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McKee and Class 2 is entitled
The God of All Grace.

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In 1751 a boat was being
destroyed off the coast of

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England and on this vessel lived
a a man who to this point in his

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life lived quite a an unsavory
existence.

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In fact, he’s the owner of this
vessel and the vessel was a

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slave ship.
And he’s so convicted in the

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fury of this raging storm and in
conscience and in heart to

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change his ways, to mend his
deeds to that by miracle the

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storm begins to to clear.
He makes his way to land.

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Well, he makes landfall.
He sells the ships, he enters a

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ministry, and he dedicates his
life to God. 25 years later, now

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a minister, now reflecting on
God’s ability to to restore him

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from that situation, to esteem
him better than his works.

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He writes a sermon on New Year’s
Day, this poem for his

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congregation, writing words we
know well, penning words that

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that stretch to this very day.
Twas grace that taught my heart

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to fear and grace my fears
relieved.

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How precious did that grace
grace appear the hour I first

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believed?
Brothers and sisters, many in

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the ages of history have
marvelled in the glories of

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God’s character of grace.
From David, who would write in

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First Chronicles.
Who am I Lord, and and what is

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my house?
You bring me thus far to to

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Jacob, who would say I’m not
worthy the least of your mercies

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to the centurion who proclaimed
of Christ I’m not worthy.

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You come to my house.
Many marvelled God could esteem

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them better than their works.
This afternoon, brothers and

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sisters, we will do the same.
We will explore this character

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of God dedicated to grace.
Prince sisters, but we will do

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so by moving beyond the fact
that our God is merciful, beyond

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the fact he is a loving and
caring God, which he

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demonstrates time and again
throughout his word.

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And instead we will ask why?
Why does our God well let you

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know what?
What prompts, what moves the

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grace of God throughout
Scripture?

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And in asking that question,
Bron sisters, we will move

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beyond what God does towards who
God is, the essence of what

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grace means to God, How how this
character expresses itself.

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Here we’ll consider a grace that
is loyal and faithful, secured

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in his promise word.
Here we’ll consider a grace that

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bears the cost of mercy that
that self sacrificing that

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reaches to the broken.
Here we’ll consider grace

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responding to truth, reaching to
the humble, granting to the

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sincere, and ultimately,
brothers, sisters, we are going

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to bring our thoughts to the
charge given to Moses by the

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Lord, to be gracious as I am
gracious as God.

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We are going to end on what
Grace works in us, the

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transformation it seeks and the
teaching qualities it possesses

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to all who receive it.
But we’ll start our

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consideration by thinking back
on Exodus 32.

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Let’s go there for a moment.
Run sisters and we start here

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because while there are many
places our minds might take us

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from sisters and and considering
why grace is granted and the

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record of Scripture.
I I put to you there are a few

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moments so comprehensive, few so
concise as what we see in the

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record of this chapter.
In this chapter a number of

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things prompt the grace of God.
We see verse 13 of chapter 32.

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Remember Abraham, says Moses,
Remember Isaac in Israel, he’s

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saying in the face of their sin,
who you swore by your name here,

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Moses petition God’s covenants,
that grace may come, we see

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verse 32.
Yeah, now forgive their sins as

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Moses, if not, take me.
Also we see Moses intercessor

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petition God’s grace that that
grace may come.

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We see chapter 33 verse 6, the
people mourn they they strip

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themselves of their ornaments,
they burn them in fire.

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They show humility of heart that
grace may come and finally,

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verse 19, what does God say?
I am gracious to who I am

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gracious.
Moses underscoring he is a God

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of grace and that’s why grace
came in total Bron sisters 4

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points emerge four points that
all throughout Scripture are

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this this framework a pattern
for how the grace of God is

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often reaching out as an
outstretched hand to man.

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And when we see these brothers
and sisters all throughout the

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records of Scripture.
Yeah, we we see him in the the

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account of Nehemiah 9 Nehemiah 9
is another moment of of national

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repentance very similar to
what’s happening in in the

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accounts of Exodus.
What do we see in Nehemiah 9

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verse one, they assemble as
Israel and fasting and sackcloth

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and dust.
They show humility of heart.

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Verse 7 Nehemiah says you are a
God who chose Abraham and made

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covenants with us.
We see covenant mercies.

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Verse 28 the leaders and Levites
act as intercessors.

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Verse 17 Nehemiah says you are a
God, gracious and merciful to

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the thousandth.
He petitions a character of

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grace, and while not every
example of relenting, it is as

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comprehensive run sisters, as
what we see in Nehemiah and

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Exodus.
I put to you every moment of

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God’s mercy is expressed for one
of these reasons and when we ask

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ourselves why, why is God
relenting for these things where

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we come to better understand
what grace and this character

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looks like to God.
So let’s start with his covenant

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mercies.
Brothers, sisters, you know

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there are many times in the
record of Scripture that we hear

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this common refrain.
We see it in Deuteronomy 7 verse

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9.
Know the Lord your God is

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faithful, keeping covenants and
love, says Moses.

