The Fullness Of Grace In Chr..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. So if you have your Bibles with you, and I know most of you do, can you please open them up to John chapter one. We'll be continuing our study through the gospel according to John as we have for many weeks.

We're still in the prologue of John and we'll be there for another couple of weeks this week. And God willing, next week, we'll finish the prologue or the introduction to this gospel. And as I said, and I say most weeks, the prologue or the introduction of this gospel is really the theology that underpins the whole gospel. Can everyone hear me? I'm not sure.

Do you need me to put the microphone? My voice is pretty loud. It's okay? Okay. As long as I'm not screaming at you, that's all.

So it's the theology that underpins the rest of the gospel. We need to understand what the apostle is saying in the 18 verses so that we can understand and be able to properly interpret what comes next in this gospel. And so we see some amazing deep Christological truths here that Christ is the eternal God and He is the one who has no beginning and no end and all life is being created through Him because He is life. He is the true light. And now we'll be studying or concentrating our efforts in particular on verses 15 and 16.

As we always do for the context, let's read the first 18 verses, from one through 18, and then we'll concentrate our efforts only on those two verses. So, the gospel according to John, and I'll be reading from verse one, I'm reading from the ESV. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was nothing made that was made.

In him was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overpowered it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him. He was not the light but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him, came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only son from the father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness about him and cried out, this was he whom I said, he who comes after me ranks before me because he was before me.

For from his fullness, we have all received grace upon grace, For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only God who is at the Father's side has made him known. Amen.

This is the word of the Lord. Brothers and sisters, we all know that life is definitely fleeting. And we all know, oh, in my experience anyway, as we grow older, it seems like time just goes faster as I get older. That's my experience anyway. But we all know how it all ends.

And the world knows how it all ends. But the interesting thing to me is this, even though the slogan is upheld by everyone in our secular world, the slogan that goes, there's only two certain things, one is death and the other is taxes, they all uphold to this. But what I realize is, for the most part, death is one of those things that everyone wants to avoid talking about. It's a conversation that they try to avoid at all costs. But what's also interesting is what comes before death seems to be the pinnacle or the highlight of their life.

Seems like everyone's so interested in talking about retirement, the things they want to do after they've worked their 35, 40, 45 years, and they want to talk about how they're going to spend their golden years. It may mean a few holidays. It may mean they buy a caravan to explore the outback. May even be to buy a boat to spend some time with a rod in your hand. But either way, one thing that we can be sure of is this.

Even in the golden years, they won't be devoid of anxiety, or stress. Why? Well, in an article specifically addressed for retirement issues and the challenges that people face in planning for retirement, it was stated that the greatest anxiety for retirees is the fear of running out of money. Not enough money. So they have to work longer and save a little bit more.

The fact that everything in this world is limited, whether it's life, whether it's health, whether it's finances, means that concerns and even worry, stress and anxiety is going to be inevitable if your heart's in this world. In fact, in a recent published study among the same demographic of people, it was noted that the fear of running out of money was the number one fear. It surpassed the fear of dying even. You see, if one finds his or her source in what money can buy, if someone has their heart placed and their happiness placed in what money can buy, then I can understand these statistics. If your joy is rooted in these things, then running out of money would be devastating.

But in our passage this morning, the apostle John expresses for us an amazing truth for Christian believers. He reveals something that as Christians is the most valuable to our hearts, but the beautiful thing is it will never ever run out. You see, as Christians, we're still human and we're subject to many of the hardships and struggles that many struggle with in our world. Difficulties such as difficulties with relationships. We have health issues like the rest, and money problems possibly, and many more.

But the difference is that the desires of the world won't grip us or hold us bondage like they once did. In this world, there are troubles and there are tribulations. But as Christ prayed in his high priestly prayer in John 17, we're not to be taken from the world, but we are being protected from the evil one in the world. That means the greatest fears of the world, beloved, they should not grip us. running out of money in retirement, although real, should not affect us the same way as it affects the world because our hearts should be set on things above.

