Covered // I Shouldn't Be Here // Matthew Davis

1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 10. And this first line will preach all by itself. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. That I know you're looking at me in this place, but it's not because of me. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. That I know you're looking at my kids and you're like, man, that you raised such great kids. It's not because I'm just an incredible parent. It's because by the grace of God, I am what I am. I know that you're looking at me and I'm clothed and in my right mind, but it's not just because I'm good. It's because by the grace of God, I am what I am. That you're looking at my life. You're looking at my circumstances, but everything hasn't always been this way. By the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace to me is not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them. Yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Let me read that first part one more time because it's so good to me. But by the grace of God, somebody got it already. I am what I am. But by the grace of God, we're in a series called Covered. Somebody say covered. Covered. And we're talking about being covered. We talked about on resurrection Sunday that we have been covered by the blood. Last week we talked about God's presence and we said that we are covered by his presence. But today I want to talk to you about something about being covered by his grace. But by his grace I am what I am. I need I want to I'm going to conclude the reading of scriptures there and then I'm going to go ahead and title the sermon this. I shouldn't be here. Somebody got that. Somebody say, "I shouldn't be here." Father, I ask that you would be in this moment. Thank you that you're already here. Open up our hearts. Open up our minds. Do what it is that only you can do. We have seen what we can do. Well, we want to see what only you can do. We love you. We praise you. We thank you. My name is Jesus Christ. We all say, "Amen." Amen. We have a saying at our church that notetakers are world changers. So, I would encourage you to take notes today.

Family, I want to begin our time together with a statement that I think we can all agree on. There are parts of your life that don't make sense unless grace is real. Let me say that one more time. That there are parts of your life that don't make sense. Unless grace is real.

There are some people in this room this morning who can testify that you're not supposed to be here. And I don't want you to shout and get excited yet. I want you to think about it. I want you to take a moment and think back over your life that statistically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, you're not supposed to be here with some of the decisions that you made, with some of the environments that you came out of. You're not supposed to be here with some of the cycles that are in your family. You're not supposed to be here. The reality is this is that you should have been stuck. Is that you should have been broken. That you should have been done. And yet here you are. Still standing, still fighting. Watch me. Still breathing, still living, still showing up. And if you're honest, you don't even have a good explanation for it. I know I don't. That you've tried to explain it. That you've tried to reason it. You've tried to make it make sense. And you've told yourself, "Well, I got more disciplined. That I've matured. That I've made better choices. I set up boundaries. That I that that that watch me that I grew up in what it is. That I got tougher. And that may be true, but if you really tell the truth, there are chapters in your life that don't line up with your effort. There are chapters in your life that don't line up with the effort that you put into that season. Is that you walked into doors and you didn't have strength for it. That you didn't have wisdom for it. You didn't even have the desire for it. That you got jobs that you didn't even have the experience for. Is that you went into situations you did not have connections for. That you didn't have the resources for. You didn't even have the qualifications for it and yet you made it. Which means, let me say it how I said it. The math ain't math. Is that something don't make sense. The math ain't math because based on what you did or based on where you came from, that based on what you were exposed to as a child, based on what your childhood was like, that based on the divorce or how the breakup went, based off on how the firing, based off on how the job was, you shouldn't have peace like that. That you shouldn't be able to walk around with clarity like that. You shouldn't be able to raise your child all alone like that. You should not have joy like that. You shouldn't have been able to forgive them like that. You should have given up a long time ago. And if we can be honest that there's people who went through the exact same thing you went through and they still stuck. But somehow you something in your life doesn't add up. Watch me. And the reason why it doesn't add up is because for so long you've been trying to solve your life with the wrong equation. Is that you keep putting effort into the formula. You keep putting discipline into the formula. You keep putting decisions into the formula. You keep putting your gifts although you are gifted into the formula. You keep putting your degrees and you got more more degrees in the thermometer but they should not be in the in the formula. You keep putting your wisdom in the formula. You keep putting how tough you are in the formula. You keep putting your skill set, you watch me, you keep putting your anointing in the formula. But there are outcomes in your life that effort could never produce. That there are some places in your story that discipline could never get you to. That there are some moments that you survive that your decision-making could not explain. Which means, watch me. Effort didn't do it. And discipline didn't do it. And your strength didn't do it. And my finance people, your money didn't do it. All watch me. All of my charismatic people in here, your charisma didn't do it. Your gifts didn't do it. Something must have stepped in. Something must have saved the day. Something must have made the impossible possible. And I came here this morning to give it a name. And you can write this down. It was grace. It was grace that stepped in. We can go home. I done preached already. Is that It was grace that stepped in. It was grace that stepped up when you couldn't. It was grace that spilled the gap when you couldn't do it yourself. You're not here because you did everything right. You're here because grace stepped in and made it right. You didn't lose your mind not because you had the right therapist. Praise God for your therapist. You made it out of there. With a clear mind is because grace stepped in when you couldn't do it on your own. Somebody say it was grace. Grace. Watch me. And the one one of the things that I've learned is that grace is a word that we often use but rarely understand. But watch me. I'm going to but but I want to teach you because we have been covered by grace. But like we said, if you here last week, we talked about this that if you are unaware of something, it robs you from experiencing what it should provide you. And so the idea is this is that God's presence surrounds you all the time. But if you are unaware of his presence and you can't lean on his presence is that is that watch me, you could be surrounded and covered by power. But if you don't recognize that power is there, then you will miss out on what power wants to provide. And so the idea, the reality is that if you are unaware, you'll miss out. And this is the thing is that we have to be aware. Somebody say aware. Aware of his grace. So let me teach this really quickly. The Greek word for grace is chorus. Write this down. C H A R I S. C H A R I S. Looks like it looks like cherish, but it's pronounced chorus. And this is the thing, right? Watch me. I'm going to give you a definition. They're going to put it on the on the screen for you. The definition of grace is this. Lord, help me to stay calm. The definition of grace is this. The unearned favor of God that both forgives your sins and empowers your calling. The unearned favor of God. Watch me. That both forgives your sins and empowers your calling. The unearned favor of God. That both forgives your sins and empowers your calling. The unearned favor of God. The unearned favor of God. The unearned favor of God. That means there's nothing you could do that God that that that earned it. You couldn't earn it. You didn't deserve it. It was, this is what the saints would say. It was amazing grace. That there's something the unearned favor. No matter how hard you work, you couldn't earn it. You didn't deserve it. That's why in Ephesians chapter 2 it says, "For it is by grace that you have been saved." Watch me. Through faith, not by works, lest any man should boast. It is the unearned favor of God. It's unmmerited. There's nothing like Listen, I know that you nice and you cute and you say your prayers. You didn't earn that grace, baby. I I I I I know that you forgive people and and that you give money to the poor. Praise God. Continue to do that. But you didn't earn that favor. That was out of God's sovereignty that he gave it to you. Because the moment, watch me, the moment that you think you can earn it, you'll start trying to buy it. You can't earn grace. It was given because it's invaluable. It is the unearned favor of God that both forgives your sin and empowers your calling.