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Curious, isn’t it?
He says covenants and love.

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He he links these two things
somehow together.

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And he’s not alone in that, Brun
sisters.

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In fact, we see covenants in
love either implicitly or

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explicitly linked together many
times throughout the record of

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his word.
We see it in Exodus.

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I heard their groanings has
gone, and remembered my covenant

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with Abraham.
We see it in Daniel 9.

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O awesome God, who keeps
covenants and steadfast love.

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We read.
We see it in Genesis 9.

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I’ll establish my covenant with
you, never to destroy all life

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by water.
An act of covenant secures an

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act of grace.
We see it in Isaiah 37.

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Brothers and sisters, for the
sake of David, my covenant, I

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will defend the city.
We see it in the words of

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Solomon.
O awesome God of Israel, there

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is no God like you keeping
covenants and love.

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All throughout our Bibles, Brun
sisters, grace is extended

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through the words of God’s
promise.

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All throughout Scripture, the
grace of God is secured in his

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covenant.
And Brun sisters, we should note

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the extent to which it’s
secured.

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Maybe we think to the kings of
Israel.

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You think to Abijah, the
idolatry of his day.

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What did God say to him in First
Kings 15?

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For David’s sake, Abijah, I will
give you a son for my covenant.

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I will show you grace.
We see it in your whorem.

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Despite the evilest day, for
David’s sake, I will not destroy

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Judah.
We see it in Solomon.

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Despite the idolatry of his day,
For David’s sake, he says, I

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will not take your Kingdom.
And this underscores a simple,

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crucial, essential avenue of
what grace means to Godbren,

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sisters.
And that’s that it is deeply and

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unwaveringly committed.
You know, brothers, sisters, I,

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I, I don’t know about you, but,
but sometimes I, I think we can

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perceive grace as something
Moody or whimsical, as God’s

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emotion or or exception to his
rules where he’s relenting in

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spite of his faithfulness.
That can’t be farther from

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truth.
Brothers, sisters, all

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throughout Scripture, the grace
of God is an expression of

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faithfulness.
It is the preeminent aspect of

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character revealed to Moses on
the top of Sinai.

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It is legal and deeply rational,
where even in failures it is

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reaching, or even in darkness
it’s presenting.

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And we see this type of grace,
one sisters, manifest all

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throughout Scripture.
We see it in the accounts of

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Second Samuel, the accounts of
of Chapter 9.

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We recall Brun sisters in the
context of Jonathan and David’s

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relationship.
They make a covenant and First

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Samuel 20.
And what did David say?

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I will never cut off love from
the House of Jonathan forever,

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no matter the unknowable, no
matter the hardships, the ups

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and downs, the betrayals, no
matter what may come.

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He makes that pledge in the
second Samuel.

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David acts on this covenant.
He takes Mephibosheth, then he

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cares for him, brings him to his
house.

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And what does he say in verse 9,
Bronze Sisters?

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I do this that I might show the
kindness of God to Him.

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David relates covenant mercies
to how God works in our lives.

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When, sisters, and how did he
show it?

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How did he reveal it?
Not because of merit, not

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because it’s earned, not because
of worth, but because like God,

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he is faithful to His Word.
Like David, brothers and

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sisters, we are convicted to
show the same.

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Like David, we are bound in
covenant to each other through

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the waters of baptism.
We enter as a body of Christ

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this commitment, and it requires
we reflect the same durable

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grace.
You know so often that the

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impulse draws us to treat grace
as temporary, as withdrawn in

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the face of failure.
In our Lord we are challenged

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with grace that loves through
struggle, as a spouse in a

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marriage that doesn’t look away
from wrong, but is is present in

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consequence.
Not because it’s merited, not

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because it’s earned, but because
we are committed.

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Covenant mercy, brother and
sisters, refrains grace not as

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something that you give to the
repentant in your life, but as

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reaching to the broken people
that are around you.

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We consider the second avenue of
grace and we know Brun sisters

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that all throughout Scripture,
the the grace of God, he, he

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builds his relationship with man
around intercession, doesn’t he?

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And there’s so many ways we see
this Brun sisters.

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We see it and and Levites and
kings and prophets.

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And it’s so common, in fact,
that I think if if you’re

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anything like me, it’s something
we take for granted, It’s a

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role.
It’s a structure of scripture

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that that that that we just
intake or it’s something that

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because it’s so common, we we
see as perhaps trivial or limit

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to a select few.
We see brothers, sisters, it is

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anything but trivial and
anything but limited.

