Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is
an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,
with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.
We invite you to connect with us from wherever
you are through our website ecb .asia or our
mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed
by this week's sermon. Now we get to the meat.
of the time together, which is grace and peace.
Our last study in this series in the book of
Colossians. I do not know you, but I've enjoyed
this series. God has taught me so much. And just
to start thinking about his grace and his peace
in our lives through whole different angles.
So I pray that he has been a blessing to you.
And today we will conclude with the very last
section of the book. and expand a little bit
more deeply into it. Let's pray together. Lord,
your grace, your peace, what an amazing invitation.
Thank you for what you've done through these
studies. And even today, as you invite us to
experience your grace for the rest of our lives,
open our eyes to see what that looks like. And
if for some reason we are stuck, let it today
be the day in which we find the freedom to be
unleashed for you. So would you use me in your
power and your grace? I pray in Jesus' name.
Amen. In this last study of grace for life, We
will get to experience a little bit more what
the Apostle Paul experienced in his life when
he came to grace. But we are going to first review
some of the major concepts before we dig into
it. What we have learned in this study is that
the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to Christians
in the year 60 or so, which was the first generation
of Christians in the history of our civilization.
These were people who lived in a town called
Colossae or a small city. And they started following
Jesus, but they started being infiltrated by
deceptive teaching that was compromising their
experience of God's grace and his peace. So the
apostle Paul writes to them. about these important
things. And one of the things we learned was
that grace and peace are the two legs of the
Christian walk. God wants us to follow him, but
experiencing his grace and his peace along the
way. And if we're not experiencing it, it's because
we have to reframe the way we understand our
salvation and the way we see ourselves as channels
of God's grace. Because what we discover is that
if you are rooted in Christ and you really understand
what he has done for you, now you are free to
live in his embrace. And now you are a recipient
of his grace, you are a recipient of his peace,
but that grace and that peace are not meant to
stop with you, are meant to flow through you.
Flow through you into your social relationships,
into your home, into your work, into the world
in which God has placed you, into the teams that
God has called you to serve with. But also, God
wants you to experience grace for the rest of
your life. And to understand that this is indeed
the foundation for our relationship with God.
And this matters so much. Because if you do not
understand and experience God's grace as Paul
explains it in Colossians. then you will start
seeing God from a distorted perspective and you
will start seeing yourself from a distorted perspective.
In other words, let me ask you this way. How
do you see God today as you are here listening
to this study? Is God an angry God that you have
to work very hard at pleasing so that he won't
punish you? And that's a little bit exhausting?
Or do you see God as a loving father who has
reconciled you to himself and he will never leave
you nor forsake you? And he's inviting you to
love him, not to be afraid of him. Which one?
Ah, it makes a big difference what you think
of God. Because then what will start happening
is that the way you see yourself, if you think
that God is this angry God that you have to work
very hard at pleasing, then you never feel good
enough. You're trying hard all the time, but
you never know if your efforts are good enough.
And that is not grace and peace. But if you realize
that God loves you and you can rest in His embrace
and He's asking you to enter into this relationship
with Him where not only He loves you, but He's
inviting you to love Him, now you can engage
in a whole different journey the rest of your
life. The Apostle Paul wants you to understand
that grace is meant to be experienced for the
rest of your life. But if you do not think of
God and yourself in the right perspective, you
will be held back. That's why as he writes this
letter, we must remember that he is now in the
last years of his life. We don't understand exactly
because there are some details that seem to be
unclear in the New Testament. But what seems
to have happened is that the moment the apostle
Paul went to prison, and this lasted a few years,
and he ends up being in Rome. He ends up being
under house arrest, but then he's free for a
period of time, and his case becomes finalized
and he's arrested again, but this time for a
time of final trial where he ends up being executed,
decapitated under the hands of the Romans. And
therefore, when he is writing Colossians, He's
writing this letter in the later stage of his
ministry. He has already preached the gospel
in all of these places. All of these new churches
were established. New people started following
Jesus. And because that was happening, then there
were some people that were trying to infiltrate
those places with distorted teaching. Have you
ever gotten a fake email? Like fake business
or something. They send you a link. Click here
and you're going to get free Netflix for a month
or something. And you look at it and it's like,
is this legit? Do I click on it or not? Please
don't click on it. But those emails are fake
emails. Sometimes there are emails that we call
fake news. Tendency to try to falsify information
and make you believe that it came from a source
that it was not. Didn't start with internet.
