2 Timothy 2:1 (KJV)
Thou therefore, my son,
be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
There is a certain kind
of strength that comes to us from the grace of God at work in our lives.
I want to begin this
chapter by exploring for a moment the strength that comes from grace.
The word grace is charisma.
It is the same word as
gift as in:
· The gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord[1]
· Now concerning spiritual
gifts brethren, I would not have you to be ignorant[2]
Grace is what God gives
us
· Freely
· Fully and
· Without measure
*I. WE CAN BE GRACIOUS BECAUSE OF GRACE
A. Received freely (that’s grace) freely give
Matthew 10:8 (KJV)
Heal the sick, cleanse
the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely
give.
I have chickens at home.
Five of them, each of them laying eggs, every single day I get anywhere between
1 to 5 eggs.
I like to eat eggs and
so does Anita but we can only eat a couple of eggs a day, sometimes not that
many.
When we have the
grandkids over Anita will fix up a dozen or so eggs. Some for French Toast, an
some scrambled and so forth.
Sometimes, when the
chickens are in a slow season, we have to be careful with the eggs or we will
run out, but in the peak season, we’ve got eggs coming out our ears.
It means practically
nothing to me in those times to give away eggs.
I have more than I can
use.
The Bible says, Ephesians
1:7 (KJV)
In whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of
his grace;
His grace is so rich, so
free and so plentiful that it can never run out. There is more of His grace
than you can ever use up.
So you can be generous
with it.
· You can be forgiving
· You can be kind
· You can be gracious
There’s more of it than
you can store.
B. Our speech ought to be with grace
Colossians 4:6 (KJV)
Let your speech be alway
with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every
man.
Did you notice that he
didn’t say
· Let your speech be sometimes with grace
· Let your speech be mostly with grace
God’s Word said
· Let your speech be alway with grace
I like the word “let” in
this verse.
I can allow my speech to
be always with grace.
There is no reason to
hold back the grace.
· There is no reason to be unkind
· There is no reason my words have to be mean
Sometimes a person will
say, “I just have to let them have it. I just have to tell them how I feel.”
No you don’t have to do
that. You can “Let
your speech be alway with grace…”
Go ahead, God says, “Let your speech be alway with
grace….”
…my son, be strong in
the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
*II. WE CAN BE FEARLESS BECAUSE OF GRACE
2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
For God hath not given
us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Because of grace we can
be
A. Fearless to witness
Acts 4:29 (KJV)
And now, Lord, behold
their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they
may speak thy word,
God’s goodness in our
lives, the grace that saves us and the grace that gives us spiritual gifts, is
a sustaining grace that can embolden our witness for Him.
Because of grace we can
be
B. Fearless to preach and teach the Word of
God
Romans 15:15 (KJV)
Nevertheless, brethren,
I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind,
because of the grace that is given to me of God,
There is a certain
spiritual gift involved with teaching and preaching and each of us is given
that gift in different measures.
But by God’s grace every
one of us can be a teacher of the Word of God and a proclaimer of the Gospel
message.
Because of grace we can
be
C. Fearless to press into new territories
2 Corinthians 10:16
(KJV)
To preach the gospel in
the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's line of things made
ready to our hand.
As many places as Paul
had preached the gospel, he wanted to preach it to others places, farther away
places still.
All of us have our own
“regions beyond.”
· It might be a kind of ministry you have never attempted
· It might be a certain person you have never witnessed to
· It might be a frightening assignment your pastor has asked
you to help him with
And it is just beyond
you.
God’s grace can
strengthen you to do what you can’t imagine doing right now.
…my son, be strong in
the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
*III. WE CAN BE CONFIDENT BECAUSE OF GRACE
Our trip to Camp was a
long one. Pastor Caleb, of course, had gone with the teens in the bus.
Anita and I took our
grandkids and followed (much) later that day.
You have to do things to
keep kids occupied in a car that long. Once of those things was allowing them
to draw.
At one point Zach was
drawing on a tablet. He is three years old. You can imagine what the drawing
looked like.
He gave us one of the
drawings and said, “This is for daddy. He will love it.”
And he paused a minute
and then said, “Because he loves me a lot.”
He was confident in his
drawing because he was confident in his relationship with his daddy.
When you are confident
in your relationship with God you can also be confident
There are some things
that we are confident in:
A. God’s Word is sure
Psalms 12:6-7 (KJV)
The words of the LORD
are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them, O
LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
I trust every word of
the Bible to be true, infallible and profitable for me to read, study, obey and
preach.
B. God’s love is sure
Romans 8:38-39 (KJV)
For I am persuaded, that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
He never leaves us or
forsakes us.
He always loves us.
C. God’s salvation is sure
1 John 5:13 (KJV)
These things have I
written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know
that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of
God.
I know I have eternal
life.
· I don’t hope
· I don’t think
· I don’t guess
· I am not working on it
I know I possess it
right now.
Knowing it, I have
confidence in my relationship with Him.
Conclusion
Thou therefore, my son,
be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
There is a strength that
is ours by the grace of God.
Access that grace and
you will have access to that strength.
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