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We see this in Ezekiel 22, verse
30, where in the face of Israel

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sins, what does God say?
He says I looked for an

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intercessor and asked for
anyone, anyone among you Israel

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to stand in the breach and
marvel.

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There was none anyone says God
in this verse.

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Bron sisters.
It’s the clear expectation that

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all of us emulate this
behaviour, play this role for

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the people in our lives.
And there is much we could say,

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Bron sisters about why God’s
grace values an intercessor.

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You know, we might think to the
to the cries of Abraham for

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Sodom.
Your mind might go to the tears

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of Abigail.
It might think to the prayers of

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Daniel who didn’t pull away from
Israel, but he what did he say

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in his prayer that our brother
read forgive our sins, or

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Nehemiah, who said of Israel’s
sins, forgive our faults.

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And we can know that while it
takes many forms, articulates

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different ways.
True intercession, brothers and

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sisters, is never separating
from others failures.

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It walks with people through
trial, it draws near them and

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failure not, not not speaking
from afar.

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You know, we could note that in
the prayers of Elijah, petitions

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of Jeremiah, cries of prophets
who will for years intercede

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with no turning or sign of hope
or any indication that what they

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do is of any benefit.
That true intercession, it is

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never one and done.
It’s never just declaring a

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wrong and then pulling ourselves
away.

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It’s a constant, persistent
effort to be in people’s lives.

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But if there’s one analogy, one
point that hits to the center, I

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think of why, of why grace
responds to intercession.

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Brun sisters.
We see it in the words of David,

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word spoken of Moses, words that
speak to what we’ve been reading

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on Sinai.
It’s the words of Psalm 106.

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He says God would have destroyed
us had not Moses, his chosen 1,

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stood in the breach.
What David draws us to

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understand, Brun sisters in the
symbolism of a breach of a city,

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walls that have been ripped open
and an enemy is rushing to the

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point of vulnerability and an
individual puts themselves there

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in the midst of that.
That rushing dangerous way for

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everything and everyone inside,
whatever that is to the person

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is that at the heart of
intercession is self sacrifice.

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It’s suffering for one another.
It’s standing exposed between

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God and sin and saying as Moses
did, if you will not forgive

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them, take me God.
It’s saying as Paul did to an

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estimates, let his debt be on my
account.

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It’s saying as David prayed, let
their sin be on my account.

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It’s saying as Abigail spoke to
David, hold me responsible for

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my husband.
True intercession, brothers,

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sisters, bears the cost of
grace.

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It is sensitive to the quality
of our God who lives by a moral

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order.
It bears the burdens of others

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on our shoulders.
So grace may come and if there’s

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any question why it’s
significant, brothers, sisters,

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why God moves towards it, why he
puts man in this position

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artificially throughout
Scripture to try to get us to

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think this way.
We see it in the words of Psalm

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59.
What does it say?

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I look, said the Lord for an
intercessor.

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There was no one, so my own hand
brought salvation.

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What you see in this verse from
the sisters is a fundamental

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truth about the character of who
our God is, and that’s simply

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that He is an intercessor.
Romans 8 speaks in this way.

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The Spirit of God intercedes for
the weakness of man from the

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moment in the garden, as God
steps forward, calling out to us

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to start this process of
restoring what was broken, at a

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loss to Himself, He shows us
this is who He is.

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He relents because it emulates
His sacrificial grace.

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Brun sisters.
He relents because he recognizes

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Himself in this action.
We consider the 3rd Ave. of

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grace and in so doing reflect
on, you know, what is perhaps

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the most prevalent, the most
power, the most beautiful and

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the most challenging aspect of
grace.

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Friend, sisters, and that’s
humility.

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Don’t we see grace and humility
linked all throughout our

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00:17:15,160 –> 00:17:16,560
Bibles?
We we think to the words of Joel

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Ren your hearts and not your
garments that God may relent.

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We we think to Hezekiah, Lord,
he prays.

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Remember how I walked before you
with my whole heart.

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And God relents to Manasseh, who
when captured of the Assyrians

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sought favour with God, humbling
self and God relented to Ahab,

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who in tears after Naboth’s
death, after he he convicted

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00:17:37,200 –> 00:17:39,000
that man to death.
Put on sackcloth weeps.

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And what does God say?
See how he humbled himself

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before me.
I will not bring disaster in his

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day.
All throughout Scripture.

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Brothers, sisters, the grace of
God moves towards humility all

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throughout Scripture.
He relents for this quality in

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the heart of man.
And there is much we could say,

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brothers, sisters, much we could
discuss this morning about this

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quality of our God.
We can know the extent of it.

