Let me invite you to take your Bibles and turn to Romans chapter 4. The two lines in the last stanza of the song we just sang said, and by grace we'll stand on your promises, and by faith we'll walk as you walk with us. By grace we'll stand on your promises. So the topic that we're going to be considering together and our sessions together is the grace of God. And I was tempted at first to begin going through this topic considering just the special saving grace of God. But then as I thought about it, I realized that that would not really be the right place to start because the scripture said before us the grace of God in broad, comprehensive terms, and it's not just special, saving grace that the script has set before us. It also sets before us what the theologians have called the doctrine of common grace. So that's where we're going to begin our study, with the doctrine of common grace. The term grace itself, has various shades of meaning in the Bible. But most frequently, it is the favor of God that is in view. And generally, it is sinful men viewed as the objects of God's favor. And then, in that case, it's always unmerited favor. For instance, Paul tells us in Romans chapter 4 and verse 4, Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due. The one that works, when you work for something, what you receive as a result of your working is not a gift. You've earned it. You've merited that. You deserve that because you have worked for it. But Paul says when it comes to God's favor or God's grace or salvation, There's no working involved on our part. Because if we could work for it, then we have earned it, we would deserve it. And that also implies that there would be something in us, natively, whereby we could work and earn our salvation, or God's grace and favor. But Paul says, to the one who works his wages not count as a gift, but as his due. And he teaches very clearly in Romans But especially in Ephesians chapter 2 where he says, for by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Paul is contrasting, in Romans 4, he's contrasting God's favor with what is earned, and therefore it would be meritorious. But as he teaches in Romans and in Ephesians and in other places in his writings. Since grace is undeserved favor, and I think that's probably the most common definition that we all are pretty familiar with about God's grace, is His unmerited favor. And he says, since grace is unmerited favor, no constraint can be placed upon God, no constraint whatsoever. can be placeable on God arising from any supposed worthiness on our part. In other words, when we come to God to receive favor and grace and salvation or any benefit from God, we cannot come with the idea that there is some worthiness in us and thereby constraining God. If that were true, God would be constrained to give us what we seek from him on that basis. And so we are not to suppose that there is any worthiness in us concerning God's favor and grace. And therefore, God is under no constraint whatsoever to give us those gracious benefits that we need as men and women that are fallen. We must always view ourselves as sinners, not only ill-deserving, but hell-deserving. In other words, we do not deserve any good thing from God. But that's not just it. We not only do not deserve any good thing from God, but what we do deserve is hell and condemnation and damnation. We're not only ill-deserving, but we are hell-deserving. And this is the attitude that men are supposed to have when it comes to dealing with God and having God's favor and blessing poured out upon us. It is from this primary meaning that various other meanings are derived, and it can refer to those gracious influences that are brought to bear upon men, the grace of God, God's favor. It can refer to those gracious influences that are brought to bear And we have some examples of this in the New Testament, and Luke, the first one we want to look at is in Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2, in verse 40. Now this is speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ and his parents. Beginning at verse 39 it says, And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee. to their own town of Nazareth, and the child that is Jesus became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor or the grace of God was upon him. We have another example in Acts chapter And these verses are setting before us the fact that grace can refer to those gracious influences that are brought to bear upon men. Acts 4 verse 33 reads, I'll pick up the reading at verse 32. Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul. And no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all. God's gracious favor was upon all the people as the apostles testified to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the last example is in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Second Corinthians chapter 12, I'll start reading at verse 8. Paul says, three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you. For my power was made perfect and weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Paul wanted the thorn in his flesh to be removed, but the Lord Jesus Christ said, I'm not going to remove it from you, Paul, but my grace is going to be sufficient for you. By my grace, by my favor to you, you're going to be able to bear up under this burden, this trial that I have sent into your life. My grace is going to be sufficient. So these texts teach us, these three texts we've looked at, that the grace of God, the favor of God can refer to those gracious influences that are brought to bear upon men. And just like the grace of God was sufficient for Paul in his trial, the grace of God is sufficient for us in our trials as well. And it doesn't make any difference what kind of trial we are brought into by God. We are going to have grace from God, and it's going to be sufficient for