Jesus said, “The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised…good news is being preached to the poor” (Matthew 11:5 NLT).

Here Jesus describes a 3-dimensional kingdom where:

The rejected find acceptance. Listen: “The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear.” These particular people had no status or value; they were society’s rejects. But what others see as trash, God sees as treasure.

Death is powerless. Jesus could say, “The dead are raised,” because He personally unlocked death’s prison, turning every funeral into an Easter celebration. In 1899 two men died: evangelist D. L. Moody and political leader, Robert Ingersol, an agnostic. A biographer characterized their deaths like this: “Ingersol died suddenly. Public response to his passing was dismal. But Moody awoke on his last winter dawn and said, ‘Earth recedes, heaven opens before me! If this is death it is sweet’.”

Mercy replaces justice. Why did Jesus say, “Good news is being preached to the poor?” Because membership in God’s kingdom can’t be purchased. You don’t get in by doing enough, but by admitting that you could never do enough. That’s why Paul writes: “By grace you have been saved…not by works” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Pastor and author H. A. Ironside told about a new convert who gave his testimony during a church service. With joy in his heart, the man related how he had been delivered from a life of sin. He gave the Lorsd all the glory, making it clear that he had done nothing to earn salvation.

The person leading the service didn’t fully appreciate the truth that salvation is by grace through faith alone, apart from works. So he responded, “You seem to indicate that God did everything when He saved you. Didn’t you do your part before God did His?”

The Christian jumped to his feet and said, “Oh, yes, I did. Fore more than 30 years I ran away from God as fast my sins could carry me. That was my part. But God took out after me and ran me down. That was His part.”

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us” (Titus 3:5).

Tags: grace, Ironside

Before he enlisted in the Union Army to fight during the US Civil War, Joshua Chamberlain was a quiet and unassuming college professor. In the crucible of military combat he distinguished himself for his heroism in holding the line on Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg. He was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

To recognize Chamberlain’s contribution to the Union victory, General Ulysses S. Grant designated him to receive the first flag of surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. The defeated troops of the South expected to be ridiculed and humiliated. Instead, Chamberlain showed them kindness and respect. For this, the Confederate commanding officer wrote in his memoirs that Chamberlain was “one of the knightliest soldiers of the Federal Army.”

As a committed Christian, Chamberlain reflected the grace of Christ. We too need to stand for what we believe but also to be kind to those with whom we disagree. Paul noted, “as a good soldier of Jesus Christ…be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition” (2 Timothy 2:3, 24-25).

When was the last time you helped an opponent “save face”?

Tags: Civil War, Gettysburg, grace, saving face

Dwight L. Moody illustrated grace like this in a late 1800s sermon:

“Remember, salvation is a free gift, and it is a free gift for us. Can you buy it? It is a free gift, presented to “whosoever” will accept it.

Suppose I were to say, I will give this Bible to “whosoever” will take it; what have you got to do? Why, nothing but take it. But a man comes forward, and says: “I’d like that Bible very much.”

“Well, didn’t I say ‘whosoever’ will can have it?”

“Yes; but I’d like to have you mention my name.”

“Well, here it is.”

Still he keeps eyeing the Bible, and saying, “I’d like to have that Bible; but I’d like to give you something for it. I don’t like to take it for nothing.”

“But I am not here to sell Bibles; take it, if you want it.”

“Well, I want it; but I’d like to give you something for it. Let me give you a cent for it; though, to be sure, it’s worth about five dollars.”

Suppose I accept the cent; the man takes up the Bible and marches away home with it.

His wife asks, “Where did you get that Bible?”

“Oh, I bought it.”

Mark the point: when he gave the penny, it ceased to be a gift. So with salvation. If you were to pay ever so little, it would not be a gift.

Tags: Bible, grace, Moody, works

We have a Pin Oak tree at our house that we planted a few years ago. It is beautiful! But I’ve noticed that long after the other trees have shed their leaves, these oak leaves are still hanging on. Even the strong winter winds can’t succeed in getting those stubborn leaves to let go. But, in the springtime a wonderful thing happens. Tiny little buds start appearing at the tips of the twigs, pushing off the dried remnants of the preceding season. What the winds and ice could not do from without, the forces of new life do from within.

Sometimes, my old ways of doing things can be like those stubborn leaves, and I don’t want to let go. However, the new life within me through the Holy Spirit, finds a way to push those old ways off and out of the way for the new life. The old served its purpose in its time, but today is a new time. And life is always fresh. That’s His grace at work.

What are you hanging onto that you need to let go?

This week we’re going to look at the subject of grace = unmerited favor; favor we don’t deserve. The airline had mangled Debbie’s luggage. Then her purse disappeared. Instead of entering the airport through an enclosed corridor, she stumbled off the plane in the pouring rain. She was drenched, far from home with no money, no identification, and no dry clothes.

Under normal conditions Debbie would have been furious, but that night it didn’t matter. She had just survived the crash of Flight 1420 in Little Rock, Arkansas. “When I walked off that plane,” Debbie said, “I walked off with nothing, then I stopped and thought, I have everything.” She had suddenly realized that her life was more important than all she had lost.

The fact that God allows me to continue to breathe is grace, considering my past failures. Let’s quit griping about what we’ve lost and focus on what He has permitted us to keep. That’s God’s grace.

Tags: favor, grace, life