And we know that our God is sovereign and in complete control over every facet of our lives. And we rest, we rest in this. But in the two verses that we'll be examining this evening, we'll see the incredible grace of Jesus Christ on display. And here's the contrast. On the one hand, you have the world who sets their hearts on the things that money can buy.

And so the thought of running out of money is crippling. But on the other hand, you have the true Christian believer. And his heart is on, well, on the author and the perfecter of his faith. His heart is on Christ. And hear this, beloved.

John tells us in this passage that the grace we find in Jesus Christ for his people, that grace that saves and the grace that sustains us is limitless. It's a well that has no end. We will never know what it's like to run out of what's the most valuable to our hearts, if our hearts are set upon the right things. That fear should be non-existent. But unfortunately, unfortunately many of us don't savor this truth.

We rob ourselves of much joy because we don't realize the treasure that we have in our union with Jesus Christ. So this evening we're gonna pack these two verses, verses 15, and 16 as they're presented to us. And firstly, we'll talk about John the Baptist's ministry about Jesus Christ and what this statement actually means. And second, and this is where we'll spend most of our time this evening. We'll explore the infinite grace of God found in Jesus Christ.

Verse 15. John bore witness about Him, that's Christ, the Word. And he cried out, this was He whom I said, He who comes after me, ranks before me, because He was before me. We spent some time a few weeks ago examining the ministry of John when we unpack verses six to eight in this introduction. So I won't spend too much time there.

I'm hoping that this evening that the information or the sermon, which wasn't that long ago, would still be fresh in your mind. But if you remember back then, I divided John the Baptist's ministry into two segments. His ministry before the advent of Jesus Christ and his ministry after. We know for sure the first century people of Israel were awaiting eagerly the forerunner prophesied to come, because they knew that when the forerunner comes, and that's John the Baptist, he will usher in the long-awaited Messiah. The Redeemer of Israel would come shortly after.

And so God breaks, and so God breaks the 400 years of silence between Malachi and the New Testament. And he speaks his word through this prophet, John the Baptist, confirming the words foretold of Isaiah of old. And those words are, a voice cries out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. The Baptist's ministry as a forerunner to Christ was to call Israel to repent of their sins and to await expectingly for the one who is to come. But when Christ came, The Baptist ministry took a different angle.

He would go from preaching the message of repentance to anticipation of the Messiah, or in anticipation of the Messiah, to now witnessing the advent of the long-awaited Messiah. Now he points to Christ and he declares, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The Savior has come. All the prophecies in the scripture speaking to the servant of the Lord who comes and redeems his people are being fulfilled before the eyes of the Baptist. This made him the most privileged among all the prophets.

He not only bore witness of the true light, the true light to come, but he also witnessed and testified of his arrival. So this prophet's message in the wilderness was no longer, Hear O Israel, your Messiah is coming, but rejoice O Israel, your Messiah has come. But the words in verse 15 in our passage this morning, the declaration of John, Well, they sound a bit confusing, because in light of what we know about the Baptist, the statement doesn't really add up. It says, he who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me. Sounds like a contradiction, but I assure you, it's not.

We know two things for sure. The Baptist was six months older than Christ. So Jesus certainly wasn't before him in the physical sense. He wasn't born before John the Baptist. And as far as their respective ministries, well, John started his before Christ also.

We know that Jesus's earthly ministry commenced only after John reluctantly baptized Christ. You remember the story. So what's meant by this statement? I think two things. The first is cultural.

The Jews, even to this day, always assign a greater honor to the older person. So like a grandfather would receive greater honor than the father, and the father would receive greater honor than the son. It's a biblical principle. Respect your elders, right? Therefore, John being physically the older of the two, it would be natural for him to, for the people around him to ascribe greater honor to him.

So what he was doing is it was necessary for him to correct this mindset and the mindset of his hearers, because John needed them to acknowledge that contrary to the contemporary culture, even though he is older and his ministry is more mature, It's right and good that Jesus Christ received the greater esteem than the one who testifies about him. I think that's what his intentions were in the first part of his statement, and that's pretty straightforward. But the latter part, well, that's a little more profound. He who comes after me ranks before me. We've addressed that because he was before me.