us to be able to withstand that trial in such a way that we're not going to disgrace God. That's the thing that we don't want to do at all as God's people. We don't want to bring disgrace to God in any way. And one of the main ways that we can be tempted very quickly and easily to disgrace God in the cause of Christ is to crumble under and in the midst of our trials. What kind of testimony is that to our God and to his grace if we are brought into a trial And it may or may not be a severe trial, but we crumble. We crumble. That speaks ill of our God and of his grace. God's grace, he told Paul, my grace is sufficient. Now we don't know exactly what Paul's thorn in the flesh was. And maybe you have a thorn in the flesh. And we don't have to know what it is, but God knows what it is. And he wants you to understand this morning that his grace is sufficient for you in your trial. This thorn that you have, His grace is going to cause you to be able to live with that thorn as long as God wants you to live with it. He may or may not remove it. You may have to bear that thorn all the days of your life, but at some point it's going to be removed. It may not be until you exit out of this world, But if that's the case, it will be removed then. But what we must understand is that God's grace is sufficient. It can also refer to the state of grace into which we are brought. Paul tells us this in Romans chapter 5 and verse 2. The grace of favor of God can not only refer to those gracious influences that are brought to bear upon men, but it can also refer to the state of grace into which the people of God are brought when they are converted. Paul says in Romans 5 beginning at verse 1, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. You see, the grace of God or the favor of God can also refer to the people of God being brought into a state of grace. And having been brought into a state of grace by the grace of God, that's all we need to be able to live our lives in the way that pleases God. We don't need to be looking for something other than the grace of God. Having been brought into that state of grace, we are safe secure and we have at our disposal whatever we need, whatever we're going to need in our Christian experience to be able to live for God's glory. We have access to the throne of grace and the writer of the Hebrews tells us, therefore beloved come boldly to the throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in your time of need. And I don't believe that there is any time in our lives as human beings, as Christians or non-Christians, when we are not in need. But the good thing for us as God's people is that there is a throne of grace that has been established, that has been set up. And we can, at any time, we can repair to that throne of grace and there receive mercy from God and find the help that we need in our need, whatever they may be. And they don't have to be great big needs. They don't have to be great big needs. We can have what may be considered by some people to be small insignificant needs. But if it's a need, we are supposed to go to the throne of grace where there's mercy for us and request the grace from God that we need to be able to deal with this. It can refer to the gracious influences poured out upon men. It can refer to the state of grace into which we are brought. But it can also refer to the gifts and virtues of grace. Romans chapter 12. It can also refer to the gifts and virtues of grace. Romans chapter 12. I pick up the reading at verse 3. Paul says, For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment. each according to the measure of faith and grace, I'm adding that word, that God has assigned. Verse six, he says, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them then, if prophecy in proportion to our faith, and so on and so forth. In other words, as children of God, when we were converted by God's grace, and brought into the family of God and added to the body of Christ and placed into a local community of God's people in a local church. God gave each one of us gifts that differed according to his grace that he had determined before the foundation of the world that he would distribute to each one of his people. And Paul says, if you have received the gift of prophecy, then use it in proportion to your faith. But the point he's making is that the favor and the grace of God can have reference to the gifts and virtues of grace. It can have reference to the gifts and virtues of grace. We have gifts, each one of us as God's children. We have a particular gift that God has given us. And we also have graces that are menacing to us. by the Spirit of God that indwells us. The grace of faith, the grace of love, the grace of patience, the grace of long-suffering, so on and so forth. These are the graces that we possess as children of God, and they have been given to us by God, and they are exercised in us. We exhibit them by the power of the Holy Spirit that indwells us, and that's why it's important for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we exhibit these graces of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit that Paul mentioned in Galatians 5. Those are the graces that we have the ability and power and potential to exhibit and to demonstrate as God's children. And there is no such thing as a Christian that does not possess the ability to exemplify and demonstrate these graces. Every Christian can can demonstrate love, and not just that natural love, but he can demonstrate a love that is above and beyond what is natural. He can demonstrate divine love. That's the grace of the Spirit. He can demonstrate longsuffering. He can be like God when it comes to longsuffering. He can have people that hate him and that are misusing him and saying bad things about him and he can respond in the same way that Jesus Christ responded when he was here in the flesh. He would