It started much earlier. And this is something
that the Apostle Paul is suffering from. Because
there are some people who are writing letters.
You know, you hire a scribe to write the letter.
You just dictate it. But then they will pretend
that this letter was from the Apostle Paul. And
they will send it to these Christians. So this
time, as the apostle Paul finishes the letter
to the Colossians, everything that he's saying
there is so important that these Christians understand
about God's grace and his peace that he's going
to make the point of saying in the very last
verse of the letter, here is my greeting in my
own handwriting, Paul. So no doubt, oh, this
was the apostle Paul writing this. And then this
scribe keeps writing the rest. Remember my chains.
And may God's grace be with you. And that's it.
That's the end of the letter. It's just identifying
that this is his letter. That the content he's
teaching is really his. And then he's also giving
the last call at the heart of the letter. Everything
that he's been trying to tell them, summarized
in a few words. May God's grace be with you.
If Paul was from Texas, he would have said, may
God's grace be with you all. Why does this matter
so much? And what does he mean? By grace. Well,
grace was a normal word that was used during
his time in the Greek culture. Remember, this
letter that we just read from Colossians was
originally written in Greek and translated into
other languages and we're reading in English.
But the word grace in Greek is the word kardes.
And the word kardes was basically used often
as a gift. Hey, you're my friend. I am giving
you a kardes, a gift. And what he wants us to
understand is that this relationship that God
is inviting us to have with him is not based
on your efforts, but is based on his love. It's
a gift that he has given us. And this relationship
which we talk about salvation as this relationship
with God is the core message that he's been preaching
throughout all of these churches and that he's
writing in his letters about. And if for some
reason you don't understand what this salvation
message is that is summarized in this word grace,
let me explain it to you in a short way. There
are key words that summarize what this is about.
This salvation that the Apostle Paul is talking
about, this relationship with God that he wants
you to walk on for the rest of your life, starts
by being summarized by the word love. God loves
you. He created you. You are not an accident.
And he wants you to love him. He wants to have
this relationship in which you see him for who
he truly is. But the second word is sin. There's
a problem. And the problem is even though God
loves us, ever since our first humans were created
to love God and they decided not to love God,
they became what the Bible calls sinners. It's
almost like, think of it like, just as if you
have a cancer that is taking over your body.
And it starts compromising your functions. Imagine
this cancer, but of your soul. That starts compromising
your ability to love God and be in relationship
with Him. Because now you start seeing God and
yourself and others through a distorted. And
then you start having desires that are distorted.
And we are all sinners. And that distortion leads
us to the third word, which is broken. Our relationship
with God is broken because of it. Our relationship
with ourselves is broken because of it. Our relationship
with other people is broken because of it. This
condition called sin is terrible. And that is
the very condition that God wants to heal so
that he can restore that relationship with you.
And that's why the next word is Jesus. Jesus
came to break the power of sin over your life
so that he can heal that from your life. And
therefore Jesus had to come to die to pay the
guilt that sin requires or sin costs. But also
so that through dying he could enter the domain
of the dead. And take the power that Satan had
established over that by introducing sin and
death into the world. And now that he resurrected
and overcame the power of sin and death. Jesus
has the power to restore that which was broken.
