Participants:
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000686S
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00:01 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:11 Sermon #B686 - Just Enough Grace 00:20 Dr. Byrd: Let me get quickly in the word. If you have your Bibles, go with me to the Book of Luke. 00:25 And we are going to Luke 7:36. The word of God says in Luke 7:36, 00:37 "And one of the Pharisees desire him that he would eat with him, 00:42 and he went into the Pharisee's house and sat down to meet. 00:47 Behold a woman in the city which was a sinner when she knew that Jesus sat 00:53 at meat in the Pharisees house. She brought an alabaster box of ointment 00:59 and stood at his feet behind him weeping and began to wash his feet with tears 01:04 and then wipe them with the hairs of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 01:10 Now when the Pharisee, which had bidden him, saw it speak within himself saying, 01:17 "This man if he were a prophet would have known who and what man 01:23 or woman this is that toucheth him for she is a sinner." Jesus answering said unto him, 01:31 "Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee", and he said, "Master, say on". 01:39 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors. The one owed five hundred pence and the other 50, 01:45 and when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. 01:50 Tell me they are for which of them will love him most. Simon answered and said, 01:54 "I suppose that he to whom he forgave most," and he said unto him, "Thou has rightly judged," 02:02 and he turn to the woman and he said unto Simon, "Seest thou this woman. 02:10 I entered into thy house that gave his me no water for my feet, 02:15 but she had washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. 02:21 Now gave his me no kiss this woman since the time I came in have not ceased to kiss my feet, 02:28 my head with oil. Now this not anoints, but this woman had anointed my feet with ointment. 02:36 Wherefore I said to me her sins, which are many they are forgiven for she loved much 02:44 but to whom little is forgiven the same loves little", and he said unto her verse 48, 02:48 "Thy sins are forgiven." 02:53 Today, I would challenge you on the subject just enough grace. Lord, right now, come over the airwaves. 03:02 Come in this sanctuary right now. Lord, you are already here. 03:06 I can feel you in this place. And I pray that by the power of your holy ghost that you would move 03:11 in a mighty way on me or on your people, on all those who are watching, 03:16 on all those who are listening and may your anointing make the difference this day. 03:20 I pray in the name of Jesus that God through the anointing you would destroy yokes today. 03:25 You would set somebody free today that you would remind someone of your matchless grace. 03:33 God I pray that you would be with us. Forgive me on my sins and when the appeal time comes move, 03:38 I pray. It is in the name of Jesus I ask these things and I begged these mercies. Amen. 03:47 Just Enough grace. A husband and wife are sitting in the gate area of an airport. 04:00 Hoping to get some seats on an overbooked flight after waiting and worrying 04:07 and praying for an hour that they would get seats on the flight. 04:12 The gate agent calls them over the PA system to come to the check-in desk. 04:19 Smiling, the gate agent says, "You won't believe it. But this is your lucky day." 04:27 The gate agent not only gets them seats on the plane, but the gate agent bumps them up to first class. 04:34 I wish somebody here. I had a witness to this place that would say upgrade right now. 04:39 This was the first and only time they had been in first class where they were pampered on an airplane 04:48 with good food, drinks and plenty of elbow room. Now while they're sitting in first class, 04:58 they decide to begin to play a game trying to guess who else doesn't belong in first class. 05:07 They see a man on the plane walking to and fro in the first class cabin in his socks, 05:16 restlessly sampling magazines, trying to figure out how to use the television, 05:23 playing with but never actually using the in-flight phones. 05:29 Twice, he sneezes so loudly that they thought the oxygen masks will drop down. 05:37 When the flight attendant brings linen tablecloths for their breakfast trays, 05:43 the man tucks his tablecloth into his collar like it is a bib. The couple, 05:53 they looked at one another and they knew that this man didn't belong in first class either. 