not be a person that will give tit for tat. You said something bad about me, I'm going to say something bad about you. You hit me, I'm going to hit you back. And I'm not saying that in all cases that we should just stand up and let somebody beat us down. I'm not saying that at all. But Jesus taught that we're supposed to turn the other cheek. And we can do that because we're Christians, we have God's nature, and we also have the Spirit of God living in us that will give us the ability to turn the other cheek, to be long-suffering, to be patient, to bear with people. people inside the covenant of grace, and people outside of the covenant of grace. This was the way that Jesus Christ conducted himself when he was here upon the earth. He perfectly exemplified and demonstrated the gracious influences of the Spirit, because he was a man that was given the script to say, the Spirit without measure. He was given the Spirit without measure And all of the graces of the Spirit were exemplified in his life to perfection. That's never going to be the case with us while we're here. That awaits us when we are glorified. But now we can demonstrate the graces of the Spirit to a degree that the unnatural man is completely foreign to him. And that's why so many non-Christians are puzzled by the way Christians act in certain situations because they know that that's not natural. We have the power and the ability to live in a way that is completely and totally contrary to our character by nature. There was an article in the Free Press this past week about this 16-year-old boy that was arrested on one of the suburbs driver without a license, and the police officer took him to an apartment, and somehow or another he got the police officer's gun and he killed the police officer. And after he was finally arrested, one of, I think it was an artist, somebody said about him, this is completely out of character for him to kill a police officer. Well, I beg to differ. He was not acting out of character when he did that. He was acting in accord and with complete consistency with his character. Because by nature, that's what we are. And whenever we or anybody else, whenever we do anything that is contrary to what we are by nature, that's a miracle. That's a miracle. But that 16-year-old boy, he was acting according to his character. He was not acting out of character. And when a person sins, he's not acting out of a character. He's simply living out what he is by nature. But by God's grace, we as his people, we have been transformed. We've been made new creatures in Christ. And we have this ability, this power to do something, to live in a way that is absolutely contrary to who and what we are by nature. It's just like being able to swim up Niagara Falls. That's what the Christian life can be likened to. Going against the flow. And we do that by the grace of God. So, it refers also to these gifts and virtues of grace. If we look at 2 Corinthians chapter 8, I don't believe we did. 2 Corinthians 8. And Paul is encouraging the church at Carlin to give generously, to have an open hand when it comes to sharing with those that don't have anything. And he says in verse 7, Accordingly, we urge Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. You see, giving is an act of grace. Giving is an act of grace. And let me just say that Christians are not the only ones that demonstrate this act of grace. Christians are not the only ones that give. There are multitudes of people all over the world that are charitable, that they give of their own stuff so that other people can be helped. But Paul says, as you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you, see that you excel in this act of grace also. So giving is a grace. Giving is a grace. And for us as Christians, it is act of God's common grace in us. But I dare say that if you live any time in the world before you became a Christian that you gave, that you made charitable contributions. I'm going to go out on the limb and say that about you, that as an untroverted person you did good, you gave charitable, you did charitable deeds, you gave money for the cause of charity. In that particular case, it was God's common grace to you, moving you to do that. But once you became a Christian, when you do that, it's no longer common grace. It is the special grace of God at work in you, moving you and constraining you to do that. You have now the heart of God. And God has a heart for people that are suffering. He has a heart for the suffering and those that are in need. That was demonstrated very clearly by the Lord Jesus Christ when he was here in the flesh. He had a heart for those that were suffering, for the downtrodden. and he did everything that he could to relieve their suffering. Christians are not the only ones that do that. Unbelievers do that, and they do it by the common grace of God, and they don't do it, but they don't do it for the glory of God. The difference with you as a Christian is now you do it by the special grace of God, and you don't do it for your own glory. You do it for the glory of God, because you know that it is God at work in you. constraining you to do these good things. You know that God's grace has transformed you and made you to be the kind of person that you are. And whenever you do anything that's good, you point to God. You say, to God be the glory. You say, not unto me, O Lord, not unto me, not unto me, but unto you be the praise and the glory. Because you realize and you understand that it's God at work in you, constraining you, moving you, to be like him, to be like his son. The different shades of meaning concerning God's favor and grace are so closely related and dependent upon the primary meaning, God's unmerited favor, that it is at times difficult to know with certainty what thought is being expressed. But we are always pointed back to the disposition of favor and