And he is inviting you to experience now his
grace. So that you can experience that inner
healing. So that sin can start being healed from
your life. And now that relationship with God
can be restored. That's why the next word is
repentance. Because the only way in which I can
receive this transformation and this healing
from God is by repenting. I have to acknowledge
that indeed I am a sinner. And that my efforts
will never be good enough. I have to acknowledge
with a humble heart before God. That I need help.
And I want that help. And I want Jesus to restore
my broken life. And that's why the next word
is Holy Spirit. Because God says that anyone
that comes to Him with a repentant heart and
invites Jesus to save them, then Jesus is going
to give them His Spirit. The Spirit of God now
living in that person to start restoring from
within that which sin had broken. Only God can
reach that space of your life. No one else, no
effort, no discipline. It doesn't matter how
long you try. Only God can have access to that
space. And when the Holy Spirit comes to live
in you after you give your life to Jesus, he
starts a process of transformation in your life.
And that's why the last word is peace. Because
the Holy Spirit starts healing the power of sin
in your life and starts restoring things from
within, you will start experiencing peace. Peace
with God, peace with yourself, peace with others.
And this is the gospel. This is what salvation
is. And this salvation is a caress. It's a gift.
It's something given by grace. The only thing
that you need is to ask God for it so you can
receive it. And that is the foundation that the
Apostle Paul says. It's something that has to
stay with you for the rest of your life because
the moment you start missing it, then that grace
and that peace will be compromised. That's why
these words matter so much. Can you read the
very last words that he says as he concludes
the letter to the Colossians? It's highlighted
here in the screen for us. Let's read it together.
May God's grace be with you. Always. May God's
grace be with you. Always. The Apostle Paul had
lived his life. He had followed Jesus. He had
experienced many things. He shared about the
message of God's grace with people. He saw the
power of God's grace in their lives. But also
he had his own journey. And as a mature believer
that has gone through so much, when he says,
let God's grace be with you. Those words. Have
so much depth. Because at different places in
his life. He had to encounter God's grace. And
let that grace become now a place of flow from
his life into his circumstances. And in his journey
there's going to be four moments. That are very
specific in which he writes with his own words.
How. He was able to experience God's grace in
those spaces. And these are exactly the spaces
that I want to explore today. Because if we will
be able to do what he's telling us at the end
of the letter, to experience God's grace always
for the rest of our lives, we have to understand
what those moments in his life were and what
that looked like in experiencing God's grace.
But in order to understand that, we have to dig
a little bit deeper. Because he is going to write
about these things later to Timothy. Who was
Timothy? You heard about him last week. He is
the young guy that had to get circumcised when
Paul invited him to the mission trip. But then
they had a very important relationship and he
became a mentor for Timothy. But in case you
missed it, Let's go back to the very first verse
of Colossians. We just read the very last. Let's
go to the very first one and see what he says.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will
of God. And who else? Timothy was with him when
he was writing this letter to the Colossians.
To God's holy people in Colossae, the faithful
brothers and sisters in Christ, a grace and peace
to you from God our Father. I mean, he's saying
it all over the place, you know, from the very
beginning verse to the very last verse, God's
grace, God's peace. But because he had this relationship
with Timothy, Timothy eventually left. And then
Paul wrote a couple of letters to Timothy, which
are known as 1st and 2nd Timothy. And in them,
he is going to explain a little bit more about
what it was like to experience God's grace in
his life. And that's where we're going to go
next. 1 Timothy chapter 1. Timothy, I thank Christ
Jesus our Lord who has given me strength that
he considered me, me, trustworthy, appointing
me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer,
And a persecutor and a violent man. I was shown
mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.
The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly.
Along with the faith and love that are in Christ
Jesus. The more I think about my life, my experience
with God's grace, how can I put it? Let me say
it like this. Here is a trustworthy saying, Timothy,
that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners, sinners of whom
I am the worst. But for that very reason, I was
shown mercy so that in me, The worst of sinners.
Christ Jesus. Might display his immense patience.