I believe this is a declaration on John's part to the eternal pre-existence of Jesus Christ. Although John was obviously aware that he was older than his cousin Jesus, I believe, although it's not explicit in the text, that he was also mindful of the eternality of Jesus. I say this in light of his declaration made about Jesus, and in particular in verses 33 and 34 in chapter 1 of John. So if you run your eyes there, John chapter 1 verses 33 and 34. Listen to what he says of Jesus.

I myself did not know him, talking about Jesus being Messiah, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, he on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God. The truths align perfectly with the first verse of the fourth gospel. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

But whether the Baptist knew at this stage or not that the eternal Word, Jesus Christ, is from everlasting to everlasting, He has no beginning and He has no end or not. He certainly outranks him because he is worthy of a greater honor than an esteemed John the Baptist. And that's a big statement because Jesus himself said of John in Matthew 11, truly I say to you among those born of woman, there has risen none greater than who? John the Baptist. But beloved, we know there is a categorical difference between the two.

You see the honor that is worthy of Jesus It's beyond the honor given to mere man, even a great man like John. Because Christ is not a mere man. He is God. He took on human flesh and he became the God-man forever. Jesus is not a mere man.

He is the God-man. He's worthy of infinitely more honor than ought to be given to a prophet. John the Baptist knew this and he testified of him saying, even the sandals of Christ's feet, he's unworthy to untie. John had no competing interests with Christ. He wasn't interested in starting his own movement or to make a name for himself.

John was a godly man who knew his place. He understood his mission. He was aware of what God had assigned him to do, and he was faithful to do it. Now that Jesus is on the scene, John recognized that the greater has come. And as a true prophet of God, he was only too willing to declare the arrival of the substance and the reality and the truth of all his preaching.

And then in true humility, he would step out of the lights. so that Christ would take center stage. From that time, the Baptist would proclaim, speaking of Christ, and you know these words, he must increase, but I must decrease. What a lesson of humility. One of the true traits of a true Christian is humility.

Being willing to give up the respect and honor and the accolades that the world gives all for the sake of Christ and the greater good of the kingdom. Humility, belovedies, to consider others more significant than yourselves. And that's to take the words of the Apostle Paul in the book of Philippians. It's to be willing to set aside your own goals, your ambitions, and your dreams for the sake of others. This is the model we're given in the greatest display of humility this world has ever seen.

God became man to live and die for the sake of his people. Whatever you and I forego in this life for the sake of others, for the sake of our Lord is of no comparison to the humble meekness exemplified in our Lord Jesus Christ. The amazing thing is whatever you and I do give up for His namesake will not go unrewarded in eternity. Our passage takes us then to a turn in verse 16. From the testimony of John back to the person of Jesus Christ.

Verse 16, for from His fullness We have all received grace upon grace. And we'll spend most of our evening in this verse. Here, John is continuing the thought and the thought that he started in verse 14, which reads, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory, glory as of the only son from the father, full of grace and truth. I'm just going to continue with 16.

For from his fullness, we have all received grace upon grace. It is the word Jesus Christ whom John describes as being full of grace and truth. And it's from his fullness that we receive grace upon grace. Now just in case anyone thinks that the Apostle John is advocating for some sort of universalism because he does say from his fullness we all receive grace upon grace. I assure you he's not.

Universalism is simply the erroneous doctrine that teaches that eventually everyone will be saved and everyone will go to heaven. That's not what the Bible teaches. Salvation is in Christ and in Christ alone. But this verse does teach the incredible grace given to the children of God. The recipients of his amazing grace are those found in verse 12 of our passage.

It reads, All who receive him who believed in his name, the ones he gave the right to become children of God. It's these people who receive the grace upon grace, the saving grace found in Jesus Christ. Now, grace is one of those words that we Christians use a lot. We boldly profess that we've been saved by grace. We thank God for his grace in our lives when we pray, and we desire to be gracious in our dealings with others.