06:01 The husband then says to his wife, "You know what? We see different people at church too. 06:11 We see people at church who look like they don't belong. But you know what? 06:18 People at church, they will embarrass us and cause us to feel superior. 06:26 But the truth is, we don't belong there anymore than they do. 06:33 And that's the truth for every single one of us. We don't belong in this picture of Salvation. 06:42 The only reason we are alive today is because of God's grace. 06:49 Jesus has come into the house of a Pharisee. The Pharisee have social graces. 06:57 The Pharisees knew how to play the game. He understood protocols. He understood appropriateness. 07:06 The Pharisee was religious. The Pharisee had resources. 07:11 The Pharisee could invite Jesus to his home for dinner. 07:17 Then comes the Bible says a prostitute knocking at the door. 07:22 Now it was appropriate for Jesus to be seen with a Pharisee at his house, but not a prostitute. 07:30 But then if the Pharisee is supposed to be so good and the Prostitute is supposed to be so bad, 07:36 how is the prostitute familiar with his house in the first place? She is not holy. 07:43 She is not righteous. She is not pure. She has been around the block. 07:49 She is messed up so bad that people knew her by what she did and not by her name. 07:55 What is this woman doing breaking in among these important men? She is a woman. 08:03 And back in those days, a woman was considered a second-class citizen property of the man. 08:11 And she is not even a good woman. She is a prostitute. Lady comes into the house. 08:19 She knows she is not supposed to be there according to the custom of the day. 08:23 A prostitute talking to a preacher. When I was a little boy in grade school, 08:29 they would show us pictures in school. And I remember one picture of a living room having a sofa, 08:35 a chair, a coffee table, an end table, and a refrigerator, and the teacher would ask us, 08:40 "What is wrong with this picture?" 08:43 The teacher wanted to see if our cognitive skills was strong enough to discern appropriateness. 08:48 And if you had reasonable skills, 08:50 you would circle the refrigerator to say that this does not go with that. 08:56 What is wrong with this picture? It is not Simon. He is a Pharisee. It is not Jesus. 09:06 He is a prophet. But let us just circle the prostitute. She does not have any business here, 09:16 but she is here anyway. She does not seek Jesus' face. She does not seek Jesus' hand. 09:22 She does not come for a blessing plan. She is not trying to get his favor. 09:26 She is just glad to be in the picture. She falls down at his feet. 09:32 She is weeping uncontrollably. Her tears are falling down. She lets her hair down. 09:39 She dries Jesus' feet. She kisses Jesus' feet. She anoints Jesus' 09:46 feet with ointment that was in an alabaster box that was comparable to one year's wages. 09:51 Simon, the Pharisee, the church member is standing over in the corner watching all of this, 09:58 turning up his nose, mumbling under his breath, 10:01 expressing his religious intolerance to her relational behavior and he questions Jesus' discernment. 10:09 If Jesus was such a prophet, he should have known this woman was a prostitute, a sinner. 10:18 He should have known that she does not belong in this picture. 10:23 He assumes that if Jesus knows who this woman was, he would have stopped her. 10:28 But friends of mine, the fact is, Jesus did know who she was. Remember, He is omniscient, 10:36 which means he is all-knowing. He knew she was coming to the house 10:40 before she even knocked on the door. Jesus says, "Simon, I have something to tell you." 10:48 Simon responds, "Tell me." "Two men were in debt to a banker. One of the men owed $500. 10:55 The other owed $50. Neither one of the men could pay up. 10:59 And so the banker canceled most of their debts. Which of the two would be more grateful? 11:06 Simon responds. He says, "That is easy. The one who was forgiven the most." 11:11 Jesus says, "You are right." Then turning to the woman, but still speaking to Simon, 11:18 Jesus says, "Seest thou this woman." But wait a minute. Simon is not blind. Simon sees this woman. 11:28 What is Jesus talking about? But here, Jesus know sometimes people can see you and still not know you. 11:35 I don't care if it is your husband. I do not care if it is your wife, your son, your daughter. 11:38 I do not care if it is your mother. I do not care if it is your father. 11:40 I do not care if it is your grandmother, your grandfather. 