As an example. For those who would believe in
him. And receive eternal life. I was a guinea
pig. So that others will see. That this actually
did work. If he could work in Paul. It can work
in me. Now. To the king eternal. Immortal. Invisible.
The only God. Be honor and glory forever and
ever. Amen. And these were the words that he
wrote after he wrote Colossians. As he is reflecting
in God's grace in his own life. And we start
discovering the journey that he has gone through.
And something emerges. The first thing that he
had to learn to experience God's grace in his
life was when he was dealing with his past. Because
before he came to know Christ, he had a past.
And God saved him from that. But that past, it
was not pretty. He says to Timothy, even though
I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and
a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted
in ignorance and unbelief. After you read the
letters of the Apostle Paul, after you hear all
these sermons about his letters, it's hard to
imagine an Apostle Paul that was a violent man.
I remember that day when I told you that I feel
anger here and I hate to hit the pillow or something.
Many people go, Pastor Pablo, I would never imagine
you that way. We are all humans. And the Apostle
Paul had a past. He says, look, I used to be
violent. And he wrote about this even more. In
fact, it is documented in the book of Acts by
his friend Luke who wrote the book. Everything
that he experienced. And actually, as you go
back and you see Colossians, as he's writing
it from Rome in prison, you rewind. How did he
end up going in prison to start with? And it's
like in the very beginning, as his journey into
prison began, he had the opportunity to talk
about this past. His history that he's referring
here in Timothy. And I want you to see it. Because
he went to Jerusalem at the end of his third
missionary trip. He went to Jerusalem to worship
at the temple. And that is when a riot happens
and all of these Jewish people in the temple
thought these guys were Gentiles and shouldn't
be there and they wanted to kill them. So the
Roman soldiers came. to try to rescue them and
put order in the riot in that area of the temple.
And they discovered that Paul is actually a Roman
citizen. So now they realize, oh, we need to
protect this guy. So they have to protect him.
But as they are trying to protect him from this
crowd that want to kill him, Paul says, you know,
give me a second. I want to address these people.
So they're speaking in Greek, you know, with
his Romans and everything. And then he turns
to the crowd and he starts talking to them in
Aramaic. And when the crowd starts hearing their
native language, they all quiet down. And Paul
starts saying to them, guys, listen to me. I'm
a Jew born in Tarsus. I'm not a Gentile like
you think I am. A city in Cilicia. And I was
brought up. and educated here in Jerusalem under
Gamaliel. Oh, Gamaliel was a big name. Highly
respected religious leader and teacher, rather,
in Jerusalem. As his student, I was carefully
trained in our Jewish laws and customs, and I
became very zealous to honor God in everything
I did, just like all of you today. Anah. He has
their attention. Oh, you're one of us. I persecuted
the followers of the way. The way, the followers
of the way was the name that was given to Christians
at the very beginning. Jesus was the way, the
truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me. And they were addressed like,
Oh, those are from the way. I persecuted those
people, hounding them, even some of them to death,
arresting both men and women and throwing them
in prison. You can ask the high priest about
this because he and the whole council of elders
can testify that this is so. He's telling them,
this is what I used to be. I used to persecute.
All these Christians, taking them to prison and
even to death. And as he's telling them all of
this story of what was his journey and who he
was and what he had done, he's going to tell
them how much he had really done before he himself
became a Christian. Would you help me for a moment
with the clicker because it stopped working for
some reason. Thank you. For I received letters
from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus
authorizing me to bring the followers of the
way from there to Jerusalem in chains to be punished.
That's what I did. And then after he's telling
them everything he did, he's going to tell them
how in that mission Jesus appeared to him and
that is why he became a Christian. And at that
moment, They couldn't take it. And they started
saying, oh no, kill this guy, kill this guy.
