But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10
Dear Faithful and Fruitful Seed-Sowers,
It is my prayer that each and every one of us are walking with Jesus and that we are surrounded by His powerful presence, perfect peace and rescued by His precious grace.
Our “SO WHAT?” questions from last week were:
What is the most important thing you have or own? (Pause. List a few.)
What is the most important thing you know?
What is the one thing you want to pass on to your family and friends?
Before we go to God’s living words of life, let us come to our Living Lord in a moment of prayer. “Lord, God of all hope and healing, we come today to be touched and renewed, restored and resurrected by Your Living Word. Come, Holy Spirit, speak to us. Cleanse us of our wrong thinking and guide us in Your ways. Amen.”
Take a moment and read I Corinthians 15:1-11.
The Apostle Paul lays claim to the power and hope of the resurrection right here. But, first, we need to take a moment to reflect upon who Paul is and how he came to this knowledge.
POINT 1: Paul the Persecutor
Paul was a Jew who grew up and sat at the feet of Gamaliel, the greatest Pharisee and teacher of the law. Paul learned the law and lived the law. Paul became an aggressive persecutor of the newly formed Christian Church. In chapter seven of the Book of Acts, we find Paul holding the cloaks of those stoning Stephen, the first martyr for Christ and of the church. By chapter nine of Acts, Paul goes to the High Priest to receive papers to go to Damascus to find the followers of the Way, the followers of Christ. Paul had been imprisoning them and had these Christians beaten and put to death. The Bible tells us that Paul was “breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.” (Acts 9:1)
Take in this picture of Paul. A man highly educated, passionate about God and filled with fire for keeping the law of God. Are you in this story today?
Have you ever been lost?
Have you ever felt as if you had gone too far to return to God?
Have you ever looked down on someone and judged them beyond hope?
Maybe you think you are beyond hope?
If so, then this story of Paul’s conversion and encounter with grace is for you!
In the eighteenth century, there were two young men in England whose names were Lord Lyttleton and Gilbert West. They were unbelievers. In fact, they were strong in their unbelief. They were also both lawyers, with keen minds, and they thought they had good reasons for rejecting Christianity. One day in a conversation one of them said, “Christianity stands upon a very unstable foundation. There are only two things that actually support it: the alleged resurrection of Jesus Christ and the alleged conversion of Saul of Tarsus. If we can disprove those stories, which should be rather easy to do, Christianity will collapse like a house of cards.” Gilbert West said, “All right, then. I’ll write a book on the alleged resurrection of Jesus Christ and disprove it.” Lord Lyttleton said, “If you write a book on the resurrection, I’ll write on the alleged appearance of Jesus to the apostle Paul. You show why Jesus could not possibly have been raised from the dead, and I’ll show that the apostle Paul could not have been converted as the Bible says he was—by a voice from heaven on the road to Damascus.” Each went off to write their book. Sometime later they met again, and one of them said to the other, “I’m afraid I have a confession to make. I have been looking into the evidence for this story, and I have begun to think that maybe there is something to it after all.” The other said, “The same thing has happened to me. But let us keep on investigating these stories and see where we come out.”
In the end, after they had done their investigations and had written their books, each had come out on exactly the opposite side he had been on when he began his investigation. Gilbert West had written The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, arguing that it is a fact of history. And Lord Lyttleton had written The Conversion of St. Paul.[i]
By treating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the conversion of the apostle Paul as the two great pillars of Christianity, these men were saying that if the apostle Paul was not converted as the ninth chapter of Acts says he was, and as he himself declares in his own recorded testimonies both before the Jews and the Gentiles, then Christianity loses one of its two most important bulwarks. Moreover, it loses its most able theologians.
Point 2: Paul the Proclaimer of GRACE
Listen to Herschel H. Hobbs’ (author and theologian) thoughts on law and grace:
I read an illustration about a man who is standing at a fork in the road trying to decide which way to go. One road has a sign which says “law.” The other has a sign reading “grace.” If he chooses to travel the law road, he falls away from the grace road. It is not a matter of being in grace and falling out of it. It is a matter of never having been in grace. One cannot travel both roads. For law and grace negate each other. If it is by works, it cannot be by grace, grace is a gift. If it is by grace, then it cannot be by law. Christ is in the grace road. So, if you travel the law road, you are cut off from Him and His saving power. To depend upon legalism in any form or degree for salvation is to turn your back upon Christ.[ii]
Paul stood on the fork in that road. He had to choose between law and grace. I believe that we all come to this fork in the road many times in our lives. Maybe you are at one today.
I love how Paul puts it in this letter to Corinthians … Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. 1 Corinthians 15:8-11
“But by the grace of God I am what I am.” What a powerful statement.
Paul was transformed from a powerful persecutor of the church into a passionate preacher proclaiming Christ and Him crucified, dead, buried and risen! Paul was presented Grace Road and he left the fork in the road that day.
Paul told the church in Colossae these words … “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” Colossians 1:2-5
I know many people who quote only part of this famous saying. Many say, “I am what I am.” But we need to include the last part of this verse: by the grace of God.