And it's good that we use this word so often. But sometimes when something becomes so common, it loses its marvel. So it's good for us from time to time to sit down and meditate upon what the biblical grace is and once again capture the beauty of the essence of this concept. The standard definition is a good one, I think. the freely given, unearned favor of God towards His people.

But it's so much more than that. The truth of the matter is the biblical concept of grace, I believe, is too broad and too wonderful to be contained or narrowed to one simple word, whether it's English or any other language. But the best way, beloved, the best way to really appreciate this concept of grace is to immerse yourself in the Bible's teaching about grace. So open your Bibles with me, please, to Ephesians chapter 2, and we'll be reading from verses 8 through 10. Just some context of that passage.

Paul is speaking to the church, to the Christians in Ephesus, explaining to them the spiritual condition of the natural man, that he was dead in his trespasses and sin, and he remains under the wrath of God until saved by grace. And then we continue the passage in verses 8 through 10. And it reads, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one can boast. For we are His work machine, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. You hear what Paul is saying here?

Our salvation is by the grace of God through the means of faith. This is a gift of God. Grace is a gift. You and I have not earned it. We have not worked for it.

It's not a result of our own efforts. It's simply given because of the goodness of God. All gifts from God are a result of his grace towards his people. And our salvation is no different. The finished work of Jesus Christ, by grace, imputed to the believer.

His life, His death, His resurrection, are the source of our salvation. No contribution on our behalf. Beloved, think about how wonderful grace is. We've been given what Jesus deserves, and He's being given what we deserve. salvation, the gift of the Holy Spirit, sanctification, sonship, eternal life.

All these things are gifts of grace that we don't deserve. Sinners like all of us, apart from the grace of God, deserve only judgment because he is an infinitely holy God. And Paul says in verse three of the passage that we just read in Ephesians, by nature, that is before we came to know Christ in a salvific way, by nature, we were objects of wrath. Beloved, everyone who is a true child of God knows their own hearts before the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in regeneration. We know that we had no concern for God or his truth.

But when the gospel of Christ was preached and our eyes were opened by the Holy Spirit, we're able to see the sad state of our spiritual condition. Only then were we enabled by his spirit to truly love him and appreciate the amazing grace found in Jesus Christ. Only after being saved did we have the desire to please God, or to do what is right, for the right reasons. This is the grace spoken of in verse 16. A grace so wonderfully evident in all of God's dealings with His people.

A grace given freely, without payment. It's not earned. Paul dispels the idea of earning grace in Romans 4 from verses 4 through 5. And it reads, you don't have to open, I'll read it for you. Now to the one who works, Paul says, his wages are not counted as a gift.

It can't be grace. but as his due. And to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. Beloved, to receive the grace in Jesus Christ, you must come empty just as you are to be filled by his fullness. We have nothing of value to bring to Christ.

In fact, if If all we can bring, if we were to bring anything, is our sin, because there's nothing that He can do with us apart from the saving blood of Jesus Christ. So let's be honest. If we think for a moment that it's not purely by the fullness of grace found in Jesus Christ, as stipulated for us in this passage, If we think that it's not only by grace we've been saved, then there would have to be an element of work on our behalf. Paul says that work equals a wage. I don't think any of us want to go down that path because the Bible is clear.

The wages of sin is death. And we've all sinned. We've all sinned. So our due, our recompense, our wages should be death. But God has shown us mercy.

And so anything short of eternal judgment that we deserve is pure grace. Are you glad God doesn't give you and I what we deserve? Think about how serious God is about sin. We sometimes belittle it, but we shouldn't. It only took one sin, Adam's disobedience, to plunge all humanity.

And in our world, there are millions and millions of lost people who think that they're able to earn their way into salvation, earn their way into heaven. And when you ask such people what eternity looks like for them, if they're not an atheist, most likely they'll answer something like this. I'm not all that bad. I mean, I haven't committed adultery against my wife. I haven't murdered anyone.