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Where in Ahab, despite the sin
he had done, the sin he would

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continue to do, by no means was
he a reformed man after after

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God gave him that grace.
Humility in his heart in that

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00:18:17,200 –> 00:18:19,560
moment was sufficient for His
grace.

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What a powerful lesson, Brun
sisters, we can note that that

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in that example we are
challenged to do the same, to

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remove conditions that that man
so often imposes on grace.

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You know, we might think to
Peter and James, who both

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independently state that God
opposes the proud and gives

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00:18:43,800 –> 00:18:45,800
grace to the humble.
And we can reflect, brothers,

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sisters, that that where pride
is, grace cannot be.

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00:18:52,840 –> 00:18:55,800
And not because it isn’t there,
not because the hand of God

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doesn’t extend it, but because
pride lies to us.

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Pride blinds us to sing we’ve
needed.

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Pride makes us the latest
scenes.

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Who said in their heart, I am
rich, lacking in nothing, not

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00:19:06,840 –> 00:19:09,680
realizing, says Christ, you are
wretched, pitiable, poor, blind

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00:19:09,680 –> 00:19:14,040
and naked.
Pride makes you the Pharisee in

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00:19:14,040 –> 00:19:15,800
Christ’s parable.
Who said in their hearts, thank

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00:19:15,800 –> 00:19:18,840
God I am not as that Sinner we
think to the words of Christ to

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00:19:18,840 –> 00:19:22,200
Nicodemus Brun sisters.
God so love to the world he gave

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his son.
That is the unmeasurable depth

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00:19:24,640 –> 00:19:27,600
of grace quality of his
character He extends to man.

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00:19:27,720 –> 00:19:35,360
The only thing that can keep you
from that, Brun sisters, is

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00:19:35,360 –> 00:19:40,400
ourselves.
But if there’s one thing, one

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singular reason, grace draws to
humility, Bronze sisters, I

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00:19:43,840 –> 00:19:45,520
suggest we see it in the words
on our screen.

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00:19:45,520 –> 00:19:47,880
These are the words of David,
the words of Psalm 51.

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00:19:47,880 –> 00:19:50,560
What does he say of his God?
This is a quality he came to

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00:19:50,560 –> 00:19:59,440
know intricately of God.
Behold, you delight in inward

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00:19:59,440 –> 00:20:06,760
truth.
What David touches on brothers,

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00:20:06,760 –> 00:20:12,880
sisters in that statement is a
repeated fundamental, central

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00:20:12,880 –> 00:20:15,840
understanding and knowing what
grace means to God.

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And that’s simply that all
throughout Scripture it is

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granted on substance and not
image.

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All throughout Scripture.
Bruns sisters, we see that

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00:20:31,720 –> 00:20:34,080
lesson, don’t we?
God emphasizes this meshes of

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00:20:34,080 –> 00:20:36,800
grace given not from from
partiality, not for appearance,

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00:20:36,800 –> 00:20:40,120
not for external merit, but to
those who’ve recognized in

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00:20:40,120 –> 00:20:45,160
themselves a need for it, those
who desire.

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00:20:45,160 –> 00:20:47,680
We see it in the task collector
of Luke 7 who goes justify

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00:20:47,680 –> 00:20:49,240
before God rather than the
Pharisee.

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00:20:49,240 –> 00:20:52,000
We see it in that that woman
before Simon who when no one in

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00:20:52,000 –> 00:20:54,280
that room thought her deserving
of grace.

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00:20:54,360 –> 00:21:00,960
Christ says your heart has made
you worthy your desire makes you

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00:21:00,960 –> 00:21:03,760
worthy of this character of God.
Your sins are forgiven and she

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00:21:03,760 –> 00:21:07,160
goes justified before God rather
than the the seemingly righteous

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00:21:07,160 –> 00:21:11,440
Pharisee Grace is given brothers
and sisters to those who ask and

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00:21:11,440 –> 00:21:23,400
what we see in this aspect of
grace is the greatest challenge

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00:21:23,720 –> 00:21:26,960
to man’s concept of grace born
sisters because you see even at

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00:21:26,960 –> 00:21:33,080
our best we attach conditions to
grace don’t we.

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I give grace when I feel safe or
appreciated.

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00:21:39,160 –> 00:21:42,080
You know I I I I give grace when
when somebody apologized for

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00:21:42,080 –> 00:21:43,440
their wrong.
I show grace because I thought

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00:21:43,440 –> 00:21:45,400
that that brother or sister was
of good repute.