But it is true. This was his past. He was a violent
man who had persecuted Christians. He was instrumental
in the initial effort to put Christianity to
the ground. And then he reflects about these
things. In fact, the book of Acts tells us that
as he went back from Damascus to Jerusalem to
start preaching the gospel there, the Christians
were afraid of him. When Saul arrived in Jerusalem,
he tried to meet with the believers, but they
were all afraid of him. They did not believe
that he had truly become a believer. How could
that be? This might be an undercover operation
of some sort. So they were trying to avoid him.
And it was Barnabas that came and took Paul and
took him to the apostles to corroborate, no,
no, this is the real thing. He's really a follower
of Jesus. Jesus appeared to him and now has called
him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. This
was his background. So as he writes about these
things to Timothy, there's another moment in
which he's writing to the church in Corinth about
these things. How he felt, you know? And he says,
you know, guys, I know that people call me the
Apostle Paul, you know, but I am the least of
the apostles. I do not even deserve to be called
an apostle because I persecuted the church of
God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am.
And his grace to me was not without effect. And
this is where it shifts for him. Because for
a long time, especially as he began following
Jesus and meeting Christians, can you imagine
the weight that he carried? I was the very person
that was behind killing all of these people.
I was taking them to prison. I grabbed some of
them from their hair. It didn't matter whether
they were men or women. I grabbed them. For me,
these people didn't deserve to live. I was violent
with them. And now he's meeting some of them.
He's meeting the apostles. He struggled with
his past. Until he came to the point in which
he had to trust his past and his story to God
and to his grace. And he's able to say, by the
grace of God, I am what I am. Because in this
part of the journey of following Jesus, what
happens, go to the next slide please. What happens
is that regret. Can start becoming so strong
in your life that keeps you from experiencing
God's grace. Because you look at your past with
so much regret. And you have not allowed the
grace of God now redeem that altogether. Many
years ago I was discipling a new believer. He
was in his 50s. He already had adult children.
He had already concluded his career as an engineer.
And he was like in a second career now. And he
had a very good career, but a destroyed marriage.
And as we were talking and reflecting on that
journey, he says, you know, Pastor Pablo, I just
wish the more I learn about God's grace and what
God has done, I look at my life and the more
I wish I would have known about this when I was
a child. So many mistakes would have been avoided.
So many years wasted. And it's in that moment
that we find ourselves. And it's in that moment
that I have to tell him. I said, you know what?
When God saves you, there's no such a thing as
wasted years. He's going to redeem your story.
All those years, God will use now to lead people
to the knowledge of Christ. He has the power
to turn your wounds into scars. and those cars
into tools that can have kingdom impact. But
you have to start by letting God's grace enter
that space. Are you living in regret as you look
back? Or have you allowed God's grace to enter
that space and redeem that story? The Apostle
Paul did, and he tells us about it. The second
part of his journey that he had to learn, he
had to encounter God's grace in that space, is
that as he was pursuing Jesus and following Jesus
now, he really believed in this because it's
not that he heard the gospel from somebody. It
was Jesus himself that appeared to him and proved
him wrong from being an instrument to destroy
the church, now became an instrument to build
the church. But as he's following Jesus, he realizes
that there's a reality within him. And he's not
very happy about it. He's experiencing some desires
and things that are just not right. And he's
very aware of his sin. And that's why he writes
to Timothy what we just read. Here's a trustworthy
saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners of
whom? I am the worst. There's a very interesting
effect. The more you know God, the more you know
his word, the more intimacy we have with the
Lord, the more you realize how much a sinner
you are. And the opposite is also true. The less
you understand the gospel, the less you know
the Lord, the less intimacy you have with God,
the more you think that you are holier than thou
and you are, you know, the man. I remember I
experienced that when I finished my master's
in theology. You know, I finished my undergrad.
Okay, I finished a degree. But then when I went
to do my master's at Dallas Theological Seminary,
that was four years of a lot of study, a lot
of study. And I was like, done. My last semester
finally finished everything. And the weirdest
thing happened. You might imagine that after
studying four years, you know, the Bible and
theology, you may leave thinking, oh, I know
so much now. I am ready to preach, you know.