Paul’s life was forever changed and transformed by God’s grace. Pick up your Bible and you will read how Paul begins most of his letters to the churches with “grace” and he ends most of his writings with words of “grace.” Paul had been trained for years in the law. He stood at the fork in the road for an exceptionally long time. Friends, it is only the grace of God that can change us from being a sinner to saint, from a persecutor to a proclaimer. GRACE: God RICHES At Christ’s Expense—a free gift for all. We cannot buy this precious, priceless commodity. Grace is God’s free gift.
During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. “What’s the rumpus about?” he asked and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.” After some discussion, the conferees had to agree. The notion of God’s love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eightfold path, the Hindu doctrine of Karma, the Jewish covenant, and the Muslim code of law—each offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional.[iii]
The Gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection de-centers unbelievers from the center of their own life. That is what it did for Paul. Paul stood at the intersection of Law and Grace and recognized his unworthiness. Paul recognized a truth I want us all to remember “I AM WHAT I AM BY THE GRACE OF GOD.”
Where would you be today without God’s grace?
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10
So What?
Brennan Manning has been one of my favorite authors. I was able to go and hear him speak in person on many occasions. I have read and reread his books. They have ministered to me in many ways throughout my years of ministry and my years of being rescued from myself. I stood at the intersection of law and grace often. Manning has written: “The Ragamuffin Gospel, Ruthless Trust, Abba’s Child, The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus.” Get ready for the title of his last book: “All is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir.” Manning was a recovering alcoholic. Brennan died of wet brain syndrome, Weirnecke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS). Brennan struggled with alcoholism. Listen to some of his last words:
“Do you believe that the God of Jesus loves you beyond worthiness and unworthiness, beyond fidelity and infidelity—that he loves you in the morning sun and in the evening rain—that he loves you when your intellect denies it, your emotions refuse it, your whole being rejects it. Do you believe that God loves YOU without condition or reservation and loves you this moment as you are and not as you should be?”[iv]
Many of you know that the past few years have been difficult for my wife and I. We have lived through the sorrow and grief of the deaths of four family members and a very close friend who was like family. I went back to Illinois this past month to help clean out some of the personal items in my dad’s home where he and my mom lived for many years. My mom died in this home. I was with her. This is the same home where my dad and stepmom lived for another 20 years. In mid-May Jodi, Juliet, Brian, and I traveled to the house (from Texas and California) in order to pick up boxes that my stepmom had set aside for the Peters family. We moved the boxes to a storage building in Rochelle. Jac and I planned a cross-country trip for July in order for me to go through those boxes. A few weeks later, I bought a few additional items from the estate sale and had a good set of friends deliver those items to the storage shed.
As Jac and I stood in that old storage building in Rochelle the last week of June, it hit me. I was standing at the intersection of law and grace like my brother, Paul. I actually heard a soft, still voice within my heart, soul, spirit, mind say, “Dave, I want to tell you why this has intruded into your life. I know how busy you are, but you have a platform to proclaim my grace to many. Here is what I want you to know: Unlike you, I go to an awful lot of estate sales every single day. You went to your first estate sale and brought a few family heirlooms back home. Dave, I go to every estate sale I know of and I go every single day. You know what I do? I buy my people back. It’s okay. You are at the same intersection Persecutor Paul found himself at so very long ago: Law or Grace? Paul was blinded. He was guided to town and laid in a bed for days. Paul had plenty of time to pray and to think. So have you. I will imprint on your heart what I imprinted on Paul’s: Forget what lies behind. Focus on what lies ahead. CHOOSE GRACE EVERY TIME.”
Grace. We cannot earn it. We cannot buy it.
Grace is a free, priceless gift of God offered to us through the life, death, and resurrection of His one and only Son—Jesus Christ.
A long time ago our blue van housed a bumper sticker on the back end: HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN? TURN RIGHT. GO STRAIGHT. We drove that van for 350,000 miles. It went to the ballpark several nights a week. One day my wife was working at the concession. A little boy ran up to her and said, “Hey! I turned right and I’m going straight to heaven!” It was good advice for him. It’s good advice for you and me.
Paul had a history. He turned RIGHT and went STRAIGHT. Thank God.
You and me? Same choice. I don’t know about you but I’m turning right and going straight….by the GRACE OF GOD…I AM WHAT I AM.
See you Sunday!
God loves you and so do I,
Pastor Dave
www.theseedchristianfellowship.com
Join us for worship on Sunday mornings at 9am Pacific at 9284 Baseline Road Rancho Cucamonga, California. If you are not able to join us in person you are invited to watch out live-stream and connect with us through your chats, prayers and worship. You can always go to our YouTube channel and wrtch the weekly worship service, children’s messages and sermons. The YouTube channel is The Seed Christian Fellowship.
[i] My version, an old one, has West’s and Lyttleton’s books bound together: Lord Lyttleton on the Conversion of St. Paul and Gilbert West on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (New York: The American Tract Society, 1929). In some editions the flyleaf contains the words: “Blame not until thou hast examined the truth.” The story of these two men is told in R. A. Torrey, The Bible, and Its Christ (New York: Revell, 1904–1906), 98–100.
[ii] Hobbs, H. H. (1990). My favorite illustrations (p. 132). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.
[iii] Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing about Grace?, Zondervan, 1997
[iv] Brennan Manning, All is Grace, 2011, David C Cook
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