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00:21:45,400 –> 00:21:48,360
So so they warrant it because
surely the righteous merit and

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00:21:48,360 –> 00:21:50,720
the unrighteous don’t.
What’s implied in that thinking,

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00:21:50,720 –> 00:21:53,960
brother and sisters, is that
grace is something to be earned.

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00:21:57,560 –> 00:22:02,480
Many in our Bibles wrestled and
struggled in that perception to

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00:22:02,480 –> 00:22:04,440
reserving grace for the for the
deserving.

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00:22:04,440 –> 00:22:09,520
The Pharisees resented Christ
for this, for showing grace to

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00:22:09,520 –> 00:22:11,480
the to the undeserving.
The elder brother of the

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00:22:11,480 –> 00:22:14,520
prodigal son resented grace
shown his brother, considering

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00:22:14,520 –> 00:22:16,640
it undeserving.
What did he say all these years?

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00:22:16,640 –> 00:22:19,640
I’ve slaved for you, he said to
his father, and you didn’t give

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00:22:19,640 –> 00:22:21,000
me anything.
I earned it.

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00:22:21,000 –> 00:22:25,240
He didn’t.
Laborers in the vineyard

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00:22:25,240 –> 00:22:28,440
resented Grace, given those who
came later, because surely they,

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00:22:28,480 –> 00:22:31,520
they didn’t earn it as I did.
It’s all too often Brun sisters,

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00:22:31,640 –> 00:22:36,680
we think the same.
Why Grace shouldn’t go to that

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00:22:36,760 –> 00:22:37,960
neighbor down the street?
Why?

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00:22:37,960 –> 00:22:39,920
Why shouldn’t go to this, this
brother or sister in the

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00:22:39,920 –> 00:22:41,280
ecclesia?
Because I acted right.

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00:22:41,280 –> 00:22:43,360
I made the right calls in life.
They didn’t.

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00:22:43,360 –> 00:22:45,280
They, they didn’t.
They didn’t live as as pious as

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00:22:45,280 –> 00:22:47,920
as as righteous as I did.
They didn’t take the Scriptures

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00:22:47,920 –> 00:22:55,400
as seriously as me.
So often we see grace like

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00:22:55,400 –> 00:22:59,600
Jonah.
Who could accept it for those he

355
00:22:59,600 –> 00:23:02,520
deemed worthy himself, his
people, the the things he loved.

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00:23:02,520 –> 00:23:04,920
Surely they were certainly they
were deserving in the mercy of

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00:23:04,920 –> 00:23:06,880
God.
Surely not the wicked Gentile.

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Surely they don’t deserve God’s
grace.

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00:23:11,240 –> 00:23:13,560
That is why I made haste to
flee.

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00:23:13,560 –> 00:23:16,520
He says he indicts himself as
this being his problem.

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00:23:16,520 –> 00:23:20,280
In their examples from sisters
is a warning that grace can be

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00:23:20,280 –> 00:23:26,160
something we grow to resent.
It’s a warning that this life

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00:23:26,240 –> 00:23:29,240
can mean that that grace can be
an enigma to those who don’t

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00:23:29,240 –> 00:23:35,440
show it.
It can be offensive when we

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00:23:35,440 –> 00:23:52,320
don’t understand it.
And it’s this very concept of

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00:23:52,360 –> 00:23:54,800
undeserved grace, friend,
sisters, that that will bring us

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00:23:54,800 –> 00:23:58,680
to the final point that the last
avenue of of why grace is is

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00:23:58,680 –> 00:24:00,360
granted in the records of
Scripture.

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00:24:00,480 –> 00:24:02,360
And we see it in the words of
Daniel, the words our our

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00:24:02,360 –> 00:24:07,080
brother read of Chapter 9, where
in a moment of intercession, in

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00:24:07,080 –> 00:24:09,800
a moment where the Scriptures
proclaim to Daniel that that the

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00:24:09,800 –> 00:24:11,320
return of the Exiles was
imminent.

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00:24:11,440 –> 00:24:13,160
What does he say?
How does he petition God?

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He says do this Lord, not
because we are righteous, not

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00:24:16,400 –> 00:24:21,880
because it has been earned, but
because you are merciful.

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What Daniel forces us to
reconcile Bron sisters is that

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00:24:29,320 –> 00:24:32,280
while God might relent in
Scripture because of covenants,

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00:24:32,280 –> 00:24:34,720
while he inclined his ear for
intercessors, and he will

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00:24:34,720 –> 00:24:37,240
comfort the humble in the
honesty of their hearts.

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00:24:37,360 –> 00:24:40,960
The Amazing Grace of God is that
none of these actions, Bron

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00:24:40,960 –> 00:24:43,240
sisters, ever earn you His
grace.