Now, this is what I got to teach you is because most people stop at forgiveness. Most people look at grace and they're like, "Yeah, that God has grace for me." That that that he he forgives my sins. That they leave it at grace and mercy. That they think of it like grace is that God left me off the hook. Is that they look as like, man, that that that grace is just about my salvation. And that's not incorrect. It's true, but it's incomplete. Watch me. It's not incorrect. It is the grace of God that leads us into repentance. It is the grace of God that extends salvation. It is the grace of God that gives us forgiveness. It is the grace but it's watch me it is more comprehensive than that and if you walk around with that definition you will not be incorrect but you will be incomplete and if you are incomplete you will not be you will not have the ability to uh to tap into everything that it provides to your life. Are you with me? Watch me. So write this down. The grace of God is more comprehensive than that. Because if grace only forgave you then you would be saved but still stuck. I'm preaching better than you talking to me. Listen. If grace only forgave you, you would be saved but still stuck. So it would be able to change your destination into heaven but not change your life on earth. So it would change. Yes, I'd be saved. And if the only point of grace was forgiveness and to change your location eventually get you to heaven, the moment you gave your life to Jesus, you die. Yeah. There will be no need to for you to live anything out. Is this making sense? And so the reality it is not just about your forgiveness. It is more comprehensive than that. Watch me. I need you to write these three words down. Pardon. These are three things that go the that the that that God's grace provides. Pardon. We talked about that's means you're forgiven. Number two, presence. We talked about that last week. It is God's grace. He graces us with his presence. But this third one, Lord help me. Come on, Chris. Power. Power. Torn is power. It is God. That's pardon me. It is his presence, but it's it's power. What does that mean? That God's grace is divine ability. You ever heard somebody say that you've been graced for a thing? That you've been graced for a season. That means that there has been ability that was not of your own volition that was given to you in order to complete an assignment. That you've been graced for a thing. So grace gives you strength that you did not have. Endurance that you could not produce, capacity beyond your natural limits. It makes sense now. Watch me because if you go throughout the Bible that you'll read about power. See, there's two words in the Bible in the New Testament in the Greek that reference power. Number one is exusa. And what that speaks to is authority. That means that you have the watch me. You have the right to do something. Prime example, if somebody were to walk in this church and tell me to get off the stage, they could not do that because you don't have authority in here. But if my wife tell me to get off, I'm walking off because she because of our marriage, she has the authority in our church to be able to make decisions. So that's why when somebody tried to walk in your house and turn the temperature down, you don't got no authority to do that. Get your hand off my thermostat. Right? You don't have the authority. That's exusa. But there's another word that's dunamis, which is where, watch me, where we get the word dynamite, which means explosive, which does not speak to the right, it speaks to the ability. Because if you have the right to do something, but you ain't got the power to do it, it don't make no sense. But if you got the power to do something, but you don't have the right to do it, then you out of order. But the thing that's referencing is it grace gives you power. Now watch me. Come through here. Here, let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter 12. I'm about to make this make sense to you. 2 Corinthians chapter 12:10 that if uh this is a story that many of us know about the Apostle Paul, somebody say Paul. Paul. Somebody say Paul. Paul. There we go. So, listen. The Apostle Paul that we notice that Paul gives us a look into a conversation that we have with God. And watch what he says. Three different times. I'm about to teach you something. I begged the Lord to take it away. Have you ever been there before that you say, "God, I've been praying a lot of times. Can you take this for me?" That God, if you could just take this desire for me, I'd be okay. That God, if you just take this person, I'd just be okay. If you if you just if if you would just take this season away, I'd be okay. God, I'm begging you. Can you take this? Do you see me? Take it away. Help me. Watch this. Stay saved three different times. I love our church. I beg the Lord to take it away. Each time, oh, I love this. Each time, not one time, but every time you prayed, he gave the same answer. Every time you ever say, "God, can you change it?" No. You know when you was like, "Man, but maybe if I ask, you know, you see this how we used to do. Hey, man, I'm not going to ask, but if you ask, maybe they'll change." Every time I asked, this is what he said. My grace is all you need. He said, "You're asking for removal. I'm trying to give you power. You're asking for me to take it away. I'm asking I'm suggesting that I give you something because you God was trying to show him is that if you get out of the situation but you don't have my grace, you'll be back in it again. My grace is all you need. My power works best in weaknesses. Now watch me. Watch me. Watch me. Watch me. My grace is all you need. And another translation will say, "My grace is sufficient." That my strength is made perfect in your weakness. Now watch me. This is why it is important to have the complete watch me an accurate definition of a word. Yeah. Because if you reduce grace JC down to forgiveness, then you'll interpret this verse by God saying that you can keep sinning. Don't worry about it. I'll keep forgiving. If you watch me, if you do not have an accurate