I think I'll be okay. I think I'll go to heaven. It's because they don't understand the holiness of God and the infinite offense their sin is before His very eyes. He is one who cannot look upon sin. And as believers, it's only when we realize how depraved we once were and how sinful we still are that we can marvel at the amazing grace of God in Christ Jesus that keeps on coming.

Oh, that the Lord will use us to proclaim the gospel of grace, the good news of Jesus Christ, so that others too would come to enjoy and savor this grace as we do. And God forbid that we become proud. God forbid that we should ever look down upon unbelievers because of their sin or their rebellion. May we never forget what God has saved us from and that we have no reason to boast. May the Lord give us a love and a mercy for the unsaved.

Because apart from His grace, we would be no different. Beloved, I want to say that again. Apart from the grace of God, we would be no different than the worst of sinners. We must remember this, and we must be grateful, humbly giving our triune God all the glory, because He deserves it all, and we deserve none. In fact, the phrase in verse 16, grace upon grace, connotes a perpetual giving of grace, like grace after grace, wave after wave after wave of grace that just keeps on coming.

It's like a rapid succession of blessings from God, one after the other, as though a river running. Just like for example, if you're standing on a bridge or on a jetty and you look intently into the water on a clear sunny day, you may be able to see right through and you'll be able to see the rocky bottom and there may be some fish swimming. From that vantage point, it looks like the water is still. But if a leaf or a piece of debris hit the water and float by, you actually see what's happening. The water is not still at all.

It's been replaced by new water so rapidly, so quickly. It's thousands and thousands of liters are passing by every minute, but you don't even notice it. This is the picture that John is giving us here. Grace upon grace upon grace of the contrast of the arrival. He's contrasting the consistent arrival of the blessing one after another, after another, another that we find in Jesus Christ.

Isn't this so true, beloved? We're not even consciously aware of the uncountable blessings of God that he gives to his people every day. We may sometimes be aware of the physical dangers and risks that his grace protects us from. But how about the spiritual dangers? Are we aware of his sustaining grace in our spiritual warfare against the enemy?

Do we constantly remind ourselves of the gift of grace, the gift of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, without whom we'd be completely impotent, spiritually speaking? This is sustaining grace. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil, In heavenly places, Ephesians chapter six. Beloved, the enemy is formidable. Without the grace of God constantly sustaining us by his Holy Spirit, we would lose the battle, we would crumble, and we would fall.

But as children of God, grace is received from the fullness of Christ, and it's sufficient for all our needs. Brothers and sisters, when life takes a toll and you feel like you can't take anymore, it feels like you've been defeated or rejected. Sometimes it feels like you're alone and you've been deserted. We must, in those times, hear the voice of our Savior, speaking through His words in Scripture. And in particular, I'm thinking of the words He spoke to the Apostle Paul, and we need to apply them and claim them for our life.

He said to Paul, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. His grace is sufficient in our weaknesses. His grace is sufficient in our difficulties, in our distress, in our trouble, in our calamity, in pain, in sickness, brothers and sisters, in good times and in bad times. From the fullness of Christ, we find the infinite supply of grace that will always, always uphold His people. Do you believe this?

Is this a reality in your life? Or do you try to wage the war by your own strength? Let me tell you tonight, you don't have enough strength. None of us do. Nor are we expected to battle on our own.

We have a savior who has an unlimited supply of grace for every moment. and every day for all his people in all situations. We need to trust him in this. But it's the next question I think that most of us struggle with. We know that we've been saved by grace and we confess that and we're grateful.

We also acknowledge that there's an unlimited supply of grace for when we're weak, ill, or maybe stressed. But how about when we sin? Believer, Christian, brothers and sisters, I'm speaking to you. How about when you sin? Do we receive grace upon grace in that situation?

Is there a steady flow of grace that will cover my daily sins? Here's a prickly one for you. How about when we sin intentionally? when we know better, but we choose in that moment not to avoid that sin. Is there grace for that also?

Yes, there is. But the question is, do you believe it? The question is, Do you believe it? You see, our problem is that when we sin, in our shame, we try to clean ourselves up before we come to our savior for forgiveness. We have a propensity to treat our ever gracious triune God like we treat people in our lives who, by virtue of being human, are conditional in their love and lacking in their forgiveness.