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00:24:46,000 –> 00:24:48,640
None of these things that we’ve
considered does anything to make

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00:24:48,640 –> 00:24:51,200
you deserving of it.
He is gracious because this is

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00:24:51,200 –> 00:24:53,080
who he is.
I knew you were gracious, says

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00:24:53,080 –> 00:24:57,000
Moses.
I am God and not man, so I

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00:24:57,000 –> 00:25:00,040
relent, he said to Hosea, who is
like you, pardoning iniquity and

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00:25:00,040 –> 00:25:01,720
passing transgression, writes
Micah.

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00:25:01,720 –> 00:25:04,680
I am merciful and gracious to
the thousandth, he said of

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00:25:04,680 –> 00:25:13,720
Moses.
This, brothers and sisters, is

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00:25:13,720 –> 00:25:16,280
the wellspring from which all
grace flows.

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00:25:16,280 –> 00:25:19,280
When God says to Moses in
Exodus, I am gracious to who I

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00:25:19,280 –> 00:25:21,680
will be gracious, what he’s not
saying is, is my grace is

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00:25:21,680 –> 00:25:22,760
arbitrary.
Moses.

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00:25:22,760 –> 00:25:28,320
He’s saying in every case it is
free, unmerited, unearned.

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00:25:28,320 –> 00:25:30,920
Grace is the prerogative of
goblin sisters.

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00:25:30,920 –> 00:25:39,400
This is the aspect of grace that
challenges us to forgive as He

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00:25:39,400 –> 00:25:57,080
has forgiven us.
Now we’ve talked this morning on

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00:25:57,080 –> 00:26:00,160
many things about this, this
merciful quality of God.

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00:26:00,160 –> 00:26:02,680
Brothers, sisters, we, we noted
the, the loyalty and

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00:26:02,680 –> 00:26:07,040
steadfastness of it.
We talked about grace through,

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00:26:07,120 –> 00:26:10,640
through intercessors, how how he
responds because it mirrors his

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00:26:10,640 –> 00:26:13,360
character and his selflessness
and his compassion.

403
00:26:13,360 –> 00:26:16,400
We, we spoke of humility, how it
allows for grace and, and

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00:26:16,400 –> 00:26:20,160
reflects God’s desire for
sincerity over partiality.

405
00:26:20,240 –> 00:26:25,560
But Bronze Sisters, we’ll,
we’ll, we’ll close our thoughts

406
00:26:25,560 –> 00:26:28,840
on two points, 2 fundamental
things when it comes to

407
00:26:28,840 –> 00:26:32,680
understanding this relenting
character of our God.

408
00:26:32,680 –> 00:26:45,280
The 1st is that learning to
accept grace is crucial.

409
00:26:48,600 –> 00:26:50,080
Yeah, that that that might sound
like the easy part.

410
00:26:50,080 –> 00:26:52,240
Brothers and sisters, it is far
from easy.

411
00:26:54,280 –> 00:26:57,280
It is so easy to impart
punishment on ourselves, so, so

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00:26:57,280 –> 00:27:00,320
easy to when we have, we have
done wrong, condemn ourselves to

413
00:27:00,360 –> 00:27:02,920
it and, and let the, the, the
weight of those wrongs, those

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00:27:02,920 –> 00:27:06,040
sins weigh us down in life, keep
us inactive from from showing

415
00:27:06,040 –> 00:27:10,320
the character of God or whatever
pit of sin we’re in.

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00:27:10,320 –> 00:27:13,840
Think this is surely too far
from God’s standard and, and

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00:27:13,840 –> 00:27:16,400
retribution will come and, and
that this was too great a

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00:27:16,400 –> 00:27:18,520
mistake and, and surely God
won’t let it slide.

419
00:27:18,640 –> 00:27:20,960
What does Christ say to the
Pharisee of Luke 18 Brothers,

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00:27:20,960 –> 00:27:28,360
sisters who loved me more, Simon
the one forgive him much or

421
00:27:28,360 –> 00:27:30,880
little.
Our capacity to accept the

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00:27:30,880 –> 00:27:33,960
depths of God’s grace for and
sisters, it is directly related

423
00:27:33,960 –> 00:27:39,120
to our relationship with God,
directly related to how much you

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00:27:39,120 –> 00:27:41,920
will be willing to give others.
In his words we are reminded if

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00:27:41,920 –> 00:27:44,360
you only accept the level
little, you will only give a

426
00:27:44,360 –> 00:27:47,760
little.
In his words, we are reminded

427
00:27:47,760 –> 00:27:50,440
that to to be accepting of grace
is to learn how to give it.