definition, then you'll look at this thorn and say, "It's my thorn, too. I have a thorn, too." But his grace is sufficient. So, what you'll do is you'll look at his grace as an unlimited credit card to keep forgiving your sin. Watch me. And if you're not careful, you'll miss out on what God is saying. God was not giving him a license to stay broken. He was giving him a weapon to beat it. He wasn't saying, "Hey, listen. Don't worry about what you struggling with because I'll keep forgiving you when you fall." He was saying, "No, my grace is all you need in order to beat that." That what it is that you struggling with. Yeah, you can't beat it on your own, but when my grace comes in, it is all you need. Now, let me talk to some people who are continually in cycles. And you like, no, preach the other stuff. No. Who are continually in sin cycles and you believe that God's grace is great enough to forgive your sins, but you don't think his grace is powerful enough to help you overcome them. God, I don't know if I can beat that. You came by yourself, but my grace is all you need. I'm not giving you a license to stay broken. I'm giving you power to become whole. That yes, the things that you could not do, you still can't do. This is why he says with man these things are impossible but with God all things are possible because my grace is all you need and if you don't believe me you can touch your neighbor because there's some people in here that say there's some things that I used to never be able to overcome but God's grace stepped in and look at me in this situation that I used to be an addict that I used to be an alcoholic that there used to be things that I could not overcome and if I'll be honest it's not because I'm grace grace is because at some moment grace just stepped into my situation. There are times that grace stepped in. And it's not just about what God has stopped me from doing. It's also about what God helped me start doing. That let me raise my hand. There was no moment in time that I ever thought that I would say yes to ministry. But at some point in time, God's grace stepped in. That some of us are raising children on our own and there's no way that you can be able to justify you raising the type of kid that you raised. But God's grace stepped in. That some of your marriages were on the rocks and they were about to fail and you had already filled out divorce papers, but at some point in time, God's grace stepped in. Grace makes all the difference. I'm trying to show you that this grace, somebody say grace. Grace. Grace makes a difference. PM, what are you getting to? Write this down. The grace of God will empower you to live a life that you never thought was possible. Oh my goodness. I need us to get this today. The grace of God will empower you to live a life that you did not think was possible. Let me say this again because I want to get this into our heart. The grace of God will empower you. Self sleep will will empower you to live a life that you did not think or that you did that you did not think was possible. In other words, watch me. There are things that you could not do, things you could not be, places you could not access, but his grace made the difference. That there's callings on your life that you could not achieve, but his grace made up the difference. That watch me that some of us look at it that you say, "Man, God, this this woman of God that you called me to be, this wife, this Proverbs 31 wife, I don't think that I can be that there's a gap between who I am and what you said." Yeah, but grace makes all the difference. That God, I don't know how to be the man of God that you called me to be. I've never seen it in my life. Yeah, you right. On your own, you can't. But grace makes all There are things that I could not be unless grace stepped in. Which leads me, watch me, to our big idea for the day. Write this down. Big idea. Grace fills the gaps that effort could never reach. Some of y'all looking at me. Write it down. Grace fills the gaps that effort could never reach. And that's exactly what Paul is communicating in our text. Hear me. That's exactly what Paul's communicating because Paul was not telling us something that he learned or something that he heard. He was telling us something that he lived. You see, I don't know about you, but it does not hold as much weight when you tell me about something that you heard from somebody that you heard who somebody experienced it. I need to get to the source. Stop telling me about what your cousin went through. Tell me what you know. Paul is not telling us about something that was watched me that was shown to him. Know something about he experienced. And this is the thing is that you have to understand like like let me teach you this really quickly. You have to understand that Paul is referred to by most contemporary scholars as the apostle of grace. Let me nerd out really quickly and give you a statistic. 73% of the times that the word grace is used in the New Testament was written by Paul himself. So if anybody knew about the grace of God, it was our cousin Paul. If anybody knew about the beauty and the power of the grace of God, it is Paul. And in this letter to the Corinthian church, he writes this one verse that teaches us four things that we should all know about the grace of God. And hear me. If grace is the reason you're here, then you better understand what grace does. Four main things. Number one is this. Let me let me let me calm down. I'm about to jump off this stage. Number one is this. You got to know this about grace. Grace will position you. Grace will position you. Watch this right here. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15:10. This is what it says. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. Paul is saying, "But by God's grace, I am what I am and I am where I am." Don't miss that. Paul is saying is that you see who I am and you see where I'm at. But if you knew the entirety of the story, you would know that this don't make no sense. That's some of our testimony. If you'll be honest in here, you'll say, "Yeah, you see me right now, but there was a prophet that said, "You might see me in the streets for sure that you don't know me." That that you might I know that you see what you see, but you don't really know what you see because if you knew me, if you knew the entirety of the story, if you knew what I had to overcome. See, a lot of times we talk about people know if you knew me. Yeah, I know half of us ain't going to be honest in this church, but if you knew me, if you see where I'm at, you would not believe that I got here, you don't know the entire story. And Paul is saying that this may make sense to y'all, but it it if but in reality, if you knew the entirety, that it would not make sense. And this is the reality. I agree because watch me. But to understand the weight of this verse, you have to understand the history of the writer. Right? Are y'all with me? You see, Paul is the primary writer of the New Testament. Paul is one of the spiritual fathers in our faith. Paul is the greatest church planter that the world has ever seen. Paul is one of the greatest apostles ever. But if it was up to anybody else other than God, nobody would have picked him. If it was up to anybody other than God, they wouldn't have picked him. If it was up to anybody, they would have threw him away. If anybody else was on the decision-making committee, they would have said, "We got to pass on Paul." If any love him, gifted, great brother next. Listen. Appreciate your effort. No way. Watch me. If anybody else other than God had a say, he would have been done for. Now, I'm not going to bother this, but I just want to see, am I the only person in here that is thankful that nobody else got a say in my destiny? I'm just so thankful that nobody else got to speak about my calling. I'm just so thankful that the people who knew me could not choose who I was going to be. I'm so thankful that nobody else got a say. Let me say this. I'm so glad that I didn't get a say because there were moments in my life that I would have threw myself away, too. I am thankful. That's why I say, "God, I'm just grateful for you because you didn't throw me away. You didn't kick me to the curb. God, I'm grateful." Somebody say, "I'm grateful." But by his grace, I am what I am. Paul is saying that that that nobody else would have picked me, but by God's grace, I am what I am. And like I said earlier, to understand the weight of this verse, you have to know the history of the writer. So let so so let me put a little context to this so we understand is that for those of us that don't know the first time that we are introduced to Paul in the Bible his name is Saul is what he's referred to and it's and it's in Acts 8:1. You can go back and read this later but what we see Acts 8:1 doesn't make sense unless you read Acts 7:56-59 because what happens is is that in Acts chapter 7 that there's an apostle there's a disciple named Steven. Somebody say Stephen. Stephen. Wake the person up sitting next to you and say, "Stephen, Stephen, there you go. Make sure they're not asleep." Acts chapter 7 is a man named Steven is preaching the gospel. They're going around the church is spreading like wildfire. God is moving. Miracles are happening. All these things. And then the and then the Pharisees and what they call the in the committee, the Sanhedrin called, watch me, Steven, to the forefront and said, "You got to stop talking about this Jesus guy. You need to deny him. Stop preaching the gospel." And Stephen said, "Can't do it." And the Bible says that they said, "Oh, no, you have to." He said, "I can't do it." And Stephen began to preach the gospel to them. Watch me. And the Bible says that they said, "If you do not stop, we will kill you." He said, "Sign me up." And I wish some of us had that same boldness for our faith. The Bible says that they stoned Stephen in the middle of the town. Everybody saw it. End of Acts chapter 7. Open up Acts chapter 8 verse one and this is what we see the entrance of the Apostle Paul or Saul at the time. It says and they killed him and Saul approved of it. The very first time we see Paul they refer to him as Saul from Tarsus and he is approving the killing of Christians that he is watch me. And then if you jump over into Acts chapter nine he's not just approving of it now he's leading the charge. It says, "And Saul went throughout all of Judea breathing murderous threats to kill Christians." If that did not make it any better, what happens is he said that he went to the synagogue to get permission to say, "Hey, I'm going to go town to town and I need your authority so I can make sure that I can kill more and persecute more." And they said, "Okay." But the Bible also tells us that he's on the road to Damascus. That he's on the road to Damascus and he's riding his horse and he's there and then all of a sudden it says a light flashes from the sky. If you were here last week that there is a the theological word for this y'all remember what this is a theophony which means it is a tangible visible manifestation of the presence of God. So it's not just some normal thing. It was a light that flashed. The Bible says it knocked him off of his horse. Here's a small point that you can take. If you don't get down, God will knock you down. And you don't want God to have to knock you down because there's other consequences and repercussions that come with that. Yes, sir. The Bible says that when he got up, he was blind. And he heard that he's scrambling. And all of a sudden, he hears a voice that says, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" And Saul says, "Who are you, Lord?" Yeah, I bet you don't know. He says, "I am the one who've been persecuted. My name is Jesus." And the Bible says that he's blind and then he is led to a town in Damascus. Don't miss this. And the Bible says that while he's being led to a town in Damascus, he has to go get prayer for somebody that he intended on killing. That's why you got to watch who you talk about because you never know who you going to need. You better watch it. Some you be talking about people sometime you talking people you don't know you going to