And it was completely the opposite. I felt like
there's so much I do not know. Am I really even
equipped to be able to do this ministry and serve
God, you know? It's like I discovered that the
most education you get, the more you realize
how much you do not know. But the less education
you have, the more strong opinions you have about
everything and you think you are right and everybody
else is wrong, you know? And spiritually, it
was something like that. Because the apostle
Paul came from a background where he was taught
self -righteousness. It's your effort that makes
you right before God. So he thought he was the
man. He was able to obey the whole law, so he
thought. And now that he has encountered the
grace of Jesus that says, actually you're not
the man. You're a sinner and you need me to forgive
you because your efforts are not good enough.
That message of God's grace opened his eyes for
him to see that he had a reality within him called
the sinful nature. And he had to learn to experience
God's grace in that space. That's why when he
writes about this in Romans chapter 7, a classic
passage, he says, look guys, I love God's love
with all my heart. But, and that's a big one,
but there is another power within me that is
at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave
to the sin that is still within me. Can you believe
it? I still struggle with sinful desires in my
life I'm not proud of. And I don't like that.
It's just a tension. Oh, what a miserable person
I am. I just want to be free from all this stuff,
you know? Who will free me from this life that
is dominated by sin and death? And then, not
even a second later, he gives the answer himself.
Thank God. The answer is who? Jesus Christ, our
Lord. Because he is the one. That has paid for
all my sin and all my struggles. And he is the
one that gave me the Holy Spirit. And he is going
to heal me all these things along the journey
until the day of Jesus Christ. Thank Jesus for
his grace. So you see, this is how it is. In
my mind, I really want to obey God's law. But
because of my sinful nature, I'm a slave to sin.
So now, there's no condemnation for those who
belong to Christ Jesus. I belong to Christ. He
already paid for my sins. Therefore, I'm free
from condemnation, but I'm not free from struggle.
And that's a difference. I don't have to live
in fear that God is going to think less of me
because I'm struggling with some sort of sin.
He already knew that. That's why Jesus came.
But the Holy Spirit is not interested in fixing
me. Done. Okay, now it works. No. The Holy Spirit
is interested in loving me through healing. And
that's an invitation for the rest of my life,
which means that for the rest of my life, I have
to stand in God's grace. Thank be to God for
our Lord Jesus Christ. When we don't understand
that, then we start struggling with shame. Because
the thought of, but I've been a Christian for
a long time now. How come I'm struggling with
this? I think I was already done with this thing.
How come I'm having these thoughts? How come
I'm having these desires? God, I don't want these
desires. Boy, people would just know. And now
you start struggling with all that shame. That
is not God. God doesn't want you to be living
in shame. If you are struggling with sinful desires
that you're not proud of. If you are struggling
in your thinking life with thoughts that you
are ashamed of. Welcome to the kingdom. We are
sinners. Endowed by the Holy Spirit in a journey
of transformation that will last the rest of
our lives. But what a difference does it make.
When you're able to be in a safe space with people
that understand grace and understand the journey.
Well, now you can open up about those struggles.
Because one of the things that we have learned
is that typically the struggles that we have
are just the symptom, not the problem. I often
see it this way. If you're struggling with sexual
addiction, for instance, pornography and things
like that. If you are struggling with alcohol
and drinking too much and all the social drinking
and then you feel drawn to it. Every time I have
to sit down with someone in the privacy of the
counseling space and we start digging into the
story, I always have to remind them, look, that
is a symptom. That is not the root. So let's
start talking about. Where the roots are. And
when the Holy Spirit leads us into those spaces.
And he starts revealing all these things. That
have shaped you. That he wants to heal. Suddenly
a whole journey begins. And your relationship
with God. And intimacy with God takes a whole
new level. That is because. God's grace is meeting
you in that struggle. He doesn't want you to
be living in shame. He wants you to experience
his grace. Let his grace be with you always.