Our human relationships are fragile and delicate at best, and we're afraid that we'll do something to ruin our friendship. So what do we do? So we think in our hearts that they knew who I really am. If they really knew the thoughts that go through my mind, no one will accept me the way I am. We don't want to be rejected because rejection hurts.

So we try to be on our best behavior because of, hear this, because of fear, not love. So we wanna be on our best behavior because of fear, not because of love. So these flaws flow into our relationship with God. And we carry the burden of somehow trying to make up for our sins in order to prove that we're really, really sorry before we ask for forgiveness. This is especially true for those recurring sins that you struggle with.

And you know what I'm talking about. Those sins that you've been trying to overcome for so long, and when you think you finally have been given the victory, you slip and fall right back. I'm here to tell you that our God is not like us. His attributes, unlike ours, are faultless in perfection, in His fullness that the apostle speaks about in this verse, the fullness from, or from the fullness we have all received grace upon grace. His fullness means full to the brim, perfect and lacking nothing.

In other words, you cannot add or improve on His perfect qualities. He's perfect in holiness. He's perfect in goodness. He's perfect in power. He's perfect in wisdom and in knowledge.

He, this beloved, He's perfect in love. This means that Christian, for you, His love has no conditions, no boundaries. Romans 8 tells us that. You and I don't know this type of love from anyone else. We love our husbands and our wives.

We love our sons and our daughters, our mothers and our fathers. Yes, but beloved, we don't love like this. Unconditional, eternal love that can never be broken is grace upon grace available for all who place their trust in the only savior of the world, the eternal son of God, Jesus Christ. So come to him with all your sins and receive forgiveness. Don't be afraid.

In fact, the characteristic of a true believer is one who is able to continuously throw him or herself at the feet of Christ, receiving from the fullness of his grace over and over and over and over again. As a child of God, you know full well you've been You've been received with open arms every single time you come to Christ. No exceptions. In His loving arms, there's sufficient grace. It will never run out.

It will keep on coming. Brothers and sisters, you have to believe there's enough grace in Jesus Christ to cover the sins of all His people 100 million times over. And the infinite reservoir of the fullness of His grace would not reduce even as much as a drop in the Pacific Ocean. can never deplete His grace. Nothing can ever deplete His grace.

It is never ending supply of grace for His own people, His people who He shed His blood for. And to think otherwise, to think that you'll ever come and not be forgiven, if you come in faith, then you're giving yourself over to the deceitful lie of the enemy. There's grace for all your sins. There's grace for lying lips, grace for lust of the eyes, grace for deceiving thoughts, for covetousness, for greed, for disobedience, anger, envy, jealousy, whatever sins you struggle with, come to Christ and receive of his grace. This is no excuse to continue with sin.

The true believer is aware of the battle with him. And he's able to understand the words of Paul to the Galatian Christians in Galatians 5 verse 17. Walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the spirit and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other.

to keep you from doing the things you want to do. God's grace is not a license to sin, beloved. For the true believer, waging war against sin is a daily thing, and the true believer is grieved over his sin. So it's not a matter of sinning, and sinning, and sinning, and asking repentance without grief, because if you're not aware of the struggle within, then your soul is in danger. But by grace, the Spirit of God works in the life of the Christian to produce hate for the things that God hates, and love for the things that God loves.

This is why the greatest desire of the child of God is to be conformed to the image of the beloved son, Jesus Christ. To be conformed to him in holiness and in purity and in righteousness. It is that effectual grace that empowers us daily with the spiritual armor to be strengthened so that we can battle against the flesh and against the enemy. Beloved, I hope and I pray that you've experienced this grace. I hope that you are living your life in light of the limitless, continual, poured out grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Don't be robbed of the joy of knowing this type of grace. Don't be robbed of the joy of believing and acting upon this type of grace. Because Paul experienced this grace and he was able to write to the church of Philippi the following words which are applicable to all the people of God. Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. Why?

Because from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. Amen.