need prayer at some point and God may commission them be the one to set you free let me keep going he gets to the place laid hands on them the Bible says that something like scales fell from his eyes and then he looked up and said I can see and from that moment in time he became a believer in Jesus a follower of Jesus and then a leader for Jesus and then he goes on watch me he goes on to build the church. Now, watch me. Don't miss this. So, we see that Paul goes from killing Christians to making Christians. He goes from tearing down the church to building up the church. Pastor Matt, what are you getting to? This shows that the grace of God, watch me, can still position you to who he's called you to be despite who you used to be. Yeah, I need more than 37 claps because there's some of y'all who are bound by shame and you feel like you can't be who God has called you to be because you keep thinking about who you was. And what the grace of God can do is it can still position you despite of who you used to be. It will position you. Paul says, "But by his grace I am what I am." Now hear me. Paul is not just talking about identity. He's talking about placement. He's talking about role. He's talking about assignment. He says, "I am what I am." What does that mean? That means who I've become, where I've been placed. Don't miss this. But also what I've been entrusted with. Think about this. How good and how great is the grace of God for God to trust you to steward and start things that you you used to be committed to killing. You want to talk about how grace can position you and put you because it was up to anybody else. He wouldn't have been led in another church. But now he's leading a church. Come on. See, if it was up to anybody else, he would have been kicked out. But God brought him in. He says, "I am what I am." And his conclusion is clear is that none of it came from me. It came from grace. I'm trying to show you that grace doesn't just lift you. It locates you. Yes, sir. Yeah, it doesn't just lift you out of something. It can place you into something that grace will put you in places that you could not imagine. It can give you assignments that you didn't choose and roles that you didn't earn. It can put you in rooms that you couldn't fathom and groups that you were unqualified for. It will open up doors that you didn't even know existed. Grace can put you in places that you're not supposed to be. It can Oh my goodness. It can qualify you for things that you should have been disqualified for. It can bring things into your life that should have never came back around a second time. Because I don't know about you, but there's things in my life that I did wrong the first time. But through his grace, he gave me a second chance. That there's times that God spins the block and gives you another opportunity. And it's not because you deserved it. It was because of his grace. Grace will position you. People walk into your life one day and they say, "How did you get here?" Don't worry about it. It was grace. How How are you leading your family like that? It wasn't me. It was grace. How are you leading that business like that? Ah, it was grace. People, you know how many times I've walked into conferences and people like, "Man, you you the pastor of blueprint?" I said, "I try to be." And they say, "How you do that?" It wasn't me. It was grace. You know, I don't know what it was. Grace because the grace of God will put you in places that you say, "Ah, if you got that's what you want to do. I don't know." But you know, it's only by his grace. But watch me. When you know that God's grace will position you, it should do. The second thing, write this down, is that grace should humble you. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Elbow the person next to you and say, "Uh-oh." Grace should humble you. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 15:10 again. Watch what it says. And his grace to me was not without effect. He's saying, "You can't look at my life and not notice his grace." Watch me. Grace should humble you. Now, let me put the emphasis where I need to. Grace should That's it. Should humble you. And that's some of our problem. What should have happened didn't and what should be isn't. Let me say how I say what should be aim. You know, as a pastor, I can always tell when someone doesn't appreciate or have awareness of the grace of God because it's primarily displayed in a manifest in two ways. Either a either abuse or lack of knowledge or excuse me, lack of acknowledgement. Abuse or a lack of acknowledgement that that you know abuse that it is impossible to appreciate and honor God's grace while simultaneously abusing it. Amen. Amen. I had a church a few minutes ago quiet as a church mouse now that it is impossible to honor and appreciate God's grace while simultaneously abusing it. What does that look like, Pastor Matt? That that I will willfully and intentionally live in sin and just say God knows my heart. His grace is sufficient. Love covers a multitude of sins. We become theologians when it comes to justifying our sin. And I just want to know why we why we can find so many verses that justify doing what we don't want to do versus doing what we supposed to do. Willfully sitting and disobeying God and expecting his grace just to cover it and remove and absolve you of consequences is not grace. It's grace abuse. If you were dating somebody like that, you would call them a narcissist and a manipulator. You'll say, "I can't You would never. Oh, I just knew you'd forgive me, so I did it. Huh? See, now you know what it is. That's abuse. That's why in the book of Romans, it says, "Shall we continue in sin so that grace shall abound?" No. See, we don't do that. You can tell that people don't have a working knowledge and awareness of grace when they abuse it. The second thing is a lack of acknowledgement. You know what? Oo, let me say this. I can't stand when people say that they self-made. Ooh, it grinds my gears. You going to tell me you got there all by yourself? You raised them kids all by yourself? You made that marriage work all