So if you're in a space where you are struggling
like that, remember, freedom in Christ is, of
course, for you. But sometimes you may need to
make an appointment with your counseling ministry
to be able to meet with someone and really explore
things. These are things that feel like external.
It's a struggle that is like, I don't know why
I'm struggling with this. I don't want it. But
it feels as if it's like something that is just
attacking me or something. I don't understand
it. If that is your case, contact our counseling
ministry. Because God wants you to experience
freedom as you encounter his grace in that space.
But the third part of his journey for the Apostle
Paul, as he learned that following Jesus is not...
A journey of perfection. He started serving God.
Now he was the apostle Paul. Not just a Christian.
And God started using him. With power. I mean.
He even prayed for people. And people became
healed. He was able to experience God's power.
As he pursued his calling. In serving the Lord.
And it's in that space. That he tells Timothy.
What we already read. But for that very reason,
I was shown mercy so that in me, the words of
sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense
patience and an example for those who will believe
in him and receive eternal life. God wants me
to be a channel of his grace and his peace so
that people will come to know him. And that was
going to be now his role. He had to stay in that
place of flow because if that place of flow became
compromised, then that power will become compromised.
But there was a struggle. We don't really understand
it, but he writes about it. A struggle as he
pursued this calling in serving God, that he
also had to experience God's grace in a very
unique way. And he writes about this to the church
in Corinth. Listen to the struggle as he puts
it. To keep me from becoming proud, guys, I know
you think highly of me. I know I'm the apostle
Paul. I mean, I cannot help it. But you know
what? To keep me from becoming proud, I was given
a thorn in my flesh. What do you mean, Paul?
What thorn in your flesh? Well, a messenger from
Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming
proud. Tell me more about it. No, no, I'm not
going to tell you more about it. I just experienced
a moment of spiritual oppression. And three different
times I begged the Lord, take it away, Lord.
Each time he said, my grace is all you need.
Don't worry about it. My power works best in
weakness. I was like, what? Did I hear you right,
Lord? I'm going to pray again. Lord, please take
this away from me. And God says, nah, don't worry
about it. My grace is enough. But I don't understand.
I don't want this experience. I'm not sure why
this is happening to me. You have the power to
remove it. Would you please remove it? I don't
want it. It's hard to serve you while at the
same time I'm feeling this opposition from the
enemy. Can you do something about it? No. It's
just resting my grace. So by the third time he
got it. So now I'm glad to boast about my weakness
so that the power of Christ can work through
me because that is what at the end this whole
thing is about. God's grace, his peace flowing
through me. So if God is not going to remove
this thing, okay, he's not going to remove it.
But I'm not going to take that into an opportunity
to compromise that flow. Because in that moment,
when you're asking God to remove this thing,
and he says, no, I won't. I want you to live
with it. At that moment, confusion can come in.
And the oppression that you're experiencing,
the struggle that you're experiencing, that you
think God could fix just like that, and he's
choosing no to, can cause you to start doubting
God and his heart and his love for you. And in
that place of doubt, the apostle Paul had to
learn, God, I have no idea why you're not going
to remove this from me. I prayed about it. I
repeatedly asked you, but if you are not going
to remove this from me, I'm just going to learn
to trust you with it. And I'm going to continue
to serve you with full commitment and let your
power continue flowing through me. I'll just
trust you with it. That is God's grace in that
place. If you are struggling in that place where
God is not doing this and solving the whole situation,
and he's asking you to go through that passage,
even though he could have the power to fix it
in a moment, and he's choosing not to. It's a
place in which you will have to rest in his grace,
rest in his heart, and not fall for the attack
of the enemy that is asking you and wanting you
to doubt the goodness of the Lord that you are
serving. And the final moment that can only be
experienced at the final stage of his journey
in which he's experiencing God's grace. It's
as he is becoming face to face with dying. When
you think of dying, do you have peace about it?