11:42 Sometimes, people can see you and still not know you. You do not even know who they are. 11:49 You do not even know what they are capable of. The people you think belong in the picture, 11:55 do not, and the people you do not think belong in the picture, do. But the reality friends is, 11:59 when Jesus, everyone can be in the picture because you can act holy all you want, 12:05 but everybody has done something in the past and everybody has done something in the dark. 12:10 So do not you point your finger at somebody else. 12:13 But this man Jesus, he knows me and he loved me when I was unlovable. 12:21 He did not wait until I got right to love me, but he loved me when I would not do right. 12:27 He loved me what I would not act right. He loved me when I would not talk right. 12:33 He loved me when I would not walk right. He stopped the car from crashing. 12:37 He stopped me from dying. He stopped me from being destroyed. And if you will praise Him Today, 12:44 I Will Bless The Lord at all times. And his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 12:49 Jesus says to Simon, "Seest thou this woman. I came to your house. 12:56 You provided no water for my feet, but she rain tears on my feet 13:00 and then she dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting. But from the time I arrived, 13:05 this woman has not stopped kissing my feet. You provided nothing for me to freshen up, 13:10 but she has soothe my feet with perfume. She has many sins 13:17 but she was forgiven for her many sins and she is grateful. But when the forgiveness is minimal, 13:21 the gratitude is minimal, but when the forgiveness is great, the gratitude is great. 13:27 This lady deserves death. This lady deserves to be stoned. 13:34 This lady understand she should be punishable by death. But Jesus says, 13:40 "Woman, thy sins are forgiven." Not stoned, forgiven. Not killed, forgiven. 13:50 Not punished, forgiven. That is grace. I am not talking about what you say before you eat. 13:59 I am not talking about somebody's name. I am talking about getting what you do not deserve. 14:05 I am talking about God's riches at Christ's expense. 14:09 I am talking about God's unmerited favor. You cannot earn grace, you cannot buy grace. 14:15 Grace is a gift and it is always freely given. We are saved by grace 14:22 and not by our works and that is why the gospel is such good news. 14:25 Because if we had to depend upon our works, none of us would ever make it 14:28 and some of us would ever be sure never be sure if we had done not goody works to save ourselves. 14:34 But today, thank God for God's grace. I do not have to work for my salvation. 14:42 I already have salvation. Jesus already died. 14:47 All I have got to do is live so I may look like I do not belong in the first class. 14:54 I may look like I do not belong in the picture. I may look like I do not belong in the church. 15:00 I may look like I do not belong here, but I am not here because of you. 15:05 But I am here today because of God's grace. I am not what I ought to be. 15:09 I am not what I wish to be. I am not what I hope to be. I am not what I should be but praise God, 15:17 I am not what I used to be. God has given me grace but not just grace. 15:24 He is giving me just enough grace. You see, when I think about just enough grace, 15:30 the Apostle Paul comes to mind. Paul says, "Look, I do not even belong in this picture. 15:36 I think you may think that I am all that and then some, but I am just a sinner saved like you." 15:43 Let me give some background to Paul. 15:46 One of the greatest questions that people have when it comes to God is God, 15:49 why do you allow suffering? Why do bad things happen to good people? 15:54 Reconciling suffering, is hard for many Christians to grapple with. 15:58 For New Testament Christians, suffering was a big issue. 16:02 And when the Corinthian Christians looked at the Apostle Paul, they couldn't 16:05 understand how a true Apostle of Christ can suffer to degree that Paul had suffered. 16:10 For them, Paul was a great man. 16:12 To them, Paul was a good man. But why did Paul have to go through all that Paul went through? 16:19 Paul clears all this up and II Corinthians. In verse number 7, he says, 16:23 "To keep me from becoming conceited. To keep me from getting the big head. 16:31 A thorn was given to me in the flesh. A messenger from Satan was given to Buffett me, to harass me, 16:40 to keep me from becoming conceited." 16:43 This thorn in Paul's flesh was a messenger from Satan that was tormenting him. 16:49 Satan uses trials. He uses sufferings. He uses difficulties to torment us, to harass us, 16:55 to trouble us. This is exactly what we see, friends, in the Book of Job. 16:59 Satan was using suffering to torment Job, so Job would turn his faith away from the Lord. 17:05 But God was not harassing Job. God was not tormenting Paul. 17:10 God has another purpose by which he allow suffering to happen in the world. 