by yourself? You overcame that trauma. Oh, she's saying no. Amen. All by yourself. You built that business all by yourself. You walking upright in the Lord all by yourself. Let me tell you something. You don't want to know what it would look like to be all by yourself. You don't even want to know what it would look like to rely on your strength and your strength alone. You're not self-made. That is a lack of awareness. You can tell people not aware of the grace of God when they walk around saying, "I made it on my own." No, you didn't. I'm not going to say anything else after that. No, you didn't. You have to understand this. What you have to understand about Paul because grace should humble you. When Paul pins 1 Corinthians 15:10, is that you have to understand this that Paul wrote this after this context. Somebody say context. Context. Paul wrote this after he had healed hundreds of people. Paul had planted churches all across Asia and Asia Minor. Paul had raised people from the dead. There was one time, that's why we be complaining about 90-minute services. There's one time that Paul was preaching for so long, somebody fell asleep in a window, hit the ground, and died. And then Paul walked out, healed him, and said, "Come back to church. You want to talk about church hurt? You done killed me." Said, "Get back in here. I got more. I got a few more points. Note takers are world changers. So listen. So listen, Paul had healed people, raised them from the dead. Everywhere Paul went, they said he was great. They called him a super apostle. Yeah. And watch what he says. See, we read 1 Corinthians 15:10. But read verse 9. Look at what verse 9 says. For I am the least of the apostles who am not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church but by the grace of God. Watch me. He's saying I shouldn't even be here. I shouldn't even be here. Look at this. Paul never lost awareness of his sin or his past or how he was disqualified because grace didn't erase his memory. Yeah. Watch me. It reframed it. So I don't have to live in condemnation. No, I'm no longer who I was. And if anyone be in Christ, he's a new creature. All the old things have passed away. But he's saying, "But I'm not going to act." You ever meet somebody, you say, "You act like you done forgot where you came from." That's why that's why it makes me mad when you see people now you done got saved. You done been absent for 3 weeks and you look down on them. Where my towel at? Cuz y'all want to play. You want to act holy and you make it seem like you didn't just get that spinning night bag out your car. You want to do that and it's not Watch me. It's y'all don't want to talk. They don't They don't want to talk to me. You just YOU JUST DONE GOT OUT OF THAT situationship and now you want to see I don't know how people be doing that. Yes, you do. Yes, you do. Now watch me. That don't mean that you should be doing it. What it's saying is that I have an awareness of who I used to be and I know that I'm not that. Not because of me, but because of his grace. And when you have that level of awareness, it should humble you. You should know you ain't that great. His grace was. I shouldn't be here, but his grace got me here. Grace should humble you. But the third thing it should do, write this down, is that it should motivate you. It should motivate you. It should motiv motivate you. Uh uh 1 Corinthians verse uh chapter 15:10, excuse me. 1 Corinthians 15:10. But watch what he says. No, I worked harder than all of them. Yeah, my God. He's saying, "But by his grace, I am what I am, and his grace is now in effect." No, I worked harder than all of them. Watch this. He's saying, "Yeah, God gave me grace, but he didn't just give me grace. I responded to grace." That's it. Come on. He said, "No, I didn't just receive something. I produced something from it." You not just And oh my goodness. And watch me. There's too many Christians who are okay with receiving grace and not producing nothing from it. We love Give me a word. Give me a word. Give me a word. Can you produce something from that word? Oh, we love a word. We go to it like a vending machine. Word. Word. Word. But the idea is will you produce something from it? Paul says no. I worked harder than all of them. Watch me. If if you have to understand this in in the in the original text, it doesn't say that that that his grace was not without that effect. It says that his grace to me was not in vain. That it was not in vain. Now, watch this. Paul says, "But by his grace, I am what I am." And his grace to me was not given in vain. Now, you have to know this that the phrase in vain is the Greek word or the Greek phrase kos. K- Os ke. Watch what this means. We got to have context. Somebody say context. Context. Not in vain means that it is not fruitless, that it's not empty. Watch me. That it's not fruitless, it's not empty, and it's not wasted. Yeah. So, what this is saying is Paul is saying that God gave me grace, but he didn't give me grace to waste it. He didn't give me grace to not be fruit to be fruitless. He didn't give me grace so I can walk around empty. But he gave me something so I can produce something. Now, listen to this. Paul is saying, "I'm not supposed to be here, but since I am, I'm going to do what I'm supposed to do. That I never should have got this job, but since I did, I'm going to show out that I I should have never been here in the first place." He said, he said, "Listen, I know I appreciate Peter. I appreciate James. I appreciate John. They probably should have been here, but not me. But just know this. They might have should have been here, but watch me. I'mma work harder than all of them. I'm going to put my best effort forward." Forward. Now hear what I'm saying. So hear what I'm not saying. I'm not talking about working for salvation. The Bible talks very clearly about we about works versus grace. You don't earn salvation. You don't work to say. Watch me. You don't work for favor. You work from grace, not for it. Are y'all following what I'm saying? One has to do with that I know what I have received and because