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00:27:50,440 –> 00:27:55,640
We’re reminded that we only love
because He first showed us how

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00:27:55,640 –> 00:28:09,600
to love.
But the final point we’ll note

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00:28:11,920 –> 00:28:17,560
are in the words of Paul.
Do you presume, O man, you who

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00:28:17,560 –> 00:28:20,800
practice evil, that you will
escape the justice of God?

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00:28:20,840 –> 00:28:23,560
Or do you presume on the riches
of his forbearance, not

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00:28:23,560 –> 00:28:27,840
understanding, he says, that
grace was meant to lead you to

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00:28:27,840 –> 00:28:29,880
repentance.
You know, I find it interesting,

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00:28:29,880 –> 00:28:34,520
brothers, sisters, that often
when somebody might talk a

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00:28:34,520 –> 00:28:37,120
little bit too much about grace,
there’s a common response.

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00:28:37,120 –> 00:28:39,320
And I’m guilty of this.
It’s it’s, well, what about

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00:28:39,320 –> 00:28:45,160
truth as if you can have one
without the other.

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00:28:45,200 –> 00:28:46,720
You know, I’m not trying to be
dismissive of that.

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00:28:46,720 –> 00:28:49,200
Bron sisters Again, I’m a person
who said that myself.

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00:28:49,360 –> 00:28:52,480
But in that is a misperception
because that’s coming from a

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00:28:52,480 –> 00:28:58,560
mischaracterization of grace as
tolerance or a blank check you

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00:28:58,560 –> 00:29:01,600
receive in moments of wrong.
That that that must be balanced

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00:29:01,640 –> 00:29:04,160
with this other part of of truth
of God’s character.

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00:29:04,200 –> 00:29:06,560
What Paul highlights in that
statement, Bron sisters in that

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00:29:06,560 –> 00:29:11,920
verse is the fundamental
challenge to that premise that

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00:29:11,920 –> 00:29:15,400
grace is never the end of truth,
nor is that the absence of of

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00:29:15,400 –> 00:29:18,440
responsibility, nor does it
begin when the law of God ends.

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00:29:18,520 –> 00:29:22,000
Grace is not tolerance, it is
mercy leading us to

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00:29:22,000 –> 00:29:26,720
righteousness.
Brothers, sisters, all

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00:29:26,840 –> 00:29:29,600
throughout Scripture God
implores us to see this message.

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00:29:29,600 –> 00:29:31,800
We see it in Peter spoken to of
Christ God.

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00:29:31,800 –> 00:29:34,480
Christ gives him grace to build
him to something better.

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00:29:36,560 –> 00:29:39,240
Paul giving grace to build him
to an instrument of God.

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00:29:39,240 –> 00:29:42,320
Samson giving grace to do with
it what he could never hope to

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00:29:42,320 –> 00:29:44,640
do without it.
Grace is not God overlooking

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00:29:44,640 –> 00:29:47,400
sin, Brun sisters, it is his
tool of instruction.

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00:29:49,960 –> 00:29:52,800
It’s overcoming sin by showing
us a better way, and then he

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00:29:52,800 –> 00:29:55,400
expects us to walk in it.
And that means, Brun sisters,

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00:29:55,400 –> 00:29:59,960
once it’s given, it is never
something you leave behind, not

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00:29:59,960 –> 00:30:02,640
a doormat where you walk over
and you you wipe your feet clean

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00:30:02,640 –> 00:30:05,240
and you walk inside and and
leave its effects in the past.

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00:30:05,240 –> 00:30:08,840
It is something we live with.
Paul speaks this way in Romans,

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00:30:11,680 –> 00:30:16,480
where one’s sin reign to death.
Even so, grace must reign in us

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00:30:16,480 –> 00:30:19,160
to eternal life.
It rains in me, says Paul.

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00:30:21,440 –> 00:30:24,200
It is like a king over me.
It, it, it rules everything

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00:30:24,200 –> 00:30:27,440
about who I am, how I think, how
I treat others, how I speak

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00:30:27,440 –> 00:30:29,000
about truth.
It is not something passive.

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00:30:29,000 –> 00:30:31,960
It is active always.
He writes the same in Romans 6.

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00:30:32,000 –> 00:30:34,560
I am not under law, I am under
grace.

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00:30:36,440 –> 00:30:38,040
He writes the same in Romans 5,
verse 20.

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00:30:38,040 –> 00:30:40,800
Grace reigns in me through
righteousness.

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00:30:40,800 –> 00:30:44,040
If we can do that, run, sisters.
If you can conceive of grace in

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00:30:44,040 –> 00:30:46,480
this way, it will do some
powerful things.

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00:30:50,040 –> 00:30:53,520
Titus 2 verse 11 reads For the
grace of God that bringeth

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00:30:53,520 –> 00:31:00,080
salvation to all men hath
appeared to men, teaching us to

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00:31:00,080 –> 00:31:02,920
deny ungodliness, that you might
live godly lives.