17:14 Paul says that for him, this thorn in his flesh was given to him so that he would not exalt himself 17:22 or become conceited. So Paul says three times, "Lord, I have got a thorn in my flesh." 17:28 And he asked the Lord, "Lord, remove this thorn," but God says, 17:32 "I cannot remove the thorn but my grace is sufficient for thee." In other words, 17:39 "I am going to give you just enough grace to endure." Let me tell you church. 17:44 God does not remove the thorns in our lives, but he gives us just enough grace 17:51 because his power is made perfect in our weakness. Let me tell you something. 17:55 God always takes weak people to show his strength because it is those weak people who depend on God. 18:06 During this covid season, 18:08 there are folk all around this country, all across this world on TV, on the internet, radio, 18:13 YouTube, preaching, teaching, singing, having panels under the authority and power of the Holy Ghost, 18:21 and they are anointed. 18:23 Let me remind you. You do not follow them home because if you follow them home, 18:28 you would realize that they too have a thorn. You need to understand that everybody on your job, 18:33 young people, everybody in your class, everybody in your house, everybody in your community, 18:40 everybody in this church has a thorn in their flesh. All of us have sinned 18:46 or come short of the glory of God. I do not care how much Bible you know, 18:50 I do not care how much Spirit of Prophecy you know, 18:53 I do not care how much you can quote to church manual. Everybody in here has a thorn 18:58 and God has allowed to thorn so you can depend on him. 19:02 God allowed you to have a thorn so you would not walk around with the big head. 19:08 Your nose so stuck up in the air that if it rained it drowned. 19:12 Your chest so stuck out that you could not get through the door. 19:15 God allow the thorn so you would remember that it is all about his grace. 19:21 And God hallelujah has given you just enough grace to make it. 19:26 You are not supposed to be in the picture. I am not supposed to be in the picture but 19:31 because of God's grace, I can be in the picture. 19:34 So you better tell somebody who said I cannot be in the picture, who made you my judge 19:40 and jury when if it were not for the grace of God, where would you be? I long for this church. 19:47 The Oakwood Church to be a safe place. I long for this church to be a safe house. 19:53 I long for this church to be a church where we are trying to outgrace of the churches. 19:59 But too often, just like the prostitute in the opening story, 20:04 when people look to the church for grace, too often, they find ungrace. 20:10 You see, grace empowers righteous living, but ungrace disables it. Grace motivates obedience 20:18 because Jesus died on calvary for our sins, 20:20 but ungrace demands obedience under the threat of condemnation if we come up short. 20:26 Grace leads to freedom, victory, and to release. 20:31 But ungrace leads to bondage, oppression, and defeat. 20:35 Grace looks to happiness in Jesus. joy in Jesus and delight in Jesus, 20:40 but ungrace looks to salvation by works. Legalistic legislations and bureaucratic bottlenecks. 20:48 Grace means there is nothing more that we can do to make God love us. Not getting more degrees, 20:56 not studying and setting our Sabbath school lessons more than other people, 21:00 not coming to church earlier than the next person or eating more grillers than anybody else. 21:06 There is nothing we could do to make God love us more. 21:11 The grace also means there is nothing we can do to make God love us less. 21:18 Adultery, God does not love you any less. Alcohol, God doesn't love you any less. 21:27 Deceit, God doesn't love you any less. Divorce, God doesn't love you any less. 21:35 Doubt, God doesn't love you any less. Drugs, God doesn't love you any less. 21:41 Lying, God doesn't love you any less because he loves you when you did not love him. 21:47 He loves you when you were strung up. He loved you when you were shooting out. 21:51 He loves you when you did not want to come to church. He loves you when you did not want to pray. 21:55 He loves you when you did not love yourself. He did not wait till you got right to love you. 22:01 He loved you when you did not do right. He loved me when I was not acting right, 22:06 he loved me when I was not living right and that is why I do not care if nobody's in this church, 22:12 but the media team and the pastors. Because of none of you all will praise him at home, 22:16 I will praise him all by myself, praise him for his grace, praise him in the morning, 22:25 praise him in the new day. Praise him when the sun comes down from the rising of the sun to the 22:32 going down of the same. God is worthy to be praised. 