I have received. I will respond. The other one has to do pursuing in order to try to get something. And grace is not transactional. Amen. Amen.

"Y'all following me?"

"I'm trying to free you up cuz if you don't, because if you don't, you'll walk around thinking that you got to work for grace. We don't work for it. We work from it."

"And this is my thing. Hear me. Is is that Paul is saying, 'I worked harder than all of them.'"

"PM, what are you saying? How dare God open up that door in your life and you squander it? How dare God get you that job that you was praying for and you showing up late? How dare God give you the marriage that you fasted and prayed for and you treat your spouse like they regular? How dare, how dare you pray for that child and finally get that child and you don't train them up in the way that they they should go. How dare God open up that door, give you community that you prayed for and you resist them and reject them cuz you're insecure. How dare, HOW DARE GOD OPEN UP THE DOORS THAT YOU ASKED for and push it away."

"PAUL IS SAYING YOU OPENED UP THE DOOR SO I'mma walk through it. That's right. I worked harder than all of them."

"He said, 'I shouldn't have be here, but God, since you put me in the room, I'm going to do everything I can to make you proud. God, I'm going to do everything I can to exhaust this moment. I'm going to do everything I can to produce fruit because you gave me something that I didn't deserve. You gave me something that I couldn't earn.'"

"Everybody looks at me as an apostle and they're saying, 'There's no way that you should be here.' And you're right about that. But since I am here, I'm going to do what an apostle does. There's no way that I should be the mother or the father that I am right now. you right. But since I am, I'm going to be the best mother and father that I could possibly be. There's no way that I should be a LEADER IN THE CHURCH. BUT SINCE I AM, AND GOD SAW FIT, I'M GOING TO DO EVERYTHING I can to ensure that what he spoke is fruitful."

"Yes."

"Amen."

"I'm not going to squander it."

"Because I'm caught up in my past and I worked harder than all of them."

"Somebody say, 'Motivate.'"

"Motivate."

"Grace should motivate you. So watch me. Grace will position you. Grace should humble you. It should motivate you. And our last point is this. I'm getting out your way. Grace will keep you."

"We can go. Grace will keep you."

"Look at the last part of this verse. It says, 'Yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.' Leave this up. Yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."

"I said in the very beginning that this is my favorite verse in the entire Bible. Never changed. Since I was 15 years old, it's been my favorite verse. God placed his verse on my heart. 15 years old in the summertime, June of whenever I was 15. 15 years old. I remember like it was yesterday. And I remember that upon reading this verse, I read it in in the Bible that my dad had got me. It's a blue and orange teenage study Bible. And I heard it on a movie and I watched it. I began to read it. And I was always confused because Paul is going back and forth between God to me to God, God to me to God. But by his grace, I am what I am. And his grace to me is not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them. It's almost like, okay, yep, forget what I said before and I worked harder than all. Don't get it twisted. I did I did my part. And then he concludes it by saying, 'But yet not I was the grace of God that was with me.'"