loving kindness and God as a source, as that which gives character to all grace and exercise. We may not be able to distinguish always between these subtle meanings of the grace of God, but one thing we realize as God's people, that it all comes from God. God is the source of it. Whatever shade of meaning it may have, whatever effect it's having, God is the source. This is what we say as Christians. It's not me, but it's the grace of God in me. And you can't read the Bible without realizing that the grace of God in action is not always special and saving, as I've already said. The word of God clearly divides the grace of God into two categories. It not only sets before us the doctrine of saving grace or special grace, but it also sets before us what the theologians have termed the doctrine of common grace. And it's this doctrine that answers the question of how can a man who is not savingly renewed by the spirit of God exhibit qualities, gifts, and accomplishments that promote the preservation, temple happiness, cause for progress, social and economic improvement of themselves and others. How is this possible? You see, we are so narrow-minded to believe that it's only Christians, but how could we come to a conclusion like that, living in the world that we live in? I don't see how we could come to a conclusion like that, to say that it's only Christians that ever do anything good. That's ridiculous. So the question is, what is it that causes these non-Christians to be good and to do good things, to have good thoughts, to speak good words, to perform good. What's the answer? What's the bindness? Well, it's what the theologians have called the common grace of God. And it just shows, it demonstrates very clearly the absolute sovereign power that God has over all of his creatures. That's what's demonstrated in God's common grace where he constrains the impenitent. to reprobate, to do things that are good and noble and virtuous and that are beneficial to society. And you would have to be blind, deaf, and dumb to not realize it. If you have lived in the world for any period of time at all, you know that Christians are not the only ones that do things that are good and virtuous and noble. And I'm going to go out on them again and say that before you were converted, before you became a Christian, while you were still unconverted, you did things that were good, noble, and virtuous as far as mankind is concerned from the human perspective. And they were seen by God also as being good and virtuous and noble, but you didn't do them from the right motive. They were not down for the right motive, as in a converted person. Now that you're converted, you do them from that grand motive and principle of giving praise and honor and glory to God. So that's how you explain, that's how we explain, that's the explanation for all the good that's done in the world by evil and wicked people. It is the common grace of God. God sovereignly pouring out upon these people His special favor, His favor of grace, common grace, that constrains them and moves them to do these things that are beneficial not only to themselves, but to other people as well. John Calvin explained the existence of good outside the sphere of God's special grace by the presence of grace that is common to all, yet enjoyed by some in a special degree. are beneficiaries of God's common grace, but some have it in a special degree. Some have it to a higher degree than others. Now the term common does not imply that each particular favor is given to all without discrimination or distinction, but that favors of varying kinds and degrees are bestowed upon the sin-cursed world which are not in themselves saving in their nature and effect. That's why we have order in our society. And wherever you find order in any society in the world, if that society is run primarily and predominantly by unsaved people, it's because of the common grace of God. Now, Professor Murray, Professor John Murray has defined common grace as every favor of whatever kind or degree falling short of salvation which is undeserving and sin-cursed world enjoys at the hand of God. And in our study of common grace, there are two main points that we want to discuss. It's nature and it's purpose. But we're going to leave that for some other time. Let's close in prayer. Our gracious God and Father, we do praise you and thank you, Lord, for your grace, be it common, O Lord, or special and saving grace. You are the God of all grace, and all grace comes from you. Lord, we thank you that for many of us that are gathered here this morning, and that will be gathered in the next hour, we have experience, we have come under the orb and canopy of your special saving grace, O Lord, and we praise you and thank you for it. The grace of God that brings salvation has not only appeared to all men, but it has appeared to some of us, O Lord, in a special and a particular way. And it is presently, O Lord, teaching us that we are supposed to be denying ungodliness and worldly lust and living soberly and righteously for our God. Thank you for your word, O Lord. It is a lamp to our feet and a light upon our path. Lord, help us to esteem it, to treasure it up in our hearts that we might not sin against you. Be with us as we gather in the next hour. Be with Pastor Cook as he stands before us to preach your word. May he be filled with the Spirit. May our hearts, O Lord, be open and ready to receive your word. And may it work powerfully and effectively in each one of us, O God. Lord, you will see every person that will be gathered. You know our particular spiritual needs, O Lord. And Father, we pray that as Your Word is preached this morning, that You would be pleased to draw near to each one of us and meet those particular spiritual needs that we have for the good of our souls and for the glory of Your name. And we ask these mercies in Jesus' name. Amen.