22:37 Let me tell you something. When a person works in eight hour shift, 22:42 and they receive a fair day's pay for their time, that is a wage. 22:47 When a person competes with opponent and receives a trophy for their performance, 22:53 that is a prize. When a person receives appropriate recognition for their long service 22:59 or high achievements, that is an award. But when a person is not capable of earning a wage, 23:06 when a person can win no prize, when a person deserves no award, but they get a gift, anyway, 23:16 that is grace. You are a miracle of grace. I am a miracle of grace. It is a miracle that I am here. 23:26 It is a miracle that you are in your home right now. You could be anywhere, 23:30 you could be locked up right now, you could be dead, you can be suicidal. 23:35 You can be crazy, you slept around and fooled around, you messed around and played around, 23:41 you should have been dead buried in your grave, but praise God for his grace 23:46 and you have got a right to praise him. I have got a right to praise Him. 23:50 Anybody been through what you have been through. You have got a right to praise him. 23:54 Let me tell you. I do not need all you all. People say, how can you preach to an empty church? 23:59 All I need is about two or three people who does not care what anybody thinks, 24:04 who do not care who is looking at you even though you are watching this from your house, 24:08 who do not care what you have on, who do not care what folk are saying about you. 24:13 You are just praising God for his grace. I feel my help coming, 24:17 Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. 24:22 I once was lost but now I am found, was blind. I said was blind, was blind. 24:30 But now I see. Today, I do not know what you need, but I need just enough grace. 24:38 Well-known preacher,A.T. Pearson one said, "However poor a preacher I am, 24:45 I can preach the gospel better than the angel Gabriel can, because Gabriel cannot say what I can say. 24:52 I can say that I am a sinner saved by grace for I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, 25:00 for it is the power of God unto salvation. I am alive today because of the grace of God. 25:08 I get to preach today Hallelujah because of the grace of God. I get to eat today 25:14 because of the grace of God. I get to go home and be with my family today 25:19 because of the grace of God. I have got a roof over my head because of the grace of God. 25:24 I get to be a new person today because of the grace of God. 25:28 I get to look at my future and have hope today because of the grace of God. 25:33 I get to walk through tough experiences knowing that God still loves me and has a plan for me. 25:38 Because of the grace of God, I am in the picture today. Because of the grace of God, 25:43 all that I am or ever will be, his father grace the grace of God. Grace woke me up this morning. 25:51 Grace started me on my way. Jesus says to all the Simons out there, "Seest thou this woman." 26:01 Simon, I came into your house. You provided no water for my feet, 26:06 but she rain tears on my feet and she dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting. 26:14 But from the time I arrived, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 26:18 You provided me with nothing to freshen up with, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. 26:25 She had many sins, but she has been forgiven for her many sins and she is very grateful. 26:31 She deserves death. She deserves to be punished but Jesus says thy sins are forgiven. 26:44 Thank you very much for tuning in to this week's Breath of Life broadcast. 26:48 We hope and pray that you've been blessed by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 26:52 If you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety, 26:55 please feel free to visit us at www.breathoflife.tv. 27:01 Or, call us at (256) 929-6460. 27:13 Dr. Byrd: Pain, loss, trama, 27:23 in life we experience these things. 27:26 My wife and I have a story, 27:29 we have a testimony of how we lost 27:33 our first born daughter in a horrific car accident. 27:40 We have this new sharing book, its en-titled “Gone.” 27:45 And, in it I want to share with you 27:49 how God has helped me, 27:52 how God has helped my wife, how God has helped us, 27:56 as we had to endure the fact that our first born daughter is gone. 28:04 www.breathoflife.tv 28:09 [END] |
Revised 2020-09-24