"Paul is saying that you see me in this place and I think we can all agree that I shouldn't be here, but I am here. And I'm here because his grace and I don't want you to think that it's it's only his grace because it is only his grace. But I worked hard. I did my part. But my part really doesn't matter. But it did matter because God came back and it's his grace that was with me. And for so long, I was going back and forth to say, 'God, I don't know if this makes sense.' And he says, 'I know my grace don't make sense, but by his grace, you are, you will be, you will go where you go.' And his grace owned your life. People won't be able to examine your life and not see his grace in your life. But don't stop there. No, I worked harder than all of them. I did everything that you called me to do. I did my best to be obedient. I did my best to give everything I can. But when you look at my life, it's not going to be because of the work that I put in. It's because yet not I. The grace of God was with me. They're going to show you a visual that will make it plain. Grace was given to me. I responded to grace. Grace kept me there."

"Pastor Matt, why are you passionate about this? Because there's many of us that struggle with saying yes to doing what God asks us to do because we feel like I don't know if I can get it done. God, you called me to live for you wholeheartedly. It sounds good, but I don't think I can sustain that. God, you called me to lead and love people like you, but God, I don't think I can sustain that. God, I'm trying. You You told me to be absent. You told me to live a life of purity. You told me to live a life that that is completely submitted to you. But I don't think I can sustain that. That God, every marriage in my family was terrible. And some of majority of them didn't even get married. So the idea of marriage is just out of sight to me. I don't want it because if I get in, I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to sustain that. God, you've been calling me to live this life and but I've only lived this life my whole life and I don't know if I can s I don't think I can do that. And the reality is, let me just go ahead and give you clarity. You can't. Neither can I."

"I said it multiple times. My biggest fear of becoming a pastor is just because I'm like, God, I'm not afraid of starting it. But at what point am I going to fail? At what point am I going to wake up and just say, I don't know if I can do this anymore. At what point am I not going to be able to love my wife in the way she want me to love her? At what point am I not going to be able to be the father that my daughter needs? At what point am I not going to be able to like when is the ball going to drop? And some of you wonder the same thing. God, I'm doing well, but at what point in time am I going to fail? Grace will keep you. And if you can have, watch me. If you can have belief that grace doesn't just start your story, it will sustain your story. And at the end of our lives, you'll look back and you'll be in seasons that you never thought you would have achieved and led people you never thought you could. And it's not going to be because you were skilled, but because you're going to be like, 'God's grace kept me.'"

"Let me pray for you. Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, we honor you. That's so good, Chris. Thank you, Father, for your grace. Thank you for your goodness. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your compassion. Thank you for how you've kept us. Thank you for how you've never left us or forsaken us, God. Thank you, Father God, that that your name has been a strong tower. God, it's we've been able to run in and be safe. God, I thank you for your grace. I can't say it enough. You have been good. You have been good. And God, we will walk and leave with a new and a heightened awareness that we have been covered by your grace. And God, if you before us, my God, who can be against us? If you before us, who can be against us? God, if you are on our side, then it does not matter what we face. If you fight for us, then we will always be victorious. Remind us, God, that your grace is sufficient, that your power is unimaginable, and that you'll continue to do what only you can do."

"If you're in this place, I want you to repeat after me. Say, 'Holy Spirit,' 'Holy Spirit,' 'what are you saying to me?'"

"And I pray for about the next 5 seconds or so that you would allow Holy Spirit to speak to you. If you're in this place and one of the things that you hear right now is you feel this little tug at your heart and you're like, I don't really know what that means. And some of you know exactly what it means. Bible says in the book of Revelation, 'Behold, I stand at the door and I knock.' He says, 'If you open it, then I will come in.' And what a privilege it is, what an honor it is for the creator of the heaven and earth, the heavens and the earth to knock on the door of your heart. If you're in this place and you want to give your life to Jesus for the first time or you want to rededicate your life to Jesus, there's no shame, there's no condemnation, there was, watch this, grace for that. If you want to give your life to Jesus, you're going to boldly raise your hand on the count of three and everybody in this place is going to lose their mind. celebrating you because it is the greatest decision that you could ever make. We got a hand up already. So on a count of three, raise your hands if you want to give your life to Jesus. Rededicated one. I see you. Two. Three. Come on. Hands up in this place. Come on y'all. I see you right there. Hands up. Come on. I see you over here. We got hands up in the back. We got a hand on the front row. Come on y'all. Come on. Let's give it up one more time. Come on. Listen, I want everybody in here to repeat after me, please. Nobody moving around. We ain't dismissed yet."

"Y'all remember we have Paul? Let's do this. All right."

"Repeat after me. Say, 'Father,' 'Father,' 'I love you.' 'I love you.' 'I thank you.' 'I thank you.' 'For Jesus.' 'For Jesus.' 'I believe' 'I believe' 'that he lived.' 'That he lived.' 'That he died.' 'That he died' 'and that he rose.' 'And he rose' 'for my sins.' 'My s Come into my heart.' 'Be my Lord.' 'be my Lord. I am yours and you are mine in Jesus name.' Come on. Amen. Let's make some noise."