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00:31:02,920 –> 00:31:05,480
Grace, brothers and sisters,
teaches you.

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00:31:08,960 –> 00:31:14,120
It’ll teach you to be Paul, who
could say by grace I am the

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00:31:14,120 –> 00:31:15,760
person that I am and not in
vain.

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00:31:15,760 –> 00:31:18,600
It wasn’t given as something
transient in passing, but it

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00:31:18,600 –> 00:31:21,240
made me labour more abundantly.
It’ll teach you that that

483
00:31:21,240 –> 00:31:23,240
despite your mistakes, the
things you’ve done, the things

484
00:31:23,240 –> 00:31:26,120
you’ve struggled to forgive
yourself for, you are worthy in

485
00:31:26,120 –> 00:31:31,560
the eyes of God and you can have
endurance and grace that you

486
00:31:31,560 –> 00:31:33,960
could not give yourself.
It’ll teach you to be Isaiah,

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00:31:36,240 –> 00:31:39,320
who in seeing the awesome
righteous truth of God and his

488
00:31:39,320 –> 00:31:41,800
might and power, realizing his
sins before him, but in the

489
00:31:41,800 –> 00:31:44,720
words of God, your sins are
forgiven, stands up and goes

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00:31:44,720 –> 00:31:46,840
into Israel.
It’ll teach you to be the same,

491
00:31:46,920 –> 00:31:52,640
to be strong in grace.
It’ll teach you peace and your

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00:31:52,640 –> 00:31:56,800
relationship with God.
Bren sisters, that you can draw

493
00:31:56,800 –> 00:32:00,560
boldly to the throne of grace,
knowing it is always present and

494
00:32:00,560 –> 00:32:03,320
it will always settle you in
moments of failure.

495
00:32:03,400 –> 00:32:06,480
It’ll make you as all those
throughout Scripture who quoted

496
00:32:06,480 –> 00:32:09,760
the words of Exodus 34 brothers.
Sisters who recognized that

497
00:32:09,760 –> 00:32:13,360
turning point of Scripture and
lived and hoped because no

498
00:32:13,360 –> 00:32:18,160
matter the uncertainties of
life, no matter whatever chaos

499
00:32:18,160 –> 00:32:22,440
would be around them, they knew
that God was always merciful.

500
00:32:22,520 –> 00:32:27,520
It’ll make you David, who in
despairing at the world that saw

501
00:32:27,560 –> 00:32:29,840
this destruction, took hope.
And what does he say in Psalm

502
00:32:29,840 –> 00:32:32,280
86?
You, Lord, are merciful, slow to

503
00:32:32,280 –> 00:32:35,360
anger, and abounding and
steadfast love and faithfulness.

504
00:32:35,520 –> 00:32:43,000
It’ll make you Joel, who hoped
in hopeless days that his people

505
00:32:43,040 –> 00:32:46,760
would turn to God and was
convicted every day in their

506
00:32:46,760 –> 00:32:49,600
failure to do that yet and still
implored them with the reminders

507
00:32:49,600 –> 00:32:52,240
of God’s character.
He is gracious and merciful,

508
00:32:52,240 –> 00:32:54,200
slow to anger and abounding in
love.

509
00:32:54,200 –> 00:32:56,120
It’ll make you the authors of
Lamentation.

510
00:32:56,120 –> 00:33:02,160
Brothers, Sisters who’s standing
in the rubbles of Jerusalem

511
00:33:02,320 –> 00:33:10,600
would say, even here, Lord, I
know you are merciful and

512
00:33:10,600 –> 00:33:16,080
abounding in love.
We and brothers and sisters, on

513
00:33:16,080 –> 00:33:22,800
the words of Peter, words that
encompass the power, the care

514
00:33:22,800 –> 00:33:26,800
and the transformation of God’s
Amazing Grace that has changed

515
00:33:26,800 –> 00:33:30,600
the lives of countless others
and is being presented to you.

516
00:33:30,920 –> 00:33:32,920
You have suffered a little
while, says Peter.

517
00:33:35,960 –> 00:33:38,720
And indeed we do, brothers and
sisters, we live in a flawed

518
00:33:38,720 –> 00:33:44,640
world as flawed people.
But the God of all grace is

519
00:33:44,640 –> 00:33:49,240
calling you to his eternal glory
in Christ.

520
00:33:49,240 –> 00:33:53,760
And he will himself, through
that grace restore, establish,

521
00:33:53,960 –> 00:33:57,920
strengthen and settle you.
To him be dominion forever and

522
00:33:57,920 –> 00:34:01,800
ever, says Peter.
Amen.