Or there's fear and anxiety. The Apostle Paul
now is in prison. The last stage of his imprisonment.
Now he knows his case is coming to a close. And
he writes the last letter to his friend Timothy.
The very last thing he ever wrote from prison.
And he tells him these words. Timothy. My friend.
Wow. After all of these years. Following the
Lord. Telling people about his grace. Peace.
About experiencing God's grace. Flowing through
me. At all of these different experiences. Now
that I'm in this stage. I can see that my life
has already been put out as an offering to God.
The time of my death is near. And I can tell
you, I have fought the good fight. I have finished
the race and I have remained faithful to the
Lord. And if you were to ask me how I feel about
these things, I have peace. Because I know my
Savior. Yes, my Lord will deliver me from every
evil attack. And he will bring me safely into
his heavenly kingdom. He will do it. I don't
have to worry about it. He'll do it. He already
covered all my sins. He already gave me his spirit.
He has already walked with me throughout my journey
of life. His grace met me at every intersection.
And now that I'm in this final intersection,
His grace is meeting me too. I have peace. And
I know that He will bring me safely into His
kingdom. So if I can say anything, Timothy will
be this. All glory to God. Forever. And ever.
Amen. He is the beginning and the end of everything
I am. The day will come in which you will be
face to face with death or the potential of it.
The day will come where you will hear a diagnosis
that you were not expecting. And you will realize
that you are mortal and finite. And at that moment,
may the grace of God be with you. Because God
did not save you so that you will be in fear.
And start feeling anxiety and an anxiety, a panic
attack. Because death for us, who are followers
of Jesus, simply means an invitation. To encounter
Jesus to the fullest. Like the Apostle Paul said
to the Philippians. I do not know which one to
choose. To stay alive or to go. And die because
to die for me. Is to be with Christ which is
better by far. Is the fear of death. Holding
you back. If it is. Remember the words of the
Apostle Paul. May his grace. Be with you. So.
Now you can see. What the apostle Paul has done.
Is an invitation for us. To let the grace and
peace of God meet us. In that place of regret.
So that regret can be broken. To meet us in that
place of shame. So that shame can be broken.
To meet us in that place of oppression so that
oppression and victimhood can be broken. To meet
us in that place of fear so that fear can be
broken. And you can be now free. To live from
a place of flow. Where God's grace and his peace.
Not only have changed you and transformed you.
And keep to change you and transform you. But
also where they are flowing from you. Into the
calling that God has given you. And may God's
grace. Meet you at every intersection of the
journey. So that you can remain faithful until
the very end. And say the same words that he
said. I've been faithful. And I count on one
thing. He got this. So would you please stand
up and read aloud with me the very last words
of the book of Colossians that we conclude with
today. May God's grace be with you. So, are you
trusting in God's grace? If for some reason Jesus
is not your savior. You have never given your
life to him. Would you do that today? Today the
day you come with a repentant heart. Acknowledging
that you are broken. And that Jesus wants to
meet you with his grace in that place. If that
is you. Come to the front. So that we can pray
with you. Whether through the worship or at the
end. We'll be here. Lord, thank you for your
grace and your peace that have changed everything,
everything for our lives. And if any of us here
today, Lord, have been held back in any of these
intersections that we discover today, that the
Apostle Paul was able to experience your grace.
Help us experience it in this place. Here and
now. So that the power of fear, regret and shame.
And the spiritual oppression. And the attitude
of victimhood. And all of these things Lord that
come along the way. Will be broken today in your
presence. Because we stand in your presence.
Resting and trusting in your grace. And your
grace alone. In Jesus name. Thank you for tuning
in to the ECB sermon podcast. Whether near or
far, if you are looking for community or are
in need of prayer, we welcome you to engage by
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And remember to join us next week. God bless
you.